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My 1st IWD Party

I bought the IWD Collection and started with IWD 1. Glad I did it that way. For that I used a party modeled after some of my favorite AD&D pen and paper characters I created or were fellow party members my friends had. The party consisted of:

Tarellon, elf, NG, fighter/mage

Rysta, human, LG, paladin

Atverbin, gnome, NG, fighter/thief, (the paper version was originally a plain fighter but felt like I would need some thieving ability)

Clive, half elf, CG, ranger/cleric (I actually like this better than ranger/druid because many of the spells available to him were druid spells, plus all the normal cleric spells)

Philos, human, CG, cleric

Amanda, human, LG, mage

All of the characters had "some" type of missle weapon ability. Learned in the paper version that raining death from a distance is usually preferable. The mage, cleric, and ranger/cleric (he couldn't a bow) had slings. The paladin had a crossbow, the fighter/mage and fighter/thief had bows. The fighter/thief eventually gave up his bow when I found that "great" throwing axe that returns to the user. Many a foe was dropped by a hail of bolts, bullets, and arrows before even getting close to the party. The thief with the axe had a great "sniping" tactic, hide in shadows, find an isolated enemy, get just in range, throw the axe and back away while it's in flight. The enemy gets hit, never sees you, and "Usually" doesn't charge. In spots with overwhelming numbers I used this to cut down the odds.

Made it through IWD, HOW, & TotLM without anyone dying (save one odd encounter where I felt the computer violated the AD&D rules and killed Amanda with Power Word:Kill when it should not have been able to). I restarted that encounter and redid it.

Good looking party you've got there.

In any AD@D game I always use the same character line ups, have done since Eye Of The Beholder too.

Dwarf Male fighter
Elf Female cleric
Halfling Male thief
Half-elf Male Mage

Since this is a six party game I chuck in:

Human female druid
Human female ranger

All are chaotic neutral.

So far these characters have finished the original Icewind Dale and the Howl Of Winter expansion pack. As soon as I work how to start the Luremaster expansion I will be taking them into Icewind Dale II.

Thanks Erenor,

Lot of history with those characters. In one of your earlier posts you said :
"Good point. I guess I'm simply partial to items and weaponry with a good history and a name in general." I know of at least 2 name bows in IWD 1. Of course, "Sssht" in Dragon's eye, but a random item from Kaylessa in the Hand is her bow "Kaylessa's bow". Both have interesting histories. It seems that the encounter with Kaylessa gives you a random one of "her" named items. The second time I went through I received her gloves and not the bow. Nice, but would have preferred the bow. Don't know if this is any help for you.

Baronation you have a well rounded group. Haven't done IWD 1 for a while. Can a ranger be CN in IWD? I thought they had to be "some" form of good as in the original AD&D !?! Likewise, I thought druids could only be "true" neutral. Guess I may have to dust off IWD 1 and run through it again.

Chances are that I'am confused, probably actually have 2 fighters, but would prefer and normally take a ranger. As for the druid, no idea what the alignment is, better check that out.

I was a bit gutted to find out I couldn't take this party into Icewind Dale II.

Although I can have a Gnome in my party now!

Gnomes

The Gnome I had for IWD 1 (Atverbin) was patterned after an NPC I ran and worked out OK. But was MUCH more like the NPC I ran in IWD 2 because you can specifically pick Sverfneblin, which he was, as a subclass (although the level "handicap" is steep, 3 levels, ouch!) . He was a "gnome" in IWD 1, but the special Sverfneblin abilities have in IWD 2 made it worth while even with the handicap.

I cannot remember what the first party I ever used to beat the game was, but here's the one I am currently using:

Female Human Paladin (Large Swords)
Male Human Fighter (Great Swords)
Male Half-Elf Cleric/Ranger (Maces/Morningstars)
Female Elf Fighter/Mage/Thief (Bows)
Female Human Fighter (will dual to Mage at level 9) (sling)
Male Human Bard (crossbows)

I thought about making the Human Figher a Dwarf, but I am partial towards humans and elves.

Seems to be working so far.

The7thStooge

Party Makeup

Good looking group! They should do well.

I like the cleric/ranger combo myself. The broader range of spells is a big plus in my book. Outweighs a druid/ranger to me.

I too am partial towards cleric/rangers, or sometimes just for the heck of it I have done cleric/fighters. Granted, there was a couple of lost advantages if I didn't take a ranger, but hey, what the heck?

