My party...I am looking for opinions from you guys/gals

[Larry_OHF]

Like many of the rest of you, I have played the entire BG trilogy and IWD, including all the extras. My lead character is always a Ranger...but I have been suffering needlessly in that regard. I do not play a ranger well in IWD, so I decided to go a different route. Also, I have always had a mage of some sort in my parties...but never really use them to their potential. I end up giving them a good sling and a poisoned knife and letting them run around stabbing and running. I am not a magic-user, I suppose. I also do not care for dual-classing.

Well...this time, I have made a few changes to see how it goes, and I think this party of six better suits my playing style. I should get a better gaming experience from it.

Listed in order:

Larry : Half-elf. Fighter. Dual-wielding bonuses.
Aribeth : Elf. Fighter-mage. Dual-wielding bonuses.
Alea: Human. Cleric. Silverstar of Selune.
Kalitana: Teifling. Rogue. Archer. (Using female drow voice-set)
Lithia: Human. Druid.
Dwarf: Dwarf. Barbarian.

[flibulzbuth]

My 2 cents:
The barbarian already gets a lot of hit points, i'd focus on str (half-orc) instead of con (dwarf). 20 str really help, and 14 con is enough, though more is always useful. I'd put the rest of the points in wisdom to get better will saving throws.
My 22 str (after lvl 8-9) barbarian generates a third of all the kills and exp in the group, compared to my 20 str paladin who generates 18%. Barb uses +1 2h-axe, pally uses +1 great sword.

[Magness]

Be certain to take both ambidexterity and 2 weapon fighting for the 2 weapon fighting characters.

I guess that I'll have to flibulzbuth on CON. From everything that I've read CON is more important in the 3rd ed rules and sometimes even more important than an ultra high DEX for melee fighters. Fortitude rolls are derived from CON, Reflex rolls from DEX, and Will rolls from WIS. Also note that armor works differently in the 3rd ed rules. Heavy armor will limit the amount of your high DEX bonus that can be applied to your AC. A character wearing plate will at best only be able to get a +1 DEX bonus to his AC. A DEX of 18 has a dex bonus of +4.

A character wearing plate and with a moderate DEX can end up with the same AC as a character wearing studded leather with a high DEX.

If your barbarian is gonna be a plate wearing, melee master, you may be better off maxing out STR and CON with a decent DEX. The only other advantage for the high DEX is that BAB for melee is based on STR, but for missile combat is based on DEX. Hence, rogues with high DEXs end up making excellent snipers.

BTW, these are lessons that I've learned playing thru IWD2 (currently in chapter 6) and reading various posts.

ALSO

There is no more dual classing. And multiclassing does not exist in the 2nd ed form. I suggest a quick read of the rules. It's surprisingly simple. The tough part is understanding how to get the most benefit from it.

If you try to run a 50/50 fighter/mage, it can easily be done. I just don't know how effective a character you'll end up with. Be VERY careful when selecting your skills and feats. Some feats that are luxuries for a pure class fighter may end up being something that you cannot afford as a F/M. It will be necessary to determine which fighter-type feats and which mage type feats that you critically need to produce the balance of F/M you seek.

Good luck.

[Larry_OHF]

Thanks! Those are great suggestions!

You have given me much to ponder.