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Baldur\u2019s Gate<\/em> and Icewind Dale<\/em> did have multiplayer, where each player could control one or more characters directly. As noted, Neverwinter Nights<\/em> limits each player to one character, but it adds a new role: a dungeon master, who can spawn enemies, occupy and act as NPCs, and more, to aid in group storytelling, similar to a pen-and-paper game.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Arelith is essentially a mini MMO, many of the other servers pride themselves in running highly curated, beautifully crafted campaign worlds much closer to tabletop role-playing game emulator that Neverwinter Nights<\/em> was first intended as,\u201d Morris told me. He called Neverwinter Nights<\/em> \u201ca direct translation of the tabletop role-playing game experience into the digital sphere.\u201d<\/p>\n The game\u2019s modding kit and easy-to-use scripting tools let players build scenarios relatively quickly. It essentially let players build a little RPG world, run it, and inhabit it. It was a bustling scene back then, and there\u2019s still a community doing this today. The combination of the relative simplicity of the graphics and the elegance of the tools make this toolset an unusually excellent balance between flexible, powerful, and easy to learn.<\/p>\n \u201cThe tile-based areas are basic and limiting in some respects, but they do mean that building areas is quick and easy,\u201d explained NelaK. \u201cIt\u2019s much more approachable than a lot of other platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n For NelaK and some other members of the game\u2019s community today, the game\u2019s tools aren\u2019t just the remaining appeal\u2014they\u2019re the main appeal.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been playing Neverwinter Nights<\/em> since launch day. I remember one of my friends dragging me along to the store because they really wanted the game and I went just to keep them company,\u201d he remembered. \u201cI ended up buying it, and I\u2019ve been hooked ever since, but to this day, I\u2019ve still never played through the original campaigns\u2026 and yet I\u2019ve played Neverwinter Nights<\/em> or spent time building or working on something Neverwinter Nights<\/em>-related most days since.\u201d<\/p>\nIt\u2019s as much a construction kit as it is a game<\/h2>\n