FIGHTING A HORDE WITH SIX WIZARDS IN ICEWIND DALE II

I’m banning swords and embracing a mage-only lifestyle.

- Jeremy Peel

Fighter. Rogue. Healer. Mage. This is the archetypical role-playing party, the quadrumvirate that guarantees a good time no matter the setting. It is balanced, broad, and allows you to see as much of the spectrum of adventuring as possible—brute-forcing your way into tombs, deactivating their traps, and parsing the strange scrolls found within.

OK, so you deviate from the norm occasionally; maybe you’ve got a couple of slots leftover and pick a bard for comic relief, or a monk, because you’re keen to learn the combat function of a smoothly shaved head. But when was the last time you delved into a dungeon with a properly wonky line-up? What was the last RPG you completed with, for instance, six wizards?

Icewind Dale II is the snow-tipped hill on which I’ve chosen to die. It has no developer-made companions, so you’re free to build an entire party from scratch right at the beginning of the game. From GOG.com I download not only the game, but also the full manual and Book of Spells. I’m going to need them.

Next, though, comes the backstory. Icewind Dale II is set in the Forgotten Realms, and the most famous mages in Faerûn are the Red Wizards of Thay. Hailing from the Unapproachable East, they are the notoriously badnatured ruling class of a populous and cruel country built on slavery.