Heya,

I'm finally going to start playing NWN. I played the OC many years ago and this time I think I will skip it and start with SOU. I'm wondering how badly are rogue skills like disable trap and unlock needed? Will I miss out on loot a lot and die on traps if the PC or NPC companion lacks these skills? On the side note I'd really like to have Deekin on my side whenever possible, so any suggestions what classes would go well with him? He is a bard in SOU if I have understood correctly. Is he also in HOU? :)

I don't think there are traps bad enough to outright kill you, mostly the chests and doors can be bashed. I'm almost sure you'll find trap disabling & door opening magic items before long as well.

You will miss the resale value of recovered traps though, which was pretty nice to gather extra income. (not that you'll necessarily need that much money either).

I think Deekin was available at some point. Not sure though, never picked him in any module. He's in HOU like most of the cast of OC, but only for awhile. New "friends" to be found deep down there.

Class suggestions... well anything goes really. All official campaigns are perfectly playable without companions with any class. Deekin is best as a support character though, so you might like having a melee capable one for yourself. But really, just pick something you'd think you'd like.

If a trap proves too deadly, there's always the magic 'Reload' spell. It's been so long that I can't recall what traps are in SoU, and I used Dorna as my companion with a Sorcerer as my main. The Find Traps spell will disarm all traps in the area of effect, so that's a possibility.

Deekin is a Bard/RDD in HotU. Don't recall if he has any RDD in SoU (I don't believe so, as I think RDD was introduced in HotU). I'd definitely go with a melee oriented character if you plan on taking Deekin as your sidekick.

In HotU, Deekin is -as far as i know- the only character from "above" that is allowed to go down into the underdark with you.
So you're able to pick him up in SoU as soon as he's available and then again take him into your party in HotU and play with him until the end. :)

Thanks for your answers everyone :)

I'm pondering on a fighter/rogue. How do multiclass skills work in NWN1? In NWN2 you could take able learner but that doesn't seem to be in NWN1? Does this mean I can only increase rogue skills as class skills when leveling up as a rogue?

Exactly so. Rogue/fighter works fine for me, taking discipline, healing, lore and such when leveling as fighter and rogue skills when picking rogue levels. Tumble is a particular favourite (in NWN1) when doing a combat rogue, it doesn't only protect from attacks of opportunity, but also improves AC one point per five levels in skill.

I lose the cursor after the game starts in WIndows 7. Does not seem to matter what compatibily mode I use. Game looks like it wants to run, both with a missing cursor it is datn difficult. It does not do this under Bladers Gale or Icewind Dale. Any help would be appreciated. When I cancel the game, the cursor is there in regular non game mode.