What makes this game..well for a start I really like the textures used on creatures. And the armours available to players. The designers have still struggled with dwarf armour particularly around the legs… which contributes to undermining the martial prowess of the dwarf. In my opinion all rpg games continue to give dwarves to long a torso and legs that are too short.

The architecture is a complete let down, poor understanding of how building elements go together erodes the believability at a subconcious level. But this is not just Dragon Age, its the low standard set by most game engines, and the Developers who employ them. I struggle with similar issues working in the digital film industry where the directors and bean counters undervalue the perfection in the environment that would truly elevate the average world.

Even so as a one of rainy weekend intense and bloody adventure the game is amazing a deserves all the awards it got.

At an interface gameplay flavour level Dragon Age appears to me as an attempt to bridge between a more serious game like Neverwinter Nights and a World of Warcraft audience. Purists I suspect will prefer the former whilst gamers sick of the cartoony nature of the later might be enticed by Dragon Age, but alas apart from the ontime adventure as you go through the story there is no massively multiplayer online game component to this.

As a last not: if you love dragons, you MUST play this game… check this out:

Fight Free Dragons in Game

SOME TIPS on Neverwinter Nights Class Builds.

Eldritch Knight

A class aimed at arcane spell users. The advantage over pure mage or sorcerer is a high BAB (base attack bonus) which will increase their combat ability and 6 skill points as opposed to 4 and also 6 hit points per level. Effectively the Eldritch Knight is a warrior mage and is very popular choice… perhaps its only disadvantage! How many times have I been asked in a private message “are you an Eldritch Knight?”

Game to take me on? Eldritch Knight.

Frenzied Berserker

A great class for the violently minded, the berserker is at a bit of a disadvantage on servers which have realistic day/night and disallow constant resting. What this means is the primary ability of the class, ‘frenzy’ , is limited in the number of times a day it can be used. This does make for better role play though, as the player has to really employ their rages to the best of their ability. Often thought of as a muscle bound gorilla with a big club or axe, there is no real reason you have to use a two-handed weapon. Add ‘supreme cleave’ to a whirling dervish two weapon fighter with maximum hits per round and you get something of a killing machine.

Pale Master

What an awesome class, necromancy and hanging with the dead! Immune to critical hits with a ghoul as a best friend. The main downside is the reduction in spell levels, because you only get new spells every second Pale Master level make sure you get the ‘Practised Spellcaster’ feat (requires spellcraft of 4) and other feats that keep your DC up such as Spellcasting Prodigy (available first level only).

Shadowdancer

Well the HIPs (Hide in Plain sight)feat is basically is so cool that this class attracts at least half the players on many online game worlds. Allowing you to disappear in broad daylight it is more effective than the invisibility spell for PvP as it requires no casting time or concentration check. Some persistant worlds try to make the ‘disappearing theif’ skill a bit more realistic for role play, The Return of Middle Earth (RoME) server has moved it from being a bonus feat at Shadowdancer 1st level to 5th level. The Shores of Haldun as an alternative, encourages players to role play its use appropriately for a non magical ability; that is rather than standing in the middle of the street and ‘poof’ disappear it is recommend that you move to the hedgerow or shadows and then ‘click’. Other than this the class is a good all round sneaky slippery rogue-fighter class.

Weapon Master

A good class for humans with their extra feat at first level due to the many pre-requisite feat requirements for this class. Choose a weapon with high critical hit probability and the Weapon Master Ki critical stacked with improved critical is a vicious combination, even more so if you’re a two weapon fighter.

Not very PC, Goblin gets Weapon Mastered.

Of course other weapons are great too, a favorite role play character I met once was a master spearman. Don’t forget you need 13 skill in both intelligence and dexterity to play this class, and that as a melee specialist you will be weaker in other areas.

Red Dragon Disciple

The only real purpose of this class is to get maximum strength so that you are an uber melee fighter. The dragon Breath weapon is a major anti-climax as it is just the same animation as arcane fire spells, that is fire appears around your feet rather than blasting forth from your mouth which would be really cool.

