Roleplay, small story, some side-quests, crafting available, some hack'n slash, traps
Patch
1.03
Description
You realize you've been following the road for days, almost as if driven by some unknown compulsion. However, you cannot recall even when you started or where you're traveling from. As your head begins to clear, you notice again a sense of urgency within you, that you must travel further. Perhaps the answers to your past lie somewhere ahead. Your fate beckons from Avendale...
This is my first adventure with the NWN2 toolset. I'm still learning the program and I'm not an incredible scripter, but hopefully this will be a fun beginning-level adventure to play. I apologize in advance for any minor bugs (this toolset has a steep learning curve.) Have fun, and I look forward to any feedback!
Notes:
If playing as single player, I recommend using the two available henchmen in Avendale. If playing multiplayer, try to keep the party to 3, max 4 players for balance purposes (or any mix of players and henchmen up to 4 total.) I also recommend starting at level 1.
Once I have a new computer and the toolset doesn't randomly crash when I try to save, I will begin work on the sequel which will start where Avendale leaves off.
What a fantastic adventure. You are very free to be your character. I have played many, many modules in NWN and NWN 2. This ranks amongst the most enjoyable. The combat is well-balanced with some tough near-death experiences but nothing is outlandish. Hard but realistic for low levels. The best aspect of this module is that you aren't forced too much into a linear plot. There are many great, small-scope experiences. Well done. This is classic DD. An intelligent, fair mind has created this adventure that can easily fit into any world.
Posted by smorpheus at on04/17/08
Avendale Review Dialogue Dialogue is very limited in this module, there are only a handful of conversations throughout. The dialogues that are there have limited options, and from what I could tell no skill checks. I found the dialogue to be dry and bare bones, and some weak attempts at humor that don?t really work. Characters No memorable characters, almost all of them clichéd RPG archetypes. Even the companions are uninteresting. The Bard certainly started off interesting, but his story goes nowhere. Quests Quests felt broken to me. As others have mentioned, they often don't connect properly. I wasn't sure why I was supposed to keep playing after clearing out the Wizard Tower. Overall Story There isn?t much of a story here, in fact, you often are wandering around not really sure where you should be heading. The story that does emerge towards the end is unfinished and not intriguing. Level Detail Both the interior and exterior areas are sparsely decorated and uninteresting. There?s no music in any area, and some of the larger outdoor areas are pointless and bland. Level Creativity There?s a forest, a mountain, an outdoor fort, a very small town, a wizard tower, and a catacomb. As mentioned earlier, all of these areas come off as very bland. Overall Level Design Not much more to say, pretty unimpressive. Items Very mixed balance on the items. Later in the module, you?ll find a lot of extremely high-end items, but early-on you're stuck with a poorly-stocked merchant. By the end of the module, you have found a disproportionate amount of loot, which I suppose is balanced by the fact that the only merchant in the game quickly runs out of money when you try to sell off your loot. By the end of the adventure, you will be level 4, with 20,000 gold which seems very high to me. Enemies Enemies are inconsistent, the Imp found in the library of the Wizard tower is significantly more difficult than the Wizard himself. There are Wights with level-drain. If you are level-drained, you have to use a Scroll of Restoration, which may or may not be possible depending on your class. The final boss is a level 5 rogue who even with copious amounts of healing potions, can?t really stand up against 3 other PCs only one level lower than he is. Puzzles No puzzles to speak of. I think there was supposed to be a puzzle in the final catacombs room, but I just bashed the door. Overall Balance It can be challenging at times, but it?s never satisfying. XP and loot comes too freely. Bugs There is a general air of sloppiness in the mod. One cutscene doesn?t have cutscene bars, and there?s lots of pathing issues. All of the Arcane Circles Z-Fight in the Wizard Tower, etc.. However, no game-breaking bugs were found. Grammar Actually pretty good. Overall Quality Assurance Definitely needed to be tested much more thoroughly before released as a ?Final? version. Overall Pluses: *Quick adventure, good way to go from 1-4 in a short amount of time if you don't want to use a trainer. *Several Areas to explore *Not awful for a first-effort. *Cool use of skill checks at triggers. Overall Constructive Feedback: *The whole thing feels really bland and generic. You need to add more detail to just about everything, the characters, the areas, the quests. Final Score based on Voting Standards: 4 - Some Merit, Requires Improvements _________________________ Smorpheus' Toolset Visual Index Link
Posted by doo-monster at on04/11/08
No journal entries. An undeveloped plot. Fighting elementals at this level is unrealistic. It definately has potential but needs more work. I did like the skill checks. I think there were a couple of times to use spot and listen.
