offbeat weapons specialization party (mulitplayer custom party of six)

Lemernis

I've been considering a multiplayer custom party run with characters that use weapons that I normally don't use much, or at least don't try to maximize very often. And if I can make them even funkier/more offbeat in other aspects based on various class skills, then so much the better. Some ideas include:

- hallfling who gets great use of the sling; could be a pure Fighter or Fighter Kit, but I'd probably enjoy it more if its a multi something-or-other
- grandmaster in crossbow who uses the Light Crossbow of Speed and bolts of biting (probably just a pure Fighter I reckon)
- ranger who uses throwing axes

I'm not committed to any of those, btw, that's just the first bit of brainstorming. Any other ideas or suggestions? The more creative and outside-of-the-box the better. But overall I'm looking for a fairly balanced party.

Edit: Note: with Strength bonus damage to slings, throwing axes, and daggers, I would probably enjoy using all three amongst the party.

I think I'd like to use a good distribution of demi-humans, as well...

For example, I might try a dwarven Assassin, but with some sort of creative twist.

Maybe something a bit out of the ordinary for a Half-orc?

Southpaw

1) Human Kensai with GM in Daggers, later dualling to Thief for some stealth. BUT! Play him primarily like a ninja knife-thrower utilizing stealth and speed for recon and ranged hit-and-run attacks. A bit underpowered in BG1 (no magical throwing knives), but with the advent of magical returning daggers in BG2 very interesting. Alternatively, Barbarian with the same setup.
2) Halfling with a pike...I don't know. I just find the idea of a little halfling with a 2m (6.5") long stick amusing.
3) Gnome with a flail. Call him/her "Whirling Gabe", put a flail in each hand and go to town.

Lemernis

@Southpaw I'd almost be tempted to use EE Keeper to try making the flail/morning star dual-wielding gnome a Blade.

Southpaw

@Lemernis‌ - would he sing? Or at least whistle? That'd be nice.

Lemernis

@Southpaw Hmm, probably would be a she... Yeah, maybe but now that I think about it maybe Swashbuckler might be more of what I'm looking for a character like this. :-)

Freche

A pipe smoking dwarven bard, using quarter staff and crossbow.

Southpaw

A "let's subvert stereotypes" pipe-smoking Halfling Fighter called "Cheery Baggins".
With a 2-hander.
Berserker kit.
Chaotic Evil.

GreenWarlock

For slingers I prefer to go with a half-orc and its 19 strength. Had a lot of fun in BGEE with a halfling dart weapon-master though. The weapon specialization and gauntlets of weapon mastery end up contributing almost of your damage though, rather than the basic dart. Perhaps I should have been less of a hoarder of the many magic darts…

Halberds are a lot more fun in BG2, although BGEE added some interest for halbardiers as well.

FinneousPJ

Gnome barbarian with 2H Swords and an elf with heavy blunt weapons.

Lemernis

I kind of like the idea of an elf with a war hammer. Or dual-wielding Ashideena and Stupifier, maybe.

Lemernis

Okay, well here is what I went with for my offbeat weapons/race/class party: A human Fighter who grandmasters in crossbow; human Stalker who hurls throwing axes; elven cleric who wields war hammer and shield and will also try to spellcast during melee; dwarven assassin who backstabs with staff (that weapon choice not terribly offbeat, granted; but oddly more fun with a dwarf for some reason); gnome fighter/illusionist who dual-wields flails and spellcasts during melee; halfling barbarian who will use both sling (in the midst of melee) and great sword.

I'd grade this about a B- for originality. I could have gone quirkier and more original, but the wildest choices might not have been all that fun in actual practice. There's a sort of balancing act to achieve here between originality and fun value. (There's a reason behind why clubs and spears aren't particularly popular weapons.)

One thing that should be kind of fun for me about this is that the humans--the Fighter and Stalker--will be in the back row with crossbow and throwing axes. And the front line will be shorties and an elf. Also, the party's two spellcasters both cast their spells in the midst of melee combat.

I took the best of the first ten rolls for each character. I tried to avoid 18's even although I got some pretty good rolls. Anyone think I should pare down some of the abilities for some of the characters to increase the challenge?

Human LN Fighter (Bhaalspawn) - Darius
Crossbow ++ (will grandmaster)
Dart ++
Str 18/39
Dex 17
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 16
Cha 14

Male Human LG Stalker - Zeljin
Axe ++ (will use throwing axes but can switch to dual wielding if needed)
Single Weapon Style ++
Two Weapon Style ++
Str 17
Dex 17
Con 16
Int 14
Wis 18
Cha 12

Male Elven NG Cleric - Kemeth
War Hammer +
Sword and Shield Style +
Str 17
Dex 17
Con 15
Int 14
Wis 18
Cha 12

Male Dwarven CE Assassin - Zangold the Ugly
Quarterstaff ++
Two-handed Weapon Style ++
Str 16
Dex 17
Con 17
Int 11
Wis 9
Cha 9

Female Gnome CG Fighter/Illusionist - Bet-Kha
Flail/Morning Star ++
Two-weapon Style ++
Str 16
Dex 16
Con 14
Int 17
Wis 10
Cha 10

Female Halfling CN Barbarian - Lakna
Sling ++
Two-handed Sword +
Two-weapon Style +
Str 17
Dex 16
Con 17
Int 11
Wis 12
Cha 10

Southpaw

I like it :-)

Lemernis

Thanks, @Southpaw. I wonder, though, if it might actually not be a bit OP... They have some very strong ability scores, for example. And even if I shave down the scores this is actually a strong lineup, would be my guess. I may wait until I finally install SCS to play this game.

For the cleric I considered using club or spear (and as he gains pips I still could, I guess). But I'm not sure how fun that would actually be versus using Ashideena. I also considered tying to have him exclusively use spells for melee weapons, i.e., Shillelagh, Spiritual Hammer, Flame Blade; and then when they are exhausted cast other spells. But it would be kind of PIA to have his casting of the next magical melee weapon spell interrupted (e.g., casting time for Flame Blade is 4, and Spiritual Hammer is 5).

For the Assassin, likewise I could have had him backstab with a club. But that just doesn't seem as much fun to me as seeing the little guy use a stave.

I think for a number of these characters the novelty is primarily the race and/or gender. The Barbarian and Fighter/Illusionist in particular. But they do have weapons twists as well.

Freche

@Lemernis‌ maybe mod those spells to have shorter casting time and only cast them with him. Justify it by him using them so much he got extremely skilled at casting those particular spells or something similar.