Against the Giants: Introducing the Party

I have gone through a magic-user and a fighter before this Illusionist; besides him and I there's usually about nine other players with their characters, along with some hired help or a player or two that just hops in.

As my journal begins, the party consists of these characters:

Leia, a low-level Human Cavalier
(A paladin by any other name with a whopping huge charisma and comeliness bonus. When we get back into town she’s the de-facto party leader due to her influence, but the player is pretty quiet.)
A Cavalier is a sort of upgraded fighter, with restrictions. They have many specializations and proficiencies in weapons and armor, meaning they can use nearly any weapon or armor in the game. They do not suffer from fear effects, and are very tough. A cavalier, however, must be played
as being arrogant, running after important targets, rushing headlong into battle, being a snob, ETC. In short, the game equivalent of all the best and worst of an honor-driven medieval knight.

Kenneth, a mid-level Human Ranger
(Play’s with Leia. Also quiet, but if you’re ever lost on what’s happening, ask him. Doesn’t matter how many jokes are cracked or how far off we’ve gotten track, he knows what to do, how to do it, and why)
A Ranger is a trained individual who specializes in woodcraft, archery, hunting down specific types of enemies, and with very minor magic. Think Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings, but without the nobility. Rangers in-game may choose a specific type of monster that they are specialists in. This means that they have spent their training hunting down these particular creatures, and get bonuses in attack and dfense against them.

“Prince” Coleth, a mid-level half-orc fighter
(Our party’s fearless leader. At least in combat. He’s got crap charisma for his character so he hands haggling and other role-playing stuff to Leia)
A half-orc is very strong, very tough, but stupid and ugly. A Fighter is a weapons mster sort of character, tough to kill and can wear and use the best equipment. So the two are kind of complementary.

Duorddon, a high-level Halfling “Gentleman”
(Broken Thief with an attitude. Mind you, the player is a great guy but he plays Chaotic Neutral a bit strangely)
A Halfling is just another term for Tolkein's Hobbits. A Gentleman is not a real class but it's what the player calls him. He is really a thief character, which means he is sneaky, can find and disable traps and pick locks, and can deal massive amounts of damage in a backstab style attack.

“Great Scott”, a high-level Half-Orc Fighter
(Broken Fighter with a Rod of Security and miniature Iron Tower that grows into a pretty big castle)
This character has been playing for a long time, and has many magical items and artifacts. For one, a Rod of Security creates a magical portal around the user which teleports them to another, small dimension where time is frozen. In there, a person can eat, sleep, drink, and train for weeks or even months, while in the real world only seconds have passed.

“Spugnoir”, a high-level Human Magic-User
(Fairly complete spell book, and several good scrolls. Very versatile, but has incredibly bad luck. The Dice Gods hate him.)
A Magic-user as I've said before, possesses an immense list of spells to choose from, fireballs and invisibilities and summon demons, oh my! Unfortunaetly the player just gets bad luck when playing him. Archers find an shoot him spells go awry, and in general bad things happen.

Rhonda, a low-level Grey Elf Ranger/Cleric/Magic-User
(Just trying to do too many things at once.)
A Grey Elf is a sub-species of Elves, with bonuses to Inteligence and Dexterity, but are very weak physically. With three class this character can do alot of things but none of the very well.

“Grotek”, A Mid-level Gnoll Fighter
(Little kid that comes along with Rhonda. Really tries to role-play and get in on the action, but in the end he just doesn’t know enough, and he’s too immature to be taken seriously. He considers himself my arch-enemy for some reason, always coming up to me and telling how his character is going to flatten mine)
A Gnoll is a cross between a hyena and a human, physically. They form their own species, and are incredably strong, but very stupid. Like half-orcs, but moreso.
Hwonalon, a high-level Gnome Fighter/Thief
(Crap thief, good fighter. The player can be a little… irritating. Does some really “WTF” stuff from time to time)
A short character that is both sneaky and fighty. The player is a little immature, and does some really stupid things.

Tovena’ar, a high-level Grey Elf Illusionist
(Yours Truly. Good equipment, but at this time a limited spell selection, as the time that I have been playing him was mostly spent in the wildnerness. I also tend to play him as a jerk because, I’ll be honest here, I get a little testy the later we play into the night. Being a Grey Elf gives me a role-playing excuse)