Level 5 character as a Level 10 Campaign?!

[Vrikolaka]

What's up people?

Yes, another game was brought up, a game that "revived" of some sorts from a bunch of years, and now we are updating the game for the D&D 5e. But now I have a major issue: my character was VERY low level compared with the other characters. My character was on a low level group before, but everyone quitted the game (was a online game, so that's expected) and I was the only one that remained. And now, I'll go with the "high level" group, or some high level guys. But, we can't "timeskip" the game to "catch up" with the levels (and, really? I'm not a huge fan about timeskipping for the sake of "catching levels", and I don't want to throw her away).

On the game, I am a "Cleric of Lena", a goddess of life/healing, half-elf. It wasn't on D&D, was on a d20 brazillian game called Tormenta RPG, but now, we are updating the game for the d&d 5e, because TRPG is not doing much good for us to be "staying in". Like, I was a "novice White Mage-like" character, and was really enjoying it, it was a fun character to play.

The DM made "a rule" for me, to give me Advantage on Death Saving Throws, to ensure that I will survive on the most part, until I "catch up with the party", and now I wanna make sure that I will be useful on the early levels, even if I'm not that useful. I'm the only "divine character" aside the Paladin (I only know that the group have a Variant Human Vengeance Paladin and a Variant Human Bard/Mystic... the rest, I don't remember, and don't know who stayed on the game, but I'm sure that no one is cleric too).

I'm obviously leaning to Half-Elf Hermit Life Cleric, and use and abuse Bless and Healing Word, and abuse the Dodge, for mantaining my survivability. But... What Ideas you can give me to further boost my "effectiveness", even if i'm severely crippled because of my levels? My stats are: str 8/dex 13/con 12/int 10/wis 16/cha 16 right now. No feats ('cause Half-Elf and level 3).

Oh, and yes, I love to play divine casters XD
And Sorry if my english is bad, not the first language. XD

EDIT: Oh. He want to at least make me Level 5. Will still be half-way to the rest of the group, but I have more versatility.

[Feuerphoenix]

Mmh, maybe I missed the point, but why did he not just raised you to LV 10 like the rest of the party?

[Lalliman]

I personally would advise just raising your level, but if you insist: As a lower-level character, you'll mainly suffer from lower HP, lower damage/healing potential, and lower spell save DCs. The way to circumvent the latter two is to focus on spells that don't involve a saving throw and don't directly deal or heal damage, such as Bless, Enhance Ability, Lesser Restoration and Protection from Energy. Healing Word is an easy way to get someone back up from 0 HP, but the amount healed is insignificant to a 10th level character, so you probably shouldn't bother using it otherwise.

[Crgaston]

With a 16 CHA you should be able to contribute to RP with persuasion. The other characters could treat you like "little sister who needs to be protected.". You can still have fun with this.

[NotADragonYet]

Firstly, might I suggest asking your DM if you can be a 10th level character?

Secondly, clerics are quite powerful, especially if you spend your time spamming Bless and Sacred Flame

[Seppo87]

Timeskip could be seen as additional backgound info, couldn't it?

Well, if you want to take the risk while trying to minimize it,
Make sure you're well specialized for defense. Specialize on defense as much as you can in order to survive, let the offense to others.
This won't be needed anymore later but now it is, because otherwise you'll find yourself killed before you can catch up.

[Arial Black]

They are 10th level, you are 5th. If they had a 10th level cleric, what would they be so pleased about? Raise dead? Another 5th level spell?

But they don't have a 10th level cleric, they have you. The question is, is it worth looking after you for long enough for you to get 5th level spells?

Well, how long will they have to wait?

Let's assume that each of you has the minimum XPs for your level: 6500 for you, 64000 for them.

You need to be 9th level to get 5th level spells, so you need a total of 48000 XP. So you need another 41500.

When your party has each gained another 41500 XP, you will be 9th level, and they will be (41500+64000=105500) 12th level. They only have to look after you for two more levels to get you there!

Meanwhile, you are not doing nothing. You are contributing with bless, cure wounds, healing word, enhance ability, prayer of healing, clairvoyance, dispel magic, revivify, and at 7th, death ward, divination, freedom of movement. On top of that you have Channel Divinity, and whatever background stuff, skills and feats you bring to the table.

Just make sure that it's in their interest to keep you alive (be useful and likable) and make sure that you are hard to kill anyway so keeping you alive isn't the sole focus of their efforts (good AC, saves, and not needlessly putting yourself or them into unnecessary danger).

Everything will be okay. :)

[MaxWilson]

They are 10th level, you are 5th. If they had a 10th level cleric, what would they be so pleased about? Raise dead? Another 5th level spell?

But they don't have a 10th level cleric, they have you. The question is, is it worth looking after you for long enough for you to get 5th level spells?

