In retrospect, letting me play a game where you are the DM and you are supposed to kill the players was probably a bad idea.



(Game is Dungeonland, btw, available on Steam)

"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
-Friedrich Nietzsche

Dear Kalec,

As I know my mental decline is inevitable, I have decided to write you this letter now while my mind is still my own.

Someday on your travels you will come to learn many things about your mother and I.  I will not attempt to tell you the truth, because with the wisdom of age comes the knowledge that truth is not hard like iron as most believe.  Truth is more like the sea, too vast to know fully, and constantly changing.  It is no less soft for that, however, as any captain can tell you.  The truth is just as dangerous and treacherous as the sea.

You know that your mother fell, but she is not alone.  They always end the story after the hero defeats the villain, but the truth is more complicated.  Those we hail as heroes are always men and women of considerable power and skill, and those with power will always seek to use it.

In the end, the heroes are the ones who die in battle.  One cannot spend their time in battle, killing over and over and not be effected, even if that killing is done for good reasons.  Those of us who survive, time and time again are never the same.  In the end, we all fall.  Some by misfortune, such as your mother, some by the slow corruption of their own power... and some, by choice.

I watched your mother fall. I watched my friend Tamur flee in fear of his own power.  I was forced to kill my best friend to save his family after he was corrupted by cultists. Time and again I saw the same truth, and in the fate of my loved ones I saw my own. I asked myself, had I come into the same circumstances as your mother, would I have fallen as well?  I believe the answer is yes.

Everyday I had to make choices.  I cannot save everyone, so who is saved, and who is not?  Which of my enemies deserve death, and which ones forgiveness?  Who can be trusted, who cannot?  The more you kill, the easier it becomes.  The more you sacrifice others to your own inaction the less you feel it.  People become tools. You have no time for those who can't help you.  You learn to surround yourself with others like you, others who are strong... and you begin to despise weakness.  You begin to hate these people who always call upon you for help and never help themselves.  Who are they to choose not to learn to defend themselves, then dare complain when what they have is taken by force?  Don't they deserve it for their weakness?  Don't you deserve to take what you want, by nature of your own power?

The line between hero and villain is more blurred than you may believe.  Your mother and I understood this.  We both fought against the darkness inside ourselves.  Your mother lost that battle, and when she fell, I lost the strength to carry on.  I turned away from my own power before it could corrupt me.  It was never age or circumstance that caused the decay of my abilities.  It was choice.  I choose to live out the rest of my life in peace, just a simple priest in the woods, rather than keep my skills sharp.

You may feel I am a coward for that.  I will not dispute it, until you've lived this life and felt what I have, you will not understand.  I had hoped you never would, but if you are dedicated to this path, then I hope that when the time comes, you find the strength to lay down your sword and begin living your own life.  You may find laying down your sword isn't an act of cowardice, but an act of strength.  Wielding power is always easier than discarding it.

Please do not judge your mother too harshly.  Whatever else she is, she is still your mother, and she loves you.  I will not try to apologize for her or justify her actions.  I cannot condone them anymore than you can, but I hope in time you will try to understand them.

I am proud of you, Kalec.  I know you will do great things and I regret I will not be there to see them.  Know that you and your sister always have my love.

Love,

Your father, Rafferty.

I'll be running a quest this Saturday which is open to all who wish to attend.  This will be part of the ramp up to the 24 hours quest marathon in honor of NWN/LOTN's 10 year anniversary.  If you've been to the quests the last few weeks you might have an idea of whats going on, but this quest will reveal quite a bit more.

The 24 hour marathon will begin Saturday June 23rd at 9:00 am EDT and continue until June 24th 9:00 am EDT, providing there are still players around.

Title.

So, the server was pretty busy right up until Diablo 3 came out and our numbers tanked.  Well, I'm getting bored of D3 and want to start playing again. 

In order to encourage people to log in, if we hit 7 people logged in tonight at 10:00 EST I'll run a quest!  So, log in and tell your fellow LOTN friends to log in, too.

I've been looking at the bounty system per Kattze's request, and as long as I have the scripts and I'm working on them anyway, I'm wondering if there are any other suggestions/requests for improvements to the system.  Feel free to suggest them, though keep in mind I obviously can't just do anything I want.  For example you can suggest taking bounties alive, but don't expect that to happen because it would be a ton of work.

I'm not really familiar with how people use the system, I was surprised people even did the level 2-5 bounties so I really don't know what improvements people would be interested in.

An example would be how there are no gnome bounties.  Is that something people care about that would warrant the effort of including them?  Or non-humanoid bounties?

Other feedback would be: Are certain level bounties too easy? too hard?  Are the rewards to high or too few? Any bugs you've seen? 

Now is the time to let me know.

One of the ongoing issues for the server has always been certain dungeons provide great rewards (House forgotten) while others are almost never visited (Tower of doom).  I'm looking to get some feedback on various dungeons, to see which ones are used and not used.

Below is a list of all the dungeons in the server in alphabetical order.  If there are any you have any thoughts or feedback on them, please let us know.  (For example, Dungeon X is never hunted because theres not enough loot, or spawn Y is too difficult, etc...)

The ultimate goal is to make every dungeon worth running.

