Usually we tend to make mixed parties, not only because it's more interesting, but also to cover the strengths of each class as best as possible.
However, from a realistic point of view, a party of 6 different races seems very unlikely - except if it's like the Fellowship of the Destinae Dominus, or a trans-racial alliance, or whatever. But usually, in a more or less realistic environment, I guess all party members would be from the same race.

So how would those parties look like? I've tried to construct a bunch of sample parties - and of course some were harder to put together than others, but most of them work out surprsingly well. One condition I set for myself was to have 6 different classes, and none twice.

So let's have a look:


HUMAN
> Lord, Samurai, Monk, Ninja, Alchemist, Psionic
Humans are good for classes that are hard to develop and need good stats in a lot of different areas. For the pure casters I just chose what seemed more important in the context of this party (though Mage instead of Psionic would not have been crazy).

ELF
> Bard, Gadgeteer, Priest, Alchemist, Psionic, Mage
I would have loved to put a Monk in there (Elf-Monks are great), but the temptation to make a pure caster party was just too great. I have a feeling this could be a fun party.

DWARF
> Fighter, Lord, Valkyrie, Monk, Priest, Mage
This one was tough, since Dwarf is a rather niche race. The Divinity classes are sort of over-represented here, but those are the only ones (plus Fighter) who actually fit the Dwarf profile. Dwarf-Monk has negative bonus points, but has great damage resistance, and the Mage... well, he will be weak and slow for a while, but those Wizardry spells are important (and Dwarf-Samurai is terrible).

GNOME
> Samurai, Ninja, Ranger, Gadgeteer, Priest, Alchemist
Gnomes are acutally quite versatile guys, even though the most obvious choices are Alchemy based (no surprise there). This is quite a nice ranged party I think.

HOBBIT
> Melee: Fighter, Lord, Samurai, Monk, Rogue, Bard
> Ranged: Samurai, Ninja, Ranger, Bard, Gadgeteer, Priest
Hobbits are the race with the best stat distribution of the game, so you can do almost all kinds of things with them (as long as it's not too magic centered). So here you go, two possible parties for two possible strategic approaches.

FAERIE
> Ninja, Monk, Rogue, Alchemist, Psionic, Bishop
You actually can do a lot of things with faeries - basically every kind of spell casting class works (especially those who are already limited in armor choices). You could have gone a lot of different ways here, but what I did is to structure it a bit: 3 combat experts, 3 casters. 2x Psionics, 2x Alchemy. So the Bishop will be similar to a Bishop of old: Focusing on Wizardry and Divinity.
Btw.: You probably noticed that Bishops are a bit under-represented here. The thing is: If a class fits for casters, basically all the casters work, but usually little else (see: Elf). Which means you go for the specialized casters. In a small party this certainly will look differently.

LIZARDMAN
> Fighter, Lord, Valkyrie, Samurai, Rogue, Bard
Ok, so the Lizardman is not only a tough guy, he's also tough to bend to professions other than pure Fighters. Lord, Valkyrie and Rogue work well enough, and Bard is not too crazy as well, but then it gets really thin. Lizard-Samurai sounds a bit sad, but this way you get the early Wizardry buffs, and if you work a bit on his Sense, then this might actually work out. You could think about a Psionic to negate his negative resistances, but that's just not worth it I guess.

DRACON
> Fighter, Valkyrie, Rogue, Samurai, Priest, Alchemst
Very similar to the Lizardman (no surprise there), but with a bit more freedom to go for some spellcasting classes. Probably way better balanced than the Lizardman party.

FELPURR
> Samurai, Ninja, Monk, Rogue, Bard, Gadgeteer
Yeah, it's all about speed here - this party looks quite killer. It might be a bit of an issue that it's sort of a mix of ranged and melee, but you might just focus on ranged and be good in melee as well. Or the other way round.

RAWULF
> Lord, Valkyrie, Rogue, Bard, Priest, Bishop
Another niche race that is clearly leaning towards those Piety classes, but I think this is quite a good workaround. It certaily IS very Divinity-centered, but the Bishop will do all the rest.

MOOK
> Samurai, Ninja, Ranger, Bard, Gadgeteer, Psionic
His great Senses make for a great ranged party, and the Mook is also very versatile. You could exchange someone for a Fighter here (Mook-Fighters are not crazy), but I don't really know who to kick out here, since each character has his roll to play here. Probably a really good party.

