Neverwinter Nights "A Dance with Rogues" Sex Mod. My post-game detailed review.

[ReMeDy]

Sex mods have inherited many forms over the years. As graphics enrich our lives with fully rendered 3D models, one aspect of modding communities is being forgotten -- story-driven content. Sex mods perceived as revolutionary today, such as Cursed Armor, have awful stories, but some gamers are quick to overlook story deficiencies because some of today's gamers are increasingly visually stimulated and impatient. Internet discussion groups picked up on this, raising the question, what are today's top story-based sex mods? Skyrim, Oblivion, and Fallout had nothing mentioned. The top contender on a number of lists was "A Dance with Rogues" for the original Neverwinter Nights. To my surprise, many were introduced to Neverwinter Nights through this mod! Neverwinter Nights was released back in 2002, so what is it about this mod on a decade old PC game that has people talking?

A Dance with Rogues is a massive two-part adult mod spanning 40+ hours. Most games are dominated by male protagonists, but in a Dance with Rogues, you play a female -- a former princess who loses her parents and castle to an invading country. While eluding your pursuers, you are accepted by underground criminals who train you as a rogue. Unlike most mods with unrestricted character freedom, a Dance with Rogues requires you build a character as a rogue class, otherwise you'll confront obstacles permanently impeding your progress. This class restriction may seem punishing for an RPG based on choices, but it provides a more focused story-telling experience tailored to your skill-set.

The mod is made by Valine, a woman. She is the first reason this mod is special. This isn't some guy tapping into the female psyche. Valine has first-hand experience with female emotions. You genuinely feel you're playing as a female as Valine takes you through a wild ride of medieval female fantasies with memorable characters, exploring themes of political struggles, race, social status, and female bigotry. Today's mature/adult games (outside of Japan) are reluctant to touch on gender issues for political reasons. Mods have the freedom of dodging this taboo, and Valine does it to great effect.

If you enjoyed romance in Bioware titles, you'll find several hours of it here. It's a thrill seeing various male -- and to a lesser extent, female -- personalities exert their feelings over the player. You have every right to decline most of them, or be a whore and accept all of them. You have the evil rogue Vico, the rich materialistic Tony, the self-righteous shy Anden, and more. Various other interest groups are involved, including dwarves, orcs, sailors, and corrupt officials all wanting a piece of your booty. Whether you oblige or refuse is based on how you role-play, but of course not everyone you meet likes being refused!

Role-playing is what separates this mod from other works of media. Every time it's your character's turn to speak, you choose from a selection of options in similar Bioware fashion. In casual dialog, these options consist of typical good and evil choices, but what separates this mod from traditional games is something else developers are scared of... sex.

Tailoring your sexual role-playing experience is rarely done in gaming. Even Japanese visual novels rarely adopt role-playing concepts. How many Japanese visual novels have you played with a protagonist who adapts to your personality? How many have you played with a protagonist who constantly receives feedback from the player? Now how many of them do you play as a female? In a Dance with Rogues, you role-play the entire narrative and choose the kind of woman YOU want. Do you enjoy the role of a victim or prefer to take charge? Are you an easy girl who gives herself up to anyone, or do you play hard to get?

Most of the mod's dialog choices do not result in significant story differences; however, they often have strong repercussions on your companions. Companions may leave, get jealous, start fights, or get killed based on your decisions. Regardless, even the most minor dialog responses make your conversations feel special because NPC's are still responding to what you said, even if what you said may not always be significant.

Inevitably, dialog culminates into various sexual experiences over the course of your adventure. The mod lacks animations and only uses text, but this is for the best, as Neverwinter Night's in-game models are not exactly sexually stimulating. They're tolerable enough, but Valine is aware of this deficiency and instead provides flavorful personality into everything you'll read, including a great cast of characters.

Reading for hours can get boring,  so A Dance with Rogues strikes a balance between narrative and action. This pacing is reminiscent of Baldur's Gate, rather than the text heavy approach of Planescape Torment or the action heavy approach of Dragon Age. The mod cleverly intertwines sexual opportunities with seemingly mundane quests, with some plot twists to keep you guessing.

