human paladin with sword and shield for tank
half elf fighter with greatsword for dmg
halfling warrior with bow for range dmg and spear for melee dmg
dwarf rogue for traps
elf cleric
human mage

First of all, I have to say, as a massive Forgotten Realms boffin/geek/nerd, I LOVE the Icewind dale games and the Baldurs gate games/novels and all else Forgotten realms related...
Icewind Dale 1 is definitely the greatest game, in my opinion.

As for Power Gamers, I think there is no place for it. However, We're all different and there is something for everyone and as long as people are enjoying the Realms I don't care. ENJOY!

With regards to Party make-up, I am fed up with seeing Paladins! A little streak of Chaos is what makes a Hero, and although a Paladin is a good warrior, he is not a character. (In my opinion :P)
roleplaying roleplaying roleplaying.

That is the Key!

When it comes to my own party, I like...

A couple of Brutal, blood thirsty warriors... (Obviously 1 two-handed and 1 Sword and Shield) Scrap the ranged with these two. They love the warmth of the battle. Any gear that'll stop them getting battered, they get.
1 Power-crazy Sorceress or Invoker. (Keep them on the sling and staff for when an orc is in their face)
1 Arcane Devotee type (Cleric/Mage) Devoted to healing and buffing from all angles, later on throwing in some epic god-given powers.
1 lockpick with a sword! Rogue spec'd for locks and traps with a single sword and a crossbow on the ready!

This team can get you through anything.. The best part of these games, is creating a bio for each and playing them accordingly.. does your barbarian have a fear of bears? (unlikely) then he's gonna run away from them. It's a longwinded process, but there isn't always a group local and free to PNP with in real life!

Peace out guys.

Adel
Drow Monk 3 / ClericX (Ilmater)
Healer, Buffer, high AC "tank"

Gregor
Teifling Ranger 1/ Barbarian 1/ Rogue X
Scout, Wizard Slayer/Sneak Attacker

Linus
Drow Barbarian 1/ Fighter 2/ Conjurer X
Disabler, Buffer, Archer

Sienna
Moon Elf Barbarian 1/ Sorceress X
Nuker, Buffer, Archer

Taking the non-caster levels later once they have good spell selections but plan is to have all of them with dash+class speed bonuses. Basically a bunch of fast dex based characters that can use hit and run tactics.

Suiboon, Human male bard, chaotic neutral
str 16
dex 18
con 16
int 18
wis 10
cha 18
*Bows
*Spears
*Small Swords

Gerd, Dwarf male fighter, chaotic good
str 18/97
dex 17
con 19
int 8
wis 10
cha 7
****Axes
**Halberds

Dora, half-ef female cleric/ranger, chaotic good
str 18/92
dex 18
con 18
int 8
wis 18
cha 8
**Missile
*Flails
**Hammers

Yeuonn, elf female fighter/thief, chaotic neutral
str 18/78
dex 19
con 17
int 10
wis 10
cha 12
**Bows
**Large Swords
*Small swords

Lavuna, human female fighter3/mage, chaotic neutral
str 18/98
dex 18
con 18
int 18
wis 6
cha 10
***Crossbows
*Daggers
**Great Swords

Sandra, human female fighter3/cleric, neutral good
str 18/59
dex 18
con 18
int 6
wis 18
cha 6
***Missile
*Clubs
*Flails
*Hammers
**Maces

edit: considering IWD games are pretty much hack n slash, I don't see a problem in min-maxing and powergaming :P

The party is for IWD 1 obv. This is my first playthrough.

I won't go into great detail, but my team is a party of adventurers I played 20+ years ago with one new adventurer (because hey, there's an extra slot!). Oh, and this is IWD 1, btw.

Chauncey
Neutral Good Male Dwarven Fighter
Tries to fight the good fight & follow the law, but realizes sometimes laws have to broken to reach that goal. Prides himself on hitting hard & being able to take a hit, considers himself the battefield tank. He & Barymore are close friends.

