The NEW NWN Team Corwin Thread

[Corwin]

For the uninitiated, Team Corwin is the name given to the group which currently plays online together on Friday Nights (GMT-5) using Hamachi and Skype. These sessions are currently being hosted by Peter Staufenberg since he's the only one with the technical savy to figure out how to host behind a router!! :-/ We're nearly finished our current campaign and plan at least one more with NWN before considering a switch to NWN2 next year once some new mods are created.

We would like to see a few other teams emerge in the new year and who knows, we might be able to organise our own dedicated server again, like we had back at the Dot. If people are interested in persuing this, or joining our team, please feel free to post here. We ran 2 PW's at the Dot, as well as hosting DM'd and non-DM'd gaming sessions, so there is plenty of scope for interested people to become involved in this.

[Cm]

Game on as usual I see. I will be there as always. :)

[Cormac]

I am interested but I have a few noob questions which I hope you'll forgive:
What's Hamachi ?
What's Skype ?
Is the XFire thing that shipped with the game necessary to play ?
If Hamachi and Skype are what I think they are -- voice recognition stuff --, would it still be possible to play without those ? You know, I could RP a mute guy ?
Thank you.

[Cm]

Hamachi is just a LAN sorter so we can play without direct server use. It and skype are free. Skype is an internet chat program. It seemed to work much better for us then YIM and a lot better sound. If you are interested, we can help you get set up by our next mod, which should be soon. The current one may well end tonight. It would be nice to get more players in our group. :)

[Cormac]

Sorry, but I'm not sure to have understood what Skype is: it's a chat program, but do we type in our responses or do we speak them over a mic ?

[Corwin]

It's a chat and VOIP program with file sharing as a bonus, plus video options!! We all use a mic and headset rather than trying to type as we play. If you think CM and I tease/insult each other here, you should hear us during a gaming session!! lol :biggrin:

[SirDeity]

I didn't even know my NWN2 game had a multiplayer feature.

[Cormac]

It's a chat and VOIP program with file sharing as a bonus, plus video options!! We all use a mic and headset rather than trying to type as we play. If you think CM and I tease/insult each other here, you should hear us during a gaming session!! lol :biggrin:

Would it be possible to play without it -- I'd prefer typing (and reading) ?

[Cm]

SirDeity we are still playing NWN 1 mods for now. NWN2 will have some good ones made soon we hope. ;)
Cormac if you prefer not to speak you will miss out on our chatter, insults and joking with each other. Pm me and we can discuss it after the game tonight.

[Corwin]

It's MUCH easier to plan a strategy, yell for help in a battle etc using a mic, than typing. Remeber, in MP, the game doesn't pause so by the time you type asking someone to come assist you, you'd likely be dead. Mind you, if you're playing a caster you'd definitely be dead!! :)

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I will try to host a NWN2 game without using Hamachi. Maybe the router won't block NWN2 games because different ports are being used than for NWN1.

Skype is just great when playing. I can just say what I want instead of having to type it. It makes life a lot easier and we can focus on playing and having fun instead of having to type a lot. But it's possible to play without Skype and then we need to type a bit too. So Skype is not a must for joing our gaming sessions.

I will start my NWN1 host in less than 20 minutes. I think we will be able to finish our game in this session. We are all level 40 characters, but still the walkthrough says that the final battle will be REALLY difficult. I wonder what we will be up against. :)

[Cormac]

Well if me playing without skype would be too much trouble for everyone involved, I'll skip (pun intended). Thanks to all for clarifying this.

[SirDeity]

I'd love to join you guys in NWN2 when you make the transition to that game. I don't care much for NWN1... I can host decent on this comp too... 100+mbps connection

[Cm]

Cormac, the problem would be we would have to type all we are saying. Defeats using skype for us. If you would want to just listen in and type responses that would work.

And so it ends. We won in spite of Peter being stuck to the ground and feeding the enemy his own lifes blood. :lol:

[Corwin]

New campaign next week if anyone is interested in joining us!!

[Cm]

We plan to play the Aielund Saga, Act 4, The Fall of Aielund Parts 1 and 2. Here (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.Detail&id=377&id=4251) is the link. Be sure to get both of them (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.Detail&id=377&id=4937). The haks, music ect should be all you need for both.

[roqua]

What would be nice is doing a play be forum p&p game. I had a ball the little a couple of us from the dot did last time. Thats the only time I played p&p (well, I tried to get my wife to do it but she just made fun of me so that didn't pan out). I'm much rather play a character and roleplay centric game than a hack-n-slash. No router problems, no mods, hacks, or this and that. Just you, a yahoo user group forum, and a character sheet.

[Corwin]

Set one up, and they will come!! :)

[Cormac]

Cormac, the problem would be we would have to type all we are saying. Defeats using skype for us. If you would want to just listen in and type responses that would work.

If it's okay with everybody else, I'd do it like that: all of you skyped, me unskyped.

[Corwin]

What do you have against Skype?

[Cormac]

I have nothing against Skype. I thought it was obvious that I dont want to use any kind of voice chat.

[Cm]

As long as you can hear us, the skype purpose for the group will be solved. We can read your responses to us, no problem. If you want to join this coming friday just search skype and hamachi and download. Let us know and we can give you our skype contact info. Peter can give you the connection info for Hamachi before the game. I forget now what level players we decided to bring. I know Corwin will post it here.

[Corwin]

From memory, I think level 20 or 21. Cormac, forgive me if this offends, but why are you SO against voice chat; i'm just interested, since I use it all the time and love it. I chat with people in countries all over the world and find it enriching and fun!!

[GothicGothicness]

Skype

1. Skype is great because it's swedish
2. Skype is great because the swede who made it sold it for $120 million
3. Skype is great because you can call anyone around the world including cell phones for rates cheaper than a local call.
4. Skype is great because it has good sounds quailty.
5. Skype is great because you can talk 32 people at the same time.

To sum up, skype is great.

[Corwin]

Yeah, but version 2.5 won't install on my XP64 system, I have to use version 2.0!! :(

[Lucky Day]

sounds intriguing Corwin

I have a lot of NWN experience as some of you may know (you can find my name in interviews of the last 2 Bioware Wednesdays). Lets just say these last four years of my life can be summed as my NWN years or my (insert my job here) years. Yeesh..how pathetic.

And thanks to what I've learned with NWN I'm back at university getting my comp sci degree so...

...I'm not sure I could get time to play. I had to give up my server again so I could just pass this semester.

If you have any scripting, building or hosting problems/questions though I can certainly help out. I built my own HCR and then converted my server from the real HCR to it for example. Not to mention my infamous girdle of gender changing. I'd like to think I know the Aurora toolset inside and out by now. And thanks to this the ACM club at the university wants me to give a lecture on setting up a game server next semester. :P.

---

just a suggestion, Skype is popular sure but since Xfire comes installed with nwn2 everyones going to be using that. It might be a lt smoother for new users if you switched to that when you go nwn2.

[KazikluBey]

1. Skype is great because it's swedish
2. Skype is great because the swede who made it sold it for $120 million
3. Skype is great because you can call anyone around the world including cell phones for rates cheaper than a local call.
4. Skype is great because it has good sounds quailty.
5. Skype is great because you can talk 32 people at the same time.

To sum up, skype is great.

So... Kazaa is practically the second most awesome program in the world just because Niklas Zennström wrote that too?

I honestly never understood the hype about Skype. Programs like Ventrilo and TeamSpeak has done the same thing for years before Skype - except the ability to call real phones, which I don't have much use for.

I'm afraid I'd have to stay up until breakfast time on Saturday mornings to be able to join your NWN campaigning, otherwise I might have taken you up on your offer.

[xSamhainx]

When you guys move on to NWN II, I'll play. I think the voice thing sounds like great fun!

Me and a friend started calling each other when we'd adventure in WoW, and it really was nice to be able to focus on the battle instead of trying to communicate with her via keyboard. I was a little wary at first, but before long we were having a great old time, and it was very difficult and undesirable to go back to just keyboard.

But everyone has their hang-ups and preferences, some prefer total ambiguity when dealing with anything online, and that's understandable.

[Corwin]

OK, what's Xfire? I don't remember installing it with NWN2!! Tried Teamspeak, but Skype was easier to set up and a lot better quality!!

Oh, Sammy, we'd love to have you!!

[KazikluBey]

Tried Teamspeak, but Skype was easier to set up and a lot better quality!!

You mean sound quality? That depends completely on the server settings.

As for Xfire, IIRC it's a game server finder, with additional features like buddy system, text chat, voice chat and the like.

[Prime Junta]

Out of curiosity, what's the difficulty about hosting NWN2 behind a router? I'd just expect that you have to map the appropriate port to the appropriate machine. Are there some other complications?

[Lucky Day]

I was assuming it was just Hyperbole

the ports that nwn2 uses are the same as nwn1 as far as I can tell.

http:\\www.portforward.com

you can get visual step by step instructions for your brand and model of router here. you'll want to get the info for nwn1/nwn2 and gamespy as they are listed seperately.

the only problem I've found is your standard home router only allows 16 port ranges and between gamespy and nwn it can take about 5 or 6 of those without making yoru system really vuldenrable.

---

Corwin, you likely told nwn2 not to instal it when you were prompted..heh. It comes up in a lot of optimization threads but most sites that have reviewed it have found no significant difference with it running.

