IWD-2 went gold. Now that the release is coming closer it's time again to think about the first party for IWD-2. Since my last thread died at the venerable age of 33 posts, here comes part-2, dealing with the final rules only - may it live long and prosper ;)
Since I like pallies and play good usually my choice will probably look like that:

Lord Belmen, aasimar or human Paladin, taking a few fighter levels. Since I won't take more than two classes the aasimar's fav class becomes kinda pointless. He'll be fighting melee only using b'swords or l'swords probably (anything else wouldn't be honourable, he'll never use peasant's weapons like halberds either) - my cavalier pendant :) Rutgar, human priest of Ilmater or Tempus or so - taking a few fighter levels for combat efficiency. He will be wielding a sword :) Arabakus Strongshield, gold-dwarf mc fighter - specialising in axes, the larger the better. Caffrey Beamish, strongheart-halfling mc rogue-fighter, the parties scout ... :) Alrauna, half-elf bard, using shortswords and crossbows. Provides spellcasting power, thievery, lore, talking, songs and stuff :D Second frontface for the party for all the unrespectable stuff a pally can't handle ;) Imrahil, woodelf ranger soecialising in longbows and archery and longswords - what else?Other hot contender of the bard was a svirfneblin mage and for the elven archer I have thought about a halfling paladin bowfighter :D .... however, this is how it will probably look like..
How about your parties?

[ August 08, 2002, 08:57: Message edited by: Ragusa ]

My party will consist of:
- Hector, a human fighter wielding a greatsword
- Daniel, a gold dwarf fighter with an axe and a shield
- ?, a lightfoot halfling thief who will use a shortsword and a sling
- ?, a human cleric of Tempus using a hammer and a shield
- ?, a human sorcerer using a dagger and a crossbow
- ?, a moon elf druid/mage with a quarterstaff and a short bow

No goodie goodies for me. My party is four cousins and 2 straglers they picked up. Tomas an Asasimar sorcerer and his twin sister Rachael a cleric of Talos. Their Tiefling rogue cousin Annah and her human fighter brother Jofran. They are joined upon leaving by a dwarf fighter Gregor, and after fighting off some fool Dureger slavers, a drow Wizard Jenfer starts following them.

Well, I'm not good with names, so I'll probably make those up at the last minute. But anyways:

Leader will be a Human Bard for talking situations and a Half-Orc fighter or Barb or both in other situations. Also will have a Dreadmaster of Bane, not sure what race yet, and a rogue which will probably be a tiefling. My arcane spellcaster will be an aasimar enchanter, and the last one will probably be some weird thing like a deep gnome monk or something. Maybe use a drow for that last slot.

First run:

- Paladin
- Fighter-Bowman
- mc Thief with fighter classes
- Spellcaster - cleric with some wizard levels
- Bard

It will be a party of 5

Second run - some kind of solo.

Aasimar - Paladin
Gold dwarf - Cleric (Tempus)
Ghostwise halfling - Barbarian
Halfling - Rogue
Human - Druid
Svirfneblin - Illusionist

All these characters will be carried out all clean-classed, just to get the best out of them ;) . Cleric, paladin and barbarian will be wielding long sword, bastard sword and two-handed, others will have bows or crossbows. I especiall enjoy that halfling barbarian and the lack of elves :) .

Mentioning the lack of elves ... good point and a good reason to try out the halfling bowfighting cavalier as my primary arcer instead of the elf :D or maybe a halfling ranger ... :hmm: ... ghostwise halfling perhaps :hmm:

Ooooh, I can't wait :D

I'm going to remake my parties from IWD1

Maybe with a few changes as when I play a game I write about the characters and give them pasts, presents and futures, so it'll be interesting :roll:

Drow-Sorcerer CE
Tielfing-thief/fighter NE(to kill)
Tielfing-fighter/Priest of Mask NE
Human-Mage(conjurer-sp?) LE
Half-orc-Barbarian CE
Drow-Thief(to steal) NE

Here is my party:

Name: Ianten
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Classes: Paladin 20
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 18
Equipment: +5 Keen Bane (Undead), Holy Longsword, +5 Chainmail, +5 Ring of Protection, Bag of Holding (Lesser), Amulet of Protection +5, +4 Holy Dagger

Name: Tordalk
Sex: Male
Race: Dwarf
Classes: Fighter 20
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 16, Con 20, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 12
Equipment: +5 Brilliant Energy Dwarven Axe, +5 Mythril Scale Mail, +4 Holy Light Hammer, Amulet of Protection +5, Ring of Protection +5, Bag of Holding (Medium)

Name: Gallus
Sex: Male
Race: Assimar
Class: Cleric 19
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 20, Cha 20
Equipment: Staff of Storms (24 Charges), Robe of the Arch Magi (Good), Wand of Cure Critical Wounds, +5 Ring of Protection, +5 Amulet of Protection

Name: Terra
Sex: Female
Race: Tiefling
Classes: Wizard 15/Fighter 5
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 12, Cha 16
Equipment: +5 Keen Holy Spell Storing (Bestow Curse) Long Sword, +4 Spell Storing (Poison) Short Sword, +5 Ring of Protection, +5 Amulet of Protection

Name: Minka
Sex: Female
Race: Halfling
Classes: Rogue 20
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 16
Equipment: +5 Bane (Dragons) Wounding Short Sword, +5 Elven Chainmail, Boots of Speed, +5 Ring of Protection, +5 Amulet of Protection

Name: Lena
Sex: Female
Race: Gnome
Classes: Cleric 10/Fighter 10
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 16, Wis 18, Cha 16
Equipment: +5 Keen Holy Bane (Giants) Short Sword, +5 Elven Chainmail, Boots of Elven Kind, +5 Ring of Protection, +5 Amulet of Protection

I am going to recreate my four favorite characters from the original IWD into the new rules and such. Here's what I'm bringing over.

Thordek: LG Dwarf Fighter wielding axe and shield.
Anastacia: CG Elven Ranger dualwielding longswords.
Vylanya: NG Half-Elf Cleric (might take kit, not sure) wielding mace and shield.
Breudayael D'Sorpal: CN Drow (can finally make him a drow) Wizard.

I have written extensive biographies for these four as well as how they met. As for the other two, I haven't decided yet. Those four will be single classes. The other two, maybe:

Kyland: CN ?Halfling Thief with a bow and a dagger.
Drusilia: N Elf diviner or abjurer.

Yes, I really like elves, and the party will be mostly them.

I'll also ressurect the same good old party from the first game. Party of 6:

Human male Mage
Human male Fighter
Half-elf male Cleric
Halfling male Thief
Human male Paladin
Elven felmale Ranger

It's was mostly based on what I've played with friends in AD&D. In the game, the party has every need fullfilled: two front line sword wielders, a background spellcaster, a trapfinder (and a humorous relief!), a lovely lady with a killer bow and...a nice guy who heals everyone :)

I think deciding sexes is better done when you have all the portraits in front of you. Think there is a few of us who could easily end up with an all female party :p .

I'll be using this party:

Renald Cromnir: Male Human Thief using short bow and short sword. Chaotic good.

Xeryal D'tare: Male Elven Ranger using katana. Chaotic good.

Shiva Goodsworth: Female Human Priest using mace and large shield. Neutral Good.

Cherrydale Elvencross: Female Elven Mage using quarterstaff. Neutral good.

Mollusken ... you're right. I'm probably going to end up with a party with a Male Leader (Because I'm a sexist pig) and 5 female associates. I can call the mess "VIP" or "Charlimagn's Angel's" or something ;)

Still thinking of my party ... I'll post that in a bit. :good:

Hmm, I have quite a few very nice female portraits on my harddrive that I used for IWD that might make the transition over. I'm still going to have the fighter and the mage be males though (as my post said, they do have background stories :D ).

