Classic PnP Conversion, Combat, Dramatic, Twisted / Dark
Scope
Medium
Content
Teen
TricksTraps
Light
Roleplay
Light
HackSlash
Heavy
LevelMin
09
LevelMax
13
Gameplay Hours
06
Patch
1.21
NWN2Game
NWN2:MotB
Description
*UPDATE*
The latest update to the mod contains a signifigant increase in difficulty for the final battle, as well as a number of misc. bug fixes.
Please keep the suggestions and votes coming. Many good suggestions have come through this board, and we are currently working on adding a number of them to the mod.
***********
Ravenloft:Dreamscape is our way of melding the worlds of i6 and i10 together in a new way. While some of the characters and areas may be familiar to those experienced players, a large partof the module has been planned from the ground up. We love the setting, and are excited to bring a new single player adventure to you.
Prepare to enter into a world of hopelessness and deceit - one where not everything is as it seems. There are many hidden goodies for the adventurous traveler - but beware, we recommend a player level between 10 and 12.
A number of points to consider before setting off on your quest...
1) We have provided an introductory staging area which will give underleveled characters the proper XP to move on.
2) Keep in mind that there are different endings (3), depending on decisions made in the mod and character alignment.
3) There are many places where the player has the ability to forge certain aspects of their own future. Beware of these conversations and experiences. Without a close attention to detail, you may find yourself biting off more than you can chew!
4) If you're stuck, check the journal or talk to your companions!
Once again, we appreciate your support and do it because we love it. Remember that feedback is very much appreciated.
Requirements:
Neverwinter Nights 2
Neverwiner Nights 2 Expansion: Mask of the Betrayer
600 MB free hard drive space
This mod is compressed using 7zip. To get 7zip for free to extract the files, go to Link
Installation Instructions:
1) Copy the BlackRain_RL.hak into your My Documents/Neverwinter Nights 2/hak folder (if this folder does not exist, please create it)
2)Copy the mod file into My Documents/Neverwinter Nights 2/modules
2a) Please remove any older versions of our Ravenloft hakpaks or modules.
Now, let's be fair, I have never played the pvp version so I'm not as familiar with the setting as I should be. The area designs are surely beautiful, but unnecessarily large if u ask me. There's no mention whatsoever about the companions in the ending which is discouraging. The end battle is certainly too hard too. The ending is also too short compared to the fight (in fact I'll settle if u just let us walk around and talk to the villagers in the ending area, put in some of the town(the one in the real world) NPCs and companions and put in some extra dialogs)(Even better if u put in a DM at the end and just maybe congratulate us and let us export of something). There isn't any major bug, and I agree this is a very solid module. The plot is good once you get the hang of it. Actually the main problem with the module is that there aren't enough informations regarding the plot during the first 'jump', there could be more words on the journal explaining how u suddenly appear outside, or more words from the companions explaining how u guys ended up there, or alter the backgrounds (add in some background effects or such) which will let us distinguish between the 2 worlds more clearly. I'm sorry but I can only give it an 8 given my experience. I just don't get dragged into the atmosphere like some other modules.
Posted by Sumguy at on04/07/10
Area design, characters and writing are very nice. Based on those alone I would give it a 9 or even a 9,5. Unfortunately there is an abundance of issues that steadily drag it further down. Whenever I got into the atmosphere, some arbitrary design decision jerked me out of it again. For example the intro and first areas set a nice scene. Unfortunately it's directly ruined by removing all equipment. At that point I ignored all conversations, story and areas to skip ahead and see if I would get at least the important things back. At level 12 you've literally spent days building your character. Too many mods fail to implement this properly. So why waste time with the story when you might find out at any time that your items got deleted due to a bug? The mod starting with two severe bugs didn't inspire a whole lot of confidence in that respect. I tried again and enjoyed myself for some time and then BAMM: forced failure (dragon statues in the castle), always a bad idea. What's the point of all the writing, design, suspension and atmosphere when you pull a dick move that jerks the player out of it? The huge loading time didn't exactly help either. There are a few big bugs: - The start NPC in the World's End bar cannot handle races with level adjustments. When my char was level 11,8 (9,8 + 2ecl) he said I was underlevelled and REMOVED all experience down to level 11. - When I decided to give it another try, I loaded a game at the very beginning in the crypt before you get killed. When I woke up at the inn, the bartender started the wrong conversation as if I had already been in the common area. He never gave me the key to the room upstairs. - Companions are stuck on level 10. To level up they need to gain 55.000 exp. Then there's the final battle. It screams "unbalanced and broken" right in your face. If Strahd got even a single spell off, it was lost. After he started buffing, I didn't have any spell that would affect him and even a buffed fighter/barbarian companion would only hit if she rolled 19 or 20. Let's not forget his 50% concealment, a seemingly infinite number of stun/paralyse spells and he and his demon cast AE damage spells with up to 90 damage. Basically you have to cheat and reload until you get a perfect streak of knockdown and silence rolls (only interrupting spell I had he wasn't immune to or regularly passed saves). After almost 1,5 hours trying various tactics and a lot of frustration because the only way to win was to cheat, the ending was cheesy and didn't match the rest of the writing.
