Neverwinter is a fictional city-state in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Neverwinter was founded by Lord Halueth Never. It sits on the northwestern coast of the subcontinent of Faerûn.
The city has been the home locale for the first graphical MMORPG ever created, the original Neverwinter Nights on AOL (1991–1997), which was developed by Stormfront Studios. BioWare later acquired the rights to the title and developed a series of best-selling role-playing video games under the name Neverwinter Nights.
In the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition version of the Forgotten Realms lore, Neverwinter was destroyed in the Spellplague and much of its population scattered. This was accompanied by a new trilogy of Drizzt novels taking place in the city as it is being rebuilt, written by R. A. Salvatore. Other products included the MMORPG Neverwinter.
Creative origins
Neverwinter was created by Ed Greenwood as part of his fledgling Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
Shannon Appelcline, the author of Designers & Dragons series, notes that while TSR was interested in publishing a new setting in 1986 "the story of the Realms actually began some two decades earlier. A young Ed Greenwood was a voracious reader, influenced by Poul Anderson (1926-2001), Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950), Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), Fritz Leiber (1910-1992), A. Merritt (1884-1943), William Shakespeare (1564-1616), and others. Some time between 1966 and 1969 (sources vary), Greenwood tried his hand at writing too, penning the first story of the Realms. [...] It was the first of many stories of Mirt the Moneylender. [...] In the years that followed, Mirt traveled up and down the Sword Coast in Greenwood's stories, and so the author discovered Mirabar, Luskan, Neverwinter, Port Llast, Waterdeep, and Baldur's Gate. Within a year he drawn a map showing these places, truly turning the stories into a world. And thus the Realms was born".</blockquote>Neverwinter received an initial description in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (1987).
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition
For AD&D 2nd Edition, the city was revisited in the boxed set the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (1993) and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting Revised (1996). The Player's Guide to the Forgotten Realms Campaign (1993) also visited Neverwinter. This supplement was written in the form of a journal detailing the travels of an eclectic adventuring party. <blockquote>All in all, Neverwinter is perhaps the most cosmopolitan city in Faerûn, escaping Waterdeep's slums and grasping competitiveness, and Silverymoon's harsher climate and heavier need for defense against orcs and other evils. Cities in Amn and Calimshan commonly claim to be more civilized, but merchants who trade there all say that Neverwinter truly is civilized, unlike some showier rivals who, as the sage Mellomir once put it, "have achieved decadence without the need for passing through civilization first". — Volo</blockquote>Volo's Guide to the North (1993) contained extensive details about the city including landmarks, taverns and inns. It also went into detail about the surrounding area including the Neverwinter River, the Neverwinter Wood and the villages of Conyberry and Phandalin. Volo's Guide to the North was one in a series of guidebooks written by Ed Greenwood through the character Volothamp Geddarm's perspective with another character's (Elminster of Shadowdale) commentary throughout.
In the boxed set The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier (1996), characters and items from Neverwinter were included along with details about the area surrounding the city, such as the Neverwinter Wood.
3rd Edition & 3.5
Neverwinter made a brief appearance in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001). Appelcline commented that "the Sword Coast has long been one of the most detailed parts of the Forgotten Realms. Neverwinter lies in its north, just past the Mere of Dead Men. From the earliest days of the Realms, it was often mentioned as one of the most civilized cities in Faerûn. Though it made notable appearances in Volo's Guide to the North (1993) and The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier (1996), prior to the publication of the Neverwinter Campaign Setting (2011), the best detail on the city had always been found in computer games". Alex Lucard, for Diehard GameFAN, wrote that the Neverwinter Campaign Setting has "more detail about the area of Neverwinter [...] than previous 4th Edition campaign settings have given to entire WORLDS". Lucard also highlighted that half of the book is a gazetteer with information on the present world state of Neverwinter: "For those of you looking to bridge between third and fourth edition's Neverwinter, there won't be much here for you. For everyone else, CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT. You want legends about why Neverwinter stays warm even in a region where it should be freezing? You get TWO (not just the fire elementals heating the water one). Do you want to learn about all sorts of important locations and buildings within the city of Neverwinter? It's here? Interested in the stats around the Lost Crown of Neverwinter, which the D&D Encounters are currently revolving around? They're in here! Want your characters to learn secret special moves from Drizzt Do'Urden himself? You can!"
Appelcline also wrote that the "Neverwinter Campaign Setting was launched as 4e's first major multimedia release — a marketing approach that Wizards would regularly use in later years. It was closely tied to a series of four novels, a comic book, two different computer games, and even a board game, The Legend of Drizzt (2011). [...] Two more Neverwinter computer games were appearing thanks to Wizards' 'transmedia' campaign. A new MMORPG simply called "Neverwinter" was to be the center of the Neverwinter rollout. Unfortunately it was delayed for two years due to the resolution of a computer gaming lawsuit and the subsequent sale of the developer, Cryptic Studios. Fortunately, players had Heroes of Neverwinter (2011-2012), a Facebook game, to keep them occupied in the meantime. Neverwinter (2013) finally appear only after the rest of the launch [...] Neverwinter also got a lot of fictional attention in the early '10s. The heart of this was a quartet of novels by R.A. Salvatore called the Neverwinter Saga". Michael Harrison, for Wired, described Heroes of Neverwinter (2011-2012) as "a surprisingly deep and, dare I say, playable Facebook game".