It's intriguing that none of you seem interested in using the ready-made parties. Do any of you think you're going to even going to try one, or is it too much fun to make your own?

My first time through IWD1 I used a balanced party like I usually do - a ranger, a druid, a priest etc - but found I enjoyed my all-fighter 2nd pass a lot better with that particular game. I would like to try some of the new races in IWD2 but haven't decided on whether to try a prefab party or not yet.

Premade never really meets my demands - either the skills have been used stupid or the stats are sub-optimal. I get bored when playing a "foreign" char - same when I load a months old savegame, there needs to be a link between me and the chars.
Thanks but not for me, selfmade all the way!

[ August 13, 2002, 10:33: Message edited by: Ragusa ]

Uh, did you actually look at the pre-made parties list on SP Ragusa? The parties are very well balanced and skills and feats are more or less optimal for all. Anyway, you're talking as if you had the choice of pre-made parties in every game, and IWD2 is the first one that has them. What's the deal here?

It's less about premade parties but about the premade chars I have seen in BG, BG-2 and IWD. I'm just sceptic. And my parties are always ballanced too :shake: Besides, yes, there is a fun in making chars too and my chars are always better, always ;)

[ August 13, 2002, 10:35: Message edited by: Ragusa ]

I think the premade parties are more for newbies who aren't familier with the D&D system and don't want to spend the time to create their own party. I read through the descriptions and while the characters are mostly good (in both meanings :( ), none appealed to me as much as the party I'm going to create with their own bios. It's more personal that way.

And I happen to have an emotional attachment to the party I listed above so will not be using prefab parties either.

I though about an evil ligned mercenary party for a second approach:

drow sorcerer; party leader, LE duergar fighter; axes, hammers and shield, LE half-orc fighter - maybe barbarian; two-handed swords or halberds, NE drow ranger; crossbow & flail, LE :D no, not dual scimitars :p tiefling rogue; crossbow & dagger human dreadmaster of bane; flail, NEOnly problem is that this practically is my party "backwards", evil aligned instead of good - however consisting of pure chars only .... :hmm: maybe I should try to find a better team then ... :hmm:

[ August 13, 2002, 20:51: Message edited by: Ragusa ]

My first party will all be some kind of evil or chaotic neutral, I prefer my clerics to destroy undead and heal :) . After that I'll try more focused themed parties. Like a group of 3 drow monks (level 13 become practiacally immune to magic :) ) or crazy race/class combos (deep gnome bard, halfling paladin named Mazzy Fenton).

I definately think the new subraces and no class restrictions will make IWD2 the most replayable of the IE games.

Well, here's my party:
1. LG Aasimar Paladin using great- and long swords
2. NG Wild elf Fighter dual wielding short swords
3. CN Thiefling Thief using short bow and dagger
4. LG Human Mage (Conjurer)
5. LG Gold Dwarf fighter / cleric (probably Tempus, maybe Ilmater) using warhammer & shield
6. CG Fighter / mage using long bow

Oh, and suggestions are welcome!

Well, I have an inkling only of whom my party will have, but here it goes... (See, Ragusa, I spa... post here!)

Arabwel R'ayt: A female Drow Assassin, wielding katanas and crossbows... CN

Chera R'ayt: A male Drow fighter, emplying quarterstaffs and halberds CN

Zhanifin R'ayt: A male Drow fighter/thief, wielding long swords LE

Dhinzak R'ayt: A male Drow Mage (see the pattern? :p ) using daggers and slings TN

Scar Raven:: a female moon-elf mage/thief wielding short swords and short bows NE

Sharoc Strife a male moon-elf cleric, not sure of which faith yet, wielding flails and hammers

Well, there is the raw version.

Ara
(Happy happy joy joy... I think not!)

