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Thematically, 4 characters is very nice, though. They really had room to spread out in the characters with 4- always 2 male, 2 female, often several different races (the cleric deck with 3 characters may not have even had a non-human in it), and vastly different playstyles with the characters. I know that that last one was the big concern for OP, but careful boon selection for the deck and some character tweaking could fix that. And 3 characters leaves the non-OP players out in the cold. Additionally, even in OP games, gonna be a lot of duplicates at tables now with fewer characters to choose from.

One major concern I have is that they will drop the "odd" character that came in the class decks. Zarlova in the cleric deck, for example, was the only one without a heal power, but compensated by being a good divine caster. Amaryllis was the only sorcerer not to blow up cards, but to get a cool recharge mechanic instead. I am hoping that kind of stuff stays, but at that point is it really a Paladin deck? Again, thematically, with 4 characters you have a nice, solid set of that class, oh and hey, here's this really neat other character, too.

Yea, but I think the characters are the most important part of a CLASS (character) deck. I understand 3 extra boons for characters that are less spread out in boon needs is fine, but there are ways of correcting that without the need for the removal of a full character to add three boons.
The cleric deck, for example, could have worked just as well with mostly swords in the deck and a different role power for Zarlova. Everything else was fine. In fact, I have a friend playing Zarlova in an OP game and loving her.

Sadly, I probably will not buy the Paladin deck, even though I really love shiny Paladins. I have been playing a lot of home games lately, so the characters are far more important to me than the extra boons. If I really get into organized play, I will just run with one of the decks with 4 characters instead.
It makes me a little sad that they couldn't find a way to satisfy both OP and home players with this character deck.

Oh yea, I definitely like the debuffing she does, but it's the healing that keeps the characters going. It's a little part of why I struggle choosing between bards and Clerics. Both heal and buff, but do so in different amounts. Perhaps a Clerard or a Baric would be perfect for me :P

See, now this brings up an interesting point. If you had someone cast Aid when you made the divine check, would it add the magic trait to the check? I could have sworn that any cards played on the check add their traits to the check. Would that magically Aid-ed divine check now truly defeat the ghost?

See, now that's interesting. I actually found that Lini did amazingly well on her own because she basically has no weak skill. On paper, she seemed like everything I wanted but she was unexpectedly not very fun to play. With her allies, I was always shuffling my deck almost every turn, and then after the power feat, seeing the same cards over and over again.
Powerful, yes, but not very FUN.

I see the point about Alahazra, the scouting allows her to use her tools (sometimes literally) to help her overcome things she normally wouldn't be able to, and to know with certainty what is needed to beat the current top card of a location.

And witch was my favorite class in Pathfinder RPG, and I like Feiya. The reason I liked witch was that I could heal and debuff, which isn't so in the card game. I don't like that I cannot heal my friends as Feiya because (besides it not being like a true Pathfinder witch) it means I can't fix their horrible, HORRIBLE mistakes when they make them (and my goodness do they ever make them). However, the proactive protection through reduction of difficulties is very nice. I think if the veteran player chooses Damiel or a healer, I will play Feiya, since I can protect and he can heal off whatever get's through.

Interesting perspective. I may try Damiel in the other game (although I suspect that one of the other players will REALLY want to play him). That may be the answer, in that Damiel doesn't need any help, but can supply plenty of it. So, while I wanted to be support, I really can't because he has no need of it.

Thanks for the encouragement, though. Since I am so new to the game, I don't trust my own instincts. I figured Alahazara, for example, would be good but was afraid that I would really struggle because I already struggle with barriers on the characters I have played. That's the point of a cooperative game, though, no character can do everything. I apparently want a character that can, so I can make sure my friends are successful by not only helping them succeed on their checks, but by going through locations on my own, as well.

Basically, based on those criteria... I want Damiel.
Thanks for the list of characters that are good supporters and OK on their own, and the tip about Divine skill. Interestingly, those are my favorite characters, which I think points to the fact that I am starting to develop a good understanding of how the characters work in the game. I am also looking at that blog post for adventure 6 and kinda freaking out because I don't forsee my characters EVER being able to handle those monsters, LOL. But with Damiel blasting a hole in them and my support, I am sure he can do it... Cause, you know, he's Batman. He has a tool for everything.

