Combat, Dramatic, Forest Adventure, Puzzles, Twisted / Dark
Scope
Small
Content
Mature
TricksTraps
Medium
Roleplay
Medium
HackSlash
Medium
LevelMin
06
LevelMax
07
Gameplay Hours
02
Patch
1.10
NWN2Game
NWN2:MotB
Description
README FOR �THE BIRTHDAY,� 1.03 (REQUIRES MASK OF THE BETRAYER)
OVERVIEW: This is a mod written for Obsidian�s first NWN2 contest (theme: �Grimm�s Fairy Tales�). It is a medium-magic, high-wonder adventure, as befits a story adapted from a fairy tale. But which one? You'll have to find out!
SYNOPSIS (no spoilers): Today is a festive day in the small village called Schafberg. A talented foundling, raised by a shepherd and his wife on a nearby farm, has come of age, and now the young paragon's adoptive parents have brought their ward to town to speak to the Matron. Before Schafberg can rightly celebrate the birthday, a coming-of-age tradition known as "the birthday errand" must be honored, and the Matron reveals what that errand is to be.
BEFORE YOU PLAY:
1. Unzip birthday.rar to your desktop. You should end up with a folder containing five items�two copies of this readme (readme.txt and .doc), the module (The Birthday.mod), a campaign folder ("The Birthday"), and one file for the .hak folder (birthday.hak).
2. Make certain that you have the most recent patch for the game; this module also requires NWN2�s expansion, Mask of the Betrayer.
3. Put the Birthday.mod in your NWN2 modules folder, located in My Documents/Neverwinter Nights 2/modules. Do NOT put the file in Program Files/Atari/Neverwinter Nights 2/modules.
4. Put birthday.hak in your .hak folder, located in My Documents/Neverwinter Nights 2/hak.
5. Put �The Birthday� campaign folder in in your Campaigns Folder, located in My Documents/Neverwinter Nights 2/Campaigns.
WHEN YOU PLAY:
1. Start a new campaign (*not* a new module). Choose �The Birthday� from the list that appears.
2. Create a new character. It is important that you choose this option, as using an old character will not take advantage of the deities override.
IMPORTANT NOTES AND TIPS:
-This mod looks (and runs) best with SHADOWS OFF.
-*There is NO RESTING.* You can get all the benefits of resting by talking to Matron Holz when you are in town.
-*There is NO CRAFTING.* When assigning weapon feats, think �fairy tale.�
-This mod uses the OC�s DEATH SYSTEM (NO RESPAWNING). Make sure you Quicksave (hit F12) often.
-You will occasionally hear the sound of drums. This is an indication that you have gained experience for something or other that you have done.
-This is a SOLO MOD. Melee characters will find it easier; magic-users will find it challenging but do-able (see below). You will level up to sixth level (or the ECL equivalent) upon ending the first conversation. When you are building your character, keep in mind that you are building someone who ought to be able to solo.
-If your FIRST level is sorcerer, wizard, or warlock, you will find magical item(s) in your inventory that were added to balance the mod for solo magic-users.
-You may notice that the fairies in the game do not have standard D&D fairy attributes (i.e, are not "fey creatures" per se). This was a design choice. I know it makes me less cool.
Changes 1.01
-Made resting not allowed in the forest. Thanks geethree!
-Made Sieben unkillable by stray fireballs.
Changes 1.02
-Tried to improve conversation stability.
Changes 1.03
-Added conversations to NPCs in areas where convos sometimes failed to trigger; improved stability of area transition convos
-Gave Mother Goat a new model (thanks MotB!)
-Anchored a floating tree
-Added support for the spirit shaman and favored soul classes
-The game now automatically exports the PC at endgame (if you don�t die, of course)
-Enhanced Mother Goat�s combat abilities and techniques
-Removed a superfluous comma
-Converted override folder materials into a single .hak
-Made �The Birthday� into a campaign (for some reason the new MotB races were not integrating properly in a module format)
Well, I wish I could remove most of the problem comments I wrote, and instead leave one comment saying that it was apparently due to my own error in installing the module's files. When removing the files, I noticed that the hak file was not where it was supposed to be. I reinstalled all files to be sure, and ran through once more, and all of the conversations worked this time, though I did notice that the journal entries became blank this time, as a previous user mentioned. _________________________ Tchos' Gaming & Modding
I opened the module in the toolset to see what I could do to get past this problem, and I saw that the door was supposed to trigger a conversation, and it wasn't triggering because it required the Matron's conversation to have advanced that journal entry to the 5th stage.
I forced the Matron's quest to advance using the console and the name information I got from the toolset:
rs ga_journal("q_matron", 5, 1, 1, 1)
But it still wouldn't fire the conversation from the door, and I couldn't find the name of the door to force it to fire because the toolset crashed every time I tried to load the Woods area.
I found where it was supposed to lead, though, and used the console to skip to the part where they let me inside. I missed out on the "pie" task by doing so, but I was able to play through the rest of it normally after that. Here's the command I used, for anyone else that might be having this problem:
rs ga_jump_players("faery_wp", 1, 0) _________________________ Tchos' Gaming & Modding
And now I'm stuck. I got all the treasures, and got to the house in the woods, but I can't go in. I have no rogue skills, so I can't unlock the door, and it doesn't do anything when I try to bash it. If the matron was supposed to give me a key in the missing conversation, then I'm apparently out of luck.
I looked for some kind of console command to unlock a door, or give me a lockpicking skill, or give me enough XP to go up a level so I could maybe take a rogue level, but nothing worked. _________________________ Tchos' Gaming & Modding
I'm running v1.03 of this module (the campaign version), with MotB and SoZ installed, and started the campaign with a new character, and chose the Wooden Crone as my deity.
The conversation with my parents seems to work fine, but I have the same problem a previous poster mentioned, that the Matron only says "Greetings, young one" when I approach her, then the dialogue ends. She does not give me a quest or tell me what I'm supposed to do, and the journal does not update (still says "Talk to the Matron...") Talking to her again gives a dialogue that assumes I've already been given the quest, and again, nothing is updated. I'll attempt to just go into the woods anyway, without any idea of what I'm supposed to be doing, except that it involves Mother Goat's house, mentioned in passing by the Matron when I ask her "again" about various topics. _________________________ Tchos' Gaming & Modding
Posted by DannJ at 2011-09-05 15:49:27 Voted 9.50 on 09/05/11
Great fun. I'd have voted a 10 if the journal entries worked.
Posted by eL_PuSHeR at 2011-09-05 00:06:19 Voted 7.00 on 09/04/11
I got one crazy idea for dealing with the end boss using a rogue:
**** SPOILERS BELOW
To buy some traps and trap most of the room behind the portal. I think this should kill most of those annoying nibelungs and such.
Posted by eL_PuSHeR at 2011-09-04 14:42:31 Voted 7.00 on 09/04/11
I finished it using a rogue but cheating because it's impossible to defeat the last boss when you never cannot use stealth (every enemy seems to possess true seeing) and with a lvl 6 rogue (one attack per turn / low fighting capabilities) I repeat it's impossible. I found the combat quite annoying although the setting and the story are very nice. You definitely need a fighting type character here or some char with magic capabilities.
Posted by TikiHat at 2011-09-02 13:22:12 Voted 9.75 on 09/02/11
An absolutely outstanding module, the best mini that I have seen. The attention to detail is astounding, even better than in Harp. The little farming hamlet was a jewel, and the background scenery made me want to just go out and wander through it while enjoying the sights. The forest really captured the feel and mood of the story. It looked just like my imagining of places like Hurtgen or the Black Forest from childhood. Unlike some, I found the giant trees to be perfect for an enchanted forest that had been the subject of all my character's childhood nightmares. Since my quest was to go to very home of my childhood boogeyman... er boogeygoat, the feeling of having a hard time finding my way really fit the story.
