Two character concepts that i need help with

[j_spencer93]

Have players into two ideas that we do not commonly do.
One is a mounted character: which class is best and are their races or feats recommended. Presume Paladin.
The second is a totem barbarian focused in his totem animal. Any ways to thematically make this cooler? Thinking Ranger for animal companion

[Elminster298]

The feat "mounted combat" gives you advantage on attacks against unmounted foes smaller than your mount. This opens it up very well for a rogue, especially if you can get a giant spider mount.

Totem barbarian with druid levels for wild shape and/or ranger for a themed companion seems like a lot of fun! Especially if you have both! Wolf totem wild shapes into a wolf fighting with a wolf!? You don't get much cooler than that... Shadow Sorcerer 6 gets you "hound of ill omen" which is basically a shadow wolf for even more coolness. Character would be FAR from optimized but still very playable and just super fun.

EDIT: As for races, halfling handling, gnome, kobold, and goblin are all small enough to ride medium creatures which makes it much easier to maneuver in tunnels and buildings.

[Kane0]

A mounted character can be done a couple ways. The Revised beastmaster ranger works very well with a small race, and there is the UA Knight archetype for fighters if you aren't set on a paladin using summoned mount. The Mounted Combatant feat is definitely something you will want.

For a beast-centered barbarian a couple of levels into duid or ranger might fit, and there's the magic intiate feat if you don't want to devote levels to it. There is also rogue or the UA feat for getting expertise in Animal Handling if that's what you're looking for.

[SpamCreateWater]

Mounted combatant
Paladin wielding a 1H weapon and shield with Fighting Style (Protection). Sentinel and Mounted Combatant feats.
Look into taking some Rogue levels for Sneak Attack - as you'll always be with your mount you should always get Sneak Attack.

Totem Animal
Barbarian 3 to choose your totem animal, then Druid (Circle of the Moon) for Wildshape and Ranger for a pet.
You could go Wizard for Summon Familiar, but those are Tiny animals, or Paladin for Find Steed.

[j_spencer93]

Ok the Barbarian idea...
What level of druid/ranger would be needed to get the ability to summon wolves?

[Rebonack]

Any small race as a revised Beastmaster Ranger would work great for a mounted character.

The problem with large mounts is that they often aren't very compatible with any sort of underground or indoor adventure arc. Having a medium sized mount fixes that problem.

[Elminster298]

Ok the Barbarian idea...
What level of druid/ranger would be needed to get the ability to summon wolves?

9th lvl ranger gets you 3rd lvl "conjure animals" which allows you to summon either 8 wolves or 2 dire wolves. Druid is 5th lvl for the same spell which is the lowest summon spell either of them have.

[j_spencer93]

Thank you, this will let me build a basic idea for him to follow. He is really enjoying the idea of being a wolf totem barbarian, who summons wolves and has a pet wolf for combat lmao.

[tieren]

Go paladin and you can skip the mounted combatant feat, which is generally there to keep your mount alive, kind of moot when you can just summon a new one. Particularly if you choose to go protection style then you can just impose disadvantage on attacks against your mount anyway.

Going with a small race means a medium mount which should be easier to take indoors/ in dungeons with you.