21 replies to this topic

[Sammi Somara]

I don't know about you, but many of my greatest characters have come from playing Icewind Dale I and II. I love creating new parties.
My main party is the same party in my webcomic--

(IWDII)
Samarre Penelope Zaldan, NG female moon elf ranger (she's very kind)
Silinius-Tkarim Schmidt, CG male tiefling necromancer (EMO.)
Erin Selin, LG female Aasimar Morninglord of Lathander (Holier-than-thou, trigger-happy, obsessed with smiting things)
Millicent A. Banewater, CG female Ghostwise Halfling Rogue (likes shinies)
Nase Stevenson, CN Male Half-Elf Wizard (prankster, and complete and total jerk)
Hannah Narwin, Female Human Bard (crazy-hyper)

And here are my other parties

(IWDI)
Athanor Roundwell, LG Male Human Paladin (stuck-up)
Deirdre Connelly, N Female Human Fighter (quick to smile)
Finnegan Fallingwine, CN Male Halfling Rogue (loud and rude)
Xelian Veranatos, CN Male Human Bard (Stupid-random)
Sammi Somara, CG Female Elf Wizard (She's my Bhaalspwn in the BG series)
(And then, it was getting late and I couldnt think up any more characters, so for the sixth spot i decided to be stupid and unoriginal and just stuck Xan from BG in there...I even rerolled his stats until they were the same as they were in BG...)

(IWDI)
Roana Choerle-NG Female Human Ranger (born leader, headstrong)
Nolan (last name unknown)-LG Male Human Paladin (Valiant and fearless)
Losana Tallaxe-LG Female Dwarf Fighter (patient)
(unwilling to divulge first name) Reiner-CN male halfling rogue (okay, I like halfling thieves, I admit it!)
Ferissa Gerelon-NG Female Elf Cleric (has an inferiority complex)
Kawazaki Kishura-CG Male Human Conjurer (Doesn't speak much)

(IWDII)
Darkfall Nightwing--CN Female Aasimar Fighter(Goth Chick)
Gozzak Roundstep--CN Male Human Ranger (Has a bad temper and even worse breath)
Kurg Bekk-CE Male Half-Orc Barbarian (stereotypical half orc barbarian)
Beanbag The Mighty-NE Male Gnome Wizard(mentally unstable, half of the time he thinks he's a cat, raised by halflings)
Gaeran Vilshazz-LE Male Drow Bard(smooth-talking and exeptionally cruel)
Lianna Greentree-LG Halfling Thief (Beanbag's foster sister, resents being dragged into this, disgusted by her companions)

(IWDII)
Talia Ananyer-Colishar Schmidt-LG Female Tiefling Cleric (quiet and humble)
Lilian Cassandra Banewater-N Female Halfling Druid (timid)
Kiligre Darniss- NG Female Human Bard/Rogue (also timid)
Kadirna Darniss-CN Male Human Rogue (quite the charmer)
Essione Clearwater-CN Female Wild Elf Barbarian (enjoys fart jokes)
Demerran Oldran-NG Male Drow Illusionist (cross-dresser, was raised by wood elves, prefers to go by the name 'Sarah')


So what about you guys? Who are your parties?

Edited by Sammi Somara, 24 April 2008 - 08:22 PM.

[Tempest]

My classic strike group:

Nathaniel Arelin, Lawful Good Male Human Paladin of Hoar
Kymas Turan, Lawful Good Male Human Rogue/Paladin of Tyr
Alexandria Moonshadow, Chaotic Good Female Tiefling Silverstar of Selune
Shyaern, True Neutral Female Moon Elf Rogue/Ranger
Isobel Marrev, Neutral Good Female Aasimar Sorceress
Twilight, Lawful Neutral Male Dwarf Wizard

[Lythari]

My current IWD I party:
Kaspar von Radeveil, LG male human paladin;
Thorkell Rustedbeard, LN male dwarf fighter;
Merowyn, CG female human fighter;
Salivandrian, CG male elf diviner;
Dilly, LG female halfling cleric;
Goldfinch, TN male half-elf fighter/thief.

[Kulyok]

Charname, Nella, Korin, Teri, Severn and Holvir.

[Sammi Somara]

My most recent two, for IWDI and IWDII (both have two slots for recreations of my BG CHARNAME and Xan from BG.)

IWDI
Athanor Roundwell (from one of my above parties
Lendil Topple (NG Female Half-Elf Bard)
Ainona Ffen (CG female Halfling Fighter/Thief)
Autumn Summerstar (N Female Elven Druid)
Sammi (sorceress, in this game)
Xan (Enchanter, just like in BG)

IWDII
Y'kelethe Rasgar (LG Female Drow Paladin--my story for that is that she used to be a moon elf then found herself on the wrong end of a Polymorph spell. But she made her will save, so didnt change personality)
Taelesh Greengrove (N Male Aasimar Druid)
Dag Rainfall (LN Male Halfling Monk)
Lady Ardella Che (CN Female Tiefling Rogue)
Sammi (Sorceress, one level of bard)
Xan (Enchanter like in BG, one level of fighter just so he could have some skill at using swords. That and so he could get a bit of decent HP. Seriously, in IWDII, he started out with like 2.)

[Vicen]

Well my party for Icewind dale is

Sir James the paladin LG and human of course

Sasha the bard NG Half-elf (The paladin's girlfriend lol)

Vice CE Human Fighter (Brother of Sir James so thats why they travel together)

Yuna Elf LE Mage / Theif (GF of Vice)

Zell Half-elf Ranger CG (Good friend of Sir James)

Neepo TN Gnome Cleric (Old ally of Yuna's)

yeah the party is crazy I know

Edited by Vicen, 06 June 2008 - 05:07 PM.

[Meira]

Our favourite party for IWD2

Tristan, a NG human Morninglord of Lathander. (stern, thoughtful, good-hearted) Portrait
Jill, a CN human bard-sorcerer. Tristan's much younger sister. (daredevil, impatient, loyal) Portrait
Moriel, a NG moonelf Enchanter. (secretive, clever, tactical) Portrait
Thorard, a LN dwarf fighter and smith. A friend and father figure of Tristan. (up-front, practical, honest) Portrait
Kainda, a CG human ranger. Moriel's companion. (observant, quiet, efficient) Portrait
Amber, a CG tiefling thief-fighter. Jill's friend. (wilful, withdrawn, curious) Portrait

[coineineagh]

1) Crazy Laey, Chaotic Neutral Female Drow; 18-15-16-5-15-11; Bard 5 / Tempus X; improve Constitution
2) Lizzt Do'Urden, Neutral Good Female Drow; 18-18-16-5-18-5; Fighter 4 / Lathander X; improve Constitution
3) Hiugh Bastard, Chaotic Evil Male Gray Dwarf; 18-18-20-3-14-1; Fighter 4 / Barbarian X; improve Constitution
4) Kim of the Woods, Lawful Neutral Female Human; 18-16-18-3-18-3; Monk o/t Old Order 1 / Ranger 1 / Druid X; improve Wisdom
5) Selunist Sasquia, Lawful Good Female Human; 16-18-18-3-3-18; Paladin of Mystra 1 / Ranger 1 / Sorcerer X; improve Charisma
6) Debbi Illuster, Neutral Evil Female Deep Gnome; 12-20-18-18-5-1; Ranger 1 / Rogue 2 / Illusionist X; improve Intelligence

This is an unlikely party, mixed alignments, weird class combos, it's heavy on the powergaming, hence the details added.

If you're into powergaming, check out my guide:
http://forums.blackw...hp?showtopic=38

see if you can think of a better team...

[Soulfire]

see if you can think of a better team...

I haven't gotten around to playing IWD2 much (I tried an Insane-difficulty HoW "from level 1" game, but didn't get very far), but the original? Oh yeah. I tried the previously-mentioned Insane HoW level 1 game on that, and progress with a balanced party was slow (Fighter, Thief, Cleric, Mage, Bard, Druid) - and we only survived because the Druid carried the entire party (The Cleric did to a lesser extent), especially against the goblins in the pass. All sorts of AoE spells with which to hold enemies in place so that the party can whack them and automatically hit, as well as a bunch of AoE damage spells? Hell yes.

My next party will consist of one Thief and five Druids for that very reason.

