Simple character, PHB only.

[DarkKnightJin]

So, I got a chance to be part of a new group, with some new players and a reasonably new DM.
They've requested I keep things simple, and stick to just using things from the PHB.

As a result, I've thought of a character that should be pretty simple mechanically for them to work with, be tanky to sate my desires in the character, and even provide myself with a neat backstory hook as to why they're on the road, being an Adventurer.

Here's my idea, and I'd like your guys' opinion on if it sounds nice and simple for a budding DM to work with. (I'm avoiding Multiclasses for now, just to be on the save side)

Trystan Raghnall
Variant Human Fighter
Background: Guild Merchant
Starting Feat: Magic Initiate. Take Mending, Prestidigitation, and Identify from the Wizard list.

He starts with a Mule and a Cart, Vuman prof in Arcana or Investigation.. And is pretty much on the road, looting the enemies he/they beat just short of taking their backs along with the shirts that were on said backs.. Then patches and cleans them with his cantrips so he can sell them at the next town.

I kinda like it, as it's got the age old greed as a driving force behind his adventuring.

And I can decide which PHB archetype I want to go with as the story unfolds. Currently thinking about going either Eldritch Knight, or Champion. Never really cared much for Battlemaster, for some reason.

And I could always roll him into being a Cleric if the group needs one. I personally like the idea for the character and the flexibility I get with the actual class.

Anyway, I'd love to hear what you guys think.

[smcmike]

Fine concept. My only hesitation is that the DM may or may not be interested in the bookkeeping involved with the whole junk-seller routine. I've done it in previous editions, but it's sometimes a bit silly, particularly in this edition where money is less important.

[Maxilian]

IMHO the character looks pretty fun, but it is a character that the DM may have to pay too much attention, may not be relevant, but depending how many PCs you have in the same group it becomes more or less troublesome (the less people in the group, the better)

[Specter]

Totally valid. If you do go Eldritch Knight, you won't get Absorb Elements, but other than that it's all good.

[Galadhrim]

He seems made to be an Eldritch Knight. I like it.

[90sMusic]

While it does look like an interesting character, I feel like looting and cataloging every item plucked off corpses and mending them all and selling them all would create headache for the DM. He'd either have to put some thought into specifically what you're getting or essentially handwave it as you getting extra money from everything you kill after you arrive in town.

If you really want to keep it simple for the DM, i'd probably lose the cart and selling routine.

But, as always, should talk to your DM and see what they think. If they're cool with it and think about it and decide it's not that big of a deal, then you're good to go.

[DarkKnightJin]

While it does look like an interesting character, I feel like looting and cataloging every item plucked off corpses and mending them all and selling them all would create headache for the DM. He'd either have to put some thought into specifically what you're getting or essentially handwave it as you getting extra money from everything you kill after you arrive in town.

If you really want to keep it simple for the DM, i'd probably lose the cart and selling routine.

But, as always, should talk to your DM and see what they think. If they're cool with it and think about it and decide it's not that big of a deal, then you're good to go.

Well, I planned the looting and selling as a hook to get him into being a full-time Adventurer.
When he starts doing quests and raking in money from doing that, the mule will probably get upgraded to a horse, and the cart to a proper wagon/coach that the party can use to get around in.
And I'd keep track of what I get, and the Mending is obviously something to do on downtime.

And unless we run into something with heavy armor, I'm not expecting we'll be making more than at most like 10gp per armor set. So.. rough estimate, maybe 50gp per fight if we have a chance to really loot everyone.

And the other players might have to step in and talk to him about common decency on NOT stealing someone's entire garb after you kill them, just to make some money off of it later.

Since at least 1 other player is said to be new, I figure I'm helping them figure out that you should always at least check enemy corpses whenever you can, and provide everybody with a means of transportation. So any Ritual Caster we might have won't slow us down by needing to stay in 1 place for 10 minutes. They just get in/on the cart and do their ritual from there. If possible, of course.