So, my friend and I just started playing recently in a home game. He is completely new to the game. I decided to play S&S Lem because I was looking for someone to play who could support, but still explore on his own and close locations without outside help.

The other player is playing Damiel, and frankly, doesn't need all that much help, even with all the newbie mistakes he is making. We picked up a harpoon early and he is doing better than I am, somewhat to my annoyance. However, we did run into a problem where his cure was in his discard, and so were BOTH of mine, due to some bad rolls. I couldn't protect him then, and had to be careful myself, although we still beat the scenario (it was 0-2 and he POTIONED (of glibness) the frelling villain dead, again much to my annoyance since I thought I would be the star with my high charisma).

My question is this: who is a good character that can solo and support? I have heard Alahazra, but can she handle checks and closing locations on her own? I think barriers would stop her cold, especially since many of them require strength or dexterity. Currently, I am just playing in that 2 person game, but will be starting soon with another group and would like to be able to do the same for them, since only one of them will be a Pathfinder card game veteran.

I have access to S&S characters, and also the Cleric and Bard class decks. I know I could use RotR characters, but would prefer not to, for logistical reasons.
I was thinking Heggal. His high Charisma and Wisdom would be of benefit to cover Damiel's and other's weaknesses, he can heal (and is much less likely to lose ALL his allies (for healing) AND cures), and he is pretty good on his own with the extra d4 to everything. Digging up his weapon would be the only big issue each game session.

I am playing him in an official game. Originally, I took a weapon card as his first card feat because in OP, you didn't get a role power until the end of adventure 4. Even after they changed it, I was glad I made that decision since weapons can get WAY higher than the d6+2 that you mentioned.
However, having progressed into adventure 4, I rather regret that decision because I am finding I play the character more support and it works much better that way than I expected. I have 3 healing cards- 2 Cures and a Holy Feast, 2 debuffs- Black Spot and a Swipe, and 1 Lightning Bolt. I am realizing if I had gone unarmed, I could have focused entirely on spellcasting and blessing, and have all 6 of my cards been devoted to support while I could still punch things.

Overall, I feel like Meliski is a very odd character than can be played in many different ways, even more than RotR Lem, but that none of them are terribly powerful when it comes to exploring yourself. Focusing entirely on support has been the key, as my companions can blast through their decks (and reroll things if I am there), only to have me heal them up (sometimes all of them at once with Holy Feast) so they can keep going. The result has been far more astounding than I expected, as we are much more successful than ever before.

If I had it to do all over again, I would play him as a full spellcaster, taking only spell and blessing card feats, pushing his Charisma, and using attack spells to get through the game. At the end of Adventure 3, I would take brawler and the unarmed attack power. Then, I would push Strength (only takes 2 skill feats, which you theoretically get after the first scenario of adventure 4). Then I would shift my spells from attacks (and 2 cures, I always run 2 cures) to buffs/support and augment my unarmed attack (and other characters) with those spells and blessings.
He then becomes incredibly dynamic and his "extras" could be used on an as-needed basis. For example, if there is a location that needs to bury an ally and you are playing in a game with very ally-poor characters, call Ally as your favored card type, and have a chance to close that location. You can shift your gameplay as the game progresses to take on whatever challenges happen to come up.

One thing I will say that I somewhat regret about buying Skull and Shackles (I absolutely HAD to have this version because I love the sea and ships and sea animals) instead of Runelords is that the characters are not NEARLY as backwards-compatible. Looking them over, you MUST use cards from S&S for the S&S characters or they are no good. The Runelords characters are very much able to be used in this version of the game but not so in reverse.
In the future, I will carefully look over characters before I buy the set they come in. I want the full package when I purchase, not just the game itself, but the ability to use that game's pieces (characters, etc.) with other sets of the game. I see each new game as a sort of expansion. Yes, it is a new entire adventure, but I would LOVE to have a favorite character that I play in all of them.
I do appreciate the class decks as I think this somewhat alleviates the problem.
That being said, I am shocked and APPALLED that people do not like the pirate theme... okay not so much that they don't like the pirate theme, but the SAILING theme. How could you not love the roar of the waves, the rock of the boat and the sound of the dolphins?!?!

