Now the moon is almost hidden
The stars are beginning to hide
The fortunetelling lady
Has even taken all her things inside ~Bob Dylan, Desolation Row
Divination Row Highlights:
ASTRONOMY/ASTROLOGY �Determine geocentric positions of nine major celestials, including retrograde conditions, for any date, time and location from years 0-3000 with to-the-minute accuracy.
�Determine moon (Selûne) age, phase, magnitude and lunar node positions.
�Determine comet K�thoutek�s position and track its approach to the Sun (perihelion).
�Determine positions for the 12 Houses of Heaven, as well the 27 Mansions of Moon.
�Determine 5 major planetary aspects (conjunction, opposition, trine, square and sextile).
�Determine the essential dignity of a celestial (natural rulership, exaltation, accidental rulership, triplicity, detriment or fall).
�Signal astronomical events (included: solar and lunar eclipses, full and new moons, celestial retrogrades, K'thoutek perihelion, as well grand and great conjunctions.)
�Craft or have created various �intelligent� charts: natal, quest, and both composite and mean synastric (compatibility).
�Determine 14 Greek/Hermetic Lots (Arabic Parts), such as Lot of Fortune, based on chart sect (diurnal or nocturnal).
�Determine both elemental (fire-earth-air-water) and mode of activity (fixed-cardinal-mutable) makeup for any given chart.
�Receive an in-depth natal, synastric, or quest reading of all charts created.
�Purchase an intelligent newsletter (currently updated hourly) offering dynamic advice for the adventurer.
�Purchase custom items which hone their powers from their parent celestial(s).
GEOMANCY �Cast any one of 64,000 possible geomantic tableaus.
�Actively explore the geomantic figures cast as areas within the 12 Houses of Heaven.
NUMEROLOGY �Receive interpretations of Destiny, Life Path, Soul Urge, Dream and Nature (Day) numbers, based on player name and determined birth date.
I CHING �Cast 1 of 64 I Ching Hexagrams using the �Three Coin Method�, with alternate hexagrams (if yin or yang are �old� and �changing�) included.
PUZZLES �Unlock a magic square.
�Test your memory with Simon.
Note: The astronomy/astrology portion uses Realmspace nomenclature, but our solar system's orbital elements. With this current approach, one can create a truly personalized birth chart by simply entering their birth details. Enter the standard local time (adjusted for Daylight Savings, if neccessary) of your birth, with location, to compute your personal natal (birth) chart.
This module is intended to give builders robust, interlinked, genuine divinations, which I believe can be easily modified to fit either single or multiplayer campaigns, as well persistent worlds. I believe these systems can be expanded and interlinked with others: forges, custom spells, deities, etc.
I welcome any feedback or collaborative undertakings. My plans are to port at least a portion over to NWN2 for use in an upcoming campaign, which will perhaps emphasize more aspects of Vedic astrology.
Contact me through the link provided. Thanks for the look.
Note to builders: Custom Tokens #100-113 are assigned in the astrolabe conversation. They are reassigned throughout the chart, reading and newsletter conversations.
#114-127 are assigned to the journal. (�Your Birth Chart�)
#201-205 are assigned to the journal. (�Numerology�)
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Thanks Fred for the heads up- had overwritten a starting conditional there. Swetlana will only direct you to the Tear, should you have any charts. Regardless, to receive a reading, place either one chart or two in the Tear (with gold donation) and close.
It might be interesting, but I am unable to get past the astrologer. I have gone to the woman's husband and purchased a chart, but even when I put the finished chart into the Tear of Selûne, the only conversation option I get when talking to the woman is to tell her I want to talk to her husband.
Posted by seraphimsage1 at 2007-11-13 23:32:24 Voted 10.00 on 11/13/07
This is a magnificent combination of divination methods and a useful roleplay tool for any diviner. For the extensive scripting alone I give this module a 10 though it deserves more. _________________________ My Website: Link
Posted by Vidal at 2007-11-13 18:35:19 Voted 9.75 on 11/13/07
Oh... and there's just one more thing... Dylan is right there in the beginning of the description and Alasteir Crowley is in the reference list... now that's enough to capture my attention, but then when I went into the astrologer's house... there is a bit of Whitman too!
I liked that... I wouldn't be surprised if there was some William Blake there too... well done.
Posted by Vidal at 2007-11-13 17:58:56 Voted 9.75 on 11/13/07
Very impressive... it's a great tool for the mod maker desiring to add a complex mystic system to a rich story.
