[Azred]

There are enough good fighters in the game already--Khalid, Minsc, Kagain, Shar-Teel, and Ajantis--that your PC doesn't have to be one, unless you simply want one. Jaheira is a decent cleric, but Viconia and Branwen are better for that role. Imoen, Safana, and Alora are all decent theieves; with the prevalance of potions of Master Thievery and Perception, as well as a couple of pairs of Boots of Stealth and the Shadowed Armor, even a low-skill thief can become a great one. Edwin, Xan, and Xzar can all become very useful mages. Garrick and Eldoth for bards, but except for thier lore skill bards are really not very useful in BG1; you would do better to get a single-class mage, fighter/mage, or thief/mage.

The best protagonist idea would thus be a multi-class character: fighter/mage, thief/mage, or cleric/mage (the one I used in my most recent game). Take only a party of 4 or 5, unless you want to drag out the experience and fight all the encounters on every map available in the game. The golems in the pirate cave reload, so if you can survive them you have an endless supply of foes worth 2000 xp each; boring, but they will build up a party quickly.