Just for the fun if it...

[ZorroGames]

Gnomish (Forest) Fighter. Yes, Fighter.:smallsmile:

Because I have the figure. Well a bunch actually... Gnome army worth.

Point buy:

ST 14
DE 14+1=15
CO 14
IN 8+2=10 Gnome Cunning applies
WI 10 Gnome Cunning
CH 12 Gnome Cunning

Minor Illussion spell

Equipment:

Chainmail or Leather (Should I sell or trade the Longbow - no penalty to use? - and arrows (small size) for shortbow/arrows)?

Martial weapon (which? Battle Axe? Flail? Long Sword?? Morningstar? Rapier? Scimitar? Shortsword? War Pick? Warhammer? Whip?) and shield. I have figures with these.

Light CB (see bow above) or two Hand Axes?

Dungeoner or explorer pack

Fighting style Archery? Dueling? Defense? TWF??

Background: Folk Hero? Guild Artisan? (Brewers, Distillers, Vintners?) Hermit? Outlander? Sage? Soldier?

Ideas?

[Vaz]

What do you want us to do?

[ZorroGames]

What do you want us to do?

First, mechanics, have not ever run Gnomes in 5th Edition. Can I use a longbow? Seems odd. If not, should I go short bow or take the LCB? Would determine if I choise SS or CBE later as a feat.

I want to be able to fight in the line if necessary but more shoot or slashing atrack oriented (Forest Gnome after all.) Would Scale or Leather armor work better? DE is 15 which could improve from a resilient Dexterity feat, right?

[ZorroGames]

What do you want us to do?

"Martial weapon (which? Battle Axe? Flail? Long Sword?? Morningstar? Rapier? Scimitar? Shortsword? War Pick? Warhammer? Whip?) and shield. I have figures with these."

Looking for Gnome fighter flavor in weapons - ST 14 but DE 15 gives a selection. Battle Axe seems slightly Dwarf more than Gnome, Rapier might be best for DE melee but War Pick (not finesse) attracts because I have an old school big nosed Gnome armed with a one hand pick. Shortsword seems "Gnomish" enough to be considered. What implies Gnome melee weapon best to you?

[ZorroGames]

Given this seems like a character not afraid to melee but (Forest Gnome) preferring shooting or in and out slashing attacks, are those abilities balanced enough to do both?

Archery or Duelling fighting style both seem damage capable but is the latter something a Forest Gnome might choose? Does Defense make an adequate choice if the character spends significant time bouncing back and forth between missile and melee to favor it over archery or duelling?

[Azgeroth]

you are correct with the longbow, its considered heavy, so you would be at disadvantage (due to your size of small)

also your movement is only 25, you cant wear plate as your str needs to be 15, and your dex bonus is only +2, aswell as your str.. personally, id take points from dex or str and put it in the latter, to get you that +3 to start.

if you really want to play a gnome, ok, but halfing is probably a better option. (same restrictions on size and speed, but the lucky ability and hide behind creatures is awesome)

weapon wise, up to you, i would probably go for schim if your going dex, or a long sword if str.

if you like, and for yummy flavour, throw in a level of barb for rage and reckless, so you can use a heavy weapon without disadvantage, because whats better than a screaming gnome with an axe more than twice his size???

[Vaz]

Yeah, but what do you want to do? You have a 1st level Gnome Fighter with a few options.

Small creatures cannot use Heavy weapons without Disadvantage, so Longbow is a bad idea. When you say SS, do you mean Sharpshooter or Spell Sniper? I assume Sharpshooter, but you could be going EK, but your Intelligence sucks balls. Crossbow Expert works with a Shortbow anyway. All of your stats are in the near unuseable because you're not focused on anything. Your Str is absolute gash. It's a dump stat, if you're not using it. Half Plate doesn't require Strength, so you've got an AC of 15+Dex there. Your Pack is largely irrelevant. I'm not going to tell you what fighting style to go for if you don't know yourself. But I'm going to presume you do want to do Archery because you references Crossbow Expert earlier. Your background you write yourself. Take 2 Skills you want proficiency in, and have a word with the DM about what your background is, and see if there's any minor RP benefit to your background.

[ZorroGames]

"Background: Folk Hero? Guild Artisan? (Brewers, Distillers, Vintners?) Hermit? Outlander? Sage? Soldier?"

While the Guild Artisan (Gnomish Ale!) would be fun to RP, I see this character as having a serious reason to leave the secretive forest life to adventure. Left behind as dead when Goblinoids threatened the group's survival and the clan fled, would Folk Hero, Soldier, Hermit (after left behind,) or Outlander (same) seem more likely to add both mechanics and flavor to the character? Right now I am trying to fit any of them to the narrative but not seem quite right, needs ideas for tweaking.

[ZorroGames]

you are correct with the longbow, its considered heavy, so you would be at disadvantage (due to your size of small)

also your movement is only 25, you cant wear plate as your str needs to be 15, and your dex bonus is only +2, aswell as your str.. personally, id take points from dex or str and put it in the latter, to get you that +3 to start.

if you really want to play a gnome, ok, but halfing is probably a better option. (same restrictions on size and speed, but the lucky ability and hide behind creatures is awesome)

weapon wise, up to you, i would probably go for schim if your going dex, or a long sword if str.

if you like, and for yummy flavour, throw in a level of barb for rage and reckless, so you can use a heavy weapon without disadvantage, because whats better than a screaming gnome with an axe more than twice his size???

Oh yes definitely Gnome. Never played halfling and never plan to do so. I would play an anthropomorphic mouse first. Actually have... But that is just my blind spot.

