This is my submission for the Obsidian Entertainment module contest, April 2007, themed �Grimm Fairy Tales�. I�ve taken inspiration, and characters, from several of the tales, combined with an embarrassing knowledge of the Disney versions, and developed an adventure-type game around these. Other fairy tales have worked their way in there too. The adventure is aimed at first level PCs of any race and class, although level adjusted races will find it more difficult. BY the end of the module, races with no ECL will have reached level 4 and your character will be exported
As per the contest rules, there are 5 areas (1 exterior, 4 interior), and gameplay should take 1-2 hours to complete. The core quest is a race to save a Prince from a wicked spell, but along the way, you�ll meet several other characters who�ll divert you from your goal. There are two core companions, and others will join the party at various points. My aim with the module was to focus on a fun story, with an overarching plot that brought together several different fairy tales, so each could be played in turn. Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood, Snow White, and Rumpelstiltskin all have a part to play in the background of the race to rescue Prince Charming and Cinderella�s wedding. The story may seem childish, but being inspired by fairy tales and old Disney filsm, this was inevitable!
There are several new items and creatures; most created for this module contest, some taken from my previous module Palace of the Silver Princess. Scripting/innovations were kept to a minimum given the time constraints (for me to learn how to do them as much as implement them).
I hope you enjoy and please leave your feedback. Thanks to everyone who fed me back comments during the bug hunting - I really appreciate the help!
Vesion 1.1 - 5th June 2007.
Updated to include
- spelling corrections (please note some spelling is deliberate to reflect 'accents' e.g. dwarven)
- speak triggers added at certain points
- OnDeath Scripts altered so ending should fire correctly when you meet Melificent (and then the suprise when you defeat her)
Posted by Filgrind at 2010-04-21 00:52:01 Voted 8.25 on 04/21/10
I enjoyed the module very much. One thing : all the henchmen stayed with me except the dwarf. Is that normal ? Thanks for your job. I'll soon be playing dark avenger.
I liked this contest entry, though had some issues with plotting. Would have given it a 7.25 during the contest. Don't want to mess up final results for people checking them out by actually voting. _________________________ The road to Ravenloft is paved with good intentions.
Posted by Bigwilly Barnus at 2008-05-15 03:32:37 Voted 6.50 on 05/15/08
Very good job overall with entertaining storyline, even if it was a little linear in the end. Nice twist at end too.
Main companions were good, others a little flat. Combat was very challenging (I was playing a halfling bard), although I pulled off a couple of lucky victories with only one PC left standing.
Only one obvious bug - Rapunzel's prince didn't leave the party although he said he was going to.
One minor irritation - clipping of the pixie's outfit. It seemed to be due to her flying posture, but could just have been my crappy graphics card.
Posted by Mirgalen at 2008-02-14 00:43:01 Voted 7.50 on 02/14/08
This is IMHO a very good module. I am not reviewing it because I have played less than 10 NWN2 modules so far and I have not yet completed the OC. Still, I have played over 500 NWN modules (427 in my modules folder atm) and certainly can tell a good module from a crappy one. A score somewhere between "Very Good" and "Excellent" seems adequate.
One small bug/glitch: I ended the game with a large party included a woodcutter and two (yes two) princes. According to the dialogue only one should be there. Did not bother me though.
Posted by bone4lyf at 2007-12-29 20:16:52 Voted 6.50 on 12/29/07
This was my favorite mod from the fairy tale contest crop. The world was quite expansive for a short module, and the companions were memorable.
The major negatives were that the module did not scale well to my bard build (I died constantly b/c I wasn't a fighter) and that some (just a few) NPCs were rather bland. _________________________ Jeremy, Son of Perry
Posted by Steph09 at 2007-11-03 12:08:25 Voted 8.25 on 11/03/07
Nice little module. It was cool to take a walk in this enchanted forest. Maybe too directive but cool. Thank you Wyrin.
Posted by over_my_head at 2007-11-02 04:09:29 Voted 6.50 on 11/02/07
Thank you Wyrin for the comment. I really apreciate it, and there is nothing else I would like to achieve more than the author's appreciation for a review so that the author can make good use of it.
