Help with Deciding Character

[Lucky Salamander]

I'm completely torn between two character concepts I have, and which class will better fit the party, my concepts are,

NG Samsaran Oracle of Bones mystery, found out the one of his past live's soul was stolen by a demon, which released to back into the material plane. Only now does he realize that his every action is already planned by the demon, and he tries desperately to change the future he saw.

LN Half-Orc Sorcerer of Shadow bloodline, once the chief of a fairly successful chiefdom of orcs, he was banished for ideas of the chiefdom becoming a full nation and abandon the tribal ways. A powerful Kyton Ruler promised him command of a nation much greater then his old one in return for only one thing, the soul of a powerful lich. The Kyton gave him a single seed of shadow that grows in time as he gets closer to gathering the soul of the lich.

Party is composed of

CE Tiefling Rogue (A criminal and murderer, is a loner and is only with the party because he hears that the great BBEG has a horde of treasure unmatched by anything else, hates the paladin in the party). (Sneaky guy and a glass cannon)

LN Elf Fighter (He took up arms in a Great War where he killed many, and his deeds have left him scarred, he is reluctant to kill any living creature and is a trained soldier. He joins the party because he found out the BBEG was the cause of the war and is seeking revenge). (Main offensive warrior)

CN Gnome Abjurer (Pyromaniac tasked with guarding the material plane from the ethereal one, the BBEG has plans to open a portal bigger than the world has ever seen, unleashing hordes of extraplanar creatures). (Buffer and Blaster with minor controlling)

LG Halfling Paladin (Stereotypical Paladin) (Main defensive warrior and primary healer)

NE Oread Blight Druid (A twisted person who is only with the party because the lich has a stash of items which will bring the end to civilization. Darkness domain and healing focus. (Main debuffer and secondary healer)

Me

Party starts at level 5

[Create Mr. Pitt]

This is going to turn into a paladin thread...

[thegreenteagamer]

I'd go with the sorcerer, mainly because I dislike Samsarans. Shadow also has good control spells, and can pick up whatever schools the wizard has as his prohibited school.

[Darksol the Painbringer]

That Paladin is going to be having some issues with the current party set-up. My guess is the only reason the Paladin is in this party is to stop the BBEG in question, though that would mean the Paladin is aware of the BBEG, and understands that the Evil party members are a necessity to stop said BBEG.

I anticipate that at the end of the campaign, with the BBEG defeated, the Paladin will probably immediately turn on the Rogue and the Druid.

That being said, you guys have 2 sets of Divine spellcasting (Paladin and Druid), one of which will probably go away after the BBEG is dead. Thankfully, it's not the full spellcaster. The other is a Wizard, which is basically playing a Demi-God Wizard through buffing, and minor control benefits, which has the best spell list in the game.

Personally, I'd vote the Oracle, because the Druid spell list is absolute garbage outside of getting Flame Strike early and gaining spells like Barkskin. You'll want strong healing, which the Wizard doesn't provide, the Druid sucks at, and the Paladin really only effectively heals himself.

Sorcerer is nice, but the role of the Arcane Spellcaster is more than adequately filled by the Gnome Wizard. The role of Divine Spellcaster isn't adequately filled by the Oread Druid or the Halfling Paladin.

Of course, this is based purely off of mechanics and optimization. If you don't care for anything like that, then disregard my statements and just play whatever you think is best.

**EDIT**

@ Create Mr. Pitt: Yo dawg, I herd you liek Paladins. So I made an Evil character. Seriously though, it probably is. And I just added gasoline to the pile of soaked wood that is Paladin Debates.

[SmiloDan]

I would go with the oracle because more healing is always useful, the oracle has access to a bunch of spells the druid and paladin don't, and it would be nice to add some NG to your party's alignment salad.

Hopefully, your party will at least work well as a team, even if they don't always agree about moral philosophy.

[AwesomelyEpic]

I agree with Darksol and SmiloDan. The sorcerer is pretty cool, but I think the oracle is going to be better for your party. The cleric spell list is really good, and you can automatically get all the cure spells, which are very good for healing.

As for flavor, I have to say that I really like both of your character concepts, and I find them interesting. But I have to ask one question. How would the half-orc have managed to rule over a big, powerful group of orcs at level 5?

