The Scroll

The Althea Campaign: The Scroll (The First Day):

WALKTHROUGH PDF NOW AVAILABLE !!!

WARNING: Do NOT apply any cheats with this module, as they break the module. I have witnessed broken scripts and drastic balance issues that do not favour the player applying the cheats. Please contact me if you want help playing, but do not resort to cheats.This module is not like any other module that can have such workarounds easily applied without breaking it. Thank you for your understanding.

The Scroll is a traditional D&D story set within my own campaign called, The World of Althéa. The campaign was first written in the late 1980's and was moved to NWN2 when it became available. As the campaign is now available to both existing PnP players and newcomers, there is a choice of backgrounds to choose from. Newcomers should choose option 2 (Althéa History & Background: https://theworldofalthea.wixsite.com/home): This module has taken years to write and has around 50 +/- 10 hours gameplay.

The Darkening they call it ... A dark shadow that moved across the world two years ago now, robbing the peoples of their skills and abilities. Even magic was lost! But almost two years have passed since that time and Althéa is slowly starting to recover under the new power that calls itself the Empire, ruled by some Emperor that few, if any, have ever met.

But what does that matter to you? You live in New Edgeton, a sleepy village far north from the capital of Boran where, if you could ever get there, everything worth doing takes place. The capital city of the lands is a good four days travel south from the village. The problem is, however, even if you wanted to travel there, there is no way now ... not since the coming of the Barrier!

Two weeks ago, life in the village was simple, easy ... normal. Then, out of nowhere, a huge barrier sprang up around the village ... and the village became far from normal. The local dignitaries, slow to respond as always, did even less when they realised that supplies could still be passed through the barrier and that the villagers would not starve. The problem is, however, nothing living can pass out again!

So, is this it? Stuck in New Edgeton for the rest of your life? Just when you had decided to travel to Boran to learn more about the up and coming Empire. No, you decide to do something about the Barrier yourself, and then, maybe, if you can earn enough gold in the process, you will be able to take that trip to Boran ... and try to learn more about the Darkening too. After all, for you, life is just beginning.

There is a mystery to unravel. Will you be the saviour of the village or just a nobody? Encounter mysterious people along the way, and travel farther than you realised was possible considering the circumstances. Encounter murder, demons, monsters you never knew existed! Survive or die in intense battle, using magic or items you create to combat such. Discover mysterious texts and puzzles along the way, and overcome them with a clever mind or simply find the tool you need to bypass them. Finally, learn the truth about the strange barrier and save the village from entrapment!

!!! WARNING: IF UPDATING A MODULE VERSION PRIOR v1.53E +

(SEE NOTES BEFORE PATCHING) !!!

!!! ATTENTION: PLEASE Check here regularly for the latest PATCH !!!

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NB: v1.50E + is NOT backward compatible with earlier releases (prior v1.50E).

However, newer versions will be backward compatible with each other from v1.50E.

EXCEPTION: v1.51E + Required if no PLAYER name was set on NWN2 installation.

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CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST OF FIXES WITH THE v1.50E ONWARDS

IF ALREADY PLAYING: For those who may be already playing, remember that you SHOULD only replace the CAMPAIGN folder (delete the old one and replace with the latest folder). Unless starting again, you should NOT replace the MODULE folder or you may break your game with respect to some area transitions.

IF STARTING AFRESH: For those starting afresh, then use the new folders for both module and campaign, and you will benefit from all updates. (Delete the older folders entirely first.)

I want you to have the best experience when playing The Scroll. This campaign has taken years to write, and I do not want you to have a spoiled experience just because of a missed bug (at the time of your download) giving you a potential game-breaking problem! If you have the latest patch, then any problem you may have experienced should already have been dealt with and your game will be fixed. If, however, you think you find a bug that everyone else has missed, then PLEASE let me know.

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D&D HARD CORE: The Scroll is not your "standard" NWN2 module. If you are a "casual" NWN2 player, then this may not suit your style of play. If, however, you are from a more traditional background, and especially if you are from a PnP (Pen and Paper) v3.5 (and earlier) background, then this may appeal to you. It has additional D&D rules such as the need to consider attrition over time and spell-casters books. However, everything that has been implemented has been done in such a way that the game plays fluidly, as long as the player observes these differences when playing. E.g. Having a cleric to be able to cast Create Food & Water to help with food. NB: Gameplay options can alter some of these settings, but unless you are prepared to apply some of your own thinking, then some aspects may be more of a challenge than you are used to or even be beyond your capability or preferences as a player. Thank you for your understanding!

