No restrictions on alignment but the plot and NPC interactions favour non-evil.
Gameplay Hours
10
Description
This is Part Two of a two-module adventure.
The Amergilus Legacy continues the adventure started in the earlier module Murder in Mireford. Although this module is probably best played as part of a continuous adventure with Murder in Mireford, it is also possible to play The Amergilus Legacy alone.
The module can be entered from a completed game of Murder in Mireford (version 1.3c or later) (must use the .rar version of The Amergilus Legacy). It is also possible to use a premade character, from an earlier version of Murder in Mireford or elsewhere, or even a newly created character (who will be automatically leveled up to level 8); for both of these options the mini-module Road to Tharfield will also be required. Please read the attached module notes for details.
Version v1.1 (07 June 2010) corrects issues raised here by a number of players.
Version v1.11 (16 July 2010) corrects an NPC conversation which wasn't offering a quest option if the PC didn't ask about the quest on the first encounter.
Version v1.12 (18 August 2010) adjusts the scripting associated with an NPC conversation (djinni) so that players cannot bypass a challenge by walking away during the converstion.
Version v1.13 (17 April 2012) adjusts the scripting associated with the fire elemental's conversation so that it will start again from the beginning if interupted.
Because of the underscores that were inserted into the module name on uploading, this version will not link with Murder in Mireford or The Road to Tharfield (but is fine as a stand alone module). If you wish to enter The Amergilus Legacy directly from the earlier module, then you should use the module version from the compressed (.rar) file.
Hi Bardil! :) Hi folks! Just a quick comment on the 2 mod files... I just finished MiM (for the 2nd time!) and enjoyed it even more. I tried entering the sequel TAL but it didn't work. I then downloaded and installed the RAR version, and the transition from Part1 to Part 2 works flawlessly! The difference is the underscore(s)! "The_Amergilus_Legacy" vs "The Amergilus Legacy" They both have the underscores in the title, but the RAR version (when unpacked) is the one that works if you're continuing from your last saved game of "Murder In Mireford". Hope this helps! :)
Posted by jml at 2011-06-1011:06:45
2 '.mod' files? With a 8 months difference? I'm going for the newest one, written as such: The_Amergilus_Legacy.mod _________________________ @ + jml, level 52 "Overgod? Is that like Supergod or something?", from "Citadel" "M?not shr this ishych u g?dea.", from "Prophet" series
Posted by Bardil at 2011-04-1402:47:30
Dags, Thanks for the vote and comments, here and for Murder in Mireford. I especially appreciate your taking time to give the detailed comments. They are very useful and you make some really good suggestions. Again, glad that you enjoyed playing these modules. Bardil
Posted by Dags at on04/14/11
This is an extremely well-made and enjoyable hack and slash adventure. I'm generally pre-disposed to role-play heavy, open-ended adventures, but I still very much liked this pretty linear duology. If you're going to make a hack-and-slash, the encounters need to be varied and interesting, and that's the case here-- you won't keep running into the same enemy groups, and there are also several new monsters, or buffed creatures. You also get a LOT of very high-level equipment, although this is needed for some encounters. The mod also takes you to many different and varied locations, and there is some spiffy scripting as well. Best of all, it actually concludes the story effectively (as opposed to several multi-part mods have not been completed). I would recommend this generally to everyone, and I think hack and slash fans will especially like it. (spoilers) strengths: +area appearance is often excellent-- I'm not sure if this uses CEP, but it certainly does contain some memorable locations. The steppes are really well done-- it gives you a real sense of space and openness, and is a striking contrast with pretty much every other NWN outdoor area ever made, where trees/cliffs/water mark the areas. Two of the planes were also especially well done-- the abyss and the air plane were distinctive and interesting (although those were also the two locations where actual area design was an issue, as I'll note below). The monastery's look was also great, not surprising given the author's proficiency with dungeon design. +the mod's dungeon, the monastery, was good, if a bit short. I was spoiled by the two big dungeons in the first mod, probably. I guess after such a long journey to it, I was sort of expecting something longer. On the other hand, it makes sense that a monastery isn't going to be huge, and there's something to be said for quality over quantity. One spot where I think the mod missed an opportunity was the story of the monastery-- part 1's fire mage dungeon was exceptionally good in part because the player actually