Arabwel, are you actually going to be roleplaying that female drow? She'll never be bored with that party. ;)

I might go with something like this:

NG Male Dwarf Fighter-20 Tank. One Handed Weapon & Shield.
Str 18, Dex 10, Con 20, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 8

CG Female Human Barbarian-12/Fighter-8 Two Handed Weapon or Double Weapon.
Str 18, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10

NG Female Human Cleric-18/Fighter-2 One Handed Weapon & Shield.
Str 18, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 10

CG Female Wild Elf Rogue-19/Fighter-1 Weapon Finesse & Rapier. (Will this work in IWD2?)
Str 13, Dex 20, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 10

LG Female Aasimar Human Sorceress-18/Paladin-1 Leader.
Str 10, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 20

NG Male Gnome Illusionist-20.
Str 8, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 10

[ August 21, 2002, 17:11: Message edited by: Earl Grey ]

of course my party will be:
Drizzt: Drow Ranger Dual wielding scimitars(i hope his equipment from IWD and bg will be there :p )
Bruenor: Shield dwarf fighter
Catti Brie:human fighter
Regis:hafling rogue
Wulfgar: human barbarian
Malchor Harpell: human mage

I must remind you guys, use a variety of weapons with your party. Some monsters can be resistant or immune to slashing, piercing, etc. :thumb:

I only worry about having different weapon types with fighter types. If my cleric and/or rouge can't hurt an enemy my fighters can come over and get medieval on them, or my sorcerer and wizard can blast it with some arcane magiks.

Heck if they have those cool mage daggers (or similar weapons) I'll just have my spellcasters dual weild a couple of those, screw the penalties, and never make any non magical attacks with them. Not like they ever did anything useful with a staff and sling anyway.

-Samarin Durhelm LG Aasimar Paladin
-Faerus Stoneslammer CG Gold Dwarf Fighter
-Keswyn Skymane CG Wood/Moon Elf Ranger or Thief

-Kellis Du'Ros CG Drow Ranger or Thief (I swear to all that is holy that I came up with a dark elf-gone-good BEFORE I read Salvatore's Drizzt books...I played Warhammer before so I knew about Dark Elves)
-OR-
-Teluria Skymane NG Wood/Moon Elf Mage or Sorcerer

-Voran the Red CG Aasimar Sorcerer
-Sainya Bluemist Half-Elf Druid

Rastor, i actually based the party on an old char I used in a game once.... Heck, I am going to, some way or another, get custom-made weapons for them, as per the game was supposed to go before everyone lost interest... The katana Spiderslayer, the halberd Spiderseeker, the long sword Spiderpiercer and the dager Spidelasher... I'll post the back story to CS at some point....

Ara
(Peter Parker, meet Lloth.... now there's something I'd pay to see...)

Matu Ogardin, Human Male True Neutral Druid/Sorcerer. Using Spears, bows and spells.

Aeselar, Elf Female Lawful Neutral Fighter/Wizard.
Swords, bows and spells.

Gensaro, Half-Orc Male Lawful Good Fighter/Paladin or Pure Fighter.
Dual wielding katanas/Bastard swords! Yes, a Warcraft 3 ripoff!

Delia, Tiefling Female Chaotic Neutral Rogue. Longswords and daggers and bows.

Materia Magica Parties:

Flewinster - Wild Elf Sorcerer
Frone - Wild Elf Barbarian
Scartooth - Wild Elf barbarian
Enareld - Human Fighter
Marina - Elf Bard
Athalus - Elf Ranger

Ternor - Human Druid
Saudril - Half-Elf
Laudric - Shield Dwarf
Klaxen - Gold Dwarf Fighter
Didsy - Lightfoot Hlafling Rogue
Jonsaw - Gnome Wizard

Liriyen - Aasimar Sorcerer
Lucie - Aasimar cleric (Lathander)
Thiandre - Drow Fighter
Violesse - Drow Cleric (No Lolth? Mask then ;) )
Rubyne - Human Rogue
Xzenick - Half-Elf Monk or Rogue

Just wanted to say something more... In some other party I considered using a combo that is pretty awesome, as it was described to me in the wee hours of morning after several hours of hack'n'slash...

