Neverwinter Nights Forum News (Feb. 19, 06)

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Here are today's Neverwinter Nights forum highlights, collected by NWVault. 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.

James Henley, Technical Designer

Download modules from PW?
That would depend upon the persistent world in question; some are available for download at Neverwinter Vault, whereas others are solely in the possession of their creator. Try looking it up on the vault, and if it's not available, try contacting the creator.

3rd edition rules
All responses are strictly my personal opinions.

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1) What are prestige classes and are they similar to kits from ad&d?

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Prestige Classes are special classes that you can only take if you meet a specific set of requirements. These may include attributes such as your base attack bonus, ranks in specific skills, feats, alignment, and race.

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2) How are skills and feats similar/different from nonweapon profs from ad&d? Do skills and feats play a larger role in computer d&d games?

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Skills directly influence your ability to interact with your surroundings in 3rd Edition D&D. Checks are made using 1d20 + relevant skill rank + ability modifier + miscellaneous bonus/penalties.

Feats are a mix of passive/activated abilities that allow your character to do a variety of things both in and out of combat. The feats and skills are what really differentiate your character from somebody else's. Just because you have two fighters in a party doesn't mean they're anything alike.

In CRPG D&D games, feats and skills are used heavily, particularly those with combat potential (as is the nature of the CRPG).

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3) What's the deal with being able to adv a level in any class you want when you level up (e.g., instead of levelling to lvl 4 mage you level to lvl 1 fighter instead)? This seems kinda lame to me. I was a fan of the multi and dual class systems and maybe thought that if a change was to be made that dual classing could be opened up to non-human races.

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The multi-classing system is one of my favourite things about 3rd Edition. I'm not sure what "deal" you're looking for an answer to. You seem to know how it works already. I like the level of character customization and flexibility it adds, especially since it has let me play some interesting combinations (ie. bard/red dragon disciple/arcane archer, or fighter/rogue/shadowdancer).

Some classes benefit less when mixed with others, however.

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4) I've read that druids, rangers, etc have been made more viable/interesting/powerful. What has been done? Also, on a lot of forums people talk about how monks are so powerful. Are they too powerful in comparison to the other classes?

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Druids were an enjoyable and effective class in 3rd Edition, but Rangers were basically shafted. In 3.5 Edition, however, they were overhauled once more and gained some new abilities that put them back on par with other classes.

Monks are weak at lower levels, and become extremely powerful at later ones. Like any other class, though, they do have their weaknesses (ie. hit die isn't particularly good, they have to fight unarmed to be at their maximum potential, etc.) Their progression isn't all that dissimilar from the caster classes in terms of growth.

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5) With most things on d20 now, how do hitpoints and hitdice work for the different classes?

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Hit dice are based on class, as always. You will notice, however, that there are no classes that begin with multiple hit dice anymore. The hit dice themselves range from the D4 to the D12.

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6) I really love rogues. How do sneak attacks differ from backstabbing? Do you have to be stealthed to do sneak attacks?

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Sneak attack adds a damage bonus to your attack, not a damage multiplier. It starts at +1d6, and the rogue gains an additional 1d6 every odd level.

Sneak attacks are executed when your opponent is flat-footed, when you are able to successfully flank them during combat, and in other similar situations.

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7) What's with the alignment changes? Is it true that you can only do good/neutral/evil and not chaotic/neutral/lawful? I really liked playing chaotic good characters...

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I have no idea where you heard that, but it's certainly not the case. The full set of nine alignments still exists in 3rd Edition D&D.

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What's it like playing a dwarf paladin or a halfling ranger? I love that they removed level restrictions and stuff, but it still seems weird that certain races can be certain classes (it's cool though, don't get me wrong).

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Removal of the racial locks allows for so many more character types and roleplay opportunities. I really like being able to experiment with them, even if their racial penalties can be detrimental to the class.

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I guess I have one question about nwn: I love party-based rpgs and have shied away from nwn because the single player campaign is not party-based. Does the multiplayer nwn have more of a party-based feel? I really, really love the idea of being able to create my own adventures (I preferred being dm when I played pnp), but I like d&d not diablo if you get my meaning.

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I spent a year playing on Neverwinter Connections, and had a great deal of team-based, DMed roleplaying sessions that were extremely enjoyable.

It's not hard to find games ranging from Diablo-esque hack-and-slash to absolute roleplaying.

I hope all of that helps.

Edit: In stereo, no less!

More:

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But I was wondering if you could explain it slightly more:

Say I'm a level 3 mage and I want to add a level of fighter. Do I need 1000xp as per the level 1 fighter or do I need to get whatever xp is required for level 4 mage? Then, if I go up to the next level after that and want to add another fighter level would I add whatever xp is required for level 2 fighter or would it be for level 5 mage? Finally, if I wanted to add 1 cleric level at the next level up would it be 1000xp for first level cleric or would it be for level 6 mage or whatever?

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The amount of experience you need to advance is based on your Character Level as opposed to your Class Level. So, to add that first level of fighter to those three levels of mage, you would need the full amount of XP required for a level four mage.

Short cut scene.

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let me edit that. I can get most of it to work, but he refuses to start in the bed.

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The bed might not have any walkmesh, preventing the player from actually entering that point in space.

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ooh a dev post!

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It's not like we're dead.

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I did have a feeling about that, but i couldn't be too sure. The bed i'm using is a placeable and the wp's im using as a sleeping point just start off not clipping on it, so i suspect you're right.

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Waaaay back when, I recall beds that you could walk on, so there's likely a .hak out there that would let you do what you want.

More:

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Thanks for the help. I'm probably attempting stuff way above my ability, but when you get it right, it's always fun.

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No problem, glad to help. We never know what we're capable of unless we push ourselves, so keep at it and best of luck.

Brian Chung, Technical Artist

Patch 1.67 FAQ

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"Change to allow plt texture support on custom created part based creature races."

Does it means the engine will actually use the texture associated with a model (please, please say yes ) or will it still look ONLY for p<sex><race><type>_modelXXX plt?

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It means it will respect the pSR#_part###.plt of that race. So say you're making a part based, dynamic gnoll race (using N since G is taken by those pesky gnomes), up til now you couldn't because bodypart000 always pointed to pmh0_part000.plt (or pfh0_part000.plt) which is flesh. But now if your race is 482+ in the appearance.2da it will look to pmn0_part000.plt which you can create with a proper fur texture.