Hearkenwold

[Dorateen]

November Update

As I mentioned previously, I am working on a new location in the IceBlink engine as a continuation of the Hearkenwold campaign. This is the port city of Saldanus, known for its rich resources and wealth. Anyone who has played through the module in its present form all the way to the end, will know the significance of the town. However, there are a few NPC interactions that have already alluded to the city.

Saldanus also has a founding fable, which tells how it was originally raised by powerful wizards seeking to reach the heavens. That is why it is constructed in the form of stepped tiers, leading up from sea level like a giant staircase. I'll share a snippet of the lore, likely to be discovered somewhere while exploring.

The third step, a level soaring one hundred and fifty feet above the sea, took the Folk but ten years to finish; just one decade until the last arches were raised and the eternal ascension continued. Then the Enchanters strode forward to celebrate their glory. Before them stretched the wide world blazing red in the glow of the setting sun. Nothing stirred down in the open land between the horizons, nothing that could hinder their boundless dreams. Very soon the mysteries of the universe would be theirs, secrets, which they alone could relish. Behind the Enchanted Ones, the Folk danced and feasted for on the morrow they would begin work on the next level. After that, a new plateau would be reached and then another; forever and ever without end. Each step following another, climbing, reaching, soaring, ascending... grasping for a higher reality that was only beyond the lip of the Next Step.

That was when the mountains fell. 

Now this of course is only folklore and legend. It will be up to the party to discover if there are any grains of truth, or not. In the meantime, here is a glimpse of part of the city. One of the features of the map is that the elevated tiles representing building walls and roofs and be accessed and walked on.



Here is a descriptive narration as the party transitions between the different tiers.



And finally, this screen shows some combat with a half dozen black pudding. These dangerous blobs crawled out from the sewers. Nasty! It's also a tough fight, because the monstrous oozes are affected by very little and they can potentially paralyze a character on a successful hit.



Speaking of the sewers, there will be a sprawling network of levels beneath the town as well. So while Saldanus will be the primary focus of the next update, it is a big city and will contain a lot of content to explore.

If everything follows the same release schedule as the past couple of years, I hope to have a new version of the module ready by June.

[Dorateen]

December Update

Heading into the end of another year, I am continuing the work on Saldanus, the city adventure that will be the focus of the next version of the module. At the moment, I am setting up encounters outside on the streets of town, which the party can freely wander and engage with. The intention is to balance content here for a party with level ten characters. Based on recent feedback from players who went through the Knights of the Chalice 2 version, 10th level seems to be where the current adventure leads to. That tracks pretty well with IceBlink, where the test party I am running has a level ten thief.

One of the things I like was a new encounter that gives the player a chance to pick up an Efreet bottle. This bottle can then be used to summon a mini-efreet as an ally in future battles. Where this comes in handy is the black pudding encounter I mentioned previously, against monsters who are resistant to almost all forms of damage... except fire. Because exploration of the city is non-linear, they party may or may not have this item at the time. On the other hand, if a player is having trouble with the black puddings, the efreet bottle will serve as a possible help to overcome the challenge, if it can be found.

Here is a screenshot of the fight with the efreet.



And here is a later battle with Hill Giants, showing the summoned efreet. He's a little smaller since PC tokens have to be sized 100 x 100. But our new buddy here does cast fireball and flame fingers, which is nice. The bottle itself has 5 charges.



Finally, here is a more seasonal screenshot showing the weather effect of snow falling. Saldanus is a northern clime location, so there will be intermittent snow showers while outside.



After the encounters are set up outdoors, I am going to move into the buildings that are available for the party to enter. I am looking finish up with the underground sewer level, that will likely span the same amount of the exterior city maps. All told, Saldanus is going to introduce dozens of new explorable maps. I'm still planning to complete everything by June.

[Dorateen]

I was stuck indoors yesterday due to stormy weather, and decided to record another video from Hearkenwold in the Knights of the Chalice 2 engine. This shows an encounter with orcs at a desert oasis. Dorateen had a bit of a rough time in this battle, but got the last laugh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AS0JS5zD8c&t=54s

The scenario is part of the Asherim content that can also be found in the IceBlink module.

