Frostbite

By Lazarus

mcleod989@yahoo.com

Frostbite is my second scenario for Blades of Avernum, and is designed for the Second 1/10 Contest. No experience with prior scenarios is necessary, the story is completely self-contained.

You play as Vincent Graff, a soldier in the Imperial Army of Aizo who finds himself sent to the furthest reaches of the continent to hunt the Beast of the Rim. Accompanied by five fellow soldiers from Unit 341 as well as five hitherto strangers, Vincent and his group are now up against more than just a monster.

This scenario requires the use of a singleton-- enter with any other sized party and you will be reduced down to one character anyhow. You will also be stripped of all spells at the start, please don't try to cheat past this using the editor, as you may experience a crash that this is supposed to fix. You should also use the prefabricated party, which is in the scenario itself. All that is required to use the prefab is to enter the scenario with a human under level 15 (preferably at level 1) as your first party member, and then use the "Prefab Party" Special Ability.

The proper graphic for Vincent is sheet 1655 (the man with red pants and blue cape) as well as graphic 1805 (the accompanying portrait)

Alchemy plays an important role in battle strategy for Frostbite. Here is a table of all the ingredients you'll encounter in the Rim, and the uses you'll have for them. The pictures show the regeants icon, as well as the icon of the source from which you can harvest them in the wild. Do not squander your regeants, as they are a valuable resource that can give you a leg up in any fight.
Reagents
  Icicle Moss Mountain Holly Frost Shrooms Karao Blossoms Strangle Weed Nightshade
             
1. Healing Poultice   Used        
2. Strength Potion     Used      
3. Potion of Alacrity Used   Used      
4. Rejuvenation Potion Used Used        
5. Hardiness Philter     Used Used    
6. Dispel-Magic Potion   Used   Used    
7. Choking Dust         Used Used
8. Frost Grenade       Used Used  
9. ???            
10. ???            
11. ???            

Beta Testers

Arrna - Who needs to see a shrink.
Dikiyoba - Spell checker extraordinaire.
Niemand - Mmmmmmmm, Alchemy Equipment.
Jumpin' Salmon - Who doesn't know how healing potions kept appearing in his inventory.
Terror's Martyr - Whose description defies snippets.
Tyranicus - Who narrowly avoided receiving a snide comment here.

Graphics

Snow Terrain- Icons 0-18 & 20-33 -- Dahak (Couldn't have done it without them)
Snow Terrain- Boulders, bones on snow, melted snow -- Lenar
Herbs and Food item graphics, Stone Slab, Rubble & Adobes Walls, Rubble Cliff -- Luz
Stone Cliff -- TM
Blood Beast -- Andrew Budden
Blood Beast statues, Blue Wizard -- Nemesis
Goblin w/ Club -- Ragnar
Banshee -- Necris Omega
Flowers -- Jeremy Price
Abomination -- Rogue
Dead Tree -- Ephesos
Warg Rider -- Nioca
Armor Stand -- Enraged Slith
Hobgoblin -- DWTD, off-white removed by Tyranicus.
Everything else was either googled, nethergated, geneforged, or altered by myself.

Version History

1.0.0 - Beta Version

1.0.1 - Initial Release

1.0.2 - First update, April 1st. Fixed a bug by stripping all spell levels at scenarios start. Fixed some typos and stuff as well.

Other Thanks

Thanks to Notus, Isaac and the rest of the Windows 3D editor team, without it Frostbite would look like absolute crap.
Thanks to Dintiradan for creating Astring-- if typos bothered you just know there would be a million more without this program.
Thanks to The Creator(s) whose Areni helped me with FB's potion system (the chart above might seem particularly familiar.....)
Thanks to Alcritas, "The Way Out" was originally his idea (although it's now so widespread it hardly even needs to be cited).
Thanks to any other designer whose work inspired or influenced me in more subtle ways, particularly Stareye and Thuryl for Emulations and Roots (respectively).

Q&A

Q. One of my allies keeps dying, what do I do?
A. Losing allies won't have any impact on the plot, you'll just be without them for upcoming fights. Try to avoid losing allies too early, you'll need them for more difficult fights.
Q. I keep taking damage and getting slowed-- what gives?
A. Frostbite has a hypothermia/exhaustion system. When you're out in the wilderness you will slowly take damage, and occasionally be slowed. Heavy snow speeds the process, and fighting increases your exhaustion. The only way to combat this is by eating army rations and drinking a certain potion-- so try to move quickly.
Q. I can't heal myself.
A. Well not with spells, but you can still heal yourself using potions, or using first aid. First aid can be used roughly every 100 turns, and is good for healing yourself between fights. You'll have to train in it a bit to get much benefit.
Q. I'm getting my ass kicked.
A. Use potions-- that's the solution to just about any problem, just use potions wisely. If combat is still too frustrating then don't use the prefab, I made it optional for a reason, tough combat isn't for everybody.
Q. I hate you.
A. Fair enough. Make sure to review Frostbite at the Lyceum! :D

Known Bugs

There is a point in the scenario where high level parties may experience a crash. This isn't an issue if you're using the prefab. Note: I believe this problem has been fixed for 1.0.2, but if you experience this crash, e-mail me or post about it at spiderweb.

Hope you enjoyed it. If this doesn't answer your questions ask on the Spiderweb messaging boards or e-mail me.
-Tell me what you think! Things don't get fixed unless you speak up. Criticisms can be e-mailed to me, or submitted to the Spiderweb Review Page. Also, the Lyceum has a very nice ratings section here