[coineineagh]

You mean HoF mode (Heart of Fury)? There is no heart of winter expansion for IWD2.
I read your plan to use 5x Entangle to hold enemies in place. It sounds interesting, but you realize Entanle doesn't work indoors, and much of IWD2 is indoors. Also, powerful enemies are immune to paralysis.
A druid is a decent character for healing and area damage spells, but they are outmatched in each respect by clerics (raise dead, resurrection) and arcane casters.
Druids are a useful addition to a varied party, but 5 of them will just expose their weaknesses. You'll have practically no buffing spells.
But here's an idea: if it's just about the entangle for you, you could add a level druid to other characters as a mix-in class. Even if you don't achieve the 5 mix-ins, 3 or 4 entangles is still a sticky mess.

[Neferit]

Hm, my newest group consists of:

- Charname (Sindal) - CN elven bard (yeah, I know that elves can't be bards - but I think that's really unfair, so I usually change it via DaleKeeper)

- Holvir

- Severn

- Korin

- Amonet - CN half-elven fighter/cleric

- Sayonara - CN half-elven fighter/thief

[Klorox]

I completed IWD 1 on HoF from the beginning. It was very tough at the beginning, but after the pass, I thought the game actually got a lot easier.

Here's the party I had:

Human Paladin
Half Elf Cleric/Ranger
Elf Fighter/Mage/Thief
Half Elf Bard
Half Elf Fighter/Druid
Gnome Fighter/Illusionist

Multiclasses make this game a lot easier. You do NOT need a single-classed wizard. I had high level spell slots left empty, even for my F/M/T because I could not find scrolls fast enough.

[dude67]

And here I thought I was the only soul on earth who fussed over party composition as much I do..................

I first won the game with................

Trevor (Human Palidan)
Ragnar (Dwarf Fighter/Cleric)
Jolendra (Half-elf Ranger)
Kylan (Elf Fighter/Mage/Thief)
Tiare (Half-elf Druid)
Aurora (Mage)

I then bought HoW and was very much in a hurry to play it, so I had Hjollder wind walk me to Lonelywood at the first oppurtunity, I found the above party very much unprepared for HoW at 9th level, so I beefed them up with what I thought were stronger character in the #5 and #6 slots.............

Greywulf (Half-elf Fighter/Druid)
Tiare (Half-elf Cleric/Mage)

I also changed Jolendra to human as I thought I had too many half-elves in the party..................

Then I started a new party with some new ideas for characters, I didn't get far with them as I lost interest and started playing BGII (finally)................

Aurora (Human Palidan)
Borrin (Dwarf Fighter/Cleric)
Greywulf (Half-elf Ranger)
Andar (Halfling Fighter/Thief)
Kairas (Half-elf Druid)
Xavius (Human Mage)

While I was busy playing BGII twice, I was knocking around several custom character ideas and came up with three parties I want to try, I am currently playing this party.............

Trevor (Human Palidan - Morning Knight w/ Sun/Fire spells, background is from Beregost)
Ragnar (Dwarven Cleric - Templar w/ weapon specialization but with -1spell/level, also has custom lightning spells)
Jolendra (Human Ranger - Daughter of Chief Romag of the Elk tribe, no custom abilities, but a kewl background hook into the story)
Kylan (Elf Fighter/Mage/Thief)
Tiare (Half-elf Bard - actually her background IDs her as a half-dryad, she actually has arcane versions of several druid spells and an innate charm ability)
Aurora (Human dual class Cleric6/Mage - cleric of Lathander with sun/fire spells, also from Beregost)

Next, I plan to play this group................

Valere (Human Palidan of Tyr - Lightning Spells)
Rowena (Human Cleric - no custom ideas yet)
Nightshade (Half-elf Fighter/Mage/Thief - sort of a batwoman-type, started out as a ranger-idea, anyway..............)
Kylan(Human Bard- BattleBard/Skald, can specialize to two slots, cannot pick pockets)
Mayberry (Halfling Druid - simple to alter the racial access to classes, I like this character)
Qandar (Drow Mage - alchemist, can mix a number of potions as well as command a lot of nasty spells, one bad mage)

If I ever get to it, I will finish what I started with the Aurora part which will look a lot like the one above but with some custom ideas thrown in...............

