Return to Temple without Arcane Caster?

Rabelais

First Post

• Jun 30, 2005

• #1

The Party stands thusly...

Human Fighter
Half-Elf Rogue
Half-Elf Cleric
Elf Druid

and Me.

I'm looking at playing a Half-Orc Fighter or a Human Sorceror... The question is this. Is Return to Temple of Elemental Evil suicde without an Arcane caster of one sort or another, or would the party be a little better set with the 2 Divine casters, and an additional meat shield?

 

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C

CrusadeDave

First Post

• Jun 30, 2005

• #2

Hmmmm

As someone who has played RttToEE (Only died Twice!), and is DMing it (Players currently 14th level) currently either would be fine.

There's no real reason why you absolutely need an arcane caster if you have a Druid and a Cleric. A Second Tank could be useful maybe a fighter/rogue. A Ranged Attacker, a Bard, a maybe even a second Cleric, one of you could be more of a Buff and Smash Cleric, and the other a Caster.

Regardless: High Will saves are a must. As are combat tactics, and the ability to use Guile and Subterfuge at times.

 

P

Patryn of Elvenshae

First Post

• Jun 30, 2005

• #3

Oh, and:

Spoiler

Look twice at and think real hard about any poker games you happen upon before ante'ing up.

 

Endur

First Post

• Jun 30, 2005

• #4

Play the character you want to play.

But, I tend to think the Human Sorceror will help the party more than the half-orc fighter.

Don't forget that your sorceror is going to start at a relatively reasonable level and it won't be long before you are throwing Fireballs around.

 

Shin Okada

Explorer

• Jun 30, 2005

• #5

By multiclassing, fighter type can get better will saves at higher level. Try to check various supplements including Complete Warrior and Races of Destiny. Outcast Champion prestige class is really nice to improve your will save without losing BAB.

 

Infiniti2000

First Post

• Jun 30, 2005

• #6

Rabelais said:

The question is this. Is Return to Temple of Elemental Evil suicde without an Arcane caster of one sort or another, or would the party be a little better set with the 2 Divine casters, and an additional meat shield?

Click to expand...

It is not suicide, but the party would be better off having at least one single-classed arcane caster with spells like teleport, dim door, and someone's private sanctum (at higher levels). Of course, as PCs drop, someone could always choose to run an arcane caster later on.

But, I'm always in favor of players running whatever character they want to run. It's a game, and therefore about enjoyment. So, don't run the character that everyone else wants you to run. If they want an arcane caster, then make them switch. Of course, the rogue with a high UMD and scrolls/wands could alleviate any deficiencies in arcane casting, so it's probably no big deal.

 

seans23

First Post

• Jun 30, 2005

• #7

Infiniti2000 said:

It is not suicide, but the party would be better off having at least one single-classed arcane caster with spells like teleport, dim door, and someone's private sanctum (at higher levels). Of course, as PCs drop, someone could always choose to run an arcane caster later on.

Click to expand...

Travel domain will give you teleport and dim door, but yeah, dropping the fireball comes in handy.

A cleric of elemental evil would be fun


Is the half-elf cleric going to be your party diplomat?

 

S

Shadowdweller

Explorer

• Jun 30, 2005

• #8

As others have said. You are going to want at least a few people with a decent ranged attack (esp. toward the beginning), whether that's through magic or other means.

 

Infiniti2000

First Post

• Jun 30, 2005

• #9

seans23 said:

Travel domain will give you teleport and dim door, but yeah, dropping the fireball comes in handy.

Click to expand...

I don't even recall off-hand what (core) deities allow the Travel domain. Regardless, that's a large party, especially if the animal companion is not Medium. With a medium animal companion (say, wolf), the cleric would have to be minimum 15th level to dim door everyone. So, it's best to have two; as my group found out.

 

A

Andre

First Post

• Jul 1, 2005

• #10

Optimal choices, based on current party makeup (IMO):

Sorcerer
Cleric
Barbarian
Paladin

The sorcerer will provide some spells that the cleric and druid don't, but it's a matter of convenience, not necessity.

Extra clerics are very useful in this adventure. Select domains to cover any weak spots in the party. A lot of the treasure found will come your way, just because...

A raging barbarian gets a boost to Will saves, which can be vital (tho don't be surprised if you still miss a lot of Will saves). Add in the high hit points and high damage output and he can be very useful.

A paladin has a number of very useful abilities, but if your group plays them as a bad stereotype ("I detect evil - I attack!"), then it's probably not worth the trouble.

My personal opinion, having played through the module: do NOT play a wizard. Your spell selection will be pretty limited, unless the GM is willing to adapt the module.

An interesting option would be a warlock. The class didn't exist when my group played the module, but having someone able to blast things all day long would have been helpful at times. Worth losing an extra caster or meatshield? Not sure about that...