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."
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 on11/19/10
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 on11/18/10
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. Keep the good work!
Posted by hilltop2012 at 2010-11-1718:59:15
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 on11/18/10
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 on11/18/10
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.
Posted by hilltop2012 at 2010-11-1715:21:04
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 on11/17/10
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. Bardil
Posted by hilltop2012 at 2010-11-1710:52:44
Ok, thanks. Tonight I'll go in and lighten up. Thanks!
Posted by Arkalezth at on11/18/10
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.
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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