Help me make my first character

[Feint's End]

As I've mentioned in another thread (the one about Warlocks) I'll be joining my very first 5th edition game soon. I'm kind of at loss on what to play though but I have settled on one of 2 or at most 3 things.

The other players are a Wizard (the one who considered a warlock before) and some sort of str-based melee (player doesn't want to tell).

My rolled stats are (fairly good): 13 18 15 14 11 10

As for classes I thought about going for either a Way of the Four Elements Monk or a Light Cleric Blaster. Alternatively I'm open for suggestions what could fit the group well.

[Easy_Lee]

Druid, cleric, and monk would all add a needed wisdom save to the group by the looks of it. I'm partial to druids since they're good at everything and on par with wizards for usefulness (better at low levels). If you play a cleric, there's a good chance they'll want you to heal.

[warty goblin]

You're probably going to want somebody with some sort of healing potential. Cleric can be good for that, so can druid.

[hymer]

What level are you starting at, OP? And do you know how long this is supposed to go on?

[Feint's End]

What level are you starting at, OP? And do you know how long this is supposed to go on?

Level 1 since we are all new (including the DM). Me and the Wizard player are very experienced in 3.5 and PF though so we know how to build effective characters (we don't know the 5.0 rules that well yet but we are working on it).

Not sure how long it will go on ... I guess it will be longrunning so lets say mid teens.

I'll reply to the other 2 posts when I have more time

[hymer]

Level 1 since we are all new (including the DM). Me and the Wizard player are very experienced in 3.5 and PF though so we know how to build effective characters (we don't know the 5.0 rules that well yet but we are working on it).

Not sure how long it will go on ... I guess it will be longrunning so lets say mid teens.

I'll reply to the other 2 posts when I have more time

In that case, I'll second (or third or however many) the full casting healing capable character; Cleric, Druid or Bard. I don't know how well clerics blast in 5th, but I doubt they're anywhere near sorcerer and warlock. Druids aren't much good at blasting (but they have so many other good things to their name). Bards give you some wiggle room in building your spell list as you go along, so you and that wizard won't get a lot of needless overlap.
If you go druid, you may want to cast a glance at my druid guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?370229-Druid-Guide-amp-Discussion).

[Feint's End]

In that case, I'll second (or third or however many) the full casting healing capable character; Cleric, Druid or Bard. I don't know how well clerics blast in 5th, but I doubt they're anywhere near sorcerer and warlock. Druids aren't much good at blasting (but they have so many other good things to their name). Bards give you some wiggle room in building your spell list as you go along, so you and that wizard won't get a lot of needless overlap.
If you go druid, you may want to cast a glance at my druid guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?370229-Druid-Guide-amp-Discussion).

Thank you ... I'll definitely take a look :smalltongue: and consider druid. Seems like you guys all think it's a good idea so it's definitely there.

[Baveboi]

Okay, I had to reactivate my account after 9 months of self-imposed exile and e-mail fallout just so I could point out that Clerics are the Ultimate Killers in 5th ed at level 1. Don't believe me?
Well, read the Inflict Wounds spell.
Here is the description for those afb:
Inflict Wounds
1st-level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
Make a melee spell attack against a creature you can
reach. On a hit, the target takes 3d10 necrotic damage.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a
spell slot o f 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by
1d10 for each slot level above 1st.

So yes, Clerics can be blaster types between this and Sacred Flame if you ask me. They can dash a very high amount of pain at low levels and although it decreases with time it certainly stabilizes nicely when you factor other high-level spells. Are you going to be the heal-bot? Yes. Are you going to impart pain as well? Hell yes.

And now back to the shadows that spawned me!

[Feint's End]

Okay, I had to reactivate my account after 9 months of self-imposed exile and e-mail fallout just so I could point out that Clerics are the Ultimate Killers in 5th ed at level 1. Don't believe me?
Well, read the Inflict Wounds spell.
Here is the description for those afb:
Inflict Wounds
1st-level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
Make a melee spell attack against a creature you can
reach. On a hit, the target takes 3d10 necrotic damage.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a
spell slot o f 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by
1d10 for each slot level above 1st.

So yes, Clerics can be blaster types between this and Sacred Flame if you ask me. They can dash a very high amount of pain at low levels and although it decreases with time it certainly stabilizes nicely when you factor other high-level spells. Are you going to be the heal-bot? Yes. Are you going to impart pain as well? Hell yes.

And now back to the shadows that spawned me!

