A new beginning

[Raven_Song]

Hi folks

Just downloaded BG Tutu and the various mods with the intention of giving the game another go, its been years since I played (damned that addictive Morrowind).

Anyway I'm looking for fun party suggestions, not necessarily ultra powerful parties, as to me the most enjoyable element of the BG games (well at least BG II) was the NPC interation (which is why I've downloaded the BG NPC project).

There are a few things I should probably mention

1. Completely open to suggestions about the PC
2. Not bothered about mixing the alignments of the characters in the party (it adds to the fun)
3. Absolutely hate Imoen, so will absolutely not consider taking the hamster faced parasite, apart to use her as bait for the wolves

Thanks in advance

[TheAmazingOopah]

Hehe, that comment about Imoen was funny...

First of all, I would advise you two funny characters, who are very good in their profession and will have some sparks flying between them every once in a while: Minsc and Edwin. Minsc is hilarious and a strong melee fighter too (though I hope that his hamster Boo won't remind you of Imoen too much ) and Edwin is probably the best mage in the game, very intelligent (18), with a dark paranoid twist to it. This would mean that you have to kill Dynaheir, which isn't really a shame, I guess, as I find her only useful in a good alignment team. You could also take Xan, who I think is a very funny pessimist (although others beg to differ), but he can't cast Magic Missle (very good spell), has very low hitpoints and you won't have of course the conflicts with Minsc.

For a thief, I normally take Imoen, but as you colourfully stated that you do not wish her presence around, I would go for Coran. He's charming, has two decent quests and is deadly with the bow. His stealth and lock picking skills are fabulous, his pick pocketing medium, his trap detecting bad. So perhaps you should take another thief in the party to back that up. Montaron would be more than okay, as he is a good thief/fighter with a funny psycho personality. Then you would also have a second mage (Xzar), who can do the identifying for one (Edwin can't do this), though you don't nescecarily need a second mage. Instead, you could also take in Garrick, the bard, to be a spell caster, a thief (pick pocketing) and as a back-up missle companion, and also someone cheerful to have around. This would mean that you should just give Coran like 40% on trap detecting anyway.

We seem to have no priest yet, so perhaps you could make the hero a cleric (or a druid, if you want). If there would be still any room left, you could take in a fighter: Kagain or Shar-Teel. Or you could take in an NPC priest and make the PC a normal fighter.

Confused? I know I am. So here are again the options:

You - Cleric or Druid (Multiclass, if you like)
Xzar
Montaron
Minsc
Edwin/Xan
Coran

or

You - Cleric or Druid
Garrick
Kagain/Shar-Teel
Minsc
Edwin/Xan
Coran

or

You - Fighter
Garrick
Viconia/Branwen/Yeslick/Tiax/Quayle/Jaheira/Faldorn (I leave you the choice)
Minsc
Edwin/Xan
Coran

Hope this helped a bit. Though please wait for the others to comment too, they surely have better ideas.

[Ravager]

Personally, I would take Kagain over Shar-Teel due to the huge difference in hit-points. The last time I played, Kagain had 20 CON and Shar-Teel 8 (as far as I know ). If I had taken her and had her attacking enemies on the front-line, she probably would have died every five minutes .

[Coot]

Shar-Teel is'nt such a bad fighter. She does indeed have a low con but she always came through as a frontline fighter for me. She's also a somewhat more original character IMHO than Kagain. And with Tutu, you could make her a Kensai so she won't be hit too often.
As for other partymembers: I know they come in somewhat late, but I'm a big fan of Eldoth and Skie, roleplaying-wise.
Viconia is good choice too. She's absolutely the best cleric in the game and has 50% MR. Low strength though.
As far as thieves go, Safana is a nice choice. She's available early, and has ok stats.
Xan may not be the best mage in the game (IIRC he can't cast from the invoker's school so he can't cast magic missile and chromatic orb) but he does have the best soundset.

[Raven_Song]

Thank you for your suggestions.

At the moment I'm thinkning of running an elf-themed party as characters like Viconia, Xan and Coran have been given postive reviews

So far I'm thinking

PC - thief
Kivan
Coran
Viconia
Xan

leaving the sixth slot open for various NPC's with related quests.

i realize I'm lacking a fomribale tank type character to to be perfectly honest my style of play better suits hit and run/skirmish tactics. I might take pity on Khalid and free him from Jaheira to fill this slot permanently after all NPC related quests have been accomplished, as he provides semi-tankish capabilities (and he is half-elf)

It will be interesting to see how far this party will actually go.

Again thanks for the suggestions