You guys need a healer.
I don't know kingmaker but I hate that myth. If someone has UMD the problem is non-existant.
A dwarven cleric would work well. I played a dwarven earth wizard in a KM campaign, and he was well on his way to building some fine dwarven stoneworks before the group broke up. It's a pity there weren't better defined rules for kingdom building at the time, but I think there is a new kingdom building book that would improve that adventure path a great deal.
OK, I am new to Pathfinder. What does UMD stand for? Why would a group not want a healer?
Aldori Swordlord + take the campaigne trait: Sword Scion
(nice "storry"-character for the kingmaker campaigne)
Rageprophet (Barbarian: Invulnarable Rager & Urban Barbarian + Oracle of Life or Battle)
(Fighter & Healer)
Dragon Disciple (Sorcerer: Crossblooded)
(Nice allrounder)
A Harrower (Bard) or a Paladin could be a good option, too.
--> Take a look in this thread, too: Guide to the class guides
Why would a group not want a healer?
Every group wants a healer, but the most groups don´t realy need them.
More fighter => shorter combat => lower healing needed
==> Some groups take a staff / wand of healing and not a healer AND more Fighters.
The ranger is already a "healer": If there was one thing I learned from PFS is that every character should get their own wand(s) of healing.
It works out fine as long as you have either someone with the spell on their list. Or at least someone with UMD. For healing during combat drink a potion.
My replacement character in Kingmaker was a Dwarven Inquisitor. And he was doing nicely. Sadly the game fell apart.
I would recommend Bard, but not dervish dancer. With that much ranged and melee capacity, Inspire Courage will be a huge force-multiplier. A face is very important in this campaign, from what I've read. A bard will also be able to use wands of cure light wounds without making time-consuming checks. You probably also need a skill monkey, and bards are the number 1 skill monkeys. If you want to have more to do in combat than inspire courage and shoot arrows or use a weapon, you can take the Sound Striker archetype which lets you burn rounds of performance to do damage.
Another option is Oracle. Healing is helpful, though technically not 100% necessary, especially among inexperienced players. Oracles make excellent faces as well. There are mysteries that let you focus on knowledge and skills, on melee, on healing, on blasting, on battlefield control and on buffing.
Every Kingmaker game should have at least one small PC.
You guys need a healer.I don't know kingmaker but I hate that myth. If someone has UMD the problem is non-existant.
Not really; Early levels are the time when you both need healing the most, and when Wand of Cure Light Wounds is prohibitively expensive (and I'm not sure about Kingmaker, but in my experience, most APs are under WBL for loot, so it might even be Prohibitively expensive for longer than normal, not to mention that based on what I know of the early part of the game, you're SOL for places to get supplies beyond a couple small towns or trading posts; Never played the AP, so I may be wrong, but it's what I've heard). It's not as important as some people make it out to be, but the problem isn't "non-existent"
You want to have as many "good" ability scores across the party as possible, as well as every skill covered. If the magus is going dex-based (pretty common), then that is 2-3 characters going dex primary, with the 2h fighter going strength primary, and the ranger probably having strength secondary. The chances are very high that charisma will be very low on all those characters, and it definitely would be wise to have at least one person have mid to high charisma.
You will also want someone with good wisdom, which is why people have suggested cleric. I agree bard would probably be the best overall choice, since having someone with good knowledge skills will be especially useful.
In short, the party is sorely lacking in a "support role" character. Often under-appreciated, but always welcome. For the part of KM I played, combat was fairly common, but there was a LOT of non-combat encounters to resolve. Also, don't forget that the adventure path is called KINGmaker for a reason.
Bard or Oracle would definitely be good fits with this group. Bard in particularly could prove to be a lot of fun if you really get into your character.
Wow, the game sure has changed. I had never known about divine spells being in wands. It certainly does make the Use Magic Device skill more useful. I have already learned something from this thread.
So, my buddy is running a Kingmaker Campaign that I get to step into.
Take 2-3 concepts (from here) and ask the other players what which you should take.
Ask them which skills/ languages / feats / spells / magic items / ... they have and take what is needed.
You guys need a healer.I don't know kingmaker but I hate that myth. If someone has UMD the problem is non-existant.
Well, you need a healer.
I hate that some people take buying magic items for granted. And even if you could, Kingmaker takes place in the wilderness. There is no civilization; you are supposed to bring civilization to the area. Where do you want to buy the items, behind the next tree? Restov is more than 100 miles away.
I'm in a Kingmaker game with a Cavalier using a Lance and he seems to be having fun. He ended up taking a small size character with a medium sized mount. We are almost 5, and he is waiting on Ride-By Attack, which should be a great boost to his combat ability.
I would also think a druid could be a good fit for your group and the setting.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As written, Kingmaker is the most crafting-friendly AP I've ever seen. You have your base of operations and you know you're going to be in the area. Sometimes months can pass where you can concentrate on crafting, research, etc. And I would imagine, since you're building a kingdom, you can attract the sort of NPC's that can help out or even do some of those tasks for hire. The magic items that are a part of the Economy rolls have to come from somewhere, right? So you an likely customize your items to facilitate any perceived gap your party might have... if not in other campaigns, definitely in Kingmaker, as written.
I'm running a Kingmaker campaign for a couple of years now. There has never been a cleric in the party except for one NPC for one very quick "escort" task very early on. They've had to pay out of pocket for some Restorations and Raises at a relatively close major city but, for the most part, they've gotten on very well.
