Gameplay Neverwinter Nights

final showdown queen morag. encounter complete dynamic graphical effects. in lower left corner, player console displays dungeons & dragons game mechanics behind actions.

the original scenario supplied neverwinter nights game engine known official campaign. comprises approximately sixty hours of gameplay. gameplay centers on development of player character (pc) through adventuring, becomes hero of story. pc tasked defeating powerful cult, collecting 4 reagents required stop plague, , thwarting attack on city of neverwinter, located along sword coast of faerûn, in forgotten realms campaign setting of dungeons & dragons. first , final chapters of official campaign deal city of neverwinter itself, lengthy mid-story requires player venture surrounding countryside , travel northward city of luskan. along way, many optional side quests made available.

as in dungeons & dragons tabletop game, first thing player must create new character. game provides set of ready-made characters, or player may create 1 scratch. series of panels presented selection of character s gender, race, character class, alignment, ability scores (such strength , intelligence), specialized abilities called skills , feats, in-game appearance, , name. process grants significant allowance customization; 1 can be, example, outdoorsman (ranger) or healer (cleric), choose skills , feats work class in game.

following small prelude, there 4 chapters in original game, each chapter following part of general storyline. within each chapter, there many quests, subquests, , mini-storylines provided player. depending on specific quests completed, , unique items kept, storylines continued throughout entire game, such henchman s or aribeth s tales. completing many of side quests give player s character more experience , special items, making them improve more rapidly , continue make game easier player progresses. these improvements come in form of levels earned through experience points, each level providing protagonist set of enhancements selected player.

the game s mechanics based on dungeons & dragons 3rd edition rule set; outcome of actions, such combat , skills usage, randomly determined dice rolls. example, when fighter attacks, computer digitally roll 20-sided die (called d20 in-game) determine if hits target. on success, dice rolled determine damage dealt, powerful weapons assigned dice greater number of sides, due ability more damage. although outcome of actions determined dice rolls, player not see them, results calculated in background. however, player has option display outcomes of these rolls. player can control game entirely via mouse.

multiplayer

a robust multiplayer component separates neverwinter nights previous dungeons & dragons games, allows players play on many different servers hosting games. depending on hardware , bandwidth, each server can support ninety-six players on same server application, plus dungeon masters (dms) run games, if desired. neverwinter nights game modules run in variety of genres , themes, including persistent worlds (which similar muds), combat arenas (player versus player modules), whole servers dedicated sexually oriented roleplay, , simple social gatherings similar chat room. bioware requires these persistent worlds free of charge, reasons of copyright law.

because neverwinter nights lacks global chat function aside supported gamespy, players typically join pickup games through game s multiplayer interface, or schedule games in advance friends. matchmaking sites can facilitate scheduling of games, , experience traditional pen-and-paper roleplaying games. persistent worlds work them inviting players visit website , continue roleplay there.

an important feature of neverwinter nights dm client: tool allows individual take role of dungeon master, guides players through story , has complete control of server. previous games such vampire: masquerade – redemption, based on printed gamebooks white wolf publishing, utilized feature limited extent. when released, neverwinter nights viewed first successful implementation of feature. dm client allows players participate in regular campaigns, while allowing persistent world servers flourish permitting dms of servers take control of non-player characters (npcs) in mid-game added realism , flexibility. dm client permits user spawn , control masses of monsters , npcs in same way units controlled in real time strategy game.

custom content

neverwinter nights ships aurora toolset, allows players create custom modules game. these modules may take form of online multiplayer worlds, single player adventures, character trainers or technology demos. additionally, several third party utilities have further expanded community s ability create custom content game. end of 2002, there on 1,000 custom adventures available.

custom content creators known builders in neverwinter nights community. aurora toolset allows builders create map areas using tile system; appearance , surface textures of area defined area s selected tileset. builders can overlay placeable objects onto areas, , use built-in scripting language nwscript, based on c programming language, run cut scenes, quests, mini-games , conversations. third party utilities allow builders create custom content aspects of game, ranging new playable races , character classes new tilesets, monsters , equipment. custom content added game in form of hakpaks. builders have used aurora toolset in combination hakpaks create playing experiences beyond scope of original campaign. additionally, aurora toolset has allowed creation of number of ongoing persistent worlds modules.

despite game s age, neverwinter nights custom content community remains active. community, centered on neverwinter vault, has created on 4,000 modules game, among them, many award-winning adventures , series such dreamcatcher. aurora toolset not available linux , macintosh versions of neverwinter nights. open source project neveredit aims port toolset features these platforms. game s module-making legacy continued neverwinter nights 2.