I'm looking at running Burnt Offerings soon. However, I might only have 3 stable players. Our usual 4th is wandering across SE Asia and won't be back until late November, at which point he'll resume play, probably around the transition from Burnt Offerings to the Skinsaw Murders.
In your opinion, missing which of the 4 core DnD roles (Warrior, Arcane Caster, Divine Caster, Rogue) would hurt the party the least in Burnt Offerings?
I'm guessing Rogue is probably the one that would least be missed. There are definitely some parts where sneaking would be good, or there are traps to disarm. But that can usually be worked around in some way.
Warrior = Lots of tough battles.
Divine & Arcane Casters = Without those spells to help end or avoid battles, and to heal up afterwards, it would be a lot tougher.
*We also have some more casual players that might play ~50% of the time, but I don't want to count on that to cover a core role. (We've had problems lately when our two divine casters both didn't show for the better part of a month, forcing the DM to essentially NPC them as healbots) I'd rather handle that with the pre-gen PCs (Valeros, etc), running the iconics as either NPCs or an alternate adventuring party when they aren't being used. So if one of the casual players shows up and runs Valeros, great, the party has another fighter. But if they don't show, its not like that leave the party without a warrior.
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In your opinion, missing which of the 4 core DnD roles (Warrior, Arcane Caster, Divine Caster, Rogue) would hurt the party the least in Burnt Offerings?
This early in the Path, I'd suggest the arcanist is likely to be the least missed. Sneaking would be a huge advantage in Thistletop particularly, but at low levels, it's a rare sorcerer or (especially) wizard who is worth much in the long run.
After having run half of Burnt Offings with only one PC . . . (nearly level 4 Swashbuckler by the end of the Glassworks) my opinion is that the role most able to be bypassed and still leave it survivable would be the arcane caster.
I could just be the groups I've been a part of, but Arcane Casters usually fall into the role of offensive support (Magic Missle, Fireball), or crowd control (Sleep, Grease, Web). Compare that to the fighter role to soak and deal damage, the divine caster role of healing/buffing magic, and skill user role of overcoming obstacles (such as people using Diplomacy/Bluff, or objects with Disable Device/Open Lock), and the arcane caster is, esspecially at the lower levels relagated to only a support role.
Personally I wouldn't specifically choose a party role to do without per se. Instead, I would suggest the players tailor the group in a particular direction — in this instance, stealth.
With that in mind, I'd definitely select a ranger for the main warrior. Next I'd bring along a rouge for quick sneak attack kills and leave diplomacy and spellcasting to a bard (unless there is some feat or race that can grant Hide and Move Silently as class skills to a cleric). Without anyone capable of casting cure spells at 1st level, I'd also throw the party a bone by allowing them a wand of cure light wounds with a handful or two of charges.
In most early level adventures, the class you can easily most miss would be the arcanist. Sure, you miss out on those encounter ending spells like sleep, and color spray etc, but really, at low level, unfortunately arcanists are usually reduced to simple Crossbow wielders.
Of course, as you gradually move up in levels, it quickly switches over to the Front Line tank, as the Cleric is able to pretty easily fill the roll, and / or the arcanist can summon some tanks.
I am running Pathfinder with only 3 players, and we have a Knight (PHB2), a Cleric, and a rogue. Should be good, although it will be interesting once they get to double digit levels and they will be missing the arcanist.
Next I'd bring along a rouge for quick sneak attack kills
I´ve never heard of make-up performing sneak attacks :-))) Misspelling rogue on these boards will get you teased all the time.
Stefan
Fingers faster than eyes apparently... :-\
I would also recommend just asking your players what roles they want to play and change the adventure accordingly.
I´m DMing a group with three PCs - a knight, a ranger/fighter (archer), and a cleric, and I just make sure the adventures fit them.
That said, I think in the beginning arcane casters can be left out. Later on, the rogue can be supplanted by arcane casters in part, or if you havew a ranger or bard in the party, they can double these roles.
Stefan
Of the four choices an arcane spellcaster or a rogue character would be the least likely to be missed. They are both common choices for low-level campaigns. Of course as the adventure path gets into the higher levels an arcane spellcaster becomes more important. A strong fighter and a divine spellcaster/healer are just too important to give up. Multiclassing can solve this problem to a degree, but another agreeable solution is an NPC hireling or ally that has the missing skills needed. In my campaign the PCs have been adventuring with a bard for over 5 levels of play, and she almost makes up for them not having a powerful arcane spellcaster.
If you have access to PHB II, I'd recommend a party of beguiler, druid, and a warrior of some sort. The beguiler can fill in as an arcanist (disabler) and a locks/traps disarmer. The druid can heal (especially with the Spontaneous Healer feat from CD) and augment the party's capabilities with their Animal Companion as well as damage and summon nature's ally spells. The warrior acts as the blocker/melee damage dealer (barbarian, fighter, and knight might be the best choices).
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If you have access to PHB II, I'd recommend a party of beguiler, druid, and a warrior of some sort. The beguiler can fill in as an arcanist (disabler) and a locks/traps disarmer. The druid can heal (especially with the Spontaneous Healer feat from CD) and augment the party's capabilities with their Animal Companion as well as damage and summon nature's ally spells. The warrior acts as the blocker/melee damage dealer.
Beguiler, Druid and Duskblade would be a good group for 3, especially with the druid's Animal Companion playing a 4th role. You get some decent utility with a Beguiler and good buff/illusions, Good spells with the druid and toss a couple Vigor/cure wands at him and he is a great healer, and the duskblade can take the blaster role and tank a bit (with help from some buffs). This group would also be fairly lightly armored so you could exploit that with some ranks in Move Silently to help get the drop on the baddies alot.
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There are two things that I (as a player) would do for a 3 man group. Two easy fixes is to have the front-line fighter be a ranger with the dungeoncraft ability to find traps (replacing the rogue).
The second option is to have a sorcerer that takes the arcane disciple feat and chooses healing (for a more powergamed feel, be a human and also choose infernal sorcerer heritage, with infernal sorcerer howl at third level). From then on the sorcerer can double as your cleric (which makes them feel much more useful in the lower levels than a standard arcanist). There will still be an issue with a few divine spells (such as restoration), but that's what they make potions for. A character with us magic device ranks and a decent charisma will also help in either of these situations.
The comment on the Use Magic Device skill got me to think about one game that I ran where it wasa full four person party, but there was still no divine caster.
Instead of providing an npc cleric to tag along with the party, I provided as a party of some of the early loot some Cure Light Wounds schema (from Magic of Eberron).
For those not familiar with the items, they are essentially a wand, but instead of a set number of charges, they have a set number of charges per day. The warlock in the group made sure he had his UMD maxed out per level. That way, the group had healing, and it recharged every day.