Add to my list Heggal. In fact, I think Heggal is my new favorite chacter. I have ALWAYS played spellcasters in every game... EVER, but once I embraced his versatility instead of lots of spells, he became super fun for me. Charisma as his highest stat is a much bigger deal then I first realized, as it means I can stop worrying about pretty much anything charisma-based, and focus on other things like combat and healing. He just feels very "safe" to me, except on his d4 intelligence checks, of course.

In fact, Pathfinder is challenging my views of the types of characters I play. I ABHOR fighter-types, but with the addition of allies and blessings (which don't exist like this in other games), even the fighter-types can support and do interesting things.

Now... If only I could start liking Oloch, since he is my favorite race....

I posted something similar on the general boards, but that was about playing characters for reasons other than their stats.
Now, I am curious as to who your favorite characters are, and why.
Having played a myriad of characters to at least try them out, I started to realize I break characters down into "starters" and "builders", meaning characters that start pretty much at the fun level for me, and characters that take some time to get to the fun level.

For "starter" characters, I like Class deck and Rise of the Runelords Lem, and Skull and Shackles Lini (who I hated at first, but grew on me after some gameplay advice on these forums). I like spells, and these 2(3) get 4-6 spells. What puts them over the top is their 1 weapon. No, it isn't fantastic fighting (although Lini's discard fixes that), but it is something to have a chance at beating monsters without losing a card (spell) to at least a recharge. The reason this works so well for me is because I can use my spells as support, even on my own turns if necessary, with my weapon to beat monsters. Even the lowly Aid is effective alongside a weapon, and I can use that Aid on any number of checks for myself OR others making it, and my other spells, very versatile.

For "builder" characters, I like Tarlin, which blew my mind. I do not play fighter-type characters... EVER. He wasn't very fun for me at the beginning, but once I built up that hand size to 6, and his spells to 5 and blessings to 5, and ally to 2, he was like THE character for me. Sadly, that didn't happen until adventure 4, so ironically I spent most of the game not having much fun. Still, he got there eventually.

So, how about you? Who do you like and why? Did you try out many characters and surprise yourself at who you liked?

Most of what I said is tongue-in-cheek in my original post, although I have to admit it was slightly annoying that a friend who was only playing for a little fun was doing better than I normally do. I could tell it was just because he was playing Damiel though, as some of his choices were... less than ideal. Damiel's abilities normally pulled him through.

I am REALLY surprised to hear that Oloch is being recommended. He is actually the character I was playing, and I found he took a long time to get into the game (I got no weapon for several turns). The boosts he gave to others were nice, but by no means essential. I could heal, and that was helpful, but it used up explores. Overall, I just felt like, in a game where you are racing the turn-clock, he was very very slow.

I am reconsidering characters to cover Damiel's weaknesses, as was also mentioned earlier. Heggal has that Lini d4 mentioned earlier, and a good Charisma and Wisdom. He is a little low on spells for my tastes, but I can probably get the essentials. The character I have enjoyed the most in all of Pathfinder card game is Class-deck Lem, and I was thinking of trying S&S Lem. His lower hand size and fewer spells is frustrating, but at least he can recharge to d4 himself OR another, which is helpful to the whole team. I wish I had access to RotR Lem, but that isn't an option. I have a thing for bards and clerics (hence my having those class decks), and I think there are some good options to cover Damiel's shortcomings- especially Charisma and Wisdom, and for clerics, strength as well.

My friend is new to the game and is playing Damiel. The character is amazing. He casts better than some CASTERS do, and every time he runs into something he can't quite handle, he potions it successful. He is running through the game with great success.

....... Frankly, I am furious at him.

I have played in official card guild games for a couple months now and this newb (who is totally still my best friend... for now) is so much better than me thanks to Damiel.

So I implore you, my Pathfinder community friends, point me in the direction of a character to at least keep up with this monstrous beast spawned from the pit of Asmodeus. I have access to all of the S&S characters, and the Bard and Cleric class decks.
Save me from the bitterness I feel growing in my heart for Pathfinder.
*grumble*stupidalchemist*grumble

I am missing the Fox card normally included in the Skull and Shackles character add-on deck. How can I go about getting it?

