Strange party composition, how to make it click?

[Levistej]

So, we had a TPK last session and decided to resume the campaign but with different characters, on a completely different side of the map and with a quite different mindset.

We start at level 5 and all but one character have been decided upon. We have a divination wizard quite strangely focusing on blasting things apart, a dragon sorc focusing ond mind effecting spells and a tempest cleric who prefers to stay at range. This leaves me with the ungrateful task of either being the only frontliner in this spell heavy party or filling up the hole with yet another caster.

Anyone ever played with an all ranged party, can it work? How is it like being the onle melee in a trigger happy AOE capable group?

My stats after racials are: 17, 15, 14, 13, 11, 10 and we all get to choose a feat at first level.

Any tips, opinions and general character discussions are welcome. :smallsmile:

[Afrodactyl]

If you're getting a free feat, what about a Vuman Eldritch Knight Fighter? Taking sentinel and polearm master, and swatting at things that try to get past you and at the casters. This also lets you wear heavy armour, with shield spell for emergency AC. Shield of faith being cast on you by the cleric would also help.

[Levistej]

Forgot to mention, we're all standard humans with a +1 to all scores, but we also get a feat at level one.

I've been thinking about a eldritch knight but don't really wanna feel outshined by all the caster goodness around me:smalleek:

Do you think a sorcadin or a pallock would mesh good with this group?

[Innocent_bystan]

My stats after racials are: 17, 15, 14, 13, 11, 10 and we all get to choose a feat at first level.


What race are you playing?

Based on your better-than-average stats and the free feat, I'd suggest paladin. It's a very strong class, can tank like a pro and usually suffers from being MAD.

Str 17 Dex 10 Con 14 Int 11 Wis 13 Cha 15
Free feat: Heavy Armor Master (Str +1)
ASI at 4: either Str +2 or, Wis+1 and Cha+1

or

Free feat: Shield Master
ASI at 4: Str+1 and Cha+1
(Shield Master will help when you have a trigger happy caster.)

[Afrodactyl]

I've been thinking about a eldritch knight but don't really wanna feel outshined by all the caster goodness around me:smalleek:

I suggested EK because they can have stupid high AC, which would be useful if you're having to be the party meatshield.

A barbarian could also work, reckless attack would give your enemies a reason to attack you over the casters.

[Ruebin Rybnik]

I have never played an all ranged party so I'm not sure how that would work. As for filling the whole i would go with a tank. But being the only one can be troublesome. With a full line of caster to back you up this is my suggestion. Half-orc Battle Master Tunnel fighter. LVL 5 with a bonus feat take Sentinel and PAM, and have one of the casters cast enlarge on you. Now you have a 20 ft reach threatening a 50 ft area. if any enters you att and they stop moving, if they move more than 5ft you att and they stop moving. Now the only enemies they can hit you easily are ranged or casters, and that's where the rest of your party hiding behind you starts blasting them.

[Mortis_Elrod]

Great, you're basic human with the whole +1 across the board. this probably makes the build invalid. Ignore the mountain dwarf part and grab tavvern brawler instead of resil dex to round out your STR. Should be similar effects for the build though.

I'm going to assume this is PHB only, but feel free to tell me otherwise.

To make this party click i would probably either make someone who could tank AOEs for days or a Summoner ( Druid summoner comes to mind) who could make minions that do the front lining for the team. Not sure what exactly you prefer i'll try with the melee option since i know barely anything on how to make a non necromancer summoner. This is also assuming you don't want repeat classes.

Mountain Dwarf Barbarian 5
starting stats: 14/15/17/10/13/11
+2 con +2 str, first level Resil dex, level 4 grab Shield Master
Stat array after is : 16/16/19/10/13/11.
You have amazing HP, go Bear totem and you resist all damage, combine Danger sense with Shield Master and prof is dex saves and you never take AOE damage. Level 8 grab Tavern brawler and if you hit 12 grab dual wielder. Dual wield shields, now your AC is 10 + CON+DEX+Shield+DW = 21 and you have awesome HP and Resistance to everything cept psychic dmg. Use two shields and throw one around if you can't get to a guy fast enough captain america style. Leeroy for your team and instead of dying take almost no damage while shoving all the enemies in place with your shield for your Ranged Artillery to mow down.

