Hi everyone, this is my first time at the forum here.

I am currently into Neverwinter Nights SOU expansion, only into chapter 1 so far. Anyway, out of curiosity I tried out two different choises in a quest, just to test what choise would give me the best rewards. I could choose to either slay the kobold chieftain, or act as a mediator between him and some other kobold. To slay the kobold chieftain and the entire tribe gave me like 600 xp and a lot of loot, while acting as the mediator give me puny 200 xp and no loot. I think this is simply unbalanced. But I am playing a lawful good paladin and like to roleplay my character, I would of course prefer to go the diplomatic route and avoid any evil/chaotic alignment changes. I forgot to check of the "kill all" option would give me an alignment change though.

So my question is; will you always get more xp and loot for doing the "kill everything"/"bad" choise in this game? Thanks for answers.

The amount of XP you get is dependent upon the difference in class level between your character and the enemy slain. For example, a level 20 character might not get any XP at all for killing a kobold, but a level 1 character would. The important thing is that it all balances out, so play your character 'in character'.

Thank you for your reply Hickory. So what you are saying is that the total amount of xp gained through an entire chapter should remain the same for any character independent of what level the character was when killing monsters? I suppose this would not effect xp from completing quests itself, which I belive is a fixed amount? Also, I used an imported character who has a slightly higher level than intended I belive. So, if I had started out at level 1 as intended I would be rewarded even more xp by simply killing everything?

Not exactly; it's entirely possible to come away with more or less XP. Rather, the point is that there's a diminishing return. Once you hit a certain level you simply won't be getting much XP from combat in chapter 1. This means that if you get less XP from other sources you will still catch up and probably end the chapter at the same level.

In one playthrough I did tear through SoU chapter 1 and killed everything in my path (including the militia of Hilltop). In the short-term it put me way ahead, but by the end of the chapter I was getting so little XP from combat that my level really wasn't that much ahead at all.

In the long-run, if you play through SoU with a henchman you'll probably end at level 12 and if you play without a henchman you'll probably end at level 14. The variations, particularly in chapter 1, simply won't matter in the end.

As Darvin explained, it's about diminishing returns. Don't go counting the XP; enjoy the game. :)

It is unbalanced. And no, the "kill all" doesn't give you an alignment shift. It entirely depends on the module. In the official campaigns, it's probably always better to simply kill everything rather than seek a peaceful solution if you're primarily concerned about XP/gold/items. The only time there might be an exception is if you're much higher level than all of the potential enemies (maybe it's a side quest you're doing sort of last minute or something) and thus wouldn't get much XP from killing them.

However, in many custom modules, the peaceful path gives more XP/rewards because it is considered "harder" (due to needing social skill investment). Hell, in some modules you don't even get experience from combat precisely to avoid this issue.

But it all depends on the module -- and there's a reason that many custom modules are considered superior to the official campaigns (though HotU is considered to be pretty good).

But in the official campaigns, especially the original campaign and SoU? It won't balance out, killing everything is better power-wise. But the campaigns are also so easy that the extra powerful is pretty irrelevant (and it's basically only a level or two at most -- not talking the difference between finishing at level 10 versus finishing at level 18 or something). Yes.

Wrong thread.

Thank you. This really clarified my question. I will. ;) That is interesting, maybe I`ll check out some custom modules in the future.