Interesting. This was the kind of thing I was thinking about her when I first looked at the character. She seems to have no real weaknesses in her skills. I had not considered simply using her spells for non-combat, since I felt she needed the combat spells to make her a competitor when she came against a non-aquatic, non-animal monster that I was discarding to fight.
I think I will try again with her soon. Playing somewhat selfishly as a divine caster is not something I have ever done. It may be time to start, LOL.

So, I just tried out new S&S Lini and... she died. She was the first character I have ever had die... EVER.
My big problem was the randomness of her rolls. Sure, I could discard for a d12 for combat, but without a weapon, I often rolled a low number and had no secondary die or skill to make up the difference. I am seeing how she is a "hidden builder" character. Many characters are "builders" and need some skills and powers to really come into their own. Lini appears to have all she needs out of the box- good skills, especially for the Shackles, divine to cure, and discard to hit those strength and dexterity checks. But secretly, she needs more wisdom to keep those cures, and some good animal allies to help her along.
Also, I am really, REALLY confused by some of her role abilities. I can only use one power/card type on a check, and yet her Feral Druid role requires me to use my strength die (d4)+d8, AND can't use a weapon. How is this any better than just shooting a bow at d6+d6? Also the Aquamancer can grab defeated aquatic creatures, but it clogs up her hand AND they can only be used for combat checks. With so many barriers, there may not be any combat for several turns. I'm just not seeing her shape up in any particular way. Normally, I see how I would want to play characters, even if they weren't really intended to work that way (pure spellcaster Seltyiel), but I can't figure her out. I guess Aquamancer could be a good spellcaster that helps fight aquatic monsters only (not barriers, which boggles my mind) and ships, but that seems extremely limited to me. It certaintly wouldn't help against the pirates and mercenaries we kept hitting tonight.

Can you give me some advice and point me to things I am missing? She looks so fun but I can't seem to get it to work.

After I posted, I was wondering if the gender statement I made about Kyra would be a source of comment. I could have just as easily said I don't like her because she is human (I find them ordinary). I have to admit that I don't know why gender is an issue for me. Without being indelicate, perhaps it is because I have vastly different organs than women have, as opposed to say, a male orc, who I assume has similar organs.

Speaking of Orcs, they are my favorite race (well, half-orc for pathfinder) and I ran screaming for Oloch as soon as I saw his race (and lamented seeing only one other half-orc, in the ranger deck). I found I didn't have much fun playing him, though. And that is something brought up here that I have noticed in myself as well: I have found that I balance things I would enjoy playing against the characters themselves more now than I did when I started the game. For example, even though I am not a huge fan of halflings, I LOVE Lem and Heggal because of their abilities. I have always found ally cards fun and I like spells also, and they have decent numbers of both, and often use them in interesting ways. It makes for fun table-talk also (Heggal: "My smith and I talk down the villain and tell him to chill out, it's all gonna be okay" when making the charisma check to defeat).

Admittedly, I am still rather new to the game, and am still figuring out what I think is most fun. I have been running solo games a lot lately trying out different characters and seeing if I like how they play. I have been surprised by my reactions to certain characters, especially fighter-types who I have NEVER liked in other games. I still like spells the most, but having a spellcaster with decent weapon combat is becoming something I look for in characters nowadays.

So sure, this isn't the full RPG where I can choose a class and make a character exactly the way I want them to be. I can't decide what race my character is or even gender.
I still find myself choosing characters I like because... well because I like them.
For example, Class deck Kyra has everything stat-wise I am looking for. She heal-powers from over half her starting cards, many of those being blessings that can let her go again or support the team. She starts out really strong fighting so I don't have to worry about that as much, which combines nicely with her potential 5 spells as they can all be buffs and heals.
But even though I know it's just a card game and it doesn't matter, I find myself feeling a little strange playing characters that don't match my gender. Also, I like Heggal's style with his many friends and fun ally cards, and I love bards and clerics and he is kinda like BOTH (also the reason I love Tent Preacher Lem). I love me some undead with Darago- even though people laugh when I pull him out, and have you seen how SHINY Tarlin is?
So, I wind up playing these guys and I feel like it enhances my fun of the game.

Does anyone else out there do something similar? Do any of you choose characters because you like them even if they are a bit weaker? Care to share any stories as to who you chose and why?
Or, am I just a fool for getting "tied up" in the silly unimportant aspects of the game and not playing it as just the card game it was designed to be?

