So I'm a big fan of Wizardry and Might and Magic, but have never played RoA. The system is pretty daunting at first and the manual isn't a lot of help, so I wanted to ask a few questions and write up the party build I'm considering.

I've played RoA 1 a bit already (wandered around Thorwal a bit and explored the first level of the old fortress), but I'm not really happy with my characters or how I'm playing, so I'm thinking of starting again.

First thing: what exactly is the deal with Treat Wounds? From what I understand, wounds that you take in combat can become infected or cause tetanus and kill you, and TW is supposed to help prevent that. However, it seems that you can only treat a character once a day or so (and then it usually fails at my low skill levels). Can any damage suffered in combat potentially lead to disease? Is it sufficient to wait until I camp and treat everyone once at that time?

Next... there are quite a few domination spells, and druids in particular get bonuses to a lot of them. Do I really need to worry about all these? It seems that most people emphasize Lightning, Horriphobus, and Paralyze.

Third... I was hoping the manual would help me understand what sort of supplies I need for traveling, but it was pretty vague. From what I gather, I need shoes and a blanket for everyone, but I'm not sure if things like cutlery, shovels, and fish hooks actually have a function or if they're just there for flavor. I'm guessing I'll need snow shoes if I have to go into snow and ice.

For my party build, I'm considering:

Dwarf (town / dungeon leader) - axe, danger sense, perception, locks, tactics, treat wounds
Warrior - sword, survival, treat wounds, tactics, haggle
Ice elf - edged, danger sense, perception, treat disease, tactics, arcane lore
Sylvan elf (travel leader) - missile, tracking, herb lore, survival, bind
Magician - polearm, arcane lore, combat spec
Green elf - missile, treat disease, treat poison, arcane lore

With at least some physical / self control for everyone. I'm guessing I will want some points in swim and climb as well. I figure the dwarf, ice elf, and green elf can watch while camping, the sylvan elf can hunt or gather herbs depending on what I need, and the magician can meditate if needed.

Any glaring deficiencies here?

Treat wounds heals only hitpoints, no need to use it directly after every battle.

You can do without a druid, horriphobus is a great spell. You don't have to learn all spells available.

Travelling is ok with the items you start with.

Your party is fine, elves are powerful. Missile weapon users should have good defensive unarmed skill. I'm not sure if travelling checks use perception or danger sense but I'd raise it for the wilderness travel leader too.


Strength is the most important stat for everyone even for mages.

It takes a while to develop, and even then it's not that great. I always rely on potions and resting. Also the only times I got a disease in the game was when I travelled through swamps, and that seemed to be random (along with occasional loss of items) despite all precautionary measures. I've had quite a bit of success with the Dance! spell and the other one where you make an enemy fight for you. Other than that, my Druid stood uselessly in every battle and had to be moved out of harm's way. You're probably better off taking an Elf. In my game I only carried a blanket and a piece of rope for each character. The rope was used only in a few scripted situations, so I guess you don't need to lug it around for the duration of the ENTIRE game. I don't know what those other items are for anyway. Maybe fish hooks will help you catch food if you set up camp near a river, but it's hard to tell, as lots of stuff wasn't even implemented in the final game. Just keep your party fully clothed at all times. In winter you'll need winter clothes, but even snow shoes won't help you cross the mountain range.

As for your party, it looks like you've got all the important skills covered. I strongly recommend that each of your characters can swim as there are many situations in the game where you need to cross water - even in dungeons.

Thank you both for the help. What's so important about strength?

Mostly for melee weapons and inventory load. The latter is important because of the sheer number of items must carry at all times (clothes, weapons, bedrolls), so you'll be penalised for any extra weight (loot).

I rerolled my party more or less as I described above, also taking the time to get high stats (not straight 13s, but close enough), favorable deities, and a decent pool of starting cash. This party is much more capable than my first, plus I understand better how the game is played. I was able to clear out the first two levels of the old fortress with ease and move on to exploring outside of Thorwal. I've found a piece of the map, reached level 2, and started clearing out Daspota.

The only hitch so far is that my magicienne came down with tetanus (from a botched treat wounds, I think). I found it totally impossible to cure, either on my own or at the clinic, despite dozens of attempts. Had to reload the game.

Speaking of disease, I read something suggesting that your treat disease character also needs herb lore to treat certain diseases. Is that actually true?

I am really enjoying the game so far, now that I've got a foothold and a basic understanding of the rules. I'll reserve final judgment until I've reached the end, though.

You do not need herb lore for the treatment. But you need it to find herbs. And those are needed to treat diseases. Of course you can also buy herbs. But that's quite expansive.

Your party looks fine. I would stop putting points into tactics and arcane lore. They are completely useless as far as I can tell (have played the trilogy countless times).
You should train all your elves with bows and swords. In RoA1 bows are great, because the enemy cannot parry them. But later in the trilogy they are less effective because enemies have better armor and ranged attacks do not get additional damage from strength. Which takes us to the next point: Increase strength! It is the single most important attribute your characters have. The Dwarf and the Warrior should increase only strength until they reach the maximum of 20. The elves should also focus primarily on it. When increasing melee skills focus on attack. Not on parry. Especially with your tanks. A character in full plate does not need any points in parry. The armor absorbs almost all damage. The mage should probably focus on parry. He is fragile.
Raise climbing and swimming by a fair ammount (up to 8 or 10). At some points failed checks on those can cause instant character deaths.

Good Spells: Lightning (as high as possible, disables a single opponent for 2 rounds in combat, cheap), Transformation Dispell (usefull when a character gets petrified or cursed), Horriphobus (best spell of your magician in combat, cheap, takes out an opponent permanently, raise as much as possible), Acceleratus (great damage buff! much better than any direct damage spell), Transversalis (Teleportation can be quite comfortable...), Analyse, Penetrate, and if you plan on playing the second part you should have banish spirits on a usable level and all your elves should be able to use "Eagle, Wolf,Grt Wht Shark" or "Visiblili".

You've gotten some good tips already, so I'll just give a few additional pointers.

Weapons:
I would use two-handed weapons with the warrior as there's some nice magical options to find. Particularly the indestructible two-handed sword in Blade of Destiny (there's another one in Riva) and the ultra light two-handed sword in Shadows over Riva. The dragon slayer in Star Trail isn't that bad but you don't exactly fight many dragons...

Skills:
Physical Control can help you avoid a lot of annoying stumbling, slipping, etc. Not vital, but useful, particularly in Riva.

You should have at least one character be somewhat good at Hide/Stealth for some later quests in the trilogy, maybe the mage as he'll have his own "torch" soon enough.

Spells:
Being able to cast (no need to really invest in it) Melt Solid lets you reqruit a somewhat useful companion in Star Trail.

All magic users should be able to cast Dispell Transformation. Really saved my ass when the very final boss turned two of my three casters to stone...

I would also recommend investing in Fulminictus and/or Ignifaxus for your magic users. It's always nice to have some direct damage spells against certain bosses.

Paralyse and Bambaladam are two other useful spells that can easily end a battle.