I bought both Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 on release here on GOG, and I also have had BG2 retail sitting on my shelf for way too long, and now that I've finally finished The Witcher, I thought it was time to try and get into and hopefully finish the really great classics.

So, I used a guide on this forum and made a BGT installation, and made myself a pure Fighter class (human), a lot of points put into Strength, Dexterity and Constitution, while the rest was divided even (10 on all I think). Then I put 2 Proficiencey points into Bastard Swords and 2 into Sword and Shield style. Is this a decent build?

I'm used the more modern game, so I'm not well taught in the RPG genre from the days of yore. Probably the closest thing to Baldur's Gate I've played was Sacred Gold (once again from GOG.com) and Neverwinter Nights (when it was new). I'm also not very used to (or fond of, but I'm giving it a fair chance now) having to concentrate on a big party, and the only party based rpgs I've played are either JRPGs like Final Fantasy, or games like KOTOR. Generally, I prefer to focus on one character, or at least have the rest of the be party able to take care of themselves without me having to intrude every second.

After playing for a couple of hours, just trying to figure things out, I feel very much that I'm on new ground here. For example, not being used to take care of several party members, I quickly get confused in the middle of battle, and I often just let the battle play itself out without too much interference. Works okay for most of the time, but what do I do when a party member dies? Is it best to just reload an earlier save, since you have to pick up his belongings and go to a chuch to ressurect him, at the cost of a stat decrease?

How many party members would you recommend I have? And if I remove a party member, will I ever be able to get him/her back? As I said, I generally prefer as few characters to focus on as possible, so what would be the absolute minimum while still not having trouble getting through the game?

How do I see the effect of each weapon for each character? Is that something I just have to calculate myself?

Follow the storyline as soon as possible, or do sidequests every chance I get?

Anyone have a really good character build for beginners like me?

Pause: apparently I should use it a lot, but I hate that kind of gameplay. But if the characters die faster than I can command them, I guess I'll have to use it.

The game is soloable without too much trouble. But you can also have additional party members who fight on their own in battle. Just give a ranged weapon they're specialized in and enough ammo to them, select a ranged attack script and enable AI. They'll shoot on their own and you don't have to worry about them running after the monsters.

If a party member dies just reload. You can rehire party members if they aren't unhappy and go away when you dismiss them, but they won't get XP while they aren't in your party, low level characters aren't very useful in a high level party.

Whether you follow the storyline or do sidequests first is your choice.

Your character is ok. If you solo you might want to take a fighter/mage/thief multiclass instead (make sure the XPCap is disabled) so you have more options than simply bashing. Stealth is very powerful.

You can't go wrong by having a party composed of a mage, a healer (druid, cleric), a thief, and 3 fighter types (paladins, fighters, barbarians, rangers). Maybe give the thief a bow since he's got high Dex. I wouldn't recommend you play solo the first time through.

Always make sure your characters are carrying weapons they're at least proficient with (don't give a short sword to a thief who has a proficiency point in daggers but none in short swords). You can check this by going to the Character sheet (hotkey R) and scrolling down to see this information.

You should really learn to use pause, if only to give direction to your mage/healer. I'm pretty sure they're not going to be casting spells on their own. Just put your fingers on the space-bar so you can pause to cast a spell, heal someone, use an item, or otherwise change the tactics. Of course weaklings like fighting 2 or 3 goblins you're fine with just letting them do their own thing, but once you start seeing tougher monsters you can't survive if you do that.

Save often - especially if you know you're heading into a fight, or before you rest out in the wilderness.

Do side-quests when you can - those extra experience points can come in very handy later on. Of course if you feel you are overwhelmed you can always ignore the area for now and come back to it later.

If you really can't handle the party micromangement, you can try to solo. Like kmonster suggested, a fighter/mage/thief multiclass is a good choice since you'll have everything covered. The beginning will be very tough, but it should become better as you level up.