[Aerich]

Hey, lost prophet,

Thanks for the mention. Here's some thoughts.

Gnomes can't dual, nor can any other demihuman (e.g. non-human) race. In addition, elves cannot be bards. Bards can be human or half-elven.

Aside from those little points, the party looks fine.

The paladin and fighter combo for tanks is good. Gnomes are under-rated fighters, but excellent because of the Helm of the Defender. You could also go with the F/T multiclass combo - it is a little more high-maintenance with armour switching and attacking from the flanks (to get the best use out of sneak attack), but I have to say that I like the versatility of a F/T.

The F/D dualclass at 13 is a powerful combination, but it takes a while to mature. It's also hard to roll, and you will have to make some tough decisions on your stats unless you have the patience to roll until you get a total score of 94 or better. I wouldn't use it unless you have at least HoW, and preferably TotL, too. If you keep the R/C, I'd recommend possibly going with a straight druid for increased healing power. That way, you can also use your druid as a good mage-substitute, rather than succumb to the temptation to charge forward into combat all the time. A F/D multiclass is also fun.

I approve of the R/C and the bard. I prefer the multiclass R/C to the dual class.

For your final character, a pureclass mage is good, but so are some of the other options. Go with the T/M if you take a straight fighter, go with another option if you take the F/T. The pureclass mage is very versatile, but tends not to be durable. For increased HP, you could take a dual class F/M, with between 1 and 7 levels of fighter (specialize in bows, daggers, or both) without unduly hurting your mage levels; lvl 3, 6, and 7 are good times to dual.

Another option is a mage/cleric, dual class or multi. The M/C suffers a bit for weapons, but makes an excellent backup healer and all-round spellcaster. However, this option may be redundant (in terms of needing healing) if you opt for a pureclass druid. The bard (if you have HoW) will also take over much of the healing function once it hits lvl 11.

To summarize, you have plenty of choices. Just make your choices with a clear idea of what you want each character's role to be, and you should have a great party. [img]smile.gif[/img]