two players party suggestions

monico

Ok, I know I am not really a new player, but a friend of mine who only played the original game twice has decided to join me and try the enhanced versions.

I want him to have a fun experience, while not being overwhelmed by my metaknowledge. How would you suggest we should approach our MP game ?
- he told me he wants a "user friendly" character to start, so he'll probably be some kind of frontline fighter or something
- I want to be a good support character and prevent him from dying from the back without breaking immersion and stopping him before every encounter because I happen to know exactly what we are facing. I am thinking some kind of cleric, maybe a multi (cleric/thief or cleric/mage ?)
- we'll probably be recruiting one or two NPC's along the way but more to explore their quests/characters than for party balance purposes.

I would really like your input on how to "tone down" my metaknowledge and which character you would recommend for me as the best support character (he'll be the Bhaalspawn, I'll be his own Gorion except not ending up dead after two minutes of gameplay).

jmerry

A two-player party, "user-friendly" and support? I'd go with a fighter/cleric up front and a thief/mage as support. The fighter/cleric can load up on buffs and healing - buff before major battles and wade in, heal after the battles so as not to use too many potions. The thief/mage can take care of traps and locks, shoot a bow, and throw offensive spells at the tough encounters.

Grond0

As for meta-knowledge, why not let your friend decide where you go and take the lead on arrival? You can point out the odd clue that the game gives about what to look for and perhaps the odd death would be a useful lesson about the need to scout ahead ...

monico

Thanks guys, useful counsel as always

@jmerry not sure if my buddy will go for a F/C, but that's a great suggestion indeed, and that repartition covers all the basics, meaning we can recruit whoever we want.

@Grond0 yeah, I'll definitely have to let him be the main character and decide what we do in what order, I'll try and only give general counsel like "ok, this is pretty high level area, we should come prepared" but not referring to the particulars of each encounter.

dunbar

You could always RP it really hard, as someone you both know either in RL or fiction and that way (if you get it right) your friend could feel that he's actually playing it with someone else who hasn't played the game before (and maybe give your character a hidden agenda or dysfunctional character trait).

monico

@dunbar I like the RP idea, but I'm not sure what you have in mind exactly : you mean my character could be based on a commonly known character (like Gandalf or whatever) to bring some immersion or something ?
I like the idea and will think about it. Kuddos for the inspiration ^^

dunbar

@monico What I was getting at is to RP your character as someone you know really well so that you do what you think that person would do - not what you (the player with metaknowledge) would do.
For example, I once RP'ed a female charname based on my girlfriend at the time - but that got a bit silly when she (i.e. me) started buying up every pair of boots in the game and just hoarding them.

monico

hahahahahaha !! I love it !!