Dungeon Adventure, Epic, Final Version, Horror/Survival Horror, Roleplay, Twisted / Dark
Scope
Epic
Content
Teen
TricksTraps
Medium
Roleplay
Medium
HackSlash
Heavy
LevelMin
15
LevelMax
15
Gameplay Hours
06
Categories
Epic
Underdark Adventure
Patch
1.13
NWN2Game
NWN2:MotB
Description
VERSION 1.2 ***** REQUIRES MOTB
- A fortress known to only the oldest of gods, the Shadowdancer�s Vault lays a thick veil over the Underdark�s darkest secrets. Countless have tried to find it, only to fail miserably� and those who do manage to enter the Vault� never come out. Will you be able to find the Shadowdancer�s Vault before it is too late? Or will your many enemies, old and new, bring you down? -
The Shadowdancer�s Vault is the sequel to Shrouded Sun. Like Shrouded Sun you must play a Drow, Duergar, Svirfneblin, or Half-Drow to play The Shadowdancer�s Vault. (For story reasons of course.)
If you are a fan of traveling to other planes, doing battle with the minions of powerful gods, surviving in the ever dangerous Underdark, and facing both the evil forces of dark elves and the minflayers then the Shadowdancer's Vault may be the module for you.
Credit to Jonny Ree for his still awesome beholder model and credit to Wyrin for beta testing this module.
NOTE: You do not HAVE to play Shrouded Sun to understand the story in the Shadowdancer's Vault. You'll get a recap on the story in the form of a journal entry. The avatar that represents me will be willing to push you to the proper level as well.
Update 9/26/08 Sorry guys that it has taken so long to update this thing... I've been working hard on my upcoming module, The White Rose.
Anyhow heres the news:
- The Librarian is now pickpocketable. So if you want to take his stuff without killing him you can. (HINT HINT: Other neutral people might have goodies on them too.)
- Naferius is no longer killable.
- Erdips the Spider King's challenge rating has been fixed.
Update 10/7/08
- Added a little surprise if you decide to kill Faceless.
- XP will now be awarded to those who solve situations in other ways besides combat.
- A minor conversation bug has been squashed.
This Module was definitly better than it's predecessor. However I was taken completely out of the story by having the Mindflayers inside the vault when I had to get the key from the Planetars. It would have been impossable. Also I had to get the code from the achitect. Again, impossable for the flayers to be inside. Mabey a dialog change to explane how they did it, or remove them from the interior. But other than that, oh wait one more, I would have liked to have the dialog option to kill skreed when I came back to enter the vault. And mabey the mental note of my plan to do so when I accepted his help. (I killed him anyway.) Great storry, much better balance, Keep up the good work.
Posted by Avo at 2011-01-26 09:33:20 Voted 7.00 on 01/26/11
A lot better than the prequel, still full of flaws. Allthough the battles were tough but always doable there are a lot of balance problems, especially if you play this with a new character. The author seemd to have adjusted the module to a fighter or cleric. At least I can't think of any other reason why there are almost no medium or heavy armors. You get a decent plate mail that is almost forced upon you (two times) but no leather or chains. At least no useful ones. Weapon variety is very limited. Lots of dwarven battleaxes, a few greataxes, bows and one decent spear. Swordfighters are screwed.
Graphics and story are solid but not spectacular. Overall a good module. No more, no less in my opinion.
I might have found one potential gamebreaker though.
SPOILER
In the Imaskari vault you get a key that opens two doors. One leads to a treasure vault, the other to the lower level of the dungeon. Upon using the key on the treasure vault door the key is lost. So if you go for treasure first you loose the key and can't continue the game. Open the door to the lower level first, then go for treasure.
I enjoyed the first mod and am doing the second right now, but I hit a big problem and would really appreciate your help. I saved the architect and went back to the Inn, but the portal in the basement won't work. I just read through the messages and saw "If you murder The Portal Master early on, for XP or whatever, you will never be able to reach the vault." While I was talking to him the first time we went down there my companions killed him and I didn't think anything about it, so I didn't restart. But now I'm stuck. Is there any way to get the portal to work (perhaps a code or something) or do I have to restart the whole game)?
Thanks for any help you can give,
Karen
Posted by wes471 at 2009-12-17 02:59:19 Voted 8.50 on 12/17/09
Last vote for hall of fame.
