KR - great update. it's always good to compare notes, particularly where similar parties are concerned. in my case, i was very focussed on the magic i wanted out of the ninja (air and earth exclusively, and whatever healing i could build naturally), and found her to be a solid 3rd member - still not as good as the monk or rogue, but more satisfying than it sounds like you have felt. of course, i didnt get light sword... ;)

for your next small party recommendation, the one going around in my head is a valkyrie, samurai, rogue party. the idea would be to have access to all the buffs from the valk/sam, and the rogue to balance out with solid melee and l&t. the other thing i wanted to try with this party was go sword and shield with all 3. :D

Or maybe:
Polearm Party!
Lord for the Faust Halberd (Antone PP/drop--"gotta" be a Lord for the HP-3)
Fighter for Raven's Bill (Tramain or Gari PP/drop)
Ninja for Dread Spear (buy at Ferro/Bela; could be Ranger but someone's gotta PP/L&T)
Monk for Mindblast Rod (steal from T'rang).
Preparing for all this could be easy--all above can use Spears bought from Burz.

very cool concept, scatter. of course, waiting for the pp or drops would kill me!

another one that occurred to me was a conan the destroyer party. two rogues, a fighter and an alchemist.

conan - male human thief, building strength and senses, sword and dagger.
malak - male human thief, building dex and speed, dual dagger.
zula - female human fighter, building strength and speed, staff.
akiro - male human alchemist, build intelligence and dex, using staff and sling.

you'd have to limit them all to light armour, but with no permanent buffs it would be a real challenge.