Neverwinter Nights 2 Community Update
July 20, 2007

This week's NWN2 News Update was delayed so that we could bring you a certain piece of news.

Pool of Radiance Remastered Released in Spanish



The folks at the Spanish community Neverwinteros and the Spanish translation group ClanDlan have translated the original Pool of Radiance Remastered by the Hall of Fame author Markus 'Wayne' Schlegel into the Spanish language.

The mod is fully translated and available for download in Nwvault here.

They will be continuing their translation efforts with Tragedy in Tragidor by Phoenixus.

Granny Update
For those of you that think we forgot about poor old Granny, rest assured we didn't. We are ironing out some final details and putting things together for release. We want to give you all some supporting files and a little bit of documentation, rather than just release the tool, but those last little details are the hold up. More news to follow as the situation changes.

New Toolset Feature with 1.07
With the 1.07 Patch we will be putting in a new toolset feature. This feature enables you to change the textures on walls, ceilings and floors of many of the tilesets in the toolset. Josh Verrall gives us a small peek at how it works






Mask of the Betrayer Screenshot



Persistent World Spotlight: Talernon 2
by Dragonbane777



A continuation of the Hall of Fame Persistent World from Neverwinter Nights 1, Talernon2 is the evolution of this world and its stories, as well as its successes and failures, a culmination of a highly experienced team working towards the goal of creating a rich and developed campaign setting and story. A heavy Role-Play server, Talernon2 strives to use Neverwinter Nights 2 as an engine for the PnP version of Dungeons and Dragons, trying to achieve more of a table-top feel and less of a “video-game” style than other servers.

"As with all great tales of adventure, you must know about the events which came before, the things that shaped the times to come, for like a stone thrown into a pond, the ripples of the past still effect us to this day, as will the ripples we cause effect the future. So here is my account, as told to me by various sages from across the land, of what we as civilized peoples know has happened. Let me tell you a tale . . .” - Shu-Lung, historian and explorer, of the Monks of Dreg’Oskma

It is a time of change, a time of reflection on the echoes of a generation before . . . a dark god had been contained, sealed away to sleep another thousand years by heroes of untold greatness . . . the Light and Darkness have awakened, from their eon-long slumber, now directing their faithful . . . the world had grown more together, and more apart, as races who had stood side by side against the forces of genocide squabble again, and old enemies draw together for safety from the impending doom of strange underground regions tied to the planes of Shadow, Dream, and the nightmarish Far Realm. Waves of plague have ravaged the land two decades earlier, and for a time the dead could not return to the land of the living no matter what the magic used. Faiths have splintered, boundaries have changed, and magic is growing across the land. Clashes between pirates and navies grow, and spell-wielders of new types have appeared in the lands, as magic seems to have grown all around . . . a new circle of druids commands new unseen forces on an unknown new mission, as fifty years after the world had a brush with destruction, it again will be tested by the hand of fate.



Talernon2 is a constantly evolving world with a large variety of cultures a leading theme in its original development. Many of them reflect cultures from our own world, with additional changes or differences from the extensive history developed for the world these races evolved in. Humankind has six subraces, each reflecting the basics of a culture of the past (traditional European, seafaring Spaniard, Viking, Egyptian, Asian, & African), in addition to three varieties of elves, two types of dwarves, and the other traditional Dungeons and Dragons races. The history of the world and the races that inhabit it flow together in great detail, each a reflection of the other. In addition, each culture has a great deal of development in lore and information on the forum, with a vast world that is not encompassed in the PW to draw upon for story and character development.

“Magic, more than any other force in Talernon, has and will affect the world around us and the events that shape it. Magic permeates all things, and through it the greatest acts of goodness and most despicable evil imaginable become reality. It is through the mastery of magic that we can master ourselves, and ultimately, the world around us.” - Ali Al-Kassim, head priest of Kosarius

Although a high-magic world, Talernon2 would be considered by most to be low magic in some ways. While there are casters in the world wielding Great Magic spells, most magical items are in a very “old school” style, with items with bonuses more in line with old PnP rules – items such as a +4 or +5 weapon are rare in the extreme and coveted, and items with permanent abilities, class abilities, and immunities simply don’t exist. Striving for a departure from the level 40 god-like abilities players wielded in some NWN1 servers, in Talernon2 level advancement is somewhat slow, and the world does not have hundreds of 20th level leaders and PCs running about. In Talernon2, we try to limit power-gaming as much as possible with in-game mechanics, closing the gap between players for events and limiting the powers of any one PC, making teamwork essential and no one a one man army.



