Best "Mundane" build?

[2D8HP]

For some reason I have always preferred to play "mundane" non-spellcasting PC's.
The five least "magical" sub-classes in the 5e PHB seem to be:
Barbarian (Berserker),
Fighter (Battlemaster),
Fighter (Champion),
Rogue (Assassin), and
Rogue (Thief).
If multiclassing is allowed, with a STR above12 a PC can be a Barbarian/Fighter and with a high enough DEX a PC can have levels in both Fighter and Rogue.
Which mundane class "builds" would you suggest are the most:
1) Fun to play.
2) Likely to survive.
and/or
3) Useful to the Party?

[Farecry]

I'm a fan of the Battle Master Archer. It hits all three points as well, and you could easily multi-class from rogue if you want to be more skill oriented.

[MaxWilson]

Under those constraints, I'd go with a Sharpshooter Battlemaster 11/Swashbuckler 9. Fun, lots of mobility, good single-target control that bypasses legendary resistance (Panache), excellent DPR, hard to kill.

I'd probably go Fighter 1, then Swashbuckler 1-9, then Fighter (Battlemaster) 2-11. That's mostly because I think Panache is so fun and awesome that I want it as early as possible; but you could make a good argument too for Fighter 1, Rogue 1-2, Battlemaster 2-5, Swashbuckler 3-9, Battlemaster 6-11. Consider taking Skulker fairly early so you can play in the dark and Hide despite enemies' darkvision.

[Feuerphoenix]

For, at least to some degree, also a way of open Hand monk belongs to this group also

[MrFahrenheit]

For some reason I have always preferred to play "mundane" non-spellcasting PC's.
The five least "magical" sub-classes in the 5e PHB seem to be:
Barbarian (Berserker),
Fighter (Battlemaster),
Fighter (Champion),
Rogue (Assassin), and
Rogue (Thief).
If multiclassing is allowed, with a STR above12 a PC can be a Barbarian/Fighter and with a high enough DEX a PC can have levels in both Fighter and Rogue.
Which mundane class "builds" would you suggest are the most:
1) Fun to play.
2) Likely to survive.
and/or
3) Useful to the Party?

Barbarian (Totem warrior) should be placed on this list too...

Anyhow, for your three questions at the end of the post, I have two answers:

1. Single-classing only: thief (enemies unaware of your presence? Relieve them of their equipment before your party engages them! Didn't get the drop on them? No worries - the enemy spell casters don't NEED their spell components, do they? And their archers ought to think outside the box once you've swiped the contents of their quivers!)

2. Multi-classing allowed: thief/battlemaster (this combination is incredible: assuming no surprise round, here's how round one could look against an enemy with equipment...
-move action to close with target
-bonus action to swipe target's holstered backup weapon into your waistband
-action to attack+sneak attack [assuming correct circumstances]+disarming maneuver. Enemy drops primary weapon.
-interact with object to pick up enemy's dropped main weapon.
-retreat. Who cares if you can't disengage? You'd be taking 1+str mod damage if they even hit you now anyway).

[Easy_Lee]

It really depends on what you're trying to do. Fighter / Barbarian can yield some sick damage, Thief Rogue / BM or Champion Fighter has options for days and will be hard to kill with a shield, and the various archer builds are quite effective.

[RickAllison]

Barbarian (Totem warrior) should be placed on this list too...

Anyhow, for your three questions at the end of the post, I have two answers:

1. Single-classing only: thief (enemies unaware of your presence? Relieve them of their equipment before your party engages them! Didn't get the drop on them? No worries - the enemy spell casters don't NEED their spell components, do they? And their archers ought to think outside the box once you've swiped the contents of their quivers!)

2. Multi-classing allowed: thief/battlemaster (this combination is incredible: assuming no surprise round, here's how round one could look against an enemy with equipment...
-move action to close with target
-bonus action to swipe target's holstered backup weapon into your waistband
-action to attack+sneak attack [assuming correct circumstances]+disarming maneuver. Enemy drops primary weapon.
-interact with object to pick up enemy's dropped main weapon.
-retreat. Who cares if you can't disengage? You'd be taking 1+str mod damage if they even hit you now anyway).

Totembarians are getting their power from a pseudo-magical relationship with nature and even get Commune with Nature. Battlerager Barbarians do work for it, though.

Thief 3/Battlemaster X: Urban Bounty Hunter. This character uses his wits, agility, and athleticism to outrun and disable his marks. Combine ranged attacks with maneuvers to knock the target down or off ledges, then use the slowed progress of the target to Grapple, Shove prone, and arrest him with a Fast Hands manacles. Essentially, you specialize in police takedowns.

[hymer]

Barbarian (Totem warrior) should be placed on this list too...

They get to cast ritual spells as soon as you pick this primal path.

[R.Shackleford]

I'm not a fan of the multiclass system.

V human (moderately armored) strength based rogue (thief) gives you pretty much everything.

You never need an ability score over 16 and actually I never raise the ability scores at all, I just take feats.

Level 4 you take shield master.

By level 5...

Bonus Action: Dash, Disengage, Hide, Use Item, and Shove (push or prone)

Action: Sneak Attack (W/advantage due to shove). Use a dagger so you can throw it at an enemy next to your ally and use The BA dash/disengage.

Reaction: Half damage (great shield block fluff)

Expertise in athletics and (pick one) skills.

You are useful, you can have fun with the broken expertise system, and you will survive.

***
The only thing is this build isn't very mundane, if you want mundane then you should play a commoner since one of your stipulations is for the build to be fun. Mundane literally is an antonym for fun.

[the secret fire]

I'm a big fan of the following build:


Race: any that grants +2 to Dex (this is important, as you will see later on), I prefer Wood Elf

Stats: Str/Cha/Int - one at 8, one at 10, and one at 12, Dex 15 (17 after racial), Con 14, Wis 13 (14 after racial - assuming Wood Elf)

Fighter 1
Rogue 1 - Stealth and Perception are probably your best bets here for Expertise, but do what you like.
Fighter 2, 3 - Battlemaster subclass: take the following maneuvers: Feint, Riposte, and Tripping Attack
Fighter 4 - take Resilience: Dex with your ASI - you'll get your primary attack stat to 18, and pick up proficiency in a major save for the cost of a single ASI. This is why you need a race that grants +2 Dex. The Dex-Fighter is the only build in the game that can pull this trick (ie. getting a primary attack stat to 18 and picking up a major save at the same time with Resilience). It's a pretty powerful efficiency gain.
Fighter 5, 6 - take Dex +2 as your second ASI.
Rogue 2, 3 - take Assassin as your subclass.

And then take whatever you like after that, either going straight for the extra attack from Fighter at F11 or going up in Rogue to 8th level before switching back to Fighter to go up to 20. At 10th level, I'd recommend Rogue 4 for the ASI, and Luck as the feat. This feels thematic to me as a "lucky" non-magical hero, and also it is a very powerful feat which can and will keep your mundane ass alive.

Why is this build great? Well, you end up with 6 skills from classes, backgrounds and race, plus thief tools starting at 2nd level, with poisoner's kit and disguise kit coming online much later at 9th level. You're a Dex-based Fighter, so your skills won't be too bad, and your good Wis allows you to be strong in stuff like Insight, Perception, etc. You get expertise at 2nd level, so you're really not a bad skill monkey, certainly serviceable as the lone "Rogue" in a party. That's the thing about Rogue: you get the biggest part of the skillmonkey benefits from the class right there at level 1.

You're only one level behind a standard Fighter up to 7th level, so you're going to be quite effective in straight-up combat, and then once you subclass into Assassin at 9th level, you become a stone-cold killer. The BM maneuvers here make sense because:

Feint: gets you advantage, so you can use your SA even when you otherwise wouldn't be able to do so.
Riposte: an effective counterattack, which also lets you use your SA twice in a round if you have advantage (reactions allow SA dice, as they do not occur on your turn).
Tripping Attack: it's just really good.

You'll probably want to go for Uncanny Dodge at 11th level, so you end up with the following options for bonus and reaction actions: Bonus (Cunning Action, Feint), Reaction (Riposte [if the attack misses], Uncanny Dodge [if it hits]). It's a very solid build. Good skills/out-of-combat utility, strong straight up fighting ability with terrifying nova damage in surprise rounds once you hit 9th level, good defense, and a number of tactical choices. Unlike many multiclass builds, it works at every single level, and just keeps getting better.

[smcmike]

How often do totem barbs really cast spells though?

Regardless, I like barbarian/rogue - the perfect action man - fast, strong, quick, and tougher than a grizzly.

[Goodberry]

Berserker/Champion Crit machine.

[MrFahrenheit]

Totembarians are getting their power from a pseudo-magical relationship with nature and even get Commune with Nature. Battlerager Barbarians do work for it, though.

