Help me design a "turtle" wizard... :)

[charlesk]

I'm in the early stages of designing a character for an upcoming campaign, probably the one coming out in the fall. The idea is a mostly full-classed wizard who specializes in self-defense and defensive party buffs. He is intended to look to the bad guys like "easy pickings" but can quickly "turtle up" and become very difficult to kill.

Still on the drawing board so far but the basic outline is:

- Race: Probably rock gnome. Good match for stats, hardly anyone plays gnomes, and nobody seem to take them seriously, so good for flavor with this character concept. Alternately mountain dwarf or halfling.
- Main class: Abjurer wizard. I thought about divination as well for the amazing portent feature but I think abjuration is better.
- Dip: Probably 1 level of cleric at the start for cure spells and armor proficiency. Considered fighter as well but I think cleric is better here and also means I am not permanently 1 level behind on slots.
- Gear: Either heavy armor or a light armor / dex build using a shield. I prefer dex builds but that requires good scores in Dex and I already need high Int and Con, so it depends on the buy.

Thoughts? :)

[Orbis Orboros]

Dipping one level of Warlock as well gives you two Shield spell castings per short rest, and if you went Vhuman instead of Gnome you could take Magic Initiate for another Shield per long rest (and two cantrips). I bring these up because Shield is, to me, the epitome of magical tanking in 5e. +5 AC on top of whatever else you normally get is insane.

If you took the Warlock dip to level 2, you'd get infinite Mage Armors for your Abjuration Ward.

[charlesk]

Shield is one of those spells that when I first started 5e I thought was useless ("+5 AC for just one round, what a waste of a slot!") but now I really love (since I know what +5 AC means in 5e). It will be a mainstay of this character.

The Armor of Shadows / Arcane Ward combo is very clever, but my DM will never let me get away with anything that broken. :) A warlock dip would be interesting for Eldritch Blast and Hex, though I just played a character for a year that had that (and I could get it through a feat as you mentioned). The warlock levels also don't help with proficiencies either, I very much want this guy to be able to use a shield.

[charlesk]

I just realize there's really nice synergy as well with Armor of Agathys and the arcane ward. They hit you, they take damage, you don't, the armor remains at full strength much longer.

[Orbis Orboros]

Shield is one of those spells that when I first started 5e I thought was useless ("+5 AC for just one round, what a waste of a slot!") but now I really love (since I know what +5 AC means in 5e). It will be a mainstay of this character.

The Armor of Shadows / Arcane Ward combo is very clever, but my DM will never let me get away with anything that broken. :) A warlock dip would be interesting for Eldritch Blast and Hex, though I just played a character for a year that had that (and I could get it through a feat as you mentioned). The warlock levels also don't help with proficiencies either, I very much want this guy to be able to use a shield.

So will your DM allow ritual casting Alarm to get the Ward back? Where's the line drawn?

Anyway. I was suggesting the dip in addition to the Cleric's armor dip. Yes, it slows your progression, but on the other hand, two shields per short rest is pretty sweet. And all the other goodies like EB and Hex.

[charlesk]

Gotcha on the double dip.

Ironically my DM is currently playing a somewhat similar character. What she does (voluntarily) is to only cast rituals like Alarm when she'd actually want to use them rather than spamming them to recharge the ward.

I find some disagreement on how powerful the ward is anyway. At level 5 it's going to be, what, 14 HP? Okay that's nice but it's not earth-shattering by any means. She herself says it's good but not great. But then, she doesn't recharge it at will. :)

[Citan]

Shield is one of those spells that when I first started 5e I thought was useless ("+5 AC for just one round, what a waste of a slot!") but now I really love (since I know what +5 AC means in 5e). It will be a mainstay of this character.

The Armor of Shadows / Arcane Ward combo is very clever, but my DM will never let me get away with anything that broken. :) A warlock dip would be interesting for Eldritch Blast and Hex, though I just played a character for a year that had that (and I could get it through a feat as you mentioned). The warlock levels also don't help with proficiencies either, I very much want this guy to be able to use a shield.
I don't really see how it's broken. Sure, it frees you one or two spell slots, but you sacrifice 2 levels to get that (although it's not the only bonus of course).

