How about a party built around a Bard? Some performers have ensembles, after all

The Minstrel Party

Bards get around. They travel from settlement to settlement, bar to bar, theatre to theatre peddling their stories and songs. Their combination of arcane magic, subset of Roguish skills, and broad knowledge base can make for interesting, effective characters. But what works well with them?

Brawn

A Ranger would be well suited to a Bardic party that spends a great deal of time on the road. A Barbarian may be useful for drawing in some curious onlookers but would likely be more trouble than not in civilized areas. A Paladin makes for a good subject of Bardic tales and songs, but doesn’t apply well to second-fiddle roles under character such as Bards and Rogues (they tend to chaff a bit). A Fighter would work well here, as he is the more refined, univerally capable, and morally flexible of the strong classes.

Divine Magic

Depending upon the theology of the campaign setting, a cleric may not do to well consorting with some vagabond minstrel peddling tales for jink. Similarly a Druids tend not to do so well with crowds, the exact people a Bard wants to have around. Rangers and Paladins have such minimal access to spells that they hardly qualify to fit this bill. Let’s pass on the divine magic for a bit.

Cunning

Since we passed on the Divine Magic, let’s double-down on the cunning. The Bard already has a goodly ammount of chutzpah and some skills to go along with it. Add in a Rogue for support work (Bards make excellent distractions) and reap the inevitable rewards. Put some ranks into Pick Pockets

Arcane Magic

Bards have a smidgeon of it, but nothing to compare with the mighty Wizard. Avoid the classing egoes of two high-charisma characters (dump the sorcerer, friend). Get a Wizard. They’re lore-hoarders that function well with bards.

The Party

Bard, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard

Strengths

This party has brains to spare. Bardic Knowledge, a Rogue’s treasure trove of skill points, a Wizard’s intellect. Even the brawn of the party leans towards the educated, well-trained variety.

With two expressly cunning characters and at least one of good intelligence, along with some social skills, this party can take full advantage of the urban jungle.

This party would also function pretty well in a dungeon environment, provided that the Wizard uses divination and illusion magic in conjunction with the Rogue doing some careful scouting along the way.

Weaknesses

With 1d10+2d6+1d4 hit points, this party can’t take a heck of a lot of damage. Put all that cunning to good use, or you’re dead, berk.

A lack of divine magic means that if this party fails to avoid getting tangled in in a lot of hurt (disease, hit point trouble, ability damage) they will have to fall back on society to get things fixed. A supply of restorative potions and magic items should be kept onhand, and the Rogue should probably invest in the Use Magic Item skill to take advantage of some Clerical magic items