Pacifist build

[Miffles]

I want to make a character that is a complete pacifist because I want to a lot may Paladins are the best damage dealers over warlocks friend it just cant be a paladin cleric sorcerer or monk

[Sceptic]

Your post doesn't exactly make sense, but I'm going to assume that the middle of it is irrelevant.

You can make a pacifist of pretty much any class, but I'd recommend avoiding the martial classes. You probably should also avoid any other class whose main claim to fame is the ability to do huge amounts of damage.

You say you can't be a paladin, cleric, sorcerer, or monk. So be a bard. Specifically a lore bard. You'll be able to cast buff spells, and get plenty of utility or healing spells. Even if you ignore the damage dealing spells you can still be highly effective.

And if you use a feat (or use one of your precious sixth level acquisitions) to get access to the Find Familiar spell you can then use your touch range spells to buff the party from across a combat map.

[nickl_2000]

Lore Bard is an extremely good choice. So much of the Lore Bards spell list is based on charm and buffs it fits right into the idea of a pacifist.


If you are playing as someone who doesn't believe in killing instead of someone who doesn't believe in violence at all a melee character would be a good build. You can always pull your punches to do non-lethal damage when you hit someone in combat with melee weapons (but you can't with magic at all).

[xroads]

Lore Bard is an extremely good choice. So much of the Lore Bards spell list is based on charm and buffs it fits right into the idea of a pacifist.


If you are playing as someone who doesn't believe in killing instead of someone who doesn't believe in violence at all a melee character would be a good build. You can always pull your punches to do non-lethal damage when you hit someone in combat with melee weapons (but you can't with magic at all).

I agree with using a bard. And I wonder the if the popular Vicious Mockery cantrip, could be argued as being as a good pacifist attack. Sure, it does damage. But since it's psychic, the groups I've been in have always treated it as being psychological damage and not physical.

[Sigreid]

I don't know that you really count as a pacifist if your chosen carrier is using your skills and magic to help your buds inflict terrible violence upon others.

[nickl_2000]

I don't know that you really count as a pacifist if your chosen carrier is using your skills and magic to help your buds inflict terrible violence upon others.

That it probably true by dictionary definitions, but different people define pacifism as differently. It really depends on how the OP wants to define it.

[Seekergeek]

I played a really really fun cleric/enchanter wizard. Hypnotic gaze and instinctive charm from the wizard combined with heavy armour and sanctuary from the cleric meant a really solid level of protection. That, coupled with really fun buffs and zero-damage spells made for a character that could avoid dealing direct damage and still be versatile and well liked by the rest of the party. In my character's case it wasn't pacifism or an aversion to violence that kept his hands clean, it was the notion that physical contact was beneath him.

[MrStabby]

First step is to check that it is appropriate for a campaign... if it is a social or investigative campaign then pacifism can work well as a character trait. If the campaign will involve the party regularly killing enemies then you are basically saying "I don't want to play this game". Better not to inflict that on your friends and to wait for a more appropriate campaign to wheel out that character. Having played (briefly) with a pacifist character in the group I can say that it doesn't generally add to the fun of games for others if you are refusing to play the same kind of game others want to.

As for class, I would also suggest bard. It is a class that has a lot of spells that are useful outside of violence and the skills are also handy for careers that don't involve killing people.

[mephnick]

I always wonder why people choose to play D&D and then want to make a pacifist. Like..ok you can, barely, but why? There are tons of games that aren't centered around exploration leading to combat and loot, much better social and investigative systems. Why play a system that emphasizes violence and then choose to not engage with that system? Don't you get bored? Do the other players get annoyed? Do you all play pacifists? If so, why are you playing D&D? No one has researched other systems?

I just want to understand..

[Waterdeep Merch]

I always wonder why people choose to play D&D and then want to make a pacifist. Like..ok you can, barely, but why? There are tons of games that aren't centered around exploration leading to combat and loot, much better social and investigative systems. Why play a system that emphasizes violence and then choose to not engage with that system? Don't you get bored? Do the other players get annoyed? Do you all play pacifists? If so, why are you playing D&D? No one has researched other systems?

I just want to understand..

I have to agree with Mephnick. If your game is built around political intrigue or something similar this could make sense, but in most D&D games the only thing a pacifist does is annoys everyone else at the table. It also makes poor thematic sense- what kind of pacifist follows a bunch of heavily armed adventurers into battle? There's either some serious cognitive dissonance or you're going to aggravate your party, and there really isn't an alternative.

If you instead mean someone who's kind of squeamish and doesn't like to directly hurt others, wizards are probably your best bet. You can use a lot of control spells/buffs/debuffs and contribute without ever doing a single HP of damage. You could probably manage a bard like this, too. I'd actually avoid the cleric and the druid, as playing them without contributing damage is generally a poor option due to the inefficiency of healing options in this edition.