Posted by trevassi at 2009-11-19 12:47:11 Voted 9.25 on 11/19/09
Very atmospheric and suitably nasty for the Underdark. Must confess I rather liked the level balance of the previous module and miss the fact that combat in that one really had to have you at the top of your game, would have liked it to be a bit tougher! Very enjoyable. Lack of shops actually selling much as in first one but a great module
Posted by Spidercat at 2009-08-18 11:23:23 Voted 8.00 on 08/18/09
You definitely improved since Shrouded Sun. Well done. I don't get it though that the module is tagged as "heavy roleplay" when it's minimal.
Posted by ubernerd at 2009-07-10 06:57:49 Voted 10.00 on 07/10/09
A dungeon crawl well done. The balance is MUCH better than the prequel. Best encounter design I've seen in NWN2. There is still a lack of real merchant.
I'm slightly inflating my vote to counter those who vote low simply because there is not much emphasis on story. Story isn't a required element to be a good game.
Posted by Rondo_GE at 2009-07-09 23:20:03 Voted 8.50 on 07/09/09
Very Good mod. Much better than the first one. Combat was better balanced. Yeah I lost a few fights but after studying the game log would usually win the second "match".
I played a Grey Dwarf Fighter/Frenzied Beserker. I carried two weapons I made for the first mod due to the imbalances there but they did not make things too easy here...
Gorgo... +5 Battlezxe
2-10 Acid
18 dispelling on hit
(Alchemical silver)
Armageddon +5 Handax
1-8 cold damage
On hit Silence 22
(Cold Iron)
Two handed style. Started off at level 14 (per the avatars adjustment) and ended up level 16.
The mod probably would have been somewhat harder without these weapons but what the heck there was no crafting I could have made similar weapons with craftingin the game...or better. Really Good weapons (relative to the combined challenges of killing "demon trolls" and "undead Beholders" were a little hard to come by in this mod although there was plenty of armor, amulets, sheilds that were fairly superior.
Not much in the way of role play and it's pretty linear...yet the dungeon are design was good enough to allow for some exploration at times and the storyline was very engrossing.
Thanks for the gold piece! Look forward to the next go round.
I have started the Module, I am a wizard, I am unsure how to get the warden's key. I cannot bash any door to do any damage...
Posted by Shambling at 2009-05-19 11:14:15 Voted 8.75 on 05/19/09
Just finished this and probably the most challenging combat to date in a mod I have played. Fights could use a tweak as watching melee whiff the air constantly was annoying. In addition to uselessness of most spell casting as was stated above.
I give points for another good story line but dialogue needs work. Limited dialogue between companions.
Limited weapon choices. While I understand the need to not have every weapon type in the game more than longsword, spear, warhammer, mace would be nice especially at the start.
Area design was good especially the astral plane part that was extremely well done. However I recognized the vault from your WR series.
Music and environmentals were very good also.
Keep up the good work you definately have a talent for these I think with some polishing on some of the dialogue and options and a bit better balancing of combat (which is probably the hardest thing to do in any game) you would definately have 10.00 mods.
Posted by DarkSpiral at 2009-05-16 02:30:15 Voted 8.50 on 05/16/09
I just finished this one, and it was a lot of fun. I was a little worried the combat would be as frustrating as the first module was, but no worries. _________________________ Trying to explain magic with words is like trying to cut roast beef with a screwdriver.
Posted by buckwheezer at 2009-05-08 04:53:49 Voted 9.50 on 05/08/09
After replaying this module I am upgrading it from my original 9.0 as a really outstanding module that was well developed and a lot of fun.
I really liked playing your mod! The story was interesting and the companions are great!! Maybe there still will be a direct sequel...? I really really want to meet Twilight and the drow mage/ mercenary (I'm sorry, I forgot his name...) again! (Sorry for my bad English, I'm not a native English speaker.)
Still not voting on this one since I've encountered a sort of show stopper......I wouldn't call it a bug though.....
***possible spoilers ahead****
In the beholder lair,the demon trolls are just impossible to kill,even equipping the cold iron weapons.They just end up wiping my party everytime,no matter the strategy,while I manage to do very few damage,which they erase as well since they have too strong regeneration.Am I missing something,or is this another of those "oh god I don't know why but impossible fights are so exciting" things?Honestly I really don't get that.....maybe cause I value story over challenge,but this is just fustrating!
******end of spoilers******
Since I loved what you did with WR (currently can't wait for the third estabilishment!), I was really let down by this,even though the story was pretty good....so far can't continue on playing so meh.
Another couple of notes: Tir'su is spelled Tur'su in description...one wonders which is the correct one; the companions are well depicted,though I would've loved a bit more interaction....or maybe there is once you go forward,which I can't for now lol.Kinda loved Twilight, too bad interesting fellows are always on the evil side it seems *laughs*
I do hope someone can help me out on this,or else this is game over for me...anyway I still appreciate your work,so I'm holding the vote for now :)
Posted by Lore of Old at 2009-04-24 09:57:40 Voted 8.50 on 04/24/09
See my review. Also take your time and leave a comment on the review on our forums. We appreciate it. :)
Posted by LeslieMS at 2009-04-10 16:59:29 Voted 9.50 on 04/10/09
ok well after playing through these two mods, I really enjoyed it.
Despite some spelling and grammer issues... (which were much improved over the previous mod, and even more improved in the White Rose mods...)
NOTE MINOR SPOILER...
Although I would have loved to kill the demon, I am pleased to see that it opens the door for another chapter!
I see loose connections to the White Rose mods, almost as if we are setting the mindflayers up for thier apocolyptic reign of power...
***END MINOR SPOILERS***
All in all this was a great module, and I found no bugs.
I really look forward to the next chapter!!!
_________________________ 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 LeslieMS at 2009-04-07 17:46:29 Voted 9.50 on 04/10/09
Ok so I played through The 2 White Rose Mods, and decided to give your other work a shot. I do that when I find an author that interests me. So here goes...
But I wonder if these two mods are related to White Rose??
Anyway, just finished downloading them, can't wait to install and play!
BTW: I love your short and sweet style instructions and journal entries!
Will be back to vote later! _________________________ 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 Feykina2 at 2009-03-17 22:22:11 Voted 8.75 on 03/17/09
Posted by Sylfarynen at 2009-02-19 01:35:52 Voted 9.25 on 02/19/09
Just finished the module!!!
I see that you are a true D&D loremaster. Everything in your module is neat. I likes all the encounters in your module and by no means I would say that they were v. difficult, after all they must be challenging. E.g. I was resting my characters every 6 or more encounters, same thing happens on official D&D modules pen & paper. I was impressed of the races that you have introduced, all the conversation dialogues were realy nice scripted, especially the ones between the main character and Twilight. The creatures you used were incredible and somehow felt unique. Story was nice, though I would have a better perspective if I had played the prequel. On the downside, the vampiric regeneration on the items was really high and you should tweak a bit the planetars in the module, all encounters with them seemed realy easy and unchallenging.
Gratzz pal and all your team for your work in the module, it is a shining jewel.
Yeah... I wouldn't murder any of the NPCs if I were you...
Posted by Winwood at 2009-01-31 22:16:42 Voted 8.00 on 01/31/09
If you murder The Portal Master early on, for XP or whatever, you will never be able to reach the vault.
Your comanions will apparently re-arrange their skill points when they are left at the tavern. I gave Twilight some Slight of Hand points on Level Up, but after he had resided at the tavern on his own for a couple of minutes, the Slight of Hand points were gone.
Posted by ActorOfVeil at 2008-12-01 12:22:32 Voted 7.50 on 12/01/08
Once again an entertaining module. Everything is smoother, greater and more focused than in its prequel. Battles - the best part in Shadowdancer saga - are once again quality work. _________________________ A good module author is PAG: Patient, Ambitious and Gutsy.
Posted by TinyGnomeHopper at 2008-10-28 07:48:40 Voted 8.00 on 10/28/08
I found this mod to be pretty straightforward and linear, but quite entertaining and fun to play within those limitations.
I'm glad that you found The Shadowdancer's Vault to be an excellent experience.
Once again, thanks for playing.
Posted by foil at 2008-10-26 08:22:48 Voted 8.50 on 10/26/08
Not much time for a breakdown these days. Life is catching up with me. But looking at the scoring FAQ section, there is a score that matches this module perfectly.
8 - Excellent, Recommended to Anyone
There's a lot new. It can be an influential mod. If it has a restricted target like a class-specific or niche module, you still would recommend it to anyone because you had so much fun or you found it to be so impressive. This is the kind of stuff that makes NWN2 such a great thing to have.
Put on top of that the excellent bug free play, nice looking unique areas, and overall responsiveness of the author, the 8.5 would seem justified. For me, anything over 8 is extremely hard to manage and is something that I don't think even the official content has quite reached. I'm always extremely amazed at the quality of material being released for NWN2 and this module falls among the top 3 modules I've played to date along with Asphyxia and Moonshadows.
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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