Harper Agent

Red Wizard

The Red Wizard specialises in maximising spells, spell saves and so forth in one particular spell area such as Necromancy or Illusion. This class was added in the Mask of the Betrayer Expansion Pack.

Arcane Scholar of the CandleKeep

Another Mask of the Betrayer class, this one specialises in extending and empowering spells for more damage and effectiveness. A great avatar for your on line rpg time

Duelist

If you want to add damage to your light weapons without having ‘sneak attack’ appear all the time announcing your class then have a go at Duelist. Very cool for an interesting wizard/two weapon fighter role play because both classes make use of intelligence.

Stormlord

Specialists in lighting and thrown weapons imbued with lightening – a good all round class, particularly for druids.

Arcane Archer

For elves only, specialise in your bow. Some of the animations are a bit lacking for the special feats, fireball arrow which could be awesome, alas the character looks like they are casting a spell rather than firing an arrow. Death arrow is wicked, but alas you only get it once per day.

Arcane Trickster

This class is aimed at sneaky magicians and bards. The class progresses both your sneak attack and your spells, but has a really low HP’s and BAB. Designed for use with ranged touch attack spells, the class is currently weak  due to an Obsidian bug whereby these spells don’t get the sneak attack added. Still a cool class for a rogue/bard at higher levels.

Assassin

Very assassin like! The paralysis sneak attack is brilliant for taking out boss foes if your sneak is high enough, combine with Shadowdancer’s Hide in Plain Sight and you can sneak up.. paralysis a foe, get a few sneak attacks in then disappear again and repeat.

Blackguard

A personal favourite of mine, the Skeleton Warrior companion that the Blackguard gets is incredibly powerful, and the aura of bad vibes is very useful if you are travelling with a wizard as you melee foes saves will be lowered as they are hit by that fireball.

Sacred Fist

Finally with Storm of Zehir a decent prestige class for monks. This class progresses any divine spells whilst also moving your monk skill along. The flaming fists are a bit naff and watch out for the -8 penalty if you have ANY weapons equipped. This is a serious for those players hand combat only.

Divine Champion

If you are playing a standard class and have resisted multi-classing then a few levels of this class gets you some bonus feats and good Hit Points.

Dwarven Defender

The classic stoic immoveable dwarf. great ideas with this class, but like the Elf Arcane Archer, somewhat restricted due to only getting the abilities once per day. Combine with Barbarian  damage reduction with the Defenders 5th level DR3 then chuck on some adamantine plate with additional DR – then have a high constitution and an item of regeneration and you have yourself a solid tank.

Invisible Blade

Purely for players using kukri or daggers this chap adds bleeding damage to any successful sneak attack and is a master of the feint which of course allows frontal sneak attack if successful. A bit low on skill points for most rogues alas.

Warpriest

Basically a warrior priest the Warpriest increases his parties morale and causes fear in the enemy.

]]> http://roleplayingpcgames.info/character-prestige-class-tips-nwn/feed/ 2 http://roleplayingpcgames.info/dwarf-maligned/ http://roleplayingpcgames.info/dwarf-maligned/#comments Sat, 03 Jan 2009 10:15:39 +0000 GameLover http://roleplayingpcgames.info/?p=135 Yes it’s true, players today have really bought the poor Dwarf into a dire predicament. Rescue the Dwarf from the predictable personality hole he has fallen into I say! Yes you know what I am talking about, ever since Peter Jackson popularized the condition in his portrayal of Gimli in his film version of Lord of the Rings all Dwarves in PC role playing games are comic axe wielders who run everywhere! I believe PJ did his research well, he realized that there was a culture of fat warrior dwarves that made ‘one line jokes’ and always disparaged elves amongst the generation then grew up with Warhammer and World of Warcraft.

How about some variety, calling all serious role players, what of the stoic venerable statesman dwarf like Thorin Oakenshield, or the meak mocked by more martial dwarves inventor artificer dwarf? The old veteran who disapproves of the young blood who have no sense of decorum, who wouldn’t be seen dead running anywhere – what of dignity and auctoritas?

