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In the Shadow of Darkhold
Submitted by:
Submitted by HidesHisEyes on 2022-02-26 08:14.
Last modified:
2023-02-17 04:05
In the Shadow of Darkhold
a Sword Coast Drifter module by Alex Brown (aka HidesHisEyes)
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Version 1.2
- Added a failsafe to the final part of the module which should hopefully fix the issue some players were experiencing which made it uncompleteable. I was never able to replicate this bug myself or find out what the problem actually was, but in theory it should now be fixed.
Version 1.1
- Fixed some small bugs
- All starting gear can now be properly selected if starting with a new character
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In the formerly peaceful halfling village of Corm Orp, nestled in the Far Hills, trade and livelihoods are threatened by marauding monsters. In their desperation, the villagers have turned to the mercenary force of the Zhentarim from nearby Darkhold. This group, formerly a vast and brutal criminal network, has reformed itself into a legitimate organisation... hasn't it?
Into this tense situation walks an adventurer in search of work.
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This is a short, self-contained, single-player adventure for a level 3 character. The module should take three to four hours to complete, and will take your character to level 6.
This module is a very loose, episodic sequel to my previous module, The Lunar Shard. It is intended to be played with the same character, but can also be played as a standalone module. If you make a new character, you will be levelled up to level 3, and will receive some equipment and gold.
The module should be suitable for most types of character, but a good or neutral alignment is assumed. There are no xp rewards for killling enemies, so sneaking or talking your way past is sometimes preferable. The module makes heavy use of certain skills, particularly Bluff, Persuade and Intimidate. Check the readme for more detail.
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Please leave a comment if you have any feedback.
Thanks for downloading In the Shadow of Darkhold!
Files:
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 in_the_shadow_of_darkhold_-_readme.txt | 2.12 KB |
 in_the_shadow_of_darkhold_v1.2.zip (26) | 1.84 MB |
Well met.
Really looking forward to playing through this. Story sounds neat. Well done.
—
Phyte: My heart has been locked for longer than I can remember.
Sharwyn: Done, and done.
—
Thanks for playing and for the feedback :)
Do other module builders get this same near-delirious level of satisfaction from reading the comments from people who played their modules? I hope so!
Re. Doors - If you are of a twisted nature you could consider the use some of the scripts in my
Fun Doors package.
Re. Leiutenant - just swap the i and the e for the correct UK spelling - Lieutenant (perversley pronounced lef-tenant)
TR
Thanks, I'll check it out the doors package as I get started on the next one.
As for that horrible three-consecutive-vowels, different-UK-and-US-spelling word... I think I was planning on looking it up because it didn't look right no matter how I spelled it, and I never got around to it.
That was fun - I liked the underlying story.
Did have to reload a couple of times when dialogues didn't trigger though
why not promote the pesky spelled dude to under captain :)
Looking forward to continuing the adventure.
Thanks for playing and for sticking with it when there were bugs. I have done my best to make those dialogues guaranteed to work, but it's harder than it looks. I'm learning as I build!
Hi, I'm trying to play with NWN EE version 85.8193.33 (on Linux). It says that it's not possible to play since the content has been created with an updated version. Is it supposed to be like this? I thought this problem would happen only if you wanted to play with the Golden Edition with content created for the EE.
Thanks!
P.S. I cannot update the game since GOG hasn't released the version 86.8193.34.1 on Linux platform yet...
Thanks. Hope GOG will speed up the release...
You don't receive the Magic Shield (remove the nw_ from the name in the script), or the wand of missiles in the introduction area at the start. Everything else in that dialog works fine.
I love how well written everything is. It's short and sparse, but I'm always interested in what is said. Do you write all of this yourself?
Thanks for pointing that out! I will get around to updating it when I can.
Yes, the scenario and the dialogue is all created and written by me. Thanks, I am glad you enjoyed it!
I'm having trouble with the cutscenes. Managed to get past the one in the fort after a few reloads but the one in the 3rd level of Darkhold won't work. It seems to be exactly the same cutscene with the same dialogs and all, even the way the trigger behaves, except this time I can't get it work. After the dialog ends, the game becomes irresponsive and I have to force close it. Reloaded like 6 or 7 times with the same result.
Damn, sorry to hear that. I think it's an issue with variables. Thought I had it pretty watertight. I will take another look. Thanks for flagging it.
@HidesHisEyes: I think it has to do with an assumption you make about who will be present in the tower for that conversation. You're reusing the conversation branch from the fort, and when it gets to the "Hondesh" bit, it dies. You'll probably have to use a different speaker. If anyone made it past this point, it's probably because their outcome in the fort was different. Sorry to be so cryptic, but I'm trying to avoid spoilers.
EDIT: Actually it probably is the variables that control the conversation branches like you said elsewhere, I'm just looking a bit more, and it looks like the "captured" variable may not be getting updated to the value of 4 before tower level 3, so just keeps repeating the default conversation branch. There also seems to be some issues with henchmen levelups and journal entries.
Otherwise, very good modules, good conversations and nice area designs.
THANK YOU so much for mentioning the variable. My save was started with 1.0, hopefully 1.1 solves these issues.
I used ~, then "DebugMode 1", then "SetVarInt captured 4", clicked my PC and I was off to the races.
I DID have to used "dm_login" as well to kill the Zhent hostiles as a DM, or Holdfast would not talk to me due to attempting to do so during combat.
"dm_logout" and I was going forward again.
REALLY enjoying this module again (been gone a while from playing SP modules). This was so well put together and I look forward to the next..
I've had the same issue as well and I am currently stuck. I managed to trigger the new dialogue once after restarting from the prison part, however I instead got stuck on a wall and since reloading I've had the old dialogue only trigger despite rerunning the whole area 5 times or so. Besides that however I've been loving the module.
