Swords and Sorcery meets Mice and Modems

Break out the polyhedron dice and +2 swords! It’s time for Neverwinter Nights,  a game that hopes to do something that Vampire: The Masquerade never quite accomplished – bringing true role playing to the Internet age.

Let’s start with the “basic” stuff first. This game is based (some would say “loosely based”) on the 3^rd edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. Apparently TSR, which is to say Wizards of the Coast, decided to try and recapture the flavor of the old games with their new rules, which means they’ve brought back the favorite “subclasses” like barbarians and monks.

On the plus side, they’ve gotten rid of a lot of the limitations that once narrowly defined each class. For example, you are more than welcome to be a Lawful Evil Halfling Ranger if you prefer. And the skill set has been improved so that you can disarm traps as a cleric or tend to wounds as a rogue.

As for the computer version, it includes a relatively straightforward single player adventure in which you must rescue the city of Neverwinter from a plague, and subsequently an evil cult threatening to bring the apocalypse, etc. etc.

I found the single player story quite compelling, actually, but once you play multiplayer you’ll never go back.

The best way to compare Neverwinter Nights is like going out and buying a copy of the Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual and Dungeon Master’s Guide. Included in this beginner’s set happens to be a solo adventure so that you can play with yourself for hours on end. (Please strike that last remark from the record – ed.)

Well, sooner or later you’ve learned enough of the rules that you want to play a game. So you go down to the local comic book shop, and sure enough there are a bunch of high school kids with a game going.

“Mind if I join in?” you inquire.

“Sure,” the zit-faced DM replies.

After pulling out your character sheet – carefully typed, with a full background including childhood pets, the DM announces, “You suddenly appear with the rest of the party, fighting a big dragon.”

One of the players rolls his dice and shouts, “I got a 19 with my Sword +5, +10 vs. dragons!”

The DM groans. “Well, you killed the dragon. Now you can see his treasure, which includes piles and piles of gold, plus some potions of extra healing, a Wand of Titan Summoning, Three jetpacks…”

Well, this is a worst-case scenario, of course.

Being a bit more cautious next time, you check the bulletin board and find a “real” role playing group who is looking for a few good players. You sign your name, talk with the DM and then show up on the appointed night.

You’re allowed to play – in character – for almost an hour before you even have to go on your first fight! And you get more XP for role playing than monster slaying – that’s exactly what you were looking for in the first place!

So, long story short (too late –ed.), this game has all the best things that D&D can offer, if you get the right group. It includes a toolset that allows you to do ALMOST ANYTHING YOU CAN DO in a live game!! (Can you fight a beholder? Well, OK, almost anything…)

Now, granted, this will never take the place of our beloved role playing sessions, face to face where we can steal game manuals and dice while raiding the DM’s fridge.

You (i.e. Chris) also might argue that NWN is doing little more than Vampire: The Masquerade did a few years back.

Also true, but here’s a few advantages. First, I think the combat graphics are much improved. You can actually see characters parrying attacks and dodging! Arrows stick out of your arm until you’re healed! Now, I’m easily impressed by graphics, so I don’t give them much weight towards the final grade.

But how about modules? Sure we all love to build our own modules but there are already more than 1,000 user-built modules available for download at this very minute! And the community has already developed a player matching system, a guild system, and all that other good stuff that will help you find a good game online (or you could just all of you buy the game so we could play online together!).

So far some have reported the game to be glitchy on certain aspects, but Bioware is releasing patches as fast as they can, it seems. Also, it requires installing a “hak pack” for certain custom content, such as new monster graphics and certain other “rule bending”.

On the other hand, it’s amazing what’s been done with the game so far, thanks to the creativity of the community.

Unfortunately there’s no demo, but it’s worth the $65, or better yet go online and get it for $30 on Ebay from some Diablo 2 l33t dude who didn’t get what he wanted.