Game Info

Combat

Combat is an integral part of any RPG, and Neverwinter Nights is no exception! NWN is going to take RPG combat to where it should be; you will be able to attack, but enemies will dodge and parry. If you wish to, your character can parry incoming attacks, make called shots, attempt to overbear and even disarm opponents.

Real-Time Combat

Combat in Neverwinter Nights will be in real-time but it will not be a click-fest. Your turn to perform an action arises once every six seconds. Once you give the command to attack a given creature, your character will continue to do so until the enemy is dead or you have given them a new command. However, special attacks like called shots, parries, disarms, and spell-casting will not automatically repeat. Unlike Baldur's Gate, players will not have the ability to pause (however if a live DM is involved, they will be able to pause the game).

Armour Class

Armor Class (AC) represents the difficulty for an opponent to score a hit that inflicts damage on a scale from 10 to 30. AC is determined by the type of armor your character wears and is modified by factors such as Dexterity, magical effects, and combat modifiers. This new system replaces the old THACO system of previous editions. You just roll a d20 and add modifiers for Strength, magical effects, class, level, etc. and that's the AC you can hit.

Saving Throws

There are three categories for saving throws: Reflex (dodge, area effect spells), Will (mind-influence, charms), and Fortitude (poison, etc.). There will be one base number to achieve modified by ability, class, and level bonuses. Dexterity will affect Reflex saves; Wisdom will affect Mental saves; and Constitution will affect Fortitude saves.

Spell Casting

Clerics, Druids, Wizards, Sorcerers, and Bards can all cast spells. The number of spells per level that can be cast per day is determined by the character's class and level. Additional spells are granted for high Wisdom (Clerics and Druids), Intelligence (Wizards), or Charisma (Sorcerers and Bards). Wizards also have a certain number of cantrips (lower level spells such as Read Magic and Detect Magic) they can learn per day. Clerics and Druids no longer have to pray for healing spells, but can now "Convert" spells into healing magic (d8 per spell level).

Spellcasters who are injured during a round will still have an opportunity to cast a spell that round by making a successful Concentration check (DC = 10 + HP of damage taken + level of spell). Opponents will have three other methods of disrupting a spell:

Ready - an action that allows a combatant to specify a trigger event on which to act (such as a spellcaster beginning a spell)
Counterspell - an action where one spellcaster attempts to thwart the spell of another by casting the same spell at the same time.
Disrupt - a specialized use of the spell "Dispel Magic".

3rd Edition uses a concept called an "Attack of Opportunity". This allows opponents within melee range a free attack when you do something that would drop your guard (such as spellcasting). So when a spellcaster begins a spell, opponents within melee range get free attacks (assuming that they are capable of doing so within certain restrictions on levels and abilities). This could have the dual negative effects of causing the caster to take damage and lose the spell being cast.

Death

The penalty for death can be set by the server hosting the module. They can range from immediate resurrection with no losses to having a high level Cleric resurrect you or losing items, gold and XP. Servers can even be set so that death is permanent.