Rise of the Ruinlords? Must be a cheap chinese ripoff of Rise of the Runelords. As I know neither of them I'll just give my opinion on a good party setup for three.
Wizard, Witch, Alchemist, summoning helps a lot.
If your starting level is quite low you might want to put a Fighter or Barbarian instead of ... Wizard.
I wouldn't go for the rogue as 3 players makes flanking less likely. The Witch doesn't help the paladin nor the magus really much, and ranger magus cleric are just 3 good classes on themself, but don't aid another.
Ranger, magus, cleric of the three listed, mostly because there isn't much you can't accomplish with a full melee, a caster, and a walking medical kit. I really like the classic combo of fighter, wizard, cleric.
And just for fun I'll beat cheapy to it: Master summoner, master summoner, master summoner.
Cheapy would say, "Master Summoner, Master Summoner, Oracle."
Cheapy would say, "Master Summoner, Master Summoner, Oracle."
Fair point.
I'm GM'ing Rise of the Runelords for the second time, and this is a very hard AP.
I'd say:
1 - A good caster, who can cast buffs: Wizard or Sorcerer (or a bard, focusing on buffs and bow)
2- someone who can take a lot of damage and dish out a crapload of hurt:Paladin (the enemies are evil, so the awesome Smite is good) or Fighter.
3- maybe a tough ranger - good bow and a two handed greatsword.
there is not a lot of loot that can be used by adventures of good alignment and precious little gold.
so...
let them sell evil magical loot to good temples that wants to get hold of such things in order to destroy them.
also, let them use Craft a lot.
in the group I run we have a cleric of Desna (Travel Domain!)with great craft.
hope this helps,
GRU
Paladin or Cavalier or Ranger
Druid or Cleric (animal domain)
Summoner or Sylvan Sorcerer
You still can get a lot of bodies in there if need be, but they each have a "pet", can dish out the major damage as well. Getting a whole lot of summons can be very effective but it can also be very time consuming. This is a reasonable compromise.
Paladin or Cavalier or Ranger
Druid or Cleric (animal domain)
Summoner or Sylvan SorcererYou still can get a lot of bodies in there if need be, but they each have a "pet", can dish out the major damage as well. Getting a whole lot of summons can be very effective but it can also be very time consuming. This is a reasonable compromise.
Master summoner speeds up the summoning to the point of choking the battlefield. My roommate (gnome master summoner) and I (warforged THF fighter) are playing in a short (to 6th level) eberron setting, and we seriously have to tone back what we do to keep the dm from pulling his hair out and the rest of the party functional. He generally keeps summons to two per combat, and we only enlarge me if there is a really BBEG. I one shotted the first one at first level, which we feel just made it less fun for everyone. Noone said anything more than asking how I was doing 21 points of damage at first level...
Damnit. Why must I sleep?
But Master Summoners are easy mode. So let's see what could work...
Paladin (switch hitter or archer)
Bard (for skills and diplomacy. Bardic Knowledge and Versatile Performance go along way. Inspire Courage isn't so important due to low numbers of players, unless you use summons)
Witch (I'm a fan of the Shadow patron, since it lets you have access to any Wizard Conjuration or Evocation, but others may have better advice)
I do not know how often there are Magical Traps in RotR. Archivist bard could do in a pinch.
But a vanilla bard with 10 Int investing in Perform(Oratory,Dance,Comedy) would have an effective 17 skill ranks per level. So if you need a skill monkey...
An alchemist with Feral Mutagen can be a very good damager, while taking a lot of hits and having many useful skills.
I have run a lot of three PC parties and I have found as long as there is a decent damage output, and a good array of the important skills, and someone to be good at healing/preventing damage, you should be good.
Don't underestimate the skills part though, it can be tricky to find a setup that incorporates all the most important ones at fairly low level with only three PC's. (Perception, Disable Device, Knowledges, Bluff/Diplomacy/Intimidate/Sense Motive, Heal etc)
I found a nice one was Beastmorph Alchemist/Inquisitor/Oracle.
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After a full play through of Rise I would recommend:
1. Vivisectionist Alchemist is an absolute beast (pun intended) of a damage dealer and can get a pretty high AC. You can also help the rest of the party by giving out your extracts with the infusion discovery which will help with buffing. They also make decent skill monkeys and can use wands of CLW.
2. Some kind of full caster. A witch constantly debuffing while still having spells to sling is a great addition to a party. Witches can also use CLW wands, cure spells and can do some minor scouting with the familiar if you're feeling dangerous ;-)
3. A full Bab fighter type, I would recommend either a ranger or paladin as they have a wider breadth of abilities and contribute more to the small party than just swinging a sword.
