The Tradeway is a well traveled route along the west coast of Faerun. It stretches from Waterdeep in the north all the way to Calimport in the south. You are accompanying three Bards to Dragon Spear Castle for an audition with the King. Your companions have decided to camp close to the Misty Forest in hopes of finding game, since your supplies are running low. Thus far, your trip from Daggersford has been uneventful.
This is a short adventure , 1 to 2 hours, for level 1 players. You will create your own party with the SOZ editor.
Special Thanks to PJ156 for testing and suggestions.
Prefabs that were used from the Vault:
Forgotten Village by Hosa
Peasant Interiors by Rylock
Other things used:
Deck of Trumps by Kaldor Silverwand
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Install:
Place the fotd_mod_01.mod file in your My Documents\Neverwinter Nights2\Module directory
Place the Festival of the Dead Campaign Folder in your My Documents\Campaign directory.
Run as Campaign.
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Also thanks to the Bioware Social Network for providing a home for all us NWN2 Builders.
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Version History
11/15/2010: A bad guy wasn't spawning in a cave. That was really messing things up. I recompiled all the scripts and it seemed to fix the problem.
11/17/2010:
*You should reach level 2 before any combat encounters.
*Gave the bards one liners
*Lowered some skill DC's
*Fixed some spelling errors
*Added a journal entry towards the end to help guide the player.
*The merchant should realize that he's speaking to a lady and not call a female "Lad".
*Found at least 3 doors that led to nowhere and set them to static.
11/26/2010
*Took the conditions from the Exit Cave dialog. No more getting stuck in the cave.
*Ensured that the bad guy will be in the cave when it's entered.
*Changed the word 'scowl' to 'cowl', (I can't believe I didn't see that)
*Changed two of the Bards sound sets. They no longer say: "It's been a long day, I could use drink."
Posted by Avo at 2012-02-14 00:47:16 Voted 9.50 on 02/14/12
Very, very good, like everything from hilltop I have played.
Outstanding atmosphere and design, a good story and on ttop a SoZ style party mod. What's more to have?
Combat was ok until I exited the crypt. Then it got somewhat hairy for a 1st level party. Every fight could be won, but only at the expense of all spell and ressources. While battling my way back out I had to constatly retreat to areas I had already "cleared" and had to rest. So that part dragged a bit.
I played with a party of 4 (cl,sorc,fght,druid) and it was fine.
No bugs, no glitches.
Again a fantastic delivery from a good author. Outstanding in achieving a lot in a very short time.
Posted by Juan Valera at 2012-01-03 18:26:43 Voted 8.00 on 01/03/12
Nice short module. I´ve played it with a tank lvl5 fighter, a lvl3 druid, a lvl3 cleric and lvl1 favoured soul. I had no problem je je. I liked the atmosphere and the great design of the village. I missed a final combat with the boss and more creatures spawnded by him.
Hi, again,
Now I'm sure I missed something. There's a combat upon entering the village, and I'm nowhere near L2. That's almost the first thing that happens after leaving the starting area. But the note above says that I should be L2 before any combat encounters.
Hi, Hilltop,
I guess you'd have to put me down as one of those who think the combat's too tough. Or that you should start with a higher-levelled party.
How do you take down the K-guy in the catacombs? Is he the one everyone else calls the Vampire? Have I missed something earlier on that I need?
My Party (just made L2) isn't nearly tough enough to overcome his regeneration. I've gotten him close to death a couple of times, but I'm down to one character, usually my wizard, and she's toast at that point. One hit by him does for her.
Cheers,
Dave
Posted by Brutus_Brainless at 2010-12-30 12:30:59 Voted 7.00 on 12/30/10
nice short sidequest,thxs for sharing.
was a little tough for my lv1 chars, the "dead axe" has not turned to dust(was in a companions inventory), no restoration from level drain available.
Brutus
Kamal: Thanks for taking the time to comment and vote. Your description of the mod is very accurate and your vote is more then fair.
