Steppenkat's Foundry Quest Review!

steppenkat · May 2013

Good morning, everyone (at least in Europe)!

Last night I was reading a thread in GD about a Foundry quest. Some players offered their feedback to an author, pointing out things they didn't like from what was advertised. Many complained, some perhaps with rightful claims, that the Foundry has a lot of lousy content that for some reason is listed as "the best". You know what I'm talking about: the "Pit Fight" and arena style quests, and the ever-so-thrilling XP Ogre Farm Fest, Hulkamania's and so on.

So I thought to myself: "Hey, it would be nice if people talked more about this. Proper reviews and recommendations are something I love to read." Well, that leads me to the point of this post: I'd like to start reviewing myself some of this Foundry content, in hopes that it incentives people to do the same, and through healthy criticism, give promotion to good authors and improve the overall Foundry material!

Here's the deal: I'm going to do at least 1 Foundry quest per day (I don't really care about dailies, so I won't do dull quest just to grind the bonus). I shall post a review of each with date, NW Foundry Code and so on. Warning: there could be some spoilers, though don't worry! I'll separate the actual review from the cheatsheet evaluation, so if you like my first reviews and trust my judgement, you can have a notion about the quality of a quest by just checking the scores I'll give to them.

These will be, basically:

- Originality: Different quests that try to do something else than a hack n' slash or the basic "murder chase". The more surprising, yet retaining a certain degree of coherence, the better.
- Duration: As a Foundry quest is like a story, there should be a proper amount of time invested. Quests that are too short feel lackluster and those with unnecesary length feel often dull, repetitive and overwhelming.
- Plot: Is the plot intriguing? Is the story good? Do the characters feel realistic, or they're just quest/objective givers?
- Combat: Being a D&D fan, I like combat in my quests - however, too much combat and often, unnecesary tends to be boring.
- Difficulty: Everyone likes a challenge. However, an overwhelming situation isn't "challenging", just bothersome. This is a virtue or a flaw depending it it's appropriate to the quest. Fighting a Lich should be hard: beating a mob of angry peasants shouldn't need a 5 man group!

How would I evaluate this? Using a measurement from 1 to 5 - 1 being bad or completely lackluster in this aspect (which doesn't mean that a quest is bad by having a 1 in any of its elements: it depends, like everything), 3 being good or strong in this trait, and 5 being extremely good and obvious after a few minutes of playing it!

Then I'll make an average between every trait, which would be the "final score".

- Final Score: 1-5
- Would recommend?: Yes/No

And finally, a little section where I'd point out what I think that the Foundry author could do the improve the content. But what would go in the spoiler, alongside with the review.

Foundry Quest: XXXXXXX
NW Code: XXXXXXXXX
Author: @steppenkat
Originality: X
Duration: X
Plot: X
Combat: X
Difficulty: X

Final Score: X
Would Recommend?: Yes/No

Review: .........

Suggestions: ................

Review List

The Skeleton Key. Chapter 1: The Prime Material - 4

The Catacombs of Dread - 2

Pirate Cove - 3

Wicks and Things - 4

steppenkat · May 2013

Made a second thread in the appropriate subforum. I asked the mods to delete the other one.

If an author wishes me to review his/her work, please leave me the code of your quest. I'll play it as soon as I can.

Mind that I will be completely honest in my review and it's my opinion, not rocket science. So it's a give or take kind of deal. You get a critic, I get to play a quest.

The first review shall be posted later today, featuring: "The Skeleton Key, Part 1"!

wuhsin · May 2013

I believe you said you'd review mine yesterday. And I certainly do need reviews.

steppenkat · May 2013

wuhsin wrote: »

I believe you said you'd review mine yesterday. And I certainly do need reviews.

I didn't had time to play it, sadly. I think I told you that. I intend to do so today, though!

wuhsin · May 2013

steppenkat wrote: »

I didn't had time to play it, sadly. I think I told you that. I intend to do so today, though!

