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[Claudius33]

Now released : http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn2/module/al-andalus

 

Also available on the Nexus : http://www.nexusmods...ter2/mods/997/? (You need to be registered and have access to adult content)

 

 

They are coming soon. They are not far from your palace. You have a few days to get ready to ... run away.

 

 

750 AD. A prestigious empire is about to fall. Unfortunately you are a young prince of the ruling family. Will you successfully recruit faithful companions, find allies, build a reputation and found a new dynasty?

 

Are you ready to undertake a thrilling journey in the middle of the 8th century?

 

However you must manage to escape first, because rebels are already about to break in your palace …

 

 

Al Andalus implements features found in 16 Cygni (influence, crafting, dynamic choice of companions class ...) but also additional mechanisms found in Sarmates! :

• Lock picking and disarming traps grant XP and might trigger alignment shifts.
• Prestige : Impress people by your skills and by missions achievements. Prestige has been extended. 
• Unofficial alignment : ever dreamed of playing a nasty paladin or a faithful warlock? Yes you can.

 

About 28 to 30 hours of play.

 

Al Andalus is bilingual French / English. It should be available from Feb 21st.

 

Gallery : http://1drv.ms/17xbp2B

 

 

Ils ne sont plus qu'à quelques jours de votre palais. Préparez vous à ... fuir.

 

750 après JC. Un empire prestigieux est sur le point de tomber. Malheureusement vous êtes un jeune prince de la famille régnante. Saurez-vous vous adjoindre des compagnons fidèles, trouver des alliés, vous forger une réputation et fonder une nouvelle dynastie?

 

Prêt(e) à  entreprendre un voyage palpitant au milieu du 8ème siècle?

 

Mais il faudra d'abord réussir à vous enfuir, car les rebelles sont déjà le point d'investir votre palais ...

 

Al Andalus propose les mécanismes de 16 Cygni (influence, artisanat, choix dynamique de la classe des compagnons ...) mais aussi les mécanismes additionnels de Sarmates! :

- Crochetage et désarmement des pièges donnent de l'XP et provoquent parfois une modification de l'alignement.

- Prestige : impressionnez les gens par vos capacités et la réussite des missions. Le Prestige a été étendu.

- alignement non officiel : n'avez vous jamais rêvé de pouvoir jouer un paladin mauvais ou un sorcier loyal? Oui vous pouvez.

 

Environ 28 à 30 heures de jeu.

 

Al Andalus est bilingue Français/Anglais. 

 

Galerie : http://1drv.ms/17xbp2B

[rjshae]

It looks good. Based on the Al-Qadim setting, perhaps?

[Claudius33]

Thanks. I'd say a blend of history and Arabian Nights atmosphere  .

[Arkalezth]

Unfortunately you are a young prince of the ruling family.

I never thought I'd see that described as "unfortunate".

One of the main appeals of Sarmates, to me, was the historical/real life setting (plus I'm Spanish, although not from the conquered part), so I'll be playing this one for sure.

[Claudius33]

One of the main appeals of Sarmates, to me, was the historical/real life setting (plus I'm Spanish, although not of the conquered part), so I'll be playing this one for sure.

 

So you shouldn't be disappointed by the historical/real life setting of Al Andalus  .

[Dann-J]

Can you play as a princess instead of a prince? If not, then you've already alienated half of your potential audience.

[Claudius33]

Sorry a princess couldn't fit the story, definitely. I can't tell more without spoiling. Nevertheless there are interesting female (and male) companions and NPCs  .

 

What about The Witcher (male PC) or The Longest Journey (female PC) for instance? Sure they weren't party based RPGs, but were and are still popular games. I do not think that both games alienated half of their potential audience.

[Tchos]

I would rather have had the option for a female Witcher.  I used a mod to play as one for part of it.

[MaxQuartiroli]

A new mod from Claudius33 is one of the best news I could ever hear! Can't wait for it!

[Claudius33]

Thank you MaxQuartiroli, it should be available this week-end.

 

@Tchos & Dann-j : Uh, a mod for a female Witcher? That should be really funny if some conversations are not rewritten and the voice not re-recorded, let alone hot lesbian situations .

 

I'm confident that skilled moders like you guys can quickly remove the initial gender test (the convo is in the campaign folder) and amend the PC's civilian clothes (check the initialization script and related blueprints in the first module AA_Di...). Hat #120, should be changed to Hat #80 for a woman. #120 was HiPPiaS first version (men only). I don't remember if I made the change for one of the PC's turbans.

So if you can cope with conversations and situations targeting a man, you can play Al Andalus with a princess  . 

[Tchos]

Yes, it would have been nice if the conversations had been edited to match the new gender, but they were not.  Also, I would have been happy without a new recorded voice.  Most mods and games I play have no voices, and I generally prefer them that way.  As for lesbian situations, that's quite canon for the Witcher series, as you probably know, especially within the Lodge of Sorceresses.

 

I expect I'd play your mod without altering it for a female character, but it's good that you provided helpful info on how to do so. 

[Dann-J]

It's probably not a good idea playing as a female character in a campaign inspired by middle-eastern culture. I don't think I'd like having my character gang raped, then flogged or hanged by authorities for allowing herself to be gang raped. I don't think I'd like that at all.

 

I suppose it'd make character creation a faster process though, since it wouldn't matter what you female character's face or hair looked like. All you'd have to decide is what colour eyes she had. 

[Claudius33]

LOL  .