I played through twice. Once as a LG F/6 and once as a NG R/6. The Fighter dutifully completed the quest as given, and was terribly surprised by the twist at the end. The Ranger showed compassion along the way, and was equally surprised by the different ending to this grim tale. Both endings were complete and tied off the story admirably.
Why do I rate this so high? Maerduin has an unsurpassed artist's eye when building a world. Everything is beautiful and leaves you wanting even more. His storytelling is unsurpassed and rarely equalled. In a module much shorter than I normally like, he managed to work in all the inmportant aspects of D&D. There were rewards for various skill checks. There were options for playing my roles. There was good combat for either Tanking or using Finesse styles.
Why not a perfect 10? Just two minor quibbles. The lack of a journal made completing the one side-quest irksome, and the rest restrictions meant that once I lost my wolf AC I was on my own. The second point would make me extremely wary about playing a caster of any kind. If either of these were corrected, I would adjust my vote accordingly. Even without this, I consider Birthday to be a module that I will keep and replay any time I have a couple hours to kill.
Posted by PaulBlay at 2010-11-02 05:09:07 Voted 9.00 on 11/02/10
Very nice module - and the fighting was just fine for a non-fighter (I played rogue / warlock and it was almost too tough).
Actually I think the Fighter / Non-fighter divide is just too large in later versions of D&D. If I had the time I'd like to produce a hak to rebalance them. :-)
Posted by Sumguy at 2010-03-22 13:25:37 Voted 9.50 on 03/22/10
This mod has a lot going for it. If I had to pick one thing it would be the beautiful landscapes ... well, and the good writing ... also, it has the got the highest concentration of fairy tales per square metre ... ok ok ... if I had to pick three.
Anyway, the only reason not to give it a straight 10 is the short length and the combat which is too easy for a fighter.
Posted by quothraven at 2009-08-05 19:44:40 Voted 10.00 on 08/05/09
Yes; this fully and completely deserves a "Masterpiece" score. While reading the comments on H&C, I heard this mod mentioned and decided to try it out. I'm so glad I did! It was short, sweet, and sometimes a little scary! :3
A ranger works really well with this mod, as a note -- the animal companion really comes in handy when fighting swarms of redcaps.
The story was great! Things didn't turn out like I expected them to, even though I read the book that was one of the treasures and thought I knew everything. Still, there was just enough of a twist to make things interesting and non-cliche!
I noticed that there were opportunities for different endings; that's great too!
The way you tied in both the macabre, twisted aspect of fairy tales. Come to think of it, this reminded me of the movie Brothers Grimm. A lot.
The settings were gorgeous, and I really enjoyed the fact that the father's name was Eumaeus and he was a shepherd (hurrah for The Odyssey?).
FANTASTIC mod, overall. Absolutely everyone should play this one.
Posted by Manne at 2009-06-21 13:29:32 Voted 10.00 on 06/21/09
I'm not getting the initial dialogue either. I have SoZ installed, which might be the problem.
Posted by tr0j at 2009-03-19 05:23:59 Voted 10.00 on 03/19/09
Outstanding. We could do very well to have more modules like this.
Posted by Luonnotar at 2009-01-26 13:23:25 Voted 8.00 on 01/26/09
Great mod! _________________________ ::RAWR::
Posted by Moira at 2008-12-14 04:51:10 Voted 9.00 on 12/14/08
I managed to work my character around the problem of gaining no beginning levels: exported the character right away, trained it in a trainer module and imported it back.
So, bugs I run into: the parents don't talk to my character at all, and the missing journal entries.
I score this module high first and foremost because it's so wonderfully written. It's a good short story in the literary sense; a self contained, well-paced and intriguing narrative. Thus the short length isn't a con, it's a feature.
