NWN Neverwinter Nights (NWN & NWN2) Modules Thread

[Tavernking]

Congratulations to Rogueknight333 for entering the mainstream RPG discourse something no NW1 module has done before, Swordflight is discussed around 10 minutes in

 

[TedNugent]

"An upstart company called Obsidian releases a videogame called Fallout: New Vegas, based Bethesda's hit franchise, Fallout."

REEEEEEEE

 

[Lambach]

Is it important to capitalize on speech check skills in Mask/Storm to get the richest experience, or should I just play it like another D&D dungeon crawler, similar to BG1, and play it with whatever class/skill archetype I like?

I'd say definitely level at least one of the Speech skills in Mask (Diplomacy reigns supreme, Bluff is the next best thing and Intimidate IIRC is used the least, but it's still decent). It's not exactly necessary, per se, but you might miss out on a good chunk of interesting tidbits of dialogue, flavor, items, better Quest resolutions etc. Some Companions can occasionally jump in and use one of those Skills for you, but I wouldn't rely on that. Speech skills also help in conversations with said Companions and make it easier to score Influence with them (high Influence in Mask has an actual gameplay impact in terms of various bonuses to Attributes, Skills, better Metamagic etc. for both your PC and the Companions). Given how great the writing is in Mask, specially compared to OC, you'll probably want to get as much out of dialogues with NPCs as possible.

If you play Mask as just a dungeon crawler you'll probably get very bored, very quickly. Very few things can challenge a level 20+ Party, specially when equipped with the insanely powerful gear you can get. The game trying to maintain some semblance of challenge also sometimes leads to kinda immersion-breaking moments, such as teenage students from a Wizard Academy flinging 9th level Spells at you or dumbass guard thugs with 18+ BAB. The only potential challenge is that resting is fairly restricted, and can get quite punishing depending on how you handle the Hunger mechanic, but unless you rest after every single encounter, it shouldn't be much of a problem either.

In Storm you have full control over a Party of up to 4 custom made Characters (and up to 2 Companions). In dialogue, you can switch which Character will respond at any given time, and that Character's Skills will be used, so you have no reason not to include a Character or two in your Party with different speech Skills. They do come in handy. Plus, some of the Skills that were almost completely useless in the OC and Mask are pretty important in Storm (Survival, Listen, Spot etc.) because of the Overland Map. I would definitely recommend having a Party member with high Survival to increase your movement speed across said map, because otherwise going back and forth (and you'll be doing that a lot) will take forever.

 

[Gargaune]

Congratulations to Rogueknight333 for entering the mainstream RPG discourse something no NW1 module has done before, Swordflight is discussed around 10 minutes in

PC Gamer's Ted Litchfield also brought up RK's Swordflight in a piece discussing NWN EE's continued community support. Previously, he also did an article on Luke Scull's work with a view towards his upcoming Blades of Netheril series.

 

[Turn_BASED]

Congratulations to Rogueknight333 for entering the mainstream RPG discourse something no NW1 module has done before, Swordflight is discussed around 10 minutes in

Well deserved. That was a funny comment on the sewers, made laugh. But walking through sewers should feel like dragging your balls through broken glass, in my opinion.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Does anyone ever play the original Neverwinter Nights from AOL anymore? Can you even play it multiplayer online like the old days minus the horrible hourly charges? I've messed around solo via the abandonware but never got far.

Edit... well sort of

 

[TheCumGuzzler]

Are there any exciting modules coming out or is the scene dead?

 

[Gargaune]

Are there any exciting modules coming out or is the scene dead?

Doom of Icewind Dale is entering Closed Beta with Luke's Patreon supporters:

Doom of Icewind Dale v0.90 RELEASED!

Well, it's certainly been a long time coming - but I'm delighted to say that the full, beta release of Doom of Icewind Dale is now available for all Patrons at the Minotaur tier and above! Here's a quick list of some of the features:

• - 10-15 hours of gameplay
• - World map system: Explore Ten Towns and the surrounding environments!
• - 14 new music tracks and 24 ambient area tracks bring Icewind Dale to life
• - 14 monsters & portraits
• - Continue the story of the Hero of Neverwinter from the bestselling Neverwinter Nights official campaign
• - Foreshadows events from the 5e adventure Rime of the Frostmaiden

To get access to the beta, simply sign up to this Patreon page at the Minotaur tier or above. I'll then send you a link to the Discord channel where you can download the game. Please note that I am requiring folks to sign an NDA first. Why? I'll talk about this more at a later date.

A massive "thank you!" to all my patrons, fans, and the wider NWN community for helping make this dream a reality. It simply wouldn't have been possible without the generous donations and encouragement I've received.

I've added two news tiers to this Patreon page, which may be of interest to fellow content creators or aspiring fantasy writers. If you would like some professional feedback on your module or writing, secure in the knowledge that your money is going straight back into developing more great adventures for NWN, please do check them out.

