Gameplay
Neverwinter Nights 2 is played in the third person from a top-down perspective, where the player controls a hero and his or her attendant party. As a role-playing video game based on the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition ruleset, players build a player character in accordance with the character creation rules of Dungeons & Dragons, which includes selecting a race and class, then assigning skill points. There are sixteen races and twelve classes available, including the rogue and the wizard, as well as an additional seventeen unlockable classes. Neverwinter Nights 2 makes use of the d20 system introduced in Dungeons & Dragons, where a die roll or random number is used to determine the probability and effectiveness of every action, including attacks and saving throws. The player character can recruit companions during the campaign, and may form a party with up to three of them. Party members can be controlled directly by the player or given orders dictating how to behave in combat.
The game is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. The party is able to explore various areas of Faerûn—including its cities, forests, and dungeons—while earning experience points and treasure by defeating monsters and completing quests. The entire party collaborates during combat, with characters' behavior determined by their class and abilities. Upon gaining specified amounts of experience, characters level up, allowing them to earn new abilities such as magic spells and feats. Some races, like the drow, are more powerful than others and require characters to accumulate more experience to earn levels. Characters can access Prestige classes, more specialized versions of base classes, by fulfilling certain requirements. The warpriest, for example, is available to divine spellcasters such as clerics after they have reached a set level of power. Items such as weapons, armor, potions, and scrolls can be used or equipped by characters, and some equipment changes will affect a character's appearance. As the game progresses, the player character acquires a keep that can be used as a base of operations. Initially, the keep is in a state of disrepair and must be refurbished using party funds. As the keep is improved, it can generate income and gain stronger defenses to repel sieges. Non-player characters such as equipment vendors can be recruited to work at the keep, and the player must manage the training of guards and the allocation of resources.
Before the online component was disabled (see Development below), the campaign of Neverwinter Nights 2 could be played with other players, but only from the beginning of the storyline. The rules could be modified for multiplayer games, such as deactivating friendly fire. A BioWare community account was required to play online, and players were able to search for game servers matching their style of play. Players could upload and play modules online created with the Electron toolset, which is included with the Windows version of the game.
Story
Setting and characters
Neverwinter Nights 2 takes place in and around the city of Neverwinter, in the Sword Coast region of Faerûn. The first part of the game is set in the small Sword Coast village of West Harbor, which was the site of a battle between an evil host led by an entity known as the "King of Shadows" and the warriors aligned with Neverwinter. The player character's fate is tied to this battle, during which his or her mother was killed. During the campaign, the player has the opportunity to recruit party members to aid in the cause, including the violent dwarf Khelgar and a vocal young tiefling. Antagonists include the King of Shadows, a manipulative Luskan diplomat named Torio, and the warlock Ammon Jerro.
Plot
A human wizard and a large otherworldly creature are locked in battle
The game's opening cinematic, portraying the main antagonist, the King of Shadows (left), in battle with the warlock Ammon Jerro.
Neverwinter Nights 2 is composed of three distinct acts. The game's first act begins in the village of West Harbor, where the player's character was raised as an orphan by the elven ranger Daeghun. After a festival, the town is attacked by a group, led by a githyanki, in search of an unnamed object. Afterward, the character is sent by Daeghun to retrieve a mysterious silver shard from a nearby cave, which was left there years earlier after the defeat of the King of Shadows. The character then sets out for Neverwinter, meeting other adventurers along the way, several of whom are available for recruitment. In Neverwinter, Daeghun's half-brother Duncan offers a more comprehensive explanation of the situation. In Neverwinter, Duncan instructs the party to speak with Aldanon, a sage who reveals the shard's connection with a dead warlock and his descendant, a farmer named Shandra Jerro. However, the githyanki kidnap Shandra and the player character must rescue her. At the end of Act I, the party dispatches the githyanki, rescues Shandra, and learns of the origin of the shards.
In act two, the party discovers that an evil wizard, Black Garius, is plotting to subsume the power of a powerful entity known as the King of Shadows. The party interrupts Garius during the scheme and Garius is apparently killed. As a reward, the protagonist earns a title of nobility and is awarded a stronghold, Crossroads Keep, by Neverwinter's political leader, Lord Nasher. After tracking down Ammon Jerro, the warlock who fought the King of Shadows and the grandfather of Shandra Jerro, the player character learns that the King of Shadows was once known as the Guardian, a powerful creation of the ancient fallen empire of Illefarn. The Guardian was corrupted after tapping into a dark magical energy called the Shadow Weave. Thereafter the Guardian destroyed Illefarn in a misguided attempt to protect it. Ammon is initially unwilling to help the player character, but after inadvertently slaying his descendant Shandra, he repents and joins the party.
