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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lord Pendragon" data-source="post: 1642701" data-attributes="member: 707">I'm currently playing in a third-level party consisting of:1 human Paladin (sword-and-board)1 half-orc Fighter (greataxe)1 human Ranger (bow/longsword)1 human Cleric (longsword)1 gnome Druid (scimitar)1 halfling rogue/sorcerer (dagger)1 half-elf wizard (crossbow/quarterstaff)Our last session took place in an ancient temple of Chaos, fighting an army of goblins and hobgoblins among the five/ten foot corridors.  We did well from an in-game perspective.  The paladin and fighter acted as the front line, with the paladin blocking strategic doorways to control the flow of enemies while the fighter laid waste with his greataxe.  However, we did encounter a problem that (it seems) might be persistant.Namely, with a party of 7 PCs, there are PCs in the back row who aren't able to participate every round.  The ranger can usually find a line of attack to fire his bow, but often the cleric and druid are left without a really viable way to contribute.  They aren't strong enough to stand toe-to-toe with hobgoblins, but they don't have a strong, reliable ranged attack (unlike the ranger).So what I'm looking for are some strategies for second row combatants.  Experiences with large parties and how to contribute, etc.  I realize that some options will open up at higher levels.  (The druid's spells will get better.  Her player has already got her eye on Flaming Sphere, and I'm going to also suggest she consider Produce Flame.)  But I'd like to try and develop strategies for getting everyone involved as soon as possible.My first thoughts are to suggest we all get ourselves reach weapons.  Even if they aren't our main weapons, they'd let those of us not on the front line still attack past our front-line allies.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but in 3.5, if I attack with a hafted reach weapon over my ally, the target gets a +4 AC bonus from cover, but I have no chance of hitting my ally, correct?So the paladin, fighter, and ranger could pick up guisarmes (for trip attack goodness), and the cleric could pick up a longspear.What about the druid?  Are there any combat options that don't involve spellcasting or wildshape?  Flaming Sphere seems her best option at this point.  It's probably the wizard's best option too, though the wizard is a bit cash-strapped at this point, so I'm not sure he'll have the money to purchase and scribe the spell...Any other thoughts, suggestions? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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