I'm going to be taking a break from toolset to focus on my next novel while I commission art and music for the next module in the campaign, Secrets of Skullport. Happy gaming!

Per the respective patron tier's description, these closed betas should be going out "4-6 weeks" in advance of public release, so April's looking like it's gonna be it.

 

[luj1]

That Dark Sun server is interesting too

 

[MerchantKing]

Hm, never mind, I guess I just needed to reboot my PC after the registry edit.

It wasn't working in "Windowed (Virtual Desktop)" mode at my native resolution in WINE runner options in Lutris, that was my initial issue. Now it's working with that setting and fullscreen in the in-game options.

That was after I added the registry key for mouse trails with the binary set to 0 and rebooted the machine. Not entirely sure if that's what did it but it seems the most likely (not about to reverse it to check). Wasn't working until reboot. Interesting that WINE includes a registry editor, but the actual WINE Control Panel is super stripped down.

Anyway, off I go.

I never finished the OC campaign, and I've heard a lot about Mask being good, so I'm gonna play all three if I don't get sick of playing an old crusty D&D game.

Question for anyone - I realize that it's generally advisable to have speech check abilities in game, but I was keen on playing a troglodyte fighter for this run-through of the OC, since who cares and the plot was kinda dumb the last time I made it about halfway through. Is it important to capitalize on speech check skills in Mask/Storm to get the richest experience, or should I just play it like another D&D dungeon crawler, similar to BG1, and play it with whatever class/skill archetype I like?

How did you cure that fever Mr. Nugent? Or do you still have it?

 

[TedNugent]

How did you cure that fever Mr. Nugent? Or do you still have it?

Playing the OC now, enjoying it, but wow, man.

This game has absolutely devastating pathing. I completely forgot how bad it was. Even with puppet mode on, you have to hand walk characters through doorways and into specific positions. They regularly get stuck on environmental doodads and you have to use WASD keys to walk them out from behind a crate perched next to a wall.

Puppet mode also seems necessary to avoid characters running around randomly during encounters to switch targets without any apparent reason, provoking countless attacks of opportunity, or dropping fireballs one after the other right into the middle of my party.

That said, I really think that 3.5 is the nicest formulation of D&D that I've messed with, and the NWN2 builder website is really nice, so it always makes me come back. I think I'm buckled in for the long haul and I want to at least get into Mask of the Betrayer.

Any reason not to go deep into Red Dragon Disciple for the free boatload of stats and nice feats? The only downside that I see is mediocre BAB, which is offset by the huge strength bonus.

 

[Gargaune]

This game has absolutely devastating pathing. I completely forgot how bad it was. Even with puppet mode on, you have to hand walk characters through doorways and into specific positions.

Yeah, you'll probably run quite often into a pathfinding problem dating back to the original NWN - characters passing through doorways temporarily "obstruct" other characters' AI. So you'll have them sometimes get a race condition where they decide that there's no way through that door and try to path the long way around, prompting you to repeat click your destination so they can recalculate once the guy up front cleared the doorway.

For some general advice on NWN2 controls and UI, you might wanna skim the guide in my sig.

 

[luj1]

Just made an invincible starting build in HotU lol

6 Monk, 9 Cleric, 2 Shadowdancer, 2 Paladin

STR dump
DEX 13 (for Shadowdancer)
CON 10

INT dump
WIS 15 (for Haste and Imp. Invis)
CHA rest

Feats: Strong Soul, Luck of Heroes, Dodge, Mobility, Blind Fight, Weapon Focus Unarmed, Improved Critical Unarmed)

- free Haste
- free Improved Invisibility (strongest buff in the game?)
- Divine Power nets you Fighter BAB and 18 STR
- don't need a lot of skills, you don't need Discipline or Concentration because you never get hit, don't need Hide or MS because you are always invisible
- incredible saves (Strong Soul + Luck of Heroes + Monk + Paladin dip)
- a ton of incredible free feats (Cleave, Evasion, Uncanny Dodge, Improved Knockdown, various immunities from Monk/Paladin)

Plan is to get some Monk levels in for the 1d20 unarmed damage roll

Lacrymas agris rogueknight333 Gargaune

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Keep us updated on this build.

 

[Snufkin]

How did you cure that fever Mr. Nugent? Or do you still have it?

Playing the OC now, enjoying it, but wow, man.

This game has absolutely devastating pathing. I completely forgot how bad it was. Even with puppet mode on, you have to hand walk characters through doorways and into specific positions. They regularly get stuck on environmental doodads and you have to use WASD keys to walk them out from behind a crate perched next to a wall.

Puppet mode also seems necessary to avoid characters running around randomly during encounters to switch targets without any apparent reason, provoking countless attacks of opportunity, or dropping fireballs one after the other right into the middle of my party.

That said, I really think that 3.5 is the nicest formulation of D&D that I've messed with, and the NWN2 builder website is really nice, so it always makes me come back. I think I'm buckled in for the long haul and I want to at least get into Mask of the Betrayer.

