The Ruins of Nod's Tower (NW-DKU7A9JFH)

zoiks100

This is a somewhat short, but puzzle heavy map. Most of the puzzles are fairly simple, or have alternate solutions. And all are optional to quest completion. This map is also quest item heavy, all can be discarded without affecting quest completion, if you choose to do so, and all but the "monocle" have no use outside of the room in which they were acquired.

The combat varies, generally it's easy and sparse, but the alternate solutions mentioned above generally come with the price of heavier, and more frequent combat. Playing solo with green quality, relevant level gear, I would rate as overall easy to moderate at level 10-20, easy to hard 21-40, and moderate to difficult above that.

The map is designed so that the player can avoid much of the content if they choose to, requiring only limited exploration of the map and a 15 minute timer to expire. So duration will vary from 16 or so minutes to around 30 minutes depending on how much the player chooses to explore.

Background:

Nod, a powerful wizard who once wreaked havoc across much of Faerun, has vanished along with his "ubiquitous tower". Gone for a number of years now, rumors tell of his demise at the hands of a daring band of adventurers. This comes as no surprise, having been sought after by many, from those seeking his death or the various bounties placed upon his head, to his rivals who sought possession of the tower itself. But what of the tower?

A powerful artifact, the tower was enchanted to allow its owner to teleport themselves as well as the entirety of the tower itself instantaneously across any distance, including the planescape. Its location, or whatever remains of it, would be valuable to the right person, not to mention the treasures it may still contain within!

All of these thoughts and more run through your mind as the drunken, grizzled dwarf continues his tale of a ruined tower he discovered not far from this very city of Neverwinter! As he finishes, he swills down the last drops of his mug, his wild-eyed stare seemingly focuses on the damp stucco wall of the tavern. But you can almost see those ruins now just as you know he does.

"T'was somethin' dangerous about those ruins, I tell ya! I canna put me finger on it, but I know tha smell o' death when this dwarven nose sniffs it!" He taps his ruddy nose to emphasize the point. "So, whatcha think? You interested in tha location?"

You gesture to the barkeep, signaling for two more rounds as you pull some parchment and a quill from your pack...

Known BUGS:

Because of the way creature timers and triggers require the player to be within approximately 250 ft. to function, some areas of the map are out of range. I've done my best to keep as much of the map in range, but it simply wasn't possible. So timers may be off depending on how much time the player spends in these out of range areas. Until there is a better solution, I apologize.

I will add more as I receive comments, complaints, or questions here or in the game.

Thank you for playing The Ruins of Nod's Tower (NW-DKU7A9JFH)

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zoiks100

Extra post just in case I need more space, let's hope not.

zahinder

I love a puzzle mission!

Notes:
There's an abort exit -- if you must have one, please label it or put it behind a lock.
The water jug puzzle could really use a 'reset' button, particularly given how few cues are given as to where you are with it.

Magic Mouth room could have used a persistent rule listing (getting slaughtered here is where I gave up)

Oh, also, the number of quest items was really, really, REALLY obnoxious.

zoiks100

zahinder wrote: »

I love a puzzle mission!

Notes:
There's an abort exit -- if you must have one, please label it or put it behind a lock.

Alright, I went ahead and removed it since there's no real point to it.

The water jug puzzle could really use a 'reset' button, particularly given how few cues are given as to where you are with it.

It's not really feasible to reset the puzzle, that's why I had it loop around. There are two solutions, one starting with emptying the smaller vase, and the other from emptying the larger. As for more cues, again, it's not really feasible. If I tell the player, or put the number of gallons currently in the vase then it ceases to be a puzzle and just becomes a question of whether or not the player can read. I did include small descriptions, and general feedback (looks about right, doesn't look right, is full, is partially filled).

Magic Mouth room could have used a persistent rule listing (getting slaughtered here is where I gave up)

I'm not certain what you're commenting on. The combats in general there should be relatively easy, though there are potentially a lot of them. The only real exception to this is if the player uses all three keys in a specific way, which causes a large ambush, but side-steps the actual puzzle and opens the correct door. I was tempted to warn the player, but in this case I think it should be clear the player is "avoiding" the puzzle and so should expect repercussions.

And, as with all of the puzzles, they're not required to complete the quest. If the player doesn't like one, or otherwise can't solve it, they can simply ignore it and move on. I'll put this information in the OP of the thread.

Oh, also, the number of quest items was really, really, REALLY obnoxious.

Only one item, the first one, is actually used anywhere beyond the room in which you received it. All of the others can be discarded after you complete the room, and the golden keys can be discarded as soon as you get them. I realize there's no way for the player to know this, but that's intentional. Intentional because I always enjoyed the old adventure games, Colossal Cave, anything by Infocom, etc., all those all had some level of inventory management. Also I either put some effort into the description of the items or I liked the "feeling" of actually having to carry/use an item that was part of the puzzle. I'll add a note about this to the OP also.

trixsterjl

The ghost does not seem to respawn. I'd really like a definite indication that i'm done in a room. As far as i can tell i completed all rooms and cant find how to get to the reward. It just sayas 15 minute timer. I ran around for hour or more. Reset and ran through in like 10 mins knowing the answers. 15 min timer comes up. No way out that i can find. Tried a third time. Waited at the gate for 20 mins. reset and ran through the quests they all finish except the timer and nothing. I dont think this is finishable if it is it is not obvious.

zoiks100

trixsterjl wrote: »

The ghost does not seem to respawn. I'd really like a definite indication that i'm done in a room. As far as i can tell i completed all rooms and cant find how to get to the reward. It just sayas 15 minute timer. I ran around for hour or more. Reset and ran through in like 10 mins knowing the answers. 15 min timer comes up. No way out that i can find. Tried a third time. Waited at the gate for 20 mins. reset and ran through the quests they all finish except the timer and nothing. I dont think this is finishable if it is it is not obvious.

Yeah, there's a problem with the timer. I tested it, and apparently on live when you go out of range of the timer mob it resets immediately, but even worse it seems to either lose its last patrol point, or something even stranger is happening.

So I've taken the map down to see if I can find a solution.

Sorry about the problems, they never occurred while testing on foundry if that's any consolation.

And apparently they still don't occur on the foundry. So I'm going to try a couple things, first an extra patrol point to see if all they're losing is the last one, and second I'll split the timer into 4 timers since I have that many encounters left and if it works at least it will lessen the impact of going out of range. Next time I'm able to edit anyway.