Need help with Mountain Dwarf with Greataxe build

[Abbul]

First of all, this concept (as close as I can get to it at least) has been my main character in every RPG for the past 18 years (starting with Everquest in '99). He's gotta be a Dwarf, and the weapon a Greataxe. Yes it disgusts me that both are considered suboptimal at what I seek to excel at. I don't just want the fluff, I need to be mechanically strong. I'm a stat nerd and do care about even small differences.

The things I care about most for the build:

1. Hitting very hard, preferably physical damage with the axe. I suppose I could fluff that something like a smite is my own willpower and force of will strengthening the attack.

2. Nova ability and high damage per round

3. Being tough defensively. I far, far prefer the aesthetic of massive heavy Dwarven armor over anything else. I do find it sickening that a naked Barbarian apparently has better damage mitigation than the most finely crafted Dwarven plate. With that said, I'm not entirely opposed to having Barbarian in the build, but I'd have to figure out how fluff or pull off having heavy armor.


The original character was a Paladin, and I strongly prefer Paladin over other classes, but the Greataxe is more important (example: in FFXIV I was a Warrior instead of Paladin due to the sword and shield only for Pal).

So far some sort of Paladin (not Oathbreaker, even though they get bonus damage just because they're evil.. ugh), Fighter, and Barbarian look to be my best choices. I'm not opposed to Sorcadin even though magic is more crucial to the build.

I need help with knowing key features and how to best multi class and stuff like that to make this build the best I can.

Also, I'm the DM as well (just me and my girlfriend, we each control a couple characters as PCs and I control the enemies and most NPCs, and she plays a solid number of NPCs as well.. sounds weird I guess but it works). As a general rule I don't like using home brew, but I will if necessary. I do enjoy creating things within the rules though, but unfortunately that is lacking in 5e so I suppose I will have to utilize some homebrew. So far I've decided some sort of Dwarven crafted Greataxe that must be specifically crafted for that one Dwarf, and it grants an extra 1d12 on critical hits (like the Half Orc ability, except only the Greataxe in order to both balance the Dwarf to Half Orc and Greataxe to GS/ Maul).

[Spacehamster]

11 champion fighter 9 totem Druid, take mariner as combat style(+1AC With no armor --> medium armor + can swim and climb at normal move speed) wear strongest medium armor, if point buy I would go 15/14/15/8/10/8.

Will take 3 ASI's to get STR and STA to 20, feats would be great weapon master and either mobile or maybe alert with alert + champion half prof to initiative and barb advantage on initiative you would go first most of the time.

[Specter]

That's not too hard. This is what's universal for both builds:
Initial stats after racial - ST17, DX14, CO17, IN8, WI10, CH8
At level 4, grab Great Weapon Master. At your second ASI, boost STR and CON to 18.
•
As for the rest, two main ways I see this going:

- Fighter 16/Barbarian 4
Start as a Fighter and reach level 5 ASAP. After that, two levels of Barbarian for Rage and Reckless Attack (advantage on every attack with the -5/+10 from Great Weapon Master). After that, alternate between Fighter and Barbarian as you wish.

The fighter archetype is basically down to Champion or Battlemaster. Ask yourself: do you want to control when to do damage? If yes, then go Battlemaster, if not, go Champion.

The Barbarian archetype is really down to how many fights a day you plan on having (you should know, you're the DM!). If you have few fights, go Frenzy for the bonus attack madness, otherwise go Bear/Wolf for extra tankiness/team collab. If you're cool with Scale Mail (17AC), no need to bother with heavy armor.

After you max Strenght, good feats are Tough, Resilient (WIS), Fell Handed (from UA) and Alert.

- Barbarian 16/Fighter 4
Likewise, start Barbarian and get to level 5 ASAP. After that, take three fighter levels for the archetype, and then alternate as needed. The Barbarian archetype now raises more questions, especially if you don't want mind control to be an issue, in which case grab Frenzy for Mindless Rage and never look back. This time I definitely suggest Champion for the synergy with Brutal Critical.

[suplee215]

Does medium armor appease you? If so, you can go Battlerager. Maybe not as nova heavy but it favors greataxe over polearms due to the bonus action attack and the barbarian makes greataxe preferable over not great axe. It also allows you live a while due to 5 temp hp per reckless attack.

[Vaz]

Paladin of Conquest straight up. That +10 to hit is gold, you get to be fearsome.

If you like a bit more utility than pure combat, but want to be able to buff it; I quite like Warlock 3 with Hexblade/Pact of the Blade - Improved Pact Weapon is a free Magic Weapon and +1 for you, as well as things like Mask of Many Faces, Misty Visions, Eyes of the Rune Keeper, Devil's Sight, Eldritch Sight. You do miss out on the god-like 20th level, but unless you're playing at that level, it's of no matter anyway.

[JellyPooga]

I recommend going Hill Dwarf rather than Mountain; the extra HP are worth so much more than the point of extra Strength. The armour prof of Mountain is simply wasted if you're gping for a Class that gets it anyway and, assuming point buy, you'll want Wisdom anyway, if only to resist spells like Hold Person, which can be crippling to fighter types.

[GlenSmash!]

It seems to me that you want some Damage Reduction as a kind of dwarven toughness. I say grab Heavy Armor Master and fluff it as dwarven combat training.

Honestly, straight Fighter or Paladin could work for this. Both can nova Well due to Action Surge, and Smite respectively. If you're going for the stereotypical "Loyal to the Clan" dwarf the Oath of the Crown could be a great fit.

[smcmike]

Yeah, there is no reason you need to stray from straight Paladin or Fighter. They both do what you want, and way better than some previous versions.

[suplee215]

Might be hard to fluff it but Oath of the Ancient Paladin is very tanky too.

[GlenSmash!]

Might be hard to fluff it but Oath of the Ancient Paladin is very tanky too.

I think a Dwarf OoA Paladin could work. The actual Tenets have very little to do with the fluff of decorating your armor with leaves or antlers or whatever. I would just re-fluff the Nature parts, to have a Stone or Underground theme.