We're powering through the Second Darkness AP right now and our foursome has really turned out spectacularly well... so much so that we want to give these same characters a shot at Rise of the Runelords, arguably the toughest AP out there. However, its looking like we're going to add a fifth member to our party and while th eplayer himself just loves playing, he's not one for character design. I've offered him one of my own and he's excited to play it, but the question becomes which one? He has no set preference, so I thought I might some to boards and ask a few thousand of my closest friends for their opinions.
First off, the four-man party as it exists now:
Ohlmin, Elven Void Mage and Spellbinder - the guy's so smart that half the time the rest of the party doesn't know what he's talking about, which is fine as he tends to get lost in his own little worlds from time to time... he focuses on using his potent Reveal Weakness ability to bring BBEG's low, using Blindness, Pit Spells and Suffocation for most of his offense and control.
Tomas, Half-Elven Summoner - the older of the two twins by a full minute, he's the closest thing to a full martial we have. He focuses on supporting his Eidolon in combat until the middling levels when it gets large enough for him to use as a mount when the opportunity presents itself. The Orc Bloodline via Eldritch heritage feats really compliments his aggressive nature.
Tsara, Half-Elven Master Summoner - the twins' ancestral magic manifested in different ways for the two of them... her eidolon is a smaller and stealthier version of her brother's, serving primarily as a scout and look-out. Her real strength is supporting her brother in combat by summoning hordes of creatures ideally suited for whatever threat looms largest.
Gaidal, Human Arcane Duelist - the party's primary buffer, healer and face, the guy is no slouch in combat either with both a bonded weapon and a bonded shield. In combat he usually either serves as a second line of defense for Ohlmin and Tsara, targets rival casters or teams up with the Wizard to land lock-down charms and enchantments.
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Alright, to this crew we've narrowed it down to the following candidates:
Bartimus, Halfling Archeologist - originally designed as an NPC that could serve as the GM's 'mouth', Bartimus would be a Sandpoint resident and acquaintances with Ameiko. He is a Thassilonian scholar, gifted with languages and exceptionally good at detecting and thwarting the kinds of traps the ancients left behind to guard their ruins. the upside is that he'll provide an array of needed skills as well as some additonal healing, the downside being that he's almost worthless in combat.
Drummond, Dwarven Ranger (Infiltrator) - another good RP option, Drummond has been written as a local woodsman and guide who's got a century-old beef with the giants of the region. He's a two-weapon wielder and has a massive Timberwolf as an animal companion. He's got nice flavor and would give the party their only full martial... to be honest my only hesitation is that I don't really like the coupling of an AC along with an eidolon or two and a plethora of summoned creatures.
Salazar, Tiefling Paladin (Oath of Vengeance, Oath Against Fiends) - the hardest to kill character I've ever made and the quintessential tank, Salazar loads up on Extra Lay on Hands and uses them to fuel a variety of abilities. He'll provide a stalwart on the front lines and some additional healing as well. His backstory is very compelling, but I'm not sure its ideally suited for this AP. He also has no real skills to speak of - pure combat monster who's equally adept in melee or at range.
Kit-Kat, Human Archer - her real name is Kithra Katsil but its such a mouthful she's shortened it to something easier to pronounce. Something of a tomboy (and a specialized build that uses a couple of levels of Urban Barbarian, 12 levels of Weapon Master and eventually some Wizard and Arcane Archer as well), she is an absolute artillery platform in combat. Probably the highest damage character I've ever created, and at range to boot.
Sze-Suin, Kitsune Sorcerer (Fey Bloodline) - not really a damage hound, Sze-suin (pronounced zay-SWAN) is being written as an adopted member of a Scarzi family, one traded around for her 'special talents' and quite ready to be rid of that life. She's desperate to keep her Kitsune heritage a secret and her powers of manipulation and control are without equal.
Sooo... who gets your vote and why? I'm really stuck here and the player is being absolutely no help as he likes them all.
the archer, she'll be the most useful in the long term. She also gives something the party does't have and wont step on toes, and she could switch hit if she had to.
Second on the Archer, you've got the Eidolon's for melee.
I ran Kingmaker with a player who was a Ranger archer specialist and he was murder, half the enemies didn't make it to melee range.
DBH
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I'd say no on the Kitsune, since she's doubling up what Gaidal is doing.
The Paladin is the next out. The oath against Fiends isn't going to come up much and the Tiefling thing might be a little odd in Sandpoint.
The ranger could be brutal with the right favored enemies but I agree with the others about doubling up melee roles.
For RP I really like the bard. I think the AP flows well when someone in the party is really into Thassilon. He is, however, doubling up on the Face's job and so maybe is better left as a tagalong expert or resource in town.
Archers are indeed brutal, but you might need that in certain encounters. Another possible option would be to make Shalelu into a PC. She has lots of tie into the story (though it sounds like your other NPCs do too) and fills that archer role.
Would someone care to explain why a post asking for advice on party members for a Rise of the Runelords game got moved to Second Darkness? Somebody's getting a little too quick on the trigger - I mean it was pretty clearly spelled out in the first sentence of the post.
I'm still trying to figure out what the AP general discussion forum is for if not for discussing the AP's in general...