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We have an interview with ADK about his NWN Hall of Fame module series Kunoichi 1 (English version) 1.9 & Kunoichi 2: The Temple on the Mountain . Topics include the complexities of his modules, his reasons for the Oriental theme, how the careful selection of custom content enhance the module and his plans for the future. This interview has been a long time in coming and we'd like to thank the fans who sent in questions to be added to this interview. A full list of contributors to this interview can be found at the bottom of the page.- July. 2007 1) What is the most fulfilling thing you’ve found in building the Kunoichi series? I would have to say it's creating a world of my own. I played video games for a while now and when I got around to understanding the toolset, I asked myself "now, if I wanted to play in the most exciting RPG ever, what would it be like?" We all have different tastes but I built my mods with all the elements that would make a really exciting mod for me. That was the birth of Kunoichi! 2) What drew you to create your unique, oriental themed setting, with a female protagonist in mind, no less?I chose to get away from the traditional D&D or other RPG settings so I could have the liberty of doing something that I can really call my own. It all started when I played Kareta as a PC in my PnP (pen and paper) D&D games. I gave her (like each of my characters) a lot of background. Throughout the years I’ve became quite fond of Kareta, a character with complex emotions and situations to deal with. So it all started with her. As for the female protagonist, at the beginning, it was due to language complications. My mods are done in French first then I translate them to English, (not without help, mind you) The French language is more complex than English in many ways, so I could not do a mixed mod. I had to choose the gender of the PC, and it ended up being female. 3) What was your inspiration for 'Kunoichi'?I must say that it all started when I played Kareta as a PC in the classic PnP D&D. I wanted to experience the ninja class! Actually, I've always been a fan of Asian martial arts movies. My first ninja reference comes from the movie "American ninja"... not such a good movie but when I saw ninjas in action, I was amazed. Now a days, there are many ninja movies but very few are in feudal Japan. If there are any, they often display incredible powers, not anything close to reality. So with Kareta as an NPC, I decided to build all her native world in NWN and make it the way I imagined! K1 was started before I had the Oriental tile-set, you will notice with the ninja clan!! It was quite a challenge! 4) What influenced you to make a NWN module set in feudal Japan?In my modules, I can't really talk of specific 'Feudal Japan' since I incorporate elements from Chinese culture. But my setting comes close to the late Feudal Japan. I read about samurai's, ninjas and Daimyos to help me get a better understanding of their history, culture and politics. Then, I adjusted what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to discard to make my own setting and make everything fit. The Internet was also very useful for on-the-spot questions I asked myself about something specific. 5) Have you always liked feudal Japan, namely the ninja/samurai characters?Only since my teenage years when I first saw oriental girls! I found them beautiful; I loved their features, their dark straight hair and I got interested in their culture. I was instantly amazed with the samurai, their discipline, their martial arts, and then there are the ninjas. I'm far from being an expert but my curiosity and my interest has led me to build Kunoichi. 6) What made you decide to make a prequel for Kunoichi?I wanted to give the main character and the NPCs more background. Why is the PC a ninja? Why does Sasori Kurai have a fixation on Shiho? What happened with Korubawa, why would the PC not be interested in him? Who was the old leader, before Sasori Kurai? How did the PC meet Miho? What did the PC go through to get past her training? Too many question unanswered and I wanted the gamers to understand where they were coming from. 7) Approximately how many different endings do you think there will be?There will be two major endings but many ways to finish the game in each of these endings. I would say about... six. Or more... I always have new ideas and I get caught adding new material. That's what happened in K0 and K3 when I was building them. I often tell myself "What if the PC decided to react this way, what if that character had this part to play in the mod?"... those "what ifs” add a tremendous amount of work! 8) Why did you portray the head of the Clan as a sadistic rapist and torturer, rather than some other equally evil personality?I don't really see how I can make an equally evil character such as Sasori Kurai without torture, rape and sadism. I wanted this bad guy to be not just bad but very scary. I don't like doing things the "traditional" way. All the Hollywood bad guys (and most of the villains in the mods I played) want to rule the world and they have those oh-so-predictable behaviours and evil laugh... I wanted to have a serious, dangerous evil character. In the real world, bad guys don't laugh like idiots. They scare, they intimidate, they oppress. You don't choose the people you meet. I made Sasori Kurai with all the things I hate in mind. Some people may like the way I make my bad guys, some people might be shocked or offended, but one thing is for sure... Sasori Kurai leaves no one indifferent. 