Thank you Wyrin for submitting this fun little Module, and having cast a smile on my face while playing this. I very much enjoyed it, though I know I am quite stern considering reviewing. At least I know the author is aware of his great capabilities, and what can be improved more.
As for the overal fun, I really enjoyed this Module considering the small amount of time you were able to put into it. Nice usage of stories, and appraoching these for a different angle.
@ redqueen - thanks for the vote and comments! I thin kthe witch calls the children little pigs, or suckling pigs - more a reference to their age and greed. Glad you enjoyed it! _________________________ Wyrin
Posted by redqueen at 2007-08-28 04:34:19 Voted 7.50 on 08/28/07
Quite entertaining. I enjoyed the interactions between Tom Thumb and Thumbelina, and I liked that they had something new to say in every area. I also really liked your version of the woodcutter--very amusing--and the little mini-dragon melificent. You wove all the tales together quite nicely. I have to ask--did the witch (hansel n gretel) say she was making pork because humans are sometimes referred to (cannibal-wise) as 'long pork'? The lack of punctuation, mostly on dialogue options, detracted a bit from my enjoyment, but I've encountered that in other mods, so perhaps it's a complication of the toolset. It didn't influence my vote, at any rate. _________________________ They say the Prince of Darkness is a gentleman, and as it turns out, they're right. A fine gentleman.
@Berliad
Re the problem you mentioned with the Sleep spell ... I don't know for sure, but it seems to me that Area Effect spells that say ALL CREATURES in the description affect everyone regardless of the difficulty setting. In some other mods, I've had NPCs/Companions go hostile to another NPC/Comp. who cast say Fireball that injured them. Perhaps a difference with 3.5 rules?
Thanks for the detailed analysis. I think you've identified a point that a few others didn;t quite put their finger on - the characterisation of the protagonist. I'll take youy other points on board for my current work
Posted by Berliad at 2007-07-15 22:53:43 Voted 6.00 on 07/15/07
A few specific comments for the author (SPOILERS!!):
- the outdoor area might have been a bit too large for what is present.
- I liked the skill-based conversation options.
- loved the "grandma" conversation
- One "bug": after the grandma battle, the quest ending conversation didn't fire the first time because the wood cutter had been knocked out by my sleep spell (which, for some reason, was affecting allies, even though I was playing in "normal" mode).
- Shadow intensity seemed a bit high throughout the module. I usually find something on the order of 0.5 works well.
- I liked what you did with the hair golem visual effects. Very creative.
- one typo I noticed: snow white: "I haven't tired it yet" (tried it yet)
Posted by Berliad at 2007-07-15 22:16:28 Voted 6.00 on 07/15/07
My Vote: 6 - Qualified Recommendation Character: lv. 1 human female chaotic good warlock Module version played: version 1.1, released 5 June 2007
A Walk in the Woods is a good little module that is very much in the spirit of the Obsidian Brothers Grimm module contest. Another commenter mentioned that it reminded them of Shrek, and I think that's a great observation. Though it doesn't quite have the level of humor of Shrek, you do get to interact with a sampling of characters from Grimm Brothers stories, including Snow White, Rapunzel, Hanzel & Gretel, out of context from their stories. Your ultimate goal, however, is to help Prince Charming recover from a terrible spell that has been cast upon him by an evil sorceress, all so that he can marry the beautiful Cinderella.
Somewhat like Grimm Brigade, the module consists primarily of a series of mini-adventures with characters from different fairy tales. They are typically hack and slash, but vary from fairly typical dungeon crawls to less conventional mini-adventures. Accompanying you throughout your adventure are two henchmen, Tom Thumb (a very short halfling rogue) and Thumbelina (a fairy wizard). There is a great deal of banter between the two throughout the module, and in my opinion, their interactions were really the highlight of the module.
All that said, in the end, I just never really felt engaged in the module. I can't quite put my thumb on it. Maybe it's the fact that there's not much explanation of who the PC is, and what role they play in the setting aside from being a strong arm. Maybe it's that the story is pretty predictable, and is so light-hearted that it's hard to feel much tension. Maybe it's the combat--it isn't easy, and even features some creative and novel creatures, but the boss fights weren't particularly memorable or difficult. Maybe it's the rapid rate at which you gain experience and the even faster rate at which you accumulate loot. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing that's really wrong with this module, and it's clear that the author put an enormous amount of effort into this, especially given the time constraints of this contest. It's just that the module didn't grab me.
