NWN The Blades of Netheril - unofficial sequel to NWN1 OC from Ossian's Luke Scull

[Luke Scull]

Thanks for the bug report! 2) is fixed, I'll fix 1) and the weird grammar in the next update.

Sure thing, thanks for the great work, I just finished it over the weekend and it came out brilliantly!

Got one more possible bug for you before you pass it to Beamdog - if you bribe the big guy to help you in the final battle and you then Persuade the boss's "compatriot" to sit it out, the big guy doesn't join in the fighting, he remains neutral. If you don't Persuade said minion and fight both of them, the big guy does correctly join your party. Again, keeping it vague to avoid spoilers.

You can set X2_JUST_A_DISABLEEQUIP OnSpawn to disable a henchman's inventory.

Cheers, that's what I was after! And yes, slapping a spare pair of Boots of Speed on Loric definitely "altered the balance" a wee bit.


Hey, while you're here, I did mean to ask you a plot-related question regarding a certain character:

SPOILERS for SoS, CToT and TotM

I'd always assumed Neremul was a Malaugrym, the same one we later encounter as Eremuth in ToTM, and presumably the main villain in the initial SoS as well. I'd guessed that's what he was doing in Nekrodemus's library, tracking down Dominion, but the new Calimshan sequence you added to CToT EE would suggest otherwise, leaving just Salidar as part of Team Tentacles... unless it's all just elaborate misdirection? The whole thing does play out a little trippy, out of character for Neremul, as if he's putting on a thinly-veiled show to throw you off the scent. I was wondering whether I missed something, or am I asking for future Blades of Netheril spoilers here?

Ah, good catch! I'll fix that one too. How did you find the difficulty balance?

That's a good guess regarding Neremul's true nature, but no, he's just an angry (though talented, he reaches a higher level than the CToT PC in the same time period) mage with daddy issues. Team Tentacles will be back in full force in The Blades of Netheril, as well as several future companions, a minor NPC or two, and a major, major villain, all from the AL trilogy.

 

[Gargaune]

How did you find the difficulty balance?

Smooth sailing, generally, but I was playing on normal so that should be expected. At that level, I wasn't too hard pressed but there were still stimulating encounters and I was going through consumables at a reasonable rate. I finished it with a Bard 12 / Fighter 2 multiclass, switching between spells, bow and Dex melee. The two outliers that struck me were:

- Sythillis was a complete pushover, went down in a couple of rounds, but I did prebuff heavily before stepping onto the central platform (it came back to me from when I played the original). I did see you already mentioned tuning him in your patch notes, though.

- The Broken Realm was a tremendous spike in difficulty, albeit in an engaging way. I fought precisely one encounter in there before I noped back out to stock up on restorations and max my Fort save. The Baelnorn was the single hardest encounter in the module, he actually roflstomped me six times in a row before I got the right approach. Although on my trip back from Nekrodemus, I kinda figured out I could boom-headshot Vampiric Wolves with the longbow before they could close to melee, you could up their movement speed if you're feeling sadistic.

You can probably afford to throw in some more chicanery like that in Blades of Netheril, but I'd say the balance curve in CToT EE is consistent with TotM and you don't need to worry about it, it's solid as-is for the curated content list.


If you're looking for feedback for the upcoming series, I'd sooner point you to the balance of the economy. CToT's good to the midpoint, but towards the end I had more trouble finding Bags of Holding to store my dragon's hoard than earning gold. The crafting in Suldanesselar put me out, but only briefly. TotM, however, was highly frustrating and equally captivating in this respect - forget Maganus, I can get 300 extra gold per Longsword +2 from that lady in Zhentil Keep! Those tiered merchants are great, although I'd argue designing around no limits for the lowest-yield ones.

That's a good guess regarding Neremul's true nature, but no, he's just an angry (though talented, he reaches a higher level than the CToT PC in the same time period) mage with daddy issues. Team Tentacles will be back in full force in The Blades of Netheril, as well as several future companions, a minor NPC or two, and a major, major villain, all from the AL trilogy.

Ah, so I was overthinking it after all. That's good, though, it's a job well done when the plot gets you speculating on the supporting characters, makes me look forward to TBoN.

 

[fantadomat]

Is this one out? I enjoyed the main campaign wouldn't mind a sequel.

 

[Gargaune]

Is this one out? I enjoyed the main campaign wouldn't mind a sequel.

No, the SoS and CToT EEs are done, so the first Blades of Netheril episode should be next. Just play the AL series for now (SoS, CToT and TotM), that's some 50+ hours altogether, then TBoN will tie in to both the OC and AL series when it's out.

 

[Gargaune]

Doom of Icewind Dale is nearing the finish line! I'm not going to claim it will measure up to Baldur's Gate 3 - but it should provide 15+ hours of D&D goodness in the 3rd edition Forgotten Realms, a setting with enough lore to support a hundred CRPGs.

Where "the finishing line" means Next Friday™, right?

 

[whydoibother]

>8:18 PM · Nov 7, 2023

 

[NwNgger]

Doom of Icewind Dale is nearing the finish line! I'm not going to claim it will measure up to Baldur's Gate 3 - but it should provide 15+ hours of D&D goodness in the 3rd edition Forgotten Realms, a setting with enough lore to support a hundred CRPGs.

