RTS – Harvest of Souls - Neverwinter Vault



RTS – Harvest of Souls

The Manual

By Deva Bryson Winblood

Last Updated for Version: 1.26

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Installation Instructions

Introduction

Concept of The Game

Player’s Guide To The Game

The Settings for The Game

Revised Strategy Guide

Version History

Thanks and Credit

Spoilers Section

Installation Instructions:

This section will explain how to install and get the RTS – Harvest of Souls module up and running on your system.

1st TIME INSTALLED: If this is the first time you have ever attempted to play Harvest of Souls then you will need to download two files. First you will need to have downloaded the module file which this document came with. Second you will need to download the combined hak pack.

SECOND OR MORE INSTALLATION: If you have already installed the combined hak pack in the past then all you need to do is install the module files.

WITH THE MODULE: The module file came with 3 very important files. Each of these files must be placed in the proper directory of your Neverwinter Nights installation.

RTS – Harvest of Souls.MOD should be placed in your MODULES directory.

rts-hos_2.tlk should be placed in your TLK directory.

rts-hos_3.hak should be placed in your HAK directory.

WITH THE COMBINED HAK: The combined hak can be downloaded from here:



If you have not already downloaded it. Simply, extract all of the contents of this file into your HAK directory.

If you cannot extract the RAR file then you can download WINRAR for free from RAR files will become more and more common as options on the internet as they produce smaller files than ZIP. WINRAR can also unzip ZIP files.

At this point the module should be installed and you should be able to play it.

Introduction:

Harvest of Souls began as an experiment by Deva Winblood in 2003. He had this idea to see what happened when you melded some Real Time Strategy concepts with an RPG while keeping the emphasis on the RPG elements. He made it possible to create units for teams based on some resources which had to be gathered in various ways. Then he made sure there were ways for players to command these units. Initially, Harvest of Souls started with four teams which could be controlled by one of four players. These teams were and remain to be The Dwarves, The Unclean, The Undead, and The Spider Cultists. Each team plays different from the other teams and there is no friendship between them. Deva likes to play his own game creations and learned years ago that a module or any other game that did not have randomly generated additions to the game would not be tremendously fun for himself (since he would know all there was to know), and it would have limited replay value. So, within harvest of souls he made it so that Mana sources, some special NPCs, and powerful artifacts are randomly placed throughout the game world each time it is played. This has proven highly successful in terms of making the game highly replayable and very enjoyable for its authors. After the basic teams and control system and initial map layouts was in place Deva introduced the module to Jeremy Greene (long time friend of Deva’s). Jeremy immediately got to work balancing the units better, and helping Deva with various things. The first version was released as a joint effort by Jeremy and Deva in 2003. They immediately were interviewed by NWVAULT as it seemed to be a completely new style of play. They were interviewed by the HomeLAN fed website for similar reasons. Bioware staff was discussing the project and in fact they were the ones who pointed the HomeLAN crew to interview Deva and Jeremy. Deva and Jeremy fixed the bugs and stepped away from the module for quite some time. Then Deva started adding things. He added the ability for up to 64 players to play instead of the previous limitation of 4. He made it possible for players to be on teams together. Eventually he added in several AI controlled opponents who made the game challenging and fun to play in single player as well as multiplayer. Jeremy Greene came on in various stages and fixed some scripts, created some scripts, and generally helped Deva with numerous things. The final additions introduced to the game were the ability to drastically influence the way the AI opponents play, as well as ally them together. This made it possible to improve the difficulty of the game. The initial game proved VERY difficult initially to NEW players. However, players that stuck with it and learned the ropes eventually decided the AI needed to be more challenging. Another final feature added by Deva was a scoring system that would actually save and track high score information of players, and teams. It would also store the averages for players that play on that server. All in all this module has become one of the most addictive modules out there once you know how to play it. It really only lacks in one area. Since, it was designed as an experiment it lacks some of the in depth story and dialog that could make it even better. There is dialog and there are quests available but, they can be overshadowed by other aspects of the game. If you are new to this module simply stick with it and soon you will find yourself occasionally getting a craving to play it. So, much scripting has gone into this module that the game play in part feels totally different and it feels like you are playing a completely different game. There is Neverwinter Nights and then there is Neverwinter Nights Harvest of Souls style. All the adventuring you need is in the game as well as the mayhem.

Concept of The Game:

Long ago in the world that Harvest of Souls takes place in there was a battle for control. Powerful factions brought war and conflict to the world. Eventually, as the face of the world was covered in death and bloodshed the Elder gods Aisada, the goddess of light, and Umnuikal, the god of darkness, joined forces to stop the madness. At first they attempted direct confrontation but, it became apparent that the beings commanding these factions had in fact become demi-gods themselves. They could not simply be destroyed. Aisada and Umnuikal instead found a way to banish them to the outer planes and strip them of their massive powers that they had achieved. This happened a very long time ago. The conflict between these factions has faded into distant history and has been completely forgotten by many. There have been other struggles in the world since that time but, none of the scope and madness that was The Mad Gods’ War.

Now after most scholars have forgotten and after Aisada and Umnuikal have appeared to slumber for centuries, a significant thing has occurred. The Mad Gods have been reborn. They have not been reborn in a sense of a new body. Instead one of them has discovered a path through the shadow planes that enabled them to return to the world. In all this time, the mad ones have not ceased their spying upon each other. When one came to the world, the others soon followed.

You are one of these would be mad gods. You must take control of the world and mold it to the beliefs of you and your followers. The vast resources and abilities you once had will be yours again. You simply need to gather your resources, build your armies, find the artifacts of power, which have been scattered throughout the world and the outer planes, and vanquish the other factions. You will not be so easily banished this time for you now know the way to escape back to the world from the outer planes.

The Second War of The Mad Gods is upon us.

Players Guide To The Game:

Welcome, to the world of RTS – Harvest of Souls. The first few games you play have proven to be difficult to past players. With each successive playing of the module you will become more and more familiar with its layout, its rules, and strategies to keep you alive and make you powerful. It generally is agreed that this module is best played with multiple players but, it can also be enjoyed in single player. The greatest weakness to single player is that due to the way this module was developed the story and underlying quests are not as well developed as many more traditional modules. This DOES not detract from the game. In fact, the way this module was designed offers perhaps MORE replay value than just about any other module created for Neverwinter Nights. With that said, this section will focus on some of the basics of How to Play Harvest of Souls, and try to assist you in more rapidly learning some of the important concepts that will make this module enjoyable and not a struggle for you to play.

The Game Entry Room:

When you begin the game you will be stripped of all your levels and equipment and be outfitted with standard starting equipment. If you do not understand why you are stripped of levels and such then read The Story which is in your journal or simply read the Concept of The Game section that comes before this section in this document. After you have been reduced to starting level you will notice that this room has many interesting features. These features are used to define how the game you are getting ready to play will behave, let you choose your team, and in general just give you information about the game itself.

The first thing that you generally need to know is that there is a door for each team that can be played in this game. To choose the team you wish to be on you simply walk through the corresponding door. It is important to NOTE that the first person to go through a door for a team becomes the leader of that team. Once, you have chosen a team your body will be surrounded by that team’s color. If you are the leader then you will have an additional effect to distinguish you from other members of your team.

If you are playing with multiple players and you are not a leader and you wish to change the team you are currently on then simply walk through a door to the other team you wish to be on and your team will be switched.

