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Module Profile - Scourge of Vallenwood

Module Profile by Robin Mayne Aug 1, 2002

Module Title: Scourge of Vallenwood Author: Steven 'Vaeron' Randall Play Time: Around 2 hours Recommended Level: 1 Single or Multiplayer?: Both HakPak Needed?: No Download locations: - Neverwinter Vault

Overview:

Looking for a creative module suitable for starting new level 1 characters? That's what my fiance and I were looking for, and Scourge of Vallenwood fit the bill perfectly! It was designed as a solo adventure, but played smooth with the two of us (and we decided not to use the henchmen, Dell). It took a little more than 3 hours for us to finish (with a lot of coversation and chit-chat between the two of us) and our Elf Rogue and a Half-Orc Monk both started at level 1, and finished up at level 4.

Scourge of Vallenwood is an adventure that has a good mix of puzzles, creative plot elements, battles, and a good use of the tilesets that use a wonderful mix of visual effects. We both loved the Crypt Walkers (a new creature that Steven has created), and found that there was a lot of adventure for a module of this size.

Author's Description:

The Vallenwood is usually a peaceful place, nestled between the Great Chasm and the human town of Faeryth.

Recently something has the orcs stirring in their caves, and attacks on Faeryth, the shrine of Ilmater, and the ancient tower of the necromancer Daerig are signs of impending trouble. Some dark force has moved the orcs to invade the Vallenwood, seeking Daerig's lost legacy. Someone must stop the orcs, find out their ultimate agenda, and destroy the evil that guides them once and for all.

Includes a henchman that auto-levels as you do and binding points (used for setting the location where you re-spawn if you die). Read that manual in your inventory for more details. Finished module. Part one of a set of modules.

 

Interview with the Author - Steven Randall

1. What inspired you to add such interesting elements as the White Stag and "Mr. Noodles"?

Scourge of Vallenwood was my first full effort with the Toolset, so it's pretty much half inspiration and half experimentation. There were a number of things I did just to see if I could, and a few things that I did just on a spur of the moment basis because the idea struck.

The White Stag was one of these. In the course of placing a couple animals in the forest I came across his model, and when I saw his portrait it just sort of hit me that I had to attach some dialog and importance to him. It wasn't something I'd initially planned for, but I bent the plot around him anyway. Mr. Noodles and the ghost were the same sort of process. In the course of placing the family's corpses in the final dungeon it came to me that the child's ghost should be caught there, mostly for atmosphere. This led to the idea that the players should be able to free his trapped spirit, and Mr. Noodles grew out of that idea. I thought the idea of finding a child's obviously beloved doll in a chest in a horrible dungeon filled with the dead really contributed to the atmosphere I was trying to give the area.

That said, a lot of people went through the entire module and never even saw the ghost due to his concealment effect. They wrote me to tell me they loved Mr. Noodles, but didn't know what to do with him. In the retooled version of the module I've been working on the ghost has a ghostly visage spell-effect instead of a concealment effect.

2. The Crypt Walkers were great! How did you create these new creatures, and what gave you the idea to create them?

I owe the Crypt Walkers existance entirely to the Toolset Beta. I got bored pretty quickly with the 20 or so monsters included, and so began playing around with the existing models.

In one of the beta modules I'd created there were all sorts of Crypt Walkers. Normal ones, Lords, a Crypt Walker King and a pretty frightening Queen. They're essentially just really messed-up human models. I had to put them in, just for the 'What the hell is THAT?' effect when people first saw them. A LOT creepier than ordinary zombies, in my mind at least.

3. How difficult did you find it to use the Spell Animations to create such visually interesting effects throughout the adventure?

VERY difficult. The portals were easy, binding effects were easy, the one-shot stuff was all simple. It was the linked spell effects that Daerig loved using in his dungeons that gave me a headache. Originally, with the pillar puzzle, there had been no beam effect between the pillars and the portal light shaft. It wasn't even that hard adding a beam between each of the pillars.

When I decided to get complicated, linking pillars and adding an impact point over the portal and turning off connection points depending on which pillars were active - all synchronized to the Crypt Walker summoning - is where it got tricky. Tricky trying to figure it out the first time, anyway. The Ressurection Chamber was pretty easy after that. It all worked out in the end, so I consider it having been a worthwhile experiment.

4. You have stated that this is the first part of a series - what can we expect from your upcoming adventures?

Firstly, a world change - the set of modules now occuring in Greyhawk instead of in a generalized "somewhere in the Realms". And a conspiracy, an ugly one, wherein you find out the REAL reason the Council of Faeryth had the town gates locked in the first place, and the real motivation behind the effort to restore Daerig. That, and the player making all of the wrong sorts of enemies. All of the modules are going to have a dark tone to them, which will only increase as the series progresses. I'm just about ready to release a re-tooled Scourge of Vallenwood with various changes based on feedback I've received and now including an area transition to the sequel through the Faeryth town gates..