Neverwinter Nights Forum News

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(Originally posted by Veldrin)

Here are today's Neverwinter Nights forum highlights. Please take into account that these are only single parts of various threads and should not be taken out of context. Bear in mind also that the posts presented here are copied as-is, and that any bad spelling and grammar does not get corrected on our end.

Georg Zoeller, Designer

Quote: I would like an option for my henchman to go stealthy when I do. OTOH sometimes I want him to draw fire while I sneak up. I would also like to tell my henchman/henchpixie/henchpig "stop standing on that loot I am trying to pick up. go away. I don't care, just go anywhere. go play with the drow for all I care, just Get Out Of The ****ing Way". Or words to that effect.

1 - There is a radial option "Toggle stealth" in the henchman radial now.

2 - Usually using the "follow" command in the radial menu will make henchman change their position, so you can pick up loot more easily.

Effects: The player's handbook defines effects as either magical, supernatural or extraordinary. NWN is reflecting that. I wonder what exactly your problem is. There was a limit on the maximum bonus you could get from anything in NWN, this had nothing to do with the type of the bonus, it was an engine restriction which affected anything and had nothing to do with the barbarian class. Since the boni have been changed to allow higher values, the limit has been raised as well, the limit is very high now.

In any case, a barbarian with the greater strength feats (which raises your natural strength) who enters rage will be insanely strong, but I don't think he will be able to reach the new cap, even if created by a really dedicated powergamer. We will not add the fatique after rage, because it was introduced the way it is in NWN and changing it at the moment is not an option. However, since the toolset and the rage script are open for modification, you can do these changes yourself or download a script package like HCR to customize your NWN experience the way you like it. The barbarian in Hordes is definitly a very strong and capable class, the available epic feats (which you don't know all yet) will make it even more interesting to play a barbarian. I don't think the barbarian is gimped disabled at all, it is definitly one of the most powerful classes out there.

Hellball: Its larger than any other AoE spells area in the game. Also it has 4 different parts of elemental damage, so the chances that an opponent can resist them all are pretty slim.

Druids: Druids are not necessarily a bad choise in HotU. First you get access to the shifter PRC which is pretty unique and makes a fairly nice addition to any druid. Monstrous regeneration will also be available to druids, someone pointed out the errata for the spell and we changed it to be available for druids at level 5 as well. We did some tweaks to the shapeshifting code, the druid will now retrain any magical boni on their armor when shifting shapes, so if you wear a leather armor +5 that grants fire resistance 5, you will get +5 to your AC when shifted and have fire resistant 5. All in all I don't think you can compare classes which each other anyway, each class has its unique focus or abilities and they are not neccessarily balanced, that's not the idea of D&D.

Demilich: The demilich won't change, because we think its fine. If you don't like it you can change it for yourself very easily, after all that's what NWN is about.

David Gaider, Designer

Henchmen in HotU: Hmmm... let's see...

okay, a partial list of henchmen in HotU:

- Daelan Red Tiger: pure-class Barbarian
- Linu Laner'al: pure-class Cleric
- Tomi Undergallows: Rogue/Shadowdancer (may be switched to either)
- Sharwyn: Bard/Fighter (may be switched to either)
- Deekin Scalesinger: Bard/Dragon Disciple (may be switched to either)

The above are all confirmed. Note, however, that this does not necessarily mean they are all available as henchmen right at the beginning of the campaign OR that they are available as henchmen throughout the entire campaign. Heh... chew on that for awhile.

SoU Ending: Note that even with the fan module regarding the PC's escape from the Shadow plane, there is still an indefinite gap in time between the end of SoU and the beginning of HotU, which is discussed (though left purposefully vague) in the opening narration for HotU. The three modules do not connect in a moment-by-moment fashion.

Quote: You were able to make such long games in the past so you guys are capable of it. I just hink that it would be keen for you guys to make an expansion just focusing on the campaign itself only just using the content already in the game.

But the designers don't make the content, so it's not as if focusing on the campaign would free up any designer time. And taking a full-project amount of designers and putting them on an expansion... ehhh... that's not going to happen. As for us making such long games in the past, yes... that's true. We did. And we shouldn't have. BG2 and ToB spoiled players by their relative length. I think there is a distinct effort both in Bioware and in the industry at large to move towards shorter games that concentrate more on the details and replayability, instead.

You know, the thing is that we don't get extra points for making a longer game, and nobody's paying more for it. We do, however, still get busted for all the same bad points... points we would have more time to work on if we spent less time expanding game length (you'd likely be shocked to learn how much work is required for just 1 hour of gameplay length). We'd like to work on the quality, ourselves, and not kill ourselves working massive overtime to provide just game length, so the result is pretty clear. This has nothing to do with consoles, the writing is simply on the wall.

Though, yes... overall even I would prefer to play a really long game. If you're a hardcore fan, heck, who wouldn't want more for their money? Pretty simple concept, but completely beside the point. And just as a side comment on multiplayer... I actually don't think there is a trend towards multiplayer anymore. I think, in fact, that that trend is ending. It reached its height in the recent past with every magazine and reviewer trumpeting multiplayer... until finally everyone discovered that single player is preferred by a far, far greater percentage of the fan base. Surprise! Heck, even we were surprised by the fact that most of the community mods made by NWN are for single player, as well. And I think that realization is hitting the entire industry.