Advice: A smaller group means you are going to need classes that can fill a couple roles not just fighter or just arcane caster which is why a recommend the classes that I do. Inquisitor would also be a good choice but I would stay away from classes that do less like the fighter.
Pick from the crossover classes:
Summoner
Druid
Witch
Inquisitor
Bard
Paladin
Magus
Alchemist
Pick 3 of those in a useful combination.
As others noted, one or two classes with pets would bring the number of bodies (and their Actions per round!) of your group to the assumed 4-5 individuals.
You could also consider working with your GM to bring in pet equivelents if you don't want to take pet classes. Mercinary warriors are "Trained Hirelings" that cost 3sp a day minimum wage, which can go up as you require more powerful ones until 7th level when someone can take Leadership and have a cohort take over.
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Witch (Hedge Witch)Patron: Healing
covers arcane caster, debuffing, healing (yes it's allot to cover but you have 3 players. So each player needs to cover more ground.)
Paladin
melee, back up healing, party face
Ranger/Rogue
Switch hitter, wand healing, skills for dungeon and outdoor environment.
Crowed control and good damage are going to be required for any group that dose this with 3 characters.
Witch - Standard de-buffer (agility patron)
Alchemist - Bomber Build
Barbarian - One Big Weapon
I want to run three people through Rise of the Ruinlords and would like to know what three classes put together would have the best chance.
Magus, Paladin, and Witch?
Ranger, Magus, and Cleric?
Rogue, Witch, and Barbarian?I just don't know, any suggestions?
Of the three combinations you mention, the third--Rogue, Witch, and Barbarian--is the most rounded.
Burnt Offerings, the first module in Rise of the Runelords, requires some lengthy combat at low level, so the party should have at least one dedicated fighting character, such as a Barbarian, Fighter, or Paladin. In town, a party of skilled roleplayers can receive many forms of support from the townsfolk, so don't use Charisma as everyone's dump stat. Outside of town, the party will need a scout and a healer. Any class with Stealth as a class skill could work as a scout. A Cleric is the best healer, but a Witch with a Healing hex might suffice.
In later modules, the party will need strong spellcasters, such as Cleric or Witch. Magus would not be enough for this, though a Magus with the proper emphasis might serve the scouting or fighting role.
Paladin,
Antipaladin,
Druid
I recommend the classic party of Lion, Witch, Wardrobe.
So... an scout rogue with a neverending potion of true resurrection,
an archer fighter with a masterwork bowa fullplate bastard sword fighter
a multiclassed fighter/paladin
and an intelligent level 20 cleric dire lion...
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I recommend the classic party of Lion, Witch, Wardrobe.So... an scout rogue with a neverending potion of true resurrection,
an archer fighter with a masterwork bow
a fullplate bastard sword fighter
a multiclassed fighter/paladin
and an intelligent level 20 cleric dire lion...
+1
I must have my players roll this party next campaign.
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I always recommend these three for a 3 person party (turn Your 3 person party into 6!)
Halfling or Gnome Cavalier with Wolf Companion
Any Race Druid with Battle Cat
Any Race Summoner with Eidolon. Take that 1 level of Rogue if trap finding is THAT important to you, or just send waves of expendable minions down suspect corridors.
Witch (Rogue dip), Druid (Ranger dip), Paladin.
Last campaign ran this way for the core players and they were a VERY capable party whose dips and aggregate healing capability made up for not having a cleric/oracle quite well.
I have played with extreme succes with this party.
Human druid, high str + con, combat feats for shapeshifting, animal companion.
Dwarf druid, high wis + medium dex and con, summoning and defensive casting feats, weather domain.
Elf wizard, conjurer, summoning and defensive casting feats.
We have played with this build two times.. Once we went from lvl 1 to 14.. The other from lvl 1 to 6.. The second time we wiped because of major traps and stuck in a dungeon with no opportunity for rest.
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Urban Ranger - Switch Hitter, Secondary Healer
Battle Oracle - Melee & Main Healer (focus on buffs & Summons w/sacred summon)
I want to say Wizard, but truthfully, with fewer party members you'll A) have more turns per combat, B) burn up more spells per combat, so I'd have to say Sorceror, maybe with the Sylvan Bloodline to gain an Animal companion for back up melee. Spell selection is going to have to focus on offense and control or the party will get overwhelmed. Need to be able to drop opponents quickly. For this campaign, I'd rather have a wizard, because there are lots of goodies for them in it, but with limited options you do the best you can with what you have.
The party should pool together to get the Sorceror & Oracle scrolls that are not actual spell list but will be needed throughout the adventure. Make sure the ranger gets a CL wand early on, as well as the Oracle. Advise them to stealth when possible, as the last thing they will need is to string encounters.