Endless Depths



Endless Depths v 1.01

Note: Visit for questions or to report bugs.

DESCRIPTION

Endless Depths continues the Endless Nights series in NWN2. It is a rogue-like in the truest sense. The bulk of the module is made up of a random dungeon that is generated from scratch. Endless Depths features random monsters, random camps within the dungeon, dynamic magic items, and a companion system that allows players to register their own characters as companions.

BASE CAMP

Characters begin in a small camp near the dungeon where they will find merchants that sell basic gear. Guard Settings not only guards the camp, but also provides characters with the ability to change settings for the module as well as register themselves as possible (future) companions. Note that only characters without any adventure experience area allowed to register as a companion and certain settings can only be changed when the character has zero experience.

SETTINGS

The two key settings for Endless Depths are Game Mode and Players. Game Mode allows the player to change between normal mode which allows a certain number of ‘lives’ before spawning in Purgatory and Hardcore Mode which does not provide any extra lives. Setting the number of players to a specific number instead of auto will spawn the dungeon for that number of players thus allowing the player to modify the difficulty of the dungeon.

Note that setting the number of players higher than the real number of players/companions in the game will take effect as the player explores and not necessarily immediately upon entry. (If the game is set for 4 players and only 1 player is playing the first levels of the dungeon will spawn for 1-3 players to allow the character to gain a few levels before the true difficulty kicks in). These settings can play a part in other areas of the game such as magic item drop rates.

MERCHANTS

The base camp and the cave that contains the dungeon entrance are home to several merchants that can aid the adventurer with basic needs. The general merchant sells weapons and armor including a few weapons of different metal types, alchemists fire for those pesky trolls, and basic spike traps. The priest sells an assortment of healing goods and will heal any adventurer free of charge. The gnome magician inside the cave sells a small assortment of spell scrolls and general crafting gear. The gypsy sells a few random magic items.

Items of interest to the explorer are the scrolls of recall available at the general merchant that sells weapons and armor, scrolls of raise dead available from the priest, and the rod of identifying available from the gnome inside of the cave.

EXPLORING and the SCROLL OF RECALL

Exploration is relatively straight forward. The dungeon levels are created when character enter stairs to a new level and are populated with mobs and rooms. However, because the game creates the levels by spawning in objects while the game is running the dungeon level will not show up on the map. This can be fixed by alt-tabbing out of the game and back into the game when in full screen mode to trigger NWN2 to refresh the map. Hopefully in a future patch NWN2 will fix this issue with the map.

Scrolls of Recall can be purchased from one of the merchants at the base camp and one is also given to the player upon entry to the game. A scroll of recall cannot be used while in combat and takes approximately 10 seconds to take effect. Once completed, the scroll will take the player back to the base camp and create a recall stone in their inventory. This stone can only be used at the base camp (or the cave containing the dungeon entrance) and will take the character back to the spot they recalled from.

CHESTS AND TREASURE

Chests, barrels, crates, etc, have a chance of dropping anything from gold to gems to traps to magic items. In most cases, when a chest contains a magic item it will generate a magic item for each player and companion in the game. Each player/companion must check the chest for the magic item to be generated. Not all chests containing magic items will generate one for every character, but many will so remember to check them.

PLAYERS, COMPANIONS AND DEATH

Players receive three ‘lives’ plus one every four levels in normal mode. Upon death, if they have an available life, the player will revive at the entrance to the dungeon. If they do not have an available life they will be sent to purgatory where they will be ranked.

In hardcore mode players do not get extra lives and will be sent to purgatory after their first death. Hardcore mode gives certain bonuses including a bonus to scoring.

Players can register themselves as companions for future adventures. Companions are added through the Party Roster available through the NWN2 menu and can only be added to the party at the base camp before entering any other area of the game. Upon death the player can choose to wait instead of respawning thus allowing one of their companions to raise them from the dead (if they have the power).

Companions follow the same death rules as players and will leave a corpse if they have used up all of their lives (or after their first death in hardcore mode). This corpse will be moved to the base camp when the player next visits it.

TIPS

Once you have enough gold always keep two scrolls of recall on you in case you forget to buy one on a trip back to the base camp. You don’t have to walk up every level of the dungeon to get back to the top, but you do have to walk up a few and it is much better to use the scroll of recall.

If you are playing with companions then keep a scroll of raise dead on each companion that way if you die and one of them lives you can have them raise you.

Create a save game file specifically for saving before taking stairs down or a trapdoor down. When you click on stairs down (or the trapdoor) the next level of the dungeon is generated. Should there be any problems it is always good to have that save file.

PREFABS USED

Monster Manual 1 by Wild Bill

Monster Manual 2 by Wild Bill

V1.01

* The Monster Manual packs by Wild Bill have been added as well as a couple of other creatures.

* The last dungeon level can now be rebuilt through a choice on Guard Settings. This should take care of any rare bug that might cause the trapdoor or stairs down to be unusable or unavailable. Be careful not to have your recall stone load into a level that is being rebuilt else you could find yourself stuck between walls.

* Distillables are no longer available through the crafting merchant. These will drop off of appropriate mobs. Note: They will not always drop.

* One of each essence is now purchasable off the crafting merchant.

* The drop rates for essences has been reduced.

* The crafting merchant now only has a limited number of base materials for sale.

* Special areas have gotten the ax as they did not provide any additional gameplay. This should save a little on space.

* A surprise from a special area was moved into the dungeon to be found by the wandering adventurer.

* Falchions and Warmaces should be recognized by the loot engine. These were previously bugged because of an NWN2 bug omitting their feat constants – the 2da values have been used as a workaround to get them to be recognized.

* The module was exported to an .erf file and imported into a new module file as a general cleaning.

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