Aquatic Party

[Naanomi]

Water Genasi breath underwater, opening up the opportunity for an aquatic adventuring party. Some thoughts?

-Beastmaster Ranger; pet Crab (useful on land and underwater). Be sure to use an undersea-friendly weapon. Likely strength based, few good underwater weapons are dex... And helps athletics for difficult swimming. Does 'coastal' cover undersea as well?
-Moon Druid: turn into a water elemental! Goes well with the Con/Wisdom boost as well
-Old One/Book Warlock: plenty of old ones to learn from in the deep abyss, and force-based blast doesn't have potential problems that other damage type magic might face underwater. Hauling a spell book around underwater doesn't sound fun either.

Party skill monkey is a bit rougher... Nothing in bard/rogue screams underwater efficacy. Maybe a lore-bard playing up a 'siren of the deep' vibe? That doubles down on charisma casters though...

What would you build to function underwater?

[Daishain]

Don't forget that air genasi and warforged would be able to join in as well. Granted, they'd have more trouble getting around than the water genasi, but they can be there.

[Naanomi]

Don't forget that air genasi and warforged would be able to join in as well. Granted, they'd have more trouble getting around than the water genasi, but they can be there.
I thought about that but... Being the guy floating around or walking on the bottom isn't quite the same

Some notes: on review, someone with a swim speed can use any melee weapon... So long sword/javelin is an option; or crossbows since they lack penalties underwater.

Last party member monk? Take advantage of 3d movement with super swim speeds, and use that wisdom boost positively?

[Easy_Lee]

I think you covered the major RAW ones. Some theoretical:

Ranger: with favored terrain (coast), arguing that it includes the ocean, and land's stride, a ranger could possibly ignore the "difficult terrain" of swimming, thus gaining his full movespeed. Maybe, maybe not; it would depend on the DM.
One could pretty easily homebrew an elementals monk who uses water moves exclusively and, in exchange for the loss of versatility, gains some benefits like water breathing and full movement speed under water.

[eleazzaar]

Personally, i'd just give everyone a magic gizmo that lets them breath under water, rather than shoehorn them into a few race/classes.

[Naanomi]

So specific build info...
-Ranger - Outlander?
--favored enemy: some nasty Beasts underwater; and aquatic elementals, dragons, undead, abberation, and giants exist. Kraken is a monstrosity, and the ultimate 'sea monster'. Sahaugin, Merrow, and Merfolk are all humanoid options. I'm thinking... beasts, Sahaugin+Merfolk, and the last being monstrosity/abberation/elemental depending on how the campaign is shaping up?
--natural explorer: coast, but then... Underdark seems like a good second, then swamp or arctic?
--Dex build toting crossbow(s)? Or Strength build toting a polearm?

-Druid - acolyte (someone should be in good with the local sea-God)
not too many choices to decide really; how much to emphasize feats VS wisdom I guess

-Monk - urchin (grew up in a Merfolk slum?)
--which tradition? Open Hand is traditionally the 'best'; Shape of the Flowing River has lots of control potential; And underwater tends to be a dark setting for a Shadow Monk to excel. Since I want them to serve as skill monkey, maybe Shadow is the best?

-Warlock - Hermit (learn some secret of the depths)? Or Sage, as our closest approximation to a 'smart guy'
--invocations? All three EB have uses, Devils sight nearly mandatory, One with Shadows and Minions of Chaos both promising
--familiar: crab if on land, quipper/octopus if purely aquatic?

[weaseldust]

Depending on the level you start at, you might have to be careful with the Druid, because their animal forms can't have swim speeds until a level I've forgotten. Though it wouldn't break much to just waive that rule, if the whole campaign will be water-based.


Being the guy floating around or walking on the bottom isn't quite the same.

Warforged could come with built in flippers. Or propellers.

[Naanomi]

Depending on the level you start at, you might have to be careful with the Druid, because their animal forms can't have swim speeds until a level I've forgotten. Though it wouldn't break much to just waive that rule, if the whole campaign will be water-based.

Warforged could come with built in flippers. Or propellers.
Warforged can swim, but don't have a swim speed which is a huge distinction.

The Druid will have to suffer until level 4 to shape change into useful shapes underwater, but can be reasonable casters with magic stone/shillelagh until then

[weaseldust]

Warforged can swim, but don't have a swim speed which is a huge distinction.

Ah, OK, I see your point. I suppose it's true you can't just give them extra physical prowess for free (or a free swim-enabling item, though for warforged that might be the same as a physical upgrade). That said, it's up to you what the DC on any athletics check related to swimming is - they might all be very low for warforged with flippers. Also, if they went Thief, you could reasonably swap the 'climb at full speed' ability for 'swim at full speed', which would eliminate them problem.

[Safety Sword]

I think you covered the major RAW ones. Some theoretical:

Ranger: with favored terrain (coast), arguing that it includes the ocean, and land's stride, a ranger could possibly ignore the "difficult terrain" of swimming, thus gaining his full movespeed. Maybe, maybe not; it would depend on the DM.
One could pretty easily homebrew an elementals monk who uses water moves exclusively and, in exchange for the loss of versatility, gains some benefits like water breathing and full movement speed under water.


One could do almost anything with a DM that would give you Favoured Terrain (Coast) which includes the entire ocean... An ocean is not a coast.

The low levels of such a campaign will be hard without handwaving a lot of things. Also, there aren't a wide variety of creatures in the Monster Manual to sustain a campaign I wouldn't think. Underwater adventures are better served in the mid levels I think.

[Easy_Lee]

One could do almost anything with a DM that would give you Favoured Terrain (Coast) which includes the entire ocean... An ocean is not a coast.


What do you propose the DM do in this situation? Presumably, he wants to run an aquatic campaign. If any ranger will do fine in the water, it'd be the one with the coast as a favored terrain. Beyond that, only way I can see to avoid the movement speed penalty is to play a small race, BM, and ride a medium-sized sea horse or something.

As discussed, it's probably not a good policy to force your players into certain classes. That's just another form of tiers.

[Safety Sword]

What do you propose the DM do in this situation? Presumably, he wants to run an aquatic campaign. If any ranger will do fine in the water, it'd be the one with the coast as a favored terrain. Beyond that, only way I can see to avoid the movement speed penalty is to play a small race, BM, and ride a medium-sized sea horse or something.

As discussed, it's probably not a good policy to force your players into certain classes. That's just another form of tiers.

I'd propose that if the entire campaign is going to be based on underwater adventures that you might need to add "Ocean" as a favored terrain.

Surely if you're an underwater creature who spends their entire life there and you become a ranger that would be what you are familiar with. Otherwise, you're a land based ranger in the water and all out of luck.

[odigity]

You don't have to be water breathing creatures to have underwater adventures if your DM is on board.

In my game, the DM has made the Gnome civilization a little more fantastical in their blending of magic and mechanical. We've flown on a Gnome airship, and we also explored an underwater city using a set of quasi-magical helmets of Gnomish design that were leant to us. They let us a) breath normally and b) move normally while under water, including swinging your weapons. Solves the practical problem so that the adventures can happen. (We later received the helmets permanently as our payment for the rescue mission.)