[PF] My own little party

[Melnir]

I'm going to start a new campaign soon and the DM asked us to prepare 3 PCs. We are going to play them at the same time and since we are going to face lot of dungeons and combats, I want to create a party with a good survivability.

We can use everything from this (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/) website plus ToB and MoI.

My first idea was swordsage (with dancing leaf (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85614) and oncoming storm (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54816), this is the only one I'm sure I will play), gunslinger (with point blank shot and precise shot as bonus feats and black rain discipline (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5471518) instead of grit) and a vitalist. Full spellcasting classes are out of the game, since in our last campaign we did a little mess with magical energy in this setting, so bards and maguses are the best casters around. Psionic works normally, btw.

What would you suggest? I'll not consider dropping the swordsage, I really like this PC, but I'll accept suggestions on the schools I should focus on, considering TDO's disciplines are allowed in this game.

Thanks for any answer!

[Xerlith]

You can sprinkle your Vitalist with some Crusader, focusing on Devoted Spirit and White Raven. Give him a glaive and you have a mid-range versatile support character.
Golden Saint seems a fun discipline, by the way.

[yougi]

What do you mean when you say "the DM asked us to prepare 3 PCs"? Does that mean you each get 3, or that there are a total of 3?

[Melnir]

What do you mean when you say "the DM asked us to prepare 3 PCs"? Does that mean you each get 3, or that there are a total of 3?

Sorry, my english is not perfect :smallbiggrin:
Every player gets 3 PCs, so we have a small personal party.

[yougi]

Sorry, my english is not perfect :smallbiggrin:

That's alright, don't sweat it.


Every player gets 3 PCs, so we have a small personal party.

Then, how many players are there?

From experience, when you control more than 1 PC, you want to keep in mind how long your turns will last in combat. Especially with 9 or 12 PCs, combat length gets out of hand quickly. You should focus on simple characters, or characters you already know inside out mechanically.

By simple, I mean a character with little options: the most extreme example of that is a Fighter who only gets numerical bonuses from their feats (Weapon Focus/spec, for example); a less extreme example could be a Barbarian with those same feats (who at least has the Rage option), or a spell-less Paladin or Ranger with "regular" feat selection. What you want is to make sure that despite having 3 PCs, your turns in combat will last no more than those of a regular, full fledged PC who would have your undivided attention.

So if you're set on Swordsage, I'd recommend simplifying your other two: either a Ranger or Fighter with appropriate feats instead of a gunslinger, and dropping the vitalist altogether: if you want somebody who can heal, you could go with a Bard. Most of your Bard's turns can be spent inspiring, and with a large party, the Bard's impact is only greater. Plus, if you have two other PCs, you might not mind not doing anything flashy on your Bard's turn, and letting the other two awesoming it up.

[Melnir]

Thanks for the advices :smallsmile:

The group is made of 3 players, so 9 PCs.

I thought about playing a bard as one of my PCs, it would be really useful, then I thought about a marshall (since it's allowed) and I ended up with a vitalist, but I'm strongly reconsidering my choice by now.

My idea was mostly a melee PC, a ranged one and a buffer/healer, so swordsage, fighter/ranger and bard could be a nice combination. I might consider playing a crusader instead of a swordsage actually, since tank, glass cannon, buffer seems like a good choice to me. Wich disciplines would you focus on with a crusader?

[Xerlith]

White Raven Bardblade (bardader?)

Bard6/Crusader 14, one feat: Song of the White Raven.
And you're home.

I wouldn't scrap the Vitalist idea yet, though.

[yougi]

Thanks for the advices :smallsmile:

The group is made of 3 players, so 9 PCs.

I thought about playing a bard as one of my PCs, it would be really useful, then I thought about a marshall (since it's allowed) and I ended up with a vitalist, but I'm strongly reconsidering my choice by now.

My idea was mostly a melee PC, a ranged one and a buffer/healer, so swordsage, fighter/ranger and bard could be a nice combination. I might consider playing a crusader instead of a swordsage actually, since tank, glass cannon, buffer seems like a good choice to me. Wich disciplines would you focus on with a crusader?

Marshall is also a good idea. Or Dragon Shaman (3.5's PHB2). Any buffer, in the end, will do great.

As a Crusader in a large group, as Xerlith said, Bard/Crusader or Bard/Warblade can give you some nice stuff with Song of the White Raven and focusing on the White Raven discipline (which is, guess what, a buffer discipline!). Aside from that, Stone Dragon is tankier, so if that's what you're going for, that would be the discipline to choose.

The actual build depends on your party's optimization level and overall composition, as usual.

[Coidzor]

What level are you guys starting at? What are the other players thinking of bringing to the table? How likely are you to have player-on-player conflict between the mini-parties?

I'd recommend a bardsader (Bard/Crusader + Song of the White Raven + whatever Inspire Courage boosters (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=8936.0) you can get your mitts on), a Totemist/Warblade + whatever natural weapons focused feats/dips you can nab from PF, and/or a summoning-focused psionic character in order to supply more than adequate face-ripping abilities. Though with 9 characters, & unknown familiars/animal companions, any summoner would have to be really quick about it.