Character Planning for Brutal Short Campaign Preparing for The Worst

[Kaveman26]

Soon I will be folding up my DM screen and taking a break for a short campaign as a player. My gaming circle has been advised of several details of what we can expect and I was looking for some input from the community at large.

System: Pathfinder
No Advanced Class Guide
No 3rd party publishing (This includes Dreamscarred)

House Rules:
No Flight...no flying by item,spell, or ability
No Raise Dead, Reincarnate, or Ressurection
No Teleport...or "shortcuts" to travelling
No Calling Spells (Planar Ally etc)
No Summoner

Character Builds:
7th level (probably won't run past 10th or 11th)
32 point buy
Traits allowed
No custom races...featured, uncommon etc are allowed from Advanced Race Guide
2x Wealth by Level (loaded up early based on expectation of not finding a lot along the way)
Evil is Fine

Campaign Expectations:
*Extensive Overland Travel
*At least one dungeon delve that can't be bypassed.
*The world has already been "destroyed", evil has won. Demons, Devils, Undead, Vampires, etc all control the world at large. Very scant minor "points of light" persist but are few and far between.
*A being of good has been captured and will be "sacrificed" in 90 days coinciding with celestial event that will bring about the coup de grace for humanity and the Material Plane. We are tasked with stopping this sacrifice. This can involve simply murdering the sacrifice before it is completed.

Oh...one more thing....

Tucker's Everything:

Every single encounter, random or planned is being stated up front as absolutely brutal and played for maximum lethality. We are told before even cracking the first line of a character sheet that we can expect CR and encounters way above the stated level. There will be five PC's total and we will not be replacing lost characters...so no revolving door of new characters.

Last Minor Details:

*Those creatures capable of flight and teleportation will have kind of a rules limitation. Since we are restricted from flight and teleport hijinks they will have escape capabilities but not ambush capability. So if we lock horns with a demon he can teleport out, but not teleport in to nuke us in our sleep. Its a small matter but worth noting.

*We are asked to provide cursory backstories, but nothing overly extensive. For purposes of this campaign we are considered to have knowledge of each other and a willingness to go forward with this mission.

[Beta Centauri]

If you're not replacing lost characters, what happens if one of them dies? Is that player is just out of the game?

[(Un)Inspired]

I'd go with a cleric so that you can cast Airwalk. If there's nothing out there that can fly you're gonna rule the air.

Maybe create a Holy Ice Composite Longbows, GMW them and rain hell on your enemies.

[Kaveman26]

If you're not replacing lost characters, what happens if one of them dies? Is that player is just out of the game?

In essence yes. They would either assist DM or possibly pilot cohorts via leadership.

[Beta Centauri]

In essence yes. They would either assist DM or possibly pilot cohorts via leadership. Cool, no need to prepare at all, then. Since you'll have fun and be involved no matter what, there's no need to sweat over your character concept, as long as it follows the rules.

[jguy]

Dwarf rogue4/barb3. Take iron soul feat and superstitious rage power. You have good saves, good hp, plenty of skills, can't be flanked and good resistances. Good broad build and really good trap finder.

[Kaveman26]

I'd go with a cleric so that you can cast Airwalk. If there's nothing out there that can fly you're gonna rule the air.

Maybe create a Holy Ice Composite Longbows, GMW them and rain hell on your enemies.

We are grounded they are not. He has agreed not to rake us over the coals with ambushes and teleports out of thin air. But an air walking cleric will be a nice shiny bullseye. Still could be drastically worthwhile though.

[Inevitability]

I think I'm speaking for all of us as I post this:

Please write a campaign log of this.

[Mr.Moron]

I'd go with a cleric so that you can cast Airwalk. If there's nothing out there that can fly you're gonna rule the air.



You get that:

A) Just because there is a restrictions on PCs having flying doesn't mean there aren't going to creatures with wings.

B) There are restrictions against flying, teleporting and all travel "Shortcuts" in a broad sense. There's no way the GM's going allow going airborne because "I'm just WALKING on air, not FLYING. WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA".