[ThurlRavenscrof]

I always wonder why people choose to play D&D and then want to make a pacifist. Like..ok you can, barely, but why? There are tons of games that aren't centered around exploration leading to combat and loot, much better social and investigative systems. Why play a system that emphasizes violence and then choose to not engage with that system? Don't you get bored? Do the other players get annoyed? Do you all play pacifists? If so, why are you playing D&D? No one has researched other systems?

I just want to understand..

I think by "pacifist" OP means "not do direct damage to anyone" which is not actually what a pacifist is but it's close enough and that's what the mtg card does.
If I'm wrong about that then I totally agree with you.
Otherwise, there are lots of party roles that don't involve dealing damage: healer, party face, buffer, etc. I played through storm kings thunder once without damaging anyone (except with viscous mockery which I used on creatures with lo wis to give disadvantage). I wasn't even trying to avoid dealing damage - it just turned out to be more strategic to buff, heal, and lie my way through encounters based on the party composition

[Sigreid]

I always wonder why people choose to play D&D and then want to make a pacifist. Like..ok you can, barely, but why? There are tons of games that aren't centered around exploration leading to combat and loot, much better social and investigative systems. Why play a system that emphasizes violence and then choose to not engage with that system? Don't you get bored? Do the other players get annoyed? Do you all play pacifists? If so, why are you playing D&D? No one has researched other systems?

I just want to understand..

I've played characters that weren't effective at violence. They were, however; very effective at facilitating violence by their allies.

[Bohandas]

A wizard specializing in conjuration

[RickAllison]

I can see a pacifist as being part of a party because they view coming along to keep the enemies alive in the wake as being better than objecting from far away. The party will be doling out damage either way, but one lets you save lives.

[Bohandas]

I think by "pacifist" OP means "not do direct damage to anyone" which is not actually what a pacifist is but it's close enough

"He seized power in a bloodless coup, all smotherings." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e5avet8O3Y#t=02m53s)

[foolinc]

I always wonder why people choose to play D&D and then want to make a pacifist. Like..ok you can, barely, but why? There are tons of games that aren't centered around exploration leading to combat and loot, much better social and investigative systems. Why play a system that emphasizes violence and then choose to not engage with that system? Don't you get bored? Do the other players get annoyed? Do you all play pacifists? If so, why are you playing D&D? No one has researched other systems?

I just want to understand..

As someone who has done this, for me it was part playing a new and unconventional character concept and part trying to use all of the tools of the system to make the concept work.

Granted I was playing 4th edition at the time, so it was a lot easier to play a sheltered noble and still get a lot of use in combat (Oh, Warlord class how I miss you).

For 5th, I still think it's possible to get a lot of use out of a character that doesn't get themselves into combat. There are still a lot of ways to control the battlefield without swinging a sword or throwing a fireball. With a familiar or a pet, you could easily create a character built to give others advantage.

[Sigreid]

I can see a pacifist as being part of a party because they view coming along to keep the enemies alive in the wake as being better than objecting from far away. The party will be doling out damage either way, but one lets you save lives.

That doesn't answer the question of why the others would bring him along.

http://i.somethingawful.com/u/elpintogrande/march09/lynx2.gif

[apepi]

I myself am considering playing a lucky pacifist build. Basically go Halfling, Divination Wizard(two levels) then you go into Lore Bard and pick up the Lucky feat for yourself. So you end up with two Foretelling rolls(able to give you or a creature dice roll), Bardic Inspiration(up to 5, give someone an added/subtracted dice to a roll) and Lucky feat(you have 3 dice you can reroll, or force to reroll if attacking you) and Lucky Halfling(reroll any 1 that you get). You end up just getting healing/support/debuff spells. Oh and getting Bane to even force more debuff rolls to happen? You could be a silent God. Your party won't realize what you are doing, but you will save their asses so much.

[RickAllison]

That doesn't answer the question of why the others would bring him along.

http://i.somethingawful.com/u/elpintogrande/march09/lynx2.gif

Because the pacifist is also their only healer (at least in the game I have mine in...). Or wizard. Or lockpicker/sentry.

A pacifist needs both a reason to go with an amoral party, as well as they need a reason to keep him around. Lots of reasons for a pacifist PC to want to join, and then they just need a unique skillset to prove invaluable.

[Tsubodai]

Why can't you play a Paladin? Because if you are allowed Unearthed Arcana, you could play the new pacifist Paladin subclass that was released;
https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/UAThreeSubclasses.pdf

Its abilities specifically focus on being a pacifist.