A few more questions

Hi all,

Playing through BGT for the first time and had a few questions:

Is there a way to set specific party formation? I know of the quick selection buttons, but I don't know how to make it so my tanks are in the front of the formation as opposed to anyone else -- this is especially a pain when I want my thief to be checking for traps.

Are there any easy to get magical items to get early on? Specifically in the form of weapons? I've just cleared the mines, though I've done little else (which concerns me that I've advanced to ANOTHER chapter already...).

Is there a list of which characters that will stay with me from BG1 through 2? Or would they all because I'm using Trilogy? I doubt it, so I'd like to choose characters I can level up the entire way. I'm playing a "good" playthrough, if that helps. I'm using a couple Mod characters atm simply to help through some of the more difficult parts, but I'd like to ditch them asap (meaning I'll need a new Tank and Mage).

I feel like I'm forgetting something else... But for now that's all.