Character Creation Guide - Soda Bob's NeverWinter Nights FanSite

Each character class has a list of skills that are the preferred skills of their class. A 'preferred' skill is one where a player must only spend 1 skill point to raise the rank of that skill by 1 point.

Most other skills are considered 'cross-class' skills, which means that a player can take that skill but it will cost 2 skill points per rank instead of 1.

There are some skills that are so specialized that only certain classes can take them, meaning that no other class in the game can spend points on these skills. These specialized skills and their related classes are:

Animal Empathy: Only Rangers and Druids.
Perform: Only Bards.
Use Magic Device: Only Bards and Rogues.

Skill List

Here is a brief explanation of each skill:

Animal Empathy: Gaining the temporary trust of a wild animal.
Concentration: Defense against being distracted while casting a spell or fighting.
Diplomacy, Persuade: or sway another's thinking.
Diplomacy, Taunt: Distract opponents in combat.
Disable Trap*: Player can perform a variety of actions on a trap.
Discipline*: Defense against combat feats like Knockdown and Disarm.
Heal: Can be used with Healing Kit to heal wounds and cure diseases and poisons.
Hide: Hide from enemies.
Listen: Chance to detect hidden creatures.
Lore*: Identifying properties of items found.
Move Silently: Move without being detected.
Open Lock: Allows a chance to unlock a door or chest.
Parry*: Defensive stance in combat.
Perform: Bard's gain access to Bardsong.
Pick Pocket: Steal items from another character.
Search: Ability to find important or valuable items.
Set Trap*: set a trap for others to trigger.
Spellcraft: identify a spell being cast.
Spot: Ability to see hidden or camouflaged things.
Use Magic Device: Ability to operate a magical device that has some sort of restrictions on it such as only being useable by a certain class, race or alignment.

*Notes:

Disable Trap and Set Trap can be considered subsets of the Dungeons & Dragons® Disable Device skill.

Discipline is a skill unique to Neverwinter Nights. It is not a part of the Dungeons & Dragons® standard rules but is a necessary part of the NWN Aurora Engine technology.

Lore can be considered a subset of the Dungeons & Dragons® Knowledge skill.

Parry is a skill unique to Neverwinter Nights. It is not a part of the Dungeons & Dragons® standard rules but is a necessary part of the NWN Aurora Engine technology.

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The information in this Character Guide is used with permission by BioWare,
with edits and additions to the original text by Bob Curtis.

NEVERWINTER NIGHTS © 2002 Infogrames Entertainment, S.A. All Rights Reserved. Manufactured and marketed by Infogrames, Inc., New York, NY. Portions © 2002 Bioware Corp. BioWare Aurora Engine © 1997-2002 BioWare Corp. All Rights Reserved. BioWare, the BioWare Aurora Engine, and the BioWare Logo are trademarks of BioWare Corp. All Rights Reserved. Neverwinter Nights, Forgotten Realms, the Forgotten Realms logo, Dungeons & Dragons logo, Dungeon Master, D& D, and the Wizards of the Coast logo are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. and are used by Infogrames Entertainment, S. A. under license. All Rights Reserved. Windows and Windows 95/ 98/ 2000/ XP are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All other trade-marks are the property of their respective owners.