So basically your telling me that the guy who is making the 'Path of Evil' campaign, played a Paladin? hehe. Sorry, couldn't resist :)
Posted by kamal at 2010-12-07 07:48:55 Voted 7.50 on 12/07/10
This module is essentially an extended sidequest perhaps to a larger module. It's not really trying to do anything more that tell a good short story. Things are linear and there is an exploration section followed by a combat section. I noticed no bugs other than some places missing an ' such as players saying "Ive" when it should be I've.
A solid short module. I'm basing my vote on length mostly. I don't feel I could rate something of this length higher without seeing something unique from it.
Spoilers:
Based on the module name I picked a Paladin for my main pc. There definitely needs to be an undead focused character in the party. I picked a party of a Paladin, Favored Soul, Sorceror, and rogue. The module definitely favors being able to cast a couple of spells repeatedly. The only serious combat difficulty I had was the encounter immediately when leaving the cave back to the town, since the enemies spawned almost on top of me. _________________________ Shadow Thief: Crimmor and Path of Evil blog Link
DannJ: Thanks for pointing out the spelling error. I just did a quick run through and discovered that the the bad guy still didn't spawn in the cave. Sorry about that. I'm going to do another update in the morning and fix it one way or the other! I'll probably just re design some things to make it full proof. Thank you taking the time to comment. :)
A "robe with a scowl"? What is it upset about? :-)
I think you meant 'cowl' (as in a hood).
My party didn't quite get to level 2 at the end, and I couldn't get back out of the cave to look for something else to do. As such I had no hope of killing the boss. Healing potions aren't of much use either if you are killed with a single hit.
roadsaint: Thanks! I know its tough on a level 1 character.
darant: Thanks reminding me of the description. I should have time for a revision tomorrow.
Posted by darant at 2010-11-20 19:51:14 Voted 8.00 on 11/15/10
You still need to correct the spelling of Faerun in the module description, it'll improve the professionalism spelling that one right.
Posted by roadsaint at 2010-11-19 09:33:53 Voted 8.50 on 11/19/10
Good story, and it looks like the bugs that previous posters mentioned were fixed, but I would love to shake the hand of anyone who was capable of completing this module without dying or cheating! This was probably the toughest I have seen on the vault...
Posted by Arkalezth at 2010-11-18 06:40:44 Voted 7.00 on 11/18/10
Well, I finished it with a different party, but still level 1. Since it was so low level, a couple of my characters were of ECL races. I also bought better equipment this time. And I had a dino companion, so that could have made the combat a bit easier.
I concur with Bardil on some things. There's no notification on having finished the module, and there are lots of empty containers that, while may be there for the atmosphere, but gameplay-wise, it's better to only put them there, or make them usable if there's actually something inside.
I loved the ambient and the visuals, specially the village area. The story was also interesting.
As I said before, my main concern was the combat. In addition to all the skeletons, there are a couple concealed monsters, with damage reduction on top. That's overpowered for level 1 characters. I spent several minutes to kill the shadow. That area isn't impossible, but it's maybe a bit too hard. After that, the end boss was a joke.
About skill checks: I noticed some more high checks, so I stand by my principle of decreasing the DCs a bit. You need a lucky roll for some checks, that defeats the purpose of having several characters with different roles and skills. And it would be nice if SoZ party chat was available for every conversation. For example, I had a character with a high Listen skill. There are a couple Listen checks, but only for the main character. I failed, of course, but maybe that other character could have passed them.
Well, I think that's all for now. I'll return if I remember something else. I hope I don't sound very harsh, I liked the module, but it feels like it needs some more testing, so I'm just pointing out the things that (in my opinion) can be improved.
I'll maybe replay it after the update, I have yet to try a high Charisma Cleric to see if I can turn every enemy in the module.
Thank you for all the feedback. I have made many of the suggested changes. I'm going to do a test and then upload the revised mod. Should be done tonight.
