k_adsl123: Hard to keep up with this thread!
Okay, so I'm definitely getting the vibe that and kind of mage is probably not good for a total beginner. However, I do like the idea of dual-classing. This weekend since I have some free time I'm going to get around to making my character. Thanks for the tips everyone.
If you're numerate, the explanation is this: a fighter has a geometric power ratio, whilst the mage class increases exponentially (the fighter must attack a single opponent at a time, like Bruce Lee; a mage can cast area-affecting spells, like Sleep, which can take out multiple opponents). So, a low-level wizard is demonstrably weak and needs constant attention, at the beginning, but eventually has (deliberately limited) powers that outshine martial experts (who have passive resilience and constant prowess).
Speaking of constant attention, usually it is best to gang-up on the enemies on the periphery of a group, first, before charging headlong into battle. So, almost all the characters need to be micromanaged, to the point where each is placed specifically for the battle about to commence. (Bards, wherea available, are less so, since they play a tune whilst everyone else is fighting. Otherwise, mêlée fighters are set-and-forget (save for their health), range combatants also need to monitor their ammunition, and mages need to economize their spells for optimum reward. Rogues are probably the most intensive class, since they are best used to stealthily sneak up on a (mage) enemy to backstab them. YMMD)
Specifically, in the original
Baldur's Gate, and the
Icewind Dale games, the Player Character begins with no experience (hence a level 1 character), and progresses through tribulations from there. Experience is earned for defeating enemies in combat and solving quests for Non Player Characters (or otherwise progressing the main narration, through each chapter), and is shared amongst all the party members — more characters in the troop equates to less experience for each, but more characters make each encounter easier than less.
In the the [Baldur's Gate[/i] sequel, and the expansions the PC begins each game at a higher level.
There are several character guides included in the bonus content of all these games (and more available from the interwebs). If you are frustrated with a particular problem (a monster too hard to kill, usually) you are probably trying to explore an area which is too advanced. Reading the guides may take some of the fun out of the exploration, though it will give definitive answers to the "what the hell just happened…" questions that inevitably pop up. (Unlike the Bethesda games, released after these, there is no scaling for enemy battles.)
Additionally, even though all these DnD video games use the same
Infinity Engine, they each implement different versions of the DnD edition rules. (Both
Baldur's Gate games are version 2, while the
Icewind Dale and
Neverwinter Nights Intellectual Properties implement version 3. As well as increasing complexity for the game worlds — i.e., more skills and abilities — this has an impact on what character classes can be chosen by which race; for instance, a non-human Paladin is forbidden in version 2 but perfectly acceptable in version 3.)
It is perfectly reasonable to play the
Baldur's Gate series fist, then the
Icewind Dale series. You may wish to do them otherwise, too (though it can be a jolt to go from edition 3 rules back to edition 2). Both properties came out almost simultaneously, back in the last years of the last millennium. All of the games are set in the world of Faerûn, adjacent to the Sea of Swords (along the Sword Coast), and deliberate references to the other properties abound throughout all of them.
The first
Icewind Dale is a good game to solo (meaning just the PC, no other characters in the party), since it is a combat-heavy exercise rather than a (strictly) roleplaying one. The sequel more conducive for a group.
Finally, these Role Playing Games, like most, are built around trial-and-error; e.g., there is a particular necklace that helps prevent a hostile mind control attack, but I don't believe it is every explicitly mentioned in the text. There will be common themes and clues in optional dialogue, sometimes, to provide hints for building characters and solving problems. (Checking out the PC companions, how they have built their skills and the abilities they have acquired are excellent ways to learn the different classes.)
HTH