Barbarian/Sorcerer.

I actually can't remember the reasoning behind the idea, but I remember it was good...

Ara
(Auto-Spam currently disabled... please hold)

That party certainly sounds like it will be interesting to play Ara. I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself with that. ;)

[ August 30, 2002, 01:16: Message edited by: Rastor ]

I'm also planning to play with a party of two people: a CG male moon elf fighter/mage and a LE female drow fighter/cleric

Well, I'm currently playing an all Half-Orc party. Currently they are 6th level.

Male Barbarian (5)/Ranger (1)
Male Barbarian(1)/Fighter(3)/Ranger(2)
Male Barbarian(1)/Battleguard of Tempus(5)
Male Barbarian(1)/Rogue(5)
Female Barbarian(1)/Sorceress(5)
Female Barbarian(1)/Druid(2)/Necromancer(3)

Its working pretty well, though some of these fights are brutal. I can't wait until my sorceress gets to 6th level and can put some of the better AoE spells out there. At least everyone can run really fast if they get beat on!

Anyone notice that the portrait sizes from other games are too small for IWD II? Have to get a gallery started up to update them.

Also, whoever had the 4 character party up there with: Thief, Fighter, Cleric, Mage (single-classed), I guarantee that you will have trouble unless you double some or all as fighters, or add a few characters.

You get swarmed by 10 + opponents on a regular basis right from the start, and I would advise that if you take fewer than 6 characters, they'd better all be able to fight hand to hand.

Cheers,

James

Well heres my first one, I might edit it (although I've started playing):

Borax Ironhammer-chaotic good, male, Gold dwarf, Fighter/Barbarian.
Neesuk Irliarn- chaotic good, male, Ghostwise halfling, Barbarian
Rolsuk Fryulee- chaotic good, male, Strongheart halfling, Rouge/Bard ;)
Limi'nay Ti'ar- chaotic good, male, Moon elf, Sorcerer
Elisian Eliana- Neutral good, female, Wildelf, Druid
And a half-elf monk(forgot his name :rolleyes: ) chaotic good, male, Half-elf, Monk

This company is pretty good, but the monk isn't that good (yet).

Here's my party:

Belisarius - Male Human Paladin (currently Lvl 6)

Balin ThunderAxe - Male Gold Dwarf Fighter (6)

Bronwyn - Female Human Ranger (3) / Fighter (3)

Eowyn Elfhelm - Female Half-Elf Battleguard of Tempus (6)

Nimbul Alewine - Male Strongheart Halfling Rogue (6)

Circe Anthalas - Female Moon Elf Conjurer (6)

So far they've been a pretty strong party. Nimbul is easily my favorite dual wielding Sorrow's Tear (dagger) and the Thy-Dunag Blade (kind of a stiletto-looking short sword)...His sneak attack is deadly!

I'm beginning to enjoy playing a rogue more than a paladin these days! ;)

For my first run, I have the following:

A Shield dwarf Cleric of Selune.

A Human Ranger/Cleric.

A Human Bard

A Human Paladin

A Human Fighter (should have done Barbarian)

A half-elf Rogue/Wizard.

So far, things have been good but I'm in the Goblin fort and I wish I had more spell casting power.

My party

Shield Dwarf - Fighter(5)
Human - Pally of Helm(4)/Fighter(1)
Human - Cleric of Lathander(5)
Elf - Ranger(4)/Wiz(1) [damn poor planning!!, I need to raise her Int ... :mad: ]
Strongheart hlafling - Rogue(4)/fighter(1)
Aasimar - Sorcerer(4)

Not doing too bad with them, getting my ass handed to me in the begining of the Fort though ....