[DarkKnightJin]

IMHO the character looks pretty fun, but it is a character that the DM may have to pay too much attention, may not be relevant, but depending how many PCs you have in the same group it becomes more or less troublesome (the less people in the group, the better)

I don't know how many PC's we'll have, but I think this pretty new DM is going to try and keep it to 3-4 PCs and the DM for the campaign.
I also suggested we be allowed to use the SCAG cantrips, and cited that things like an Eldritch Knight 'suck less' if allowed to use those.

[DarkKnightJin]

Totally valid. If you do go Eldritch Knight, you won't get Absorb Elements, but other than that it's all good.

Thank you!
The DM in question said they only have the PHB and the DMG, and asked that I keep any crazy character ideas confined to those.
I might print out a copy of the Elemental Evil spells list for everybody to check and use, since it's official material, and there's some cool stuff on there that any player should be able to use.

The races are a bit.. meh.. to me, but the spells list I kinda view as a set of errata for the PHB.. If that makes any sense?

[Varlon]

No. It's a separate entity, to the extent that AL counts it as one of your +1 extra books. You can certainly try, but you're making more work for your DM after they asked you not to, no way around that fact.

And I wouldn't count on collecting and selling every fallen enemy's armor and clothing, is that the standard in the games you've played? Besides, again, making work for your DM like everyone else is saying, I'm not sure how stripping every enemy of everything they own to the point that it annoys your party enough to tell you to stop is going to teach them to check for loot. You have the option to make a character that just...doesn't do these things. You can teach them to check for loot by checking for loot.

You're not "providing everyone with a means of transportation" by insisting on dragging around so much stuff that you need a cart. If your party needs a cart, it will get a cart. And the rules don't say you need to be stationary to cast a ritual spell; you can do so just fine while walking or possibly even riding a horse.

Honestly, these excuses are all really lame. If you really want to make a character that's mechanically simple for your DM's sake, play a Champion that cares about nothing but his sword.

[DarkKnightJin]

No. It's a separate entity, to the extent that AL counts it as one of your +1 extra books. You can certainly try, but you're making more work for your DM after they asked you not to, no way around that fact.

And I wouldn't count on collecting and selling every fallen enemy's armor and clothing, is that the standard in the games you've played? Besides, again, making work for your DM like everyone else is saying, I'm not sure how stripping every enemy of everything they own to the point that it annoys your party enough to tell you to stop is going to teach them to check for loot. You have the option to make a character that just...doesn't do these things. You can teach them to check for loot by checking for loot.

You're not "providing everyone with a means of transportation" by insisting on dragging around so much stuff that you need a cart. If your party needs a cart, it will get a cart. And the rules don't say you need to be stationary to cast a ritual spell; you can do so just fine while walking or possibly even riding a horse.

Honestly, these excuses are all really lame. If you really want to make a character that's mechanically simple for your DM's sake, play a Champion that cares about nothing but his sword.

They're not going by AL rules. They just requested that I try and keep it simple. I would only suggest everybody has access to the EE spells as well, were applicable. If they say no, we don't get to use them, and I'm not going to whine about it. But if I don't ask, I won't know.

I know I won't be able to strip every enemy down to their skivvies. Time, location, and all that are going to factor in.
I also explained that while he was going to start as someone that loots everything he can off the bodies, that behavior is going to disappear as he starts getting into the adventuring side of things.
It's a jumping off point for the character.
I'm not going to insist on clearing out everybody we kill for everything they have on them every time we get a kill.

What it should do, is instill a sense of "Oh, we just won a fight, we have some time, let's see if they had anything interesting." I fully intend to stop with the whole scavenging thing after a while, and just have the cart/wagon there as transportation of the party, instead of hauling his wares.

Also, the Champion that cares about nothing but his sword thing? That sounds incredibly boring, and a reason for me to wanna re-roll another character before we hit 5th level.

