At the beginning of the popular tale of "Rapunzel," a lesser known adventure takes place: Rapunzel's father-to-be ventures into the garden of the most powerful witch in the land just to get his pregnant wife a vegetable called rampion to eat. �The Rampion Champion� takes this prologue and turns it into an adventure of its own. You play the father (if a human male) or otherwise godparent of the yet-to-be born child, forced by an insistent expecting mother to go on an unusual quest. A garden belonging to the most powerful Enchantress in the realm cannot be an ordinary place�who knows what strange creatures one might meet, what dangers must be surpassed just to fetch a few vegetables? Riddling garden gnomes, mischievous fey, and big bad wolves�not to mention the witch herself�await the adventurer who dares become the Rampion Champion.
Though �Rapunzel� is the primary source of this adventure, I also drew small elements from the following Grimms� Tales: "The Water-Nix"; "The Nixie of the Mill-Pond"; "The Peasant�s Clever Daughter"; "Snake Leaves"; and "The Fisherman and His Wife."
My choice for the witch's outfit inspired by Bernadette Peters.
Several scripts were created with the help of Lilac Soul�s Script Generator. Thanks to the NWN2 Builder community for bits of advice and wisdom.
Thanks also to Obsidian for holding this contest. I entered it largely to force myself to learn the toolset at a faster pace, and I've learned a great deal this past month, so for my own purposes, I've already "won." I'm sure better modders than I will also compete and get their rightful acknowledgements. All I ask is that if you have suggestions or complaints about this module, please contact me with your polite, constructive criticism. Thanks. [email protected]
Posted by Winwood at 2008-07-07 11:50:40 Voted 4.50 on 07/07/08
Some Merit, Requires Improvements.
Posted by fardoche77 at 2007-12-20 19:23:04 Voted 7.50 on 12/20/07
Well, I'm not sure about the comments I'm seeing here. I always felt, that, even if the mod is quite short, the atmosphere was nicely done, and it was a very enjoyable 30 min to spend anyway. Don't know why I never got around to vote. In any case, people should still try it out and not be spooked by the low rating it currently has.
Hope to see more of your work one day, Death Quaker
Wanted to play it with a fresh wizard. Forgot to rest before going out but then got into hostile ground right away (with no way back) and was killed while trying to start a conversation with npc. My familiar just watched the massacre even though the defend master was on.
I did not expect too much but I sure did expect more than that.
Posted by fire&ice at 2007-07-24 13:12:48 Voted 7.00 on 07/24/07
What a charming little module! I played with a Level 1 Barbarian and made it through being taken out by the Manikin once. The graphics and atmosphere were nicely themed and in keeping with the fairy-tale nature of the mod. I'd also like to echo the comments so far about the lovely storyboards.
* MINOR SPOILERS *
A few minor comments: I ran into the same bug as Berliad with the Lore checks and the conversation ending. If you speak the Manikin before the Nixie he doesn't say anything ... a bit strange, but he is a Manikin I guess. I'd have liked a chance to guess at the riddle in some way rather than solely relying on Lore although, looking at the solution which I guess is from a story, I wouldn't have got it :)
Thanks very much for an enjoyable interlude in my evening!
Enjoyed it for the little adventure it was designed to be. Thanks Death Quaker! To all beginner mod makers out there - this and the other short contest modules are excellent to examine for figuring out how things work!
Posted by Berliad at 2007-07-02 22:39:41 Voted 6.00 on 07/02/07
Specific comments for the author (SPOILERS!!!)
* I know you weren't really seeking additional feedback, but since I'd already played it I opted to vote anyway. So now you're on the top rated list, officially. Sorry? :)
* I mentioned that I ran into a dialog scripting bug--what happened is that when the lore check ran when talking to the riddle gnome, there were two lore checks for some reason. I failed the first and succeeded in the second. Rather than continue the dialog, the conversation just ended. When I tried again, I was able to start again as if nothing happened. The second time, I passed the first lore check, and the option to report the solution to the riddle was then available in dialog.
* I thought the garden pixies spreading dew drops were a wonderful touch, as was the monster description on the wolf (the sad eyes).
Posted by Berliad at 2007-07-02 22:35:25 Voted 6.00 on 07/02/07
My vote: 6 - Good, Qualified Recommendation
Character: lv. 1 human male rogue/fighter (advanced to lv.2)
Module version played: v.1, released 29 May 2007
With one of the more delightful, tongue-in-cheek titles of any module I've played, The Rampion Champion is an enjoyable, even if very short, module. Some users have reported being finished in 5-10 minutes, but I was occupied for closer to 25 minutes, not including the time it took to create a character. The module is light-hearted in tone. You play the father- or godparent-to-be of Rapunzel, and are sent by Rapunzel's pregnant mother on a desperate quest to retrieve rampion (basically radishes) from a nearby enchanted garden. Along the way, you'll encounter some light combat and meet some strange creatures before your adventure comes to a dramatic(?) end.
