Sir Black-Knight |
Hello, I'm newer to the forum but have read a few post and was wondering if everyone here could help me decide on what to play in this party they appear to need a healer. I don't want to play healer however if its the best for the party I will. The Party is starting new and is Level 1 these are each character as portrayed by their player. Almost all books are aloud. 20 point buy. Regular Skills.
Inquisitor(TN)- A frontliner-type with a Greatsword and some heals plans on going with full-plate at some point.
Summoner(Unchained)(CN)- Focused on summoning and has a eidolon the can dish out the damage when needed, aswell as decent AC through buffs.
Wizard(Universalist)(NG)- A pacifist-of sorts, mostly non-damage spells. Commonly save-or-suck as well as some buffs. Main first level spells Color Spray, Sleep, Daze, Enlarge Person.
Bard(CN)- No Healing atm, focused on ranged damage and Inspire Courage.
Any thoughts on a well fitted fifth for this party, thanks in advance.
As for skills the Bard and Inquisitor seem to be covering the rogue skills together.
EDIT: If it matters the Gods worshipped in the party are....
Inquisitor- Gorum
Summoner- Grotues
Wizard- Shelyn
Bard- Calistria
Sir Black-Knight |
I considered Paladin as my first idea as well but with it kind-of stepping on the inquistor's role and not fitting the party alignment wise at all I would rather not go that route. The player playing the inquisitor seems to think the frontline will be covered bewteen him and the eidolon. Thanks for the input.
Snowblind |
The party looks pretty balanced as is. No glaring holes other than the lack of 9th level cleric casting, which isn't a deal breaker.
A cleric would slot in well here. It certainly doesn't need to be a healer - pick whatever playstyle you prefer and prepare the appropriate utility/status removel when you know you need it. Reach Tactics, Summoning, Bad touch, buffing, whatever you want. Any of it should work nicely.
Or just pick something else. Once again, it is possible to get by fine without a full-caster working off the cleric list. Druid or Shaman would give you some of the tools(human shaman can get cleric spells as a FCB), or you could just let the bard UMD cleric spells off a scroll(or do it yourself if you are Cha based). You could also play an oracle and get a mnemonic vestment or two so you can just cast whatever narrow utility you need 1 or 2 times a day. Or play something completely different like a barbarian.
Just in case you didn't know, what you really want to do as far as healing goes is use CLW wands, Infernal Healing wands or Healing Hex+Hex vulnerability (if you play a Witch, Shaman or Hexcrafter Magus and pick up Healing Hex) outside combat and avoid any healing inside combat unless it is an emergency. A good use of buffs, debuffs and BFC can eliminate most incoming damage, and does so with far fewer spells spent than trying to counteract damage with healing.
SmiloDan RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 |
Honestly, it looks like you got a lot of the bases covered.
Eidolon and Inquisitor to tank.
Inquisitor and Bard to heal, even if they need wands.
Everyone is a spellcaster.
Wizard and Bard is buffing, and Summoner is providing summoned flankers.
The Summoner's summoned flankers are also battlefield control.
Bard is doing ranged.
Bard and Inquisitor and even the Wizard have lots of skills.
Bard and Inquisitor can face.
You might be a little lacking on condition removal, but you can get scrolls and wands for that.
You lack trapfinding, but that's no biggie.
It looks like any class you play would contribute to this group, as they are already really well balanced and diverse.
Maybe a ranged specialist? You might need an Area of Effect provider if the wizard doesn't use blasting spells.
Maybe a funky oracle? You could select a Mystery for your play style (Battle for tanking, Flames for blasting, Lore for saging, etc.) and just fall back on spontaneous cures if they're needed. Shamans look fun too, mostly because Hexes are fun. Druids are SUPER versatile and can provide emergency healing in a pinch, too. I played an elf druid archer that was pretty fun in 3.5, and the animal companion can be another tank/flank buddy.
