New Party..... (again)

[moiraine sedai]

I am currently feeling a bit stuck. After having a break from W&W I am coming back to it now, but I find myself lacking ideas. I know this topic has been brought up before, but I want to play an average sized group. Maybe 4, max 5. I am thinking of playing without offensive magic so I will be left with spells such as heal and the ever useful teleport. It could be fun, but I am already fearful of the salads.....

4 characters, with only one or two class changes, preferably fighting classes. Currently I am thinking:

Rogue -> Ninja

Warrior -> Ranger

Warrior -> Paladin

Warrior -> Barbarian -> Samurai?

I want to give these characters a bit more style, so I am aiming for roleplay, not powerplay. The paladin is going to be the goody goody with the sword, the ninja the fast fighting martial arts/ranged fighter, the mysterious elven ranger with spears and bows and finally the samurai with his flashy two sword fighting technique.

The one thing that is currently upsetting me about W&W is that there are no really good weapons other than swords for the first half (if not more) of the game.

Any ideas? Races for the characters?

Help is MUCH appreciated.

Cheers,

Moiraine Sedai

[Radek]

1. Role playing versus so called power gaming. IMO, these categories are completely artificial. I daresay they were invented by the players, which were unable to detect and exploit game resources. Therefore, they converted their fault into dignity: it's the "role players" who are the real players of CRPGs. The others - "power gamers" - should be considered the worst scum among computer users and must be distinguished sharply from the honourable "role players".
But the game resources are intended for use. Ignoring the game resources isn't virtue. Therefore, let us be "power gamers"!
Instead of fearing to fall between "power gamers", we should play a CRPG with some idea. One of these ideas is playing the game with natural equipment and natural skill and trait selection. For example, we will not teach a paladin pickpocketing or we will not equip an assassin with a 2H sword. Also, we will compose the party such a way that the roles of the characters will not contradict each other and we will follow a way that corresponds to our party. I think it's the closest reasonable approximation of "role playing". From this point of view, the ninja in your party is incompatible with the paladin. Don't forget that a ninja is an evil character - an assassin in fact. Perhaps a bard instead of the ninja?

2. The samurai is needed. Being able to cast sun spells is the only way of seeing something in the dark. You will need either a samurai or a mage. Otherwise, you will suffer.

3. I think races do not matter too much. All races become equally good in the end. They differ only in the very beginning of the game. If you want "role playing" then select some natural races: for example, a human for the paladin (it's a tradition), a ratling for the rogue->ninja (but an elf or a pixie for a rogue->bard) an elf for the future ranger, and a whiskah for the future samurai.

[bsftcs]

I do not believe I have any ideas for you when it comes to the characters (except for the countless of suggestions that you have probably read in other topics of this sort).

I believe there are other good weapons than swords. Only two of my six characters use swords. With a good weapon and level 14 blessing and enchanting even daggers, bows, axes, hurled weapons, maces, and poles can become pretty hefty attack weapons.

[Wyvern]

Sounds like a nice party, moiraine sedai!!!

I'm sure you'll figure out how to handle the salads when you get to them. Should be an interesting challenge! You may be able to avoid them for a longer time by taking a really wide path around the area that triggers the salads thus leaving them for when your characters have developed further. They seem to be triggered in the area SW of the burnt out house, so if you take the northern most route before heading west and then southeast to the castle, maybe you can skip them for a while.

Do keep us posted on your new party!!!

Wyv