Unfortunately, because the mod is built on Neverwinter Nights, it also shoulders Neverwinter Night's criticisms. It's unfair to blame the mod for these issues, but they must be mentioned. The companion AI will leave you pulling your hair out. Unlike in Baldur's Gate, you can't directly control your companions, but rather give them simple commands, such as "don't follow me," "stand your ground," etc. This mod pits you against some absurdly difficult enemy confrontations where the lack of AI control is frustrating. Sometimes, companions openly ignore conflict. For example, the ranger, Anden, sometimes stands idly by if asked to fight in melee due to a bug. This can be resolved by using Anden as an archer. Other times, companions get stuck behind doors and terrain. When adventuring, bad pathfinding is no issue since companions teleport to you when they're stuck, but in a fight, teleporting is not tolerated, resulting in characters who cannot contribute to fights. Sometimes, even the player gets stuck on terrain, or get boxed in by her own companions. It's frustrating how these moments will make or break the mod's many difficult fight segments.

Poor AI can also be used to your advantage against the enemy. Taking one point in the Shadowdancer class for the "hide in plain sight" skill is over-powered. When used, enemy AI's stop attacking you, stand around like idiots, and patiently wait for you to exit stealth. It's the ultimate time-out button, as you drink a health potion, reposition yourself, or score a free attack on your unaware foes to resume the fight. You can do this unlimited times without penalty. Winning a tough fight should be a rewarding experience, but there's nothing rewarding about abusing AI.

The mod suffers from random spikes in difficulty. One moment you'll harmlessly fight weak skeletons or bats. The next you'll fight hordes of armed soldiers. These fights can occur without warning, and because you can save within battle, you may accidentally trap yourself in an infinite cycle of death. Backup saves are absolutely mandatory. For the arachnophobia folks, several fights include spiders, including two giant colossal spiders the size of King Kong.

Most fights are optional and discouraged to complement the philosophy of a stealthy rogue. To ensure this, experience point gains in combat are nearly nonexistent. Instead, your experience comprises disarming traps, lock picking, succeeding diplomacy checks (bluffing, persuading, and intimidating), and accomplishing quests. You will confront literally hundreds of traps and lock picks. They get monotonous, but it's encouraging seeing your player develop from them. The game's toughest conflicts are unavoidable, so possessing both a stealthy and confrontational character is mandatory, including a charismatic character for the game's various conversational challenges.

Part one is the mod's flagship experience. It concentrates on the author's strong points, including detailed eventful dialog, steamy sex, plot twists, and occasional combat to keep things interesting. Valine cleverly accentuates your character's low level status by reminding you of your vulnerabilities. Are you so desperate for money that you'll prostitute yourself? Do you resist a group of armed rapists, knowing they could effortlessly kill you? These are fascinating dilemmas you'll confront.

Part two is a very different experience, for better or worse. Your character now possesses more experience. She no longer is a weak innocent victim, and now exudes confidence. Your character gets taken advantage of, but not on account of her weaknesses. Enemies instead utilize trickery, ambushes, or threaten companions to force you into uncompromising situations. Unlike part one, part two heavily favors traditional combat and exploration. Many of part two's characters are also forgettable and quests border on cliche tropes such as killing a dragon, or exploring a tomb. Despite part two lacking the degree of sexual content of its predecessor, it has strong moments, especially near the end. Part two is still a fun experience you shouldn't miss, but temper some of your expectations.

While experiences inside cities are memorable, the mod lacks this same devotion outside of cities. There are no hidden outdoor secrets to reward exploration. For example, in Baldur's Gate, you can discover a man about to commit suicide by jumping from a cliff, or a dryad who kills you with a kiss. This mod could use such moments to make the world come to life. It accomplishes this to perfection inside cities, but outside, the world feels empty.

On a few story occasions, your equipment is confiscated. This adds a sensation of plot related vulnerability, such as sneaking around naked, but with a huge downside: When you eventually retrieve confiscated equipment, the game doesn't remember how you sorted your items. Your items become a random mess you must resort yourself! This is especially bothersome in part two when you're decked in gear. What's worse, your inventory bags that reduce carrying weight may get deleted if they had items in them. The items in the deleted bags are saved, but you're still stuck with equipment now too heavy to carry. More than once, I had to use console cheats to avoid these item management issues.

There are some minor spelling typos, but they're rare and forgivable. Valine is an adult assistant professor, so it's reassuring knowing you aren't getting dialog written by a juvenile 12-year old.

The mod's finale ends with one of four endings. These endings do not take into consideration whether you're good or evil, and who you romanced only results in minor dialog changes. One of the endings is a hidden "extended" ending acquired based on decisions late in the game. It's certainly the best ending, but regardless, all the endings feel rushed. Several plot points are dropped. There is no epilogue documenting the fate of the characters, as seen in Fallout and the end of Baldur's Gate II's expansion. To be fair, Valine has suggested part two is a work-in-progress, but it has been years since her last update. No one knows where Valine went, so what we have now is likely the final version, but don't let that stop you from experiencing this unique adventure.

