[ister]

For my next go through I was thinking of an all-dwarf party - to make it a little different, and just because it's very peculiar. Plus I've got to believe it would freak out Larrel.

I did BG1 with an all halfling party, so I reckon I can do this too (lot's of "strength of one" for that party!). And it's definitely easier than solo-ing

My thoughts on the issues I'll face are:
1) Lack of "Friends": In my opinion the most useful spell for a mage early on. I'll be stuck with charisma 16 instead of 23, which means everything will cost what, 60% more than I'm used to. This means I'll be less well equipped at almost every stage of the game. Nothing to be done but suck it up. Not having to buy spells (and being able to sell all the ones I find) should help a little.
2) Lack of identification: Again nothing to be done here. Thief is the only class open to dwarves with anything resembling lore, so I'll have to keep INT and WIS reasonably high for the thief just to be able to identify the crappy items. Nothing to be done but suck it up and pay the cash.
3) Lack of Magic Missile, spell disrupter par excellence. I suppose I try to make do with magiic stone, and heavy bow power. For a lot of mirrored enemies I'll probably be stuck having to dispel magic.
4) Not much in the way of area affect spells. OK I'll get hold person which will occasionally be useful, silence which can be handy, but for large groups spell power won't be too helpful. My thought is to use potions, which will again run into the cash problem, but should be alright. Definitely want a single class cleric to get to the better spells quickly.
5) Lack of summons: I actually think animate dead can be used to work wonders. So I'm not too concerned.

As a result my thoughts on party composition are:
1) Fighter. Will give this one 16 Charsima to buy stuff, 18+ strength 17 dex and 19 con. Frontline melee. Heading for GM axes ASAP. Darts for spell disruption.
2) Fighter/Cleric: Primary job melee, healing and buffs. Maces.
3) Fighter/thief: Not sure here, but I don't think a single class thief is much better and I'd rather have the F/Ts better THAC0 for backstabs. CON probably only 16, as I need him to have decent WIS and INT and I just don't like setting CHA to 3. Bows and short sword. Backstab at higher levels, archer early on. Focus on traps and then stealth - most locks seem very bashable.
4) Fighter: I think I need an excellent archer to handle all the spell casters. Will pile everything into bow skill to get high rate of fire. Great swords for ambushes.
5) Cleric: Primary job offensive spells (such as they are) and maybe identification early on. Probably flails to start.

It's pretty melee heavy and some of the spell casters will be tough. On the other hand all will have at least good HPs and AC, and all will have great saves (+5 for dwarfs).

Is it worth thinking about another cleric (for more spell casts per round) or would I be better off keeping the experience among 5 characters? Is the secodn fighter needed or would I be better off getting my cleric(s) to level 3 spells quicker? Anyone think there's an advantage to having a single class thief?

[ 01-17-2005, 09:48 AM: Message edited by: ister ]