Campaign Information 
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Campaign Name: A Wind of Thorns 
Creator: wimfrits 
E-mail Address: wimfrits@yahoo.com 

Type: 1P or 2P cooperative campaign 
Size: 8 maps, including 1 prologue and 4 user-selectable scenarios
Map sizes: (L) M L XL L L L L
Game Version: WoW 3.0
Campaign Version: 2.0 
Language: English. Also available in Czech 


Playtesters: 
 - Pitboss_2000   jasper.klein@chiralix.com
      ..my dear friend and regular campaign-playing-buddy. He joined me on a quest to
        track down the first errors and balancing difficulties with a pointing finger 
        that still haunts me...

 - Ethric   kjetilgv@student.uit.no
      ..his heroic attempt to complete this campaign unfortunately was cut short by
        regular game crashes. Just before release, he lifted the weight off my shoulders
        by stating that these crashes were NOT related to the campaign...

 - Garion   taggartm@windsorrealities.com
      ..who took me on a wonderful journey inside the player's mind, by writing down 
        his thoughts and actions. Also, Garion displayed an amazing ability to make 
        things really hard for himself :) 
        He made me realize where I had misjudged the 'obviousness' of the player's 
        choices and thus caused a lot of 'psychological' changes.

 - Pepak   heroes@pepak.net
      ..the first one to experience the campaign's full potential by playing all maps 
        on champion difficulty, Pepak had the opportunity to give feedback on everything.
        And he took full advantage of that :)  
        His massive amount of well constructed feedback and active problem-solving 
        attitude led me to spend long nights behind the editor.

     Thanks to all of you! 
     Without your help this campaign would be but a shadow of what it is now.


Description: 
 Betrayal, valor, growth, humor and life changing decisions combine to create
 a massive and challenging campaign. The choices you make in these 8 maps 
 change the alignments, power ups, and whole story line which makes for 
 excellent replay value.  

Special features: 
 - Each scenario is more or less split in two, with one main hero for each part.
   This enables 2P cooperative play
 - Choice scenarios

Difficulty: 
 - Overall a lot more difficult than the average campaign!!! 
 - Computer players grow in strength exponentially as you select a higher difficulty level
 - A simple rule: play at 1 difficulty less than you're used to and you'll still be challenged
 - The higher the difficulty, the better the rewards
 - Champion difficulty requires a great deal of expertise

Known errors:
 - Occasional game-crashes during the computer's turn in the first scenario. 
   I could solve this by disabling a certain performance-eating anti-virus program at
   startup. Other playtesters had no problems at all, except Ethric. His crashes were 
   not related to this campaign however.
   If you are experiencing problems try:
   - checking your memory usage
   - saving at the end of your turn

Additional credits:
 - Thanks to all the people that contributed to the 'Rage of the Carrots' story. 
   Even though my starting that thread and using carrots in the campaign were absolutely
   unrelated, it turned out to be a fortunate coincidence
 - Thanks to the people who gave feedback on this campaign. Their comments both made 
   making the campaign worth it, and caused the release of subsequent versions
 - Very special thanks to Pepak, who after his massive playtesting effort took it upon
   himself to do a full translation into Czech

Hints and Tips: 
 - In order to bring this campaign to a succesful end, I think you need to:
   A. be playing at a low difficulty setting.
or B. have sufficient knowledge of combat-techniques.
        In my experience the desire to press the 'wait' button (or making sure you CAN)
        at the start of each round is equivalent to the player's combat knowledge.
        But hey, please prove me wrong  ;)

The attached document 'AWOT player's log', holds Garion's logbook, which he
wrote while performing playtests. His experiences might also be helpful to a player in need
At the bottom of this document you'll find more explicit tips for each scenario. 
They could contain minor spoilers.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For any questions, remarks or other feedback: wimfrits@yahoo.com
  or visit the Round Table forum.
I'd really like to know what you think of this campaign.

Hope you enjoy.




******************************************************
* version 1.1 updates:                               *
* - fixes of unwanted features                       *
* - measures against overly cunning players          *
* - addition of a few quests/regions                 *
* - more differentiation between player difficulties *
* - some spicing up of difficulty                    *
******************************************************

******************************************************
* version 2.0 updates:                               *
* - improved graphics                                *
* - bugfixes and preventing of system bugs           *
* - better spreading of difficulty: easier on low    *
*   levels, harder on higher levels                  *
* - new: texts, quests, carryovers, areas, secrets,  *
*   and various bonus features                       * 
******************************************************













---------------------------------------------
---- WARNING!! POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW!! ----
---------------------------------------------




















[ tips by Pepak, confirmed by Garion and me ]


THE CAMPAIGN

*   It is not expected that you win all fights. It is not necessary.
    Some are not even possible.

*   Waiting for creatures to grow is the best way to lose.

*   Exploiting certain tricks is discouraged. Don't be surprised if 
    a hit-and-run tactics yields different effects than you expected.



PROLOGUE: WAKING THE DEAD

*   Read the message texts, they will save you a lot of grief.

*   Remember how I told you you don't have to kill everything?


SOTHORYON MONASTERY

*   Chataya's part is a test. Don't fall all over yourself to visit every 
    single place, unless your heart tells you to. Don't try to guess the 
    "correct answer" to the tests - ALL answers are correct...

*   All of Meltemi's arena fights can be won. Yes indeed. You might need a 
    reload or two, though. Or more, if you don't make use of the 
    "one retaliation a turn" rule.

*   Melee is more useful to Meltemi than archery or resistance here.


KALAHARU

*   The sisters must go through separate ways. Don't cheat!

*   There's an invisible teleporter at the end of Meltemi's mountain path.

*   Use your potions of immortality wisely.

*   Don't rush towards the next map until both sisters are ready.


BURNING FOLIAGE

*   There are two Necropolis towns near the start. You will need them.

*   You can get two carryover artifacts in two quest huts in this map.

*   Visit all the dream teachers. There are enough of them to give you
    over 100.000 experience points.

*   The keymaster tents are at (185,220), (193,50) and (105,90) (row,column)

*   Sneaking behind the AI units with a small force to capture the towns is 
    a poor choice.

*   Until you kill the druids, don't bother killing their creatures.

*   Save the game just before you enter the circle of ice.


ASANGARS SPLINTERS

*   You can carry over quite a few artifacts from here. Make sure you visit 
    all the quest huts, even that very-hard-to-see mountain-like quest hut in
    the central region!

*   Berserk spell is your friend.

*   You can max-out in this map if you find all the hidden trees of knowledge.


THE FROG

*   You have a little time at the beginning of this scenario. Use it well!

*   Trust Meltemi and Chataya. They should be strong enough to win over 
    anything that comes against them, if they are combined in an army. 
    You might need the help of the castle walls and the two support heroes 
    if you separate them.

*   Yes, really, you CAN win even against THIS army. And this one, too.

*   Activate the thieves and their mines ASAP!

*   Don't waste your time, but still take care to explore all of the
    underground. Some nice carryover bonuses await you!


FULL CIRCLE

*   You don't have to split Meltemi and Chataya. But I recommend you do so.

*   If you play on champion or expert difficulty, visit the bonus
    underground area before leaving via the sewers.

*   Beware of the Pig! It's a ferocious beast with an explosive temper!


CLEANING OUT THE CLOSET

*   If you joined the evil side first, you will have an edge here.

*   Nimbus is the bonus man! Take him, or his head at least, to Mirlanda.

*   I suppose it is possible to crash through the dark-champion-guarded
    gate. But why would you do that when you can simply read the messages 
    and go the easier way, right?

*   Hit-and-run is NOT the best way to win this map. Really!
