Neverwinter

I made decent progress on the first floor of “Newfallen” this weekend. Most of the ceiling has been added. I’ve sketched out the Gynok Moltar encounter, but I think I need to make it a little easier. The druid is now Pham Willowbark, who appears in most of my other EQ adventures. The plan is for each room to be its own little mini-adventure. I’ve decided to use the Befallen quest “Plight of the Undead” as the model for my Befallen revamp. It’s one of the newer Befallen quests – and by newer, I mean only a decade old. Unlike classic Befallen, this one has minibosses and a final boss. The original quest begins with a trip down into the well… I’m going to split that up a bit. ...

Finished re-tiling the floor to the Well in Newfallen. The NPC gives the quest to get his buddy’s gear from the bottom of the well. The buddy accidentally fell down, was instantly killed, and now his stuff’s going to poof before he can run back from Freeport. Ooooh I should make it Qeynos. I activated Skeleton Lrodd to see how hard it would be to fight in the room. It wasn’t easy. I had this idea to lure Lrodd into the well to see what happens. He falls into it fine, but then there’s aggro that’s impossible to fully lose, making things annoying. I need to stop him from falling into the well unless the player is already headed for the express down elevator to oblivion. ...

Quick sketch of the third floor of “Newfallen”. Since I don’t want to take down the first quest in my EverQuest campaign while I work on its redesign, I’ll have to show progress only in the Foundry itself. #Neverwinter #Foundry #Newfallen

Who says sequels never bring the goods? We’ve got a couple of good ones this week… and a couple new ones as well.** Build a Castle, Siege a Keep** by @GodOfHunters** Leaping from the silver screen to the black mirror, Azog the Defiler Orc King is here! Well, first you have to lure him out. The Defiler Orc King won’t take a landless adventurer like yourself seriously. If you want to fight a king, you have to BE a king. So it’ll be your job to plunder local trash heaps for building supplies with which you’ll have your own sturdy keep built. The Castle of Garbage. Fortress of Rubbish! Nonetheless, as the local trash dumps get thin, your castle rises up around you, finally attracting an army of followers and attracting the notice of the orcs across the river. ...

We’ve been off a couple weeks, but we’re back with four new foundry quest reviews for your adventuring enjoyment.** Darkly Dreaming {Chapter 1}** by @Fallensbane** A child has fallen into a sleep from which he cannot awaken. Followed soon by a guard and a farmer. Lord Neverember has kept this quiet, but if this keeps up, all Neverwinter may descend into panic. There’s a solution, perhaps, that can only be survived by the bravest of adventurers. Well, the bravest ones passed. But for some reason, you showed up. ...

Yay, Dungeon Master 7! People are actually playing my older quests. It’s weird. #Neverwinter #Foundry  This was posted on Google+

More progress on Newfallen. I’ve been getting some recent good reviews on Befallen as it exists now, which is puzzling. Maybe it’s because I joined Scribe’s Enclave. But it gives me pause about totally ripping out all the old stuff. I think people liked the adventuring party on the second level best, so I’ll be sure to keep them. Roofed up the entry hall. I added some arches to separate it from the main room. The original Befallen did not have them, but it adds so much to the look that I think people will agree that the original ought to have had them. ...

[gallery ids=“11328,11327”] At +Todd Edwards /Winin’s suggestion, moved my dungeon inside, built inside the largest empty cave room. Now, making an entire dungeon that fits into one room is more of a challenge than I was looking for… but I can snake a hallway into another cavern if I really need it. Anyway, now that Newfallen is inside, I have control over lighting. There’s nothing more that sets the mood for a dungeon than lighting, and not working on lighting is one of the more common beginner foundry mistakes. For instance, see my original Befallen, where I had no clue. Anything you let the foundry do FOR you, like lighting or adding room decoration, just means your quest will look just like someone else’s quest. ...

[gallery ids=“11332,11333,11334,11335”] More work on “Newfallen”. Added some walls so I could see how the map was looking. There will be a few more rooms. This is an outdoor map (yay for horses in dungeons!) but I want it lit like an indoor map. This is tough because the dungeon ceiling pieces are one-sided, and light from the sky shines right through. I put an opaque rock over the entrance, but rocks like that ruin the minimap (remember, sparkly is useless in custom maps, players will need the minimap). ...

My first foundry quest, Crypt of Befallen, was confused, poorly plotted, etc – all the same mistakes I see made by every first time author. It’s embarrassing to have that quest be the entry point to my Adventures in Norrath campaign. I’m sketching ideas for a remake with an entirely custom map, no pre-built rooms. I’m building this version in mid-air so I can have actual drops to the second and third floors. The old story, such as it was, will be discarded. I’ll still keep the concepts of other adventurers camping bits of the dungeon in. The current villain, Mezzinia, will be tossed out and replaced with a dark elf villain to connect with the plot running through the next three adventures and finally culminating in my next new quest, Bloody Kithicor. ...