AL Storm King's Thunder - Which Class Would You Pick?

[INDYSTAR188]

Hello all,

I am hoping to join my local game stores AL events as a player and I believe it is Storm King's Thunder season. I have several character ideas and I am looking for class selection advice based on 1) the type of party you see in AL typically and 2) the specific challenges to SKT. I am interested in hearing other suggestions outside of these four. I am thinking about the following PCs:

- Halfling Dragon Sorcerer
- Tiefling Lore Bard
- Gnome Eldritch Knight Fighter
- Dwarf Battle Rager Barbarian

I enjoy 'arcane' classes with spells a lot (hence the top two choices) but I like the idea of playing a non-standard character (like the bottom two options) too. I think all sound fun so my priorities are:

- I would like to do more than just "I swing my axe/sword at it!" with most of my actions. Meaning, if I pick a Fighter I would like to take the Shield Mastery feat so I can bash folks or use the EK spells for more than just damage.
- I am not opposed to a 4E style "Leader" or "Controller" role.
- I have DMed a lot of D&D and I don't want to play a 'Mary Sue' type of PC.
- I'm not sure what is a good way to contribute in STK, so any suggestions would be great!

[CaptAl]

Well, I can't say that there is a "typical" AL table. I can say that it's not unusual to see a lot of the big damage PC's (Great Weapon Master/Sharpshooter/Polearm Master). In the introduction there's a few scenes where having a party face could be important, and in my experience, people at AL are more interested in getting to the next fight, so having a character with strong social skills is important. A Lore Bard pairs well with those big DPS characters (faerie fire/inspiration) and gives you spotlight time outside of combat.

That being said, you can never go wrong by bringing more damage and tanking ability, which EKs and Battleragers have in spades. Luckily, you can rebuild as many times as you like leading up to level 5. I'd suggest starting with a tanky character (keep yourself and your group alive), and then rebuilding to suit the table if necessary.

[JAL_1138]

There's no "typical party" in League. It depends on who shows up with what character. I've ended up with two clerics, two paladins, and a Monk; I've ended up with two Fighters, a Barbarian, and a Bard; I've ended up with two Bards, a Ranger, a Rogue, and a Warlock, etc., etc., so on and so forth. I've also been in well-balanced, almost cliché groups with a Fighter, a Wizard, a Cleric, a Rogue, and a Bard. You can't guarantee party composition in League. Build a character you want to play instead of building for party composition, unless you know you're going to have the same group consistently for the hardcover. If you are going to be playing with a consistent group for the hardcover, you could ask that group what they're bringing.

Lack of either AoE or frontliners--as well as lack of range or lack of melee--will hurt in SKT, from what portion I've played of it. It works best with a balanced party. But there's no way to predict a League party ahead of time unless you know you'll be playing with a consistent group and poll them.

Easiest thing to do would be to make a couple-three characters (you'll always start new characters at Lvl 1 in League) and be ready to switch between them depending on who shows up with what, if party balance is your main concern.

[Sir cryosin]

I'm playing a arcane cleric in are storm kings thunder and out of the Abyss combined together. I have got so drunk and made a huge donkey of myself. But I have have the most kills keep the party alive many many times now and buffed at the right moments. So because of my wide versatility role they didn't kill me when my character was drunk and being a ass.

My character is a variant human with the healers feet class arcane cleric lv4 hp 41 ac 18.

[Specter]

I'd go for the new ranger, been dying to try it out. Favored enemy - Giants? Yes please.

[Arkhios]

I'd be tempted to try Tempest Cleric, a warrior oriented Nature Cleric (especially with hopes to get my hands on runes), or the new revised ranger with or without multiclassing with Cleric.

Alternatively a multiclass between revised beast conclave ranger and land druid (forest circle) who worships Mielikki, has a black bear companion, and comes from Vaasa.
(Inspired by Tapio, finnish god of the forests, and husband to finnish goddess Mielikki :smalltongue:)
Edit: if no homebrew/UA allowed, then the above druid/ranger would be primarily a Ranger and only secondarily druid.
In either case I would use half-plate if available since traditionally druids of Mielikki have been able to wear armor made of metal without penalties.

[lunaticfringe]

AL=No Mike Mearls' Poorly worded Homebrew (revised ranger)

Lore Bard, people forget about Control & Face in AL

Arcana Clerics are just full of win IMHO, but you won't hit 17. Light, Tempest, Nature is probably better since you will only hit 10ish.

