Adventure Party [Archive] - Wizards Community

Adventure Party [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
L_Train0502
02-24-07, 03:57 PM I am in need of some ideas for a balanced adventure party for 3 players. I am new to the game and having a hard time figuring out what I dont need.

Help!
Magrus
02-24-07, 06:45 PM As in...what are you looking for? You weren't very clear on that. :confused:
Orchomenos
02-24-07, 07:18 PM What level are you starting? Are you rolling dices or using point-buy?

A party usually need 4 character archetypes:
- A front liner/strong character (barbarian, fighter, paladin)
- A skill monkey for trap detecting and door opening (rogue, ranger, bard)
- An healer (cleric, druid, bard)
- An arcane blaster (wizard/sorcerer)

In the Core Classes, only the Rogue has the Trapfinding ability, so if you want to use another class (bard, ranger) with Search as class-skill, you need to multiclass with at least one Rogue level. But then, both the bard and ranger can use wands of cure light wounds.

A wizard can use the Knock spell (or scroll or wand) to open a locked door, and a cleric can use the Find Traps spell (or scroll or wand) to detect traps (you still have to bypass the traps). So with them both, you can only add a fighter and you're done.

A cleric with the War domain can usually be a healer and front liner, so you could add a rogue and a wizard.
A cleric with the Magic domain can use arcane magic items (wands), so you could add a rogue and a fighter.

A rogue with enough ranks in Use Magic Devices can safely use Wands and Scrolls; give him a Wand of Cure Light Wounds, and you have your healer. You can now add a fighter and a wizard.
Krusk
02-24-07, 07:52 PM Id say one melee character
One arcane caster
and one divine caster should be able to handle most things. As long as everyone takes steps to cover the skill user role.

So

fighter-cleric-sorcerer

or barbarian-druid-sorcerer

or ranger-druid-wizard.
Xavon
02-24-07, 08:32 PM I'll probably take some lumps for this, but for 3 characters I recomend playing Gestalt.

Otherwise you could have an NPC fill in for the healer or tank (generally the least popular roles, IME). The NPC should get a fair share of treasure and XP, but otherwise contribute only their assigned role. Or if you are mature enough, make it a full DMPC. Big if there.
The_Ryan
02-25-07, 12:33 AM What level are you planning on having this party? Knowing this would aid in the advice I would give towards the makeup of the party.

Ryan
Comus
02-25-07, 12:43 AM Hm. I'd say either...

Cleric-Druid-Beguiler (or Wizard)

or

Druid-Druid-Druid
blackjackg
02-25-07, 03:06 AM I think the Blaster is overrated, personally. If all you've got is three, I'd say Tank/Healer/Skill Monkey. In their purest form, that'd be Fighter/Cleric/Rogue. If you feel like swapping in a Druid, Bard, Paladin or Ranger, you'd get a little crossover that might help in case one of three gets knocked out. (Druid and Paladin can be Healer/Tank, Bard can be Healer/Skill, Ranger can be Skill/Tank).
philnicau
02-25-07, 04:01 AM Scout -Covers ranged Combat and has Trapfinding and Disable Device

Paladin front line Melee fighter and Back up healer

Bard Arcane Caster and skill monkey
Fireclave
02-25-07, 05:40 PM Rogue - Stealth, trap disarming, secondary melee combatant, back-up caster (with UMD)

Druid - Primary melee combatant, secondary healer, secondary blaster, tracker

Cleric - Primary healer, primary or secondary melee combatant, secondary blaster, party face

Consider having the Rogue multiclass with Wizard or Sorcerer and aiming for Arcane Trickster for added utility. Or, consider using Psychic Rogue, focus on powers that buff your attack rolls and AC, and taking a more primary melee role.
Nathreet
02-25-07, 06:38 PM Rouge
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Rouge_powder.jpg/250px-

Couldn't resist.

Also need a clerk and a dryad.

For new players, I'd go with the classic fighter, rogue, wizard. That'll cover just about everything you face. You can substitute a paladin or barbarian for the fighter. You could substitute a sorceror for a wizard, but he won't have the same versatility. You could also take a druid in place of the wizard.
FrostHammer
02-25-07, 08:54 PM 1) Beguiler: Covers most everything a rogue can do, including trap finding and disarming. also covers Social situations

2) Wizard: To fill in the spells the Beguiler can't have. Go with Warmage if you don't care too much about utility spells

3) Druid: Fills in healing AND tanking roles.
Kradlo
02-25-07, 08:56 PM Unless you're setting up an adventure for a convention, your players should determine their characters. As GM, you're free to declare which races and classes are available to the players, but the choice from there is up to them.

