Fortune and glory, that�s what they promised you. Unfortunately your experience of adventuring to date has not really lived up to your expectations.
Two forays in your new profession have left you less well off than when you started and with very little in the way of experience. You were thus pleased to be able to sign up to the entorage of Alexus, a well known and successful adventurer currently residing in Xorhum, in the lands of the Turmish.
To date this has not proved to be much more profitable but at least you are being fed if not equipped.
Yesterday that changed however. One of Alexus�s men came to you and asked you to investigate an opportunity.
A mountain mining community has petitioned Alexus for help clearing out some goblins. He wants you to go there and find out what is needed and how much money is being offered. Assess the potential for loot and the level of opposition and report back for Alexus to decide if he will send a group of his followers or go himself.
It�s not much but it is work and experience, perhaps a chance to make a little money on the side. The equipment you are supplied for this is minimal but then, as Alexus� quartermaster pointed out � beggars can�t be choosers.
***************************************
Level � Starting characters are recommended, you should expect to be level 4 by the end of the module.
This module was written by myself and M.Reider as the opening for a community project which never got off the ground. It has been sitting on our hard drives for a year or so so we decided to polish it off and post it for play.
It is complete in itself and stands alone as a story.
It is very much a coffee break module with around 3 � 5 hours of play. It has strong story elements but also some areas to explore and pick up side quest elements. The npc�s are worth talking to and some shold be revisited as the module progresses.
There are two companions, each is required to progress the story elements relevant to them but they are not both there at once. The more squishy classes should spend money on keeping the second of them (a ranger) well equipped as some of the combat is a touch challenging.
As always your comments are welcomed so please keep them coming. It�s your feedback that keeps me modding.
Credits:
All the content in this mod is from the toolset to keep it simple with no Hak.
Playtesting was by PJ156 and M.Reider with one notable exception.
Special thanks to ralebeau for his help with playtesting this and helping us smooth out the final bugs.
That should have been it. I will have a check, the mod tests for who died and who did not but perhaps there is an issue with the particular order you brought them back in.
Hello _doug_, speaking with the mine chief in his office should get you moving. If not I need to check as you should not be able to get to the goblin heads until the tower plot is resolved.
Finally got some time to actually play the mod :) Unfortunately I got a bit stuck.
*Spoiler*
I have completed the mission to where you bring back the boys trapped in the house. But I can't seem to figure out what I am suppose to do now. I have found and returned the armor parts, the fisherman's things and the arrow making equipment. I have defeated all the goblin parties I can find (4) and have the heads but I can't get into the mines. I don't currently have a quest other than the generic one. What have I missed? :)
Thanks Avo, I am starting to think this will be extended now. I will blend it in with my new project and add another module or two to give it a development and ending.
PJ
Posted by Avo at 2013-04-04 10:59:08 Voted 9.50 on 04/04/13
Great od. Nothing else could be expected from these two authors. Thanks so much for making this. I am really looking forward to the continuation of this story.
Hello _doug_, I just updated the mod to v1_1 on the vault.
If you don't see it updated by Sunday I will post you a dropbox link in the main text. Mr Kipp is very good with these things though so finger crossed for a quick upload.
Just as an updated while I am here:
I am going to start a new project when Tales from the Lake of Sorrows is done. For now it is called IronClad, but that will change. Iron clad will include this mod as one of a three part series and also possibly part 7 of Tales.
Don't let that stop you playing this now, we are at least a year of seeing the new project.
Hello ralebeau, thankyou for coming back and voting and for your support in playtesting. It is much appreciated and you have been duly creditied.
(I rushed out the release and forgot the credits)
Regards,
PJ
Posted by ralebeau at 2013-03-08 16:18:40 Voted 9.75 on 03/08/13
Should have been back here faster, since I already knew how good this was and not all that short either. Was off on ME Omega DLC, wasted time, then some playing Claudius33's Sarmates! a couple of times with some edits for his english version in between. Despite all that it was great to be back in the encampment with my ranger once again, plenty of animal companions for later on, and still fun. Thanks again PJ156 and to M. Reider too.
Hello grassblade, thank you for coming back and voting. I will look at the bullet price issue.
I am afraid that all my mods use the OC respawn death scripts, I leave it for the player to use save gaves or respawn to suit themselves and thier play style. If you did choose to play this again then perhaps you could rely on saved games when your player dies.
There are some great mods out there which use a more rigorous death system. Try some of Clyordes mods, search for the temple of the golden spire I think uses a resurrection script system or search his name for some of his later work.
