as in any RPG there is the ultrapopular classes like fighter,paladin,mage,ranger etc.but there is the "forgotten" ones like monk and bard
I played BG1 as a bard and it was loads of fun,I found it more fun to play that a rogue or a fighter.
so I ask thee,which "forgotten"class do you like

Depends on the game. I love Bards in IWD and NWN, but not so much in BG1. May have to give it another shot. BG1, I don't really have a 'forgotten' class that I like, but I do like going with a dual class FTR->Mage.

I've always been partial to playing the less popular classes in most RPGs -- or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I prefer to come up with what I think might be a fun character concept (based on characterization, not mechanics) and find a way to make it work as opposed to trying to find the "best" race/class/stat combination to "beat" a game. Then again, I tend to play RPGs as a role-player, not as a powergamer, so this isn't entirely surprising.

For the BG series, I've actually had a lot of fun with the basic bard. It may not be the most effective character overall, but it is perfectly possible to play through the series on core rules as a bard and be successful -- it isn't even necessary to min/max the party composition and gear to do it. It just takes learning to deal with challenges with the tools you have, and for me that is far more fun than trying to figure out the easiest way to beat the game. I've also completed the series as a single class cleric of Lathander and as a single-class gnome illusionist. Had fun with them all, but I still found the bard to be the most fun simply because it was a challenge to find ways to make the bard an effective and useful member of the party.

I've been seriously tempted to try the next run as a monk, just for the change. I kind of dread the first few levels since I know they are going to be extremely difficult as a monk, but that's precisely the kind of thing I find challenging and fun.,

I used a bard in IWD1 and thought he ended up being the best and most fun character of the six, being a jack-of-all-trades. If I ever play through the BGs again (which is not looking very likely as I'm still trying to finish BG2 after years and years), I'd love to try a Sorcerer or Wild Mage, just because I really have no idea how they play. I also try to be a role-player rather than power-gamer, but not always successfully. :D

Haha, sounds about right - I started a monk character in BG1 (using BGTutu) a while ago; spent a good part of the game getting my arse kicked, but now things have turned around a bit - my monk is level 7, and many monsters just sort of... explode... when he punches them :P

Yeah, you'll pretty much repeat that experience when you start BG2. I loved my playthrough as a monk, though. (Didn't try it in BGTutu, simply because I couldn't see a way for a monk to be effective at those low levels.)

My most favourite class is the Blade, though my Blade character started of as a plain Bard in BG1 and I Shadowkeeped him to Blade in the Cloakwood, when I found out about that class and decided I would like it. Though Blade, being perhaps the most popular Bard kit, doesn't count as forgotten class.

Another class I like is the Totemic Druid. I've read it's summons aren't as effective anymore at higher levels, but right now (I created her as a BG2 character and am now half-way SoA) I'm having lots of fun with her, especially as, being a Neutral character rolled anew, she started off with a mix of good and evil Bhaalpowers, whereas I normally only get to get good Bhaalpowers, playing through BG1 with a party whose reputation quickly soars due to my playstyle (being as much a goody-two-shoes in the game as IRL - I just like helping people and abhor doing things for egotistic reasons).

I, too, rather like Bards in BG, though as others have said, they're much better in IWD. They seem like a bit of a poor man's F/M/T, but their levelling speed gives them an advantage.

My favourite class, though, that many others overlook, is pure class thief. I absolutely love playing as an Assassin or sometimes Bounty Hunter, or even the straight thief. I know this is often considered a poor decision because thieves hit their ceiling very quickly, and it's usually considered wiser to DC out of one or MC one, but there's something about the pure-class... Scouting ahead, backstabbing high priority targets, taking out traps and setting your own... And when you're a pureclass, you can get Detect Illusions to a decent level, which is actually a fun skill (just not as good as the others offered).

I think I've done at least three or four full playthroughs of BG2 as a thief, sometimes good, sometimes evil, different kits, but always a blast.

Yea man I love thieves as well especially single class thieves. I just wished there were some decent single class kits to go with. Bounty hunter is pretty good I guess. I love the assassin concept but I think they gimped that kit pretty badly. I've never tried a single class thief. It's definitely very iconic. I guess that's why I love IWD1 cause it just has the base classes. Anyways yea thieves are pretty sweet. I just wished backstab didn't end up so useless late game.

I was never really a fan of thieves. The exception being my elvish swashbuckler, he was good (well evil actually).

I actually really enjoy playing druids, especially avengers.

Oh, good call. Druids are probably the most overlooked. A pure-class druid is generally considered the most difficult class to play in BG1. They're probably the weakest overall in BG2, as well.

If's kind of funny how the two classes that are considered kind of useless in BG (Druid, Bard) are two of the best in IWD.

EDIT: Enchanters and Diviners are also two questionable classes. Again, IWD balanced out the Specializations much better by having to make actual sacrifices (i.e. Invoker can't cast Conjuration, and vice/versa). In BG, Conjurer is the logical choice for Spec Mage because he loses like four spells, plus his "extra stat" is CON.

I agree that it is the most difficult to play in BG1. I'm actually going to start one now just to see what it is like, because to be honest I have been reusing a druid character save for awhile now. I'm curious on how bad shapeshifting is in the first game. I actually think the fact that they didn't make druidic shapeshifting increase in power with each level in BG2 was a mistake. It would have also made the shapeshifter a more playable kit as well.

But by then you've got 'assassinate' HLA - uses your existing backstab multiplier on every hit for a short duration (And for Assassin class that gets up to 7x - add in improved haste and a weapon with speed-factor 0 and it's "bye-bye enemy")
I just played through (from BG1 through TOB) as an Assassin and had a great time.

Playing a Druid now - yep, a bit weak at the start and no great spells yet but I'm playing a Totemic Druid so the Spirit summon is helping loads through this part. Shame they don't get more powerful as you go on but by later there'll be other summons to have (and by TOB he'll have the HLA summons).
Having finished the game twice with a well-balanced team and a powerful PC (Fighter/Mage first then Assassin), I'm now having a go with a more challenging team (changing out members more often and trying out all the NPCs - Just replaced Dynaheir with Xan - have to 'charm' rather than blast the enemy for the time being which introduces a new play-style to me)

I actually find disabling spells more powerful than direct damage in BG1. For the first few chapters, Sleep is probably the best level 1 spell, and either Horror or Web for level 2. Even Hold Person at lvl 3 can be more useful than Fireball or Lightning Bolt at lower levels.

Druids with kits aren't too bad. But pure druid (which is all you had in BG1)? Crappy fighting skills combined with mediocre spells. Like they have to hit level 5 to even be marginally useful.

Since assassins don't get many APR's I figured assassinate wasn't really worth it except in the hands of a fighter/thief. As far as your assassin run went, how did you fare in Watcher's Keep and in ToB where backstab ceases to work? I love the assassin as well. I just think its an extremely gimped kit. But maybe you've got some strategies that I haven't thought of. So I would love to hear some. I thought the assassin was pretty good through most of BG2 but things started to get rough towards the end. Watcher's Keep (especially 3rd level) and almost all of ToB was a massive exercise in patience and frustration.