Here's my combo

Paladin/Fighter Aasimar(Fighter until level seven to collect rewards in town with high charisma)
Half Orc Fighter(not Barbarian)
Elven Ranger(max your dexterity)
Shield Dwarven Cleric of Helm
Ghostwise halfling rogue/barbarian
Tiefling Necromancer(may want to add some fighter class levels)

Worked for me

I'm currently in the middle of my first game with my second party and this one's a keeper.

Leader/Tank: Human Paladin 5 / Cleric 5

Sniper/Guard: Human Ranger 5 / Druid 5

Commando: Shield Dwarf Barbarian 5 / Rogue 5

Medic/Morale: Wood Elf Bard 5 / Cleric 5

Hvy Wpns: 2 Moon Elf Monk 5 / Sorceror 5

I've been able to advance pretty rapidly with this "Tactical Assault Team" (er..oops! I mean "Adventuring Company") in levels because I discharged my original party of Aasimars, Teiflings, Svirfneblins, and Drow because of gross insubordination (not to mention high ECL's!). Do yourself a favor, keep most of your A.I. scripts on "Anti-Caster" with your Medic on "Guardian" and your Commando on assasination missions against High-Threat targets like spellcasters and leaders, in that order. As for your Heavy Support Unit(s), Keep them at range with spells or missle weapons. Anything stupid enough to close melee with them won't survive long against their Hand-to-Hand combat attacks! Your Tank should be the most heavily armed and armored for absorbing the attentions of your adversaries and your dual-weapon Sniper makes an ideal bodyguard to watch their immediate back.

Anyway, I'm sure you've read some of this before, but redundancy is a word never lost on the military so if it works for them, it should for anybody.

As for a party name; I'm partial to "Rainbow-Six". Hmmm... I wonder if that's been taken...

[ September 12, 2002, 19:09: Message edited by: Lord Arion Ironcross ]

My party is

1 fighter
1 monk / rogue
1 cleric (lathander)

worked fine so far :)

I finally have it loaded and got a chance to play it awhile ... here is my first level party, with projections of some multiclassing ...

Leader: Aria, an Aasimar Paladin. Sword & shield fighter with skills in diplomacy.

Tank: Fenor, a human Fighter (might take some barbarian levels). Right now using a great axe with power attack and cleave, he'll be my main tank.

Healer: Namiura, a drow female cleric of the Stormlord (Loth wasn't an option)

Rouge: (I forgot her name) Thiefling rouge. She'll probably take some levels in Bard. She'll probably keep with her bow until the front three are well engaged, then help with any big thugs by slipping in for a few sneak attacks.

Druid: (what's his name?) I love IWD druids, their spells rock. I'll probably give this human a ranger level so he can fight a bit more effectively (can you dual weild shelelighs?)a

Sorceress: Acacia, a wild elf sorceress who plans to use her long bow and spells from the back. Her goal in life is to never get with in melee range of a goblinoid.

i see some of you used Hector for your fighters names...did you get that from hammerfall? ;)

i really dont get your taste in picking a party, but hey everybody has different tastes, i got the game about a week ago, and im impressed to see how mutch dungeons&dragons has improved since BG1 and after playing with one party till chapter two i realized that picking a perfect party with every class you need does not pay(eg. fighter, thief, mage, cleric) so i tried something different:
Gray Dwarf-Fighter all the way(concentrate on two weapon fighting, no charisma, chaostic evil, male)
Gray Dwarf-Fighter all the way(concentrate on two weapon fighting, no charisma, chaostic evil, male)
Gray Dwarf-Fighter all the way(concentrate on two weapon fighting, no charisma, chaostic evil, male)
Drow-Druid all the way(male, chaostic evil)
Drow-Dreadmaster of Bane all the way(female, neutral evil)
Drow-Sorcerer all the way(male, chaostic evil, the one who has the highes charisma, diplomatcy and etc..)