[Corwin]

PJ, I'm a technical illiterate!! I wouldn't have a clue how to map ports!! I've looked at 'portforward' and Egyptian hieroglyphics are easier for me to understand; the 'language' is over my head!!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

My router is not listed in the portforward program. I have a Sparklan W-6215G router. I didn't see anything about port forwarding inside the router. NWN2 didn't work either when I tried to host it to Gamespy. I can see my server in the Gamespy list, but when I try to connect to it I only get a time-out message. The router is from about 2000 so maybe it lacks certain vital functions. But it works great for using my wireless laptop and my regular computer at the same time on internet.

I can always try to host games without the router. It worked well before when I regularly hosted NWN1 modules. I simply don't understand why the router would block connection to my server when the server is shown in Gamespy. Any suggestions? Please tell when what kind of data you need from my computer and router to make an analysis.

PS I have a firewall from VCOM. I have opened the necessary ports here. I have even shutdown the firewall, but to no avail. I turned off Microsoft's Firewall introduced with XP SP2. But could it be that this firewall is partly turned on without me knowing about it?

[Cm]

Ok guys, I downloaded all the files and I can not get the mod to show as being installed for sp. I even went back and tried a previous mod. I don't see the actual mod itself downloading in any of those files. Just movies and haks.

[Corwin]

I haven't even looked at it yet!! I'd better do so immediately!! That's if I can remember which mod it's supposed to be!!!!

Edith says: I installed the mods, and the 4 Haks and it works perfectly. I was able to import my level 27 Dragon character (minus the special dragonman ability :( ). Check you downloaded the correct mods, everything should be there. I had to get the painting pack hak, as it's necessary.

[Cm]

I have downloaded them three times. I still don't have the actual mod. This is getting me mad. I even risked turning off my virus and firewall to dl them.

[Corwin]

CM:- Here http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=modules.Detail&id=4251

[Corwin]

The third file is the ZIP file with the mod. The Haks are below that.

[Cm]

I got it sorted. Tell you in game tonight.

[Corwin]

We are now taking a 2 week hiatus, (if it's good enough for TV shows, then it's good enough for us!!) so we'll be back online Jan 5th at the usual time. We've only just begun a new mod, so come and join us. After we finish this one, we're hopeful there will be something worth playing out from the NWN2 modding community!!

[Taxen0]

Im downloading all the haks and things now, so all thats left is to install Skype and NWN at the new computer.

And about hosting from behind a router, I hosted a game yesterday and all i had to do was to accept port: 5121 (port forwarding) in the router settings

[Peter Stauffenberg]

The problem I have with my router is that I don't find anywhere where I can set port forwarding. The router is quite old (3+ years) so I wonder if they called it something else.

I can setup NWN or NWN2 so it is shown in Gamespy, but everyone trying to logon is getting a time out error message. I have no idea why.

[Corwin]

I have a Linksys and can't work out how to do port forwarding either!!

[Taxen0]

Im not a 100% sure but I think you should be able to access the router by typing your routers IP in an IExplorer window, right click and check the status of your local area network connection and look at the DHCP-Server IP (that shoul be your router) I think that the most common IP is 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1
not sure it will work but maybe =) Good luck!

[JemyM]

I might check by when you start on NWN2. :)

[Corwin]

Im not a 100% sure but I think you should be able to access the router by typing your routers IP in an IExplorer window, right click and check the status of your local area network connection and look at the DHCP-Server IP (that shoul be your router) I think that the most common IP is 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1
not sure it will work but maybe =) Good luck!

I don't have/use IE and how do I learn my routers IP? Then what do I do?? I'm even more confused!! :)

[Cm]

JemyM we could use some new players now if you wish. As you can see Corwin is pretty much useless once he finds the on/off switch on his computer. Muhahahaha ;)

[Taxen0]

I don't have/use IE and how do I learn my routers IP? Then what do I do?? I'm even more confused!! :)

if you dont use IE i take it that you use firefox or similar, and thats just fine.
and your router IP you can get by right-clicking on your Local Area Network connection under "show network connections", (or something similar, im running a swedish version of windows) and select "Status".

In here flip over to the "Support" tab and press the information button, now you should ba able to see your routers IP-adress next to "DHCP-server" and thats the IP you should simply write in the adress field of your internet browser.
if you still can´t figure it out I think me or Peter can help you over skype tomorrow. =)

And about the game tomorrow, what classes where you all playing? planning on making another rogue or maybe some spell-caster. and the lvl of the character was 21?

[Corwin]

Thanks, I'll look for it, but even knowing the IP for the router, how do you do the port forwarding stuff?

Level is 27. We are VERY light on with casting. We just bash doors and walk through traps!! :)

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Which Linksys router do you have?

I propose you read the following WEB site:
www.portforward.com

First you need to setup a static internal IP address within your computer LAN. Follow this link to learn all you need to make it work properly:
http://www.portforward.com/networking/static-xp.htm

This is the link to where you can find your router and see how you setup your router for port forwarding:
http://www.portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/routerindex.htm

Scroll down and click on the link for the Linksys router name you have. Then a new page will appear. Scroll down here and click on Neverwinter Nights or Neverwinter Nights 2. Follow the instructions you see from the page that appears.

I hope this makes it possible for you to host our NWN games. Unfortunately I can't find my router in the list so I don't get any clues to how I can setup port forwarding. I tried to connect directly to the internet without a router and then I can host without any problems so I know my router is the problem. I tried to setup my router as a DMZ to my computer internal static IP address, but to no avail.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

You can do this easily this way:

1. Click on your Windows Start button in the lower left corner
2. Select Run
3. Type cmd or command to open a DOS window
4. write the following text and hit enter: ipconfig /all
5. Then you will see some lines with data like this:

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-02-42-C8-AF
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 5. januar 2007 00:56:44
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 8. januar 2007 00:56:44

This is the example for my laptop wireless computer. You will have something similar for your network card for your desktop computer.

Here you see that dhcp Enabled is set to yes which means that my laptop receives a dynamic internal ip address.

You can also read the computer internal LAN IP address from the text IP Address. Mine is 192.168.2.2

The text Default Gateway will tell you the IP address you need to contact your router. Mine is 192.168.2.1

Write down your Default Gateway address and start your WEB browser. Write in the Address line of the browser the following text and hit enter:
http://<your Default Gateway>
Mine is: http://192.168.2.1

Also notice the text for Subnet Mask. You will need it to setup your static internal LAN IP address. Mine is: 255.255.255.0

Also important to setup a static IP address is the address to the external WAN DNS server. This is not shown properly above because it shows only the internal DNS server. But you can find this value inside the router status when you open the WEB site address for the router to configure it. Just look at the text I sent you about port forwarding. If you still can't find it you can always find it by calling your ISP.

Good luck in trying and don't forget to tell how it went. :)

[Taxen0]

Level is 27. We are VERY light on with casting. We just bash doors and walk through traps!! :)

oh, so thats how it is :) then I might show up with a lvl 27 meatgrinder

[Corwin]

A level 27 caster would be of more assistance!! :)

[Corwin]

Well, thanks to spending a couple of hours with Peter over Skype, we have now set up my router to allow hosting of NWN sessions. We will most likely switch back to that, so we shouldn't need to use Hamachi, unless GS has problems etc. So, you'll find the game running under Alternative and surprise, surprise, it's Corwin's server!! :) Skype is still in use until someone comes up with something which is both better and as easy to setup/use!!

There are still no complete NWN2 mods available, so we're continuing with the Aielund Saga part 3. Grab your Haks and join in. You won't believe just how much trouble one Grandma can get into!! :biggrin:

[Taxen0]

we could try using Ventrilo for one session insted of Skype and see how it works, mainly because theres a push-to-talk button. it can be quite noisy over here sometimes so then I wouldn't have to use the on/off buffon on the mic to keep your ears form getting blown out

[Corwin]

Tax, we usually have trouble hearing you, and the last thing I need in a game is having to push a talk button while fighting a group of monsters and calling for backup!! :)

[Taxen0]

you can choose if you want to use the Push-to-talk function or not, and there's also an inbound / outbound setting so you guys should be able to hear me normally. im using Ventrilo when I play with my friends and in our KnightsOnline clan, everyone can hear me perfectly there so it might be worth a shot.
and Ventrilo uses less RAM ;)

[Corwin]

Post a link and we can all have a look at it. I know nothing about it!!

[Taxen0]

ok here (http://www.ventrilo.com/) is the link to Ventrilo's homepage
all you need is the latest client and the one thats gonna host it needs the server, I can host but the wireless router i abit tricky still so im not sure how it would work.

[Corwin]

I don't have time to look at it now, but I will after today's gaming session!! Thanks.

[Cm]

I see one possible problem and that might be Corwin running a 64 bit OS.

[crpgnut]

The only time I've played online is in Minions of Mirth.

@Cmgamer what time are the sessions in CST? We're from the same neck of the woods, don't ya know? I might be interested in joining your merry band once you've switched to NWN2. Maybe even before if you play low-level characters. I hate AD&D much past level 10ish in most cases.

[Corwin]

I've downloaded it, but haven't had time to install it yet. I assume we would then need to test it!!