[Arkhios]

AL=No Mike Mearls' Poorly worded Homebrew (revised ranger)
If that was the intent, then my bad. For some inexplicable reason I thought that AL only referred to Forgotten Realms as the prime setting for this SKT run, though I should've known it means it's going to be played strictly by the AL rules(?)


Lore Bard, people forget about Control & Face in AL
This is very true. But not only in AL. Pathfinder Society for example is infamous of Cha 5 dwarven murderhobos, only because you can. :smallannoyed:


Arcana Clerics are just full of win IMHO, but you won't hit 17. Light, Tempest, Nature is probably better since you will only hit 10ish.
Yeah, AL is a good incentive to seek out alternative adventuring careers, such as through multiclassing because you're less likely to reach much beyond mid-levels.

[INDYSTAR188]

I forgot all about the 'Revised Ranger', it's too bad it's not available. So many options! In my current game (DMing Out of the Abyss) we have an Arcana Cleric (level 6), which is really cool. Given that, I'd definetly consider that flavor of Cleric. Which of the following would you prefer to play in a AL STK game (just curious):

- Tiefling Lore Bard
- Ghostwise Halfling Arcana Cleric
- Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Sword/Board)

Another question: can you use the optional Tiefling options in the SCAG in AL? I'm guessing probably not the flying option?

[JAL_1138]

I forgot all about the 'Revised Ranger', it's too bad it's not available. So many options! In my current game (DMing Out of the Abyss) we have an Arcana Cleric (level 6), which is really cool. Given that, I'd definetly consider that flavor of Cleric. Which of the following would you prefer to play in a AL STK game (just curious):

- Tiefling Lore Bard
- Ghostwise Halfling Arcana Cleric
- Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Sword/Board)

Another question: can you use the optional Tiefling options in the SCAG in AL? I'm guessing probably not the flying option?


I dunno about the Tiefling options specifically, but SCAG is mostly legal AFAIK; however, races with a flying speed are only available as "DM rewards" for running a crapload of material (e.g., SKT+all modules for Season 5, or something to that effect). So anything that starts with flying is out.

Also as a note, you're limited to PHB+ 1 supplement for builds, so you can't combine SCAG and EE.

The thing about League is that any reasonable build can work. How well it works in a particular adventure is often dependent on party composition, which is typically not predictable.

[INDYSTAR188]

The thing about League is that any reasonable build can work. How well it works in a particular adventure is often dependent on party composition, which is typically not predictable.

So just pick a couple combos I really want to play and see who shows up. In other words, go have fun. :smallcool: I've played in a couple of groups over the years but never AL so I'm interested to see how different it'll be. I'm struggling to get a full compliment of players for my OotA campaign so maybe I can find one there!

[JAL_1138]

So just pick a couple combos I really want to play and see who shows up. In other words, go have fun. :smallcool:

Exactly. There's no best build for League in general, so play what you want. You'll often have chances to play more than one character in different games and level ranges if you get very involved, so having more than one is a good idea anyway.



I've played in a couple of groups over the years but never AL so I'm interested to see how different it'll be. I'm struggling to get a full compliment of players for my OotA campaign so maybe I can find one there!

It can be a pretty good way to find a group, so good luck! The adventure modules are typically a bit combat-focused and a good bit railroady, but there's still a fair amount of noncombat so face-characters and/or skillmonkeys can be very useful to a group. There's not really any hexcrawling, but some of the wilderness survival type skills come up occasionally. The big change is that everything gets documented so it can be checked from one table to another, magic items are limited to what's in the module and there are some additional rules for acquiring and trading them, and tables rarely have the same group twice. No rolling for stats; standard array or standard point-buy only. There's an AL Players' Guide (http://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/AL_PH_SKT.pdf) that explains a lot of the League rules.

[Kane0]

Well I'll probably be DMing it and it won't be AL but I'd be a Goliath Titanlock (http://www.middlefingerofvecna.com/2016/08/the-titan.html). Because giants.

[EvilAnagram]

Well I'll probably be DMing it and it won't be AL but I'd be a Goliath Titanlock (http://www.middlefingerofvecna.com/2016/08/the-titan.html). Because giants.

You know, most ridiculously OP homebrew classes start out completely broken and get worse, but this guy starts out more subtly than that. The only things broken about his first ability are the short rest recovery and bonus action to use it. If it were an action and once/day, it would be fine.

From there we have a reaction that's way too potent, but it's easy to dial down the effect a bit. Again, slightly OP, but not terrible. But it rounds itself off with dealing 30d6 as an action at level 14.

It's like they knew it was going to be broken, so they pretended it would be almost workable until the very end.