Let them pick what they want, and adapt your game to their choices. It's not hard, and your players won't feel forced into their roles.
Khadmus
02-26-07, 07:00 AM I advise removing the tank. The PHB2 says to have a Cleric, a rogue, & a sorceror...but as long as you have the PHB2, get a duskblade, a beguiler, & a cleric.

But yes, as Kradlo says, let them choose & base your adventure off of them.
SilverFoxKnows
02-26-07, 05:05 PM I'm playing in a three character game right now. We have a Fighter, a Barbarian and a Druid.

The Fighter has Feats from third party splat books that boost his damage output and have made him a viable hitter well into mid levels. Tank and damage dealer.

The Barbarian fills the roles of scout, tracker, front liner, skirmisher. High HP but not optimized to the max, several cross class skills, mobility over AC. Bridges the gap between the Fighter and the Druid.

The Druid is the healer, blaster, scout, front line damage dealer. Very powerful if a bit unpredictable. Only real weakness is her Elven Con and the relative lack of HP.

We tend to spend most of our time in the wilderness and have done okay without a trapfinder. We had arcane casters when we had more players but have been running with three for a while now.
AffableDoomwalker
02-26-07, 06:34 PM A simple, straightforward party would be to just have three guys who can multitask really well.

A good example for a new level 1 party would be:
Barbarian
Cleric
Thief

All three classes are flexible concerning what they can do (don't allow yourself to fall into archetypical character roles), and more importantly - multiclass really well; with the right stats in the right places, after a few adventures, you could very easily have a solid, well-rounded three-man group consisting of:

Barbarian3/Ranger2 - With an emphasis on Dexterity, this guy makes for an excellent tracker, survivalist, healer, and someone who could put the Knowledge skills (nature)&(geography) to good use, and can be devastating in close and/or long range combat, depending on your play style. Not to mention Ranger spells (if he has the Wisdom). There aren't many drawbacks to this combo, outside of not wearing medium/heavy armor, and with a high enough DEX and the free dodge feats - who cares?

Cleric3/Fighter2 - A more refined combatant in heavy armor who can heal himself and others? You don't need more than moderate Strength to succeed as a fighter, with a high enough Wisdom, Charisma, and with a few skills in Diplomacy, Knowledge (religion), and a few other skills of your choosing - you have a fine Negotiator who can throw down when talking is pointless. You need to mind how you advance in levels though, there isn't much reason to go past six levels of fighter when you're dual-classing IMO, and be aware: going too far in fighter levels without taking a few levels in cleric makes your cleric spells obsolete later on - you won't have enough anti-bang for your enemy's buck, and you'll be spending a lot on potions.

Thief1/Mage4 - Surefire winner? Depends on who you ask, but if you're looking for someone with a lot of skills - this is your man, almost all the physical Rogue skills depend on Intelligence and Dexterity, and this guy has those in spades, turn him towards the path of a spellslinger and you have a sneaky, smart, and incrediby dangerous fellow who can blast open a door just as easily as he can pick its lock. And traps? Pshaw, skilled/statted properly, he won't just disable them, he'll STEAL them for later use. The only real downside to the guy is that he's a glass cannon mounted on cardboard wheels, not for the faint of heart (and the Toughness Feat is recommended).

Really, its just an example, but it shows what you can do with just three people and a little careful planning.
L_Train0502
02-27-07, 11:20 AM Thanks alot for the post. 4 players ended up showing up. And I still took your advice to just let them pick their pcs with out my imput. They now have no trap finder so I am looking forward to seeing them rp through those situations.

thanks!
FrostWolf
02-27-07, 11:45 AM Duskblade, Hexblade, Cleric? Maybe?
kelvinaw273
02-27-07, 01:08 PM If you are talking core, I would guess you need to multi-class to get everything really well covered.

There are four main roles for the 'specialist' classes, but you can cover them reasonably well with the generalists. Bear in mind, you will have to fight smarter in encounters rather than rely on brute power, but you could do most things with Bard, Monk and Ranger. Somebody will need a level of Rogue for trapfinding, and crossing your Monk or Ranger with Cleric or Druid would improve your survivability (and maybe your Bard with sorcerer or wizard), but with the three 'generalists' you have adequate combat, skills and spell power to handle most things.
Munitia
02-27-07, 01:30 PM I'm playing in a three character game right now. We have a Fighter, a Barbarian and a Druid.

How do you guys do for healing? I'm in a similar game (we started at 3rd lvl) and we have a Fighter type (one of the wierd variants with the code of honor), a druid, and a bard and we have been having insane trouble with almost everything. The druid ends up spending tons of time trying to heal while everyone almost dies on almost every fight. We think it might be because of our damage output is crappy (our fighter is built as a mounted character but never has a horse!) but have never been sure.
FntsyWlkr
02-27-07, 03:48 PM I agree.
Newbies?

