Dreams of Blue Fire

Massive campaign

2009-10-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

I was gathering some of the resources I found for the campaign (I'm using a lot of prefabs I've found on NWNVault for this) and it currently weighs in at just under 900MB uncompressed; this does include all of the haks for the campaign as well. It curently has 5 modules in it; the prologue images that you have already seen are just a small fraction of the current total content, and I still have two to three modules to build from scratch. I may also end up using the Overland Map, since there is now a decent set of maps of Faerun available as an Overland map system.

Prologue update

2009-10-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

I'm back to working on the campaign; it looks like patch 1.23 ate a bunch of things, so I may need to recreate some stuff that I had done.

Snippet: Life without a friend

2009-05-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

"I knew it the moment I laid eyes on her when she came stumbling out of the Crypt in Crossroad Keep. Something scary, but wonderful, was happening and even though I wanted her to stay with us until death claimed me, I knew in my heart that there was a wonderful destiny awaiting her and she couldn't give it up for a mere dwarf. We gathered at her call, even the funny looking guy that claimed he was a dreamwalker, and we set off on a wonderful adventure; that time with her was some of the most wonderful traveling that we ever did. To see her ascend like that, after seeing her take on a great weight that would have killed a lesser mortal, is the only thing that keeps me going some mornings."

Khelgar Ironfist's "Memories of Friends Lost", stored at Candlekeep.

Snippet: Who could have known?

2009-05-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

"Looking back, it's a wonder that none of us saw this coming; the signs were there, but even the best of Mystra's Chosen didn't see it. It took a little known member of Lord Nasher's Neverwinter Nine to see the threat and attempt to do something about it; even now, the fallout from the clash of titans is held in check by the one that took on Mystra's mantle to save us all."

Khelban Arunsen the Younger, in his memoir "The Year of Fallen Magic".

A taste of the introduction

2009-05-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

The following is an excerpt from the introduction to Dreams of Blue Fire; this will be played much like the introduction to the Mask of the Betrayer expansion, though likely without a voice-over.

"The year is 1385 by the method of the Dales. Unknown to many, two worlds are coming into alignment after a time of separation; Abeir and Toril periodically have alignments, but none have brought them this close before.

Abeir and Toril were separated long ago by Ao, ending a great war between the Gods and the Primordials. The Gods were given Toril; The Primordials received Abeir. Those who have been born since know only the worlds of their birth.

Plots have been hatched by greedy beings to take that which is not theirs; only Ao knows what may happen if they are allowed to get away with this."

2009-04-29T17:20:00.000-07:00

As promised, I have added some pictures from the prologue; I have others, but I don't wish to spoil things too much.

2009-04-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

Good news, of sorts; I've gotten a preliminary version of Crossroad Keep that I like ready, and am in the process of populating it with NPCs. I will be posting screenshots of the Keep and the small town nearby shortly. I also have a story writer working with me to make the story better. While the campaign will still require Storm of Zehir, I have decided to forgo using the Overland Map; not enough of the story happens on it to make the development worthwhile.

Overland Travel

2008-11-15T16:38:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been debating on how to handle the overland travel aspect of the campaign; my initial thoughts were to use the standard world map system that came with NWN2, but with the impending release of Storm of Zehir, I have decided to utilize the new Overland Map in that Expansion instead of using the normal system. I'm sorry that it has taken me a while to post anything more, but I've had other projects clamoring for attention.

Crossroad Keep

2008-09-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

In this Campaign, Crossroad Keep is much improved over the version you took over in the NWN2 Original Campaign. In the eleven years since you returned from Rashemen and Thay, you have expanded the main Keep site outward, tearing down the original walls after building new ones farther out. Within the area, you have allowed nature to surround the Keep, which has pleased the Druids that desired to see such things happen; these tree groves within the Keep proper have enhanced the defenses instead of hindering them as some people that thought your decision questionable might have supposed. Also, there are areas within this ring where magic itself can play tricks on the unsuspecting; nothing dangerous, but magic can sometimes behave in unpredictable ways in these semi-wild magic pockets. Even the best mages in Faerun cannot fully explain why these exist here around the Keep.

Progress Report

2008-09-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

All right; after some minor (or not so minor, depending on your viewpoint) snags with the introductory module, I have gotten to the point where I can actually add characters to the roster. The first character that you will get is Amie; she will be added to your team as a henchman in her conversation with you in the introduction. I am currently trying to get the Experience check in the conversation working; once that is done, I will post a few screenshots of the new version of the module.

Other Companions

2008-09-14T14:12:00.002-07:00

Other companions for Dreams of Blue Fire include some other old friends of the Knight-Captain and some new friends. Among the old friends that will appear are Khelgar Ironfist, Qara, Sand, and Grobnar. The new friends will include a Living Construct unearthed during recent excavations near Crossroad Keep; Wardoc the Warforged Wizard. Wardoc appears to be approximately 200 years old, but has been buried for an undetermined amount of time.

Amie

2008-08-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

Amie Fern, a childhood friend of the Knight-Captain, dies in an attempt to save their home village from invading monsters searching for a mysterious item; this item is later revealed to be one of a number of shards of the legendary Silver Sword of Lady Gith. In a surprising turn of events, Amie shows up as a ghost in the vicinity of Crossroad Keep shortly after the Shadow War; due to the "interference" of some people on the other side of Faerun, the reunion of the friends was delayed for some months.

An explanation of the Campaign

2008-08-18T23:41:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should explain the campaign a little bit. The idea for this stemmed from several things that I felt would work as a group; the "lack" of an official conclusion to the story of the Knight-Captain of Crossroad Keep (the character you portray in the NWN2 Original Campaign and Mask of the Betrayer Expansion, the advent of the 4th Edition rules for Dungeons and Dragons, which re-writes the Forgotten Realms in ways that are disturbing and, to some, destroy the setting, and a desire to see if it would be possible to salvage some of what we like about the FR under the 3.5E D&D rules. I believe that since some events that I plan to depict in this campaign are Canon under the 4E rules, it will fulfill the requirement that Wizards of the Coast has of a campaign not killing off Canon characters without prior consent.

With a continuation of the Knight-Captain's Story, there comes the inevitable debate over what companions should be available for the PC to take along with him or her; I read with some amusement threads debating the ultimate fate of some of the characters and decided that the individual players should have the final word on who they take. What this means is that almost every companion form the OC and MotB will be available to select; however, this does not mean that there will be a limited selection of companions. I do plan to have a number of companiions and henchmen available for the story, over and above the Obsidian ones, though the current characters are only rough images in my mind for a number of reasons, chief among which is the fact that at least one doesn't have a working model yet.

Dreams of Blue Fire

2008-08-18T21:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've finally gotten a blog started; not really used to doing this kind of thing, but I can learn to do it, just like I'm learning to use the NWN2 Toolset. I have created several NPC's for Dreams of Blue Fire: A Knight-Captain Adventure and find that, other than a few nit-picks with how Obsidian designed the toolset, the characters are coming out pretty much the way I want them. I still need to make a decision on how Eilistraee looks before the Beta release, but that is a few months away yet, so I can fine tune her as I go. I still need to make the other major players in the story before I get too far along (it wouldn't do to have the major villain missing from his big debut, etc.).