[Kol Korran]

A question: You write 32 PB.But in PF point buy works differently than 3.5, the max is usually 25 (Which is a lot!) So is it 3.5 point buy, or PF point buy?

Thinking of this, I'd advise to choose paladin. In PF they have been improved A LOT! Smite evil kicks serious ass (Lasts all session, gives great bonuses), and you're built for survivability- Good AC and HP, Awesome saves, lay on hands is much improved, and you can use it as a swift action on yourself, the mercies can help with some situational stuff (I don't see it coming a lot though), and the auras help protect against some major stuff. If you manage to get to Aura of Righteousness, you can help your party a lot!

The Bond is nice (I'd go with weapon enhancement. At 8th level it's a free +2 enhancement, I'd go with disrupting or holy)

In PF, the paladins keep on surviving, and keep on dishing. A paladin for such a campaign may sound a bit... cliche, but it might work well as well.

For race, I'm thinking Aasimar Angel kin (+2 str, +2 cha, can cast alter self for another +2 to str once a day).

The two main problems here are skills, and dex related issues (Touch AC, reflex and so on). But maybe those can be shored upon with magical gear?

[illyahr]

I think I'm speaking for all of us as I post this:

Please write a campaign log of this.

Oh, so much this. Tried to put something like this together IRL a while back but didn't have enough takers.

[Kaveman26]

A question: You write 32 PB.But in PF point buy works differently than 3.5, the max is usually 25 (Which is a lot!) So is it 3.5 point buy, or PF point buy?

Thinking of this, I'd advise to choose paladin. In PF they have been improved A LOT! Smite evil kicks serious ass (Lasts all session, gives great bonuses), and you're built for survivability- Good AC and HP, Awesome saves, lay on hands is much improved, and you can use it as a swift action on yourself, the mercies can help with some situational stuff (I don't see it coming a lot though), and the auras help protect against some major stuff. If you manage to get to Aura of Righteousness, you can help your party a lot!

The Bond is nice (I'd go with weapon enhancement. At 8th level it's a free +2 enhancement, I'd go with disrupting or holy)

In PF, the paladins keep on surviving, and keep on dishing. A paladin for such a campaign may sound a bit... cliche, but it might work well as well.

For race, I'm thinking Aasimar Angel kin (+2 str, +2 cha, can cast alter self for another +2 to str once a day).

The two main problems here are skills, and dex related issues (Touch AC, reflex and so on). But maybe those can be shored upon with magical gear?

The 32 point buy is intentional. He is affording inflated stats so as to bolster characters from onset. Been looking at paladins quite a bit.

It's PF point buy.

[(Un)Inspired]

You get that:

A) Just because there is a restrictions on PCs having flying doesn't mean there aren't going to creatures with wings.

B) There are restrictions against flying, teleporting and all travel "Shortcuts" in a broad sense. There's no way the GM's going allow going airborne because "I'm just WALKING on air, not FLYING. WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA".

I hear there will be flying creatures. That doesn't change the fact that having access to 3 dimensional movement is a powerful tool. It's something I wouldn't do without.

Because the term "travel shortcut" wasn't defined we each must use our private language to determine its meaning. How do you define the term?

[Kaveman26]

I will get added clarification for airwalk etc. I believe the intent is to prevent flying eagles dropping ring into mt doom shenanigans. I.E. We can't circumvent the peril...we must face the peril.

Been plugging away at a few different ideas already.

[Mr.Moron]

I hear there will be flying creatures. That doesn't change the fact that having access to 3 dimensional movement is a powerful tool. It's something I wouldn't do without.

Because the term "travel shortcut" wasn't defined we each must use our private language to determine its meaning. How do you define the term?

It sounds to me like the GM wants the PCs on foot, walking around or riding on creatures that are also walking around. That is hoofin' it, foot slogging, boots on the ground, feet in the mud, good old fashioned left-right-left by the numbers marchin'.