Thanks for in input. There are some interesting ideas in here and some other interesting things we are noticing in our games.

Even without using attack spells, it's nice to be able to hit the recharges - but more importantly wisdom is just a nice ability to have in Skull & Shackles, showing up in a lot of checks including those pesky ones to defeat ships

This is a poignant statement and I think I will actually max wisdom first. We often hit ships/etc. and I feel like having the ability to recharge my spells more easily (even with only 4 of them) will help keep my discard pile slimmed down so that I can heal others and not myself. I also don't find myself in combat that much, either. That being said, we have noticed a spike in combat in path 4. Since you get skill feats at the beginning of that path, I can max wisdom in path 3, have that settled, and then boost Strength almost to max at the beginning of 4.

We already have two clerics in the game: Zarlova and Kyra, but the group wanted a healer for when those two can't make it, and I just so happen to like clerics. I have decided to play Heggal, and I know exactly what I want for his power and card feats.

However, I cannot decide where to place his skills. He doesn't have enough spells to pump Wisdom (or so it seems to me) and his skill in Charisma is both good and not terribly necessary. I could push Strength to make him a better fighter and am considering that option, but I just don't know. What have you guys done that has been effective and/or what would you suggest? I kinda feel like Heggal has it made on all fronts that are important (I feel that way about most clerics actually and it is one of the reasons I like them), and while most characters have a clear path I want to follow, I can't figure out what to do with this particular cleric.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

So, last night I was running a game and we finally encountered the Rahadoumi Captain- the villain for 1-3. The player (me, actually) summoned the Man's Promise, and failed spectacularly at the check to defeat it, and the ship was wrecked. I looked for a long time at the villain card to see if there was anything that mentioned the result of the Man's Promise encounter and found nothing. So, I went on with the check to defeat, soundly beat the villain and won the scenario (it was the last open location).

My questions are as follows: Is there any penalty for losing the fight against the Man's Promise when you summon it? Is there any reason you can't go on to fight the villain regardless of what happens with the Man's Promise encounter?
Is there any reason to care if the ship get's wrecked when you encounter a villain? As I understand it, your turn has to end after you defeat the villain but BEFORE the game ends, but that would mean you only lose 1 plunder card and that's the only penalty for doing it this way.
I just felt like losing against the ship should have prevented me from beating the villain and winning the scenario, but could not find anything that would suggest that.

So I went to play a game at a game store tonight and it turned out to be an official Pathfinder Card Game. I got a Pathfinder Society number and have registered my character. My questions after this exciting and bewildering night are as follows:

1) Do I need to do anything else after selecting my character and registering it? I don't see any way to upgrade the character with what I received tonight, feats or loot wise. Am I waiting for the organizer to put in the information for me, or will he simply put in the event, and then it is my responsibility to document online what my character received?

2) My pathfinder Society ID card has the symbol for the Silver Crusade Faction on it (and I just learned about factions tonight after registering my character). Ironically, I probably would have chosen this faction at first glance, but I still wanted to ask: Is this random and is there a way to change which faction shows on my ID?

Thanks in advance for any help with these.

I don't like Bekah. I don't know why exactly I don't like her, but I don't. I think it is something about the fact that she is TOO well-rounded.

I haven't decided if I am restricting myself to my Bard deck or not. I was thinking I would since I plan on also playing in a 2-player game with another friend of mine, who is totally new to the game but brilliant and I want to give him the full run of the cards from the S&S set we will be using. There is also ANOTHER possible game at a local gaming store and it would just be easier to be able to literally carry my deck around with me. I would have to keep track of which adventures I had completed, but at least I would always have access to all my cards and not show up to find some obnoxious Druid took all my cures, hehe.

Speaking of which, so far, do the rewards line up between RotRL and S&S? Do you gain feats at the same rate? If not, then I will just have to pick a different Bard for each game I am in.

I had totally forgotten about the Amulet of Mighty/Fiery firsts for Meliski. Theoretically, this would become a D8(str)+D6(+2 maybe for the power)+D4/D8(amulet). I think that's my ultimate Bard right there- self sufficient and useful all-round, PLUS 6 spells to keep me happy (I love spellcasting in any game, even if it is a card game), AND I wouldn't have to use a card feat on a weapon so I would get to increase spell deck size earlier.

