Hey all, today I decided to finish Dances with Rogues but I'm totally stuck on how to get past the orc camp and into the castle to steal some golden statue. Can anyone help me out here? The walkthrough is not helpful here...
Got it - surprise surprise, the solution was getting gang-raped by orcs and then helping the main orc rapist! On the plus side, it's not as bad as when the protagonist gets gang-raped to death by demonic hounds, but on the negative, it's not as bad as when the protagonist gets gang-raped to death by demonic hounds...yeesh.
Picture a really well-done rogue-specific mod, with good custom items, a variety of quite well-realised locations, decent (if somewhat generic) NPC characterisation and banter, the ability to have up to 8 henchmen at once, a number of romances, challenging puzzles (though there were one or two puzzles that could have done with an extra hint or two), dialogue choices that allowed for a variety of character types, multiple solutions to every quest, decent grammar and spelling and amazingly well executed cutscenes - probably the most impressive mod I've played besides the Shadowlords/Dreamcatcher/Demon series. Then add in heaps of graphic gratuitous sexual content, Dead or Alive-style breast physics and anatomically correct nude models (though you have to be a female human not using the fat body, which is a pity 'cos I wanted a tubby halfling), an unavoidable rape-defloration scene as the opening (the initial rapist becomes a later romance option and the PC can get pregnant by him, though she later has a forced abortion), the ability to prostitute your princess (replete with the possibility of catching STDs), a 'sexy skill' that levels up the more slutty your PC is, at least four counts of (avoidable) gang rape (a gang of thugs, a group of gladiators, a group of orcs, and the aforementioned demonic hounds who would have killed my PC in the process if she hadn't been levelled to the max and decked out with lots of regenerating items), and, well, a general tendency towards sexual violence. All done by a female European associate professor. I made a low-INT high-CHA bard 38/Rogue 1/Barbarian 1 (for the fast movement) character named Peach Mushroom using the Naive Idealist voiceset, mostly to try and get a tally as to how much degradation I could put her through, but after losing count of how many times she caught STDs from prostituting herself to dockside sailors in Chapter 1 had to settle for 'lots'. The defining moment for me has to be the realisation that if she hadn't been a well-equipped high-level character then being gang-raped by four demon hounds would have killed my PC...and yet that the mod is really well done, especially since the maker Valine did it as a personal project to try to learn to use the toolset.
It's both really good and really bad...basically if you can handle the full-on depravity it's worth playing. I suggest using the Innocent Idealist voiceset.:angel: Please post your impressions btw, I'm interested to see what others have to say about it.
I agree with your assessment. The sexual violence is prevelant, yet most of the time optional. However, it's by far one of the best mods out there. I highly suggest playing it.
Just started playing this and have to say I'm quite impressed so far Its helping to pass the time on nightshifts :laugh:
You can also attempt to disguise yourself as the original messenger, who's now dead. There's some items you need to acquire, her tunic, red dye, a dictionary and some notes. The hounds can be beaten, which was not a problem with the Rogue/Fighter/Shadow Dancer I used, and at the 'appropriate' level.
I've been wondering about that module myself... There's a community forum around somewhere that's created "for the female rpg gamer", all in blue and pink pastelles, where the ladies express their love for the PC's rapist on 10 pages or so. Oh, excuse me. One of the innumerable rapists. Sure, whatever rocks your boats, but, well... I was kind of hoping we'll be getting less of ths stuff, not more...
To be fair, I thought the entire romance with your rapist was done incredibly well. A tasteless approach would have been to make the rape an easy-to-forgive thing, but for the romance to happen, you really get to see, first of all, how scarring the rape was to your character, and secondly, you really get to see what a twisted, unhappy person Vico really is. If the romance happens, it's pretty clear that it's the PC now in charge. Quen, I get that, on the outside, it sounds like a situation that's pretty demeaning to women. But if you play through the module, I think you'll find that it's very sensitively done.