More important than healers, in Kingmaker, you need outdoorsy types (Rangers, Druids), horses (or other mounts), and at least one Perception Monkey (the guy who spots the ambush, finds the ruins hidden within the dense forest, sniffs out the trolls, etc.).
And SMARTS! Its a sandbox! My players had a troll encounter at 1st level. You can end up facing your own Kobiyashi Maru several times over and you can't necessarily pull a Kirk every time. That's just how it goes. DO NOT ASSUME THERE IS A SAFE WAY OUT OF EVERY ENCOUNTER! In fact, assume there isn't long before you get into one.
And SMARTS! Its a sandbox! My players had a troll encounter at 1st level. You can end up facing your own Kobiyashi Maru several times over and you can't necessarily pull a Kirk every time. That's just how it goes. DO NOT ASSUME THERE IS A SAFE WAY OUT OF EVERY ENCOUNTER! In fact, assume there isn't long before you get into one.
Hehe, I agree... in the Kingmaker Campaign I run, I remember the players encountering a
You guys need a healer.I don't know kingmaker but I hate that myth. If someone has UMD the problem is non-existant.Well, you need a healer.
I hate that some people take buying magic items for granted. And even if you could, Kingmaker takes place in the wilderness. There is no civilization; you are supposed to bring civilization to the area. Where do you want to buy the items, behind the next tree? Restov is more than 100 miles away.
While I agree with the sentiment that one should not take magic items for granted (in fact I tend not to consider magic items when considering builds for a PC I'm playing), I do think that parties can survive without a healer. Now, that doesn't mean that those parties can operate just the same was as a "standard" party, but they can survive. There might be encounters that require a healthy dose of Brave Sir Robin, and there might be encounters that require a different approach than normal, but if the players are creative, most any party can be made to work.
The main problems will lie within the first adventure if there is not a healer. By the time the second adventure gets rolling, the party should have the funds to head to Restov. It might still be a bit lean though until the 3rd adventure. I'd certainly advise the party to hoard their money if they are planning on going the wand route for all their healing.
I'm not gonna say you should play a clone of my ongoing Kingmaker character, but there might be some elements you might want to borrow.
Half-Orc ranger1/clericX of Erastil (Animal & Plant domains)
He started as a cleric, took a level of ranger, went back to cleric.
Concept feats:
Keen Scent (or or half-orc only feat, grants Scent, VERY useful)
Boon Companion (improves animal companion granted by Animal Domain)
He can't do it all, but he can do a lot. He can heal, casts spells, tracks, is reasonably stealthy, can channel vs. undead, is an okay if not spectacular combatant (with a bow), and his animal companion is the second most effective combatant in our party (due to a high BAB/CMB and the Trip ability). His Darksight and Scent abilities also make him extremely hard to surprise.
He wouldn't be a terrible PC in most campaigns, but his half-orc heritage and wilderness focus would count against him quite a bit. In Kingmaker, he shines. Keep in mind that until relatively late in the Kingmaker AP, your character will be spending the great majority of his or her time in the wild. You probably don't want to make anyone too citified.
Zen archer cleric?
Monk 2 or 4 and druid levels?
Paladin?
Kingmaker is also one of the most mount friendly games, so anything that can charge might be amazing!
|
|
Zen archer cleric?
Monk 2 or 4 and druid levels?
Paladin?
Kingmaker is also one of the most mount friendly games, so anything that can charge might be amazing!
Yeah... the paladin in my game is very mounted-combat-oriented... to the point where he goes to extremes (and takes full advantage of his ability to call his mount) to even take it in the few dungeon-ish sites the party has had to explore/clear.
I give the players with Animal Companions a lot of slack wrt controlling them...
Maybe too much...
There is a lot of wilderness exploration in Kingmaker. More time outdoors than just about any AP.
So I'm going to add +1 to druid. I know you said you're not comfortable with casters, but if you are at all open to trying...There are a few ways to play them so take a look at the two excellent druid guides here:
Class Guides
Basically you need to focus on one or two of... being a caster (probably not your favorite), transforming into beasts, a guy with a great animal companion, or an animal summoner.
You can always do some of the other things. But its good to have a favorite you focus on. So you could be a great combat shapeshifter-- that also knows a few helpful spells.
I know you're not comfortable with casters... but I've kind of always wanted to play a necromancer cleric, not an evil one, just one who is very pragmatic and sees no point in letting anything go to waste. Okay so maybe he's a bit off in the head. Anyways Hanspur is a deity that features in the River Kingdoms, and he's the deity i had picked out for this concept since he's very pragmatic, he has Death as a domain, and he's of a neutral alignment (meaning I can take Versatile Channeler so I can help heal between fights) This kind of character calls for a high CHA so that will help with party "face" needs. A halfling or gnome would be a perfect fit.
Heh, well with those stats, you'll be able to play anything you want. :)
Yeah, with great stats like that you'd be able to play a character that's ordinarily difficult-- a monk. Cuz he needs several good stats.
But Monks are hard to build well.
The exception is the Zen Archer. Follow the guide for the Zen Archer and you will easily do awesome damage. (you might easily outshine your archer ranger buddy.)
I don't know much about summoners tho. You'll have to look elsewhere for guidance on that.
With those stats, go Bard and with your mastery of literary and narrative elements and construction, you could rule the world!