[Dastis]

Both character concepts are pretty nice but I like the sorcerer idea better. Shadow casters are always fun to play and I really like the backstory

Some Reasoning
You already have 2 people that can use a wand of cure light wounds without umd. If you can convince the paladin to take craft wand your party can have super cheap cure light wounds and lesser restoration wands which should cover most of the parties healing needs. The druid and wizard should be able to handle the rest of the out of the necessary effect removal spells. In general sorcerer > oracle if you don't need healing; mainly due to the better spell list. If you really want to additional healing get the Raziman Priest Archetype. On another note it doesn't sound like the oracle would get along to well with anyone in the party but the paladin. The Half orc could get along with any of them. I would also note that a party this size can justify doubling up on any party role. Specifically here I can see a need for another control/debuffer

[SmiloDan]

I've been playing 5th Edition lately, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. We just did RotRL with a party of 6, and I was the only primary healer (the ranger did emergency healing on me!). In some fights, all I did was healing, which was kind of frustrating. A 2nd healer would have helped with varying my combat actions. In a smaller party, I think I would have been able to do more since I would have had to keep less people alive.

[LuniasM]

Create Mr. Pitt wrote:

This is going to turn into a paladin thread...

I guess you could say that paladin mentions are one Pittfall of these threads.

[Dysphoria Blues]

Hey, Lucky Salamander:

I like that you give great descriptions for each of your fellow party members... except for the paladin who is simply "stereotypical" with no other discerning characteristics lol. Is there contempt for this character at your gaming table?

I recommend the oracle :)

A dedicated divine caster with access to the cleric's spell list will be much more beneficial to your party. In contrast, a druid's divine spell list is niche and specific; a paladin's spell list is very limited, doesn't kick in until fourth-level, and is mainly there for the paladin himself. In addition, you're already covered on the arcane front with the gnome abjurer, so the sorcerer would be redundant whereas the oracle would be fulfilling his own specific niche.

I applaud your effort in crafting cool backstories for your characters! They look fun.

I hope the party can succeed haha. I've never seen CE and LG in a group together, so hopefully it ends up being a fun dynamic and not a combative one :3

Cheers!

[SmiloDan]

Paladin: "Hey buddy, what are you up to?"
Rogue: "Um, this poor kitten was born without eyeballs."
"I just like to have a glass of anti-toxin when I cook. Want seconds?"
"Look! Widows!" ***steals from orphans***
"Look! Orphans!" ***steals from widows***
"Look! Widows AND Orphans!" ***steals from paladin***

[My Self]

If your paladin is of the lawful pain-in-the-butt eye-for-eye school of paladinhood, then you're in for some trouble as a party. They are probably going to have a theological issue with the druid and a more practical issue with the rogue. Assuming the paladin's perception modifier isn't negative, the paladin will eventually catch the rogue in an act the rogue cannot adequately justify- so long as the druid and paladin don't come to blows first. I suppose the druid will be able to cooperate longer with the paladin, since the paladin is unlikely to care as deeply about the druid's desecration of nature so long as innocent people are not hurt. Once it comes to blows, it basically all depends on who wins initiative and how close to each other they are. The paladin can defeat the druid if he wins initiative while adjacent to the druid. The druid can survive practically anything the paladin can do if the paladin loses initiative or starts further away. The rogue and paladin can slash each other to bits depending on who wins initiative.

Your choice of backstory basically asks what lot you want to throw in with- yourself, or the paladin. Assuming the paladin doesn't turn a blind eye, the evil members don't redeem themselves, or the GM always presents a greater evil, your character backstories practically write who you're going to side with. The elf party member will probably be conflicted about helping your half-orc sorcerer, since your half-orc is attempting to create an empire, whereas the elf has historically had problem with war (probably between empires and such). Being a half-orc will do you no favors there, since humans, orcs, and half-orcs are all well-known for making wars. The blight druid will probably also be radically opposed to your character's motives. The oracle's attempts to atone will probably be less of a barrier between your character and the evil party members, but will probably draw sympathy from the paladin, which will put you at odds with the rogue. With the gnome, maybe they'll support your quest to defeat this extraplanar foe.

LN Half-Orc Sorcerer of Shadow: probably unfriendly with the elf and druid, neutral towards everyone else

NG Samsaran Oracle of Bones: probably friendly with the paladin and wizard, unfriendly with the rogue, neutral towards the druid and fighter

As for party composition, you have a good mix of everything. At this point, you have enough frontliners that another buffer would help. You already have an arcane fullcaster, so you shouldn't need another. As for social, exploration, and other skills skills, your paladin has good charisma but awful skill ranks, your wizard has intelligence down pat, your druid has wisdom, your rogue has dexterity, your fighter and paladin (hopefully) have strength, and constitution is a useless skill stat. Your party is pretty well rounded, but you could use a boost with a flexible, skilled charisma-based character. I'd recommend bard, but since that's not a character concept you've considered...

Take the oracle.