History Videogame / NeverwinterNights

* InNameOnly: The game's version of Obould differs rather from TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms canon, and the change is not to his benefit. In the canon Obould is an orc king who is wise and intelligent even for human standards, who envisions a future where orcs break away from being AlwaysChaoticEvil and become a proper civilization at peace with the other races -- and his vision is eventually realized. In this game, he's basically just a big orc who is ''slightly'' more articulate than other orcs, and has none of the power or magic attributed to Obould elsewhere.

* HalfHumanHybrid: Every Half-Elf and Half-Orc, of course; beyond the obvious though, Shadows of the Undrentide's J'Nah is a Half-Sun Elf, Half-Demon, and Hordes of the Underdark's Valen is a Tiefling, a human with Demon heritage.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: The Charwood subquest, full stop. All that is clear is that at some point, the village children were gathered up and killed en masse so Karlet Jhareg could transform himself into a baelnorn. Beyond that each of the involved parties has their own version of events told from their perspective, and their memories are spotty due to the magic that has trapped the castle in limbo. To a degree, all of the culprits bear at least some blame for the crime, but who to finger for the blame above the others is up to you. You then have to decide if you shall keep them all trapped in limbo as prisoners, or if you shall release them rest peacefully but in doing so you will also free [[spoiler:Belial the Devil to return to the Hells]]; there's no way to punish him without condemning the rest of the village.

* GirlsWithMoustaches: In the The unmodded game, one of the player characters's female Dwarf faces has two medium braids of beard descending from her chin. The ''Community Expansion Pack'' mod compilation adds several female Dwarve faces sporting facial hair, which are shorter and lighter than their male counterpart.

* GirlsWithMoustaches: In the The unmodded game, one of the player characters's female Dwarf faces has two medium braids of beard descending from her shin. The ''Community Expansion Pack'' mod compilation adds several female Dwarve faces sporting facial hair, which are shorter and lighter than their male counterpart.

* ChainmailBikini: If you have opposite-gendered henchmen in the expansions, you can move the same suit of armor between your inventories and watch its icon change to reflect the gender of the person currently holding it -- female armor is usually more revealing, and occasionally includes NavelDeepNeckline.

* AbortedArc: Both ''Witch's Wake'' and ''Shadowguard'' modules had the ambition to tell longer narratives but due to ExecutiveMeddling they both ended at the respective chapter one.

* NewWorkRecycledGraphics: By their very nature all the Premium Modules are using the assets from the original game's campaigns, although there were a few of models existing within the Aurora engine that didn't see use in the main campaigns and the modules creators were often able to adjust the existing elements to change to look of the assets.

* OurNymphsAreDifferent: ''Kingmaker's'' Kaidala was a broadly normal D&D Nymph but she was pursuaded by Dryads in the forest she lived in to bind herself to a tree as they are...only to lose most of her racial powers and receive terrible [[FacialHorror scars on her face]] after her tree and the rest of the forest was burned down. Given Nymphs [[PlanetOfHats hat]] being ProudBeauty the disfigurement bothers her more than the loss of power.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Darkness Over Daggerford'' is something of a loving tribute to the gameplay style of the first ''VideoGame/BaldursGate.''

* GodEmperor: ''ShadowGuard'' takes place in an empire ruled by the Emperor Rakha, an immortal being of unknown origin who overthrew an evil tyrant that previously dominated much of the world. The people of the Empire see him as divine, although there is some evidence that he and his nation have a rather darker side.

* SelfFulfillingProphecy: Kaidala in ''Kingmaker'' was driven from her forest with terrible injuries by a fanatical group who had heard a prophecy that someone from that forest would eventually aid a threat to their leader. It is implied that the PC is that person and Kaidala is aiding them but is only doing so because she was forced from her forest.

* NoEnding: Both the ''Witch's Wake'' and ''ShadowGuard'' modules were meant to be part one of an ongoing story but some very strange ExecutiveMeddling meant both had to be discontinued, leaving off on cliffhangers with much of their stories and settings never to be revealed. ''Kingmaker,'' while a finished story, still has many plot threads left dangling.

* TheTeamNormal: In the ''Kingmaker'' module the PC is the only member of their party from the standard TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons character races while the rest of the party consists of an [[FlamingHair Azer warrior,]] a [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent Wererat rogue,]] a [[TheFairFolk Nymph druid]] and a [[CatFolk Rakshasa wizard.]]

* NoHarmRequirement: There's a quest where the quest giver asks you to steal several pieces of art from various nobles in the city. She wants the current owners left scared but alive, so she'll dock your pay if you opt to kill any of them.

* {{Retronym}}: The original campagin of ''Nevrewinter Nights'' is indicated as ''The Wailing Death'' in the ''Enhanced Edition''.

* FaceHeelRevolvingDoor: [[spoiler:Aribeth]] again, though the severity depends on what you do. [[spoiler:Between the original game and ''Hordes of the Underdark'', Aribeth can be a Paladin who turns evil, turns back to good, seemingly turns evil again in Cania (Hell), turns good again, then sides with Mephistopheles in the final battle until you use her True Name to sway her back to your side]].

* NoGearLevel: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with the cave below the Beholder Tunnels; you don't actually lose your gear but the entire area is covered with a dead magic zone so all magic gear becomes a basic, non-enchanted version of it's type until you leave. Given the high end magic items the player will have by now that's generally quite the drop in power.

%%* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: Literally.
%%* InventoryManagementPuzzle

* LostTechnology: [[spoiler:The magic of the Old Ones is beyond anything known to the mages of the present day, used to create an interdimensional stasis shelter to protect them from an oncoming Ice Age.]]

* TheEndIsNigh: This phrase will be permanently engrained in your skull if you run around the Neverwinter City Core with the sound running for too long. On that note, the city seems to have more doomsayers than plague victims.

* TokenGoodTeammate: The dyrad among the creatures brought in to provide reagents for the cure. The yaun-ti and the intellect devourer are both deeply evil and the cockatrice is a non-sapient but generally aggressive animal. The dryad is also the only one there to help of her own free will, the others having been captured. [spoiler: In an example of LaserGuidedKarma she is also the only one to survive.]]