Neverwinter Nights 2 Interview

[GameBanshee News]

NWN Downunder has conducted an interview with Obsidian Entertainment's Ferret Baudoin, in which they focus primarily on crafting in Neverwinter Nights 2. A snip:

Q: Wands, scrolls and potions were a welcome addition in NWN1, but of course there is always room for improvement and new additions. Are there any plans to extend these to other item types, such as staves or casting abilities on weapons or armour, maybe creating items at selectable casters levels, or perhaps rules for recharging items? What's in store?

A: The big change we’ve made is creating the Craft Magical Arms and Armor and Craft Wondrous Item feats. So now player crafters can make enchanted weapons, armor, and a host of miscellaneous magic items. In the process of that we did an overhaul of the Craft Weapon and Craft Armor skills, too.

The basics of our plan was to make it so the crafting systems could combine to make a crafter (or group of crafters) be able to make some snazzy gear that would make their fellow adventurers drool. One part of the system is how the Craft Weapon and Craft Armor skills relate to the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat. Normally a spellcaster with the right feat can enchant things like steel blades to make a custom cool blade to match the crafters’ specifications. But if someone else in the party has the Craft Weapon and he has the right materials he can make an adamantine long sword which inherently has cool properties which the magical crafter essentially gets for free. So suddenly those skills are valuable and sought out.

The way magical crafting works is you gather the appropriate ingredients (which includes essences you get from a new skill – Craft Alchemy) and then you go to a magical laboratory. There you put everything together and cast the appropriate spell. Which spell to cast is usually the spell listed in Dungeon Master’s Guide for creating magical items. There are some differences – there is no XP cost for making magical items (using the alchemical essences replaces that) and the gold cost is replaced with the materials you need. Some recipes you discover in the course of your adventures, too.

The end result is we have a more unified crafting system that allows crafters to make some really cool gear – customized to their own needs.