Personnally if you plan on building the perfect spell-based Tank I'd say find a way to get Shield, Mirror Image, Armor of Agathys, Aid, Fire Shield and Protection from Energy. Good thing, apart from Armor of Agathys (Warlock) and Aid/Protection from Energy (Cleric), everything is on Wizard list.
Well, in fact there are other nice defense spells but it would be too complicated to get them unless going Bard as main.

So, for a Abjurer Wizard as main, focusing on tank (=disregarding everything else), the best dip options would be...

Life Cleric 3 (Heavy Armor, healing spells, Life bonus, Aid)
Druid 1: for Absorb Elements which is a nice Reaction to have against spells, Goodberry cheese and some good utility you won't have to learn as Wizard (such as Longstrider). You spare one level (instead of going Cleric 5 for Protection against Energy).
Then Wizard all the way. You lose much for this though, 9th lvl spells and Spell Mastery.
Alternatively, disregard Cleric spells then go...
Warlock 2 for Armor of Agathys and free Mage Armor. You won't have any healing spell but very decent defense and good mobility
Or...

Bard for healing spells (otherwise Draconic Sorcerer is better) and Warlock for Armor of Agathys.


EDIT: If you can wait a few days (like until end of week), I've been working on a full Guide of how to survive which aims to describe all ways to improve any aspect of your defense, permanently or temporarily: AC, saving throws, special effects and such. I could finish a rough draft to publish it if you'd like.

[charlesk]

Some interesting stuff there Citan, thanks! I am really going to try hard to keep this to a single level dip if possible, though I might go 2. If I take more than 1, it really delays some of the cool abjurer features, and since this module goes to 15, means I'll never get the amazing abjurer capstone at 14.

Your guide sounds amazing! This character won't be used until next month so I am not in a rush and I look forward to reading it.

[Citan]

Some interesting stuff there Citan, thanks! I am really going to try hard to keep this to a single level dip if possible, though I might go 2. If I take more than 1, it really delays some of the cool abjurer features, and since this module goes to 15, means I'll never get the amazing abjurer capstone at 14.

Your guide sounds amazing! This character won't be used until next month so I am not in a rush and I look forward to reading it.
Thanks! By the way, I also didn't talk about Paladin but for a two-lvl dips could have been nice too (but very far from your fluff that's why I didn't speak about it).

Didn't understand that you planned on keeping dip as low as possible.
For a 1-lvl dip, choice will be hard, I'd say choose depending on your stat array which will dictate your way to get AC (basically either going Heavy Armor or Mage Armor).
If Heavy Armor > Cleric
If Mage Armor (=DEX based) > Draconic Sorcerer 1 (permanent Mage Armor) or Warlock 1 (Armor of Agathys).
(Third way: start as a Fighter lvl 1 who got struck by a sudden vocation of magic learning: works with either DEX or STR so no MADness, 10HP to start, CON proficiency and medium/heavy armor + shields from the get go. You don't get anything spellcasting-related though so it's a different approach).

For Cleric, maybe consider Nature or Tempest as alternatives to Life, especially if you have a high WIS: Nature bring Shillelagh (or Magic Stone) and extra skill, Tempest gives a nice reaction to further damage people who attack you.
If you go low WIS then Life is the best choice since you'll still have good healing.

Also, thanks, by talking about the amazing abjurer lvl14, made me read it again. I never noticed the bit about getting advantage. I thought the best against spells was Monk 14/Paladin6, but maybe it's in fact Wizard 14 / Paladin 6. :)

I'll resume working on the guide this week-end, but it progresses slowly... Too many things to cover. ^^

EDIT: Forgot, about your race, if you take Rock Gnome the racial ability is a bit redundant with Abjurer lvl14. With that said, it will still be useful for a very (very) long time... Just FYI.

