We're likely to have a three person party, one person is likely to play a Witch who debuffs and can do a bit of healing. The other person seems to want to play a Ranger who is more focused on archery. We will be rolling for stats (and won't have any particularly low ones likely to compensate for a three person party).
What sort of build would you suggest could fill in some other needed roles like battlefield control, close combat, and the like? Should I advise one of the others to try different classes so this isn't as much of a stretch?
Summoner with eidolon as the tank, maybe. Either that, or Druid with a pet to tank.
I like the idea of playing a Druid, since I could add some nice flavor from a cold-based archetype and a cold-based animal companion. I've also never played either class, so it'd be a nice exercise for me.
Seeing you've only three players, I'd say a Druid with a bear or the like would be quite useful. Alternatively, if you can play an effective (but not stupid) paladin, you could do a Halfling Paladin with a dog mount at 5th level (and perhaps a regular riding dog before then).
However, you could also go for a melee fighter... or even go exotic and go Gunslinger (especially as Book 5 has a big wet sloppy kiss for gunslingers). Part of that depends on the Ranger - if he's doing an animal companion at level 4, then you might not need one as much.
For the short term, however, I'd say Druid is the most effective means of filling a melee hole and provide extra spellcasting and healing.
Many creatures have weakness to fire, any type of fire specialist would do very well in this AP.
I am looking into playing the Arctic Druid archetype, especially for the ability at level four that gives me constant endure elements for cold climates. If not that archetype then I would like to go Human with the Heart of the Snows alternate trait for a similar effect.
I also like the World Walker archetype, since I could get some nice bonuses from having Cold as a favored terrain. Menhir Savant might help too since the constant creature detection would help, especially since I expect fey, outsiders and ethereal beings will be fought. The other abilities are cool too.
I like how gripplis look and I think in a more swamp-oriented setting I'd be more tempted to play one.
An interesting catch on the Gnome resistance Hoplophobia. The stat modifiers don't fit too well for me though. In a three man group moreso I want to make my Druid pretty effective (though not overly optimized of course).
However the weaker wildshape for Arctic Druid seems a little iffy...
Ok, so we may be letting in another person, so I'm wondering what sort of class would be effective for him to choose?
We now have a Druid (with animal companion), Witch (focused more on debuffing and such) and a Ranger (focused on ranged combat).
I think either a Cleric or Oracle would cover a lot of possible remaining bases.
I'd actually suggest either a Gunslinger (as they get a chance to shine in Book 5) or a Sorcerer/Wizard with a strong Evocative theme. Of course, a Barbarian could also shine in this environment.
That said? Talk to the player. See what he is interested in. He might want to play a rogue (or ninja). Or might be interested in a Paladin (and the Warpriest from the current playtest could be of interest). Don't push him into the role that you think is needed. Let him choose for himself.
I wanted to get a fair opinion before going into the conversation. He actually is expressing interest in playing Barbarian, particularly an older concept of one he didn't get to explore in another game he played. A nice strong Barbarian near is certainly not a bad thing.
I was actually in the group with that Barbarian and my Fighter was quite attached to him, lol.
While a lot of people love using two weapons, I'd suggest he go with a barbarian wielding a two-handed weapon instead. I know that in my Runelords group the barbarian is absolutely horrifying to the enemy and regularly does +20 hit points damage per hit, before the die-roll (though her character is also at 8th level so....)
A barbarian along the "superstitious / caster killer" path would be strong in this AP.