And the possibilities range from every sort of mystic combinations... including a complete connection with the Forgotten Realms mythology.
The way it works is totally beyond me, but it does... it is similar to the way the Elder Scrolls series deal with signs, only here it's not just a means to set your character's skills... it's a system to allow you to seek the proverbial look into the future.
It is time consuming, but it might add a lot to a mod... like having your character trying to see if a person he met during an adventure is a good match for a romance. This is the kind of thing that could be used in all manner of ways, from a fortune-teller in a country fair to a court astrologer offering counsel to champion about a quest he got from the King.
A great tool indeed!
Posted by Vidal at 2007-11-13 11:30:03 Voted 9.75 on 11/13/07
It's definitely unbelievable... and it shows how robust the NWN engine is... I will try it out just to see how it works and will vote afterwards. But I must say it is very interesting as a concept, and something that I always wanted to see represented in a RPG... though I must add: I can't imagine how you did it. If it works it's a great contribution to the mod designers... and I hope it gets used properly.
If you are making a module, and want a "mystical" feel, or if you are building a persistent world/campaign and wish to add content that is unique to the PC - this may be worth your while. I have tried to break down the components of this for anyone who wishes to try it, so that you may get a better sense of whether this module is suited for you.
Overview: The module may be a tutorial, but it is not instructional in nature. Instead it plays like a module where you are some person (and his/her companion) out on a quest to get a mystical Book and are seeking assistance from a bunch of psychics (of sorts- like astrologers, fortune tellers etc) at Divinition Row. You get a companion, you meet many NPCs, you solve puzzles and the intent seems to be to show how those scripts play out in a module type setting . It will either appeal to you because you can see how this fits in your module, or this may be too "mystical" for what you have planned.
Each Psychic lives in a separate house and (if you go by the very obvious hint at the start), you are meant to start with the astrologer.
Astrology: The interface is simple enough, and is done through a gizmo called the "astrolabe". You enter a date, time and year. Even years not part of the traditional Faerun time table are possible, so if you are born in the 1980's on earth you can yet give it a whirl. You can check compatibility, quest charts as well as your own natal chart and the interpretations you get from the astrologer's wife are incredibly rich. This is not a simple "X sun sign means A, B and C qualities" but a detailed interpretation of all your planetary positions. So if your sun sign means A, but your Selune sign means something totally different, you get that.
The compatibility readings are also diverse. You can see your (detailed) romantic compatibility with fictional and real life characters, or you can ask her to keep it "professional" and get a platonic reading. This is a complete time drain in a good sense, because I spend most my time checking my compatibility with everyone I knew before going anywhere else.
How this works in your mod: The good part is that it can be a "fun" addition to a module, or a serious "this is your destiny" type reading if modified. You can retain the detail of the readings, or you can cut down and make things very simple. Hell, you can create your own interpretations of astrological signs if you want...by making every Harpy a shrew if you choose when you use this in your mod.
IChing: You can buy coins and toss them to get hexagrams. You don't get the interpretations in the module though. If you are writing a module set in a world inspired by East Asia, or plan to have a wizened Chinese Fortune teller in your city, this may be of interest to you. (Chinatown in Vampire Bloodlines anybody?) Be sure to speak to the "Parrot".
Numerology: After solving the memory puzzle in the entryway, go on and meet the very appropriately named numerologist. Though the interpretation of names are done on the basis of your character name (so if your name is Joe Brown, you will get the soul urge of Alluvian Darkstar, so you may wish to name your character after your real name if you want the real deal), the interpretation of your birth chart is done on the basis of what you entered as your date of birth in the astrology section. There is another puzzle game in his house that took me a very long time to solve because I am a retard, but most normal people should have an easier time with it.
Houses of Heavens: I am going to assume most people are not familiar with Geomancy and write my review accordingly. Exploring this section will not depend on how much you know. It simply indicates a section where your quest direction can change depending on what your "divination" is. Thus, it is an attempt at personalized content based on random occurrences. And this is the place where combat really comes into play. I got a nifty idea for my module that could be based on this script, but your experience may be completely different. This is the most subjective part- you may love it, go "meh" or hate it depending on how well it fits with your concept of what a module should be like.
Summary: How much you enjoy this tutorial or what you get from it really depends on what you have planned for your module. For me, I did need something like this for my "campaign". It was very easy to get a sense of script capability by playing this module, the scripts are easy enough to modify, and it helped spark some new ideas. But if you have a very pragmatic module planned, you find these scripts do not add anything to your vision or world.
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