[charlesk]

Thanks! By the way, I also didn't talk about Paladin but for a two-lvl dips could have been nice too (but very far from your fluff that's why I didn't speak about it).


It could fit as long as nobody had any idea he was capable of it, along Yoda lines I guess. :)



Didn't understand that you planned on keeping dip as low as possible.
For a 1-lvl dip, choice will be hard, I'd say choose depending on your stat array which will dictate your way to get AC (basically either going Heavy Armor or Mage Armor).
If Heavy Armor > Cleric
If Mage Armor (=DEX based) > Draconic Sorcerer 1 (permanent Mage Armor) or Warlock 1 (Armor of Agathys).
(Third way: start as a Fighter lvl 1 who got struck by a sudden vocation of magic learning: works with either DEX or STR so no MADness, 10HP to start, CON proficiency and medium/heavy armor + shields from the get go. You don't get anything spellcasting-related though so it's a different approach).


Heavy armor vs dex build is up in the air as it depends on how generous the DM will be with the point buy. Priorities will be int and con, if I have points enough left for dex I would prefer that (dex builds IMO are usually just better) and it opens up more options.

The character I just finished playing was a warlock 3 / bard 12. I will probably avoid warlock if possible just for variety.

I do see the obvious synergy with Armor of Agathys - they take damage for hitting me but the arcane ward absorbs it. That said, I would be a backliner and most of my damage would likely come from ranged and magic attacks.



For Cleric, maybe consider Nature or Tempest as alternatives to Life, especially if you have a high WIS: Nature bring Shillelagh (or Magic Stone) and extra skill, Tempest gives a nice reaction to further damage people who attack you.
If you go low WIS then Life is the best choice since you'll still have good healing.


I probably can't do wis high enough for anything DC-related on this build.



Also, thanks, by talking about the amazing abjurer lvl14, made me read it again. I never noticed the bit about getting advantage. I thought the best against spells was Monk 14/Paladin6, but maybe it's in fact Wizard 14 / Paladin 6. :)


Though I remember now that I really don't want to focus too much on level 14 capabilities. This campaign will go from level 1 to 15, and how much of the build do I really want to orient around what happens at the end?

In the campaign I just finished we went from level 1 to 15 and we had exactly 2 sessions at level 15. I had made a decision early on to focus on what would benefit the most during the character's "career" and should do the same. So I will take your advice and consider a 2-level dip.. not sure about 3 simply because that puts me even further behind the power curve as a wizard.



EDIT: Forgot, about your race, if you take Rock Gnome the racial ability is a bit redundant with Abjurer lvl14. With that said, it will still be useful for a very (very) long time... Just FYI.

Right, the gnome ability will be there from level 1. It's not really as amazing as it seems though, because of the three saves it boosts, only one is really seen often in practice.

[Malifice]

I just realize there's really nice synergy as well with Armor of Agathys and the arcane ward. They hit you, they take damage, you don't, the armor remains at full strength much longer.

You can do good things with a Warlock 3 + Abjurer X. Max Con, max Int. Power your Arcane Ward with Armor of shadows 'at will' so it's always up. Then Cast Armor of agathys, and use Blade ward to absorb damage till Stonesekin comes online.

In combat, Cast the Blade ward cantrip (half damage), provoke AoO's. Half any damage taken, apply it to your arcane ward first and then to your temp hit points from AoO if any still remain.

Deal (AoO level x 5) cold damage and use your reaction to Hellish rebuke.

At 5th level (War 2/ Wiz 3) You have (Int 16) 9 HP in your ward, 10 temp HP under that and (con 16) 40 real HP under that. Thanks to blade ward all incoming damage is halved. You deal 10 damage to anyone who hits you (plus 2 x 3d10 hellish rebukes per short rest).

Recharge your ward after each battle for free.

At 10th level (War 3/ Wiz 7) Stoneskin and Fire shield comes on line. You have (Int 18) 18 HP in your ward, 20 Temp HP, and 75 HP under that. Incoming damage is halved. You deal 20+2d8 damage to anyone who hits you, and have two recharging Warlock slots for 4d10 hellish rebukes (and wizard slots) on top of that per short rest. Your action is now freed up to blast at will.

