Neverwinter Nights
, produced by
BioWare
and published by
Infogrames
(now
Atari
), is a third-person perspective computer role-playing game that is based on third edition Dungeons & Dragons rules, set in the
Sword Coast
, centering around the City of Skilled Hands,
Neverwinter
.
Play centers on the development of a character that becomes the ultimate
hero of the story
. In the original
Neverwinter Nights
scenario supplied with the game engine, the player is single-handedly responsible for defeating a powerful cult; stopping an insatiable plague; thwarting an attack on the city of
Neverwinter
, and many other side quests.
The first and final chapters of the story in the official campaign deal with the city of Neverwinter itself, but the lengthy mid-story requires the player to venture into the countryside and then northward to the city of Luskan. Neverwinter is a city on the
Sword Coast
of
Faerûn
. It is part of the
Forgotten Realms
campaign setting
.
Gameplay
[
]
The original scenario provided with
Neverwinter Nights
constitutes the main campaign, encompassing approximately sixty hours of gameplay. This gameplay focuses on the progression of a PC through various adventures, ultimately transforming them into the hero of the narrative. The central objectives for the PC include vanquishing a formidable cult, gathering four essential reagents to halt a plague, and preventing an assault on the city of Neverwinter. While the campaign's initial and concluding chapters concentrate on the city of Neverwinter, the expansive middle segment necessitates the player's exploration of the surrounding countryside and a journey northward to the city of
Luskan
. Throughout this journey, numerous optional side quests are available for the player to undertake.
As in
Dungeons & Dragons
, the initial task for a player is to create a new character. The game offers a selection of pre-made characters, or alternatively, the player can create one from the ground up. A series of panels guide the player through choosing the character's gender, race, class, alignment, ability scores (such as strength and intelligence), specialized abilities known as skills and feats, in-game appearance, and name. This process allows for extensive customization; for instance, a player can opt to be an outdoorsman (ranger) or a healer (cleric) and then select skills and feats that complement that class within the game.
Following a brief prelude, the original game comprises four chapters, each advancing a segment of the overarching storyline. Within each chapter, players encounter numerous quests, subquests, and mini-storylines. The progression of certain storylines depends on the specific quests completed and the unique items retained, with some narratives unfolding throughout the entire game. Completing many side quests grants the PC additional experience and special items, facilitating their advancement and easing gameplay progression. These improvements manifest as levels earned through experience points, with each level providing the protagonist with a set of enhancements chosen by the player.
The game's mechanics adhere to the
Dungeons & Dragons
3
rd
edition rule set. The outcomes of most actions, such as combat and skill usage, are determined randomly by dice rolls. Upon a successful hit, another die is rolled to determine the damage inflicted, with more powerful weapons assigned to dice with a higher number of sides, reflecting their greater damage potential. Although the results of nearly all actions are determined by these dice rolls, the player does not see them, as the calculations occur in the background. However, players have the option to display the outcomes of these rolls. The game can be controlled almost entirely via the mouse.
Multiplayer
[
]
A robust multiplayer feature sets
Neverwinter Nights
apart from previous
Dungeons & Dragons
games, enabling players to join various servers hosting diverse games. Depending on the server's hardware and bandwidth, it can accommodate up to ninety-six players along with DMs who can manage the games. The game modules encompass a wide array of genres and themes, including persistent worlds similar to MUDs, combat arenas for player-versus-player engagements, servers focused on sexually oriented roleplay, and simple social gatherings akin to chat rooms. BioWare stipulates that these persistent worlds must be offered free of charge, primarily to adhere to copyright regulations.
Many persistent worlds are still actively run with updates and improvements. Servers can be linked together as well, allowing the creation of large multi-server worlds. Two early examples include A Land Far Away and Confederation of Planes and Planets.
Due to the absence of a global chat function, aside from the supported GameSpy, players of
Neverwinter Nights
generally join pickup games through the game's multiplayer interface or prearrange games with friends. Matchmaking websites can assist in scheduling these games, providing an experience similar to traditional pen-and-paper role-playing games. Persistent worlds streamline this process by inviting players to visit their websites and continue roleplaying there.
A key feature of
Neverwinter Nights
is the Dungeon Master Client, a tool that enables an individual to assume the role of Dungeon Master. The Dungeon Master guides players through the story and has complete control over the server. Upon its release,
Neverwinter Nights
was regarded as the first successful implementation of this feature. The DM Client allows players to engage in regular campaigns and supports the growth of persistent world servers by enabling DMs to take control of NPCs mid-game, enhancing realism and flexibility. Additionally, the Dungeon Master Client allows users to spawn and manage large groups of monsters and NPCs similarly to controlling units in a real-time strategy game.
Custom Content
[
]
Neverwinter Nights
ships with the
Aurora
toolset, which allows players to create custom modules for
Neverwinter Nights
. These modules may take the form of online multiplayer worlds, single player adventures, character trainers or technology demos. Additionally, several third party utilities have further expanded the community's ability to create custom content for the game. Custom content creators are known as builders in the
Neverwinter Nights
community.
The Aurora toolset allows builders to create map areas using a tile system; the appearance and surface textures of the area are defined by the area's selected tileset. Builders can overlay placeable objects onto areas, and use the built-in scripting language NWScript to run cut scenes, quests, mini-games and conversations. NWScript is based on C++.
Third party utilities allow builders to create custom content for most aspects of the game, ranging from new playable races and character classes to new tilesets, monsters and equipment. Custom content is added to the game in the form of hakpaks. Builders have used the Aurora toolset in combination with hakpaks to create playing experiences beyond the scope of the original campaign. Despite the game's age, the
Neverwinter Nights
custom content community remains active.
