31 replies to this topic

[Cuv]

Welcome everyone.

Return to Windspear is a huge new quest that you will be offered in ToB soon after leaving Saradush. A messenger from the Order of the Most Radiant Heart will deliver a message to you from Garren Windspear to meet with him at Watcher's Keep. There are two different messages that you could possibly get... these depend on whether you were a friend to Garren or an enemy. Since you killed Firkraag, it left a power vacuum in the area... and a new force has moved in to the dungeon. I wont spoil the plot here, but will put in the "Good" message from Garren that describes what has occurred:

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Greetings, . I wish to thank you once again for the heroic service you rendered to my family and to the Order. Perhaps, my friend, you would be willing to aid us once more? I have sent this request by way of the Noble Order of the Most Radiant Heart's swiftest messenger, and on behalf of the Order, I humbly beg your help regarding a matter most desperate. Unfortunately, I do not have very much information for you, but I will tell you what I know.

Not long after you departed, I began seeing strange footprints on my lands. I am still unsure whether the prints were of man or beast. I thought nothing more of this until a travelling merchant requested my help concerning some bandits that he claimed had killed his companions. I wanted to see them for myself and ventured forth with him to the scene, but nothing remained. There was no evidence anywhere that anything had occurred. It was most curious. He insisted that they wore robes of red and spoke with a strange accent, not heard in these parts before.

More recently, a dozen of the Order's most valiant knights accompanied by twenty engineers were sent to clear out the lair of that monster Firkraag. I had recently donated that land to the Order, and they intended to rebuild the old fortress as a temple and a training facility for young recruits. During the second week of work, the knights encountered a nest of vampires somewhere within the passages. A single paladin escaped the dungeon with this information before an invisible force sealed the entrance. He emerged near death and quite insane. No one can confirm his story, but he died soon afterwards in a manner consistent with loss of life force. Attempts to enter the passages have been unsuccessful. No magic nor divination has been able to penetrate this barrier. The fate of the paladins is unknown, but I fear the worst. The Order has declared this task to be of the utmost importance, and you will be well rewarded regardless of the outcome.

It is not safe for me to remain here in the Hills - I must protect my family. Please meet with me personally near the fortress known as Watcher's Keep; there I will be able to provide you with more information.

Your friend,

Garren Windspear
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The mod is getting close to completion. Here's a brief list of features:

WeiDU format
ToB must be installed
19 new areas
3 new tilesets
Dozens of new monsters
Improved AI
New joinable NPC
New voiceovers
New battle music
Over 70,000 words of dialog
Party interactions



Feel free to comment or ask questions. If you feel they will be of a spoiler nature, then please begin a new thread with "spoiler" in the topic line. I will not discuss the new NPC at this time... but all other inquiries will be answered.

Cuv

[Talon[BNR]]

cool should be great and fun, i lay halflings more so hopefuly theres something fun for halfings (*still wishes bg2 have halfling thief/mages*) cant wait to try it, if u need someone to test it i'll try it out

[Quitch]

You'll be surprised to learn that the mod DOES have some halfling checks.

[disguise]

this mod won't be compatible with redemption and ascension, huh??

[Quitch]

Who said that?

[disguise]

So it is???

Is it gonna be compatible with BP to??

Edited by disguise, 16 August 2004 - 03:47 AM.

[Quitch]

It should be compatible with every WeiDU mod, as for Big Picture, it won't be a part of it (unless the author does the work), but it might well run if installed after it. I couldn't say for sure though.

[Deva]

Sounds like a good mod. I'll look forwar too it, and may even make a paladin CHAR just to get the full effect. ^.^

[rreinier]

Question: who contacts the PC if he took the Evil path in the original Windspear quest?

[Cuv]

The Order messenger still contacts the PC. You may be evil or have done evil, but there is no-one left for them to turn to. The note from Garren will reflect this if you took the evil path. Yes, Garren is alive again if you killed him and/or gave his deed to Firkraag or whatever.

The game already hints that Garren is someone of some importance to the Order, but it never explains just what that is. We don't answer that question either, but add to the hints... so the Order would certainly have someone of importance raised if dead.

But rest assured... if you killed him once, you will have the opportunity to kill him again... but kill him ALOT if you wish. Or you can make up for your earlier evil ways and save him. However you want to play it.

Cuv

[Puffkage]

This mod sounds very promising, just one question though, if you don't mind: is it possible to play the mod if you start a new game in ToB? You said the note depends on how you acted in SoA, but what if you either started a new game in ToB or never did the Windspear Hills quest in SoA? It's just that I lost all data on my harddisk some time ago, and among that my savegames...

[fallen_demon]

I think they said that it will be based on alignment, but maybe i should wait for quitch or cuv to answer.

[rreinier]

Doesn't this raise inconsistancies if the PC killed Garren in an "unraisable" way, though? Also, isn't it against the Paladin's code to work with Evil?

Not criticizing or anything, BTW, just wondering...

[Quitch]

If you start ToB afresh then we take our best guess at how you treated Garren based on alignment and reputation. Since I'll be adding support for Virtue later, I'll factor that in too.

Do you have methods which prevent raising the dead at your disposal in this game? My limited AD&D knowledge tells me that removing the brain from the body makes this possible, but... I'll let Cuv handle this one.

If you killed Garren, then obviously the nature of his approach will be less friendly, as will any subsequent encounter with him or the Order.

Edited by Quitch, 20 September 2004 - 03:59 AM.

[rreinier]

Do you have methods which prevent raising the dead at your disposal in this game?

Chunking, via petrification or not, and mind-sucking will do the trick...

[Quitch]

Is chunking a game, or AD&D thing?

[Stone Wolf]

It's the game thing where instead of a solid body the copse explodes into little bits. I think it's just when you get to -10 hps or lower.

[Quitch]

Then we shall be ignoring it.

[Rasha]

In pnp, there are some deaths which are non resurrectable, I think any PC that gets damaged to -10 or lower suffers from "the final death." Although there are still ways for them to come back, a wish spell or divine ressurection, for example. "Chunking" is just the way it's implemented in BG2.

You could probably ignore it anyway, I'm sure the paladins could call up a divine favor or two in a pinch.

edit: I stand corrected. I should probably play pnp before I pretend to know about it.

Edited by Rasha, 27 September 2004 - 09:05 PM.

[Stone Wolf]

In PnP the -10hp thing is just the "death's door" rule, where having 0 hps just means you're unconscious and dying. You lose 1hp each round, but if you're brought back up to 1 hp you stabilize. You don't actually die until you get to -10hps.