Thanks for that... you must work for my manager, as you have just copied my question, including the answer I proposed and then posted it as the solution. You will go far, my friend....

I have created a new thread... as requested... if you could show us how to add an NPC to the party after accepting (via a dialog) by setting the flags that would be most useful to the community,

http://larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=632089#Post632089

and am looking forward to the answer to the original question (in detail) ... or mine (which I think is related)