Part make up question

[DM Mathpro]

So I'm starting another home game of Rise of the Runelords and so far it looks like we're going to have a Druid, Sorcerer, Warpriest, and Slayer/Rogue. We have another player who has yet to look at what class she wants to play. She's a novice(about 6-8 sessions under her belt) but has a very good grasp of the rules overall but then again she hasn't played since xmas so might be a bit rusty. What classes do you think would help round out this party so I can give her some options?

I've been told either Paladin or Barbarian on another site but I want to see if anymore opinions are had here.

Also how should I adjust encounters for this group if any changes should be made? The druid and sorcerer are brand new to the hobby(have never touched a set of dice before), the warpriest and the rogue are vets so could/should plow through most things rather easily.

[the Lorax]

I personally like the idea of a Ranger to add to that group, but as a 5th character, in a party without any GLARING holes, anything could work.

I'd add in a couple of low level mooks. All throughout Burnt Offerings, I've been adding extra goblins to the scenes, just to allow me to have some fun with backwards goblin attack planning.

[Latrecis]

I don't see any holes in that lineup either. You're getting steered toward paladin or barbarian because if there is a potential weakness it's in the warrior, meat shield-esque role.

I'd consider myself a lucky GM in your shoes - there isn't a hole so you don't need to argue with yourself about whether to push/encourage her to play a class she may not like or be comfortable with just to fill one.

I'd ask her what she wants to play. If she's not sure, have her read the player's guide and see if you can tie her to some of the NPC's in Sandpoint.

[Akerlof]

Latrecis wrote:

I'd ask her what she wants to play. If she's not sure, have her read the player's guide and see if you can tie her to some of the NPC's in Sandpoint.

If she doesn't know the game very well, she won't necessarily have a good idea of what she wants her character to do. So you might want to ask her leading questions rather than just "What do you want to play?"

Things like
In combat, do you want to:
-Do you want to kill enemies? Control the battlefield? Support the team?
--Kill enemies by smashing them with a pointy stick? Shoot them full of holes from a distance? Blow them up like a Hong Kong fireworks display?
--Control the battlefield by...
--Support your allies by...
---So on and so forth.

Out of combat, do you want to:
-Be a social butterfly?
-Know all the things?
-Hang back and let others take the lead?
-Perform feats of physical prowess?
-So on and so forth...

Starting with broad questions and then narrowing down the specifics can lead you to good classes, builds, even personality choices like deities and traits that will be fun for her to play.

What I see your group being weak on are 1.) Knowledges and 2.) Possibly social skills, depending on whether or not your Sorcerer wants to be a face. So, depending on what she wants to do in combat, classes like Bard, Inquisitor (Conversion domain), Investigator or Alchemist (especially Mind Chemist) would all fill both of those out of combat roles. (The latter two using something like Clever Wordplay to get Int instead of Cha for Diplomacy.)

[Latrecis]

Yeah. What Akerlof said. All good advice.

In my own defense I jumped to the conclusion the player knew enough to navigate the classes in the Core Rulebook, etc. But even so, asking some leading questions can help her find the way.)