If you or any other player is the leader of a team and decides they do not wish to be on that team, or if you need to clear the teams for any other reason then simply use the

Team Reset Sign. This sign will remove all players from teams and reset it so, that everyone must choose a team again.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this room is the large control panel named “Game Settings Control Station.” Every player must use this control panel at some point before the game can start. This control panel can be used to tell you what the current game settings are. It can be used to change the way the game plays via a huge number of options (discussed in next section of this document). Most importantly though it has a simple statement which says “I am ready to play.” The game will not begin until every player in this game entry room has chosen a team and indicated they are ready to play.

Once, this happens you will be sent to the lair of your team. This is a VERY important area for you to become familiar with. This is the area where all the resources for your team are stored, where you and your team members can rest, where you respawn when you escape the outer planes, and almost the only place that your armies can be built at (control points controlled by your team are the other place).

You’ve made it to your lair:

If you are playing multiplayer and are not the leader of your team you likely will only have the VOTING TOOL. This voting tool can be used if you are stuck somewhere and cannot move due to a Bioware or Harvest of Souls bug. If you wish to return to your lair you may vote to do so. If all other players vote that it is okay for you to do so then you will be unstuck and teleported back to your lair. The other thing that is sometimes voted on is to END THE GAME. If the game has been going on for a significant time and all the players are ready to quit and see the end scores then a vote to end the game can be called. If all the players agree then the game will be ended and the players will be sent to the end game room.

If you are playing single player or are the leader of a team you will have several additional items of importance. You will have the Team Control Wand, The Unit Creation Tool, and The Marking Tool. You might also have these last two items if the leader of the team has granted you building rights.

The Team Control Wand has many abilities but, in general it can be used to tell you how much of each resource you currently have simply by targeting yourself. It can be used to resign leadership and have someone else on your team become leader. It can be used to set missions for squads. Squads are created using this wand as well. You can target another player team member and assign them to a squad. This enables you to set missions for that group of players which they can review and allow them to communicate privately amongst their squad. You can also use this wand to grant building rights to other player members, or kick people off of your team.

The Unit Creation Tool must be targeted at a location on the ground. It will then inform you of how much of each resource you have available and will provide you with a list of units that you can construct. It is important for you to check all 3 sections of units as even though the 1-10 list may appear empty, you might be able to construct units in the 21-30 list. This again is due to the older design of the module. You can then construct the unit. This tool can only be used in two places. The first is within your lair. The second is within close proximity to a control point controlled by your team.

The Marking Tool is used to flag some specific guard locations which can be used when commanding your units and to flag mana sources. If you have a unit in your army following you that is capable of harvesting mana you can use the marking tool on a mana source and set it to “Harvest 1” then you can tell the unit to Harvest. They will harvest the mana and take it back to your lair. Do not mark a mana source then walk several areas back to a harvesting unit and tell them to harvest it. The path finding does not work too well for this. It is advisable you only use this in conjunction with units that are following you.

Each lair has two exits to the world. One of these exits leads outside and above grounds. The second exit leads below ground into the caverns that run beneath the world. These two exits are the means by which enemy raiders will access your base. Defend them accordingly.

The Resources Of The Game:

There are three major resources in the game. These resources are Mana, Gold, and Souls. How much of each is needed depends on the team you have chosen to play.

All teams with the exception of the undead can only build units when they have sufficient resources. The Undead team is a little more difficult in this aspect as units also require that the Undead Team leader be of sufficient level before they can be constructed. the Undead team is one of the most popular teams to play but, is more difficult than some of the others for new players. If you are not the leader of your team then ask your leader what they need you to do. Work as a team and you will do much better.

Mana is gathered by finding mana pools in the world. You can use a pool and it will convert to a mana crystal in your inventory. You simply take these back to your lair and place them in the mana vault. Every game hour your team will receive an amount of mana depending on how many mana crystals are in your vault and what type they are. Keep in mind that other teams can steal mana crystals from each others vaults. This is a very important resource as there are a finite number of mana pools in the game and they come in three sizes. The largest size is the rarest. So, you or your team should begin searching for mana immediately. It should be noted that in EVERY game there is a guaranteed large mana pool in the sewers, and in 4 dungeons you can find. The rest of them are randomly placed and must be found.

Gold is a very important resource and for new players it is often the thing that they have the most difficulty coming up with. First, you need to be aware that you need to be frugal with your gold. It is not wise to spend it on a lot of equipment or to spend it on trap components. It is wiser to spend it on units to guard your lair, seize control points with, and raid the enemy with. With that said it can still be very difficult to acquire gold. Some units you build produce TAXES. Protect these units and they will automatically deposit X amount of gold in your Tax chest (near your throne) each game hour. For some such as the Dwarves or the Unclean you can achieve vast amounts of gold simply by building a lot of tax producing units. The other means is to adventure. There are crypts and places with gold hidden throughout the world. There are also little piles of gold underground that can be discovered. As your level increases the treasure drops of the monsters improves. If that still does not work for you there are settings that can be turned on to improve this. Most experienced players never use these settings but, they will be discussed in the Game Settings section of this document.

Souls can be tremendously important and valuable in this game. Many units cost a soul to build them. Each team starts out with a finite number of souls and only some creatures you kill will drop soul tokens. If you get a soul token then carry it back to your lair and place it in your soul receptacle. If you are playing a game type SOUL HARVEST then the first time to reach X amount of souls beyond the amount they started with wins the game. If you are playing ELIMINATION mode then each time you click the RESPAWN button on death it costs you 2x your current level in souls to respawn. If your team does not have enough souls then you are sent to the end game room and must wait until the game ends. If you want to see your statistics and such it is important that you wait in this room. You can go off and do something else and simply leave your computer sitting waiting if you prefer

Communication:

There have been some big games of Harvest of Souls in the past that have had massive amounts of people talking and spamming the screen. Steps have been taken to improve this and while they do not HAVE to be used, it is highly recommended that you get used to them.

First switch the channel you are speaking into from TALK, PARTY, or SHOUT and change it to the DM CHANNEL. This is the channel you wish to speak into.

If you wish to simply say something out loud in the room you are in do the following:

‘what you want to say EXAMPLE: ‘hello would cause your character to say “hello” out loud in the room.

@what to say to DM EXAMPLE: @I need help would cause a message specially formatted for DMs to appear that says “I need help” so that a DM will know you need help.

?what to say to team EXAMPLE: ?We need gold would cause a message specially formatted for your team members to appear that says “We need gold”

!what to say to squad EXAMPLE: !Follow me would cause a message specially formatted for the squad you are part of to appear that says “Follow me”

The advantage of doing things this way is that you can specifically target parts of your team or players in the game and it does not SPAM the entire window for your team and people playing the game.

There are additional commands you can speak into the DM CHANNEL that will assist you in commanding units and will be completely silent to other players.

LIST HELP

and

LIST COMMANDS

will get you started on what commands are available to you.

Again, it is important to note that YOU DO NOT HAVE TO use this style of communication. You can still do things the way you do in any other module. This means of communication was provided to address some issues that become apparent when there are a lot of people talking in a game. The other commands provide ways to command units by typing commands which has been a long time request of some players.

How to handle death:

Aside from the question about how to get more gold, one of the other frequent issues that comes up with new players is the way DEATH is handled in Harvest of Souls. It can seem very harsh but, it grows on you. When you die with typical settings and respawn you are sent to the outer planes. You are stripped of all your equipment except artifacts (this can be changed in game settings). This means you can end up as a fighter with no armor and only a club. Quite simply put. The equipment did not survive your banishment. The artifacts are artifacts of power and one of the things that lends them value in the game is the fact that they survive the banishment with a player.