You're not invulnerable but you're harder to kill than anyone else most of the time and you still hit decently, +3 str is all you need, and you may get some ogre gauntlets to boost it anyway. You could potentially switch some stats and feats up to get 20 con at the start but i think the feats are worth it. Also this is a very fun build considering you're the only melee guy you can muck it up in thick of things and laugh at your foes who can't bring you down while you have a cleric in the back you buffs you in between shooting lightning, a wizard blasting everything in sight, and sorcerer mindbending anyone left standing.

[Coranhann]

I haven't played in an "all ranged attacks" group. You haven't told us what you wanted to play, but you seem to be not so hot on playing frontline. So, seeing how your group will be, you have several options:

You force yourself to be frontline you can be Eldritch Knight or Bear Barbarian, with a STR build focus, and go grapple / shove. Both gives you strong front line presence, with options to do other things over time. Feats could be Shield Master (better AC, better Dex save for AoE, especially from Friendly Fire), or Magic initiate (for Hex damage, and the disadvantage on STR or DEX check. But that's once a day)

Of course, a Battlemaster also works fine to help your friends, through goading attacks, trip attacks etc. And you have the stats for it.

If you don't take shield master, I would advise for Resilient Wisdom. Gets you 12 wisdom, and you'll be proficient both in CON & WIS save. Add Shield Master later on, and you are gold for saves.

[Spiritchaser]

My first thought would be druid. With a wall of summons to tank, you can play controller and protect your friends with area denial or movement restrictions.

Alternatively go moon druid with the above MO, enhanced by being a bear sometimes.

Seriously consider taking res con or warcaster.

[Beelzebubba]

We have that type of lineup sometimes. The poor fighter gets worked over unless the casters explicitly focus on helping her out with buffs/debuffs/control like Faerie Fire, Bless, Entangle, Spike Stones, stuff like that.

That said, I bet that Tempest Cleric will be recruited to the front line with you soon enough, whether he/she wants to or not. Only one 'meat shield' isn't enough. The same happened to my Druid.

Paladin, Battlemaster or Barbearian are all sweet, as others said. I think I'd choose them in that order.

[Aaron Underhand]

Looking at the party you may be short of a Face (unless the sorcerer is doing that) and a skill monkey.

I would suggest Dex Paladin, starting with Resilient Con, and then +1 to Dex and Cha. Pick a background that gives proficiency with thieves tools and stealth (reformed criminal?)

Str 13, Dex 18 Con 15, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 16

6th level brings the Aura, then multiclass to Lore Bard to pick up extra skills, expertise, extra spell slots and spells, and bardic inspiration.

You'll be decent with a longbow for those times everyone wants to stay at range.

[Rogerdodger557]

If you're getting a free feat, what about a Vuman Eldritch Knight Fighter? Taking sentinel and polearm master, and swatting at things that try to get past you and at the casters. This also lets you wear heavy armour, with shield spell for emergency AC. Shield of faith being cast on you by the cleric would also help.

Also Absorb elements for when they drop fireball on you

[Cap'm Bubbles]

The last party I had like this was 4 rogues, one sorcerer, and one fighter. Given how that went, I think you'll have more fun NOT being the only front-line character, even if the cleric gets dragged in.

Some alternatives that I can think of:

Warlock might be fun, though being tied to short-rests in a long-rest party might cause some friction. As you've already got a caster and buffer, battlefield control might be your thing. Hunger of Hadar, Darkness, and Hypnotic Pattern can stop enemies in their tracks while all of you get to a safe distance or lob AoE at them. Eldritch Blast invocations can provide for damage and more control (Add CHA, push back 10 feet). If you get caught in melee range, Armor of Agathys and bladelock can do the trick.

You could try hunter-ranger. Had a player get a lot of mileage out of Cordon of Arrows and Spike Growth as a quick-layed trap/area denial tactic, and horde-breaker puts you at the top for number of attacks per round at 5th level.

A monk or rogue (or multiclass) with Mobile can work out. You can get ludicrous speed with unarmored movement/cunning action + Mobile, you can ignore opportunity attacks, and get in and out of melee range at your convenience. Sneak attack damage on anything you're hidden from, or on anything that gets too close to your allies, is nice too. It may be sub optimal, but so are some of your party's other characters, so it's not such a misfit in that case.

[Easy_Lee]

Thr party needs a frontliner, but they also need a character who can take the skills they don't. Additionally, there's no scout. That's a problem. The party should have a scout.