The ban list calls out flight, teleportation and pretty much any ability (summong,calling) that could get you on-demand access to creatures that can do those things naturally. The additionally generalized "no travel shortcuts" further underscores a tone that seems to be trying to bar the party from non-conventional forms of movement.

This is why I doubt the GM would allow air walk. It and all on demand 3d movement clearly belong to a class of abilities called out for exclusion. That the specific wording doesn't catch Air Walk because it isn't technically "Flight" strikes me more as human oversight than an intentional exception.

Certainly the GM might be fine with it I guess but until given an explicit statement otherwise it seems odd to me assume OP would be get the go on something like that because they didn't remember every spell that does exactly what they're trying to prevent just with a different name.

[Beta Centauri]

I will get added clarification for airwalk etc. I believe the intent is to prevent flying eagles dropping ring into mt doom shenanigans. I.E. We can't circumvent the peril...we must face the peril. I think you're right, but I think the GM should state that, instead of trying to prune the rules to bring that about. That way, the GM doesn't have to personally find every trick themselves, because the players can say "Ooh, how about... no, that would circumvent the peril, so nevermind."

Edit: That also lets the players judge more accurately whether its the kind of game they want to play. Some players really prefer finding exploits that makes them untouchable. If that's going to frowned upon, it's better that such a player bow out of the game ahead of time.

[(Un)Inspired]

It sounds to me like the GM wants the PCs on foot, walking around or riding on creatures that are also walking around. That is hoofin' it, foot slogging, boots on the ground, feet in the mud, good old fashioned left-right-left by the numbers marchin'.

The ban list calls out flight, teleportation and pretty much any ability (summong,calling) that could get you on-demand access to creatures that can do those things naturally. The additionally generalized "no travel shortcuts" further underscores a tone that seems to be trying to bar the party from non-conventional forms of movement.

This is why I doubt the GM would allow air walk. It and all on demand 3d movement clearly belong to a class of abilities called out for exclusion. That the specific wording doesn't catch Air Walk because it isn't technically "Flight" strikes me more as human oversight than an intentional exception.

Certainly the GM might be fine with it I guess but until given an explicit statement otherwise it seems odd to me assume OP would be get the go on something like that because they didn't remember every spell that does exactly what they're trying to prevent just with a different name.
I think you could definitely be right. If the DM doesn't want to ban Airwalk then it would be a missed opportunity ya know? I tend to prefer DM to tell me exactly what they don't want cause I'm terrible at guessing people intent.

I think you're right, but I think the GM should state that, instead of trying to prune the rules to bring that about. That way, the GM doesn't have to personally find every trick themselves, because the players can say "Ooh, how about... no, that would circumvent the peril, so nevermind."

Edit: That also lets the players judge more accurately whether its the kind of game they want to play. Some players really prefer finding exploits that makes them untouchable. If that's going to frowned upon, it's better that such a player bow out of the game ahead of time.
Well said my friend.

[Blackhawk748]

I would say go for a stealthy build, it works even better if you get the whole party to work with you on this. A party of Commandos have a much better chance of succeeding here (IMO) than the Knight in Shining Armor Upon His Valiant Steed. Now im all for the Knight in Shining Armor, just this particular instance seems to call for stealth, guile, and a guy who doesnt mind killing people when they arent looking.

[jguy]

I highly recommend one of you takes Craft Wand and perhaps some of the other crafting as well. You only have 90 days so a lot of the big items won't be finished but being able to get 1-2 thousand gold a day can add up in the land of evil. The reason I say to take Craft Wand Especially is Wands of Cure Light Wounds. With how deadly everything will be you won't want to waste spell slots on healing but you will want to be capped HP after ever fight. I assume that buying that wand won't be easy so crafting it will be really big. Will cost 375g to make, so just under an hour of downtime to make a brand new one. Making cheapo wands of Protection from Evil will also help with all the suggestions, charms, and dominates that will be thrown your way.

[Kaveman26]

So bit more information made available to us.

Air walk is allowed but only eligible for personal casting.

We are being encouraged to think creatively and work to exploit restrictions.

