NWN 2 Conclusion Campaign + Tomb of Horrors Revamp

[Sabranic]

Development Diary 7/22/16:

- Another 4 pages added to the Campaign Bible.

- Spent the day collaborating with Injate and kevL "setting the table" for the campaign's variable data. We managed to create a functional "map" that will allow the player to customize the campaign based on many of the more "critical" decisions made in the IC, MotB, SoZ and MoWG.

 

 

Example:

 

- Area Title: Lobby
- Required Characters: None
- Points of interest: Dungeon Master, Basic supply merchant

When the player joins the module, they are required to speak with the Dungeon Master before being allowed to enter the Campaign. The impish fellow will provide a brief overview of the game mechanics, the background story and then ask a series of questions, which will determine many aspects of the campaign. (How do we resolve this for multiplayer?):

 

1: Did the Knight Captain Steal “Arvoreen's Amulet of Aid” from Daeghun?
(If no, places the Avoreen’s Amulet of Virtue in the chest in Daeghun’s Home).

 

2: Did Khelgar Ironfist become a monk?
(Swaps Fighter Khelgar for Monk Khelgar if yes).

 

3: Did the KC befriend Kistrel?
(Spider Kistrel removed beneath Crossroad Keep in the Escape Tunnels if no).
(Kistrel NPC and all associated quests disabled if no).
(Disables teleport to Silverymoon option in act 4 if no).

 

4a: Did the KC romance Casavir? - Only Appears if KC is Female
(Adds a sad moment when they player interacts with Casavir’s grave).
(Adds a wistful dialog scene if the KC rescues Casavir from Luskan if yes).

4b: Did the KC romance Elanee? - Only Appears if KC is Male
(Adds a sad moment when they player interacts with Elanee’s grave).

 

5: Did Neeshka resist Black Garius?
(Removes Neeshka from the roster if yes).
(Removes Neeshka from the Pheonix Tail Inn in the CK if yes).
(Removes Neeshka from the bar in Daggerford).
(Removes Khelgar-Neeshka enchange after resquing Kistrel).
(Removes Neeshka as a mandatory party-member in the Granit Hold quests).
(Adds Neeshka's Grave to the Crossroad Keep Cemetery if yes).
(Disables teleport to Athkalta option in act 4 if no).
(Removes Neeshka’s dialog in the optional cut-scene if the KC resurrects the dead OC companions as thralls).

6: Did the KC create One of Many?
(Removes Kaelyn the Dove from the roster if yes).
(Removes Gan reference to Old father Bear in a bark if yes).
(Adds One of Many to the Roster if yes).
(One of Many accompanies the Bevil and Daeghun in the opening battle if yes).
(Removes Kaelyn from the bar in Daggerford).
(Adds One of Many to the Bar in Daggerford).
(Kaelyn does not join the party during Ivarr the Blessed’s Quest).
(Removes Kaelyn from the Temple of Illmater in the CK if yes).
(Adds One of Many to the graveyard outside the CK if yes).
(Disables teleport to Myrkul’s Soul Furnace in act 4 if no).
(Disables teleport to the Fugue Plane in act 4 if yes).
(Dialog bark from Gann in the final battle about Okku just being a dream if yes).

 

7: Did the KC and Grobnar steal the Glowstone from the Goblin Mines?
(Disables teleport to the Caves below ember in act 4 if yes).

8: Did the KC destroy Slaan and the Lizardfolk near Highcliff?
(Disables teleport to the Lizard Folk Caves in act 4 if yes).

 

9: Did the KC ally with the Orc Tribe against the bugbears and Ogre Magi in the Illefarn ruins?
(Enables the teleport option to ally with the Orc Tribe if yes).
(Enables the teleport option to ally with the Ogre Magi and Bugbear minions if no).

10: Did the KC destroy the Fire Giant Village?
(Disables teleport to the Fire Giant Encampment in act 4 if yes).

11: Did the KC allow Uncus and the Shadow Thieves to establish themselves in Crossroad Keep?
(Removes the option of opening the Thieves Guild if no).
(Removes the option of recruiting the Shadow Thieves if no).
(Removes the Shadow Thieves Banners from the front of the Thieves Guild if no).
(Locks the door to the Shadow Thieves Guild if no).

12: Did the KC save Cormick's life?
(Removes Cormick Great Hall from the Keep if yes).
(Removes Cormick from the final battle if yes).

13: Did the KC have Torio Clavin Executed?
(Removes Torio from the Keep if yes).
(Removes Torio from the final battle if yes).
(Adds the quest to save Casavir from Luskan – Part 1 requirement).

 

14: Did the Heroes in SoZ resurrect Kravler?
(Removes Kravler from the Keep if yes).
(Removes Kravler from the final battle if yes).
(Adds the quest to save Casavir from Luskan – Part 2 Requirement).

 

15: Did the KC consume or release Myrkul's Soul in MotB?
(In the finale, Graz'zt will refer to the KC as "God-Killer - a kindred spirit you and I!" if yes).

