Also PS:T has some of the stats and figures toned down and the weird, non-standard fantasy, dark setting turned WAY up
So it MIGHT be a good place to start if you hate numbers and love weird stuff...
Basically you start the game to discover you're a big hulking zobmie looking guy then a floating skull starts to talk to you and then joins your party - if thats the kind of setting that you'd feel at home in go for it!

Yes, thanks to you and Leroux for specifying. One will need BG2 and the expansion Throne of Bhaal for TuTu, the GOG version includes both.

Thanks again to everyone for posting. i appreciate the opinions since the last RPG I played was Might and Magix IX and have not played D&D since the 1980's. The user created Mods really appeals for NWN. Although I see in BG2 you can fight Demogorgon, I seem to recall that name from the old Monster Manual.

Baldur's Gate 1 (and 2) allows for that too, if you start a multiplayer game (not to say you need to play with others). This is also a nice way around Baldur's Gate 1's annoying idea of unpausing the game as you enter the inventory - it doesn't happen in multiplayer mode.

It also doesn't happen in TUTU, which does require BG2.
However, a large part of BG is the interaction between the various NPCs & the extra quest options that they open up.
You lose this in a multiplayer party.

Yeah, the inventory-unpausing was only there for the BG1 iteration of the engine, pushing the BG1 data into the BG2 engine removes it.
Agreed. Still, the option is there for those who may want it.

For someone new to the various computer D&D games, I'd recommend NWN as a fairly friendly place to start. BG2 is a fantastic game, but it can be very difficult in places, which can make for a frustrating experience if you're not familiar with the mechanics and various tricks to use against different opponents. NWN also offers a huge amount of excellent community-made content, which caters to many different styles of play, so you can try out various modules and figure out what styles of play appeal to you the most and use that knowledge to better select your future forays into PC D&D games. I'd also recommend skipping the OC in NWN and starting with SoU followed by HotU, as the NWN OC is rather uninspired.

In NWN1's Official Campaign you control your custom made Player Character and a henchman(woman). While you have complete control over your PC, you can only give your henchy commands but can't micromanage them. You only have your PC, your henchman (1 at a time) and your summons in your party. The only way you can have more party members is if you go on online servers with friends or make friends there (which is really the main way the game was meant to be played; most NWN1 players favor this above & beyond the Official Campaign).

Also, the 3e AD&D rules are fairly complicated for beginners, and thus it's easy to get lost and make wrong decisions in character creation & development. Thankfully, there are plenty of active forums on the internet to help you out in this.

In BG2 you control your custom made Player Character and up to 5 other party members (and summons thereafter), having complete control over all of them, or assigning them scripts to follow in case you want them to operate more like the henchmen in NWN1.

The 2e AD&D rules in this game are also fairly complicated for beginners, but I think the rules make more 'sense' than they do in 3e (which is still a great ruleset, mind you; Paizo's done well in perfecting it I hear) and while character creation & development have lots of versatility, you don't get as lost as one might in using 3e rules. Thankfully there's active BG forums on the 'net as well to aid you.

NWN1-OC is heavy on the action, lighter on the RP'ing but I find it still has heavy RP elements in it, & has a very dark mood throughout - but fits with the storyline.

BG2:SoA & ToB is equally heavy on the action, very heavy on the RP'ing, and offers NPC's on every end of the spectrum that help set the mood in different parts of the game, again all fitting in with the storyline & subplots.

I've now added to other posts how I feel the 2 games compare. Now the choice is yours what to begin with.

Maybe it's just because 3E was the first version of D&D I ever played, but I find it far less complicated than 2E. Parts of 2E just plain don't make sense (THAC0 anyone?) and I had to read a lot of outside material to understand it. There are a few things that are far worse in 3E (i.e. grappling) but most of those don't come into play in NWN. Also NWN has premade feat/skill packages, which aren't metagamed into perfect killing machines, but are certainly sufficient to beat the game.

They got rid of THAC0???!!!??!
It's still the lower the AC the better though, right?

It's the opposite. Higher AC is better now, and comes from either DEX or armour. Essentially the attack roll must score higher than the AC in order to hit.

I'm... i'm sorry to break it to you.

I guess that makes more sense - confusing if you're used to low AC being good though!

Yeah, I was completely confused when I started Baldur's Gate. "Why is my AC going down? Isn't plate mail supposed to be good?"