We will be starting at eastern end of a continent from within a mountain stronghold and travelling west.

We do not know if the thing being rescued is indoors or outdoors.

[Kol Korran]

A few more questions:
- Are you playing with alignment? Will spells working of alignment count (Protection from Evil)? Do alignment restrictions count?
- The travel- Will the distance and travel speed be tracked? (I assume it is due to the 90 days limit) Or do you just allocate a number of days per "travel section"?
- You said twice the WBL, so in PF that should give 47,000 to begin with, right?
- The 4th level ability increase- is it factored in the 32 PB, or not?
- Does your group use Leadership?
- You mentioend that fiends of various sorts and undead are the main monstrous dangers in the wild? Are you certain? Any 1-2 ktypes that you are sure will come up fairly often?

Still thinking of Paladin, thinking up ideas...

[Kaveman26]

A few more questions:
- Are you playing with alignment? Will spells working of alignment count (Protection from Evil)? Do alignment restrictions count?
- The travel- Will the distance and travel speed be tracked? (I assume it is due to the 90 days limit) Or do you just allocate a number of days per "travel section"?
- You said twice the WBL, so in PF that should give 47,000 to begin with, right?
- The 4th level ability increase- is it factored in the 32 PB, or not?
- Does your group use Leadership?
- You mentioend that fiends of various sorts and undead are the main monstrous dangers in the wild? Are you certain? Any 1-2 ktypes that you are sure will come up fairly often?

Still thinking of Paladin, thinking up ideas...

Yes alignment is in play...so prot evil can be effective, and alignment restrictions are in play as well

Sounds like rate of travel will be a factor. Not sure to what degree of complexity, but there is a time crunch at work. Could be simply a means of preventing extended downtime, or we may have a quota in terms of miles covered, not positive

47K per character is right. We can pool at party level 235K and disperse as needed. We are exploring some craft related hijinks to juke overall equipment factor.

32PB + Stat boost at 4th. M.A.D. should not be a limiting factor

Leadership is fair game and already being looked at with a highly abusive eye.

Demons, Devils, Undead, Dragons, and Giants are all HIGHLY Likely to appear. No main antagonist as of yet.


Here are some of the brainstorming results:

An all druid party with focuses on wild shaping. Make sure everyone has access to a "burrowing" form and in essence bypass overland travel or flight with underground tunneling. Highly unlikely this would be anticipated and could allow us to sneak a considerable distance. Does make us very narrow in overall ability. Druids are fairly versatile though.

The Lawful Good Chargers: All Paladin party with charging/lance ability. A true one trick pony/warhorse. If it is a single target we try to overwhelm it in one mass charge...multiple opponents...we use mounted combat and high movement to become skirmishers and jousters. High durability, high damage output, faster movement rates, and good saves. No primary casters,tight space in dungeons would be a factor.

Lawful Good Archers: See above but with bows....if it comes within 200 feet...it's a righteous pin cushion.

Lawful Good Specialists: Oath of the Wyrm Pally, Undead Scourge Pally, etc. Everyone picks a group and specializes in that area.

Five Wizards: Each wizard prepares a specific array of spells to be implemented for relevent threats. Lots of flexibility and overall ability. Kind of squishy. Limited resources leads to longer downtimes.

Chip on Their Shoulders: More traditional balanced group, but still specialized. Dwarf Barbarian with focus on fighting giants. Dwarf bonuses for dodge, feats to aid against larger opponents, big con, some trap help. Undead Scourge Paladin. drow archetype that specializes in dealing with demons, possibly tiefling caster to contend with devils, dragon hunting bow ranger/fighter.

[Kol Korran]

Yes alignment is in play...so prot evil can be effective, and alignment restrictions are in play as well

Sounds like rate of travel will be a factor. Not sure to what degree of complexity, but there is a time crunch at work. Could be simply a means of preventing extended downtime, or we may have a quota in terms of miles covered, not positive

47K per character is right. We can pool at party level 235K and disperse as needed. We are exploring some craft related hijinks to juke overall equipment factor.

