Players Guide
Version 1.1
22/08/2004
GATES
OF DAWN
It
began long ago - the killing and ravaging of the Drifters lands. At first it
was a slow movement from the upper lands that gave warning of the terror that
was to plague their lands for many a year. They were hunted and killed. Those
that fled were slowly reaching the edge of their known world.
The
greatest of these Drifters was Age'rath, oldest and wisest of the tribe. With
the onset of the first fair spring morning he sent word to all the other tribal
wise men requesting a great gathering of all on the second day of the new moon.
The gathering was great, where both laughter and sorrow were shared. He, Age'rath, stood tall amongst his fellows
and put forth a way for their way of life to be spared from the onslaught from
the upper lands. Tis' then that he recalled to them a story told to him by an
old drifter about a land far over the seas, that very few had visited, where with
luck and the blessing of the gods, they would find peace and begin a new world.
So it was decided that by the full moon of the second month they would leave
their homes and go in search of this land. The ships set off, for months they
fought their way across the seas, till one early morn, with the coming of dawn,
a land appeared out of the mists of the South. Through the shimmering of the
dawns light, two huge bluffs. The ships sailed between these with the Drifters
in great awe and so they who lived long ago gave this land the name of The
Gates of Dawn....
After
many a year in the future the great City of Age'rath has grown and flourished
to be the great city it is now. But
beware, not all is peaceful and prosperous in these fair lands. There are evil rumblings on the horizon...
This
is as the story goes, welcome traveler, may you find contentment and adventure
among these lands.
Story
By Maverick
INTRODUCTION
Gates
Of Dawn is a NeverWinterNights Module hosted by SGS. It was created in South Africa by a team of dedicated players
turned designers. The idea for the
project began in January 2004 and by March 2004 the team was finalized and work
began in earnest.
The
Gates of Dawn module is not based on any particular campaign. We have tried to design the mod to cater for
all styles of gameplay to accommodate the broadest range of South African
players. We have tried to cater for
levels 1-40, and hope we have achieved this.
We hope you find a place for yourself in our world and wish you many
hours of fun and adventure.
THE TEAM
The
team consists of the following people:
Notio
Designer
Vandia Designer
Raiest Designer
ThorFroat Scriptor/Compiler
The
team has given most if not all of their free time for the last 8 months and
have worked tirelessly to produce this module.
Notio
and Vandia are definitely the reason that the Gates of Dawn started in the
first place and are undoubtedly the driving force behind the team. Their
unwavering commitment to quality is obvious and relentless. They have both
evolved into exceptional examples of what NWN designers should and can be, and
in such a short time too, a fact of which they should be truly proud. This
husband and wife duo have certainly gone further than the proverbial extra mile
during this project and are still chomping at the bit to get going on the
DM’ing responsibilities once the world has gone live. Very well done guys!
Raiest’s
creativity speaks for itself. His
contributions to this module have been extremely valuable in providing a
measure of depth and atmosphere to the world.
He has proven to be an invaluable member of the team.
ThorFroat
is seeing scripts in his sleep and has managed to produce almost every script
from scratch to accommodate a Persistant World. The scripts are unique to Gates of Dawn and we are justifiably
proud of him for his spectacular work.
Without him, Gates of Dawn would not exist.
The
whole Team would also like to thank the following community members for
providing assistance in one form or another.
Liuka,
firstly for giving us the inspiration to create this mod and then for his
continued support thereof. He has
guided and helped us whenever required.
His guidance and advice is greatly appreciated.
Godfather
for providing the PR for GoD, the forum administration and the liaison with
SGS. Oh yes and for putting out many a fire J
Soulweaver
for providing assistance with the Gates of Dawn maps.
TO PLAY GATES OF DAWN YOU NEED THE FOLLOWING:
Neverwinternights
Neverwinternights
- Shadows of Undrentide
Neverwinternights
- Hordes of the Underdark
Patch
Ver1.62
CEP
Ver1.01 (HotU Version)
GatesofDawn2da.hak
GatesofDawnTS.hak
GoDMirador.hak
SERVER
The Gates of Dawn server can be found on wolfshiem.saix.net:5152
All
haks required are available on the SGS FileVault http://games.saix.net/localdownloads/default.php?section=main&p_level=721
IRC CHATROOM
#GatesofDawn on Shadowfire
As
it stands at the moment (22-08-2004) this is Gates of Dawn version 1.5. There
are a few things that still require attention and that we will get working on
as soon as possible. If we wait for the
module to include everything and be perfect – we will never go live. We have decided to launch as it stands and
will be continually updating and upgrading as we go. Gates of Dawn is a work in progress, please bare this in mind.
Below
is a guideline as to how the basics work:
PERSISTENT WORLD
This
means the world doesn’t rely on a server reset to run (we hope). When you log off the server, it saves your
location. When you return, you will
return to the beginning of the area you left.
