Pathfinder- Balancing a 4v5

[Sparklz]

Hey, I'm new to the forum. I'm running a campaign with two parties that are diametrically opposed. It's possible that they'll come to an understanding and join forces etc etc, but from what I've seen of the play styles, I find it pretty unlikely. They'll probably have a couple encounters as they play, and then a final encounter for a major artifact that will win the war for their side, so I'm trying to keep them as well balanced as I can. One of the parties is clearly better at the game, and has a better team comp. The other party has a player that wants to join, but I fear that this will put them way out of balance as the late game approaches. Is there any buff that I could give the other party that will come close to having an additional PC in the group?

Cheers

[ngilop]

you are very ambiguous inthis but i think i have it right.

the 4 member party is not only better at teh game as you say but has a much better team composition


the 4 soon to be 5 memeber party has almost no clue as to what they are doing and has an atrocious team composition


and you want to make the better prepared, more skilled and more knowledgeable team boosted in power to compensate for the other teams lack of all of the above?

seems counter productive to me

allowing the less 'god' team' to have that 5th memeber sounds like a fine balancing act to me, but if you want to give the superior teams an even greater boost for balance in keeping in with 3rd ed already skeweed sense of blance then go right ahead.

[Sparklz]

Both teams currently have 4 members. It's not that I have a team full of vets and a team of noobs. Both groups are reasonably new to the game.

The one team, let's call them team A, seems to be more comfortable with the gameplay, and has a slightly better team composition. The other team, let's say team B, is missing their BSF and has a couple scrubs. I'm sure they'll work it out a little better as time goes on. My only concern is that, no matter how well they play, Team A won't be able to compensate for being down a high level character at the end of the game.

[ngilop]

it all depends really lets say team A is druid, wizard, barbarian, rogue

and team B is bard, monk, rogee, cleric.

if team B managed to get a 5th and he is a fighter then team A still has a huge advantage, and several counters to what team B is capable of doing.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Yeah, it's not as important to know how many there are, so much as what they are.

Can we at least have a Race/Class/Level breakdown of the group?

Ex.
Human Cleric 7
Drow Rogue 6

Etc.

[Sparklz]

Team A: (All picked CE)
Elf Wizard
Human Cleric
Human Gunslinger
Dwarf Barbarian

Team B:
Undine Druid
Elf Wizard
Halfling Rogue
Halfling Monk

Looking to add a human(?) paladin

The campaign is just starting out, so they're all level 1 or 2.

[Sparklz]

So, the general opinion is what? The parties are close enough to balanced as it is? Items can easily balance the parties? No real action necessary?

[jywu98]

Important Questions:
Is the cleric being a healbot?
Are the wizards blasting?
Is the monk not gonna multiclass?
At what level is the campaign gonna end?

Keep in mind that while Team B lacks a BSF, the animal companion can function as one, and so can wizard summons.

[Sparklz]

Important Questions:
Is the cleric being a healbot?
Are the wizards blasting?
Is the monk not gonna multiclass?
At what level is the campaign gonna end?

Keep in mind that while Team B lacks a BSF, the animal companion can function as one, and so can wizard summons.

The cleric wants to be a blaster, but he's still learning
The wizards are both doing CC
I think the monk is going to stick to his class
Campaign will end at high level, probably around 20

[Eldariel]

Later on it'll depend heavily on how well they play and build. Monk and Barbarian, the Barb will have the edge but neither is probably going to be very useful. Worth noting that PF Monk matches up better vs. Barbarian than 3.5 Monk so it's closer than it might look at the first glance.

Rogue should beat out Gunslinger since Rogue talents are good and Use Magic Device enables the Rogue to use some high level magicks when worst comes to worst. This only if Rogue realizes this option and spends money acquiring some Scrolls though.


Cleric might outperform Druid with the right domains later on but Druid is more foolproof so I'd give the Druid a slight edge in case of inexperienced players. Wizard vs. Wizard depends entirely on spell picks and experience of course.


I'd say they're quite even but even with the Paladin, they'd still be quite even. Well, even depending on experience; there's a huge power gap between a player who knows what they're doing and a player who doesn't (bigger than the power gap between Wizard and Commoner).