32PB + Stat boost at 4th. M.A.D. should not be a limiting factor

Leadership is fair game and already being looked at with a highly abusive eye.

Demons, Devils, Undead, Dragons, and Giants are all HIGHLY Likely to appear. No main antagonist as of yet.


Here are some of the brainstorming results:

An all druid party with focuses on wild shaping. Make sure everyone has access to a "burrowing" form and in essence bypass overland travel or flight with underground tunneling. Highly unlikely this would be anticipated and could allow us to sneak a considerable distance. Does make us very narrow in overall ability. Druids are fairly versatile though.

The Lawful Good Chargers: All Paladin party with charging/lance ability. A true one trick pony/warhorse. If it is a single target we try to overwhelm it in one mass charge...multiple opponents...we use mounted combat and high movement to become skirmishers and jousters. High durability, high damage output, faster movement rates, and good saves. No primary casters,tight space in dungeons would be a factor.

Lawful Good Archers: See above but with bows....if it comes within 200 feet...it's a righteous pin cushion.

Lawful Good Specialists: Oath of the Wyrm Pally, Undead Scourge Pally, etc. Everyone picks a group and specializes in that area.

Five Wizards: Each wizard prepares a specific array of spells to be implemented for relevent threats. Lots of flexibility and overall ability. Kind of squishy. Limited resources leads to longer downtimes.

Chip on Their Shoulders: More traditional balanced group, but still specialized. Dwarf Barbarian with focus on fighting giants. Dwarf bonuses for dodge, feats to aid against larger opponents, big con, some trap help. Undead Scourge Paladin. drow archetype that specializes in dealing with demons, possibly tiefling caster to contend with devils, dragon hunting bow ranger/fighter.

It's your game, you know the DM and theplay style, but a few thoughts:
- The all burrowing party may well meet a problem with navigating underground. Depends on how the DM plays this.
- The parties made out of one kind of class, even with specialities harbor serious draw backs. The druid party may have the best chances (Due to incredible versatility), but each of the party may find trouble dealing with challenges that usually require other class specialities, be they skills, a type of spell or more.
- Even with the more traditional party, I'd try not to specialize for a specific type of opponent entirely, as I think this will put against such challenges 1 character that knows it's stuff, and the others are very ineffective. Despite the character's speciality, I think it's a bad situations. Not to mention times when you're dealing with somethign else alltogether (Evil humanoids, aberrations and such?)

I think the idea would be to build for durability, and versatility in the overall.

I've been giving some thought to the paladin (The challenge intrigued me) and here may be some additional thoughts:
- Definitely the Angelkin Aasimar as a race. Fits perfectly.
- The main problems the paladin faces are ranged combat, movement (Especially if you guys are trackign distance), Skills (Mainly ones of passing terrain and perception, the all important skill) and very few spells. Other than that the class is very solid in combat.

I think the key with this character is it's equipment, as that will enable it to shore up most of it's weaknesses:
- Armor: +2 spell storing. This gives you more magical surprises, that doesn't even require actions.
- Weapon: +1, with either spell storing (Same deal) or one of two: Heart Seeker or ghost touch for those really annoying to hit opponents. I'd suggest to make it silversheen, both for silver and to avoid it getting rusted (Which sounds like a possibility with a nasty DM)
-Boots of striding- +10 speed, +5 jump. A must.
- Other skills shoring items: Gloves of climbing and swimming, and eyes of the eagle.
- I'd take a head band of charisma, +4 if possible. This boosts just sooooo much stuff (saves, lay on hands, skills, smite evil bonuses), that it's a must.
- If possible, I'd have the paladin take wands of often used spells. Need to look at them.

Sorry if I've said obvious things, just thoguht to add them in case...

I do think that a well rounded party has the best chance to be more versatile and shore up on people's weaknesses. Pack some stuff t odeal wit hthe common enemies, but don't invest solely on that.