You will want to seek out the shadow planes which the entrance to can be found in the center of The Plane of In Between. There is also an entrance from the Astral Plane. You will then want to wander through the shadow plane until you manage to reach an area with a white pattern on the floor. When you step on this pattern you will be returned to your lair.

If the shadow plane is too difficult for you it could be the fact that you have a torch equipped or some other light emitting thing. These things attract shadow creatures and having them out is a good way to encounter a lot of creatures.

The shadow plane becomes popular to experienced players as it turns out to be a good place to gain some experience before returning to your lair.

With practice you will become familiar with the shadow plane and if it were not present in the module the way it is then it would significantly reduce aspects of the game play.

SURVIVAL TIPS:

1. Don’t walk around with a light source equipped (light spells are okay).

2. Consider taking a weapon focus in Club (since you’ll always have one)

3. Don’t be afraid to run. Don’t try to fight everything.

4. Invisibility spells can sneak you through easily.

5. If you’re up to it fight and kill some creatures in shadow planes for experience.

NOTE: When you die in the outer planes and respawn it costs your team 1 soul. This is the only place you can die in an elimination game that does not cost 2 x current level in souls to respawn.

Control Points:

There are four locations above ground where there is a shaft of light. These are in the north west, north east, south west, and south east corner areas. These shafts of light are called control points. If you go near to a control point with at least 3 units (counting yourself) from your team and there are no enemies nearby to contest it then the shaft will change to your teams color. Your team can rest near a control point they control. Your leader and builders can build units near control points they control, and lastly your team receives some resources each game hour for control points they control. It is important to note that familiars, animal companions, henchmen, and summoned creatures do not count as units when attempting to capture a control point.

Magic:

There are some changes to the magic system. They will be documented here.

Summoning spells: The summoning spells have been changed to be closer to those

in the players handbook. Each spell can summon a variety of creatures and

is usually tied to the alignment of the caster. The duration of the summoned

creatures is MUCH less than standard Bioware. However, this is offset by the

fact that you can summon as many creatures at once as you like. So, it is possible

for a short period to have an army of summoned things with you. The duration

does improve as you go up in levels. Furthermore, the Druid has special

consideration in terms of summoning. If you only have druid caster levels and

do not have any other caster type classes then summon is a special spell for you.

If used out doors it will attract animal creatures and such that other classes do not

summon. Often a single spell can attract more than 1 creature. If used below

ground in a natural area it will summon a different set of creatures. If used in a

non-natural area it will summon just like other classes do. This was done to

make the druid stand out in a more specific way.

Healing Spells: The only change to note here is that they act as damaging spells

against any player vampires (yes you can become a vampire).

Negative Energy Spells: The only change to note here is that they act as healing

spells when used against player vampires.

Plane Shift: A very powerful and potent spell in this game. It can give you a big

advantage.

Shadow Walk: Another very powerful spell usable for movement to and from the

shadow plane and to rapidly move across the world.

Rope Trick: This spell once the caster reaches 8th level becomes similar to carrying

your own portable Inn around with you and provides you with a means to rest

virtually anywhere you go.

There are numerous other custom spells but, the ones above often prove the most significant in the game.

GENERAL STEPS TO SUCCESS:

1. Summon tax producing units

2. Secure your lair entrances

3. Seek out mana and artifacts

4. Improve your defenses

5. Capture control points

6. Try not to die

7. Explore as much of the map as you can

This concludes the initial player guide. You should have sufficient information to get started. The only way to get good at the game is to keep trying. This module is highly addictive and highly replayable. The more you play it the more you will come to enjoy it. If you can get experienced players to teach you, then that is even better.

The Settings For The Game:

This game has thousands of possible combinations for how it can be set up. It is highly tweakable in many aspects. Read this section to learn what the various settings do and why you may or may not want to change a setting.

These settings may be adjusted from the Game Settings Control Station in the Game Entry Room. What each of the settings do will be discussed in this portion of the documentation. First, you may be asking “Why do we have all of these settings?” Well, we have people complain about not enough gold, or wanting it more hardcore, or wanting a more challenging game, etc. We like the balance for our game so rather than change what we think works well already we opted to make just about everything people have requested optional. In doing so, a lot of options have been added. The way this module plays can be changed in numerous ways.

TEAM PLANNING MODE: This can be enabled or disabled. If this is enabled then when a member of a team indicates they are ready they will be sent to an additional room where they can plan with their fellow team members before the game begins. There is a switch in the planning room. If a leader of a team pulls the switch then the game begins for everyone. It is therefore, important for team leaders to speak with each other to coordinate when it is okay to pull that lever.

GAME PLAY STYLE: This section has numerous things that can be set that effect how the game plays. The first and foremost is choosing which TYPE of game you wish to play.

SOUL HARVEST is a game play mode where the first team to reach X souls in

their soul receptacle beyond the amount their team starts with wins the game and

the game ends. The values for X are 10, 20, 50, 100, or 500 souls. Originally

this was the only mode you could play single player in. This is not the case any

longer.

ELIMINATION has become the more popular style of play since it is more

intense and dangerous. The players play a game until only one team remains

with people still alive. In single player the player plays until they have no more

lives. The amount of lives supported are 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32, or 40. In elimination

this translates to how many extra souls your team begins with. When a player

dies they are fine until they decide to respawn. When respawn is clicked it costs

the team a number of souls equivalent to twice the current level of the respawning

character. So, a 10th level character who respawns costs 20 souls!! If the team

cannot pay the cost to respawn the character then the character is eliminated and

sent to the end game room. Otherwise, they respawn in the outer planes. If a

character dies in the outer planes respawning only costs 1 soul regardless of level.

THE ARTIFACT OF POWER can be enabled or disabled. It is disabled by

default as it is an item we added later to the game. It introduces an element of

capture the flag type action into either an elimination or soul harvest game. There

is an artifact called the POWER RESERVOIR that is placed at a random location

in the game world. If a player finds it and picks it up they will appear to have a

flag strapped to their back. They can take it into their lair and put it down by

their throne. The power reservoir will accumulate points on an hourly basis

that it stays in a teams throne room. These points are added to the total score

for the team at the end of the game unless the team leader decides to spend some

of the points during game play. If the team leader uses the power reservoir they

have access to 6 unique units per team that can only be purchased by spending

X amount of power reservoir points. When a power reservoir is captured it

notifies everyone which team captures it. It periodically gives how many power

points each team has as well. This can be a fun addition to any game.

TIME LIMIT is a new feature which can be turned on which sets a time limit to

the game in terms of game days. When this many days have passed it will end the

game and all players will be sent to the end game room where their points will be

totaled. The time limits available are:

3 days (2.4 hours), 5 days (4 hours), 8 days (6.4 hours), 10 days (8 hours),

13 days (10.4 hours), 15 days (12 hours), or 20 days (16 hours). The number in

the parenthesis is the actual time limit in real life hours.

Time limits have an additional option which is called Holocaust Mode which if

enabled will add an extra 30 minutes to the game length above. During this 30

minutes hordes of outer planar beings will spawn into the world and will wander

about so, for these 30 minutes the world should become a nightmare.

AI and UNIT Related Options:

There are a lot of settings that effect how the units in the game and the AI opponents play. They will be discussed here.