A paladin might be fun. If you don't play it "Lawful Stupid" it can be fun trying to "redeem" the CN types. Play it more like Captain America, can't we all just work together for the common good, go team! You could be a friendly rival to the inquisitor, and while Judgments can bring their virtual BAB up to par, especially when boosted by a bard too, a real Full BAB might be really useful!
Writer |
Maybe a Spell Warrior Skald going archer? It provides bonuses that will stack with the bards but doesn't prevent spell casting. You can get spells, skills, awesome skald healing, and can double up on the buffs to make the party twice as awesome. Plus the song counts double with archers because you enchant the bows and the arrows (and its specifically called out as stacking with other enhancement bonuses).
N. Specter |
My solution to everything is to add an Alchemist. They work as glorious everymans in my opinion. Throw some bombs, deal a little healing, do some buffs, hulk out on mutagen, grow clones, all sorts of shenanigans. Plus they can use wands of cure light wounds automatically so even more healing! (Though as everyone has pointed out, got that covered)
Just be sure to pick up Precise Bombs ASAP, and Infusion as well. If you're looking for a supporter more than anything else, there are the Chiurgen and Trap Breaker archetypes though I have personally never tried them out.
They are easily my favorite class and I cannot recommend them enough.
Dorian 'Grey' |
I would second the Alchemists.
Grenadier archtype grants you precise bombs for free, plus alchemical weapon is really fun.
There are some really good battlefield control discoveries for your bombs.
Max out your Int and have a decent Dex.
Mutagen is great self buff, and the normal ranged feats will help, along with splash weapon mastery.
A really wacky and fun class to play.
I agree, it's my favorite class too.
Orfamay Quest |
There's actually a Party Composition tool available at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eqpOWFUXAX-Mb3yKA2TiDERXpZHjmeArMuS MPmb5LX0/edit#gid=0
Barring that.... have you any archers? In particular, an archer CLERIC might get you away from the healbot role and give you the divine spells you are missing.
Blackwaltzomega |
Well, there's a couple things you could go for here.
A paladin might help round the party out by giving them a "point man"- someone who can take a metric ton of punishment while providing his own heals and laying down the law on things you need to go toe-to-toe with while bringing a number of useful auras and his own small selection of spells to the table. If you're able to swing a paladin in a non-lawful party-and it can be done-they're always great guys to have leading the charge or covering your back.
A Spell Warrior Skald, as mentioned above, does make for a potent combination. Roided up Eidolons are a force to be reckoned with, and an inquisitor with their buffs up is no slouch, either.
Alchemists are excellent all-rounders that can be built for pretty much any role you've got in mind.
Investigator could give you a good trap-buster/skill monkey who has the alchemist's spell list.
And a well-built barbarian can be a good nuclear option for making the enemy's HP total just disappear.
SmiloDan RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 |
If you're concerned about a LG teaming up with CN crazies, there are lots of roleplaying reasons to do so.
Family friends.
Bodyguard to a party member.
Ordered by the king/high priestess/mom
Hired by the same employer.
Stuck in the same situation: Shanghaied, escaped prisoners, trapped in a haunted house, monsters raiding the inn, etc.
Each had an associate (friend, family, frenemy) kidnapped by the same dragon/pirates/dragon pirates.
I played a LG scout with a CN aristocrat/bard, his CN gnome cleric/rogue, and a CN ranger/wizard/truespeaker. My scout was a loyal retainer to the aristocrat/bard's father, and was ordered to keep him (as) safe (as possible) while he adventured.
Charon's Little Helper |
Somewhat depends upon the campaign.
A stealthy guy could be handy - ninja/unchained rogue, or possibly a monk for a tanky stealth character (a monk's [especially dex monk - the best kind of monk] main weakness is accuracy - having a bard along pretty much fixes that, and flurry benefits more from buffing than THF - and a well build monk has no issues with both defense and being stealthy/acrobatic etc)
Go buff/battle cleric to stack the buffing to insane levels between you and the bard. (It gets lovely when everyone has +6 to hit/+5 damage/extra swing at level 7-8)