For the month of August, 2002, the MoTM Award goes to The Scourge of Vallenwood, which was even profiled on Biowares NWN Main Page! (http://nwn.bioware.com) This module starts players off outside their home which is a cave, then, a priest approaches the player and introduces himself as Dell Arna. (Hey we just got new Dell computers! Heh, Heh, Heh) Dell Arna begs for the player to help The Mountain Shrine which happens to be South-west of the start location. When players do arrive they must fight off Orc Raiders, Orcs, Orc Warriors, and Orc Stalkers.

 

Then, the player learns that Daerig, a dark necromancer whos power was absolute, is planning to return, and must go into his tower and complete puzzles, and kill many Crypt Walkers. Eventually, players will find The Crown of Daerig, and is prompted to find The Talisman of Daerig in the Orc Caves hidden in the forest. After having both the player must seek the White Stag. The White Stag will sacrifice his life and give the player The Forest Heart.

 

After that, the player must place The Forest Heart onto the pedestal located in the North West tip of Vallenwood. This triggers a portal to open nearby which leads to The Dark Vale. Inside The Dark Vale players have to fight two mini-bosses, a Crypt Walker Lord, and a Priestess. After killing and retrieving the keys off these enemies the player can go inside the Tomb of Daerig, which is where the scary parts begin.

 

Inside the player meets a child, the child wants his stuffed animal. The special effects and complex scripting make the child look transparent and ghostly, thus adding a touch of chills down the players spine. The player, after finding the stuffed animal, must return it, afterwards the ghost disappears and a nearby door unlocks.

 

The door that unlocks leads to a two-way room. The hall to the left leads to a portcullis, which is locked, the hall to the right leads to the Altar of Lies where the player must place BOTH the Crown of Daerig, and the Talisman of Daerig. Now, the portcullis from the hall to the left of the main room should be open, allowing the player to walk down the hall to the final chamber where The Priest of Ium (dont know much about this NPC) and Daerig himself are.

 

After killing The Priest of Ium and the Skeleton Acolytes, the player must stop Daerig from becoming fully powered. This is where the BEST graphics are, the three statues have magic going from one to another and then into Daerig. The statues are all invulnerable, except one damaged statue. When the player destroyed it the other statues should explode in a lightning vortex and Daerig himself should disappear in a magical mist.

 

Thus, afterstopping the ritual of Daerigs Ressurection, players will notice a new portal has opened nearby. The portal leads back to The Mountain Shrine, where the only priest alive will tell the player that she has sent word to The Faeryth Guards that the players allowed to pass their gates.

 

In Vallenwood, at Faeryth Gates, players will be able to pass and when clicking the Area Transition, will get the message showing that they completed the module. This module was GREAT and is recommended level 1-4.

 

----------RATING----------

Nick Freedman, the player who found this module, was level 4 when ending thus making this module well defined.

 

Scale goes from 1 (worst) to 10 (best)

 

Difficulty: 10

Script complexity: 8

Scripted Graphics: 10

Plot: 7

Conversation: 9 

Beginning: 5

Handling of Death: 9

Bind System: 10

Bosses: 10

Creatures: 10

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TOTAL: 88/100

 

Comments: The beginning was not very well done. A good suggestion would be for the player to start in the cave near a bed. Then the player sees Dell Arna enter the cave, THEN the beginning should of unveiled.

 

This module was rated by: Nick Freedman and Codey (Code-X)