Even better than the first!
Played on EE and had no issues at all.
Thanks, really glad you enjoyed it!
Getting started on the third module now. Hardest part: figuring out the basic scenario XD
Better than the previous. Well until you get captured without roleplay. I quit there. If it wasn't for that, i would have said 8.
Thanks for the rating and comment. Sorry you didn't like that. Can I ask what you mean by without roleplay? I'd like to understand where you're coming from on that if it made you stop playing.
Roleplay: meaning the ability to decide what your character says/does. But in that case, happened the opposite (deus ex machina): the dm decided for the player. As you by yourself made state to one of the npcs, my character could had "tried his luck" since there was appearantely no reason why i should/couldn't take them. But -obviously- you had decided that the story had to go that way, wheter the player likes or not. That is usually the sort of thing that turns me down. Besides, considering i HATE zhentarims, usually i would simply cleave them where i see them. So i already made some effort on keep playing the game when in the beginning i saw my character walking WITH them. (And i think the 99% of mankind hates zhentarims)
So if you wanted that the character got imprisoned in some way (which is one of those things that usually almost NOBODY like in any case, but anyway) you should have found some sort of "magic jumbo-jambo" that stunned the character or something, not decide that through a conversation where your character has only one option, lol.
Thanks for explaining. I accepted early on when I returned to making NWN modules that I will be essentially doing linear storytelling. When I GM tabletop RPGs I have no predetermined story and no preconceptions what will happen, and I work with the players to let the narrative emerge organically. This isn't possible in a NWN module so I instead leaned the other way and embraced the linear nature of it. The premise in that capture scene is that the pc is so heavily outnumbered that there's no point resisting, so it's me as the storyteller saying to the player "this is what happened". And then the Zhentarim, in the world of the module, have supposedly reformed into a legit organisation, and acting accordingly instead of immediately attacking them is also part of the module's premise.
I do try to drop in meaningful choices where I can - but certain narrative crunch points aren't going to offer that. I don't consider it a failure, but I totally understand if that style is not for you, fair enough.
Aside the fact that *it is* possible allow multiple choices even in important parts of the plot, you just need to do more work. But fair enough, as i said, i do not criticize the fact that you forced the plot there, only *how* you did it. Again, a conversation with three options where none of them is actually a choice? Seems almost like you're making fun of the player.. You could at least have made as did Phantasma on his version of "Against the cult of the reptile god" where he set a similar event but in a scripted sequence. I didn't like too much that too, but at least that appeared like a 'storyteller sorta event'. Specifically if you set some 'magic' that knocked the character out. In that way maybe it would be annoying, yes, but at least not ridicolous. Of course, mine is just an advice, now you can do as you see fit.
Yeah I don't have time to make branching paths, unfortunately. But the way I see it, even if I did I wouldn't be able to cater to every course of action the player could possibly imagine, so I'd have to arbitrarily limit the number of options. And that's what I've done, really: limited the options to one.
As for the how of it, the original version I uploaded did in fact have a "fight anyway" option in the dialogue which just meant certain death. I took it out because it just felt like a false choice, and I feel that a magical knockout plot device would too. I'd rather just be honest that you sometimes get "at this point, this thing happens." It's a part of the design, in other words, not a mistake - but of course it's not gonna be for everyone. It does make sense to value player agency very highly in a game like NWN, after all.
Well, you know how do they say, "art takes time". If you want to rush out things, somewhere something loses out. Honestly i wouldn't mind to wait a little longer for something like a game (look what did obsidian with nwn2 for rushing the game out) if that means a better work.
But that's up to you.
Oh yeah it's all about trade offs. I just recall when I used to try to make modules when I was a teenager, and never finished any, and it was partly because I was being too ambitious. I would try to get a strong story AND fun gameplay AND maximum player freedom, and it was so much work that I would just get demoralised and give up. So this time I've made it my top priority to just end with a finished module. This way I've got something - and as I make more modules I will hopefully be building up and making each one better than the last. That's the theory at least!
Well, if you got demoralized so often i suppose it makes sense. But you could also have ask for some help? I mean, for example i don't know how much i could be of assistance, but i would happily lend a hand if it means get something even more perfect.
No plans for collaboration currently, but in future who knows. Thanks!
Good module. I enjoyed it very much. Not quite as good as The Lunar Shard, but lots of fun! Please continue to make more!
Thanks! The third module is underway but I've had trouble finding the time so far.
Really fun module with lots of balanced combat and clever situations that feel like the kind of thing you'd find in tabletop D&D. Highly recommended.
Thank you! Very glad you liked it.
Hello, I've managed to play but I found a bug towards the end (I suppose): when the last sequence with Holdfast should start, sometimes the guards are hostile and attack me but I cannot defend myself since I am stuck in the animated sequence.
Other times, the guards are not hostile but when I meet Holdfast and we have the last dialogue, he says "Kill them". Then no one moves and I am still stuck in the animated sequence.
The console is not available so all I can do is close the application.
Thanks :)
Sorry to hear about that. Others have had some issues with that part of the module too. I've looked into it but haven't been able to replicate the bug. I will continue to tinker when I have the time. Thanks for downloading and playing though!
Experiencing the same bug as others with the 2nd Martin Holdfast dialogue being an exact repeat of our first meeting then the module becomes stuck.
I enjoyed the Lunar Shard and this module as well up until that point, but sadly it seems unfinishable.
Hi, just dropping by to say I've updated the module and hopefully the issue people were experiencing near the end is now resolved. I wasn't able to replicate the bug myself and couldn't figure out what the problem actually was, but I've added a failsafe that should in theory prevent any problems.
-Hides