The Guide To Building Volume II The Design Manual

Neverwinter Nights developed by Bioware and Neverwinter Nights 2 developed by Obsidian and distributed by Atari (formerly Infogrammes), has become one of the leaders in end user adaptability. The main engine behind this is the Aurora Toolset, which allows users to create their own modules. No longer are they limited to what was created by the games developer originally. What we can do with the toolset is mind-boggling. However, with so much that you can do, where on earth do you start? That is where The Builder’s Project comes in. The Builder’s Project is a group of Neverwinter Nights and/or Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts who have dedicated themselves to a few simple objectives:

1. To reach as many new module builders as possible and get them educated in the use of the NWN and NWN2 Toolset. We want to do this within the framework of the membership, but we see no reason to make any info published by the guild private in any way.
2. To provide a support system for module builders.
3. To gather, pool and make available any resources we encounter regarding module building, with the intent of aiding our members and the community at large in the pursuit of module building.
4. To provide a means of sharing knowledge and experience in module building, foster an atmosphere of collective education, and further the purpose of making our membership competent and capable builders.

To that end, the Builder’s Project has been collecting information on every aspect of module building and keeping track of the questions frequently asked on the forums and the answers provided to these questions. All this information is stored and edited in what we call The Guide To Building.

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The Guide to Building will be released in several instalments, each covering an important aspect of module building. The purpose of this second instalment, titled "The Design Manual", is to provide the builder with a set of suggestions and guidelines to help build better, more complete and enjoyable modules. This manual should, however not be viewed as an attempt to establish an authority over methods for designing and building modules. The suggestions contained herein are just that suggestions. Not every topic has been thoroughly explored here so there will be issues not fully addressed, or not addressed at all, due in large part to this being a huge, complex, subject. Designing and building NWN or NWN2 modules can be a difficult proposition for any builder; even a veteran builder. Difficulties can develop for anyone. No one system of module creation is superior to another. Each builder is a different person and their individual strengths and weaknesses will be different, therefore each and every idea presented here in this guide should be seen as a tool to use to make your module what you want of it – not a gospel claiming to be “The right way”, or even, “The best way” to make a module.

REVISIONS
v0.05 added more content