With that in mind, I suggest revised ranger with UA Tunnel Fighter fighting style and Sentinel. Your weapons are a whip and shield. Dexterity based, infinite opportunity attacks that freeze foes in place, spell slots for casting spike growth and similar, good skill selection, and you can pull out a bow when needed.

[Spiritchaser]

Thr party needs a frontliner, but they also need a character who can take the skills they don't. Additionally, there's no scout. That's a problem. The party should have a scout.


Once more I submit druid!

It's really tough to beat pass without trace on a squirrel/cat/weasel/rat/crow/insect/whatever might be ecologically appropriate.

Sometimes squirrel>>bear

[Citan]

So, we had a TPK last session and decided to resume the campaign but with different characters, on a completely different side of the map and with a quite different mindset.

We start at level 5 and all but one character have been decided upon. We have a divination wizard quite strangely focusing on blasting things apart, a dragon sorc focusing ond mind effecting spells and a tempest cleric who prefers to stay at range. This leaves me with the ungrateful task of either being the only frontliner in this spell heavy party or filling up the hole with yet another caster.

Anyone ever played with an all ranged party, can it work? How is it like being the onle melee in a trigger happy AOE capable group?

My stats after racials are: 17, 15, 14, 13, 11, 10 and we all get to choose a feat at first level.

Any tips, opinions and general character discussions are welcome. :smallsmile:
I'll go with Paladin as first option if you want to be a tank.
Focus on buffing yourself with Shield of Faith, ask Cleric to cast a Warding Bond for the toughest fight, then grab Sentinel (DEX) or Shield Master (STR).

Another way to go would actually be Moon Druid: on next level you get a serious bump in creatures so you will have decent options. Meanwhile, you bring several exclusive spells to the party, including Pass Without Trace (so you can try to avoid fighting in the first place), Moonbeam and Spike Growth (great to hamper enemy progression or channel them in a direction), Plant Growth (same, or to just flee XD) and Conjure Animals, which can act as a temporary meat shield (they won't last more than one/two turns if you use them that way, but it can be enough).

Or, if multiclass allowed, Monk 1 / Land or Moon Druid 4: take Mobile as your starting feat, put 17 in WIS and 15 in DEX, even both of them with the level 4 ASI, learn Shillelagh and Guidance. You boast a pretty nice 17 AC, which you could use if you take the Moon Druid way with your enhanced beast forms, you get a decent staying power thanks to Martial Arts when in human form, and if you go Land Way you can safely grab Sentinel as your next feat.

Honestly, I'd probably go Druid, with Observant feat to start with a 18 in WIS or a Resilient: Constitution to start with a 16 in CON. I do love Paladin but I think that Druid's superior versatility will be a better fit (scouting/spying with Wild Shape, getting a bit on the frontline as well, providing much control with exclusive spells, bringing another healer thanks to Healing Words, covering travel needs thanks to Goodberries, providing extra sneak options thanks to Pass Without Trace / Water Walking / Water Breathing etc).
I'd go Moon Druid not for current beast shapes (seriously, you won't tank in them). Not really for CR 2 either (better, but not enough). But because of CR 10: now you will get some pretty serious staying power.
If you don't think you will reach level 10, Land Druid may be a fine choice, using environment spells to prevent enemies from ever reaching you in time (Plant Growth and Wind Wall are both very solid spells).

EDIT: Another option I forgot if you'd prefer a simpler character: Long Death Monk.
Start with Mobile feat, push DEX and WIS with first ASI (16 DEX, 18 WIS), and be ready to provide very strong defense buff to your allies on your next level: Fear as an action may seem wasteful, but it will be very strong. :) Plus you can still Stun enemies, or ask for additional defensive buff from the Cleric. And when you get 11, your resilience will push through the roof. :)


I suggested EK because they can have stupid high AC, which would be useful if you're having to be the party meatshield.

A barbarian could also work, reckless attack would give your enemies a reason to attack you over the casters.
Eldricht Knights are plain beaten by Paladins (AC-wise). Because while Shield is great, it lasts "only" one round. And EK get very few slots to get by for the day.
A Paladin of comparable level that just wants to be extra resilient can just cast Shield of Faith as a basis (so +2 AC compared to EK with similar choices), has enough resources to so so for all encounters at level 5... And could just take a single level dip in Sorcerer in case he really wants to also get Shield in addition to that.

Things change at higher level because EK can get Blur or Mirror Image, and end with Greater Invisibility. But still extremely low slots for that and very late.