A Dance with Rogues is more than just a mod. It's a rare sexually stimulating role-playing experience setting the bar for all modding communities. It's a testament to the strength of Neverwinter Night's tool-set editor. This is an experience not easily duplicated in today's games, such as Skyrim or Fallout. As games expand to impress us visually, story-driven modding experiences are dying. A Dance with Rogues offers a unique story-telling experience over today's mods and games. If you're seeking a dark sexual role-playing experience presented from a female perspective, a Dance with Rogues is a rare opportunity you should not miss.

Score: 9/10

Pro's:
+ Unique characters with various personalities.
+ Takes its subject matter very seriously to provide a professionally immersive experience.
+ Freedom of expression lets the mod explore themes game companies are afraid to tackle, such as female bigotry.
+ Sex.

Con's:
- In-game engine has not aged well, especially the AI.
- Sex is all text based, but written superbly.
- Not necessarily a finished mod, especially part two, but sufficient enough.
- Mod has not been updated in years. Status of author unknown.

Notable Links:
http://adwr.wikia.com/wiki/A_Dance_with_Rogues (Wiki page)
http://adwr.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ (FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions)
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.Detail&id=4869 (Download Part I of the mod)
http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Modules.Detail&id=4870 (Download Part II of the mod)

[Guest carywinton]

Neverwinter Nights is where it all started for me. I started modding and learning about game development there with Aurora Toolset. I worked closely on all the official Add On's back then with Don Moar. My first mod was actually built on Don Moar's tutorial with permission from him directly. It's nice to see someone else discuss this game and all that it had to offer. The Aurora Toolset is still the standard used in some places of higher learning which teach game development and game production. There was another notable sex mod which was merely built for fun by a wonderful lady and turned out to be one of the top most downloaded mods, Sex and the Single Adventuress.

 

http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=modules.detail&id=1920

[Lusty Housecarl]

I must say i like the sound of this mod, i have always found that a great story makes a sex mod a hundred times better.
If there is no story or driving element other than "fuck stuff" i tend to get bored fairly fast. 
 

I don't mind if everything is text based as long as it does it good  
 
This is another reason I'm looking very much forward to certain Skyrim mods like ForbiddenFruit/Dark Investigations, the story makes all the difference!

[ne7esk]

Can you recommend other works having the same style, not necessarily rpgs or games. I do not minding reading

[ReMeDy]

Can you recommend other works having the same style, not necessarily rpgs or games. I do not minding reading

 

A huge 47-page topic was posted on Hongfire with a question like you mentioned. It's a testament to how rare this genre of gaming is of female protagonist choice-driven gameplay. Factor in it has to be in English and your options are even further limited.

http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php/377867-A-search-for-games-that-are-similar-to-A-Dance-with-Rogues!-List-added!

 

Your best bet are fan created online Adobe Flash games, or games that run off a text-based adventure tool. The reason is these games are not confined to international laws and taboo, like adult themes, nudity, female bigotry, etc. Unfortunately, a lot of these games lack artwork, but then again, so did A Dance with Rogues (the screen fades to black during sex scenes). You can find them in the link above.

[Lusty Housecarl]

Can you recommend other works having the same style, not necessarily rpgs or games. I do not minding reading

 

I liked Corruption of Champions quite a lot, and the creator of that has another game in the works soon to be out.

That has monster girls, transformations and so many other things it would take to long to name it all.

Either way its more or less all text based.

 

Link to CoC/TiTs blog http://www.fenoxo.com/

[Nonsense667]

Wow. This was a great, and in-depth review. Well done on touching all of the aspects of it, and I do like that you took the time to look at the differences between part 1 and part 2. I loved part 1 enough to make my own additions to it, yet I've never played part 2, it just, to me, would sully the experience I've had with part 1; part 2 goes down a direction I just don't care to see the game go. The only part of the review that... agitates me is this.
 

The mod is made by Valine, a woman. She is the first reason this mod is special. This isn't some guy tapping into the female psyche. Valine has first-hand experience with female emotions. 

I am a male. I write, not a lot, but some. I write erotic content, from a female perspective; even roleplay as one in SL. And apparently I'm not that bad at it. Should I just give up? Because of the fact that I had the misfortune to be born with a penis, I will never be as good as a woman? 