[Dorateen]

January Update

It is a New Year for Hearkenwold, and I am continuing work in the coastal city of Saldanus, with expectation of releasing updated versions of the module for both IceBlink and Knights of the Chalice 2, later in 2024.

By now, the party is probably thinking why did they even come to this place. Hopefully there will be enough points of interest as the characters further their exploration. One such location is a multi-level bell tower. This is what I have spent the past couple of weeks on. I plan to finish up this area and start building other interior maps for the rest of the month. I'd estimate that these buildings will occupy the first quarter, before turning attention to an expansive sewer level.

Here's a screenshot taken from the belfry.



Previously, I talked about the target level for this content being around 10th level. The test party I'm running does have a level ten thief, and other players have reported reaching that level as well, in the KotC2 version. Interestingly, IceBlink uses an AD&D style staggered leveling system where different classes advance faster or slower than others. The thief I mentioned of course is the fastest to reach level 10. So in IceBlink here, I've actually got a mix of 8th and 9th level characters as well. But I think it is a decent measure of ability when crafting encounters.

I do want to challenge such experienced parties, so here is one optional fight for the characters to stumble across. It is a "wave" encounter with Lightning Bugs. Three monsters appear at the start of combat, and then three more arrive in Round 2. If the battle continues, another three appear at the start of Round 3. This can get quickly out of hand, and the party will need to take every bit a precaution and a little bit of luck to survive. Imagine the ignominy of dying to Lighting Bugs.

Here is a screen of the encounter set up:



And here is the start of Round 2, where three more bugs show up, and half the party is unconscious and bleeding. Not good.



The purpose of this fight, again, is to provide a challenge to test more advanced characters. The idea being, what doesn't kill them, will make them stronger. I want to make Saldanus a worthy destination for the party, as it also advances the main adventure.

[Dorateen]

February Update

During this short month I am working on the interior locations in the city of Saldanus. This is going to be the module's focus in the next version of the Hearkenwold campaign. Last time, I talked about a bell tower. And here is an inn available for the party to visit. It is called The Glittering Fountain, with carpeting awash in the color of the sea and mountain streams.



Unfortunately for the party, there is a chance they can run into some unpleasant people. The enemy types in this encounter include fighters, magic-users and clerics. The map is also an example of a closer "zoomed in" look at what was the lobby area when the battle started.



Elsewhere, I have been adding new tiles to the combat maps that take place upon building rooftops. The entry narration describes the tiles as an imbricate style, those with an overlapping wavy appearance.



These tiles will be seen when the party climbs on top of a roof, and if they are lucky enough to get attacked up there. Maybe by manticores and their wizard riders. The screen below demonstrates the red tiles along the perimeter, while I kept the main area of the battle map the lighter shade of squares because it would be easier to view during combat.



After spending the next few weeks on the indoor maps, I'm going to turn attention toward the sewer level that is planned. Since it will sprawl the same number of maps of the city, this will likely take me most of the spring to complete. I am hoping to have the module with Saldanus as a location ready by the end of June.

[Dorateen]

March Update

This year seems to be flying by fast. It's another month, and I am about to begin work on a sprawling sewer system constructed underneath the city of Saldanus. The adventure is the next destination of the Hearkenwold campaign, which I am hoping to have ready for a new release by the end of June. Last month, I was still setting up encounters inside the various buildings that are accessible. Here is one example of the party using magic to bypass an obstacle. Brute force is also an option, but mages seem to like a more refined approach.





The dialogue option to choose either a fireball or flame fingers would only appear for a character who has those spells available. I like how this further individualizes the members of the party.

Here are a couple of combat screenshots. The first is with a wizard and his minotaur bodyguard, who also brought along a couple of gorgons. The gorgons have a hold spell used to simulate their petrifying breath attack. And the second battle is with a pair of weretigers, a new enemy appearing in the module for the first time. These creatures can cause disease on a successful hit.





