Ideal Party Make-up.

[darklight]

In my previous D&D experience (since 1989), the druid has always been useless, but that might just be a function of the way we have played.

In a party of 6, consisting of core classes, there should, IMO, be

1 Fighter (Dwarven fighter is a good choice, lots of HP)
1 Barbarian or Ranger (Nature-buff + decent warrior)
1 Cleric, with decent fighting ability
1 Rogue
1 Arcane spellcaster (sor/Wiz are both ok)

The last one could be an extra cleric or arcane spellcaster, preferably the opposite of the one above. I would have liked to say a bard, but I can't really see a need for a generalist in such a fairly large group. As a solo player, I would love to play a bard though.
I don't see a need for a paladin, actually it might in some cases be a hindrance.
This party is mainly geared towards dungeoneering.
I think a partys capabilities for intrigue depends more on character background and personality, than classes.

I would like to pose a different, but similar question: What classes would you choose if the party only consisted of 3 pc's? (I appologize if this is too much thread hijacking)

a tired and sleepy
darklight

 

[Jay_Kinnear]

Nah it's fine does change the Thread too much, and it's in a similiar vain. Rogue, Fighter, Wizard. I honestly think that could be the most varstile possiable making the Fighter a Paladin for the Healing spells. But the other option is to go Druid, Bard, Paladin or Ranger, this offers a great deal of options to the party since each has dual role, ie the Druid can combine Fighting ability with fairly powerful spells, the Paladin fighting ability with healing as a bonus, and the Bard a mixture of Mage, and Thief.

 

[Lord Ben]

3? I'd go with two fighter varients and a cleric personally.

 

[Valicor]

Well the game I am in currently has a 6 man crew.

1.Half Celestial Cleric/Fighter
2.Human Paladin
3.A Revenant,Barbarian/Fighter/Beserker
4.Grey Elf, Necromancer
5.Human Ranger/Shadowdancer
6.Human Cleric/Fighter/Templar/Forsaken (not MotW)

let me jsut say from experience, a heavy combat party like listed above, can do some serious damage, but has alot of problems to.

If we encounter a heavy divine or arcane combat, we will get grounded pretty quickly. Our healing isn't a problem before or after combat, But if you go down during combat in a group like this, your on your own.

The ideal party with 6 members for me would be.

1. Fighter/Barbarian
2. Sorcerer
3. Cleric
4. Ranger
5. Rogue
6. Wizard/Fighter

Good mix of of combat, divine magic, arcane magic, wilderness skll, and city skill.

 

[reiella]

Elven Barbarian
Half-Orc Wizard
Halfling Cleric
Half-Orc Rogue
Gnomish Ranger
Dwarven Bard

Best for what? Being weird .

 

[Hejdun]

1. Well, you need a tank. Give me a dwarf with a decent strength, a high con, slap some full plate on him and shove him in front.

2. Arcane support. A Wizard/Loremaster would do well here.

3. Healing. Can't get enough, a straight classes cleric with the Healing and Protection domains.

4. Scouting. A rogue is the best scout, and has lots of flexibility.

Those are the 4 bases that need to be covered, for the other 2, it's basically the pick of hte litter.

5. A paladin with a high charisma and is a good fighter. Minor healing support, combat effective, public face.

6. Bard or Druid. Bard for in-city, Druid for wilderness. Adds some extra punch and fills the role of utility caster. Both can fight at need, and have some out of combat use.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

How about:

Human cleric
Elf cleric
Dwarf cleric
Gnome cleric
Halfling cleric
Half-orc cleric

I think that will cover all bases pretty well.

 

[wallshot]

classic

Dwarf Fighter
Elf Wizard
1/2ling Rogue
Human Cleric

now personally i would throw in based on what U plan on where U plan on playing...Woods i would add:
Human Druid
Elven Ranger

City:
Elf Bard
Human Rogue

 

[Psion]

Ideal party make-up

Barbarians ... always go for celtic or amerind style face-paint.

Bards are a bit foppish and could use a light dusting with a pale shade.

Party sorceress... ruby lips, every time.

Fighters... skip the make-up... not manly enough! (Assuming the fighter is male. But then, it's not manly enough for most female fighters, either. )

 

[Ace]

I'm not going to go into amazing detail. To me, it's more about filling certain roles, not about a specific class with specific stats, skills, and feats.

1. A big whoop-ass fighter type, one who can bring the smack.
2. A straight-up arcane caster.
3. A straight-up divine caster.
4. A utility man, with a wide variety of skills and special abilities.
5. A supplemental caster, of either variety, but also with some decent fighting ability.
6. Something strange, a character that brings bizarre/rare skills to the group, who fills out those often-missed aspects (especially when you've got several characters who are very focused on one or two things).

I second what Shiv has to say here more or less

My Ideal party

1. Fighter or Paladin
2. Wizard or Sorcerer
3. Cleric or Druid
4. Rogue possibly with a few fighter levels, no more than 4
5. A tracker, either Barbarian or Ranger or possibly in a stealth party KOK Infiltrator-- I,d go ranger
6. Bard, this guy is your Buff monkey so give him appropriate spells. I also like to give him a couple of levels of Barbarian or 1 (just 1) of Ranger for missle support and backup tracker

Races
1. Human or Dwarf or Assimar
2. Elf or Human or Gnome
3. Any
4. Any
5. Human, Elf, Half Elf
6. Human, Half Elf