Neverwinter Nights 2: Myth Drannor Seeks Builders/Scripters

Lanessar and the staff of the Hall of Fame Neverwinter Nights Persistent-World Roleplay server, Myth Drannor, is pleased to announce its next project, a player-world built with the Neverwinter Nights 2 game engine. With the impending release of the NWN2 Toolset, the staff of Myth Drannor has formulated ideas for the construction of its new server, and initiated the building process. As such we are extending the invitation for anyone interesting in building/scripting for a persistent NWN 2 server

The setting for the new Myth Drannor NWN2 Persistent World Project will be situated within the southeastern edge of the Silver Marches area of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, most particularly around the High Forest, Hellgate Keep, and Myth Glaurach. This setting features a rich backstory and a great deal of canon information concerning it (with multiple elven ruins planned to be built as well as both Myth Glaurach and Hellgate Keep itself, amongst others), as well as a wide variety of challenges that player characters may face, from the rampaging orc tribes of the Great North, to the tanarukk of Hellgate Keep, to the Fey'ri of the lost elven empire of Siluvanede. With a variety of fledgling townships and strongholds scattered across the breadth of the Silver Marches, and the lost Earlanni ruins of the High Forest, the setting will span a great breadth of environments and areas for player characters to explore and interact in and with. The tumultuous political and military nature of the Silver Marches combined with the natural setting of the High Forest and rich history of lost elven civilizations having been present in the area offer an exciting, highly entertaining setting in which to base a persistent-world server, and the Myth Drannor II staff is eager to capitalize upon these assets.

The MD II build team will be using the pre-game release of the NWN2 toolset to commence building of module areas that will comprise the server, as well as NPCs, items, and scripts. The MD II build team will be using the time prior to the release of NWN2 to build up a solid starting point for the new server, through which the project will go live after the release of the NWN2 DM Client and with which time (after release) that we may continue to expand upon the server and contribute further to the spectacular areas the build team is able to add to the project.

With the setting of the Silver Marches and a dedicated, experienced staff behind it, the MD II team hopes to initiate a new experience in persistent-worlds for NWN2-a setting that is built entirely on canon Forgotten Realms mythology, lore, and knowledge, crafted with the best of the lessons learned in module-building from the original NWN. This server will begin centered around a small village at the eastern edge of the High Forest under the purview of the Fortress of Avendyr, with adventuring areas scattered throughout the Silver Marches and the High Forest (including Mhilamniir and the Tall Trees of Teuveamanthaar), but due to the expansive nature of NWN2 and the free-form desires of the MD II staff, it will grow, shift, and adapt to player actions and choices-areas will be added or deleted from the module based on player choices. The staff will run the server's main campaign based upon canon events described in various Forgotten Realms source materials, but will also features Dungeon Masters exploring new plots, ideas, and characters within the scope of the Silver Marches and the greater Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.

Planned to be a long and immersive experience, the MD II server will commence at a level cap of 10 which will steadily rise as the main campaign (ever present in the background of the module through the plots ran by DMs and the players themselves) progresses, eventually to the NWN 2 max of 20. With that slow progression, levels available to player characters will increase as time goes on, allowing for richly-detailed area construction under a professional development team, as well as the ability of the player to spend enough amount of time in order to develop a character concept in the spirit of high adventure. Starting at a low to medium magic world with masterwork items available for sale but magical items only able to be found as the treasure at the end of that deep, dark dungeon (and those truly superior items only accessible through DM ran plots), the sense of accomplishment and reality of power between characters (and potential for lucrative business opportunities for the more...monetarily-focused characters) and their environment will always be a present force within the server. While any and all character types will be accepted and present within the server, the centre of the initial campaign and server itself will revolve around adventurers, those seeking fame, fortune, exploration and a good fight.

The original MD has been one of the most popular and long-lived NWN servers in existence. It has boasted tens of thousands of characters, thousands of player accounts creating characters upon the server, thousands of plots and storylines that have kept its players engaged and enthralled, and beautifully-created areas that have set the backdrop for one of the most invigorating and exciting servers created upon the NWN game engine. With the beginning of the NWN2 project for the server's staff, we hope to expand their original vision across the NWN and NWN2 communities, and are thus seeking builders and scripters experienced with player-world or module creation upon the original NWN, who are willing to work in and with the NWN2 Toolset to create this new Persistent-World server. As well, any and all who are experienced and have a flair for building rich, diverse areas; who have some experience in texture blending (ie- Adobe Illustrator), meshes, layers; and who are able to use placeables and environments in a unique, visually artistic way are being encouraged to apply to help make the project for NWN 2 as much a success as the previous module, and a fun, exciting adventure for all those joining NWN 2.

The staff of MDII hopes to draw experience not just from the previous MD, but from across the talented minds and hands of the NWN communities, in order to create an experience that is even more satisfying, rewarding, and long-lived as the previous MD server was. This project will be difficult, arduous, and time-consuming; however, with experienced direction and builders involved in the process, the team hopes to create a new NWN2 experience, one that is forged to withstand the acid tests of NWN2 and tempered with the knowledge that the original NWN granted player-world, server, and module designers.

If you are interested in assisting with this project for NWN2 and have prior experience with PWs/modules in the original NWN, or wish to speak more about the project directly, please contact the rep for the MDII build team via e-mail (svmarone@gmail.com) or MSN (svmarone@lakeheadu.ca). A link to our current forums (for the NWN 1 version of Myth Drannor) can be found here: http://mythdrannor.11.forumer.com/index.php

The exciting release of NWN2 is just around the corner. With your help, and the interests of an exciting new batch of gamers who will be buying NWN2, mingled with the interests of old players at NWN2, we hope to create a tantalizing new server that appeals to both new and old players, and offers the best of all that NWN persistent-world servers have come to be over the past five years.

As always, thank you to our PW owners/staff members for letting us know about your projects. NWN 2 WarCry is always eager to assist the community.