Players can adventure with up to three companions at a time. Along with the larger party size comes increased companion complexity in all aspects from enhanced usefulness and combat effectiveness to dramatically improved personalities, dialogue and story background.

In addition, companions in Neverwinter Nights 2 take full advantage of the game's complex influence system, which dramatically alters the player characters' alignment and the world's reaction to the player based upon the actions and choices made during the course of game play. Just as the world will change based upon the player's actions, companions will also react directly to the player characters' alignment and the decisions they make. The more a companion trusts the player the more likely it will share its history, fears and even secrets. Likewise, the more divergent the player's point of view is from a companion, the greater the potential for loss of influence and, in some cases, may even lead to the companion abandoning the player during gameplay.

"Companions in Neverwinter Nights 2 are much more than just a simple collection of statistics and abilities. We wanted companions to provide the player with real value, insight into the game's storyline as well as a source of additional entertainment," said Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian Entertainment. "Allowing more companions to accompany the player, the addition of companion control, much more robust companion storylines and interactions, not to mention the romance possibilities, are all sure to make companions a very popular part of Neverwinter Nights 2."

In Neverwinter Nights 2, players will also have the ability to select and control companion actions, including guiding their spell selections, attacks and other special abilities. Players can also simply allow each companion's advanced artificial intelligence to take over, which will ensure an appropriate response to any given situation. In addition, each companion in Neverwinter Nights 2 has also been designed to fill both a role-playing personality role as well as a specific class support role. No matter what class a player chooses to start with, the selection of available companions will allow players to balance out their party to reflect the style of play they prefer.

Some of the first companions players will come across in Neverwinter Nights 2 include:

• Khelgar Ironfist (Chaotic Good, Dwarf, Fighter) -- Khelgar is a good- natured dwarf with a love of the finer things in life. He's strong and tough, even by dwarf standards, and developed a fearsome reputation as a brawler. Khelgar is heading to the city of Neverwinter, to find a monastic order that has opened their doors to anyone who wishes to learn ... Khelgar is going to make them rue that policy quickly.
• Neeshka (Neutral, Tiefling, Rogue) -- Part demon and part human, Neeshka has had a tough life. She has been raised most of her life as a ward of the Church of Helm, and from childhood to today she's been in one sort of trouble or another. Tieflings are often noble figures who fight to redeem themselves despite people's initial prejudices. However, Neeshka doesn't have a heart of gold, or some inner core of virtue, she's just trouble at heart. She's a cute sort of trouble, though. She fuels the perception of Tieflings as worrisome imps good for nothing but headaches.
• Elanee (Neutral Good, Wood Elf, Druid) -- A child of the forest, fickle and fae -- Elanee is a wood elf druid who watches over the Mere of Dead Men. Elanee is not quite of this world, and is more at home in the realm of forests and mires than she ever will be in civilization. She has tremendous courage and a fiery temper, as well. She views the world with a strange newness -- which is at odds with her often wise counsel. She also sees deeper into people than they suspect.

The Neverwinter Nights franchise has sold more than two million copies worldwide, is translated into 10 languages, sold in more than 40 countries and features one of the largest and most active fan communities in all of gaming. To date, fans of the franchise, which includes Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide and Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark, have created nearly 4,000 modifications to the original game using the award-winning Aurora Toolset, the groundbreaking software included with the full game that allows players to create their own universes, quests and storylines. A new and improved toolset will be included with the release of Neverwinter Nights 2.

Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, Neverwinter Nights 2 is set in the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Forgotten Realms universe created by Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, and will transport players back to the embattled city of Neverwinter. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is under license from the Hasbro Properties Group, the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro.

Neverwinter Nights 2 is scheduled for release in September 2006.