Aurora (Human Palidan - no custom ideas yet)
Kairos (Half-elf Fighter/Cleric, brother of Kairas, no other ideas yet)
Greywulf (Human Ranger, barbarian cast out by Wylfdene/Icasaracht because his spirit connections/awareness threaten his/her plans, he can summon a spirit wolf)
Andar (Halfling Fighter/Thief - pryotechnic, can make a number of fire-based devices)
Kairas (Half-elf Druid, sister of Kairos, no custom ideas yet)
Bridget (Human Mage - shapeshifting ice sorceress, one of my fav creations)

As you can, party number three is less well developed than the other two, I've been bouncing these ideas around for some time and I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. And yes, I do reuse some names, I do have a list of some 25-30 names that have stuck with me over the years and I use and reuse them all the time...................

Anyway, thanx for posting this strand, it's something I never thought would turn up in a discussion with other gamers and it was a lot of fun posting/discussing these ideas. Hopefully, people will enjoy the read and maybe even draw some inspiration from it..............................

[The Red Knight]

In IWD 1 I always runa 4man party

The Lioness Human Female Fighter , she takes Axes and 2 handers
Red Lily Female Elf Wizard
Garreth half elf Fighter/thief
Markos Elf Ranger/cleric


Easier loot distribution and makes micromanagement much easier.

[Ebon]

A trouble I'm having with IWD is building a party that doesn't end up being too boring or garish. I'm tired of good parties, I'm skeptical of mixed alignment parties (having an alleged "evil" troublemaker won't change gameplay). I don't want them to look like heroes of light or a halloween carnival. I want to give them a neutral look for the reason that they're all custom, but not make them boring.

Are warrior classes essential for a party's survival? In my short IWD experience, whatever's not a fighter has a sucky hit accuracy. Is it true that I'd better have them all human and many of them able to dual-class? I wish the leader to be a fighter/mage elf, but will he lag compared to others? Anyway, a party I'm surely going to use:

1. Protagonist, an elven male fighter/mage, good overall stats, probably TN
2. Meatshield, a tank, a human male fighter, great physical stats, probably LN

The rest are under my debate... Probably add an Anomen-type Cleric, , and a crazy gnomish crossbow fighter. And the obligatory tinker thief, dwarf or halfling. Maybe also a female druid (not fighter/druid; I've had this enough in BG).

But I have the feeling that most of the time, non-warriors will stand back and have to be protected.

[Tieflingz]

IWD I:
Gearhardt: Human Male, Lawful Neutral, Fighter Dual Cleric
Lanneris: Human Male, Neutral Evil, Fighter Dual Thief
Iuny: Half-Elf Female, Chaotic Evil, Fighter/Wizard
Trensia: Dwarf Female, Lawful Evil, Fighter/Cleric

I swear, the transition period for the humans is so hard that I had to reload so many times to actually pass everything. And then later on I found out Multi-Classing will eventually beat Dual Classing in the end~

(Dual, Multi from Fighter to Something else)
Dual class: More focused for the 2nd class while gaining benefit from the previous class. (Faster leveling)
Multi-class: Even though distributed evenly between the classes (Slower leveling, but steadily improving THAC0, Attacks per Round

In Multi-class fighter/?? actually benefit full Constitution (Up to +5, 19 Con) bonus hitpoints, THAC0 and Attacks per Round can be improved
Dual Classes will only benefit the highest Constitution hitpoints when they are able, that means during Fighter period would be 1d10 + 4max (Humans can only get up to 18 constitution), while even at 18 constitution, for Cleric it would be 1d8 + 2max, and Thief 1d6 + 2max (16 constitution)

So aye... Sacrificing up a few levels progress of Clerc, Druid, Wizard, or Thief for Fighter is totally worth it

Dual classing isn't the best choice sometimes, but since I'm a human supremacist, whatever!
----------------------------
Alright, enough chanting of 2E, now IWD II with the awesome 3.5E and Tieflings!!!