Quote: Erm, if I strip Dorna down before the end Battle and shove all her stuff in a box (not countting the stuff she started out with...), will I be able to keep it and/or get it back after the drow steal it so I can equip Tomi with it?

That's a mighty good question, isn't it?

Quote: That reminds me of a question ive been meaning to ask, exactly what rogue skills are limited by heavier armor? more specifically, are pick lock or disarm trap limited?

Pick Locks and Disarm Trap are, yes. I don't remember which other ones are, though.

Quote: Also, will we be able to manipulate the inventories of the OC henchmen in HotU? I'm betting that this is a yes, but we can never know for sure unless you tell us.

Yes, of course you can. That would silly of us not to put that feature in HotU again.

Quote: Summation: How exactly will the game deal with the fact that every character that ended SoU had a different henchman, with a different multiclass method, with different items?

I already mentioned this in another post. HotU does not start with you having just stepped out of the Shadow Plane en route from Undrentide. An unspecified amount of time has passed since then. Deekin, Dorna and Xanos have gone their own way and done some traveling of their own, and so have you, presumably. Enough time has passed, at least, for Deekin's book to have been published and for your character to have enjoyed a brief period of celebrity from it.

As for how Deekin was multiclassed in SoU, well we don't take that into consideration at all. He's not a rogue at all in HotU, he's a bard/dragon disciple... his character is what's important about his continuuity, not his stats.
His items he has simply sold or lost in the interim period, although he still has some. And while you could strip down Dorna to "give her items to your next henchmen", why bother? All those items are stolen from you at the beginning of Hotu. And Dorna and Xanos do not return, period.

Quote: Thereby you would have your henchman, levels, items, and all.

No, you wouldn't. As I just said above, there is a length of time that seperates SoU and HotU even with the possibility of the community-made bridging module. We are talking about a period of time like between BG and BG2, not the relatively short transition between BG2 and ToB.

Quote: will Tomi make use of Hide in Plain Sight as a shadowdancer? so he's popping in and out during combat, wreaking havock and not getting hit much?

Yes. I actually mentioned that in another thread today... with Hide in Plain Sight Tomi is a monster.

Quote: Bard/fighter is probably a good idea for sharwyn... give her 4 levels of fighter before she hits level 20 and she'll get an extra attack per round. Deekin would probably be best staying pure bard from a "power" point of view... but dragon disciple is the perfect thing for him so I've got to go that path with him

As I understand it, the mix works well for Deekin. He becomes pretty potent, though the more Bard you give up the less magically potent he is, I guess. I don't know how well Sharwyn works, but I've heard no complaints.

Quote: I like the fact they all wont be sitting downstairs of the inn you start in, but I hope my favourite henchperson doesn't leave me during the adventure

Who says they all aren't sitting downstairs? Doesn't mean that they are there to join you. As for the possibility of someone leaving you during the adventure... hmmm... not tellin'!

Quote: Hey, Mr. Gaider, if by some odd chance of fate, my characxter meets up with Daelan or talks to him, while in possession of the last Uthgardt Amulet, will the two "remember" each other?

No. Why would they? Hotu continues SoU's campaign, not the original NWN campaign. Your character has no business having that item.

Quote: Also, will deekin still get to have that dragon tooth amulet?

I was originally going to use that as the "catalyst" for Deekin becoming a dragon disciple, but my perception is that the vast majority of people never gave the Dragon's Tooth to Deekin so I decided against that idea. I might give it to Deekin as a magic item that he won't give up... but then it seems like something the PC might ask about (and there's no dialogue for it), so maybe not.

Quote: Bard / fighter should be a good mix for sharwyn... though depending on the fighter package she uses, could end up with some less than useful feats

I do believe Sharwyn is set up as an archer-type fighter... though what feats she'll take after the beginning of the game I really have no idea.

Quote: So, now that Sharwyn has offically been noted as a NPC Henchie, can we get a snippit of her possible convs with Deekin?

Maybe. There is a good one where Sharwyn critiques Deekin's book, but Brent would kill me if I spilled it.

Quote: Oh and Dave, how do you keep sane having to write all these different options for conversation, not just between the PC and the Hencies bbut between all the different possible combos of henchmen?

I like it, actually. I didn't get to write nearly enough inter-henchman banter, I never do... I just set a topic and start writing and the characters take care of things themselves. Do you know, for instance, that Linu and Tomi just are NOT meant to be in the same party together? Anyone who remembers what happened to Linu's chalice might realize why she might have a grudge against the little fella (besides the fact that he's a rotten, lying, thieving rogue).

Quote: You could have him gain the first Dragon Disciple level off camera and if the PC questions him about his dragonish features, have him say that its a private affair. NPCs have separate lives from the PC, unless you have set up the story that it is somewhat part of a plot line.

Deekin already gains his first DD level on-camera and the PC already gets to question him about it. And Deekin's explanation is perfectly reasonable. I might still give Deekin the Dragon Tooth, though, anyway. And I'll just put it in the description that if the PC asks about it, Deekin just sticks out his tongue and goes thpppppppffft.