"Stories are parasitic forms of life, warping lives in the service only of the story itself. As the great sage explained, it takes a special kind of person to fight back..."
This is a story about stories, and about expectations...
Some are born to be heroes; some are heroes due to circumstances. And yet others are both. Or not.
Set in the Forgotten Realms in a small village northwest of Longsaddle, you take on the role of the third-born son (of a farmer) who is destined to succeed.
(Heavily) Recommended PC: New level 1 non-evil, Male Human or Half-Elf. Any class, though fighter classes will find this easier.
WARNING: NO RESPAWN ON DEATH AVAILABLE. IF YOU DIE, YOU DIE. Save often...
Required Hak Pack: Ar Pharazon's cave roof by Ar Pharazon (Released: 03-07-2007)
(Also available at The Vault. Builders will also need the erf... Link Included here as it ends up adding little to the download after compression.
Update used: toitv2.hak 04-11-2007)
Installation instructions: After unpacking OUaT.rar, put;
Once Upon a Time.mod --> ...\My Documents\Neverwinter Nights 2\modules
Recommended Settings: To get the best visually out of the opening, make sure you have water reflections and refraction on! (You can turn them off again after the opening, if you like...)
Gameplay: ~30 min.
11/15/07: I haven't noticed any problems using MotB (One play test). Let me know if this is wrong...
Thanks to all the wonderful people who voted for this little effort. Seeing as it is over three years since I made this, don't expect a follow-up of any kind. Instead, play TMGS - I'm proud to say I helped with beta testing and the final product is the best this vault has seen for NWN2.
Now, if only we could get Tiberius and Adam to work together...
Posted by sirchet at 2010-07-07 14:37:38 Voted 6.50 on 07/07/10
I realized I had yet to play this one.
A wonderful, if not short and to the point adventure.
A perfectly functioning module with a touch of humor.
Well done I say, considering the time constraints that were placed on it's production. _________________________ Help is good when asked for,
Better when needed.
Posted by Apep at 2010-03-27 05:28:10 Voted 7.50 on 03/27/10
Well done. The cutscene work was pretty impressive. _________________________ AP Magical Miscellanea Package (v1.5, over 750 items): Link
Posted by Raskae at 2009-08-07 16:25:55 Voted 5.50 on 08/07/09
Simple, cute and flawlessly executed.
Posted by Gwydion669 at 2008-09-26 21:46:50 Voted 5.00 on 09/26/08
A fun little mini-mod. I loved the opening and enjoyed the general concept. I do believe that the weaknesses were due to the fact that it was a contest submission.
Posted by darant at 2008-06-01 13:25:59 Voted 7.00 on 06/01/08
This would be a better, nice little beginning romp if you took out the disjointed Grimm fairy tales references. Re-tweak it. It looks good and is well-scaled.
Posted by BlackRazor22 at 2008-05-01 02:37:41 Voted 6.25 on 05/01/08
Not a bad module.
Posted by bone4lyf at 2007-12-29 20:19:40 Voted 5.25 on 12/29/07
The module opens with a fantastic backdrop monologue movie about stories. It gets the player ready for a moving journey in which he can shape his destiny with words.
Sadly, when the playable portion of the game begins, one finds there are no dialogue choices to be made. Rather, the player is shoe-horned into a choiceless role. An incredible amount of potential is left unrealized. _________________________ Jeremy, Son of Perry
Posted by redqueen at 2007-08-28 04:50:57 Voted 7.75 on 08/28/07
i really enjoyed this. the way the third son was railroaded into his 'destiny' was really amusing. I also likes that Slerma took her own destiny in hand--she was a great character. The road up the mountain was kind of dull, but the views were nice, and the interior of the mountain was impressive. I didn't ever die, so I didn't know he could die--I think that's hilarious. Adds a whole new level of amusement. Though the goblins fleeing at the end was kind of disappointing--as the dwarf said, anti-climactic--but it made me laugh. Great theme, good humor, and the opening and closing were very well done. _________________________ They say the Prince of Darkness is a gentleman, and as it turns out, they're right. A fine gentleman.
