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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 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?

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?

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.

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?

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.

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?