Am I missing something? Edwin brings extra spells, Nalia brings her ring, Minsc brings his berserk ability, Mazzy brings some extra abilities as a Truesword, etc etc. What does Korgan bring that's extra to his Berserker status? Come to think of it, what does Aerie bring? Or Jaheira?

Aerie? Jaheira?
A big fat pile of whining... :evil:

IIRC - Korgan has a plus 1 axe when you get him.

Aerie has her own robe and romance

Jaheira bring extra power in the beginning of the game and a romance

Korgan brings one of the rarest things - an evil NPC

Korgan: Muscle, a small quest, a few axes, and, er, well, that's about it.

Aerie and Jaheira: Spells. And plot, plot, and more plot. I hope I remembered to mention plot.

Korgan, eh? Well, he brings a lot of blood with him, that's fer sure, harhar...

Aerie, eh? Well, she brings a splittin' headache to my poor PC and endless tales of woe about her clipped wings...

Jaheira? Well... she brings a whole lot of good things, amongst those - a whole lotta love to my ever so happy PC...

LOL :p

Korgan - brings lots of extra HP and a dwarf.
Aerie - brings many new spells and lots of whining
Jaheira - brings a druid and a hefty romance :D

Don't know about most, but I always get Aerie. She brings a huge Repertoire of spells...

I love putting her clerical spells in her contingency and sequencer spells... the firepower alone is worth keeping her in my party.

And her "whining" to me is like dealing with a sister. *sigh* and I have three already so no biggie there.

Korgan: muscle, some funny interactions with Mazzy.
Aerie: how can a NPC be so annoying?
Jaheira: bugs, lots of bugs.

Korgan - the only funny, black comedic, rough-and-tumble, berzerk, freakin evil character in the game. Personally, I like him.

<edit> Oh and the only character who has axes as their default weapon. I like choppas :D

I guess I should have been more specific -- what does Korgan bring to the party in terms of either a) abilities beyond that of a normal berserker (ref: Mazzy's special Truesword abilities) or b) Items that ONLY he can use (ref: Nalia's ring, Edwin's amulet, Minsc's hamster). Obviously, he doesn't have any extraordinary abilities or exclusive items. Thanks for the answers.

Well... he has an entertaining accent :grin:

But he's just a normal character :heh:

Aerie - a whole lot of pain and suffering a la I'm the only one in Faerun who was hard done by. (right) At least early on. Her personality does evolve, but I couldn't make it through the early torture. Come TOB, I can definitely see her becoming real powerful. She's the only NPC that can string both priest and mage spells together in things like Spell Trigger and Chain Contingency. Come a certain level, she could do just about anything to anybody. And she'd be really hard to kill. Take for example this possible Chain Contingency, her own hit points at 25% - Heal, Immunity to Magic Weapons (combined with the Aslyferund Chain), Fire Shield. But my party arrangment emphasizes a fighter/mage, a straight cleric, and a straight mage, so I don't end up fitting her in. Of course, her early whining helps seal the deal.

Korgan - A bloodthirsty psycho who's really appropriate only when you're roleplaying as an evil SOB who wants to become the next Lord of Murder. Has plenty of dark humour to toss at you, the other party members, and anybody you bump into during the game. As lethal as there is in straight melee. I figure, pump up his strength to 19 with the Machine of Lum the Mad, equip him with the Axe of the Unyielding and a +4 shield, and let him go to work.

Jaheira - a woman with some grit and some real character, and worthy of the protagonist's heart. Come TofB, you have someone who can:
- While protected by Iron Skins, crank out the Greater Whirlwind attacks.
- render a whole group of mages or priests helpless via Insect Plague (or Creeping Doom at higher levels).
- summon the Elemental Princes. Cernd is the only other NPC who can do that.
- provides extra healing power.
- whip out Defensive Harmony in a flash.
There is the well-documented problem of the XP gap between 14th and 15th leves, which is exacerbated by Jaheira being a multi-class character. What I do is acquire the Deck of Many Things. I then kick everybody else besides myself and Jaheira out of the party. I then draw the cards that bestow huge XP bonuses (like the Throne card). Nobody else really suffers for it (they're still powerful). Jaheira on the other hand:
- a while pile of 5th, 6th, and 7th level spells. Now she can really crank it out with spells like Earthquake and Firestorm.
- immunity to poison.
- her elemental resistances will really start to build up.

What does Korgan bring to the party in terms of either a) abilities beyond that of a normal berserker (ref: Mazzy's special Truesword abilities) or b) Items that ONLY he can use (ref: Nalia's ring, Edwin's amulet, Minsc's hamster). Obviously, he doesn't have any extraordinary abilities or exclusive items.
----->
Very well, here are some answers then that may satisfy your curiousity:

Korgan:
Indeed, even I would like to know the answers to this one. He seems to be the only one different in this respect. But then again, he does have more HP than any regular Dwarven Berserker his level should have, does he? Then again, maybe it's just me. Maybe some of his other stats are above average, like saving throws or morale.

Some extras:
Aerie:
She's an elf. Many may have not noticed, but elves aren't supposed to become mage-clerics. The fact that she did become one makes her a unique elf. Go figure. :)

Jaheira:
She has the Harper Call spell, and later on she may gain the Harper amulet.

Aerie is an Avariel, which may allow her to become a mage/cleric (though I'll have to crack open my PnP Player's Handbook and double check, I thought elves could be cleric/mages.)

I think (*think*) Korgan has resistance to a certain weapon type, I'll have to check though

Korgan brings a powerdrinker to the party.

:D