Soooo ... after far, far, far too long away from these boards due to a shortage of funds, time and a rather complicated story involving three cats, a dog, a very hot Australian summer and my computer's fan, I'm finally back.
I've been DMing since ... 2013. Jesus. So much for my break and getting back to being just a player, but I've managed to convince one of the groups to take a break from our homebrewed world (Pathfinder, Words of Power magic system, no divine magic, all homebrewed races using the Advanced Races guide, etc etc) and step back into Golarion for a change of pace.
I love Sanctuary and all the races, campaign hooks and lore I made, but I need a break from my own stuff to recharge my creative batteries.
Where was I? Classes. Bah. My brain is faulty from a lack of sleep.
Thus far I've been asked to build five characters for the DM to peruse and then run together with the rest of the party's submissions to see which combination is going to work best for the campaign. It's a four person party and the DM has already given us permission to use the Recruit Feat for additional muscle if we absolutely cannot cover every 'base' with our array of PCs.
1) A Ratfolk Alchemist, basic version, who specializes with pistols, a morning star and healing potions, functioning as the Party's standard healer and a moderate damage-dealer, as well as the Party Face, or Assistant Party Face with the Cosmopolitan feat allowing him access to Diplomacy and Knowledge (Local) as class-skills. I'm actually quite eager to try this as I normally go for a Normal sized character and have a issue with smaller, slower races, and not being the party's combat power-house or conjurer of get-outta-jail-free magical shenanigans is going to be interesting. Joining the Pathfinders opens up great opportunities to sell, buy and barter for knowledge, trinkets and trade-routes from the more adventurous Pathfinders in the Lodge, after all.
2) Half-Orc Urban Ranger/Skirmisher Ranger. An old favourite combination of Class Archetypes I have used before to great effect, no magical abilities, a pet dog at her side and a list of bounties, people who owe her money or people who just has annoyed her enough that she's willing to play rough. Going for a Switch-Hitter build since it's generally very powerful, but focusing on, again, firearms rather than bows for the ranged weapon angle and a basic longsword for the melee angle. Going to build around being the party's go-to source for finding information in town, digging up trouble before it hits and being the bodyguard of our less-durable folks while the folks with beefier hitpoints tank the dragon with their faces. The Lodge offers an interesting place where she's not considered a muscled freak or a thug simply by dint of her appearance, or at least she'll be in the company of those to whom she's simply unusual rather than freakish or terrifying.
3) a Kobold Sorcerer with the White Dragon Bloodline. Short of both temper and size, but at least civil enough courtesy of the Cosmopolitan feat allowing him access to both Knowledge (Religion) and Knowledge (History) in addition to his native Class Skills in his eternal search to figure out how on Golarion a Kobold from a desert tribe was born with the blood of a Dragon from the frozen roof of the world! Access to the Pathfinder Lodges will hopefully mean less of the smooth-skins will be attempting to stab him or throw him out of the cities he will visit in the future to try and unravel the truth of his heritage.
4) Gillman Divine Defender Paladin with the Riverfolk and Slimehunter alternative racial traits, using medium armor and a rapier and medium shield to serve as the party's tank and backup healer. She'd be an interesting, if unorthodox, hunter of abominations and ancient threats, always looking for some hint of 'The Vile's' influences on the surface world, her people's name for the Aboleths, and rumors that several of the Runelords might have had pacts with The Vile has driven her to the one place where she hopes she can find not only information, but potential allies in her quest to scourge the world of The Vile's influence, if not The Vile themselves.
5) An Elven Oracle of Metal with the Tongue's Curse, to tie into the Starmetal angle of the campaign and provide a more durable healer who can stand shoulder to shoulder with the beefiest of meat-shields and potentially act as bodyguard to our magical artillery. Having the Oracle 'dealing' with a Celestial who is constantly with him and tends to 'help' during combat, meaning the poor Oracle can only speak in Celestial and is probably going to have to learn bluff to be able to speak via sign-language and improv to his team-mates during combat would also be hilarious to play up. Joining the local Pathfinder Lodge, if only to get the 'helpful' Celestial spirit to stop pestering his dreams with images of seven-pointed stars would simply be delightful for him.
Thoughts? Or should I push for a more stat/feat/trait heavy build before asking for advice?
Futile, lonely bump? I know I am well behind most folks on this campaign, but I would appreciate some feedback on what others think of the 'rough' ideas.
Read up on The Forge of Combat. This guide tells about party roles as far as combat occurs. You want a character that can handle at least one role well, and be able to help in the other roles.
But the bottom line is to have a character that is fun to play. For me, the class does not make the enjoyment, but the way my character interacts with the rest of the party will determine my fun.
Once you learn what everyone else is playing, you can use the Forge to help you decide how to grow your character.
Making 5 characters each and having the GM select which you play of the 20 submitted sounds way too complicated. Don't bother statting up and choosing feats at the start, since your companions will likely change how you wind up playing the selected character. Instead, submit what your character will focus in, rather thn how they get there. For example, for a skills guy, you can be a rogue, a bard, or an inquisitor and handle the roll well. That is, a martial, an arcane caster, and a divine caster can all fill this role. It is the role that should define your character and not the class and archetype(s).
/cevah