Frequency that an AI unit processes its commands. Units operate on a pseudo

heartbeat which fires every X amount of seconds. The smaller the value for X

is the more responsive the units will seem. The smaller the value of X the more

CPU time the units will require as well. By default this value is 4 seconds but,

the following values are available as well: 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 seconds. If the

module seems to lag more as a lot of units are in play then you might consider

setting this to a higher value when playing in the future.

Maximum number of units indicates how many units a team should be allowed

to have in play. This value by default is set to 40 but, there are numerous

settings. It is recommended that you set this value to the highest value that your

server will handle without adversely effecting the game. The unit values are

20, 40, 80, 100, or 120. If you notice there is a value of 20 which should only

be used on slower machines that are having difficulty playing the module due to

lag.

Level up speed is a base number in minutes used to determine how long it takes

for the leader of any AI controlled team to level up. The time to level up is

calculated as follows: base level up time +((current level-1)*2)

The values for base level up time are 1, 3, 5, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 25. In general

the lower the number the more difficult the game will be when playing against

any AI opponents. The default value used for this is 15. So, as you can see

the game can be made quite a bit more difficult.

Custom AI Tactics can be enabled or disabled. They are enabled by default

this indicates whether the units in the game should use the revised combat

scripts which seem to improve the effectiveness of some NPCs when they

are in combat. This also must be enabled if you wish to be able to indicate

which combat tactic specific units on your team should use.

Garrison Banter can be enabled or disabled. It is enabled by default. Garrison

banter refers to the units that spawn on their own to defend your lair and control

points. They tend to like to speak back and forth between themselves. Some

people that had been playing for awhile requested that this banter be optionally

turned off. That is what this setting enables.

Verbose Messaging is disabled by default but, can be enabled. If this is turned

on then whenever an AI Team leader levels up it will inform all players in the

game that this has happened, what level the leader is, and how long it will be until

they level again.

Unit Consolidation is disabled by default and is a feature designed to possibly

reduce CPU usage. When enabled this changes some significant ways that

raiding units move and path through an area when no PCs or enemies are present.

When this is enabled all raiding units in the area are put into a holding area with

the exception of a single unit. Those units that are in the holding area have their

CPU and AI processing almost set to nothing. When the single NPC is near

enough to an enemy, a PC is present in the area, or they have reached their

destination all units are brought out of the holding area and their AI processing

is restored. In theory this will reduce the CPU usage since a single unit might be

doing pathing instead of dozens of units. It is disabled because, it does not

seem to be needed. I left it in as an option as it may improve performance on

some machines.

Treasure Drop options can be adjusted for those people that do not think they

are getting enough gold in the game. It is recommended you learn how to play

without needing this but, it is here if needed. This let’s you set an additional

amount of gold each NPC will drop when it dies. The values available are:

1, 2, 4, or 10 gold. This can also be used to turn off treasure drop. This is off

by default.

AI Leader Like PC if this is enabled then when the AI leader is killed it will

not be reduced to 1st level. Instead it will have to escape through the outer planes

just like a PC has to do.

Computer Controlled Team AI Method Settings:

This is the main section you will need to go to in order to make the AI more difficult ore easier. You can even completely turn off the AI opponents.

Easy is the default AI Opponent setting and does not offer much challenge

at all. The AI only has 4 units which it uses besides the leader themselves.

This means any raiding that they do is on a very small scale. This is the

DEFAULT AI as it is an easy AI to use when learning to play the module.

Challenging is a more difficult AI and until recently was the most difficult

setting that could be provided for AI opponents. This AI uses the following

amounts of units based on whatever the max unit settings are for the game.

MAX UNITS UNITS USED BY CHALLENGING AI

20 30

40 30

80 60

100 90

120 120

This AI should prove more than adequate for challenging most players for quite

some time. When it ceases to be challenging then you need to move on to

a Modified Challenging AI and you can adjust settings such as the AI level up

speed. One note about the challenging AI is that they choose their own preferred

enemy that cannot be changed. The preferred enemies are as follows:

Dwarves attack the Unclean

Unclean attack the Dwarves

Spider Cultists attack the Undead

Undead attack the Spider Cultists

It should be noted that if you trespass into an enemy lair that your team is not the

preferred enemy of that enemy may now begin raiding you as well as their

preferred enemy.

Disabled is an option you can use to completely turn off AI opponents.

Challenging AI Settings:

There are a number of challenging AI settings which can be adjusted that

do not include the Modified Challenging AI style.

Unit Creation Speed is the amount of units an AI can create with each

passing of its AI processing. The default is 3. The values that can be

set are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. The higher the number the faster the team can

populate its armies, defenders, etc.

AI Pause Interval is a multiple used to determine how long of a time

should exist between AI processing (see UCS above). The default value

is 2 and the values available are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. Thus, the lower this

number is set the more rapidly the AI leader can process its commands.

Turn off features of the challenging AI. This should only be done

if you are experiencing LAG and are trying to squeeze some extra CPU

cycles out of the module.

Custom AI:

This section provides support for custom scripts for specific AI designs.

None have been designed at the time this document was written but, support for

them is included.

Modified Challenging AI is a mode that uses the basic script used by the

challenging AI but, enables the person setting up the game to change almost every

aspect of how this AI behaves. It can also be used to ally AI teams together. It

should be noted that in terms of unit allocations they are multiplied by a number

depending on what the maximum unit settings are.

MAX UNITS MULTIPLE

20, 40 x1

80 x2

100 x3

120 x4

So, keep in mind when max units are 100 it is possible this modified challenging

AI may actually field 120 units! When the max units is set to 120 the AI can

actually field 160 units!

Preferred Enemy enables you to set who the preferred enemy for the

team is.

Raid Behavior enables you to adjust some criteria about who and when

the team should raid. There are three modes here.

Raid only if trespassed upon

Raid only preferred enemy and trespassers (default)

Raid random target but, give priority to preferred enemy

Unassign all Units will remove all units from where they are currently

assigned to and will give you 40 units which you can indicate how the AI

should allocate them.

Mana Vault Defenders is how many units the AI will allocate to

defending the mana vault.

Throne Room Defenders is how many units the AI will allocate to

defending the throne room area.

Lair Defense Location 1 is how many units the AI will allocate to

defending lair defense location 1. This is generally near one of the

exits or some other location of strategic importance.

Lair Defense Location 2 is how many units the AI will allocate to

defending lair defense location 2. This is generally near one of the

exits or some other location of strategic importance.

Control Point Capture Squad Size is how many units the AI will

allocate to attempting to capture and control the four control points

on the map.

Harvest Units is how many units the AI will allocate to leaving the lair

and looking for mana pools to harvest and bring back to the mana

vault.

Item Capture Units is how many units the AI will allocate to leaving

the lair and searching out artifacts and attempting to bring them back

to the lair. This is not the most effective unit but, it does work. It is

possible these units are not as effective due to being killed by the

guardians of the artifact. They will place the artifact in a special

container within their lair.

Raiding Attack Squad is how many units the AI will allocate to send

as attacking raiders against their enemies.

Raiding Gold Stealing Squad is how many units the AI will allocate to

going to the enemy lair and attempting to steal gold.

Raiding Mana Stealing Squad is how many units the AI will allocate to

going to the enemy lair and attempting to steal mana.

Power Reservoir Squad is how many units the AI will allocate to power

reservoir recovery. If the power reservoir is NOT in an enemy lair then

these units will patrol outside but, near to their base. When the power

reservoir is in an enemy lair these units will go to that lair and attempt to

recover the power reservoir and bring it back to their lair.

