I think the point of the level cap is that BG2 starts at level 7.
This then carries on to level 20+

The D&D system (as it was at the time these games were made) had level 20 as superhuman, approaching the path to godhood type power.

Actually AD&D Core rulebooks had progression tables up to 20, so you could say that 20 is the limit. But that's besides the point.

BG1 was designed as a relatively low level campaign. If you take a look at ready made campaigns for the tabletop AD&D you will see one of the first things they mention is the level and size of party the particular campaign was designed for. No Game Master, and by extension no computer game, can keep an RPG going to arbitrary levels. The encounters have to have a certain degree of difficulty. Not impossible, nor cakewalk. BG was made with that design in mind.
Don't judge by today's common game mechanics, like level scaling and such shit.

And the quote I mentioned was much before Bioware got big and started the PR dance to appease the fanboys. I see no reason to not trust what I read all those year ago.

In a 6-member party my Illusionist/Thief PC is at 6/6, and close to going up further. Still lots of time left of the game, but then I'm doing the expansion right now so that will add some extra XP of course. If you plan to do everything, expect characters to reach the XP cap, unless you remove it. If you're making a sort of speed run, following the main story but not doing too many side quests, then you'll naturally get a lot less XP. Well done for doing these things right off though. Some of the fights would be difficult I imagine.

You're right though, BG1 doesn't have a lot of levels for the characters. But I actually like that. It means each level truly means something, as you're not blowing through them.

Mages can get fireball spells at level 5 btw, or 20,000 XP, so that's not too far in most of the time. But then there are also fireball wands, who are much more powerful than the spell version. Well, they have the same effect, but a 100-fireball wand is quite the tool :)

[url=http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur%27s_Gate:_Progression_Charts]http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur%27s_Gate:_Progression_Charts[/url]

Strike that, my PC is actually 7/7 and close to going up another level.

Rodzaju makes a point (and I've done it bug checking BG1 Tweaks) that you can finish through chapter 3 in short order. But you found the drawback. Now do everything in the south end of the Sword Coast, including the upper levels of Durlag's Tower.

Something to consider as well, you can drop either pair at any time. Of course, if you do that before talking to the Nashkel mayor they vanish forever. Myself, I get Imoen, Viconia, Garrick, Minsc and Dynaheir before doing the mine, in that order. Both Viconia and Ajantis are easy to get early if you know where they are. No area spawns to encounter.

Khalid, Jaheira, Montaron and Xzar will all be satisfied if you take them to Nashkell and talk with the mayor about the trouble in the mines; you don't actually need to to go into the mines for their sake. I usually do that first, then decide what I want my party to be, and do side quests before doing the mines (and of course do the Gnoll Stronghold if I want Minsc, Dynaheir, or Edwin in the party).

A dual class fighter thief will end the game at 7/8. A dual class cleric /mage will end the game at 7/7.

The problem is, actually you can dive south to Beregost after your rendezvous in Friendly Arm Inn, so that you can dive into Chapter 2/3 without much experience gained. Alternatively, you can do a bit exploration and gain some exp, which I do not recommend as you are quite weak until at level 2 or 3.

Anyway, there are a few easy quests with relatively high reward, so if you want a hint (guess you don't want a spoiler too soon!) I can write a few, but it's all after you. And since you are multi-classed, those characters usually advance much slower.

Yes, the beginning part of BG is painful. You have cleared the mines and it seems you have accomplished a lot, which I do not deny, but stick with it for a couple of days and I'm sure you will love it more. BTW I doubt there's going to be much experience in Gnoll's Keep, have to disappoint you for a bit. But there are a few powerful items and one new character.

I think you'll find it won't be so bad once you get your preferred party together and really start exploring the game. With more party members of different classes, you'll probably find that you're levelling someone relatively often. As others have noted, multiclasses will level slower, and you can end up initiating the chapters quite quickly, but from where you've said you're at, you still have a ton of game to go.