Posted by shaughn at 2007-06-19 07:56:51 Voted 4.50 on 06/19/07
-spoiler-
Great opening to the story it drew me in and I couldn't wait to see how the game unfolded. By the end though I was greatly disappointed as it never able to match the intensity of the intro. The game itself felt very empty and I was even cheated out of the last battle as the goblins ran away from my pathetically weak PC.
Posted by msnevil1 at 2007-05-21 02:34:07 Voted 7.00 on 05/21/07
Story:
Opening scenerio, some jungian arch-type set with a blazing sky. A absolute determined outscome by "Prime Mover" DM Mungo_D. (ie a esoteric excuse for a lack of story options. :))
Once the long winded prolouge was preached, the story began. While the cliche' is simplistic in notion. There is a few "large" surprise's in store. Overall the story is not original but works.
Fun:
Difficulty was moderate hard, in my opinion. And while there was no clear defined "path". It was still easy to navigate by the map. Combat was ok, not very complex. Except maybe for pure spell casters.
Posted by flem at 2007-05-17 20:35:53 Voted 7.50 on 05/17/07
I don't get the low votes on this one. Very funny, despite the linearity. Amazing opening. Really nice mountainside. One floating tree though.
Posted by Algrim at 2007-05-16 10:50:23 Voted 7.00 on 05/16/07
I very much enjoyed the introduction. The narration at the beginning was excellent and how it was set up graphically. I'm not into the humor aspect much at all but it's still an interesting way to set up a character's backstory. The game was laid out well in every way. Short and sweet.
Posted by GreasyDogMeat at 2007-05-13 01:43:49 Voted 6.50 on 05/13/07
Short but fun. I really like the mountain and the first cave section when you meet the dwarves was well done. A few hanging stalagmites (not sure if placeables like that exist) and/or hanging tree roots would have really enhanced the illusion of a cavern ceiling. Also a good use of humor.
I think my biggest complaint is that figuring out how to first start up the mountain was confusing. I spent a long time near the river trying to find a route up the mountain until I figured out you have to walk through the bush with rustling noise.
It felt too much like Hughie's joke-mod with respawn...
Posted by Lariam at 2007-05-09 12:22:28 Voted 8.00 on 05/08/07
*looks the word 'quip' in a dictionary...*
Oh, I did take it as a quip of sorts, Berliad. :) _________________________ Forgotten Realms Weave
Posted by Berliad at 2007-05-09 12:13:28 Voted 6.00 on 05/08/07
Hi,
I didn't realize that it was a random dungeon! You should advertise that. :)
As for respawns, I don't use them and I don't like them in almost all cases. It just seemed slightly humorous to me that the inevitability of the character's success isn't reflected in the death system in this module, so I tried to make a quip about it. :)
Posted by Lariam at 2007-05-09 07:17:06 Voted 8.00 on 05/08/07
How about uninstalling the game on dying? I think that's what someone from Obsidian "suggested" in response to some posts in one of the death rules thread at some point... :D _________________________ Forgotten Realms Weave
I was thinking of making the game exit on saving - to get that real fragile NetHack feel. :)
Posted by Lariam at 2007-05-09 05:05:26 Voted 8.00 on 05/08/07
Another point of view on respawning... I actually think it's cool that there's no respawn - from the point of view of the theme, that is.
**** SPOILERS ****
The unforgiving death rules emphasize the "fragility" of the protagonist. Were he/she really invincible, the exploration of the stories-have-life-of-their-own stuff wouldn't be so neat, I think. Now, as things are, it is more like the protagonist only is destined to succeed thanks to everyone thinking that he will. In truth, he/she'd have no chance of succeeding if they didn't. That's why I liked the handling of the theme. Being third-born actually only helps in very weird circumstances!
Thanks Berliad. Combat is so hard to balance in a 1st level game - what is easy for a barbarian is extremely hard for other classes.
SPOILERS!
But if you missed the barbarian goblin, you missed the hardest fight - I've seen that sucker take out an entire party including barbarian PC with four swings. That's the 'luck' of a random 'dungeon'...
I do indeed intend to add to the module post-contest, with a little more exploration and combat in the caves, including a problem that needs solving. But "No more goblins!" as one of my beta-testers said. Also, I hope to add to the choices in conversations, though I am tempted to seek help in that - conversations aint my strong point.