Fighter, rogue and wizard
OR
Fighter, cleric, and rogue

Basically you want COMBAT, SKILLS, MAGIC covered.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
L_Train0502 02-24-07, 03:57 PM	I am in need of some ideas for a balanced adventure party for 3 players. I am new to the game and having a hard time figuring out what I dont need. Help!
Magrus 02-24-07, 06:45 PM	As in...what are you looking for? You weren't very clear on that. :confused:
Orchomenos 02-24-07, 07:18 PM	What level are you starting? Are you rolling dices or using point-buy? A party usually need 4 character archetypes: - A front liner/strong character (barbarian, fighter, paladin) - A skill monkey for trap detecting and door opening (rogue, ranger, bard) - An healer (cleric, druid, bard) - An arcane blaster (wizard/sorcerer) In the Core Classes, only the Rogue has the Trapfinding ability, so if you want to use another class (bard, ranger) with Search as class-skill, you need to multiclass with at least one Rogue level. But then, both the bard and ranger can use wands of cure light wounds. A wizard can use the Knock spell (or scroll or wand) to open a locked door, and a cleric can use the Find Traps spell (or scroll or wand) to detect traps (you still have to bypass the traps). So with them both, you can only add a fighter and you're done. A cleric with the War domain can usually be a healer and front liner, so you could add a rogue and a wizard. A cleric with the Magic domain can use arcane magic items (wands), so you could add a rogue and a fighter. A rogue with enough ranks in Use Magic Devices can safely use Wands and Scrolls; give him a Wand of Cure Light Wounds, and you have your healer. You can now add a fighter and a wizard.
Krusk 02-24-07, 07:52 PM	Id say one melee character One arcane caster and one divine caster should be able to handle most things. As long as everyone takes steps to cover the skill user role. So fighter-cleric-sorcerer or barbarian-druid-sorcerer or ranger-druid-wizard.
Xavon 02-24-07, 08:32 PM	I'll probably take some lumps for this, but for 3 characters I recomend playing Gestalt. Otherwise you could have an NPC fill in for the healer or tank (generally the least popular roles, IME). The NPC should get a fair share of treasure and XP, but otherwise contribute only their assigned role. Or if you are mature enough, make it a full DMPC. Big if there.
The_Ryan 02-25-07, 12:33 AM	What level are you planning on having this party? Knowing this would aid in the advice I would give towards the makeup of the party. Ryan
Comus 02-25-07, 12:43 AM	Hm. I'd say either... Cleric-Druid-Beguiler (or Wizard) or Druid-Druid-Druid
blackjackg 02-25-07, 03:06 AM	I think the Blaster is overrated, personally. If all you've got is three, I'd say Tank/Healer/Skill Monkey. In their purest form, that'd be Fighter/Cleric/Rogue. If you feel like swapping in a Druid, Bard, Paladin or Ranger, you'd get a little crossover that might help in case one of three gets knocked out. (Druid and Paladin can be Healer/Tank, Bard can be Healer/Skill, Ranger can be Skill/Tank).
philnicau 02-25-07, 04:01 AM	Scout -Covers ranged Combat and has Trapfinding and Disable Device Paladin front line Melee fighter and Back up healer Bard Arcane Caster and skill monkey
Fireclave 02-25-07, 05:40 PM	Rogue - Stealth, trap disarming, secondary melee combatant, back-up caster (with UMD) Druid - Primary melee combatant, secondary healer, secondary blaster, tracker Cleric - Primary healer, primary or secondary melee combatant, secondary blaster, party face Consider having the Rogue multiclass with Wizard or Sorcerer and aiming for Arcane Trickster for added utility. Or, consider using Psychic Rogue, focus on powers that buff your attack rolls and AC, and taking a more primary melee role.
Nathreet 02-25-07, 06:38 PM	Rouge http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Rouge_powder.jpg/250px- Couldn't resist. Also need a clerk and a dryad. For new players, I'd go with the classic fighter, rogue, wizard. That'll cover just about everything you face. You can substitute a paladin or barbarian for the fighter. You could substitute a sorceror for a wizard, but he won't have the same versatility. You could also take a druid in place of the wizard.
FrostHammer 02-25-07, 08:54 PM	1) Beguiler: Covers most everything a rogue can do, including trap finding and disarming. also covers Social situations 2) Wizard: To fill in the spells the Beguiler can't have. Go with Warmage if you don't care too much about utility spells 3) Druid: Fills in healing AND tanking roles.
Kradlo 02-25-07, 08:56 PM	Unless you're setting up an adventure for a convention, your players should determine their characters. As GM, you're free to declare which races and classes are available to the players, but the choice from there is up to them. Let them pick what they want, and adapt your game to their choices. It's not hard, and your players won't feel forced into their roles.
Khadmus 02-26-07, 07:00 AM	I advise removing the tank. The PHB2 says to have a Cleric, a rogue, & a sorceror...but as long as you have the PHB2, get a duskblade, a beguiler, & a cleric. But yes, as Kradlo says, let them choose & base your adventure off of them.
