DM advise for an all-striker party?

[Innuit]

Ok, here is what you do. You use the MM to create a "balanced" creature encounter. Include a controller, tank, striker, leader, whatever. Then you show them how the roles should be used.

Example

Use the controller to take the 2 melee strikers out of combat. Then send you speedy lurkers and skirmishers against their ranged strikers. Lock down anyone else with a soldier or brute and TPK them. Then tell them to make a party that isn't complete non-sense.

Lesson, having an all striker party makes your job a f'ing nightmare. You will have to be completely anal about making your encounters so they don't die. Well just kill most of them, and let them make a real party. Plus it would be fun to show them how awesome a balanced party truely can be.

 

[DLichen]

Ok, here is what you do. You use the MM to create a "balanced" creature encounter. Include a controller, tank, striker, leader, whatever. Then you show them how the roles should be used.

Example

Use the controller to take the 2 melee strikers out of combat. Then send you speedy lurkers and skirmishers against their ranged strikers. Lock down anyone else with a soldier or brute and TPK them. Then tell them to make a party that isn't complete non-sense.

Lesson, having an all striker party makes your job a f'ing nightmare. You will have to be completely anal about making your encounters so they don't die. Well just kill most of them, and let them make a real party. Plus it would be fun to show them how awesome a balanced party truely can be.

I don't think 4e is that precariously perched on balance that a party can't succeed without all roles present. An all striker party might have a harder time with in fight healing, but healing potions can balance this out.

Forcing your players to play certain classes or have a certain party composition is almost always a bad idea anyway.

 

[Anthony Jackson]

Ok, here is what you do. You use the MM to create a "balanced" creature encounter. Include a controller, tank, striker, leader, whatever. Then you show them how the roles should be used.

Well, maybe. It's not your job as GM to show the players how they're playing wrong, though showing them that playing something other than a striker can be fun is a good thing.

 

[Evanta]

They'll need healing potions, and hopefully at least 1 or 2 of them takes a MC in cleric/warlord.

 

[Rechan]

I would never, ever suggest pushing the players to play different roles if they don't want to. Warn them ahead of time that their choices will make fights dangerous, and show them how various roles compliment one another, but I firmly believe do not ever force them.

After all, when a character dies, it's their funeral. Maybe they'll roll up a different role.

As to the issue of healing, a character with the Heal skill would be very useful.

 

[Ginnel]

I would never, ever suggest pushing the players to play different roles if they don't want to. Warn them ahead of time that their choices will make fights dangerous, and show them how various roles compliment one another, but I firmly believe do not ever force them.

Good point

I would suggest not changing anything but the loot.

Keep fights as you would for a party with all the roles covered, the players will have to just think of tactics to get round this.

An all out dex rogue in hide armor and shield can easily take the place of a fighter in terms of AC but with a better Reflex save.

The Warlock if infernal can run in with his stack of temporary hit points and improved AC from concealment for a round and back out next round same with an Archery ranger maybe delaying and swapping places if needing to keep one bad guy in place.

Having said that you're going to be missing the healing and bonuses from a Leader role the stickyness and focal point of a Defender role and the area damage from the Controller.
I think it would be really interesting to run for an all striker group or play as part of one. I would echo what previous posts have said about healing potions, make them available for the players to buy.

EDIT: little note, not a criticism (my ability to use other languages is none) its spelt, advice.

 

[inati]

Well there's a difference between melee strikers and ranged strikers. The composition of melee and ranged would help dictate the the types of foes you put in. Squishy type mobs die pretty fast to concentrated range fire, so don't be afraid to put them in. Rangers do well against minions with their twin strike, and Dragonborn with Enlarged Dragon Breath absolutely demolish minions.

If there are rogues in the group, it will be a high mobility game for them, as they will have to gain flank without the benefit of a defender. Maybe a TWF Ranger can step up to the role of "tank"

In other words, it's not quite enough to just say striker That encompasses a whole galaxy of options. Can you tell us anything else about the group so that we can suggest more ideas to you?

I agree with the strike missions comment, but that seems hard to pull off every encounter/adventure. Unless you want to put them in a military unit, and they get assigned missions to do in and around the battlefield. This would allow them to do what they do best and saves you the trouble of trying to figure out adventure hooks that lead to encounters that just happen to be tailored to their Striker composition.

As for mob composition, I think they will have problems with solos and elites, as they have no real healing power, and no damage sponge to absorb all that incoming damage. In fact, any opponent with high DPR will just ruin their day because they lack enough HP, lack high enough defenses, and lack healing.

Good luck with the campaign Oh, and be sure to tell them to bring extra character sheets

 

[Runestar]

Because strikers specialize in quickly doling out large amounts of damage in short bursts, I think solo enemies would make poor matchups, because it is fairly possible for the striker party to win initiative, go nova and quickly whittle its hp down to zero (or low enough). As mentioned earlier, minions might be problematic as well - it makes no difference if my bugbear rogue can deal 30 damage at 1st lv with an encounter power if the target has just 1 hp, and strikers tend to lack AoE support.

While not entirely relevant to the thread, it is worth noting that an elf cleric specializing in archery can make for a decent striker/leader archetype, which can help in that your party retains its striker theme, but they are still able to access healing. A member playtesting it at gleemax finds that it works admirably enough at low lvs, not sure about how it may fare at higher lvs (one problem is the need to split your money between a bow and a holy symbol, for instance, though the extent of that problem is still unknown). The cleric also has access to some respectable AoE powers, which can help mitigate the traditional weaknesses of said party.

Maybe multiclass as well to access powers which help make up for their shortfalls?

 

[Rechan]

Well there's a difference between melee strikers and ranged strikers. The composition of melee and ranged would help dictate the the types of foes you put in. Squishy type mobs die pretty fast to concentrated range fire, so don't be afraid to put them in. Rangers do well against minions with their twin strike, and Dragonborn with Enlarged Dragon Breath absolutely demolish minions.

If there are rogues in the group, it will be a high mobility game for them, as they will have to gain flank without the benefit of a defender. Maybe a TWF Ranger can step up to the role of "tank"

In other words, it's not quite enough to just say striker That encompasses a whole galaxy of options. Can you tell us anything else about the group so that we can suggest more ideas to you?

I agree with the strike missions comment, but that seems hard to pull off every encounter/adventure.

I make that suggestion with something like the A-Team in mind. The group is special, and they basically get Hired to do Jobs, as opposed to running around the countryside as adventurers. They might not be "assassins", but covert ops, yes.

This week, their mission is to "Break up this deal between this Bandit lord and this group of devil worshipers". Next week it's "rescue this royal chancellor." Then it's "Oops, we had a courier die in another country, and he has delicate documents; retrieve them before they get found. Said area also belongs to a hag sorceress - Good luck."

 

[Rechan]

Something else to consider: monsters that go "Boom" when they hit bloodied status, or otherwise get dangerous, should definitely be your friend. Because Strikers can quickly take down monsters, dumping buckets of damage should be a calculated effort.

But don't be afraid of sprinkling in a few monsters that get weaker when bloodied. (Angels for instance).