Blurb about Shield Lands module:
This module is a single party module set in Greyhawk (single or multiplayer). Dieties of worship are selected in the starting area where you get your gear. So don't worry about knowing a lot about the gods of Greyhawk.
It is entirely action oriented, there is only one goal, and that is to recover artifacts and return them to the Viceroy of Caer Mabon, which is where you start.
There are henchmen that can be hired, but they do not level up. They are handy in the beginning, especially if you don't have enough players or are playing by yourself. They can be hired by the day for a certain amount of gold per day. They also need to be fed. You can give them better equipment, so although they are stuck at their starting level, you can find or order better armor from the blacksmith as you find wealth. Troops are fighters level 2 or 3 (chain shirts), there is also a level 4 Rogue and a level 3 barbarian in the Caer Mabon Public House.
The creature spawn system is cool, entering an area spawns foes and each area can be contested between two factions. One side will win and take control of the area. Stronger factions will end up taking over the module, and this is probably always going to be the Hill Beater tribe, which includes giants.
Creatures are well designed and balanced, a really good job making things challenging, especially at the beginning when you are at a low level.
When you recover an artifact the Viceroy of Caer Mabon will give you a battle standard. This can be used to spawn human troops to help fight the enemy creatures in the area. You'll want to scout an area before entering, this will usually tell you what faction controls the area. So you'll use the army when it is most beneficial.
There are a few bugs that should be fixed, I might try and fix a few. Some food items don't register as food, which can be a pain when you're loaded up with sausages and you rest. It thinks you starved the night away (tag = GOOD_FOOD, instead of GOODFOOD).
This module does have some very interesting ideas, though. The single party requirement is due to the time system. Traveling between areas takes time depending on distance between areas. Random encounters can happen, you and your henchment need to rest and eat every so many hours. This will crop up as you travel between areas, setting the time forward by X hours for all in the module. You can move time forward by simply using the transition placeables (sign posts). So if you only have a few hours until dawn, when your armor is completed you can forward to a few times of the day.
Another interesting addition, is that if a creature is killed, the enemy WILL loot the corpses! If you get something really cool and die in battle, you will run into a monster using it against you in the future (if it makes sense). Creatures also have morale, so injured, outnumbered, or weaker creatures will run to their allies (assuming they still live >:3
Caer Mabon has a merchant, sometimes 2, with a random selection of stock. A blacksmith is also available, but orders take time. Say, almost 2 days to craft a greatsword. You'll receive a voucher, which you can use to have it tell you how many days and hours are left before it is ready.
HINT: Weapons are available aplenty in the world. Rarely magical, but a lot of basic martial weapons are used and lootable from the enemy.
HINT 2: Salted fish is the cheapest, but does not last long. I used this food to start, since I would be too weak to travel far from Caer Mabon. You will sometimes find food items, as well you will have the opportunity to hunt and gather meat from your kills.
HINT 3: Don't be afraid to run away. If you scout an area and it has powerful nasties, 'head back' and travel to another area, or try and pull only one group of enemies at a time. Also note that in almost all cases, your entry into an area should be safe from enemies if you don't travel far from the Travelling signpost.
Note that the magic system has been altered to require certain prerequisites, such as cleric spells require a certain amount of credit with your diety. This credit can be earned by finding altars and sacrificing objects of value to your god.
I have not played a magic user, I believe you might need to purchase spell components.
I created a version of this module which bypasses this requirement, as it was difficult playing alone with these requirements.
Food is fixed.
Sorry I never replied, but for anyone else trying this module out, you can Level Up as long as you can legally rest. So putting up a tent or deploying your camp and being next to your fire is enough to Level Up. Otherswise your XP is removed to 1 XP below your previous level (after leveling up in an "illegal" rest area).
So if you're 1st level, and you get 1001 XP and can level up, and you do so outside a legal resting area, you are downleveled back to level 1 and you will have 999 XP remaining. You'll need to gain 1 XP again to level up. You will not lose any existing levels you had before trying to level up.
I have uploaded an updated version of the module fixing some area water tiles (as best I could) and fixing the food items to all be properly used when resting for you and henchmen.
The tilesets are probably outdated and have some water and pathing problems, but converting them to better tilesets is more work than I have time for.
HINT 4: Clerics must have Tithe "credit" with their diety to cast spells. You receive this credit by sacrificing items or even gold itself in an altar container. There are a few altars around the module. One is on top of the tower in Caer Mabon. Tithing is pretty easy, you'll find gems and items all over depending on the strength of your vanquished foes. I believe holding a holy symbol while casting also reduces this cost...
For intance, without a holy symbol, I know that casting Cure Minor Wounds costs nothing, so those spells are free. Casting Cure Light Wounds costs 2 GP of your Tithe balance.
Hint 5: Wizards and Sorcerers use a different mechanic, they require spell components
HINT 6: There are also training dummies in the Tower as well, though they don't give XP out quickly or easily.
This is a sandbox/monster farm module I made for my friends a couple of years ago. The associated hakpaks can be found here. This was a work in progress when it was abandoned, but it does feature dynamic, migrating monster populations and unique time & travel systems, death system, looting monsters, treasure systems, and an implementation of Jasperre's AI and Neshke's Extendable Spawn System.
From the module intro:
" The Shield Lands, and much of northern Furyondy, have been overrun by the hordes of the northern marchlands for nearly twenty-two years. Five years ago, a group of daring adventurers retrieved an artifact of the god Rao from a strange island in the south. With it, the arch-clergy banished all daemons from the face of our world. This decimated the armies of the warlord Iuz, who had brought the Horned Society and the Bandit Kingdoms under his influence.
With Iuz's forces weakened, King Belvor the Third of Furyondy quickly declared the Great Northern Crusade, which was able to reclaim Furyondy's northern territories, as well as a small area of the Shield Lands around Critwall. In the last few years, however, the fighting has come to a standstill. The Crusade ground to a halt when Belvor's generals realized that the goblinoid tribes and undead lords would just as soon fight one another as the armies of men. The absence of Iuz's daemonic overseers had cast his armies into disarray.
Caer Mabon is a settlement on the edge of the small territory controlled by the Knights of Holy Shielding, the nearly extinct rulers of the Shield Lands. Two clauses in the decree Great Northern crusade have attracted all manner of adventurers to borderlands like this one:
"That all serfs and criminals who settle reclaimed land will find amnesty for their bonds and debts." and "All treasure and artifacts found in the overrun lands may be kept by the finder in the absence of the original owner."
Nowhere in the lands of men can you find such a strange mixture of noble crusaders, underhanded criminals, and treasure seekers. "
If you like destroying enemies with sword adn spell and delving into hostile territories to do so, this is a module for you.