ALLY will enable you to ally AI lead teams together how you like.

Set The Unit Levels enables you to specify how quickly an AI opponent

should begin producing certain types of squad units. For example: raiders

are normally not produced by Spider Cultists until the leader reaches 5th

level. You can set this to 1st level and they will start raiding much sooner.

You can adjust raiding, control point capture, and power reservoir unit

production levels. You can set the levels to any of the following:

1, 3, 5, or 7.

PRESETS have been provided to setup AIs of a specific type without you

needing to tweak the numbers. Here are the presets:

Purely Defensive

Controlling Defensive

Balanced

Heavier Raiding

Purely Offensive

Explorers

Massive Control Emphasis

or Thieves.

This concludes the Modified Challenging AI settings.

PC (Player) Related Options:

This section enables you to change numerous options which effect the way the PC is handled and many other aspects within the game.

Death options can be adjusted so you can specify how death is handled when a

PC dies. These options were requested by players who like more hardcore

settings.

[Default] Destroy everything except artifacts and gold. Do not drop

anything.

Drop 50% of gold carried. Otherwise same as default.

50% chance that if an artifact is carried it is dropped. Otherwise same as

default.

Drop 50% of gold and 50% artifact drop.

Drop 50% of gold, variable chance drop artifact, and drop all items carried

Drop 50% of gold, and drop all items carried including artifacts

Change all gold drop percentages to 100%

Change all gold drop percentages to 25%

Mana Death can be enabled but, is disabled by default. When a PC dies they

drop any mana they are carrying. If this is enabled they will destroy any mana

rather than dropping it. This could make a game more difficult in terms of

acquiring mana.

Experience Multiplier is how much experience a nearby PC should get when an

NPC unit on their team kills something. This is also the experience % that the

leader gets whenever a PC or NPC kills something while the leader is in the lair.

4%, 6% (Default), 8%, 12%, 20%, 30%, 50%, or 75%. Most of the online games

of late play with this set at 75% so the game leveling moves as fast as possible,

Join In Progress is an important setting and is enabled by default. If a game is

started and the teams are actively playing and a player connects who wishes to

join an play a game that is already playing they will be able to do so as long as

this setting is enabled. If you disable this then only the initial players will be able

to play.

Maximum Number of Players can be set on the server itself and if the value on

the server is less than this number then no more than what the server has set will

be able to join. This value can be set if you think you forgot to set the server to

what you want or if you want more than 20 players to connect. 20 players is the

default maximum number of players. The values that can be set are:

4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20 [Default], 32, 48, or 64.

Mana and Gold Multiplier is a way to make the game easier and make getting

mana and gold a much easier process. It is recommended that you do not use

these settings and that you learn to play without needing them. However, for

those of you that want them they can be set as follows:

1 [Default], 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 25, or 50.

This value is how much mana is multiplied by and gold income from taxes are

multiplied by for each game hour. So, if a team normally receives 3 gold and 9

mana per hour, they would receive 12 gold and 36 mana per hour if this multiplier

were set to 4. The only beneficial use that can be conceived of by using such

a multiplier is that you could potentially field armies of much more powerful units

faster than normal. Again, it is not recommended as this is not how most games

online will be played and you could be handicapping yourself by learning to play

with this enabled. Think of this as a CHEAT.

Starting Advantage can be enabled or disabled here. It is disabled by default

though it has become a popular setting to enable. If this is enabled when a player

first enters their lair they will be provided a dialog which enables them to choose

from a starting advantage which can be a masterwork weapon, or armor, extra

experience, extra gold, extra mana, and more. The advantage of masterwork

items created by this is that they are treated like artifacts and are not destroyed

when you die and respawn. Thus, fighters enjoy choosing masterwork swords

and such. This probably would be fine enabled by default. It is recommended

you get used to enabling this.

Auto Level Up is enabled by default. This is relevant only to players who join

a game that is already in progress. If they join such a game and this is enabled

then instead of making them start at 1st level it will allow them to level up to

1 level less than the lowest level player currently playing. So, if all the players

playing were 5th level and a new player connects they would be allowed to level

up to 4th level immediately.

Tome of Rebirth cost can be adjusted. By default is cost 500 gold. The tome

of rebirth is an item given to players when they respawn in the outer planes. They

can use the tome to return immediately to their lair if they are willing to pay the

gold cost. The values this can be set to are as follows:

1000 gold, 750 gold, 500 gold [Default], 200 gold, 100 gold, or 50 gold.

Popular Preset Settings:

This section contains many presets that will set a lot of these values for you automatically. Check them out and you may find one that suits your needs.

LOCK teams so PCs cannot join them. You can set it so that PCs are not allowed to

join specified teams. In general this is REQUIRED if you plan on setting multiple AI opponents to ALLIED status.

Revised Strategy Guide

This is a reduced and simplified strategy guide that should point out some techniques for succeeding in various game types and some ploys that can be used to make things difficult for your opponents. This section will not contain spoilers that detail anything specific. It will contain reference to some of the artifacts that can be found as they pertain to various strategies.

EXPLORE AND FORGET:

One very simple strategy that is often overlooked is the fact that you are free to explore the module and play it for the most part like every other module out there. You do not have to build up an protect your base. It is worthwhile to play with this strategy a few times so, you can familiarize yourself with the map. It is not recommended to be the

style you play in the long run because, you will be missing out on a lot of the things that

make this module so unique. It should not be overlooked as an option available to you.

SINGLE PLAYER STRATEGIES:

The first thing you should do is quickly get at least one mana crystal into your mana vault so you have at least some amount of mana coming into your base. Then you should take the time to consider who your enemies are. If you have played the team you are playing before against a similarly configured AI opponent then you should have a good idea of what is going to be coming against you and have an approximation of when this will happen. You should outfit your base with a rudimentary defense near either of your base exits. You should then explore and find artifacts that can assist you, gain levels as quickly as you can, and return to your base periodically to update or restore your defenses. With the standard AI if you kill the AI leader it will reset your opponents level to 1st level. If things are out of hand and your base is continually overrun then consider invading the enemy lairs and assassinating the AI Leader. If you can achieve this then it will give you some more breathing room. If you are playing a class that has access to invisibility then by all means use the spell. If you have a class with access to the summon monster spells then take many of these spells and when you are in a bind cast them all at once and you will have an army of units with you for a period of time. If you are a Wizard or a Sorcerer then the 2nd Level Rope Trick spell becomes one of your most useful spells once your leader reaches 8th level. For then it is like carrying a portable Inn with you where you can climb the rope, rest, and then climb back down. The Shadow Walk and Plane Shift spells can be used to get you in or out of the outer planes rapidly. They can also be used for quick travel around the world. Do not forget as you increase in levels that there are artifacts randomly placed around the outer planes as well.

Learn to identify guardians. If you see a lone Gnoll Shaman, Yuan-ti, Bandit Mage, Krenshar, Invisible Stalker, or Will-o’-Wisp then you are likely seeing a guardian. Beneath this guardian on the ground lies an artifact which it is guarding. These artifacts are extremely valuable so, if you can acquire them by slaying the guardian do so. If you cannot then you can try to acquire the items by trickery and guile. There are also numerous Advanced Guardians which have some appellation of the word Mage in their name. These guardians may be the Wood Mage, Fire Mage, etc. These mages are more powerful then the more common ones you’ll encounter above. You cannot simply pick up their item and run. They will follow you wherever you go if you have the item. They will not let you escape with their prized possession while they still live. You are welcome to try though.

