Thought I would move this from my Suggestion, so as to keep it from being locked. Please place survival tips (non-spoiler, please) in this spot. They may be humorous, but keep them informative at the same time.

A personal note: I know my character is not invincible, but I do have a fairly safe plan going with him. I have yet to run into the bigger monsters, and they very well might kill me in one hit. Who knows? ~Dragon

The classic always have an invisibility potion at hand. You can never have enough of them!

Survival is nothing assured. As was stated in previous spam posts, There is not a class out there, that can live and be free. Groups make survival. Tactic makes survival. Procreation makes survival-Well not so much that one, but you get my point.

I'll take the time to point you towards this post. It'll save your life more than once, I promise you.

At my last count, I've had over 90 Characters that have lived/died or sit in my vault to bring them true, and I must say, Never run ahead, it's killed me more than once.

I run ahead all the time...

Fully buffed cleric ftw!

All good, and thank you for adding. I'll put my personal favorite in:

Don't run into combat. I don't care if your character is a barbarian. Only if he's enraged would he be stupid enough to run at a line of bowmen and Elite XXXes. Running ahead into an unknown area is stupid, but running and getting five AoEs on yourself at once may be even more so. The moment I started implementing this on my characters, one hit level five for the first time in my NWN history.

All for now, keep them coming if you so choose.

Emryuk I run ahead all the time...

Fully buffed cleric ftw!

Want to survive? One word: communicate. If your teammates ask you to wait or slow down, they aren't talking to hear the sound of their own voice. There might be a deadly trap in front of your feet. They might need to heal themselves. Or, they might simply have something important to say that will help everyone live longer.

Once you enter combat and make that first initiative roll, the DC for all traps, locks, and healing packs gets a big, fat penalty for everyone in your party. If you fire off arrows at some distant enemy while one of your teammates is disarming a trap, it could literally blow up in their face.

This penalty is there for a very, very good reason. Not even the Marines run from one battle to the next without pausing to regroup, and they use automatic weapons. Imagine trying to hack through hordes of enemies with a heavy sword without even so much as stopping to catch your breath!

A good rule of thumb: if you can't run for that long without stopping to take a breather, then your character can't fight that long, either.

Here's one I've thusfar learned the hard way:

* Never ever ever ever join a group that may or may not be strong enough simply because you are frustrated with your inability to find a sufficiently sized group in your level range for the past 2 days straight.

NOTE: This is an especially bad choice if you are playing an especialy vulnerable character... say a mage.

And one that it shouldn't take dying to realize:

* Vanity is the most deadly vice of all.

#1- Understand the mechanics #2- Spend all your money on consumables #3- Form/join a group, share loot #4- Keep quickslots efficient, inventory clean

Apart from luck, these straightforward measures will keep you alive. Especially the first one.

Id want to reiterate the whole not running ahead into an unknown area or charging ahead without much forethought however a bad idea. For your own survival also makes you a huge liability to the group, with non-melee oriented(rouges, bow fighters, monks and clerics) players having to play human shield so the mage can get off a suicidal cast. While the cleric is burning all that well loved healing on a psychotic fighter with an unhealthy love for getting himself killed. Playing a cleric for most of my EFU and NWN career i have found that even with the most conservative spellcasting I only have a few heals left at the big boss fights. So please unless your a (Dumb/Suicidal) enraged barbarian and have little roleplay reasons for self and team preservation PLEASE wait until the door fully opens before you go rushing through.

I just want to make one reservation regarding the 'don't charge ahead posts' - charging ahead, in my opinion, is fine, as long as your character has enough healing to be every enemy's target for as many rounds as it takes for the others to join the fray. I'm serious, here. If you run ahead, you have to be able to support yourself beyond a doubt - or you will suffer the consequences.

Even in a party of chaotic evil six-charisma half-orc Garagosians, when someone dies, everyone in the party suffers the consequences.

My all time favourites are the already mentioned "don't run ahead", "wait for the others" and "don't start a fight while someone else might heal/disarm/etc". All of my problems which I had on quests 95% of them came from one or more of that three.

Also, if you are endangering your group on quests by your stupidity or carelessness your group will be dramatically less keen to help/heal/collect your stuff for later giving them back/raise from the dead. Even a non-evil char can easily say that "I sorry him/her, yes, but I will not run into suicide just because that idiot did".

Yes, as Caddies said. Knowing the mechanics is very needed. My dear brother was killed by a spider, cause the though that entangled was paralyzed.. Know them well, and keep healing stocks high. Another tip is not to wait until you have 10 lifes left to start healing. Keep the life up all the time.

*claps* Well done, all of you! I will agree whole-heartedly with Mystic: People are a lot more likely to help someone who has been trying hard to keep them alive than someone who runs at drow armies laughing his head off. MacCaddies, I second the first point. Know the mechanics. Play the campaign for a while, get the gameplay down, and know how to avoid AoEs.

Please continue, if there's anything more we haven't gotten. Thanks!

Trust your feelings. If something is starting wrong, be extra careful.

Don't get carried away when you reach lvls you've never reached before. You're not a hero, you're still striving to survive.

Don't break ranks without warning your team. People die when teams scatter. If you're a warrior, move back a little to heal to avoid AoOs , but don't run far: you'll send a panic signal to the others.

Watch your teammate's health bar, and keep them alive. If they fall, likely you will too.

Letsplayforfun If you're a warrior, move back a little to heal to avoid AoOs , but don't run far: you'll send a panic signal to the others.

Instead, use your mouse to click a few steps away.

Morbid Dread

Letsplayforfun If you're a warrior, move back a little to heal to avoid AoOs , but don't run far: you'll send a panic signal to the others.

A word of warning about this -- do not walk backwards to avoid an AoO. It is an engine exploit and a potentially bannable offense. You can literally walk backwards forever and the enemies will never touch you.

Instead, use your mouse to click a few steps away.

Yep, that's quite true. My point was: don't send a panic signal running halfway quest area if you want to heal.