My gender does not define me. Not in any way. I do not have "male emotions." I have emotions. I'm me. 

 

Edit: And I apologize if I'm "taking this too seriously," as I have a tendency to do. I'm not looking for an apology, or anything like that. I'm simply speaking out, letting my voice be heard; maybe someone will hear it, and know that they aren't alone.

[XJ347]

 

The mod is made by Valine, a woman. She is the first reason this mod is special. This isn't some guy tapping into the female psyche. Valine has first-hand experience with female emotions. 

I am a male. I write, not a lot, but some. I write erotic content, from a female perspective; even roleplay as one in SL. And apparently I'm not that bad at it. Should I just give up? Because of the fact that I had the misfortune to be born with a penis, I will never be as good as a woman? 

My gender does not define me. Not in any way. I do not have "male emotions." I have emotions. I'm me. 

 

Edit: And I apologize if I'm "taking this too seriously," as I have a tendency to do. I'm not looking for an apology, or anything like that. I'm simply speaking out, letting my voice be heard; maybe someone will hear it, and know that they aren't alone.

 

There is a grain of truth to what you are saying, but you are overreacting. You do not need to be female to write a story from a female perspective to feel authentic. The thing the OP is talking about is that most female based stories don't feel authentic but this one does. The bit about the creator being female and tapping into her own emotions is an explanation of why he feels this specific story feels authentic, but that doesn't mean it's a requirement to feeling authentic.

 

A Dance With Rogues IMO is THE best mod containing sex ever made. Another good mod is Demonheart, it is in production and is pretty good too, but is less sexual in nature overall. Gladiatrix also deserves an honorable mention.

[Contessa]

Excellent review, aside from a few hiccups (Prostituting with Sailors comes to mind, sometimes they don't zone with you and it just doesn't work) I found it one of the most enjoyable Adult Mods I've ever played for a game.

[ReMeDy]

 

The mod is made by Valine, a woman. She is the first reason this mod is special. This isn't some guy tapping into the female psyche. Valine has first-hand experience with female emotions. 

I am a male. I write, not a lot, but some. I write erotic content, from a female perspective; even roleplay as one in SL. And apparently I'm not that bad at it. Should I just give up? Because of the fact that I had the misfortune to be born with a penis, I will never be as good as a woman?

 

Nah, I wouldn't quit what your doing, lol. I'm saying all the female writers of sexual fanfiction I've read do not write female bigotry, like you see in Valine's mod. It made for a refreshing and surreal experience knowing I was reading a story written by a female about a female who can get exploited by men. Not to take away from what you're doing, but to me, that's pretty hot, lol. It's just such a rare thing. Most female authors avoid female bigotry, and even fewer have the ability to type a profoundly good story. Valine does both.

 

Even most Japanese visual novels with strong stories using female protagonists (esp. yaoi) have distinctly feminine stories and men who are "knights in shining armor" types. The few female-driven stories that target men, such as Black Lilith titles (ex. Asagi) are too constrained in your choices and are basically sex-romps with bad stories.

[ReMeDy]

Excellent review, aside from a few hiccups (Prostituting with Sailors comes to mind, sometimes they don't zone with you and it just doesn't work) I found it one of the most enjoyable Adult Mods I've ever played for a game.

 

You're referring to this issue, right?

http://adwr.wikia.com/wiki/Troubleshooting#The_sailors_don.27t_appear_in_the_dockhouse_when_I_go_with_them_to_.22have_some_fun.22.

 

I thankfully didn't have this problem, but then again, I only played the most recent version. By the way, I thought it was cool how:

 

Vico shows up out of the shadows to protect the protagonist if a sailor attacks. It's funny how he tries not to care about your character, but at the same time he watches like a hawk. Vico was by far my favorite character. It was fun seeing him fight with his emotions. He's a sexual pervert and a playboy on the outside, but an overly protective teddy bear on the inside

. For example, in part 2 when he asks if the drow companion laid his hands on you while he was gone, if you say yes, he goes berserk and kills him. Incredible.

[sen4mi]

 Internet discussion groups picked up on this, raising the question, what are today's top story-based sex mods? Skyrim, Oblivion, and Fallout had nothing mentioned. 

 

http://www.loverslab.com/topic/15449-sexout-fleshedout-sofo/ might be worth mentioning?

