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neither their ethos nor their spellcasting. Just to round off what they do best, clerics can substitute a basic healing spell for any memorized spell of the same level. They can take a decent amount of hits, with 8+ constitution bonus per level.

DRUID- (Must be partially neutral) An alternative to Cleric as a healer, druids are not quite as good at healing as the former but have a wide array of nature skills and spells to make up for this.
Basically, they lack the instant-substitution abilities of a cleric but instead have some very mage-like attack spells and a familiar to boot.
They have a host of nature abilities they share with rangers, including a +2 to attacks in the wilderness, +4 to stealth in the wilderness, and a nifty immunity to movement-stopping spells. At fifth level they can transform into an animal and at sixteenth level they can transform into an elemental. After ninth level, they're immune to poison. They can take a decent amount of hits, with 8+ constitution bonus per level.

FIGHTER- The quintessential dungeon crawler class, fighters are tough enough to take the hits and strong enough to dish them out, with 10+ constitution modifier hitpoints per level. They have the best field of feats for most melee styles (rangers make better dual wielders) and get more feats than any other class. Every two levels, they can pick an extra feat, in addition to the feats that all classes receive every few levels. They are also the only class that offers the Weapon
Specialization feat, which gives a +2 damage bonus to the favored weapon.

Many characters that attack in melee will want to take a level or two of fighter later on, to get appropriate combat feats. This is fine, but remember that you must remain devoted to some classes to continue advancing in them, and some races will incur penalties to their experience for this.

MONK- (Must be lawful) Fast, strong, tough, and disciplined, D&D Monks combine the rigorous lifestyle of Western monks with the self advancement of Eastern monks (not to mention the armory of Eastern monks) to make a daunting fighting machine that can riddle you with penalties in the blink of an eye, while being immune to half of what you dish out. Their 8+ constitution hitpoints per level lets them take a decent amount of hits, but their ability to add their Wisdom modifier to their armor class means they don't have to. Monks have the largest list of abilities in the game, including Flurry of Blows, the ability to go faster than even barbarians, immunity to common diseases at level five, the ability to heal oneself at level seven, the ability to transform his hands into a magical weapon at level ten, immunity to poison at level eleven, high magic resistance at level twelve, the chance to deliver one-hit death at level fifteen, 50% concealment at level eighteen, and immunity to mind spells and a damage resistance of
20/+1 at level twenty. Whew.

PALADIN- (Must be Lawful Good) Symbol of virtue and righteousness, the paladin is a fighter that sacrifices his cousin's extra feats for spells and favor from his god. His spell list is very cleric-like (without healing substitution, of course) and his list of special abilities is half as daunting as the above monk, which is saying something. Paladins are as proficient as fighters in combat to start- all armor and simple, martial weapons. From level one, the paladin is favored with the ability to add their charisma bonus to all saving throws, and is completely immune to disease from the start. Paladins also have their trademark Lay Hands skill, which heals (charisma bonus * paladin level) in hitpoints once per day. They are immune to fear from level two and can also Smite Evil at level two, which adds their charisma bonus to their attack roll and their paladin level to their damage roll once per day. They can turn undead at level three, and can remove disease from their friends at level three. Paladins can take most of what evil can dish out with 10 + constitution modifier hitpoints.

D&D fans should note that falling out of the Lawful Good alignment does not permanently deactivate the paladin class- getting back to Lawful
Good reinstates your ability to continue on the Paladin's path. More house rules, BioWare?

RANGER- Quick, stealthy, hard to hit and hitting hard, rangers are fighters of the countryside and, I must admit, my favorite class so far. Getting Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting feats automatically at level one, they're the masters of melee damage, though they're heavily restricted in armor choice. (Rangers must wear light armor to keep their automatic feats.) They also have a +4 to stealth in the wilderness and a bonus against their favorite (or least favorite) enemies that accumulates and applies to more enemies every five levels.
(Pick Human, then Monstrous Humanoid or Giant, then Lizard.) Besides his animal companion available at level six, (pick Bear or Panther) there isn't much else to say. When you whip out your flaming longswords and rip up a Very Difficult foe in a few rounds, you'll like rangers too.