We have done this rather than the exact location you logged off so as to
prevent you finding yourself in the middle of an encounter it took a party last
night to kill. So please try and log
off in a “safe” area to ensure you avoid an untimely demise as this is your
responsibility. Your player character is saved to the server vault if modified
every 2 minutes to prevent item loss due to possible server crashes.
This
also means that if you leave something lying on the ground, pretty soon its bound
to disappear as there is a cleaning script to make sure the mod doesn’t get
littered with your discarded items.
CREATURES
Obviously
being persistent, creatures not killed, and creature loot not claimed will be “de-spawned” after a period of time. This does not however mean that you can run
through and not kill your spawns as a lower level than yourself may come
through the area before the “de-spawn” has taken place.
ITEM LEVEL RESTRICTIONS
As
yet, there are no item level restrictions in place. We will however be looking at some form of ILR.
REST
In
order to rest, you will require food.
Food comes in a variety of forms and can be obtained in a number of
shops and may also be picked in certain
areas. Different foods offer different
numbers of meals. While in party, at
least one member of the party must stand guard while the others rest. If you manage to acquire a bedroll, the
number of hours between rests, is shortened. These are difficult to come by but
are available. Failure to rest within an allotted time will result in some form
of penalty due to complete exhaustion.
GOLD PIECES
In
Gates of Dawn, gold pieces looted from chests, corpses, etc is often automatically
placed in your inventory and does not require you to pick it up. All gold collected in this manner, is also
automatically shared between party members.
Gold received from selling loot or items however, is not shared.
DEATH
On
death, your character is transported to the Elysian Fields where certain
penalties are paid in order to return to the living realm. Resurrection may be
performed to teleport your party member back to the battle, although penalties
still occur.
GUILDS
As
yet, there are no guilds in Gates of Dawn.
These will be added in due course.
FACTIONS
The
only safe place to kill another character in Gates of Dawn, is in the Arena. We will be adding a faction system as soon
as possible. Until then, if you kill another character anywhere other than the Arena,
you WILL be automatically transported to jail to await your trial. This is a severe offence and will be dealt
with harshly. The jails are locked and the keys have been lost. So even the
finest rogue will be incarcerated until a DM ports him/her out of there, so be
warned.
There
is a second Island currently being built that will allow Full PvP.
MERCHANTS
There
are a number of merchants throughout the world all selling a variety of items.
Some shops are alignment, race or class specific and will only allow the
correct characters to trade. Please note – the Merchants are off-limits on the
hit-list. If you attempt to kill a merchant and somehow miraculously survive
the encounter, you will be hunted down until killed. No exceptions.
RANDOMNESS
Throughout
the mod we have attempted to introduce an element of randomness to various
aspects of the game. Therefore most creatures will drop a random item on death
and in many of the shops you may often find a new item for sale. These random
items in the shops are only available for a limited period of time , so keep a
look out for them.
RACES
Alternative
races and classes are currently under review and will be added when ready.
ALIGNMENT AREAS
Gates
of Dawn has three distinct alignment based areas which are not accessible to
characters of the incorrect alignment.
These areas can be accessed via the portal in Age’rath. These areas also contain the alignment
temples to which you will be ported to once you have paid your dues in the Elysian
Fields.
In
your alignment area you will also find an Inn at which you are given a room of
your own. This room contains a
persistent chest to store excess items and has a dustbin to discard unwanted
items.
A
“residential” area is being built that will allow you to purchase a house and
then go on to furnish it with items you purchase from a shop.
ARENA
The
arena is located South West of the Main City and is the only place where you
may kill another character without penalty.
If you wish to flex your muscles, please do so here.
QUESTS
There
are a number of built in quests that you can attempt. More will be added as the module matures. DM Quests will also be run based on player
interaction. DM Quests are at the
discretion of the DM online at the time and not by player request.
PORTING
On
character creation you are given a Port Crystal. This allows you to port to
your party leader while in a Party. If used when not in a party the Crystal
will teleport you back to the main Age’rath City Map.
LOWER LEVELS
While
you are a low level ( Lvl 10 and under ) all areas starting with the word
Age’rath are relatively safe to run. The entrance to the Catacombs are located
in a Tower in Age’rath North. This area is designed for levels 10 and under.
The
Age’rath Guards will help you with directions if you need.
MAPS
There
is a comprehensive map of the world available for players to download.
BOUNDARIES AND RULES
It
is expected of players to observe and obey the SGS Rules of Engagement at all
times.
Dm’s
are governed by a strict set of rules. They are not available on a whim to correct
mistakes made by players.(ie releveling of characters, transferring of XP
between characters and handing out items.) DM’s are there to enhance the “feel”
of the mod through player interaction and to ensure the world runs smoothly and
fairly. Please treat the DM’s as you yourself would like to be treated.