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Special Features: Randomization, Scalability, and Stats Collection

By: Stanley Woo

Randomization

Infinite Dungeons allows an unprecedented level of randomization manipulation for the ambitious adventurer. Within the scope of an intriguing story, the Infinite Dungeons module allows the player to change his environment in many ways.

For example, the dungeon appearance itself may be changed to suit an individual player's adventuring needs. From the themes used to the number of levels in the dungeon to the number of doors that appear, nearly every aspect of the dungeon geography can be manipulated by the player. Some of the randomizable elements include:

• encounter difficulty
• encounter size
• encounter frequency
• creature type appearing in encounters
• monster treasure frequency
• area treasure frequency
• depth of dungeon

Scalability

The difficulty of a given dungeon or dungeon level is based partly on the player's character level and partly on his preferences when manipulating the dungeon. Any henchmen or followers in the party (or other players, in a multiplayer setting) can also influence the relative difficulty in an area or dungeon.

As the player gains levels or adds characters to his party, the difficulty of the game scales up accordingly to provide a greater challenge and greater rewards to players as they progress. Some of the scalable features include:

• trap difficulty (Spot checks, Disable Trap checks, damage)
• lock difficulty (Open Lock checks)
• door and container strength (Bash checks)
• creature types appearing in encounters
• creature and henchman levels
• secret door detection difficulty
• treasure type
• plot requirements
• store inventory

Stat collection

The Infinite Dungeons module provides a brand-new element of gameplay in a Neverwinter Nights module: scorekeeping. Throughout the game, some of the player's actions will score points that will be attached to that player and character (based on a player's public CD key) for comparison and/or competition with other players.

The number of points scored for a particular accomplishment is based on the difficulty of the task compared to the player character's level. A high-level character would earn fewer points for tasks designed to be challenging for a lower-level character, like a 10th-level character disarming a 6th-level trap. Conversely, a lower-level character would gain more points for accomplishing tasks designed to challenge higher-level characters, like a 6th-level character defeating a CR10 creature.

Whenever the player gains points, a message will appear in the player's conversation window. Points are stored in a permanent inventory object, which the player can view at any time to check his score. This object, when viewed, will list the player's accomplishments by type and the number of points he has received in each.

Some of the accomplishments that score points include:

• discovering a new area
• revealing a secret area
• character level-up
• killing a creature
• defeating a boss creature
• successfully solving a puzzle
• completing a plot

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