I found the module wonderfully atmospheric and true to the spirit of the stories Grimm. I enjoyed the details such as the descriptions of the fairy tale objects and the naming of the seven children. What this module sets out to do, it does with near perfection.
Posted by Moira at 2008-12-06 10:42:35 Voted 9.00 on 12/14/08
I was really looking forward to playing The Birthday (especially being a huge fan of H&C!) but unfortunately I couldn't get it to work. The problem is that the character doesn't gain levels, money and/or gear at the beginning. I'm assuming that the problem is actually in not being able to talk to the parents when the mod starts. Neither of them has dialogue initiated when I click talk on them. Other characters in the village seem to work just fine.
I created a character from scratch and have the latest patch (to MotB) installed. Since I didn't try the module before updating to the latest patches, I don't know if something in them may have broken the module (v. 1.03).
Posted by JohnOBX at 2008-11-30 00:01:36 Voted 8.00 on 11/30/08
Good "quickie" mod. I didn't have a single issue with the mod not working. Interesting short story, good writing and a surprise ending.
I think I understand why the trees were so thick in the forest, but they were annoying. Parents who raised the MC should have had some role in the third act. Lack of journal was a small issue. Don't know why I couldn't put pins in the map, but that wasn't as big a deal as I thought it was going to be.
I played as a cleric, which was probably not the optimal character, but I got through without a death or reload. Plenty of close calls to make it interesting.
Thank you.
Posted by warriorsage at 2008-11-26 21:14:41 Voted 10.00 on 11/26/08
This is an absolutely fantastic module and a well told story to boot.
Posted by Magus_42 at 2008-09-13 13:44:53 Voted 9.50 on 09/13/08
I can't really say anything that hasn't been said before. It's a great little short story. It's over far too quickly, and there's not much challenge too it (at least with the character I used), but it's a most enjoyable experience all the same.
As mentioned above, the journal entries are blank, which is a bit annoying. There was also no way for me to rest my animal companion, which was unfortunate, but not really a problem.
Posted by buckwheezer at 2008-09-09 06:52:15 Voted 9.50 on 09/09/08
Very well done!!!
Posted by LeslieMS at 2008-08-27 13:31:18 Voted 9.00 on 08/27/08
I loved the whole mystical feel of it. I loved the story line, I would love to see more of it, be it by extention, or a whole new (larger) similar story.
I had an issue with journal entries coming up blank which was cofusing, but that seemed to be the only bug I ran accross.
Great feel to it. Continue the lovely work you do. _________________________ Stupidity kills people.
Nothing Good comes from ignorance.
Knowledge is power that is useless with out the wisdom to use it properly.
Be Well and Be Safe,
Leslie
Posted by macabroid at 2008-08-19 06:23:55 Voted 9.00 on 08/19/08
Excellent mod with a distinct �dark pagan fantasy� feel I�ve never seen before in computer games. And with a few minor fixes it could be even greater:
1. Random load screens are confusing and too Forgotten Realms-ish
2. While casting, unseelie beloved says something like �sanctus�. It has catholic feeling in it, breaks the pagan atmosphere completely.
For such a tiny module, even small things like these matter. But overall, a great job - much better, than ANY part of the NWN2 OC.
Posted by Winwood at 2008-07-20 23:20:43 Voted 7.75 on 07/20/08
Very Good, Deserves a Look. Very short story and buggy logbook though.
Posted by Raskae at 2008-06-30 23:58:04 Voted 9.50 on 06/30/08
I only wish there had been more.
Posted by DocX at 2008-06-03 11:19:08 Voted 9.00 on 06/03/08
Nice mod with lots of nice little touches put in by the author. Thanks Maerduin.
So far, I am enjoying this module, it's subtle. One question - this is a problem I've had with one other module / campaign, and I'm not sure where the issue is or what to do about it. Anyway, my journal has gone blank. There are clearly entries in it, but no text - or at least, no visible text. I think it's something to do with reloading the game after a save, but I'm not certain.
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
Site
at 2012-10-17 16:15:30
