Trivia / Neverwinter Nights 2

• Actor Existence Limbo: Murphy Guyer didn't return for Mask and Ammon Jerro suddenly became an unvoiced NPC.
• Acting for Two:
  • Lisa Emery voices both Zhjaeve and the succubus Blooden. It's possible to have Zhjaeve in the party when you go to Ammon Jerro's Haven, where you can meet Blooden. Similarly, if your PC is female and has the Patrician voice, her actress Charity James also voices an erinye there, Hezebel. Also, the King of Shadows is voiced by Khelgar's voice actor Adam Sietz.
  • In Mask of the Betrayer Dave Walsh voices both the player character (assuming the Male Methodical Caster voice) and Bishop. Nan McNamara does the Female Methodical Caster voice and the telthor wolf Nakata. And finally, Steve Blum goes against type to voice One-of-Many, but also does the Male Hardened Battler voice.
  • It's quite common with the PC voices in general. Female Sultry is done by Melody Jones aka Zeeaire; Female Petulant shares Elizabeth Van Meter with Alaine and Kana; Stephanie D'Abruzzo handles Amie, Tholapsyx, and Female Dramatic; Nya and Female Fiery are both done by Becca Ayers; and Fred Berman does double-Large Ham duty with Sand and Male Dramatic.
• B-Team Sequel: Created by Obsidian rather than the creators of the first game, Bioware.
• Dummied Out:
  • Time constraints resulted in a lot of stuff getting cut, like Neeshka and Bishop's romance plots^note  it's not entirely clear what was cut from Bishop's; as it stands he has as much romance content as Casavir, it just doesn't affect his actions in the finale, an encounter with the animus elemental Sydney summoned to murder Qara, why Casavir left Neverwinter, an exchange between Sand and Qara indicating she's actually holding back a considerable amount of power...
  • When you first meet Grobnar, he was supposed to be teaching some halflings about Whitethistle, but in the final game you just see him singing to himself like a loon. He was also going to volunteer to help you investigate some bandit attacks in Neverwinter Wood, but here he just joins you on your way to Old Owl Well, and is the only companion not tied to any major story quests.
  • Casavir's rivalry arc with Bishop was planned to go much deeper. Aside from Bishop originally being meant as the other half of a Love Triangle with the female Knight-Captain (Casavir ended up the only option), there was supposed to be exposition that the real reason he left Neverwinter's paladin order was because he killed a romantic rival while having a secret affair with a popular courtesan. Said Dummied Out background also sheds more insight into his epithet Katalmach or "one who loses himself in battle," as well as Bishop's assertion that his "pent-up frustration" makes him so much trouble on the battlefield. That is, Casavir's paladin vows have left him so sexually frustrated they come spilling out in things like aggression in battle (and the murder of a romantic rival), and his illicit feelings for women like Ophala and the female PC, and led to his disgrace and self-banishment from Neverwinter to go fight orcs at the Old Owl Well.
  • Sand's rivalry with Qara originally had more layers, since he used to teach at the Academy until her father (the headmaster) got him fired. It's implied that said firing from her father is what led to him being thrown out of more respectable establishments and having to open up shop in the Docks, adding to his resentment. There's also a deleted scene where Sand taunts Qara about being dangerous, only for her to unleash a fraction of her true power, practically scaring him to death. This makes his sudden Face–Heel Turn in the Definitely Final Dungeon if Qara has more influence with the KC make a bit more sense.
• Executive Meddling:
  • Chris Avellone notes that Gann and Safiya as love interests were originally not constrained by gender, as "that felt true to how [they] perceived love". This was apparently vetoed by Wizards.
  • Atari insisted that the Mysteries of Westgate DLC ship with a DRM scheme. This caused the package's release to be delayed for nearly two years, causing an uproar in the fanbase. By the time Mysteries was released, people had lost interest in the adventure pack, and the DRM was cracked within a week. Months later, Atari removed all manner of DRM from the game and its expansions, including the DLC. Such a shame, because Mysteries of Westgate was meant to be the first of many Adventures Packs, none which saw the day of light.
• The Other Darrin: The voice actors of both Kelghar and Bishop changed between main campaign and expansion. Kelghar's voice actor in Storm of Zehir is noticeably different, with the new guy trying to imitate Adam Sietz and not quite succeeding. Bishop's new actor in Mask of the Betrayer lacks the old one's sneering, aggressive edge. Although in Bishops case, this can be explained in-universe as he is now entombed in the Wall of the Faithless.
• Screwed by the Network/Screwed by the Lawyers: Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast sued Infogrames/Atari over fraud and five breaches of contract. Continuing game updates afterwards was likely not a high-priority issue. It also resulted in the Steam version being pulled from the store, though it's since been rereleased on GOG.com.
• Troubled Production: Mysteries of Westgate didn't take long to develop. However, Atari wanted the DLC shipped with a DRM scheme. This delayed the release of the game. Adding to this, Obsidian's patches constantly broke down the Adventure Pack, pushing the game's release even further, much to gamers' frustration.
• What Could Have Been:
  • At Crossroad Keep, there's a sidequest from Elanee to plant a garden that was cut. The PC could've also set up a gambling den, and been given control of their faction's operations on the docks in a section similar to managing Crossroad Keep. The structure that would have been your base is still in the game next to the Sunken Flagon. Quite a bit of dialog in Act 1 and early in Act 2 still references your character as being in charge of a faction there, even though you never have any authority in the final version.
  • Back in 2009, there was talk of a possible third expansion and another patch for the game, but everything was scrapped when Hasbro (owner of the D&D license) sued Atari (the game's publisher). By the time the dispute was settled, everybody had moved on to other games. According to Luke Scull of Ossian Studios, the third expansion was supposed to be released episodically, set in Halruaa, and involve psionics and possibly, the Tarrasque
  • In Mask of The Betrayer, Word of God spoke of many things that were cut.
    • Kaelyn was supposed to be a romance option, and Gann and Safiya could originally be romanced by the PC regardless of your gender.
    • Kazimika was supposed to ambush you after you devoured the Wood Man's spirit.
    • An extended exploration of the Astral Plane was also trimmed down for pacing.
    • Kaelyn's father was supposed to rescue her if you fought her after siding with Kelemvor. You would had a chance to let Kaelyn leave unharmed... or slay her father and the entire Menagerie. For extra evilness, you could have slain her or let swarm of demons grab her and torture her to death. (This one's so complete that it's still in the game, and it appears to be either bugged out or Dummied Out to not activate - you can retrigger the event by inputting a code.)
  • Ossian Studios wanted the DLC to be set in Rashemen. When they heard Mask of the Betrayer was also going to be set there, they changed it to Westgate.

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