To start off I'll give a bit of background on an 'average' or typical play through I take through the game. First my character is almost always a melee class, though I have tinkered with the Bard class every once in a while. I've been known to reroll the stats for hours to get it 'right' no I do not use the debug mode as that would be 'cheating'. ;) I also suck at coming up with names so I'll typically grab the first fantasy style name that pops into my head. My group almost always (baring being turned into little chunks, I try not to reload if I get a bad result.) includes Jahiera and Minsc. My party almost always includes Aerie as well, yes I know the complaints about her, (whinny, too complainy, ect.) but it doesn't bother me as put in her position (relatively recently having two limbs go gangrenous and then hacked off without dulling the limbs any) would make me whiny and full of complaints too and since all the romance options tend to assume you're the 'nice guy' until proven otherwise. Jahiera's romance makes me feel uncomfortable in that her husband just died like not minutes into the adventure and if you go by the in game time it's only days afterward she starts taking interest in you that and it's buggy as all get out. Viconia's I tried, I really did but I totally hit my limit of patience with the entire Hot/cold 'I love you/I hate you/I give up' she pulls. No thanks, not for me. I'm also typically the bright shining beacon of hope and goodness (buttkicking and otherwise.) for bhallspawn everywhere.
Embarrassingly I've never completed Baldur's Gate 1.
I tend to shy away from full on NPC mod add ins as I find most of them too focused on the NPC in question sometimes to the point of 'why am I even HERE again?' other Mods I use are Unfinished Business(adding in missing/dropped side quests like Minscs), Dungeon Be Gone (skips you past the starting dungeon while giving you the stuff and XP. Great for constant restarters like yours truly), NPC flirt pack(let's you initiate dialog with your chosen love interest), NPC banter pack( more party interactions), Various fixpacks (fan made fixes to various in game oddities and bugs), and the bonus merchants.
I've also tried Baldur's Gate Tutu, which despite the silly name lets you play BG1 in the BG2 engine and, I hear, let's you go from one game right into the other. There's also alot of mods for this thing, notably more party interaction mods and romancable party members.
IMO they truly broke the mold when making this game. I never got into the Icewind Dale series because I was never interested in making my entire party and then running through various perils all without the banter and personalities of the part members. It got dull and boring quickly for me.
