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In an ideal world, you have a balanced party that covers all your bases (Melee, Arcane, Divine, Skills, etc)...but sometimes you make do with what your table can muster that day.
I once played a 4-person table with 2 Musket Masters and 2 Monks. One monk would flurry the best he could while the other would grapple targets for the Musket Masters to shoot at. Near TPK in 2 encounters due to misfires and a negative channeling cleric!
Another 4-person table was a Musket Master, a Zen Archer, an Arcane Archer and pre-gen Kyra. While the ZA could occasionally tank thanks to high AC and Point Blank Master, it was simply easier--and more hilarious--to watch each person say "I 5' step back and full attack (focus fire target)" for several combats. The scenario was steamrolled.
What were some unusual party make ups you played and how did it work out?
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Over here, we seem to wind up with parties with multiples of the same class.
We have an unofficial Team Elf Rogue in our area. It consists of an elf rogue, an elf rogue/wizard, and a half-elf inquisitor/rogue/shadowdancer. It works surprisingly well: the half-elf has bane, stealths like crazy, and has points in every skill but Fly, the full rogue provides damage output and focused skills, and the wizard does ranged attacks.
Last game we played had three rangers. None of whom had favored enemy (human), which is the standard here (there's a running joke that all Finnish PFS rangers are sociopaths).
Oh, and our now-level-12 party that's been going since Season 0 doesn't have an arcane caster, other than the monk who dipped one level of sorcerer. We've spent years with a party that has a high Int score of 12.
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The most unusual party I've ever played in consisted of:
-Witch (x2)
-Sorcerer
-Rogue/Barbarian
-Cleric
-Sorcerer/Bard/Fighter/Dragon Disciple
Sure, it looks balanced, but you don't know these guys... This group is unusual not because of the characters that make up the party, but because of the lunatics playing them!
Our group jumped the rails in each and every part of the set. While we saw no outward signs tears, I'm pretty sure our GM was crying a little inside.
And we weren't even trying...
I was once part of a party that consisted of three Barbarians (none of whom would call themselves 'barbarians'*) and a pyromaniac gnome sorcerer. Things exploded.
* a Tian human swordsman (me), an aged dwarven ex-cleric of Torag, and a Barbarian/Ragechemist who emphasized his Alchemist side
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Another interesting (and wildly successful) party I saw was actually one I GM'd for at a local con.
A barbarian, a wizard, a fighter, and a sorcerer all walked into Bloodcove, and...
Nobody died. The Barbarian was incredibly diplomatic. The casters ran out of spells, but still continued to meaningfully contribute. It was amazing.
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I recently played a scenario in which we encountered a greater elemental with DR 10/- and ~150 hit points. We had my TWF thrown weapon fighter (who was one scenario away from Clustered Shots), two TWF rogues, and a gunslinger. We only survived because one of the rogues used a higher CL wand of fireball.
I’m signed up for Price of Friendship this coming Sunday and we have three Rangers (5, 6 & 7) and one Oracle 8. I’m hoping that won’t be an issue, and that it might be a Life Oracle.
We still have a couple days yet and two slots to fill, so hopefully we’ll get a bit more variety.
Venture-Captain, Florida—Orlando
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We did Wrath's Shadow with an Evoker, a Witch (made for debuffs), a Celestial Sorcerer, and an Inquisitor of Shelyn. O_0
However, the Inq had a glaive and we Enlarged Person a few times, blinded and debuffed Sinspawn, and evoked the hell outta everything else.
We made it through even the BBEG at the end without causalities but I think we used every possible resource. It was actually a lot of fun.
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I haven't had any truly outrageous groupings. I used to mostly play with the same regular group, and we intentionally created characters that worked well together. Nowadays, I play with a lot more random groups at public games, but I have a lot of low level PCs, so I can frequently choose to play whatever the group needs most.
One of my most interesting tables when it comes to PC balance would be a game GMed by the original poster of this thread. It was a high skill scenario, but there were still a couple of fights. We had my bard, a rogue, a sorcerer, and 3 barbarians, all at level 1, I think. So no divine caster, and my bard with a CLW wand was the closest thing we had to a healer.
The barbarians seemed worthless in the skill-heavy sections at the beginning of the scenario, where the rest of us excelled, especially my bard. Then we got to the combats, and they just mauled the bad guys quickly, while my bard sat around tapping people with a CLW wand and didn't even bother drawing a weapon. It was one of those situations where it seemed like bringing 3 barbarians was a bad idea, but it ended up working out perfectly.
