Can I retain the party I build for the tutorial?

At the beginning of the tutorial for this game, I'm invited to create a party of six adventurers. I'm new to the series, and to AD&D2E, so creating an optimal/enjoyable party will take considerable time, thought and creative energy.

Is it actually necessary to create any additional party members for the tutorial?
Is it necessary to create an optimised party for the tutorial?
Will I have the option of using the party I create in the tutorial for the main campaign, or will it be lost forever?

baldurs-gate-enhanced

Best Answer

The tutorial will give you characters. In fact, if you create your own party, you will run into issues as you are forced to recruit them.

Creating an entire party is not the intended way to play but can be done. Originally this was via the multiplayer mechanics to create a single player multiplayer game but EE makes it much easier.

I would advise against it in your first playthrough however for a few reasons:

There is no shortage of NPCs to recruit. You can have a full party extremely early in the game so having 6 from the start isn't helpful.
The companion NPCs are all interesting. They have unique banter, interactions, quests, abilities, and in one case a hamster. The protagonist is also unique due to the plot but secondary player characters tend to be dull.
Making a full, balanced party when you don't know what you're doing is difficult and time consuming.

Note that this does not apply the The Black Pits, which expects you to build an entire party from the start.