[Marty4]

Raffin has given good advice. My comments are in green.

Originally posted by Raffin: Character 1: Shield Dwarf Fighter 4/ Barbarian X Role: Tank Character 2: Aasimar Fighter 4/ Paladin of Helm X Role: Tank, talker ***Both good tanks - Both good offensive tanks. You will be lacking in the AC department with these guys, though you may not feel the heat until HoF mode. Consider switching one for a monk, as they have higher AC. Focus on STR and CON, with a mediocre DEX corresponding to the type of armor that you want to wear (12 for plate, 14 for chain, etc). INT is droppable, as is CHA for the dwarf. Character 3: Human, Tiefling or Halfling (haven't decided yet) Rogue 2/ Bard X Role: Thief-type, will sing and handle quest rewards. Archer in combat. ***If you want a talked (which is good, with the bard skills), don't go tiefling-they get a penalty to charisma. Halfling won't be bad, though you can always go human too. Nothing wrong with humans, and they get the extra feat. - As Raffin says, Tiefling is a poor choice for a diplomat, though it can be done. Human is probably best here without completely changing the character. Take lots of INT, DEX, and CHA, then get CON. Character 4: Human Paladin 1/ Sorcerer X Role: Spellcaster, artillery. I know the Paladin level takes away from the spellcasting, but Divine Grace is too good to ignore. The one level dip should hurt too bad in the end. ***No problem there. - I'd prefer two paladin levels, but one can be enough. One level dip, in fact, won't hurt at all! Two level dips will cost you one lvl 5 spell known and cast, a small price for an extra paladin level. Take plenty of CHA and 10 INT, then get good DEX and CON. 10 STR is good. Character 5: Shield Dwarf Cleric; Battleguard of Tempus X Role: Cleric! The free Weapon Focus feat will allow me to treat this character as a tank as well when needed. I like the Power Word spells on the higher levels a lot. ***Good. There will be times when you need the extra tanks, especially when the enemy is numerous. A side note-I would put this character and character 6 in the 3 and 4 character slots. This is because the last two slots tend to get hit the least, overall, and, as you've probably noticed, clerics and druids make fair tanks. - I'd still prefer a fighter4/Lathanderite, but Tempus is solid. Focus on STR, CON, and WIS, with a bit of DEX. INT and CHA are droppable. Character 6: Wild Elf Druid X Role: Druid! I was going to go Drow originally here, but I think I'm better off being a more powerful spellcaster. I chose Elf because I like the idea of having this character double as an archer for my party. ***Hmmm...wild elf is an odd choice, but feel free to run with it. The game is all about having fun, imho. Now if you want a stronger choice, you might go either drow (for the killer bonuses, including the bows proficiency) or human (for the extra feat, and extra skill points) - As Raffin has said, Wild Elf is an odd choice. If I were you, I'd take Aasimar for the WIS bonus. You may want to download the EoU mod that allows for better shapeshifting options, but some say it's unbalanced (half-dragon form, anyone? ). Take similar stats as your dwarven cleric. That said, you're party's fine. May you slay every orc you meet, and never fall victum to IRS (Infinite Restart Syndrome). -Or AIDBG (An Ignonimous Death By Goblin). -Raffin

Good luck with your first real run through the game!