Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide FAQ Taken from the Bioware website at http://nwn.bioware.com 1.01: Tell me about Shadows of Undrentide. What can I expect? Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide is a first-class addition to the Neverwinter Nights world. First, it is a great 20+ hour single-player adventure which introduces new environments, new prestige character classes and new monsters. Secondly, it adds to the original game by providing experienced players with new skills, feats and spells to use. Thirdly, it supplies module builders with more tools they can use to create their own adventures: new tile sets, new trap options, and a plot wizard to make constructing quests easier. 1.02: What does Undrentide mean? In the Forgotten Realms there was once a nation of powerful wizards called Netheril. So great was Netherese magic that they lived in massive cities that would float through the air. Unchecked ambition destroyed their civilization and sent their cities crashing into the ground (doesn't it always?). Generations later the ruined cities are still filled with powerful magics and fell beasts. Undrentide is one of these cities. 1.03: Can I still play modules made with the original game? If you have Shadows of Undrentide installed, you can play any module made with either the original game, or with the tools supplied with Shadows of Undrentide. If you do not have Shadows of Undrentide installed you will not be able to run a module made with any asset (tileset, creature, spell and so on) from Shadows of Undrentide. 1.04: What is the recommended starting level of Shadows of Undrentide? The adventure is designed for first level characters. 1.05: Can I use the new features of Shadows of Undrentide if I go back and play the original Neverwinter Nights campaign? Yes, all the new character classes, spells and feats are available to characters starting the original Official Campaign. 1.06: I heard Prestige Classes are being included in Shadows of Undrentide? Is this correct? Yes, there are five new prestige classes. These include Arcane Archer, Assassin, Blackguard, Harper Scout, Shadowdancer. Prestige classes are special sub-classes that require a character to have certain prerequisites in skills, feats, and sometimes alignment. Once they meet these prerequisites they can take a level as the class as they would to be multi- classed. 1.07: Does the prestige class count towards the three multi- classes I can have as a player? Yes. In the original game a player can have three classes that may reach in total level 20. Every time a player levels up they have the option of taking a level in another class. Taking a level in a prestige class counts toward the total number of classes a player can have. So if a player was a Fighter, and they took a level in one of the new Prestige classes, they could take one more class when they reached their next level. 1.08: Will I need to have the Shadows of Undrentide CD in my drive to play the game? No. Once you use the disk to install the expansion, you will use the original play disk that came with Neverwinter Nights to play. 1.09: Who will be doing the music for Shadows of Undrentide and what is the general theme of the music? The new music for Shadows of Undrentide is composed by Kemal Amarasingham. Kemal is one of our friends from LookingGlass and has worked on the Thief games, System Shock 2, and more recently on the RPG Arx Fatalis. Thief has some great music and sound and we are looking forward to that energy and passion for Shadows of Undrentide. His main goal has been to give the new environments a different feel, to that end he's also put together a bunch of great new ambient loops that really flesh out the new tilesets. 1.10: Does Shadows of Undrentide tie into the original story of Neverwinter? Not really. Shadows of Undrentide actually begins shortly after the plague in Neverwinter has broken out, so both stories occur concurrently. There really isn't any cross-over in story, though you can't get any closer to Neverwinter due to the plague, and your quest takes you even further east to the Anauroch desert. 1.11: The press release mentioned that there are some new interactions for the Henchmen? What will they be? There are two ways that we've tried to improve the henchmen and their interactions. First we've tried to include the henchmen in conversation with other non-player characters (NPCs), so if you're traveling with a paladin as a companion and you start negotiating with evil monsters, she's darn sure going to have something to say about it. The other tactic we took is to allow the henchmen to interject things on their own. If you enter a dangerous abandoned mine, for example, your dwarven companion may warn you of unstable areas. In addition, if your path is blocked by a puzzle, unpick-able gate, or a monster you can't beat, your henchman may have a suggestion for dealing with or avoiding the roadblock. Of course with this new interaction there is added responsibility... your companion may not always follow you blindly. Act against his or her wishes or convictions and you might find yourself looking for another partner. If you're going into a tough fight, it's really best to listen to any requests your buddy might have. 1.12: What are some examples of the new feats in the Shadows of Undrentide? Two examples of the many new feats are Great Cleave and Dirty Fighting, and they are both pretty straight-forward. They work automatically when you are engaged in melee combat. Great Cleave expands on the existing Cleave feat so that you get more than one cleave hit in a single round - hordes of weak monsters are no longer quite as dangerous. Dirty Fighting is even simpler. Your character has an unorthodox fighting style, hitting below the belt, smashing faces with the hilt of your sword, knees in the gut... what it boils down to is extra damage on every hit. 1.13: I've heard there are new weapons in the expansion pack. What are the new weapons like and how will the player use them? The new weapons in Shadows of Undrentide are grenade-like thrown weapons, These weapons are small hand-held items that have different attacks. We have a fire-based weapon, acid, poisoned powder and a few more unique attack types. These Weapons don't need to be equipped, and you don't need any special proficiency to use them. You do need one hand free to toss them, however, and the real risk is trying not to catch any of your allies within the burst effect they all have. 1.14: Does Shadows of Undrentide continue the story that was started in the original Official Campaign? No. Shadows of Undrentide is a completely separate story that takes place in a different part of the Forgotten Realms. 1.15: Did your choice of what tilesets and monsters come from suggestions of the community? The choice of monsters and tile sets came first from what locations the designers needed to tell their story. After they decided what was needed to be added, they reviewed the forums and discussion pages and took what was most requested and talked about and added it to the expansion. 1.16: Was any of the work being done on Shadows of Undrentide inspired by work being done by the community of Neverwinter Nights fans? Absolutely. The biggest impact the community has was to push the designers to create something that builds upon the quality and expertise that is being displayed by the talented Neverwinter community. They played a lot of modules and viewed fan created content and that inspired them when coming up with the feature set and story idea for Shadows of Undrentide. 1.17: What can you tell us about the new tilesets? There are 3 new tilesets in Shadows of Undrentide. They are Desert, Ruins, and Snowy Rural. 1.18: Are there any details on the new monsters, spells, and feats that will be added in Shadows of Undrentide? Yes. Shadows of Undrentide has 14 new monsters, over 50 new spells, and over 30 new feats. We will be profiling many of the feats, spells, and monsters in upcoming weeks. 1.19: Is Shadows of Undrentide for sale right now? No. It is still in the development process and has not been released yet. There is no specific release date for Shadows of Undrentide yet but an announcement of when it is finished will be made here. Any other release dates quoted from sources outside this web page, such as retail stores, are just estimates and are not to be considered accurate. 1.20: How much will Shadows of Undrentide cost? BioWare does not know. BioWare is a developer (we make the game) and not a publisher (they distribute the game) and so we cannot comment with regards to the retail price of Shadows of Undrentide. Please note: all prices you might see before Shadows of Undrentide is available for sale are estimations and are not to be taken as accurate. When you see this FAQ change to read that the Shadows of Undrentide is for sale that will change. Be aware that when Shadows of Undrentide becomes available for sale the prices will vary from store to store. 1.21: In the original Official Campaign my character could not go higher than level 20. Will I be able to go higher than level 20 in Shadows of Undrentide? No. Shadows of Undrentide will also feature a maximum total character level of 20, as laid out in the core rule books from 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons developed by Wizards of the Coast. 1.22: Will there be Psionics in Shadows of Undrentide? No. Psionics play no part in the Shadows of Undrentide storyline. - o -