No way to get +3 ST with a Gnome so Archery and adjusted scores (and leather at start, buy studded leather for that +3 DE then possibly chain shirt or Breastplate later perhaps later if i want some heavier armor?)

Oh My, I did not consider Barbarian - sounds fun but I would have to start over if I went that route.

[ZorroGames]

Schim? Auto correct?

[Vaz]

Scimitar. /letters

[ZorroGames]

"
ST 14
DE 14+1=15
CO 14
IN 8+2=10 Gnome Cunning applies
WI 10 Gnome Cunning
CH 12 Gnome Cunning"

Rewrite:
ST 10 (I don't buy 8 for any fighter so no go on the 8.)
DE 15+1=16
CO 15
IN 8+2=10 Gnome Cunning applies
WI 10 Gnome Cunning applies
CH 13 Gnome Cunning applies

Thoughts, switch CH to 8, IN to 13+2=15? Allows some MC potential later. Or I need to reread on EK again (not really read it more than once.)

And, yes, SS would be SharpShooter above. Will consider Spell Sniper and War Caster if I ever play this character and start some Wizard, or EK, craziness later. You guys/gals keep me thinking, gracias.

Maybe over-thinking...

[ZorroGames]

Scimitar. /letters

Ah, good thought, I can bend a sword on a figure to reflect a scimitar.

[Princess]

Warcaster will get the best use if you go with dueling for a rapier and shield and go eldritch knight. If you went the Sharpshooter route it's also worth considering Crossbow Expert and mostly ignoring attack cantrips, because your 'attack cantrip' is just shooting people. Spell Sniper might still be useful at a higher level if you go with the duelist option, but investing resources in redundant ranged attack options would be less useful than splitting things up between a melee and ranged choice (and crossbow expert basically lets you use a crossbow as a melee weapon as well as shooting people).

[Vaz]

What's the Charisma for? It's a second dump stat, and prevents you multiclassing Wizard. Eldritch Knight uses Int for its Attack based spells and DC's, and Spell Sniper would be a waste without Int bonus. You can shave a point off Con for some more points to spend. Again, you can save 2 more points from Str.

Gnome Archer Eldritch Knight is likely run with stats similar to the following; 27pt buy

Str 8
Dex 15(+1) - 16
Con 14
Int 15 (+2) - 17
Wis 10
Cha 8

Level 4 you can take either Linguist, Observant, Arcanist, Historian, Investigator, Naturalist, or Theologian feats to get the +1 Int for DC14 straight off the bat. Each are largely useless. Linguist is poor with low Charisma, while the others largely provide low tier, poor utility cantrips or 1 cast/long rest non-combat spell. With your Dex and Ranged focus, Observant can find a niche in scouting, while Investigator gives you a Bonus Action search, which may be useful of some sort.

[ZorroGames]

What's the Charisma for? It's a second dump stat, and prevents you multiclassing Wizard. Eldritch Knight uses Int for its Attack based spells and DC's, and Spell Sniper would be a waste without Int bonus. You can shave a point off Con for some more points to spend. Again, you can save 2 more points from Str.

Gnome Archer Eldritch Knight is likely run with stats similar to the following; 27pt buy

Str 8
Dex 15(+1) - 16
Con 14
Int 15 (+2) - 17
Wis 10
Cha 8

Level 4 you can take either Linguist, Observant, Arcanist, Historian, Investigator, Naturalist, or Theologian feats to get the +1 Int for DC14 straight off the bat. Each are largely useless. Linguist is poor with low Charisma, while the others largely provide low tier, poor utility cantrips or 1 cast/long rest non-combat spell. With your Dex and Ranged focus, Observant can find a niche in scouting, while Investigator gives you a Bonus Action search, which may be useful of some sort.

The CH? Just because Gnomes are charismatic? Actually, no reason, just because this is still a raw WIP and had not considered where those points might best go.

Mechanically that seems a good build. Because of my RP background (see the weak heroic fighter thread I just started) aka "blind spots" I might be prone to switch the ST and the WI.

[ZorroGames]

Warcaster will get the best use if you go with dueling for a rapier and shield and go eldritch knight. If you went the Sharpshooter route it's also worth considering Crossbow Expert and mostly ignoring attack cantrips, because your 'attack cantrip' is just shooting people. Spell Sniper might still be useful at a higher level if you go with the duelist option, but investing resources in redundant ranged attack options would be less useful than splitting things up between a melee and ranged choice (and crossbow expert basically lets you use a crossbow as a melee weapon as well as shooting people).

Good points. Seems that a Gnome might use a Light or Hand CB over a Heavy CB because if the "heavy" attribute? Edit: yep, found it in the PHB.

[DanInStreatham]

Since you seem to be more interested in rp and the minis you have available than optimization, had you considered paladin?

Consider oath of the ancients paladin over fighter, for a woodland Gnome that protects the sacred groves, and leaves the forest occasionally when duty calls. Background would probably lean Outlander, for mini ranger feel, as folk hero seems hard to fit if you are from the secret depths of the forest. You could also keep the moderate Cha score if you had liked that originally.

[ZorroGames]

Since you seem to be more interested in rp and the minis you have available than optimization, had you considered paladin?

Consider oath of the ancients paladin over fighter, for a woodland Gnome that protects the sacred groves, and leaves the forest occasionally when duty calls. Background would probably lean Outlander, for mini ranger feel, as folk hero seems hard to fit if you are from the secret depths of the forest. You could also keep the moderate Cha score if you had liked that originally.

Ooh...

:smallsmile:

[ZorroGames]

Actually this thread helped me.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?528358-After-some-discussion-book-character-help-please

:smallcool: