Alright, first things first, I'm sorry for performing necromantic rituals on this thread. Starting another one for nearly the same purpose just didn't seem appropriate. Second things second, I apologize in advance for the length of the post, because I'm pretty sure it will get really long.
So I'm starting a game of Icewind Dale again, the first one this time, and as my well of inspiration runs dry, I'm turning to SSSS once more. However, creating a party in Icewind Dale 1 involves even more hassle than in 2. Quite a significant amount, in fact. That's why I'm here again, asking the best, kindest and most awesome human beings in the world (you) for help.
Except this time I'm going to explain stuff to you, so prepare for a confusing wall of text that won't help you understand anything.
So for those of you who haven't played Icewind Dale (or maybe you have and you don't remember), what's the problem? Simply put, restrictions. Lots and lots of annoying restrictions on everything, but the most painful of them is restricted multi-classing, which makes all the most fun and appropriate class combos impossible to achieve. Why is it like that? Well, if you're familiar with multi-classing rules existing in D&D since 3rd edition... it's completely different here.
In Icewind Dale, a character can be created single- or multi-classed. Multi-classed characters split their XP between all their classes, which means they advance in all of them simultaneously, but at a slower rate than single-classed characters. Moreover, multi-classed characters cannot be humans. If they are human, they can instead choose to dual-class at some point during the game. If they do so, they stop advancing in their original class altogether, and they lose all the benefits of it. Instead, they pick another class available to them and start from scratch in their new class. Once they achieve a level in their new class that is above their level in their original class, they get their benefits back, but they can never gain any progress in their original class again. Done correctly, dual-classing tends to create powerful characters, but it requires careful planning, patience and a certain amount of knowledge and experience with the game (which I do indeed happen to possess).
The allowed class combinations are:
- Fighter/Mage/Thief/Cleric (two of those in any combination),
- Fighter/Druid,
- Ranger/Cleric,
- Fighter/Mage/Cleric,
- Fighter/Mage/Thief.
No other class combinations are possible, either in multi- or dual-classing. Some of them are also race-restricted, but I don't remember that, so I'm not going to list it.
The classes are the same as from the 3rd edition onwards, but they also have sub-classes. I'm not going to explain those (unless you ask), because the post is long enough as it is.
Another thing to mention is that while optimization is very low on my list of priorities, a party absolutely must include a healer (Cleric and/or Druid) and a Thief in order to have any chance of surviving the dangers of Icewind Dale. Moreover, due to the restrictions, they must be included in the party from the start of the game.
So, there we go! The aim is the same as the first time (except more difficult): recreate the Crew as faithfully as possible class- and alignment-wise!
PS: I was considering going for the ultimate challenge run (no optimization + no reloads) with this one, but I'm hesitating. Should I give it a go, or have mercy on the poor Crew and try another time?
