This time around we are gonna let players create their own characters with our help. Of course for a party to succeed we need to cover all of our bases. The most cliche party is Fighter/Wizard/Rogue/Cleric, in fact in our last game the only difference was we had a Sorcerer instead of a Wizard (the two base classes that have the most in common). What's more important than the actual classes though is what role the player is trying to serve in the party, namely Tank/Controller/Skill Monkey/Healer.

Any player can be the Face (representing the group through RP and diplomacy/sense motive skills), and almost any class can deal respectable damage. So none of these roles are one-trick ponies (the best healers in contrast to most video games are the best classes in the game). But it's best that they all be filled.

Below are some the Base Classes that fill each role and how they do so. Blue highlighting means they are the best, Green highlighting means they do it well, Orange means they are not optimal but should be fine as far as we are concerned. Red is cases where the class is not really good but can't fit anywhere else on a four player team.

Tank (Fight in the front line, absorbing the most damage).
Paladin (Gets great free damage out of Smite, so is able to invest more heavily into defense, can buff himself with divine spells)
Fighter (Trained to use armor better, gets by far the most feats which can be used for defensive purposes)
Cavalier (Ability to Challenge foes means the Cavalier will definitely be the one taking damage)
Barbarian (Has the highest HP, gains more HP by raging, and has a pittance of damage reduction. The trade-off is worse armor)
Monk (Has the best Saves in the game, and gains an Armor bonus from Wisdom. However he has lower HP than the above and can't wear armor)
Druid (Can change into tanky animals, divine spells)
Cleric (Very easy to build tanky, divine spells)
Summoner (Controls a summoned minion to tank for you)

Controller (Uses god like spells to manipulate the enemies and battlefield)
Wizard (Master of Arcane spells, enchanting the minds of enemies, using powerful illusions, buffing allies, and much more)
Sorcerer (All the same spells that the Wizard gets. Many players think the Wizard is better, but no one can deny that the Sorcerer is cooler)
Witch (Major Arcane spellcaster with Hex ability for even more control)
Cleric (Divine spells a step down in this role, but not by much)
Druid (Ditto)
Bard (Access to a much smaller Arcane spell list than the above, but does get good control spells. Uses bardic performance to buff allies)
Magus (Half Arcane spellcaster, half fighter)

Skill-Monkey (Uses a large number of skills to solve all of the party's problems, especially with an emphasis on finding and disarming traps)
Rogue (The ultimate skill monkey, Rogue flat out gets the most skills and gets bonuses in the skills you'd want a skill monkey to have. Comes with anti-trap features)
Bard (The master of lore, or being able to identify monsters and their weaknesses. Versatile performances eventually gives access to many skills, and some Arcane spells pad out the diversity here)
Wizard (Being intelligent means more skills, and spells can make up for lack of skills)
Alchemist (High intelligence and more skills than the Wizard, potions and mutagens offer more support)
Ranger (The Ranger offers unique abilities that aren't easily acquired by other classes. Whether these talents are useful or not is VERY campaign specific. Ranger is the hardest class to fit into a 4 man team, in spite of being one of the biggest damage dealers)
Gunslinger (Can shoot off locks? Seems like another Ranger, but very expensive to maintain guns)

Healer (Uses healing spells to keep players fresh in between fights)
Cleric (The role most associated with healing, Divine spells also provide many other kinds of protection for the party)
Oracle (Uses Cleric spells, very little difference in these two classes)
Druid (With a different Divine spell list the Druid is a step down, but not by much)
Paladin (Lay On Hands and a small selection of Divine spells)
Bard (The only Arcane caster to get healing spells)
Inquisitor (It's a mini-Cleric with more focus on dealing damage and less of everything else)


Now, please list in order what roles you'd most like to fulfill. Remember, everyone can deal damage and be proficient in ways other than your role.

Example

1. Tank
2. Healer
3. Skill-Monkey
4. Controller

1. Healer
2. Controller
3. Tank
4. Skill-Monkey

I'm so predictable hnnnnnn

1. Skill-Monkey
2. Healer
3. Controller
4. Tank

Although summoner sounds cool tank-wise.

I'm fine with anything, so I guess its down to Metal Bagon :)

1. Tank
2. Healer
3. Controller
4. Skill-Monkey

Doing what sounds the easiest.

Alright, I'll be in #Insidinari later and we'll talk about classes and building characters then. As it stands; Jumpluff is Healer, Nightmare is Skilled, Mastadi is Controller, and Metal Bagon is Tank.