Thereddic: Anyway, one final question about developing my character. If I'm going mage, is trying to max out persuade and Charisma too much to ask while doing melee/throwing on top of it? The concept of my followers leaving me bothers me and I like the idea of recruiting everyone, plus diplomacy is just kind of the standard "invest in me" skill in rpgs. But I feel like doing magic, persuade AND fighting is too much of a strain, based on how slowly stats are passed out.
Also, will money ever become more prevalent, or should I invest in haggle? I find myself carrying around a lot of random junk items (so I'm a pack rat) and the idea of just being able to unload it all on any merchant sounds really appealing, since I don't know who buys what. I'm assuming my Railway spikes aren't going to find any buyers, for example?
If you're the type to plan ahead, you will have 64 CPs (character points) to work with: five at the start, one per level, and an extra one every fifth level. (If you install the Level 127 hack, which lets you go past level 50, then you can have more.)
You can also hedge your bets with magic: Gloves of Dexterity give you +2 DX (once your MA is high enough), the spell Agility of Fire gives you +4 DX (and it stacks!), the spell Strength of Earth does the same for ST, etc.
Keep in mind as well that MA maxes out at +100, which (unless you're elven, dwarven or also taking any tech-based skills) means 20 spells makes you as magic as you can get. Again, there are in-game items and/or character backgrounds which can affect this.
Your follower limit, if you max out (and take at least expertise in Persuasion) is six total, plus any free non-human followers (such as the Worthless Mutt in Ashbury, or a summoned familiar). There's also a gamebreaking exploit, if you ever want to enslave the entire world later on.
As far as money goes, you will eventually outdo Gilbert Bates himself; taking Haggle just gets you there quicker. Junk dealers buy junk and gypsies buy magic items, but both pay out a lot less than other merchants; herbalists and armories give you the best rates, but only by a little. I tend to play solo, which means no "pack mules", so for me Haggle is an absolute necessity.