History VideoGame / NeverwinterNights

* BatOutOfHell: Zigzagged. There are a lot of evil creatures bearing bat wings (and occasionnally some regular bats appearing as low level hostile animals), but the default bat found in the level editor is just a very weak critter which is totally neutral to the player unless being deliberately attacked.
* BoringYetPractical: Items with Regeneration. Regenerations restores HP every round, equal to the power of the Regeneration enchantment - most items have Regeneration +1 and only restore 1 HP a round. The reason it's so good is that once you clear a room of enemies you're naturally going to loot the room and continue in the dungeon, and over that time you will slowly recover HP. It probably won't heal enough to make the difference in fights, but it'll save you a fortune in healing items by healing you over time between fights.

* Polyamory: A male character can romance both Nathyrra and [[spoiler:Aribeth]], and if you declare your love for the former and get the latter named as your true love, this can result in a conversation where the two of them decide to share you, Nathyrra directly saying "there's room for both of us in his bed". Normally a glitch prevents [[spoiler:Aribeth]] from being flagged as a candidate for your true love and thus prevents this from happening, but ten seconds poking into the source code for the campaign to change a single digit in the coding makes it accessible again.

* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: An example so painfully straight and extreme it shatters the game balance. 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 a few levels Wizards are ''far'' superior to melee classes, with powerful area-of-effect magic to take out enemies and powerful status spells to cripple boss-type foes and protect the Wizard. Additionally 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.

* NoHeroDiscount: Lampshaded. You can ask a merchant why he doesn't just give you free pick from his inventory since you're fighting to save his life, but he notes if you fail and the siege goes poorly he'll just teleport to safety, so your success or failure is of no consequence to him.

* ThePowerOfLove: If you take her as a romance option, Nathyrra and [[spoiler:Aribeth]] can be convinced to [[spoiler:resist the Big Bad's attempts to sway her to his side]] by reminding her of your love.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: It's possible to reach level 40, but it's very unlikely you will reach 30th level. You're already pretty powerful by the time you reach Cania.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: It's possible to reach level 40, but it's very unlikely you will reach 30th level. You're already pretty powerful by the time you reach [spoiler:Cania.]

* PlatonicProstitution: It's a T-rated game, so Madam Ophelia's women (and men, and [[TakeAThirdOption Halfling]]) get to take a break (if that's what you want, anway - you still get the option to [[UnusualEuphemism rock the establishment]]).

* PurelyAestheticGender: Mostly played straight. Male or female has no effect on character building and only two minor effects on gameplay. The first is a minor sidequest concerning a female courtesan which can only be acquired if you're a male. The second effect is a bit more important, in that male characters can [[spoiler:take Aribeth as a romance option and use ThePowerOfLove to convince her to make a HeelFaceTurn]] at the end of the game. Female characters can pass a difficult Persuade check to the same end, so being a female does not stop you from doing this, it's just much harder than if you play as a male.

* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: An extreme example. Allowing wizards to spent a few seconds resting to restore all their spells shatters any trace of the ''DungeonsAndDragons'' balance, and after a few levels wizards consistently deal more damage, have many more combat options, and can use their spells to become more durable than fighters anyway.

* HeyItsThatVoice:
** Aribeth is [[CowboyBebop Faye]] [[Creator/WendeeLee Valentine]].
** And Daelan is [[CowboyBebop Spike]] [[Creator/SteveBlum Spiegel]].

* ExecutiveMeddling: Originally, the game would have allowed you to sell a kidnapped baby into slavery. You can still kidnap the baby, now you just can't do anything with it.
--> "[[ChaoticStupid I'm keeping the baby for myself.]]"

* ExecutiveMeddling: There is a lot in ''Hordes of the Underdark''. If you poke about in the [[DialogueTree dialogue trees]] of your party members in the toolset, you can see several dialogue options DummiedOut "at the request of [[WizardsOfTheCoast WoTC]]." Justified, because some of the options can allow you to [[spoiler:use the [[IKnowYourTrueName True Names]] to [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything force your party members to love you.]] They also got rid of the best True Name option ever, though - making the Final Boss, Mephistopheles, into a Chambermaid.]]
** There was also the ability to use a baby you picked up in ''Shadows of Undrentide'' for a Beholder's bridge machine. You'd get a spinning top.

* {{Padding}}: The Interlude between Chapters 1 and 2 is broken up into three parts, the first two of which have no plot relevance and just give you small dungeons to go crawling through so you can get back on your journey to your actual destination.

The Aurora graphics engine, which debuted with ''NWN'', proved to be successful and enduring, and various heavily modified versions of the engine continue to be used to this day, most notably the Odyssey engine in the ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' series and the Electron engine in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2''. The main engine with modified graphics was also used in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'', though Creator/CDProjektRed has stated they were less than fond of the engine, claiming it responsible for many of the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading technical flaws]] present, leading to them developing their own engine from scratch for the sequel.

The full game, including the premium modules, are available at Website/GOGDotCom.

* MorphWeapon: Desert's Fury always appears as a weapon your character class is proficient in. Thoughtful, but odd when your Monk finds a Kama in an Egyptian desert tomb.

* TheDragon: J'Nah to [[spoiler:Heurodis]] in ''Shadows of the Undrentide''. Somewhat notable for [[spoiler:being killed off almost as soon as she's introduced.]]

* TheDragon: [[spoiler:Mephistopheles]] is set up as this to the Valsharess, but thanks to ThePlan he becomes a DragonAscendant.
* ThePowerOfLove: If you take her as a romance option, Nathyrra and [[spoiler:Aribeth]] can be convinced to [[spoiler:resist the Big Bad's attempts to sway her to his side]] by reminding her of your love.
* TheWorfEffect: In chapter 1, you bump into four companions from the original campaign: Tomi, Daelan, Linu and Sharwyn. Since this takes place after the Wailing Death, they're all high-level adventurers. Which makes it all the more disturbing when [[spoiler:they're picked off one by one after charging into the Undermountain together, and none of them even made it halfway through.]]
* ToHellAndBack: There's even a line for it in the endgame - "I've been to the hells and back, Durnan..."

** "HERE COMES HALFLING DEATH!"

While the game was generally met with positive reviews, the story was occasionally criticized for being relatively dull and repetitive, as well as being a departure from the rich, detailed worlds of the ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' series. The area where ''NWN'' really found its niche was third-party content: the Aurora Toolset, an unorthodox example of a development kit included in the basic game installation, allowed users to easily create their own modules and campaigns, eventually giving rise to a vast modding community with very ambitious projects.

The campaign was occasionally criticized for being relatively dull and repetitive, as well as being a departure from the rich, detailed worlds of the ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' series. The area where ''NWN'' really found its niche was third-party content: the Aurora Toolset, an unorthodox example of a development kit included in the basic game installation, allowed users to easily create their own modules and campaigns, eventually giving rise to a vast modding community with very ambitious projects.