[Aerich]

After a fairly prolonged period of figuring out the game mechanics and how I wanted to construct my party, it is now well and truly done.

The characters have saved the Shaengarne Bridge and are moving on to the goblin fortress.

Here's how they stack up:

1) Fighter - Shield Dwarf - specialization in Axe, huge Str and Con, good Wis. Tank, tank, and more tank. Has Cleave, Power Attack, and Lightning Reflexes. Using a 1-handed battle axe and the shield with a bonus to Con instead of a greataxe; with this party's makeup, he's focused (for now) on a good balance between causing damage and avoiding it. Takes the brunt of the damage but deals a fair bit in return.

2) Cleric (Oghma) - Human - healer, summoner and talker. Good Int and Cha, excellent Wis. Stays out of melee and uses a crossbow. Pretty much a "buffing and healing" cleric of the 2nd Ed type. Has Combat Casting, Luck of Heroes, Discipline, and Subvocal Casting. Does all the identifying and has all the talking skills.

3) Ranger[1]/Druid - Human - main archer, soon-to-be offensive caster, occasional scout. Great Dex and Wis, not bad Str and Con. Not used much for melee, although not terrible in that respect. Combat Casting, WF Bows, Rapid Shot, Luck of Heroes.

4) Monk - Svirneblin - secondary archer (slinger), main scout, main decoy, not really a tank, but a killer of archers and spellcasters. Great Dex and Wis, good Str, nerfed Cha. Rapid Shot, Dirty Fighting. Only level 3 because of the ECL penalty, but my most versatile "fighter". The best AC and saves by a country mile, especially when using the svirfnebli abilities. Great AC, but not enough HP that I'm comfortable using her as a regular tank; doesn't do an enormous amount of damage, either.

5) Sorceress - Human - secondary talker, occasional archer and resident killer-at-range. Great Cha, good Dex, Con and Int, poor Str. Luck of Heroes, Subvocal Casting, Greater Spell Focus Evocation. Does the buying, when buffed by the Eagle's Splendour domain spell of the cleric. Saves the spells for when the party is possibly overmatched. Uses Web and Sleep to cut the odds, Ice Dagger to disrupt spellcasters or finish up targets, Chromatic Orb against tough targets or spellcasters, and Agannazar's Scorcher when off to the side or with the monk as decoy/tank.

6) Paladin of Ilmater - Aasimar - talker, secondary tank, secondary archer. Great Str and Cha, good Wis, decent Con. Power Attack, Combat Casting, Heroic Inspiration - will take WF Long swords ASAP. Always the second character into melee behind the dwarf (unless the monk started the melee).

I set it up so that I could multiclass the paladin into a Painbearer of Ilmater (Wis 16), but now I'm not sure I want to. I'm thinking that I should stay with the class with better melee potential. The paladin/aasimar abilities allows this character to function as a minor cleric anyway.

Thoughts?