Get your evil here (Path of Evil testing)

I'll try to anticipate some questions.

Class/Race/Background: There is no preferred class. Each of the four traditional archetypes gets it's own path through the Neverwinter portion of the campaign. In Neverwinter, which covers the first 3-4 levels, Fighter types will see a lot of combat, while wizards will not see much combat initially etc. Classes with level adjustments are obviously going to have a difficult time early on though, I would suggest no more than a level adjustment of 1, or things are going to be really difficult.

Companions: In Neverwinter your are joined immediately by a rogue, and later by a ranger, but the paths through Neverwinter take these into account. Overall, there are two potential companions for each of the four archetypes. Companions can be multiclassed freely, and they are set to join at level 1 and then get experience up to the pc level. So there are two fighter types, two wizard types, two cleric types, and two rogue types, but you could change that by multiclassing them.

One of the clerics can potentially be killed by the player before they have the join option. One of the fighters requires you to find him first (he's not hanging out in the city market waiting for people to walk by). All are nearby after you leave Neverwinter, they can be found in places on the first overland map.

Overland Map: Once you leave Neverwinter, you hit an overland map and are free to travel as you choose. It's supposed to be a giant sandbox. No overland encounters unless you give feedback you want them. It's technically not an overland map.

Monsters: Since you can wander freely, you might find yourself in over your head. Yes, you can wander into high level encounters. Maybe you should run when you encounter a dragon and it's allies at level 4. :-) You can also find some weak enemies you'll walk right over. Make sure to laugh maniacally when you do. The areas near where you first reach the overland map are generally level appropriate though, and most encounters are spawned instead of placed.

Magic items: I've tried to keep magic levels down. Finding a +3 item is really good. Faerun lore states the gods weild +5 weapons. In keeping with this I've tried to eliminate 1-6 elemental damage on weapons, weapons you find with elemental enchantments are generally restricted to a point or two of elemental damage. Merchants tend to have only +1 items at best. A few high powered merchants will have +2..

Crafting: OC style.

Weapons: I've tried to put in a selection, but I wanted "exotic weapons" to be just that, exotic. There are few exotic weapons in the campaign, though there are decent magic items of each exotic type to be found. If you see something glaringly underrepresented do let me know.

Combat: There's nothing fancy here, standard combat scripts. But intelligent enemies outdoors will sometimes be positioned on overlooks so they can fire at you with missile weapons. Melee characters may have to take the long way around to get to them, or the enemies may even be unaccessible. Some form of ranged combat for the party is desirable. Enemies tend to have maxed hit points, making things like disabling attack more powerful.

Plot: If you thought SoZ was plot light then this takes it to a whole other level. It's an open world once you leave Neverwinter, you need to figure things out for yourself. The hero is always told exactly where they need to go. As the bad guy, you are not told exactly what needs to be done, it's often up to you to figure it out. Major plot items are given locations like "in the city somewhere". To complete the main campaign you only have to complete about 10% of the available quests. One companion tells you where he thinks you should go, but you don't have to and can complete the campaign without doing so. Often, your directions will be vague. A bare minimum path through the campaign you would enter only about 20% of the areas. A few areas are empty on purpose to emphasize the open world.

Skills: While the traditional conversation skills are of course used, every skill has been used in conversation, even tumble. There are probably well over 1000 conversation skill checks.

Conversation: In addition to skills, companions can open up new ways to interact. Some companions will automatically succeed at actions in conversation. It's identified when this is so, by "[Companion interaction: name]" in dialog. Your companions might interject and take over a conversation too, this takes the conversation out of your control, and can lead to violence if you are speaking to someone of a group the companion hates. By the same token, some companions are well known in the areas they are found, and having them in your party will give you more information or other bonuses. Skill/Stat/Race etc granted converation options are labelled as such. These generally give the best reaction from the npc.