[lebefrei]

Since you mention the idea of perhaps having to go cleric instead, and seem interested in a magical-tanky character, have you considered the oath of the ancients paladin? As a DM I could easily see one gathering battlefield loot and junk (ala a hobo in a garbage can) to support their adventuring, as long as they aren't committing blatant theft against non-enemies. Then you'd be a magical, healing, tanking, fun loving, drink having, hobo hero.

Also, if you're really dead set on taking magic initiate for your theme (I admire the use of a feat for roleplaying, to take a sub-optimal choice), then you're missing the correct spell choice, in my opinion. Identify isn't nearly as useful for your theme as Unseen Servant. It can help you gather goods, fix and clean them, and get them all packed away into your wagon. The spell itself even uses junk as its casting components! String and a bit of wood? It's calling to you!

[DarkKnightJin]

Since you mention the idea of perhaps having to go cleric instead, and seem interested in a magical-tanky character, have you considered the oath of the ancients paladin? As a DM I could easily see one gathering battlefield loot and junk (ala a hobo in a garbage can) to support their adventuring, as long as they aren't committing blatant theft against non-enemies. Then you'd be a magical, healing, tanking, fun loving, drink having, hobo hero.

Also, if you're really dead set on taking magic initiate for your theme (I admire the use of a feat for roleplaying, to take a sub-optimal choice), then you're missing the correct spell choice, in my opinion. Identify isn't nearly as useful for your theme as Unseen Servant. It can help you gather goods, fix and clean them, and get them all packed away into your wagon. The spell itself even uses junk as its casting components! String and a bit of wood? It's calling to you!

I did consider Paladin. And honestly, I still might go that route. Mix it with another character idea I had. That one is a Paladin of a deity that would have to notion of living life to its enjoyment. Like Lliira or Sune. Perhaps Ilmater if I want him to be a bit more of a lech.

My idea for that one includes a 5 or 6 level detour into Lore Bard, though. And I don't want to assume MC is allowed in this game. Therefore I was thinking of something that could handle melee and ranged on their own without an issue, as well.

And I might play him up to be a Paladin-y scavenger that works to give the unused armor and weapons new purpose by selling them to folks in town so they can defend themselves.

I hadn't thought about Unseen Servant yet. I figured being able to suss out if something is magical, and then Identifying it would be something he did. But it would make more sense if he could summon a Servant to help him clean and mend things.

And thank you. I'm a proponent of making a fun character, and not worry too much about combat. That'll sort itself out.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

I might have missed it but what are the newbs in the party going to take on for characters?

You can probably play anything and the right cleric can do both damage and support so its a great idea imo.

[DarkKnightJin]

I might have missed it but what are the newbs in the party going to take on for characters?

You can probably play anything and the right cleric can do both damage and support so its a great idea imo.

The other characters aren't known yet. Hell, the setting isn't even decided on yet.
The DM asked me on some of my favorite settings, probably for some inspiration to get me invested.

Little do they know, I'm planning on making a character that works with the world, not in spite of it.

But I'm open to swapping to Cleric or Paladin if the party calls for it. This is more about me setting up a character I can play.
Class isn't going to be a super big issue for me.

[Hrugner]

I can see the character reason for identify, but it's not as useful with the 1 hour universal identify time. And not getting it as a ritual reduces it's value for all other purposes. Getting a familiar to help with the scavenging would probably be a more sensible choice.

[DarkKnightJin]

I can see the character reason for identify, but it's not as useful with the 1 hour universal identify time. And not getting it as a ritual reduces it's value for all other purposes. Getting a familiar to help with the scavenging would probably be a more sensible choice.

I've already scrapped Identify. Unseen Servant or Find Familiar do seem like better fits for the character. I could probably get away with fluffing one of the flying Familiars into something a bit more distinct. And if I do end up going Eldritch Knight, I could cast Touch spells through them, as well.

[Biggstick]

A Cleric of most any deity or race makes for a pretty easy character to drop into any campaign. Depending on archetype choice, you can serve as a secondary tank or ranged blaster caster or somewhere in between. You'll have some pretty sweet ritual spells, as well as spells that can seriously make life easier on your companions/newer players. Most typically, as a Cleric, you're acting as support, allowing newer Players the opportunity to shine.

