It's been said before but, could I get some help making this party setup work out?

Pajeezy

I'll try and keep this brief:

Me - Fighter (Human)
Str - 18/00
Dex - 18
Con - 18
Int - 10
Wis - 10
Cha - 10

I know that I won't be going evil, but I could try and stay neutral I guess. But here is what I'm trying to get working:

-Imoen
-Branwen
-Kivan
-Ajantis

Now these are totally doable because they are all good and or neutral. The last dude I want to put in this party however is Edwin, but he's evil. If I do this, how negatively would it affect the party? Would you advise against this? If so, would dual classing Imoen to a mage be good enough for mage classes?

Lastly, what other suggestions would anyone have to this party? (I'm very much new to Baldur's Gate still) Thanks in advance to any help from anyone.

[Deleted User]

If you put Edwin in, then you'll need to keep your reputation under 19 to prevent him from running off. Dual-classing Imoen to Mage might be enough to cover that role; choosing between one or two mages in the party mostly comes down to playstyle.

If you do want another Mage and don't want to have to keep an eye on your reputation, then you're options are Dynaheir, Xan, Quayle, and Neera. Dynaheir comes in a pair with Minsc, so you'd either have to replace someone with him or kill him off after recruiting her. Xan is an Enchanter, which means he doesn't get Magic Missile or Fireball (among other spells), so if the reason you want another Mage is for magical artillery, you'll want to skip him. Neera has her own quest and gets extra spells like a specialist mage without banned schools, but does randomly cause wild surges. Quayle is multiclass and an Illusionist, which cuts you off from Horror and Skull Trap, but is otherwise a good specialty.

Or you might fill that last spot with another thief, so you have someone to cover locks and traps while Imoen is leveling up as a mage. Coran's a Fighter/Thief and a beastly archer, and Alora's a straight Thief who's competent enough.

Partly it comes down to where you use your main and Kivan. If you're both front-liners along with Ajantis, you probably don't want yet another melee fighter like Yeslick. If you're attacking from range, on the other hand, he might be just the one to shore up your front line.

CaptRory

You shouldn't have too much trouble if you keep your alignment a little low as has been said. Another option is to just quicksave a lot and quickload when he leaves and he'll just try again later. Hahaha

Vissious

Am I right in thinking that your main char's Charisma affects how well your party holds itself together, too? I seem to remember that it's in there in the mechanics. But yes, reputation is the major driving force behind what your NPC's do, it's always seemed.

Imeon is a solid choice for dual-classing to a mage, but you'll be losing out on of the best thieves in the game; I always like to keep her as a straight thief and let Xzar/Dynaheir handle the spellcasting duties.

Branwen is a solid choice for a tank: Hammer, platemail, shield, GO. She doubles up as the healer, too, obviously. So you can afford to drop Ajantis if you want more spellcasters or skill-based NPC's without making your party too fragile.

Otherwise, your setup looks entirely solid. You'll discover what works best for you as you progress through the game, and if you ever get stumped just come back to here and fire off a question; we'll see you straight!

[Deleted User]

@Vissious I believe that Charname's CHA affects how long antagonistic characters (such as Xzar/Montaron and Jaheira/Khalid) will tolerate each other's presence, but I'm pretty sure that the reputation breakpoints are a hard and fast limitation.

valky

Kaigen said:

@Vissious I believe that Charname's CHA affects how long antagonistic characters (such as Xzar/Montaron and Jaheira/Khalid) will tolerate each other's presence, but I'm pretty sure that the reputation breakpoints are a hard and fast limitation.

If it's the same stuff like BG2, the hate/fight-party banter of some special NPC is auto-triggered and not influenced by Charisma. Cha should or does play a roll to affect the dice while meeting and recruiting some NPC. Afaik it's a rep+cha dice; specially for recruiting evil NPC. This on the other hand is a bit weird, as with low rep (that's what an evil NPC usually likes) + mediocre Char you have a pretty high chance to lose the 'hidden' reaction roll. It's also part of the npc-tweak in the teak-package....

Concerning NPC, some might 'ignore' each other with no side-effect, other are triggered to start a fight. I think gamebanshee had a comprehensive list, but it ain't working anymore, since they switched to the BGEE walkthrough.

Usually 10 rep is fine for a mixed party and a cha of ~10-12 also enough. For shop-prices you just switch a high-cha NPC at the first position to get lower prices, else there should be no other 'important' side-effect.
There are for sure other lists of NPC reactions, who absolutely can't stand each other..so google might be your best friend

If it helps: http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG/bg_npc_conflicts.php ^^

JoeWalker

@Pajeezy Edwin will work fine if you are neutral as long as you do something evil every once in a while just to keep him happy (rep. lower than 19) as @Kaigen pointed out - But if he's too much hassle and you just want a party that'll get along whatever you do I'd try the new dudess on the block - Neera

valky

I think the Paladin might be the problem if Edwin is on board...but that's just common sense to not put an insanely good guy and the embodiment of evil together in a party
Else Dynaheir and/or Neera aren't really that bad. Only her Reckless Dweomer stuff should be used with precaution if her level is low. For normal spell she usually don't get that many of those nasty side-effects...

[stupid Keldorn never liked sweet Viconia in BG2 ^^ now I try a 'good' game with my own dual fighter/cleric..wanted to play some of the other npc quests as well...*eg*]

ZanathKariashi

Edwin will only fight Dynaheir and Minsc (though even getting the 3 of them in a party together requires a specific order of recruitment), no one else gives a crap about him, and as long as your rep is lower 18 he'll stick around, though complain a lot when it's higher then 13.

And Keldorn is a racist hypocrite.....he hates all elves of color...unless their name is Drizzt who he has man-crush on...seriously...you can literally HEAR him Squeeeee when he's talking to Drizzt, in my game, humorously right after telling Viconia that her entire race is a blight on the world and they should all be exterminated.

sandmanCCL

You could always use Neera or Xan as a mage to fill your last spot.

Just saying.

Personally I'd dump Branwen for Yeslick once he shows up.

Nazad

My recommendations would be Yeslick instead of Ajantis or Branwen, Coran instead of Kivan, and Xan.