____________________________________________________
A House Forgotten
Abandoned Temple
Bad Moon
Forgotten Tower
Hilly Pass - Brigand Lair
Lake Stillness - Bandit Cave
Lake Stillness - Ruins
Lake Stillness - Haunted Old House
Lake Stillness - Swamp
Lipalli Isle - Grasslands
Lipalli Isle - Inland Hills
Lipalli Isle - Jungle Deeps
Minotaur Maze
Mirabar - Northern Mine - Abandoned
Mt. Frostbite (Upper zones)
Mt. Frostbite (Duergar)
Mt. Hotenow
Neverwinter City - Sewers
Neverwinter Excavation
Neverwinter Wood - Ant Cave
Neverwinter Wood - Arachnid Cave
Neverwinter Wood - Cave of the Bat
Neverwinter Wood - Cave of the Bloodied Grove
Neverwinter Wood - Goblin Caves
Neverwinter Wood - Reptile Ravines
Neverwinter Wood - Troglodyte Caves
Neverwinter Wood - Wasp Cave
The North Road - Harpy Cave
Sepulchers of the Damned
The Crags
The Fallen Tower
The High Road - Graveyard of Daradigm
The Mere of Dead Men
The Mere of Dead Men - Ruins of Validmith
Tower of Doom
Western Road - Bugbear Fort
Western Road - The Old Tomb
Zhentarium Keep
_________________________________________________

As always your feedback is appericated.

All Feedback/Bug reports on the new Auto Bounty system go here.

The Auto Bounty System - Introduction

You will notice the bounty board in camp has changed somewhat from the old system.  While the module does retain functionality on the old bounty system, the new one is enabled by default unless a DM spawns the old bounty and manually makes bounties.

The new system automatically generates 25 bounties at the time, replacing claimed bounties with new ones when the heads are turned in.   Bounties are still turned in to the Mercenaries' guild in Neverwinter using the existing system, although an additional bounty officer can now be found in Mirabar.

Using The New System


By checking the bounty boards located in Camp, The Mercenaries' Guild, or Mirabar, you will be given a list of 5 Ranks of bounties.  The ranks are as follows:

Rank 1: 2-5 Petty Criminals
Rank 2: 6-10 Minor Criminals
Rank 3: 11-15 Wanted Criminals
Rank 4: 16-20 Dangerous Criminals
Rank 5: 21-25 Most Wanted Criminals.

It is recommended you hunt bounties of your own rank, however you can also hunt 1 rank above or below, which will reward more xp for ranks above you or less for ranks below.  Examples:

Bob is a level 7, therefore he is considered rank 2.  If he completes Rank 1 bounties he will recieve less exp.  If he completes Rank 2 bounties he will recieve normal xp.  If he completes Rank 3 he will recieve more exp.  He will get no credit for rank 4 or 5.

The exp gained is given to all members of the group, based on their own personal level.

Bob is a level 7.  Jane is a level 12.   They complete a rank 3 bounty  (Levels 11-15).  Because Bob is Rank 2 and the bounty is rank 3, he gains extra xp.  Because Jane is Rank 3 and the bounty is rank 3, she gains normal xp.

Gold rewards are based on the rank of the bounty only.  You always gain the same amount of gold for the same rank regardless of your level.  The bounty officials don't know what level you are and really wouldn't care if they did, but exp is subjective to each character and how challenged they were by the encounter.

Bob is a level 23, while wandering through the woods he finds a level 5 bounty.  He kills it, and turns it in the next time he is in Neverwinter and is awarded gold but no xp.  

Severed Heads are prone to decay and will eventually become unrecognizable.  For this reason, it is recommended that you turn in bounties immediately, as the heads will be destroyed at reset.  (This both prevents a possible break down in the system as well as numerous exploits)

Please ensure all party members are in the same zone when turning in bounties, as you will not get exp rewards if you are in a different zone.

Spawn Locations
 
Bounties can be found in many different areas, although the rank of the bounty will determine its possible spawn locations.  For example, a level 2-5 bounty will generally spawn in Neverwinter Wood, whereas a level 21-25 bounty will may Lake Stillness Ruins or the Druegar mines.  High level bounties will never spawn in low level areas, both to give a challenge to high level players and prevent low level ones from facing an impossible encounter.

The location given is a hint as to the location of the Bounty.  In some cases it will tell you a specific zone, (Northeast Neverwinter wood) others only a certain area that encompasses many zones (Blackford road).

Also remember that Bounties are wanted criminals and for the most part do not wish to be found.  Be sure to check the little nooks and hidden corners, as bounties are more likely to spawn there then the beaten path.

Difficulty

Bounties are fairly difficult, so it is recommended you group up to tackle them, although it is entirely possible to solo a rank below or even the same rank depending on your character's abilities.  Bounties are considered bosses and as such are immune from instant death or abilities that render them completely helpless for more then a few rounds.   However, they are not immune to abilities that weaken them.   Therefore, while you cannot cast Hold Person on a bounty, you could cast Slow.  Harm, Flesh to Stone, and Drown are also ineffective as they trivialize encounters.

While the ranks are guidelines, some bounties may be more or less difficult to kill.  A half-orc with a greataxe will be more difficult then a halfling with a shortsword of the same rank.  

Rewards

Currently, you are awarded 150 xp per bounty 1 rank below you, 300 xp per bounty of the same rank, and 450 xp per bounty 1 rank above you.   These are subject to change as we test and balance the system.  

Gold rewards are static regardless of your levels and as follows:

Rank 1: 500g
Rank 2: 1000g
Rank 3: 2000g
Rank 4: 3000g
Rank 5: 5000g

As with exp gains, these are subject to change.

Feedback and Bug Reports

Please post all feedback and bug reports to this thread.  We are interested in how you feel about the new system and what can be done to improve it.