History VideoGame / NeverwinterNights

* JokeItem: The Pearl of Bashing's only use is to make a joke only coders will understand: by plugging it into the bridge controls in the beholder cave, it delivers a message in BASH shell format[=/=]UsefulNotes/ScriptingLanguage[[note]]"root@faerun.prime.com:/games/nwn#" -- the superuser ('''root''') and their location ('''Faerun''', which should probably be Toril, on the '''Prime''' Material Plane), running the game '''n'''ever'''w'''inter '''n'''ights[[/note]]. PERL is another programming language.

* FishingForMooks: Works great--Hide or Move Silently works against every enemy separately, and mooks who noticed PC pursue on their own, leaving their pals idle. Thus sneaking closer until detected and then luring the pursuers so far away that others will not hear attack and death sounds makes slaughtering them much easier, up to long NoDamageRun.

* BonusBoss: Klauth, an ancient Red Dragon you encounter in Chapter 3. The game hands you a way to weaken him down to Badly Wounded on-arrival, and he's still considered one of the most difficult bosses; fighting him without weakening him first has you pitted against the toughest enemy in the entire campaign.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The final boss, [[spoiler: Mephistopheles]], the second most powerful Devil in the ''multiverse''. Compare to ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'', where in TOB you get to punch out the multiverse's ''number one'' Demon as a BonusBoss. On top of that, [[spoiler: Mephistopheles]] lacks immunity to [[spoiler: instant-death magic]]. This means that even though he has very high saves, you have at least a 5% chance to kill him with [[spoiler: a single spell like Finger of Death]].

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: The four Neverwinter companions. Not only can none of them can accompany you past the first chapter, but they're [[spoiler:killed off in the upper levels of the Undermountain]] for good measure.

* OurNymphsAreDifferent: ''Kingmaker's'' Kaidala was a broadly normal ''D&D'' nymph but she was persuaded 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 [[Proud Beaut|y Proud Beauties,]] the disfigurement bothers her more than the loss of power.

* OurNymphsAreDifferent: ''Kingmaker's'' Kaidala was a broadly normal ''D&D'' nymph but she was persuaded 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 [[Proud Beaut|y]]ies, the disfigurement bothers her more than the loss of power.

* CloningBlues: After the player kills the drow keeping Halaster captive, another Halaster teleports in, and informs you that you ruined his brilliant plan to trap the BigBad using a clone. The two Halasters then begin to bicker about who is the original, and who is the clone -- all the while [[RhymesOnADime rhyming]]. The funny part is that normally it's done via ''simulacrum'' and that in {{canon}} Halaster used to have multiple semi-autonomous body replicas all over the Undermountain and control them more or less at will.

Creator/BioWare additionally released a number of "premium modules" as paid DLC. Short self-contained adventures, many of which were created by community members hired by [=BioWare=], the premium modules became deeper and more complex as designers familiarized themselves with the engine and new tools were developed. The first three, ''Witch's Wake'', ''Shadowguard'' and ''Kingmaker'', were compiled into the third expansion, ''Kingmaker''. Three more were made: ''Pirates of the Sword Coast'', ''Infinite Dungeons'' and ''Wyvern Crown of Cormyr''. While the modules themselves were well received, they required a constant connection to the Internet as DRM; the modules in ''Kingmaker'' do not have this feature. When the premium module initiative ended, several projects were left hanging, though ''Darkness Over Daggerford'' and ''Crimson Tides of Tethyr'' were released for free later. [=BioWare=] stopped selling the premium modules in 2009.

** It's even easier to get these if you turn the "gore" setting in the options to maximum. Play a cleric or paladin against undead, use your TurnUndead ability, and HilarityEnsues.

* AbandonedMine: One is used by a kidnapper as a hideout in Chapter 2 during a sidequest.

* DeceptiveDisciple: [[spoiler: Desther]] gives off the appearance of helping to combat the plague, but is secretly the one who's spreading it around.

** The blacksmith in the City Core in Chapter 1 can forge you some custom gear with a magical weapon and appropriate corresponding reagent, like holy water, adamantite, ironwood, etc. If you know which quests reward those reagents, and get a little lucky finding a magical weapon to go with it, you can pick up such a custom smithed weapon before you get the first cure reagent. The custom weapons have varying effects, but most have a chance to inflict some sort of debuff on hit or deal some sort of magical damage on hit, as well as retaining their +1 bonus to hit. You'll find yourself holding onto them for most of the chapter once you get them, and probably for a long time in Chapter 2.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In Chapter 3 during the war, a sidequest has you investigating why the Uthgardt Elk Tribe has allied with Luskan when historically they have been enemies. When you speak to the chieftan of the tribe, he reveals that the Neverwinter commander at Fort Ilkard, Damas, infected the tribe with the Wailing Death... by giving them plague-infected blankets. Just to hammer home the {{Anvilicious}} parallels, when you confront Damas with his crime, he spouts off a racist rant about how Neverwinter has the strength to take the lands of the Uthgardt, therefore they should and they are right to do so.

