Suggestions for an all magic user party please.

dunbar

In an effort to address my shortcomings regarding the strengths and weaknesses of magic users I'm putting together a party composed as far as possible (preferably entirely) of magic users.

I want to form a cohesive, believable unit, so this is not just a mechanical exercise and I would like to roleplay a group of arrogant and idiosyncratic magic users that grow to complement each others skills.

So far I've rolled a CN Mage/Thief (called Captain Beefheart - the age-advantaged amongst you might spot the reference) and I'm planning on recruiting Viconia who I have a soft spot for and she can make a passable tank, but then again so can Branwen so my party could be either good or evil inclined at this stage.

I would welcome any suggestions, bearing in mind that I want to build a team, not mix & match as I go along.

Edit: I don't mind picking up paired NPCs as the 'other half' can easily meet an unfortunate end.

Update: Captain Beefheart has made it to FAI in the company of Xzar (Montaron surprisingly succumbed to a gibberling, although this might have had something to do with the fact that his studded leather armour had mysteriously disappeared the night before). Having barely defeated a Dire Wolf, an Ogre and an assassin along the way I think I'll be looking for a more war-like companion next.

FinneousPJ

I believe in DnD "magic user" means mage, and does not include divine casters. You mention Viconia & Branwen though, so I assume you're fine with divine casters. Here are the available choices for reference

Dynaheir, Lawful Good Human Invoker

Yeslick, Lawful Good Dwarf Fighter/Cleric

Branwen, True Neutral Human Cleric

Faldorn, True Neutral Human Druid

Garrick, Chaotic Neutral Human Bard

Jahiera, True Neutral Half-Elf Fighter/Druid

Neera, Chaotic Neutral Half-Elf Wild Mage

Quayle, Chaotic Neutral Gnome Cleric/Illusionist

Xan, Lawful Neutral Elf Enchanter

Baeloth, Chaotic Evil Drow Sorcerer

Edwin, Lawful Evil Human Conjurer

Eldoth, Neutral Evil Human Bard

Tiax, Chaotic Evil Gnome Cleric/Thief

Viconia, Neutral Evil Drow Cleric

Xzar, Chaotic Evil Human Necromancer

I feel like an evil party would be better if you want to RP: Baeloth, Xzar & Edwin are definitely the most "arrogant and idiosyncratic magic users" in the series.

EDIT: so my suggestion would be

Captain Beefheart
Baeloth
Edwin
Viconia
Xzar
Maybe Jaheira for some melee presence?

dunbar

Thanks, I've since picked up Viconia and was thinking of Edwin next.
I'm counting on Viconia for melee presence as I've used her as a back-up tank before.
I haven't played Baeloth before so that could be interesting, plus possibly Neera?
Thanks again, I'd completely overlooked Baeloth.

meagloth

dunbar said:

Thanks, I've since picked up Viconia and was thinking of Edwin next.
I'm counting on Viconia for melee presence as I've used her as a back-up tank before.
I haven't played Baeloth before so that could be interesting, plus possibly Neera?
Thanks again, I'd completely overlooked Baeloth.

Viconia has 8 con and 10 str. Xan and his moonblade have a better Melee presence. I cant think of anyone that duals to a fighter, so I would have Edwin focus on summons. Think spider spawn. That spell Is a beast in bg1.

dunbar

Hmmm, I'm in Nashkel at the moment so Viconia has found herself some pretty green clothes and Edwin has joined. All still Lvl 1 at the moment apart from Viccy so I'll see how I fare against some Gnolls and maybe have a look at Xan when I go down the mines later.

Gallenger

Here is likely how I would handle it since you're neutral - You've got Edwin, Vicona, Beefheart, Xzar so far - you can dual class imoen to a mage fairly soon if you're really intent on keeping her - it'd also cut down on the thief skills you'll need to get to high level since you're a multi-class and won't have oddles of time to screw around with locks, pockets, traps, *and* both stealths - so she can cover a few of those and you can tag her out ~lvl 4 (or more just depends on how good of a thief you want her to be - I'd assume not that good since you're likely carrying thief skills of your own). That leaves an open spot. Be aware that if you do dual class Imoen you wont have access to her thief skills until her mage levels match her thief levels, so don't do it just before entering a trap/lock laden area if you have her max one or both of those and forsake it on beefheart.

So, you've got a gap to fill. There are a few viable options for this, but most of them come later in the game so you have to be creative. You could likely make it to the gnoll stronghold, but you'll have to rest/savescum a lot once you get there to survive because those gnolls have a tendency to swarm, and your 1d4 hp guys are really going to struggle with the swarms until they get some of the second level spells. Xan, with enough buffs, can *kind* of mix it up in melee in a pinch - using potions for the harder fights (get that STR and CON up there!). You may actually be better off just going down into the mines and hoping your armor/shield spells could ward off errant kobold arrows - because your slings/darts etc could likely deal with them fairly effectively. Saving spells for the third level - farm some robes at the carnival first tho. Then you'd have Xan to at least block for a bit.

Once you hit level 5 getting bealoth could be an interesting choice, Neera would've at least made for some craziness first tho lol.

I once played a multiplayer game with the 4 of us on specialist mages, and no NPCs, and we did relatively ok - some traps really rocked our worlds though lol.

dunbar

I've actually got two gaps to fill as I haven't got Imoen, but I like the thinking.
Meanwhile I'm wandering around the countryside with a bunch of raving loonies and learning a whole new way of playing - which was, after all, the main point of this exercise, as well as from having fun.

JuliusBorisov

My suggestion:

Just install the "Move NPCs to More Convenient Locations" SCS mod component and you'll be able to recruit a wonderful all-magic-user party:

Your charname, mage/thief
Tiax (cleric/thief + ghast)
Quayle (cleric/illusionist)
Eldoth (bard)
Vikky (cleric) - because you like her
and later - Faldorn (for the 5th level druidic spells, including Summon Insects)

http://www.gibberlings3.net/readmes/scs_docs/NPC.html
http://www.gibberlings3.net/scs/npc.php

FinneousPJ

@bengoshi That's more like an all priest party lol

dreamrider

bengoshi said:

My suggestion:

Just install the "Move NPCs to More Convenient Locations" SCS mod component and you'll be able to recruit a wonderful all-magic-user party:

Your charname, mage/thief
Tiax (cleric/thief + ghast)
Quayle (cleric/illusionist)
Eldoth (bard)
Vikky (cleric) - because you like her
and later - Faldorn (for the 5th level druidic spells, including Summon Insects)

http://www.gibberlings3.net/readmes/scs_docs/NPC.html
http://www.gibberlings3.net/scs/npc.php

Don't you mean Insect Plague?

karnor00

You could even go for the full single class mage party!

PC
Edwin
Dynaheir
Neera
Zxar
Baeloth

dunbar

I thought I liked that Idea as I hadn't previously considered Dynaheir due to alignment issues.

However I've just had to drop Edwin (temporarily I hope) because I couldn't get to the Gnoll fortress in time to 'remove' Dynaheir, so presumably she and Edwin are not compatible.
My current cunning plan is to pick up Neera, grind my way through the Gnolls etc. and hope Edwin is still where I left him (standing amongst the remains of Bassilus and his anorexic acolytes).

the_spyder

I want to say that it is possible to have Edwin and Dynaheir in the same group. Something along the lines of dropping Edwin just prior to freeing her, then have him rejoin after she has joined. I think they bicker if you do that though. And given that you are already separating Monty from Xzar, I am guessing that you don't have a problem with a tiny bit of Meta-gaming..

karnor00

Well I guess you could replace Edwin or Dynaheir with Xan and still have a full single-class mage party!