I know, it will probably consume a good bit of time as well, since it is about two hours long. So far people are liking the humor in it though, hopefully you will too.

steppenkat · May 2013

Foundry Quest: The Skeleton Key. Chapter 1: The Prime Material
NW Code: NW-DUPGY7BWX
Author: @drakedge2
Originality: 5
Duration: 3
Plot: 4
Combat: 4
Difficulty: 2

Final Score: 4
Would Recommend?: Yes

Review: I was quite interested in playing this quest as it was recommended by a friend of mine. Both him and I are Planescape geeks, so anything related with that setting gets our atention pretty quickly. And like most of the adventures that belong to this setting, they are bizarre, thrilling and mysterious. These are the qualities I expect from a Planescape adventure.

Does this quest fit with such description? I believe so. It starts well, with a common, unsuspicious presentation of the questgiver, you walk through a door and... wait, there's a huge cave here?! Perhaps a bit too huge, as it took a long walk to get to the next objective. I actually expected a combat encounter while walking across the bridge, it felt like an unnecesary element.

As most Planescape adventures, this one has a snowflake element (I'm special!) and I admit, for a moment the reference reminded me of Torment. As an introduction for a campaign, this quest does its job right by putting you in a middle of an interesting plot and makes you ask questions to yourself about what's going to happen next! I was indeed very excited for this as I kept asking every single NPC I could talk with. What was happening? Why am I special? I just came here, wait... The sudden fights you get involved into, I admit, were unexpected. There was just one little bit that I didn't enjoy that much - the zombie waves. The NPC walked towards the enemies and they started to gather in the door and kind of glitched, not walking into the stable.

There is also a sidequest but it doesn't appear to be finished. The author leaves a remark indicating so, meaning it's okay.

I'm not giving it a 5 since it's merely an introduction to a larger campaign, so it isn't self complete as a quest. It requires you to continue the saga, but it hooks you pretty well to it. I can't wait to play the next parts.

Suggestions: There are few grammar mistakes, basically a few omisions of punctuation and capital letters, nothing too serious. Also, I'm curious about the sidequest, so I hope that the author will further elaborate that part.

drakedge2 · May 2013

Thank you for the review, and the suggestions

I am indeed trying to polish up the grammar, on page 11, post #106 of the link in my signature I am asking for help with this. I do plan on returning to the sidequests of chapter 1, after chapter 5 is completed. Which should be sometime this or next week.

darkanind · May 2013

NW-DUCYKYQHA
Thanks!

meedacthunist · May 2013

Mission name: Witch Hunt
Short code: NW-DSZ3TJDEC

Its between 20 to 40 minutes. It can be done close to 15 by spamming "1" key in dialogues. There is story but I didn't wanted to punish players for not reading it.

zahinder · May 2013

Mission name: Wicks and Things
Short code: NW-DI4FMZRR4

Seems to run 20-30 minutes. There are a few extra bits and clues, story, which aren't required. The clues help with the big Maguffin.
One cool element (I think) is that the experience changes a bit depending on class -- there are events and clues that depend on Character Skill (thievery, etc.), to enhance replayability, and the Maguffin is approached differently depending on skill.

voivodak · May 2013

My quest is in sign. You can find on that page all the informations needed about my campaign

Thank you in advance

steppenkat · May 2013

Thank you for these recommendations! I'll try to play all these quests during this weekend.

voidgift · May 2013

The Exterminator - NW-DLNXF3BGG

It is my first quest. I tried it myself, and everything seems to be working smoothly. It is very short, about 15 min. Any suggestions and comments you can give is golden.

steppenkat · May 2013

Played Catacombs of Dread.

Soon a review. And now hopping into Pirate's Cove!

steppenkat · May 2013

Foundry Quest: The Catacombs of Dread
NW Code: NW-DKQ7MB5AE
Author: @wuhsin
Originality: 2
Duration: 5
Plot: 2
Combat: 2
Difficulty: 2

Final Score: 2
Would Recommend?: No

Review: This quest lives by its name: dreadful is an adjective you could apply when playing it. This quest starts easily, at first you have clear objectives. But then you get more. And more. Explore, pick up, collect, repeat. Over, and over, and over.

