Best party for BD&D dungeon crawling

[Verdande]

Bullgrit:

1) I'd stick with the Magic User. I can't remember what the maximum level for elf is, but an uncapped level limit is always nice. If elves can make it to 12th, then I guess you might as well be an elf.

2) Dwarves are almost always better than fighters. Slightly slower level advancement is a small price to pay for their racial abilities and better saving throws.

3) I'd never take a theif. All of a theif's abilities can be duplicated with common sense by any other class member that's willing to use a little roleplaying and brainpower. In its place I'd either get a demihuman race or an Assassin (if you're using Labyrinth Lord and the AEC, which you might not be.) With any other choice, you get more utility, hit dice, and combat ability while sacrficing nothing.

To that end, my ideal party would be:

Fighter/Dwarf x3- Tough and able to lead great quantities of men at higher levels.
Cleric x1- Magical protection and, importantly, healing.
Magic User/Elf x2- Provides the artillery and, at higher levels, is extremely important to avoid and negate odd threats.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Would it be better to replace the m-u with an elf? The elf would only average one-level lower based on xp.

Would it be better to replace the fighter with a dwarf? The dwarf won't really be noticably behind in level until the very end.

Are thieves really useful? Their skills are so low, especially in the earlier levels.

Bullgrit

There are a couple concerns. The elf tops out at level 10 and takes longer to get there meaning that the higher level party won't have access to any 6th level arcane magic ever and lower spell levels will still take longer to aquire (especially with 2 elves in the group with their large XP requirements)

The dwarf would be a fine stand in for a fighter.

Thieves? That depends on if you decide to rule that only a thief can attempt the skills for the class. If you do then they can get kind of useful due to swift leveling. If not, then they have little value.

 

[TerraDave]

The one level advantage for the MU can be a big deal, as you are getting new levels of spells every other char level...though I would need to see the elfs full spell chart to make a really informed decision.

Thief depends heavily on DM and play style (and if you are using Moldvay early Mentzer or late Mentzer).

Whats max level for the Dwarf?

 

[rogueattorney]

For a six player party, I'd go

Fighter
Dwarf
Elf
Cleric
Magic-User
Thief

When in doubt, more fighting muscle always helps, and I'd suggest any 7th or 8th member of the party be a fighter or cleric. The dwarf can supplement some of the thief's skills and the elf can supplement the magic and fighting ability of the party. In a strictly dungeon environment, I'd want a thief to be around, but I'd be sorely tempted to not go with a thief if someone wanted to play a second cleric.

The OP specified a dungeon adventure. If it were an outdoor adventure, I'd probably want to switch out the dwarf for a halfling and the thief for another fighter or cleric.

In either case, as a DM, I'd be liberal in allowing the hiring of hirelings and retainers to fill out a party - 0-level men-at-arms at first level and leveled henchmen from there.

 

[Remathilis]

Just Echoing what most have said.

(human) Fighter: High Str/Con, Decent Dex. Give him a long/normal sword and shield (and a bow for odd occasions) and plate and hope for high hp rolls. Alternately, he'd be a good two-handed sword weilder.

Dwarf (fighter): As above, but I'd go with an axe + shield or hammer + shield. His hp will eventually be lower, so invest more in a dex/AC combo after a while.

(human) Cleric: Good Str, Cha, and Wis. Give him platemail, a mace and a shield and let him be the retainer-operator. He should devote 1/3rd of all spell slots to healing, but bear in mind in BD&D potions should be more plentiful since clerics have many fewer spells than their AD&D counterparts.

(human) Magic-user: Good Int, Dex, Con. He gets the laturn and the 10' pole for the low-levels. If your DM is nice, ask him for the RC alternate weapons (sling is among them, you'll want this).

(human) Thief: Good Dex, Str, Con. Give this guy a shortbow and let him go to town. He won't hit very often, but its better than melee with d4 hp. Your Thief Skills will suck at low-levels, so this is the challenging class to play as.