Posted by Robel at on11/22/09
I cannot even believe I endured playing it as long as I did (about 2-3 hours). Maybe the module is great once it gets to the middle but there's no excuse to such a slow and boring start. The idea was nice, the whole worlds inside my mind thing and the areas you made were extremely pretty and well polished, but this was all a waste of time for me. I`m sorry, I do not wish to offend, but that`s just my opinion. Cheers! _________________________ Needles in the eyes!
Posted by Coren at on09/26/09
This was first unofficial module I've played and I loved it! Haven't had a chance to play Ravenloft DD setting, and so quickly downloaded it, when I saw the mod. Fantastic detail, great story, and a good amount of challenge but not soul crushingly difficult (I always play on hardcore setting), and I liked that I had to think of what's going on. Played this late at night which added to the impressive game atmosphere. Thanks for the fun. :)
Posted by myxezipetelka at on09/22/09
i agree with ubernerd about the stupid enemy's, but i also want to point out that strahd uses his spells clever. i was happily surprised about it at the one hand and displeased at the other because i was dizzy for about 5 minutes :(
Posted by myxezipetelka at on09/22/09
i like this mod :) i like the fact that there is no "battle music" (except for the last fight) the music, and graphic are all to my tastes i.e. beautiful and atmospheric. in stores and in the cellar of the heather house is no music, though. it is a nice idea to start in a tavern in never land and i liked the switching between the two worlds and it was funny to destroy the environment (some bookshelves in heather house they are not highlight-able but destroyable by fireballs^^) i destroyed the carpet in the "book quest" which forced me to reload :( i am sad that i could not disarm the skeletons and the asylum could have been better fleshed out. why did the woman in red appear and who is she? what is her purpose? i followed her in the town but no track of her... i followed her in the second floor but to no avail! :(
Posted by MikeLM9215 at on08/30/09
Sometimes confusing module that switches you back and forth between two classics. Didn't use the other Mordentshire module Howls in the Night. Still, a decent ravenloft module despite that and the beginning. _________________________ The road to Ravenloft is paved with good intentions.
Posted by ubernerd at on07/12/09
A very beautiful module. The author definitely has put a lot of efforts to make it aethestically pleasing. The first half of the module consists of alteration between dream sequences. The purpose here I believe, is to create suspensions. I'm not much of a fan for dream sequences. The idea can be interesting the first time, but the novelty wears off fast, this flashy trick is too over used. Despite my prejudice, I think the author here has suceeded to some extent. Although I find the dream sequence serves more to draw player's attention, that is, to create suspensions, than is something interesting in itself. This is reflected in the fact that after 3-4 dream sequences the player is still given very little informations on what's going on. The gameplay itself is lacking. The first half of the game has a lot of walkings and back trackings, and what little combat there was is made up of horde of skeletons with 4 AB and 70 HP; you get the picture. Most enemies are straight forward with little variations. Combat was mostly a bore. There are some quests but not the kind you'll regret missing. This module would be much better if the encouter design could be improved. It's a shame that such a beautifully crafted module failed to be fun.
Posted by Sybrida at 2009-05-1719:00:01
I'll wait until I've actually completed the mod before I vote, but I wanted to suggest a change. In the hermit's home, when you click on the rug, it says something about the rug being suspicious. Ah ha! says my dwarf fighter - suspicious rugs are to be bashed to reveal the secret door or pit trap that is inevitably underneath. As far as I can tell, this breaks the history quest. You might want to flag the rug as unbashable or indestructible. Alternatively, make it so that if you bash the rug, it reveals a trap door.
