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Hey everyone,
I finished RotR, and I am now on my way to start SnS. Again I don't know if I'll be running 3 or 4 characters. My team of three consists of: Oloch, Jirelle, and Damiel. Is this a good party of three or does something need to be changed? Is this party even balanced? Maybe I'm blinded because I am really happy that there is a half orc as they are my favorite race, and I also like the alchemist because of bombs and potions that make you grow a tentacle or something.
Anyway, if I decide to run a fourth member I have no idea who it should be. I thought Alahazra looked pretty nifty. Can't stand Lem so he is automatically out. I'm just not sure who would complement the other three. Especially if my group of three isn't balanced.
If you would be so kind for you share your 3 character or 4 character parties with me just so I know what to be looking for in order to make a balanced party. It honestly would mean a lot to a guy like me.
Thanks,
Grubbnar
P.S.
I got yelled at by someone on Reddit for making "too many posts", so I am just going to add this little bit here. Out of Sajan, Seelah, Amiri, and Valeros who is your favorite "fighter" and why?
For my final question: can I get the pro's and con's of a 3 character party vs. a 4 character party?
I'm not sure what you expect to hear from us that you didn't hear here, here, or here (those of us that replied, anyways).
I'll reiterate my previous point that you can get a good idea of successful parties from this topic and this topic.
In addition, Shannon Appelcline provided an excellent series of PACG strategy blog posts. All of those posts are very useful, with #11 (Building a Party), #12 (Complementary Powers), and #13 (Building a Party: Other Considerations) being the most applicable to your current question. You'll also find the discussion comments for blog posts to be very informative.
I didn't remember posting those, so I do apologize. It does worry me that you found them so quickly. It was a simple accident and there is no reason for you to get so pissy.
Even if I did remember posting those a month or however long ago it was, is there anything wrong with trying to reach people that may have not seen the post before in order to try and get their perspective.
I have a feeling you're the same guy from Reddit. I apologize for asking so many questions, but I can't help it. It's part of the whole OCD thing - everything needs to be perfect; my definition of perfect mind you.
So please lay the f#%@ off of me. You may be able to jump into a game right away, but I can't.
I didn't remember posting those, so I do apologize. It does worry me that you found them so quickly.
FWIW: you can find anyone's posts and the threads they've started (including your own) by visiting their Profile page. You can get to anyone's Profile page by clicking their name; you can also get to your own from the My Account link/dropdown menu.
ObTopic: I've already commented on your other threads where I had something to say. Hopefully it helped.
You have misinterpreted my post, inferring a negativity that was not in any way intended. I merely pointed out that you have asked the same basic question on multiple occasions. Linking to the other topics allowed you to review responses from other members that you may have forgotten (which it appears you had). It also saved other members from having to repeat information that has already been provided to you. I don't participate in Reddit discussions, so I don't know who made the comments to you, what they said, or what you said. If the other Reddit comments were anything like mine, though, I suggest that you're being over-sensitive. And your last comment was unnecessary on both counts: I'm not laying into you in any way (I want to help, really); and I go through the same problems that you're going through when I start a PACG AP (and I suspect that most of us go through this problem to one degree or another).
To answer one of your questions ("...is there anything wrong with trying to reach people that may have not seen the post before in order to try and get their perspective..."), there's nothing wrong with revisiting the question. In my personal opinion, it would have been better to simply post a reply in an existing discussion, keeping all of the responses in a single topic rather than being scattered across five or more discussions. Asking a question in multiple forums (e.g., the Board Game Geek, Reddit, here at Paizo) is perfectly fine and understandable, but having the same question repeated (often concurrently) in multiple locations on the same forum is inefficient. Moreover, often when a player has a question, it's possible that another player has posed that question before. So often a search of a forum to see if the topic has come up previously will save other players time. While an exhaustive search could be performed, going through each and every discussion, I don't advocate for that. But a simple search going through the first two or three pages, or using the search engine when a specific word/phrase/name applies, can be effective. This discussion stood out to me because it came only a couple of hours after a virtually identical topic that you started (which no one has replied to) and because you have a distinctive name and avatar, sparking my recollection that you have asked the same question previously (I didn't find the other topics using the smart/efficient method that Parody described - I simply went back two or three pages to find the other discussions - for all I know there may be more that I missed). It's understandable that people miss other members' questions, or forget their own, so sometimes things are repeated. In such cases, a method that is often used (and which I used in this case) is to link to the other relevant discussion(s) to spare people from having to repeat answers that have already been given.