[INDYSTAR188]

You know, most ridiculously OP homebrew classes start out completely broken and get worse, but this guy starts out more subtly than that. The only thing token about his first ability are the short rest recovery and bonis action to use it. If it were an action and once/day, it would be fine.

From there we have a reaction that's way too potent, but it's easy to dial down the effect a bit. Again, slightly OP, but not terrible. But it rounds itself off with dealing 30d6 as an action at level 14.

It's like they knew it was going to be broken, so they pretended it would be almost workable until the very end.

I wonder how this compares to Matt Mercer's Gunslinger or Blood Hunter? We have a Blood Hunter in my group and it feels pretty well balanced - if anything his crimson rite stuff feels a touch harsh.

[EvilAnagram]

I wonder how this compares to Matt Mercer's Gunslinger or Blood Hunter? We have a Blood Hunter in my group and it feels pretty well balanced - if anything his crimson rite stuff feels a touch harsh.
Mercer tends to focus on drawbacks to balance out powerful classes. Grit points and misfires, not to mention the dearth of magical damage, keep the damage potential of the Gunslinger from overshadowing everyone else. With the Blood Hunter, I would imagine similar drawbacks.

And that's a pretty solid homebrew design ethos. When someone designs a class with system balance in mind, it tends to yield better results. When people design classes thinking, "I want to be amazing without giving up anything," it leads to a character who deals 80 points of damage with poor rolls.

[INDYSTAR188]

Mercer tends to focus on drawbacks to balance out powerful classes. Grit points and misfires, not to mention the dearth of magical damage, keep the damage potential of the Gunslinger from overshadowing everyone else. With the Blood Hunter, I would imagine similar drawbacks.

And that's a pretty solid homebrew design ethos. When someone designs a class with system balance in mind, it tends to yield better results. When people design classes thinking, "I want to be amazing without giving up anything," it leads to a character who deals 80 points of damage with poor rolls.

Which of course is "tons of fun" for that one guy who convinced his DM to let him use it but I'm not sure if it is for everyone else. I really like the Four Elements Monk Redux too, I think it's well done.

[NoLongerLurking]

In my current game (DMing Out of the Abyss) we have an Arcana Cleric (level 6), which is really cool. Given that, I'd definetly consider that flavor of Cleric. Which of the following would you prefer to play in a AL STK game (just curious):

- Tiefling Lore Bard
- Ghostwise Halfling Arcana Cleric
- Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Sword/Board)


Lore Bard, people forget about Control & Face in AL

I agree with lunaticfringe: CHA based face characters will do very well in SKT (it is not all about the damage, if you have a good group that will play nicely with others)
Of course, the Halfling Dragon Sorcerer from your first list could be a Face and a Glass Cannon when combat is needed...


Another question: can you use the optional Tiefling options in the SCAG in AL? I'm guessing probably not the flying option?

Yes, you may use SCAG Tiefling variations in AL. You may use the winged version, but it would not be capable of flight (so - not worth it)

[Kane0]

You know, most ridiculously OP homebrew classes start out completely broken and get worse, but this guy starts out more subtly than that. The only things broken about his first ability are the short rest recovery and bonis action to use it. If it were an action and once/day, it would be fine.

From there we have a reaction that's way too potent, but it's easy to dial down the effect a bit. Again, slightly OP, but not terrible. But it rounds itself off with dealing 30d6 as an action at level 14.

It's like they knew it was going to be broken, so they pretended it would be almost workable until the very end.

That guy was me :P

If you scroll through the comments, my iriginal version submitted was actually quite a bit weaker (no proficiencies, no THP, other abilities offered more saves). Once it was up for review on the site the commenters kept powering it up

[EvilAnagram]

That guy was me :P

If you scroll through the comments, my iriginal version submitted was actually quite a bit weaker (no proficiencies, no THP, other abilities offered more saves). Once it was up for review on the site the commenters kept powering it up

A lot of homebrewers push for everything to be more powerful. It's rarely good advice.

[Draco4472]

I forgot all about the 'Revised Ranger', it's too bad it's not available. So many options! In my current game (DMing Out of the Abyss) we have an Arcana Cleric (level 6), which is really cool. Given that, I'd definetly consider that flavor of Cleric. Which of the following would you prefer to play in a AL STK game (just curious):

- Tiefling Lore Bard
- Ghostwise Halfling Arcana Cleric
- Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Sword/Board)

Another question: can you use the optional Tiefling options in the SCAG in AL? I'm guessing probably not the flying option?

Everything but the flying option is AL legal.