This is a module I made on the Aurora Engine toolkit included with Neverwinter Nights.

I love Bioware -- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is one of my favorites. I bought Neverwinter Nights back in 2002, so I could see what made their games tick. But I never got very far -- the complexity of Aurora was more than I could handle at the time.

And then came GDC 2008.

It was my first time, and I made a point of attending the IGDA Writer's Special Interest Group meetup. I even got to talk with Daniel Erickson, the Lead Writer at Bioware Austin. I told him right off the bat I can't program to save my life. Forget about the programing, he responded. A Neverwinter module only has to be five minutes. All we want to see is how you can handle a conversation.

That sounded simple enough. I ordered Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition on Amazon, and spent the next three months re-learning the program and designing this module.

And so Hogarth's Idol was born.

Hogarth's Idol is set in the Kingdom of Solobrah. The manor of Lord Hogarth suffers from an outbreak of a plague known as the "Klemp." For those who could escape awaits simply death. Those trapped inside are now deformed, bloodthirsty monstrosities of nature.

Lord Hogarth of Solobrah frets outside the entrance to his manor, returning from a weekend abroad. The priceless Idol of Ouranga-Tanga is still inside his vaults. Is there anyone brave enough to venture into the manor and retrieve Hogarth's idol? Or is the idol what's causing the plague to begin with...?

Hogarth's Idol can be completed in less than 10 minutes, but it ended up far more complex than I originally imagined. I learned a lot along the way, and I'm proud of the end result. Hopefully, you will be too.

*NOTE* In order to view the module, right-click on either the link below or the top image and select "Save Linked File."

Right-click here to download the Neverwinter Nights module "Hogarth's Idol"