4 replies to this topic

[minotaur_in_maze]

Hello to all the friendly folk out there. I have this habit, I can never throw Anything away, and I have had a quest idea floating around in my head for some time. I was originally going to use it for my NPC, (STILL unfinished but at 89%!) but she was already quest heavy so I decided to scrap it.

Still?

I would like to write out the quest and choice branches here to see what people think of The Idea itself and to see if anyone thinks it might be worthwhile for a mod in general.
(I admit I fudged just a little in writing it and wrote scenes where I knew I could use the maps and sounds available from existing games rather than new stuff. The Ideas are new though)

So?

After completing the Druid Grove Quest in Trademeet, ... our party goes back to Lord Logan to get whatever they can get. While there they encounter Minotaur Ambassador Drellos (I stole the name from a PbP character I have, sorry but he was an NPC idea First!) who has been dispatched to the area on a mission. Seems that back home on Minos, the island home of this breed of minotaur, they are having a problem. Pirates are choking off supplies between the island and those of their neighbors, preventing trade; and lately some group has begun choking the life out of members of the royal family.

Minotaur internal politics being what they are, The Minotaur Emperor has sent Drellos a ways away to recruit outside help that can be better trusted. Unfortunately, Lord Logan is having none of it. About the time <CHARNAME> shows up, Logan is telling Drellos that Trademeet can offer no help?but since you are there, he suggests that you be asked.

GAME CHOICE:

Accept Drellos?s Request to Help Minos ? Quest begins. Drellos joins party.
Decline Drellos?s Request ? BG2 goes on as before. Drellos exits, never to be seen again.


If ya take the quest:

Ambassador Drellos explains that Minos is a long, long LONG way to the North. Yes, if you like, feel free to ask Saemon to give ya a lift on his ship when the time comes to visit spellhold ? but you will find that you can?t get there that way.

The only way you CAN get there, says Drellos, is to accompany him on the airship that brought him. ? Though just then Lord Logan pipes in saying that he knows of another way to Minos, a way that might help him out as well. Seems as though Trademeet gets most of its guards from a monastery a few days to the east. Lately the monastery has stopped sending reinforcements and Logan would like to know why. The monastery also has a deep underground tunnel that connects with many of the outlying areas of the world, including Minos. If ya want to take that route he will send you on a caravan that is leaving soon.

GAME CHOICE:

Elect to travel through the sky ? Accompany Drellos to his airship on a small mountain a screen or two away. Trip will be mostly uneventful. (Option A)

Decide to Help Lord Logan out once again and travel underground via the Monastery ? Leave with the caravan. Trip will be mostly uneventful. (Option B)


Choosing Option A.

You accompany Ambassador Drellos back to his airship and take off into the clouds (A truly wonderful idea for a cutscene or a move if anyone had the talent, I must say) the trip begins in an uneventful fashion but?something goes wrong and the airship is brought down!

Once back on the ground, the pilot and the few surviving crew-minotaurs tell you that the airship Can be fixed, but you are your group will need to go and find metal and cloth to repair the thing.

So once again you set out and though the green green grassy plain around you quickly gives way to sand and rock, the going is surprisingly easy, you do have to deal with a bunch of wolves, bears and the odd wandering ork, but they are more of a nuisance to an experienced party like your than any real problem.

By the by you come to the ruins of an old sawmill and, venturing inside you find the fabric and metal that you need?unfortunately about the time you turn to leave you hear a massive cracking sound and then the floor of the place falls in (Screen goes to black and then back to?someplace else. You awake, none the worse for wear, in the large basement of the sawmill, the stairs leading back up look rickety but are intact, unfortunately the possibility of a twisted ankle in climbing them is the LEAST of your problems.

Between you and the stairs stands THREE dragons? Well, looks are deceiving, actually it is only ONE dragon, along with her newborns ? Dragonettes?! Oh and they are so HAPPY to see you too. Mommy dragon explains that she laid her eggs in the old sawmill?s cellar many years ago, and has been waiting a long time to allow them to hatch. Waiting for what, you might ask? Well you see, Dragonettes?, when they first hatch, need to be Taught how to hunt ? they are also born very very hungry! Momma dragon has been waiting a long time for some nice yummy adventurers to happen by for her babies first snack.

