What would be a good fit for this party?

[Eshfyre]

I'm beginning the Storm King's Thunder at level 3 with four other party members.

Sorcerer - Divine Soul
Paladin (unknown)
Druid - Circle of Sheep
Barbarian (unknown)

I want to fill a niche that the party could be missing. They frontliners, blasting power, and some support and healing, ect.
I asked my party what they wanted and they basically said I could go nuts. I own the Blood Hunter/Gunslinger archetype supplements as well.

These are the stats I rolled for my character. I can arrange them in any order I like.

Stats
11 16 12 10 10 17

Thoughts?

[DarkKnightJin]

This looks like a party that could use a Bard as their Ultimate 5th Wheel.
You wouldn't even need to arrange the stats any other way.

Honestly, any type of Bard would probably be pretty damn useful to this party.
The Sorc could be a Face, but so can the Paladin.

Alternately, you could build a Wizard for the Int skills and supporty stuff.

I'd be tempted to make a War Wizard just for giggles.
Tanking and blasting are taken care of. Buffing and debuffing could use someone to work on that.

[Kane0]

Some sort of skilly middle line or swich hitter would fit, like a rogue or bard. Anything that bridges the gap between the two frontliners and the two casters. Ranger, monk and bladelock are also good choices.

[Afrodactyl]

I'd use something like a swords/valor bard. You can be something of a frontline/blaster/supporter/skill monkey and use your spells to fill in whichever niche needs propping up.

[Eshfyre]

I'd use something like a swords/valor bard. You can be something of a frontline/blaster/supporter/skill monkey and use your spells to fill in whichever niche needs propping up.

I was thinking about Swords Bard but I was having trouble deciding whether to prioritize DEX over CON. I really would like to avoid going Hexblade just for the Charisma weapon.

[opaopajr]

Variant Human Rogue Thief, Actor feat. Be the diplo-face and item spammer to end combats before they even begin through exploration and social columns. This way your party can save resources and hardly lift a finger with all their new found friends. :smallamused:

[Biggstick]

I'm DM'ing STK for a group, and my advice would be to play a Sharpshooter. A Ranger, Fighter, or Rogue all do it well enough, but my best suggestion would be a Ranger. I recommend Ranger because STK has a focus travel, and being someone who's familiar with traveling all around the Sword Coast and further inland is important. Being able to tactfully fight Giants from hundreds of feet away is valuable, and currently something I don't really see as a current option for your party.

Make Giants your Favored Enemy for sure, but build your background story so that you dont fly into a murderous rampage upon seeing them. You should know how to speak Giant as well.

You can mix in some Rogue levels as well if you'd like. I'd recommend going a race that can see in the dark, as you'll probably be acting as the party scout.

Overall, my best recommendation is a ranged martial that utilizes Sharpshooter with a Longbow.

[Aett_Thorn]

I'm DM'ing STK for a group, and my advice would be to play a Sharpshooter. A Ranger, Fighter, or Rogue all do it well enough, but my best suggestion would be a Ranger. I recommend Ranger because STK has a focus travel, and being someone who's familiar with traveling all around the Sword Coast and further inland is important. Being able to tactfully fight Giants from hundreds of feet away is valuable, and currently something I don't really see as a current option for your party.

Make Giants your Favored Enemy for sure, but build your background story so that you dont fly into a murderous rampage upon seeing them. You should know how to speak Giant as well.

You can mix in some Rogue levels as well if you'd like. I'd recommend going a race that can see in the dark, as you'll probably be acting as the party scout.

Overall, my best recommendation is a ranged martial that utilizes Sharpshooter with a Longbow.

Going to second this advice.

You already have a Sorc and a Paladin that are likely to bump Charisma and can act as the party faces. You don't really need another. And you have two melee martials already, as well. Being a ranged martial character could really help the party out, especially if you can act as the sneak when needed. A Ranger, a Rogue (Scout would be good), or a Ranger/Rogue multiclass would serve this party well.

[Galadhrim]

Do you know what roles the other casters are playing? Divine Sorc I would think would be focusing on support and buffing, but I'm not sure.

I recommend wizard. If neither is going to be a controller, your party could use one, especially an Int based one since no one in the party covers that. Arcana, nature, and history checks will all be important, detect magic, counterspell, dispel magic. These are all things your party is missing hard. I have played through the first 1/3 of SKT so far and our party definitely needed our arcane expert (me). Also, rituals will likely be very important in this campaign and no one does rituals like the wizard. I went with a Diviner to help my control stick hard and make all our martials feel like bamfs against a held enemy.

If you don't want to do wizard, I would add support to a archery style ranger. Hard to beat favored enemy humanoid and giant on a ranger in SKT.

[Biggstick]

Do you know what roles the other casters are playing? Divine Sorc I would think would be focusing on support and buffing, but I'm not sure.

I recommend wizard. If neither is going to be a controller, your party could use one, especially an Int based one since no one in the party covers that. Arcana, nature, and history checks will all be important, detect magic, counterspell, dispel magic. These are all things your party is missing hard. I have played through the first 1/3 of SKT so far and our party definitely needed our arcane expert (me). Also, rituals will likely be very important in this campaign and no one does rituals like the wizard. I went with a Diviner to help my control stick hard and make all our martials feel like bamfs against a held enemy.

If you don't want to do wizard, I would add support to a archery style ranger. Hard to beat favored enemy humanoid and giant on a ranger in SKT.

Well, Druids have access to Dispel Magic and Detect Magic, so there really isn't a gap in that regard. And while the Druid might not have a good Intelligence, they could have proficiency in Nature. This, plus Guidance, plus a DM who understands that a Druid with Nature proficiency should have a lower DC then almost any other person at the table rolling, makes those checks easy enough to pass in my experience.

There are very few spellcasters that come into conflict with the party in STK. I'm not saying Counterspell is a bad choice of spell, just that I'd prefer a Hypnotic Pattern or Fear against a group of wandering Barbarians or Giants ya know? There are few opportunities in my mind in which a Wizard is within 60' of the caster to be able to use Counterspell in my experience as well.

Overall, the Druid really does bring a majority of the utility one will need in STK with spells like Detect Magic, Speak with Animals, Enhance Ability, Pass without Trace, Dispel Magic, Sleet Storm, Water Breathing, Water Walk, etc etc.

Speaking of Rituals though, I will agree that Rituals like Identify, and Leomund's Tiny Hut are extremely useful/valuable though. There are other utility spells like Fly that I would definitely advise a Wizard in STK to consider.
A Wizard is always welcome in a party though, and can easily find a role within the party the OP has listed. Personally though, I'd still go with a Sharpshooter primary martial (Ranger or Ranger/Rogue being the ideal) as my final piece of the party.

[The_Jette]

Looks like you don't have a really intelligent character in the group. Going as a Wizard is the obvious choice, but a knowledge domain Cleric might be a good option, too. You can be a backup healer while the group is still low level and vulnerable, and use your knowledge abilities in situations where it's helpful, i.e. outside of combat. Plus, you can wear medium armor, and a shield, so your AC won't be abysmal. You'll be able to help out in little ways all over, and shine when it comes to your specialty.

[Eshfyre]

As it turns out, we have a Wizard friend who has also joined the group, so I'll be going Ranger.

I'm a little worried about the party size (With me it'll be six) but I think I'm in a good niche as the party's Ranger.