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My gaming group has convinced an old-time DMs to run Rise of the Runelords! None of us have ever played in it before, although we know a little bit about it from brief glances and word on the message boards. What I'd like to know is what types of characters will really excel in this game? Which classes will see the most action, be most useful, and fit the setting and overall themes the best?
I'm considering either a Shoanti rage prophet or a Varisian magus (bladed scarf+spellstrike = win), leaning towards the Shoanti. The rest of the group consists of a cavalier, a two weapon fighter, and maybe a ranger (she's kind of up in the air). Any other input is greatly appreciated!
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I am running this game currently, we are nearing the end of the 3rd book. From the DM side, I highly recommend some primary casters. A cleric and/or Wizard/Sorc will be quite useful. This is still written for 3.5 and it has some base assumptions.
They seem to assume the party will have the core abilities covered, Healing, Trapfinding, Dispel Magic, Tough front liners, and some blanket coverage of the fix-it spells/abilities. The group I am running is light on the primary casters and they have paid a few prices for that. They have covered some of those with niches with partial casters (bard, paladin, 3.5 warlock) and recently they added an Oracle as a cohort.
I would recommend you look long and hard at the arcane or divine classes and consider adding those to your group. The ranger, with a level of rogue or just by some carefully chosen skills, can probably tackle the trap and skill job. Cavalier may get frustrated, especially early, as many of the dungeons were not designed for mounted characters. Later on he/she will find the roll of Cavalier quite satisfying, but early might get touch and go for a while. The two weapon fighter is the build of the Pregen fighter in the back of the AP, so probably not a big concern there.
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Excellent! The aforementioned two-weapon fighter existed in an earlier game and had a vampiric gnome child as a cohort (not a vampire straight out of the Monster Manual, just a vampire by flavor) so the DM has granted permission for her to re-appear in this campaign. She'll be a dhampir with the young template and a full sorceror, just like last time (our little pocket mage). Of course, she won't show till level 7, but she is intended to fill the full caster slot when the time comes.
I also would recommend some sort of primary caster in a RotRL group, based upon my experiences running it in a 3.5, especially if the GM is doing a detailed conversion of the more prominent villains.
My gaming group has convinced an old-time DMs to run Rise of the Runelords! None of us have ever played in it before, although we know a little bit about it from brief glances and word on the message boards. What I'd like to know is what types of characters will really excel in this game? Which classes will see the most action, be most useful, and fit the setting and overall themes the best?
I'm considering either a Shoanti rage prophet or a Varisian magus (bladed scarf+spellstrike = win), leaning towards the Shoanti. The rest of the group consists of a cavalier, a two weapon fighter, and maybe a ranger (she's kind of up in the air). Any other input is greatly appreciated!
You really need someone who can throw out some healing. Really.
My group for RoTR consists currently of cleric of Sarenrae, Oracle of Life, Four Wind Monk, Alchemist and a Two Handed Fighter. We are currently nearing the end of the 5th chapter and i have to say that lack of primary arcane caster is starting to show itself greatly as even with 2 diviners "spec'd" out for healing they find themselves getting almost TPK'd if not in every encounter than in every few encounters, cause there is no one that can stop monsters from just unleashing their full power onto them.
So not wanting to sound unreasonable but Wizard and Cleric is a must for this campaign otherwise honestly there is no way of surviving to get to 3rd chapter.
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Sounds intense. I've decided to go druid, so we'll have a Druid, Two-Weapon Fighter, Cavalier, Ranger, & (eventually) a Sorcerer. Personally, I'd rather see the cavalier or fighter swapped out for a wizard, but we've got a really fun party as is & I think we're all prepared to be a little brutalized.
we'll have a Druid, Two-Weapon Fighter, Cavalier, Ranger, & (eventually) a Sorcerer.
Some quick advice on improving the party's effectiveness:
1) The group has plenty of combat capability; the ranger may want to either focus on archery or be an archer/melee switch-hitter (depending on Str and Dex). In fact, everyone with at least a decent/semi-decent Dex (12-14+, depending on generation method) should invest in a ranged weapon/thrown weapons (i.e., sling for the druid, short bow for the fighter, javelins for the cavalier).
