Party of Six Questions


Advice


Hi All,

Hoping you can help a first time DM out.

I'm putting together a party of six players and want to use the pre published adventures rather than create my own. I have two questions to ask.

1. With modules being written for parties of four, should I start a party of six (1st level) with a level 2 published adventure?

2. If the party includes the standard, Warrior, Rogue, Wizard, Cleric. What would be the ideal classes for the remaining two players. I thought, Druid and Ranger, for a bit more muscle and spell casting.

Thanks

Lee


Bard all the way for one slot and for the other more spellcasting is always good so a Sorcerer or druid will go a long way (druids have considerable muscle if built for wildshape). Skill-wise between the bard and rogue you are covered universally. A monk or alchemist would be a great addition as well just make sure the cleric doesn't turn into a healbot.

Run the first level adventure just buff up encounters i.e. a little more hp, one or two more creatures (could be same type could be different) maybe an ambush or a trap just be creative.


Pathfinder also has a lot of hybrid classes and different ways of filling the traditional 'roles'.

The 'warrior' could be a paladin, a barbarian, a cavalier, or a fighter. He could also be a cleric, a druid, a summoner, or a ranger.

The 'rogue' could be a monk, a rogue, a ranger, a ninja, a gunslinger, a bard, or an alchemist.

The 'wizard' could also be a sorcerer, magus, witch, or a summoner.

The 'cleric' could also be an inquisitor, an oracle, or a druid. Or if it's the healer role you're looking for, an alchemist, a witch, a paladin, or a bard can fill that role.

So really, don't sweat the classes too much. As long as the players aren't directly stepping on each others toes, most combinations of 6 characters would form a functional party.

Dark Archive

raven73 wrote:
1. With modules being written for parties of four, should I start a party of six (1st level) with a level 2 published adventure?

It might be safer to start with a level 1 adventure, with 50% more monsters in the encounters. If the first few encounters seem to be a cakewalk, scale them up a bit more until people start dropping unconscious. (Try not to scale up so fast that you shoot right past the sweet spot and kill everyone!)

Quote:

2. If the party includes the standard, Warrior, Rogue, Wizard, Cleric. What would be the ideal classes for the remaining two players. I thought, Druid and Ranger, for a bit more muscle and spell casting.

Druid and Ranger are both excellent 5th/6th wheels. Bards and Paladins are also great in these slots, combining multiple roles. Indeed, the larger the group, the more the Bard shines (so, a party with lots of companions, summoned critters, eidolons, cohorts, etc. is gonna rock extra hard).

From the APG, some of the classes have mixed-role utility, with the Summoner being able to pinch-hit as a backup tank, or as a backup arcanist, and the Inquisitor having a dash of this and a smidge of that as well. A Witch has some interesting spells (and is yet another potential source of cure spells or healing hexes), but the hexes make her an interesting debuffer for fights against singularly powerful foes (so long as the rest of the group can handle larger groups of less powerful foes, as the witch hexes don't lend themselves to that sort of thing...). Like the Bard, the larger the party, the more potential the Cavalier has to shine with shared Teamwork feats.

A second Cleric (or an Oracle) can also work, if they take different Domains and deities (or different Mysteries), and end up covering different roles. (One necro-master, one fighting cleric, one cleric archer, etc.)

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