@Alesia, whichever character you choose, I'm sure it'll be fun.
@Jabberwock, would you go Kensai->Mage again? If so, (SCS) BG1 could be quite unforgiving. For example, there's a lot of dangerous archers out there, so with low HPs, no crit protection and no armor, your character would be vulnerable. However if you buy all the potions you can find, Shield Amulet, and other protective items (rings, cloaks etc), it's definitely doable. You'll just have to find out about quest/area order, and item locations.
I personally love BG1, the Sword Coast setting, the relative simplicity, and the more medieval feel. I'd say give it at least a try.
Bartholomew, 2nd BG2 report
Today was a national holiday here, so I took advantage and played for quite a few hours. There'll be less playing the rest of the week though, because I've been assigned more work.
Bart picked up his adventuring life with bringing law and order to the Copper Coronet.
I'm still trying to play fair and to roleplay. This meant not backstabbing but sneaking past a blue-circled guard that would have called two wizard enforcers had he seen the Gnome. He proceeded to melee a Winter Wolf, two Gibberlings and a Panther before he Animated Dead to deal with other animals and monsters in the Beast Master's bestiary. The Skeletons didn't last long, due to especially a Grizzly Bear's forceful attacks, so he applied an oil of speed for trap-setting and backstabbing purposes. With HP and DUHM, the stabbing worked nicely.
The Gnome released Hendak the slave leader and the other slaves. The previously avoided guard was now red-circled, but more importantly, a battle between guards and freed slaves had broken out, so Bart had no qualms about doing this:
After watching Hendak strike Lethinan down, Bart rested and traveled to the Docks to present himself at the Shadow Thieves guild, and to start a nightly shoplifting session.
That session took him to the Bridge District, where he solved a skinner murder mystery, the sewers below the Temple District (Roger the Fence for potions), and the fletcher at Waukeen's Promenade, who supplied the rogue with free sling bullets +2 aplenty. The fencing of stolen armor and weapons allowed the Gnome to purchase a suit of Armor of Deep Night +4, a Mercykiller Ring, Reflection Shield, and Sling of Seeking. His melee weapons were Aule's Staff +3 and the one-handed Staff Mace +2 (in order to be able to use a shield).
An ambush by a man with pinkish, fiery sword was ignored. (Again the most logical behavior from an RP perspective. Besides, as a Cleric, Bart had no use for Arbane's Sword. And even if he had been able to use it pre-UAI, the blade's usefulness is much more limited and situational than I had previously thought, as Norgath found out the hard way in my last run.) A poor, poisoned man named Renfeld, otoh, was saved without Bart fighting the poisoners.
Two ruffians, Bregg and Cohrvale, were dealt with, with the help of a city guard, when a rare HiS failure on Bart's part provoked the duo into attacking the Gnome.
Once properly outfitted, Bart accepted Renal Bloodscalp's job to find out and eliminate Mae'Var. The only hard task before having to deal with Mae'Var himself was killing Cowled Wizard Rayic Gethras for Mae'Var's assistant, a rude Red Wizard named Edwin.
Near Rayic's home a Mad Cleric, a dangerous meleer once buffed, fell to sneak attacks, as did Rayic Gethras' Mephits and Golems.
Bart had a special solution for Rayic Gethras. He smart-talked the wizard, whom he respected as a potentially dangerous adversary, into giving him his signet ring in order to convince Edwin that Rayic had been killed. At a later moment he would bring Edwin before Rayic, so that the latter could take care of the Red Wizard.
Bart continued working for Mae'Var and Edwin until he appeared to have gained the trust of the Thayvian. Edwin helped Bart to some incriminating documents and offered the Gnome to leave the guildhouse with him. Bart accepted and took him to Rayic Gethras' home. On the way there, he started having second thoughts about his deal with Rayic, about bringing hapless Edwin (who had just helped him) to his death.
