27 Point buy for blaster Tiefling Warlock

[Rumo]

Hi,

I am playing 5e for the first time, and I'm a little bit unsure about what to do with my character's attribute points. This is what I'm coming up with on my own, with my Tiefling Warlock, no blade:

STR: 8
DEX: 14
CON: 15
INT: 10
WIS: 10
CHA: 14+2=16

It's counterintuitive to set my most important attribute to 14, but my reasoning is that another point would have absolutely no effect. If I raise CHA on Lvl 4 and 8, I'll get another +2 each. Therefor the odd number goes to CON, so that I can learn that feat that increases CON by 1 and have my hit points increased. Does this make sense?

[Rysto]

Makes sense to me. You're right that it rarely makes sense to get an odd attribute score. For your CON-based feat, you'll want to look at Resilient (CON). Getting proficiency in CON saves can be very useful for a caster, as when you take damage you have to make a CON save to maintain concentration on a spell.

[MrFahrenheit]

You're missing one point though, assuming you factored in the +1 to int already.

You can min/max this if you're so inclined: just max dex/con/cha, while dumping the rest. First ASI, bump dex and cha 1 each, next take cha +2 or resilient (con) feat. The 9 int kinda sucks to just float there, or you could go half elf for some more flexibility.

[Rumo]

Ah, yes. I completely forgot about the +1 INT. And I didn't know about the option to split the ASI bonuses on two different attributes. Now I know even less what to do :smallwink:, that intelligence point makes it impossible to reach CON 15 and otherwise even numbers...

[Rumo]

Okay, maybe I've found a solution:
STR: 8
DEX: 12
CON: 15
INT: 11+1=12
WIS: 10
CHA: 15+2=17

Then take Actor feat instead of ASI. As a result, I will have exchanged that superfluous point for:
You have advantage on Charisma (Deception) and Charisma (Performance) checks when trying to pass yourself off as a different person.
You can mimic the speech of another person or the sounds made by other creatures. You must have heard the person speaking, or heard the creature make the sound, for at least 1 minute. A successful Wisdom (Insight) check contested by your Charisma (Deception) check allows a listener to determine that the effect is faked.

That's a lot, and it even fits perfectly to the flavour of my character. Only downside is that a DEX bonus is probably more useful than an INT bonus, but as I understand my spells and eldritch blasts don't require DEX-based ranged touch attacks, so it shouldn't be a big deal.

[MrFahrenheit]

Okay, maybe I've found a solution:
STR: 8
DEX: 12
CON: 15
INT: 11+1=12
WIS: 10
CHA: 15+2=17

Then take Actor feat instead of ASI. As a result, I will have exchanged that superfluous point for:
You have advantage on Charisma (Deception) and Charisma (Performance) checks when trying to pass yourself off as a different person.
You can mimic the speech of another person or the sounds made by other creatures. You must have heard the person speaking, or heard the creature make the sound, for at least 1 minute. A successful Wisdom (Insight) check contested by your Charisma (Deception) check allows a listener to determine that the effect is faked.

That's a lot, and it even fits perfectly to the flavour of my character. Only downside is that a DEX bonus is probably more useful than an INT bonus, but as I understand my spells and eldritch blasts don't require DEX-based ranged touch attacks, so it shouldn't be a big deal.

Hey if that fits the flavor, go for it. Why are you worrying so much about wis, though? You'll have proficiency in it, so while it's nice for perception/insight checks, you could do ok without.

Also, consider these setups:
A) 8/14/15/10+1/8/15+2. First ASI could be cha/int. No need for actor feat though.
B) 8/15/15/8+1/8/15+2. First ASI nets you actor feat, second gets dex/int to 16/10, third gets you resilient con, fourth is cha to 20. Or whatever order you prefer.

[Rumo]

I'm not really worrying about WIS, it's rather that I had 2 points left and nothing better to do with them. Okay, a DEX bonus gives me +1 on DEX-based skills, on DEX saves and 1 AC. (Anything else that I am missing?) That is more than I get from a WIS bonus, but from what I can see hardly enough to compromise my future feat planning.

[Corran]

Okay, maybe I've found a solution:
....

Then take Actor feat instead of ASI. As a result, I will have exchanged that superfluous point for:
You have advantage on Charisma (Deception) and Charisma (Performance) checks when trying to pass yourself off as a different person.
You can mimic the speech of another person or the sounds made by other creatures. You must have heard the person speaking, or heard the creature make the sound, for at least 1 minute. A successful Wisdom (Insight) check contested by your Charisma (Deception) check allows a listener to determine that the effect is faked.

That's a lot, and it even fits perfectly to the flavour of my character. Only downside is that a DEX bonus is probably more useful than an INT bonus, but as I understand my spells and eldritch blasts don't require DEX-based ranged touch attacks, so it shouldn't be a big deal.
A heads up for your choice of invocations at 2nd level.
Pick mask of many faces. Disguise self at-will. Spam it. Spam it hard. Actor feat will help you with all the checks you will have to make, and remember, if you are successful in these skill checks, no one has to doubt you are whom you are disguised as, so no save for them to see through the illusion. Also, with the actor feat again, now you can mimic voices, a nice and necessary addition to diguise self.

ps: For extra goodness, you can pick friends as one of your cantrips. Spam it along with mask of many faces, to gain all the info you want without creating hostilities for your character. Heck, you can even create enmity between different NPCs if you want to.

[Rumo]

Sounds like a good idea, and even more so fitting to a character who is on the run (background story). But it seems to me that the first invocations must be Agonizing Blast and Eldritch Sight, only then I have a real choice.

[bid]

Okay, maybe I've found a solution:
STR: 8
DEX: 12
CON: 15
INT: 11+1=12
WIS: 10
CHA: 15+2=17
Except you dumped to Dex12.

I don't think you should start below 8 14 14 10 10 16, that leaves 3 points.

[Kane0]

Str 8, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 16 is a solid start.

From there you can use an ASI to boost Int + Cha then a cha feat or just not worry about the odd int score.

Character on the run? Beguiling tongue and mask of Many faces are your invocations of choice.

[Gastronomie]

Power-gaming wise a Warlock should dump INT but still keep a WIS score of at least 10 to not be terrible at the very popular WIS saves.

But really, create the character as you envision him. It doesn't really make sense for a wise person to make deals with otherworldly entities anyways...

[Rumo]

Explain please, why do I need this point of DEX? I see that the DEX save is more important for me than the WIS save. (But it might also be argued that failing a WIS save usually has worse consequences than failing a DEX save - at least that's my 3rd edition experience.) +1 on DEX based skills and +1 on WIS-based skills cancel each other out. +1 Initiative and +1 AC is good to have.

Okay, I'm processing this while I'm writing, and I think I get it now. What it really comes down to is the question: What do I prefer? Pick Actor and have DEX 12 WIS 12? Or pick ASI CHA/INT and have DEX 14 WIS 10?

[bid]

Okay, I'm processing this while I'm writing, and I think I get it now. What it really comes down to is the question: What do I prefer? Pick Actor and have DEX 12 WIS 12? Or pick ASI CHA/INT and have DEX 14 WIS 10?
Nice work, that's about it.

[Klorox]

Dump the WIS to boost something else. Making a pact with a devil or GOO isn't the most wise decision :p

Taking actor is awesome, especially if it fits your concept.

From a pure numbers standpoint, if you're not going to use those social skills, I'd suggest the 14 (16) starting CHA.

Something like this:

11/14/14/10/10/16

remember, you could also go variant human and have actor feat at level 1