For your main character starting the game as anything but a human
fighter class is a waste of time. Here is my logic ( I have been playing/ DMing DnD for 12 years) In the end of the game the most powerful classes are spell casters, but in the beginning they are by far the weakest. So since you "lose" the game if you main guy dies you want to have him be some thing that can take some hits, best for that is a straight fighter type since they dont split hps like a multi class and can wear some heavy armor. Once you get to the point in the game where your party is all 3rd lvl + you can start to think about changing your main guys class to one of the spellcasting classes. This works out well
for you for alot of reasons. First your main guy now will have a ton
more hps then he should for being a mage or cleric, at this point you
will be fighting stuff that gives more exp so you will gain back those
lower lvls very fast, and once you pass your old fighter lvl you will be
a mage that can really do some good damage in combat with a weapon if they have too. To do this think ahead and make sure that you have
either good Int or Wis when you make your guy so you are ready when the time comes to change. --submitted by morehtml@hotmail.com