Neverwinter Nights

Neverwinter Nights is a 3D third-person role-playing video game based on the rules of the third edition of the Dungeons & Dragons in which it is played in scenarios generated by the Aurora engine, being possible to do it in single player mode or online. It was published in the United States on June 18, 2002 by BioWare.

The Game

Neverwinter Nights is considered one of the most complete role-playing games in the history of video games. The game uses almost all the rules of the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons as published by Wizards of the Coast, the company that owns the rights to the tabletop role-playing game. However, some game elements are not fully implemented (albeit in a minority) mainly due to decisions made by the publishing company to improve certain game features. Internally, it executes the same actions that would be done with the board game, and that focus on dice rolls.

One of the strengths of the game is its multiplayer mode, which makes it highly similar to Dungeons & Dragons, since it allows you to play with the same rules of the board game with several players in a very similar environment. The same players are the ones who make the modules to play online, which has made the game very successful, due to the wide universe and possibilities that open up.

The game includes an editing tool called Aurora Toolset which greatly expands its possibilities as it allows the creation of maps or even complete game modules in an easy way. This allows not only living the experience as a player but also as a dungeon master or game director, in which one does not live the one-person experience but that of the controller of the entire environment and infrastructure of the game.

Plot

The city of Neverwinter/Noyvern is under quarantine. A terrible epidemic called the Howling Death (similar to the Black Death that ravaged Europe in the 14th century) is wreaking havoc among the population, and the city's clerics are unable to find a cure for it. In a desperate attempt, they ask for help from the wise Khelben "Vara Negra" of Deep Waters, which sends four magical creatures to Nightvern from which the cure for such a terrible disease will be made.

The creatures are taken into the custody of the Nightvern Hero Academy, in the Beggar's Nest district of the city. That is where the story begins, because by chance people come from afar to help the city, and the character stays there. During our stay, the Academy is attacked by unknown forces that break in to kidnap the creatures. The elf paladin who runs the center, Lady Aribeth of Tylmarande, will ask that the creatures be recovered and returned to the Temple of Tyr, where the cure creation ritual will take place.

Once what was stolen is recovered, the ritual begins at the hands of Aribeth, her fiancé Fenthick, a controversial Helm priest named Deshter, and other clerics, in the presence of Lord Nasher, the city's chief executive, who he is also affected by Howling Death. Once the cure is created, and without saying a word, Deshter betrays his comrades by stealing the healing potion. He is followed by Fenthick through a portal, everyone believing that he too is a traitor, when all he wants is to reason with his friend, who turns out to be acting on the orders of a strange cult. After you defeat the helm and recover the potion, Desther and Fenthick are tried for High Treason and executed before a bloodthirsty mob. This fact marks the subsequent events, since Aribeth is born with a feeling of anger against the city that she helped, which thus paid her for the effort (by executing her partner).

Little by little the city is recovering its calm. Now the important thing is to find the cult that caused the Howling Death, find out why and make them pay for the damage caused. To do this, you move with your group, with Aribeth and with the spy Aarin to Final Port, where an exhaustive search of all the regions adjacent to Noyvern will begin, in search of any vestige that points to the existence of a sect. Everything points in the direction of the city of Luskan, and more specifically to the Arcane Brotherhood of the city. The lich who ran it (which you reach after not a few efforts) informs you that a certain Maugrim has taken control of the Brotherhood and that he has unleashed chaos in Luskan to seize power. His goal is to launch the Luskanite army into Nighttime in search of an artifact they call the Origin Stone. In it are the survivors of an ancient race called the creator race, with the appearance of lizardmen but with infinitely greater power, who lived thousands of years ago and ruled even the Dragons, but fell due to climate change. They are all ruled by Morag, a sorceress who wields her enormous power through Maugrim's sect. After telling this, the Liche leaves the way free, without resisting, to the roofs of the tower where Maugrim is located, because he wants it to be destroyed so that he can recover the direction of the Brotherhood. On the rooftops Maugrim, an avatar of Queen Morag, and Aribeth (believed dead or missing) are seen swearing allegiance to them and promising to lead the armies of Luskan over Noyvern. Before we can do anything to them, they disappear before our sight.