By 14th level (War 3/ Wiz 11) You have (Int 20) 27 HP in your ward, 30 HP from AoA, and 103 HP under that. Incoming damage is halved via Stoneskin, and anyone who hits you cops 30+2d8 cold damage and (xd10 from hellish rebuke).

At 20th level, You have 39 regenerating HP in your ward, 40 Temp HP in AoA (saving you your 9th level slot), 165 real HP under that, and take half weapon damage. Anyone who hits you takes 40+2d8 damage, and provokes a hellish rebuke in response.

Assume at 20th you get attacked by an action surging GWM Fighter and get hit for 30 points of damage... 5 times (150 damage). Each hit reduces your HP by 15 (meaning you still have 4 temp HP remaining (and are completely unharmed) and you deal 5 x 40+2d8 (200+10d8) damage in return. You can use your reaction to Hellish rebuke (for 3-12d10 damage) the impudent fool if he still stands.

Then its your turn.

[charlesk]

That's definitely a cool concept. One problem is convincing my DM to allow me to do the "infinite recharge" gimmick... which even I have admitted is pretty cheesy even if it is RAW.

Armor of Agathys also carries with it a "porcupine problem"... after at most one hit, and maybe none, it becomes clear that I am someone to be avoided in melee, and so the enemies will just range or use magic attacks.

I had this problem in a 3.5 game where I made a "CoDzilla" battle cleric without even realizing I was doing so. In time the DM learned to simply keep the critters out of my melee reach, greatly reducing my capabilities.

I know the DM is not supposed to metagame in this way, but well, DMs are human too. :)

As for Blade Ward, I took that last campaign with my warlock/bard and literally never used it once. Giving up your action for a round is just not something you are ever going to want to do unless you are near death, even with Armor of Agathys running. It would probably work better with an Eldritch Knight level 7+, but even there by level 11 you are giving up too much.

Stoneskin doesn't impress me in this version. I have to pay 100 gp per cast, and it takes my concentration, severely limiting my ability as a wizard to do anything useful for my party aside from basic damage spells.

[Malifice]

That's definitely a cool concept. One problem is convincing my DM to allow me to do the "infinite recharge" gimmick... which even I have admitted is pretty cheesy even if it is RAW.

Meh. Learn Alarm as a 1st level ritual. Cast it at will to recharge the ward. It takes longer.


Armor of Agathys also carries with it a "porcupine problem"... after at most one hit, and maybe none, it becomes clear that I am someone to be avoided in melee, and so the enemies will just range or use magic attacks.

The best defence in the game. Stand there and blast with impunity as your enemies are too scared to attack you.

Under that porcipine shell, youre a freaking Wizard.


I had this problem in a 3.5 game where I made a "CoDzilla" battle cleric without even realizing I was doing so. In time the DM learned to simply keep the critters out of my melee reach, greatly reducing my capabilities.

I know the DM is not supposed to metagame in this way, but well, DMs are human too. :)

**** DM.


As for Blade Ward, I took that last campaign with my warlock/bard and literally never used it once. Giving up your action for a round is just not something you are ever going to want to do unless you are near death, even with Armor of Agathys running. It would probably work better with an Eldritch Knight level 7+, but even there by level 11 you are giving up too much.

It works OK in this combo. Another option is Sorcerer 3 dip for quicken (blade ward + blast spell).

[charlesk]

Meh. Learn Alarm as a 1st level ritual. Cast it at will to recharge the ward. It takes longer.


It's an option but definitely far worse, as you can't do it in a dungeon really, for example.



The best defence in the game. Stand there and blast with impunity as your enemies are too scared to attack you.


Well in cases like this I ask myself what I would do as a PC if faced with this sort of NPC. And the answer is simple: fill him up with arrows. It's still a good build, but I don't want to build too much around the "go ahead and hit me!" concept using AoA because there are fairly simple ways around it.

I appreciate you helping me work this out.

