I recommend first playing "Chronicles of Charnia - Escape from Charn"(not necessary though - see link in comments section below).
Almost 272 years have passed since Elos led your people to this new world of Charnia. Peace and growth reigned for many years, until recently. You have been taking care of your younger sister ever since your parents disappeared. You work at the docks, helping load and unload ships. The day seemed to be going fine until you were interrupted by Andy with a message from Dalin, the Chief Judge. Your sister has been abducted.
Your main quest is to find your sister and free her.
Your investigation into your sisters' abduction exposes an evil plan of The Exile.
You must be a human, elf, half-elf, or dwarf. Other races will not work properly throughout the module. Any character class will work [start at level 1 (normal) or 2 (easy)]. You will probably attain level 4 by the end.
-Your alignment matters and can shift
-I tried to use ability scores (int,wis,cha) and skills (intimidate,diplomacy) in conversations.
-NO RESPAWN (if all die, must reload)- SAVE OFTEN
COMMENTS, COMPLAINTS, SUGGESTIONS are appreciated, THANKS.
contains the mod file and VFX files. The VFX files are the exact same as those used in "Escape from Charn", so if you already installed them before then ignore these.
A quick and fun adventure. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The central role of the player feels weird in the end battle. a 5th level character shouldn't be able to influence a battle of that scale so much, but on the other hand I see that you need to have a climax from a story perpective.
The mod sets the mood for the longer campaign very nicely. Absolutely recommended as an introduction.
Ran bug free, combat felt very easy after I hit lvl two.
What can I say... It's got the same feel as Escape from Charn, only it's better - in every way. Longer, sidequests added, more interesting chars (especially liked the giant and, strangely, the badger & stag by the waterfall - no idea why, though ^^). It's everything EfC was, only better. If Lanterna has at least this much to offer, I'll be pleased, but I know it will have more - I can tell you're improving as a scripter and as a writer. Keep up the good work.
As for the rating - ... 7.75 - Great improvement compared to EfC, but not quite an 8... sry
I'm sure Lanterna will blow me away, though, so don't worry ;)
Again, great work and just keep it up,
I _________________________ Burn It Down!
Thanks again Leslie for your kind and encourageing comments here and for "Escape from Charn". It is good to hear that, as a CS Lewis fan, you were not too disappointed and even enjoyed the module a bit. I hope you are able to find some time to play Lanterna and find it to be an improvement over the previous two. Thanks again for playing and taking the time to stop by and leave comments and feedback, I really appreciate it when players do this. _________________________ Chronicles of Charnia - Escape from Charn (NWN2) Chronicles of Charnia - The Exile (NWN2) Chronicles of Charnia - Lanterna
Posted by LeslieMS at 2009-06-25 22:57:35 Voted 10.00 on 06/25/09
Although it has potential to be more, much like its prequel, it was still a nice piece of work.
The thought that did go into it and the fact that it had no bugs that I could find were great.
One tiny spelling mistake, and I have been guilty of it too from time to time:
Woman=singular, one woman
Women=plural, more women
Easy mistake to make, especially when you want to hurry.
Overall I thought it was great. I enjoyed the references to CS Lewis again =) well done!
A solid ten on merrit alone =) not to mention all the other goodies that were in it =)
_________________________ Stupidity kills people.
Nothing Good comes from ignorance.
Knowledge is power that is useless with out the wisdom to use it properly.
Be Well and Be Safe,
Leslie
Posted by ActorOfVeil at 2009-01-04 08:25:45 Voted 6.25 on 01/04/09
The second prologue of Lanterna series has all the major positive points of its prequel Escape from Charn. Well desinged outside areas quarantee the Charnia atmosphere, the lenght fits well in this kind of short story module. Battles are somewhat easy but the final fight is quite intense.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS START FROM HERE
In The Exile dialogue is its weakest link. It's too stiff and unrealistic, the characters just accept all the hardcomings (at least I would react stronger to my sister's kidnapping, my officer's betrayal or my banishment to the Dark Island until the end of the world). I also hope that Elos' role is handeled better in Lanterna because it's so easy to use him as a Deus Ex Machina (although he is actually a god but still).
POSSIBLE SPOILERS END HERE
But nevertheless I'm still going to try Lanterna once it's ready in February (that's when the third part was finished, right?). As the author has been more time to finish Lanterna I hope that Charnia has gotten some feeling to accompany it's atmosphere. _________________________ A good module author is PAG: Patient, Ambitious and Gutsy.
Posted by Mighty Dragon at 2008-09-21 01:00:00 Voted 7.50 on 09/21/08
I think, the Module is quite good but does not fulfill it´s potential. Nice cave where the dark dwarfes are. At least the whole mod is too short and lacks sidequests. But I enjoyed the Endfight.
@Luinel - Thanks for the wonderful review. I'm sure this and my other module "Escape from Charn" (the first one in the series) will get more plays once my next installment is released, "Lanterna". I'm most of the way through the first chapter, just finishing up conversations and details.
Posted by Luinel at 2008-07-11 03:24:06 Voted 8.00 on 07/11/08
The mod was bug-free with patch 1.6.
In the beginning there are a few side quests and while they are not too numerous, they really allow to role-play the PC's personality in broad strokes. I liked that there were small pay-backs for exploration, too. Once the main adventure starts, it is mainly exploration and combat, but both are very satisfying and take place in beautiful locales, both above and below the ground. Even the caves are beautiful and distinctive.
The story may not be particularly original (apart from the setting flavor), but it is well implemented via dialog, cut-scenes, etc. and has a very well-made ending, IMHO. It also took me good 4 or 5 hours to complete, so there is enough substance there to sink one's teeth into.
I am a bit surprised that this module wasn't played more widely or rated more highly - IMHO it has suffered from being an early offering. But it is really worth it.
Posted by Winwood at 2008-07-06 16:47:24 Voted 6.50 on 07/06/08
Good, Qualified Recommendation.
Posted by erthule at 2008-04-27 03:31:22 Voted 8.00 on 04/27/08
Well, the game hung up after the second battle; I see in the walkthrough you mention that I need to speak with Jena twice; I did that and still I cannot get an ending here. Is there a work around for this? Also, why create this without a way to trigger an ending of some sort?
Posted by Dorateen at 2007-08-26 08:27:30 Voted 8.50 on 08/26/07
As expected, your area design was well done.
I like the system you used in putting together this adventure: a good starting town; enjoyable exploration/dungeon crawling areas in the forest and caves and castle; and a symmetrical return to a climactic Big Battle. All within the context of a fun and engaging story.
Will be looking forward to your upcoming modules...
*spoilers*
I encountered a bug during the end battle.
After I killed of the orcs and finally Mirak, wave #4 didn't trigger. It could be because Mirak killed my PC just before dying. If fixed it by manually running the ondeath_kingman script, but I skipped wave4 this way (unfortunately I didn't have a recent savegame without the problem).
I played version 3.1
Posted by cyclop4 at 2007-07-18 17:29:46 Voted 8.25 on 07/18/07
I agree that this was better than the first, and since I enjoyed Escape from Charn, it's win-win! Slowdive, don't let the critics get you down! It may have been short, but every other NWN2 mod out there right now is, too! Well done!
Posted by fardoche77 at 2007-07-15 15:48:22 Voted 7.50 on 07/15/07
Somewhere between very good and excellent, this mod delivers on the action and nice area design but is less appealing when we look at the writing. If the author would spend more time polishing (and furnishing!) the dialogs, filling the plot and adding some more color to his world, then we would have a truly great mod.
Posted by gomer at 2007-06-20 16:41:56 Voted 8.25 on 06/20/07
I enjoyed this. No problems with play and the story was sufficient to remain interesting without anything bugging me.
Posted by slobberknocker at 2007-05-23 13:19:17 Voted 6.25 on 05/23/07
Again a decent story and really nice area design (author seems to have a real talent for this). Dialogue was still a bit painful but slightly better than the first. I enjoyed the end fight.
Posted by aebsi at 2007-05-17 18:47:42 Voted 8.00 on 05/17/07
Wow I love this module, it's much better than I expected (in a way that it almost completely met what I hoped to see) I'm no Narnia fan but anyhow I love fantasies. I love roaming around in this module, the exteriors are so well done. I probably love this module so much because I'm not into hack-n-slash based modules. I'm very excited to see what you will bring in the next chapter. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys taking their time going through modules.
Hi, slodive_fan,
I've finished now. Any plans for the next one? Also, let me add my voice to those praising your area design, especially exteriors. Have you ever considered doing a tutorial for people? You could skip the basic how-to stuff and discuss how you actuallymake the choices you do. I for one would be interested in seeing something like that.
More info ... the "pests_killed" variable is only 2 when it should be 5. I used the console commands to give the experience for the quest, so I can move on. It looks like the variable increment script doesn't trigger. I came back to do this, so maybe the script doesn't trigger if my companion kills the critter.
Hi, slodive_fan,
I'm playing 3.1 and there is still a problem with the Nord quest. I have killed 3 rats and 2 spiders, no vermin show up using Tracking and I still don't get the thread to tell him I'm done. Do you have a workaround?
Cheers,
Dave Fritz
Posted by madchem at 2007-04-25 04:55:19 Voted 8.50 on 04/25/07
I liked it. It's noticeably better than the first one (and I liked the first one quite a lot).
Your area design is, as always, beautiful. I expecially liked the forest and the caves with the underground falls. I think the lighting was very good, too.
A small problem I had was that most of the enemies drop unidentified magic loot that I couldn't use because I couldn't identify it and couldn't go back to the town at that point of the stoy. Maybe add just some +1 item?
Interesting options with the alignment, but just a minor quirk, about the conversation with Dalin in the end, before the battle. I understand I have to agree with him at that point, but do I really have to tell him only "yes sir"? My chaotic good character would never tell anyone "yes, sir". She is allergic to that word ;-)....anyway it's just a little thing, don't worry about that.
The final battle was very fun. I admit I didn't like the deus ex machina in the end (the apparition of Elros), but again , don't worry about that, I'm biased since I really don't like the original Aslan, too. It fits in your setting, so it's just a matter of preference.
Looking forward to your next one. Good luck with that!
Posted by Jau at 2007-04-22 10:06:40 Voted 7.00 on 04/22/07
Fun mod. I really enjoyed the battle at the end. I think it still need a bit of polishing to make it perfect, but it is fine as is.
Some recommendations ****SPOILERS*****:
1. And auto Save when you return to Charnia from the Sewers.
2. Maybe mark the Sewer Exit in the cell on the map?
3. I really liked the Escape from Charnia module, perhaps incorporate it into this mod? I think it would help flesh out the story a bit.
4. When entering the forest, (Randel or Myself) mentions some tracks. Unless I missed something, we never found any tracks?
5. Dialog was adequate, but could have been better.
Over all, I enjoyed the mod, looking forward to the next one.
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 2011-12-12 01:43:43
at 2009-11-30 10:26:33
at 2009-06-28 07:01:19
