Party makeup for Curse of Strahd

[Scathain]

More build questions from a new member here!
I'm visiting my roommate in his hometown in Florida this summer with my best friend, and he expressed interest in having him, my friend, his dad, and brother play a game. I just picked up Curse of Strahd, and I figured I'd test it out on them.

I've been working on some prebuilt character ideas for them to consider, as most are new players, but I was wondering what Giant thinks an ideal party for this setting would look like?

I've only just cracked open the book, and while I'm confident in my ability to judge it based further reading, well...why did I make an account if I wasn't going to ask y'all's opinion!

Let me know about any experience you've had with this setting, what characters shined and what didn't, etc. Theorycrafting welcome!

[Fflewddur Fflam]

More build questions from a new member here!
I'm visiting my roommate in his hometown in Florida this summer with my best friend, and he expressed interest in having him, my friend, his dad, and brother play a game. I just picked up Curse of Strahd, and I figured I'd test it out on them.

I've been working on some prebuilt character ideas for them to consider, as most are new players, but I was wondering what Giant thinks an ideal party for this setting would look like?

I've only just cracked open the book, and while I'm confident in my ability to judge it based further reading, well...why did I make an account if I wasn't going to ask y'all's opinion!

Let me know about any experience you've had with this setting, what characters shined and what didn't, etc. Theorycrafting welcome!

Paladin Oath of Devotion and a Cleric with any good domain will do nicely.
If someone wants to play a monk, this is one of those few settings where a Sun Soul Monk can shine (literally).
Honestly, any and all classes will do nicely in COS but a party with a cleric and/or devotion Paladin will have an easier time of it.

Oh, and the spell "Daylight" is a party-saver.

[furryblueelf]

Anyone who can do Radiant damage is gold in CoS. One of our party has used the Moonbeam spell a few times now, and probably saved our butts as a result.
Given the relative low magic world (items not spells), anyone who can cast magic weapon or similar would be beneficial too.

[Sir cryosin]

I play a LN oath-breaker Paladin and my Channel divinity has made Struhd burn a legendary action 2 time now we haven't been to this Castle yet but he has paid a visit to are group a couple of times.

[Sir cryosin]

Anyone who can do Radiant damage is gold in CoS. One of our party has used the Moonbeam spell a few times now, and probably saved our butts as a result.
Given the relative low magic world (items not spells), anyone who can cast magic weapon or similar would be beneficial too.

Ya I was going to comment again say any melee character is going to want a way to get some kind of magical effect on there weapon. Be it spell magical weapon, warlocks pact blade, finding one of the few magical weapons in the story book. Even if they can't get any of that they should at least get the weapon silvered for well just for reasons.

[ruy343]

I'm going to run my first Curse of Strahd game on Thursday, myself. It looks really fun, but I highly recommend that you take the time to really read the adventure - there's a lot going on!

As someone who's read the adventure, I recommend a cleric or paladin (or both). Also, because there are so many traps everywhere, I highly recommend that you bring along a character with very high perception checks, such as an investigative rogue.

[RickAllison]

Ya I was going to comment again say any melee character is going to want a way to get some kind of magical effect on there weapon. Be it spell magical weapon, warlocks pact blade, finding one of the few magical weapons in the story book. Even if they can't get any of that they should at least get the weapon silvered for well just for reasons.

An UA Artificer wizard could be great for that respect. Starting at 6th level, he can enchant weaponry for hours, concentration-free. Additionally, the healing potions work great to give a familiar to raise unconscious allies.