I am not taking advantage of bonus attacks. Character wields a single dagger. I stopped doing the disengage/run when every successful hit with sneak attack gained me the monster's full attention and I don't get an attack of opportunity when it invades my threatened squares. If whatever was hit is going to be hell-bent on killing me (specifically) if I land a sneak attack, and disengaging isn't getting me anything, I don't see the point.

Being the voice of reason is me roleplaying the character. I am the Donatello to the group's ninja turtles (by choice). The druid plays his character blissfully ignorant; charging into anything, and my character keeps him out of trouble. It's a mutual dependency and we enjoy playing that dynamic. The bardlock is playing the game as a power fantasy, and that's cool; he likes seeing numbers and he's certainly having his fun. The ranger is new to the game and just starting to think in terms of roleplaying, but I'm sure there'll be a dynamic there before long.

Being the voice of reason is at this point the character's only unique contribution to the game-play. He's timid on purpose. The game isn't a power fantasy for me. I'd be completely happy if there were whole sessions without a single combat encounter. Games have been going the other way, where they are 99% combat, so I need to adapt, or force a change to the nature of the game through my character's actions.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the game itself. Every game I've played in since pathfinder has been this way. Like we're playing newbie quests from an MMO around a table. That's all well and good, and everyone else is having fun; if I am not, it's because my play style isn't aligning with theirs, and I think that's more my problem than anyone else's. My classes utility is not in being a soldier. It seems unfortunate that the pre-made campaign we are playing through does not necessitate a skill monkey, but them's the breaks.

It's not that I'm not having fun; hanging out with friends is fun. It's that I contribute very little to the group, and in the context of roleplaying within the game there's little I contribute to the party (and if we're going to continue solely fighting garden trash mobs like this, motivation to keep me as a member of the group within game is running thinner every session). It's rare that I get an opportunity to say "that's what I'm here for". My hope is that I can invent these sorts of scenarios if the game is not presenting me with opportunities to demonstrate it on it's own. I will have to fundamentally change the character if I am looking to keep up in combat, and that would be a shame. Crying to the DM is a last resort.

From a perspective outside of the game, me roleplaying my character allows the druid to fully role-play his. He can be enthusiastic to a fault about pressing on and never think about consequences if there is a voice of restraint in the group to say what he as a player wants said without having to say it as a character. What's unfortunate is that we have not run up against a truly life threatening challenge that requires that restraint yet.

If you have any ideas for how I can (as a character who's worried about the group's need for him) invent a challenge only I can solve, I am all ears. If it has a chance to back fire, that might be even more interesting.