I'm a brand new DM about to start up Legacy of fire with some of my gaming buddies who are generally pretty experienced with tabletop gaming but relatively inexperienced with RPGs. I've played a lot of DnD as a PC but not as a DM before and I've always played in balanced parties (ie tank, stabby guy, spellcaster and healer). I'm a bit worried with how the party's line up is so far. We've got a half-orc monk, a drow swashbuckler (type of rogue), a gnome summoner, another guy who's leaning towards rogue or ranger and a final guy who I have no idea about yet (not sure if he knows either).
I'm just a bit worried that we're going to be creating a group with a really high damage output but not much else. We really need a healer of some sorts but I don't want to make people take a cleric or anything like that as I want them to make characters they're going to enjoy. If worst comes to worst I'll roll up an NPC healer of some sort to tag along with them but do you think they'll struggle through the campaign with this line up?
The final thing to ask is that the guy who's leaning towards rogue/ranger has a lot of really cool ideas for his character as he's really into fantasy writing but I'm not sure how to incorporate them. The main thing is that he wants his character to have the ability to spontaneously craft tiny golems out of anything he picks up. He also wants to be skilled and dextrous when he fights, which is why we were thinking rogue or ranger, and also good at talking his way out of sticky situations.
No need for a Cleric or anything of that sort; the Summoner or Rogue can easily take ranks in Use Magic Device and buy a Wand of Cure Light Wounds. They can even start the game with one if they take the Rich Parents trait. Between a Monk, a Rogue, and another Rogue/Ranger, you should also have plenty of noncombat skills covered.
Not sure about the spontaneously crafting tiny golems; the standard way of creating golems, Craft Construct, takes a long time to qualify for, takes time to use, and costs gold to use.
EDIT: To give you an idea of how strong the ability to animate random objects at will is, casters finally get a spell to do that at eleventh level, and even then it lasts only just over a minute. A Cleric of the Artifice subdomain can acquire this ability at eighth level, but it will still take you a long time. I'd be very surprised if a low-level at-will version existed.
Cool, thanks for the help!
Agreed, it's actually a fairly good party. You might not have a person who can cast Cure Light Wounds during battle, but if that's NEEDED you're party is in bigger trouble.
I'd caution you as a new GM on the summoner character. Combat can slow down IMMENSELY as they start summoning lots of critters.
You're monk shouldn't be getting hit regularly, the Summoner should be in the back lines, you're swashbuckler should also be pretty nimble, and the rogue/ranger guy sounds like he wants to be in the back as well (maybe with a bow?).
Maybe you can talk you're final person into playing an Alchemist...they can go down the item crafting route, and supply all the potions the party will ever need! Plus his bombs will begin to put effects into play, such as being able to nauseate a target or hold them in place (tanglefoot bomb).
If they're clever about reflavoring, they could always use spells like Prestidigitation and Mage Hand and Unseen Servant to simulate the artificial golems. The golems won't be functional, but they'll at least be able to make objects dance around. If they also want to be a skilled and dexterous fighter, Magus might be a nice option.
And I'll second being careful about the Summoner. The Summoner and Eidolon have very long, fiddly rules that can trip up even experienced players, and getting multiple turns each round can really slow the game down. Honestly, I think it's quite sensible for brand-new GMs to ban them outright; learn to walk before you run and all that.
Honestly, the fifth player can play anything that strikes their fancy and the party will be in good shape.