Somewhat of a short update, but I plan to have more to share next month. The sewers will be using a new tileset, and should be a location filled with interesting things to discover. Not necessarily a pleasant experience. If I can finish those areas by the end of April, I will still be going back to previous content to complete any areas left open. I would very much like to stick with the early summer release schedule.

[Dorateen]

April Update

I am excited to share some work on the Saldanus Sewers, which will be an extensive area that complements the city's multi-map exploration. It's interesting that I had not yet included any sewer maps anywhere in the Hearkenwold module, since it is a pretty standard environment encountered in most cRPGs. But now this will be a new thematic location for the adventure.

Here are some screenshots:



The green rock walls are a new tile, and I use the green water squares to represent the slimy waters. There is also a dark green floor tile, but I went with the lighter stonework because of easier visibility and also to provide some contrast. Lore wise, Saldanus is an old and elegant city, so I can envision the original architecture would have been more pleasing. But now hundreds of years later, the area is marked with traps and secret doors to discover.



There will be lots of nasty critters to fight too, including vampiric crocodiles. What is going on down in the sewers, anyway?



This part opens to a large whirlpool waiting to suck the characters into who knows where. IceBlink comes with a height mapper in the toolset, allowing tiles to be raised or lower. Here, a spiral depression is created two levels deep, with a dark hole in the center.



I am planning to finish the sewers this month. I just need to add the remaining encounters. Then in May, I will return to areas of the city that were left uncompleted. I would still like to be testing everything by June, and release the updated version of the module later that month.

[Dorateen]

May Update

So close, I'm almost there. I spent last month working on the Saldanus sewers, which will be a sprawling dungeon of interconnected maps. I only have a few last encounters to finish, but I also need to return to areas in the city above. Hopefully everything for this adventure will be completed by the end of June.

Some more screenshots. To begin with, the party will discover secret passageways as they explore the tunnels. In this instance, our thief notices something funny about an adjacent wall.



Wandering into the control center of the sewer complex. Always an opportunity to break stuff.



There will be strange or unexpected things found down here, like some valuable artwork.



And here is a battle with an enemy party that includes an elven vampire.



She has high initiative and was able to act first, using her turn to cast a summons spell, and plant a skeleton right between our wizard and cleric. Because characters casting while next to enemies causes an attack of opportunity, this is rather inconvenient.

I should have the sewers finished early in May, but I am going to be working on the remaining content at the same time. In this way, I plan to have everything tied together over the next several weeks. This should still give me enough time to run through the entire Saldanus adventure, and make the updated module available on schedule.

[Dorateen]

June Update

The next version of the Hearkenwold campaign is almost ready, I am hoping to have the module available to download by the end of this month. With the focus of the adventure turning toward the city of Sadanus, I've wrapped up the sewers and now I am finishing work on the last interior map locations. These will be buildings the party can enter and get into all sorts of trouble.

Here is one house that contains an unsettling discovery.



In another house, the party meets this threatening wizard.



A couple of screenshots from the following battle. This content is being designed for higher level characters, so enemies will hit hard and often target spellcasters or weaker characters. Our cleric was already knocked unconscious in the first round. Then the enemy wizard cast a stinking cloud, while our wizard counters with a fireball. Things get messy from there.





I read a message a from a few weeks ago, that there was some trouble getting IceBlink or the Hearkenwold module to run. If anyone has technical issues or bugs to report from the current version downloaded from the neverwintervault, please let me know. This would be a good time to make fixes or correct problems, in anticipation of a new module file going up soon.

[Dorateen]

July Update

Just a quick post, to mention the release schedule for the next version of Hearkenwold is going to be pushed back a little. Had some things come up last month that took me away from time in the toolset. The module is still very much near completion. But I am also going to start working on the conversion to the Knights of Chalice 2 module. I think between the two, I can still have the IceBlink version ready later this month.

As soon as I have the file ready to download, I'll be making another post.

[Dorateen]

March 2025 Update

First update of the new year, and I think I have some good news. I have been steadily working to finish up the new content that will continue the Hearkenwold campaign. At the same time, since last July, I have been converting the new content into the Knights of the Chalice 2 engine. This has caused a longer delay than I would have liked, but I am approaching the end.

