3-Man Kingmaker Advice Needed (No Spoilers)

[LordAshenshield]

Alright so we have tried for awhile and found no one to help us fill out of Kingmaker campaign. So we have decided to run this as a gestalt to help us better fill out our power and positional needs.

Now I need advice on class combos that would be best for the game.

I was thinking of a Bard//Swashbuckler (Appropriate archetypes included) for myself. I really like that style of charming character who can hold his own with a sword or sling a spell when he needs to.

A Brawler//??? for my buddy he likes the unarmed style but he does want a lot of power, perhaps Barbarian?

I know our third plays either Healers or Rogues. Is there any happy middle ground?

3.5 is allowed, within reason.

[Fouredged Sword]

I would mix Brawler with Magus for power. Nothing like street fighter like martial arts punching people with lightning. If you want to go solely martial, barbarian seems like a good idea, but consider instead a lore warden martial master fighter. You have TONS of ability to pull feats out of nowhere and you become a monster identifying killer.

Healer // rouge?

How about Inquisitor // cleric? Skills, healing, holy theme, wrecks face with a bow.

[Elricaltovilla]

If you're going to Gestalt Brawler with something, good options include Alchemist or Inquisitor (mutagen and extracts for buffs, Int focus for skills and burst damage from studied strike), Bloodrager (bloodrage and bloodline abilities give a lot of power and utility) or Magus (Spellstrike FTW).

Inquisitors are basically a Rogue/Cleric hybrid class, so combining Inquisitor and Cleric for skillpoints/healing/casting could be just what he's looking for.

[Ssalarn]

Seconding the Brawler // Bloodrager suggestion. Brawler//Magus is solid too but there's less stat synergy between those two classes.

For the healer character, a dwarf Inquisitor//Cleric is solid with lots of room for him to go WIS SAD. I'd suggest grabbing Channel Smite and Guided Hand and pumping WIS as much as possible to boost spellcasting, skills, and attacks (and of course, will saves). Another option if you want a slightly more sturdy character with better proficiencies would be to Paladin // Oracle (Life). You won't have the skills, but you can turtle up while basically becoming an indestructible healing nexus for the group.

A suggestion for your Swashbuckler//Bard - instead do Cavalier (Daring Champion) // Bard (Arcane Duelist). You'll have great proficiencies, excellent damage, tons of party boosting options, and you still get that dashing swordsman thing going on.