[Malifice]

Well in cases like this I ask myself what I would do as a PC if faced with this sort of NPC. And the answer is simple: fill him up with arrows. It's still a good build, but I don't want to build too much around the "go ahead and hit me!" concept using AoA because there are fairly simple ways around it.

I appreciate you helping me work this out.

You should rightly expect your DM to come up with encounters that challenge that (or any) type of PC/ Build.

But if every single encounter comes complete with 'anti-your PC measures' and meta knowledge of your defensive abilities, I would find a new DM.

[charlesk]

I don't think it would be anything overt like that. But if an encounter happens, and a mook runs up to melee me and gets slaughtered, the next mook is probably not going to do the same. Why would he?

This doesn't invalidate the build by any means. What I am saying though is that I don't want to rely too much on the "porcupine" aspects, meaning dishing out damage when attacked.

[Thisguy_]

That's definitely a cool concept. One problem is convincing my DM to allow me to do the "infinite recharge" gimmick... which even I have admitted is pretty cheesy even if it is RAW.

Armor of Agathys also carries with it a "porcupine problem"... after at most one hit, and maybe none, it becomes clear that I am someone to be avoided in melee, and so the enemies will just range or use magic attacks.

Then force your opponents closer. There are quite a few ways to do this, spells or no spells (and quite many that I can think of involve fire). Try learning Grease and abusing choke points. If the DM only ever assaults you in open areas after you do that, THEN find a new DM.

[Citan]

I don't think it would be anything overt like that. But if an encounter happens, and a mook runs up to melee me and gets slaughtered, the next mook is probably not going to do the same. Why would he?

This doesn't invalidate the build by any means. What I am saying though is that I don't want to rely too much on the "porcupine" aspects, meaning dishing out damage when attacked.
Indeed, as an enemy chief, I'd say all melee troops to avoid you, ask my wizards to cast a debuffing spell (and maybe a Dispel if they have it) so limit your means of actions, so that you become a lone porcupine. ^^

As yourself, there are some ways to force your porcupine to work, although not easy.
Against one BBEG, having Command (Cleric/Paladin) or better Compelled Duel would be great. This way enemy is losing either way (attack you and get damaged, or attack others and risk missing?)
There are also some spells forcing enemies to obey you which could work (Dominate? I never used these spells so don't know much).
Or, imprison enemies with a Wall so that their only viable option is to attack you.

Not sure how to build a porcupine character with such an approach though (only easy build I see is Lore Bard with Magic Secrets dedicated to this).

[Falcon X]

I'm sure you meant this as his party function, but if you want to go for a turtle race, they published one in Dragon Magazine (315, I think) that you could adapt to 5e.

[Malifice]

I'm sure you meant this as his party function, but if you want to go for a turtle race, they published one in Dragon Magazine (315, I think) that you could adapt to 5e.

Heh:

https://boromirandkermit.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/slm-turtle-wizard-bb.jpg

[charlesk]

LOL. No, I meant in terms of "turtling up".

The idea behind the AoA build is interesting, but I don't think it's really what I am after here. It's just too much investment to make something that is too easily circumvented. As it is, wizards usually are more at risk from ranged attacks anyway.

The concept here is a small, unassuming wizard who looks like he is easy pickings, but is actually really hard to kill. This is both because I hate dying (or having to run away to avoid dying) and also to waste bad-guy resources on me which frees up others to do more things.

This is also why I prefer a light or no-armor build, if I can swing one. It's easier to see a guy as defenseless when he's wearing a robe as opposed to plate.

[PoeticDwarf]

Dipping one level of Warlock as well gives you two Shield spell castings per short rest, and if you went Vhuman instead of Gnome you could take Magic Initiate for another Shield per long rest (and two cantrips). I bring these up because Shield is, to me, the epitome of magical tanking in 5e. +5 AC on top of whatever else you normally get is insane.

If you took the Warlock dip to level 2, you'd get infinite Mage Armors for your Abjuration Ward.