16: Game checks for Safiya's or Gann's love feat.
(Enables Safiya or Gann's affectionate dialog when present).
(Enables Safiya or Gann proposal scene).
(Enables Safiya or Gann’s accompaniment in the final battle/stage)
(Enables optional Safiya or Gan marriage finale).

17: Game checks for Safiya's or Gann's Love Feat + One of Many Creation
(Adds tragic Gan or Safiya stinger to ending sequence if yes).
(Adds a final battle against One of Many after the end of the game if yes).

 

18: Game checks for "Guilty of Ember Massacre Feat."
(Nevalle and Nasher will treat the player far worse in dialog options).
(Nasher will bring up the slaughter when the KC is initially exposed in Chapter 2).

Upon completion of the survey to set plot elements, the players will be able to enter the portal into the game world.

 

Coders Note: All quests which force members into the group will need to set a flag preventing the party from accepting new quests until the current quest-line is completed, to prevent possible game breaking bugs if party members are force-rearranged for a new quest while In the middle of an old one. Perhaps a general “on quest” flag that is checked during all quest conversations?

Edited August 22, 2016 by Sabranic

[Tchos]

5: Did Neeshka resist Black Garius?

(Removes Neeshka from the roster if yes).

(Removes Neeshka from the Pheonix Tail Inn in the CK if yes).

(Removes Neeshka from the bar in Daggerford).

(Removes Khelgar-Neeshka enchange after resquing Kistrel).

(Removes Neeshka as a mandatory party-member in the Granit Hold quests).

(Adds Neeshka's Grave to the Crossroad Keep Cemetery if yes).

(Disables teleport to Athkalta option in act 4 if no).

(Removes Neeshka’s dialog in the optional cut-scene if the KC resurrects the dead OC companions as thralls).

 

I think you have this one backwards. Neeshka is not supposed to be dead if she resisted Black Garius.

[Sabranic]

You are correct! Did Neeshka fail to resist Black Garius! Will update.

[Cosmosnaut]

There is a bit of confusion concerning the party members fate. The original campaign says they all died or most of them. But when you talk with Ammon Jerro in MotB, he tells a different story, i think. Neeshka lives, if she resists black garius. At least that is what i remember from Ammon Jerro's conversation. She had quick reflexes and escaped the falling rocks easily, or something like that.

Edited September 26, 2016 by Cosmosnaut

[Cosmosnaut]

By the way, did you add MoW into your module? Seem a bit of a stretching i think, how after what happened in MotB you would stop to make a little dungeon pillage before going back to Crossroad Keep. But the idea of losing exp and therefore levels for restoring Akachi is gold. Which makes even more sense when considering what Kelemvor said.

[Sabranic]

There is a bit of confusion concerning the party members fate. The original campaign says they all died or most of them. But when you talk with Ammon Jerro in MotB, he tells a different story, i think. Neeshka lives, if she resists black garius. At least that is what i remember from Ammon Jerro's conversation. She had quick reflexes and escaped the falling rocks easily, or something like that.

 

Indeed it does get a bit hazy - largely because the player can impact so many possible outcomes with their decisions. We have taken apart the Jerro conversation to see every possible response, combined the information gleaned there with what we know from SoZ and then cross referenced that with information on the Forgotten Realms Wiki and the NWN2 Wiki, pluse a couple of play-throughs of the OC, with special emphasis placed on plot and elements.

 

- If Neeshka liked the Knight captain enough to resist Garious, she survives in every permutation of the plot.

- Ammon Jerro always pursues the gargoyles and gets beaten by the red wizards.

- Bishop always dies and ends up send to the wall of the faithless.

- Khelgar always lives, gets duped by the gargoyles and ends up as substitute Knight captain.

- Sand turns into an iron golem and lives if he had better faction with the KC than Quorra.

- No matter what Quorra gets her head smashed by two-tons of granite.

- Grobnar dies no matter what. If you had high faction, he dies trying to shield the construct with his body.

- Elanee pushes the KC out of the way of a rock wall and dies in his place.

- Casavir has his back snapped holding open a portal, but SoZ reveals he survived and was captured by Luskan.

- Zaheave vanished in the chaos, but given her innate ability to plane-shift at will - notice how she has no CK hangout? - her death is unlikely in the extreme.

- The construct is presumably smashed - by the party of Bishop took it over, or by falling debris if Grobnar is allowed to give it free will. However, if Sand could survive the rocks by turning into an iron golem, then it's reasonable to assume the Construct "survived" as well - perhaps damaged, but salvageable if one were perhaps a skilled enough Red Wizard Transmuter...

 

 

 

By the way, did you add MoW into your module? Seem a bit of a stretching i think, how after what happened in MotB you would stop to make a little dungeon pillage before going back to Crossroad Keep. But the idea of losing exp and therefore levels for restoring Akachi is gold. Which makes even more sense when considering what Kelemvor said.

 

 

The Knight Captain is continually being drawn into plots and intrigues by outside forces. The Cursed Domino Mask from Mysteries of Westgate was "seeking" someone to right a great wrong. His running across it was almost preordained.