The dungeon is mostly a huge amount of rooms, long corridors and in-conexed things to do. I admit that the arahcnofobic Paladin was funny, but being also coward sounded awkward. The first bossfight was bugged (Kindle) as she would still remain as an NPC while you were hitting another one just spawned before you.

Then, when finally you think you're going to advance, you get rewarded with another task: collect more keys!

I spent half an hour trying to look for keys, because I honestly thought that the Drow dialog wasn't meant to be used. That situation felt completely missplaced. My character, a kind priestess of Sune, would never accept doing a favor to a Lolthlite's priestess, yet allow her to give her a blessing!

Basically, the whole thing felt an inconex mess, filled with repetitive tasks, no questpaths (though this last thing was indicated by the author) and without giving any incentive to the player to actually get involved. I was extremely bored and since I didn't know exactly what to do after speaking with the Drow, I ended up dropping the quest.

I play for fun and I don't think this quest is. It's too dull and shallow. Virtually, there were no enemies besides a few specific encounters. The rest was empty space.

There's nothing wrong with quests focused in exploration, but this trait must come fluently as you unfold the plot, and there was virtually no plot to follow. Just look around, over and over, searching for things to do.

Suggestions: I believe that this quest requires a great deal of work, some plot revision and give incentives to play with a group. The dungeon is mostly empty, the Kindle scene bugs if you choose another option that isn't "Banish" (since you fight her, but the NPC doesn't dissapear, so the quest event doesn't trigger and you need to talk to her again). The Drow encounter doesn't make sense considering that we're "heroes".

steppenkat · May 2013

Foundry Quest: Pirate Cove
NW Code: NW-DUCYKYQHA
Author: @darkanid
Originality: 3
Duration: 3
Plot: 3
Combat: 4
Difficulty: 3

Final Score: 3
Would Recommend?: Yes

Review: Pirate Cove is a simple introductory quest with a clear plot: you found a weird map in your bag and you decide to check the place it indicates.

The village location was pretty, though it was literally three houses. I found that funny. The first part is exploration and talking your way through. You end up joining a group and go the Pirate's Cove. I took a while getting into the actual dungeon as the questpath was broken and it literally wanted me to go through a wall.

Once inside, the overall enviroment is spooky. It's a ghostly cave, filled with undeads and ghosts. It has a simple puzzle, a maze and a riddle! Also, some fights, enemies to bash your way through. The typical dungeon most players are used to with various challenges. Though I almost felt sorry for beating the big golem by pushing him down the cliff.

Again, some questpaths are broken here, though I don't know if it's intended. I spent 15 minutes trying to get into the maze as the entrance was a bit hidden.

The riddle part was fabulous. I loved how it unfold. I wasn't sure that I had the correct answer, honestly. I thought I was going to die in that part!

And the ending was cool, slightly unexpected I must admit.

In shorters, this is a typical quest with some exploration, intrigue, fights and puzzles. It doesn't do an effort of presenting a brilliant plot, there's a clear bad guy who you want to beat that keeps tricking you until the end. And of course, the ending is open, but it feels like you've closed an arch - so it that sense it doesn't give the impression of feeling incomplete.

This could be a nice campaign, so I think it's worth to be played.

Suggestions: I'm not sure if it's intended, but some questpaths are misleading and in some parts they're broken.

Some of the enemies' "acting" is obvious: the bone golems are reskinned versions of gnolls. It's funny how they jump at you screaming "Yeenoghu wants your blood!" It was a bit awkward to watch. Also, the same with some ghost being Ustigalors. Unless it's specificly related, I think the mindflayers in the last fight are a bit out of place.

darkanind · May 2013

Thanks very much! This is the kind of feedback I need to make changes and appropriate improvements.

nam19772 · May 2013

voidgift wrote: »

The Exterminator - NW-DLNXF3BGG

It is my first quest. I tried it myself, and everything seems to be working smoothly. It is very short, about 15 min. Any suggestions and comments you can give is golden.

