bensmith85: What about stat allocation? how do you spread your points?
This is the part that concerns me most of all, in BG i can sometimes litterely take 2 hours deciding over my characters stat allocation & re-rolls.
Stat allocation depends pretty heavily on the specifics of the ruleset being used. However, there are still a few general practices I employ. I try to keep all of my character's stats at least at a moderate level (e.g. no setting one stat to its minimum value to pump up another). Defensive stats (e.g. constitution/endurance, and depending on the system possibly dexterity) usually take precedence over offensive stats, as this tends to make the early game much easier to survive, and offensive stats can usually either be boosted later in the game or supplemented easily with equipment. Stats that give more skill points at level up usually don't need to be boosted beyond any kind of moderate value, as most games typically provide more than enough skill points (provided they're used judiciously). One exception I'll make to these guidelines is if charisma (or equivalent stat) heavily affects available dialogue options (e.g. PS:T) or available party members (e.g. Arcanum), in which case I try to make sure I have a fairly high value on that stat.