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My gaming group will be starting on the Reign of Winter adventure path, The Snows of Summer, very soon. This is our party composition thus far.
- Half-elf Synthesist Summoner
- Gnome Primal Fire/Draconic Sorcerer
- Duergar Hurling Barbarian
We have 15 point buy
Books available are core, ultimate magic, ultimate combat, ultimate equipment, advance race guide, advanced players guide, inner sea magic, inner sea guide.
Races available are all core races, in addition to Aasimar, Drow(14rp), Duergar, Goblin, Orc, and Tiefling.
I am unsure about how to fill in the void that the party is needed. Any recommendations to what classes and race to roll up, based on the party composition and the adventure path I am about to trek? I usually play support casters that buff the party and carry around the Wand of Cure Light Wounds, but I'm not sure the summoner can hold the front lines on his own.
Know how far you will get? If your group plans to go all the way through then a gunslinger will feel right at home. Or you could try the Witch for thematic reasons as well. But if you're talking about filling holes in, then a Bard would do this 4 skill-point-or-less group very well.
EDIT: I of course mean how many books your group will go through.
Know how far you will get? If your group plans to go all the way through then a gunslinger will feel right at home. Or you could try the Witch for thematic reasons as well. But if you're talking about filling holes in, then a Bard would do this 4 skill-point-or-less group very well.
EDIT: I of course mean how many books your group will go through.
I think this game will depend on how much we enjoy the adventure. If we really enjoy it, we will continue it, as the DM is more than willing to run the who adventure path.
I think this game will depend on how much we enjoy the adventure. If we really enjoy it, we will continue it, as the DM is more than willing to run the who adventure path.Know how far you will get? If your group plans to go all the way through then a gunslinger will feel right at home. Or you could try the Witch for thematic reasons as well. But if you're talking about filling holes in, then a Bard would do this 4 skill-point-or-less group very well.
EDIT: I of course mean how many books your group will go through.
Ah, in that case, with no guarantee, I'd shorten my list to Debuff witch, who would mainly help the Fire-Good sorcerer, or Bard. Bards make solid archers if you'd want to try ranged combat and play face.
Ah, in that case, with no guarantee, I'd shorten my list to Debuff witch, who would mainly help the Fire-Good sorcerer, or Bard. Bards make solid archers if you'd want to try ranged combat and play face.
I am leaning more towards bard the more I think about it.
How will purchasing magic items work, if going straight by the module? Will there be a Magic Mart Inc. to buy from, or will I need to make sure one of us is able to, at least, craft wands for CLW healing, let alone all the other crafting feats to be properly geared?
My gaming group will be starting on the Reign of Winter adventure path, The Snows of Summer, very soon. This is our party composition thus far.
- Half-elf Synthesist Summoner
- Gnome Primal Fire/Draconic Sorcerer
- Duergar Hurling Barbarian
We have 15 point buy
Books available are core, ultimate magic, ultimate combat, ultimate equipment, advance race guide, advanced players guide, inner sea magic, inner sea guide.
Races available are all core races, in addition to Aasimar, Drow(14rp), Duergar, Goblin, Orc, and Tiefling.
I am unsure about how to fill in the void that the party is needed. Any recommendations to what classes and race to roll up, based on the party composition and the adventure path I am about to trek? I usually play support casters that buff the party and carry around the Wand of Cure Light Wounds, but I'm not sure the summoner can hold the front lines on his own.
With all that optimization you should be fine, but I'd recommend a Human Witch regardless. Great AP for the class and it'll fill a host of needs for the party.
Do a winter witch.
Do a winter witch.
I already did;)
Witches can actually cast cure spells, so they're a handy way of having healing magic on the sly. They also tend to be support classes, but have some nifty abilities that can be quite nasty offensively.
That said, bards can likewise benefit the group with healing magic; the bonuses they provide classes can also be extremely handy, especially seeing the first half of the book is lethal. As in use tactics and be prepared to retreat.
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Witches can actually cast cure spells, so they're a handy way of having healing magic on the sly. They also tend to be support classes, but have some nifty abilities that can be quite nasty offensively.
That said, bards can likewise benefit the group with healing magic; the bonuses they provide classes can also be extremely handy, especially seeing the first half of the book is lethal. As in use tactics and be prepared to retreat.
We only managed the first two books, but the group was a Human Barbarian and three Witches. They were crazy effective as a group in that limited time.
Vallum, I humbly suggest no matter which class you take, that you make your racial choice that of Aasimar. The Darkvision and cold resistance will prove VERY handy when in Reign of Winter.
There are LOTS of aasimar variants that provide bonuses to different attributes in the Blood of Angels racial booklet.
There's a good aasimar variant for Bards, called Azata-Blooded (Musetouched). You get a bonus on Dex, Cha, Diplomacy, Perform, and you get Glitterdust as a spell like ability. It also lets you take Lillend's Harp, which gives you a bonus of +2 when you do a bardic performance using Perform (string) checks.
On top of all that, you get the typical energy resistances, darkvision, and native outsider. They're on page 22 of Blood of Angels.
Do a winter witch.I already did;)
Bet she was frigid. ;)
Bet she was frigid. ;)Do a winter witch.I already did;)
Only for a couple minutes, after that your body gets used to the cold:)
I'm noticing a large influx of Witch suggestions
But, if I were to go a Witch, should I go winter witch with all the frost resistance to overcome, or just a core witch who goes around and puts everything to sleep?
Just wanting to compare the usefulness of a witch to a bard for the party
Bard
+ inspire courage
+ diplomancer
+ 6+int skills
Witch
+ Healing Hex will help us get by until we get a wand of CLW
+ Sleep Hex is amazing
+ Fits campaign fluff
Witches also get normal Cure spells, mind you.