[Cm]

Sorry crpgnut for a late answer. RL always gets in the way on me. Right now we are playing a high level mod. But we would be glad to include you, just post here or send Corwin a pm. Here may be best as he has RL issues at times as well. We start at 7pm central and go for 2 hours. We hope to play some NWN2 mods as soon as a few good mp ones come out. We would like to start with NWN2 and stay with it. So far I have only seen a very few MP mods out.

P.S. Don't one of us have to download the server client and run that?

[Corwin]

Yep, but not me!! Peter is our tech guru!! :) I still haven't installed it yet, but I have been able to update Skype to version 3 by using the Business version which comes with a different installer that didn't choke on my system!!

[Taxen0]

I can host a server, I currently have a 10/10mbit connection and no router =) so it should be alright. once im at my fathers place someone else got to do it though.

[Cm]

I just wanted to warn anyone who might have run across fields of dead naked bodies during game play. If so you might want to see if Corwin has somehow infiltrated your game. He seems to have a thing for leaving naked bodies on the battle field. Is it me, or is that just a bit odd???:S

[Peter Stauffenberg]

It's you. :p I did not see any dead naked bodies. They had their armor on. So maybe you see what you want to see. ;)

My big problem is that two gorgeous women (the princess and her paladin protector) are following my character, Lance. Wherever he goes they follow..... even to the bedroom and even worse to the toilet. No privacy at all for poor Lance. Uh oh. :D I don't know why Lance is such a popular cleric. Women are attracted to him like wasps to jam. Maybe it's because he is the only good looking male character in the group. Corwin's character, Thundar, is half dragon and it shows and smells. :lol:

So I wonder if Kerria (CM's character) is just frustrated because these gorgeous women try to catch Lance's full attention. So maybe she is seeing naked bodies as a nervous reaction to this frustration. :lol:

[Cm]

Mark this day all, Peter has just gotten THREE checkmarks on my list. He has no idea what he may face in the future now. MUHAHAHA *evil smile*

[Corwin]

Considering the incredible number of times CM runs around naked in the game, the fact she's always looking for dark bedrooms and she's the only one who noticed these naked bodies, I suspect Peter is correct!!

However, my character doesn't smell, it's eau de dragon, designed to keep monsters at bay!! :)

[Taxen0]

Well, after the big battle in the end I could see atleast one smelly dragon removing the clothes of our victims. not sure what happen'd after that, I looked away when one of the corpses got dragged into a bush. =)

[Cm]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Lance is ready tonight to continue to tease Kerria (CM's character). ;) He is also very upset that Taxen's character "stole" the princess from him so now he only has the paladin woman to follow him everywhere. So this sorcerer girl is due for a nasty surprise. :D Thundar (Corwin's character) has started to show a big interest in Nellise (the paladin woman). So Lance is expecting him to try to steal her from him. Thus making Lance have to stick with good old Kerria if he want female company. Uh oh. :o

Maybe this is the revenge CM was talking about? There is no worse punishment for Lance than to have Kerria follow him around everywhere. :p

See you all in the game tonight.

[Cm]

I must disagree, the worse would be to have me follow you around while in DM mode. MUHAHAHAHA

[Corwin]

I wonder what those who don't play with us think of our comments in this thread!! :)

[Cm]

If you say one word about the you-know-what in here I know what I will do to you.

[Corwin]

You don't mean the catapult do you?!! :)

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Uh oh. :D

Shall we tell the others how Kerria fired the catapult after killing it's evil engineer operator? Then she wanted to try it herself and killed all the soldiers we were supposed to rescue. She forgot to think about the fact that the catapult was aimed at the enemies of our enemies. That meaning our friends. The result was that we couldn't continue the quest and had to reload an earlier save game. So Kerria was rather embarrassed when she found out she had screwed up our mission.

But she is not alone to blame. She asked Thundar if she should try the catapult and he said yes and gave her the go ahead. So Lance believes it was a devious scheme from our half-dragon Thundar to sabotage our main quest. Maybe he is evil? Thundar tried to blame Lance, but Lance was not even there when it happened. So how can he be at guilt?

Philip's character Laura had no part in this misere either. Poor Philip is struggling with his Netgear router. It kicked him out of our Skype conference every minute. So he gave up talking with us and had to use the keyboard conversation instead. So he couldn't have heard Kerria's question of whether she could fire the catapult or not. So it's obvious to Lance that Thundar is the one to blame for our big failure.

Now we have all snuck into the main city of Aielund, Fairloch. We are fighting against the King of Aielund. So we have a big battle ahead of us being in the enemy capital. It's a pity we don't have any mercenaries with us. We could have recruited 3 different groups, but we screwed up the recruiting.

Lance screwed up the first attempt to recruit a tough half-orc mercenary group. Their leader was an ugly female fighter who invited Lance to her bedroom to do a lot of kinky things with him. Lance refused and she accused him of thinking she was ugly and attacked him. Suddenly we were fighting the half-orc group and killed our potential mercenary ally. Thundar and Kerria believed Lance messed up, but the only way to recruit them was for Lance to go to bed with the ugly half-orc woman. Lance already has sworn to be with the beautiful paladin woman, Nellise. So why would Lance want to be unfaithful to her for the sake of the mission? He is not like James Bond who goes to bed with every female baddie for the sake of the country. I'm sure Kerria and Thundar expected him to be more like James Bond and think about the benefit of having a strong mercenary group as an ally. The price to pay was nothing.... for them. They weren't faced with the horror of going to bed with that ugly half-orc woman. :o

The next two mercenary groups turned their backs on us because Thundar was too poor a diplomat to make them join us. They wanted a lot of money and also demanded that we kill the other mercenary group because they were in a blood feud. But for some reason none of them wanted to work with us. Maybe they didn't like Thundar's foul dragon smell?

So now our tiny little group of 4 (Lance the cleric, Thundar the dragon disciple, Kerria the fighter and Laura the sorcerer) + 3 henchmen (Nellise the paladin/cleric, Robert the rogue and Princess Creola the rogue/wizard) are in the center of the enemy city without any allies. What do you think are the odds we will survive the big battle ahead? :p It all started to go wrong because Lance preferred to stay faithful to his paladin woman. But Lance likes difficult odds so he doesn't despair. ;)

[Cm]

A full and nice recount of our tale to this point. I dare say you have been under stress however if you think Kerria would want to follow Lance anywhere she does not have to. Personally I was disappointed the Orc Lady Fair didn't do you in so we could leave you listening to her insults a while longer. ;)

I did send all of our current questers a skype message with the links to a few mods. One or more we will play so open skype and grab. Should anyone want to start our next mod with us, just give a yell. Details will be posted here for any and all.

[Corwin]

It was a SAD day for Peter today!! He'd been indulging himself with a little menage a trois with a Princess and her maid/servant. Then, the Princess had to sacrifice her joy with Peter to serve her country and marry a foreign Prince to avoid war between the two countries. In his distress, Peter turned to the maid for comfort and was again rebuffed as she left to follow her Princess!! All of this came after Peter spent AGES buying her a completely new wardrobe while the rest of us had to twiddle our fingers, or kill a few guards, (whichever came first)!! I killed the guards, CM, as usual, did the twiddling!! :) Oh, and we didn't let her get near the catapult this week!! :biggrin:

[Jaz]

Carry on! Carry on! Reading this is better than watching soap operas on TV! :shy:

[Corwin]

Feel free to join us instead!! We always accept new players and are beginning a new campaign next week. More details to follow!!

[Cm]

:rolleyes: Not how I saw it Corwin. Seemed to me Peter was just using the Princes to get Nellise. He thought he would get her all to himself when the Princes said she was going to get married, cause he didn't even challenge the guy for her. And he only started whining when Nellise left to follow her. Personally I think he falls into the two-timer category. :lol:

[Jaz]

Thanks for the offer, but I don't have the time at the moment. Had to cut two other RPing rounds due to this.
Just keep on posting your progress, and I'll follow the weekly news!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Hmmm. The truth about what happened is completely different. Lance (Peter's character) has never shown any interest in the princess. He was only after Nellise. He had no problems with Nellise wanting to protect her princess, i. e. having to follow her to King Osric's land. Lance knows that the adventure is not over yet and he feels he will meet Nellise again soon.

Aielund Act IV part 3 is 82% completed and will be possible to play in a few months. Then we will see if the beautiful women abandoned Lance or not. It's the final module of the campaign. Lance has high hopes he will get the good lady in the end. He just has to be patient. ;)

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Have you decided upon which module we will play tomorrow? Which level should we be? I need to know so I can download the necessary module parts.

[Cm]

http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.Detail&id=5285 LOTR version 9 I think for Friday. Factions and alignment are crital in the mod. Guess I will make an executive decision and say we go for goodie two-shoes this time. The maker claims you can go from level 1 to 40 in the mod. I say we come in at level 10 and whatever uber stuff you want to bring. He has set the xp gained to max so we should level often. If anyone has other thoughts on it, just yell. As my skills in casting are never good, I will again bring my usual tank. See everyone there I hope.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

OK. I bring my level 10 paladin as usual. ;)

[Corwin]

Hmm.....I'll have to think about this; which character to bring. Main problem will be finding one at level 10 after months of level 20+!!

[Cm]

Just do like I did and use the character mod and strip away the extras. You know how to strip the dead bodies, this is similar. ;)

[Corwin]

Actually through hard work and effort, plus some blind luck, I managed to find a level 10 version of Thundar and was able to load and enter the mod with him!! :) See you there!!

