[3.5] DM/Party advice for upcoming campaign

[Thurbane]

Hey all,

Just looking for some general advice about an upcoming game.

Our little group of 5 has recently dwindled to three, due to 2 players having heavy family (young children) and work commitments.

I'm DMing a homebrew campaign next, due to start in about a month or so.

It's going to be set in Greyhawk, but fairly sandbox in nature - our group usually runs pre-published adventures (we will shortly finish up RHoD for the 2nd time around).

Anyway, I have two confirmed players, and three "maybes" (one is my g/f, who will soon be living with me and may join in). Loose party composition is as follows (stats have been rolled, but no definite race/class choices yet):

Player 1: Warblade (possibly Crusader) race undecided - this will be the first ToB character at our table, which I'm excited about.
Player 2: Catfolk Rogue/Swashbuckler - could be interesting. He wants to play a skillmonkey with a little extra combat panache. He used to play a lot of Thieves back in our 1E and 2E days. Will also be our first Level Adjusted PC at the table.
Player 3: (my g/f): Human Ranger (non-casting variant) - focusing on archery. Her only real D&D experience is playing the ToEE computer game.
Player 4: Warlock, race undecided. Rolled ridiculously well for stats (17, 17, 16, 16, 14, 11 from memory). First Warlock we have seen as well. This player is a tentative maybe.
Player 5: Completely undecided, hasn't rolled yet. Unsure if he can make it to the games.

Relevant house rules:
No prepared casters as PCs (i.e. no Clerics, Druids, Wizards etc.) - this is more for a flavour reason than power balance.
1/2 Orcs take only -2 to Int or Cha, not both.
Fighters get 4 skill points/level from an expanded list.
No psionic classes or characters.
No evil or CN PCs.
The Lost Tradition 3rd party feat is on the table for anyone wanting to play a spontaneous caster with more than one casting stat (i.e. Favored Soul), but choice must still be taken from Int, Wis or Cha.
A few more minor houserules that shouldn't effect character generation.

So, wondering what I should advise the 5th player to take - even if he doesn't join in, this will be run as a semi-NPC to help out the party.
Apart from the Warlock, the party is looking martial character heavy.

Any advice or feedback (or questions) welcome.

Cheers - T

[Yahzi]

You shouldn't advise him to take anything. If he's spotty about showing up at the now, he'll be spotty in the future; so if you make him an integral or critical part of the team, the rest of your adventures will just be compromised.

[hymer]

Given that you really don't know who's going to be in the campaign, your basis for advice is rather shaky. It looks like this is going to be a combat heavy game, so I'd keep that in mind. Academic skills seem the least covered, apart from spells, of course. Spirit Shaman might be good if it's allowed, putting a lot of tools in the party's box. IIRC it does have some knowledge skills.
And there's always the bard.

One thing though: What is the player looking for in a character?

[HammeredWharf]

Looking at the other classes, a T3 or below character should fit in just fine. Maybe a Beguiler, a Bard or a Dread Necromancer? D&D isn't a restrictive game in this regard, so almost anything will do.

[Telonius]

I'm seeing a lack of healing and buffing. Are magic items going to be available? I'd strongly advise Favored Soul if not. Bard is always a good addition to a combat-heavy group, and also gets a few healing spells.

[John Longarrow]

If player 1 goes Crusader, you will have some in-combat healing thru maneuvers.
With a Warlock in party, you should have a very good UMD, so as soon as they can grab scrolls/wands of lesser vigor out of combat healing will be covered.

If your warlock goes with the swarm invocation at 1st, you have some very cool AoE at low level that can be spammed.

I'd say a general purpose buffer is what you'd want. Bard/Marshal. Someone who makes the party better, especially if they don't have a full time player.

P.S. As its your GFs first game she may want a non-stereotipical character. 75% of female players start with Elf/Human Ranger. See if she'll go Beguiler for something more fun! That way she can be the mysterious enchantress.

[lytokk]

I've often heard that going gestahlt is a good idea for games when you're going to end up with less than 4 party members. Might be something to consider if you actually may dwindle down to 2 players.

[bravebonebook]

I second a Beguiler or Bard for the "social" aspects the party might need. Plus the Bard can buff and heal when necessary. Shame your g/f cannot play this character, though, because out of these 5 roles (assuming you use a beguiler or bard), I would have the Ranger at the bottom of the list for your possible 5th player; IMO you can lose the Ranger if he never shows and still have a competent party.

[Shining Wrath]

Holes I identify in this party:
1) Knowbot. You have no high-int character putting skill points into Knowledge(X)
2) Buffer
3) Healer although as noted this can be patched
4) Face unless the Warlock takes the Beguiling Influence invocation

When I think "Buffer with charisma and knowledge" I think "Bard". So let it be written; may the dice fall in your favor.

[Amphetryon]

Dragon Shaman would fit in nicely with your party's composition and houserules, without being desperately needed or missed when gone. Warlock can adequately fill either the Sage or Healer role in a pinch, but your party is going to want some group buffs.

[Thurbane]

Thanks for the feedback.

A buffer would be nice, and a Bard would seem to fill a few needed niches at once.

I'll have a word to the 5th player, see if he is interested.

I'm hoping once his new baby settles into more a routine, he might be able to rejoin the game on a more regular basis.