My only problem with the witch sending friends is why would she when her success is guaranteed? I may, however, move her closer to the top.
As for respawn, it's a personal thing - the game is too easy with it. I'm a NetHack fan. You die, you are dead! ;)
Posted by Berliad at 2007-05-08 23:18:47 Voted 6.00 on 05/08/07
A few specific comments for the author (spoilers!!!):
* Again, I loved the effect in the opening cut scene. Phenomenal.
* Curious -- if the character is destined to succeed, why not allow an automatic respawn? :)
* I like Kaidryl's idea of a final battle on the side of the mountain to give the module some more meat. One idea of how to set it up might be to have the witch's friends try to ambush the player and take the gem by force. And only after the player defeats the friends does the witch approach the player and demand the gem. I don't expect you'll continue to work on this module after the contest, but just thought I'd throw it out there.
Posted by Berliad at 2007-05-08 23:18:29 Voted 6.00 on 05/08/07
6 - Good, Qualified Recommendation
Character: lv. 1 chaotic good human barbarian
Once upon a time is a modest, humorous little adventure with a cool premise, and ultimately is a decent way to start off a character and get him or her to level 2. The premise--that people are just pawns, their lives shaped by stories, which repeat over and over again--is really cool and deserves exploration. I thought that this was going to be a really cool exploration of fate and destiny and a character's fight against impossible odds. Instead, while there's an element of that, the author opted to use the premise as a running gag throughout the module. His take is funny and clever, and I recommend it for that. The module also has a cool underground mines area that was built exterior areas, as well as a spectacular effect during the opening sequence.
The actual adventure itself was fine, though perhaps not particularly memorable. Dialogs, as others have mentioned, were fairly minimal and were quite linear, though they were well written. It seems like this could have been a great hack and slash mod for a level 1 character, but I found the combat to be a bit light for that genre. Granted, I played with a fairly uber melee character, which might have made it too easy, but I think that a bit more combat & a bit more exploration (especially in the mines) might have made this a more enjoyable module. Of course, that might have been inconsistent with the punch line... :) _________________________ My NWN Blog FRW Character Creator
Hooray! I'm currently the 25th TOP NWN2 module of all time - so what if there are only 30 modules with 10 votes so far... :)
Seriously though, thanks very much for the sheer volume of feedback I'm getting, much of it very good for a builder. Currently (9/5), I am beating even the Birthday for votes per download. Amazing.
Don't forget to try out and comment on the other contest modules.
Posted by Lariam at 2007-05-08 04:06:54 Voted 8.00 on 05/08/07
I thought that this was a great mod to start a new character. :)
The introduction was very neat, I think. I also liked the way in which the contest theme had become intertwined with a Forgotten Realms module. (The "minis" were a nice little touch, by the way.) The paradoxical feel of the module was enjoyable, too. It seemed to give an expression to something true and interesting, yet at the same time showed that things aren't that simple. That's very vague, but I'll leave it at that. I also thought that the exploration of the idea was of a good scale. This was a short module that I enjoyed as such. I wasn't left wanting more (which is fully compatible with the possibility of future extensions after which the mod would still constitute an appropriately sized whole), and I liked what there was.
I'm feeling two ways about giving a small contest bonus to my vote... I'd like to do that, but, then, these modules will be treated like any other by the Vault. Hmmm... Okay, I guess I know how I'll vote, and I'm still not fully sure about whether the bonus made its way into my vote, or not. (I'm still learning the new standards, anyway, and I may come back one day to readjust my vote.) :)
Posted by Tiberius209 at 2007-05-07 20:15:42 Voted 8.25 on 05/07/07
Enjoyed the module. I was extremely impressed by the exterior and interior mountain maps, especially the cleverness of the latter. The opening and closing curscene was also well-done. I agree with other comments about the lack of conversation choices, but with only about a month to work, you can't do everything. Other aspects of the module clearly make up for that shortcoming.
I *am* upping my vote a tad, as I don't believe a one-month deadline module should be held to the same standards as the 'work 'til it's done' variety. By these standards, it's an excellent module.
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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