[Cm]

Now, I have been waiting for one of the boys to post up how much fun I had in the last session. It seems however they are trying to avoid admitting I did get the last laugh for a change.
I do admit I may have gone a little over the edge this week. But if you laugh at a tank too much, especially a vengeful women like myself, what do you expect will come of it?

Death, as I promised them, while they laughed at my troubles.

The "Short Guy" (Taxen0 is playing a very small rouge who may die a few more times if he keeps up his way of handling the bad guys) is still on my list.

But I got a wonderful feeling of justice when I killed all the boys off. They earned it, believe me. That laughter rang loudly in my ears, and my muted voice could not be heard to the point I had to take action I tell you, I HAD to. >:O

I will plead my case to the forum, if I must, and I am sure everyone would agree with me. *bats eyes and smiles innocently at all who read this*;)

[Corwin]

Spelling 101: It's WomAn (singular), not women (plural); It's Rogue, not Rouge, which is something women (plural) put on their face!! Revenge will be MINE eventually, I own the server!!!!!! :p

(CM used DM mode to kill us all, which is MOST unfair and she will PAY!!!!!!!!!!!)

Oh, Peter interesting new Avatar. Why not use photoshop and stick your head on it!! :)

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Our lovely CM was a bit grumpy last Friday for some reasons. We noticed it at first when her microphone didn't work properly in Skype. She could speak, but we never heard what she said. But she could listen to what we said. Corwin and I couldn't resist this temptation to tease and taunt her a little. We knew she couldn't get back at us because her microphone wasn't working. So she had to listen all our funny jokes about "old" women etc. :D It was hilarious. I guess the frustration of not being able to get back at us made her a bit grumpy.

But grumpy old CM got her revenge when she rebootet her PC and logged in as a DM. We didn't notice it and thought all was fine and started playing the new module. So far so good until we both dropped dead for no apparent reason losing XP etc. Then SHE was teasing and taunting us for being such dead fools. We could do nothing because we were dead. Only she could resurrect us, but she refused to do so. Uh oh. :o

She had this ace up her sleeve and we could do absolutely nothing about it. Well. I guess she deserved this revenge because I can understand her frustration of being teased without a chance to defend herself against our jokes. :p

Eventually her "anger" wore off and she decided to resurrect us so we could continue our gaming session.

It didn't go any better when our sneaky little character (Taxen's character) always went ahead of us being invisible heading for the chests and dead bodies. Just so he could rob the contents before CM and Corwin could get there. I'm playing a paladin so I have no interest in this "contest". Both CM and Corwin became annoyed because Taxen's character was always invisible and he ignored the monsters all the time. He let us have to deal with them while he got a lot of time to pick the chests etc. Sneaky little bastard, he is. :D He never helped us in the battles because he was busy robbing the chests.

So poor CM is grumpy at all her companions now. It's easier when we tease Corwin because he's so old he forgets about it so quickly. So he doesn't keep any grudges to the next playing session. Sometimes it's a big benefit being old. :p

What is the morale of this story. Never tease old women because the retaliation will always be worse than you can imagine. :lol:

[Cm]

I guess the attacks on my spelling are proof of the truth in my words. Or maybe it is as Peter said, poor Corwin just didn't remember that far back. ;)

[Taxen0]

it was a fun session, just praying that "god" wont kill me for "absolutely no apparent reason" again ;) and to my defence I can say im a gold seeking gnome rogue, and have no clue how the chests could magically open infront of you =)

and btw: I think I killed around 8 monsters, and "almost" a dragon :O

[Cm]

Hummmmm..............8 monsters you say. I assume you finished off the loot first and got bored? Or did a few of them manage to see you any way? ;)

It was fun, and if we were not at the staging area of a new mod I would never have killed anyone. Well most likely not. Maybe? Oh no, I wouldn't mess us up like that. :lol: ;) <_<

[Corwin]

Oh, and in what new way would you mess up this time!! :)

[Cm]

Here was where you should have put the groveling part. Myrthos tried to give you the hint. (Thinks this will take even more punishment for Corwin now)

[Corwin]

As Guybrush would say, I'm Shaking, I'm shaking!! lol

[Corwin]

Slight change of plan/mod for next week. After numerous crashes and other bugs, we have ditched the LOTR mod and will be playing a new one that requires installing CEP 2, plus about 3 other HAK files. We're beginning as level 14 characters (recommended) and will welcome any new players. You'll find everything else you need to know HERE (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.Detail&id=5312)!!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Peter the Paladin will show up as a 14th level paladin. I installed CEP 2.0 and started the module single player (just the first room) and all works well.

So if Philip brings his rogueish character we should be well covered. A rogue is essential in this module. There are many secret doors and some traps are so dead there is instant death if we set them off. So a rogue scouting ahead and clearing the path for the rest of us is vital for our survival.

The rest and death rules are very harsh so we should play in a way so we don't die. No more letting the fighters run into battles without thinking about the consequences. Now it will be smarter to let our rogue scout ahead and tell us about which monsters await us before rushing in.

[Corwin]

Yeah, but our rogue is usually too busy looting to remember to warn us!! :)

[Cm]

Warn us??? He usually gets all the loot, then leads them all to us. lol

[Cm]

Humm I should have posted up my latest victory here sooner.:jester:
Well, I am happy to say, due to a small bug, I was ASKED to enter as DM to sort it all out.

Mind you, "The Little One" as I have renamed Taxen0's current little gnome rogue (he will say it is something else, but looks like a gnome to me) has been stealing us blind. He uses his stealth skills to sneak in past the enemy, reports to us that there is nothing to fear, or that it is a minor demon that we could dispatch with ease, and as we enter the room and are all but slaughtered, he has cleaned out all chests and most of the bodies we left in our wake.
He will even stand invisibly by my side as I bash open a chest that was beyond his skills to enter, and as I open the booty to see what I have won, it vanishes before my eyes.

I swear he is picking my pockets as well. He is not taking all my gold, not at one time, but small amts here and there, hoping I don't notice, or can't remember what I had.

Anyway, back to my trip in-game as DM. Now mind you, they ASKED me to do it.
Corwin and Peter have been laughing at how easily The Small One tricks me. So I plotted my revenge for weeks. I was simply going to enter in DM one week and take care of matters, but fate stepped in and there I was, standing unseen by all of them with the power of all the gods of Water Deep at my finger tips. So I did it. I killed The Little One first.

Actually I killed him and revived him several times. He makes a gloriously satisfying sound of pain when he dies. I loved it. :cm:

Then I had to take care of the others at least once for all the laughing. Now while I was reveling in that feeling, The Little One ran for his life. Granted that poses no threat to a DM but I could only kill in one area at a time and have the satisfaction of seeing my handy work.

By the time Corwin and Peter had satisfied my blood lust, The Little One was back in site. He however feared I would "adjust" his inventory next, so he placed all his inventory in a chest or three somewhere in the game. He stood now naked, only a small diaper (well looked like a diaper to me) on his frail frame.

Not being a total villain at heart, I simply killed and revived him a few more times (I did love listening to his death cry) and left DM mode to return as my sweet self. :wings:
I am avenged for now and the best part was seeing The Little One in a diaper, and the fact that they all ASKED ME to do it. :cm: :party::rotfl:

[Corwin]

Did you really want little Taxen coming in as DM???????? He'd have left you stark naked and taken ALL your stuff!! :) Peter and I would have gone blind!!!! :p

[Cm]

*Cm wonders if she should exercise those DM powers one more time.*

"I'll show him blind!" :cm:

[Corwin]

RATS, that was another fine mess we found ourselves in!! Due to a rat plague of incredible proportions, we have been forced to abandon our current NWN mod. Therefore, this coming week we are planning to attempt a level 5 NWn 2 mod called the Red Hand of Doom. Yes, there's stuff to download and install, so go for it. The 'new' password to join the session will be, RPGWatch
Please report all technical problems to either Cm, or Peter, as I avow having no knowledge of any of them!! :)

[Cm]

Good time for anyone who wants to join our band of fools .......urrr....umm.........band of hardy adventurers to join in the sessions. We currently use skype to chat. Yell if you are interested and/or have questions. This will be a short mod but looked fairly good for the NWN2 batch out so far.

[Taxen0]

Im guessing that you mean this (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2ModulesEnglish.Detail&id=75) module, and will we level up inside the module or do we have to bring our own lvl 5 chars?

Edit: ah, nevermind.. I read in the readme that you will level up to 5 in the beginning of the mod.

[Arhu]

Have you started yet? I might give it a shot, got Skype installed, the module.. just need more data. ;)

(Skype name is LikeDreams2)

[Cm]

Yes that is the mod, and no we have not started yet. I am bringing my level 5 in so I have some fairly good items.
Ahru I will try to add you now. We are running version 3.1 of skype all, they just did a fix on the version 3.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

NWN2 version 1.05 was released yesterday, but was quickly pulled because of a toolset issue. Obsidian said, however, that they would quickly release version 1.05 again when the toolset crashing bug has been fixed.

So I expect v1.05 to be available before our game session tomorrow night. We therefore have to make a decision of whether to upgrade before our next gaming session or if we should wait. If some of us upgrade and others not then we can't play together.

