Orius said:
NWN is still fairly limited when compared to D&D. And while some people have learned how to get good use out of the DM client, it is very difficult to run it right out of the box without any prior knowledge of how it works. Still, it does a pretty good job of filling in when a D&D game isn't available.
Agreed and disagreed
Yes, the NWN DM client requires some training/experience to use. Base level proficiency can be obtained in 1-2hrs if you are already familiar with the player client. Advanced knowledge of the DM client advances almost like advanced tabletop DM knowledge, ie the rate is VERY dependent on the DM and the learning goes on forever. To run a longer campaign does require the use of the toolset, which takes a few more hours. There is, however, tons of free user-made content available that will allow you to add whatever flavor/customization you want to have in your campaign.
I disagree with the statement its a good fill-in. I have chosen NWN as my primary medium of running games for about the last 3 yrs. I've run 3 full campaigns in that time (a Forgotten Realms, a Middle Earth, and a Firefly campaign). Before I switched over to NWN, I had been playing and DMing pnp for 20+yrs.
Let me give you an example of another area NWN shines as a method of RP...the use of multiple DMs. As a pnp DM, I've had to juggle multiple parties and the overall result is never perfect. Either both groups stay at the table and metagame knowledge is abundant, or you seperate the groups and run back and forth. I've tried multi-DMing pnp games, but DM communication becomes a big issue. In NWN, my campaigns typically had 2-3 DMs in each session. Each single DM can handle a seperate party as needed, and the players cannot see what is going on in the other group(s). DM communication is via a voice-chat program like Ventrillo that the players cannot access. Since my games often involve a goodly amount of intrigue and invesstigation (times when parties tend to split anyway), this is a big advantage to me. A secondary advantage to multiple DMs is being able to roleplay a multi-NPC conversation with the party. Yes, I've done it as a pnp DM many times before, but going from NPC to NPC, trying to keep each one distinct in a long scene is tough. In NWN, you can easily divide up the responsibilities.
