I'm not against what you're saying Ken, and I sort of miss the randomness in char generation as well - we could roll ability scores as well, for what it's worth. That said, we'll have to draw the line somewhere. Let's see what the others opinions are.
Bob is rather on target with Wesley. *You guys* remember Wesley fondly for his HP shortcoming. On my side of the table, it was extremely frustrating to be playing a highly skilled swashbuckling fighter made out of fine china.
I'm on the fence with this one - I'd be happy either way. So far, nowhere in the module does it say that the campaign is intended to be particularly more difficult than the typical module. I'm inferring that from some of the encounters, and of course Bob has done his part to freak everyone out.
It might not be that bad, and we might be overcompensating too much. The party will be well-balanced up front, and that is 9/10 of the equation, IMO. The rest will come out in the wash.