Squidmaster: I'm curious to see what yours are, and why. Thanks for your time!
gammaleak: I just finished a BGT play-through that I thought was challenging but not frustrating. I had a lot of fun. I generally chose rule tweaks that bent toward the original pen-and-paper AD&D. I also chose mods that made it easier to carry plenty of equipment (i.e., adding Bags of Holding to BG1).
Among the other mods that I used were
- BG2 Fixpack
- Portions of BG1 Tweak Pack and BG2 Tweak Pack
- BG1 NPC Project
- Unfinished Business for both BG1 and BG2
While I don't remember too many other specifics, generally I would say forget about being "balanced." Consider the kind of mods that you think will make the game more fun for you and use those. Ignore people who try to bash you over the head with their brand of "purism." Obviously you're not going for a strictly pure install or you wouldn't even be asking this question.
I...agree with everything that gammaleak said. This isn't a multiplayer game (or at least, not a competitive one), so there's no issues with "balance" in that regard. There's no obviously OP choices at character generation. There are underpowered ones, but most of these are dual/multiclasses which aren't really meant to be taken, but exist in the rules so that a different, useful, version can also exist (for instance, due to how the rules are worded it's impossible to offer the option of a fighter>mage dual class, a legitimate choice, without also offering a mage>fighter dual class, generally a pretty worthless choice).
Remember, the world the game's set in isn't 'fair' to everybody, and intentionally so. There's a character in BG2 who wanted to be a paladin, but can't be because of race. That's not due to any 'balance' reasons, it's simply due to an odd part of the rules (or the discrimination of paladin orders against non-humans, if you prefer). As long as the game remains enjoyable (that is, your character isn't
too over/underpowered compared to the level intended), it's not that important whether you're perfectly balanced with what other classes you might have been.
To address your specific points:
I want to be able to choose any class or kit and feel like I have made a good choice.
Well, most of the classes and kits are fairly good. There aren't any really overpowered ones (kensai>mage dual class is arguably overpowered, so you might like to avoid that one). There are several which aren't so good, especially multi/dual classes, but if you ask on this thread before starting we'll be able to tell you if you've chosen a dud. They're relatively rare, though, and mostly concentrated around the druid class (which you might also want to avoid: it gets rather weak in BG2). More of an issue is your starting statistics and how you assign them. Statistics of 7-14 or so give virtually no benefits or penalties (in some cases, none at all through that range). I won't advise you to min/max all your stats to 18s and 3s, as that'll definitely make you rather more powerful than the NPCs in your party. However, bear in mind that 11 in one stat and 17 in another is MUCH better than 14 in both. Personally, I'd suggest that to keep on a level with the NPCs in the game, you allow yourself unlimited rerolls but don't let yourself reassign points from one stat to another. You'll have a less powerful, but less min/maxed and more interesting, character that way.
I want to be able to choose any weapon proficiencies (within reason) because I like them without having to worry about missing out on the really powerful items.
You mentioned playing BGT (or tutu). I'd suggest using the tweak pack to restore BG1 weapon proficiencies, preferably keeping the special options of BG2 (sword and shield proficiency, 2 handed weapon skill, etc). They're more general, so you're less likely to be unable to use an item, especially if you give all your melee party members skill with different weapons. Also, I'd suggest restoring the BG1 grand weapon mastery: it was nerfed quite badly in BG2, for no apparent reason.
Oh, and stick with one weapon proficiency type (or a melee and a ranged one) as far as your class can go, rather than spreading out between proficiencies. Remember you can only benefit from one proficiency at a time.
I want the spell lists and the spells themselves to be more consistent and interesting.
I'm not entirely sure what you're looking for here. I don't know if you played the game before, but the spell lists do have a large number of different types of effects, useful in different situations. A fireball spell isn't any good when you want to get past the guards undetected, and an invisibility spell isn't any good when you want to kill a bunch of charging kobolds. Neither spell is very useful against an enemy mage, but magic missile might be just the thing to quickly take down his mirror images. Your best bet is to have a large selection of spells memorised, to be able to cast whatever's needed in a situation. The 9th level spells that casters get as high level abilities are powerful, more so than the other 9th level spells in general, but that's intentional: there's a reason they're called 'high level. I don't think the spell lists need rebalancing in any significant way.
I want the AI to be smarter, but I also don't to be totally destroyed by every spellcaster or user of innate magic that crosses my path.
There are well known mods for this, but I'm not that familiar with them. I'll let someone else recommend you the mods for that.
One thing you didn't remark on, which is important, is that some NPCs are more powerful than others. Often this is due to some having rather poor stats, or having assigned things like thief skills badly before they join you. If you think an NPC is underpowered, then you can use a save editor (Shadowkeeper) to increase those statistics if you want. Arguably that's "cheating", but...it's your game, and it's to make those NPCs viable, so...don't worry about it. As long as you don't go too mad and give everyone 18 in all stats, obviously.