After making a few mistakes and sub-optimal choices, this is the party I'll gonna play through IWD-2 for the first time ;)

My final party for my first way through IWD-2:
Lord Belmen, aasimar paladin of Helm, focusing in l'swords and b'swords and flails - melee only char Alobar Steelfist, gold dwarf Battleguard of Tempus, focusing in Axes and hammers, ranged weapon of choice is the heavy crossbow Orkan Stormwind, half orc barbarian-fighter using greatswords, spears and longbows - probably the most powerful melee char in my party Milla Cloverleaf, Strongheart halfling monk-rogue of the Old Order, fighting unarmed or using sling and darts, later maybe daggers too Gnosper Gnorkel, deep gnome illusionist-barbarian - odd combo but fun to play - he's using staff, dagger and a light crossbow Barbarella, human bard-fighter using shortswords and longbow - she is my parties frontface for all those occasions where my pally is too honourable ;)Till now this party is great fun to play, only the xp penalty for the aasimar and the deep gnome really hurt, on the other hand the innate advantages do indeed pay off .... oh well ...

Okay, so I finally have a copy of IWD2.

My party:

Faragon, Aasimar, Paladin of Ilmater. (MC to Cleric, has the conversational skills, so party leader)
Galveron, Tiefling, Paladin of Mystra. (MC to Wizard)
Maelloth, Tiefling, Paladin of Mystra. (MC to Wizard)
Allanna, Moon Elf, Ranger. (Archery and Hide in Shadows recon)
Drathes, Moon Elf, Ranger. (Archery and Lockpicking)
O'Lahr, Shield Dwarf, Battleguard of Tempus. (Axes Galore :) )

the party i use now is

MONK-LEVEL 27
PALADIN-LEVEL 19
CLERIC-LEVEL 17
MAGE-LEVEL 17
BARB-LEVEL 14

My Party-

...Leader half-orc Barb
...Palidan half-orc
...Ranger half-orc
... cleric can't remember race (one of the human ones)
...Rouge half-elf
...last Wizard (for the race same as the cleric)

Here's the party I've started with:

Sir Eric Brightblade -- LG Aasimar Paladin of Ilmater (going to keep him "pure", since I'm a big fan of healing spells and want him to get as many as possible. On an IC note, he has 18 Constitution, and tries to soak up as much damage as possible so his comrades won't be hurt :D )

Grigor -- CG Half-Orc Barbarian (might take four levels in Fighter for the axe mastery, but dunno. He has a decent Wisdom, and I may take a couple levels of Cleric. See above :p )

Rashala Goldforge -- LG Dwarf Cleric of Helm (most likely going to keep her single-classed, and specialized in a few different weapons)

Li'anne -- NG Half-Elf Ranger (right now, she's all about bows, and has been keeping my sorceror company in the back row. She'll probably stay a ranger through the whole game, too)

Maz'niflan -- LG Drow Sorceror (he's the spokesman for the party, with 18 Charisma. Up close he gets slaughtered -- duh, he's a mage -- but he's pretty decent with a crossbow, even with the drow's sun blindness. Question: does anyone know if Blind Fighting cancels Sun Blindness?)

Rinald -- LE Halfling Thief (Basically, he's my excuse for breaking into houses and stealing stuff :D IC, he considers everyone else in the party insane, but sticks around because they're good at drawing fire. He's actually a close combat guy, with dual-wielding. I'm thinking of making him a Wizard (he has 15 intelligence, soon to be 16), though that may mean one less front-row fighter. I dunno. He's cool, though :D )

Eh...I went into that much detail, and likely no one cares. Ah well.

My party is

Moon Elf Ranger
Drow Sorcerer
Aasimar Palidin
Lightfoot Halfling Rogue
Aasimar Cleric
human Druid
I figured i wouldn't have a fighter because I have a pally and a ranger. In 2nd rules, fighters were much worse than pallys and rangers. I think this time the fighter might be better though, but Ill just try this way.

LG drow?
Drow are supposed to be evil, dammit, evil!!!

Originality is very rare these days...coughDrizztcough

bah.

