Senor Tanukitsune,

I could start talking about how lazy those southerners are, always siesta :P

But instead I point you there:

https://www.gog.com/forum/forgotten_realms_collection/gold_box_games_questions_about_importing_level_cap_etc

I think most of your questions are being answered in there ;)

Buenos tardes amigo ;)

Apart from telling me I can't get a paladin in Pools of Radiance, it didn't help much?

Seriously, is it normal for this game to have that many enemies on screen?

As far as I am aware, yes- this is normal. You fight a LOT of enemies. You just have to use the tactical grid as wisely as possible to survive.
What I am not sure about is if enemy encounter sizes scale depending on how many party members you have.
Also, about the mages in 1st edition: it is normal for them to start out as pretty useless. But as you get farther in the game they end up learning up to level 5 spells IIRC, and this lets you cast things like fireball- essentially making large groups of enemies not a problem at all. Pool of Radiance is a pretty low level adventure though, so don't expect your mage to get too powerful too soon.

Depending on your difficulty setting, yes can be.

But certain spells/items do make the game easier....

Pool of radiance IMHO is the most difficult one. Maybe also because at this time.....how to say it.....they wanted to have a game to spend hours/days/weeks instead of just a couple of hours. So designers did it hardcore ;)

Just think of, no automapping!!!

Nowadays people would be embarrassed? astonished? that you would play those games with TWO persons, one playing the other one drawing :D

I admit openly, I never finished PoR without external help :D

The later games were a bit easier, more saving options and able to change the difficulty on a whim.
But PoR is hardcore (me thinks) ;)

But the link did include some useful information about groups and similar hence I pointed you to it.....thought it might help, sorry....(also it did answer your question about keeping the chars ;) )

Oh: sleep spells: You only use them on magic users not on normal enemies (same for silence and similar).
The magic users are the toughest.....

In PoR, but not the other Gold Box games, the amount of enemies are scaled to the stats of your characters. If you max out stats you also will face max amount of enemies.
But in general you do often face virtul armies of enemies in PoR, which I personally think is one of the charms of the game.
But it make good tactics all the more important - where to cast Sleep and how to position your characters.

Multi-class characters are good in PoR, since if one of the classes is Mage you get extra Sleep spells. Don't forget Elves can cast magic spells while wearing armour, and also get a +1 bonus with Longbows and Longswords.

Also, no shame in hireing a Hero or two at the training Hall. Being lvl 4 they can "sweep" four kobolds or goblins in one attack.

Once you reach level 5 and learn Fireball and Haste, things will likely change.

At high levels, mages can even bypass enemy magic resistance with their spells; this does not happen in 2nd edition.

The actual usefulness of magic in AD&D-based CRPGs is heavily dependent on factors other than the ruleset; specifically, which spells are implemented and how common scrolls are can vary between CRPGs. For example, in Baldur's Gate 2 mages are really good thanks to the inclusion of many powerful spells, like Contingency and a version of Project Image which is more powerful than its tabletop counterpart. On the other hand, in Dungeon Hack scrolls can be quite scarce, and the game engine just doesn't favor common use of spells, especially when offensive spells aren't nearly as useful as in, say, Dungeon Master. Also, some games allow mages to pick a spell at level up, while others do not.

shame on you, you spoiled it!!!!! ;)

Man, was this a feeling blasting whole armies with the fireballs, feeling like a nuclear Armageddon :D
And at this time it was feeling and looking like one!!!!!

Kind of epic, hence I didn't mentioned it.....(maybe edit and remove it not to spoil his fun?) And just rephrase it that there will be a usefull spell with level 5?