uncovered a back story to the location through a natural process of exploration (and that story was integral to solving the dungeon). You can't do that in every dungeon, of course, but this one did seem to present the opportunity at least to create some narrative that never appeared. I.e. what is a powerful lich doing in the catacombs? Why are the monks haunting the monastery, and how/why did it get abandoned? Etc. I've seen mods try to address this sort of stuff by finding books etc, and that can work at times (it gives the player a chance to find that info out if they care), but there's always the talk-to-a-spirit approach, which seemed right there for the taking with the monks. You can also always have people along the way give some background, like people at the inn, for example. +the horses worked fine for me, although it seems like others have had issues. I actually hadn't played a horse mod before, so this was a treat. +continuity with part 1: obviously this mod continues the story, but it also does a good job of continuing the stories of your companions. The end solution to escaping the final plane was also a cool call-back to one of the PC's earlier actions in Part 1. That was very nicely done. +monster variety-- this is vitally important in this sort of mod, and here it was generally good. The frost giant area and fire plane were notable exceptions, where you tended to have the same encounters (fortunately not many of them). But most places, like for example the plane of air (where you run into invisible stalkers, another adventuring party, and a djinn), offered enough variety to maintain interest. There were also quite a few unique characters to face off with, which is really good in a mod that relies heavily on combat. One encounter where I did have a problem: the steppes nomads completely overran my group in several attempts until I had to result to lame meta-gaming approaches (advance very slowly until a couple appeared, order halt, shoot them with arrows, advance another inch for another spawn, etc). This also hurt the cool sense of immersion the mod had created with the steppes cut scene. +cool scripting ideas-- I liked the use of the tome to detect obelisks, and the cutscenes were nice as well. weaknesses: -as with the first mod, the story here is able to move the player through the mod, but I didn't find it that interesting in itself. For me, the mod's appeal came more in the sense of adventure and exploration. The mod's basic conceit, that the PC is cursed, is a good idea, I think, and the occasional demonic appearance was a plus. But the lack of a villain did hurt, and there aren't really any surprises to be found after the initial demonic appearance (which was a point of interest, to be sure). Re: lack of villain, I think the mod had a golden opportunity to create a really interesting villain: the amulet itself! As in, the thing is demonic-- if it were created from a demon's essence, perhaps that essence has the ability to communicate with the amulet's owner. Having the amulet enter dialogs with the PC would have been fun and interesting. For instance, the amulet might try to convince the PC that it actually contains a celestial being or something, and that the old wizard "helping" the PC is actually helping demonic forces by convincing the PC to destroy an artifact of good. That could create some real doubt for the player if done right. Or the amulet might try to convince the PC to do evil acts when presented with the opportunity (or dialog notes could say that you feel a strong urge to do xyz bad thing). Maybe the demon in the amulet is able to signal one of its old minions, who is chief in hounding the party as it moves through the mod. Or maybe the demon amulet starts trying to befriend the PC and promise that it knows how to revive the PC's foster father, and will the PC how to do so if he agrees not to destroy it. That sort of thing. This would have made the final destruction of the amulet much more fraught and exciting, I think. Finally, I also didn't understand why the PC were unable to drop the amulet, but was then able to drop the amulet in the furnace at the end. -similarly, side-quests are generally not strong here. The daughter who loves Roman thing was the one exception, although even there there wasn't tons going on (talk to a, talk to b, talk to a, talk to b) and not much follow-up later. But it was a nice change of pace at least. Otherwise the side quests were essentially go somewhere, kill something, come back. Admittedly, that is the format of many, many quests in many, many CRPGs. At the very least, though, the structure shouldn't be so nakedly apparent. As far as I can tell, there are a couple ways around this-- one is to simply create the quest such that no backtracking is needed. This happens in this mod with the enemy adventuring party in the plane of air. A worse version of that encounter would be to have the party meet a distressed nymph who asks them to save the other nymph ahead from the adventuring party. That's worse both because it gives