Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker

Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker
Developer(s)	BioWare
Publisher(s)	Atari
Series	Neverwinter Nights
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	October 2, 2005
Genre(s)	Role-playing video game
Mode(s)	Single-player

Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker is an expansion pack released for BioWare's Neverwinter Nights which includes three premium modules: Kingmaker, Shadowguard, and Witch's Wake. Released in November, 2004, Kingmaker later won the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences 'PC RPG of the Year' award for Computer Role Playing Game of the Year for 2005.^[1]

Modules

The Kingmaker expansion pack includes three premium modules: the main adventure of the same name, and two minor modules.

Kingmaker

Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker is a premium module for the Neverwinter Nights game produced by Floodgate Entertainment and published by Infogrames Entertainment (now Atari). It was released in 2004. The module requires the Hordes of the Underdark expansion pack and offers around eight hours of gameplay. It is available in lite and full versions, with the former lacking voice acting for the different NPCs in the module. The module can be purchased and downloaded directly from the internet for a price less than that of the expansions.

Plot

The module is set in his own setting which borrows many elements from Forgotten Realms and other D&D settings. The story takes place near the Keep of Cyan, a northern part of this world. The game's goal is to win the election and become the Lord of the Keep. In order to do so, the player character has to persuade at least 4 of 9 guilds to aid him. Only then the character will have a chance to fight his nemesis, the Masked Man - a mysterious mage who uses a small army of creatures to conquer the Keep. On his journeys, the player character also has to reveal the mystery of his own nature and past. An unknown ally of great power also helps the character by granting him a sentient magical weapon with a friendly personality. The player could enlist help from two of four NPCs who traveled with him before the beginning of the game.

The official BioWare page describes the module as follows: "In a party with a cowardly Wererat, a scarred Nymph, an exiled Rakshasa, and a quick-tempered Azer, you seem to be the only normal one... but are you? Embark on a journey to face your nemesis outside the embattled ramparts of the Keep of Cyan. It is a journey that will test your loyalties and cause you to question the very bounds of life and death. Evil lurks in the war-torn keep and it's up to you to unearth it. To learn the truth, you must win the throne."

It is revealed later that the Masked Man is in fact an Illithid, and the mysterious ally is the main character's grandmother, a demoness of great power who once fell in love with a mere man, thus making the character to be partially Tiefling. The Masked Man is also an offspring of her, and thus is considered to be brother of the hero. The whole battle for Cyan is her own challenge for her children, so they could prove themselves and take a worthy position in life. The game culminates with the player killing the Masked Man and realising the truth about himself. After that, he is rightful ruler of Cyan. Though the game's story is fully finished, it has an open ending.

Shadowguard

'Neverwinter Nights: Shadowguard is a premium module for Bioware's 2002 PC RPG, Neverwinter Nights. The module was sold at the Bioware store for $4.99, and comes with the "Witch's Wake" premium module for free. The module features a new adventure set in a unique setting.

Plot

The game is set in Abaron, a setting specially created for the module. The Sarakhan Empire is the most prominent force in this world, being led by a divine emperor named Rakha, who is willing to unify the whole world. However, the northern lands are not willing to enter the Empire, and fights back. A mysterious Crimson Prophet is believed to be the leader of the resistance. The story takes place in Ghaarak, an imperial city located near the northern territories' borderline.

The module itself is named after the organization featuring prominently in the game. The player is the son of Ocaris, one of the city's leaders, who is finishing his student time in the academy. The game starts out in a graduation ceremony of sorts where they get to pick one of three magic symbols to be their own. Each symbol has special actions and bonuses that go with it. After the graduation, the instructor tells the player that a man is looking for them. The man's name is Markius.

It is soon revealed that the character is meant to enter a secret organization, the Shadowguard, who protects the Empire from various threats. The story leads the player into a series of tasks given by Markius, the leader of Shadowguards, and his fellow friends. The tasks involves the player taking down a slaver syndicate and few other criminal elements. However, the city of Ghaarak ends up slowly falling into chaos due to arrival of Crimson Prophet - a mage willing to destroy the Empire, who steals a powerful artifacts and kills the character's father, Ocaris.

A full-scale assault on the city begins, performed by northern people under the Crimson Prophet's instructions. The player has only one option: to escape the doomed city along with the members of Shadowguard. Battling their way to the docks, they encounters Crimson Prophet again, but is unable to defeat him, as he proves to be too powerful. The module's story ends with the character escaping the city with the Shadowguard on board of a ship, Voyager. The story was meant to be continued, but no sequels were ever made.

Witch's Wake

Witch's Wake uses an original game setting created for the module, completely independent of Neverwinter Nights' Forgotten Realms setting. It is a dark, mysterious world featuring unique sub-races with their own special abilities.

Plot

The game starts as the player character awakens on a battlefield with all his/her memories lost. A dying prince asks him/her to deliver to his father the message, "She is dead." Soon, the PC meets Night Hag, a witch that is very willing to help him/her discover his/her past. She grants the PC passage to the Plane of Sorrow - a place where the living world collides with the world of the dead, Stygia. The Plane of Sorrow is inhabited by the souls who are about to enter the world of undead, and Filchers, the spirits who is notorious for their thieving nature. The player journeys through the world of the game looking for answers and an only man who is left from the PC's squad, sometimes visiting the Plane of Sorrow. After venturing through some dangerous encounters, the player enters dwarfs village, Brogan's Arm. Here, he/she discovers that the man he/she is looking for has stolen the Cavanaugh Stone, a holy artifact of great importance. In the end of module, the player finally discovers the man, Caldrian, who finally reveals what happened.

The encounter with Caldrian leads the player to the realization that they were part of a witch hunter squad who battled a witch and apparently killed her. The squad was, however, obliterated by her power, and the few survivors lost their memory. Just after the dialogue, a ghostly figure of a woman appears, writing a message "The fields of battle lie in the hearts of men..."

The story ends with the player discovering the truth of what happened to him and his squad. A prompt to begin the next installment of the module appears, but since the sequel was never finished, this option does nothing.

References

1. "Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences 2005 'PC RPG of the Year' award". Retrieved 2012-10-15.

External links

• Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker at MobyGames