If you play Neverwinter Nights I highly recommend roleplaying a dwarf who is hugely fat, always comments on being hungry, has an Obelisk type attitude to food, and as a result has maximum constitution. Tip: if you maximize constitution and get the toughness feat then the damage you can take is almost better than high armor class (AC). Sure you need a good stack of potions because your fight style is to take the hits, but this is a roleplay opportunity where potions of ‘heal’ become ‘munches down another beef sandwich’, a dwarf who wouldn’t waste his breath to comment on elves, and who NEVER says ‘bah’.

]]> http://roleplayingpcgames.info/dwarf-maligned/feed/ 3 http://roleplayingpcgames.info/dark-elves-rule/ http://roleplayingpcgames.info/dark-elves-rule/#comments Sat, 03 Jan 2009 09:46:02 +0000 GameLover http://roleplayingpcgames.info/?p=131 I have played many Role Play games over two decades and I have to say of all the races I have played, the Dark Elf is a real favorite. I started playing the old and mysterious PnP rule set ‘Chivalry and Sorcery‘ a game which still holds a magical power over me. There were not even Dark Elves as an option but the Dungeon Master let me make one up anyhow, a character whose elvish name I forget but who went by the common tongue translation ‘Windfallen‘.

Nowadays the Dark Elf has become synonymous with evil and the Underdark. In Neverwinter Nights, where these Elves are known as Drow, and in many other role playing games the Dark Elf lives underground and has penalties applied in game when in daylight. While this makes them formidable foes who have a revulsion for weaker races like the humans I still miss the Tolkien type of ‘dark’ Elf upon which my early character was based upon. In Middle Earth lore, the dark Elf describes those lesser Elves who never traveled to the lands of the Gods, the races of Elves who preferred the light of the stars to that of the moon or sun. They hid away from men remaining in the woods and vales, were secretive and of the ‘dark’ unlike their brethren, but were not evil. They contrasted rather with the ‘high’ Elves whom followed the ways of light, learning, trade, civilization and empire building.

In this vein Windfallen who formed my first experiences of role playing was a grey-green clad master-ranger of the deep forests, expert with his yew longbow, a worshiper in an almost pagan or native American Indian way of Stag’s and Eagles, and had a reputation for stalking and murdering those who preyed on the forest creatures. Defender of the forest creatures to other ‘dark’ Elves, murderous waif to the humans who lived at the forests edges. I totally recommend playing a good/neutral alignment Dark Elf in any role playing PC game, focusing on detesting ‘weaker’ Elves for their soft habits and human-like behaviors, playing a superior aloof Elf of ascetic habits who looks down upon the Light or High Elves. this makes a fun variance to the definition of Dark Elf.

Diablo 3 Uses Havok Physics Engine

The team at PC Role Playing Games is incredibly excited about the imminent release of Diablo 3.

Diablo 3 like many games we feature here is not what a purist would call a “Role Playing Game” but rather an Action RPG. We still think it’s cool enough to make our list and can’t wait to play it. Much of the astounding visual eye candy in Diablo 3 is produced using the Havok Physics engine – You can see some of it in action in the screenshot above showing monsters actually climbing up walls! Very impressive VFX! The actual game play will still have the top down ‘feel’ of previous Diablo games, however interacting with teh environment quite literally enters the 3rd dimension in this fantatic sequel to the Diablo series.

We’re as excited as you are and can’t wait to get our hand on this game! We’ll keep you posted on any developments and as always make sure you are the first to know

Currently FX Labs is developing Inferno, a game based on Dante’s Inferno, a game based on Dhoom 2, the most valuable property in Bollywood, as well as a game based on Archie Comics. It plans to release various titles in partnership with leading property owners in India. Plans are also underway for launching an MMOG that would appeal to India’s growing pool of online gamers.

This is the cover of Indias role playing pc game, also don’t miss India’s best MMORPG – Supreme Destiny.

Sundren a NWN multiplayer free game

Servers which host Mulitplayer Persistent Game Worlds typically divide each world into genres to help prospective players choose their game, genres are usually things like ‘Action’, ‘Role Play’, ‘PvP’, ‘Story’, ‘Social’, ‘Melee’, ‘Team’, ‘Arena’ and so on. This indicates the primary interest of the creators and the intention for the online game, PvP for example is a world where the intention is for players to take direct combat action against each other i.e. player versus player (PvP).These worlds really come alive though with the participation of DM’s or Dungeon Masters, the creators of the game world and experts in its myths and laws. These players create unique story lines and quests, award experience and gold to creative players.

