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Lords of Darkness 1 - The Fugitive (V3.0)
Original description: The Kingdom of Arboril once was a peaceful and beautiful place. 100 years ago, King Edgar the Wise ruled the land and was loved by the people for bringing peace, prosperity and freedom to the land. But that all changed when King lost both his children, leaving the Throne of Arboril without a heir. Full of grief, the King laid the power into the hands of his advisor, the young Lord Gaeldorn. But, full of lust for power, Lord Gaeldorn's first and only intention wasn't to do good for his people. Since after King Edgar died, Lord Gaeldorn ruled the lands with an iron fist. The people's rights were taken away, replaced by a system of oppressive laws getting harsher each day. The more dissatisfied the citizens became with their new rulers, the more oppressive Gaeldorn's laws became. Decades later, it's a day like any other when you start to go shopping on Arboril City's Grand Plaza market. It is a day which will become the last normal day in your life...
Pay attention: CEP1 is needed to play.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 Lords of Darkness 1 - The Fugitive (0) | 1.88 MB |
 Readme File | 26.65 KB |
This is one of my all time favourite mods.
I loved this Module. Absolutely one of the best if not the. The best use of shadowdancer/assassins of any I have played. He actually makes high level opponents which attack you like a human. I love the story line, plot twists, right up there with the best of all time. Challenging and rewarding, masterpiece.
I still recall playing this series a number of years back. It was hands down one of the greatest mod series for NWN!
Now I'd like to play it again. Unfortunately, after downloading everything as per the instructions above, when I try to launch the module, I am told that a required custom talk table is missing. Can anyone help?
Do you have the CEP1 talk table in your tlk folder? It comes with the CEP1 download.
Good point, thanks! It turns out I apparently forgot to extract that. Now I've got it, plus the hakpaks, and I'm all set to go!
(BTW: the link above to CEP does not work, but searching for "CEP" finds a link to the "CEP1 complete" project, which has everything we need.)
Thanks again for your incredibly fast and helpful response!
Thanks for pointing that out - I updated the CEP1 link to the latest version.
I just replayed this mod after many years, and I enjoyed it even more this time around! I'm looking forward to continuing to Part 2, Onwards! :-)
Great mod!
This is the vote for the whole saga. Comment under the 4th module.
relatively good saga
No way :) When you think you played everything that's best on the Vault, another highly-rated saga you've never heard of pops up... I should thank those of you guys who update "Top Modules" list on the main page of neverwintervault.org. Added to my to-do list.
A rating for the whole series. The comment will be under Part 4
Hi, two questions:
1/ Can somebody who completed the saga tell if this story allows for fighter/mage build? I mean does it offer items with negative Arcane Spell Failure?
2/ In spite of installing custom music I keep hearing standard motives in module 2. Is music implemented only in module 3 and 4 ?
I was hoping someone would answer Greg's questions from last year, especially Q 2 about the music. I have experienced standard music accompaniment, after downloading multiple custom music files for various modules, so am very interested if something needs to be "tweaked" to get custom music to function properly for some modules, and if so, what...?
Thank you in advance to anyone who can answer Greg's previous questions.
And Thank all of you who have commented here on this heretofore unknown series that by all accounts, may be my next new fave... Love me some H & S & romance...
Great module, perfect level progress, you never get bored!
Note for whoever is having problems playing this module due to 1) cloak being invisible in inventory and/or 2) game crashes when opening a store:
USE CEP v1.x haks and *DO NOT* use "Cep1 complete (pre-release)" files. Problems just disappeared.
Just finished playing through all four modules in this series, and what a ride! :D Lots of fun and interesting challenges
Suprisingly, I don't typically enjoy hack'n'slash adventures but I found I couldn't stop playing this series. There's enough fun storyline, just a smidge of roleplaying, and romance scenes to sate my need for a roleplaying adventure (dialogue options can be very linear, but ultimate end game choices & relationship determinations are all up to you, which was great!) I ended up loving my character too (i'm so sad to see the story end, but it was a very satisfying conclusion!) and the combat was challenging enough to keep my interest in gameplay from ever waning. :)
LOVED IT! <3 Thank you for your hard work making this series!!!!
