Now that I've got a much better grip on the 3.5 combat system (and I'm on the 1st level of the Temple), I keep going from room to room telling myself "Just one more battle" before I go do real-life stuff like...dishes...laundry...baby bottles...walking the dogs...

Anyone else like that? :-)

Don't know what you're talking about? (As I sit here at 11 AM, avoiding billable work, and instead getting ready to load up the game because I've only got two more elemental node bosses to go...)

Baby bottle? If they're really hungry, they'll figure out how to get it themselves. Likewise, the dogs can figure out flush toilets without your help.

Re: 3.5 ruleset - Have you not played NeverWinter Nights 1? It also used these rules and let your rogues shoot arrows as sneak attacks (even more liberally in fact).

After I finish the post-temple content in the TOEE patch, I'm looking forward to trying the Keep on the Borderlands (KOTB) module. I think I still have the orignial module in my shed from way back when. One of the few boxes I've kept my wife from tossing over the years. (I'm still mad she tossed my complete Star Fleet Battles, not that I'd ever find the time to get those hex maps out.)

NWN1 uses 3.0, not 3.5. Not to mention that ToEE uses a turnbased system and has many of the really advanced options, like casting defensively and preparing vs. approach or withdrawal.

Understood. I guess I was meaning the gist of 3.0/3.5 rules (skills, feats, new class selections on level up, etc.) which are very different from what us geezers learned playing the pen and paper game and what was done in the Infinity Engine games!

I also assume the tactical decision options are more based upon game design choices rather than rule sets since NWN was more of a single player, real-time style.

Actually, NWN does in fact have a turn based system, but it's a continuously run tun based system that mimics real time. That is why your character will stand there doing nothing for a second or two before attacking. It's waiting for its next turn.

Any way to set up NWN to go strictly turn-by-turn, rather than mimicking real time?

In NWN2 you can indeed, using the modded AI system. I forget what it's called. It's actually pretty annoying, though, if you let it stop every single turn.

In NWN 1, no, you can't, aside from hitting the pause button constantly.

I can't find it right now, but there is a mod I played once that set NWN up to play very 3.5ish rules in a turn-based way.

It worked fairly well, but not great.

It's on the vault somewhere. Or, at least, was once. :D

Also, there's a TOEE module on the vault, too.

that's just great :-D. But that one battle can simply last for one hour as from my experience :-D.