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The Realm Below by Chris Amos

Interview by Jay Watamaniuk

Go to (Previous  - Introduction, Myranni's Magic, Walking with a Ghost, A Hero's Death, Firestarter, The Realm Below, A Moonless Night, Aspects, The Badger, the Cat and the Book, Grains of Truth, Find the Fish!, Ghosts of the Past, To Hell and Back - Next )


Where to find module?

The module can be downloaded from the NWN Vault.

Why did you enter?

The Realm Below by Chris AmosI work professionally as a theatre writer, but I've known and loved D&D since childhood, particularly from a storytelling/DMing perspective. My interest in computer gaming only kicked off when I encountered Baldur's Gate, and with the advent of the Aurora Toolset I was able to start trying to translate some of my own stories into computer form. I'd been wondering for a while whether I should submit some of my work to the community, but a lack of confidence in my overall computing skills made me a little hesitant. But when I came across the BioWare contest and noted that they were specifically looking at the writing, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a go....

What's unique about the module?

I suppose I was trying to create an adventure that was a bit different, so I had play with the Toolset to see what kind of unusual environments I could come up with, and underwater seemed to work quite well. The next step was to see what creatures the Toolset provided that I could use or simulate in that setting. Once I'd decided on those, I've always found it useful to go back to the D&D rulebooks, and also to the extant body of myth and legend surrounding a creature, and see what makes it tick. The thing about nixies that intrigued me was their habit of enslaving humans for a year, something I couldn't recall seeing exploited in a scenario before. This would get the Player Character into the action quickly (you wake up and find yourself on the lake bottom) and give a strong motivation to find a resolution (if you can't escape you're stuck there for a long time). Given that the design brief was to create a side-quest, the latter would be all the more compelling if the overall campaign was of the "save the world from the forces of darkness and the clock's ticking" kind.

What are you proudest of?

I wanted to create a story that would first and foremost be fun to play. One of the things I most admired about the Baldur's Gate series was the way the writers were able to inject so much clever humour into the story without undermining the overall serious and heroic nature of the campaign. (A certain ranger and his furry companion spring immediately to mind.) I took this as my template when devising the characters and conversations for the module. If I've been able to tell a good story and given people a laugh into the bargain, I'm happy.


Go to (Previous  - Introduction, Myranni's Magic, Walking with a Ghost, A Hero's Death, Firestarter, The Realm Below, A Moonless Night, Aspects, The Badger, the Cat and the Book, Grains of Truth, Find the Fish!, Ghosts of the Past, To Hell and Back - Next )

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