History VideoGame / NeverwinterNights

%%* OldSaveBonus

%%* HollywoodTorches

%%* MostDefinitelyNotAVillain: [[spoiler:Desther.]]

!!The original game provides examples of:

* LockedDoor: [[PlotLock The lock on this door is too complex to pick, and is warded against simple spells. You will have to find the proper key.]]

* ThatPoorCat: When passing near a building in Port Llast, you'll hear a unseen cat screeching, repeatedly.

* ObviouslyEvil: [[spoiler:Desther's]] status as TheMole was kinda obvious from the start. Amusingly, though, said character [[GameplayAndStorySegregation doesn't count as evil]] for the purposes of things such as Smite Evil.

* LoveMakesYouEvil [[spoiler: Aribeth pulls a FaceHeelTurn because her lover Fenthick is accused of helping to spread the plague and gets hung for it]].

* TitleDrop

* SaveTheWorldClimax:
** The original campaign begins with the effort to find a cure for the plague ravaging Neverwinter. It ends with Neverwinter fighting a full-scale war, and you trying to prevent the entire Sword Coast from falling back under the dominion of a 30,000-year-old [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent sarrukh]] queen.
** ''Hordes of the Underdark'' begins with drow raids on Waterdeep, and ends with [[EvilerThanThou a goddamn archdevil]] trying to take over Faerun.

->''The Frozen North: the name given to the stark and unforgiving frontier that lies beyond the High Moor of Fareun... A bleak wilderness where barbarian clans and tribes of giants roams the land and fierce dragons rule the skies.\\
But admist the frozen savagery stands a bastion of civilisation: the city of Neverwinter, Jewel of the North. Behind the city's high walls those both hardy and brave carve out an existence from this bleak land under the guidance and protection of the legendary hero Lord Nasher Alagondar.\\

%%* TheMole: [[spoiler:Desther.]]

* CuteClumsyGirl: Linu, if her [[InformedAttribute dialogue]] is to be believed.

* CuteClumsyGirl: Linu from the original campaign, if her [[InformedAttribute dialogue]] is to be believed.

* ColorCodedElements: [[color:#ee1100:Fire]], [[color:blue:electricity]], [[color:cyan:cold]], [[color:#11ee11:acid]], [[color:orange:sonic]], [[color:purple:magic]], [[color:yellow:divine]], [[color:grey:negative energy]], positive energy (white colored).

** Character’s health status goes like this: Green = uninjured, Yellow = barely injured, Orange = injured, Red = near dead.
** Challenge Rating is also color coded: White = effortless, Green = easy, Blue = moderate, Yellow = challenging, Orange = very difficult, Red = overpowering, Purple = impossible.

** Free fan-made modules: %% Please only include the ones that already have a TV Tropes page.
*** ''VideoGame/TheAielundSaga''
*** ''VideoGame/TheBastardOfKosigan''
*** ''VideoGame/ADanceWithRogues''
*** ''VideoGame/D20ModernNeverwinterNights''
*** ''VideoGame/{{Gladiatrix}}''
*** ''VideoGame/JulyAnarchy''
*** ''VideoGame/TalesOfArterra''

** Free fan-made modules: %% Please only include the ones that already have a TV Tropes page.
*** ''VideoGame/DarkWaters''

* BossTease: A variation is used in the Original Campaign. Gradually, through the various "episodes", you get at first hints and then knowledge about [[spoiler:"The Ancient Ones" and "The Creator Race"]] until the final BossBattle.

* ComicBookFantasyCasting: Many non-player character images were traced from photos of various real-world celebrities, which got the creators in legal trouble when it turned out that some of the original images hadn't been properly licensed.

* FractionalWinningCondition:
** Chapter 2 of the base campaign needs you to retrieve two pieces of evidence to point to where the cultists are based, but three such pieces of evidence exist in the chapter.
** Chapter 2 of ''Hordes of the Underdark'' ends after you complete four out of five main quests presented at the start, though it is possible to complete all of them, since the final stage triggers when you speak to the seer and you don't have to return to her before you have beaten everything. Which quests you completed affects what characters appear during the ending battle.

* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Zigzagged

* AfterCombatRecovery: If you so choose. You can rest anytime as long as you are far away enough from enemies, so it's possible to fight some monsters, then run to a safe distance, rest, and continue onwards.