Inspire Courage increases the higher level you get. So it's not a static +1 forever, eventually it gets up to +4 I think.
Don't underestimate the benefit of diplomacy in the game. It isn't a cure-all, mind you, but it can be quite handy (as can the Linguistics skill).
Seriously. I'd suggest Bard over Witch if only because you'll be able to help your group in a multitude of situations. Though if you didn't have so many spellcasters in your group, I'd have suggested the new Skald class as also being "in character" for cold environs. :)
I'm noticing a large influx of Witch suggestions
But, if I were to go a Witch, should I go winter witch with all the frost resistance to overcome, or just a core witch who goes around and puts everything to sleep?
Just wanting to compare the usefulness of a witch to a bard for the party
Bard
+ inspire courage
+ diplomancer
+ 6+int skillsWitch
+ Healing Hex will help us get by until we get a wand of CLW
+ Sleep Hex is amazing
+ Fits campaign fluff
Keep in mind that that Healing Hexes scale.
The Misfortune Hex is an absolute game-changer.
You'll have a high Intelligence so skills shouldn't be a problem.
You also get the benefits of a Familiar.
If you decide to lean on the Sleep Hex, which isn't a bad idea, make sure you carry around something with a high crit like a sickle.
the other thing to consider: this is the Adventure Path about Witches, with all the Witchy Magic Items they'll feel like a Polar Bear in a Room full of Tranq'd out walrus's (sp?)
And even so I recommend a Bard. You could give the Bard a bow or use the crossbow. Or even go with firearms just to do something completely different.
so am i the only one that doesnt allow summoners or Leadership?
I have disallowed Leadership and am giving the players who took it a replacement Feat. (They get to keep the Cohorts for roleplaying purposes but the Cohorts won't participate in combat.)
I'm starting to loathe the Monster Summoning spells, but mostly because of the extra work it puts Hero Labs through. And I will admit, Summons are damn handy for solo bosses so they have some allies that don't add to the XPs.
So, it seems that another player will be joining us, and has expressed in rolling up a Bard. I am unsure of what kind of Bard he will be rolling up, but does really, really balances the party, (I will update the OP).
So I guess I can roll whatever I want. Hmmm...
EDIT: whoops, I didn't know I couldn't edit the OP after a certain amount of time. Derp.
Party Composition
- Half-elf Synthesist Summoner
- Gnome Primal Fire/Draconic Sorcerer
- Duergar Hurling Barbarian
- ??? Bard
Is your group primarily melee, or ranged?
You could go with a Ranger or a Gunslinger. Or an Alchemist.
Is your group primarily melee, or ranged?
You could go with a Ranger or a Gunslinger. Or an Alchemist.
We have the Synthesist being the only character with a focus in Melee, as, while I believe the Barbarian will be wanting to focus on throwing things, but may fall back to melee for the early levels, (at least, until he gets a Belt of Mighty Hurling).
Where-as, our Gnome Sorcerer is focusing on evocation, (it's my wife's 3rd character, and is still learning the system, but wants to try a magic user now after a Ranger and a Skald). She has a strong grasp of tactics and will be skirting the end of her range with her spells to keep her alive, (I'm unsure whether to suggest for her to go strong with sorcerer or just have 1 level in crossblooded sorcerer and go Wizard for the rest)
I wish I had more information on the bard, but I do not communicate with the player as much as I would like. This means that character can be taking in quite a few directions, though I do not think he will optimize to the levels that the rest of the party has.
I wish Trap breaker was available for Alchemist, because a vivisectionist trap breaker alchemist sounds really fun, but unfortunately the splat which it is from is not allowed.
Our group is close to finishing book 5, I'm running a Bard/rogue and finding her immensely useful.
If I was to redo my character I'd drop the Rogue levels and focus on Bard completely, the knowledge skills, languages and diplomacy are all very valuable through out the AP.
Add in the cure spells, inspire courage and the various buffing and status effect spells and a Bard is very handy to have.
She is a Sylph, with the cloud gazer feat and a horn of fog to make battles even more fun for her.
DBH
I've found an excellent build to fill many roles is an Aasimar Purifier archetype Oracle (racial archetype that has some great benefits), the flame mystery (great AoE revelations), and the blackened curse (to make up for Purifier replacing your mystery bonus spells). Oracles are competent healers, flame mystery gives good AoE (may want to grab extra revelation feat though as the archetype gives you less), blackened offers some good spells, and the Purifier archetype gives armor training (a la fighter) at higher levels and even gives access to heavy armor (if you want to raise your AC to take some of the heat off of your primary tank).
Personally I rock this build as my groups primary tank. Melee is a bit stunted obviously (because of the blackened curse), which I don't care about, because I concentrate on feats to make defensive casting easier (effectively I'm a close range battlemage).
I've found an excellent build to fill many roles is an Aasimar Purifier archetype Oracle (racial archetype that has some great benefits), the flame mystery (great AoE revelations), and the blackened curse (to make up for Purifier replacing your mystery bonus spells). Oracles are competent healers, flame mystery gives good AoE (may want to grab extra revelation feat though as the archetype gives you less), blackened offers some good spells, and the Purifier archetype gives armor training (a la fighter) at higher levels and even gives access to heavy armor (if you want to raise your AC to take some of the heat off of your primary tank).
Personally I rock this build as my groups primary tank. Melee is a bit stunted obviously (because of the blackened curse), which I don't care about, because I concentrate on feats to make defensive casting easier (effectively I'm a close range battlemage).
Thanks for the awesome suggestion, but my wife will be rocking the battlemage in this game. But this is a solid idea to play around with if anything happens to our little Gnome.