There's not much difference in 5E between Raise Dead (5th level) and Revivify (3rd level). Revivify is cheaper and has fewer side effects. If I were a 10th level group, I'd be pleased to have a 5th level cleric along for that spell alone, not to mention Shield of Faith, Bless, Augury, and Enhance Ability.

My advice to the OP: yes, Dodge a lot, use Sanctuary as necessary, and don't feel compelled to do damage in every combat. If all you do in a given combat is Bless the party and stand ready to Healing Word or Revivify anyone who goes down, you are doing your job. You're the medic, not the machine gunner. Do that and your survivability will be fine.

[Grod_The_Giant]

You might see if you can get Goodberry somehow, via a Druid dip or the Magic Initiate feat. It's a very good use of a first-level healing spell straight out of the box (up to 10 hp/casting), but with Life Cleric each of the +1 HP berries becomes a +4 HP berry, meaning you can get 40 hit points out of a single first-level slot. (Druid dip isn't bad in general, emphasizing your devotion to all of "life." Shillelagh lets you smack guys effectively in melee without needing Str or Dex, and the aforementioned Goodberry, and extra low-level slots for Healing Word and such.

[Rysto]

You might see if you can get Goodberry somehow, via a Druid dip or the Magic Initiate feat. It's a very good use of a first-level healing spell straight out of the box (up to 10 hp/casting), but with Life Cleric each of the +1 HP berries becomes a +4 HP berry, meaning you can get 40 hit points out of a single first-level slot.
Make sure that you confirm this interpretation with your DM before going this route. Not all DMs will allow this.


(Druid dip isn't bad in general, emphasizing your devotion to all of "life." Shillelagh lets you smack guys effectively in melee without needing Str or Dex, and the aforementioned Goodberry, and extra low-level slots for Healing Word and such.

A Druid dip is horrible for a Cleric. Yes, you pick up some nice cantrips and spells, but you lose the ability to wear medium or heavy armour. It's an awful trade, especially for a lower level character who needs survivability.

[MaxWilson]

Make sure that you confirm this interpretation with your DM before going this route. Not all DMs will allow this.

Yeah, I'd take one look at the wording of Disciple of Life and say, "You're not healing anyone with a spell. You're creating berries that nourish and heal people when they're eaten. That doesn't trigger Disciple of Life any more than Grim Harvest works with Animate Dead to heal you whenever your skeletons kill someone. Those goodberries still do exactly what it says in the spell: restore 1 HP when eaten, no more."

Edit: note further that Goodberry's duration is "instantaneous". The berries are permanent creations, not subject to Dispel Magic. By the time you eat the berries, the spell is no longer even operating, so how is Disciple of Life going to apply?

[Inevitability]

Yeah, I'd take one look at the wording of Disciple of Life and say, "You're not healing anyone with a spell. You're creating berries that nourish and heal people when they're eaten. That doesn't trigger Disciple of Life any more than Grim Harvest works with Animate Dead to heal you whenever your skeletons kill someone. Those goodberries still do exactly what it says in the spell: restore 1 HP when eaten, no more."

Except the errata explicitly tells us it works.

[Zman]

5e can handle a 5th level character in a party of 10th levels no problem. Basically, by the time they level feom 10th to 11th you'll have leveled feom 5th to 7th. By the time the level to 12th, you'll have hit 9th. The game is designed to catch characters up between low to mid levels,meventually only an ~1-2 level gap will persist.

[MaxWilson]

Except the errata explicitly tells us it works.

No it doesn't.

I think you might be confusing errata (which actually get printed as part of the game rules) with Sage Advice. Not only is Sage Advice not official, but Sage Advice itself actually tells you that it's not official and doesn't trump DM judgment. In this case, Sage Advice is directly in conflict with the PHB rules, so I'm going to ignore it--just as Sage Advice explicitly tells you to do.


Dealing with those situations is where Sage Advice
comes in. This column doesn’t replace a DM’s adjudication.
Just as the rules do, the column is meant to give DMs, as
well as players, tools for tuning the game according to their
tastes. The column should also reveal some perspectives
that help you see parts of the game in a new light and that
aid you in fine-tuning your D&D experience

This note of humility is Sage Advice's saving grace.

[Cybren]

5e can handle a 5th level character in a party of 10th levels no problem. Basically, by the time they level feom 10th to 11th you'll have leveled feom 5th to 7th. By the time the level to 12th, you'll have hit 9th. The game is designed to catch characters up between low to mid levels,meventually only an ~1-2 level gap will persist.

Plus one of 5Es design intentions is that lower level enemies can still be presented as credible threats to higher level parties...

[Zman]

Plus one of 5Es design intentions is that lower level enemies can still be presented as credible threats to higher level parties...

Yep, and it works the other way as well!