Soliciting Opinions

[Aladinsane]

My current game will be over shortly, and I'm planning my next game. Since I've always played with parties of six, I'm going to play a game with just three characters, for a challenge and change of pace. So I need to decide what type character to play and which two NPCs to pick up. I want to make sure that the party is as balanced as it can be for just three characters.

Here are the parameters:
1. The party will consist of good, or at least neutral characters, though I may take Viconia since I've never played with her. I want to make sure that in addition to a balanced party, it also has some good dialogue.
2. I'm leaning towards playing a fighter/mage (multi or dual, I'm not sure), but will certainly consider anything else, other than a cleric/ranger which I've just played all the way through with. Other characters I'm still considering are a cavalier, dwarven fighter, sorcerer, fighter/thief, or swashbuckler-> mage.

Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

[krunchyfrogg]

Are you interested in romancing Viconia? I don't see how a good party has her in it.

Anyway, here's my suggestion for a fun three person party. Both NPC's are Neutral, but don't complain too much when your Reputation gets too high:

Fighter/Mage
Jan
Jaheira

[Cam_H]

A party of three is less of a challenge than a party of six imho.

Viconia's shortcoming in a small group is that she's single class, but on the other hand, with quick level ups and access to spells such as Righteous Magic she can act as a reasonable warrior.

As a Fighter/Mage PC, your group's only lacking Thief skills, which can be well made up by Yoshimo and then when you pick up Imoen you can perhaps replace Yoshimo with her.

The other apparent alternative ... depending upon how important trap removal is to you ... could be Jan.

Personally I don't rate Thieving as highly as others, so I'd be quite satisfied with PC Fighter/Mage (or Berserker-Mage), Viconia and Korgan.

I think a Cavalier is a good choice, although horrible role-play with Viconia also in the group. You'll benefit from a spellcaster, and Jan would seem to fit the bill well here thanks to his thieving skills also.

If you want a dwarven Fighter in your group, I'd just take Korgan and let your PC take something a bit more interesting.

A Sorcerer is clearly a great kit, but you'd be down on both warrior grunt and thieving skills if you were to take Viconia ... I'd lean again towards a fighter over a thief, and Korgan would seem to be the best fit here, if not Jaheira, or wait until ToB and take the new NPC on offer there.

If a Fighter/Thief, then Edwin would make an excellent choice with Viconia. Again, you've got the four class areas covered plus arguably the most powerful mage in the game.

If a Swashbuckler-Mage, then really you've got your bases pretty well covered, and you might need to assess your gamestyle whether you want a frontline warrior more so than a second spellcaster. Is Viconia going to take all of the punishment on the frontlines while the PC casts spells at a distance from the battle zone, or is your Swashie-Mage going to buff and battle beside her?

[ 08-22-2005, 07:06 PM: Message edited by: Cam_H ]

[Link]

Some of Cam_H's options do sound good, but bear in mind that Viconia is evil, as is Edwin. If all NPC's have to be good, then you have to take that in mind as well. For true roleplaying (if you insist on taking Viconia with you), I'd suggest creating a neutral own character.

If I may make a suggestion:[list][*]Swashbuckler->Mage (Neutral). Two other partymembers could be Viconia (Evil) and Jan (Neutral). You would have virtually all the bases covered. Viconia could function as a part-time tank, otherwise you could just rely on buffs and summons to do the dirty work.

[IronDragon]

One of my most memorable games was a three party romp.

PC = Ranger/Cleric - dual wielding FoA and Mace of Disruption +2
Imoen – with eh staff of cheese and Tansheron's Bow
Solaufein – initially dual wielding Wyvern's Tail and Daystar but after we returned to the surface and made quick trip to the Windspear hills he got FoA and my PC took on Crom Faeyr

The PC soloed for the first chunk of the game doing only enough to raise money for the Shadow thieves and pick up some necessary equipment.

These three bulldozed everything in their way and since Sola is technically bisexual some of the dialogues got pretty interesting as well.

[Andraste]

Who did you have in your party last time? Is there anyone who you wouldn't mind using again, or would you prefer an all new group?

[mad=dog]

My best three char game was with a Kensai->Thief PC, Aerie and Edwin. My main char was Lawful Evil interpretted as loyal, but selfish. I had a mix of companions on the third slot to compensate for shortcomings during the dual phase before Edwin joined to complete the trio.
A Kensai->Thief has a shattering backstab - nearly as good as an Assasin->Fighter - but better thief stats. This includes a maxed out ever vital Dispel Illusion score to compensate for Edwins shortcomings in this field and provide near-instant disposal of misleads, mirror imgs and similar. I wouldn't even bother with a thief unless Dispel Illusion is high. An Assasin->Figther is also very very good, but with slightly less in AC and worse thief skills (though you can work on Dispel Illusion enough to make it to max when you dual).

I have also toyed with the idea of a Swashie->Mage, but found the Swashbuckler class to be broken as you did not recieve any benefits from the ability to specialize.

[Aladinsane]

My last group consisted of cleric/ranger (love this class, will have to solo it some time), Keldorn, Anomen, Imoen, Nalia and self-created fighter/thief. It's the first time that I have used Keldorn and Anomen. I like Keldorn a lot, probably because I'm a big fan of paladins. Anomen is okay, I could take or leave him to be honest. I have not played with Mazzy, Valgyar, or Viconia.
I was thinking maybe of doing a fighter/mage, Jaheira, and Yoshimo -> Imoen. But I'm such a mele guy that I keep thinking that's not enough muscle. Is it tough to get by without a thief? If so I could swap Imoen for more muscle.
If I do go with a fighter/mage I'm not sure if it makes sense with a 3 person party if I should go multi or dual. Usually I would favor a multi fighter/mage, but I'm wondering with just 3 characters if he'll be a strong enough mage. All of these decisions, lol. I'm still interested in anyone's thoughts, and thanks to everyone who has helped so far.

[Cam_H]

Your suggested party would be a great group, and I have no problems in recommending that you would be fine in going with the multiclass. Experience points will mount faster than you're used to in a party of three.

I assume that although this is the SoA forum, that you also have ToB ... and if so, you will get Higher Level Abilities from both the warrior table and the mage table as a multiclass Fighter/Mage.

(A party of Mazzy, Viconia, and a Male Half-Elf Fighter/Mage/Thief could be workable if you can maintain balance on your reputation, and you still get to play characters you've not tried).

[Aladinsane]

Yes I have TOB. And you think that Jaheira, half druid, is enough cleric?