I think I can have the module updated by the end of this month, possibly releasing in April at the latest. Here are some new screenshots to share.

The maps for the city of Saldanus now include the red imbricate tiles to represent the roofs of buildings. I had posted last year that these were only shown along the edges of combat maps for roof battles accordingly. But I think it is good to feature on the exploration map as well.



This battle introduces a new monster type: the Pheonix Harpy. They are much more dangerous than the regular harpies who join them. The party will need to have adequate fire protection, or deal with the Pheonix variant quickly.



Here is a fight with five gargoyles, including four mages that are set up in the corners of the map. Meanwhile, an assassin seeks to make things difficult for party. With smart tactics, the heroes of Hearkenwold might prevail.



Hopefully I will be making an announcement soon about the updated module available to download.

[Dorateen]

It has been for a while since I updated the Hearkenwold campaign. I finally finished the city of Saldanus, which is the next destination for continuing the adventure. The content is designed to test higher level characters, and the new module file is available to download here:

https://neverwintervault.org/project/ic ... earkenwold

This is still using the latest build 203 of the IceBlink engine. The compressed folder includes the full IceBlink and the Hearkenwold module. If a player already has been running build 203, then really you need only copy the Hearkenwold folder and place it in the modules folder. Existing saves are compatible, so a player can pick up again and access the new areas.

Here are some screenshots from Saldanus:





Also, there is a big fix I needed to make to the Gust of Wind spell. The reflex saving throw was not being applied correctly, giving enemies no save at all. Now it functions as intended. Also, I changed the area of effect to a three square straight line. Here is an example of our party's wizard casting Gust of Wind at a couple of dumb duergar. The warrior makes his saving throw, but the sergeant was not as lucky and receives the prone condition for two rounds.





From here, I am going to be working on a new dungeon that I will insert into the module. I'll have more information in a following update post. The idea is to include some higher level content that the player could access as a side adventure, since Saldanus was part of advancing the narrative. I don't think it will take me long, and then I will return to continuing the events of the main campaign.

[Dorateen]

May Update

More like end of May update, but the good news is I am nearing completion of new content that will soon be added to the module.

I am working on a new location, an infernal Salamander Temple. The area is annexed to an already existing dungeon. Anyone who has played the module far enough, will likely know where to find it. Otherwise, this is new content waiting to be discovered.

It is entirely under the category of side-quests, which I think is the life pulse of a computer role-playing game, fleshing out the gameworld and providing more rabbit holes for the party to fall down. In this case, since the last update was for higher level characters but only reached by following the central narrative, the Salamander Temple is meant for an advanced party, however the location can be reached at any time. As long as the characters are strong enough to survive.

Here are a couple of screenshots:





In the above battle screen, a pair of salamanders are joined by their Azer buddies, those fire-based creatures that look like dwarves, but they're not dwarves. Still pretty tough, and can be dangerous when they gang up on a character in greater number.

This area goes quite deep, and right now I am putting together the lowest levels. I think I can finish the whole dungeon and release the updated module by the end of June. After that, the next work will be on continuing the main adventure again.

[Dorateen]

August Update

I have a new version of the Hearkenwold campaign available to download, build 203.5

https://neverwintervault.org/project/ic ... earkenwold

As before, this includes the latest version of IceBlink 203. Anyone who has already been using this build need only copy over the module folder.

Appropriate for the end of summer, the purpose of this update is to add a new multi-level dungeon to the adventure, the Salamander Temple. The area is annexed to an existing location. Players who have reached this far, will probably have an idea where the entrance is. Otherwise, it is now waiting to be discovered. Content is designed for a party of 8th level characters, but it is certainly possible to visit earlier, if looking for a challenge.

Here are some screenshots:







I'm going to be recreating this dungeon in the Knights of the Chalice 2 version of Hearkenwold. When I return to work in IceBlink, the next stage will be continuing the adventure where the party can finally reach the Wizard Towers.