New campaign - old school dungon crashing, lvl 8, 3 man party

[Bobthewizard]

In a 3 person party, someone should play a cleric or druid for the earliest access to healing and status mitigation. If that's not you, then just make sure someone else takes it. Bards, divine soul sorcerers and celestial warlocks can help fill this role too if they need to.

For you, I recommend a wizard. They are much less squishy than most bards. Shield, absorb elements, misty step and mirror image are better than medium armor.

Evocation wizard is great in a small party. With a smaller party, you should face less total HP of opponents in a day so blasting becomes more useful. Plus with only 2 other party members, you can exclude them both from even a 1st level thunderwave.

Abjuration would be another great choice for the extra HP. If you can use Eberron races go Warding Dwarf and mix in Armor of Agathys. You become a great melee build which would be good in a small party.

But the main reason to take a wizard isn't for the blasting, it's for the utility. Rope trick and Leomund's tiny hut let you always have a place for a short or long rest. Alarm at early levels at least gives you some warning. Find familiar is the best scout in the game for 10gp a pop. Detect magic can make sure you don't miss any important treasure, and counterspell is essential.