The fight, as one might imagine, is tough, but not nearly as tough as it Could be. Newborn dragons are born with high hit points one very minor ability (each) and that?s about it ? they fall with reasonable ease. Big mama on the other hand is a force to be reckoned with. After you?ve dealt with the three of them you get the spoils of Newborn Dragon Scale (which can be made into an phenomenally strong but incredibly lightweight special kind of armor ? (X-2 one for each Dragonette? so armor AND maybe a shield are not unthinkable)

You leave, remembering to take the metal and cloth you originally came for.

The way back is a little trickier, as the sounds of the sawmill going boom have roused the interest of a small group of Hill Giants, but after putting the blocks to three dragons, are giants Really going to cause you to lose much sleep?

I Don?t THINK so!

You return to the airship and find things are better, the thing is fixed up and just waiting for the materials you have to complete the process. You hand over the stuff to the crew and then it is up up and away to Minos



Choosing Option B. (More involved play wise)

You arrive at the Monastery and are greeted by Brother Hansi, the man in charge of the place along with his chief trainers, The Hard Master and The Soft Master (titled for their training styles, I decided on monks to give players so inclined a bone or two, there are very few monk related mods out there I feel). Answering the enquiry sent by Lord Logan, Brother Hansi explains that he hasn?t been able to hire out his monks to guard Anything because they have been to busy trying to defend the monastery and surrounding areas from an invasion or orks, ice trolls, deep gnomes (durgers?) and drow?along with occasional undead, recently. An invasion coming from the underground tunnel that the party must travel through to reach Minos!

(Doesn?t it figure?)

Brother Hansi tells you that he will allow the party to use the tunnel if they will see what in the nine hells is going on down there.

The choice is simple, if ya want to use the tunnel you have to help him out (I suppose you could kill every monk there, but they are all tough and that would cause a major popularity loss)

So you agree. If <CHARNAME> is a monk he is given some boots of intangibility and a decent XP bonus and maybe a little more information from both The Hard Master and The Soft Master (hard Master is rude to just this side of open hostility, Soft Master is friendly and inviting) In any event the party can buy and sell at the Monastery armory. Among the items available will be special items for monk characters and ROPE along with Torches and weapons/magic having to do with fire ? ya might need something like that later (wink)

So the group enters the tunnel. They start down but before long they find it caved in ? intentionally, AND a huge hole hacked right through the stone ground. Hope the group bought some rope, otherwise they are going to have to trudge back and get some now.

If they did buy rope, they can then USE ROPE to climb down to a newly dug tunnel that is a lot lot deaper than the main shaft. It is SO deep in fact that it is very cold, and all manner of cold related creatures are about ? at least Now you know where the ice trolls are coming from?

So the group continues on its way, battling ice trolls, yetis, frost salamanders and the occasional group of deep gnomes ? along with, surprisingly, undead pirates!

Down down down ya go, and just as you?re wondering if you?re about to hit Underdark, the group comes to a huge cavern. In this cavern at the rotted, half sunken remains of a half dozen or so pirate ships ? frozen in a huge subterranean lake that is now solid ice!

A large group of undead pirates (Skeletons, zombies whatever) approaches and tells you that you are to be brought to the Pirate Captain, Captain Roygut. Your choice is clear you can either fight or surrender.

GAME CHOICE:

Fight ? Good luck, there are Lots of them and you Will be taken prisoner.
Surrender ? You will be taken prisoner and brought before Captain Roygut.

Either choice leads to the same place, though you get some extra XP for going willingly.

You are on one of the pirate ship wrecks and speaking to Captain Roygut, who tells you that he is having problems with a group of Yetis that have recently moved into the area. The yetis have developed a taste for undead flesh, something that does not endear them to Royguy and his pirates. Roygut isn?t a bad undead sort, he and his just want to be left in peace. He has some information about the other stuff going on at the Monastery but his price for telling you (and letting you pass) is for you to wipe out the yetis

GAME CHOICE:

Help Captain Roygut get rid of the yetis ? Xp plus added quest.
Decide Not to help Roygut ? No Xp and if you want to continue you will need to kill off Roygut and all the undead in the area, not simple. Plus from that point on any undead you encounter in the tunnels will be hostile.

If you agree to help Captain Roygut, he will give you a map to the yeti camp and clear a passageway to help ya get there. Once on the way you will have to fight off yetis and ice trolls and such until you reach the yeti village.

You can speak to the yeti chieftain but unless your CHA is like 17 or better you are not going to have much luck. A fight between yetis, yeti mages and one or two ice giant enforcers and your group will commence. Not an easy battle but doable.