Oh, and yeah- I too would like to see a campaign story! :smallbiggrin:

[Kaveman26]

Im often guilty of not seeing the forest because of focus on the trees so by all means anything even simple stuff I may be overlooking.

We also wrestled out that there will knowledge of us coming. I.e. The powers that be are aware a rescue attempt is in the works,

[Laughingmanlol]

Possible characters:
Reincarnated Druid: Start as a venerable Samsaran with incredible mental stats, using Mystic Past Life for access to some of the best Cleric spells. Likely to die in the first encounter, but then reincarnate into an adult of another race, hopefully with bonuses to the physical stats. Very much a cheesy pick, dependant on the DM's whims regarding reincarnation.
Fey bloodline drow sorcerer: Likely a squishy and overspecialised option, between the Seducer racial trait, Spell Focus, Greater Spell Focus, and the bloodline arcana, you'd have a +5 to the DC of every compulsion spell you cast.
Kitsune rogue: Take Realistic Likeness and Swift Change Shape to disguise yourself as a swift action with a +10 bonus, while Fox Shape allows you to become tiny with a +4 bonus to dexterity to boost your stealth bonus to nigh-invisible levels. However, lacking in potential other than being a skillmonkey (skillfox?).
Enlightened Paladin: A well-known bit of cheese, if the Champion of Irori class is available, it's possible to take advantage of the Ki Pool class feature, in conjunction with the Bronze Gong and Ring of Ki Mastery, to have plenty of smiting and channelling available. I've seen a 1-level Cleric dip suggested as part of this also. This fits with the Aasimar concept mentioned already, too.
Oradin: Another Paladin concept, a short dip in Oracle of Life for the Life Link power lets you divert damage to yourself and take advantage of Lay on Hands healing you as a swift action. If you can get Fast Healing, it gives the whole party infinite recovery capabilities, which sounds like it would be useful. Again, this suits a paladin aasimar concept well.
Goblin Knight: Admittedly silly, if you can take Saddle Shrieker on a Goblin Beast Rider Cavalier, your goblin knight can make an already potent pouncing velociraptor mount even more effective, while being small enough to fit in dungeons.
Smoke ninja: An Ifrit Ninja with the Firesight feat can see through their own smoke bombs, which means if they have a reach or ranged weapon they can attack enemies within the cloud unhindered while being effectively invisible.
Warlock: A Hexcrafter Magus can already lay on the debuff, but you can also add both Riving Strike and Cornugon Smash to every attack, if the feats are available, for another -2 to all saves from each if successful

[Demidos]

Get beads of Karma for any sort of buffer....and for most other forms of caster.

What if you were all artificiers (The Tinker Guild?) and BUILT your own minions and equipment and heck, base? That might be circumventing what your DM wanted, but it might be extremely cool.

[YossarianLives]

Isn't it a bit brutal to not be able to game for several months because your character died?

[Lord Lemming]

Oradin: Another Paladin concept, a short dip in Oracle of Life for the Life Link power lets you divert damage to yourself and take advantage of Lay on Hands healing you as a swift action. If you can get Fast Healing, it gives the whole party infinite recovery capabilities, which sounds like it would be useful. Again, this suits a paladin aasimar concept well.


That looks like a very helpful combo, but their combined team budget is 235k, and a Ring of Regeneration is 90k. The guidelines for magic item creation put an item of fast healing 2 at pretty much the same price. Infinite healing might be worth a two-level dip and nearly half of their combined funds; but is there a cheaper way to get fast healing?

[Laughingmanlol]

That looks like a very helpful combo, but their combined team budget is 235k, and a Ring of Regeneration is 90k. The guidelines for magic item creation put an item of fast healing 2 at pretty much the same price. Infinite healing might be worth a two-level dip and nearly half of their combined funds; but is there a cheaper way to get fast healing?

