I'm actually surprised that as D&D developed and they (fairly quickly) came up with an entire menagerie of deities and demi-gods, each with a "favored" weapon and magic abilities, that they didn't change the rules so that the cleric would be most skilled in (or limited to) the same combat style and magic domains preferred by their deity. They could have done a lot more with the "Domains" of known divine magic later seen in 3.5 rather than just "good/evil/neutral" generic clerics too. Thus the whole distinction between "druid/cleric" or "wood/iron" or "sword/mace" would stem from what deity they worshiped rather than what class they chose.

You may be interested to learn that Pathfinder (probably the best known Open Game License spin off of 3.5e dnd - I've seen it described, quite accurately, as dnd 3.75) has archetypes which make use of things like favoured weapons, like this archetype for the cleric, which I was looking at recently.

Uhh, crusaders most definitely used swords. The Templars for instance, actual warrior monks, used swords as their primary weapon.

Knights used swords (originally they were the only ones authorized to use swords) and many knights were also crusaders :P

Still, what ncarty said still aplies: the Knights Templar were a Christian order so, technically, they were monks. More traditional orders, despite their names, the Dominicans, for instance (Dominis Canis, "The Hounds of God") were definitely non-belligerent. This notion that monks (traditional monks, like Dominicans or Franciscans) fought is ridiculous and probably based off of Robin Hood's Friar Tuck.

So, basically, the only "monks" that fought, the Knights Templar, were, indeed, allowed to use swords and knives and whatever they could get their hands on.

Interestingly enough, St Francis of Assisi (the founder of the Franciscan Order) actually went on a crusade to Egypt. He was captured there, and then later freed by the Muslims! I doubt he did any fighting though.

Friar Tuck is based on a character from traditional English ballads and lore. Only later on was he merged together with those of Robin Hood. It's interesting to note though that in the story written by Howard Pyle in the 1890's, Tuck first encounters Robin and they end up in a duel with swords. In that version, Tuck is praised for his excellent swordsmanship and archery, both taboo according to D&D rules! But of course the Franciscans weren't founded till 100 years after the time of King John, so there were no friars in England at the time anyways (only Benedictines) and it's all rubbish ;)

Well, not quite. There were two orders of friars at the time of King John's death (1216), the Grey Friars (Franciscans, founded 1209) and the Black Friars (Dominicans, founded 1216). The White Friars (Carmelites) were founded even earlier (1155), but didn't become mendicant monks until 1245. But yeah, it's all rubbish. :p

Re druids, this post in the NWN2 LP has some interesting commentary on the subject. Then again, the whole LP contains informative bits of that nature, so it's well worth a read if only for those.

In a guide somewhere about BG1, I heard Jaheira does well with two points of specialization in small swords and the Dagger of Venom. I have not tried it yet.

EDIT: Long time ago, Hickory said Scimitar +2.

Edit: Remember to finish reading thread, THEN ask questions.

Love is such a strong word, heh.

I'm playing the canon good party. Jaheira is my secondary healer and fourth string fighter. She gets in the way if the opponents somehow get close to Imoen and Dynaheir. My main (Cleric/Ranger) and Khalid are the front-line fighters, while Misnc, Imoen, Dynaheir and Jaheira handle ranged combat. Thanks to the AI in the game, enemies tend to swarm Main and Khalid (who tear through them with dual-wield maces - main - and long sword - Khalid). The rest are pelting with Arrows +1, Bullets +1, etc.

Stat-wise, Jaheria is okay. She has a decent selection of spells, decent ranged capabilities and a Club +2 if things get too hectic. Personality-wise, I have to chuckle when she spouts some of her lines, "If a tree falls in the forest, I'll murder the bastard what done it!" is one of my favorites. =)

Flynn

Not in BG1, unless you're using TuTu/BGT/EE (where you can cheat it in). But in BG2 you can get the named +2 scimitar Belm, which gives her (above her fighter stats) an extra attack per round. That's very important.

Note that the Dagger of Venom should be viewed as a specialist's weapon (anti-mage), and not a staple melee weapon.

A while ago, I was working on that, then got distracted. I asked some questions about the canon party in another thread that is now at the bottom of Page 18.

[url=]http://www.gog.com/forum/baldurs_gate_series/totsc_run_how_do_i_make_the_most_of_the_canon_party_spoiler_heavy/page1[/url] I was given this feedback about Minsc: For a long time, I wondered why I was doing this to Minsc. Starting at Level 1, I was thinking Composite Long Bows for everybody and kill them at range was the only effective tactic.

Oh, Minsc and Boo get their melee on quite often. His melee weapon is Spider's Bane after all (Free Move - gotta love it). Hmm.. now that I think about it, he's significantly less squishy than he was when I first picked him up. Time for Khalid to swap roles with Minsc, I believe. Much more butt-kicking for goodness, no? Boo likes this idea, methinks.

I've been intentionally not looking up strategies, or reading in walkthroughs about areas I haven't been in yet. I may not be playing vanilla BG, but this is my first time being this deep into the storyline. Just got nudged (finally!) to go to Baldur's Gate. Which of course means more exploring since I haven't finished all the wilderness areas yet, heh. Have to get Minsc and Boo used to their new roles after all.

Flynn

"Evil is around every corner. Be careful not to step in it."