Im currently playing trough the entire series for the first time and I've just gotten to game#3 with my fighter "Sir Man" who got promoted to paladin (yay)

Now I'm thinking of making a new char from the beginning again. A pure magic user equipped only with the skills the game has initially picked, that is Weapon use, Parry and Magic.
No climbing, no throwing, stealthing or picking noses.

Has anyone tried this and could tell me if this is just a waste of time or a rewarding playtrough?

There are wizard only Quest's in later half of the series.

That is to say puzzles and events only accessible by a wizard. Nothing wrong with a pure magic user class and the game is very playable.

Some of the earlier games are hybrid friendly in that hybrids of other classes can access wizard puzzle solutions and events.

Avoid thief skills in hybrid character if you want to access some of paladin or marriage events in in QFG5.

Yes, there are specific ways to solve with just magic. You don't need climbing because you have "levitate". You won't need throwing, because you have 'forcebolt" (and many other assorted projectile spells).

...and/or simply don't need to deal with certain situations that would otherwise require those skills.

Every character type can be played "pure". Adding out-of-class skills sometimes opens up alternative solutions (and occasionally provides additional complications), but you never need them to succeed.

Although I love the class and skill system of QFG, it's clear from the very start that the thief character is privileged because of the number of skills that are designed specifically for him: throwing, climbing, stealth, lockpicking, acrobatics, which, if you give him magic, make him the most versatile character... So every time I play I just can't avoid picking the thief...

Fighter/paladin gets the shield though. Plus access to cool weapons and armor others don't have access to.

It's very easy to get stats in all skills by the second or third game.

But once you are up to 3 the game starts limiting access to puzzles an events based on specific class so to see all you'll need to play several times. Plus having thief skills can block or force certain events in 5.

Also keep in mind doing thief stuff will prevent te paladin ceremony in 2.

It's not that the thief is privileged: it's that the thief needs those things. The fighter and wizard don't, either because they can solve the same challenges in other ways or face entirely different challenges (especially in 3 and 4).

Exactly. The Lock Picking skill is to the Thief as the Open spell is to the Wizard. The Stealth skill is to the Thief as the Calm and Invisibility spells are to the Wizard.

Fighters don't have an equivalent to those particular attributes because their MO is to bust doors and chests open and take down enemies through brute force.

Yes, and Levitate ~ Climbing... which makes them redundant, doesn't it? Especially annoying when you play for the first time, and give your wizard some thief skills, only to find out that they're useless since you've got equivalent spells...

What I am saying is that the thief has the most non-zero skills from the getgo, so you can give him Magic and Parry and you've got an omnipotent class that can develop anything, which is impossible to do with the other classes, regardless of whether it's useful or not for them.

Yet a thief will never get the chance to make a summoning staff spell, and won't be able to get some of the spells that only appear on a wizard play though either.

Which is true, but that's a limitation of the game. There's no reason to deny a non-wizard those quest-lines if the character possesses the necessary magic skills.

So, to return to the original question, even though I usually play a thief with magic, I recommend "pure" classes, because (1) it's more challenging, and (2) out-of-class skills are unnecessary and ultimately useless in the sense that they do not unlock quest-lines that do not fit with the class.

Technically it would destroy the 'rpging' and story factor (many of the storylines, order of events, and locations of characters and items change depending on which class you are playing). It should be only fair that a hybrid thief doesn't reach the skill of a pure wizard (think "Red Mages" in Final Fantasy). Characters who see you as one class, aren't going to acknowledge as another class.

Also many of the later games give alternate items depending on which class you begin the game with. For example Keapon Laffin gives a different gift depending on which class you are in QFG3. The treasures you can find in QFG4 in wight barrows and other places differ depending on the class. Characters give different things or give you completely different quest objectives depending on what they see your character as.

The armor/weapon limitations depending on games. Having parry and weapon skills won't give you access to sword, shields, or best armor. You can't just automatically get a 'paladin' sword by playing a thief by normal (non-cheating) means. But in early games having a shield will also limit your magic in close combat, but still handy at a distance.

However, you used 'hide' (or invisibility spell as an example), it doesn't appear in QFG series until QFG4. It's also a non-mobile 'invisibility' it will let you escape but you can't move.

So stealth actually is useful for the first three games, and also most of 4. It is still useful by 5 as well, for its mobility. Stealth can be handy for a fighter as well. A thieving fighter can also get some extra money.

Stealth also has the benefit of both hiding a player and also allowing the player move around without any random battles.

Thus a magic user with stealth will be able to avoid all battles, if they player chooses to do so. This can be handy again to avoid 'random battles'.

Now, close combat skills are virtually useless on a magic user, since he relies on magic to do most damage (and that's better at a distance). Likewise if you give a thief magic, his close combat skills what little they have are fairly useless (and thieves are not very good at close combat but better with throwing at a distance for taking down enemies). A thief with magic obviously has little need for throwing rocks and daggers (except where throwing a weapon is required to beat the game).

A thief will miss out on a major class line 'fighter' challenge in number 2. So playing a fighter in that game will have most access to the most quests, and most routes (with the exception of the paladin ceremony since you probably robbed things).

On a related note its kind amusing, but all classes can pretty much do all thief subquests (even if having those skills will lock out some "paladin" or other class specific sub quests in QFG5). Of course some quests and variant solutions are changed depending on which class you are playing, and some items will only appear if you are playing a specific class. In particular in the later games. But most hybrid classes with thief skills will be able to access most thief 'heist' quests (in 1, 2, 4, and 5).

But thieves can't do all quests of any other class (they are locked out of quite a bit of things). All classes can access most or all of magic user quests in 1 and 2. However, due to the nature of the differences in stories and events based on class, they will not be able to access magic user quests in QFG3, QFG4, and QFG5. These alternate 'storylines' and 'events' would be impossible to all happen in a single game, as they generally contradict each other (i.e. putting items or characters in very different locations depending on the class).

The thief's quests in 3 is actually particulary limited (as there are few areas to actually steal things in that game). The puzzle get the drums is and spear for example rely on thieves skills, but those are not accessible to any other class (each class gets a different set of puzzles, and encounters depending on their specific class), and the ending battle with the demon is scripted differently for each different class.. How you access events in that game and order you access them are very much class dependent.

Becoming a paladin is impossible if you do the thief quests in QFG2. It may be possible to become a paladin in QFG3, without doing anything 'thiefy (but only if you are a fighter class)'.

In other words the only legitimate way to become a paladin through 'full hybrid' methods, will require a player to start the series as a fighter (and either refuse to do thief quests in 2, or wait until 3).

But a paladin probably should avoid thief skills altogether (at least no points in lock picking), if they want to access all there is to access for paladins in QFG5.

One other issue for all-skills characters: having the lockpicking skill will block one of the potential marriage options in QFG5, even if your class is one that the NPC in question would otherwise be willing to marry.