Choosing between Variant Human and Half-Elf for a very "niche" Wizard build...

[Giegue]

As the title says. I want to make a necromancer who is good at social skills and able to pass himself off as something other than a necromancer to NPCs and others who would not be frendly knowing he plays with corpses. I had two possible ways to go about this, and would like to know which one is more "optimal." They both involve the use of specific races to make the concept work. The first is to use Half-Elf. Half-elf will give me starting stats of Str: 8, Dex: 14, Con: 14 (13+1), Int: 16, Wis: 10, Cha: 14 (12+2) pretty easily, which puts me right where I should be for Con and Dex on a wizard while also having a solid +2 Cha mod, which means with proficiency I should be -ok- at social skill checks w/o the use of enchantments and very good with them.

The other way was to go with a vairant human. With this build I lose out on one 14, leaving my starting stats at Str: 8, Dex: 14, Con: 13, Int 16 (15+1), Wis: 10, Cha: 14 (12+1+1[Feat]) but gain the Actor feat, which is massive for my goals. Actor, you see, gives me constant advantage when trying to pass myself off as somebody I'm not. Advantage averages out to around a +4 bonus, and with a +2 cha mod, this leaves me slightly better off than a maxed cha sorcerer or warlock with proficiency when passing myself off as a not-necromancer. Additionally, add in the charlatan background to have the papers to back up my deception and I'm in pretty good shape to impersonate a conjurer, or evoker, or whatever other type of wizard I choose as my "cover."

The downside to this, though, is the lower con (or dex, if I swap the two). One solution is, admittedly, to swap con for dex, but the reason I stuck the 13 in con was the Resilient [Con] feat. By taking this feat, I get my con back up to 14 and also get proficiency with con saves, and resilient [con] is something that the other build can't really make use of due to having even con. However, I have to know, is having both actor and eventually the benefits of resilient [con] worth suffering through a few levels at 13 con? Or is that too much suffering to make the benefits worth it?

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!

[MustacheManny]

I feel like it would be difficult to hide from your party that you're a necromancer, but if you're not worried about them finding out then unless you're wearing a robe that says 'Tamriel's best Necromancer' I'm not sure why any NPC's would doubt you. It seems like a pretty easy lie that doesn't have many tells (unless of course you have a zombie or skeleton following you around at all times). But if your DM says you'll need a high charisma for this then I would go V. Human with that actor feat.

[baticeer]

I think the value of the social skills will vary a lot depending on the setting (how much does the average person know about magic specialization? how easy would it be to tell that you're a necromancer?), the campaign (will you be doing a lot of social interaction where the Actor abilities will come in handy?) and how your DM handles charisma skills (how much does the success of your lies depend on the skill check vs what you say IC?)

I would probably talk to your DM about this one.

[solidork]

One option you don't seem to be considering is taking Resilient(Con) as your feat at 1st and then taking Actor at 4th. I'm not necessarily advocating that, but if you are really that worried about dying during level 1-3 then it seems like your best option. Honestly though, you'll probably be fine with 13 Con.

I generally really like Resilient(Con) and took it on my Warlock (bumping 13 to 14) and my War Cleric (bumping 15 to 16).

[gfishfunk]

Pick up the disguise kit so that you can disguise any undead followers.

Add a little blush and a wig....presto! Not a zombie, folks, just a poor plague victim. Might want to stand back. Maybe its catching?

[Giegue]

Good to know! Yeah, I think the actor/resilient [Con] combo will be best for this character. Thanks for all the help! Also yeah, since I'd be going charlatan I'd have disguise kit proficiency either way...so disguising undead will defiently be a thing I'd be doing.

[Aaron Underhand]

snip

The first is to use Half-Elf. Half-elf will give me starting stats of Str: 8, Dex: 14, Con: 14 (13+1), Int: 16, Wis: 10, Cha: 14 (12+2) pretty easily, which puts me right where I should be for Con and Dex on a wizard while also having a solid +2 Cha mod, which means with proficiency I should be -ok- at social skill checks w/o the use of enchantments and very good with them.

The other way was to go with a vairant human. With this build I lose out on one 14, leaving my starting stats at Str: 8, Dex: 14, Con: 13, Int 16 (15+1), Wis: 10, Cha: 14 (12+1+1[Feat]) but gain the Actor feat, which is massive for my goals.



Sorry you triggered my optimizer pedant piece.

Human can be one better, specifically

Str: 9, Dex: 14 (13+1), Con: 13, Int 16 (15+1), Wis: 10, Cha: 14 (13+1[Feat])

For a little extra carrying capacity

Or Wis 11 - allowing the option of Con 14/Wis 12 later if you don't need resilient Con

or Con 12/Wis 12 if you think warcaster might be more useful.

[Giegue]

I was making my stats assuming standard array. If you are allowed point buy thats totally better. However, in this case we get the PHB charaGen method aka roll or standard array, and I hate rolling. But yeah...in a game allowing point buy, that 100% is better and thanks for pointing that out. I personally like the Wis 11 option, since 14 Con and 12 Wis seems very nice.

[Deleted]

Pick up the disguise kit so that you can disguise any undead followers.

Add a little blush and a wig....presto! Not a zombie, folks, just a poor plague victim. Might want to stand back. Maybe its catching?

Make sure to pick up the heal skill and a holy symbol... You are just a simple cleric on a pilgrimage with these poor souls...

[MrStabby]

Pick up the disguise kit so that you can disguise any undead followers.

Add a little blush and a wig....presto! Not a zombie, folks, just a poor plague victim. Might want to stand back. Maybe its catching?

Oh then you can also have the party Rouge!

[Giegue]

You've now given me a terrible (and wonderful) idea.. After Int is maxed, Instead of picking up resilient (Con) I can grab Master of Disguise from the UA feats and up Cha and con. This gives me expertise with disguise kits (among other things) meaning I am really, really good at hiding my undead. I figure that, since undead do not rely on my Int to be good, I can suffer in the Int department to get the disguise expertise at 4th, then go up to 18 Int after that and depending on what I want more either max Int after that, or get 14 con 16 Cha. Either way, I end with str 8 Dex 14 con 14 (or 16 if I feel my Cha is solid for what I want at 16) Int 20 wis 10 Cha 18 (or 16, if I feel the con is more needed) the order in which I get which varrying, and since my all my slots will be pumped into minions for the most part the lower DCs/attacks while leveling won't matter as much as I can focus my casting mostly in defenses and buffs while undead act as my main "attack"

This is so great I almost have to do it now...