Help filling out this party...

[Radyn]

I am thinking about running the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary edition. So far, one player has chosen to play a Halfling Thief while another has chosen to play a bard. I was thinking of having a 4 or 5 member party, what would be the best classes to add to this "scoundrel" type pair?

[Auros Gidon]

a ranger for sure

[meeko]

Ranger, alchemist, sorserer if the bard can't talk.

Or ranger,full bab, wizard. That is is the bard can be the face of the party.

[Makarion]

A tanky cleric of some louche faith or maybe a ronin samurai might be a good complement for the front line.

Alternatively, a classic paladin trying to redeem that lot of rabble. Pick a deity along the lines of Shelyn or Sarenrae, though. Abadar and Ragathiel probably aren't your best picks here!

[Zhayne]

Let the players play what they wish. Feel free to adjust the adventure to fit the capabilities of your PCs.

[Black_Lantern]

Summoner, Wizard, or Druid.

[EldonG]

Am I the only insurance that sees this party as screaming for a frontliner? Fighter... Barb...something with full bab.

[Radyn]

Zhayne, I will definitely will let them play anything they want. The good news is that they do understand that many situations call for a varied array of skills. One player told me, "whatever the party needs" but his top two class choices are Druid and Ranger. I will probably subtly push for the Ranger since he has "full bab" (...now that I know what full bab means...haha ).

I am naturally against optimization, but if they want to plan a rounded party, that's cool.

[Pan]

I have always wanted to pair a witch with a bard.

[Lord Foul II]

scoundrel? I've always liked the ninja/arcane trickster
EDIT: oops, whoops, I thought you were looking for a scoundrel, my mistake
you could do with a full caster and a melee fighter
I would suggest a sorcerer/dragon disciple and a barbarian/oracle 1/rage prophet
if you were to add a fifth person I would suggest either a paladin, an alchemist or a magus, as they are rather multipurpose and can allow the other members of the party to specialize further if they so wish

with this you have an attempt at filling each of the party niches
the sorcerer has the arcane firepower, dragon disciple adds a bit of survivability, the bard works as backup

the bard and oracle work together as your healers (it would also help out of battle if the sorcerer learned the spell "infernal healing")

the barbarian is your tank, especially with his ability to heal himself and others

the thief and bard work together as your skill monkeys,