If Maugrim opens the Origin Stone, the free peoples will again be subject to the will of the Creator Race. Now it is known that what the enemy is looking for, the Origin Stone, is found under Lord Nasher's castle in Nightfall, and that to activate that stone, ancient artifacts called Words of Power are needed, so that a race against time will begin between the faithful of Noyvern and the Sect of Maugrim to find them. The action moves to a barbarian village called Well of Beorunna, with some iconic moments like the fight against the Red Wyrm Klauth. After doing our job to the best of our ability and recovering 3 of the 4 Words of Power, we return to Nightvern to help defend it. There he informs Aarin that the fourth word is in the possession of Maugrim, and that if he wants to recover it, he will have to go after him. Said and done, since the search for a secret hideout begins in the middle of a very bloody battle and in which there will be no shortage of combat against enemies of all kinds, including Aribeth herself (who can be chosen after defeating her if she is given wants to leave alive or not). After finding the cause of so many hours of play and killing him unceremoniously, he recovers the last Word and returns to the castle.

The decision is made to enter the Source Stone and root out the problem, destroying Morag and whoever gets in the way. In the Origin Stone is the otherworldly equivalent of Aribeth and provides momentary help (as a sort of redemption on Aribeth's part). Meanwhile, the enemy army is confused and demoralized by being left without leaders, and the Nightwinter militia soon drive it out of the city, justice and order once again triumphing, and peace once more returning to Nightwinter.

Classes

The game has two types of classes to choose from, the normal ones that can be chosen without any type of requirement or the prestige ones, in which the character must have certain requirements to be able to choose them.

Normal classes

• barbarian: pure brute force. Use heavy weapons.
• Bardo: uses songs to cause altered effects.
• Guerrero: a master in the handling of weapons.
• Cleric: Use memorized spells to cure, damage or cause adverse effects on your rivals
• Paladin: a warrior who bets for good in addition to being a professional of arms has some sacred powers
• Wizard: a speller that memorizes his spells
• Hechicero: a conjurer who simply has the gift of magic, does not have to memorize his spells
• Explorer: a skilled tracker and a powerful remote fighter
• Monk: someone who has dedicated his life to his body and mind, are specialists in the fight without weapons and in the handling of exotic weapons
• Picarus: a thief and a cheater, is skillful disappearing. He is a specialist in light weapons such as daggers or short swords, he is also very agile and fast
• Druida: He has dedicated his life to knowing nature this gives him certain powers over it. Although it is not as magically powerful as a magician or a sorcerer this can use better weapons, and has access to some of the best spells

Prestige Classes

• Arpist agent: Any class can be an arpist agent but needs a good alignment. They are agents of a secret society and have varied gifts and skills.
• Arcano archer: usually an explorer/mago or explorer/hechicero ascends to Arcano archer. In addition to enormously improving your skills with distance weapons you also get magical skills
• Murderer: Picars can be good killers, they have good skills to catch enemies unprepared and kill them quickly.
• Torm Champion: the evolution of the paladin, gets even more divine favors and more skill in fighting skills with the chosen weapon.
• Dark Danzarin: another option of the rogue, these characters are very agile and their ability to disappear are even better than those of the killer.
• Red Dragon Disciple: the bards or the sorcerers can be improved to this class, have powers such as dragon breath and dragon scales at level 9 also give them dragon wings.
• Advocate dwarf: a warrior dwarf becomes this, greatly increases his skills and defense skills
• Black guard: the anti-paladdin par excellence, is just the opposite of a paladin.
• Master of arms: the most powerful of all the characters in the handling of the weapon you choose. As long as he softens a weapon he specializes in, he's the strongest.
• Master of lividity: if a magician chooses the path of nigromance, it is clear that this class of prestige interests him. In addition to becoming strong in this school of magic, you will also develop gifts of living dead, like a skeletal arm.
• Changing: Druids are good changing shape, but these characters are with much, better. Among its transformations can be found, limpid, cloaked, and other dangerous creatures.

Reception
Reviews Evaluator Rating GameRankings 89.08% Metacritic 91/100 Criticism scores Publication Rating AllGame GamePro GameSpot 9.2/10 GameSpy 91/100 GameZone 9.3/10 FiringSquad 91 per cent Gameplanet

Expansions and Sequels

There are two official expansions to the original game, Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark. In addition, there are six other commercial modules called Premium Modules with independent adventures: Witch's Wake, Shadow Guard, Kingmaker, Pirates of the Sword Coast, Infinite Dungeons, and Wyvern Crown of Cormyr. Likewise, there are many other modules created by the gaming community.

There is a set of plugins created by the Neverwinter Nights community, CEP (Community Expansion Pack), which is needed for various game modules that circulate on the Internet.

It has a sequel, Neverwinter Nights 2, published on November 7, 2006 in Spain.