When they entered the house, Bart told Edwin that he sensed someone's presence. Maybe Rayic had somehow survived? Edwin pre-buffed himself with Armor, MGoI, Mirror Image, Minor Spell Turning, and a Fireshield. (Both Bart and I thought Edwin deserved a fair chance against Rayic's SCS insta-buffs.) Rayic was still alive indeed. What followed could have been an interesting mage battle, but turned out to be a bit disappointing. Rayic insta-buffed and for some reason approached Edwin. Both saw their attempts at casting spells fail to either disruption or their respective spell protections. Since Rayic found himself in melee range, with MMMs, he got hit many times by the Fireshield, and he died pretty fast. Edwin disappeared without a word right after that.
Bartholomew was cool with this turn of events.
He waited with fighting Mae'Var though, fearful of becoming a pincushion for the pink-trousered rogue and his assassins. Instead he explored the city a bit more. The Gnome's reconaissance led him to the Graveyard District, where he:
- reunited a child spirit with its teddy bear,
- battled Spiders and nearly got killed at it
(never the knew the smaller spiders were as venomous as Phase Spiders),
brought Spiders' Bane to a Half-Drow Hive Mistress in return for a Black Spider Figurine, and
- dug up a man who had been buried alive. (The buriers he found in the Bridge District; Kitthix and Skeletons dealt with them, helping Bart to a pair of Boots of Avoidance and, indirectly, a pair of Silver Pantaloons.
Back in the Docks District the Gnome ran into Xzar, a Necromancer he had once met on the Lion's Way near Candlekeep. Xzar asked Bart to release his Halfling companion Montaron from imprisonment in the Galvarey estate, a Harper base. In order to be allowee access into the building Bart had to perform a task for the Harpers first: to destroy the monsters summoned or created in the home of one Prebek. In the end he had to be glad that he wasn't the one being destroyed. Bart's strategy was to repeatedly enter and leave the home, and attack from the shadows. Neither Prebek nor a female companion nor the monsters followed him outside. This worked well for a while, until he got affected by an Emotion: Hopelessness that the woman cast on herself. He thanked Baravar Cloakshadow that he managed to get out before he actually dropped down in despair.
When he got up he reluctantly buffed with potions (magic shielding, speed), and then finished the job.
Bart found a bird that was supposed to be Montaron, but witnessed it transform into an assassin and kill Xzar. The Gnome, not against deceiving others himself, appreciated the trick he had been played, though that didn't stop him from felling three Spectral Harpists.
(He was Protected from Fear, which nullified their Death Song.)
He then considered the time ripe for a showdown with Mae'Var (even though he still hadn't acquired the Girdle of Piercing, as that item had become less accessible with the extra Ice level in the Circus tent in my setup). Detecting Illusions, invisible Bart dispelled red-circled Mae'Var's invisibility, didn't speak with him but started buffing himself: potion of defense, Chaotic Commands, Aid, Death Ward, Resist Fire/Cold, oil of speed, Free Action, HP, DUHM, RM. The question was: had Mae'Var a Stoneskin up? The answer:
(Crappy screenshot btw.) Bart quickly retreated upstairs, where he slaughtered a horde of thieves that attacked him.
Downstairs again, most of Mae'Var's buffs had expired (except of course Stoneskin). With the help of Kitty's webs and toxins, Bart prevailed without incident.
He picked up several invisibility potions, returned to Renal Bloodscalp and accepted from him the position of leader of the guild house he had just cleared. Bart was too free-spirited for the straitjacket of a function of subordinate in the guild hierarchy, but the autonomy to run his own guild house pretty much the way he wanted was something different.
Near the city gates Bart was accosted by a man reporting animal attacks in the town of Trademeet. Bart, still an eager traveler, as in his days on the Sword Coast with Imoen, offered to help out. Upon arrival he discovered that besides the animal attacks there was the problem of three Djinnis monopolizing the local trade. The Gnome tried to talk their leader, Khan Zahraa who was running a shop in a tent with a second Djinni, into leaving. But they refused. Bart placed three traps near Khan, and left and rested. He placed three more traps outside at the entrance, near the third Djinni, stepped inside the tent, and attacked Khan from the shadows. The traps that subsequently triggered, killed Khan Zahraa. The other Djinnis disappeared right after that. (And so did the Efreeti Bottle. Not very well played Blackraven, maybe a good price to pay for the traps cheese. 