Quests: There are several quests that can be started around the world. In general you will be offered them by speaking to various NPCs in the world. If you need more details on where to find quests then read the SPOILERS section of this document.

A common affliction people who are not playing clerics want to know how to deal with is the strength draining touch that may follow you from the shadow plane. Other than the lesser restoration or similar spell there are two options that can get your strength back to normal in the game and remove the affliction. The nicest to stumble across is if you manage to find the Healer who is randomly placed somewhere in the world each game. If you speak to her she will heal you for free. If this is not an option then proceed to the Mercenaries’ Guild in the City. There agree to undertake their initial quest to escort a merchant. Once, you have completed that quest you may return to the guild and you will have access to three merchants that are only available to guild members. One of these is a healer who is capable of removing the strength problems that you may have brought with you back from the shadow plane.

Speaking of the Shadow Plane, use your visits to this place wisely. If you manage your character well then this is a place where you can get a lot of levels and experience fairly quickly. Most of the experienced people attempt to kill any shadow they come across initially. These shadows will level you up fast. If you run out of shadows and need something else to fight then pull out your torch and you will greatly increase your encounter chances. Don’t be angry or depressed with the shadow plane. Use it to your advantage. It is not uncommon in our games to enter the shadow planes at first level and within 10 to 20 minutes return to our base at 3rd level. It just takes some practice and familiarizing yourself with the game and the maps.

SO, WHICH TEAM IS BETTER?

This is a common question that is asked of us. Sometimes it is not a question but, someone making a statement that such and such team is more powerful than the others. In general the most difficult team to play for beginners is the Undead. This is generally the case due to two major factors. The first factor is the case that which undead units a player is allowed to build is dependant on the level of the team leader. So, for undead it is very important to level quickly. The second factor occurs when you are playing against a challenging AI. When the spider cultist leader reaches 5th level they will begin sending huge spider raiders. These raiders can quickly overrun the base. The strategy is to reach 5th level as an undead leader and place at least one if not more vampire units as a guard in the entry hall where the two corridors from each exit meet. The vampire unit can kill huge spider units without taking any damage. Once, you have the spider problem in check things get much easier from that point on. If you cannot get a vampire in place you may be forced to stay out of your base and gain levels until you can go clean out your lair, or you may consider invading the spider cultists lair and attempting to assassinate their leader.

The dwarven team has another set of problems. Almost every unit that the dwarves can construct costs a soul to do so. Therefore, it is to your advantage to go seek out bandits for soul tokens, and wererats in the sewers for soul tokens. Create a lot of tax generating units and you can quickly solve any gold shortage issues. Keep your units upgraded. They may seem like a measly dwarf but, in reality a 10th level dwarven fighter unit is equipped with magical weapons and is very tough. We have had some players say that the Golems that the dwarves can make in a sense makes them invulnerable. Depending on which AI setting you are using and how you have them tweaked this could very well be the case in single player. In multi-player the golems can be killed rather handily and we even went so far as to for a while consider making the golems how they actually are in the Monster Manual. The dwarves can be defeated and if you are finding it too easy in single player then simply play around with the AI settings and we guarantee you can set the AI up so that it can challenge or obliterate you. The easiest way to achieve this is to reduce the AI Leader Level Up time. The lower you set this number with a challenging AI or Modified Challenging AI on the more difficult a time you are likely to have. When playing dwarves remember, your best asset is your ability to produce gold much easier than any other team. Your biggest weakness is your heavy dependency on souls. This is the only team that you may play as a paladin.

The spider cultist team can field the most powerful army early in the game with a lot less resource cost over time. This is due to being able to create dozens of spider hatchlings and have them grow over time. The huge spiders are more than a match for what most of the other teams will be able to put out at the same time. However, this advantage will quickly go away as the game progresses. Spider Cultists are deadly early in the game but they have less and less powerful units as the game goes into higher levels of play. So, as spider cultists the best thing you could do would be to take advantage of your early military might to the best of your ability. Be prepared for the chance that your opponents will eventually be putting out units that can kill your big spiders. There is an important stage in spider growth that you need to be aware of. When a spider reaches a small spider stage they can be spoken to and directed to become sword, wraith, dire, or phase spiders. This is how you produce other varieties of spiders. The spiders are dependant on gold and on mana. It is important that you secure some mana as quickly as you can. Continue to make spider cultists in your lair so you can increase your tax base. This will let you get more gold income. In addition, one of the most powerful spider units is the gargantuan dire spider. This unit consumes a lot of food which translates to something like 9 gold lost per hour. If you do not have the 9 gold the gargantuan dire spider will become a hostile unit under no ones control. It takes at least

nine spider cultists to produce sufficient taxes to feed one of these spiders. Therefore, if you decide to build a dire spider you should work on getting your tax base up to at least 9 before it reaches gargantuan size. In fact, if your dire spider makes it to huge dire spider status and you do not think you will quickly reach the 9 tax income then your best course of action might be to send the spider on a suicide raid against your enemies so, it does not have a chance to grow and then become hostile within your own lair. Another thing to remember is that the drow units for the spider cultists are sensitive to sunlight so, on the surface during the day they will have some negative effects on them. This is a popular team to play for new players.

The Unclean team is almost as easy to generate gold as the dwarves. Simply produce a lot of goblin peons early in the game and put them somewhere protected in your lair. You will receive a lot of gold in tax income. This team uses mana and gold but, in a sense it is less restrictive than any of the other teams. If you wanted to know the easiest to play then this team likely is slightly easier than other teams in terms of being able to start building and build up a stable economy quickly. It has been stated by some that some of their more powerful units are weak. This is not true. They are however, very expensive. The unclean can save up and eventually field one of two types of dragons. It is also fairly easy when the game first starts to go outside the base above ground and kill some wolves and gain at least 1 level within the first 10 to 15 minutes of game play.

Overall, all of the teams have weaknesses and all of the teams have strengths. You simply need to learn what they are. We have played many games and have seen people fall to any of the teams. These teams are distinctly different. We did not go the RTS approach that sometimes is used where each unit on a team has a corresponding unit on another team. Instead we went for unique play style and possibilities. So, in a sense there is not one team that is better. The best way to learn this is to think this is the case and then play against some experienced players. If you can’t find any experienced players to play with then keep cranking up the AI settings so, you are challenged. If this does not work try allying some of the AIs together via the Modified Challenging AI options. The easiest way to defeat the vampire stopping the spider horde is to ally the spiders and dwarves together. By the time dwarves field a 4th level fighter raider they will have produced a unit that is capable of damaging and killing vampires. So, when these types of units raid with spiders… the classic undead defense falls apart.

PLAYING ON A TEAM AS LEADER:

If you are on a team that has several players there are some things you need to be aware of. Since, the leader needs to stay in the lair a lot and upgrade its defenses it becomes difficult for them to have as much time as other players and adventure around the world to gain levels. We offset this disadvantage with a bonus for leaders. If the leader is in the lair and a unit or PC on their team makes some experience points. The leader is awarded a % of those experience points as well. How big a percentage this is can be set within the game settings at the beginning of the game. The highest percentage is 75%. So, as leader the best thing you can do is keep your base defended, and keep your team members informed of whether you need mana, gold, or souls more. If your team has other players that are good team players then they will seek to bring back what the leader needs to the lair. If you have sufficient resources then you might simply tell them to go adventure for artifacts and experience. Another tool that is available to the team leader is the Team Control Wand. With this wand the leader can assign several squad leaders and they can assign other players beneath that leader. This means you could then use the wand to set the mission for the squad to GATHER MANA. The squad leader would be able to see this using their squad badge, which they will get for being leader. This is a way for the leader to group together PCs into squads and send them out on group missions. This is only beneficial as the number of people on a team increases significantly. In general if you have 6 or more people on your team then it might be a good idea to have at least one squad.

