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I was looking over the Retrieve Item spell today, and noticed that it's duration is permanent. So consider this example: a wizard who spends most of his time in his tower casts this spell once every day until he has affected every small item in the tower (including spell components, specially shaped potions, especially short wands, etc). Now, instead of ever memorizing this spell again, he can freely recall any of these items into a free hand by saying the right word (as long as they are within 400 + 40 feet/level).

This doesn't seem overpowered or anything, since the size restriction is so stringent (1 pound, no dimension over 6 inches). I just want to make sure that I'm thinking about this right, and the demand it could create for special, tiny wizard objects like wands and potions.

I've just recently gotten back behind the DM's screen, and will be running a campaign for some fairly inexperienced friends this fall. I made it very clear that the 3 of them were free to choose any core class, and I would deal with it. This is mostly for fun, and also because a party of 3 just isn't going to be balanced regardless, so I'd have to deal with encounter balance issues anyway.

My problem is that they are going ranger (archery style), sorcerer, and wizard.

So my question is this: for this party composition, at low level (let's say 1-3), what can they do to actually survive against typical opponents with multiple melee fighters?

Before anyone says it, please don't just tell me to find more players. I already thought of that one. I'm asking for other ideas that can help.

My thoughts so far: summoned creatures could work, but with 1 round/level, it doesn't look practical unless they're on a scroll scribed at a higher CL, which imposes a small risk of casting failure. Terrain, AoE spells like grease, and caltrops could go a long way (especially in narrow alleys or tunnels), along with alchemists fire or other burning oil tricks. NPCs or hired mercenaries would also work, but hiring gets expensive quickly for low level characters.