I don't think, I ever played a fighter or paladin in my whole 30 years of DnD. And no human either. I like playing carefree chaotic characters, but more leaning towards good. So mage/ thief is a great combination. If I don't play that than bard or druid, Ajantis and Khalid can get hit in the front, I'm the brains of the whole thing ( though Khalid has pretty high intelligence for a fighter). Imoen gets usually reclassed or ditched, since I had her with me enough times and I don't really care about her that much.
Yes companions of the small races who are not evil (Yeslick & Alora) are unfortunately only found quite late in BG1. I also never understood why they made Kagain & Korgan into evil dwarves... I would have liked at least Kagain to have a good or neutral alignment and a reunion with him in BG2...
