Neverwinter Nights

[Standup]

The first one that is.

It's a game I've had for ages and never got around to playing. Always ended up replaying Baldur's Gate or Fallout etc and then discovered BG Tutu.

I was also always put off by the real time, 3d aspect but finally got around to playing.

Started as a Monk which probably wasn't the best idea considering my lack of familiarity with the game and this version of AD&D. Died quite a few times until I got a henchman - the half orc - and combats have now gone the other way as he piles in.

I'm enjoying it but all a bit of a dungeon crawl so far. I've cleared out the prison, the area with the nobles and the zombies. Just heading off to some auction.

Read the manual a couple of time but still struggling with the AD&D rules - armour classes now go the other way! It seems I can have whatever skills, feats etc I want and multiclass a lot but does that mean everyone ends up a generalist? Does the game encourage this?

How do I (can I?) give items to my henchmen? Be good for him to have some potions.

Anyway of increasing the viewing distance or is that a feature of the city?

I'm tempted to start again now I'ev grasped some of the rules, redo my stats. I went with the recommended for the monk and I'm not sure they're the best combination. PLaying the game as a mage looks tough though.

Does the plot go somewhere?

I've bought the bioware premium modules but are there any other free ones (or other developers) that you would recommend?

[Felch]

Re: Neverwinter Nights

Originally posted by Standup
It seems I can have whatever skills, feats etc I want and multiclass a lot but does that mean everyone ends up a generalist? Does the game encourage this?

It gives flexibility, but doesn't encourage it. You might notice that cross-class skills are only half as effective as class skills. This is so a paladin can hide in shadows, he just can't do it as well as a rogue.

Multiclassing is sometimes beneficial, but with a monk I'd steer clear. For example, heavy armor still causes arcane magic and skill failures.

How do I (can I?) give items to my henchmen? Be good for him to have some potions.

Can't in the vanilla NWN. Sorry.

Anyway of increasing the viewing distance or is that a feature of the city?

I don't think so. But I tended to leave that as it was (aside from the mouse scroll zoom).

I'm tempted to start again now I'ev grasped some of the rules, redo my stats. I went with the recommended for the monk and I'm not sure they're the best combination. PLaying the game as a mage looks tough though.

I had a pretty easy time with a wizard. You can rest between fights, so you never run out of magic, and summons last longer than they should. That gives you a pretty decent meat shield.

However, cheating by constantly resting makes the game kind of boring.

Does the plot go somewhere?

Yeah, but it's nothing special. Just betrayals and magic and dragons. About what you would expect.

[DrSpike]

NWN does the job, but isn't anything special.

The expansions (Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark) are much better and you should get those if you haven't already. You can give henchies items in both those games.

[Tuberski]

Yep, the expansions make a world of difference.

I've had BG2 in my CD case for 7+ years and never installed it.

ACK!

[Standup]

However, cheating by constantly resting makes the game kind of boring.

I agree - I'm tempted to stop using the stone of recall once I've got the hang of the game. Seems a strange feature that encourages you to teleport in and out and rest in between. Feels like an even bigger abuse of the system than just running and resting in BG.

Got Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark (and Kingmaker) but thought I should at least try the original campaign. I might skip on to them soon though.

[Felch]

Originally posted by Standup
Got Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark (and Kingmaker) but thought I should at least try the original campaign. I might skip on to them soon though.

They're much better. Get used to the system with the original campaign, and once you know what you're doing, go and make the switch.

[Harovan]

Another vote for SoU and HotU. Play the plain OC as tutorial and then get into the XPs.

Oh and btw, monks are an awesome class if played right. One of the best.

[duke o' york]

If you haven't got very far, and have the sequels, then load them up too now! That way you'll be able to play through the original campaign with all of the neat things that the expansions provided.

[DrSpike]

I don't remember that happening.

For example I had SoU and HotU and played them before the original game, but I still couldn't equip henchies with items in NWN.

[Harovan]

There's a mod for that, which uses the expansion scripts in the OC. I forgot the name, though.

And with "neat things" dukey probably means such ... erm, useless spells like IGMS.

[Jon Miller]

the User created content is hte best.

JM

[Standup]

Any user created mods you'd recommend?

A lot of them seem to need 'haks' which I didn't quite understand. Does each mod need it's own hak pack ( i think that's what they were called) and do I have load/unload them for each of the different scenarios? Or can they all co-exist or do they need to be associated with the mod somehow?

Also something for henchman AI would be useful. Took the cleric with me but she has this habit of casting all her spells and running off after boars leaving me to fight the bad guys. ALso her cure spells on herself are a bit hit and miss. So picked up the figher again as he just hits things which keeps it simple.

Just entered Charwood after the the Dungeon in the Inn.

[DaShi]

Twilight doesn't require haks, but it's sequel, Midnight, does. Unfortunately, the third instalment was never finished. However, the first two are great games.

[Nostromo]

I reinstalled it today. Started with SoU. The first time around, I couldn't get pass the dragon in the cave. Not because it was hard, but because I was bored to tears. Not sure I'll get much farther this time. If you're a munchkin/powergamer, you'll love it, of course. But that's just not my thing. I think I'll jump right in the user created modules. I think I'll start with excrucio eternum. It got good reviews and it doesn't need any hacks.

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Standup
Any user created mods you'd recommend?

A lot of them seem to need 'haks' which I didn't quite understand. Does each mod need it's own hak pack ( i think that's what they were called) and do I have load/unload them for each of the different scenarios? Or can they all co-exist or do they need to be associated with the mod somehow?

Also something for henchman AI would be useful. Took the cleric with me but she has this habit of casting all her spells and running off after boars leaving me to fight the bad guys. ALso her cure spells on herself are a bit hit and miss. So picked up the figher again as he just hits things which keeps it simple.

Just entered Charwood after the the Dungeon in the Inn.

Haks go into a folder called "haks", strangely enough. When you load a mod requiring a hak, it will search out the hak in the hak folder. Otherwise the hak is never used.

There are also tilesets, placeables, voices, scripts, faces etc. that go in various other folders. Most hak downloads have a readme telling you were the hak or whatever goes.

Get the CEP hak. A LOT of mods use them.

The Aielund Saga is very good.

Caereena - Krakona Rising is very good also, but maybe a little buggy still.

Dreamcatcher series is good.

Saleron's Gambit is excellent.

A Hunt through the Dark series is good also, if you want to play Drow.

Blackguard series is pretty decent too.

That should get you started.

At one time I had over 3 gig of mods and haks.

ACK!