History VideoGame / IcewindDale

** The exact reason why Kuldahar's tree is losing its warmth is never revealed. While it's heavily implied short of outright stated that [[spoiler:Belhifet and/or Crenshinibon]] was the cause, it's unclear why they would do it since they don't care about Kuldahar and specifically mention that they wouldn't ''want'' bands of adventurers and heroes traveling to the town to investigate its disturbances. The only other candidate for the cause is [[spoiler:Yxunomei]], but her followers note that her ultimate plans for Icewind Dale are [[spoiler:the exact opposite of freezing it, they want to return it to a warm jungle climate]]. In the end it's ultimately irrelevant, as by the end the game the issue is comparatively minor to other things happening and things are resolved eventually, but being that its the inciting incident of the plot, it is a bit odd that the party seems to lose interest in the matter.

* StarterEquipment: In both games, all party members begin with a quarterstaff and nothing else. The second game is a little merciful, you can fetch equipment on the ground that were dropped by slain adventurers and goblins.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2's'' second ExpansionPack ''Storm of Zehir'' is a lot like ''IWD'' in many respects: less plot, more dungeon-crawling, construction of a full party from scratch. Helps that they were made by many of the same people.

* RandomDrop: Both games have semi-random loot drops. Some items will always drops while others will be randomized when you enter the area for the first time.

* HeelFaceTurn: [[EvilSorcerer Saablic Tan]] was one of BigBad's lieutenant until he got thrown out and turned into a umber hulk. He helps the party and regrets the terrible things he did in the past.

* GrailInTheGarbage: Pale Justice, the game's best sword (for Paladins), found on the corpse of a hapless adventurer in Dorn's Deep. Its inventory icon is the same as that of a regular longsword, and shopkeepers will buy or sell it for a pittance. WordOfGod says that merchants don't realize its' worth because it's an ordinary longsword to anyone but a Paladin. The weapon's lore explains ''why'' this trope is invoked, as it was blessed by Tyr, the god of justice, at the prayers of a priest:

* FlunkyBoss: [[spoiler:Every end boss loves this trope. Belhifet is flanked with two iron {{Golem}}s (and a couple of lower ranking devils if you have the Heart of Winter expansion). Icasaracht is backed-up with [[FishPeople Sahuagin]]. The Luremaster has Spectre Heroes. Isair and Madae has a demon knight, a chimera, [[EvilSorcerer a wizard]], Drows and other nasty creatures.]]

* FlunkyBoss: [[spoiler:Every end boss love this trope. Belhifet is flanked with two iron {{Golem}}s (and a couple of lower ranking devils if you have the Heart of Winter expansion). Icasaracht is backed-up with [[FishPeople Sahuagin]]. The Luremaster has Spectre Heroes. Isair and Madae has a demon knight, a chimera, [[EvilSorcerer a wizard]], Drows and other nasty creatures.]]

** Generally the case. Goblins, orcs, drow, giants, and other monster races are all simply deserving targets for the party to clear out. Most notable in the case of the yuan-ti are depicted as completely villainous. Even though Iselore decided to spare them when he could have easily wiped them out after their crushing defeat in the first game, they're right back at their warmongering again in the sequel, and the archdruid voices his displeasure at [[UngratefulBastard how they've chosen to repay his mercy]].

* AffablyEvil: Presio the necromancer, who speaks to you through her skeletal lieutenants. Choose the "nicer" dialogue options and she'll be reasonably civil towards you in turn, eventually conceding that you are a [[WorthyOpponent very powerful opponent]] when she's down to her last mouthpiece. If your speaking character is a mage, she'll even address you as "my friend" and accept a duel to decide your quarrel if you issue one.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Yxunomei [[spoiler:takes the form of a child as her avatar]] because she's observed that people are generally more hesitant to attack being in that form, but this is merely her exploiting a weakness; she has no real concept of male, female, or child on her home, and considers anything that lives fair game to kill in warfare. Where she comes from, physical shells are irrelevant, and she considers the PC's "loose grasp on morality" as indicative of their inability to truly grasp the nature of the universe.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Yxunomei [[spoiler:takes the form of a child as her avatar]] because she's observed that people are more hesitant to attack a child, but this is merely her exploiting a weakness; she has no real concept of male, female, or child on her home, and considers anything that lives fair game to kill in warfare. Where she comes from, physical shells are irrelevant, and she considers the PC's "loose grasp on morality" as indicative of their inability to truly grasp the nature of the universe.

* StoryDrivenInvulnerability: Lysan, if attacked at the Root Cellar Tavern.

* {{Foil}}: Yxunomei and Belhifet, opposites in the Blood War and much everything else, from gender to alignment to tactics. They even express [[EvilIsHammy the one trait]] they do have in common in [[ColdHam contrasting]] [[LargeHam ways]].

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Luremaster

** ''[[http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/module/heart-winter Heart of Winter]]'' and ''[[http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/module/trials-luremaster Trials of the Luremaster]]'' were also remade using the Aurora Toolset for ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights''

* BenevolentBoss: Zigzagged with Yxunomei, who thinks highly of her yuan-ti servitors, intends to leave behind a kingdom for them once her work is done, and angrily insults the player if they mislabel the race as "snake people". On the other hand, she welcomes you to try and take the Heartstone Gem from them by force once she's finished with it, apathetic to your success or failure, as she has no tolerance for ineptitude.

* DemBones: You'll encounter a lot of them. In the sequel, not as much.

* StoryDrivenImmortality: Lysan, if attacked at the Root Cellar Tavern.

* FormFittingWardrobe: Leather armor will conform to a female warrior's bust, which not only risks deflecting weapons at the face but [[CleavageWindow is well-designed to guide weapons towards the heart]]. Also, it may not be steel, but it's still put a wedge of hard material right against the sternum, which probably isn't any fun to take a blow on (This is hardened boiled leather, mind you, not supple worked leather). Metal armor is even worse; in addition to boob cups the entire area above the cleavage is left exposed.

* BonusBoss: ''Icewind Dale II'' has two of these, both within the same chapter. The first is a [[spoiler:black dragon in the "Crossroads", which can be killed to close the teleport to Kuldahar.]] Players don't actually have to fight it, and can achieve their goal in a much easier way, but the difficulty of the battle alone makes it worth it for many players. The other boss is [[spoiler:the Six Lost Followers, in the Kuldahar graveyard. This is regarded by many to be the hardest fight in the game, because A) there are six different enemies to fight at once, B) they are several levels higher than your party, and C) because each has only a few specific weaknesses, being immune to all other forms of attack, and with the weaknesses being different between each member.]] Victory gives the player the Holy Avenger, arguably the best weapon in the game. Unfortunately, this pisses off quite a few people itself, as the weapon can only be wielded by a Paladin, meaning that there is no reward for anyone without a Paladin in their party.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Saablic Tan is one of the Legion's primary architects, not to mention a returning character from the original; you deal extensively with his underlings and creations. You even spend a good chunk of the final chapter interacting with his conclave, but the man himself is killed outside the Severed Hand with barely two words exchanged.