Barymore
Lawful Good Male Human Cleric
Regrets that there is so much death in upholding the laws & values of the land, but accepts that its a dirty job & he has the god-given abilities to do it. No interest in romance, but has an unmatched love & generosity toward children (and no, he's not kid-toucher).

Cretoe
Chaotic Good Male Halfling Thief
Likes to see what he can get away with, without others noticing. Mischievous, but not mean-spirited. Has an affinity for females of taller races, but never gets taken seriously in that manner.

Theren (my new guy)
Chaotic Good Male Elven Ranger
A little on the paranoid side, probably because he notices alot more than others about their surroundings. Sees himself as a punisher of evil. Prefers to wield two melee weapons rather than fight at range.

Ophelia
True Neutral Female Half-Elf Druid
Protector of nature with no remorse towards those she helps kill to protect it. Focuses on hindering spells like Entangle, takes pleasure in seeing a defiler of nature consumed by the nature he intends to destroy. She & Morgana are close friends.

Morgana
Chaotic Good Female Half-Elf Mage
A wild hare if ever there was one. Her elven background provides her with her discipline for learning magic, but her human side joys in shocking people & unleashing powerful, damaging spells on enemies. Highly charismatic, enjoys being the center of attention.

I have created a group of eight characters that I pick from and use across my group-based D&D games (IWD, IWD2, ToEE and NWN2:SoZ). Some will be subtly different per game depending on, for example, which sub-races are available but they always stay true to the original character designs. These are the characters I use in Icewind Dale:

Lorfean (Chaotic Good, Male Elf, Thief)
Str: 16 Dex: 19 Con: 10 Int: 16 Wis: 10 Cha: 15

Meera (True Neutral, Female Half-Elf, Druid) ¹
Str: 12 Dex: 16 Con: 15 Int: 10 Wis: 18 Cha: 15

Ralf (Lawful Good, Male Human, Mage)
Str: 10 Dex: 12 Con: 16 Int: 18 Wis: 15 Cha: 15

River (Neutral Good, Female Half-Elf, Cleric) ²
Str: 15 Dex: 10 Con: 16 Int: 10 Wis: 18 Cha: 17

Thalgrym (Chaotic Good, Male Dwarf, Fighter) ³
Str: 18/54 Dex: 15 Con: 19 Int: 10 Wis: 14 Cha: 10

Vin (Chaotic Good, Female Elf, Ranger)
Str: 17 Dex: 19 Con: 15 Int: 10 Wis: 15 Cha: 10


¹ Chaotic Neutral Wild Elf in IWD2
² Silverstar of Selune in IWD2 / Water Genasi Cleric of Eldath in NWN2:SoZ
³ Gray Dwarf in IWD2 and NWN2:SoZ

Tethys - Human Fighter

Arris - Elf Mage(Elemental Summoner)

Arrin Elf Mage(Conjurer)

Baren - Ranger

Exile - Fighter/Thief Elf

Vance - Cleric

I just finished the OC of the first game today

Alric - Human Paladin

Korgon - Dwarf Fighter

Ciara - fighter 2/Cleric

Lorril - Elf fighter/thief

Sara - fighter2/Mage

Sonya - Human Bard

I never really had problems anywhere with that group, I was a little dubious about the Bard but then she got level 11 and I think my Priest cast 2 healing spells after that and they were in the final boss fight.

First time I've finished the game and I really enjoyed the story, it tied in nicely with the Icewind dale set of books imo. The game still looks beautiful as well, the Infinity engine is amazing!

Is the expansion good? because I usually end up being disappointed by expansion packs

For IWD2:

Mazen -- Female Aasirma
Mystra Paladin 3/Transmuter X.
Average frontline, utility fighter.

Semmy -- Male Shield Dwarf
Fighter all the way.
Frontline killing machine.

Generic Male Human
Ranger 4/Fighter X.
Frontline killing machine with spells.

Carinsbane -- Male Half-Orc Stormlord of Talos Cleric
Cleric all the way.
Destroyer of worlds.