You definitely don't gain as many levels as in some other games, but it really works quite well, since you'll find there are a good mix of places where you'll feel quite powerful and others that are really challenging. This is one of the aspects about BG1 that I like the best, actually.

A few more tips for you, this is written before sleep so there might be errors:

1.Yes, leveling up in BG is slow, and especially slow for a multi-class character, and particularly slow for a beginning character.

2.In the beginning, everyone is talking about the iron crisis, so you may think that the whole game is more or less revolved around it. But actually it's just the beginning, so relax and stick with it for a few more days.

3.Talk to everyone. I've played IWD and I know that talking in IWD is not that useful (IWD doesn't have a very strong drama, it's about fighting). But BG is different, you can find many side-quests by talking, and you can investigate all the side-quests before you do the main-quests. Note that the games was designed such that the difficulty of side-quests might far exceed the player's capacity when they wrote them down in the journey.

4. Explore everywhere. But be careful, some areas are very dangerous, so save often.

5. Honestly, you are not going to be powerful until level 3 (while some of your teammates may shine from the start). It might be disappointing but after you achieve level 3 it's the beginning of good days.

6. Lack of money? Steal as much as you can from as many houses you can unlock and enter. Lack of experience? Talk to everyone and find some errands. Most of the errands won't give you much experience, but they do stack up and sometimes you are rewarded with magical tinkles or fame.

I played DnD for a VERY long time and you forgets Epic Player Handbook which covers levels far beyond 20 ;) Yes, you are almost godlike character but it is as cool as being the hero-to-be, sometimes even cooler :)

Didn't DnD have a lvel limit of 36?

I dont think so, Epic Level Handbook was at least to level 50 and there were definitely clues how to carry your characters even beyond it, but I cannot prove it now because my friend has my copy of EPH :)

Okay, there's one more thing I need to bitch about: Respawning enemies. Although, I don't think respawn is the correct term here, but anyway, hear me out. So I was at the Gnoll Stronghold, looking for Dynaheir. I cleared the northern part first, but didn't realize those holes were actually pits and you could climb there so I didn't look there. So after searching the place to no avail, I went looking at the western part of the stronghold. It was there where I realized the holes were pits. So, I went back north again, but those parts were swarming with gnolls now. Like, where did they come from? Luckily, they weren't too hard against Minsc in a one-on-one battle (even though Minsc managed to break his 2h sword, another thing I didn't realize could happen and I had to manage with an unidentified long sword he wasn't proficient at), but still. If I clear a certain area, it should stay clear. But yeah, aside from that and the small level cap, the game's still great.

My char is finally level 2/2 (actually she gained the fighter level before I even got to the Stronghold itself, and the mage level while there). Dynaheir is safe and now I'm off to Beregost again to do all the side quests I left there. One question though: do I need to hold on to the "vial of strange liquids" and the letters that were sent to the guy who was responsible for the weird happenings in the mines? Or can just I throw them in the rubbish bin?

You can throw away this stuff, you don't need it.

Got Branwen from the carnival, I think I now have a party I'm satisfied with, though there's still room for one more. I think I'll manage with just five people though. Just one more question: I found a Magic Missile wand, does it ever run out of missiles? I gave that to Branwen, might as well let her use it full-time if the wand never runs out. It doesn't show any number though, so I guess it has unlimited uses?

About respawning at the Gnoll stronghold. I read somewhere that when you save some creatures respawn there. First time I played I didn't know that, and saved all the time, as I always do. So there were piles and piles upon gnolls and such everywhere. Next time I played it without saving once, and there were considerably less. So there is something to that. You probably saved in between, and then they respawned. I agree it's a bit silly when you have already cleared it out, but it's free XP ;)

Unenchanted weapons (without +1 etc) can break due to the iron crisis. You will learn more about that later. Just know that it can be useful to have an extra weapon now in the beginning, just in case it happens.