2) As the only caster starting out, you may want to concentrate more on battlefield control and healing than usual for a druid. Once the party can afford a couple wands of cure light wounds, sharing healing duties between the druid and the ranger (using wands) can be very efficient. In fact, with this party configuration, you should strongly consider taking Craft Wand ASAP, since there are so many spells shared between the druid and ranger spell lists; if the ranger can use wands to act as a buffer/healer, the entire party's survival chances increase at the same time as the demands on the druid decrease.
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2) As the only caster starting out, you may want to concentrate more on battlefield control and healing than usual for a druid. Once the party can afford a couple wands of cure light wounds, sharing healing duties between the druid and the ranger (using wands) can be very efficient. In fact, with this party configuration, you should strongly consider taking Craft Wand ASAP, since there are so many spells shared between the druid and ranger spell lists; if the ranger can use wands to act as a buffer/healer, the entire party's survival chances increase at the same time as the demands on the druid decrease.
Ah! Craft Wand is a fantastic idea! Thanks bro.
The input's been great, although there's something missing. I wasn't just wondering how to build an effective party for RotRL - that was part of it - but what I really want to know is what sorts of characters "fit" this campaign. I know that's a bit vague, so I'll try and explain with some examples. In Kingmaker, a Taldan Rondelero fighter would probably fill his role as a fighter in the party just fine, but compared to say, a two-hand fighter who was a lumberjack, he'd find himself less immersed in the campaign. The lumberjack "fits," and would get more out of Kingmaker than the Taldan. A druid or cleric of Gozreh would also work very well in Kingmaker since nature characters really excel in that campaign, but they wouldn't fit in as well as a druid or cleric of Erastil.
Unfortunately, Kingmaker's the only Adventure Path I've played in as of yet, so I can only make assumptions about others. I'd guess that an Indiana Jones-esque explorer would fit really well in Serpent's Skull. A dhampir would be a great racial choice for Carrion Crown, and Sherlock Holmes or C. Auguste Dupin detective characters might be great archetypes to base your class on.
Know what I mean? Anyone have any suggestions of that sort for Rise of the Rune Lords?
Well obviously varisian and or shaonti characters will fit will in Rise of the Rune Lords, along with characters of chelexian decent if they come from urban areas. characters that are sort of rough and wildernessy will fit in well, as much of varisia is rough unsettles lands.
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2) As the only caster starting out, you may want to concentrate more on battlefield control and healing than usual for a druid. Once the party can afford a couple wands of cure light wounds, sharing healing duties between the druid and the ranger (using wands) can be very efficient. In fact, with this party configuration, you should strongly consider taking Craft Wand ASAP, since there are so many spells shared between the druid and ranger spell lists; if the ranger can use wands to act as a buffer/healer, the entire party's survival chances increase at the same time as the demands on the druid decrease.Ah! Craft Wand is a fantastic idea! Thanks bro.
The input's been great, although there's something missing. I wasn't just wondering how to build an effective party for RotRL - that was part of it - but what I really want to know is what sorts of characters "fit" this campaign. I know that's a bit vague, so I'll try and explain with some examples. In Kingmaker, a Taldan Rondelero fighter would probably fill his role as a fighter in the party just fine, but compared to say, a two-hand fighter who was a lumberjack, he'd find himself less immersed in the campaign. The lumberjack "fits," and would get more out of Kingmaker than the Taldan. A druid or cleric of Gozreh would also work very well in Kingmaker since nature characters really excel in that campaign, but they wouldn't fit in as well as a druid or cleric of Erastil.
Unfortunately, Kingmaker's the only Adventure Path I've played in as of yet, so I can only make assumptions about others. I'd guess that an Indiana Jones-esque explorer would fit really well in Serpent's Skull. A dhampir would be a great racial choice for Carrion Crown, and Sherlock Holmes or C. Auguste Dupin detective characters might be great archetypes to base your class on.
Know what I mean? Anyone have any suggestions of that sort for Rise of the Rune Lords?
Paizo already created a booklet (free pdf) to give you that kind of advice. The Rise of the Runelords Player's Guide!
If you are using the traits system, Kaeyoss created some campaign traits for the AP to replace the bonus feats in the player's guide.
For a druid I would suggest either Shoanti or Varisian and deeply interested in the ruins scattered across Varisia, regarding them as totems and ancient sites that are 'close to the spirits'. This would give a great reason to visit Sandpoint.