Home For Players Player Profiles The World of Amon

The World of Amon

Profile by Jay Watamaniuk

Lo our land which once knew
Peace beneath skies of blue
Days of laughing, nights of love
Stolen all by those above
-A poem passed down among the Hur written after Eluna

One of the best parts of the Neverwinter Nights community is getting a chance to explore the many private worlds of pen and paper gaming that have been recreated through the NWN Toolset for all to enjoy. Some have even gone so far as to run their home-brewed lands as Persistent Worlds, allowing players around the world to create even more detail and stories. We spoke with Craig Suter who has taken his pen and paper world of Amon and recreated it in NWN.

Where can I find more information?

http://www.worldofamon.com/

How are you involved with the world of Amon?

Craig: My name is Craig Suter, known in Amon as DM_Ren. The World of Amon is based on a pen and paper campaign I have been working with since I was very young playing D&D. The story has evolved over the years, accelerated through the cathartic act of creating Amon in NWN. When I began building Amon it was named several different things, but when I moved to PW Action, it took on the name, World of Amon. I started it alone with the intent of building a module, but my aspirations kept evolving. At times I have taken on the role of a Producer, but pretty much I am the man behind the curtain.

Along the way I have had help from a great number of people directly and from others through excellent feedback. Coping with me and my single-minded vision of Amon should earn them all medals; all I can offer is my thanks. There are far too many to name, but I do want to thank Salain, Xiaou, Thorn, Tris'la, Dread, Kim, all the DMs past and present, Houses, players, and friends that have made up Amon.

You have a list of 'Player Houses' on your site. Can you explain the purpose of these Houses?

Craig: The Player Houses are creations of the community that play on Amon. Houses range from bands of friends that adventure together, to those that wield real political force in the game. The majority of the Houses' purview is on the RP side, though their voice has often been a voice for change. As many Houses have matured on the server, I have written them into the story, which continues to formulate around the daily events on the server.

You conduct a lot of polls with your players. Have these polls helped shape how things are run in Amon?

Craig: Most of my polls are pretty silly in nature, but I do use them from time to time to get an understanding of what the Amon Community feels about certain issues. The aid, encouragement, and good times I have had with everyone leaves me feeling a great deal of indebtedness to them. Feedback on the message board is what truly has shaped how Amon runs.

What is the biggest challenge in running a persistent world?

Craig: This is by far the hardest question to answer, as there is nothing I can think of along the way that has been easy. I personally think the term "persistent world" actually refers to a quality one must have to build one. I consider Amon a multiplayer module, but PW catches it with a broad brush.

The biggest challenge for me has been working through the times I have wanted to give up. Friends moving on has always been hard, and coming to terms with the fact that no matter how hard I worked at Amon time would come for all those who enjoyed it. I have learned to treasure the small victories, and enjoy the friends I have, and the world for what it is today. My attempt to build Amon has always been haunted by the knowledge that I will probably never be able to finish it.

What is the best encounter you have ever had as a player? As a DM?

Craig: The best encounter for myself as a player occurred after I finished building the continent of Keltria, and I was playing through with some friends attempting to finish the last quest. I rely on these people, as my skill as a player is forever in question. We happened upon another large group, and as it turned out, about fourteen of us marched on the final bit of the main quest. The goal was to lock the reawakening spirits of Amon's crew in hibernation pods, reconstitute and reunite Amon and Alise, and to see them off the planet hearing their promise to return with help.

The quest was terribly difficult, and it really required folks to work together. To see it all work, and to be there with all these folks completing a quest that took me years to build was my best moment.

As a DM, my favorite moments are when I am able to run small quests with players, working out in my head the way events will flow for the server by the way the party plays out what I think are pivotal moments in Amon's history. There have been too many of these to really nail down my favorite.

What can Amon fans expect in the coming months?

Craig: The storyline of Amon revolves around the survivors of a mining operation stranded on a planet named for the one that spared them from death by accepting exile. It is a love story between Amon and Alise who are separated by their choice to defend the miners from their insane Captain Stalaris who sought to kill them to cover the atrocities he had committed. Players enter the story ten thousand years after this event, and play the pivotal role in the end of an age.

Building the world thus far, players have seen the world through the eyes of the Heijan's, a small port town founded by refugees. I have always contended that nothing is black and white in Amon, and that perspective paints many of the perceptions one has. In the end, the world is a story of survival and the choices made along the way. With the completion of the main storyline in the world, I have begun to weave new quest lines through the world. Presenting, in many cases, the same events, but from a vastly different perspective. The Blue Seas quest is the first example of this, and it is currently partially implemented and under construction.

On the development side, I am very excited about the Community Tileset Pack, anxious to see all the DLA work, and to see all the new additions in the Community Expansion Pack. Work continues on Amon at all times, and with the addition of all these new tools, you can expect many old areas will be getting facelifts. As the CTP has been releasing screenshots, many tilesets speak for themselves as to where they will be applied.

Amon lists four servers Amon 1a, 1b, 1c, and Amon 2. Can you explain the differences?

Craig: Three of our servers are located together and share a servervault hosted on a fourth server. Any character created on the cluster can be played on any one of the cluster's servers: Amon 1a, 1b, and 1c. The server listing as Amon 2 is separate and distinct. It has the same code, but any character created there can only be played there. You can find our servers listed under PW Action, or you can find the direct connect information on the main page of our website.

Want to comment on this article or read what others have to say about it? Join the official discussion!