We're putting together a party for this, hoping to get into it after our Wrath of the Righteous run (plenty of time since iron whatever doesn't interest any of us) and, hooray, I get to play this time instead of running it!
So, after chatting and doing a little preliminary planning, this is what we're looking at, assuming the AP runs to 17th level (I'll spare you the RP backgrounds):
Human 15th level Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager & Urban Barbarian) / 1st level Fighter (Unbreakable Fighter) / 1st level Living Monolith - Reach weapon wielder, Bardiche probably, with very high DR and the ability to Enlarge himself 3/day as a swift action. Basically a Barbarian Tank with a swath of Knowledge skills.
Halfling 13th level Bard (Archeologist) / 2nd level Fighter (Lore Warden) / 2nd level Halfling Opportunist - Archer, scout and trapfinder with some healing and miscellaneous useful spells.
Aasimar 15th level Bard (Dervish of Dawn) / 2nd level Fighter (Lore Warden) - Major offensive threat to compliment the Barbarian with face skills and some healing.
Half-Elven 17th level Wild Caller - Monster of an Eidolon that resembles a giant scorpion which may eventually be used as a mount. Summoner is built like a melee combatant with a reach weapon to compliment his eidolon but will have both offensive and useful spells as well.
Now all of these characters will be moderately optimized and should be very effective in their roles - I expect a lot of damage from this group right out of the chute... but the biggest source of concern for us is the relative lack of healing, both when it comes to hit points and things like ability damage, poison, disease, etc. We figure with the Barbarian's DR and the Eidolon running interference for the group, the two Bards should be able to keep our hit points adequately replenished but I just don't know.
What do you think - is it a big concern or should we be able to handle it with what we have? Are there any other areas we might be lacking in?
That looks like a good party. None of your party can cast remove disease though, and I'm willing to bet there will be a good number of mummies over the course of this AP...
That looks like a good party. None of your party can cast remove disease though, and I'm willing to bet there will be a good number of mummies over the course of this AP...
Yeah, our philosophy tends to be to kill or incapacitate things quickly rather than have prolonged fights which require more healing, but the 'side' threats like poison, disease and ability drain are a concern. Both Bards are planning on taking UMD though, so that might help...
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If its going to be a while before you guys are playing this campaign I would recommend holding off on character decisions. The Advanced Class Guide should hopefully be out before you guys play and who knows how those classes will have changed from the playtest. It may be that one of those classes better fit the theme/RP Background you guys have in mind for your characters.
With the above party I think you have already hit the nail on the head for most of what would be problematic. Though I can add it does look like there is also a distinct lack of decent swarm fighting techniques (area effect sorcerer/wizard spells or alchemist bombs). If the Mummy movies taught us anything its that swarms of scarabs are just lying around waiting to devour tomb explorers.
If its going to be a while before you guys are playing this campaign I would recommend holding off on character decisions. The Advanced Class Guide should hopefully be out before you guys play and who knows how those classes will have changed from the playtest. It may be that one of those classes better fit the theme/RP Background you guys have in mind for your characters.
With the above party I think you have already hit the nail on the head for most of what would be problematic. Though I can add it does look like there is also a distinct lack of decent swarm fighting techniques (area effect sorcerer/wizard spells or alchemist bombs). If the Mummy movies taught us anything its that swarms of scarabs are just lying around waiting to devour tomb explorers.
Now the thought of that just gives me the willies... *shudder*
We just like to gameplan our characters ahead of time - it gets us excited about the AP, keeps us committed to the group. Its a living document, though, nothing etched in stone.
Case in point - I was the one who was going to run the Dervish and now I'm seriously rethinking it. The Summoner, eidolon and Barbarian should be more than enough to handle front-line duties so I'm thinking of running a Cleric instead, one my husband designed for Slumbering Tsar but was never used. I figure an Evangelist taking the Glory-Heroism Domain will let me load up on buffs the group can use, will give me access to strong 'face' abilities and open up those healing spells we know we're lacking. Offensively I'll use Sacred Summons and eventually a little 'bad touch' action with Planshift as a perfected spell.
As an aside, I don't think anyone in our group is going to be taking advantage of those 'hybrid' classes any time soon.
You probably want to run a cleric in this campaign. I'm 2 sessions in and my players have had to clear 3 diseases and 8 total ability score damage points due to poison. And that was just level 1-2. And yes, you need to deal with swarms.
Also, don't forget to tell the other bard player that he can take the campaign trait for trapfinding instead of being stuck with archaeologist.
1) Swarms.
2) Diseases, poisons, etc...
3) it also sound like it might be Undeads Heavy.