Non-combat Builds

[smcmike]

One thing that bugs me about D&D is that just about every character is good at fighting things. This makes sense, considering that the game is mostly about fighting things, but it limits the narrative possibilities for characters quite a bit - you always have to work in some reason that your character happens to be very good at killing.

So, I want to know the best builds that aren't good at killing.

What this means, in practice, is I want to be no more than minimally competent at dealing damage, but still want to have something useful to do each round as the dungeon crawl progresses. Since this means I'll probably spend most of my time casting spells, I want those spells have some conceivable out of combat fluff usage.

Ideas?

[MrStabby]

two levels of warlock for covering your combat needs then bard for the skill monkey and social part?

[smcmike]

two levels of warlock for covering your combat needs

I feel like you missed the point.

[MrStabby]

I feel like you missed the point.

You said you wanted to be no more than minimally competant. This makes you minimally competant but not more and frees you up to devote eveything else to the other features you want.

So it all depends just how minimal you want your combat power to be?

[JellyPooga]

Bards are very good for this kind of build.
- Lots of Skill Proficiencies and Expertise.
- Limited spell list with few overtly combat-only spells and a notable lack in the direct damage department.
- Class Features such as Song of Rest, Bardic Inspiration and Magical Secrets to round out your non-combat spell list.

Druids get a lot of non-combat options. Wild Shape, alone, gives a lot of utility in the scouting and maneuvering department. Spells like Pass without Trace, Speak with Animals and the Conjures are all invaluable resources outside of a scrap.

Rogues (particularly Arcane Tricksters) are also good for the same reason as Bards, but are much more combat focused.

Warlocks, somewhat surprisingly, also make good non-combatants if they avoid the usual Eldritch Blast + Hex routine. Tomelocks, particularly, with their access to all Rituals and Cantrips. Invocations like Beast Speech, Eyes of the Runekeeper, Eldritch Sight, Misty Visions, Master of Many Forms and Visions of Distant Realms can round out the concept. Scrying, Arcane Gate, Conjure Fey, Plane Shift, Demiplane, Glibness, Astral Projection and Foresight are all high level goodies a Warlock has access to.

Wizards have a great spell selection, obviously, with a lot of non-combat application. Diviners, particularly, are a great help in this regard, not only able to dictate skill rolls and the like, but also able to use their divinations without negatively impacting their spells/day too badly.

[Tanarii]

Bard or Cleric. They don't require Str or Dex beyond a certain amount, and have lots of support spells for combat instead of being a killing machine, and plenty of non-combat spells. The Bard also has decent skills, and eventually expertise.

They're (if you choose) designed to be support-in-combat characters, as opposed to primary attackers.

[Belac93]

Half-elf charlatan mastermind rogue 3/lore bard 3 for a lower level game. You have 2nd level spells, quite a few skills and languages, and aren't to MAD

For the ultimate non-combat character (lowest level possible)?

Half elf charlatan mastermind rogue 3/lore bard 3/knowledge cleric 2/awakened mystic with mind vault 1/ranger 1

Proficiency in 18 skills, expertise in 7, proficiency in 4 tools, the ability to gain proficiency in any one tool after a rest, the ability to trade out 1 skill or 1 tool, and 8 languages.

In addition, you have 5 levels of spellcasting classes, can mimic voices, can use help as a bonus action with a range of 30 feet, have expertise in checks in your favoured terrain, and have the abilities of a 1st level mystic.

If I were to keep going with this character, I would go for more levels of bard, ending up as rogue 3/bard 13/cleric 2/mystic 1/ranger 1. This would give me spellcasting as a 15th level spellcaster, magical secrets and additional magical secrets (I might skip on the 2nd level of cleric for 14 levels of bard, just to get another magical secrets and peerless skill), and you get another 2 expertise. Iaddition, you could take the linguist feat for more languages.

[Addaran]

Depends how minimaly useful at killing things you want to be.

Any cantrips as your only damaging spell should be good. You aren't actually skilled in combat, you just know a basic attack spell.

Minor illusion (or silent image at will via warlock) is a good non-violent action for your turn.

Bard, druide, sorcerer, warlock and wizard can all use vicious mockery or frostbite. Save or nothing spells with so low damage even a goblin can survive one hit, but the enemie gets disadvantage on it's next attack.

Use your actions to throw caltrops, ball bearings, oil, make holes with mold earth freeze water with shape water, etc.

Any full caster with good crowd control. Web, hypnotic pattern, sleep, grease, fog cloud, etc.
Any full caster with buffs (and heal, a life cleric can be very non-combatant. he just wear a full plate and shield to not die but don't know how to fight).

Pact of the Chain Warlock would make a very fun non-combatant too. You don't know how to fight, so you always use your action to make your familiar( quasit or imps have invisibility so very good for exploration/scouting too) fight.