Posted by Deedlit at on05/02/09
This module was a tiny little jewel I overlooked for far too long; it was a real pleasure playing it,both for atmosphere and the creativity it was put in exploring the dephts of mind - my second favourite theme along with the planes one. I have to admit I don't know much about ravenloft lore,so this was all new and exciting to me; reasons for my vote may be too naive or inappropriate for the more experienced player then, but nonetheless here they are... ****possible spoiler ahead!!!!**** The story obviously was pretty intriguing to me!The way it slipped from consciousness to dream and back,always maintaining that general ambiguity about both, was exceptional;be it due to the Ravenloft lore or just out of your own work,it takes nonetheless a lot of skill to put that sort of thing into show,and you've succedeed splendidly in it. I particularly loved how I was unable to read the letter for the first time while I was dreaming (and not knowing it yet),while in the waking status all made perfect sense; the various hints here and there (like the patients in the sanitarium or the hut near the burnt church with the notes scattered on the floor- I franctically laughed at "the truth is out there"*giggles*) just added to the overall feeling....kinda reminded me of "asylum" module,which to me is a compliment. The attention to this kind of particulars is what made the module peculiar to me: the way transitions were handled to create that suspension typical to dreams,or the way the story unfolded step by step (like for example having to read the book before the sarcophagus becomes usable and so on),having to pay attention to hints and having separate journals....everything was skillfully and accuratedly handled to create that special feeling and atmosphere,in which as I said above,you've largely succeeded. Area design contributed greatly to this of course:I personally loved the road north,the way it kept repeating itself after a certain point,but then one step back and boom,you're in Mordentshire again!Exactly how a dream should be...There was magnificent accuracy both in outdoor and indoor planning as well. I particularly loved the Heather House,which honestly seemed more spectacular than Ravenloft castle itself: my only criticism is that maybe,areas should've been inverted,I mean the ones in castle ravenloft in the end seemed "smaller" and more suited for a decayed noble house than the castle itself (expecially the garden was really amazing!!). The deserted city really gave a desolated feeling as well...maybe too much,but in the end it was intended that way,and I loved how my companions' comments matched both in the dream and in reality (about Barovia)! The story unfolded pretty well to me,I had no difficulty at all in knowing what to do next,if you paid enough attention; since I explored a lot and tried to do all the quests as well (the only one not completed was the drunkard one,since,well,being a good character I didn't want to steal from him ahah!),I knew all the particulars I needed to know about Strahd and his story,so I had no difficulty in there as well...everything made pretty much sense to me,maybe it was a linear story in the end after so much whirling and winding,but that's the nature of things sometimes,they seem much complicated but in the end,the core reasons are simple...it felt very human to me :P Roleplay was pretty linear as well - pretty much nonexistent,but since it's a story driven module,it makes sense anyway;the only parts that felt a bit confusing to me were the whole gipsy card reading thing and the exploring castle ravenloft itself...but oh well,I blame my bad english and my laziness for those :P And speaking of humanity,this is regrettably the only negative note I have found in this - I'm of course talking about companions;don't take it at heart though,I'm very hard to please when it comes to this compart! Though the companions personalities and backgrounds were interesting (I mean,a paladin with a rogue past and a well-mannered snobbish tiefling mage are an intriguing lot for sure!),the fact that you could resolve their entire dialogue in one session felt pretty much rushed (like "Hi,my name is xxx.You are scum and I'm an awesome mage.By the way,I'm gonna wreck havoc and famine on my hometown just to be aknowledged,so hey,big time!Oh yeah,I thought about what you said,and I still want to make them suffer the blackest hunger,seriously.Ok,maybe I won't kill them all.Maybe." - time elapsed: 3.2 seconds!); it would've been nice having them talk about their experiences in a more bit-by-bit way,but I guess it's hard to accomplish that in such a module (though,it could prove interesting to have mixed information based on your waking-dreaming status...ehehe). Anyway I was very pleased with their AI: the mage (yeah,I'm so bad at remembering names...I'm old so meh!)promptly cast defensive spells on me everytime and Tara as well was quick to heal and defend,not sure if this was wanted by you,but if it was,good job! I didn't experience any bug,it was a pretty well polished version to me: the only,REAL annoyance I had,is companions kept destroying objects (usable and not!) with their spells....now,if this is normal for,say,a library,it's not an usual sight to see a STATUE and a COLUMN (near the altar in first floor of castle ravenloft) literally disappear after a fireball...not to mention I couldn't re-use the cauldron or the bell-rope since they went destroyed as well *grumbles* maybe you should make those undestroyable (or whatever the technical term is :P). Now,there's just one thing I still wonder: is the red woman Tatyana,or is she a glitch in the matrix? *laughs* She's really the only thing that still doesn't make complete sense to me... ***************************** So,all in all,a well deserved 9; but since you've showed a VERY admirable dedication to both your work and community,paying attention to comments and promptly polishing and adjusting (and not many do such a thing!),along with your creativity,that earned you another 0.50 :) I for sure will be eagerly waiting for your next installments;good luck and still,great job on this :)
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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