[Neomi]

It's easy to start a multiplayer game and still have joinable NPCs. If you haven't ever done it before, pre-roll your characters, start the multiplayer game, and make a save game early in Irenicus' dungeon. Then go to your MPsave folder, drag the save game into the regular save folder, and open it up as a single player game (it makes reloading a whole lot easier that way). Once you're on your way, you can reform your party as usual. In fact, you can even kick out your own PCs (not the main one, of course) and they'll sit wherever you leave them until you want them to join back up.