Archived from groups: alt.games.neverwinter-nights (More info?)
In another thread, a the subject of the number of possible class
combinations came up, and I started wondering.
At first blush, it seems an easy enough thing to calculate. There are
20 classes, so my first guess was 20*19*18. 6840, thats a lot of
possibilities.
But thats not right.
Because there aren't 20 classes, there are only 9, the other 11 are
prestige classes, and you can't take them as your first class.
So... 9*19*18=3078
Thats much closer to right. But still wrong.
See, you don't have to triple class, you can double or single. So
that original formula should have been in part 20+(20*19), or in other
words, 20*20*20 is the final formula, 8000 possibilities.
Making this new number 9*20*20=3600
But of course that assumes you can do ALL class combinations. You
can't. At first, alignment restictions seem to let out quite a few,
but after seeing Aribeth in HOTU, I made my own Paladin/Blackguard, so
I know thats not really a problem; you change alignment during play if
you want to do the more unusual combinations, thats all.
There -are- however, race restrictions to consider. All Arcane
Archers must be Elves or Half Elves. Not that that lets out much,
except that All Dwarven Defenders must be Dwarves. So the AA/DD
combinations are all out (all 9 of them... except that in a moment
you'll see there are only three anyway)
But thats not the biggest restiction. More subtle than that are the
class requirements. Arcane Archers must have at least one level of
bard, sorcerer, or wizard. This means only 3 of the 9 original
classes will work as the first class. Pale Masters have the same
restriction. Red Dragon Disciples are even more restricted; only
bards and sorcerers qualify. Worst of all, Shifters: only Druids can
ever become shifters.
And since you must be a druid before becoming a shifter and an arcane
capable class before becoming a AA, PM, or RDD, there will be no
combinations at all including one of those three plus a shifter.
I didn't pursue this any further, its possible that some of the other
prestige classes require so many levels in some classes, or so much
expentiture in feats or something that they preclude certain other
prestige classes or that only a limited set of classes can qualify for
them; for example, can you ever be both a shadowdancer and a weapon
master without first being some kind of melee oriented character, or
some stealth oriented one? I dunno.
But assuming just the above restrictions apply, I count:
9 single classes
72 dual class using only original classes
72 dual class using original class plus prestige class
total 144 possible dual class combinations
504 triple class with original classes only
576 triple class using original, original, prestige
256 triple class using original, prestige, prestige
total 1336 triple class combinations
Grand total of 1489 possible combinations
With only the original NWN game, you'd only see 9+72+504=585
possibilities, SOU would put you much closer as most of the prestige
classes are found there, with only a few more added with HOTU
Too, many of these combinations would be fairly stupid, as (for
example) the wizard/sorcerer splits his prime stat into two, and gets
only low level spells in each rather than getting to the higher level
spells by remaining single class. But that doesn't mean they are
impossible.
Fun to think about
Lance
In another thread, a the subject of the number of possible class
combinations came up, and I started wondering.
At first blush, it seems an easy enough thing to calculate. There are
20 classes, so my first guess was 20*19*18. 6840, thats a lot of
possibilities.
But thats not right.
Because there aren't 20 classes, there are only 9, the other 11 are
prestige classes, and you can't take them as your first class.
So... 9*19*18=3078
Thats much closer to right. But still wrong.
See, you don't have to triple class, you can double or single. So
that original formula should have been in part 20+(20*19), or in other
words, 20*20*20 is the final formula, 8000 possibilities.
Making this new number 9*20*20=3600
But of course that assumes you can do ALL class combinations. You
can't. At first, alignment restictions seem to let out quite a few,
but after seeing Aribeth in HOTU, I made my own Paladin/Blackguard, so
I know thats not really a problem; you change alignment during play if
you want to do the more unusual combinations, thats all.
There -are- however, race restrictions to consider. All Arcane
Archers must be Elves or Half Elves. Not that that lets out much,
except that All Dwarven Defenders must be Dwarves. So the AA/DD
combinations are all out (all 9 of them... except that in a moment
you'll see there are only three anyway)
But thats not the biggest restiction. More subtle than that are the
class requirements. Arcane Archers must have at least one level of
bard, sorcerer, or wizard. This means only 3 of the 9 original
classes will work as the first class. Pale Masters have the same
restriction. Red Dragon Disciples are even more restricted; only
bards and sorcerers qualify. Worst of all, Shifters: only Druids can
ever become shifters.
And since you must be a druid before becoming a shifter and an arcane
capable class before becoming a AA, PM, or RDD, there will be no
combinations at all including one of those three plus a shifter.
I didn't pursue this any further, its possible that some of the other
prestige classes require so many levels in some classes, or so much
expentiture in feats or something that they preclude certain other
prestige classes or that only a limited set of classes can qualify for
them; for example, can you ever be both a shadowdancer and a weapon
master without first being some kind of melee oriented character, or
some stealth oriented one? I dunno.
But assuming just the above restrictions apply, I count:
9 single classes
72 dual class using only original classes
72 dual class using original class plus prestige class
total 144 possible dual class combinations
504 triple class with original classes only
576 triple class using original, original, prestige
256 triple class using original, prestige, prestige
total 1336 triple class combinations
Grand total of 1489 possible combinations
With only the original NWN game, you'd only see 9+72+504=585
possibilities, SOU would put you much closer as most of the prestige
classes are found there, with only a few more added with HOTU
Too, many of these combinations would be fairly stupid, as (for
example) the wizard/sorcerer splits his prime stat into two, and gets
only low level spells in each rather than getting to the higher level
spells by remaining single class. But that doesn't mean they are
impossible.
Fun to think about
Lance
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