Rangers are best complemented with a level of fighter to get their weapon specialization and possibly rogue, if you aren't using Tomi or another rogue in your party. Of course, only Human rangers can do this without taking a penalty to experience. (Dwarven rangers can take the
Fighter level, Halfling rangers can take the rogue)

ROGUE- Sneaky and observant, everyone who is allowed to is going to want a level of rogue. No lie. Most people realize this about the time they stumble over their 452nd trap and have to go retrieve their henchman for the 185th time that day. Rogues are not that bad on their own, with an extra 1d6 Sneak Attack every two levels when the enemy isn't looking. (Even when the enemy is staring right at you, you'll still get sneak attacks left and right. Who knows?) They also get every dodge and evasion feat automatically, plus a handful of once-a-day attacks every three levels from level ten. There's Crippling Strike, which deals two points of strength damage on a sneak attack,
Opportunist, which gives a +4 to attacks of opportunity, the ability to
"Take 20" even when in combat, two chances to save vs. mind affecting spells, or defensive roll, which lets you make a Reflex save vs. damage dealt each time you are about to be killed. With 6+ constitution hitpoints per level, rogues are best suited to relying on their sneak attack, rather than charging into the fray. As mentioned before, every character that can should get a level or two in rogue and pour all their points into disable traps and Search (if your class isn't skilled in searching) or Open Lock (if your class is skilled in searching.)

SORCERER- Full of fireballs and acid arrows, sorcerers are unmatched in terms of dealing out damage. Unlike a wizard, when a sorcerer hits you with a fireball, you don't mop your brow in relief if you and your assistants all save...you prepare for the next fireball, and the next fireball, and the next fireball. Sorcerers have to shortchange themselves on support spells to get this kind of power, (in fact, a sorcerer can shortchange their offense for their support spells, if they wish- this example is merely an offensive sorcerer) but the results can be devastating, giving the caster the ability to cast his favorite spells again and again, without the day's notice a wizard needs. Sorcerers also get a familiar from level one- this writer recommends the panther.

WIZARD- Holding their cards tight and keeping their poker face up, every wizard is different. They have the potential to be roughly as destructive as their sorcerous cousins, but they are bound by lack of foreknowledge and a much larger variety of spells to choose from. This is not so much of a limitation- if a situation gets out of control, simply load the game and memorize more appropriate spells before wading back in. In the meantime, you enjoy the widest variety of spells in the game. Everything from the big damage to the shield spells to the magic shield spells to the stat buffs to the Identify and Invisibilities and more are yours to command, as long as you have a little foresight.
Wizards also get a familiar from level one- this writer recommends the panther.

SPECIALIST WIZARD- Well, I've been hinting at it, and here it is. The second most intrusive house rule from BioWare (and there are some doozies) in the otherwise wonderful experience of Neverwinter Nights.

Two odd years ago (summer 2000), Wizards of the Coast released their 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons rules. Among the improvements were the well thought-out specialist wizard rules, which transcended the rival- school system of 2nd edition and evolved into a sort of point-buy system. For example, under the old rules if you wanted to be an Evoker you had to drop all Enchantment spells from your repertoire, because
Enchantment was the opposing school of magic to Evocation. Your reward was an extra spell per level. There were no limitations on which spells you picked- thus, there were Necromancers with no Necromancy spells memorized, who had specialized just to get that extra spell. Under the new rules, (which supposedly govern NWN) to play an Evoker you could sacrifice any of the following combinations: (1) Conjuration (2) any two of from: Abjurations, Enchantment, or Illusion (3) any three schools. This gave a lot of leeway in character variety- each specialist was different and you didn't have to lose a second favorite school if you didn't want to. Also, the new rules entailed actually
HAVING A SPELL memorized FROM YOUR SCHOOL each level, so Necromancers could be expected to actually cast necromancy.