There was another time where I don't remember the exact party balance for the rest of the group, but I remember playing a cleric at a level 1 table with another cleric who was nearly identical to mine. We were both clerics of Desna with the Luck and Travel domains, and Selective Channeling as our first feat. I would have switched to a different PC for variety, but we were all playing new level 1 PCs with no wands of CLW, so I figured having two support/healer clerics might be necessary, just for quantity of channels and cure spells.
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Going to be playing Waking Rune on hard mode with a barbarian, ranger, eldritch knight, bloatmage, sorcerer, and a bard. Should be interesting...
It's doable. Our table makeup had a lot of nay-sayers because our melee was an alchemist and a magus. Play with what you got and spend a lot on consumables. Good luck!
Developer
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A party of four clerics is a powerhouse of destruction at any level. Skills might be a bit of an issue though.This was the first time i've seen a table with 4 of the same class. That happed often?
At one game day in Georgia we decided to do a "Bard Night," in which everyone had to play a bard of some type. We had melee bards, spell bards, skill bards, and generally versatile bards. The scenarios were all ones that involved heavy roleplaying (I ran a table of Frostfur Captives, there was a table of Murder on the Throaty Mermaid, and at least two others were happening). It was one of the wackier events, but I believe everyone had fun.
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The oddest table I've been in was three bards and two wizards, I think.
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At one game day in Georgia we decided to do a "Bard Night," in which everyone had to play a bard of some type. We had melee bards, spell bards, skill bards, and generally versatile bards. The scenarios were all ones that involved heavy roleplaying (I ran a table of Frostfur Captives, there was a table of Murder on the Throaty Mermaid, and at least two others were happening). It was one of the wackier events, but I believe everyone had fun.A party of four clerics is a powerhouse of destruction at any level. Skills might be a bit of an issue though.This was the first time i've seen a table with 4 of the same class. That happed often?
Tactical drinking with Goblins, Angry mobs hunting False Jadweega, a party cart and a paladin of Cayden Cailaen. Good times sir!
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** spoiler omitted **with a table of a witch, alchemist, ranger, and two druids. It was a bit of a walk for them. :P
A witch, alchemist, ranger, and two druids walk into a bar. Wait, no this isn't the Funniest PFS moments thread, never mind. Back to your business, nothing to see here. (walks quickly away whistling) :-)
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I just ran a scenario, taking place in a former Cathedral of Aroden, full of historical and religious significance, with a (tier 1-2) team of a ranger, a figher, a cavalier, a barbarian and two rogues (one of them halfling, the only non-human). No magic and the only knowledge skill among them was the situationally useless Nature. You can read more about it in the Funniest Moments thread.
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The most unusual party I've ever played in consisted of:
-Witch (x2)
-Sorcerer
-Rogue/Barbarian
-Cleric
-Sorcerer/Bard/Fighter/Dragon DiscipleSure, it looks balanced, but you don't know these guys... This group is unusual not because of the characters that make up the party, but because of the lunatics playing them!
** spoiler omitted **
If this was the group for Eyes of Ten of course you steam rolled it. It was built for a group of 4 with 6 you greatly outnumber the fights. i just finished the eyes on my cleric and our tank was a monk (with shield other cause i have 50 more health then the monk)
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If this was the group for Eyes of Ten of course you steam rolled it. It was built for a group of 4 with 6 you greatly outnumber the fights. i just finished the eyes on my cleric and our tank was a monk (with shield other cause i have 50 more health then the monk)The most unusual party I've ever played in consisted of:
-Witch (x2)
-Sorcerer
-Rogue/Barbarian
-Cleric
-Sorcerer/Bard/Fighter/Dragon DiscipleSure, it looks balanced, but you don't know these guys... This group is unusual not because of the characters that make up the party, but because of the lunatics playing them!
** spoiler omitted **
I said we broke it, not that we steamrolled it. Creative thinking and comedy-based shenanigans derailed things far, far, faster than anything else.
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Some folks around here ran Ruby Phoenix Tournament with four monks, each a different archtype. It was apparently the most fun they'd ever had.
The grup I'm going to be running Waking Rune for I currently, a grapple fighter, another fighter built for several different combat maneuvers, a ninja, a samurai, a bow fighter, and a gunslinger. I'm hoping we can wrangle a spellcaster from somewhere, or else they might have to get creative.