Mike Fahey, for Kotaku, wrote that Drizzt Do'Urden is "so popular with role-playing fans that Wizards of the Coast tapped his creator, R.A. Salvatore, to help lead players to Cryptic Studios' upcoming online PC game Neverwinter in a series of new novels. [...] According to the writer, Wizards of the Coast called him up and asked him if he would be in the area when he wrote his next Drizzt book, and as luck would have it, he would be. After a summit to determine how to logically tie the story together with the marketing push, The Neverwinter Saga was born. [...] His involvement in the Neverwinter game is someone less intense, but nonetheless important. Since his trilogy is essentially shaping a portion of that online world, Salvatore, Wizards of the Coast, and Cryptic Studios are collaborating to help keep characters and events straight".
On the transmedia project, Matt Faul, for Diehard GameFAN, wrote that "Neverwinter was of the most cosmopolitan cities in Faerûn, but was left mostly in ruins after the spell plague. [...] If you're a fan of the Forgotten Realms, particularly the City of Neverwinter, this is an exciting time for you. No matter, if you're a video game player, tabletop game players, or just an avid reader Wizards of the Coast has something waiting for you in the legendary City of Neverwinter". Jason Wilson, for VentureBeat, highlighted that "this transmedia project — not only is Neverwinter part of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, it's also a book series from author R.A. Salvatore — is also coming out during an interesting time in D&D history. Neverwinter (originally scheduled to debut in 2012) is coming out while the 4th Edition of the tabletop game is winding down and the upcoming edition, dubbed 'D&D Next' for now, is in playtesting".
5th Edition
<blockquote>What was the blasted, wounded city of Neverwinter just a decade ago is now an exciting, humming place, where folk seem eager to throw off the hardships from which they have emerged and create a new, brighter future for their city. [...] It is the Lord Protector's hope that, with commerce and income both on the rise, and talented craftfolk returning to ply their trades, that Neverwinter will someday again be worthy of its former epithet: the City of Skilled Hands. — Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide The Neverwinter MMORPG has continued to receive expansions that tie-into tabletop adventure storylines such as: Storm King's Thunder (2016), Tomb of Annihilation (2017), and Waterdeep: Dragon Heist (2018).
In 2015, Neverwinter was featured in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (2015). It included a few details on the founding of the city, information on Neverwinter being rebuilt post the Spellplague and The Ruining, and an updated city map.
Fictional description
Neverwinter was founded in 87 DR and was originally named Eigersstor. Neverwinter had a population of about 23,200 at last count and was also known as the City of Skilled Hands and Jewel of the North. It also served as the origin of the phrase "by the clocks of Neverwinter", used when one is solemnly swearing, a reference to the precision of its timepieces. The erudite travel writer Volo (among others) credits Neverwinter as the most cosmopolitan and the most civilized city in all of Faerûn. He regards this as quite a reputation, Neverwinter was prosperous, its master-craftsmen making lamps of multi-coloured glass, precision water clocks and exquisite jewelry. Its Tyrran faith promotes justice and fairness, and greed is frowned upon.
In addition to its unnaturally warm climate, Neverwinter was a rather picturesque city. It founds such sights as its three spectacular, intricately carved bridges: the Dolphin, the Winged Wyvern and the Sleeping Dragon. Under these, the waters of the Neverwinter River cascade over small, gentle waterfalls as they course into the city's bustling harbour. Neverwinter's magnificent gardens (the phrase "the City of Skilled Hands" refers to Neverwinter's accomplished gardeners Lord Neverember then refocused on Neverwinter and was eventuality accepted as the city's rightful leader. The inhabitants of these districts clearly differ in social class and status, wealth, prosperity, population and criminality, resulting in class tension throughout the city. In addition is The Moonstone Mask, directed by Ophala Cheldarstone, also said to have a brothel in its back rooms which can be accessed for a price. of destitution where most of the poor inhabitants live and work. The prison is divided into three levels; the "normal" prison at upper level, a buffer between the worst prisoners location and the normal level, and 'the Pit', a secure dungeon housing the worst prisoners.
In other media
Neverwinter appeared outside of tabletop Dungeons & Dragons in Neverwinter Nights which was the first multiplayer online role-playing game to display graphics, and ran from 1991 to 1997 on AOL. Neverwinter Nights was a low-risk licensing deal for TSR and the company "viewed these arrangements as transmedia opportunities and relied on these efforts to complement its own core rulebooks, novels, and modules. Ironically, it was the low-risk/high-reward licensed products that increasingly granted D&D its greatest exposure during this period; licensed computer games would soon determine how the game was publicly viewed and visualized".
Neverwinter appears in the 2023 film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Reception
Looking at its presentation as a plague-stricken city in Neverwinter Nights (2002), game studies scholar Harry J. Brown found that Neverwinter feels "real because their infected precincts are configured and governed much like the world we occupy everyday".
|Liquid Entertainment, Atari
|Facebook game
|2011
|n/a
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|The Legend of Drizzt
|Peter Lee, Jason Engle, Steve Prescott
|Board game
|2011
|n/a
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|The Legend of Drizzt: Neverwinter Tales (Dungeons & Dragons: Drizzt #1-5)
|R.A. Salvatore, Gene Salvatore, Agustin Padilla
|Trade paperback
|March 2012
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|Charon's Claw
|R.A. Salvatore
|Novel
|August 7, 2012
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|The Last Threshold
|R.A. Salvatore
|Novel
|March 5, 2013
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|Neverwinter
|Cryptic Studios
|Video game
|June 20, 2013
|n/a
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|Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
|Steve Kenson, Joseph Carriker, Brian Cortijo, Jeremy Crawford, Peter Lee, Jon Leitheusser, Mike Mearls, Jack Norris, Sean K. Reynolds, Matthew Sernett, Rodney Thompson
|Sourcebook
|November 3, 2015
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|Storm King's Thunder
|Wizards RPG Team
|Adventure module
|September 6, 2016
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|Vecna: Even of Ruin
|Amanda Hamon, Makenzie De Armas, Ron Lundeen, Patrick Renie
|Adventure module
|May 21, 2024
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