Thief 3/Battlemaster X: Urban Bounty Hunter. This character uses his wits, agility, and athleticism to outrun and disable his marks. Combine ranged attacks with maneuvers to knock the target down or off ledges, then use the slowed progress of the target to Grapple, Shove prone, and arrest him with a Fast Hands manacles. Essentially, you specialize in police takedowns.

No fair...I was going to mention totem barbs but OP didn't list it as an option originally.

Anyhow, glad to see others like the thief/battlemaster combo!

[RickAllison]

No fair...I was going to mention totem barbs but OP didn't list it as an option originally.

Anyhow, glad to see others like the thief/battlemaster combo!

It might not be the most powerful, but it is very effective at what it does.

[Waazraath]

As for the mentioned open hand monk: only up to level 18 it's mundane, then it gets invisibility.

For a featless game: the berserker is great, bonus action attack and reaction attack available with a great weapon, damage wise very very nice.

With multiclass available, I second the battlemaster fighter / rogue combo, there's really a lot of different options and good builds possible. Reaction attacks from battlemaster are great with sneak attack, for example.

[Giant2005]

I'd go with a Dex-based Barb (Wolf) 5/Rogue (Anything) X.
You are basically indestructible in combat and inflict solid damage while boosting your melee allies effectiveness in combat considerably (more than enough to make yourself the prime target even while being near indestructible). You also have that nice skill-monkeyness to make yourself a great asset out of combat.

[Easy_Lee]

With multiclass available, I second the battlemaster fighter / rogue combo, there's really a lot of different options and good builds possible. Reaction attacks from battlemaster are great with sneak attack, for example.

That was the concept behind my Iron Scoundrel build. 6-8 BM fighter / 12-14 rogue, shield mastery, medium armor master, expertise to athletics, and riposte to reaction attack anyone who misses you. Add precision attack to make sure attacks land, and you've got a tanky, consistent frontliner with options for days.

[Waazraath]

That was the concept behind my Iron Scoundrel build. 6-8 BM fighter / 12-14 rogue, shield mastery, medium armor master, expertise to athletics, and riposte to reaction attack anyone who misses you. Add precision attack to make sure attacks land, and you've got a tanky, consistent frontliner with options for days.

Truth, beautiful build.

[arclance]

They get to cast ritual spells as soon as you pick this primal path.

How often do totem barbs really cast spells though?
This is almost never going to come up unless your the only one in your party with any non-mundane abilities.
In a year of playing a barbarian in a mostly melee party (2 barbarians (1 Totem, 1 Berserker), 1 Fighter, 1 Paladin, 1 bard who should not be using a shortsword, 1 Life Cleric, and a revolving door of Rogues) and I only used it once to ask the fish in a moat what the handsign that opened an enchanted door was.

Their rituals are only really useful in a survival game or maybe a "bounty hunting in the woods" side quest so I would disregard them for the purposes of this thread.

[Giant2005]

I'd never consider Totem Barbarians to be spellcasters. If anyone has seen Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple/History's Strongest Disciple, Apachai is a classic Totem Barbarian; and although he has an affinity with animals, he isn't magic.

[Specter]

Battlemaster/Assassin is the perfect Solid Snake/James Bond/Jack Reacher archetype, and is also very good in game. It can fit the roles of damage-dealer (with Sneak Attack and maneuvers), explorer (tons of skills, thieves tools and Expertise) and maybe even controller with the right maneuvers.

[Vogonjeltz]

1) Fun to play.
2) Likely to survive.
and/or
3) Useful to the Party?

Pretty much every class is fun to play, but I don't know what your favorite aspect of play is, so it might be hard to say.

Berserkers have some of the best durability from rage damage reduction and the highest hit die, They also can bring out some monster offense earlier than anyone else thanks to Frenzy.

Battlemasters are versatile depending on maneuver choices. They're capable of significant burst damage with action surge (which isn't a terrible idea given that all their resources renew on a short rest) but they can also have improved durability from parry.

Champions offensive output is the highest sustained, and if you want to really get alot out of them beyond normal attacks you need to look to the improvised action/contests in combat. So there's alot more potential there than they are often given credit for, but it really does rely on your imagination to get going. At higher levels of play they become extremely durable from Survivor.

Assassin's and Thieves are both Rogues, so unless you deliberately skip out on it, they bring along lockpicking and the like. Best used in support of another character as opposed to trying to one on one someone.

Everything is useful, but if you already have a Rogue, Barbarian, or Fighter, you might consider whatever is missing instead to avoid overlapping. On the other hand, it could be fun to have a group of all Fighters.

In general I wouldn't recommend multi-classing unless you have a very specific goal in mind, as it delays access to better abilities in any class.