Return to Captain Roygut with the Yeti Chieftain pelt and he will give you xp, lots of gold and information that Drow have been at work deep underground, preparing for an all out invasion of the surface, through the monastery. He has also heard that someone one of the higher ranking monks In the monastery is in on it! (if you elect to kill Roygut in battle, you will find the papers stating this situation on his body.)

Armed with this information you return to the monastery, but when you enter you are attacked by monks who have been ordered to defend the place against the tunnel and ALL invaders from it ? this order, you learn, was given by The Hard Master. Fighting your way through a mess of monks in this lower area is tough, but once you make it back to the main level of the monastery things calm back down to normal. You make your way to Brother Hansi?s place in the chapel and explain not only the problem but the fact that The Hard Master was guarding the entrance to the tunnel and you had to fight your way back out.

Brother Hansi sends for The Hard Master who arrives with The Soft Master in tow. Once again he is helpful but as difficult and sharp tongued as ever. You tell Brother Hansi what you?ve learned from the undead pirates and suggest that The Hard Master is the contact in the monastery ? but as you do, a bolt of lightning hits Brother Hansi, wounding him terribly ? The bolt comes from The SOFT Master!

The Soft Master, still courteous to a fault, informs you that the invasion of the surface was helped along by Him in exchange for great magical knowledge. The Hard Master barks some sharp words and then warps Himself and Brother Hansi to safety and to get reinforcements ? leaving you to do battle with The Soft Master.

Soft Master is no slouch, despite his always polite tone he is bent on killing you, and his Drow masters, which he summons, are in complete agreement. It is a tough battle, with Drow, Drow Mages, The Soft Master and maybe a summoned demon or two?but in the end, all of the above Can be defeated.

About that time, The Hard Master, along with a hurting but healing Brother Hansi show up (After the fight, go figure!) and give thanks in the way of Xp, gold and items ? Extra items if <CHARNAME> is a monk. Brother Hansi also gives two charms, one to seal the tunnel rift from the far side, the other to transport you back to The Monastery when your duties on Minos are done.

Back down the tunnel you go, and other than ice trolls and natural problems you find the going much easier ? though if you killed Captain Roygut before, there will be plenty of piqued undead after you. Still you press on and find yourself Finally going up up up, to the surface of Minos!

Minos

Upon arrival the party makes their way to the grand palace and an audience with The Minotaur Emperor. The Emperor tells them that not only has the pirate situation been getting worse, but two more princesses and a prince have been murdered since Drellos was dispatched for assistance. The emperor tells <CHARNAME> that he has full run of the island and to investigate and do something if h/she possibly can.

Leaving the throne room the group encounter Prince Valgo, the next in line (thanks to his brothers and sisters being bumped off) for the throne. Valgo is a spoiled brat of a minotaur and informed the party that he is not only none to pleased to see them but thinks his dad the emperor is off his nut for seeking help from humans and other lesser races. He does grudgingly admit that the pirate attacks have gotten worse but claims to know nothing about them other than that their base is to the west of the island.

A trek through the city introduces several Tauren townsfolk with little to say, though there is a temple for healing, a store for trading ?with a shopkeeper who can give information on the pirates for a price- and a tavern for eating and sleeping.

My advice, sometimes you should get a drink first, so off to the tavern it is.

Once there the party is approached by the imperial healer, who claims that he has found something disturbing about the royal family, and to come with him to the temple. As the party leaves the tavern though, they are jumped by pirates and the healer is killed. Papers found on his body reveal that someone in the royal family is afflicted with a curse ? a curse that can only be brought about from using Old Magic that is forbidden by Tauren law (the plot thickens) for the curse, while making one insane also makes them incredibly powerful. All that is needed to KEEP this power is to eliminate all others from one?s bloodline.

About this time, Prince Valgo shows up with Imperial guards and demands all the dead healers papers ? including the one that gives the information. The party really has little choice than to hand it over, for the fight if they don?t would be lethal.

Feeling lighter in purse after Valgo?s visit our adventures head off and have little trouble finding a ship to take them to the pirates lair across the waterway ? and when they get there it is an uphill fight all the way until they reach the pirate captain. The captain, it turns out, is more mercenary than pirate, and ? if <CHARNAME> makes a deal to spear his life ? agrees to tell what he knows and back it up with proof.