PLAYING ON A TEAM NOT AS LEADER:

Don’t forget you are part of a team. Find out from your leader what is needed for the team and do what you can to achieve those needs. Remember, you are going forth and adventuring while it is likely the leader is spending most of their time in the lair increasing the defenses, sending raiding parties against your enemies, and monitoring the communications of all their team members. Therefore, if they are a good leader they will be in the best situation to know what is needed for the team. In order for you to be a valuable member of the team you’ll need to take queues from your leader or your squad leader if the leader has assigned you to a squad. Also, a mistake many new players make during their first online game with other players is the spending of gold. They go out to buy new armor, new weapons, or components to build traps. This is a VERY bad thing to do. Until the team has a very large stash of gold it is an incredibly important resource to the team. The leader may be saving up the 300 some odd gold needed to make a single vampire to stave off the spider horde invasion. Every ounce of gold in that situation is critical. So, it is wise as a good team member to do one of two things. If you really need a piece of equipment discuss it with your leader and they will be able to tell you if there is enough flexibility in your current economy to do that. They will not always say NO. The second thing is to get in the habit of dropping any gold you have in the tax chest when you are in your lair. You might also drop other equipment into the tax chest. If you are in need of equipment check to see if anyone dropped anything in the tax chest that you can use. You may not need to spend gold after all if you and your fellow team members have been playing as a team. When looking into the chest you might also look for things like Vials of Spider venom and consider going on a merchant run and selling the items and bringing the gold back to the lair. Each vial of spider venom from a huge spider is worth 20 gold when identified if sold at the woodman’s trading post. Try to think as a team not as an individual. If you are far from your lair and you hear that it has been overrun by an AI leader or even a PC leader team. You might consider doing a counterstrike into their lair and attempt to assassinate their leader. This might relieve the pressure on your team and give your team a chance to clear out your lair. Another important thing to ASK permission of your leader for is to take units they produced with you. The units you are attempting to take may be weak tax collectors that are more valuable for their economic status than their fighting status. If you ask it is possible the leader might create some units specifically for you. A good leader is there to support their team. They have to make strategic decisions about resources, and units. Don’t tell the person they are a horrible leader. That will make for a tense and unfriendly game. Simply, play and do your best to become leader next game or to get someone you know is a good leader to play leader. There is another VERY important thing that a good team player should do. If they find an artifact and they cannot currently use it let the team leader know. If they find an artifact and are using it let the leader know. The artifacts can tip the balance of the game a great deal and letting the leader know what is available is critical. In addition, if you find an artifact and cannot use it there may be someone else on your team that can. It is important that you AND your team members increase in power as quickly as possible. So, make sure the artifacts get into the hands of someone who can use them.

MULTI-PLAYER MULTI-TEAM:

There is no set and dried strategy for how to play in a multiplayer game against other human players. Part of the fun of other humans is the unpredictability, adaptability, and creativity that they can bring to play. You may be dominated or you may dominate a game using a specific strategy. The goal if you are being dominated is to rethink your strategy for next game. Do not be afraid to totally throw out the book and try something off the wall. It may be effective against whatever the other players are throwing at you.

In most of our games of multi-team player vs. player games the strategies broke down into one of three categories. Often the strategies might have elements from several of these three strategies. I am going to label them with terms that some RTS players might understand but, they may also be new terms to fit the uniqueness of this game.

PORCUPINE: The player who focuses on defenses and using lots of units. This

player will seek to build up massive defenses. This works some times. In

general it tends to fail against experienced players. Why? The combat AI for the

units is simply not up to the task and skilled players can come in solo or in a

group and usually decimate virtually any unit based defense you put up.

ESCHEW THE UNITS: This refers to a team that focuses on their characters and

leveling and does not spend much time building units at all. They will level as

quickly as a team as they can determine how to. They will then invade the enemy

lairs and take over and do a lot of hit and run tactics and steal resources while

they are at it. There are techniques that can be learned to help you level faster.

These techniques do not usually involve much exploring. They instead focus on

finding areas with monster spawns that are most conducive to leveling rapidly.

This is a highly effective technique. It is the preferred technique used by many

of the TKW server crowd. It is NOT difficult to play this way but some people

find it difficult only that they wish to explore and such and if they are going

against someone sticking to this technique and they themselves stray from it then

at some point they will fall behind in level and be at a disadvantage.

EXPLORATION: This module lends itself to exploration as each game is

different. So, it can be fun to simply explore the map and collect artifacts. This

type of player will typically level faster than the porcupine but, they will not

level as fast as the teams that use the ESCHEW THE UNITS technique. This

type of play is more satisfying to certain players. If luck is with them this team

can be victorious as well. There was a game where Deva played on a team using

this technique and they found the Maze Masters Horn. The TKW crew was using

the eschew style of play and were doing well. They even took the time to

produce a dragon. Typically, the dragon being produced could end the game for

the other team as the TKW team likes to bring the dragon into their enemies lairs.

Well, Deva walked in the front door and used the Maze Masters Horn on the

dragon right before he was caught by dragon fear. The horn teleports creatures or

players that it is used on into a maze where the door periodically moves to a

random location (think MAZE spell). The dragon was not dead but, it was no

longer a threat. Deva and team were finally able to strike back hard. In that case

the exploration technique paid off but, it was purely due to luck.

There has been some heated discussions and anger over playing styles on this game. You’ll find that this is true about any game that people really get passionate about. Some people like to play with the goal that they are to kill other players and achieve the game goals as quickly as possible. Other players like to explore and adventure and have occasional conflicts with the other players. These two groups of thought do not always meld so well. So, if you are not a player that is able to adapt your style of playing and you only like to play one of these ways then be sure you take the time to find out how the people on the server you are considering playing on have configured the game and how they plan to play it. This will keep you from becoming upset. If you ARE adaptive then you may want to do this anyway so, you will be able to

adjust your own personal strategy accordingly.

EARLY GAME STRATEGIES:

Mana is of utmost importance. It comes in three varieties: Minor Mana, Mana, and Strong Mana. The crystals produced by such pools are worth 1, 2, and 5 mana per hour respectively. The 5 point mana pools are of course much more rare than other pools. So, acquiring such pools can give your team a mana boost. There are five strong mana pools that are not randomly produced each game. They are ALWAYS there. Therefore, if you can go to these locations and you get to them first then your team is guaranteed a 5 point mana crystal. The quickest and least heavily defended one is below ground in the center of the map. It is in the center of the sewers beneath the city. This is a mana crystal that any player should consider getting to as quickly as possible. Furthermore, as of 1.26 release of Harvest of Souls a new creature called the Mana Elemental was introduced. Every game hour that passes there is a 10% chance that a strong mana pool will spawn a minor mana elemental. This elemental will guard the mana pool. If the mana pool already has an elemental there is a 10% per hour that it may upgrade to a mana elemental, and finally to a greater mana elemental. So, as time passes the chance that a strong mana pool is protected by a mana elemental will increase, and the longer it takes to reach it the more powerful that mana elemental will become.