The Aurora toolset is not available for the Linux and Macintosh versions of
Neverwinter Nights
. The open source project never number of prestige classes the original game had. It also adds dozens of epic spells, and many normal spells that make better use of BioWare's Aurora engine. These include: Teleportation, Transposition, Mazes, Summoning Houses and more. As well, psionic powers have been included, which are essentially spells, but done with "power points", akin to the sorcerer class. This "expansion" can be found at nwn-prc.com, along with documentation.
Despite the game's age, the
Neverwinter Nights
custom content community remains vibrant and active. Primarily centered on the [Neverwinter Vault
https://neverwintervault.org/
], this community has produced over 4,000 modules for the game. Among these are numerous award-winning adventures and series, showcasing the enduring creativity and dedication of the community.
Premium Modules
[
]
In late 2004, BioWare launched its online store and started selling what it called premium modules as part of its digital distribution program. This initiative was spearheaded by BioWare's Live Team Lead Designer,
Rob Bartel
. Though technically not expansions, these smaller-scale adventures introduce new storylines and gameplay. They often include new music and art that BioWare claims will be integrated into future patches and updates to the core game. The most recent patch, 1.69, includes a great number of the art and music that you find in the premium modules.
According to BioWare, the revenue generated is used to support their fan community and provide ongoing updates and improvements to the popular game. Unfortunately the modules that are sold for download require internet access to play even though they are single player only. The modules in the Kingmaker expansion were stripped of this requirement but are only for Windows. The modules included with Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition do not require Internet access to play.
Neverwinter Nights: Pirates of the Sword Coast
— In June, 2005, BioWare announced the upcoming release of a new premium module. The story begins in the city of Neverwinter, and leads to a lengthy ship-borne, swashbuckling-style adventure. Characters start at 5th level.
Neverwinter Nights: Infinite Dungeons
— In May, 2006, BioWare released this premium module which takes place in Undermountain below Waterdeep. The main feature is randomly generated dungeons, which are suitable for all levels of adventurer. The module is designed for single and multiplayer gaming.
Neverwinter Nights: Wyvern Crown of Cormyr
— Released later in 2006, this module highlights features introduced in the then-recently released V.2 of the Community Expansion Pack (CEP), including fully ride-able horses and horseback combat. Developed by community developer DLA, it is a single-player module, and (as of yet) the last Premium Module to be released by BioWare.
Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker
— In November, 2004, BioWare announced their flagship premium module, which later received the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences 'PC RPG of the Year' award. The player is called upon to defeat the evil at the Keep of Cyan, and win the throne. This module is not set in the Realms.
Neverwinter Nights: ShadowGuard
— At the same time as Kingmaker's release, BioWare also offered a bundled pair of shorter premium modules. ShadowGuard, created by community member Ben McJunkin, in which you are drawn to the attention of a group of agents called the ShadowGuard after your sterling work at the Imperial academy of Ghaarak. This module is not set in the Realms, instead, it takes place the homebrewed setting of the Shakhara empire.
Neverwinter Nights: Witch's Wake
— In the same bundle a remastered version of Rob Bartel's popular story-oriented module by the same name. The remastered version added new subraces, music, and substantial voice-acting throughout. After a battle, you are privy to the last words of a dying prince, yet you cannot remember who you are or where to go to report this. This module does not take place in the Realms.
The story begins in
1372 DR
with the player character being sent by Lady
Aribeth
to recover four monsters needed to make a cure for the
Wailing Death
, a plague that is sweeping the city of
Neverwinter
. With the help of
Fenthick Moss
, Aribeth's love interest, and
Desther
, Fenthick's friend, the player character is able to retrieve the monsters. As he is collecting these monsters, he is attacked by mysterious assassins from the cult that is behind the spreading of the plague.
As the cure is being made, Castle Neverwinter is attacked by Desther's minions. He takes the completed cure and escapes the castle, with the player character and Fenthick in pursuit. When they catch up to Desther, he surrenders after a short battle. Desther is sentenced to burn at the stake, and Fenthick, despite being unaware of Desther's true intentions, is sentenced to hang.
The player character meets up with Aribeth and they begin searching for the cult responsible for the plague and the attack on Neverwinter. With the help of
Aarin Gend
, Neverwinter's spymaster, the player character retrieves diaries of dead cultists and letters from a person named
Maugrim
, which convinced Aribeth that the cult's headquarters are in
Luskan
. Aribeth goes ahead to Luskan, and the player character follows after speaking once more to Gend.
After arriving in Luskan, the player character hears rumors that Aribeth is joining with the cultists. These fears are confirmed when he finds her meeting with Maugrim and
Morag
, Queen of the
Old Ones
. They seek magical relics called
Words of Power
.
The player character retrieves all of the Words of Power except for one, held by the cult. He discovers that the words open a portal to a pocket world inside the
Source Stone
, where Morag and the other Old Ones are. He confronts Aribeth, and depending on how he handles the meeting, she either surrenders to the player character or he is forced to kill her. He then confronts Maugrim for the final word. He uses the words to enter the Source Stone and battle with Morag. After Morag's death, he escapes the stone as the world inside it implodes.
Several of the in-game portraits were modified in patches due to parts of them being copied from copyrighted sources that the owners of which did not properly approve of.
The
Red Cross
symbol was removed from the
Healer's Kit
due to trademark conflicts from Canadian Red Cross.
The BioWare and
Baldur's Gate
logos are visible on certain books in some bookshelves.
On the belts of hill giants the word "Texas" can be read.
Neverwinter Nights
was first to be called by
Interplay
"
Neverwinter Nights 2
"
[1]
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in the following links do not necessarily represent the views of the editors of this wiki, nor does any lore presented necessarily adhere to established canon.