I couldn't get past the first room because I aggroed spiders who were behind the wall, putting me in combat mode and thus preventing me from interact with anything or even from exiting. Otherwise the first contact looks a bit too much like the cleric companion.
My deepest apologies for hijacking your thread, Steppenkat

steppenkat · May 2013

It's perfectly fine! As long as it's about a comment for a Foundry quest, it serves the purpose of this thread.

Tomorrow I'll try to finish the rest posted.

wuhsin · May 2013

steppenkat wrote: »

Foundry Quest: The Catacombs of Dread
NW Code: NW-DKQ7MB5AE
Author: @wuhsin
Originality: 2
Duration: 5
Plot: 2
Combat: 2
Difficulty: 2

Final Score: 2
Would Recommend?: No

Review: This quest lives by its name: dreadful is an adjective you could apply when playing it. This quest starts easily, at first you have clear objectives. But then you get more. And more. Explore, pick up, collect, repeat. Over, and over, and over.

The dungeon is mostly a huge amount of rooms, long corridors and in-conexed things to do. I admit that the arahcnofobic Paladin was funny, but being also coward sounded awkward. The first bossfight was bugged (Kindle) as she would still remain as an NPC while you were hitting another one just spawned before you.

Then, when finally you think you're going to advance, you get rewarded with another task: collect more keys!

I spent half an hour trying to look for keys, because I honestly thought that the Drow dialog wasn't meant to be used. That situation felt completely missplaced. My character, a kind priestess of Sune, would never accept doing a favor to a Lolthlite's priestess, yet allow her to give her a blessing!

Basically, the whole thing felt an inconex mess, filled with repetitive tasks, no questpaths (though this last thing was indicated by the author) and without giving any incentive to the player to actually get involved. I was extremely bored and since I didn't know exactly what to do after speaking with the Drow, I ended up dropping the quest.

I play for fun and I don't think this quest is. It's too dull and shallow. Virtually, there were no enemies besides a few specific encounters. The rest was empty space.

There's nothing wrong with quests focused in exploration, but this trait must come fluently as you unfold the plot, and there was virtually no plot to follow. Just look around, over and over, searching for things to do.

Suggestions: I believe that this quest requires a great deal of work, some plot revision and give incentives to play with a group. The dungeon is mostly empty, the Kindle scene bugs if you choose another option that isn't "Banish" (since you fight her, but the NPC doesn't dissapear, so the quest event doesn't trigger and you need to talk to her again). The Drow encounter doesn't make sense considering that we're "heroes".

You can kill the drow priestess Venecia in the quest, actually. If you pick the "I don't have time to run errands for you!" option she says "How dare you refuse a priestess of Lolth?! By Lolth's magic I shall turn you into a drider!" before ambushing you with her army of spiders. You might not have liked it, but you hit the nail on the head when you said it is dreadful. It is totally meant to be dreadful. Most people find the menial tasks at the beginning too dreadful. As for the glitch with Kindle, it is due to Foundry limitations that are hard to work around, and I apologize for that. However, there is a way to avoid her ridiculously hard encounter (I apologize again if you decided to fight her your only play-through, she's probably the toughest encounter in the dungeon, she actually says she's a daughter of the archdevil Fierna) all you have to do is select the right dialogue options and betray Skane Soulbane, killing him instead. Another guy reviewed it and one hilarious thing he said was that he threw the kobold under the bus soon as he met the succubus. So yeah, I think you let the dread get the best of you. lol

keylord02 · May 2013

Your reviews are well written and interesting to read. Please review my quest if you get the chance!

The Code is: NW-DJGYNI7NH
The Name is: Tomb of Wernar

nyghoma · May 2013

I like your reviewing style. Try my solo quest, Gloomlight: NW-DOA2BOHVS

Or if you have a party, try my 5 man skirmish: Orcus Unleashed: NW-DDU6KAENY

steppenkat · May 2013

Foundry Quest: Wicks and Things
NW Code: NW-DI4FMZRR4
Author: @zahinder
Originality: 3
Duration: 2
Plot: 3
Combat: 4
Difficulty: 4

Final Score: 4
Would Recommend?: Yes

Review: Before the review, please mind that the scores do not exactly reflect the overall quality of this quest, as in every number I give I'm only taking in account partial aspects of it.