In favour of upgrading is that v1.04 is pretty unstable, especially in multiplayer. V1.05 has fixed some multiplaying issues e. g. regarding bartering. We struggled a bit with that last time we played. V1.05 beta players have reported a significant performance increase.

So it would be nice if we could agree upon whether we should upgrade or not before the next gaming session. I propose we upgrade as soon as v1.05 is available again. But I will not upgrade until we have all agreed to do so. I like to play with fire and take risks. :lol: What do you want?

Peter the paladin is ready to join his group of companions again. :) But he has to admit his brain is not working so he has forgotten what we're doing in the module. Which quests to solve etc. :blush:

[Khass]

Do you play NWN 2 exclusively now, or have some original NWN fun sometimes? Sadly my computer's huffin' 'n puffin' already, so the sequel would pretty much make the poor guy go kablooie and cause the loss of control of my lower body.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Do you play NWN 2 exclusively now, or have some original NWN fun sometimes? Sadly my computer's huffin' 'n puffin' already, so the sequel would pretty much make the poor guy go kablooie and cause the loss of control of my lower body.

Right now we will play NWN2 and we will mainly play NWN2 in the future when there are enough modules to play. But so far there are only a few modules to try and multiplayer NWN2 is not very stable. Obsidian said v1.06 will focus on a lot of multiplayer improvements. So we expect more MP modules to arrive after v1.06 has been released. Seeing the big time between patches at Obsidian I don't think we will see v1.06 before June.

We will switch back to some NWN1 modules as well, but it seems we have played most of the good modules so the choice isn't the best. One module we're waiting for is the final chapter of the Aielund Saga. It's more than 90% completed and will hopefully be released before this Summer.

[Corwin]

I'd suggest NOT updating this week, just in case more problems are discovered with the patch. Hopefully, by next week, all will be well!!

[Cm]

Just keep an eye out here Khass, we will post each new mod as we start them so you will know. I am sure we will have to go back to NWN 1 mods for a while yet. We are not a group to play the short H&S mods that are being made for NWN2 right now. Most are only 3 player and last for an hour.

Arhu joined us last session, and hopefully had fun. :) I realize I have been awol this week so if I can catch Peter today for a ventrilo setup and maybe Corwin before the game we can get that done. We hope to use Ventrilo only when Taxen0 is playing from the one place that skype won't work for him. I honestly don't remember if that is happening today or not.

[Taxen0]

Today I can join you at skype, just have to reinstall it along with NWN2. had to reformat my PC because some virus or something made it impossible to boot =/

it all works just fine now, but you might have to DM me you your location or something.

[Cm]

I am sure we can handle that! :mwahaha: :dance: :cm:

[Corwin]

I think our current mod actually keeps everyone together, no matter what, so it shouldn't be a problem!!

[Corwin]

Problem!! Just checked the Vault, and we have actually finished this mod!! The author is working on the next section. I have the situation under control ( I think ), and I'll post details later this week!!

Edith says that this is later!! OK, download the Dark Waters campaign. View the Prologue yourself; I don't think it will work properly in MP, and it takes quite some time!!
I'm using my level 5 char, as I won't play anything less; Casters suck at low levels!! The game strips all your worn equipment, but if you load your char into another mod, remove everything to a back inventory window and then export the char, it's all there for you to re-equip when the actual mod begins after the Prologue!! Your choice!!!! :)
Not sure if this will work out, but we can at least give it a try. There was nothing else that looked suitable!!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Problem!! Just checked the Vault, and we have actually finished this mod!! The author is working on the next section. I have the situation under control ( I think ), and I'll post details later this week!!

I noticed the same thing. The module finishes after we return to the town hall to report. So we need to find another module to play. Did you notice Adam Miller's Dark Waters 1 - Highcastle has been released. It's the first module of a series of modules in a campaign.

It's a multiplayer module and he recommends we start at level 1. Look here for details:
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2ModulesEnglish.Detail&id=128

Maybe we should try this out next Friday? Then I will arrive with a level 1 paladin. :)

[Corwin]

Peter, check out my update!! :)

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Edith says that this is later!! OK, download the Dark Waters campaign. View the Prologue yourself; I don't think it will work properly in MP, and it takes quite some time!!
I'm using my level 5 char, as I won't play anything less; Casters suck at low levels!! The game strips all your worn equipment, but if you load your char into another mod, remove everything to a back inventory window and then export the char, it's all there for you to re-equip when the actual mod begins after the Prologue!! Your choice!!!! :)
Not sure if this will work out, but we can at least give it a try. There was nothing else that looked suitable!!

Does it mean we should all join at level 5? What if we join at level 3 instead of level 1. It should not make us too weak. But I don't mind starting play at level 1. Remember we don't die unless we ALL die. We just have to keep Corwin away from combat for a little time. ;)

[Corwin]

I'd say come as any level from 1-5. It's only casters who are totally hopeless at those low levels. A level 1 Sorc is useless, and has about 4HP!! Spending the better part of every battle dead, is NOT fun!! :)

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I'd say come as any level from 1-5. It's only casters who are totally hopeless at those low levels. A level 1 Sorc is useless, and has about 4HP!! Spending the better part of every battle dead, is NOT fun!! :)

That's fine. So which level do you recommend we use when we start this game? Shouldn't we all have the same level as we start?

[Corwin]

Not all levels are equal. A level 3 caster will usually have 10-12 HP and no armor or real protection. A level 1 Barb has 10-12 HP and some sort of armor and possibly a shield. The caster will either have a staff, or dagger, the barb a sword or similar!! So, a level 5 caster probably equates to level 2-3 of a fighter class. 15-20 HP and 2-3 worthwhile spells. Perhaps 1-2 buff or protection spells like mage armor, which is pretty weak and useless!! Now, compare that to your level 2-3 Pally and see what you get.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Not all levels are equal. A level 3 caster will usually have 10-12 HP and no armor or real protection. A level 1 Barb has 10-12 HP and some sort of armor and possibly a shield. The caster will either have a staff, or dagger, the barb a sword or similar!! So, a level 5 caster probably equates to level 2-3 of a fighter class. 15-20 HP and 2-3 worthwhile spells. Perhaps 1-2 buff or protection spells like mage armor, which is pretty weak and useless!! Now, compare that to your level 2-3 Pally and see what you get.

But all is not about HP and melee fighting. A low level caster should NEVER enter melee fights. He should stay behind and be protected by his fellow fighters. I think the main reason so many spellcasters die at low levels is that they are not careful enough about being behind the fighters and let them do the fighting. Spellcasters can contribute with their spells. They can cast protection spells on themselves like protection from missiles etc. so they aren't affected by ranged weapons.

You compare a sorcerer with a fighter based upon how they fight in melee. A sorcerer has a dagger and a fighter a big shining sword. A sorcerer has only a robe while a fighter has a plate mail etc. A level 1 sorcerer has 4hp while a level 1 fighter has 10hp. Of course the sorcerer loses such a comparison. But the sorcerer is NOT expected to do any melee fighting at low levels. He should be protected by his companions so he can support the battle with his spells. So it's important to resist the urge to join the fight when one plays a sorcerer. Stay behind and see how the enemies fall from your magic missiles. ;)

A level 5 caster is more powerful than a level 2 fighter imho. Not in melee, but in total. A level 5 caster ALONE is not very powerful, but put him behind a screen of fighters and he will make the day. His spells will make the difference between victory and defeat.

I think the main reason our playing group get into trouble with our beloved sorcerer dying too much is because we are NOT playing as a group using the strengths and weaknesses of everyone. We all explore in different directions and then our poor sorcerer could be surprised and surrounded by some orcs or whatever. Of course, he dies quickly then.

What we SHOULD do (especially at low levels) is to send our rogue ahead in stealth mode to scout the area. He can detect traps etc. so we don't die by accidentally setting them off. He can discover enemies and come back to the group to report. We can then make a plan to take them out and use buffs etc. Then we would never allow our sorcerer to be vulnerable to enemy melee fighters. E. g. the mighty paladin would get the big task of shielding our sorcerer so he can cast his spells.

But we tend to rush into the battle just to be able to kill our enemies asap and don't think that we make our companions vulnerable to attack by leaving our line. Some are more interested in opening chests and looting corpses than killing our enemies.

So I think what you write about it not being fun to play a low level sorcerer is based upon OUR playing style. It's not because a sorcerer is weaker than other classes. If we change our playing style and are more careful then I think he can easily survive till he gets more HPs and can enter melee and expect to survive. A level 5 sorcerer has some very nice spells that can make a big difference in combat if the fighters protect him. We don't use the scouting abilities of our rogue to our advantage either. 9 out of 10 times we rush into the combat area when we see our rogue has found our enemies instead of making a plan.

I think that if a sorcerer e. g. starts at level 5 while the rest of us start at level 1 then he will have a permanent advantage to us when we get higher levels. I see no reason why a sorcerer can't start at level 1. Why not give yourself a few potions of invisibility when you make your character. Use them in critical situations (e. g. when we are surprised). I would think it's a challenge to play a low level sorcerer and survive the first few levels. Usually you get to level 3 before you can even blink in most modules. E. g. the NWN2 OC we got to level 3 without having to fight at all. Just by solving harmless quests.

