Well, the title is partly misleading, since my second group is starting the Hell's Vengeance AP, with this formation:
1) Phoenix Bloodline Sorcerer (actually pondering among other options as an "arcane healer")
2) Psion (Nomad or Seer)
3) Alchemist Vivisectionist
4) Brawler.
Aside from the brawler, one of their goal is to ditribute the "healing" role among themselves, thank to the Phoenix bloodline, the cure e removal infusions of the alchemist, and the self healing powers of the Psion (plus his psionic version of Breath of life).
If the first player sticks with the Sorcerer, do you think the party will be too unbalanced, since there is a second "arcane" full caster, the Psion (hence, the misleading thread title)?
I know that knowledgeable people here think that Pathfinder is not meant to support the old idea of a "balanced party" with structured roles; what I'm pondering, from a strictly DM PoV, is if they will have too much magical firepower on their hands.
I know that knowledgeable people here think that Pathfinder is not meant to support the old idea of a "balanced party" with structured rolesA balanced party of specialist characters rocks in home games and APs. Otoh, players prefer "flexible" jack-of-all-trades characters for PFS, because you seldom will have a balanced party from the available characters for any given APL while mustering tables.
what I'm pondering, from a strictly DM PoV, is if they will have too much magical firepower on their hands.
You're the GM; if the PCs start to strut like gods high on a cloud of overweening narcissism, then you provide them god-worthy challenges.
I use psionics in my campaigns all the time and it's actually really beneficial to have both Psionics and Arcane casters in the same party. There are a couple powers/spells that overlap, but for the most part they synergize well because they are very different from each other.
So let me tell a tale of a different party. The group I'm currently in consists of a Paladin, Medium, Wizard, Bard, Fighter and I'm playing a Druid. We're 6th level and we just suffered an encounter with a monster that Drains Charisma.
Guess what? Only one character in the party has Restoration on their spell list. The Medium can get it...at level 11. The Druid will be able to heal Ability Drain with Heal at 13th level. The Paladin may cast Restoration at 13th level if their Cha gives them a bonus 4th level spell.
We're also in a town where the plot dictates that the highest level NPC cleric is 5th level, and we can't leave town. So our two party members with Cha drain (which includes the Paladin) are screwed.
As a druid, I've been planning on going Loremaster at 9th level so I can pick up Secret of Magical Discipline. Unfortunately I can't do that at 7th and if I pick up the PRC at 8th there won't be a corresponding feat to make it worthwhile.
The point being, your alchemist won't be able to get rid of stat drain until 10th level and Pathfinder might start throwing those sorts of enemies at you before that.
I recommend the party invests in a Healer's Satchel (Specialized).
The specialized healer’s satchel contains expanding gurneys, enchanted sleep aids, and other magical tools to assist patients’ recovery. Each day, the wielder can expend two uses of the satchel per patient when providing long-term care. This either doubles the benefits of long-term care or restores 1 point of ability drain with a full day of complete rest (the wielder can choose which effect applies to each patient).
/cevah