SP or MP: The Scroll can be played either SP or MP (coop). With respect to its coop capabilities, it has been designed with this aspect from the start, paying careful attention to plot items and other potential mutiplayer issues with respect to travel, conversations, journal entries, etc. So either play SP or with a friend or two in coop MP.

COMPANIONS & HENCHMEN: The player has the option to build a party of four from the start of the game, and/or wait to add or use companions instead. There are also a couple of useful henchmen that the player can acquire if they wish to. The party can always be re-arranged from the Bloated Buckle.

RACE, LEVEL & CLASS: This module starts all PCs at 1st level and they will end up around 9th, subject to the quests played. Some classes that are not within the World of Althéa are prevented from entering, and invalid faiths are also removed.

DEATH: Death of PCs is handled in a number of ways, subject to options chosen near the start of the game, and how the player sets up their game from the Althéa Main Menu. A "Dragon Age" style option (recover if the combat is won) is also provided as an option near the start of the game. You can also choose to play it hard-core instead, meaning you will need to raise any fallen companions from the dead if they die in battle.

REST: Resting is restricted according to area/environment, time since last rest, and food rations. PCs gradually lose VIGOUR over time, impeding their actions until they rest. Resting is usually required after about two hours real time playing.

PUZZLES: The Scroll is full of custom puzzles similar to those you might find in PnP or other RPG games. There are various ways to resolve them in most situations and new custom feats make the task of resolving them much easier if you prefer such.

COMBAT: There is a fair share of combat, where some encounters will be easier than others, subject to the path you take through the game. Having more than four PCs in the party will make encounters significantly easier. Also, changing the difficulty level can sometimes reduce an encounter's difficulty, subject to when it was spawned. A pseudo TURN-BASED option is available, and many features have been added to allow for a tactical combat for those that prefer such. An "auto-pause" on encounter and trap found have also been included. (Hit Point Bars are an option shortly into the module.)

MAPPING: The Scroll comes with a "fog of war" over its maps by default, where maps are available in the first place. However, there is an option to disable this near the start of the game, subject to other choices the player may choose instead.

WEATHER: The Scroll uses a dynamic weather system, which affects some items.

NEW GUI INTERFACES: The Scroll has many new integrated GUI interfaces, designed to make the experience more pleasurable and easier to use. Examples include: JOURNAL: Size toggle, bestiary tab, fixed "notes" section. INVENTORY & STORES: Now come with item description panels that allow ease of reading item descriptions and making direct comparisons between what you own and what you want. Better weight management. CHARACTER SCREEN: Additional crafting feedback tab. TIME & EFFECTS: The Scroll keeps track of accurate time with respect to spells and has a unique day/month/year and moon cycle calendar.

CRAFTING & ECONOMY: The Scroll has made some extensive improvements to the crafting system in NWN2, incoporating all three official campaign systems into a system that is much simpler to use for those interested. Closely tied alongside this is the way the economy works with items crafted or bought, so there are advantages of being able to craft your own items, and crafted items are useful. Special "recipe book containers" are also available from stores to keep any recipes you may find, which instantly report any requirements you may be lacking without needing to do a complete search through the party.

AUTO-INVENTORY MANAGEMENT: There are a selection of bags that can be purchased at stores that will automatically sort items you acquire for you. Including, craft items, essences, keys, gems and bounty items. Be sure to grab these as soon as you can afford them to make inventory control a delight.

REAL REACTIONS: Effort has been made to try to keep the reactions of NPCs and the environment as close to "normal" as possible. e.g. NPCs will respond if you try to steal items, gold has weight and you cannot carry too much.

KNOWN ISSUES

MAC USERS: I regret to say that all MAC beta testers reported that they could not get The Scroll to work on their computers. If you are a MAC user and succeed in doing so, then please contact me with the solution so that I can share it with others.

THIRD PARTY ADD-ONS: Due to the extreme customization of The Scroll, this module is NOT compatible with any other add-on or hak. However, I hope the fresh look and interaction will help players to enjoy the experience all the same. NB: The Client Extension has not been fully tested with the module, so currently use at own risk.

GAME RELATED SYSTEM ISSUES

Some computer setups may have either one or both of these potential issues:-

i) Exiting from the first GUI fails to do anything. (This warning is reminded in game too.) RESOLUTION: Just restart the game using the same PC from the local vault. On the next time around the GUI should respond as expected. I believe it is to do with files first time usage.

(ii) Exiting the first area for the first time (usually when going to the village), can cause the game to drop to desktop. This has never happened on my computer setup, but has done on my wife's computer setup. Therefore, be sure to save your game before leaving the area via the trigger. This is the only time it might fail.