[Taxen0]

I see no problem with starting at lvl 1. As peter says, you usually lvl really fast at those low levels. And if we wanted to play more tactical I could even go around the crowd and pick at the enemy spell-casters and the likes.
I always play as a lockpicking/sneaking/trapfinding rogue, so im not suited for regular fighting (I had less HP than corwin last time =O)

[Peter Stauffenberg]

V1.05 is now available again. Maybe we should install it before the next playing session on Friday?

[Corwin]

I rarely get protected, especially when there are more of THEM, than there are of us. A level 1 caster likely doesn't have magic missile; you only get 1-2 spells per level as a sorc. WHO did the green dragon chase last week????? ME!!!! :)

Yes, I think we should update now.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I have updated to v1.05 now. I'm also downloading Darkwaters so I can start playing on Friday. Have we all agreed to join at level 1? Then I will attend with my level 1 paladin. :)

[Taxen0]

lvl 1 sounds good to me, it is after all the recommended starting lvl.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

lvl 1 sounds good to me, it is after all the recommended starting lvl.

I just started the module and noticed a lot is happening with cutscenes etc. in the beginning som I suggest we all play the beginning solo before we join the MP game. I fear that only the first player initiating the cutscenes will be able to see them. It's quite a lot of them. Play the start solo and then save your character. Use this character when joining our group on Friday.

[Corwin]

I already suggested earlier to play the cut scenes solo. I will be bringing a level 5 sorc; I WON'T play a level 1 char!!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Maybe we should look for another module then? A module where we can start at a higher level. I think the module will be too easy if we all start at level 5. Can you search for another module and suggest before we play?

[Corwin]

I've been looking regularly, and there aren't any right now!!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I've been looking regularly, and there aren't any right now!!

So shall we all enter at level 5? Maybe we would spoil a good module because would become too easy? It's a big difference between level 1 and level 5. But later on the different will be small. So I guess the next modules in Adam Miller's campaign could be challenging.

Maybe we could make a compromise and let all of us enter the game at level 3 with exactly 3000 xp? That means you have 12hp + con bonus and could survive better. Is it ok to start at level 3?

[Corwin]

You can, but I have no chars lower than level 5!!

[Corwin]

Well, today was certainly interesting, especially since our Paladin failed to materialise!! :) The mod has a frustratingly BUGGY beginning which took us an hour and a half to solve!! It doesn't like MP; it made it almost impossible to start properly until we worked out how to do it. MESSY,MESSY,MESSY!! I hope the rest is better!! At least we got Ventrillo working properly as a back up to Skype!!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Well, today was certainly interesting, especially since our Paladin failed to materialise!! :) The mod has a frustratingly BUGGY beginning which took us an hour and a half to solve!! It doesn't like MP; it made it almost impossible to start properly until we worked out how to do it. MESSY,MESSY,MESSY!! I hope the rest is better!! At least we got Ventrillo working properly as a back up to Skype!!

Hi everybody. I woke up at 2am so I could create my character and noticed the annual birch pollen season had started with a vengeance. I read that on Friday we had extreme birch pollen seed spread. Since I'm allergic to birch pollen my head was very heavy, nose running, eyes sore etc. During the day it was not so bad, but at night I felt worse. So had no energy to get out of bed to get behind the computer. I hope you forgive me for that. :)

I'm taking my pollen medicine, but it's not so effective that I'm symptom free when we have extreme pollen spread. But the extreme pollen spread doesn't last for so many days so it's not a huge problems. It's worse in the beginning until I get used to having a heavy head etc. So next Friday I expect to be there etc.

I want to know how far you got into the module so I can play it SP and then save my character at the same place you stopped at. Then I shouldn't have missed the story. Did you start with 5th level characters?

[Corwin]

We only got everyone to the starting room where the broken crystals are; that took us an hour and a half. Since Taxen was continually dropping out of Skype, we then spent half an hour working out why I couldn't get Ventrillo to work properly. We are NOW fully ready to begin!! You wouldn't believe how ridiculous the opening is for people playing MP!!

I was 5, the others 3.

[Cm]

I forgive you Peter and understand. My allergies are not that sever but have the same ones. It was a frustrating start for sure. But dispite that the mod does look interesting.

I am wondering where Arhu has gone? Did we scare you off or did I flirt too much. I know I should be good but I just can't help it. :blush: :evilgrin:

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I forgive you Peter and understand. My allergies are not that sever but have the same ones. It was a frustrating start for sure. But dispite that the mod does look interesting.

I am wondering where Arhu has gone? Did we scare you off or did I flirt too much. I know I should be good but I just can't help it. :blush: :evilgrin:

Thank you for understanding. :) I feel better today because it was a rainy day. The medicine starts to work better after a few weeks. I started to take it too late because the pollen season started a lot earlier than normal. But I believe I will be ok for our next playing session. I have not setup Ventrilo, but I guess you can help me with that.

I played the start of the module SP today. I ended when I arrived in the room with the broken crystals. I even managed to get all my gear so I'm ready to do some fighting. I went through the intro with loading and loading and loading. It was a bit frustrating because I had no chance to stop it and save the game. The first time NWN2 crashed just before I got to the end of the intro so I had to do all over again. But now I'm in the room with the broken crystals and I saved my character there. So I guess I should be able to be with you when I join your MP module.

I play a level 3 paladin with name Carl Schumacher. I heard from Corwin all of you except him play level 3. So I guess the first module will be easy, but it doesn't matter much when the next module in the campaign arrives. We started with 3000 xp instead of 0. That is not much of a difference when we get to higher levels. Corwin has 7000 xp more than us, but we all expect him to die a lot so he will probably lose some xp along the road. :p

[Jaz]

I play a level 3 paladin with name Carl Schumacher.Heh, funny. A Carl Schuhmacher (with an additional h) is sitting on my lap while I type :biggrin:.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Heh, funny. A Carl Schuhmacher (with an additional h) is sitting on my lap while I type :biggrin:.

It's a big coincidence. ;) Maybe your little one teleports into our game at nights while you sleep. :D

I believed the German surname is usually spelled Schumacher and not Schuhmacher.

[Jaz]

'Schumacher' is the most common variant of the name while 'Schuhmacher' is the correctly-spelled version (Schuh= shoe and macher = maker). Well, we (Carl and I) are artisans, not F1 pilots ;).

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Hi. I will show up tonight at 3am. I hope the game will be less messy in MP than your last gaming session. I also hope I show up at the same place as you so I don't have to be teleported into the dungeon behind those doors.

See you soon. :)

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I just noticed that Darkwaters has released patch 1.03 on 23rd April. So maybe we should download and use it before our next playing session. Here is the link:
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2ModulesEnglish.Detail&id=128

[Cm]

Corwin might want to reinstall it as there is no true patch to grab. But the date on the file at the site is still showing 4/13 so I am not sure now.

[Cm]

Sorry for the double posting but wanted to let you guys know I may be running late. Don't wait and I will try not to miss our starting.

[Corwin]

It's too late right now for me to re-install the game, especially if it meant we had to go through what happened last week again. As we're taking next week off, we could discuss trying a re-install during the 2 weeks. At least I'd have time to test it!!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Hi. I tried to play Darklands 1 SP to see what we lost in MP and I noticed MOST of the events, interactions etc. is based upon the NPCs. I would say the game is unplayable in MP. 90% of what's supposed to happen doesn't happen in MP. So we will not get a good experience playing this mod MP.

I therefore suggest we find another module that is suitable for MP play for our next playing session next Friday. I propose each of you replay Darklands 1 SP. Then the module is quite good.

Maybe this module is possible to play:
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2ModulesEnglish.Detail&id=129

It's called B2: Keep on the Borderlands and suggest we start at level 3. That means us level 3 and Corwin's sorcerer level 5. ;)

[Corwin]

I'm downloading the file. We'll see what CM and Taxen think. I doubt I will play any mod SP!!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I'm downloading the file. We'll see what CM and Taxen think. I doubt I will play any mod SP!!

Does it mean we will switch to Keep on the Borderlands for out next gaming mission on Friday?

Playing Darklands 1 MP is a waste of time imho. Most encounters are triggered by the NPCs and since they are disbanded then it means the module is virtually unplayable. I played Darklands 1 SP and it's a completely different game compared to the one we experienced MP. We are only seeing fragments of the story MP and we don't understand what's going on. The frustrations we have had so far will only continue. My suggestion is to abandon the MP play of Darklands 1 and switch to Keep of the Borderlands. Then those of you who wish to play Darklands 1 can do it SP to enjoy the story Adam Miller created. For that to happen you MUST have Heather, Daniel and later Robert in your group.

[Cm]

I bend to will of the group. I do agree we most likely will not get the story line to play out. I saw several things trigger and the Mod changed my character to one of the NPC's we dismissed during the conversation. I read Tragedy in Tragidor was played mp by someone and it worked for them. We should add that one to the list of possibles down the road as well. I will grab the Keep and be ready for whatever.

[Taxen0]

I will download the new module. but im not 100% sure I will make it sense I will be at another one of those LAN-parties. but most people will be asleep at 3am so I might be there

[Corwin]

So, am I to understand we'll try the new Keep mod this week? I'd better install it then!! :)

[Cm]

Peter, we missed you last Friday. Hope all is well. Corwin and I started the new mod. So far no bugs to be seen. Hopefully both you and The Small One will make it this week.