Posted by Arkalezth at 2010-11-17 15:58:27 Voted 7.00 on 11/18/10
Forgot to tell:
I tried to fight the skeletons again. I managed to kill the first wave without deaths in my party. They only hit me once or twice. But then the second wave came, and they killed everyone. I guess I got lucky with the first ones.
My team was: a Ranger, a Bard, a Rogue and a Favored Soul. I was fully rested and my only buff was Protection from Evil on everyone (well, and Inspire Courage). Not many spells per day at level 1, and I didn't have a Wizard for Mage Armor.
Posted by Arkalezth at 2010-11-17 15:50:52 Voted 7.00 on 11/18/10
You don't need to give more experience, you can simply say that it's a module for level 2 characters and level them up right at the start.
If I have time tomorrow, I'll try a level 2 party and see how it goes. It shouldn't take me much time to reach the boss and his friends.
BTW, I found some skill checks very high. For example, the Disable Device check on the gravestone by the sarcophagus has a DC of 18 or so. The average rogue will have a Disable Device score of 6. It should be a bit lower IMO. I don't know if there are other skill checks with such a high DC.
Bardil: Thank you for all the information! I'm going to try getting the party to level 2 before any combat and see how that goes. I was thinking about doing that earlier but it might seem kind of weird getting 250 xp just for talking to someone! lol, I'm going to try that and see how it looks. It may not be that noticable. But on the other hand, it doesnt make sense for level 1 characters to have a "boss fight" anyways! lol. I'm going to make the spelling corrections and add one liners to the bards. Thanks!
Posted by Bardil at 2010-11-17 12:25:31 Voted 7.00 on 11/17/10
This is quite good. However, I do agree with the other players who have commented here that it is too strong for a first level party. I played first with the recommonded party of level one characters and couldn't get past the vampire. I then played again with a party of level three characters (swashbuckler, warlock, rogue and palladin) and made it to the end.
I'd suggest not changing the module but changing the recommended level for the starting party. It may be possible with a party of level two characters or a mix of level two and level three; and as I already said it's certainly doable with a party of level three characters, and still quite exciting.
There were no bugs encountered on my play through, but there are a number of things that I thought you might like to know about.
** There are apostrophes missing in quite a number of places in the dialogue (e.g. Ive for I've).
** In the description of Issil's dagger there is "finley" for "finely".
** The dwarf merchant addresses female PCs as "lad" -- perhaps being a dwarf he's not aware of the difference. :-)
** On the upper floor of Julie's house there was a rather loud and strange sound.
** In the part of the village near the grave yard there are a number of doors that are clickable and which open but don't lead anywhere.
** At the begining two of the bards don't say anything when clicked on (and at the end this applies to all three of the bards). If you don't want to give them conversations then it would appear more natural if they had one-liners to respond with.
** I'd suggest giving all your areas pre-determined load screens; would be better I think than just the random load screens.
** There did not seem to be a clear ending. Perhaps some conversation with the bards or, better, with the dwarf merchant who might elaborate on what he found puzzling when you met him first of all in the village.
All in all a very enjoyable short adventure and well worth a look.
Ok, thanks. Tonight I'll go in and lighten up. Thanks!
Posted by Arkalezth at 2010-11-17 10:43:07 Voted 7.00 on 11/18/10
Agreed with mrchrisparis. I'm playing now and I'm getting my ass kicked by the skeletons after the vampire.
I'm liking everything else, but being one shoted by a crappy skeleton is...well...crappy. The vampire can also kill two party members in one round with Cleave, but at least he's a boss.
I found one typo: Zombie Ellen says "here" instead of "hear" in a conversation in the crypt.