SilverFoxKnows 02-26-07, 05:05 PM	I'm playing in a three character game right now. We have a Fighter, a Barbarian and a Druid. The Fighter has Feats from third party splat books that boost his damage output and have made him a viable hitter well into mid levels. Tank and damage dealer. The Barbarian fills the roles of scout, tracker, front liner, skirmisher. High HP but not optimized to the max, several cross class skills, mobility over AC. Bridges the gap between the Fighter and the Druid. The Druid is the healer, blaster, scout, front line damage dealer. Very powerful if a bit unpredictable. Only real weakness is her Elven Con and the relative lack of HP. We tend to spend most of our time in the wilderness and have done okay without a trapfinder. We had arcane casters when we had more players but have been running with three for a while now.
AffableDoomwalker 02-26-07, 06:34 PM	A simple, straightforward party would be to just have three guys who can multitask really well. A good example for a new level 1 party would be: Barbarian Cleric Thief All three classes are flexible concerning what they can do (don't allow yourself to fall into archetypical character roles), and more importantly - multiclass really well; with the right stats in the right places, after a few adventures, you could very easily have a solid, well-rounded three-man group consisting of: Barbarian3/Ranger2 - With an emphasis on Dexterity, this guy makes for an excellent tracker, survivalist, healer, and someone who could put the Knowledge skills (nature)&(geography) to good use, and can be devastating in close and/or long range combat, depending on your play style. Not to mention Ranger spells (if he has the Wisdom). There aren't many drawbacks to this combo, outside of not wearing medium/heavy armor, and with a high enough DEX and the free dodge feats - who cares? Cleric3/Fighter2 - A more refined combatant in heavy armor who can heal himself and others? You don't need more than moderate Strength to succeed as a fighter, with a high enough Wisdom, Charisma, and with a few skills in Diplomacy, Knowledge (religion), and a few other skills of your choosing - you have a fine Negotiator who can throw down when talking is pointless. You need to mind how you advance in levels though, there isn't much reason to go past six levels of fighter when you're dual-classing IMO, and be aware: going too far in fighter levels without taking a few levels in cleric makes your cleric spells obsolete later on - you won't have enough anti-bang for your enemy's buck, and you'll be spending a lot on potions. Thief1/Mage4 - Surefire winner? Depends on who you ask, but if you're looking for someone with a lot of skills - this is your man, almost all the physical Rogue skills depend on Intelligence and Dexterity, and this guy has those in spades, turn him towards the path of a spellslinger and you have a sneaky, smart, and incrediby dangerous fellow who can blast open a door just as easily as he can pick its lock. And traps? Pshaw, skilled/statted properly, he won't just disable them, he'll STEAL them for later use. The only real downside to the guy is that he's a glass cannon mounted on cardboard wheels, not for the faint of heart (and the Toughness Feat is recommended). Really, its just an example, but it shows what you can do with just three people and a little careful planning.
L_Train0502 02-27-07, 11:20 AM	Thanks alot for the post. 4 players ended up showing up. And I still took your advice to just let them pick their pcs with out my imput. They now have no trap finder so I am looking forward to seeing them rp through those situations. thanks!
FrostWolf 02-27-07, 11:45 AM	Duskblade, Hexblade, Cleric? Maybe?
kelvinaw273 02-27-07, 01:08 PM	If you are talking core, I would guess you need to multi-class to get everything really well covered. There are four main roles for the 'specialist' classes, but you can cover them reasonably well with the generalists. Bear in mind, you will have to fight smarter in encounters rather than rely on brute power, but you could do most things with Bard, Monk and Ranger. Somebody will need a level of Rogue for trapfinding, and crossing your Monk or Ranger with Cleric or Druid would improve your survivability (and maybe your Bard with sorcerer or wizard), but with the three 'generalists' you have adequate combat, skills and spell power to handle most things.
Munitia 02-27-07, 01:30 PM	I'm playing in a three character game right now. We have a Fighter, a Barbarian and a Druid. How do you guys do for healing? I'm in a similar game (we started at 3rd lvl) and we have a Fighter type (one of the wierd variants with the code of honor), a druid, and a bard and we have been having insane trouble with almost everything. The druid ends up spending tons of time trying to heal while everyone almost dies on almost every fight. We think it might be because of our damage output is crappy (our fighter is built as a mounted character but never has a horse!) but have never been sure.
FntsyWlkr 02-27-07, 03:48 PM	I agree. Newbies? Fighter, rogue and wizard OR Fighter, cleric, and rogue Basically you want COMBAT, SKILLS, MAGIC covered.