* FairySexy: InUniverse, Dryads, nymphs, sprites, and general fey beings you encounter are always described as hypnotiziling beautiful.

** The Yuan-ti you hunt in Chapter 1 basically directly tells you [[spoiler:that the ancient Lizard Folk are rising and are to blame for the plague]], but her speech patterns make it easy to dismiss her words as power-mad ramblings. A sidedungeon in Chapter 2 makes it even more clear, with a book directly naming the BigBad long before anyone else has or before you even see her and know who she is.

* HalfHumanHybrid: Every Half-Elf and Half-Orc, of course.

* 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. He's also portrayed with an ogre model rather than an orc; Obould is meant to be bigger than most orcs but not to the point of resembling a minor giant.

** [[spoiler: Haedraline, who combines a cheesy Gypsy accent with SnakeTalk]]

** At lower-to-mid levels this is mostly played straight. When you rest any spells you've used up are recharged, and you can rest anywhere as long as there are no enemies around, even on the third floor of an ancient ruin. The result is that after only a few levels, Wizards becomes much more powerful than Fighters, with area-of-effect magic to take out enemies and powerful status spells to cripple boss-type foes and protect the Wizard, and they only need to stop for a few seconds of real time to sleep and recharge their spells between encounters. Their utility Spells Knock and Find Traps are also amazingly useful, virtually elliminating the need for a Rogue skillset by automatically unlocking all locked containers and doors, and detecting and disarming all traps, in a large radius around the Wizard. Finally, there are numerous side quests and extras like crafting magical items that only spellcasting classes can access; by comparison there are no quests exclusive to melee classes.
** At higher levels though, it starts to get inverted. There's a limit to how many spells of each level the Wizard can store, and most spells have a hard cap on how strong they can become (the signature Fireball for instance maxes out at 10d6). However, enemies will continue to level scale, thus a Wizard will need to devote more spells of higher levels to take out even trash mobs, and need to stop to rest to recharge their spells more often. On the other hand, melee classes can keep raising their Strength, and get increasingly powerful weapons with bonuses to hit and damage along with other special benefits, and they get Feats like Great Cleave, Improved Power Attack, Devestating Critical, and more, that let them tear through weaker enemies like paper. Their inability to cast spells is eventually nullified too -- the campaigns provide steady access to magical items that let you cast spells for free and you can buy and stockpile wands and potions from stores as you save up money. While there are side-quests only spellcasting classes can complete, when a major questline requires you to use a spell, the game usually ensures you can find an item that can cast that spell specifically so non-spellcasters aren't locked out of progression.
* LoadBearingBoss: Morag, although [[spoiler: her lair IS a pocket dimension [[NoOntologicalInertia held up by her vast magic]], being used as a glorified bomb shelter]].

* PropheticFallacy: The [[SnakePeople Yaun-ti]] Gulnan sees visions of the "Scaled Ones" rising to power in Neverwinter and thinks that means her. In fact the visions refer the reptilian Creator Race and her attempt at taking over the city was barely a blip in comparison.

* 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.]]

* VideoGameCaringPotential: You can often refuse rewards for quests, and if the questgiver is impoverished or in need, you may have the option to give them some of your own money to help them out. When rescuing someone from a dungeon, you often have the option to offer to escort them to safety, though they typically don't take you up on it. When an enemy surrenders when weak and asks you to let them go, you can agree. Doing these things usually results in an alignment shift to Good. You also frequently have general dialogue options to be patient, compassionate, and understanding, such as asking someone about their wellbeing before delving into plot-relevant topics.

* ContrivedCoincidence: The Sensei's Amulet has a few nonsensical properties that just happen to be the only things that can get you through needlessly complicated areas of Cania. Finding the Severed Deamon Hand counts, too.

--> [[spoiler:'''Mephistopheles''']]: Last I knew, I thought I had trapped you for all eternity in an icy little place called Cania.
--> '''PlayerCharacter''': Sorry, Hell froze over.
--> [[spoiler:'''Mephistopheles''']]: How very witty.

* {{Dracolich}}: [[spoiler:You'll face Vix'thra, the draonic lich who rules the undead faction in the Underdark. You can destroy his SoulJar and quickly end the battle, providing you can overcome the many traps protecting it. Or if you're feeling lucky, you can destroy him, wait for him to resurrect and kill again up. You can do this up to four times.]]

