Hearkenwold

Discuss user created adventure modules
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Dorateen
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Dorateen »

slowdive wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 5:04 pm I was talking more about finesse weapons. Finesse weapons use dexterity instead of strength for the attack roll modifier.
Yes! I went through the weapon list yesterday and set all daggers and rapiers to light and finesse. Those will make great off hand weapons now.
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slowdive
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by slowdive »

Awesome! Who will have two-weapon fighting traits and at what levels? I also had a trait called "two-weapon defense" that increases AC when using two weapons, kind of a parry type thing I guess.
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Dorateen
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Dorateen »

What I ended up doing is this:

Thief and Ranger characters get Two Weapon Fighting (L1) at level 2 and Two Weapon Fighting (L2) at level 4.

They are are earliest, because I think these archetypes fit the concept of dual wielding most.

Fighters get the feats at levels 4 and 6, respectively. And Paladin gets it at 6 and 8.

Two weapon fighting is not available for Wizards or Clerics.

I have Two Weapon Defense in as well, and the traits follow the same structure for availability.
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slowdive
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by slowdive »

That sounds great! I am looking forward to making another run through Hearkenwold with all the new features. I'll probably stream my play through since, so far for me, that seems to be easier to do than recording and uploading.
Pongo
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Pongo »

Looks and sounds great, Dorateen. I like the idea of the dozen map interconnected maze - looking forward to exploring it. The tileset your using for the maze is really nice, the shadows on the wall tiles make them crisp and clearly differentiated.

I think I'll make a new party for my next playthrough, my all-dwarf party was great but would miss out on some of your cool new features. I now have a hankering for a dual wielding finesse rogue (and to shake up the rest of the party a bit!).
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Dorateen
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Dorateen »

Pongo wrote: Mon Jul 05, 2021 7:45 am the shadows on the wall tiles make them crisp and clearly differentiated.
Thanks, Pongo! The shadows are from the height mapping system in the toolset. On these 2D images, they are a big help to separate wall tiles and floor tiles. But it only works on the adventure maps, not on combat maps.
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Dorateen
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Dorateen »

August Update

It's the first of the month, and I have some new progress to report. I've been working on the Khrystos Caverns over the past several weeks, and it is just about finished. I'm happy with the way it turned out and it offers a nice tie-in with the Halls of Hamhock adventure. As I mentioned previously, these are the caves presently held by the Khrystos Horde, the enemy that has plagued the dwarves for centuries, in one form or another. A bit of exploration will also reveal some further insight about the larger conflict enveloping the Hearkenwold campaign.

Two combat screens display new monsters the party can hope to encounter. Spectral spiders inflict vampiric touch upon each hit, and the green slimes are deadly for their ability to cause disease. Not to mention, the slimes can't be hit by normal weapons.

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With the Caverns finished, I have to go back to the outdoor areas that the player must pass through to reach this destination. All the maps are in place and traversable, what remains is filling up the encounters and points of interest. One NPC is going to offer the party a chance to fight in an unusual dungeon. Another former guard of Relmfur who was stationed in Skardale will ask characters for help dealing with local problems.

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After all this fighting and adventuring, what could be better than relaxing in a comfy chair by a fireplace. Unless that chair happens to belong to a long-lived, powerful wizard.

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I just found that amusing, the way the halfling looks on the tile with the chair prop, and the NPC's reaction. Always room for some levity, even in the face of dire events.

One other aspect of the module I want to point out, the world map is coming together nicely. The new wilderness exploration will connect previous content with the Dwarf Village. So it is feasible now for characters to walk there on foot, although the other two means of transportation are still faster and safer. But it makes a location feel more grounded in the game world now.

I am hoping to have all this done by mid-September, or close to it. The next release of Hearkenwold should be pretty exciting with all the new features. Again, it won't be as large as everything up to this point in development, but rather continue to expand and make the overall campaign more robust.
Pongo
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Pongo »

Looks great, Dorateen. Those Spectral Spiders look pretty nasty, especially as the party's starting position in that fight is not ideal for the squishies at the back. I see you've added in the vampiric touch spell as well... nasty!

You have the convos set up so that you can choose the character that responds - how have you done that, is it straightforward? I have some race/class triggered convo lines, but at the minute they get a bit lost unless you happen to have that character as the party leader (the party character icons are missing so you can't select which party member responds).
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Dorateen
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Dorateen »

I find it pretty straightforward. I have the Party Chat Style checked under the Conversation Properties. For each race/class/attribute conditional always use -1 in the Parameter 1, this is what designates the specific character to be recognized. And to avoid the scenario where certain character types are not available in the party, I always make the first dialogue option a generic line without any conditional, so the player always has at least one option to click.
Pongo
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Re: Hearkenwold

Post by Pongo »

ah, perfect - thanks. I hadn't realised that was what "party chat function" did. Makes sense!

Edit: works perfectly and has 100% made my day :)
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