Carrion Crown optimization

[Jezza]

So, here's the party I'm running:

Nikaboka Tinkerknot - M CN Gnome Rogue 1.
Lune - F NG Gnome Barbarian 1.
Rustleshrub - M N Gnome Druid 1.
Raerrun "Tubbs" Tuddles - M LN Gnome Bard 1.
Generalissimo Qwertypugnacious of the Glorious Tenth Highland Legion of the Charitable Order of Most Exalted Torag's Volunteer Dragoon Militia - M LG Paladin 1.

By the time we actually got to playing tonight, we only got through the fight at the cemetery. And guess what, the group is now down 7 trust points, as one of the farmhands bled out before anyone could stabilise him, and I deducted another trust for when Tubbs opened up the coffin and suggested sticking the dead farmhand inside. Just lucky that Father Grimburrow and the gravediggers didn't see Nikaboka rifling through the pockets of an unconscious farmhand....

So looks like the matter of there not being enough trust in the adventure isn't going to be an issue in this game.

[magnuskn]

We just began last week. The party:

- Undine Gunslinger Pistolero ( starts with one level Alchemist Vivisectionist for the Mutagen and some magic ).
- Halfling Sorcerer Arcane Bloodline
- Human Transmuter
- Aasimar Paladin of Iomedae
- Human Cleric of Pharasma

Seems like they got the healing and arcane vector covered, melee also looks good. Skills are covered, too. That leaves traps, but they'll just have to weather those.

[mike shirley]

Going to start in a few weeks after we finish Kingmaker and so far I have heard the following party make up -

Paladin
Magus
Inquisitor
Witch
Fifth is undecided at this time.

Trying to get a cleric in that mix.

[Blayde MacRonan]

My players will be starting Carrion Crown in a few weeks. Here's what they want to run:

N gnome (bleachling) Rogue (knife master)
N human Rogue (knife master)
N human Wolf Shifter (from Wayfinder 5)
NG human fighter
?? dhampir sorcerer (boreal bloodline); player hasn't figured out alignment yet, although I've flat out said no True Neutral (see below for why)
LG human paladin

I've never seen my players gravitate toward an alignment like they have with Neutral in anything we've ever played before. In fact, the player of the NG fighter is having issues with all the True Neutral aligned players. He's not expecting any party cohesion at all. I personally don't think that this will be the case, but I don't want to dismiss my player's concerns either. What do you think I should do?

[smashthedean]

I'm DMing a game starting tonight with the following group makeup:

Female Human Barbarian
Male Aasimar Cleric of Desna (travel and liberation domains)
Male Tiefling Bladebound Magus (half-brother of the Cleric)
Female Halfling Ninja
Male Human Ranger (archery focused)

I'm thinking they should do pretty well; though they don't really have a true arcane caster, I'm excited to see the Magus in action and roleplaying his intelligent sword will be fun once that shows up.

[Lopke]

My group cannot be called 'optimal', but they have a lot of fun!
We have started TotB and they just successfully presented 75% of the Morast evidence.

Heinrich: Male Human (Ustalav) Inquisitor of Pharasma 3 / Gunslinger 1
Sunset Steelwolfe: Female Human (Varisian) Ranger 4 (Favored Enemy: Undead)
Brom: Male Dwarf Cleric of Abadar (ex-Aroden) 4
Gargooth Blackbeard: Male Human (Ulfen) Barbarian 4

The lack of arcane magic has really punched them in the gut a few times, but they're managing :)

[Melissa Litwin]

How do you deal with traps? Stick the paladin in front! (No seriously, it works. Our DM does little side-missions sometimes for us, and recently we had a madly trapped hallway that the paladin just walked through).

An ideal 4-person party for CC ... something along the lines of:

Paladin (tank, smite, healing, condition-fixing)
Healer (cleric or oracle. heal, buff/debuff, some damage, condition-fixing)
Archer (ranger or fighter, probably ranger for skills)
Arcanist (wizard, witch, alchemist. Knowledge skills and arcane power)

My current party (Archetypes):
Paladin of Sarenrae- tank, face, damage, secondary healer
Cleric of Pharasma- healer, secondary front-liner, secondary face
Wizard (Air school)- knows things, blasts, debuffs
Magus (Spellblade, Bladebound, Hexcrafter)- damage, debuffs, secondary knows-things, tertiary healer
Cohort bard (Dirge Bard, Sound Striker)- face, buffing

There are a TON of undead in this mod, and even the things that aren't are usually evil. Paladins' smite ability comes in handy a lot, as does the anti-fear aura, as does the healing and ability to fix disease, poison, and ability damage. Their healing isn't sufficient though, thus the addition of a primary healer to the party. An oracle would also work well, but the cleric's ability to fix it tomorrow is really beneficial. Archers prevent the front-line from becoming clogged and do a whole lot of damage starting from round 1, while arcanists bring a grab-bag of utility and AoE blasting not to be underestimated. The reason I suggest an Int-based class is that the healer or paladin can serve as a great "face" while you also want knowledge skills in the party. A sorcerer would overlap that too much.

[Shadow_Proclamation]

We are getting ready to play(finally) and our group consists of:

Half-Orc Paladin of Iomadae
Elf Rogue/Magus or Wizard/Arcane Trickster
Changeling Bard
and my character a Demon-spawn Tiefling Oracle or Cleric of Pharasma(have a +4 charisma total, so I'm unsure if I want to give up the Pharasma connection fluff to be a really powerful Oracle.)

[Neil Spicer]

For those who are interested, you could also select a party of PCs from: Gothic Heroes. They're not the most optimized group, necessarily. But we did our best to tailor them specifically to the AP while also making them awesome.

Spoiler:

Yes, I know...shameful plug. Still...it seemed appropriate to the discussion.

[ThreeEyedSloth]

I'm GMing Carrion Crown at the moment, and my group looks like this:

- Human Paladin (Undead Slayer)
- Half-Orc Monk/Fighter (Brawler)
- Human Inquisitor
- Aasimar Celestial Sorceress
- Human Bard (Archaeologist)

Not optimized, but very fun anyway. :)

[DumberOx]

We start next Saturday ...

We have:

- LG Aasimar Paladin of Iomedae (probably going Warrior of Light archetype)
- CN Human (True Azlanti) Gunslinger
- LG Dwarf Cleric of Torag (Artifice/Good domains & heavy armor wearer)
- CG Kobold Summoner (he has Birthmark trait which translated into a silver scaled kobold ... needless to say he was kicked out of his clan, picked up by Prof. Lorrimor and has been his research assistant for a few years ... now he's tweed suit wearing with a monocole and very erudite)
- NE Universalist Wizard (dabbling in the cult of Zyphus)

The Wizard became evil after his wife was murdered, but now he's going to woo Kendra Lorrimor which could very well redeem him ... if not than the 3 Good characters in the party :)

[A Mite Excessive]

"Rise from your grave!" - Zeus, Altered Beast

I like how not every party was optimized for Horror. More fun RP that way, as opposed to "Yawn, I'm a Dhampir, I KNOW about vampires."