 

"It was in the depths of some unnamed dungeon that you found the mask... Something abut it demanded your attention. Only after you attempted to rid yourself of it did you discover the mask refused to be discarded...."

 

It was a loooong way home from Thay. Given the way adventure and tumult are attracted to him/her, it is quite believable to see the Knight Captain embroiled in plots the entire way back.

 

The mask would have been drawn to him/her like a magnet, and the region was on his direct path home. Perhaps, on his voyage across the Sea of Fallen Stars, the Knight Captain's ship put ashore one of the many islands to resupply, and they discovered the mask there. Finding him/herself under a progressively worsening curse, the KC sought out sages and powerful magic users, to little avail. He has no choice but to follow the Mask's compulsion, and end it's curse in Westgate... hastily the Knight Captain gathers what allies he can... even if that means recruiting a former Night Mask Assassin, a drunk Fallen Paladin and an obnoxiously belligerent Cleric of Tyr,,,,

 

:laugh:

Edited October 31, 2016 by Sabranic

[Sabranic]

Development Diary 10/32/16:

- The Campaign Bible. has swelled to almost 140 pages. Its doubled in size since we last posted, and we are closing on the final chapters of the narrative. It has been a long process fleshing out the story, and we appreciate the patience while we work on polishing everything. While there is still a long way to go in the writing department, we are far enough along now that we can once again focus more on game rather than story development.

- We have designed the Night Masks's mooks - Deathbringers, Heart Piercers, Clerics of Mask, and Shadow Master Tam, Orbakh's direct underling, and member of The Kaiser's perverted Neverwinter Nine.

 

http://www.dethguild.com/wp-content/uploads/images/nwn/ck_bioware_images/nightmask1.jpg

 

From Left to Right: Night Mask Clerics of Mask, Night Mask Deathbringer, Shadow Master Tam Bakk, Night Mask Deathbringer, Night Mask Heartpiercers

 

http://www.dethguild.com/wp-content/uploads/images/nwn/ck_bioware_images/nightmask2.jpg

Edited November 3, 2016 by Sabranic

[Sabranic]

On a related note, we're back in business after a bit of a hiatus, brought on by some unavoidable family matters, coupled with a need formalize the story. It existed more as a series of interesting and fun features shoe-stringed together by a rough outline, which was enough to start the ball rolling, but once you start asking the code team to begin creating variables and dialog filled cut-scenes, they need more than a 700 word timeline and some ad-hoc dialog to go by.

 

:wink:

So the technical side of things was put on hold while dialog and narrative caught up with the game design. In the process we've came up with a few other interesting and entertaining ideas, and we're sitting in a far better place than we were 3 months ago. I've reached out to our 3D-Modler and we will do our best to get the ToH beta out, as several people were quite excited about it, and we'd like to give them something to play over Christmas.

Thanks for the patience, we apologize for the delay - and on with the show...

Edited October 31, 2016 by Sabranic

[Sabranic]

Development Diary 11/01/16:
We are working on an official title for our NWN2 campaign, and we'd like your feedback on a few of the options.

The plot is driven by the Arc-Demon Graz'zt's attempt to usurp Shar's divinity using an unsealed tear in the Shadow Weave. (A hole created in Black Garius's attempt to usurp the King of Shadows, and located in Crossroad Keep's basement). To this end, the demon sent a powerful band of villains to seize control of Neverwinter and sow chaos along the Sword Coast. The Knight Captain, freshly returned from his trials in Westgate and the Unapproachable East is all that stands between the fiend and ultimate power.

Presented below are some possible titles please let us know which one sounds best to you:

Nightsinger's Bane

- A reference to The Kaiser and Graz'zt effectively killing Shar if their coup succeeds.

Thief of Shadows

- The adventure deals heavily with the struggle between the Shadow Thieves of Amn and the Nightmasks, and the titles widens into a double reference when you consider Graz'zt and The Kaiser intend to steal Shar's divinity.

Voidreaver

- A Straight up Reference to Graz'zt's plan to absorb Shar's power through the rift in the Shadow Weave left by Black Garius.

The Dark's Corsairs

- The Demon Prince Graz'zt intends to sieze Shar's portfolio, and the title also serves as a triple reference to The Kaiser's Band usurping the throne in Neverwinter and the Black Dog's Piracy. The antagonists are a triumvirate quite literally "stealing the darkness."

The Void's Advocate

- Although he/she is ignorant of the fact, the Knight Captain is actually Shar's unwitting champion in this entire adventure. Only at the story's close, when the narrator is revealed to be the Nightsinger herself, will the players realize they have been her strongest champion - and the title will suddenly make sense.

Edited November 2, 2016 by Sabranic

[rjshae]

"Thief of Shadows" is the title of a book by Elizabeth Hoyt, so I'd avoid that one.

 

Of the others, "Nightsinger's Bane" seems the most natural to me, and it rolls of the tongue easily.