Finally Started Age of Worms

[Steel_Wind]

A Psion would not be workable substitute for a good generalist Wizard, imo. You need the general damage dealing and Orb of Force attack spells. Antimagic Field in the latter stages of the campaign is similarly essential.

You want a Wizard, Fighter or Paladin, Cleric of Pellor (or something similar) and *someone* with a good search roll. Rogues tend to die in this campaign though, and they become increasingly useless as it progresses. (though moving to the Wormhunter PrC to regain the ability to crit the undead helps a lot)

A Warmage with high stats is very handy in the early stage of the campaign. Warmage edge counts large at levels 1-5.

One of my players (the only one to survive without dying once) is a Psychic Warrior/Elocator. But he's playing him as a Tank - not as a Psion.

A Druid with a solid menagerie of Summoned Allies is very helpful on the routine stuff, but in the boss fights, is overmatched.

My PCs current party of 6:

Fighter/Wormhunter 9/2
Rogue /Wormhunter 9/2
Cleric 3/Wiz 3/Mystic Theurge 5
Wizard 11
Psychic Warrior/Elocator 8/3
Druid 11

 

[PwrMnky]

My old party make up

We played with:

A monk (who was kick butt)
A paladin/favored soul
Druid with vow of poverty
Mystic Theureg
Fighter/Stonelord
Rogue/Nightsong Infiltrator

The mystic theureg got really frusterated halfway through the campaign. But I think it was class design, not anything to do with AoW. The rogue wasn't a regular player.

 

[Wolfwood2]

My advice;

1) you need an arcane spell caster. I would say a generalist wizard, or maybe someone that specializes in Transmutation or Divination.

2) don't be afraid to run away from encounters.

3) unless your DM imbalances the game somewhat ... I would almost recommend getting an additional player. (unless you play with cohorts you should be fine.)

4) I played a straight up fighter and I found at the later levels he was very overshadowed. We found our Druid to be such a huge asset the entire game.

5) I love beguilers ... but I also agree, that at later levels he's going to be overshadowed.

MY LAST PIECE OF ADVICE:
Protection from Evil Spells and good battle plans

Ouch! Uh, I'm not sure what I can do. It's not that we're opposed to a fifth player, but the one guy to show some interest backed out. I guess we could get some cohorts at 6th level, as the DM hasn't shown any opposition to the Leadership feat. I can hardly order one of the other players to drop their character and play a wizard because we need a wizard.

The DM actually suggested recruiting some hireling fighter types but I don't know if we want to do that. It would be a gold and/or xp drain.

Hearing about the fighter makes me glad I decided to go with a paladin instead, as my major choice was deciding between a paladin and a straight fighter. I've actually played a lot of spellcasters lately, and my last character with this group was a druid, so I wanted to do a tank type character for a change of pace.

I can at least take your advice on Protection from Evil and battle plans.

 

[Wolfwood2]

A Psion would not be workable substitute for a good generalist Wizard, imo. You need the general damage dealing and Orb of Force attack spells. Antimagic Field in the latter stages of the campaign is similarly essential.

You want a Wizard, Fighter or Paladin, Cleric of Pellor (or something similar) and *someone* with a good search roll. Rogues tend to die in this campaign though, and they become increasingly useless as it progresses. (though moving to the Wormhunter PrC to regain the ability to crit the undead helps a lot)

Uh, not to take this the wrong way, but that's a very restrictive list of potential characters.

The Wormhunter PrC was in Dragon, right? I think I have it somewhere but I don't recall the issue number.

My PCs current party of 6:

Fighter/Wormhunter 9/2
Rogue /Wormhunter 9/2
Cleric 3/Wiz 3/Mystic Theurge 5
Wizard 11
Psychic Warrior/Elocator 8/3
Druid 11

Hmm, maybe cohorts are the answer if we can just survive until 6th level.

Our DM has shown a willingness to switch it up and add different opponents than what is in the module, at least for the non-boss characters. He said he added the xvarts and the dragon because he didn't want us fighting nothing but bugs.

 

[Nightfall]

Paladin is a great and certainly viable choice. Any cleric is an asset, but Radiant Servant of Pelor is a tad more helpful. As for the Psion....eh it might work it might not. But if you or someone else takes Leadership, consider garnering an arcane spellcaster as it will be a huge asset later on.

Wormhunter is a fun class but not a necessary one, Wolf, to be an effective PC in Age of Worms.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Wormhunter is a fun class but not a necessary one, Wolf, to be an effective PC in Age of Worms.

Well...I got to disagree with that. By the time the Spire of Long Shadows comes around - you need the ability for classes who rely upon criticals to be able to do criticals.

Without that edge, the fighter and rogue are increasingly useless in the second stage of the campaign. That's what the Wormhunter PrC gives back to them that the relentless scenario designs tends to take away.

There are other ways to regain that edge (Ghost Touch+ Ghost Strike weapon from MIC, say) - but it's a serious issue.

 

[Nightfall]

Rob,

Eh maybe but I always figured there were spells and items to get around the Wormspawns. Wormhunter takes as much as it gives though.

 

[Wolfwood2]

Rob,

Eh maybe but I always figured there were spells and items to get around the Wormspawns. Wormhunter takes as much as it gives though.

Which Dragon can I find the PrC in so that I can judge for myself?

 

[Steel_Wind]

Which Dragon can I find the PrC in so that I can judge for myself?

Worm Food: Pages 70-73, Dragon #338, December 2005.

 

[Nightfall]

Yep. It's also in there with Core Beliefs: Boccob, New Schools of magic, Imps of Ill Humor, Staff Familiars and the Ecology of the Spell Weaver.

The picture on the cover looks like this: