Saleron's Gambit - Chapter One

I've played this one all the way back when it was first released (what... more than 10 years ago? that's impossible...). Then I waited and started the second chapter, but unfortunately I never finished it... the reason was the ludicrous rest system... fortunately the author decided to change that offering us the chance to choose the kind of rest most suited to our game style... and now it works beautifully.

Actually it was always a great mod and probably a great series, but it was very difficult to play due to the 1 point (yes, 1 point) you recovered after resting... the whole idea was that you should play strategically, which is very nice and all but completely impossible if you are nothing but a first level character with no money and a dagger as a weapon.

It might have been my personal taste, so I won't say it is impossible for everyone, some might even find it fun and entertaining... me, I gave up in the middle of the second chapter. Now I think I am going to try to go all the way to the end.

The mod is very well done with nice conversations, big areas filled with details and a believable small town that works as a starting point for the adventure. Your character is supposed to be a first level throughout this chapter and the whole trip is balanced to allow for that (unless you choose the author's idea of resting, in which case... I wish you good luck).

Although it is rather short with only one main quest and dungeon it plays slow and the place is a bit large, so it will probably take longer than most first level mods... but that is actually good, it helps to develop the story and gives enough action to prevent boredom. In the end you feel attached to your character and very interested in discovering the rest of the mystery.

As an individual mod it is pretty straightforward, but as a starting point to a saga it definitely works!

Finishing Pillars of Eternity reawakened my thirst for quality RPGs, and after a long break I turned once more to NWN, choosing a random module from the longlist I created so long ago the original Vault was still a thing. Right now I'm about to start Chapter IV of Saleron's Gambit, so my (non-spoilery) opinions here will encompass the first three modules.

First of all, I really liked the slow start of the campaign - perhaps the old 'farmboy goes on a quest' tagline isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I personally enjoy developing 1st level characters way more than jump into a story with a relatively experienced one. The adventures around the village are a nice welcome to the series and help the player establish the connection with their character.

It's important to note the chief design philosophy of the campaign - low-level, low-treasure experience, and while I'm perfectly fine with the way the progression is implemented, at times the low-treasure component bothered me just a little. Especially it's true for Chapter II, where it feels like exploring vast dungeons and cave systems isn't rewarding at all. It is true that finding a +1 sword in every street barrel is tacky, but I feel overdoing the opposite approach also isn't too fun, and a few lesser artifacts giving +1 to skill or +1 damage would have accomplished a lot while still keeping the character sufficiently underpowered.

Thankfully, the story and the quests more than make up for the munchkin-y issues I've had with this campaign so far. The plot is a typical Forgotten Realms romp with mages, demons and old mysteries, and your character ends up smack in the middle of it, accompanied by the titular wizard Saleron. The quests become even better designed the more you play, and provide a great number of roleplaying opportunities. 'The Lady's College Mystery' is a particular favourite of mine. The location design is also great: custom building models used in Chapter II and III are so good and atmospheric that I recommend playing with second story tiles turned 'always on'.

All in all, it's been a very immersive and exciting experience so far, and I can recommend Saleron's Gambit to every RPG fan. And with that, I'm off to Chapter IV on yet another errand for Saleron.

Chapter I - 7/10

Chapter II - 9/10

Chapter III - 9/10

The story is very good so far and the mod is not too long for lvl 1. On the downside, you'll have to pick up every sh.... 1gp item und carry it to the merchant ...

[Series Review]

A very entertaining series, with imaginative use of custom tilesets and creatures. 

The main story arc is compelling. The side quests are polished vignettes, too, with plenty of variety. Intuitive, without being dumbed down.

The Forbidden Realms and Planescape settings are very well done, even if (like me) you normally prefer quasi-historical lore to the official D&D canon.

The low-magic, low-treasure design might be dull for some players, but personally I found it created new challenges. You'll never work harder for 1gp or have to make so many decisions about which loot is sufficiently light and valuable to be worth taking. By the middle of part 4, you end up with a surplus of potions and gold, there being no high powered items to buy, but no matter.

There is a choice of rest systems. I recommend the official Bioware version. After part 3, that's no longer an option, but that doesn't matter as long as you have a cleric in your party (which you will, if you make sensible choices).

Combat is generally light, punctuated with a few extreme fights. They're not necessarily the obvious boss encounters, either, so it keeps you on your toes.

Overall, a fine work.

Very nice begining of an adventure. PS. As a cleric I find a desacrated altar of Lathander in the castle - praying there makes PC want to purify it with blessed holy water... but this is not doable because holy water is nowhere to be found, and even if spawned via console it does not doo anyhing, even after blessing ;)

Nice starting mod for a long campaign 

Good set-up realistic low-gold/magic for a start

9/10: the rating is general. So in general it's 5 chapters of genuine fun: you’re starting as an orphaned pooh-farmer, finishing as saviour of the world… sort of, because ultimately it is Saleron that makes history and you’re only playing your rightful part (I love this “inversion” of perspective); epic scope, dynamic story with some dramatic moments that affect gameplay. I posted same rating on the page of chapter 5.

I am a huge fan of this module and this series! Well done and a great campaign to play. I really like the story. I am playing solo. A Ranger/Rogue currently level 5 going into Part IV of the series. I think it has been level appropriate. Challenging but fair. Having two henchmen helps. Excellent job! This is a module that lives in the true spirit of NWN that I have played. Highly recommend it for a very enjoyable experience. 

Really nice start of the series, areas can be a tiny bit big and empty at times, but that's easily balanced out by all the flavor text and atmosphere, it really felt like playing a well crafted P&P adventure. I gave the strict resting rules a try, and for my lvl 1 cleric with Heal and Animal domain, as well as martial weapons feat, it worked out perfectly. The encounters were exciting and required me to be a little careful and use tactics, but with a boar as my tank and ranged weapons to support it from a distance, I hardly ever got hurt, and if I did, I could just cast healing spells. Never really had to rest in dangerous places either, felt almost like cheating. But I acknowledge it might be a lot harder with melee fighters.

Some minor complaints / loose ends (*MILD SPOILERS*):

- There's not much to be gained by entering random houses in the village (and it doesn't make a lot of sense either), but the cow quest can only be found if you do. The cow on the other hand can be found without the quest, and to me it was obvious that she was part of a quest, but having already checked most of the houses before giving up on entering them, I missed that one home and kept wondering who I had to talk to in order to get that quest. If the husband outside would have mentioned a missing cow at least, I would have known where to search for the quest giver. I see Chapter 2 comes with a walkthrough, but Chapter 1 doesn't.

- I also wondered about the altar. If the module tells me it needs to be cleaned with holy water, I expect that it's possible to do it, especially if my PC is a cleric of Lathander herself or at least has connections to the village priest. I went to him to ask for holy water but there was no conversation option about it. No idea if I missed something or if it's not possible to cleanse the altar in this chapter. In any case, it's not explained why not. That's a bit of a pity since the rest of the module always gave the impression that everything was thought through and that if I had an idea on what to do, the author had already anticipated that I might be interested in doing that.

- I solved the bandit's quest on my own, before going to the keep, and the completed quest entry said that now I wouldn't need to worry about encountering them on the roads anymore, but that got me thinking - I wouldn't even have encountered them on the road if not for me exploring an area where I didn't even need to be. That felt a bit odd, unless there are scripted bandit attacks when you travel to the keep and solving the quest shuts them down? I guess I'd have to replay the adventure to see whether that's the case or not.

- Two interactive placeables (wall scribbling in a locked cell, grave in the crypts) were not reachable for the PC and couldn't actually be interacted with. The PC just kept running into the wall. I guess they shifted a bit out of place, too far into the wall? I played it with the Enhanced Edition, btw, in case that changes anything. Anyway, they were not required to interact with for the plot to move on either, so fortunately nothing game breaking. Everything else was highly polished.