My group will soon be starting the Council of Thieves AP and the other players in my group are playing excellent 5th party characters. The only problem with that is there is only 4 of us. No healer and no real melee combatant. They are playing a Gunslinger, a Bard(archeologist), and a Sorcerer/Gunslinger.
I'm trying to come with a character to do extreme damage but also to help fill some other gaps while still keeping some awesome RP flavor.
I was thinking Ranger or Paladin and using the animal companion/mount to deliver even more damage by having a flanking buddy.
Please help! Any suggestions are needed. PRPG and 3rd party material is all we're using, no 3.5
A Cleric with the Crusader archtype might be in order. I've never played one, but slightly decreased spell capacity for some extra combat Feats makes it seem a good choice over Paladin (whose healing is pretty limited at low level). Channel Energy is a good thing.
I am not familar with the Council of Thieves but the other players look civilized and the skill for a urban campaign might favor cleric or paladin over ranger. Although a ranger would not be completely out of his element the skill set certainly would help. Honestly the personalities of the rest of the party would make me wonder more than the roles. Are the gunslingers and bard honorable types out to do good or are they rapscallions. You will want a lot of mobility with that type of team. That lets you get into the melee mix but also withdraw/come to the aid of the others, which brings up the idea of barbarian or monk. There are not as many faiths in Golarion as there are in Forgotten Realms but you can fluff a cleric in any direction you want. I could see an inquistor might be a fun fit as well with that team. Ooooo mix a few levels Barbarian in with the Inquisitor, that would make for a fun character to RP. The over zealous inquisitor who has fits of "righteous" rage. That gives you decent melee, nice armor selection a bump to mobility and healing so the bard does not feel like the healer.
I would recommend a Barbarian if you are going against Thieves, Uncanny Dodge and Improved Uncanny Dodge will keep you from being sneak attacked and perception is a class skill. It might also be good for your team to invest in the Lookout teamwork feat.
I wouldn't worry too much about being healed, just make a good friend at a temple and buy your bard a wand of Cure Light Wounds.
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I think your underselling your team mates. They, at first glance, appear to have all of the major base I'd be concerned about covered.
The Gunslinger is a fighter type. Futhermore, depending on the archtype he might be comming in with heavy armor proficiencies, making him the perfect switch hitter. And with his ranged focus he'll actually take fewer hits early on that will require less healing. The bard chose the perfect archetype for this AP. YOU NEED A ROGUE TYPE HERE, and the archeologist is the perfect balance of caster and rogue to compensate here. My one question would be the Gunslinger/Sorceror. I'd clarify to be sure it was not Spellslinger/Sorceror. These to classes would have a wonderfull synergy to more than make up for a single level loss. And even if he did chose Gunslinger/Sorceror route it's still not any less useful to you as he will have the light armor, wpn proficiencies, and hit points to help out on the melee or ranged front early on, and later provide plenty of spell support provided it's a single level dip. Truthfully, it would be difficult, but as I see them covering all of the necessary bases they could potentially do with out you. So my advice would be to change the attitude about "Carrying the Party" and consider more about how you can find your own nitch in a group that on it's face wouldn't need you more than to soak up some hit points.
You might want to take oracle over cleric. There are allot of cha base skills used in this AP. And skills in general are used more in this AP then any other I have played or run. So in looking at this and some other things after playing tho it until we had a TPK.
I don't think the wasting curse is the one you want with oracle.
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I am guessing bard is going to be party face, right? Or is it the sorcerer ? Mysterious stranger one lvl dip? Blaster build? Or is he going for empyrial bloodline? Anyway your group has CHA covered.
You have:
Ranged dps
Rogue/caster/face
Ranged dps full caster/face
What your group is missing is front liner and heals, bard can try to cover the second part but than you are spreading him pretty thin and healing is not the easiest job for a bard, belive me I tried that onced. And your group NEEDS somebody on the front line.
