Wyrmlord III
Formerly Hot Rod Todd Howard
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2011
- Messages
- 216
As much as I was left bored by SoU, and some parts of HotU, I think the NWN expansions at least shined in their introduction of prestige classes, which made these rather dull games a lot more interesting. Whether you started from SoU and worked across the long term to HotU to get every feat or skill level required to get a prestige class or directly built a level 20 character immediately in HotU with the prestige class, you have to agree that there was a lot of depth in this process.
I used to spend some time just thinking how I would give my evil Bard several ranks in Hide, Move Silently, and Lore, so that he could become both a Red Dragon Disciple and an Assassin - an evil creature with wings that becomes invisible, sneaks up on people, and breathes fire on them. The possibilities were limitless.
Now, NWN2otB also had prestige classes, but frankly, they were either the same as NWN, or left out fun classes like Shifter, or introduced ones that were really just the same as base classes (Sacred Fist). So we are not asking about NWN prestige classes.
So what were your top three favourites? Mine were:
I used to spend some time just thinking how I would give my evil Bard several ranks in Hide, Move Silently, and Lore, so that he could become both a Red Dragon Disciple and an Assassin - an evil creature with wings that becomes invisible, sneaks up on people, and breathes fire on them. The possibilities were limitless.
Now, NWN2otB also had prestige classes, but frankly, they were either the same as NWN, or left out fun classes like Shifter, or introduced ones that were really just the same as base classes (Sacred Fist). So we are not asking about NWN prestige classes.
So what were your top three favourites? Mine were:
- Red Dragon Disciple: Too obvious. I mean, Immunity to Fire? Immunity to Paralysis and Sleep? Large bonuses to Strength? Slow transformation into a dragon? Fire-breathing abilities? How can I say no? A fighter or paladin who takes 1 level of bard just to get 4 levels of RDD has got back his bargain several times over. Losing 5 fighter or paladin levels for better strength and AC is a pretty easy call. One of the most fun and interesting classes to play in any RPG ever.
- Shifter: This is the one idea that every other RPG should have overused to death till date. Playing a class of people who never have a form of their own but imitate other life-forms - from golems to dragons to Illithid mindflayers - is the one big dream of so many RPG fans. It was fun enough in NWN. But this concept could have been extended to social situations in other games - become a wolf and get quest clues from other wolves; transform into one of the villain's henchmen and infiltrate his inner circle; or get away with heinous crimes by shape-shifting. WHAT WASTED POTENTIAL!
- Pale Master: This is the closest any RPG has allowed for having the player be a lich. Your arm rots away into bone but gains magical powers that allow it kill or poison a person with a Finger of Death. While you lose some spell-casting ability, your much much higher AC and HP mean that you are simply very very difficult to kill. Very good for combining with RDD, so that you become tough as mountain rock to kill.