My party:
Arkados Blackmire, Lawful evil male human sorcerer. Going to put a few fighter levels in later. Party leader with 18 charisma.

Ander Lolias, Chaotic evil male human Barbarian using axes.

Katherine Blackmire, Chaotic evil female human Ranger/Rouge using weapon finesse with short swords.

Kalvairn Levensrau, Neutral evil male drow wizard

Shura, Neutral male human with 1 level in ranger and the rest in fighter. Scout and melee,

Serenia, Lawful Neutral female aasimar cleric.

My first IWD2 party will be:

Leader: Aasimar Paladin, LG. Weapons: Bastard/longsword

Tank: Shield Dwarf Fighter, LN. Weapons: axe, warhammer, heavy crossbow

Healer: Human or Half-Elf Cleric of Lathander(?), NG. Weapons: mace, flail, morningstar, light crossbow

Assassin: Lightfoot Halfling Rogue/Ranger, NE. Weapons: short sword, short bow. Favored enemy: Humans :evil:

Archer: Wild Elf Sorcerer/Fighter, CN. Weapons: Scimitar, rapier, composite long bow.

Mage: Human Wizard, LE. Weapons: Quarterstaff, Dagger, Sling.

Still over 20 days until I get IWD2 :( (it comes to Finland October 11)

[ September 19, 2002, 13:53: Message edited by: Harkle ]

Well here's my IWD II debut party and I'm determined not to restart. I want to beat the game with this group first. (Haven't thought of a corny/catchy party "name" yet):

Karak Oakwood, *THE* Ranger/Druid, oh yeah baby look out IWD II. Half-Elf nature lovin' son uva gun.

Eve Stillwater, beautiful elven Silverstar of Selune/Ranger. Did I mention she was beautiful? :grin:

Lady Norah Rosehart, honorable strongheart halfling Paladin of Helm. Don't judge her by her size.

Joshua Stoutworth, brave strongheart halfing Cleric of Lathander/Fighter. A kind, but showing no mercy towards evil, kind of fellow.

Kyp Miventoe, smooth-talking, mischief-making strongheart halfing Bard. He's out to make Kyp Miventoe a household name, at least in his house.

Natalia Capustina, mysterious human Monk of the Old Order/Rogue. She seeks justice though and awes the group with her subtle, yet impressive channeling of ki. Like any woman, don't make her mad :p .

Much like 2ed, the 3ed rules 'seem' to encourage a mix of single and multi-class characters together. A brief description of my party and how I develop them.

1st - Aasimar Paladin of Helm, picks up a few fighter levels for the extra feats.
2nd - Gold Dwarf Morning Lord of Lathander. Only skill he really needs is Concentration. So I poach intelligence and turn him into a powerful cleric who can also bash away on the front lines.
3rd - Human Monk, party scout, All ability bonuses gets poured into Wisdom. This simultaneously improves his A.C. and the DC class of his Stun power.
4th - Drow Ranger/Wizard. Somehow I just can't resist a fighting character who can also layer himself with defensive spells (e.g. mirror image). The 2 level penalty will be overcome by a tome found in the Black Raven Monastery. Short Sword of Brilliance +5 (bypasses armor and shield bonuses) combined with Expertise Feat is an awesome combination. Somewhere down the line there will be a Chain of Drakkas just for him.
5th - Half Elf. 1st level rogue. Every level after that, Druid. When you get down to it, I really only want one character in leather armor. This becomes almost a two for one deal. The only crucial Rogue ability is disarming traps. My remaining skill points I alternate back and forth between concentration and Open Locks. Shapeshifting, Druidic spells, and a few 'rogue' feats adds up to a character with a wide array of effective combat methods.
6th - Human Wizard. Intelligence 18 from the word go. Every ability bonus point added onto Intelligence. Combine this with Spell Penetration and Spell Focus feats, and you have someone who can do pretty much what he wants to pretty much anything.