It seems Prince Valgo hired the pirates to screw around with the Trade Routes of Minos, soas to discredit the Emperor and make it easy for Valgo himself to take over. Papers to this deal prove that what the guy is saying is true.

But why then, <CHARNAME> asks, is it that the pirates are slaughtering the royal family.

At this, our not so villainous villain is at a loss. He explains that although he has heard rumors that the royal family is dropping like flies, neither he nor his people have had anything to do with it.

After a time the party believes him, takes the papers concerning Prince Valgo?s treachery, and send him packing.

Making their way back to Minos is easy enough, but once there they are set upon by Valgo?s guards and fights ensue all the way to the emperors throne room. Upon arrival the party happens across a very nervous Valgo explaining to the emperor that his majesty should not pay any attention to anything the party says.

His majesty tends to agree, until <CHARNAME> shows him proof of Valgo?s hobbies. Before the Emperor can summon the guards Valgo demands <CHARNAME> to explain why He, of all people, would want to kill his own brothers and sisters ? why he would go to such lengths when merely disrupting economic flow would suit his aims ? which are to remove his father. He didn?t want, he explains, to rule minos, he just wanted the old man out for he feels that the Emperor is round the bend.

Before <CHARNAME> can reply though, the emperor throws a monkey wrench into things by admitting that he himself is behind the murders of his children! In a bid for eternal life and power, he invoked old magic and made himself powerful (though insane) and had to give his bloodline as payment.

Valgo runs for it, claiming to wanting to get help, and leaves the party to face an insane and powerful (not to mentione REALLY piqued!) minotaur fighter/mage.

The battle is a big one, and once one Prince Valgo appears again, thanking the group profusely. He claims that he did what he did with the pirates because he just wanted the old man out of the way ? and to prove it he relinquishes the throne to a younger sister before accepting a prison term as punishment.

The Party members all get HP, special items and a ride home but Ambassador Drellos elects to leave the group and stay on Minos where he is needed.

End.

? * * * * * * * *

So what does anyone think of this quest? Admittedly about half of it is a hack and slash but I thought that that balanced well with the ?Getting there? roll playing and choices of early on.

Thots please?

[Scipio]

I would love to play that expansion. It's novel, it looks balanced between questing and killing, and there are good decision trees for making the quest more or less involved and prolonged. Of course I would go for the full action without opting out of any sub-quests!

There has been other collaborative action between CHARNAME and otherwise hostile creatures, so this quest shouldn't be breaking any "rules". I'm thinking in particular of the wolfwere island quest in ToSC and the BG2 visit to the Saguin (???) city. In other non-BG games, the party had to work with ice trolls in IWD.

This does look like a heap of writing, design and coding. In scale it compares with the whole wolfwere island quest in BG1. I imagine it would have to be a big team effort... or the work of many months or even years for one person. I say this as a non-modder so I may be wrong.

[Thanatos.]

Wow. I'd be willing to write up character dialogs and the such.

[Icendoan]

I'd code on the side and such, but nothing that would require me being involved in another full time project (xD), so if you find someone willing to code for it as a whole project, pester them instead.

Icen

[minotaur_in_maze]

Thanks to the three of you who've replied thus far. I really like the feedback!

Scipio: I am not sure I would call this an "expansion" - I just thought of it as a quest, but I like the term and will take it as high praise indeed!

Thanatos, I thank ya for your offer, and might pm you just to amuse myself - still, unless the heavens part, I just don't see ME doing this mod. I am an idea man, and this quest is giving some insite of my idea style (you should see the three quests I have for my NPC right now) but... - My coding skills suck, and that is being kind. I have been working on this NPC of mine since before SConrad went through puberty methinks, and though I have had LOTS of help over the years (FROM SConrad and others including a PRINCESS named Diana!) I am still muddling along - MY stupidity, not theirs, I assure you. So odds are good I won't be doing This one.

Icendoan - Oh my, I hope you didn't feel as if I was Pestering anyone with this post! (If ya did, I am Truly sorry for that is not my intention!) I just had this idea floating about and wanted to get feedback. I thank you for reading it and your kind reply. Like I said, I am hip deep trying to do Banters and the roamces for my current NPC (All ther is left!) so I won't be bugging ANYONE with THIS - Other than to get opinions of its worth as a quest in general.

Once something is up on the net, it is often there to stay, so who knows WHAT might happen with this a year or five down the line.

Thanks all!

Minotaur In Maze