mad=dog: please put a spoiler tag on your post.
TyranyuZ: ditto - that's a character spoiler. Plus, megan row isn't asking for spoilers, so don't give out any (please - for the sake of everyone who doesn't know what happens and whom they'll meet and where)
Megan row: giving bows or other ranged weapons to your players is a great idea. A good tactic when you're first starting out is to have one (or two) character(s) (so-called "tank") with the best armor and protections a few steps ahead of the others in battle attracting the attention of as many bad guys as possible, while the rest of the party hangs back and pelts the bad guys with arrows, sling bullets, darts, bolts and/or spells.
Secondly, it's possible to move on in the game without doing everything that you possibly can in an area (in fact, that's how most of the game progresses), but it's not possible to move on for good without doing something that's absolutely necessary for the plot to progress.
By the way, for strategy advice, check out the perennial favourite:
http://www.geocities.com/sixospades/bg/chap9.htm
[ 06-11-2004, 02:36 PM: Message edited by: Feral ]