So, I'm trying an all specialist wizard/sorcerer group. How insane am I? Is there even the faintest chance in the abyss this is going to work? The half-giant transmuter has a 20 strength, a two-handed weapon, and a bunch of buffing and protection spells... so... er... he doesn't seem to need a lone magic missile at least.
How large of a group are you planning on? What type of specialists will the have? You will quite weak in melee in the beginning and with no healers you will be spending a lot on potions and scrolls to cure your wounds. Once you get some levels you should be ok, but surviving those first levels will be a bitch.
The first guy is a half orc transmuter, with a 20 strength and a high con -- the closest thing to a fighter that the group has. His Intelligence leaves a little to be desired, so he's mostly using buffing spells on himself that won't rely on a enemy save, making him stronger in a fight, etc. He's not doing too bad, considering he has no fighter or cleric backup. An elven necromancer -- his elven side allows him to use a longsword. It turns out those elven shields have no magic failure percent, and no other penalty attached to them, so they can be used by anyone, without a shield proficiency. Er... a bug? Well, he likes it. A gnomish illusionist concentrating on getting the best spell DC that he can, and a human enchanter with a crossbow. A dwarven sorcerer with a long-spear (a simple weapon!) called Wolfgang, who spams meat-shields (dogs and such) all over the place, since we don't have an actual front line where the fighters would normally be. I've never seen so many dead dogs and wolves... but it's working. The AI often loves shooting owls and stuff when the half-orc is cleaving the crap out of them. I don't let any of them have the same spells, so there will never be more than one person with a fireball spell -- the others will have to choose other things like lightning bolt or whatever. So... so far, I think I can do this, but it's a very different experience, especially with my self-imposed "no one with the same spells memorized at the same time" rule. The goblin fight at the first "something different" mission was actually pretty harrowing when they took out the enchanter somehow in the chaos.
Sounds like a good group. Like I said, once you get some levels and crafting done, you should do well. Just will have to keep those healing potions and scrolls well in stock. Once you get to Verbobanc you can buy wands of healing to help you out. Good luck and let us know more if you have time as you progress.
Done something similar before, 3-man party. Fighter/wiz, sorc with Augment Summoning, and sorc with Enchantment focus. An Evoker of some sort could be handy too. Mid/late game, your enchanter will be more important in making meatshields than your summoner. Lotsa tough monsters have low will saves, and they're FAT. Bugbear commanders have 100+HP easily; giants and ettins are pretty tough too. You can even charm Smigmal if you're lucky, and make her into your drone; she's vicious.
This is when you wish everyone had web to control the battlefield. But a combo of webs, grease, and summonings should allow you to finish that fight.
It's funny how such a low level spell as "grease" can change the flow of combat, even in later altercations. I'm struggling my way through now with an all dwarf party of 4 and we all know dwarfs ain't for trust'n no magickers.
One of the major points of this "experiment" (I am trying to make sure no two of them have the same spell memorized) is to force myself to use some spells I normally would never use. Fireball and haste have always been no-brainers for me, but it ends up making mages all seem too much alike. I actually have one character with... er... gust of wind?? But no matter how much I try, I ... just can't like Melf's Acid Arrow. It feels almost like a cantrip (well, maybe not quite, but almost), let alone a second level spell. Might as well go into melee. (I hate ranged touch attack spells usually.) And... scare... heh, now that's a spell I for some reason never tried before and it has turned the tide of a few battles.
Use Melf's Magic Arrow against opposing spellcasters, like all those guys in the moathouse main room. It gives damage every round, forcing them to make a concentration check when casting spells, and most of them have a low CON and will fail half the time. Of course a better 2nd level spell against them would be Silence.
Scare and Web have been my main spells this last run through. I know what you mean about every mage just becoming a Fireball factory, main reason why my Cleric / Wizard too Evocation and X-Mute as his prohibited schools. I just wish I had realized that Keen Edge was now a forbidden spell!
Scorching Ray is a pretty good Ranged Touch Spell, imho. It has a lot of damage for a 2nd level spell (much more that Magic Missle, for instance), and gets more powerful as it progresses. The only "drawback" is that the mage has to Hit, but with ranged touch attacks, most of the time the mage hits as good as, or better than, a fighter in melee. Especially if they have a good Dex. I don't even believe the enemy get's a save, if it hits, it does all 4D6 damage, and hitting, at that level is usually a 65% or better chance.
Add that Scorching Ray to that Web spell for a mini-Fireball effect, as the Web burns, that's an extra 1d6 to everyone in the Web.
I cannot learn to like ranged touch spells. Maybe I'm just doing them wrong. Best level 2 mage spell is Ghoul Touch, imo. Save-less paralysis on hit, plus mini-Stinking Cloud. Bugbear fight isn't so bad. Use summons to block the middle-room chokepoint, and charm bugbears into submission. Then send them to fight the gnolls Can't charm - put em to sleep.