Either Paladin or DD is fine, or even other tanking builds. Just not an assassin, we need a true tank at this point and I'm already covering the rogue skills.
I think our primary playing times will be Friday nights, as that seems to be the time we are all most available. I get off work at 6 PM Eastern daylight time, which is 11 PM GMT I believe... those in the GMT zone will have to stay up a little late to manage it, and those of us in the US will have to start a bit early in the evening, but if no one objects to that I don't see any reason to exclude you. Welcome aboard! Paladin's GMW isn't so much of a help as you might think, since I will be providing that particular buff, but the Turn Undead ability and Bless Weapon can both be very nice. Don't worry at all about focusing in Enchantment, it will only be redundant and therefore wasted feats. It's all right to play your build by ear a bit, but try to keep it balanced enough to be able to hit things and survive... we don't need a squishy frontliner!
Current party:
johannhowitzer - Combat Bard/Rogue
kaldair - Druid/Shifter Ability Mage
Stormchaser - Battle Cleric
Ommadawn - Wizard
cataclysmic - [Tank, type TBA]
[Sixth member] - [Role TBA]
Our sixth member, if there is one, will need to be able to manage Friday night sessions on a regular basis... as will those who have already signed up. Since all crucial roles have been filled, our last addition can be whatever he/she wants to be! Play whatever you like. Another tank would provide more protection, another arcane caster would speed up runs, an actual caster cleric would be a major boon, an arcane archer would help take down some of the tougher boss-like creatures, and a ranger with enough power in the spells department might provide some nifty concealment bonuses! Only thing I will say about our sixth man... no more Bards, Shifters, or Rogues/Assassins. Those classes become redundant when played by 2 members, and we need a sixth man who can actually help us prevail in combat.
Now, for a little discussion of the very beginning of our quest! As we will all be starting from scratch, we will all have to cope with substandard equipment for the first ten levels or so, barring some nice loot. I will be picking our starting run areas based on our average level, to avoid us wiping early; I believe our first little skirmish will happen in the Cellar with the rats, to get us warmed up for tougher areas and maybe even pick up some salable loots for slightly better equipment. Without items for bonus spell slots early on, our casters will be suffering from a severe lack of longevity and power, so early equipment upgrades will go to the tanks to ensure they can take the brunt of the enemy forces.
We will be moving slowly and methodically, not massing any maps or powerleveling, but instead trying out all sorts of areas for variety of loot and exploration purposes. I believe this quest will teach us enormous volumes of information about the module! Loot may sometimes be split conventionally, but often we will go on a need-before-greed system, where the party as a whole will decide which player can best benefit from the item in question, in order to boost the party's survivability as a whole the most. I don't expect anyone will object to this sort of system, and I suspect we won't have many disagreements (in the case of such a disagreement, we will either roll or I will personally consider the options and make a judgment call, at my discretion). Having me as the bank will help clear up any nastiness, and I will expect people to defer to my authority if there is an irreconcilable disagreement, to avoid unpleasantness and keep the party moving forward in a timely fashion.
Just because we level up doesn't necessarily mean we'll move to a harder area right away. Don't expect us to move to the arctic right at level 5, we will probably hang around the underdark, nether caves, and the crystal cave for a while longer exploring and picking up the best the loot-heavy areas have to offer. We won't head straight to the tower at level 10 either, though the upper levels have some nice loot, because the enemies can hit hard there and we want to make sure we at least have a decent chance to come through without fuguing anyone. REMEMBER, in order to keep everyone from fuguing, we really want to keep everyone from dying in the first place! And that means waiting a bit longer to move on to harder areas. We might even hold off on Xulrae until level 37 or 38, assuming we get that far. Raises and resses are going to be very pricey, and we want to take that ounce of prevention instead of having to pay for the pound of cure... since raises will be beyond our budget in the very beginning, everyone should buy a decent amount of second chance scrolls and we will be moving very slowly, in a tightly-formed party, to avoid anyone getting killed. I cannot stress this enough as we begin:
dying before people have enough money to afford raise scrolls means fuguing. If we can't afford a way to bring you back to life, and you are beyond the aid of healing, there will be nothing we can do and you will most certainly perish! Let's keep that from happening, I know none of us want to lose a member early, especially if it's us.
Seems like we're all veterans in this party, after all, I don't expect many newbies to be checking this subforum in the first place, so I shouldn't have to mention a lot of this, but I am anyway. There will be no straying off to get something on another map, we must all stay together, though
quick trips to town will be allowed if necessary. If I am not leading the way, I will appoint someone to act as point-man, though of course our selection of area will not be dictated by myself exclusively, we will attempt to agree on an area. Above all, we must act as a TEAM. Please refrain from going off and doing your own thing, either out of boredom or out of frustration. I've been in parties where people did their own thing, and it was no fun and often got people killed; a few times this happened in the Dachy maze, and that was miserable. Once a certain McFob decided it would be a good idea to push through a door when the rest of us relogged to despawn and get ourselves un-stuck... we came back and he was slugging away on the other side of the door, and we just had to wait impatiently with nothing to do while he soloed. I'm sure none of you will do this sort of thing, but I feel the need to warn people in advance just out of courtesy: as leader, I am responsible for seeing the party to succeed in our mission, and if anyone demonstrates that he is going to become more of a burden than a help, I will issue verbal warnings and eventually expulsion.
There, got that unpleasantness out of the way! You all understand I'm not speaking to anyone specific here, I know, just tending to business. Now then, let's get a sixth member and set up a time to begin our quest! We WILL succeed!!
EDIT: I have a minor note to add. Part of our budget problems in the way of raising our dead and healing in general can be solved using our CLERIC. Stormchaser, please max your heal skill and prepare Raise Dead spells as soon as you get them, to offer some free raises should we need them. Also, don't forget to quickbar your substitute cure spells, so they can be used at a moment's notice!! You, Stormchaser, with your healing and raising spells, are possibly our most valuable member, and you must accept the role of healer with dignity and honor, even if it means sacrificing other skills or spells for that added healing oomph. Even consider taking the Healing domain... though I'm not sure if it has the empowering effect here on HG, due to the changes to the spells... does anyone know for sure?
On a similar note, Ommadawn, we may have to rely on you for most of our Haste until we get some acceptable haste-providing items. Stormchaser doesn't need to take the Travel domain, you just need to prep enough Hastes for us all, just like the other buffs. Not that this is anything ground-breaking... and I've typed enough for one night. Man, I'm usually not so chatty, but I'm a planner at heart and I'm really very excited about this adventure! Sorry if I'm talking everyone's ears off.