Strength essential?

[aberrant80]

my current characters are not high on strength at all. one at 16, 2 at 14, the rest at 10. would low strength be inadvisable? why i did that? well, look at the party i'm aiming for:

ftr4/palX -> scout/thief/semi-tank ...is pal3/ftrX better?
rng1/rogX -> scout/thief/semi-tank
bar1/drdX -> tank/spells (buff)
ftr4/clrX -> tank/healer
wizX -> spells (everything)/sniper
mnk3/sorX -> spells (bombard)/sniper

i'm trying to put all classes in there, but don't think i can fit in bard anywhere.

anyway, need some comments. will my party get into trouble later on with serious melee fights? this is my second party, and i just got to chp. 1. so far, it's much better than my first, and no problems yet (except for the fact that my high charisma characters have that irritating 'refuse reward' thing).

[Skooter327]

Originally posted by aberrant80
would low strength be inadvisable?

While high Strength scores mean high damage bonuses (especially with 2-Hand weapons), if your party is not based heavily on melee combat, you might not need it. It appears to me that your tank characters are likely intended more for decoys or fodder than for dealing heavy damage. If you're an item pack-rat (like me ), you might miss the weight capacity allowed by high strength scores, but you might not; the strong back feat can help you carry more. Finally, you might find some strength enhancing items through the course of the game, but don't plan on depending on them.

Originally posted by aberrant80
will my party get into trouble later on with serious melee fights?

You might, but if you went overboard on melee skills you would suffer in magic-heavy battles. Remeber that balance is the most important thing to keep in mind. Not every character needs to be an 18 Monster (TM).
18 Monster (TM) is property of Xyx, and is still used without permission.

Originally posted by aberrant80
no problems yet (except for the fact that my high charisma characters have that irritating 'refuse reward' thing).

It sould only be characters with levels of paladin or monk that refuse reward. Also, Intelligence is just as important as Charisma when it comes to rewards. An ideal party spokesman would be a character without any paladin or monk levels, have high Cha. & Int., as well as the mercantile background feat, and of course the diplomacy, bluff, and intimidate skills. I think high Int. reaps more skill points per level, which reinforces the high Int. for a spokesman.

[aberrant80]

hmm... mebe i'll just use dk2 to shift some of my stats. sacrifice a little dex and con for str. i'm a pack rat too! and i'll change set my wizard to be my diplomat - reduce dex, str, up cha.

but still need advice: should i do pal3/ftrXX or ftr4/palXX. is getting a high-level paladin worth it? iirc she has 12 wis and 12 cha. i could still play around with the stats though.

[Ambiorix]

Take a half-orc for your barb/druid. You can put intelligence and charisma to 1 and max out al the important abilities to 18. And he's faster and has a little more hit points.

[aberrant80]

thx 4 the suggestion, but no. for 2 reasons.

one: i think half-orcs are a little bland. a simple +2 str, darkvision, and then -2 int, -2 cha. that's it. mine's actually a ghostwise halfling. sounds kinda fun, and has much more colour.

two: i don't do min-maxing, at least not to such extremes. i usually only go for a minimum of 8. i like to roleplay and cook up some background stories, just for the heck of it.

[Skooter327]

Originally posted by aberrant80
but still need advice: should i do pal3/ftrXX or ftr4/palXX. is getting a high-level paladin worth it?

Try poking around elsewhere on this forum, especially Kayless' Guide to Multiclassing. There are definitely numerous opinions on how many levels to spend whne multiclassing. Personally, I usually keep it simple--either all paladin or even levels of ftr & pal. It really doesn't make that much difference does it?
<ducks and covers, prepares for fallout >