Three excellent examples of  Mmorpg persistent RPG worlds designed for Neverwinter Nights are:

Forgotten Realms

This is the largest and most popular game world and is a mix of action and role playing, a vast world with great dungeons and good DM presence. If a vote was held amongst NWN2 players it is certain this place would be voted the best free online PC game.

Shores of Haldun

This is a beautifully drawn and detailed world specialising in exciting quests and thoruroughy worked out geography. The story line is unique and the Dm’s talented, many fun times have been had here.

RoME – The Return of Middle Earth

This server sets out to recreate aspects of Tolkiens Middle Earth many years after the end of The Lord of the Rings story. Extensive quests and a large world with great NPC AI to keep you on your toes. Completely different in feel and appearance to Lord of the Rings Online, which specialises in Middle Earth, and yet the creators of this persistant online game must have put hundreds of ours into this environment all to give you … remarkably… a free… place to play for as long as you wish.

Increase Your Army Cheat

Entry Location:
while in the playing screen good/evil

Type in the words “the army”

You will receive 500,000 command points! Now make an army general!

Resource Cheat

Entry Location:
Pause menu

At pause menu type “gold“. You will receive 700 resources.

Easy come, easy go

Eventually this page will list cheats for all your favourite rpg pc games.

Who needs to cheat?

Here is an example of adventuring for just experience versus adventuring for a storyline reason. This is an example of how two different parties going into the same cave can behave very differently. The latter is preferable if the aim is to develop plot lines and get the attention of DM’s for better game play and surprises. The former is for those who wish to speed along and bash some creatures and gain experience in an easy and casual fashion rather then role play which can be very time consuming and much harder. Imagine these parties have discovered a clue that something might be happening in the cave.

A) ACTION style of play

Grimbum:                  “Hey! Lets go bash some orcs. I’m almost leveled!
Astrid Slaver:           “Cool! I hear there might be a DM event going on….

…something about magic scrolls.”
Grimbum:                  “Ohh..good…maybe there will be DM giving out items.
Astrid Slaver:            “Yea..lets do it…Those vile creature gotta die!”..///brb going for a piss

[party enters cave and runs from cavern to cavern slaying things, with no spoken interaction]

Grimbum:                             “woooot 150 points to level! let’s get the boss!’
Flemenger the Orange:    “Ok…let me rest first. Outta spells “
Flemenger the Orange:     “hang on, buffing”
Astrid Slaver:                       “We better go soon..im overloaded, lets cash in loot”.
Grimbum:                              “Cool..I gotta log soon anyways.”

B) ROLE PLAY orientated style of play

Celia the Wild:                   *Face darkens with concern*  “Do we really have to go in here?….

………… I don’t like the look of this!”

Ernst Longflint:               “I’m afraid so..The town guards said the orcs had raided the Mages’

Tower in the woods…always a reason for concern.”

Celia the Wild:                 *pulls at her hair nervously*

“Perhaps we should gather reinforcements?”

Ernst Longflint:               *Gives her a  smile*    ” No we can do it….

….stay behind me and keep your eyes peeled”

Celia the Wild:                  *walks cautiously behind him drawing sword*

Ernst Longflint:                *Whispers*        “Shh… Something ahead… sounds like wolves..”

(rolls tracking skill)

[later after leaving the cave]

Ernst Longflint:                   “Well I am exhausted, time for a nap in this bush” *yawns*

Celia the Wild:                        “try not to snore, Orcs will hear you” *laughs*   “I am heading to town”

Ernst Longflint:                     *waves* “see you in a few days friend” [logs off the server]

These are just two differnt play styles, one is not superior to the other, but if you do seek a persistant world where Role Playing is emphasized and in fact rewarded by the DM’s then it is the second example that you should strive for as you play your role playing PC games, but most importantly have fun and use your role playing to help others have fun too, this is especially important if you are making use of a free online server.