The most remarkable thing about this module are its fabulous cutscenes, which are highlighted by the use of still images that the author somehow created from in-game screenshots. The effect is something that looks like it came straight out of a book of fairy tales, and yet clearly uses NWN2 content. Really awesome stuff. The writing is good, with a nice amount of humor and a couple of interesting characters. There is a fun riddle with a few possible solutions, and the one you will uncover is determined by one's characters' attributes and skills. The combat seemed well-balanced for a soloing lv. 1 rogue (I can imagine the no-rest nature of the garden might make it a bit tough a wizard or sorcerer, however), though it is quite light. Impressively, there are multiple endings for this module, though the end result is not dramatically different.
I did encounter one bug in the dialog scripting. But the main limitation of this module is its length. It ends a bit abruptly--I expected that there would be at least one more interior area in which I'd get to sleuth about. Still, it represents a nice first effort by a new builder, and I hope that she will consider building again in the future. _________________________ My NWN Blog FRW Character Creator
Posted by shaughn at 2007-06-19 08:15:56 Voted 4.75 on 06/19/07
Neat idea for a prelude. Found the story to be very short and very easy. The game took about 5 to 10 minutes.
Posted by The Ridge at 2007-06-15 14:46:15 Voted 7.00 on 06/15/07
Great presentation with a strong fairy tale feel and premise. The garden area looked good, combat was challenging but doable for a level 1 cleric and the loot found was interesting.
I did encounter a couple of things I thought worth mentioning.
- The nixie ring isn't removed from your inventory when you return it for your reward (I had it equipped so that may be why).
- There are 2 rampion patches that are guarded. The second patch should at the very least have some floating text saying that it has been recently cultivated or something along that line.
I did like, depending on your final dialog choices, that there were 3 variations to the ending. A nice touch.
Overall I feel this is a good offering even if it is incredibly short (even by the contest standards) and it is worth a look.
- 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 The Ridge at 2007-06-15 14:43:51 Voted 7.00 on 06/15/07
Great presentation with a strong fairy tale feel and premise. The garden area looked good, combat was challenging but doable for a level 1 cleric and the loot found was interesting.
I did encounter a couple of things I thought worth mentioning.
- The nixie ring isn't removed from your inventory when you return it for your reward (I had it equipped so that may be why).
- There are 2 rampion patches that are guarded. The second patch should at the very least have some floating text saying that it has been recently cultivated or something along that line.
I did like, depending on your final dialog choices, that there were 3 variations to the ending. A nice touch.
Overall I feel this is a good offering even if it is incredibly short (even by the contest standards) and it is worth a look.
- 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 flem at 2007-06-05 19:20:02 Voted 5.75 on 06/05/07
Nice graphic touches, but really, really short. Still worth it, I guess, though having override files is a pain.
Posted by sad_eyed at 2007-06-03 08:41:11 Voted 5.50 on 06/03/07
I really loved the intro and outro.
The rest of the module is solid, bugfree, but very, very basic and smallscale.
Posted by Joeborg at 2007-06-02 12:04:17 Voted 5.00 on 06/02/07
way too easy and short.
Posted by sirchet at 2007-05-13 16:08:15 Voted 7.25 on 05/13/07
DeathQuaker:
I guess It was just me causing the ctd, (crash to desktop)the second and third time I played thru everything worked fine. I enjoyed going on a deadly turnip harvest. Thanks for presenting this for us to play, and please make more. :) _________________________ Help is good when asked for,
Better when needed.
sirchet, I take it "ctd" is "crash to desktop"? Not sure what happened there--nothing like that happened during playtest and the script that fires there isn't very complicated.
Try it again and see what happens. If the same mistake happens, can you please let me know which specific dialog you chose (there are a couple different nodes you can follow to opting to attack)? You can email me at [email protected] if you prefer. I can see if there's an error in coding somewhere. Thanks.
Posted by sirchet at 2007-05-05 18:54:57 Voted 7.25 on 05/13/07
DeathQuaker:
I liked the custom art in the begining of the story, but when I chose to attack the witch I ctd.
will hold my vote until played all the way thru. _________________________ Help is good when asked for,
Better when needed.
Wyrin and theobeau--thanks very much. Took awhile to get the still shots the way I liked them (yep, they're posterized among other things) so I'm glad you like them.
Speaker, you make a good point.I limited myself by working within the limits of an existing story, not wanting to change the ending too much, and some of the variances I did want to do I couldn't get scripted properly by the deadline (for one thing, you were supposed to truly be able to fight the witch). There are a few different ways to deal with the manikin and the witch, at least. After the contest, I may come back to this and add more content... maybe even expand it to make a twisted version of the whole Rapunzel tale.
There are some nice touches but there is so little choice for the player that it's hardly a game at all. It's more of a slightly interactive movie, and a very short one at that. _________________________ "You do well to flee, townspeople. I will pillage your lands and dwellings. I will burn your crops, and make merry sport with your more attractive daughters!" (Olaf the Troll, in 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer')
Posted by theobeau at 2007-05-01 15:21:11 Voted 7.50 on 05/01/07
I quite enjoyed your little module; the use of storyboards was a great touch that quickly established the fairy tale atmosphere.
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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