Just For Fun: Converting a 4E character to 5E

[DragonBaneDM]

Hey gang!

My DM is constantly flip flopping between loving 4E and hating 5E and then hating 4E and loving 5E. It's entertaining as all heck, cause we play both. So what I wanna do today is run a thought exercise past you guys and see if you would do things differently:

So I'm playing a Half Orc Hybrid Cleric/Barbarian who uses a Lightning Spear, feats to support that weapon/damage type, and charges a lot while still having a fair amount of healing and buffing to back up his multiattacks/battlefield control.

I'm thinking that this build doesn't translate perfectly: I wear heavy armor and use lots of divine magic, so actually being a Barbarian doesn't seem to work very well in addition to Cleric. That is okay!

So what I'm thinking is that the best conversion would just be Tempest Cleric with Polearm Master ASAP. Am I underthinking it?

[DivisibleByZero]

Am I underthinking it?

Underthinking it is a rare talent, a lost art, in DnD. Most players have been overthinking everything for the past two decades or so.
Well done and congratulations. Run with it.

[Randomthom]

See also: Lightning Javelin in DMG.

Also +1 on the congratulations for "underthinking" it. I'd rather call it an elegant solution.

[Sigreid]

It sounds good to me. I don't know anything about 4e really, but I've found when converting a 3.5 character it's better to focus on the concept and style rather than trying to focus on a perfect duplicate on classes and abilities.

[Chaosvii7]

See also: Lightning Javelin in DMG.

Also +1 on the congratulations for "underthinking" it. I'd rather call it an elegant solution.

I can highly recommend a build similar to this. Only big difference is that I took levels in Ranger for the spell Lightning Arrow, which makes it so your next ranged weapon attack (thrown or projectile, the spell's descrption makes sure to clarify) deals extra lightning damage to the primary target and creatures near them. I cast lightning arrow, throw the javelin, activate its lightning bolt ability, and use the channel divinity to maximize the damage on the entire roll. Ranger would also give you a fighting style, and the ranged style gives you +2 to hit, which might not be as nice as the benefits of a rage, but goes a long way to keep you relevant when you're out of spells and need to just chuck the javelin at things.

Polearm master doesn't interact with javelins specifically IIRC, so you'll still want to mainhand a longer polearm and probably a shield, but the build is very much doable. Tempest Cleric is amazing, and does what it says on the tin very well.

[DragonBaneDM]

I can highly recommend a build similar to this. Only big difference is that I took levels in Ranger for the spell Lightning Arrow, which makes it so your next ranged weapon attack (thrown or projectile, the spell's descrption makes sure to clarify) deals extra lightning damage to the primary target and creatures near them. I cast lightning arrow, throw the javelin, activate its lightning bolt ability, and use the channel divinity to maximize the damage on the entire roll. Ranger would also give you a fighting style, and the ranged style gives you +2 to hit, which might not be as nice as the benefits of a rage, but goes a long way to keep you relevant when you're out of spells and need to just chuck the javelin at things.

Polearm master doesn't interact with javelins specifically IIRC, so you'll still want to mainhand a longer polearm and probably a shield, but the build is very much doable. Tempest Cleric is amazing, and does what it says on the tin very well.

While I think this idea is awesome and respect the crap out of the amount of damage it'd bring to the table, Domri's not about that noise. He's almost exclusively melee, and I think 2 levels of Ranger for the Combat Style wouldn't merge too well with the rest of the plan, namely chasing down Level 4 for Polearm Master. Thanks though!