Hi all again.

My friends don't particularly enjoy Neverwinter Nights, so I thought maybe I could play Multiplayer Baldur's Gate with them. I was wondering if imported characters would have the same gear on them - in other words, can multiple copies of the same "unique" items exist in a game?

Thanks,
RootOfAllSquares

Yes, but you lose your items in jons dungeon at the start unless you pause and drop your items and i think that you get your xp capped at 161000

If you do a ToB-only game, though, that doesn't happen. But considering that ToB is a piece of crap compared to SoA (and totally worthless when compared to BG1 :p ), I'd say take the hit and play it.