[Gimli]

"I was thinking of starting a Hobbit Ninja (to get some Stealth and Critical Strike) before I switched him/her to a Gadgeteer at a fairly low level ( Probably around 5-8 ) so that s/he has lots of time to build up engineering."

Well I can see where the stealth would come in handy. For a Gadgie though, your best combat bet is the omnigun, and critical strike only works with melee weapons (well, except for ninjas with thrown weapons). I think you'd be better off going with a pure Gadgie to get the best omnigun enhancements - for some defense, build up the shield skill.

"2 Lizardman Fighters, a mook Samurai (to use the Giant Swords), an Elven bishop and a Bard Faerie that will change to a Ninja at a low level to use C of C. (Purely a Haste Bard)."

Lizzie fighters are quite effective. I'd make the Mook a female as the GS sucks up alot of stamina. The bishop is fine. The faerie bard->ninja is cool, will actually be effective for pretty much the whole game (pure faerie ninjas are very weak early on).

As for RPCs, what might help this group would be taking Vi and making her a Priest - she actually has good stats for that class. The Mook and the Bard/Ninja could use a stamina battery. And I just think having a pure Priest around is really handy to keep the rest of your party going at 100%.