Bout to start kingmaker with my kitsune rogue along with a changeling witch, ratfolk alchemist and tiefling fighter. I'm well aware that out party is not particularly well suited for this campaign, so I'm looking for equipment/tactics we could use during the early levels to help with survivability.
Thoughts?
Good news: if the campaign is run as-is, then you'll likely only have 1 or 2 fights per day. You will be able to optimize and you won't be starved for resources. There are exceptions such as a few mini-dungeons that you'll have to crawl through.
Bad news: you don't have a healer. The witch can be a stand-in, but without channel energy, if you get into a dire situation (such as a death spiral), you have no way out.
My decision in such a case: stock up on healing wands (they're cheap), stay healed up, and remember you can run. You can almost always run away from bad guys in this game. Early on you might even have horses, and you can take off at top speed if needed.
My advice: don't fight everything. I don't mean "run away." That's already covered. What I mean is, you don't have to be enemies with everyone and everything. Make alliances. You are being "gifted" this area of land so that you might eventually start up a small kingdom. So act like it. Get allies right away, and keep making allies. Don't be shy about asking for backup. Having allies you can run to for sanctuary is very important. If your GM is nice, he/she might even allow those allies to help you recover bodies if a PC dies.
Lastly, remember that this is the campaign for planners. That is, many fights will come with notice. You'll be aware that you are going to have a fight, and you will have time to plan, ambush, stock up, etc. So figure that out. The modules do have text for this -- "If the players ask about resources, these things are available," etc. Don't feel rushed. Search, explore, scrounge up resources and use them.
Thanks for the help fam. You've given me much more good advice than I was honestly expecting.
This campaign really places a good emphasis on roleplay (i.e. diplomacy and the like). You really want to have the social skills covered. Knowledge skills will be good to, but as mentioned above, don't think that everything you encounter needs to be fought. You will also spend a lot of time outside, keep that in mind. There's really no excuse not to have mounts, and ride skills and the like could be really handy. Wands are great, get them.
Another thing to keep in mind, is that there should be plenty of down time for things like crafting. I think that more than most AP's Kingmaker really is a campaign where the players will get out of it what they put into it. It is a huge sandbox to play in and with a good group and GM there's all kinds of room to expand beyond the four corners of the pages. Be inquisitive, talk to npcs, find out what they want, etc.
Finally, again to bring up the "its ok to run" while you may not have a lot of encounters per day -- especially if its run as is -- that doesn't mean that every encounter will be "fair". The wandering monster tables in particular can be downright cruel.