(Spoiler content)I'm going to give it another shot. I was able to beat the Vamp using 1st level fighter, cleric, rogue and warlock but had to run for my life after exiting the cave because the undead just wiped me out every time. After I took cover in the next cave I defeat the vamp again but received no ending script or clue as to what to do next. I may have missed something back in the village but the undead were just way too much for my 1st level party. Winning an epic battle at level 1 against a vamp was great, getting ripped to shreds by his minions with no choice but to bail was a bit frustrating. I notice it was updated yesterday so I'm going to re-download and give it another shot before I cast my vote. Other than that I think you really have something here. I hope you've polished it up. _________________________ Edgy
Posted by alupinu at 2010-11-16 06:53:28 Voted 8.00 on 11/15/10
Yes he needs to be toned down, that would be my vote. _________________________ Murder in Dunlop Fanglewood
My Class is Rogue ... "You look surprised to see me. If you'd been paying attention, you might still be alive."
alupino: Thanks for playing and the vote! Theres a lot more hack n slash after the Vampire. Should I tone him down a little?
Posted by alupinu at 2010-11-15 21:49:40 Voted 8.00 on 11/15/10
Nice little piece of work if you want to kill a couple of hours.
Pros: Nicely done atmosphere, scripting was to be admired and the dialog was well written.
Cons: (SPOILORS!) Hack and slash- med was an understatement, there were almost no fighting only two creatures besides the boss and they were easily defeated. The boss, (A Vampire!) was very tough. Still have not beat him, gave up when I realized he was regenerating.
Conclusion: Could be a great little mod if there was a little more H&S like maybe spawn skeletons in the graveyard or something. All in all, job well done.
_________________________ Murder in Dunlop Fanglewood
My Class is Rogue ... "You look surprised to see me. If you'd been paying attention, you might still be alive."
darant: You weren't negative. Your right! I did rush some things. I think I have the problem fixed now though. There is a newer version up. But I understand what your saying. It really won't be too much trouble to collapse the cave after entering it. I should have that done by tomorrow. Thanks for pointing out the mis spelled words!
Posted by darant at 2010-11-15 18:15:30 Voted 8.00 on 11/15/10
In case I was too negative, I definitely enjoyed this submission--just polish it fast. You mis-spell Faerun in the description and ghoul for your customized ones in the mod.
Posted by darant at 2010-11-15 18:12:20 Voted 8.00 on 11/15/10
In the cave no bad guy was to be found. Eventually I smashed the coffin to see if anything would happen. And the exit wouldn't let me out so I had to use the debug note--which ended any future events from there. Actually, I must say the only thing I really didn't like--which I hate in any module--is being trapped in unrealistically by simple programming. It happens twice in this mod. What old-school PnP modules did that? It at least has to have a viable explanation. And of course it can lead to a bad end--either with a bug or getting killed with no escape, when there really should be one. The cave instantly collapses behind you when you enter?
darant: Thanks for the info. The underground area is the cave? If so, did you kill a bad guy in there? If he didn't spawn then thats where the problem would be.
I should have stated above that this is really still in testing mode.
Posted by darant at 2010-11-15 03:44:27 Voted 8.00 on 11/15/10
Man, I sure was happy to find a new 1st level adventure--hot off the presses--to play tonight. And I'm satisfied at the end result. Definitely this needs some polish but I'm going to go ahead and vote on what I played and what I assume it'll turn out to be in its finished state. The mood and enemies were great.
SPOILERS:
I found three characters in the party roster so I assumed maybe they were meant for the taking. I soon found out this was a mistake, but I'm glad I had a few even though it confused the story. Get rid of this option and I would've created my own party. Nonetheless it worked for me. But it set up some problems obviously.
Next, near the end I guess I entered an area underground a little too early--I don't know--and couldn't get out. Luckily you had the debug note as a rescue failsafe. Although you shouldn't need it, it sure is a clever tool to salvage what could be a ruined adventure. So I imagined my way to the finish we'll say...obviously the adventure was unfinishable. Oh well, I enjoyed it--good work, polish it fast before it becomes too played.
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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