[Contessa]

 

Excellent review, aside from a few hiccups (Prostituting with Sailors comes to mind, sometimes they don't zone with you and it just doesn't work) I found it one of the most enjoyable Adult Mods I've ever played for a game.

 

You're referring to this issue, right?

http://adwr.wikia.com/wiki/Troubleshooting#The_sailors_don.27t_appear_in_the_dockhouse_when_I_go_with_them_to_.22have_some_fun.22.

 

I thankfully didn't have this problem, but then again, I only played the most recent version. By the way, I thought it was cool how:

 

Vico shows up out of the shadows to protect the protagonist if a sailor attacks. It's funny how he tries not to care about your character, but at the same time he watches like a hawk. Vico was by far my favorite character. It was fun seeing him fight with his emotions. He's a sexual pervert and a playboy on the outside, but an overly protective teddy bear on the inside

. For example, in part 2 when he asks if the drow companion laid his hands on you while he was gone, if you say yes, he goes berserk and kills him. Incredible.

 

 

I agree with your assessment completely.

Vico was by far my favorite character as I played through. At first I felt the pain of my character after the incident in the beginning, I took every opportunity to share with people how I planned to kill Vico. As you came to understand from pieces of conversation with random people, he truly felt a strong bond with my character and through his gruff insults and petty snipes you could see he was completely taken by "me". I also really loved in the Dwarven Town when you could turn the tables on him and turn him in a begging, drooling mess of desire. >

[R_dahri]

if you loved ADWR be sure to check Gladiatrix I,II and III, specialy II and III cause the last ones gets better scripting and the plot starts to be revealed to the player. Gladiatrix lacks the well written sex but got some action and sexual animations!, also the companions got well implemented personalities.

 

 

There is other adult mod for Neverwinter Nights in developing, Demonheart, it's planned to be a five chapter history with a female protagonist too and the first chapter is out right now.

 

Gladiatrix: http://neverwinter.nexusmods.com/mods/134//?

 

Demonheart blog: http://demonheartnwn.blogspot.com.es/

[ReMeDy]

if you loved ADWR be sure to check Gladiatrix I,II and III, specialy II and III cause the last ones gets better scripting and the plot starts to be revealed to the player. Gladiatrix lacks the well written sex but got some action and sexual animations!, also the companions got well implemented personalities.

 

 

There is other adult mod for Neverwinter Nights in developing, Demonheart, it's planned to be a five chapter history with a female protagonist too and the first chapter is out right now.

 

Gladiatrix: http://neverwinter.nexusmods.com/mods/134//?

 

Demonheart blog: http://demonheartnwn.blogspot.com.es/

 

 

I just wanted to update and say I've now played all the Gladiatrix mods and what is released of Demonheart.

 

Gladiatrix does start off slow in the first chapter. There is a lot of backtracking, since after each arena match you have to walk over to the nearest sleep eligible building to sleep. I was disgruntled thinking the entire mod series would be like this. Thankfully, it wasn't. I wont spoil it, but let's say there's a major decision you make near the end of part III in typical Bioware good-evil fashion that flips the entire mod on its head. The plethora of endings for Gladiatrix was also a real treat, and they were much more fleshed out and complete than Dance with Rogues was.

 

Demonheart, despite not being finished, I'm crowning as my favorite mod series thus far. If you enjoy falling in love with evil henchmen who aren't afraid to use your female protagonist as a sex tool, then this mod is right up your alley. I am concerned though the mod author is taking on too much for him to chew, so we'll see what happens.

[R_dahri]

If i'm not wrong the author of Demonheart is "She" just as Valine in A Dance With Rogues.

 

But well, yes, Demonheart is going to be a masterwork piece of art ^^

[bjornk]

ADWR is the best adult mod I've ever played. Played the first part last summer when I took a break from playing Skyrim, now playing it again with a new character.

 

Before ADWR, I had played a few other NWN modules, such as Miss Jones' Spirit and Kunoichi series. They weren't as big as ADWR, but were still fun  mods with some adult content. Also Enigma Islands Revisited had some adult content as well but I haven't played it very long.

 

It's sad that despite having superior graphics engines, modding tools, even complete animation frameworks (such as Sexout, SexLab etc) there's not even a single mod for Fallout series or TES series that can come close to ADWR and I really doubt there will ever be one.

 

If you haven't played ADWR yet, you're missing out a lot.

[fritz_t_coyote]

Thanks for the tip about Demonheart, I just played the prologue and chapter 1... good game.