Quest - Gnawing in the Darkness (Playthrough, pointers, & reviews welcome)

bilanthri

Hello Foundry Community,

I have just completed my first Foundry quest and would very much like some feedback from all of you creative-type people. This quest is designed to be only moderately difficult for a single player.

Title: Gnawing in the Darkness
Short Code: NW-DLD4KZD58
Mission Type: Sewer Investigation
Ave Duration: 25 minutes solo/10-15 minutes party
Combat: Moderate
Starts At: Guard Frinko (Protector's Enclave)

Freelancers Wanted!

By the authority of the City Watch, mercenaries, sellswords, and all manner of adventurers are advised to seek out Guard Frinko in regards to an investigation ongoing in the eastern sewer complex. Those with ailments of the lungs, or any general afflictions of the constitution, need not apply.

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This adventure is designed for solo play but can be enjoyed by a party as central portions of the quest can be performed simultaneously by splitting up.

Let me know what you think of my adventure, and I'll be happy to return the favor.

bilanthri

I've made some adjustments to the ambiance and effects. Hopefully that will give the area a more rank feel.

I've also improved the spacing of encounters to make for a more challenging adventure. Certainly still able to be completed solo.

If you like my style, let me know what quests you'd like me to review for you.

orodalf

Typo Report:

• Quest Description: "in regard to" (not "in regards to")
• Frinko: "aqueduct" (not "aquaduct")
• Cistern Gate Interact Failure message: "The gate is locked." (not "they grate")
• Dwarven Sewer Worker: "It's a good thing, too." (comma)
• Dwarven Sewer Worker: "... down here, seeing as..." (comma)
• Dwarven Sewer Worker: "Some of it's pretty new, even." (comma)
• Dwarven Sewer Worker: "I've been holed up..." (not "hold up")
• Dwarven Sewer Worker: "I need you to go clear out the cesspool and sump room and then finish off..." (no comma, add "then")
• Green/Yellow Focusing Jewel description: "Shamans," not "Shamen."
• Dwarven Sewer Worker: "One thing, though: while I was working, I heard things." (run-on)

Other comments:

• You should probably turn off quest pathing for the part in which you're supposed to look for the key to the gate.
• Please drop a waypoint for the key. I went around about 3 times before I saw that tiny little object surrounded on two sides. >.<
• Some of the monsters aren't actually Wererats (as in, their graphic isn't a Wererat).
• The quest just kind of... ends. o.0
• Yay for Cyric-related story, though!

My quest is NW-DNHUS45KC.

bilanthri

Thanks for the feedback. I corrected the grammatical issues and appreciate the attention to detail in your play-through.

Quest pathing, and waypoints, for the Cistern Gate portion of the quest were a problem for me. Each class gets the key from a different object, which only appears for that class. I'm not sure how I could best mark that with quest waypoints.

The wererats that are not wearing wererat skins were intentional. Not all lycanthropes spend all the time in their hybrid form. I did this to add some variety to the visual appeal of the dungeon.

I don't have time to do it just yet, but this evening I'll have the sewer worker come in after the final battle to help sum up.

I'll try your quest then as well.

lolsorhand

I'll give this ago tomorrow when I get up. (Have about 10 quests or so I need to run.) I'll post here when done

twisted0utlaw

I will add this quest to my list of things to do tomorrow

orodalf

Each class gets the key from a different object, which only appears for that class. I'm not sure how I could best mark that with quest waypoints.

I see. I wonder why you did this; I didn't notice anything particularly thief-like about the place my Rogue got the key from.

The wererats that are not wearing wererat skins were intentional. Not all lycanthropes spend all the time in their hybrid form. I did this to add some variety to the visual appeal of the dungeon.

I see. I assumed this after thinking about it for a bit. (Also, a more correct word is "therianthrope" - the term "lycanthrope" generally only refers to werewolves.)

bilanthri

Honestly, I made the key have different locations just to make the quest a little different for each class, and to make it more fun for a party to split up in search for the key. As far as being thiefy/clericy/etc, the objects are more related to things each class would have knowledge about (dungeoneering was a bit of a stretch though). Really, the idea is to reuse the same central map section a couple times, mainly to make it feel a little less linear.

You are correct on the terminology, except, in the D&D mythos, lycanthrope has always been used for all weres regardless of animal form.

I would actually appreciate any advice on making quests feel less linear. It bothers me a bit that there's no OR function for quest objectives. I really wanted each class to have a totally different way to get into the cistern.

orodalf

You are correct on the terminology, except, in the D&D mythos, lycanthrope has always been used for all weres regardless of animal form.

Ah. I am relatively unfamiliar with D&D terminology.

I would actually appreciate any advice on making quests feel less linear. It bothers me a bit that there's no OR function for quest objectives. I really wanted each class to have a totally different way to get into the cistern.

You can totally have this. What you can do is block off each entrance into the cistern with a different something-or-other (interactable, monster, what-have-you) that only an individual with a certain skill can breach. Set the "get into the cistern" objective to be reaching a point inside the cistern, rather than interacting with the gate into the cistern.

bilanthri

For anyone who had planned to run this quest, it is still up and I would appreciate any feedback. However, due to some of the already excellent feedback I have received, I plan to reorganize the map to help with objective flow. The dialogs and objectives will not be changed much, but the mechanics of the encounters and how the players move through the sewers is in the process of being refined and improved.

More to come in a day or two.