Haha thanks for taking the time Sir ... much appreciated :smallamused:. I realised that in 5ed divine casters are generally not too far behind in blasting compared to arcane casters (especially with the inclusion of domains like light) .

On a slightly different note. What are the stat priorities for a Way of the Elements Monk? I'm tinkering with some builds and I'm not sure on this one. Dex seems obvious because even though you are a secondrate or thirdrate caster you'll want to melee most of the time ... not sure though. To make Wisdom the highest stat seems like a waste.

[D1ng]

Stat wise a monk should be Dex > Wis > Con. In fact with your stats it could be amazing - if you pick wood elf or a variant human with the right feat for +2 dex, +1 wis you could end up with 20 dex and 16 wis... which monk would make into a base AC of 18 at lvl 1! Make con your 3rd highest score and you'll be durable and deadly (+5 to hit and +5 damage on two unarmed strikes is, again, great). The only reason for putting wisdom higher would be if you were going druid and using the monk dip to boost your wild shape AC with unarmored defense.

It might be worth thinking about druid / monk on that basis actually - great AC, it would give you some healing, and a druid with elemental wild shape who uses elemental monk ki abilities could be cool thematically. But that'd be best as a Monk 1 / Druid 10 / Monk 9 build which is a bit low on the monk flavor till later on...

But don't worry too much about filling the healing niche - it's much less necessary in 5th, though still nice to have. Picking up the ability to brew healing potions and focusing on control (which the monk can be great at with it's stun-lock abilities) will make it that much less important.

[Feint's End]

Stat wise a monk should be Dex > Wis > Con. In fact with your stats it could be amazing - if you pick wood elf or a variant human with the right feat for +2 dex, +1 wis you could end up with 20 dex and 16 wis... which monk would make into a base AC of 18 at lvl 1! Make con your 3rd highest score and you'll be durable and deadly (+5 to hit and +5 damage on two unarmed strikes is, again, great). The only reason for putting wisdom higher would be if you were going druid and using the monk dip to boost your wild shape AC with unarmored defense.

It might be worth thinking about druid / monk on that basis actually - great AC, it would give you some healing, and a druid with elemental wild shape who uses elemental monk ki abilities could be cool thematically. But that'd be best as a Monk 1 / Druid 10 / Monk 9 build which is a bit low on the monk flavor till later on...

But don't worry too much about filling the healing niche - it's much less necessary in 5th, though still nice to have. Picking up the ability to brew healing potions and focusing on control (which the monk can be great at with it's stun-lock abilities) will make it that much less important.

My thoughts exactly but I'm not sure how necessary healing/buffing is in 5th ed. As a monk I would basically be a fast striker with some added utility via spells.

So to put it another way ... I'd like to play an elemental monk but I'm not sure the group would then lack important divine support.

[Sudokori]

Ugh all of these stats and modifiers are getting so confusing! Why can't things be so simple like it was back in 1st edition?
You rolled your stats, gave yourself a +1 or something if you rolled a 16+, and there was none of the stupid feats and multiclassing nonsense. You could make 10 1st edition characters in the time it takes for you to find out all the stat modifiers and feat requirements and optimized class options for one 5th edition guy. Not even accounting for the fact that racial adjustments and favored classes haven't even been discussed!

Just roll the stats and pick a simple single class character that actually makes sense and don't try to min/max or optimize out the wazoo. both min/maxing and optimizing usually have the same effect of dragging on the game while your guy searches through six different source books to find out how a obscure optimization feat works.

[Daishain]

My thoughts exactly but I'm not sure how necessary healing/buffing is in 5th ed. As a monk I would basically be a fast striker with some added utility via spells.

So to put it another way ... I'd like to play an elemental monk but I'm not sure the group would then lack important divine support.
A Paladin or Cleric can be made to do the same basic job, AND have buffing/healing resources on hand.

Those two won't be as nimble as the monk, but in a party of just three, chances are that you're going to spend a fair bit of time locked down into a small area helping the fighter keep the wizard alive to do his thing instead of moving around.

[Baveboi]

Ugh all of these stats and modifiers are getting so confusing! Why can't things be so simple like it was back in 1st edition?
You rolled your stats, gave yourself a +1 or something if you rolled a 16+, and there was none of the stupid feats and multiclassing nonsense. You could make 10 1st edition characters in the time it takes for you to find out all the stat modifiers and feat requirements and optimized class options for one 5th edition guy. Not even accounting for the fact that racial adjustments and favored classes haven't even been discussed!