Magic initiate could better be used for armor of aagathys. Casting it on level 4-7 costs you one spell slot and gives you 20-35 temporary hit points, and it costs one slot. At lower levels it still isn't bad, compared to spells as false life.

[ImSAMazing]

I'd go for 19 Abjuration Wizard/1 Warlock. Just take Armor of Agathys & Hex and Eldritch Blast & an other funky spell. That way you only loose 2 spells from the Wizard list, which is still bad but it will make an attack against you almost invincible. Just take Shield as your at-will lvl 1 spell, and activate your Ward. Cast Armor of Agathys at lvl 7(or 8 if you dont want to Demiplane today), cast Fireshield, and BOOM an attack against you deals 35+2d8(40+2d8 if casted at lvl 8), creatures with multiattack will just die from only attacking you...

I guess that makes you more of a hedgehog actually XD

[charlesk]

I'm confused as to why everyone is so high on warlock for this type of build. Again, aside from mindless enemies, who is going to wail away on a guy with AoA and a fireshield up? Spell slots in 5e are also limited and this sort of trick can't be used very often. It also is not the sort of thing that really helps a party as much as other spells do.

I also don't get the eldritch blast suggestions. I'd have to use Cha as my modifier and I have no points for Cha in a build that needs Int, Con and possibly Dex. Warlock also brings nothing to the table with respect to armor or shield.

I do get the power of a warlock dip, I played one for ages. But it doesn't really fit here unless one is going to be in melee a lot.

[GWJ_DanyBoy]

If you did a single level of an appropriate Cleric and took Hill Dwarf as a race, you could have 18 AC, 20 with a shield, +1hp per level and poison resistance. The lack of primary stat synergy is compensated by the fact that you don't need to invest in STR or DEX whatsoever if you don't want to.
This build is just inherently tough for a full caster, and doesn't require any spell slot expenditure to get to this baseline. But since you won't be using mage armor, charging the arcane ward will need to wait until you cast Shield the first time.

[Giant2005]

Rather than Abjurer, go with Enchantment. Fighter 1/Wizard 19 or Cleric 1/Wizard 19 (Depending on whether you want 1 extra AC or 1 extra level of spell slots) is almost entirely untouchable. I played it once as my party's main tank and although the game collapsed after he had only made it to level 9; after reaching level 6 he hadn't ever been subjected to being hit by a single attack.
Between Blur and Instinctive Charm, you have 3 layers of defense - your enemy has to succeed on a Wisdom save, and two attack rolls in order to inflict damage. With a high AC and Spell DC, that simply doesn't happen.

[charlesk]

Interesting ideas, thanks. I was actually looking at enchanter after seeing it mentioned in another thread here. I am not entirely sure I get how that would play, but it's an option. I'm especially unsure about how well the 2nd ability works, and wary of anything that requires a full action to maintain.

I am probably going gnome. It is somewhat synergistic stat-wise (+2 int, +1 con), fits the concept perfectly, and nobody ever plays gnomes. The "tinker" concept could also be fun.

[Orbis Orboros]

Rather than Abjurer, go with Enchantment. Fighter 1/Wizard 19 or Cleric 1/Wizard 19 (Depending on whether you want 1 extra AC or 1 extra level of spell slots) is almost entirely untouchable. I played it once as my party's main tank and although the game collapsed after he had only made it to level 9; after reaching level 6 he hadn't ever been subjected to being hit by a single attack.
Between Blur and Instinctive Charm, you have 3 layers of defense - your enemy has to succeed on a Wisdom save, and two attack rolls in order to inflict damage. With a high AC and Spell DC, that simply doesn't happen.

How did it do with regards to AoE's? Attack rolls don't hit you, sure, but wouldn't a fireball or something just hit your d6 HD for a lot of hurt, then break Blur's concentration?

[Giant2005]

How did it do with regards to AoE's? Attack rolls don't hit you, sure, but wouldn't a fireball or something just hit your d6 HD for a lot of hurt, then break Blur's concentration?

I took Shield Mastery, although I never did face a Fireball or anything that Shield Mastery would actually apply to anyway.

