Party make-up for Rise of the Runelords

[Joshua Randall]

Just as much as what you play is how you choose to play it.

Half-baked character concepts light on the combat ability? Bad idea.

Like all Paizo adventure paths, RotR is mostly about combat, combat, and more combat. So your character had better be good at killing things, or he's just deadweight.

 

[balterkn]

A leader/buffer type would be good, as several of the adventures give the opportunities to... ahem... acquire and employ allies. Good diplomacy will get people more allied and bypass some combat. If the leader-type can do buffing, all the better. If you get involved in more RP (utilizing the setting elements of the books, beyond just the adventure portion) then a RP character can get some pretty sweet bonuses.

Sorcerer, bard, or marshal would be good choices for at least one member of the team. Just be sure to pick up that "support role" concept and back it up with a good feat selection.

As the adventure path deals with an "ancient" evil of sorts, an academic bend to someone (lots of different knowledges beyond just arcana) is a good idea to ensure that you get cues during the adventures, rather than having to back out to get some sage/oracle to interpret the new information. In later adventures, the sage route becomes more difficult.