Shadows of the Undrentide is the first official expansion pack for the original Neverwinter Nights game, which must be installed. Unlike most add-ons, this expansion doesn’t extend the first game. It is an entirely new campaign in which players can start a brand new character or load up a previously saved NWN character.
The story begins in Master Drogan’s School for Heroes amidst the snowy mountains in the northern portion of the Forgotten Realms. Your studies finished, you and several other adventurers are just about to graduate. As you walk toward the main hall, havoc ensues as a band of kobolds attacks, stealing four magical artifacts and seriously injuring Master Drogan, who is unconscious. You are sent out into the world to find a special healing potion for Drogan and to recover the stolen artifacts. Your travels will take you deep into the Nether Mountains, the Anauroch Desert with a caravan of halfling gypsies, and high above the earth inside the flying city of Undrentide.
The game is divided into 3 Sections comprised of Chapter 1, the Interlude and Chapter 2, and gameplay does not differ from the original game with the same engine and interface throughout. But there is more interaction with your “henchmen” companions in this expansion.
At first, you can choose between 2 companions to accompany you: the self-righteous, half-orc sorcerer Xanos or Dorna Trapspringer, a dwarven rogue-cleric. Later on you can choose Deekin, a kobold Bard. Each one has a unique personality, attributes and abilities which you can access by talking to them or selecting it. For instance, talk to Dorna and ask her to cast one of her cleric spells. If they have double classes (as is the case with Dorna), you can tell them to “train up” in just one or both of them as they increase in levels.
The ability to view and manipulate your henchman’s inventory is new, allowing you to equip them and load them down with objects as you see fit.
When you have advanced higher in experience, you can choose one of the 5 new Prestige classes, or continue on with your current class. The new Prestige Classes are:
- Assassin (Stealthy, back-stabbing attacker)
- Arcane Archer (Spell-casting Ranger with special ranged attack abilities)
- Blackguard (Evil Warrior, absolute opposite of a Paladin)
- Harper Scout (Stealthy Rogue/Ranger)
- Shadow Dancer (Evasive and stealthy Magic user)
Your character can be played in the single-player game as well as in the multiplayer online world. If you are into making MODs or being a Virtual Dungeon Master, Shadows of Undrentide adds more goodies to play with. The winter, ruins, and desert tile sets give module creators more variety, as do the new classes, monsters, skills, and feats.
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