You won't find this quest extremely original: a lost caravan in distress, they send you to find it.

It's not particulary long either. I finished it in about 20-30 minutes, which is rather short compared to most of the Foundry's content.

The plot isn't also mind-blowing. You search for a caravan and try to fix whatever happened and rescue a gnome couple.

But put all these things together and add little details that make the experience wonderful. The dialogues are very rich and coherent. The scenario doesn't feel "instanced" - I was in fact impressed about how wide it was, it truly felt like I was in an open world. After some fights, you could interrogate prisioners! This was a clever use of resources and didn't felt forced at all. Also, the resolution of several options (talking with a dead orc doesn't seem very productive) also seemed clever.

This is the kind of average looking quest that has been very polished. The dificulty increases after each fight and it becomes overwhelming when you need to deal with the puzzle. I felt very tense, as I wasn't sure that to do and I kept getting wrong answers over and over. The wonderful employment of visual effects really gave the impression that the whole scenario was being caught by a blazing fire.

If someone is looking for a quest that has good exploration options without feeling empty or too complicated in this aspect (it has questpaths), it's good. It's also a one-shot, so you will have a sense of accomplishment instead of running into an introduction. I've suscribed to the author and I hope to play future content designed from him soon (and I believe that I've tipped him as well).

So, in shorters: a good experience, would play again!

Suggestions: After a few mistakes trying to solve the puzzle, the machine seemed to refuse to spawn more encounters. I think that it's meant to spawn elementals each time you commit a mistake, yes? I'm not sure if this is due to a lack of resources or the author's mistake.

havocl · May 2013

If you'll have time, check out my campaign. It's in the signature

markyx16 · May 2013

I have an hour and a half campaign called The Thamus Blade.

The Thamus Blade: NWS-DACTUKWMX
Chapter 1 - Rescuing Answers: NW-DC64NKE5B
Chapter 2 - Following the Horde: NW-DHVMWBW9D
Chapter 3 - Memories: NW-DJHWOYMOY

steppenkat · May 2013

meedacthunist wrote: »

Mission name: Witch Hunt
Short code: NW-DSZ3TJDEC

Its between 20 to 40 minutes. It can be done close to 15 by spamming "1" key in dialogues. There is story but I didn't wanted to punish players for not reading it.

I will do this quest with my Rogue (she's CG with Neutral tendencies) soon enough, just for you to know.

zahinder · May 2013

Glad you liked it! As my first mission, I think it deserves it's solid '4 star' current rating.

It's actually going to be one of five missions, and is sort of an introduction... but perfectly playable on its own. Also, there are a few fiddly details that change depending on class skill, so if you like it, please try it with a different character!

As for the encounter spawning... I elected to only have one 'mistake' spawn. This was for two reasons: to cut down on player frustration (since not everyone is up to vague puzzles or brute force attempts), and also because arranging the dialog to handle that kind of repeat mistake/spawns would have been... a lot of work.

Mind you, I would have done the work if I thought it was a really good idea, but the combination... yeah.

Also, they are halflings, not gnomes. Heh.

I do have a gnome in the next map, which you may not have seen -- some folks commented that the ending felt too abrupt. Also, adding a map after helps ensure that the final chest actually has something in it (if you have a combat ending a mission, there's a good chance the loot pace mechanic will give you an empty chest.)

Anyway, working on the next mission now... saving Fenwick children from Unknown Peril (tm).

lisya23 · June 2013

I most kindly ask for a review on my quest. Caravan to Hope NW-DFTTHB6KD. A fresh set of eyes and an honest opinion is most greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Ravensong

pavvo · June 2013

Very cool thing you've got going here. I would like to submit my 2 campaigns for your review (when you have the time, if not a review of my 2nd quest - Amulet of the Shining Sun, would be nice).

Cheers. Links in the Sig

nezroy123 · June 2013

Always happy to see more reviews! If you are still actively working on this project, I hope you have a chance to check out my quest, "Fate of the Bonnie Kate" (NW-DE6K6H63Q). Details in this thread.

Steppenkat's Foundry Quest Review!

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