Your "Ideal" Party of Four?

[Dragonchess Player]

I remember several discussions about "single-class" parties (all characters have the same class, with or without allowing multiclassing), but just a few mentions of party composition in threads about character roles.

I'm a little bored at the moment, so I decided to ask what other people think is their "ideal" party of four characters for PF1e, without using third-party options, for a "typical" campaign (non-monstrous communities, primarily evil foes, etc.)?

I'll start with mine:

- Fetchling (Gloom Shimmer and Shadow Magic alternate traits) ranger (guide) 1/wizard (exploiter; take School Understanding [Admixture; Versatile Evocation] at wizard 1st and Quick Study at wizard 5) 6/eldritch knight 2/arcane archer 3/eldritch knight +8 with the Magical Knack (Wizard) trait;
- Half-elf (Fey Magic [Forest; aspect of the falcon], Fey Thoughts [Climb, Use Magic Device], and Weapon Familiarity alternate traits) oracle (spirit guide; Wood mystery) 8/deadeye devotee 2/oracle +3/deadeye devotee +4/oracle +5 leveraging the elf alternate favored class bonus to boost Wood Bond for the first 12 oracle levels and then the human favored class bonus for the extra spells at oracle 13th-16th;
- Half-orc (Scavenger and Toothy alternate traits) druid (river druid; Crocodile domain) 20, variant multiclass rogue with the Vagabond Child (Disable Device) trait;
- Human (Heart of the Fields [Craft/Alchemy] alternate trait) fighter (mutation warrior), variant multiclass barbarian with Combat Expertise, Fast Learner, and Improved Trip at 1st level.

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

I'd love if a party agreed on a theme for class selection.

Druid's Circle
Druid
Shifter
Ranger
Hunter

Magic Academy
Magus
Wizard
Witch
Occultist

Champions Divine
Cleric
Inquisitor
Paladin
Warpriest

Ultimate Intrigue
Investigator
Rogue
Swashbuckler
Vigilante

[Mysterious Stranger]

Archeologist bard, inquisitor, magus and warpriest would be my choices.

All characters are medium BAB classes with 6/9 spell casting and good fortitude and will saves. You get two arcane casters two divine casters, two spontaneous casters, two prepared casters, two skill monkeys, ¾ of the party has some access to healing and can at least use wands. If the inquisitor takes the right inquisition, you also have two face characters.

[Sysryke]

I find myself in agreement with the Dudemeister. With so many four player combos possible, I want a theme or some other prompt. The tyranny of the blank page overwhelms me.

If there isn't a theme, then I'm probably waiting to see what others are building, then comparing them to the "classic" four person party and looking to fill the holes as I perceive them. I usually also find some theme along the way, even if it's just my own mental projection on the group's composition.

Since even with standard rules most classes can fill multiple roles/jobs, I'd need to know more than just classes, though I might make some default assumptions.

I'd assume a Barbarian is a combat/damage focused character, but they could theoretically be a face, a skill jockey, or a battlefield controller, for instance.

I tend to default to the four elements, terrains/movement types, power sources, or maybe TMNT/Golden Girls. Of course, I'm also an odd numbers guy. If I'm imagining teams of my own, it's almost always groups of 5, 7, or 3.

[FrankCharles]

Dragonchess Player wrote:

I remember several discussions about Wacky Flip "single-class" parties (all characters have the same class, with or without allowing multiclassing), but just a few mentions of party composition in threads about character roles.

I'm a little bored at the moment, so I decided to ask what other people think is their "ideal" party of four characters for PF1e, without using third-party options, for a "typical" campaign (non-monstrous communities, primarily evil foes, etc.)?

I'll start with mine:

- Fetchling (Gloom Shimmer and Shadow Magic alternate traits) ranger (guide) 1/wizard (exploiter; take School Understanding [Admixture; Versatile Evocation] at wizard 1st and Quick Study at wizard 5) 6/eldritch knight 2/arcane archer 3/eldritch knight +8 with the Magical Knack (Wizard) trait;
- Half-elf (Fey Magic [Forest; aspect of the falcon], Fey Thoughts [Climb, Use Magic Device], and Weapon Familiarity alternate traits) oracle (spirit guide; Wood mystery) 8/deadeye devotee 2/oracle +3/deadeye devotee +4/oracle +5 leveraging the elf alternate favored class bonus to boost Wood Bond for the first 12 oracle levels and then the human favored class bonus for the extra spells at oracle 13th-16th;
- Half-orc (Scavenger and Toothy alternate traits) druid (river druid; Crocodile domain) 20, variant multiclass rogue with the Vagabond Child (Disable Device) trait;
- Human (Heart of the Fields [Craft/Alchemy] alternate trait) fighter (mutation warrior), variant multiclass barbarian with Combat Expertise, Fast Learner, and Improved Trip at 1st level.

For my ideal party of four, I’d go with a balanced mix: a fighter for frontline defense, a wizard for versatile magic, a rogue for traps and stealth, and a cleric for healing and support. This setup covers combat, utility, and survivability, making the group well-rounded for any adventure.

[Oli Ironbar]

Three great friends and a min/mixer who tries not to over do it!!!

Or a bardy bunch with different versions of bardic performance: Georgius, Ringus, Iohannis, Paulus!

[Azothath]

Quintessence Quartet at 7th
"Where there's a spell there's a way!"
1) race(tiefling, halfelf, human, halforc) Oracle 1 Paladin with bodyguard 6.
2) race(aasimar, human) monk-flowing 2 wizard-diviner(BO amulet, SplFcs evok, etc) 5.
3) race(human, halfelf, etc) cleric-varisian pilgrim 1 wizard-ench manip(BO amulet) 6
4) race(human, samsaran, aasimar, etc) cleric-varisian pilgrim 1 wizard-evok admix(BO amulet) 6