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I am in a party with two wizards, including myself, and three sorcerers. We are using the Pathfinder players guide. We have one necromancy specialist with a houserule for healing spells included, one abjuration specialist, one infernal bloodline, one draconic bloodline, and one infernal bloodline sorcerers. without revealing any plot elements past the very first encounter in the casino, can i pleas get some options on ways to improve the survivability of our first level party? I am unsure if the DM will allow henchmen followers, but it may be a possibility.
Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun! One thing I'd recommend is to make extensive use of expendable items like scrolls, potions, and wands. Since your spells per day are your most significant limitation, you want to make sure you can keep on going when the enemies just seem to keep coming and coming.
Also, try to pick your fights wisely. You should make sure that you have all divinations covered between you, and use them well. Coordinate spells to get group advantages that are otherwise prohibitive. For example, at 4th level you could easily make your entire party Invisible, which is a tactic not generally available to a standard party.
It goes without saying, but you'll get great mileage out of summoning spells and, when they're available, undead minions.
That does sounds pretty interesting. Without spoiling anything it's hard to give any hints. I would just suggest that you not completely neglect the traditional ways of dishing out damage. Maybe make sure your sorcerers are effective in melee?
Two words. Great Fortitude.
~D
I am gonna 2nd that. you should really use spoiler tags man
Lord Snow, there's a reason why there's a spoiler-code while generating posts!and there is a reason I don't use it... frankly, I have no idea how.
I do think, however, that my warning was sufficent to keep the wrong guys from reading 'em.
There is a little link below where you post that tells you how to use BBCodes. No, your SPOILER warning immediately above is not adequate.
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Lord Snow, there's a reason why there's a spoiler-code while generating posts!and there is a reason I don't use it... frankly, I have no idea how.
I do think, however, that my warning was sufficent to keep the wrong guys from reading 'em.
This is the syntax for doing the spoiler-thing the right way:
[spoiler_]This is a spoiler, such as revealing who really did frame Roger Rabbit.[/spoiler_]
Just delete the _ in the brackets.
You know, you can't help but read stuff shown already, its natural! This spoiler tag really helps! No problem if you didn't know how to, but you should use it in the future, please!
If you don't know how stuff's done in the posts, it helps to quote them, so you can see how stuff is written... ;)
I am in a party with two wizards, including myself, and three sorcerers. We are using the Pathfinder players guide. We have one necromancy specialist with a houserule for healing spells included, one abjuration specialist, one infernal bloodline, one draconic bloodline, and one infernal bloodline sorcerers. without revealing any plot elements past the very first encounter in the casino, can i pleas get some options on ways to improve the survivability of our first level party? I am unsure if the DM will allow henchmen followers, but it may be a possibility.
Please continue to post how this goes for you. I've always wanted to try this with a group.
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Non-Spoiler-iffic Suggestions:
Diversify in your spells. Everyone needs SOME manner of damage spell, but NOT everyone needs "Magic Missile" for example. Look through your available book-resources and spread the wealth.
Use meat-shields. Especially disposable ones (like Summons and undead minions) as they are easily replaced.
Be prepared to flee. You're a group of highly-armed assault specialists, by all rights. If you come against an enemy (or worse, bunches of them) that you can't handle, don't hesitate to withdraw, re-evalulate your attack/infiltration options, and re-engage when you're better prepared.
Keep resources in reserve. Whether they be scroll, wand, wondrous item, or dedicated "reserve" spells/spell slots, never use your whole wad unless to do otherwise would spell death/ruin for you and everyone else.
Finally, as a meta-game hint, be prepared to experience losses. The first one to bite it may want to consider a spell-casting cleric or druid as his replacement, but that's just friendly advice, irrespective of any particular adventure/AP.
-t
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One of the sorcerers should really become the summoner. Augment Summoning and Summon Monster can give you all the goons you need. For the sanity of the DM, I'd stick to the list as is without making any additions. That and have your most commonly summoned creatures prepped on file cards or spreadsheets. It speeds up play.
Another caster should specialize in battlefield control. Grease and colour spray are life savers at low level.
After that, you have your combat casters (blast'em spells) and a medic. All you need there are decent ranks in UMD and a wand of CLW (best bang for the buck), so it can be a secondary role.
Don't forget to have someone with identify on their spells known/spellbook list!
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In our first encounter, the abyssal sorcerer used his two hit die burning hands on the ringleader and accidentally destroyed the scroll he was using for the robbery. Then our infernal sorcerer started throwing alchemical acid willy nilly. the elven necromancer used his longbow to put holes in the main villain. My abjuration specialist and the draconic sorcerer failed our wills saves and were blinded. I used my 1 ac bonus on the nearby necromancer for the three rounds of combat. the draconic sorcerer hugged his poker chips like a child for three rounds. we ended up with only the male villain dead, and the elven necromancer looted the male villains body all alone, and of course kept everything as the dm decided not to have our charactors start as a formed group. I was just glad i had the ac boost so i could contribute something after the (censored) blindness effect. Overall, it feels like the five stooges foil a robbery. but sometimes it happens that way.
Between the two sorcerers with the dual claw attack, and the elven necromancer with a longsword and longbow, we have some weapon use. With the variant rule allowing healing spells as arcane spells in the necromancy school, our necromancer will end up a healing bank after second. If i can find a way to change shield to range touch rather than personal, we can get some significant ac boost to the party after my second level. We plan on working with the sorcerers on spells known to maximize group dynamic, without being overbearing. I am pushing for hirelings at lower levels, until we can find a way for at least one standard action summons, undead, automaton, cohort, ect.
I am still hoping that one of the group who was missing when we started will play a fighterish charactors with regularity to smooth out the lower levels.
If a player is interested, it is possible to generate a spell list for use that basically makes a spellcaster a very effective melee fighter. Personally, if I built a character like that, I would want to be a Sorcerer rather than a Wizard. And I'd pick Feats to be more combat oriented.
Such spells would be: Buffs (False Life, Heroism, Bear's Endurance, Cat's Grace), Touch attach spells (elimination of AC makes up for the low BAB), Defensive spells (Mage Armor, Shield, Mirror Image, Protection from Arrows, Stoneskin), and pure attack (Phantasmal Killer, Enervation, Transformation). I would recommend looking through the spell list and deciding the entire build of spells first before picking anything. Know what you'll get at what levels.
Feats would need to be the Save bonuses, the Expertise line, and perhaps even Toughness.
For combat, you might even want a two handed reach weapon. Use that as the main attack, but if someone comes too close, switch to the touch spell attack.
It would be an interesting build, and perhaps not to the liking of someone who really wants to play a spellcaster, but it is magic and would give the group a frontliner. If someone else specializes with Summoning, that person could selectively choose to flank bad guys to get more bonuses and help steadily eliminate specific foes. And of course, he'd help prvent the other guys from getting into melee. They in turn could concentrate their magic on the guys you get near so hopefully they will fall before they can land damage.