Wrath of the Ratromancer

Well met.

Storyline sounds neat. So to with the screenshots. Downloaded. To get the best experience from the module what character class do you recommend playing this with? With the sbilities you list ,perhaps not a pure fighter.

Looking forward to playing this.

—

Phyte: My heart has been locked for longer than I can remember.
Sharwyn: Done, and done.

—

*spoilers*

Took 3 hours with my solo 1st level ranger.  I enjoyed the structure and scripting of it.  I never needed to use any of my healing items or coins because there were no rest restrictions (maybe add wandering monsters?)  Typos: kobold boss - "messege"; gold signet ring - "reckognize"; Slay the Spiders journal entry - "supposidly"; Capt. Ellis - "We'll have to have come".  Never saw any gas-rats.  I passed difficult persaude checks even thoujgh I had a zero in persaude.  Also the city gate opens - maybe plot lock it.  Fun stuff overall.

Hi,

started your module, seam very intresting and well structured i will give a more consistent feedback when i completed it.

Ok ... i found the ratomancer but the dialogue is broken. The first 2 response with Remy as subject give mi +10 Lawful and +10 Good and i could take all the time but nothing happened ... so i tried the other and give me Chaotic and Evil shift but do nothing ....

Thanks in advance.

this was an enjoyable and simple module for low level characters. i played this in singleplayer as a rogue, but i think it would be a lot more fun in a small group with level 1 characters.

spoilers ahead!

there's a lot that's done well here: the concept of mixing up the "killing rats in a sewer" fantasy trope is interesting, and the revelation that the ratromancer is actually a more complex character with a history and motivation is compelling. 

the conceptual parts of the dungeon was also quite interesting. there was a nice number of puzzles and combat situations (things like ranged combat across walkways, trapped corridors, and the gate puzzle with the levers was fun!) 

there are hints here and there of a deeper world and more interesting characters. but i would've liked to have seen more of this. for example, the only people on the streets at all hours are a blacksmith, a fishmonger and some guards. the fishmonger and blacksmith had interesting personalities and character voices, and i enjoyed all of the various NPCs who helped you to prepare for the quest ahead. but other than that, the streets are very empty and sparse. the city does not feel very "alive" rather than a simple backdrop to encapsulate a sewer dungeon.

the zones in general were also quite sparse. it would've been nice to see more placeables and set dressing to sell the location more. for example, the kobolds were built up to be in service to a dragon (or at least to its blood!) and seeing more of this would've made that part of the adventure a lot more memorable and compelling. perhaps an insight into how they live, or their worship, or anything like that, rather than as a clump of mobs for the party to hack through.

the idea of different types of rats to fight was also a neat idea that i enjoyed conceptually, but it felt a little lacking in practice: the fortified rats were dispatched easily with the rod of magic missiles (3 casts per day, more than enough!) the spectral rats just needed a bit of patience to land a couple of hits on, and surprisingly - i never actually saw any "gassy rats" at all, despite having prepared beforehand with alchemist's fire.

the confrontation with the ratromancer was a nice climax, but the inability to explore more of their character was a little disappointing, considering they had a friend who wanted their safe return. even if this is a dead end and there's no way to actually help the ratromancer, a bit more exposition and dialogue for roleplay purposes would've been greatly appreciated. i also unfortunately experienced the bug where the ratromancer didn't turn hostile after declaring their intention to fight me. i had to engage them myself to finish the quest.

the actual  mechanics of the fight, with the use of the rat holes etc, was very interesting and i applaud this type of boss encounter design.

all in all, a functioning and enjoyable, if quite simple adventure for low level characters. serviceable in singleplayer, and i imagine it could be quite a bit of fun in multiplayer. thanks for sharing!

This was a fun, if brief, little adventure. I played twice with a paladin of Helm who completed Temple Invasion and got the *nospoilers* goodie that only paladins of Helm could get. It was short enough that I could play twice - the second time in order to get some content I missed the first time around.

The city is, for the most part, pretty bare. There are a handful of shops, most of which have a quest giver who sent me into different sewers. Each sewer had its own monster ecosystem with enemies that posed different problems for low level adventurers (spiders with poison, undead who can't be critted, humans with sneak attack ability, etc.). So a nice mix of enemies but each sewer/dungeon was very tiny and the loot was limited. 

A few of the quests could be resolved in different ways. The kobold quest stands out with two very different ways to get the quest item. I really appreciated that my paladin could be noble and idealistic. But my one gripe is that the evil route is not only more lucrative (duh. Crime always pays in NWN) but also gave *much* more XP. The peaceful resolution of the kobold quest netted me a couple hundred XP. The violent resolution netted me a few hundred more. The peaceful resolution followed by prompt betrayal maxed me out AND let me get the quest reward twice. I would have appreciated an XP incentive to play a good path, whether by making all XP for quest resolution instead of kills or by making persuade checks worth as much as the wanton slaughter of a small kobold tribe.

Ditto for the undead dungeon. Robbing the tomb blind not only paid off in cash but also in undead enemies to fight. 

One other quibble. Because I finished Temple Invasion, I had the Letter of Introduction which allowed me to skip a persuade check in an important conversation. However, because I used the Letter of Introduction, I didn't have to make a certain promise which cut out some of the dialogue options when I confronted the Ratromancer. I think it's a lapse that demonstrating my trustworthiness at the beginning means I cannot be conciliatory at the end. 

But those are quibbles. Overall, there's a good mix of combat and an opportunity for (some) meaningful roleplay and playing styles. Well worth a playthrough or two.

Not a bad short module. It was interesting to have four separate sections of sewer, have never seen that before, and with different denizens in each, with a different purpose too. Spoilers:

I was not able to talk with the cook about the outcome of the Ratromancer (sounds like a lover of rats, doesn't it?) encounter and I was also able to kill the Judge's ghost a couple of times. Talking with the Guard definitely ends this thing so make sure all is tied up and you have explored all areas. Thanks for the effort, Rencier!