Prophet - Chapter II - The Century of Sorrow

I don't know why but I cannot play this module.  I have installed CEP 2.6 and I have all the Hak and music.  The prologue and chapter I worked without problem.  

The game freeze during the loading module screen.  My log file contains no error because the game just crash.

Any idea?  Thanks a lot!  I just love the chapter I!

Ps: sorry if my english isn't perfect, I usually use french.

Oh, btw, I have the same problem with chapter 3.

You need CEP 2.3, although I thought CEP 2.6 was backwards compatiable, it very well may not be in this case.

FP!

Thanks for your answer.  I finally just got it. (2 minutes after my post, but I was trying since 2 hours to make it works).  Finally, I use the "English 1.69 Critical rebuild for game with both expansions only" and everything is fine.  Thanks for your time.  I will hope that my problem helps futur players.  It's a great module.

Having unwittingly become the center of an ancient prophecy, and dubbed the unmaker who will bring about the Century of Sorrow that leads to the end of the world, the PC sets off for the desert city of Hierathanum. There, you hope to meet with the Dreamweavers, a group of mysterious dreamers who, like you, are gifted with The Sight. With their guidance, you hope to learn more of your powers, and hopefully find a way to avoid bringing about the end of times.
Chapter I of the Prophet featured a vast journey with incredible twists and turns, and featured powerfully-written NPC companions who were integral to the plot. Therefore, it was with some excitement that I launched the next chapter. It was a well-polished module, with strong writing, good technical skill, and a bare minimum of typos, small bugs, etc. Area design was about as good as it gets in NWN1, with creative skillful use of custom spectacular custom content. The "Mountains" tileset has never been used so well as in this series, and I loved many of the other innovative ideas he used.

Combat remained interesting, with damage absorption continuing to play a big role in the success of my character. This was also true of the NPC's, and therefore required me to do whatever I could to make use of sneak attack damage to avoid lengthy battles of attrition. While I started the module trying to "tank" with my rogue/ranger, I did find it necessary to reverse things and let my ranger companion be the primary melee character with the majority of the good damage-absorption equipment. This meant my character wasn't as well equipped, but it made sense to keep the enemies on him: he had more HP, and if the foes were targeting him then I could sneak attack them.

That all said, I found the module's story to be a bit disappointing. The first half of the module established the setting and flavor of Hierathanum, but ended up largely just being a blockade to the character's progress in the story. The elements of the main plot that were present were largely just a rehash of the events of th first module, which seemed overdone. And when the story did progress...well, it was on rails. One's choices did not matter. .... I fully realize that this is kind of the point of the module--it's about a prophecy, after all--and is what puts the PC in the center of the story's challenge. But for some reason, it still just didn't ring true the way the same kinds of themes did in the first module.

In any case, it certainly serves the purpose of setting up the final chapter of the trilogy. I had a fun time playing in the author's world once again, and I'm excited to see how my character will work his way out of this situation...if he is even able to do so. The module ends on a dark note, and it's hard to imagine what can be done amid all of the hopelessness. Here's hoping for an epic solution in chapter III!

Fix the scepter level requirement. It needs level 21 ffs. I won't be playing this mod again, but i feel sorry for the unlucky sods who might. But i recommend not to play it. There are better modules people can spend time on.

In spite of bug with Scepter, i'm highly recommend this module for playing in co-op. Strong storyline, a lot of puzzles with original solutions. Your companions also have a different topics for second (third etc) player in party.

For example my friend discussed with our companions some details about my (prophet) past.

How are you supposed to destroy the Penteract? I continually strike at it with the Scepter of Lor and do lots of damage but it keeps reforming itself. Is this a bug that prevents the story line from moving on or do you have keep striking it until you've done 10,000 points of damage before anything happens?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

seekwhence 

A few notes . . .

This series of modules (up through chapters 1 and 2) is phenomenal.  The artwork, music, and storytelling all mesh to form what i can only call a work of art.  It compares favorably with the NWN OC.  A few things which deserve special mention:

• The use of scenery elements is amazing.  Traversing the path to the castle in the mountains actually felt dangerous.  The views from the cliffs was also impressive.
• The henchmen seem so ... real.  One gets the impression that Merudoc and Llarien are fairly creeped out by the prophet, and actively considering their loyalties.
• Cities are done right.  Most people's doors are locked, you can't wander through their houses looking for spare loot, and there isn't a diamond and +5 greatsword in every barrel on the street.
• Uther's plan -- I can't say more because of spoilers, but . . . let's just say he was one clever old bird.

I signed up for two reasons.  First was to give praise above.  The second is to ask for help!  I am under the Pit of Souls, and I -- can't -- find -- the Temple of Earth.  I suspect it's that isolated area past the broken bridge, but cannot get over there.  Anyone with some insight, don't be shy!

Masterpiece!

This is one of the greatest module series made for NWN.

Absolutely fantastic series! Everything about the story, the setting, the scenes was superbly crafted.  The author put a ton of very hard work into this, as Aquarius above said, Masterpiece. This is one of the "must plays" on the Vault.  This whole series is a 10!

Prophet Saga [COMPLETE Let's play]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NosgBi0XAaA&list=PL2mVwWymK5NNenPJ_MGV8n...

Another great module that establishes "Prophet" as a member of TOP 5 epics on the vault and makes it THE BEST module in terms of philosophical profundity.

I quite loved many things in Chapter 2: in this chapter it was the first time in my NWN gameplay my henchman actually reaised me (after the ball run me through in the desert crypt), which made me feel as if the AI henchmen behaved like real players; I also loved a plot twist when the zombies trap you from behind, which is cool, dramatic and scare the hell out out you. The idea of of lucid dreams, which is in principle a real phenomenon (I have experienced them myself a few times) treated as a vessel of prophetic dreams and the gateway through which the future communicates with the past is a very nice idea, storywise. This module has many more tasteful additions like an option to remove the amulet of loyalty, which involves a rather entartaining ritual, or the summoning of Gothra, lizard-god by the lizardmen as their last resort against you. It was also very amusing that the priest of Liet actually attakcs you when you insist they must do sth with the poisoned water (and he drops a powerful symbol with Word of Faith 3x day, so it's worth checking out). By the way, warning the citiziens could be marked as another optional quest. All in all, the module is 10/10 and the hopeless feeling the world is doomed is in principle wonderful. 

I found some minor bugs (SPOILERS below!):

-- Hassir speaks of the soldier with the mask as "my father" with the player not reacting even if I received this quest from the caliph and Hassir was not present during the audience; which is illogical. -- Atelkhan does not notice I do not wear his amulet anymore on completion of his quest (whereas he should be astonished) -- even if you don't disclose the spell-phrase to Nazathan Ghol, he still knows how to poison the wells, this is weird, as in my other playthrugh the journal says it is I who told him the phrase. -- if Hassir commits suicide and you resurrect him, he repeats this suicide everytime you raise him. -- Chakur offers discount after you help the rebels, but his prices were actually HIGHER with the discount in my case.

An incomparably good series.

There is only one word to define this series: A MASTERWORK. 

I think that the last time that I found myself emotionally shattered like this was when I played Planescape:Torment and considering that I am probably talking about one of the best RPG ever made it should give you the measure of what you should expect if you'll decide to play this wonderful series. One of the most powerful, original, gritty and depressing story that I've seen. Ever. I think that Prophet Series can be really considered a piece of art and that it deserves a place in the history of gaming. 

I signed up solely to post this.

These Prophet modules are fantastic. Outstanding even. This particular author's other modules are also a cut above the rest.

Game freezes on entering the octagonal treasury next to the Caliph's bedchamber (NWN 1.69 CEP 2.65).

Graphics settings make no difference.

The player can walk around the room if they stay close to the walls, but the game hangs if they move towards any of the loot.

EDIT (MINOR SPOILER) a workaround is to reactivate the whirling blade trap by pressing the lion panel button next door. My rogue was able to stand in the whirling blades while collecting the loot, taking only minor damage. Conclusion - when the whirling blade trap is disabled, the game now crashes, for some reason.

EDIT another workaround is to use a Disarm Kit on the PC while standing near the room. The trap only appears for an instant, but if you immediately Pause, you can disarm it. Unpausing, the trap vanishes, but disarm still completes OK.

Okay so I've played through this module up until I reached the gates of Hierathanum, but now I can't continue because everytime I try to move to the next area which I assume is the actual city, my game crashes. After this, I tried reinstalling everything, including the game and it still doesn't let me enter the city without crashing... I haven't had problems like this with any of your previous modules or at any other point in this module. If anyone could help me fix this I would appreciate it :(

I'll post the crash log if it'll help:

"Look at this dead child lying here. The world is already destroyed." -A Mother

Most aspects which make this series so compelling remain present in “The Century of Sorrows”, so I shall refrain from needlessly reiterating them. The writing alone would net this a 10, really, so any criticism to follow is best seen as nitpicks in that context. Baldecaran takes the Prophet to the exotic south of his gameworld, and while the tilesets which bring to life the Arabian Nights setting of Akkaban have not aged as well as those used in Chapter I, the sheer ambition of it is to be commended. The module starts on a bit of a slow note, as the jungle areas feel very small and limiting, offering mostly fights against creatures you have little motivation to slay other than that the only way forward happens to lead through their village. Considering the strength of the module series in limiting violence to sensible encounters otherwise, this left a rather bitter taste in my mouth. As soon as the desert is reached, however, the path becomes more clear and several rewarding opportunities for exploration open up - among them the probably most innovative dungeon I have encountered in NWN1, apart from Swordflight at least. Encounter design in general improved markedly since Chapter I, with several memorable battles offering real tactical challenges (my favourite being the “Thunder of the Earth” - not impossible on the first attempt if you listen well to the suggested tactics, but seriously threatening nevertheless; especially because you have no way of knowing whether a swallowed companion will survive). Having imported a character from Baldecaran’s earlier modules into the Prophet Series, it was also immensely satisfying to finally reach the required level of UMD to put on the Robe of Timestop and Staff of Storms from Cave of Songs, wreaking havoc among the tough fire elementals, not to forget the opportunity to witness the Pale Elf's tragedy from the other side.

In comparison to the desert, Hierathanum itself felt a bit lifeless - I get that it is not supposed to be a welcoming place, but neither is there any particular urgency that could explain the lack of side content away like there was in Rithsilvane. Sadly, Chapter II has never undergone the makeover that Chapter I received, improving polish and adding side quests and alternative means to complete some tasks. Opening the module in the toolset, I found a number of remnants of fascinating sidequests, such as infiltrating the Tower of Ymunsun for Moriomeldir, more hints as to the background of the Dervishes and an Inverted Cathedral of the Herezars. This module would have benefited greatly from a bit more meat on the bones, considering how much effort is spent on the introduction of the new setting and how little we ultimately get to explore of Hierathanum. I love the plot idea of acting as Joseph to the mad Pharaoh Amhothet, who is certainly my favourite character in the module. Like the Drow in Chapter I, Amhothet is another delightful example of Baldecaran’s particular narrative technique to take a seemingly worn old cliche and play it straight, yet add a touch of humanity to it that reminds us why it was compelling enough to become a trope in the first place. Once you achieve your position at court, however, events move along so fast that the narrative potential of the intrigues is barely explored. After the carefully spun web of betrayal around betrayal in the author’s excellent Honour Among Thieves, the dearth of side content and the limitations placed on interaction with the various factions in Hierathanum were rather disappointing.

PS: I enjoyed the tasteful references to 80s nerd culture. “Tears in the Rain” sent a predictable yet welcome shiver down my spine, and when given the option to lie about a certain phrase heard in your dreams the seemingly gibberish words felt eerily familiar - which made them really appear like something surfacing ad hoc from my character’s subconscious; a great moment of roleplay! Turns out they were not anything heard in previous modules, but Merlin’s “Charm of Making”, memorised over so many childhood hours...

NON-SPOILER ADVICE

The second companion is quite easy to miss, and he adds a lot of depth to the story. If you do not want to miss him, make sure to explore all conversation options with the Dervishes.

If you end up trapping a man in a box, DELIVER IT BEFORE VISITING THE CHANTRY even if it seems wiser to hang onto it. Otherwise your actions will not be tracked properly by the module which can lead to some narrative inconsistencies later on, but will not break the module.

If you find yourself equipped with an Amulet of Loyalty, do not attempt to unequip it using the regular inventory interface - it is not meant to be possible to take it off that easily anyway, and a bug with its script can lead to a save-game corrupting loop as it attempts to re-equip itself. There are multiple ways to rid yourself of it by other means.

You will not be able to return to the desert once you have entered the city of Hierathanum.

SPOILER

I cannot imagine how long the time waiting for Chapter III must have felt to players who went through this when it first came out. The henchmen in this series are not the most interactive or chatty, but something about the way in which they realistically follow their own personalities made them grow on me like few game characters had before. Losing Hassir and Llarien, especially after what happened with Merudoc in Chapter I, were some of the most emotional moments I ever experienced in a game, made worse by the knowledge that contrary to Merudoc, you really cannot fault them for their decisions after everything that happens...