Gearhardt: Lawful Neutral, Aasimar Male, lvl4 Fighter/lvlx Watcher of Helm
Lanneris: Neutral Evil, Tiefling Male, lvl4 Fighter/lvlx Rogue
Lyria: Neutral Good, Wild Elf Female, Sorceress
Trensia: Lawful Evil, Dwarf Female, Barbarian/Battleguard of Tempus

In 3.5E multi-classing evenly is in an obvious lag of progress... But I still like the feel of making weird classes, I don't even want to think of making a fighter/wizard in 3.5E lol....

Edited by Tieflingz, 23 November 2009 - 11:12 AM.

[Carleton]

4 fighters, one multi theif, 2 clerics one dual class with 9 fighter levels if second edition. The party runs itself, you rest maybe once per week in game, and the only preparation before the hardest fights is casting 4 cleric spells so your party can't possibly fail their saving throws.

Of course, I had a friend who played through IWD1 with 5 fighters and 1 ranger. He just refused to include a caster and just hit the rest until healed button. He ended up with 120 years of game time until his ranger got cure light wounds.

[Carleton]

4 fighters, one multi theif, 2 clerics one dual class with 9 fighter levels if second edition. The party runs itself, you rest maybe once per week in game, and the only preparation before the hardest fights is casting 4 cleric spells so your party can't possibly fail their saving throws.

Of course, I had a friend who played through IWD1 with 5 fighters and 1 ranger. He just refused to include a caster and just hit the rest until healed button. He ended up with 120 years of game time until his ranger got cure light wounds. He was most disgusted.

[Aerows]

Starting to play the game again (IWD) with plans for HoF mode so:

Tellerian'Set - Female Human Paladin
Maerith - Female Human Ranger Neutral Good
Xerxes - Male Human Fighter Neutral Good-> Rogue after level 5
Descartes - Female Elven Neutral Druid/Fighter
Sand - Male Elven Mage/Fighter Chaotic Good
Styx - Male Half-Elven Cleric/Mage Neutral Good

I don't have a completely interesting background for the group yet, since I haven't played them enough to get totally attached, but I'm certain that I will once we hit the Vale . I have the mod that tweaks the ability to disable traps with armor and cast arcane with penalties, and allows the wearing of armor by Druid/Fighters (which is more true to PnP). I've never played it this way before, but since I am changing the rules a bit, I am playing on Insane the first go around even before hitting HoF. We'll see how well this group survives!

[Elan Morin Tedronai]

I prefer 4-man parties. It gives me room to improvising and also to cover the best abilities, weapons and expertises in the game. So I prefer 4-man parties.

Best:

Dwarf Fighter
Half-elf Fighter/Cleric
Halfling Fighter/Thief
Elf Mage/Thief

Also:

Elf Ranger
Half-elf Fighter/Druid
Halfling Fighter/Thief
Elf Mage/Thief

Alternative:

Human Paladin
Dwarf Fighter/Cleric
Halfling Fighter/Thief
Half-elf Bard

Additional:

Dwarf Fighter
Elf Cleric/Ranger
Halfling Fighter/Thief
Elf Mage/Thief

There can also be 3-man core band.
Dwarf Fighter/Cleric
Halfling Fighter/Thief
Elf Mage/Thief

One thing to say, pure Mage sucks. Mage is best combined with Thief because Thief gains levels the fastest and also boosts the HP and the overall attacking power. You can give him a Bow and he becomes killer machine. Thieves are also a bit lacking for the aforementioned reason so it's best to combine with Mage or Fighter. You can see that Halfling Fighter/Thief is ever present in all my parties. He is a killer. Got to say that if the Mage/Thief had one additional weapon slot it would be fenomenal. I know Mult-Fighters combined with Cleric or Druid gain levels slower but for longer perspective they are better than dual Fighters. I also recommend giving all your characters ranged weapons because it boosts the percent of killing and the overall attacking power. My favourite classes are Fighter/Cleric and Fighter/Thief. Casters are necessary but only in the forms of Mage/Thief or Bard.

I also even recommend trying the game with solo player, best Dwarf Fighter/Cleric or Elf Fighter/Mage/Cleric.

That's all for now. Regards: Chavdar

Edited by Elan Morin Tedronai, 30 April 2010 - 08:21 AM.