1. Yes and No. You CAN import into HoW but NOT IWD2. IWD2 uses 3E rules while IWD and HoW use 2nd edition.
2. The game is designed for you to start at level 1, but you can always use the old export / import trick and start whenever you want. If you do start from scratch with a party of 6, expect to end up somewhere around level 16 when you finish - assuming normal difficulty.
3. No special abilities as in ToB, but 3E rules allow for special skills and feats which allow you to flesh out your character a LOT.
4. ToB bored me to tears after ONE go through. If you liked IWD, you'll probably like IWD2 - if you didn't like IWD/HOW avoid IWD2 like the plague. Personally I think NWN is better than all of them.
