Do you want a challenge or do you want to just kick it through Faerun? Because you could easily use the partymembrr limit mod. But beyond that id say pick the character you want to romance then bring the peiple that seem most thematically approrpriate. Laezel at the creche for instance.
This is the bane of my existence, at least the 'what to play'. I treat all the party members like my children and make sure they each get a turn. (Astarion and Lae'zel have to sit out a lot though because they tend to be little shits when you're nice to people)
Pat I think you're trying to have every Baldur's Gate 3 playthrough you could possibly have in a single ultimate run and like... that's gonna ruin the game for you. You're going into a fancy restaurant and trying to order everything off the menu and consume it all at the same time, it's not the way.
I don't regret making an all-nude party with a hunky dragonman. Whenever you get a full-frame cutscene he struts into a deathly serious, world-changing situation with his cock slapping against his thighs. Hope this helped!
So I think the combination of the party expansion mod, the enhanced tactics mod and the encounter expansion mod removed the issue for me. More enemies that hit a little harder means I can bring everyone without it being too easy and ignore decision paralysis entirely.
Comments
Personally, my party was Shadowheart, Astarion, and then a rotating slot plus my Dark Urge character.
-me
-whoever I'm romancing
-healer
-someone that covers my weaknesses
I tend to keep the party as their starting class, so the squad was me as big fighter, karlach romance, shart heals, and astarion to cover the utility.
Flip a coin to decide between Tav and Dark Urge.
Roll a d12 to decide your starting class.
Roll a d4 to decide your party size.
Roll a d12 then a d10, etc to pick your origin companions.
Solo-run, solo-run!