Just roll the stats and pick a simple single class character that actually makes sense and don't try to min/max or optimize out the wazoo. both min/maxing and optimizing usually have the same effect of dragging on the game while your guy searches through six different source books to find out how a obscure optimization feat works.

And out of the shadows I come.

You know that you can actually do that, right? You can pick a preset of abilities, a class, make up a simple background with everything else attached to it and then play. It takes 3 minutes. I should know. I made 7 characters last game in case my players died and they had to reroll (spoiler: they did). But the game also supports multiclassing, optimization and complex characters. Giving the PLAYER that option is never a bad thing. A group should have the option to play how they so desire to.

To be honest? Our session of 5th edition was much faster than the one of AD&D we played last year and all our sessions of 3.x/PF ever managed to be. And that's a GOOD THING, because that's what we were going for. And we had two very optimized characters! It helped that I was the only one with the PHB, but the game is the most agile edition of D&D I have ever played.

Now, you can vie for the virtues of previous editions, sure, if that is your thing, but you sound a little bit shallow if your opening argument is how much you don't understand of the new edition and how things were better in ye olde days.

[Feint's End]

And out of the shadows I come.

You know that you can actually do that, right? You can pick a preset of abilities, a class, make up a simple background with everything else attached to it and then play. It takes 3 minutes. I should know. I made 7 characters last game in case my players died and they had to reroll (spoiler: they did). But the game also supports multiclassing, optimization and complex characters. Giving the PLAYER that option is never a bad thing. A group should have the option to play how they so desire to.

To be honest? Our session of 5th edition was much faster than the one of AD&D we played last year and all our sessions of 3.x/PF ever managed to be. And that's a GOOD THING, because that's what we were going for. And we had two very optimized characters! It helped that I was the only one with the PHB, but the game is the most agile edition of D&D I have ever played.

Now, you can vie for the virtues of previous editions, sure, if that is your thing, but you sound a little bit shallow if your opening argument is how much you don't understand of the new edition and how things were better in ye olde days.

Couldn't have said it better.

I just want to add that you don't seem to understand how 5th ed works because some of the points you brought up aren't really of any concern in 5th and rather apply to 3.5 (specifically feats aren't that big of a deal and there are no favoured classes).

If you rant about something you might want to look up the things first and then make a cohesive argument.

[Sudokori]

Couldn't have said it better.

I just want to add that you don't seem to understand how 5th ed works because some of the points you brought up aren't really of any concern in 5th and rather apply to 3.5 (specifically feats aren't that big of a deal and there are no favoured classes).

If you rant about something you might want to look up the things first and then make a cohesive argument.

Yeah I don't understand 5 edition. This was just kinda me just saying some of the stuff I hate about 3.5 and I just assumed that later editions of D&D are like 3.5. I look back after reading some stuff I found online and boy did I look stupid. So sorry I should just take this hate elsewhere to where it's deserved.
*flies off to some other corner of the internet*

[Geoff]

I thought about going for either a Way of the Four Elements Monk The one time I saw someone play one of these, it seemed effective and the player had fun with it. I believe he was 3rd level, though.


or a Light Cleric Blaster. Alternatively I'm open for suggestions what could fit the group well.The stereotypical answer to "what do you need to fill out the party?" is, of course, 'a Cleric,' so if you have a cleric idea you like, go for it, everyone will be grateful they didn't have to do it. :)

In a small 1st level party, you will be the heal bot. If you don't get unlucky and drop the first round before you do anything, that is. Healing Word just doesn't cut it - you have too little healing to sacrifice any of it to get in a nothing special attack - Cure Wounds all the way. Prep other spells but don't expect to use them unless they'll swing a whole encounter or solve some other major problem in one shot or something. Getting your buddies back to consciousness is just too important (stabilize them if you're out of spells, but it's a d4 hours before they'll wake up).

[MaxWilson]

Yeah I don't understand 5 edition. This was just kinda me just saying some of the stuff I hate about 3.5 and I just assumed that later editions of D&D are like 3.5. I look back after reading some stuff I found online and boy did I look stupid. So sorry I should just take this hate elsewhere to where it's deserved.
*flies off to some other corner of the internet*

Mad props for being the one guy on the whole Internet who can admit to being wrong. :)

P.S. For non-English speakers: "Mad props" is a compliment. Mad=slang for "large amount of", props=slang for "praise and recognition."