Neverwinter Nights Kingmaker

Neverwinter Nights Kingmaker looks like a bad-ass rogue. Like many great Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, this one has you adventuring through the Forgotten Realms. Your first encounter will take place within the North Realm and you will be the character of your chosen "dark wizard," a dark-skinned, half-elf elf hero in the traditional Dungeons & Dragons role-playing rules. When you find your party of characters, you'll then be able to customize them with items and bonuses, though this will be difficult to do at the start of the game. This means that you will have to make the appropriate actions, and you won't be able to let your party's characters go without a fight. After the start of the game, you'll be given a custom character template, which lets you customize and modify the appearance of your character.

Neverwinter Nights Kingmaker will let you go anywhere you want, even beyond the fourth level. One of the great features of the classic Dungeons & Dragons modules that will appear in this game is the ability to create character classes. This feature won't be limited to just a single character class, however; in fact, it will be possible for you to create a character of any of five different classes, each with its own starting prestige and many specialized bonuses.

Characters that have high prestige and are proficient in the Light, Dark, and Magic spells will be able to get bonuses in the Light, Dark, and Magic disciplines. The higher prestige the higher the prestige, and if they get a two-handed weapon, their weapon and magical bonus power will increase.

GS: Tell us about how character advancement will work. How will you take this into account when creating a character, and how will it work? For instance, you might want to specialize in a Light or Dark character, but your proficiency with a dark and light character will be a bit higher than the dexterity or strength of a character in the Light or Dark classes.

JS: Players are likely to start off by creating a character that is fairly balanced. Higher prestige and one or two other attributes will let them advance in level, so if you create a character that is of a certain kind, you can continue to advance in the Light and Dark classes.

GS: Tell us about character advancement, as well as how character advancement will work in the game. Will characters gain a lot of experience levels to use, or will they be limited to only using the four primary attributes (strength, dexterity, vitality, and willpower), or will they only gain more and more abilities over time? Will players be able to choose any secondary attributes that they like, or will they have to pick them all up to make their characters more specialized?

JS: Most of the "tendrils" are three primary attributes. They will be available for each of the two professions in the game. They can either be related to a specific profession, or they can be linked to a specific profession (such as fighter, thief, or explorer) as long as they have at least a particular specialty. And to complement these two professions, we will also have the ability to train characters more quickly. For example, warrior characters can use a stamina potion and a discipline skill, or they can unlock warrior skills and be specialized in particular types of skills. The choices will be dependent on the profession's specialization.

GS: Can you discuss some of the quests in the game?

JS: Yes, there will be multiple times when you'll have to hunt down a specific monster. You can find a path that takes you down the road. Sometimes you'll have to kill something. Other times, there will be a side quest for a specific monster. In the case of a quest related to a particular element, you can always get one for your next encounter. And when you meet the neutral monsters, there are different ways to get quests to you.

GS: Can you give us a little overview of the variety of skills that each profession can learn?

JS: Since it's a high-level profession, it has to be high-level. It will take some time to get to this particular skill. A high-level hunter will start with an axe and level their way up to some advanced handcrafted weapons. The order of the skill is dictated by two types of skills: discipline and weapon training. Crafting will be one of the more advanced techniques. The highest level of weapons will be refined. For instance, the hunter can craft bone armor and a smith can craft your gunblade. Then, the hunter can apply those two skills to his or her weapons. This sort of variety doesn't have to mean you can pick whatever one weapon you want.

GS: How many different skills will players have to choose from?

JS: There are many skills for each of the four disciplines.

GS: Will the game feature a different take on character classes?

JS: All the skills are chosen at the beginning, and it will be determined by the profession and skill level.