* * HalfHumanHybrid: Every Half-Elf and Half-Orc, of course; beyond the obvious though Valen is a Tiefling, a human with Demon heritage.

* MrFanservice: [[TroubledButCute Valen Shadowbreath]], the Tiefling warrior and weapon master. It's even lampshaded in-game, when he gets catcalled by Drow priestesses asking about his tail.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: To deal with the Illithid, the Seer suggests a diplomatic strategy, and tasks the player with finding away to persuade the Elder Brain of Zorvak'mur into leading the whole Illithid to withdraw their support to the Valsharess. The Elder Brain will request the Shattered Mirror in exchange, so that they can use it to protect themselves from the Valsharess. Nothing prevents you from disregard the diplomatic approach altogether and raze to the ground Zorvak'mur, but in doing that the Illithid will be only barely weakened and still participate in the invasion of Lith My'athar. [[spoiler:However the ModularEpilogue completely suberts this: if you ignored Zorvak'mur, it will grow powerful enough to infiltrate the surface of Toril; if you handed over the Shattered Mirror, they will use it to dominate their region of the Underdark. If you chose to destroy Zorvak'mur, the Illithid there will be so weakened to succumb to their former Drow allies and become their slaves]].

-->'''Deekin''': Deekin finish his great epic story about boss, too, just like Deekin say he would! Did you sees it? Did you likes it?
-->'''Protagonist''': It was better than this book I read about the plague in Neverwinter.
-->'''Deekin''': Deekin read that! It not gots kobolds, though, so Deekin think it very boring. Dumb elven lady no substitute for good kobold.

* WhiteHairBlackHeart: The Drow are a race of white-haired, dark-skinned AlwaysChaoticEvil elves. The worshipers of Eilistraee, like The Seer and Nathyrra, are an inversion, as they try to abandon the evil and warmongering customs of most drow.

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

* CrapsackWorld: What little we saw of the world of ''Witch's Wake'' appears to be this. Much of the countryside is barren and overrun by goblin, kobolds and zombies, the few non-hostile inhabitants are dour and suspicious and, at least according the the titular Witch, the world's heaven was lost (whether rendered inaccessible or destroyed we aren't told) leaving only the demon ruled Stigia for dead souls.

* HorsebackHeroism: In ''Wyvern Crown of Cormyr'' horses and mounted combat becomes an option, fitting well with the knightly themes of the story.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Jaboli is this in ''Kingmaker''. She's a Rakshasa, a species known to enslave other beings and look down on them. Jaboli found her life boring and along with other Rakshasas, she secretly socialized with the slaves to entertain herself. In time, she became sympathic to their cause and join them in their rebellion. The revolt failed and Jaboli chose exile rather than execution.

* OnlyOneAfterlife: The dark pits of Stigia is the only destination for souls in ''Witch's Wake.'' Apparently there was a heaven once but somehow it's gone now.
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in ''Kingmaker'' with Callibast, a member of the Azer race, a race of extraplanar beings that share some traits with dwarves but have brass skin and fire instead of hair.
* OurNymphsAreDifferent: ''Kingmaker's'' Kaidala was a broadly normal D&D Nymph but she was persuaded 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.

* SadisticChoice: The PC of ''Kingmaker'' gets this pretty much right at the start. Their four friends that they adventure with have all been killed. Two can be resurrected but the other two must go on to the afterlife to power the resurrection. As such the PC must choose two of their friends to die to save the other two.

* 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.]]

* NowWhichOneWasThatVoice: Voice actors were uncredited in the base game, while in the expansions they're all listed in the credits under "Voice Acting", with no further indication. Eventually it was possible, in the course of years, to reconnect some voice actors to their exact roles (and sites such as Website/IMDb are being updated accordingly), but for many characters (especially from the two expansions) the doubt remains.

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Jaboli is this in ''Kingmaker''. She's a Rakshasa, a species known to enslave other beings and look down on them. Jaboli found her life boring and along with other Rakshasas, secretly socialized with the slaves to entertain herself. In time, she became sympathic to their cause and join them in their rebellion. The revolt failed and Jaboli chose exile rather than execution.

* {{Precursors}}: The Yuan-ti Ancients in the original game.

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Haedraline. And [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Daelan]]. And Deekin, and arguably Xanos and Dorna, from the first expansion. Bioware likes these. Grimgnaw doesn't have any angst, but is about as far from the [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame stock representation of fantasy dwarves]] as you can get.

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Nathyrra and all the other Eilistraee-worshiping drow. Also Deekin.