Building a party... Guide

Here's a good write up on party dynamics:

This Party is Off the Hook!

After rereading it, I feel this should be stickied...

I think any new campaign should have an initial get together to hash out party design and PC roles.

We generally tend to "wing it"... I don't think that's a good idea though.

Thoughts...

A must read for new players and very informational even for experienced players.

Some of the issues we run into are:
* lack of synergy between PCs
* Players not understanding the role their PC should be filling
* PCs not designed to fulfill their role
* lack of skill coverage

good input... strategic part design is better the more stable the group of players is. If having an "Optimal" party with every critical role filled and the widest range of Skills present were a primary goal, I'm thinking that the most frequent and reliable (in attendance) players should then fill the most critical roles. The occasional players could then fill the roles where more than one PC of that type is acceptable or more easily inter-changable with another role (Striker for a Defender?).

Of course this might preclude the more frequent players from playing the exact role they may want to play.

"I think any new campaign should have an initial get together to hash out party design and PC roles."
Good in theory, but I've never seen us do this.

"We generally tend to "wing it"... I don't think that's a good idea though."
True, but that's how we've played.

"* lack of synergy between PCs"
This is hard to do. I'd happy with more coordination on targets.

"* Players not understanding the role their PC should be filling"
This can be frustrating to other players. Also slows down the game play.

"* PCs not designed to fulfill their role"
Some player have built for role playing. Make for good entertainment but not efficient at taking down enemies.