 

Salafism and Wahhabism "modern" (!!??) currents of Islam began to grow more than one millenium after the mod's time, especially beginning of the 20th century when the Saudi family made a political alliance with Wahhabists ...

 

Not saying these guys were angels at that time, but nothing comparable to now days.

[kamal_]

In the real world in 750 AD

 

August 6 – Marwan II is caught and killed at Faiyum by supporters of caliph Abdullah ibn Muhammad as-Saffah. Almost the entire Umayyad Dynasty is assassinated, prince Abd al-Rahman I escapes to Al-Andalus. The Abbasids assume control of the Islamic world and establish their capital at Kufa.

 

So theoretically you're Abd al-Rahman based on the description from the first post.

[Dann-J]

LOL  .

 

Salafism and Wahhabism "modern" (!!??) currents of Islam began to grow more than one millenium after the mod's time, especially beginning of the 20th century when the Saudi family made a political alliance with Wahhabists ...

 

Not saying these guys were angels at that time, but nothing comparable to now days.

 

Indeed. Modern middle-eastern attitudes to women certainly don't reflect those of the past. Nor are they associated with any particular religion. They seem to be relatively recent cultural practices, rather than ancient religious ones. Both the Qur'an and the Old Testament have examples of strong female role models that do nothing to justify modern attitudes to women in the middle-east.

 

All of which gives you no excuse not to make your storyline equally relevant to both male and female characters! Unless of course the story is centred around some sort of magic c**k ring that grants immense powers to the wearer.

[Claudius33]

Not a matter of male attribute specific power   , nor a matter of cultural aspect practice or religion, just a matter of (hi) story line ...

[Claudius33]

 ... as Kamal guessed it ... 

[Arkalezth]

Well, pretty much any power figure in any module with a historical base is going to be a man, regardless of the place and the time. Yes, there are exceptions, but still a vast minority, so no need to link me the biography of some warrior queen as a proof (although I'd likely enjoy reading it). That said, I'm all for taking some liberties and allowing a gender choice, as long as it's not absolutely non-sensical (which seems to be the case here, being based on a RL person). It wouldn't be the first gender-restricted module I'd played, after all.

Anyway, it sounds very interesting. If you ever feel like working some more on the setting, but from a different perspective, I'd totally like to play this   : http://en.wikipedia....le_of_Covadonga

[Dann-J]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aisha

 

Not quite a 'warrior queen' but she did once lead an army into battle, albeit in a non-combat role (providing inspiration to the troops much like a bard in a D&D game). She was about 100 years too early for this campaign though, and at the other end of the mediterranean. Plus there might be certain repercussions if you tried to represent her husband in NPC form.

[Arkalezth]

Heh, thanks for the link, I'll take a look.

 

As a fan of "Badass of the week", I've read about quite a few more examples. Here's the "women" section. The books feature some more.

[Claudius33]

My previous mods actually include historical warrior women  .

 

• Tomoe Gozen, the famous female samurai in 16 Cygni.
• Amagê, a female companion derived from Sarmatian Queen Amagê in Sarmates! One "flashback" quest tells Queen Amagê and her 120 horsemen bold raid against Scythians.

 

And there is a great warrior woman in Al Andalus   ...

 

When I chose a historical character for my new mod, I tried to pick up someone not to much known around whom a story for NWN2 could be built. Large battles and politics only do no really fit the bill as a NWN2 campaign involves a small party, not a large army. So someone like Joan of Arc or Tomyris doesn't really fit the bill. Fredegund against Brunhilde would be very appealing, but very difficult to set as a NWN2 campaign as it mainly a matter of intrigues.

 

Besides, as the PC is the spokesman and party leader, making him/her just a follower to allow a choice of gender, would have made the whole story rather ridiculous.

 

As a female hero, Queen Boudicca (a.k.a. Bodicea) could be a candidate, providing totally invented episodes of her youth and an amended end (too sad otherwise). Yennenga would be another great candidate providing enough African content available. She's a (semi?)-legendary character so rather open to any story and much less known than any kind of European valkyrie.

[kamal_]

You can have a sad ending. I've considered making a mod where the party has to make a stand where they have no chance of surviving (demon portal open in the woods and the demons start streaming to a nearby city, the player has to hold off demonic waves for as long as possible, the longer they hold them off, the more townspeople are able to escape before the city is overrun by the demonic hordes, with the number of people able to escape the city serving as a sort of "score"). That would be a super heroic ending for a good aligned party, especially Paladins andclerics of good gods and such.

Crimmor has one if the player makes a wrong decision. I always wondered how many people wound up with it, and if they reloaded to change their minds.

[kevL]

Joan of Arc

She also gets Mega 4x Multiplier Badass Points for being probably one of the only people in the history of the world to be both burned at the stake as a heretic AND sainted.

i wonder if that would be difficult to model /jk

[Dann-J]

You can have a sad ending. I've considered making a mod where the party has to make a stand where they have no chance of surviving ...

 

Soulbringer is one of my all-time favourite games, and featured an ending where the player can choose to sacrifice themself. Such an ending can be satisfying if it's done well.

[Claudius33]

Sure a sad end can be satisfying but only if well explained, well prepared and well realized. Still, many players might be frustrated. 

 

Personally I wouldn't commit to a one year and a half of even more hard work for a campaign with a too sad ending, I'm simply not akin to do it. 

 

So you can deduct than Al Andalus has not a sad ending   .