The problem that you're going to run into is that there is no "perfect" party in PACG. All of the different aspects of party composition bring strengths and weaknesses. At one end of the spectrum you have a single character, limited to that character's abilities, but having fewer challenges to face. At the other end of the spectrum you have six characters, with all of the variation in abilities that six characters can bring to bear, but having many more challenges to face. In the middle you have a sweet spot of balance between variation in abilities that three or four characters can bring to bear and a medium number of challenges. With the variety of characters (and this naturally varies with the range of characters available to you - whether you're limiting your range to the characters in the AP or you have some higher number that might include some characters from other APs or the various character decks), there are far too many permutations to cover all of the specific strengths and weaknesses of each potential combination. This is complicated by the fact that a character's potency is impacted by the cards in the character's deck and hand; and further by the fact that overall party strength also depends on not only the synergy of the characters and their basic rules, but also how all of their cards work together. The series of strategy blogs that I linked to do a very good job of covering the issues and the strategies for dealing with these challenges. It's true that certain characters can be stronger than others, especially when they have cards that effectively capitalize on their strengths and/or mitigate their weaknesses; and this is amplified by combinations of characters that work well together. This is affected by what players are comfortable with in terms of character play styles. There is a series of blog posts about different players' favorite characters. Each of those blog posts highlights why a certain character is good. Even though each of those posts is accurate, they're only applicable insofar as other players are comfortable with how that character plays. For example, if I remember correctly, Hawkmoon waxed poetic about how Sajan is the best character ever. However, while Hawkmoon might be able to use Sajan effectively, I personally haven't gotten the hang of using Sajan well - RotRL Sajan is just not my cup of tea. That doesn't in any way mean that Sajan isn't a good character (Hawkmoon's post illustrates the opposite). It simply means that I'm not good at using Sajan. My point here is that there is a degree of subjectivity in terms of the potency of characters, so regardless of any feedback that you get (and it has all been very good, as far as I can tell), there remains a level of personal exploration and experimentation that only you (and your group) can perform.
Ultimately, part of the fun of the game is overcoming the challenges that arise from weaknesses in the party, either because the party lacks the abilities to easy meet the challenges (variation and potency in abilities through characters and cards) or because the tools (cards) to deal with the challenges aren't available at the time. This varies from player/group to player/group - some players or groups prefer to overcome challenges easily while other players or groups enjoy facing down a difficult challenge. Neither extreme (nor the range of possibilities in between) is right or wrong. However, this will color much of the advice that is given. You could try to understand what each player/group likes and how that influences the advice that they give, but that would be squandering your most precious resource - time. A much better use of your time is to learn the answers to your questions by discovery - through playing the game. Reaching out for advice is a good thing, but relying too much on the advice of others is like searching for the Holy Grail. Sometimes it can be great fun to take a sub-optimal party through an AP.
To answer another of your questions ("...Sajan, Seelah, Amiri, and Valeros..."), I personally prefer Seelah, with Valeros in second (presumably you're asking about the Rise of the Runleords versions). These preferences are simply because I'm most experienced using Seelah and Valeros and I have found out how to use them effectively and comfortably within my personal playing style. I like that Seelah can examine and move boons to the bottom of a location deck, whereas Valeros is good all around in combat. Other players can described how Amiri and Sajan are very good, and those players aren't wrong. Once I've used Amiri and Sajan more, I might figure out how to use them effectively (I really like Amiri's ability to move, I'm not comfortable using Sajan). Switching over to Skull & Shackles characters, I've used Oloch and Seltyiel. I like both, though each definitely has limitations (Oloch has a low card count and his ability to display cards further limits what is available to him during his turn, whereas Selytiel is very focused on combat).
I apologize for the lengthy response, but my previous direct response elicited an unexpected reaction; so I'm (over-?) compensating by answering at length. My intent isn't to be condescending or otherwise insulting, but to express to you that there is no simple answer to the question you've posed.
I have a feeling you're the same guy from Reddit.
[...]
So please lay the f@&* off of me. You may be able to jump into a game right away, but I can't.
The guy from reddit would be me, so Brother Tylor has nothing to do with the issue there.
I don't mind you asking questions (neither here nor on reddit nor anywhere else) and I'm sympathetic for your situation, but there comes a point at which the number of these threads gets out of hand, and I think it's alright to point that out to you. It seems that I've been insensitive in the way I did so, and I apologize for that.
If you have problems remembering the questions you have already asked, how about starting a folder with bookmarks on them, so you can have a look there the next time? The paizo forum even allows you to turn threads into RSS feeds, so that might help you as well. You would have instant access to answers that way, and there would be fewer duplicates on the forum.