I'll repeat here my review added under chapter 1 of this saga:
I've completed the whole saga on level 27 or so (rogue/fighting cleric) and I am suprised how hack-n-slashy game can be enjoyable and challenging. For those, who are into this type of gameplay, I would rate it 10/10 (a perfect choice!), but for those who are all about the story, it would earn 7/10 or 8/10. In general, I believe it deserves 9/10 with a caveat that chapters 1-4 will become increasingly hack-n-slashy by the end and that the game offers many plot cliches. It is also linear - so not too much choices apart from how you treat (romanceable) Alanya and one good/evil choice in the last chapter. In short, it is more of an Icewind Dale than Baldur's Gate, but it's enjoyable and you can develop your character to epic levels and tinker with his/her fighting skills propely.
Sometimes the areas are too bloated (forget looking for some chest tucked away in the map's corner - the corner wil be most likely an empty space not worth visiting), but you can see the author made his best to make player experience rewarding: landscape tilesets are interesting and there is a nice selection of custom battle-encouraging music added - something that is frequently neglected by the module authors but adds a lot to an overall climate of run-run-we-must-prevail! setting of this story. Just as nice selection of armors and weapons suitable for most classes. The modules are also bug free: I experienced only a minor bug by the end of last chapter (if you're not accompanied by Alanya, the officer won't talk to you due to script malfunction and you will have to figure out by yourself her key opens cellar in the castle).
Anyway, the experience is rewarding and I would gladly play another epic hasknslash saga by the author.
I believe that this is the second 10 star rating that I have given. I am not a Module developer but I do know what I like, and this was a true masterpiece.The best part for me was the Henchperson interface, with full control and dialogue throughout the adventure. This review is for all four parts combined. All transitions and quests seemed to work, and I am a fan of the more linear adventure, which this is. There were some very nice items to buy or pick up, especially as things went along. And the twist that happened was unlooked for, but should have been expected!
Tremendous work. Thank you profusely, Fantus.
Many thanks for sharing this most enjoyable series.
Really enjoying this so far. I do feel though that some of the area design is a bit repetative.
This was, by far, one of the best modules I have ever played! Expertly written and created1 Pantheon of NWN Module greatness.
This was, by far, one of the best modules I have ever played! I love the history, the character, well done, congratulations to the creator of this module... it´s amazing ;)
A great mod to return to the fold... it has been years since I played NWN, but it was just like meeting an old friend... and what a nice story he had to tell me... or at least the author of this mod had. A nice prison break story with a twist regarding your companion's past that will be adressed in the next mods... very good indeed, and since I played this one I am definitely playing the other 3 mods of the series!
I have no words to describe this incredible adventure! I'm excited! Where to start praising? The story was amazing, the dialogues flawless, the battles incredibly balanced, the romance with Terence idyllic, the work it took to get this result is something I don't want to think about! Congratulations to the author. It is now one of the top 3 adventures I've played so far. I was never bored at any point in story and believe me it's a feat for me! It has to be played by everyone here!
Module Testing Tournement 2020
I just finished this mod, and thought it was very well put together, even though a little difficult in several encounters. Very few syntax errors in all the info presented in the dialogs (for a German speaker
).
I only found one serious defect in the whole mod, that being in Castle Lyonard. I say serious defect since it has the only merchant in the whole mod, and crashes CTD every time I tried to access the store. I checked the area via the toolset, and found the Merchant did not have any 'OnStoreOpen' or 'OnStoreClose' scripts. That was the only problem I spotted, and not even sure if those scripts are needed/used to start a merchant.
Has anyone else had this problem? I really wanted to sell most of the stuff I had gathered during the adventure, but was unable to do so because of the CTD that occured every time I tried to start the store.
Thanks to Fantus for a very well thought out Adventure! On to Part 2! As an aside, when installing this MOD to your module folder, be sure to also install the Part 2 stub. Otherwise when you reach the end of the game, the screen just goes black and everything just stops. Once I installed Part 2, then loaded my save game (of Part 1), when I reached the end of the module it loaded Part 2 faultlessly - a really nice feature!
Roger I had the same problem. No fix
Great Series, much better than "Defenders of Faith". I had no Problems with the shop in part 1, maybe there is a problem with features from CEP in override. (see koros message).
The propensity to just give everything a 10, has made module review scores useless in the NWN community.
This module was good in it's day (2004), but compared to later modules it's just kind of basic. It's just hack and slash on rails. Cringy attempt at writing romance with henchwoman. Zero well written enemies. For hack and slash the combat is terrible and illogical, with overused stealth, that just has piles of enemies appearing.
I can't get over how people crap on the NWN OC, and then praise something like this. The OC is better than this.
Comparing a free module to the Original Campaign is a bit pointless, isn't it? Of course most if not all of these Vault modules suffer in comparison in many ways. some do not. Nobody is saying that this is better, just that it was a well done Hack n Slash mod, and therefore should be a fun ride for many players. I fear you are needlessly negative about this and obviously many agree. When I find a module that is not my style I try to state it that way, not bash it with a low score, if it shows hard work and imagination.
I know it is a hack n slash module. But I think it is too much. I agree with SnowDog's comment overall.
I played this series last month, it was a fun hack&slash campaign but warning to martial-types: Unless I was very unlucky, I suggest not to Weapon Focus / Weapon Specialization / Improved Critical Bastard Swords. This world is more of a Katana kind of vibe. There are many katanas and if I remember correctly the first magical bastard sword I encountered was closer to the end, in the hands of a hobgoblin.
Hate to admit it but what I do when I find out I have the wrong feats is to dm_givelevel -4 or -5, then dm_givelevel 4/5 and I can now give the correct feats that are needed. Rather than a replay or similar. You may not agree to do this type of thing...!
This is a bit tough for me to rate, because on the one hand it's quite clearly a highly polished, well-made module that the author put a lot of effort and passion in, back in the days. The writing seems fine to me, the encounters are balanced and comparatively varied. There are no obvious flaws, and many veteran players seem to have fond memories of it. On the other hand, I didn't really enjoy it all that much, myself, because at least in this first episode, the story is quite simple and, let's say, traditional, in the sense that there's hardly anything surprising or unpredictable, it's all somewhat familiar, and the conflict is very black-and-white, plus the obligatory female companion is just the nicest, the most beautiful, the most humble and grateful companion ever, and in all seriousness. There's nothing wrong with all that, if it's your cup of tea, I just don't find it very interesting, personally. There isn't all that much story to begin with though, compared to the length of the module. There are some cutscenes and longer dialogues (or monologues, as they hardly give choices), but most of the time in the game is spent on a linear hack and slash run through big maps that don't feel very rewarding to an explorer like me, because there isn't a lot of optional content to discover beside more opponents and basic loot containers. And, as mentioned above, there's not a lot of roleplaying either, although I have to admit, I did not dare to be mean to the companion or try to get rid of her, and that is actually about the only choice you get (apart from possibly skipping a side mission?). Maybe that could have made it a little more interesting, but I doubt it. It all seems pretty much on rails, which in itself doesn't have to be a problem, but for me to enjoy it, such linear gameplay would have to be offset with a truly gripping story, and I did not really see that here (yet?). That being said, this review is just for the first part, and I'd assume there is a good chance the series gets better with the sequels.
If anyone runs into the issue of the merchant shop making the game crash to desktop, you probably have the wrong version of CEP1 installed, and contrary to what koro wrote above, I found that installing this version fixed it: https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/hakpak/cep1-complete
I already rated the mods separately, so my overview here is concerning the whole campaign, not this module in specific. Overall, it's a nice module if you have time to spare and want a lightweight campaign to pass some time. I enjoyed it for that.
Like others said, the story is full of cliches and in some situations the dialogue hit my nerves a little (too much romance sweetness in the dialogue between Alanya and you). Specially in the first modules, the dialogue interruptions are a little bit too much. Not because i don't like dialogues (i actually love them), but these did add nothing to the story most of the times.
The combat was nice, although a little too tiring at the last modules. But hey, its hack/slash heavy, so it's supposed to be like this. I found hilarious when I had to fight “impossible” crazed cows.
The areas were nice to navigate but nothing too fancy.
The game was almost bug free to me. I played on NWN:EE. I only encountered two non-blocking bugs. They were annoyances at best, nothing serious, and I am not entirely sure it was the module fault.
The first one was that when you changed areas and the next area had a dialogue right in the begining, the camera rotated infinitely. I had to save the game, close it and reopen it to fix it. A simple reload didn’t work.
The second one was that although i choosed Alanya to be a rogue, she most of the time could not use ranged weapons. Her stats clearly said that she could.
Overall, I liked the time I spend on the modules. It’s not a 9 out of 10, like the rating suggests. A 7/10 would be closer to the truth, but I really appreciate the amount of work and time spent that a project like this can require of you. So, I really respect the author for this.
Even once you reach the big bad of the story, in a series like this you'd expect some at least mildy interesting exchange, or any exchange at all that doesn't boil down to "you killed my minions, but now I will kill you" without any real choice of dialogue before the fight starts. We've seen the future, we know what's going to happen if he wins. Are we going to make a point out of that, like we did throughout the entire series to everyone else? Maybe that would give us at least a slight reaction out of his one-dimensional brick of a personality.
Let's look at the first chapter alone - how long does it take to get out of the prison? First, we get the prison itself. Then we get second level of the prison. Then the third level of the prison. Then, one level of a crypt. Then we get to another prison level where Alanya is kept. What then? Oh yeah - another prison level. Next, a cave level. Next, a sewer level. I don't know either why you have go to a cave underneath a prison to get to the sewers, which are presumably still under said prison since they lead to a forest. You have to go through 8 unnecessarily big levels of predictable encounters, and even then you have to claw your way through two levels of a forest before you get any real story progression. The whole series is filled with obnoxiously long dungeons like these, some even longer if you can believe it. And that's what you'll be doing through most of it. It wouldn't be that bad if those areas weren't so ridiculously huge, but even then anything above 3 levels becomes daunting, especially when it has abosuletly nothing of interest to offer.
In later halves of the second and third chapter I couldn't wait to be done with mind-numbingly dull, repetitive dungeon crawling where I killed pocket after a pocket of predictable enemies just to move on with it's obvious plot, so that I can get back to mind-numbingly dull, repetitive dungeon crawling where I could kill pocket after a pocket of predictable enemies with a different backdrop. You could make an argument that this is pretty much what hack and slash genre is about, but it's the context behind all that fighting that makes it engaging, or the sense of discovery that makes you want to go forward. Here, unfortunately the context just wasn't very good or compelling, and on top of that stretched way too thin. It was like the first chapter of OC, only done multitude of times over throughout multiple chapters, without the sidequests or intrigue to break the monotony of the main task.
As for positives, honestly there isn't much that comes to mind. I briefly touched upon some of them earlier - custom tilesets add a little variety, loot drops and quest rewards take into consideration most of available weapons. The option to choose an ending is a nice addition, and from what I gathered there's also available romance with Alanya, which I didn't do so I can't say anything about it. Although if it's anything like the rest of her dialogues, then I don't think I missed out on much.
It's so disappointing to see someone who clearly knows how to script and put together a module from a technial standpoint turn out something so painfully tedious. To be fair, the readme does say it's heavy hack and slash, but the module is nothing but hack and slash sandwiched around massive walls of text when conversing with NPCs.
10/10 for technical know-how, 1/10 for gameplay and game design.
I'm giving this a 6/10 for the first module in this series only. I do feel that the later ones don't live up to the first, but I'll complain about them on their respective pages.
I like the general story and premise of this module, but the constant travel interuptions to run back and talk to Alanya are way too often. They end up detracting from the whole premise of being on the run after breaking out of jail for a false imprisonment. Also the order of Jail > Forgotten Dungeon > Caves > Sewer > Forest was a bit wonky. The dungeon should have lead into the city sewers and from there the caves as a forest doesn't need a sewer system.
The fact that there was one shop with a limited amont of gold made sense in terms of the game plot but not in terms of practicality. Anyone not a big burly fighter type with a ton of strength isn't going to be able to carry everything they find, even if they use Alanya to carry stuff. It's like you pretty much have to cheat and sneak in some bags of holding if you don't want to slow mo walk everywhere.
Also not everyone needs to have points in lockpicking and disarming traps. As a rogue player, it's annoying with Alanya the wizard is trying to take care of something I can deal with better. More so since I can get experience points for doing it in the module. Seriously henchpeople, let me do my rogue job.
As others stated, there's nothing hiding about in the corners and if you like to explore out maps, it gets boring when you find yourself not rewarded for it with either loot or stuff to kill.
Amazing how two people can have such different experiences. In contrast to the review above, I loved it when alanya interrupted me and added to the story/made it more interactive, and when henchman interrupt in general. I also preferred my henchman taking care of traps. These modules so far are very light on traps and locks, so playing as a rogue is a waste in my opinion, if doing it for traps. Though I did take 3 levels of rogue for the sneak attack and skill points pumped into UMD and tumble. Also, i believe you can command them not to touch traps.
This game is extremely dungeon heavy. Even the light roleplaying with linear path is not a problem but I'd love to meet more strange interesting characters and stories along the way. Just stick one or two weirdos with interesting stories to tell in each chapter, whether there be a side mission or no for them. The end of the 3rd module, the boss was absolutely impossible. I set it on easy and just ran in circles until my henchman came back alive and distracted her while I damaged her, rinse repeat 10x until finally she was dead. Way too tough. So far the module and story is good, just the dungeons get too deep sometimes and praying for an end and the next part of the story and yeah, add a couple weirdos in there to spice things up.
Love the lack of stumping puzzles. Just a couple of very light obvious puzzles which is perfect for me. Going around asking on the net and requiring walkthroughs is annoying.
The dialogue with Alanya is super generic but just take this as a hack n slash with a not so bad linear story. I mean go in it with the expectation that it's hack n slash with quite a lot of text in the dialogues and a generic romance. The story itself is not bad at all and there is some mystery too.
This review for finished playing through first 3 modules. Will update when done if anything new to add.
I respect the time, effort, and dedication that went into building this module. That said, I can't recommend it.
The contents are heavy in the way of an undecorated baked potato. Plain, filling, but not very tasty. Combat and prose are large in quantity while lacking in flavor. The writing is bland, not dissimilar in texture from a graduation speech, or a school play.
All of which is not to say that Lords of Darkness is bad. The module is cleanly executed. There are no bugs to be seen (a remarkable achievement). And the difficulty is perfectly respectable.
But it isn't compelling. It spends too much time repeating the same fights and the same tropes. What it needs is an editor to come in with a third-party perspective and a red pen. With a little outside perspective, I have no doubt that Lords of Darkness could become the fantasy drama it's striving to be.
Great series, there weren't exacly many options to roleplay, but the story was tight, worldbuilding interesting and the romance sweet!
Rating 1st module. Total review will be on 4th chapter's page.