Why play on Talernon?
First and foremost, I would say the players. The player base that we have had in NWN1 and now in NWN2, and seem to attract, is an extremely mature and responsible group or Role Players. One of the main reasons I think the module has done so well is because of the inspiration the players give to the DMs and Builders. I can say for me, I would never run so many events if it were not for the players who have played in them. That said, our staff is a very professional group of builders and storytellers, all working towards the goal of having a great place to RP and develop characters and stories. In Talernon1, there were over 250 events in the 20 month period it ran, and all these events helped develop what has evolved in Talernon2, some 50 IG years later. Many old PCs are now NPCs, and the world has a richness that could simply not have been created by one or a small group of people – Talernon2 is truly a world for the players, and made by the players.

Not only is Talernon2 a great place to find incredible RP from players, there is the constant stream of DM run events and DM interactions that make the world live. With multiple plotlines running from different DMs, in addition to single-shot events and DM interactions to introduce the world and its happenings, there is always something to do and RP about. Not only that, but Talernon2 is a dynamic world, as was its predecessor Talernon1. If a city was destroyed, it then appeared destroyed in the game until time went by. When a plague was unleashed on a town, it suddenly became a hunting area to prevent its spread. As players began to fall behind in stopping dark forces, the days grew shorter in the game. The world is constantly updated dynamically to keep the immersive RP experience as fresh and consistent as possible. Players affect and change the world with IC posts, DM attention, and the many events run on a constant basis.

Some of the features of Talernon2 include:

• Fully customized races in extreme detail, including 6 human sub-races: colors, sizes and completely new feats and abilities for every race, in extreme detail.
• A fully developed and unique pantheon of gods, with unique backgrounds and stories for each before their ascension, and significant development of their faiths from two years of play in NWN1.
• A rich and detailed custom world, with extensive descriptions of history, geography, technology, astrology, language, cosmology, and much more - over 100 pages of information, growing constantly, and newly updated and expanded from the 200+ events in the NWN1 version of Talernon 50 years earlier.
• A role-play experience point system which automatically gives you RP as you interact with other players on the server, giving an alternative to quests or hunting for level advancement.
• A diverse creature and magical item selection – a custom loot script which removes all non-Talernon (Forgotten Realms) nomenclature and adds over 2000 custom magical items to be found, and over 1000 creatures to be found, all remade and expanded from the small base set given with the game.
• A heavily scripted world – Incredible custom scripting, in addition to full use of DMFI, PC Tools, Sunjammer's World Map System, HCR2 respawn and bleed system, custom weather based on Ashurara's VFX pack, and over 100 spells / bard songs / warlock invocations fixed, and much more.
• Revised and edited PRCs, some scaled down and some improved, for game balance.
• Very extensive haks, with much content on the vault included of almost every type.
• Over 500 outfits and clothing items available, with more added almost daily.
• An extremely friendly player base that welcomes new players.
• A persistent clock and date system, keeping track of the day and time as well as controlling other module events such as weather.
• A dozen power groups players can become members of, or create their own splinter guilds, fully player run.
• A constantly increasing number of quests and areas, growing on a weekly basis.
• A team of incredibly talented builders and dedicated event DMs .
• PnP class abilities and spells usable by players, especially during events.
• DM-run events in a PnP style almost daily, often more than 7 a week.
• Personalized quests for players by request, especially for gaining PRCs (optional, not a requirement) .
• Custom creatures for all summons spells, both thematically selectable and alignment based (6 themes currently – Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Nature, Magic, more under development).
• Additional spells and PrCs, including Great Magic spells (coming soon).

If you seek a mature RP environment with a rich, developed story, Talernon2 might be for you. Come see a truly unique world, a departure from the Forgotten Realms, a place for new experiences, new stories, fresh ideas, and constant DM interaction and events.
http://worldoftalernon.com/talernon2/phpBB2/index.php