I would much rather multi-class a cleric with some kind of fighter than keep the cleric single-classed, for pretty obvious reasons. One time I dualed a fighter to a cleric when the fighter hit level nine, with all available proficiency points into hammers, and although it took a while to get her to a 10th level cleric, when she did she could really bring down the house!

I don't really know enough about druids to know if one is worth taking or not. Plus, I like some of the "cleric-only" weapons that you can find (I don't know if this is a spoiler, but I better make sure: Weapons like the Sanctified Morning Stars, or I think there is one that is called the War Hammer of the Gods; that one is pretty nice).

The7thStooge...

Dual Classing

I will probably get brave and dual class one of these days. Probably with a druid (as the first class) since druids advance in level so quickly. There are some great cleric weapons. My cleric/ranger had a +2 mace that added something like 2 spell slots for 1st - 3rd level spells. He was my combat cleric. Took entangle spells, etc. vs. healing. I had a single class cleric that did most of the healing. I like having a single class cleric as well for the following two reasons: Some of the higher level cleric spells are really helpful (magic resistence, shield of laththander for example) and the ability to turn (perhaps outright destroy) a number of the higher level undead. But I also completely understand your feeling of having a cleric with some real "punch". I guess that's why I had both in my 1st party for IWD 1.

Anabel Oakenshield - NG halfling fighter
Julia Dawnwatcher - LG halfling cleric
Avar Hawkwing - CG human ranger
Eldric Thavere - NG elf fighter/mage
Bandar Holt - LN human fighter9/clericX
Finmar Sootrock - TN dwarf fighter/thief

This will be my second serious foray into Icewind Dale and my first time completing the game... then on to IWD2 and all the other unbeaten games on my shelf...

@Floyd The Barber, I LOVE THIS THREAD, (by the way), Some comments you made on your party if you please. How familer are you with Forgotten Realms? Just wondering what diety do you think Bandar Holt is a patron of? Just curious? The Patronige of Julia Dawnwatcher. Finmar Sootrock, is he(?) a Dark Dwarf per chance? Gave you play IceWind Dale two yet? Good Names, that is why I replyed.

@Patrick
I'm not all that familiar with the Forgotten Realms, only with what I've gathered from BG1-2 and IWD1-2. Having said that, I had in mind that Bandar Holt would be a patron of Helm, Julia Dawnwatcher would be a cleric of Lathander or perhaps Arvoreen (the traditional god(dess)? of halflings?), and Finmar is a shield dwarf. I'm going to write bios for all my characters as soon as I can get my hands on a book with Forgotten Realms info and lore, although I'm not sure which book I need though.
I have IWD2 on my shelf, I'll probably play it after I beat IWD.

Human Paladin LG
Gnome Fighter CN
Dwarf Fighter/Cleric CG
HalfElf Fighter/Druid TN
Gnome Illusionist/Thief CG
HalfElf Bard LN

4 tanks, 2 arcane, 2 divine (+Pally)

Lots 'o' damage, fast, and heal-up after. Good tactic, eh?

Human - Paladin - Lond Sword, Hammer
Gnome - Fighter/Mage - Great Sword, Axe
Human - Druid - Dagger, Sling
Halfling - Fighter/Thief Short Sword, Bow
Human - Bard - Mace, Bow
Human - Necromancer - Dagger, Sling

My favored party is as follows; Basically 3 melee fighters leading the charge, then three weaker units mage/cleric/thief all with ranged weapons.

1: Female human fighter, with Flail, shield and sling. Flail does crushing damage which is the most versatile type, high charisma gives cheaper prices in shops

2: human male fighter, with two handed sword and crossbow, because they are cool weapons

3: Dwarven fighter with hammer+axe/sling, dwarfy has extra hit poitns due to higher con, and he uses that awesome magic throwing axe once available.

4: Elven multiclass thief/fighter, with bow+longsword (elves get +1 bonus with those), just make sure he doestn die as expensive to ressurect elves.

5: dual class cleric/fighter, fighter up until she gets +++ in slings, then switch to cleric class.

6: dual class mage/fighter, fighter until +++ with bows (and the extra hit poitns are nice too) then switch to mage class. I normally pick a female human, and as she starts as a fighter she will keep the fighter graphic even when she is a powerful mage later, and with no armour she looks hot in that fightress miniskirt