For even more fun you can take the Cleric version (Cleric 1/Enchantment Wizard 19) and add Sanctuary to the mix for a 4th layer of protection. It would prevent you from attacking though which makes it of pretty limited value for anything but "turtling", although it could be useful if you had Animated Undead or something else that could do your attacking for you and didn't require concentration.

[Taejang]

For a heavy-armor, no Dex build, a single dip in Cleric is almost essential. It'll get you heavy armor and shield proficiencies, plus a range of useful abilities and spells. If you start as cleric and then switch to wizard, you get better saving throw proficiencies and a small boost to your starting HP. Regardless of starting cleric or wizard, unless you have a very specific class feature in mind, I can't think of any 1-level dip better for a heavy armor wizard. If you use a Dex build, cleric is still great for light armor and possibly shield proficiency, plus the aforementioned abilities and spells. As a full caster, they also maintain your spell slot progression.

For a Dex build, I notice nobody has mentioned Barbarian. For a single dip in barbarian, you get unarmored defense (AC = 10 + Con + Dex), shield proficiency, and Rage. Rage is a nice way to tank up in an emergency, thanks to damage resistances. How Rage interacts with spellcasting will depend somewhat on your DM, however, possibly making this build weaker. Rage also doesn't really make for an unassuming wizard, and unlike cleric you don't get any spell slot progression on this level.

If you are willing to do a 2-level dip, Druid Wildshape has some utility and temporary HP advantages, and maintains spell slot progression (plus a few Druid spells). I don't think it is as strong as other options, but it may fit your concept.

-Aarakocra get flying from level 1, making them great at avoiding melee damage. This probably doesn't fit your character vision, however, since every ranged character will target the flying bird lobbing spells at them.

-Dwarves get some useful perks. Beyond poison resistance and a +2 to Con, Hill Dwarves basically get the Tough perk for free (+2 Con and Dwarven Toughness is the same HP benefit as the Tough perk, though it stacks perfectly fine if you pick up Tough later!) while Mountain Dwarves get light and medium armor proficiency, which may free up your options when multiclassing.

-Gnome is the race you said you are leaning toward, so I won't cover them.

-Halflings are small and unassuming, which fits your character concept. They get +2 to Dex and the Lucky trait. Lightfood Halflings can hide behind others, which could make an interesting stealth wizard, while Stout Halflings get poison resistance and a +1 to Con.

-Half-elf let's you pick some skills and let's you distribute some attribute points as you need them. The +2 Cha could be useful if you are multiclassing to a class that uses it.

-Human (variant) is, as usual, amazing. Pick up the Resilient feat, or Tough, or perhaps a proficiency feat for armor. The Luck feat is actually dang good in my experience, and may fit well.

-Alert will let you go sooner in combat and avoid surprise. Both are good for anybody, really, but is of note here since wizards are often in charge of battlefield control (going first helps you position things best), and as a wizard buffing allies, it is best if you buff them before their turn.

-Inspiring Leader may fit the character and grants some temporary HP.

-Lucky. Just read it. It isn't guaranteed to work every time like Wizard's Portent, but it sure is handy.

-Resilient will get you an attribute bonus and saving throw proficiency. Very nice.

-Shield Master can help with your saving throws and avoiding AoE spells (or breath attacks). The mental image of a gnome wizard hiding behind a shield while a fireball goes off is pretty much exactly in line with what I picture your character to be.

-Skulker is an overlooked feat that may work for your build.

-Tough is simple, but arguably most useful for a wizard tank, since wizards have the lowest HP in the game.

-Warcaster could be quite nice, since most party buffs are concentration based. It also helps you wield a shield and staff simultaneously, something a tank wizard is going to want to do.

Another thing to consider that hasn't been mentioned is Inspiration. Whatever build you settle on, make sure you (and everyone at the table) understands your character well enough that you will consistently get Inspiration awarded to you as you play the character properly. It can make a big difference.

[charlesk]

Some really good stuff there, thanks! And yes, the gnome hiding behind a shield is a good image for this guy. :)