Posted by Carlo at on03/21/08
Played this multiplayer over at Neverwinter Connections, party of four in total. We started out a bit high-level for the adventure, but still enjoyed it. This is a good starter module for a party, certainly enough to do, but not having too large a scope. The town and NPCs are well-constructed and the quests are reasonable. I like the fact that you start out on the road, makes for a good transition from whatever backstory you want to think up, and the setup is logical for going to Avendale with the first quest. The part about being mysteriously drawn to Avendale doesn't seem to be followed up on, though, so we just dispensed with it. A few minor points for future consideration. Would have liked to see the journal entries a little clearer - we were a little unsure about the main quest with the wizard. The random loading screens sometimes felt inappropriate. Few actual door transitions, even when doors were there (area transitions used instead). Thanks for making this an enjoyable experience, hope to see your future creations.
Posted by RolandGR at on03/08/08
I should have voted 10.
Posted by schatten9 at 2008-01-1805:42:36
Thanks for the comments and votes, ericdoman, RolandGR, and dj1. I'm glad you guys enjoyed the module. dj1, regarding your more detailed comments (thanks for the feedback), I appreciate your ideas. Many people would have written things differently, but I can't please everyone. The NPC's had some personality, but the extent of their conversation tree represented the extent of my programming abilty--too many variables get involved and eventually it becomes a buggy nightmare to write (for me, at least.) So, I kept things simple, while still giving a lot of the NPC's some personality quirks. SPOILERS: I understand that you would prefer more depth with some of the quests, and people have complained in the past about the rat quest and bug quest. While these are cliche, I also see such quests as being realistic--people in fantasy worlds have small problems that can be quickly solved by an adventurer. I don't think everything has to have a lot of meaning behind it--sometimes a rat/bug infestation is just that. I totally disagree regarding the assassin--his speech was meant to deceive, and while you talk about creating depth and avoiding stereotypes, you suggest that he should merely sneak attack the character and not say a thing. He was using the characters to get through the crypt, and attacked when at their weakest. The fairies "quest" could have also been developed further, yes, but the some of things you are suggesting would have required a bit more programming savvy than I have. I could probably change the druid so she'd complain, but I liked the tree-change surprise and wanted to keep that for combat. They're basically on the warpath with humans and aren't open to diplomacy. I could have developed this quest more, but it wasn't the main focus. The area was meant to close off exploring at that end to redirect the player on the main path, so the fairies were a small addition, not meant to be anything significant. Finally, the mutants idea isn't bad, but it just wasn't the way I wanted things to go. They were angry, close to mindless (as indicated by one of the prisoners) and supposed to be a threat. Having one pal around with the player just didn't work with my intent on them being a perceived threat in the game.
Posted by RolandGR at on03/08/08
A good low level mod. Hope we get the sequel soon.
Posted by dj1 at on01/10/08
Pros: The mod was enjoyable, providing adequate challenges and not overextending into something beyond it's scope. I even played through without a glitch. Cons:(SPOILERS)Sorry if these are repeats. I didn't read all 250 posts. The mod should be listed as roleplaying=light traps=medium. It definitely plays like a hack and slash and there are more traps than roleplaying. The disconnected quests didn't bother me so much because I'm used to non-linear gaming, but they definitely need fleshing out: 1.) Most of the characters are automatons. I don't expect a lot of development in the scope of a short mod, but they have to have some personality. "Do this. Thanks, take this." doesn't feel real. The boy was good and even the merchant had an opinion. The banter with the assassin, however, was misplaced with the dryad. He would sneak attack while the dryad would first observe, if only to gauge the pc's strength. Yet he talks while the dryad just outright attacked like a lunatic. 2.) Much more should be done with the fairies. You posted earlier about the boy being responsible for the hostility. This practically begs for interaction with the dryad: plead innocent, offer help, and possibly even quests from her, especially for a druid. Interaction with animals could affect these outcomes. 3.) Why should all the mutants be hostile? A mutant out for revenge would make a very interesting, if temporary, companion. As a final note, rat quests are bad enough but to have TWO? (The farm bug hunt is really just a rat quest in disguise) At least tie the bugs to something. They're sent by the dryad to kill the fairy murderer? The wizard "helps", giving a sense he's an ally, but really he's protecting the eggs? Or both of these, leading to misplaced choices of helping the wrong person. Well, these are all just opinions, so take them with a grain of salt. I'm an old pnp DM and haven't written a Crpg mod so perhaps I expect more flexibility, story wise, than I should. It was still fun and that's what it's really all about. _________________________ "In life, one and one don't make two. One and one make one." -The Who "Bargain"
Posted by ericdoman at on12/19/07
Prob the best mod for taking a character from 1st to 4th lvl. (I would think if you took down a 2nd lvl character, you'd prob reach 5th lvl). Used a ftr, saved game for part 2 and looking forward to that. Could not find one of the eggs, small mts by wheatfield? Using character for another mod now. Cheers
Posted by schatten9 at 2007-10-0220:03:07
Thanks Luinel! I'm really glad you have enjoyed Avendale so far, and I especially liked that you appreciated the skill checks. I hope to do more of that in future work, because I also think it does really enhance immersion and exploration. Thanks for the feedback and it's encouraging to know that you had fun with a year-old module like Avendale.
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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