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Although any group of adventurers should be well rounded, we found that the need for any one class isn't neccessary with Skull & Shackles. I would say let the players choose what they want to play, and let the group evovle naturally.
For healing, they have Sandara once they meet and befriend her, and she can accompany as an effective NPC even if they leave the ship.
An all martial crew is... not recommended. Several encounters in AP-1, as well as in AP-2 depend upon caster's for survival. Also consider that swimming and possibly underwater combat do take place and severly hamper melee damage (halved damage for slash and blunt, penalties to attack), as well as missile and thrown weaponry.
NPC healing is problematic throughout parts of the first 3 APs.
Ship to ship combat will strongly benefit from casters as well, be it for crew survival or disabling the opposition.
The only class I have, so far, found redundant actually would be the Rogue.
Well we've been 3 manning it and tonight we reached a certain island. You can't rely on having Sandara you will lose her (though possibly temporary) at the island so you need you your own healing. Unfortunately we had no healers as one of our players was planning to get there later (I'm usually the healer and had gotten sick of being the healbot every time so hoped someone else would step up)
The same island has very tightly knit encounters of levels that are quite nasty so you want some good healing and again trying not to spoil you need some blaster as well.
My party often ranges between 4 and 8 players. For the most part as long as you don't have any more than 2 of any one class you should be alright.
Well we've been 3 manning it and tonight we reached a certain island. You can't rely on having Sandara you will lose her (though possibly temporary) at the island so you need you your own healing. Unfortunately we had no healers as one of our players was planning to get there later (I'm usually the healer and had gotten sick of being the healbot every time so hoped someone else would step up)
The same island has very tightly knit encounters of levels that are quite nasty so you want some good healing and again trying not to spoil you need some blaster as well.
Agreed completely...I honestly dont know how a group can get through some of the encounters without a healer of some sort and having a caster with some AoE at certain points would make things go much smoother.
As far as suggestions I would say a Primary healer, a caster (sorc, wizard, magus, ect), and two main front liners (fighter types or rogues can accomplish this). From what I have seen a rogue would be fun in many places but not necessary for at least the first 2 APs.
I honestly dont know how groups can get through any AP without two hybrid healers or a dedicated healer without the DM modifying encounters. Even with them and smart players deaths still occur.
The gm is supposed to modify encounters in those situations ;-)
Eh - I've got two Fighters, a Rogue and a Paladin for PCs, and I don't mind so much. Tweaked the world to a slightly lower magic, then balance just a smidge with items, preferably consumables...guess it comes down to what your DM is willing to accommodate. It helps that we're pbp and I've got time between posts to adjust reality if necessary. Rather like DMing in bullet-time.
I'm a big proponent of playing whatever class you like. I think just about any party make up can be successful, though as some point out, it gets easier if certain roles are covered.
I think a lot of the people who hold to the traditional four have not tried playing without certain roles in practice and things aren't as bad as they might first seem. For example, some melee damage is halved underwater so melee types are hampered. So you need a caster, right? Well, if you have twice the number of front-liners instead of casters, your damage output as a group is still quite high (even halved).
It's a fun thought experiment to try running some of the encounters with a Paladin/Ranger/Barbarian/Rogue group and see how you do. It's even more fun to try something like Wizard/Sorcerer/Magus/Bard. You'll find they can all still be overcome with roughly the same level of success.
I do have the lurking suspicion that in PF there is a quite substantial number of antagonists, that can only killed (effectively) in certain, class bound ways. And twice the number - if ineffective - does not mean balance. If you have no fire or acid, good luck killing the troll with twice the number of weapons. Or killing the golem with twice the number of casters.
Trolls, swarms, many oozes, quite a number of aberrations. Heck, even traps. And the AP, as written, is meant for a multiple-role party. If you care to go in all-bard : your pleasure and probably funeral.
As long as you have fun doing so
I think that in PF you can argue that under 10th level you can have pretty much any group you want and get away with it as long as you play smart but when you start losing levels due to energy drains, or stats due to spells and poisons, or taking a 100 points of damage in a round its difficult to sway from the classic group makeup. It really annoys me that the need is so great for support/healers but it is what it is.
One way we have found to work around is to have someone take leadership and have a cohort healer. With the DMs help cohorts and followers can really flush out character development and always makes me think back to the days of 1st addition when fighter types at 10th level could make strongholds and attract followers.
The simplest way to play into an unbalanced party, so far, seems to be to tweak the loot. Potions, wands...heck, a torch can keep that troll down once they've knocked him out. Also, not all encounters must be destroyed - if they can be deterred or defeated or escaped, just long enough to do what needs done and book it, that works too. Especially in a predominantly nongood campaign such as this one.
My PCs chose to play up a sort of alternate form of sailor's superstition - they don't like magic. They don't care how useful it is, or how often it might get used against them, they don't like it. The stuff goes wrong too often, the bloody wizards themselves are all crazy - and if it goes wrong at sea, you end up with a ship on fire. Or no ship. They're straightforward, pragmatic sorts, and gamblers to boot - magic is long odds, to them. Too long.
So I'm enjoying giving them magical loot, which they can't identify and try not to use unless it's really dire straits. If I gave them an intelligent sword, they'd probably drop the thing to the bottom of the sea, let Besmara deal with it. Meanwhile, they're tentatively grateful for the party paladin, who's a little odd (decided to play his 'fearless' quality as a tad sociopathic) but decent enough when the chips are down.
1st do we need to have rogue, cleric, and wizardly sorts or can we get by with an all martial crew?
Rogue is probably the easiest to dispense with. Traps aren't as common as they would be in a traditional dungeoncrawl campaign. Several classes can afford to max out Disable Device and Perception (and traits like Eyes and Ears of the City or Vagabond Child can add one or the other to their class skills). Also, there are several archetypes (bard and ranger, mostly) that can disable magical traps.
Cleric is also fairly easy to dispense with. Alchemists, bards, druids, inquisitors, oracles, paladins (in non-pirate campaigns), rangers, and witches can all act as healers. Also, any character can max out Use Magic Device (and take the Dangerously Curious trait) to activate healing wands with a fair chance of success.
Lack of "wizardly sorts" is usually tougher. The CR system assumes a certain amount of buffs, controlling, and utility spells as the PCs advance. Parties that, for example, have no access to the fly spell around 5th-6th level are going to have a significantly harder time against many level-appropriate foes/situations. However, alchemists, bards, inquisitors, magi, and summoners are all fairly strong mixes of martial and magical disciplines (depending on archetype and other development choices), so there's no real need for a primary spellcaster.
In short, there are enough options in Pathfinder that a party doesn't ever "need" a specific class to be successful; the party may have to use teamwork a bit more, but that's not a bad thing.
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We've just started Tempest Rising and honestly we had no really no problems. Bonewrack Island was the most difficult bit for us but I think that would be hard for most parties - I don't think it was thought through properly. On the other hand we had ready access to healing with both a druid and cleric in the party and having the cleric be an evangelist meant we could be pretty buffed up.
I think you'll do fine. Traditional fighters types are almost never needed. A well built alchemist can easily rival a fighter in damage and has lots of utility as well.