Lizardman and Gadgeteer = high str for swords... the fact that stamina casts the spells also helps.
Faerie and Gadgeteer = full plate armour, modern weapons and the str to carry it all.

Actually, Elf is totally great, if, you get import Elven Bow, and i would do dual class for some of the characters.
Example:
Rogue to Bard - You will get a bonus point of Lock and Trap, Stealth and Pickpocketing from rogue. Use Elven bow and do self-training stealh at crab till you reach the point of crab retreating, then change to bard on level 2, and she will be front tanker.

Priest to Valkyrie - I prefer Valkyrie over Lord due to low stat qualification, and get the heavy armor. Try to get divinity at spell level 7 then change her class.

Psionic to Monk - same as above, change after getting spell level 7. as usual, for monk's stealth. but probably would get low critical strike on late game

Alchemist, Mage and Gadgeteer will stay

I'm doing a gnome party right now. I'm thinking of changing my gnome alchemist to a gnome ranger. They are currently level 8 and will be level 11 before I can make the change. I really miss the ranger class. I'd use modern weapons and a heavy dose of alchemy.

Regarding the Giant Sword... I just think the sword is not that great actually. The big thing about it is that it's extended range, but otherwise I very much prefer lighter one-handed swords for more swings and attacks. But sure, the idea itself is good and doable. Basically you can do almost anything with Mooks. If I think about it, your party is probably better than mine - I just wouldn't include all the Giant Swords (one MAYBE).

The Bishop approach is interesting, I just think it isn't very good. I would agree with a Lizard-Priest (since he has neither INT nor SEN requirement), but for the Bishop -40 attribute points to start with is just too much I think. He will have a headstart at the beginning, but will be seriously lacking focus from midgame on. I mean, what points to push? INT nevertheless I think? And then PIE as well? SPD? DEX? I can see a Lizardman-Gadgeteer, but the problem is his abysmal Senses, which will result in -15 bonus points. Usually you want Eagle Eye with your Gadgeteer asap, which won't happen here before level 21.

As for the Faerie I think you are wrong. Faerie-Gadgeteer can only wear the same armor any Faerie can wear (except Ninja and Monk), which is at best the Zynaryx Plade and Doll's Armor. I think you can get two Zynaryx Plates (?), but the Doll Armor is unique, so I would stick to classes here who have stealth, have their own special armor, or cannot wear a lot anyway.

I get your idea, and IF you intend to do class changes, those are not the worst examples. In this case, however, it doesn't really fit my concept of no-hybrids-only-spell classes. But yeah, Elves can be good in a lot of professions.

The point of giving Eagle eye to a gadgeteer is fighting at range with the ombi-gun... my Lizardman fights in melee so doesn't need eagle eye. The gadgets do his range attacks.

I never said the Faerie gets more that one set of armour... just that a gadgeteer can use it.

I think these two races might have a bit problem along the way, cause neither of them have Priest, Lord or Valkyrie. Even Ninja and Ranger won't help much to heal and cure any ailment at any character. Bard and Gadgeteer will get their healing instrument quite mid-end way. I probably suggest at least have Priest at these two races.

Alright then, if that the case, i would like to put Rogue and replace either Bard or Gadgeteer. Elf Rogue is also an awesome front killer tanker.

At low levels, any Alchemy or Psionic caster can heal well enough; Heal Wounds is in those spellbooks, and there's no better healing spell before level 11.

By the time you reach level 11, you should have at least one Dulcimer of Mending (there are two in the game). The Regenerating Stone is obtainable without having to fight the Sorcereress Queen; just use Chameleon or abuse combat mode (start combat, walk, pick up the item, and walk away before your movement for the round ends).

Status curing, while useful, is optional; if someone gets diseased (which is not common), just use a potion. Everything else (except draining, which is not an urgent situation) will go away with time; for poison you just need to remember to keep the character healthy. Also, Alchemists get most status cures, and Psionics get the one Alchemists don't.

Restoration, while nice, is optional. The Renaissance Lute exists if you have a bard.

Also, don't underestimate the Amulet of Healing. There are 2 that you find (and you can buy more from Crock), and each has 5 charges of Heal All, and can be recharged by selling and buying them back. Even better, these amulets provide +3 AC (which makes a huge difference) and +! HP Regen. If you have someone with at least 15 Alchemy, you can make money by mixing potions.

Sure, but he doesn't provide any spells (which is the theme of that very party). Bard and Gadgeteer do (sort of).