Where "the finishing line" means Next Friday™, right?

Of course it can't measure up to Baldur's Gate 3. Because the coomers who play Baldur's Gate 3 aren't looking for real RPGs or real RPG mechanics. It's an apples to oranges comparison.

 

[Lacrymas]

I strongly dislike the fact BG3 is used as a barometer.

 

[vazha]

15 hours? weakling.

 

[Gargaune]

15 hours? weakling.

Would be good on the clock for a standalone module and this one's just supposed to be the first episode in the series anyway.

 

[JarlFrank]

Doom of Icewind Dale is nearing the finish line! I'm not going to claim it will measure up to Baldur's Gate 3 - but it should provide 15+ hours of D&D goodness in the 3rd edition Forgotten Realms, a setting with enough lore to support a hundred CRPGs.

Where "the finishing line" means Next Friday™, right?

Of course it can't measure up to Baldur's Gate 3. Because the coomers who play Baldur's Gate 3 aren't looking for real RPGs or real RPG mechanics. It's an apples to oranges comparison.

Is that also an NWN module? If so, then yes, it can't measure up to BG3 because the NWN engine is shit and every other RPG in existence is better.

 

[luj1]

I strongly dislike the fact BG3 is used as a barometer.

Tried it for the first time the other day. Couldn't believe how paper thin races were in terms of unique abilities. This is probably due to 5ED being dumbed down.

 

[Gahbreeil]

Blades of Netheril? Doom of Icewind Dale? Where do I find this content?

 

[Lacrymas]

I strongly dislike the fact BG3 is used as a barometer.

Tried it for the first time the other day. Couldn't believe how paper thin races were in terms of unique abilities. This is probably due to 5ED being dumbed down.

It's the content I dislike in BG3. Very immature at the best of times. 5E is what it is, even though Larian have changed some stuff and all of them for the worse. The races in 5E are interchangeable on purpose, so they don't get accused of racism.

 

[Grauken]

Blades of Netheril? Doom of Icewind Dale? Where do I find this content?

When its finished likely as DLC for NNEE on Steam and GOG

 

[taxalot]

Party members we can fuck in this game ?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Party members we can fuck in this game ?

Pathfinder thread is thataway

 

[Infinitron]

When its finished likely as DLC for NNEE on Steam and GOG

Don't think so. Has Luke said something about that being a possibility?

 

[Gahbreeil]

So, the Vault only?

 

[Gargaune]

When its finished likely as DLC for NNEE on Steam and GOG

Don't think so. Has Luke said something about that being a possibility?

No, this is still an unofficial community module. It'll follow the same path as the SoS and CToT EEs, first on the Vault and then, probably, to NWN EE's internal curated content browser after a few patches.

So, the Vault only?

As above, Vault first and then likely in the CC list. Some NWN EE modules also release on Steam Workshop for a wider exposure, but it'd be rather redundant if you can make it into CC.

 

[Infinitron]

Soon?

 

[Gargaune]

Soon?

Fuck yes, hit me! I know Luke originally meant to get this first episode out by Christmas before hitting some delays, so I imagine it's close now.

P.S. I'm still spazzing out over the mispronunciations in the cinematic VO, though - it's LUH-skan, first syllable accent, and TEEHL-marande (like "teal"), the "y" is short.

 

[Gargaune]

Doom of Icewind Dale is entering Closed Beta with Luke's Patreon supporters:

Doom of Icewind Dale v0.90 RELEASED!

Well, it's certainly been a long time coming - but I'm delighted to say that the full, beta release of Doom of Icewind Dale is now available for all Patrons at the Minotaur tier and above! Here's a quick list of some of the features:

• - 10-15 hours of gameplay
• - World map system: Explore Ten Towns and the surrounding environments!
• - 14 new music tracks and 24 ambient area tracks bring Icewind Dale to life
• - 14 monsters & portraits
• - Continue the story of the Hero of Neverwinter from the bestselling Neverwinter Nights official campaign
• - Foreshadows events from the 5e adventure Rime of the Frostmaiden

To get access to the beta, simply sign up to this Patreon page at the Minotaur tier or above. I'll then send you a link to the Discord channel where you can download the game. Please note that I am requiring folks to sign an NDA first. Why? I'll talk about this more at a later date.

A massive "thank you!" to all my patrons, fans, and the wider NWN community for helping make this dream a reality. It simply wouldn't have been possible without the generous donations and encouragement I've received.

I've added two news tiers to this Patreon page, which may be of interest to fellow content creators or aspiring fantasy writers. If you would like some professional feedback on your module or writing, secure in the knowledge that your money is going straight back into developing more great adventures for NWN, please do check them out.

I'm going to be taking a break from toolset to focus on my next novel while I commission art and music for the next module in the campaign, Secrets of Skullport. Happy gaming!

Per the respective patron tier's description, these closed betas should be going out "4-6 weeks" in advance of public release, so April's looking like it's gonna be it.

 

[luj1]

What is the engine of this game?

 

[Gargaune]

What is the engine of this game?

The very best - it's to be a series of NWN (EE) fan modules!