I am still pondering on what happened to Arhu:meditate: :cookie: Maybe a treat will lure him back??

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Oops. I remember we should not be playing for 2 weeks.

This Friday night I can't play because I have to go to my parents. My mother is celebrating her 70th birthday tomorrow with 25+ people arriving. So I have to go today to help organizing for tomorrow.

Have fun playing. I hope I can join you next week.

[woges]

Wouldn't mind having a game or 2. Depends on how late you play till as I'm GMT to the hour.

[Corwin]

We play for 2 hours. That means we begin at 1am Sat your time. If you wish to join us, you need to download and install the mod (we discovered that last week) and have either Skype or Ventrilo. The mod is the Border Keep one, there should be a link somewhere in this thread.

[woges]

I'll probably give it as miss NWN till 3 in the morning...

[Corwin]

Well, we start in just over an hour, but then time flies. Peter plays from Norway, so it's 3am when he starts!! It's that for Taxen0 as well in Sweden!!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

I got my new PC last week and have now installed everything on it (NWN, NWN2 etc.). My computer is running Windows Vista. Skype is installed so that is not a problem, but will Ventrilo work with Vista?

I will join you on this Friday, but I need to know where you are in the mod now. I want to play SP to that point so I know what's going on and get some XP. Then I can save my character and play MP with you. Which level did you start at? Level 3?

[Corwin]

We didn't play the mod last week, we tried out the DM client and were NOT impressed. You'll read about it later. We're still at the beginning, having collected a couple of quests from the Keep. We're heading off to do the first one.

[Peter Stauffenberg]

OK. I will just play the beginning of the mod and acquire the quests.

Does Ventrilo work with Vista? I haven't installed it yet.

[Corwin]

Since I don't have Vista, I have no idea!! Why not check out their respective websites!!!! :)

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Since I don't have Vista, I have no idea!! Why not check out their respective websites!!!! :)

It says nothing about it.

Now I've played a little in the town and received 2 quests. One to help the dwarf Garth find some bandits that killed his brother. Another from 2 elves that lost their brother. Are the more quests to be found? I heard something about caves with monsters that the city want to get rid of, but I'm not able to get past the guards to talk to them. I have saved my character so I should be able to join you.

[Cm]

I don't remember how many we got total, but sounds like you have a good save character. Install Ventrillo and if I see you on skype today we can test it. So where is The Little One? I hope he is joining us.

[Taxen0]

I have been tied up with school latley but now I´m more or less done, so I will join you. just wondering what lvl I shall make my character.

[Corwin]

About level 3 I think!!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

About level 3 I think!!

I'm also level 3. I installed Ventrilo in Vista and it doesn't crash when I start it, but I don't know if it works until I try it with someone.

[Cm]

I should be around more today, so if you see me on skype, buzz and we can test it.

[Cm]

Taxen0, if you wake up a bit early, buzz me. Now I can't log into the ventrillo server myself. >:O :furious:

[Bartacus]

Are you guys still plaing NWN1 or have you gone to NWN2 yet?
At any rate, I finally installed skype. The microphone works well enough for a session, but it will be difficult to speak in English -> I can read and write English well enough to be understood by all of you. My voice however isn't even clear in Dutch let alone in English.

[Corwin]

We are currently playing NWn2, but as there are VERY few mods yet available, we might return to NWN1 when certain mods in production are completed. We use Skype and Ventrilo, depending on where Tax is, since Skype doesn't work properly for him on one of his PC's.

[Cm]

Come on and jump in Bart, if all else fails you can use some typing if you need to but you would hear us argue at least......I mean discuss... LOL

[Taxen0]

yea join us! this week it will be over skype.

[Bartacus]

Unfortunately I don't have NWN2 in my possesion. It can very well be that I'll buy the game in the near future and that brings me to the next question: Are there already expansion packs?

[Peter Stauffenberg]

The first expansion, The Mask of the Betrayer, is due out in the Fall of 2007.

[Corwin]

We'll likely be reverting to NWN1 for a few weeks, since we've run out of MP mods for NWN2!!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Hi. I just setup my new router with static IP address, port forwarding and opened my firewall for hosting NWN1 and NWN2. I noticed it works like a charm.

So I can host our games if we want to do that. :) This way only Corwin would complain about lag instead of all the rest of us. :p Tell me if you want to try it out or if we want to continue with Corwin as the host for awhile.

[Corwin]

Well, you know what MY vote will be!! :)

[Cm]

Someone just be sure and tell me...........Wait........if I say the rest of that sentence I am putting my foot in it. Ok, someone just post the details. ;)

Maybe you can let me have a chance to get even with "The Little One" some time soon? I would be glad to take back all the treasure he managed to snatch out of all our hands and distribute it evenly. And I promise I will not try to get even for what you all did to me in the store! :sneaky::mwahaha:

[Bartacus]

Perhaps it would be good if Corwin uses the first post of this thread with the info to login/connect and which mods should be installed. Otherwise my next question will be: Can you give me all the info I need?

[Corwin]

OK, after a few experiments, CM and I have decided to play a mod in NWN1 we messed around with a little, but never played properly. We're going to play the updated version of Second God War. Now, there are issues. If you don't begin as a level 1 character, you can't join any of the factions. However, my main complaint with the mod was always it was WAY too hard for low level chars. (YOu get attacked by fire beetles as soon as you step outside the starting house for example). However, using DM powers, we can generate the papers you need to be able to join factions. Therefore, we (CM & I ) have decided on level 7 to begin. I'll be my Tank, CM a Caster and the rest of you can fight over your chars. :)

[Taxen0]

Im downloading the mod and CEP2 now but im not sure if a will make it this friday. Im graduating so im not sure when, or in what state i will arrive ;)
but if I make it I will be playing my rogue.

see you all later, im gonna look for my NWN cd's now =O

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Maybe I will let my cleric (Lance Auric) show up? I guess a cleric could be useful since Corwin is playing a tank.

[Corwin]

Fine, best I can find is a level 8 char, so I'll use that one. It's a 5/1/2 char, with the 1 being a level of sorc to allow for a RDD on top of the 5 Barb.

[Cm]

I have a sorc so I will be giving all of you a few rods of res to use on me. I know I will need them. Congrats on graduation Little One. :)

[Bartacus]

I'm sorry that I can't join you this night. I had a little accident in which I've cut my fingers from my right hand -> makes it very difficult to type this, let alone to play.
Still I'd like to ask what files are needed again, so I will be ready next week. I've reïnstalled NWN already and downloaded that Second_God_War and the latest patch. Was there anything else?

[Corwin]

OUCH!!!!! That was a silly thing to do; hope you get it fixed quickly!! Yep, that's all that was needed, I'll try to arrange an extra set of papers for you for next week!!

[Bartacus]

Corwin, it's a bit embarassing, but the way it happened will make you laugh. You know those candy vending machines? If you know them, you probadly also know that sometimes the candy (in this case it was a 'leo') gets stuck and doesn't fall down in the right shelve. Since I got this quite often at my former job, I devlopped the habbit of shaking the machine just a little to make it drop. Unfortunately it was a different type of machine here, one with sharp edges...

So it all comes down to this: Leave the candy there and go to the person responsible for the vending machines. He can either give your money back or give you the piece of candy you wanted. Either way is better then what I did.

[ffbj]

Yes. I would have agree that the mod is a bit tough for lower levels. The quest for the Miller's ghost, in the mill on the hill, is set for max of 7th level so you may want to do that one first. The ghost only appears in the basement at night. You can take the potions to the mayor and he will reward you. Also the trap door in the Mausoleum leads to the underground river, and the lair of the Feldorn beast. But a party of 7th levels should be able to handle that, just avoid the green slime, it's weakness is fire and it is slow but very dangerous.

The other thing to consider is that if anyone joins a religion the set diety is done by the conversation with the recruiter. No faction papers are involved, so while the faction papers will take care of the politics you will not be able to enter a temple by using the portal of the gods. Unless there is a way for DM's to set dieties. So you may want to have religious players get their diety in the normal way before raising them levels. I think a way around this would be to give player their religious papers if they qualify by alignment and then the recruiters will talk to you since they do not check for level.
The alignments they accept are:

Marantar: Lawful Good
One Child: Chaotic Good
Homaran: Neutral Good
Nebdezar: Lawful Evil
Bocrewg: Chaotic Evil

Their is also an independent religious recruiter who accepts neutrals. You have no religion per say with him but he gives you a ring which can be upgraded as they all can. The indepdent ring gets upgraded at one of the wizards towers in Trilus.

[Corwin]

Thanks for the info; we'll make good use of it!!

[Peter Stauffenberg]

Hi. I will join our playing group tonight. Which level should I be? Corwin mentioned level 8 as a starting character, but the message from ffbj indicates we need to be level 7. Can I enter with level 8 and let CM as a DM lower me to level 7 if that is necessary?

Will we continue our gaming session tonight? I'm sorry I wasn't able to attend last week. I had planned to do so, but was too tired at night so I overslept. We had a heat wave last week so I had problems sleeping every night.

[Corwin]

Try to enter as level 7 if you can. I actually have a wasted level of sorc, so I could get RDD. We didn't play last week, since only Cm and I showed up!!!!