Syriade -- Female Aasimar Druid
Druid all the way.
Riding coattails to gold and glory.

Bardem -- Male Human Bard
Bard 2/Sorcerer X
Heals, buffs, shoots spells and plays a mean fife.

For IWD2:

Candy - Human Female Cleric / Selune

Brandy - Human Female Cleric / Lathander

Mandy - Half-Orc Female Cleric / Tempus

Sandy - Halfling Female Rogue/Ranger

Dandilion - Drow Female Sorcerer (Don't call her Dandy, she'll throw a fireball at you)

This is the best team I've had. (but I'm only still in Chapter 5)
More money, because I sell spells instead of buying them, & don't buy any potions.
Dandy casts protection from fire, luck, & protection from arrows on everyone,
& the Clerics cast protection from spells & protection from evil on everyone,
recite the odd prayer & we just light the place up with rightous fire.

@olnorton: Dude, that party sounds awesome. I am seriously going to try that next. Maybe I'll do it right now! Actually, you think I could get the stats for them?

My party isn't too notable really.

Paladin-Aasimar
Fighter-Human
Enchanter Specialist Wizard-Moon Elf
Evoker Specialist Wi...ZZZZZZZZZZZ

You get the idea. But, yeah, I really like Enchanters. Dominating/Charming whoever you want, nearly whenever you want is so clutch.

Candy - Human Female Cleric / Selune
St /18 Dex /16 Con /18 Int /3 Wis /18 Cha /3

Brandy - Human Aasimar Female Cleric / Lathander
St /14 Dex /15 Con /15 Int /4 Wis /18 Cha /15 (Does Identify & Undead Turning)

Mandy - Half-Orc Female Cleric / Tempus
St /18 Dex /16 Con /18 Int /3 Wis /18 Cha /3

Sandy - Halfling Female Rogue/Ranger
St /17 Dex /18 Con /17 Int /18 Wis /3 Cha /3

Dandilion - Drow Female Sorcerer
St /10 Dex /17 Con /18 Int /10 Wis /3 Cha /18

I realize this post is a bit old, but I just got the IWD and BG games from GoG and was perusing the posts. I noticed a lot of dual-class and straight class characters for IWD1, which I thought was interesting. But I digress from my point. I remember making a pure mage, no specialty, and ended up making a tank out of him. With the right combination of defensive spells (I had four or five on him) mixed with offensive bang, I was letting my party hang back and let him mop up quite a few enemies. I'll have to share my party when I get it together. I think it would be interesting to play a variety of specialist mages though, seems like an intriguing concept.

You'll have a real problem finding enough scrolls to keep them well stocked with spells of various levels. I recently completed a run with an Invoker, and Enchanter, and a Bard, and it was a challenge getting enough spells for them to have something in their spell books when they gained access to a new level. That's not to say it can't be done, as I did it, but I'd say it's optimal to have only two characters that use arcane magic in the party.

As for the 'melee mage' idea, it's definitely a viable solution. Once you get Tenser's Transformation, if you couple that with Mirror Image, Stoneskin, and Haste, you're a veritable one-man wrecking crew.

Good point about the scrolls. I think I used a pure mage, a cleric/ranger, a druid, a fighter and a fighter thief my first go-around, so I didn't have that problem. Worked really well. Also found that spiritual hammer is fairly powerful in the game too, which wasn't a spell I used often in the old forgotten realms games (PoR, CotAB, SotSB,,,etc..).

I wasn't clear on what I meant by a mage tank, my apologies. Cast... (trying to remember all the spells--its been a while) Stoneskin, haste, mirror image, minor (or major if it has it, forget which) globe of invulnerability. Maybe some cleric buffs too. Walk into horde of monsters, throw spells around, walk back out unharmed. The globe protects you from your own spells, so you can drop 3rd (minor invulnerability)-4th (major invulnerability) level AOE spells all around you without getting hurt and any higher level spell that's not AOE.