Elf (fighter/mage): Your "5th man". Good Dex, Int, Str, Con. Give her a longbow, longsword, chainmail (or plate) and let her play center. She'll primarily cover the squishies (mu and thief) at low levels by staying back and using her bow, switching to melee when someone gets too close. She uses her spells in pinch situations (leaving the MU to focus on crowd control and area damage).

If you get a 7th, I suggest either a Halfling (fighter) or another Cleric. The Halfling can really lower their ACs and their hide ability is nice for scouting (surpassing the thief at low levels) but they aren't great at melee: give em a bow and let them snipe.

(Alternately: I suggest looking at Basic Fantasy (see link in Sig). Keep most of my advice as is, but switch the human thief for a halfling one (better hide, init bonus, save bonus). BF doesn't have level caps (so your Dwarf and Elf will still advance, but very slowly now) and the thief is much improved (higher thief %, faster advancement, best saves).

 

[Grimstaff]

3 Fighting Men, 2 Magic Users, 1 Dwarf.

 

[Ourph]

1st level - Elf x 6

2nd level and beyond - Elf x 5, Cleric x 1

The other demi-humans are basically less able Fighters. If I were going to replace anyone, I'd switch out an Elf for a single Fighter, but Sleep spells x5 at 1st level is better than Sleep spells x4 and a few extra HP in the front line.

You might think a party without a Thief is at a disadvantage when dealing with traps in the dungeon, but the Thief is so inept at dealing with traps that the difference isn't really noticeable IME.

Some might argue that Elves lag behind MUs in getting access to higher level spells, but your dead MU PC who just got 1-shotted by a kobold with a sharp stick is NEVER going to cast high level spells. Now go roll up a character who can wear armor and has better HPs.

Not that I think such a party would be particularly fun. But if we're talking about pure survivability, I think maxing out the Elves is the way to go.

 

[TheYeti1775]

Race is not as important as class...

In Basic Race is a Class.

If we are going RAW. (Level Limits and everything else)

• 
  Fighter
  Cleric
  Magic-User
  Halfling
  Elf
  Dwarf

With some decent Charisma to get some retainers.
Of those I would play the Fighter or the Magic-User at any level.

The Fighter is your Front Liner.
The Elf and Dwarf can support that as well. Some Clerics depending how played could as well.
Cleric, you need the Healing.
Magic-User - nothing says power like name level mages in Basic.
Halfling - good enough thief, could also be swapped out for a Human Thief
Elf - Fights and magic use. Good back-up for either role in a 6 person party. Secret door finding is a huge plus.
Dwarf - Fights and some thief skills. Stonework secret doors, are handy in a dungeon environment.

That would be my party in a basic game. Though I have been in 4 Fighter, 1 Magic-User, 1 Cleric parties before.

 

[Wik]

If we're going for optimal, here's my vote:

1. Elf
2. Elf
3. Magic-User
4. Dwarf
5. Thief
6. Cleric

Here's why: you have three arcane casters, and two of those arcane casters can sub in as a fighter, and have dark vision (always a plus). If they share their spellbooks (and why wouldn't they?) you can make sure everyone's got a good mix of combat and non-combat spells. I'd make sure the mage carries the lion's share of fighting spells.

The dwarf is your subbed-in fighter, with the advantage of darkvision. Granted, he'll be levelling a bit slower, but that's okay - his main goal is just to keep the bad guy's away from the softer people, but you'll have a fair share of frontliners, so presumably attacks will be split up.

Your thief is there to help extend the party's duration in the dungeon (because there will be fewer uses of wizardly spells to bypass dungeon obstacles). While thieves can be kind of useless, the fact is that they level quickly, and can use any weapon - I have frequently seen thieves in BECMI hit level 3 or 4 before the rest of the group hits 2nd, meaning they have the highest THAC0, and dish out the most damage... and often have more HP, too. And thieves usually make GREAT archers. Just don't use them for finding/removing traps, or they'll turn to goo.

As for the cleric - they're good to have for protective purposes, but I wouldn't focus too much on healing spells... protective AC boosts are better, and hope to god you find plenty of healing potions.

 

[Wik]

Oh, and for what it's worth... I would play the halfling. I love me some BECMI halflings, crappy level caps and all. My favourite D&D character EVER was a D&D halfling.