New game, new character...

[Theodoxus]

So, I'm jumping into a new campaign in the second session - so, joining an already formed party consisting of a dwarf cleric, dragonborn fighter, half-elf paladin, aasimar warlock and a human barbarian - all 2nd level.

The lack of a rogue type character was pretty obvious, though also the lack of knowledge skills as well.

My initial thought was just a straight rogue, but that's my go-to class I play most often, and felt like stretching my chops a little (note, little)

My next thought, that I'm currently pursuing, is a primary caster, however, it'll start a cleric->rogue->?

So, because I want to focus on the four knowledge skills, I picked Knowledge domain, picking up History and Religion (and Expertise on them). For a background, I went with a modified Sage, calling it Naturalist, which swapped History for Nature, granting all four knowledges at 1st level.

For rogue, I picked up Stealth (I'd have started rogue, for the better proficiencies and weapons, except they don't get access to any of the knowledge skills...) And I used rogue expertise on Arcane and Nature.

I picked High Elf for race, and we're using the Standard Array for final stat distribution of:
Str: 10, Dex: 14, Con: 13; Int: 16, Wis: 14, Chr: 8

Originally, I considered going Land Druid for the remainder of his career, boosting Wisdom, as I've never played a druid and it seemed interesting. However, now I'm having second thoughts and maybe Wizard would be a better fit? I've not dipped any toes into the arcane pool (bard, sorc, lock or wiz) so I'm a bit more hesitant to go that route - but thought maybe y'all might have some advice...

I'm playing him with some quirks - taking Sage as the basis, he sees himself as smarter than everyone else - so he's snooty, but also socially awkward (as partially reflected in the 8 Charisma). He's fidgety and far more interested in studying flora and fauna they encounter than getting to know his party members...

So, given all that - if I go wizard, which specialization do you think is best? I'm leaning towards transmutation, but I do have a soft spot in abjuration due to a character I played in 3.5...

If I go Druid, which Land would be best? (I definitely want to be a caster, so Moon is right out.)

Thanks for any suggestions. I'm not looking on stepping on toes, so continuing cleric isn't going to work either. Rogue would, though I think it'd be less useful than wizard or druid.

[jaappleton]

That's quite a well rounded party there. This is good, since you can play almost anything.

You mentioned you're often a Rogue, and I understand the need to play something a bit different from your norm.

If you want a Spellcaster, I say Druid. If UA is allowed, the Harvest one is good for you. Extra damage whenever you want to. Their spell list also leans toward the Controller role, which would be a good role to utilize in that group.

Alternatively, I suggest Monk. High mobility and your allies will adore you when you get Stunning Strike. I was a Wizard and loved my Monk ally; He'd run in, Stun enemies, and bolt out. I'd drop a Fireball on them, and since they were Stunned, they automatically failed their Dex saves. Any Monastic Order would be applicable here. Shadow makes you a quasi-Rogue, while you could really get mileage out of Sun Soul's ability to use Burning Hands as a bonus action. Of course, Open Hand's ability to knock people around the battlefield is always good (including the ability to prone enemies, granting advantage to your Melee friends).

[DMJ1]

You also might consider bard, the "I win" class of the game. You can play a bard in basically every direction you want, you can be specialised in one direction (sneaky, support, control, etc.) or a general all arounder. As the only class in the game you will eventually also have access to a limited number of any spell in the game (any cantrip as well if you chose lore).

A Charisma score of 8 will not work in that case, though :smallwink:

[Specter]

Definitely no need for three classes. Pump either rogue or cleric henceforth. Personally I'd Rogue so you don't need to boost your WIS too much and have more room for feats.

[jaappleton]

You also might consider bard, the "I win" class of the game. You can play a bard in basically every direction you want, you can be specialised in one direction (sneaky, support, control, etc.) or a general all arounder. As the only class in the game you will eventually also have access to a limited number of any spell in the game (any cantrip as well if you chose lore).

A Charisma score of 8 will not work in that case, though :smallwink:

He said he didn't want to step on toes, and with Paladin and Warlock having Charisma covered... I say let them shine as the faces.

Wisdom, though? A party can never have too many people with high Perception, that's for sure!

[Iden Elric]

Just from reading the original post (I'm a little bit pressed for time since it's exam week for me) but I noticed that the only real spell casters you have are a cleric, and paladin. Both are pretty much either healing or direct damage type spell casters, so one bump that you could smooth over if you really wanted to bring as much to the table as possible would be a utility Druid, or if you wanted to be a nightblade rogue, you can swing either way. You said you wanted to try something new, so I'd probably recommend the Druid personally, they can be really fun, what with the shapeshifting and such. You'd be jumping right in at the right time at second level since thats when Druids get their shape change.
Either way, enjoy your session. :)

[MustacheManny]

You may have your mind set already, (and that's fine) and your DM may not allow it (which is also fine) but if an artificer at all appeals to you then now is the perfect time to give it a shot. They're the perfect 5th man, and with a tools proficiency you can easily be a kind of rouge. I know I'm really interested in playing one after our current campaign!

[Theodoxus]

You may have your mind set already, (and that's fine) and your DM may not allow it (which is also fine) but if an artificer at all appeals to you then now is the perfect time to give it a shot. They're the perfect 5th man, and with a tools proficiency you can easily be a kind of rouge. I know I'm really interested in playing one after our current campaign!

Yeah, the DM nixed triple classing on the fear that I would be too underpowered compared to the other players... I ended up Cleric 1/Wizard 1. I did ask about the Artificer, but since the game was tonight, he didn't have time to check it out...

It definitely would have hit all the right knobs I was looking for though.