The Blades of Netheril - Interview @ GameBanshee

GameBanshee has interviewed Luke Scull about The Blades of Netheril an unofficial sequel to Neverwinter Nights:

Neverwinter Nights: The Blades of Netheril Interview

The ending cinematic for the original Neverwinter Nights campaign promises new adventures for our Heroes of Neverwinter, but then the game's expansions completely forget all about them, except for the occasional passing mention.

Enter Luke Scull, who you may know as the lead designer and writer for Ossian Studios, the team responsible for a number of highly-rated Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 expansions and premium modules, including Mysteries of Westgate and Darkness over Daggerford. Alternatively, you may know him as the author behind The Grim Company series of novels.

And on top of all that, he's now announced The Blades of Netheril, a brand-new Neverwinter Nights campaign that aims to provide a satisfying conclusion for the Hero of Neverwinter over the course of three content-rich chapters.

And if you wouldn't mind knowing more about this unexpected continuation of a 20-year-old story, and the man responsible for it, you should read our interview with Luke Scull below:


GameBanshee: To get things started, please tell us a bit about yourself and what you do.

Luke Scull: I'm a British author and videogame designer clinging on to my 30s by my fingertips. I've published three novels in eight languages (The Grim Company trilogy) and a short story set in the same world. I'm currently working on a second short story as well as various novels, the most advanced of which is a standalone book set in the world of the Grim Company. On the videogame front, I've been lead designer and writer for Ossian Studios since 2006. Our games include NWN2: Mysteries of Westgate, The Shadow Sun, NWN1EE: Darkness over Daggerford, and NWN1EE: Tyrants of the Moonsea. We're in the process of developing at least one exciting RPG I can't talk about. Being both an author and game designer is creatively challenging, but there's no other job I'd rather do. The Ossian folk are not only colleagues, they're friends, and after 15 years we've formed an incredibly strong core team who understand each other extremely well.


GB: I'm guessing you're one of the very few people who've managed to turn creating custom Neverwinter Nights modules into somewhat of a career. How did that happen?

LS: In 2005, I was fortunate enough to be approached by Neverwinter Nights lead designer Rob Bartel, who had played my Hall of Fame module Crimson Tides of Tethyr. He offered me the opportunity to create a premium module for Bioware. As many people know, Atari cancelled the premium module programme before any of them save Wyvern's Crown of Cormyr could be released commercially. Ossian and I both released our prospective efforts free to the community. Shortly after, Alan Miranda of Ossian Studios e-mailed me and mentioned Atari had contacted him about Ossian producing a Neverwinter Nights 2 campaign. He asked if I would I like to be lead designer on the project. Fortunately for all who rightly consider Mysteries of Westgate to be the underappreciated gem of the NWN franchise, I said yes.

Even more fortuitously, I managed to leverage the experience I had gained writing for Neverwinter Nights into a novel, which sold in 2012 for several six-figure advances. I haven't yet quite achieved the literary success of Naomi Novik (who worked on Shadows of Undrentide), and with my penchant for monstrously ambitious side projects that pay little to nothing I might never, but I've lived the dream nonetheless.


GB: And now, you're working on The Blades of Netheril - a direct continuation of the original NWN campaign. Can you give us your elevator pitch for this new module?

LS: The Blades of Netheril is an unofficial sequel to the original NWN campaign that tells the untold story of the Hero of Neverwinter and what befell them after the events of the Wailing Death. The story picks up several months after the hero left the City of Skilled Hands on acrimonious terms. You awaken in a dingy cell in Skullport, your equipment and your recent memories gone. You recall heading to Waterdeep to answer the call for adventurers after the drow began pouring forth from the Underdark - but everything after that is a blur. What happened to you? Who could have done this? Your only lead is the rumour of a strange, masked lady and the uncomfortable feeling she has stolen something very valuable from you…

The campaign will be split into three parts, each around 20 hours in the length. The first part will take place in Skullport, a thriving hive of villainy far below Waterdeep. There you will uncover myriad tangled webs of intrigue and a plot to return an ancient evil to the Realms. Familiar faces will return alongside new characters and famous (or infamous) characters from the setting's vast lore.

The campaign is designed for characters that finished the OC, meaning it is a high-level campaign (16-19). Before anyone asks, yes there is an item strip at the start - but you will get your gear back before the end of the first chapter!

[…]

More information.

OC continuation… Y'all gunna have to stick with the OC all the way to the end now.

Meh yeah the original campaign wasn't that great but I don't mind mind playing a mod that continues the story. A few other mods tried to do the same before as well.

Looks like I was wrong to assume we'd be starting at level 1.

Tis always nice to hear from those GameBanshee folks, I used to frequent their forums quite often a few decades ago.

As for the game, I look forward to it. I'm not the biggest fan of the vanilla NWN games, yet the set-up and functionality of them is something I enjoy.

Q. Is this a standard stock RPG or something new and original?

"You awaken in a dingy cell in Skullport, your equipment and your recent memories gone."

A. Standard

High level campaign. Meh for some reason I never have as much fun I'm high level campaigns.

Originally Posted by Saxon1974
High level campaign. Meh for some reason I never have as much fun I'm high level campaigns.

I think a lot of people feel that way, and I'm a little surprised he chose to go with that. He even mentions during the interview that "high-level campaigns are rarely as fun as lower-level campaigns".

I'm guessing he didn't want to reset the hero because he felt like it would be too much of a disconnect from the OC. Personally, I think he's making a mistake there.

I'm surprised at the choice to go high level also, yet I'll try not to let that dissuade me from enjoying the game. Sometimes, like in some of the gold box games, it's done well, and that's what I'll be hoping for with this.

Low level content is a dime a dozen. I look forward to something where the PC is already well established and can realise it's full potential - besides PW's it's rare for a PC to get into levels where they can try the really powerful abilities they get access to at lvl 30+. Druid's dragon form, dual wielding keen scimitars with dev crit, melee mages wearing plate armour covered in buffs and damage shields, high level Shifters where you can choose forms to suit the situation etc etc. Lots of fun stuff to try.

There are a lot of low-level campaigns modules already. I think that an epic-level campaign is a great idea. Like expansions used to be…

Starting at a lower level doesn't mean it can't be an epic-level campaign by the end. This is going to be three modules long, so I don't see why it can't be both.

That's exactly what I'm hoping it will feel like, Gabriel. Those expansions that were simple continuations to the prior game were perfect, and made total sense when you consider the pen and paper modules from years prior. Anything to keep the campaign going just a tad bit longer.

Even more fortuitously, I managed to leverage the experience I had gained writing for Neverwinter Nights into a novel, which sold in 2012 for several six-figure advances.

Whoa. I didn't know one could earn multiple advances for a single novel.