NWO: Gateway to the Sword Coast

I've been playing Neverwinter Online for awhile now but I'm pretty new to the whole browser based Gateway thing they've had going on which basically lets you play some parts of the game without needing to login to the client. Previously you could manage your little workers from there to get them crafting or questing up minor rewards for you and that was it. Enter the "Sword Coast Adventures" mini-game which was recently added. For me, this is a brilliant tie-in and I've lately been spending more time here than in the game itself!

It focuses on the adventures of your companions that you can send out to various dungeons to try complete quests. Low level quests reward crap, but the highest level ones I've seen (as well as the tutorial one) reward unique companions that you can't acquire by other means. How it works is that your team of four must explore a location until they find the goal. In their way are challenges (the goal itself is a challenge) that test various attributes via dice rolls. All party members get 6 six sided die and based on their actual level and class additional four/six/eight/or twelve sided die (I don't have a level 30 pet so there may be a 20 sided in there somewhere).

While luck plays a big part in victory there is strategy to the gambling. You can see the requirements for the nearby challenges before heading to them, meaning you can plan in advance who is best to tackle what. Also the option to reroll when you get a partial success is crucial later on when you literally are running out of rolls to win (dice of your choice are removed as the challenge progresses). In summary I think it's a pretty well done side game that ties in with NWO very neatly, and it's one you never even have to play to enjoy the main game.

Lastly while your companions can gain experience there it is still not as fast as training them yourself in-game. If you have a level 60 character, getting a companion to level 15 in one sitting is very easy. Summon said level 1 companion, then do all the daily quests in the Dread Ring followed by all the daily quests in Sharandar minus the solo dungeons. That's it. Repeat or add to as necessary for pets that have a higher max level.

Change of Alignment [NWO]

Part of the Tales of Skrmischa!

He should have killed me. That's what keeps running through my head. It all began when I answered Lord Neverember's last call to arms, to assault a demon controlled cathedral in Helm's Hold. After slashing through waves of imps and cultists I found myself standing before a horrible pit fiend. His attacks were just too strong, and my arms too weak. Worse, he was taunting me in my mind the whole time... showing me... horrible visions.

I was defeated. I was ready to die, then he showed up: Joseph Skyrim, my psycho ex. Ex-boss that is. Slaying demons is a specialty for him and his family. In mere minutes the pit fiend was flayed, mutilated, and dead - in that order. But it did something to me. Broke something inside. I didn't tell anyone about it. A few days after I decided to join another expedition (a popular one for a change), which sent me to the fire ruins to destroy a cursed ring... only there at the precipice I... changed my mind.

"Tired of Being the Hero" @ Stebss (NW-DGTCLL4N74)
It was incredibly fun killing my own party and the contigent of guards that came with us. Acquiring an ability to call forth an army of shades was just an extra bonus. When I exited that place I felt... free. Powerful. Able to do anything I wanted.

My first stop was Vellosk. Ever since arriving in the Sword Coast I've heard tales of the werewolves there. I have a personal grudge against that species so I decided to rid the world of a few of them. It was going splendidly well until he showed up again. This time it was me he was hunting, and somehow he defeated my new found abilities and beat me into the dirt with just his fists. He didn't kill me though. He just broke some of my bones and left me for the wolves... well, more like "hand delivered" right to their chieftain. Now I sit here as their prisoner, waiting for my turn in the clan's pit fight where the losers get eaten and the winners live merely to fight again.

He should have killed me. Because when I get out of here, I'm going get stronger - get better - and then I'm going to hunt him down.


One angry dwarf.