Any reason not to go deep into Red Dragon Disciple for the free boatload of stats and nice feats? The only downside that I see is mediocre BAB, which is offset by the huge strength bonus.

For OC nothing beats Frenzied Berserker 10, Fighter 8, Ranger 1, Barbarian 1. Ranger is there to grab improved favored enemy undead and improved power attack undead.

For MoTB Fighter/RDD/Bard/Frenzied berserker is one of the classic combos.

 

[Lacrymas]

Just made an invincible starting build in HotU lol

6 Monk, 9 Cleric, 2 Shadowdancer, 2 Paladin

STR dump
DEX 13 (for Shadowdancer)
CON 10

INT dump
WIS 15 (for Haste and Imp. Invis)
CHA rest

Feats: Strong Soul, Luck of Heroes, Dodge, Mobility, Blind Fight, Weapon Focus Unarmed, Improved Critical Unarmed)

- free Haste
- free Improved Invisibility (strongest buff in the game?)
- Divine Power nets you Fighter BAB and 18 STR
- don't need a lot of skills, you don't need Discipline or Concentration because you never get hit, don't need Hide or MS because you are always invisible
- incredible saves (Strong Soul + Luck of Heroes + Monk + Paladin dip)
- a ton of incredible free feats (Cleave, Evasion, Uncanny Dodge, Improved Knockdown, various immunities from Monk/Paladin)

Plan is to get some Monk levels in for the 1d20 unarmed damage roll

Lacrymas agris rogueknight333 Gargaune

I question the extra levels in Paladin and Shadowdancer. You already have Evasion from Monk and the immunity to fear you get from Paladin 2 is moot because there are items that grant it in HotU (even SoU iirc) and the spell Protection from Alignment grants you immunity as well. Getting 2 more Cleric levels would be better imo. Or just continue the Monk progression instead.

 

[luj1]

I question the extra levels in Paladin and Shadowdancer.

Shadowdancer 2 nets you Uncanny Dodge (cant be flanked). Super important for any melee char

As for Pala yeah, maybe one level is enough to boost saves

 

[Lacrymas]

Shadowdancer 2 nets you Uncanny Dodge (cant be flanked). Super important for any melee char

As for Pala yeah, maybe one level is enough to boost saves

Uncanny dodge doesn't prevent you from being flanked, it only preserves your AC from DEX when flanked. Afaik, the only character trait that prevents you from being flanked is the Dwarven Defender's special feat (Defensive Awareness?).

 

[luj1]

You are right but its still a must have

 

[luj1]

Keep us updated on this build.

I think it's going to end up looking like this,

Monk 16 (to get 1d20 first damage)
Shadowdancer 2 (for HiPS and Uncanny Dodge)
Paladin 1 or 2 (for the amazing bonus to saves)
Fighter 4 (to get WF/EWF/WS/EWS/IC quickly for unarmed strike)

I also learned a few things,

- Haste is available via items so I'm going to take War or Strength (which one is better?) domain power instead of Travel. Trickery stays for Imp. Invis
- STR can be dumped (Divine Power brings it to 18 + nets you fighter BAB)
- INT can be dumped (only need Shadowdancer reqs and Tumble for hidden AC bonus)

 

[luj1]

Gargaune rogueknight333 Lacrymas Do you guys know of any modules with a high starting level? Like 30+ or so. Something where I can play this build. Thank you

 

[Gargaune]

Do you guys know of any modules with a high starting level? Like 30+ or so. Something where I can play this build. Thank you

Only one I'm familiar with is Swordflight Ch.5, recommended starting level of 32-34, but you'd be jumping into the penultimate episode in the story and without appropriate gear.

 

[Lacrymas]

There were some high level stand-alone modules out there, but I haven't played any because surprise, surprise, I don't like high level D&D gameplay. The only high level content I can stomach is when it's a part of a longer campaign, like Swordflight, Aielund Saga, HotU, etc.

 

[Sabotin]

I thought they kept the 3 class limit for NWN or was it changed after all? Also you have a 20% exp penalty, or 40% if not human/half-elf.

EE tried to implement a more pnp-ish version of uncanny dodge; to quote the wiki: "As of Enhanced Edition patch 1.74, uncanny dodge II grants immunity to sneak attacks from a flanking attacker unless the attacker has at least four more combined class levels of rogue, assassin, barbarian, and shadowdancer than the defender. (blackguard levels are not counted.)"

 

[Gargaune]

I thought they kept the 3 class limit for NWN or was it changed after all?

The multiclass limit was externalised in the EE to a .2da which can be changed per module or overriden for the install if the user's feeling brave:

Characters may have a maximum of three classes in Neverwinter Nights or older versions of Enhanced Edition. Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition since update 35 internally allows up to eight classes, through the true limit depends on ruleset.2da settings on the client or module. Due to the recent change to the maximum amount of classes a character can have, older modules and mods for the game may break if more than three classes are used on the same character, as some were hardcoded with the assumption that three classes would be the maximum for eternity. As a result, the limit is set to three by default.