[Grod_The_Giant]

You're probably best off with Bard or Wizard. Cleric gets some stuff but not, ultimately, as many support spells as those two. I'd say overall Lore Bard is your best bet:

Cheer on your friends (Inspiration; Song of Rest and the Inspiring Leader feat to lesser degrees)
Mess with your enemies by inssulting them (Vicious Mockery and Cutting Words)
Just so many spells that could be useful in or out of a fight, to say nothing of more combat-focused enchantments and the like



Minor Illusion, and all the subsequent improvements, can be used to good effect if you're clever.
Faerie Fire is a lovely pyrotechnic display that just happens to be amazing if used in a fight
Quite a few monsters have goddawful Charisma-- Charm Person should be useful at least every now and again
Heroism is just a magical cheer
Tasha's Hideous Laughter really breaks the ice at parties
Calm Emotions has uses both in and out of battle
Phantasmal Force seems like the kind of thing you might learn for entertainment purposes
A careful Suggestion can take someone out of action
Greater Invisibility will make the Rogue happy as all get-out
Polymorph. 'nough said.
Animate Objects is a great trick, and makes great combat minions
Dominate Person
Planar Binding can get you a brute to do the fighting for you

[Ninja_Prawn]

I'm playing a character that's pretty much exactly this right now, as it happens. Mythweavers sheet here (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=691366). We just finished a combat against some Fire Snakes where my actions were:


Round 1: Chromatic Orb
Round 2: Chromatic Orb
Round 3: Help
Round 4: Medicine check
Round 5: No action
Round 6: Medicine check

Now that's what I call 'minimally competent'!

Out of combat, though, I have all sorts of options. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of the noble background and her mental skills are so useful. Plus I've got all sorts of magical tools to play with if I need them.

[TheUser]

Sorcerers can cast spells without verbal or somatic components using subtle spell. They also use charisma as a casting stat and so their persuasion, deception and intimidation checks are really high too.

This guide was posted on reddit a while ago and it outlined the "Sociopath" Sorcerer.

If you want an out of combat utility character this is perfect. You can cast social and utility spells covertly using one of the cheapest metamagics Sorcerers have.

I don't have enough posts to put up links but I'm sure you can find it by looking up sorcerer guide on /r/dndnext

[uraniumrooster]

My first 5th Edition character was a Gnome Sage who was a pacifist Knowledge Cleric 2/Illusionist X build, and I didn't have a single damaging spell or cantrip until level 5 when I learned Phantasmal Force (and even that I only used sparingly, and very rarely in a way that did direct damage to anyone).

I mostly used Illusions to conceal the party or confuse enemies so we could slip by without a fight, or spells like Calm Emotions or Suggestion to resolve combat situations before too much blood was shed. If worse came to worse and there was no avoiding a fight, I just buffed my allies and hid behind a Minor Illusion.

[Hrugner]

I think you could build a beast master ranger that wasn't personally competent in combat.

[Fflewddur Fflam]

I think you could build a beast master ranger that wasn't personally competent in combat.

I see what you did there.

[Slipperychicken]

Ideas?

I almost think you might want to play an OSR game, which tend to have more emphasis on things other than combat, especially when players are expected to avoid fights that aren't always supposed to be fair or even reasonable.

[Sigreid]

I like the Mastermind rogue for this. You don't even have to do direct damage in combat as you can re-direct an attack to a target of your choice and can do the help action in combat. Add to that that you are a master manipulator that eventually literally can't be caught in a lie, even by magic.

[RickAllison]

I like the Mastermind rogue for this. You don't even have to do direct damage in combat as you can re-direct an attack to a target of your choice and can do the help action in combat. Add to that that you are a master manipulator that eventually literally can't be caught in a lie, even by magic.

Agreed. My vote is Mastermind 11/Knowledge Cleric 2/Lore Bard 3/Druid 1 or Moon Druid 2. Start with Rogue 1 for four skill proficiencies, grab Knowledge Cleric 2 so for ten minutes per short rest you can be proficient in any skill or tool as well as two languages and two knowledge skills with Expertise, then it is up to you. Druid gives you the variety of animal forms for utility purposes, but also gives you your primary source of damage when you actually have to deal damage: Magic Stone; since you will have so much Rogue, you can use MS to take advantage of Sneak Attack while only focusing on Wisdom. Bard gives you more Expertise and skills as well as some support and Jack of All Trades, but this actually part I would cut out first since it increases MADness and is redundant with Cleric 2 which also gives us armor. Mastermind 3 gives you your secondary purpose on the battlefield, giving Help to your allies like it's candy.

So there you go. Lots of skills, lots of utility, eventually Reliable Talent on any skill or tool in the game, and can provide a little extra DPR or support on the battlefield.