As for the 3 Lems, I agree with that analysis. I suppose I will have to decide if I will use only my class deck or not. I was mostly trying to keep things simpler for myself since two of those games are home games and I know I would be allowed to use the same character for both of them. If I do that though, I wouldn't be able to tote around the amulet of mighty fists.

Fantastic, Alahazra may be my future go-to character then. An interesting sidenote that I could play her NOT support if I suddenly wanted to is nice to hear. One thing about my Kyra is that I was keeping cards that said divine even if we found something better. I know Alahazra has something similar but with that many spells and blessings and no "dead" armor cards, my items could at least be what I wanted instead of the sad little holy waters I kept for so very long.
Thanks for the input for the new guy on the forums.

So, I am soon to be starting in a friend's Rise of the Runelords game and I intend to use the only class deck I have so far- Bard.
I can't seem to decide which bard to play. I don't like Bekah, so she is out.
The others though, are looking so fun. But, I am not sure which one would be best, and which strategy I want to use for them. It will be a 4 player game (sometimes 3). One of the players is a veteran of the game, two others are pretty new and I am somewhere in the middle there. Here are my thoughts on the characters, and my questions:

Lem- I feel like he is good out of the box. I know he doesn't get too many spells, but he feels like the Bard I have always wanted (magic-based). With 1 weapon and a D8 Dex, I am less scared to play him since he at least has a shot (I swear I didn't mean to be punny there) if a monster shows up, and he can buff others to cycle till that crossbow lands in his hand. My main question is: which role to take for him. I have a tendancy to favor arcane spells, but may be our sole healer. Perhaps I should wait to see what others play and then pick whichever role covers the caster type we DON'T have.

Meliski- I love, LOVE this guy. The chance to take another shot at something failed by me and my friends sounds very nice. The main issue is, of course, his lack of combat. My thought is this: you either take a weapon card feat at the end of adventure 1 to make sure he always has a weapon (due to choosing favored card) or you wait till completing adventure 3 and use a power feat to ensure he doesn't need a weapon. Which is the better choice? Other Brawler powers work with both options and there are so few gambling items that Gambler seems like a bad choice. So I don't know what I will do. Adventure 3 seems a long time to have to rely on spells to make it through, though.

Siwar- Ah Siwar, how I love your concept and hate your card list. Love LOVE the idea of having allies for all your stuff, especially with fun things like "Look! A Monster! Go, my Pyromaniac Mage retainer! BURN IT!" Also, the eventual recharged blessing if they succeed is nice. Sadly, all this stuff is a long way off and it seems like I would have to "rely on the kindness of strangers" to see me through the first adventure. I see people say they take a SPELL card feat first, but with D8 Dex, I was thinking weapon instead. The main question is how do I stay alive long enough to survive through adventure 1 with only 3 spells and no weapon?

As I am typing this, I feel like I see the pattern here where it will really depend on how much my friends are willing to help me get through the adventures as to which character I should play...

Has anyone had any experience playing full support in the card game?
I dislike very much playing clerics in most games that have other healing options but one day, to satisfy my friend, I tried out Kyra. But I set her up in my own special way- mostly out of protest- and played her full support.

And wow was it the most fun everyone had ever had at the table.

I played blessings left and right. Normally, at least two blessings went out between each of my turns, as well as the occasional support spell. Often, when it got to my turn, I would only have like 1-2 cards and would have to cure myself- sometimes twice with a power AND a spell. Once I got a weapon, I would occasionally explore, but most of the time, I was watching OTHER character's turns far more closely than my own. I was their safety net. I made them feel like they could take on anything and they discarded cards to explore like they were nothing because they knew if a tough check came up, I would be there to see them through and heal back their discarded cards.

As we progressed, I increased her blessings and spells and increased hand size. There were a few times I would push to explore locations with blessings or spells to give me a chance to acquire them, but otherwise, I was watching the entire table, taking stock of what was going on and mentally considering how my hand would make the other players more successful.

I am wondering if some of the new characters like the Oracle would work even better played this way, since there are no weapons or armor to clog up my hand. Has anyone had experience with this style of play? If so, how did it work out and did you find some niche that worked for you?