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Best NWN Modules according to Greg (A.D. 2017)
This is a subjective list of best modules available on neverwintervault.org A.D. 2017, the ranking reflects my age, gender, education an interest in morally, philosophically and esthetically developed games. I also value good writing and original ideas over standard modules with a lot of roleplaying possibilities. The stuff below is really finely crafted and deserves your attention.
Some of the games were written by promising writers, but writing is at least decent in all of them. ALL of them are recommended, offer tons of fun and could function as standalone games.
THE PODIUM
1A/ Dance with Rogues 1&2 (releplaying abused woman, gloomy and ethically touching, althogh explicit sex scenes)
1B/ Aielund Saga (a classic)
2A/Bastard of Kosigan (quasi-historical setting! outstanding writing by emerging writer Fabien Cerutti)
2B/ Prophet Series (profound philosophical reflection on free will and branching universes!)
3/Tales of Arterra (especially module2: Awakening)
4/The Accursed Tower (classic adventure "on the road")
5/Lankhmar Nights (esthetically rewarding compilation of adventures in Leiber's universe)
6/Hunt Through the Dark (roleplaying drow! convincing story)
7/Gladiatrix trilogy (fighting, sex and epic scope)
8/Crimson Tides of Tethyr
9/Runes of Blood
10/Wyvern Crown of Cormyr (medieval jousting!)
11/Dance with Spies (finished, yet neverending story that is constantly improved)
12/ Honor Among Thieves
13/ Shadows of King's Justice
Very nice but without epilogue to the story in question:
1/Swordflight trilogy (+more to come, extreme fighting necessitates druid/cleric levels)
2/Orcs: Awakenieng & Return to Al-Dha (roleplaying orc!)
3/Twilight & Midnight (roleplaying paladin)
4/Hex Coda (alternative world with magic as quasi-science and capitalist order a'la Brave New World)
Scheduled for trying:
Saleron's Gambit
Sanctum of the Archmage
Ultima IV
Deja Vu (epic cleric module)
Hi,
Hunt in the Dark is listed twice
Swordflight should be moved to the "not finished" Section.
Don't try Sanctuum of the Archmage, until the next part is released (which should happen shortly). Probably there will be changes to the first Part as will.
:-)
Thanks for the feedback Mmat! I have corrected the list accordingly. I might develop the list in the future, although for now I feel I have already found and played almost everything that is of best quality on the Vault. Optionally I may consider adding short summaries of the above modules or adding another section "best short modules".
Well, I might add something to your "sheduled"-section, it's Demon (last part of the Shadowlords/Dreamcatcher/~ series). If I recall correctly, then this one features a "Magic the Gathering"-style Game in Game.
If you think about a "short"-modules list, maybe der could a list of modules which provide a Game in Game as well.
I am not sure Swordflight is in quite the same category as the others in the "not finished" Section. Of course it is currently incomplete and there cannot be 100% certainty it will not remain so, but those other series were abandoned by their authors and there are no plans or expectations of them ever being completed, while I fully intend to complete the Swordflight series. Swordflight is in a class by itself! (or at least that is the spin I propose putting on the situation
).
If you like modules with good writing you might want to consider playing Daniel Muth's "Aribeth's Redemption."
greg,
judging from your previous choices, you might like this series: https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/module/harpers-tale-prelude-v-... - it has a good story, romance, lots of good dialogues.
Try it and have fun!
I highly recommend "Déjà vu", which is a cleric module, the best in my opinion.
Thanks Nathan! Haven't heard of it, even though cleric/rogue is my favourite build. Gameplay length is 25-40h, which qualifeis Deja Vu as epic. I will certainly check this out.
This is a list of modules that you rate highly. I respect that. You have different criteria to those that I would use. Again I respect this. So why am I writing this post? Well, I see people urging you to modify your list to include categories that were not in your original submission. The thing is there are loads of lists of modules that already exist. I did a quick front page search (search box on the top left on the front page) for "module list" (without the quotes). This is the result of that search. Do we need another list - one that no longer reflects your opinion if you should choose to include all the additions? For example I could urge you to play and include Snickersnack! my all time favourite module but it wouldn't really be your list anymore because there are sections in that module that genuinely had me laughing out loud and humour is not one of your criteria.
TR
Tarot, thanks for suggestions and the links (I haven't heard of your module at all and will check out what it is about). It is precisely the reason why I posted this list - to encourage discussion on the modules that fulfill the criteria stated above. Considering my criteria I was not satisfied with the lists in existence on NWN Vault (except from maybe one super large list by Werelynx). However - after playing all the above modules - I came to think a list like the one above could have helped me A LOT when I started my adventure with NWN Vault.
Also, sticking to my criteria, it is possible I might have missed something nice, just as other players might have missed something --- and hence they will be satisfied when reading through my ranking, which will result in a discovery of the module they will like. You are right when you're saying we might not be needing another list that does not reflect my criteria. But think of it -- the point is that thanks to your suggestions and you remarks the list may be expanded after I will have tried the modules you suggest :)
Another addition that will in the new installment of my list will be Bloodright, a moduel I reviewed here https://neverwintervault.org/comment/45036#comment-45036
A little gem of a list; your tastes seem to align very closely with mine. I like how you sell the modules without going into spoiler territory. If you're still looking to expand it, I definitely recommend Agrenost (not enough story/writing, but what there is is very atmospheric and mediaeval) and Maugeter as well-crafted city adventures.
Isewein, thank you so much for good word (hah, I was trained as a journalist!) and for these suggestions; I will give them a try, especially that I am currently preparing an updated, 2019 edition of my list (longer mini-reviews!)... And comments like yours only harden my belief people actually find this list useful. Agrenost and Maugeter will be checked out and - if worthy - added to the list. They probably are: I am reading now that Agrenost seems to be "5 modules in 1" experience! Anyway, it is great Neverwintervault still attracts attention of some people after all these years. Greetings!
EDIT: The 2019 edition of the list is there https://neverwintervault.org/blog/greg/2019/mar/best-nwn-modules-according-greg-ad-2019
Agrenost is a kind of agonising experience honestly, because it promises so very much but really only delivers a fraction. That fraction is still much better than average, mind you, but the conundrum of raised expectations makes it harder to content yourself with it. It's the single most atmospheric city I have ever seen in NWN, with amazing use of custom content, gritty mediaeval atmosphere and great area design making full use of custom content. But the actual story content placed in this wonderful, living world is so little that your visit in it is cut short the very moment you really start to immerse yourself. It's a bit of a tragedy, really. Still definitely worth a try!
Ok. Thanks for this. So in this case it will probably not include Agrenost on the list (I don't feel like installing CEP 2.6 only to see a nice city... but still, Maugeter seems promising - especially i've found the claim by the author him/herself that it took 7 years to finish the module... and there are new feats, so you can roll, for example, a fireball-throwing cleric :) BTW. if you are into city adventures, think of Lankhmar NIghts and Dance with Spies (as I assume you've already been through ADWR).