December 23, 2005 - Set to ship in 2006, Obsidian's Neverwinter Nights 2 is the sequel to our 2002 Product of the Year. The earlier release was and still is a landmark, one that required the creation of an entirely new award category in order to recognize its dual nature. While the title offered an enjoyable story-driven single-player adventure, its truly distinctive element was the inclusion of editing tools that combined power with sufficient ease of use to make them accessible for fans with limited no technical or programming knowledge. The result has been the creation of many thousands of modules. In turn, this fostered the growth of a sizable community that remains exceptionally active to this day. The property has also been successful at retail; including the Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark expansion packs, sales have topped two million units.

The follow-up has a new developer, but is certainly in good hands. Obsidian is headed by Feargus Urquhart whose tenure at Black Isle Studios saw the release of Fallout 2, the Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series, Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment. The studio's four other co-founders, Chris Parker, Darren Monahan, Chris Avellone and Chris Jones, are also veteran RPG makers, as are many of the team members. Their stated goal is to bring the franchise to a new level by building on its considerable strengths by providing a compelling single-player experience while also upgrading and enhancing the modding toolset. As you might expect, we've kept our eyes on the project ever since it was announced. Fairly recently, the flow of information has started to open up, including an opportunity for us to question Lead Designer Ferret Baudoin.

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Jonric: How did you go about selecting the monsters we'll have to overcome in Neverwinter Nights 2, and will many return from the first game? What are a couple of notable examples?

Ferret Baudoin: There are so many monsters in Dungeons and Dragons... tomes and tomes of baddies to encounter, crush, and loot. There are many monsters specifically built for Faer�n (the Forgotten Realms) - but we've mostly been focused on adding the classic D&D; ones plus a few that are important to our single-player campaign.

At times, you'll have a very full quest log with many tantalizing possibilities. Some side quests involve optional areas of the game - you don't have to go there, but it's usually worth your while if you do.

Many decisions we make aren't just to make our story and game experience better, but also to provide as much flexibility for modders and the community. That applies to monsters as well as many other areas of the game. So, the first pass of the Monster Manual and other books was to find the gotta have monsters - things like Trolls and Orcs. Once we had our "must have" list of critters, then we started looking at fan favorites, personal favorites and others that are just plain cool. And the story we're trying to tell required some monsters too. That does mean that a bunch of the monsters from the first game are alive and well in Neverwinter Nights 2.

All told there's well over 50 monsters in the game. Some notable ones are the Pit Fiend, which looks like one mean customer. And our Iron Golem isn't someone I'd want to bump into in a dark alley - heck, anywhere really. :)

Jonric: Did you create any original adversaries, why did you choose to do so, and to what extend has Wizards of the Coast been involved?

Ferret Baudoin: We have had the opportunity to create new creatures for our game, but we didn't do so lightly. The main reason is that there are so many pre-existing cool monsters that you can usually find something which fits the role you need somewhere in the source books. But for a couple of roles, we needed something with very specific characteristics. What drove the process for those guys is a story need, so their stats, characteristics and looks fell out of that. Then, I got to write up something you'd see in any of the monster manuals, a stat block with rules descriptions of their abilities and so on. It was fun sending that to Wizards of the Coast and getting their feedback - and the end result was some brand new monsters.

Wizards of the Coast has been very supportive throughout the project and they're expect advice on all thing D&D; and the Realms has been helpful. We talk with them regularly - Ed Stark and Rich Redman most especially. It's a rich and fun license to play with.

Jonric: How extensive will the game's quest element be? Will there be many optional ones, and any with specific triggers?

Ferret Baudoin: Our story is like Johnny Appleseed, and the quests are what he's constantly dropping behind him. So expect plenty of interesting story-driven quests to provide focus, direction plus phat loot and XP.

There are also side quests to find out there too. At times, you'll have a very full quest log with many tantalizing possibilities. Some side quests involve optional areas of the game - you don't have to go there, but it's usually worth your while if you do. And some are based on companions, with some class quests too.