I think this party almost has it...

thismysn · Post by **thismysn** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 1:00 am

Hey all, I'm getting my copy of icewind dale II in a few days after a looong time of not playing it, and I'm already planning my first party. I want to roleplay this time, so no minmaxing or anything completely unrealistic. I want my party to be evil, since i plan on killing any npc's after they arent useful anymore. Here's what I have so far:

Benedict
NE Moon Elf Rogue
S-10
D-18
C-10
I-14
W-8
C-16

This is my party leader. I plan to use him as a scout, backstabber, talker, and specialized archer. Idk if i should take some fighter levels to improve his archery or keep rogue levels to help his backstab. I named him Benedict because he is going to turn on all the NPC's after they outlive their usefulness.

Murdoch
LE Human Wizard
S-10
D-18
C-14
I-18
W-8
C-8

This guy is my main caster. Is it worth the loss in caster levels to make him a drow? Cuz that would b pretty tight

Vilheim
NE human fighter
S-18
D-14
C-18
I-10
W-8
C-8

This is one of my main tanks. Hes an out of luck mercenary from the north who has no qualms about betraying an ally (NPC).

Og
LE Half-Orc Barbarian/Fighter
S-20
D-16
C-18
I-6
W-8
C-6

This is my 2nd tank. Hes a bodyguard hired to help the adventurers, but they pretty much enslaved him. Hes big, tough, and borderline retarded. They send him to the frontline with no problem dropping a fireball or two on him if it means an easier fight. But he knows better than to try and run from the party...

No Clue What Race to Make This Cleric
Stormlord of Talos
Stats something like
S-14
D-10
C-14
I-10
W-18
C-10

I have no clue how to make a cleric. I dont know what race to use and i dont know what the stats should look like. Im not worried about turning undead, but maybe dexterity over constitution? or strength up? idk
Also, what race should I use for this cleric? Anything but aasimar.
Please especially help on this one.

The last character... umm I want another offensive casting class but I dont like sorcerors for roleplaying reasons. Maybe a wicked witch doctor druid would fit well. Or another cleric. Or wizard, but I dont know if there are enough scrolls for 2 wizards in the game. Any ideas?

Raven_Song · Post by **Raven_Song** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 2:30 am

Idk if i should take some fighter levels to improve his archery or keep rogue levels to help his backstab.

Unless you keep the fighter/rogue levels at roughly the same level he will suffer a 20% exp penalty, as wizard is the favoured class of Moon Elf.

Is it worth the loss in caster levels to make him a drow? Cuz that would b pretty tight

Since he will be your main "offensive" ased caster I'd say no, as you might find that he gains levels a bit too slowly.

Vilheim
NE human fighter

Have you considered making him a dwarf? They make better tanks than humans.

I have no clue how to make a cleric. I dont know what race to use and i dont know what the stats should look like.Im not worried about turning undead, but maybe dexterity over constitution? or strength up? idk

I'd make this one human, as clerics that require both concentrationand spellcraft (to take advantage of the scion of storms elemental feat) really benefit from the extra skill point per level.

STATs perhaps

S-14
D-12
C-16
I-08
W-18
C- 08

Maybe a wicked witch doctor druid would fit well. Or another cleric. Or wizard, but I dont know if there are enough scrolls for 2 wizards in the game.

The witch doctor might be a good choice offering supoprt as both a back-up healer (for the cleric) and bombardier (for the wizard).

If you were to take another wizard I would suggest having the pair select different spell focus e.g one take Evocation/Necromancy the other Transmutation/Enchantment, that way you will be less relaint upon what scrolls you find.

thismysn · Post by **thismysn** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:49 pm

Allright I decided to make some changed now.

For the Rogue:
Benedict
NE Moon Elf Rogue
S-10
D-18
C-10
I-14
W-8
C-16

Which would be more powerful, a pure rogue who does sneak attacks then snipes with a bow, or a fighter/rogue with a weaker sneak attack who is better with a bow?

For the Fighter
Vilheim
NE human fighter
S-18
D-14
C-18
I-10
W-8
C-8

Would I be able to give him a level of ranger to dual wield like he bought the feats? If so, will he be able to dual wield in heavy armor? Also, what does it take to dual wield bastard swords? Basically I want to make this character with full TWF with full heavy armor using bastard swords and i dont know if a level of ranger would make this easier.

For the mage, what is the point of making it a sorceror instead of a wizard? I just looked at the casting tables and sorcerors can cast wayyy more times than a wizard can.

I'm thinking about 2 sorcerors instead of 2 wizards.

Raven_Song · Post by **Raven_Song** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 2:19 am

Which would be more powerful, a pure rogue who does sneak attacks then snipes with a bow, or a fighter/rogue with a weaker sneak attack who is better with a bow?

I honestly cannot answer this as I've never played a pure rogue in this game.

Basically I want to make this character with full TWF with full heavy armor using bastard swords and i dont know if a level of ranger would make this easier.

No because rangers only gain the free ambidexterity/twf feats when wearing no or light armours. Fighters gain enough bouns feats for you to be able to select the feats in any case, although I believe you need a minimum dexterity of 15. If you are planning to specilaise in bastards swords you probably should know that in the unmodded game the selection is not particularly good.

For the mage, what is the point of making it a sorceror instead of a wizard? I just looked at the casting tables and sorcerors can cast wayyy more times than a wizard can.

Ues sorcerers can cast more spells per day than wizards, but they gain access to new spells levels a level slower than wizard and they cannot learn every single spell in the game. A sorcerer may select sleep at first level but they are then stuck with it, they cannot "unmemorise" whereas a wizard can.

I'm thinking about 2 sorcerors instead of 2 wizards.

I'd be more incline to take one of each.

thismysn · Post by **thismysn** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:10 am

Ok well I'll play a pure rogue my first time to get a feel for the class. He'll have from pretty low hitpoints though but sufficient for archery.

For the human fighter I'll give him 15 dex and take a point from wisdom to add after 4 levels. I'll try to give him full TWF with the most effective weapons that I find, bastard swords or otherwise.

The barbarian and cleric seem fine.

I'm going to have 2 spellcasters, but I don't really understand how wizards work. Do they memorize a few spells for the day spells and get to cast each spell a certain amount until they rest again? Or do they cast magic a certain number of times regardless of which spell? (i.e could they cast 15 fireballs or 5 fireballs 5 MI's and 5 mm's)? Also, do speciallist wizards get to cast a spell more times a day, or do they get another slot to memorize a spell in? I'm wondering if they get to use more magic per day than a normal wizard. If wizards turn out to be too underpowered I'll go with a druid as a backup cast. (an evil druid)

Raven_Song · Post by **Raven_Song** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:27 am

Do they memorize a few spells for the day spells and get to cast each spell a certain amount until they rest again?

That's wizards.

do they cast magic a certain number of times regardless of which spell? (i.e could they cast 15 fireballs or 5 fireballs 5 MI's and 5 mm's)?

That's sorcerers

Also, do speciallist wizards get to cast a spell more times a day, or do they get another slot to memorize a spell in?

They get an extra slot.