There are still four other fixed location strong mana pools that have not been accounted for. There is one in the Realm of Fungus, The Hive, Dungeon Crawl, and in the Slave Lords domain. In addition, to a mana pool there is also a guaranteed artifact in each of these four locations. These locations can be used to acquire levels and experience while potentially providing your team with mana and artifacts.

CLASS SPECIFIC STRATEGIES:

In the multitude of games that we have played of the various versions of Harvest

of souls there are some strategies and tips that we may have come across for playing various classes.

FIGHTER/RANGER/PALADIN/BARBARIAN: If starting advantage is enabled then consider either making your weapon masterwork, or your armor masterwork. By doing this you will insure that you either have your weapon or armor with you throughout the game. Most players tend to focus on the masterwork weapon. If you do not have a masterwork weapon or an artifact weapon then you might consider taking a weapon focus in club. If you think you are going to die at all then you should be familiar with the fact that in the outer planes the only weapon you appear with is a club. The weapon focus in club can make it slightly easier to beat up the shadows and gain experience. If you can acquire a masterwork weapon, or an artifact item then you will not need to worry about this.

MONK:

The monk character can be effective if you ONLY use them when first starting the game. You focus on leveling them up as quickly as possible and hopefully you manage to find the Jade Dragon Gloves, which are a monk only artifact. Don’t count on the artifact as your reason for playing them. Odds are against you finding them. This is a bad class to play if you are joining a game that is already in progress. Why? At best you will be allowed to level to 1 level below the lowest level character. So, if there are 3 characters at 10th level, 1 at 8th, and 1 at 6th you will be allowed to level to 5th level. The

5th level monk will be way underpowered compared to the other characters. The monk can be effective if starting at the beginning of the game and focusing on leveling quickly.

If this is not the case then they generally will be killed.

CLERIC:

This class can be one of the most powerful classes in the game; especially, if you choose your domains carefully. If you take the PLANT domain then your TURN UNDEAD will affect vermin. This means it works against giant spiders, beetles, and giant ants. Since, spiders are one of the teams (spider cultists) units this gives you a turn undead which is effective now against the undead team and the spider cultist team. The cleric can summon units. The cleric can deal out healing. The cleric can reach the plane shift spell faster than any other character. The ANIMAL domain is also worthy of consideration since, it increases the effective level of your Summon spells by 1; so, if you have the ANIMAL domain and cast Monster Summoning I. It will actually cast it as if it were Monster Summoning II. The cleric also makes a good leader class as they can hand out buffs, heals, and restorations to their team members as they filter through the lair.

SORCERER/WIZARD:

These classes can dish out a lot of damage and if a player learns when to run, when to use invisibility, and how to stand back behind summoned creatures and blast enemies from a distance then these classes are awesome to behold as the levels increase. The wizard can scribe scrolls of any spells they come across. The sorcerer does not have to memorize spells but has a limited selection. We also added some extra sensory notes that can sometimes appear for wizard players. Deva Winblood almost always plays a wizard.

DRUID:

The druid has gotten a recent upgrade and we have not had a chance to field test it for balance. Its summon spells are unique amongst all classes. If a druid casts a summon spell above ground in a natural area they will have wilderness type animals respond. The difference between a standard summon is that they can potentially have more than one creature respond to a single spell. If they cast it below ground in a natural area they will have a different set of creatures based on below ground. For example: they might get 6 rats when they cast a Summon Monster I spell below ground. If they cast the spell in a non-natural area then it will summon creatures just like the other spell casters summon. Thus, a druid should be able to field much larger animal armies. It is important to note that unlike the standard summons these are Not CELESTIAL or FIENDISH animals but are the ordinary animals. So, their strength comes in numbers. We have had some players play fairly effective druids in past games before adding this change.

BARD:

In the past the bard character has proven pretty useless in most Harvest of Souls

games. With the release of version 1.26 a new bardic abilities tool was added. This will

enable the bard to perform music and songs for commoners, merchants, etc. and be awarded gold and experience for successful performances. This means the bard could

potentially be a source of gold for a team. They might be able to bring in gold to the team by another means. The songs limitation is that each NPC will only pay and respond to a song once per game hour. So, once you have been paid you need to move on to another area or wait an hour before the same people will pay you. If you fail in your performance you will have to wait an hour before you can perform again for those particular NPCs. Also, the more difficult a performance you choose to do the higher the pay off. The maximum pay off is 1d10 gold per NPC within 20 meters and 1200 experience for succeeding in a DC 32 performance. Hopefully, the bard will at least have some valuable role in Harvest of Souls now.

ROGUE:

The rogue can be useful but most people who use them forget to capitalize on their strengths. They are stealthy!! So, sneak around. Don’t spend too many points on

open locks in this game as you will not need it that often. You can be valuable to your team by setting up traps to defend your lair or to trick your enemies. An important thing NOT to do is not to take gold and buy trap components. If you are the undead team then use some of the skeletons knuckles to make negative energy traps. If you are not the undead team then try to kill some skeletons to make such a trap. Otherwise, do not buy traps and such unless your leader tells you it is okay to do so. Your team might have much more important uses for the gold that you spend on a trap. Buying a trap might

spend just the amount of gold your team was lacking to field a vampire unit that can stop the hordes of spiders before they overrun your lair.

FINAL ADVICE:

Talk to NPCs that are interested in talking. Explore the maps. Learn the maps. Learn your opponents strategies. Have Fun!! Utilize the in game help manual!

VERSION HISTORY:

This is the release version history

1.26 final – Added scoreboard to game entry room, and end game room. *Added ability

for AI Leaders to be treated similar to PCs and have to traverse the shadow plane

to respawn. Completed the Temple of The Elder Gods and Aisada and Umnuikal.

*Updated the back story and changed it in the journal entry. Verified and adjusted

the raid steal commands. Added some additional spoken commands:

*TACTICS - as a unit command

*VOICECHAT - as a voice chat emote

*VAMPIRE - as a vampire ability

*ANIM #/# - animate PC with animation # for # seconds

*Integrated the Temple of The Elder Gods into the module in a significant way.

*Completely rewrote the Harvest of Souls Documentation.

*Added 1 and 3 minute AI leader level up options.

*Created some new artifacts, and sub-race type situations which can be acquired

via the Temple of The Elder Gods.

Vampire Problems

Feat icons vanish when level up as vampire

Feeding frenzy tries to attack invisible listener

New coffin item created when transform is used

Coffin can be placed where it cannot be used

Duration on effects when buried needs to be improved… buried needs

to be more interesting since the PC cannot do anything. Perhaps

make an OnClick cutscene game for the PC.

Low on blood messages need to be more informative.

Coffin should not be effected by lair cleaner

Desert Heat & Frost Bite should not effect vampires or liches

After death I am left pretty ghostly

Rope Trick & Maze – set area to undiscovered so, map is not revealed

Rope Trick should be bad to use underwater

*Philosopher’s stone does not work

Champion script TMIs

Power Reservoir Recovery units – rework

Champions need to respond properly to alliances

Alliances need to be verified

Krenshar needs to be reworked

Rope Trick person can get stuck on top of the rope when it is pulled up

Advice on starters manual returns unrecognized token

Areas that have not had any PCs pass through them for awhile should repopulate

some way.

-Treant Trample

-Treant Animate Tree

*Drop everything Rebirth of The Old Ones options

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