BioWare has set gaming back a few years, however. Under their house rules, (which seem to be heavily and heavy-handedly incorporated into
NWN) we're back to the old Rival Schools system. Also, there is no memorization requirement, so we're back to evoking Necromancers. Oh well. Anyway, the facts of specialization are as follows. Keep in mind that you are not required to memorize a spell of your perferred type.

Abjuration is the magic of defense. Abjurers cannot cast Conjuration.
Conjuration is the magic of summoning. Conjurers cannot cast
Transmution.
Divination is the magic of sensing and detecting. Diviners cannot cast
Illusion.
Enchanment is the magic of...enchanting. Enchanters cannot cast
Illusion.
Evocation is the magic of..well, damage. Evokers cannot cast
Conjuration.
Illusion is the magic of trickery and light. Illusionists cannot cast
Enchantment.
Necromancy is the magic of life and death. Necromancers cannot cast
Divination.
Transmutation is the magic of change. Transmuters cannot cast
Conjuration.

Specialization is, of course, optional. You can remain a normal wizard with all powers intact. Personally, I perfer Illusionist, because I don't much care for the enchantment spells in NWN, but you might like them. First time wizards should probably play straight wizards.

2.5 ALIGNMENT

Your alignment is only important in a roleplaying sense. As for the gaming part, it only determines which classes from a short list are closed to you.

Paladin- must be Lawful Good.
Monk- must be Lawful.
Bard- must not be Lawful.
Barbarian- must not be Lawful.

2.6 ABILITIES

And here it is. The moment you've all been waiting for. The largest violation of the player in Neverwinter Nights. After this, the game rules. But first, we must contend with- THE STAT SYSTEM.

There are six statistics in Neverwinter Nights.  When you're done adjusting them, they should all be 10.

Seriously, the limitations placed on your statistics (which govern every skill and facet of the game) are a harsh thing. Raising any stat above 13 causes the game to explode and quickly suck away your reserves so you're either left with a character sporting all 12s and 13s or a character completely crippled with one stat for being above average with another.

To make it worse, dropping ANY stat below ten is disastrous in the single player campaign. Characters with nine intelligence (Nine! One below average), dey speek like dis. Me ogur! Me have nine inteljense.
Me speek bad. Me get zeerow skil poynts per level. Characters with nine strength can't hit a paralyzed frost giant. Characters with nine constitution get killed in melee by pixies. Characters with nine dexterity can't avoid the swing of a paralyzed frost giant, nor can they hit one with a missile weapon. Characters with nine charisma never get bonuses in conversations, have to sell their newbie weapon and armor to afford a glass of ale, and get cursed out by passer-bys. The closest thing to an expendable is wisdom, (it gives you conversation insights, letting you say witty things) but paladins, rangers, clerics, and druids all need it. Also, dissing wisdom drops your Will save, and who wants that?

Luckily, you get all kinds of stat-increasing items from chapter two on. So just make an average character for now, with slight advantages here and there- you get to augment them later. What about my modules, you ask? Well, yes, your modules are bound by the same rules. Luckily, there are override codes the DM can use to set statistics- these can be found in your instruction manual.

Strength- Governs your melee attack bonus (how often you hit) and damage, and how much you can carry.

Constitution- Governs your Fortitude save and HITPOINTS. 'Nuff said.

Dexterity- Governs your missile attack bonus and damage, and Armor
Class. (Most armors have a restriction on how much Dexterity bonus you can use while wearing the armor. No more unhittable elves in plate from the not-so-glory days of 2nd edition.) The Weapon Finesse feat lets you use your dexterity for melee attack bonus and damage for small weapons, so small-weapon-warriors don't have to max out strength if they don't