** In Hordes you have a small window of opportunity to loot the Valsharess' armor by pausing the game right when she dies. Interestingly, if equipped by male PC or your companion Valen it STILL looks like a spiky bikini.

* ClingyMacGuffin: The Relic of the Reaper from Hordes. The item description specifically mentions that when you tried to get rid of it in the past it somehow always turned up among your things again.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Character’s health status goes like this: Green = uninjured, Yellow = barely injured, Orange = injured, Red = near dead.

* DayOldLegend: Averted here, where a weapon or piece of armor made by in-game will have the flavor text describe it being made by the specific blacksmith, in the current year and for the current campaign [[http://www.gamebanshee.com/neverwinternights/equipment/images/runehammerplus1.jpg but in the same style as the "ancient" equipment]] so it feels like the player is crafting their legend for future adventurers as they play the game.
** Played straight in the ExpansionPack ''Hordes of The Underdark''. The game take place only a few months later and you find the über version of those same items, only they have [[{{Retcon}} new backstories]].

** After a while of doing your own mod creation, playing through the original (lackluster) campaign reveals that it's essentially a 40 hour promotional tool for the toolset itself. Weird gimmicks like the trial where [=NPCs=] raise torches to show their vote are essentially just "See what kinds of marvelous things you can do with this toolset?"

** However, [[FridgeLogic these poor and desperate people have the same level of wealth lying around as do archwizards and dragons]].

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

* NonCombatEXP: In addition to Quest EXP, ''Neverwinter Nights'' and its sequels include a few instances of XP beyond combat. Some conversations have bonus XP nestled in them for "roleplaying" options, there are times where ''avoiding'' the combat encounter will grant as much or more XP than fighting through it (if you're over-leveled for the fight).
** One notable Original Campaign quest involves visiting a ''brothel''. You gain experience points, for, um, ''[[IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow sweet-talking]]'' a staff representative. If you're a halfling male, you get another opportunity to avenge a staff member's stalker.

* ObviouslyEvil: [[spoiler:Desther's]] status as TheMole was kinda obvious from the start. Amusingly, though, said character [[CharacterAlignment doesn't count as evil]] for the purposes of things such as Smite Evil.

** VideoGameCrueltyPotential: You can threaten people into giving you more money when you finish their quests, and if the quest was retrieving something for them, said threat may involve telling them you'll keep the item. When rescuing someone from a dungeon, you may have the option to refuse to free them, or to kill them once they're freed. When an enemy stops to surrender and asks for mercy, you can refuse and kill them, and may be able to kill them after agreeing to a reward for letting them go. Such actions usually invoke an alignment shift to Evil. You can also deliver bad news to people in harsh, uncaring words, and just generally be a {{Jerkass}}.
* ViolationOfCommonSense: In the first game you're encouraged to ''stab yourself in the heart'' in one place. Sure, the game drops some heavy hints that it will [[spoiler:take you to the spirit world]], but you're still stabbing yourself in the goddamn heart!
** This gets particularly bad if you take a close look at the altar. [[spoiler: There's a skeleton on it, almost certainly belonging to that crazy dwarf you encounter in there.]]

* WhatTheHellPlayer: Try taking off all your armor and talking to the [=NPCs=] in public areas.

*** ''VideoGame/DarkWaters'']

* AmbiguousSituation: The whole dealing with Shaldrissa and Yesgar in Port Llast. The former is [[LittleMissConArtist the mayor's daughter who like to con adventurers for their money]]. She is later kidnapped by Yesgar, a dangerous escaped convict. The mayor had already paid the ransom, but her daughter wasn't returned, so you're task of tracking down Yesgar and rescue Shaldrissa. When you finally find Yesgar, he insisted that Shaldrissa manipulated him into a phony kidnapping scheme to rob Port Llast of its money. If you intimidate him, he'll admit that he spiked Shaldrissa's drink before asking her to run away with him. When you rescue Shaldrissa, she'll sob and fumble by saying she made a terrible mistake. It's also heavily implied [[RapeAsDrama that she was raped by Yesgar]]. If you kill Yesgar, your alignment will shift toward evil. Should you kill Shaldrissa, you don't get any alignment shift, but the "Real journal of Shaldrissa" will drop and mention that she's the one who came up with the phony kidnapping. So who's the masterminds behind all this? There's evidences that support both sides.