the PC the plot and because the party then needs to backtrack to the quest giver. The way it is handled here is much better, as you simply have the fight, which is the attraction of the quest, without all the needless superfluous stuff. Contrast that to the ogre quest elsewhere in the mod, which is very much in the get quest->kill thing->return for reward model. I had real hopes at the outset of that quest that something else might be afoot, and this is a good example of another way to create a compelling side-quest: subvert expectations and/or create moral conundrums. The idea that the merchant passed out, woke up covered in blood and without his amulet, and assumed the ogres killed his guards and took the amulet is promising. However, here the mod just affirms that this is in fact exactly what happened, which is boring. What if instead, the PC eventually discovers that merchant's amulet is cursed (here there's some resonance with the PC's own predicament), and that it turns the merchant into something bad (lycanthrope, etc) in certain conditions (maybe they were traveling at night under full moon, something like that). What has actually happened is that the merchant became a monster, killed his guards, passed out, the ogres happened upon this, and they then took the amulet. That plot structure offers lots of opportunities for really tough choices for the PC. It could also set up an interesting further quest to find a way to remove THAT curse. Anyway, that's just one example where flipping up expectations creates a more interesting scenario. The planes, similarly, were repetitive in nature (go through area, find/fight end boss, advance to next area). Perhaps at this point the mod-maker just wanted to get this sucker finished, and I totally understand that. Finishing the game is absolutely the priority, and it ended up being a very good mod anyway. But I have to say, the idea of traveling to other planes of existence is REALLY interesting and could present the player with areas that don't just look strange, but that have strange customs or laws that have to be navigated. -npc's were generally pretty plain. One good exception was the father who hated adventurers-- that very much stood out from the rest of the npc's, in a good way. Other than that side-quest, the npc's were pretty uniformly cookie-cutter. -while area appearance was good-to-excellent, at times area design was an issue. The abyss looked great, and I liked the sort of maze-like aspect to it, but holy crap, the henchmen could not navigate those paths. The air area also looked very nice, but the serpentine path really over-emphasized the linearity of the area (and really, the linearity of the entire end game) and created a lot of running. Generally, I think the PC should spend as little time as possible running around, because that really isn't fun, and the goal really should be to make a fun game. So, overall, this is a well done and fun mod (and series) that I really enjoyed playing. I definitely recommend it to all players. Great work, Bardil!
Posted by Bardil at 2011-03-1607:22:57
Good suggestion, jml. I'll take a look at it. -- Bardil
Posted by jml at 2011-03-1408:20:25
(Troubles posting it seems?) Let?s try again: Hitching posts: Your modules could make a great use of those (like in Proleric's modules for instance. ;-) ) You click only once on the nearest one and your entire party dismounts and horses are being attached to it, and removed (but still owned) from your party, 'meaning you're free to go and the horses are safe, and not in your way. In one single click. Beside? I highly doubt a file could ever get corrupted by the Vault. I played a recent one myself and didn't have any horsing troubles. _________________________ @ + jml, level 52 "Overgod? Is that like Supergod or something?", from "Citadel" "M?not shr this ishych u g?dea.", from "Prophet" series
Posted by jml at 2011-03-1408:15:41
Oups...? Hitching posts: Your modules could make a great use of those ( _________________________ @ + jml, level 52 "Overgod? Is that like Supergod or something?", from "Citadel" "M?not shr this ishych u g?dea.", from "Prophet" series
Posted by jml at 2011-03-1408:13:23
Hitching posts: Your modules could make a great use of those ( _________________________ @ + jml, level 52 "Overgod? Is that like Supergod or something?", from "Citadel" "M?not shr this ishych u g?dea.", from "Prophet" series
Posted by Bardil at 2011-03-0806:18:34
jml -- Many thanks for coming back and letting me know about that. It seems that the mod version has got screwed up on the Vault. It would explain why some players have been having trouble with the horses, whereas other players (and myself) have not seen any difficulty. I'll replace the mod file with a fresh copy. Bardil
Posted by Bardil at 2011-03-0601:08:22
Thanks jml. There seems to be all sorts of queer stuff happening with some of these files. Maybe they've got corrupted on uploading or something. I'll re-load all the files onto the Vault. Bardil
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