Sunday, January 29, 2017

Farlong and Away - A New Campaign for NWN2 Being Developed

I have begun the development of a new NWN2 campaign. This campaign will be set in the year 1345 DR and allow the player to be the fifth member of the original "Party of Five" which consisted of: Daeghun Farlong - the foster father of the NWN2 OC/MotB protagonist "Knight Captain", Duncan Farlong - Daeghun's half-brother, Flinn - a future ship captain, and Esmerelle - according to Daeghun and Duncan, the mother of the "Knight Captain". The NWN2 OC conversations provide only teases about the adventures they had along the Sword Coast, so this campaign seeks to flesh out their adventures in a fashion that is informative and entertaining, compatible (well, mostly) with the NWN2 content, and compatible with Faerun 3rd Edition history (as documented in the Grand History of the Realms).

There are a number of questions that this campaign will provide answers for:

What adventures did the Party of Five have?
Why do Daeghan and his wife Shayla live in West Harbor? Have little money? Have a halfling deity amulet?
Why didn't Daeghun go to Evermeet as part of The Retreat in 1344?
Who was Esmerelle and why was she on the run all the time?
What "mutual necessity" (so Daeghun says) was there for Daeghun and Esmerelle to adventure together?
How are Daeghun and Duncan half-brothers but so different in temperament?  How was Daeghun raised by wild elves but not Duncan?
What is Daeghun and Duncan's parentage and what meaning is there to the name “Farlong”?
How could Duncan afford to purchase the Sunken Flagon in Neverwinter?
How could Flinn afford to purchase a ship?
Why is Edwin Odesseiron, a Red Wizard of Thay, in the area of Nashkel in 1369 DR as depicted in the game Baldur's Gate?
Who were Amie Fern's parents and how did they come to live in the village of West Harbor?

Because the player is acting as the fifth member of an established company of adventurers whose classes are for the most part already determined, there will not be complete flexibility in choosing party companions, but the party editor will be supported and the player will not be restricted in their own selection of starting class or race. We know Daeghun is a ranger specializing in the longbow. Duncan is a fighter. Flinn, with slight alteration, can reasonably be a cleric of Valkur. And Esmerelle by default will be a bard, although I hope to provide a means of altering her starting class to be wizard, sorcerer, warlock, or rogue if the player desires.

The geographic areas that will be covered will extend from Westgate on the Sea of Fallen Stars to the Sword Coast cities of Waterdeep and Athkatla. I intend to include areas and cities that have been well covered in other games only as required. The travel choices will not be completely free as the party has specific goals that will need to be met. Since external area building is not my strength I intend to make use of 3rd party content and repurposed modified OC areas, which should also speed up progress.

I will be using this blog to document my progress.

I have decided initially to use the skeleton of my Gems of Power campaign as a starting point, as I believe there is much I can salvage from that as yet unfinished campaign.  This means that most of the technical solutions implemented in the OC Makeover, MotB Makeover, and King's Festival campaigns will be utilized as well, including the party editor, SoZ crafting, and my customizable rest/death systems.

I have no idea how long this will take but I am excited about the subject matter and I think it covers new ground.

The Neverwinter Vault forum announcement is here.