Inquisitor with two-hander is a great melee striker and have ranger-like gameplay. But with your party set up I would go with more healing power and the ability to have a second meat shield there with you. Something like melee shapeshifter druid with tank animal companion, melee oracle (battle or small sized natural one with mount revelation) or melee cleric (u can pick up animal domain plus boom companion feat to have the animal companion as another meatshield). Summoner would also be a good choice but i like 9 lvls of spell progression more than 6 and they dont heal that well.
Good luck.
The real issue though, is that it seems like the party is heavily lacking in the melee department. And any advice I've gotten seems to point to the definite need for a melee guy. I'm beginning to lean towards inquisitor. Suggestions?
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Inquisitor: This can work. Going with Sarenrae and geting Glory: Heroism Subdomain. For the bonus to Cha skills and the buffing ability of the domain. There are other options. I feel this one fits the story arc of the AP very well.
Ranger: Urban ranger is pronely your best option. Or even some of the other archetypes. The only thing to remember this AP takes place in the city. So animal companions other then Dog, Horse, and other common animals you find in a city. Are really not a option as story wise it will give away who you are. Because how many people in a city keep a bobcat/black bear for a pet?
Druid: See ranger. The problem with a druid is the same as the ranger this AP takes place in the city 98% of the time. There is only one short part of two books that take place out side of the city.
Cleric: See Inquisitor. And add Cayden Cailean, Shelyn, and Iomedae to the list of posible deity's to pick from. Story wise Cayden, or Sarenrae fit best(IMO).
Oracle: Makes is a good option for a few reasons. There Cha base casting and skill ranks per level make them a good at social skills. And over all social skills play a big part of the AP. There are many parts of the AP where a one person playing the party face just dose not work. Having the option to do these skills your self is a very good idea.
Paladin: Probably one of the best classes for this AP. And one of the worst classes for the story line. There a great class if your not required to sneak around in side a city hiding from the city guards and other residence. Can be fun and challenging, or can be a nightmare depending on how strict your GM is on handling paladin code of conduct.
Bard: With out any archetypes. This is the best class for this AP. There are many many times when there ability shine out of combat. If the archaeologist bard keeps points in all of the knowledge skills or the important ones for the AP. There is relay no reason to have two.
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My earlier rant aside (that was a bad night for me to be posting)I agree with calagnar's assesment.
Urban Ranger will allow you to fill multiple roles of trapfinder, melee specialist, and wand wielder.
Oracle of Battle realy is your best bet though. Take just enough Charisma to cover your spells and focus and str & con. Take feats like Sacred Summons and focus on summoning, healing and some buffing magic. This way the low charisma won't hurt you as much. Load up on combat feats or extra revelation and you'll be able to tank like a paladin without too much trouble and none of the moral restrictions. Just be sure to take the trait that gets you UMD. Don't want to waste your higher than average charisma.
Straight cleric. For my money, coolest class in the game. The crusader arch is a terrible, terrible option, with apologies to the poster who recommended it. It would take many more bonus feats to equal the sacrifice.
Don't play a healer cleric if you don't want to, thematically. Battle clerics are great and can prevent as much damage as healbots heal.
I don't know much about council of thieves, but if we judge the books by their covers, a good cleric could really own that AP.
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It is not a problem with clerics. So much as it is how the AP plays out. Unless your starting with a ok Int and Cha. Not going to happen very often the oracle will preform the cleric out of combat. This is a very large part of the AP. The story arc requires each character to handle social skills at some points. They are set up in such a way that one person can not make the roll for the rest of the party. Each member of the party needs to make there roll separately.
I would either say go with normal Cleric like Evil Abe said, or if you wanna get some melee, I'd try a Magus. Magus isn't as versatile, but its a lot of fun and with all the ranged your party is packing I don't thing you will have as many of the usual problems that Magi suffer from.
I think I'm going Paladin. Melee, healing, and animal companion for an additional meat shield. Plus I think if there is going to be a lot of social interaction it would be perfect and well rounded. Thanks for all the advice.