9) Will we see and know more about Kareta or will ADK create a future module based around her?I'm not sure I will make another mod with Kareta. I've worked around that character quite a lot in the series... But I have to say that in K3, she'll still be there along with your other allies like Miho and Yutaka. You'll have the chance to see how her story ends and the PC will have something to do with it if she wishes. But who knows what might happen... I may end up working with that character some more in other projects! 10) The sexual language in the module is extremely strong, why then did you shy from using the 'F-word' profanities with the Dwarf Bandit, instead choosing to use "b@#$%?8"? *Spoilers* To put the readers in context, the PC is ambushed by some bandits and one is cussing up a storm. Normally, I don't censor myself in conversations. I want each and every word to have an impact on the way the PC looks at the situation or sees how the NPC is. In this particular case, the cussing has absolutely no other purpose than to make this NPC look uneducated and silly. We all have an uncle or neighbour that puts an f-word after every two words. This is an example of this type of person. To make this character stand out, I used the symbols for the strong language! 11) Why did you decide to use a ninja (especially a Kunoichi), instead of a samurai?Good question... perhaps because I found there more ways to challenge the PC in all situations. First, in the role-play, will the PC be at ease with her missions, some including murder? As a ninja, how will the PC blend in with the samurai's, the normal folk? Are some decisions right or wrong? Will the PC be loud or play it low-key? How far will the PC go to get what she wants? Then, second, being a samurai, your code is much more strict and your duty is clear. As a ninja, you get more freedom and there are many secrets and mysteries around your strange allies. The ninja clan was a great place for me to put the PC. The PC being a kunoichi, allowed for even more Role-play and undercover situations. 12) I get the feeling that no matter how strong or skilled a woman is; ultimately she is still a victim in your modules. Is this what you intended, and if so, why? Yes, that was intended. The PC has to realize that being a woman in this time and place, life is tougher. She has to prove herself way more than a man would to get the smallest amount of recognition. In the late feudal Japan, women were seen as mothers or servants. The PC has to face discrimination, disrespect and contempt. I want the PC to work awfully hard to become a heroine. Just a few decades ago, women didn't have the right to vote and if they wanted more rights, they were just seen as hormonal - frustrated beings... I wanted everyone to feel how unfair and ridiculous it was. 13) The monks were a strange bunch, what sects are they based on if any?Those monks aren’t a part of a sect. When I built the Temple on the Mountain, I had the Tibetans in mind, except they would do some martial arts instead of meditation and live a life of sacrifice. They take young adults under their wing and teach them their culture and philosophy. After, it's up to the students to use their knowledge for the good of the community. I had fun writing the conversation for the two wise men. They look like they argue with funny quotes but they really don't. They both know that no matter what you think, someone may have a different opinion but sometimes, it's not just right or wrong, it's just two different ways of seeing things. They are wise because they listen to each other and debate their opinions. 14) Our kunoichi can wear a black Gi and also a red one. In fact many Kunoichi are dressed in red. Why red? What is the symbolism or the influence for picking that particular color? I chose the red Gi for my kunoichis because its symbolism in Japan is very strong. It represents life and vitality. It can also indicate unexpected beauty, but is also recognized as unstable, capable of swinging to areas of vulgarity or excess. Exactly what I needed for my kunoichis!! But in all honesty, I doubt any ninja would dress up in red for stealth missions!! The colors displayed for the Gi in my mod only serve esthetic purposes. 15) The puzzles in the module were very challenging, where they of your own making?Yes, the puzzles were my own. I had the idea of putting in some because some players like to be challenged and I enjoyed the excellent mod Blackwall Keep's puzzles. Don't worry, my friends, I will have a walkthrough for my puzzles with the revamping of K2! 16) Both modules are very low in magic yet challenging, will the remaining modules in the series be the same? It will basically remain the same. I find that now, in RPGs (PnP or in video games) magic is used at any time, everywhere. The PCs are covered with magic items from head to toe. They rely more on their magic equipment than their skills, feats, stats or their brains. In Kunoichi, there is very little magic. I want the players to say "Woah! Awesome!" when they see the smallest display of magic in my mods! I don't want it to look common but really extraordinary. 