# Party Composition Guide

## Why Composition Matters

A well-composed party is the difference between completing a quest and becoming a cautionary tale in the next edition of this guide. Questboard data shows that parties with balanced composition have a 31% mortality rate, compared to 78% for solo adventurers and 62% for unbalanced parties.

## Role Definitions

### Tank

The person who gets hit so everyone else doesn't. Requirements: high durability, willingness to stand in front of dangerous things, acceptance that your armor will never be clean.

Common mistake: "We don't need a tank, we'll just dodge everything." You will not dodge everything.

### Healer

Keeps the party alive. The most thankless job in adventuring. Nobody notices the healer until there isn't one.

Common mistake: "We'll just buy healing potions." Potions cost 50 gold each, take a full action to drink, and you can't drink one if you're unconscious. Bring a healer.

### Damage Dealer

Eliminates threats. You need 2-3 of these. They come in melee (up close) and ranged (far away) varieties. A mix of both is recommended.

Common mistake: Having 5 damage dealers and nothing else. You'll kill things very fast right up until someone gets hurt and there's no healer, or something big shows up and there's no tank. Then you'll die very fast.

### Support

Buffs allies, debuffs enemies, controls the battlefield. Optional but valuable. One is plenty.

Common mistake: Having 3 support characters. You'll all buff each other magnificently and then get defeated by a single goblin.

## Recommended Compositions

### Standard (4 members)

| Role | Count | Notes |
|------|-------|-------|
| Tank | 1 | Non-negotiable |
| Healer | 1 | Non-negotiable |
| Damage | 2 | At least one ranged |

### Extended (6 members)

| Role | Count | Notes |
|------|-------|-------|
| Tank | 1 | |
| Healer | 1-2 | Second healer recommended for dragon quests |
| Damage | 3 | Mix of melee and ranged |
| Support | 0-1 | If you have one, you'll wonder how you ever managed without |

### Compositions That Do Not Work

| Composition | Why |
|-------------|-----|
| 4 tanks | Nothing dies. You just stand there getting hit forever. |
| 4 healers | Same problem. You can't heal a quest to completion. |
| 4 rogues | Everything gets stolen, including from each other. |
| 1 of everything | A party of 4 with no overlap is fragile. One member goes down and you lose an entire capability. |

## Special Considerations for Dragon Quests

See [Dragon Slaying RFP](../dragon-slaying-rfp/rfp.md) for current requirements. Dragon quests require a minimum party size of 4. We recommend 6. Fire resistance is not optional.

For party insurance requirements, see the [Escort Mission SLA](../escort-mission-sla/sla.md) as the insurance tiers are the same.

## Dispute Prevention

Most party disputes are about loot. Agree on a [loot distribution policy](../loot-distribution/policy.md) before accepting any quest. Questboard offers three standard models. "We'll figure it out later" is not a model. It is a future dispute.