PUZZLE RESOLUTION ISSUES: On rare occasions, it is possible for a GUI to be presented "off-screen", possibly due to a previous GUI usage info, making access to it impossible. I found that you can delete the file called guisettings.ini to fix the issue, which can be found at: C:\Users\yourusername\Documents\Neverwinter Nights 2\ui\default (NB: "yourusername" will vary according to you user name.) This file stores the locations of where you last opened the GUIs and can sometimes hold erroneous positions. It can safely be deleted (although always make a backup just in case), and it recreates itself when you next use a GUI, placing it in a default position where you should be able to use it. Alternatively, if you can set you screen resolution to 1920 x 1080, that *may* also resolve it.

DOWNLOADING & INSTALLATION

It is essential to follow these instructions to ensure the module installs correctly and plays without problems beyond currently undiscovered bugs:-

ESSENTIAL

1. Ensure your "Neverwinter Nights 2\ui\custom" and "Neverwinter Nights 2\override" are currently empty. (NB: This module must not have any other third party add-ons included.)
2. Download and unpack "Campaign & TLK Folders (v1.58E).7z". It contains two folders: The "Althea" campaign folder, which must be placed inside your NWN2 Campaign folder. (Keep this folder updated with the LATEST VERSION to ensure latest fixes.) Secondly, a "tlk" folder, which contains "Althea_01.TLK" file, which goes into your tlk folder. This small tlk folder is now packed with the campaign folder for ease of download.
3. Download and unpack "Module_Althea_001 (v1.58E).7z". It contains a folder called "Althea_001", which must be placed inside your NWN2 modules folder.
4. Download and unpack "Althea_Others (v1.50E+).7z". It contains four folders: "hak" folder, which contains 3 "althea_xxxxx.hak" files, which all go into your hak folder. "movies" folder, which contains "TheScrollIntro.bik" file, which goes into your movie folder. "ui" folder, containing a "custom" folder with "LBAlthea" folder inside. Use in your ui folder. "music" folder, which contains three music files, which goes into your music folder.

IMPORTANT: If you are playing other modules at the same time as this one, then it is possible to remove the LBAlthea folder before playing the different module if you wanted to. HOWEVER, it does *NOT* stop other games from working, but simply changes things like the the load screens and the mouse click. It also contains alterations required for my GUIs to display correctly. NB: It is essential to ensure this folder is in place before playing my module. If you start my module and do not see the correct loading image, then quit the game and ensure the folder is put back in place before restarting NWN2.

OPTIONAL

1. Download and unpack "Althea_Information.rar"and follow the Quickstart Guide to ensure you have setup the files correctly. The opening screens should now reflect "The Scroll" as the module you are about to play. This is important, as it also means you will have correctly setup some essential GUI changes (via the LBAlthea folder) required for the module to work correctly.
2. Continue to follow the Quickstart Guide until you reach the point where the module automatically saves the game for you. (See CHOOSING A BACKGROUND below.) At this point, you are ready to start playing. Referring to the Althea Manual_FINAL_v1.21E.PDF may be helpful at this time.

CHOOSING A BACKGROUND: When you first enter the game and go through some character selections, you will eventually be asked to choose a background. Unless you are familiar with my pen and paper campaign (or played my NWN1 module, Soul Shaker), then I would recommend that you choose OPTION 2.

PATCHING THE MODULE

FROM v1.50 E ONWARDS: If you are running a campaign version older than the version currently available, then download and replace the complete "ALTHEA CAMPAIGN" folder on your computer and this will update most of the bug fixes and improvements required for your game. The seperate PATCH HAK is now only used to fix critical problems and those related to module files only. As a consequence the HAK patch is now unlikely to be used unless a player requires an immediate fix to a problem that replacing the ALTHEA CAMPAIGN folder cannot resolve.

It is *VERY IMPORTANT* to make sure your game is always patched to the latest version. Therefore, keep track of the current game version in case it is higher than your current module version. NOTE, replacing the CAMPAIGN FOLDER is the expected method of patching the module.  The patch hak now only addresses essential game-breaking bugs, related to the module specific code and will only be used upon request or neccessity.

INSTALLATION: Simply download, unpack and replace the existing campaign folder (or althea_patch.hak if employed) with the latest version before restarting NWN2. The latest version will always include previous patches and be backward compatible.

VERIFICATION: When you reload your latest saved game, the module should welcome you again, and inform you of the latest patch update. This figure can also be found from the Althéa Main Menu ("Rule Information" section).

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