A wizard, a cleric, a summoner, and a ninja walk into a dungeon...
If it sounds like the start of a joke, it is. It's not a very funny one. None of us can hit. Buffing all day can only do so much with limited resources. It really does help to have a full BAB fellow to iron things out.
That said, my cleric is very martial (and I'm swapping it to Oracle because I can't stands preparing spells no more!) and in theory SHOULD be able to hit, I don't (yet) have the full resources to pull that off.
While I am converting from a Cleric of Gorum to a Battle Oracle of Gorum (Wasting curse, full weapon and armor prof, weapon focuses in Greatsword, Diehard, Many initiative rolls) and I should be BETTER at taking the front line, it has yet to be seen.
One of the players has suggested that we have some sort of swappable characters. As in, at the start of the day at the time you may prepare spells, you also prepare character. So I could swap my Cleric come Oracle for, say, my Ranger or Cavalier.
It's an interesting idea, to be sure. I think it comes with more unintended consequences than we see at the moment.
In terms of advice, has anyone done something like this before? If we didn't need healing so damn badly I wouldn't have been a bloody cleric in the first place and would stick with my usual Full BAB. Oracle seems a compromise, but it is still a compromise. Has anyone used these backup characters before?
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I did a REALLY long time ago for a 2nd edition Dark Sun game. I don't care for it. No one character advances quickly because everyone splits XP. It also doesn't promote roleplay because you are swapping between different characters so often that it's harder to get into any one role.
If you want to have full BAB and heal, you could always go Paladin.
If your play style is "find a monster, kill the monster, loot the monster, find another monster" then the character swapping is a great idea. You'll always have a perfect team for monster killing.
But if your play style actually includes roleplaying, and getting into character, and exploring adventures that are tailored to your specific characters; abilities, personalities, and goals, then it probably won't work for you.
I wish Paladin was an option. I suppose we're also seeing the mechanical disadvantages of evil aligned characters in a party; no or weaker healing.