Sorry, I forgot to consider the cost of the item needed. I think the one most commonly used is the Boots of the Earth (http://www.archivesofnethys.com/MagicWondrousDisplay.aspx?FinalName=Boots%20of%20t he%20Earth), for a far cheaper 5000gp, but these are in the Inner Sea Gods book, and so might not be available.
Alternatively, an Inquisitor dip for the Healing judgement would give fast healing 1 for the duration of a combat once per day, but this would likely require munchkining the definition of "combat" to gain significant benefits, and would also take away from the Paladin progression.

[Kaveman26]

Get beads of Karma for any sort of buffer....and for most other forms of caster.

What if you were all artificiers (The Tinker Guild?) and BUILT your own minions and equipment and heck, base? That might be circumventing what your DM wanted, but it might be extremely cool.

We are exploring that in conjunction with leadership as once possible angle

And yes character death causing removal from the game is extremely brutal. We are long time friends and this more of an experiment that we are willing to indulge...dead pcs will likely pilot antagonists or other Npc entities (cohorts...etc)

[jguy]

Ever think of playing Undead? A ghoul is a CR 1 so you can be Class X 6/Ghoul 1. Tons of immunities, can travel all night, eat the dead. Ghoul Anti-paladin is very SAD with saves, spells, and HP all coming from Cha.

[Kaveman26]

Featured, Core, and Uncommon Races from Race Guide are allowed, no other.

We also had a gentleman's agreement to steer away from undead so as to create some seperation between the current group (Undead Cowboys) and this temporary group.

[jguy]

Fair enough.

[Kaveman26]

We are getting closer to committing towards character concepts. We have pressed hard for any last intelligence in terms of what to expect. Got a bit more information.

The path from starting mountain stronghold requires a journey through a splintered mountain valley long since abandoned by sane mortals to the aberrations and twisted beasts that roam it's caves and caverns.

If we make it out of the valley alive we are greeted with the ruins of a once proud city now home to twisted shells of a former era. The once mighty relics and artifacts of the world before draw all manner of oower seeking entity.

Twisted elements rage from volcano and glacier in corrupted lands beyond.

From there we are in the dark for how to reach the captive being of good.

The ruined city is not the dungeon delve we have been forewarned of...

[Geddy2112]

We are getting closer to committing towards character concepts. We have pressed hard for any last intelligence in terms of what to expect. Got a bit more information.

The path from starting mountain stronghold requires a journey through a splintered mountain valley long since abandoned by sane mortals to the aberrations and twisted beasts that roam it's caves and caverns.

If we make it out of the valley alive we are greeted with the ruins of a once proud city now home to twisted shells of a former era. The once mighty relics and artifacts of the world before draw all manner of oower seeking entity.

Twisted elements rage from volcano and glacier in corrupted lands beyond.

From there we are in the dark for how to reach the captive being of good.

The ruined city is not the dungeon delve we have been forewarned of...

I second something somebody said above about considering being covert over knights, but if you are going the route of guns blazing bring a paladin and a cleric. Double sources of healing, smite evil and channel to blast skeletons, ghosts and other undead. A barbarian, ranger or inquisitor can sub in as a rogue for dungeon crawling, rogues are too weak and most things will be immune to sneak attacks. Obviously you want a wizard for general magic control and damage.

[Segev]

I'd be tempted to go with Infernal Bloodline Halfling Sorcerer or Halfling Paladin. The former because you could do interesting things with Charm and Dominate magics to transform many encounters into minion-recruitment sessions, and then use those minions against the things that are immune to your charms. The latter because you say this will be brutal, and a small-sized creature with good HD and bonuses to saves from class and race is probably pretty sturdy. Plus, the mount can go into dungeons pretty easily when it's Medium.

[Kaveman26]

I'd be tempted to go with Infernal Bloodline Halfling Sorcerer or Halfling Paladin. The former because you could do interesting things with Charm and Dominate magics to transform many encounters into minion-recruitment sessions, and then use those minions against the things that are immune to your charms. The latter because you say this will be brutal, and a small-sized creature with good HD and bonuses to saves from class and race is probably pretty sturdy. Plus, the mount can go into dungeons pretty easily when it's Medium.

I have toying with gnome paladin for bump to cha and big con.