Items

From Neverwinter Pedia

In this tutorial, we will create an item that is not readily "available" as a Placeable: Key. One would think that keys should be abundant in NWN2, right? However, it turned out that the OC did not use keys at all! So, despite keys were a commonplace item in our modern living, they were not so readily found in the world of NWN2 (nor as Placeables in the Toolset).

Hence, the reason to make a key. Besides, Frans would need to first own a KEY to his basement, before the key could be given to the players!

Creating an Item

1. Right-click anywhere in the Blueprint Section, and choose Create Blueprint. This will create a new Blueprint for your item (as there isn't a ready made blueprint that you can use). You will see that there are 3 choices: Module, Global and Campaign. Only Module is available for selection (the rest are greyed out). Click on Module.

2. A new item blueprint, item1, will be created. Right-click on item1 and select Properties to open it in a new window.

3. Note the first property under the Appearance section: Icon. It is important to choose an appropriate icon for any new item created because this is how the item would appear in the player's inventory. A key would need to "look" like a key and not something else. Although the blueprints for keys are not readily found in the NWN2 Toolset, there are a number of icons available for keys. As you can see, there are 7 of them in total: black, brass, complex, fancy, iron, stone, and wood.

Select it_key_brass to give Frans a brass key to his basement. (The prefix it_ simply denotes this to be an item.)

4. Rename the Resource Name and Localized Name of item1 to basement key, and the Tag to it_basement_key.

(In this way, we are trying to be consistent, as well as keeping with the naming convention: prefix + resource name. By adding the it_ prefix to all item resource name, and pl_ to placeable resource name, and so on, it will help us identify an object in the game simply by looking at its Tag.)

[Note: This is a good habit you should be cultivating from the beginning. It will help a lot when you learned to Script.]

5. Type Key to the basement of Frans' Inn in the two Localized Description. The first is a "general" description of the item before it is "identified", and the second description is for when the item is "identified". Of course a non-magical item like the basement key would appeared the same regardless of it being identified or not.

(Note: Many magical items in the AD&D games require LORE skills or an identification spell to identify its true magical properties.)

6. Leave the properties of Plot, Droppable?, PickPocketable?, Stolen?, and Cursed? as False. A simply brass basement key should not need any of these.

An item that has "Plot" set to True is indestructible – e.g. A magical door that requires a special spell/key to open may be enchanted to resist bashing ("Plot" set to True). [In NWN1, a light beam needed to be set as "Plot" because as with all object, it can be "bashed" with a weapon!]
An item that has "Droppable?" set to True will be "dropped" when its owner is destroyed – e.g. if player found a Frost Wand after dispatching an evil wizard, the item (Frost Wand) has "Droppable?" set to "True".)
An item that has "PickPocketable?" set to "True" may be PickPocketed by a rogue, or anyone with the "PickPocket" feat.
An item that has "Stolen?" set to "True" is considered to be "stolen goods". This is sometimes used in the game to make life more difficult for a rogue because "stolen goods" may not be sold to regular merchants, but only to a merchant of the Thief Guild.
An item that has "Cursed" set to "True" is cursed (Duh!) – e.g. A cursed ring, once equipped, will lower the player's abilities, and can only be removed by a priest in a Temple, or by another PC/NPC with the "UNCURSE" spell. An unequipped cursed ring will not give the PC problem. Typically, the cursed item will need to be "identified".

[Note: As you can see, "Identify" and "Cursed" can work hand-in-hand to spice up your game and provide some interesting adventure to your players.]

[Reasoning: To make life easier for yourself and your fellow modders (if you work in a team, that is), remember to name the item name, tag, and resref with the same name. This will help you and your team-mates keep track of the items created (so that each item is "unique", this will ensure the game scripts (programming code) can be executed correctly.]

Phew! That was some long tutorial! We are finally done with the key!

7. Now, a new key blueprint would be useless if Frans does not have it, wouldn't it? Let's put it into Frans pocket so he can give to the player.

(In truth, Frans does not need the key to be on him at all, because we can always create the key on the player with Scripting. But for the player's sake, if Frans was to have the key on him, it would make the game more "realistic". Since rogues are allowed to "peek" into NPC's pocket – when pickpocketing, let's add the basement key into Frans' inventory to humor the players.)

8. Right-click on basement key in the Blueprints Section and open the Properties panel. In the Properties panel, click on the Inventory tab. Click on the Edit button located at the bottom right hand corner of the panel.

9. In the Inventory dialog box that pop up (this is Frans' Inventory, or "Pocket"), click on the basement key followed by Add Item. The selected item would be added to the NPC's inventory.

Deleting a Blueprint

Should you ever need to delete a Blueprint you have created, just select it and hit the Delete key on your keyboard. (Note: this option is not available through Right-Click.)

In the dialog box, click OK to delete the Blueprint, or No to keep it.

[Note: You may also check out Obsidian's Tutorial for Creating Items.]

Practice No.4

Please complete Practice No.4 before proceeding to the next lesson on "Frans' New Basement".

Continue to » Practice No.4