I hope you took something good from playing the mod. You comments on the into exp have been fixed and will be sorted for the next update whenever that happens.
Cheers,
PJ
Posted by grassBlade at 2013-03-05 06:41:45 Voted 4.75 on 03/05/13
Sorry, but I could barely get into it. For me, the spawning turned the RPG into a PS2 video game. Killing anything (bandits, goblins, ogre) was simply a matter of respawning...thinking strategically or otherwise was superfluous.
Also, in addition to the previously mentioned exploit (which forced me to restart the game whenever I died in the start area), bullets (at least) are being sold for 1 gold, rather than the 6 listed in the store. _________________________ Where the World Once Stood
the blades of grass
cut me still
Posted by karen at 2013-03-04 16:11:54 Voted 9.00 on 03/03/13
I'll look forward to more - whenever you get around to it!
Thank you Karen, I've been called short but sweet before, how did you know :)
Glad you enjoyed it. I think this may get another chapter or two but not for a while.
PJ
Posted by karen at 2013-03-03 15:29:56 Voted 9.00 on 03/03/13
Short, but sweet! Thank you both for the fun. I really do hope you add more chapters at some point, but if not the mod stands by itself. I'll look forward to both of your next endeavors - you never fail to give us enjoyable stories, great scenery, interesting characters, and just the right amount of fights.
Posted by karen at 2013-03-02 15:00:39 Voted 9.00 on 03/03/13
darant your comments have always been welcome. They, and others like them, have helped me improve the mods. Hopefully the campaign, while not perfect, will be as good as it can be.
Take the heads back to Martin at the compound, he will progress the plot.
PJ
Posted by karen at 2013-03-02 03:55:29 Voted 9.00 on 03/03/13
When I saw both of your names on this mod I just had to play it - I love the work each of you has done!
That said, I think I hit a glitch.
*SPOILER
I have the 4 heads and killed the ogre, but every time we try to enter the mine I get a message that we should make sure we took care of all the enemies or they could trap us in the mine. Did I miss something? I've been all over the whole area.
*END SPOILER
Thanks for the fun!
Karen : )
Posted by TikiHat at 2013-03-01 19:07:26 Voted 9.25 on 03/01/13
Yet another excellent submission! I thoroughly enjoyed this pleasant little romp. I only found three little niggles, so I'll get them out of the way first.
1. I had to rename the Campaign Folder from "ccpt" to "The Gathering Storm" in order load the game.
2. On the last page of prologue text you used the word "weight" instead of "weigh" as in weigh your options.
3. While exploring beyond a certain cabin, I found some picturesque ruins. While exploring them, I realized that I was sinking calf-deep into a stone floor.
That's it, that's all the niggles I found. Now on to the Good Stuff!
You are still the master of scenery. Exploring the opening area was truly rewarding. Reeds and wild grass that did not look like a manicured lawn were there. Terrain and topography which rewarded scouting and tactics when dealing with the challenge at hand. One other little surprise I'll not spoil.
The mining encampment was also well thought out. It looked real and lived-in, with plenty of potential for enlargement if you do expand this. The residents were all a cut above the typical cardboard cutouts. Perhaps not to the level of the people of Lakeside, but very nice. The approach was a fun challenge, too.
One thing I had forgotten since I journeyed through the Lake of Sorrows is your love of weather. Your worlds are simply the rainiest, wettest modules in the vault! Be it drizzle or driving rain, this certainly adds to the immersion (sorry!) factor of play. I literally feel as if I'm trudging through muck or enjoying a respite as the sun burns through. No other modder pays near the attention to this that you do. Only small parts of Serene and Tragidor come close.
As has been the case in your other submissions, your overall attention to detail in crafting the scenery rewarded just wandering through areas to enjoy the eye candy. Every nook and fold was worth poking and peering, just to appreciate.
The story itself was nicely done. It is always fun to play a 1st level character without a "rats in the basement" excuse to level up. The "Little Problem" I found was a humorous tip-of-the-hat to that cliche. When I played this game I was left with the impression that I had stumbled into a real community with real back stories and dynamics. The inhabitants had existed before I arrived, and would continue to exist and interact long after I left. They were not mere props created to advance my game. It was a fun way to earn 4 levels, and if this goes no further it might be a nice prequel to meeting Vroman at Swordkeep or looking for the Ruins of Solaria.
Posted by darant at 2013-02-27 02:35:00 Voted 9.00
Regardless of past criticisms, your work is clearly some of the best this game has seen--much more alive than the 'official' campaigns.
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
Site
at 2013-05-08 13:24:40
at 2013-05-07 17:39:04