As such, I had a really hard time scoring this one. Looking at the Voting FAQ, I see this written under a rating of 6: It does a few things well but maybe it's a bit routine...it's a good piece of content, but it's a little hard to find superlatives for it. That's pretty much where I'm at with this module, so that's what I'm voting. It is intended to be a positive vote, even if it is one of the lower you've received. Thanks for your submission--I'm looking forward to playing your other modules! _________________________ My NWN Blog FRW Character Creator
thanks for the vote, and comments
BTW "I wish you be more "brutal" in future mods!" - i think you can consider this granted ;) _________________________ Wyrin
Posted by Ruaha at 2007-07-05 12:26:06 Voted 7.50 on 07/05/07
Interesting.
The naive story and easy steps in the beginning suddenly transformed in some awfull (to some extend, of cause) hack-n-slash. I was really surprised in the second half of the module.
The half-detective story could be much more fascionating, if it wasn't so faerytale-stically stupid. As I guess, it is not the real author's style. I wish you be more "brutal" in future mods!
thanks for the votes, comments and support guys! as a builder it's great to know the work is appreciated - and at least some other people find my ideas fun! _________________________ Wyrin
Posted by Aredhel371 at 2007-06-19 07:18:15 Voted 8.50 on 06/18/07
Wyrin - when comparing the voting for your mod with that for some other mods of the contest I certainly find your average here too low!
Thanks to you as well and keep building ;-) !!! _________________________ Aka Gront0307 - because of a second adress..;-)
Posted by shaughn at 2007-06-19 06:11:36 Voted 6.50 on 06/19/07
Fun Mod, liked having to collecting the quest items to complete next challange. Able to mold several stories together without it feeling too busy or confusion.
Posted by The Ridge at 2007-06-18 18:23:54 Voted 8.75 on 06/18/07
Another excellent module by Wyrin! The story was fun, the gameplay at times challenging and the concept was enjoyable to say the least. I haven't played all the modules from the contest yet but this one easily rates right up there with the winners. I did encounter the odd typo, here and there and the Repunzel boss fight was a wee bit too hard for my poor aasimar cleric but other then that I didn't encounter any other issues.
-R _________________________ NWN2 Voting Standards
10 - A Masterpiece, Genuinely Groundbreaking
9 - Outstanding, a Must Have
8 - Excellent, Recommended to Anyone
7 - Very Good, Deserves a Look
6 - Good, Qualified Recommendation
5 - Fair, Solid yet Unremarkable
4 - Some Merit, Requires Improvements
3 - Poor Execution, Potential Unrealized
2 - Very Little Appeal
1 - Not Recommended to Anyone
Posted by Aredhel371 at 2007-06-18 07:43:18 Voted 8.50 on 06/18/07
I liked this little twisted mod really a lot, playing it with a fresh elven druid (rather familiar with pixies, frogs, witches and the like! ;-) ).
Furthermore I experienced no bugs and probs which is by no means self-understandig! So I really would strongly recommend it to anyone... _________________________ Aka Gront0307 - because of a second adress..;-)
Posted by PsychotropicDog at 2007-06-12 17:23:47 Voted 8.00 on 06/12/07
I really liked this. Had a blast with a wizard, and yes had to play like I had the intelligence of my character.
good job!
Thanks for the votes! Really, I can't beleive i still got so many spelling mistakes through all my checking! As my next project is dialogue heavy I'm gonna have to be extra careful! _________________________ Wyrin
Posted by sad_eyed at 2007-06-03 08:46:08 Voted 7.25 on 06/03/07
Some really clever ideas and creative encounters. The dialogue tends to be solidly written, but badly spelled, but this doesn't tend to be too distracting.
So yeah, this is fun. :)
10 - A Masterpiece, Genuinely Groundbreaking 9 - Outstanding, a Must Have 8 - Excellent, Recommended to Anyone 7 - Very Good, Deserves a Look 6 - Good, Qualified Recommendation 5 - Fair, Solid yet Unremarkable 4 - Some Merit, Requires Improvements 3 - Poor Execution, Potential Unrealized 2 - Very Little Appeal 1 - Not Recommended to Anyone
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