17) Your use of the custom content is excellent, as well as the look of your NPCs. How hard was this to achieve, given the theme of your modules and custom content available? First of all, I'm really glad people noticed that my NPCs are built one by one! I'm not fond of the copy-paste technique some use a little too often for my taste. Even the little bubbles of each unimportant NPC will tell you something of their personality (6 sentences each!) It's not hard to do, but it takes an incredibly long time... For the areas, I opted to build them small instead of too big. I want to make each area distinct, different and I want the players to see the details. When I build a new place, it has to give a mood right from the start. I think you saw it a little more in K2 and you will really see it in K0!! I look at K1 now and I bite my fingers... I'm a better modder now than I was and there are many things I want to fix and add. CEP and the Oriental tile-set really helped because they have a ton of interesting items... but are the placeables all good for a Oriental mod? Surely not, I have to be careful how I use all the placeables so my areas don't look alike. I've been dying to use some objects but I know I will need them later, so I have to find something else! 18) What are your plans beyond NWN? Will you continue building with NWN2? If so would you share some of your plans?I want to finish Kunoichi for sure. Honestly, I really don't know how long it will take... I already started K3 and it's a HUGE mod... NWN2, unfortunately, leaves me a little cold I have to say. The toolset is far from obvious or user-friendly. I find the engine doesn't respond as well as NWN1. The User Interface is complicated for nothing. I was told it was hard to incorporate your own music. However, I like having cut-scenes with conversations. I have an idea for another module (see details below). For my projects aside from NWN, I want to make funny little 2D cartoons for my family and friends and perhaps explore more 3D programs like DazStudio, Poser, Bryce... I would eventually like to work for a company to make conversations in video games or even be project manager, but I unfortunately don't have the qualifications. So little time, so much to do! 19) If you are intending to build the rest of the series in NWN2, how will you maintain the Oriental theme, given the lack of Custom Content for NWN2 at this time? I will probably stop making NWN 1 mods after K3, the final chapter of my series. This is the easiest way to go for now. The lack of Oriental content in NWN2 is certainly not helping. If I decide to make a NWN2 mod, it will be a whole different story with angels and demons called “Fallen from Heaven”. Role-play will be a most important part of this mod too! It's going to be a good change from the K series. Or maybe I'll just do it on another platform 20) Without giving away spoilers, what are the plans for the Heaven and Hell themed module? What character type will we play?It's hard to talk about the mod 'Fallen from Heaven' without giving any spoilers. Lets just say that you will be able to play an angel that has been sent to Earth. (I'll keep the reason secret for now) Demons will, of course, get involved. In this mod, you'll get to choose your gender! Plenty of role-play to do, there will be action and romance too. This will not be a series but a story that you play beginning to end. I have many nice surprises for you in 'Fallen from Heaven'... but I'll be very busy with the completion of Kunoichi so I don't know when I'll be working on it. At least, my whole story is on paper. 21) Do you have a specific agenda regarding your work in NWN?For now, I'm working hard on K0 so it can be released in French for the end of the summer. Then, I'll have to translate it for the English community. As soon as it's finished, I'll hop on K1, it needs a serious lifting! I'll try to add more missions and make it a bit longer. When that is done, I want to make a big bug hunt in K2, polish it some more and finally, get back on K3. 'Fallen from Heaven' will come eventually too... Perhaps I'll take a break from my K series and build it after my revamping of K1. Not quite sure yet. I won't give any release dates; it really depends on my job and my family! 22) What motivates you to continue to make mods?Easy. I have ideas and I love to share them. I also want to do it for some of the fans of my series. It's sad that only a very small percentage (6,59% of the people who played K1 voted and 8,45% for K2!!!) of people voted on my mods but every pat on the back was greatly appreciated. It's with these kind words and encouragements and the total number of downloads that I still work on my series. I admit I almost got discouraged when I got a series of bad comments but I held on. I also like the Aurora engine. It has its weaknesses and its limits, but it's user-friendly and after all this time, it still looks pretty good. 23) Would you like to say any special thanks to anybody in the community and your family?Yes! I wanted to thank the fans of the series. The "Extreme" rating is a scary thing but many tried the mod anyway and liked it. I want to thank all who helped me, especially ZeornWarlock! He's the one I seek when I have a complex script that needs to be done. Check him out on the Vault; he's an excellent modder and artist! I wanted to thank my close family for their patience, if I take time to make mods, it takes time away from them. Modding is not so obvious when you have to put bread on the table. Then there's Thirdpres for his help and for asking QSW if she could have this interview with me. Thank you to the Baudrand brothers who are working on an intro movie for my series, it takes a lot of work! All the custom content makers, all who helped me with my English editing and bug hunting! Everyone who stepped up for me when I had people complain about my rating and my content. I say; you don't like it, don't play it. If you do, have fun! That's what it's all about! I'd like to thank ADK for his patience while we gathered interview questions from the fans of his Kunoichi series, and for answering those questions so wonderfully. I'd also like to thank and list the people who were kind enough to contribute to this interview, you rock!
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