[Bartacus]

Sorry, I wasn't able to join you again. I came sick home from training ... no that's not exactly what happened: My dad had to pick me up with my bycicle, cause I was to sick to cycle further on (like 10km) after the running (my sport is athletics and so I run a lot).

[Cm]

Well hopefully one day you can pop in, even if it is just now and then. We are playing the PW that ffbj created. Second God War...it is brilliant. We are already somewhat off the beaten path and my caster is not liking the looks of the place one bit. If The Short One doesn't stop bumping into me trying to pick my pockets or hide in my Sorc robes I may have to DM him into limbo!! :lol:

[Taxen0]

If The Short One doesn't stop bumping into me trying to pick my pockets or hide in my Sorc robes I may have to DM him into limbo!! :lol:

tss, I would never... :)

and btw, it looks like the next patch for nwn2 is out. so hopefully there will be some nice mods soon.

[Bartacus]

Ok, I was ready yesterday, but it seems that I asked Taxen a bit to late how to connect and when. At any rate, I found Corwin and Taxen(at least I think it's you) at skype. One small remark for the others during gameplay -> I'm using a normal microphone, so it's kinda hard to both speak and game at the same time.(certainly in English)

If someone could explain to me how and when to connect to the NWN server, I will be joining you. (Btw, I also purchased NWN2, so when you go back to it ... no prob for me)

[Taxen0]

I was not available this friday, we had some midsummer celebrations. but we start around 3:00 am (GMT+1) and CM is usually the one to start the Skype conference. So you would have to get CM on your skype list and then simply be logged in at the right time.
oh, and what was the problem with your microphone?

[Bartacus]

It's a real microphone -> I'm talking about such a thing you have to hold in your hand like someone who's singing.

Ok, so CM has to be joined in my skype list -> problem occurs: more then one CM in the USA and I don't know everything about her. (besides that she lives on a barn offcourse ;) )
Still the problem is that I don't know how to connect the game itself with the server. Back at the dot I believe it was a Jolt server, wasn't it? If it was, then it would suprise me that we could still play on the same server.(in either case - I don't know how to connect anymore)

[Corwin]

OK, the rest of us use headsets with a microphone attached (easy to use). To connect:- Use Multiplayer. When you get to the MP listing page, go to ALTERNATIVE, there you will see Corwin. Click on that and enter the password. You're IN!! :)

[Taxen0]

It's a real microphone -> I'm talking about such a thing you have to hold in your hand like someone who's singing.

I use a stand-alone microphone and headphones, so you should be able to just put it next to your monitor and play normally.

[ffbj]

You want to use server.exe to play the module. I assume you are doing that. It should retain locations, journals, etc...It can't be saved, and reloaded.

[Corwin]

As I explained in a PM, it didn't when we were down in the mines. It returned us to our last SURFACE location, which was no help at all. What was even more interesting, was that when we began the session CM was dead (she had been quite alive when we finished the week before-well, as alive as CM ever is :) ), but we got this message that she was killed by SGW??!! When she re-spawned, all her stuff was unidentified and I had to spend time ID'ing it all for her!! Weird.

[ffbj]

I have seen that happen on rare occassions. The module thinks that you were in a fight, and logged off to avoid death, so it pro-rates hit points to give you when you return. Pc's with low hitpoint totals can sometimes die from this, mages,rogues. So my suggestion is rest before you exit the server, or at least wait for the server update message. Think of it as one of the gods is not smiling on you. Sorry about that.

[Corwin]

Yes, CM is our fairly low level mage, so that was likely the problem. Unfortunately as you, yourself have pointed out, you can't rest in some places, such as where we were when time expired and we had to log off for the week.

[ffbj]

Sounds likely. In my old campaign you would want to rest in a safe location before quitting. This was sort of a habit that subconsciously, or more likely, through lack of expertise is reflected in my campaign. I plan to put in some safe areas, towers, etc.. where you can rest within the no-rest areas, thus continuing your campaign, without having to return to a surface area. Locally the 2nd level of the mines is about the closest rest area nearby. In general no rest areas are to serve as a warning. Tough on mages too. (Sorry you showed up dead CM).

[Corwin]

:biggrin: So were we, in some ways!! lol :biggrin:

[Cm]

Humm..........I may have to DM the next session for more then one reason. :cm:

[Bartacus]

Hope I'm ready to tune in.

[Corwin]

So do we, CM will likely DM you to the correct location. Get in early, cause you have to go through the intro section. I'll put the server up early, if I remember!! :)

[Bartacus]

ok, I will Corwin. you can load up the game.

[Bartacus]

That was fun! It was so strange to hear your voices for the first time, but the funniest was without any doubt the complaining of CM against 'the little one'. It was almost like you heard Gollem "the thieves, the dirty little thieves"

As I said, it's not very likely that I'm able to see you all next week. I have a date (this word is not correct since it's only a friend) with a former colleague. Some of you can guess who. (name begins with a 'K') ;)

[Corwin]

Glad you enjoyed it. Pity Peter wasn't there, he's fun too. Hope your 'date' goes well next week!!

[Cm]

Glad you had fun, though be it at my being tormented as usual. The Little One is going to pay. Oh yes, he will pay!:mwahaha::cm:

[ffbj]

I think I figured the reason for items being unequipped and labeled unidentified. This will occur if the item is too high a level for the person to use. Normally I set my sever for item level restrictions and have an ondeath that removes such items if they are equipped. The reason for this is simple: a player may lose a level and therefore be unable to use an item currently equipped that is too high for them to use. This would cause the character to not pass the ILR and become unplayable on the next log in. If you are playing with items level restrictions off this will continue to happen when players die with these types of items equipped, it can also happen with ILR on, though it is less likely, since it only occurs then if the player drops a level on death.

As players progress in levels and/or are not given items that are too high for their level the likely hood of this occurrence will decrease.

[Corwin]

Thanks, we play with no restrictions except only one party!! We had an interesting issue last week; we entered the village 2 screens south of the starting area and our Paladin was attacked by some Captain?! We weren't!!

[ffbj]

Depending on your alignment certain other factions will hate you. Not sure why this particular one occurred. Your factions and alignment can all affect reactions to you. Players have individual databases which keep track of these relationships, so the npc's can have varied reactions to members of the same party. There are also some things that appear blue, wild-eyed bats, that will sometimes attack a pc, out of the blue, so to speak.

That was Zarbon. The only Captain there is the captain of the guard. Did this attack occur outdoors? If so it was not him. If it was a guy with a glowing spear maybe a Browneagle warrior, but they are mostly friendly.

Under items/custom/special there is something called a faction rescue rod. Create one and give it to the player and have him/her use it on themselves. This will raise their faction relationships by 25 and that should take care of the problem. I did notice the Zarbon guard captains faction was commoner but it should be Zanid. However I can't see how a Paladin would get in dutch with the commoner faction.

[Corwin]

No, this was a named Captain and NOT the guard captain. It was outside in the center of the city.

[ffbj]

Possibly a Bowcregian, chaotic evil, since they would attack a lawful good paladin on sight.

[Corwin]

Could be, he was Blue to the rest of us, but we're all Independant Neutrals!! I'll try to remember to write down his name, but from memory, he seemed almost invulnerable and could heal himself. We thought he might be an essential NPC!!

[Taxen0]

Dont forget to mention that he was impossible to kill, we got him to 'near death' but there it stopped. and when I ran off he started to kill the cows and horses..
Not even I would be that cruel, unless the cows are secretly hiding a big stash of gold, but they dont... do they? O.o

[Cm]

NOOO and you better not KILL any of them to find out! He is going to get us all killed, I can see it now! :cm:

[Bartacus]

I think some very special cows might own some gold, Taxen. :lol:

@CM Can't you get the pvp on in NWN? Now that would be awsome! -> Hey, you stole all the gold, huh? How do you like that sword sticking in your belly? :plotting:

[Corwin]

We have been sorely tempted to do that, believe me!! :)

[ffbj]

I should have realized this before. Yeah Captain Marsden the owner of the Golden Hind. The boat trip up to Trilus. He is immortal for that reason and sometimes he goes berserk a bit. He is rather chaotic, and while he is not a true Bocrewgian, he is a sea captain and they are rather vulnerable to Bocregian influences. These are the chaotic influences that are creeping into the world. Basically my excuse for when things don't work right, or as expected.

If you want to take the boat simply have the party or just the leader use the boat and then have the rest of the party leader teleport to him in Trilus. Since it is nearby, if you see a Ghostrider don't mess with him. This is well known common knowledge so I'm not revealing much, in that they are incredibly dangerous in a nonchalant sort of way.

[Corwin]

Yep, that sounds like his name; why would he kill cows though? And why did no-one else there try to stop him? Should we take the boat trip this early on?

[ffbj]

Something set him off and he just went on a killing spree. The cows are being sent up to Trilus for slaughter anyway. I probably should take away his area effect spells, as this is the likely scenario which is the cause of this. The river raiders attack and the guards respond then Marsden throws an AoE, and the guards go KoS to Marsden, later after he has killed the guards that attack, since he is immortal, he goes a killing spree after the cows which are same faction as the guards.

From Zarbon, Trilus is about as safe as any, both Browneagle lands and the Fen can be bad especially at night. Goblin lands, the bandits, the Kobold king, is the general order of undertakings, before those other areas. Also Zanid north and west are not too tough, but north can be rather