)
A guildmistress thanked Bart for getting rid of the bullies with a Shield of Harmony and an ample amount of gold and gems. Trade soon picked up again, allowing Bart to acquire a number of valuable items for himself: Blackblood, Necklace of Missiles (I believe I got this later, in the red tent after the Druids had been dealt with), Belt of Inertial Barrier, Cloak of Displacement.
He then traveled to a Shadow Druid Grove, the possible source of the animal attacks if an outsider Druid named Cernd was to be believed. In the forst the Gnome chose to stay invisible amidst Spiders, Trolls and Shadow Druids until he reached the actual grove, leaving the shadows only to loot a Troll mound (under Sanctuary), pick up an enchanted scimitar, and barter with an elderly lady who sold potions.
Near the grove Bart slew three Shambling Mounds and several Grizzly Bears with attacks from the shadows, before he ran into a Shadow Druid war party. He summoned Kitthix and four Skeletons before he presented himself to the Druids. That proved to be a wise decision as the Druid's intentions weren't friendly.
He managed to land a nice backstab on one of the Druids (the Adherent I think), but then got Blinded by a Nymph's blinding beauty (permanent ability). This was uncomfortable because Bart had neither Cure Disease nor Neutralize Poison memorized. Thankfully Kitthix and (to a lesser extent) the Skellies stood their ground, and Bart still managed to kill the Nymphs with backstabs.
I also discovered here that Bart could easily hide in shadows while Blinded. I think the radically reduced line of sight was used to determine if he could hide from enemies, not the line of sight he would have normally had, which is debatable from a realism standpoint.
Bart entered the Druid base with Cernd, who challenged the Shadow Druid leader Faldorn to a duel. Had to do this twice. First time Cernd had cast an Insect Plague at Faldorn when she was no longer invisible, and was in the process of summoning a Fire Elemental when the game crashed to desktop. The second time Bart, no exception to the rule that my characters tend to be dishonorable to some extent, passed Cernd two potions of firebreath, that he used to kill Faldorn.
Cernd stayed at the Grove to reorganize the Druid order. But Bart returned to Trademeet to receive his reward. He also dispatched a number of Skeletons to secure the Mantle of Waukeen for the town's High Merchant, and he timely saved a girl from the flayers that had also been responsible for the killings in the Athkatla Bridge District.
Back in Athkatla Bart dealt with two old friends of Mae'Var's that wanted to avenge the rogue.
And he restored a Circus Tent that a poor Gnome with an inferiority complex had transformed into his illusory playground.
The Ice level was (again) the most interesting part of the quest. Kitthix finished an Orc wizard for Bart (for one of three required keys) before Ice giants sent the spider packing.
Bart read two green scrolls of PfCold for 100% cold protection. It enabled him to dispatch four Frost Salamanders (at 9000 XP apiece).
With the Necklace of Missiles Bart quickly killed a host of Gibberlings and Mephits, so that he could focus on the second key-bearer, a Death Rabbit. He applied an oil of speed and finished the creature with backstabs.
Still hasted, he then made his way to final hurdle, an Ooze called 'The Thing', which he dispatched in melee combat.
Kalah the Gnome (in Ogre form), was beaten down, and the Circus restored.
When the dust had settled, Aerie, an Elven Chorister Bard he had helped dispel her illusory Ogre appearance, offered to travel with Bartholomew, but good old Uncle Quayle, who surprisingly had also been a victim of Kalah, wouldn't.
This is a bit of a bummer. I really expected the BG1NPCSoA mod to make Quayle available as a companion. I even recruited nearby Tiax with no problem, to see if Quayle would join, but nope... (Maybe Tiax had to be taken along through the circus quest, or maybe Aerie had to be accepted into the party at the first opportunity.) I'm not sure what I'll do now. Aerie without Quayle is not the same for the purpose of this run. Otoh the romance (never completed) could be interesting. Bart could also continue as a solo adventurer at least until he finds Imoen. And there's Jan of course, who was an intended companion as well. Oh well, I'll figure someting out. 
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