I'd definitely recommend a Cleric if you're playing a PHB only game and want to fill an easy role for your DM.

[DarkKnightJin]

A Cleric of most any deity or race makes for a pretty easy character to drop into any campaign. Depending on archetype choice, you can serve as a secondary tank or ranged blaster caster or somewhere in between. You'll have some pretty sweet ritual spells, as well as spells that can seriously make life easier on your companions/newer players. Most typically, as a Cleric, you're acting as support, allowing newer Players the opportunity to shine.

I'd definitely recommend a Cleric if you're playing a PHB only game and want to fill an easy role for your DM.

That's the whole thing.. I'm a new player myself, too.
And I've seen enough Critical Role to know a Cleric can be the backbone of a party.

That's why I want to see if I can't be a 'simple' Fighter for a bit. I feel like I have enough knowledge of the spells to pull of a Cleric without too much trouble. Also why I wouldn't mind rolling our Trystan as a Cleric, either. Probably a Tempest one, for the armor, martial weapons, and the sick storm theme.
"You've sown the wind.. Now reap the whirlwind!"
In as badass a baritone as I can muster.

I'll have a look into which gods have which domains. I'm sure I can find one that'd be perfect for the job.

[JPicasso]

Wow. This escalated quickly.

Well, I also like your original idea! As a DM, I'd tell you to RP it out, and stuff you loot would basically only cover your rations and pay for your stays at the inns. Possibly throwing you a gp now and again. The idea that he starts poor, mending shirts off of highway robbers backs, and quickly realizes that with a party of fellow adventurers, he can move up to looting tombs and such, eventually defeating necromancers towers! I wouldn't plan too far ahead with the horse and cart route, but starting with a mule and cart would come in handy for early level adventures. I will say, that collecting money for money's sake is a tiresome reason. After you acquire so much, your character has little reason to continue with his adventures. Saving up for some noble cause, even if you resort to ignoble actions is a more fun storyline.

EK are fun and sounds like your character would fit to one, especially with your feat choice.

The other ideas in the thread sound cool too.

[DarkKnightJin]

Wow. This escalated quickly.

Well, I also like your original idea! As a DM, I'd tell you to RP it out, and stuff you loot would basically only cover your rations and pay for your stays at the inns. Possibly throwing you a gp now and again. The idea that he starts poor, mending shirts off of highway robbers backs, and quickly realizes that with a party of fellow adventurers, he can move up to looting tombs and such, eventually defeating necromancers towers! I wouldn't plan too far ahead with the horse and cart route, but starting with a mule and cart would come in handy for early level adventures. I will say, that collecting money for money's sake is a tiresome reason. After you acquire so much, your character has little reason to continue with his adventures. Saving up for some noble cause, even if you resort to ignoble actions is a more fun storyline.

EK are fun and sounds like your character would fit to one, especially with your feat choice.

The other ideas in the thread sound cool too.

Yeah, it got out of my hands pretty quick.
And I expect that he'd 'forget' about collecting money for the money's sake after a while, and keep on adventuring because his new friends keep doing it.

And I never intended him to get rich off the scavenging. Pick up some gear, then mend, rinse, repeat. It gets him the gold he needs to pay for his stay at the inn, his food and drinks, and the care for the beast of burden. Possibly have a little stash for repairs on the cart. And if course his monthly Guild fees. Pretty much a regular Joe, working his job to get by. The only difference between him and a farmer is that he trains with the weapons he picks up while scavenging, so he can sorta defend himself if he gets mugged.

[Zanthy1]

Personally, I would take this character champion. I love the cart idea, and the resale of clothing is pretty cool idea. Those above who are saying "it makes to much bookkeeping for the DM" are silly. You are keeping track of everything, and you can work out ahead of time that you'll probably get half the cost from the PHB for most of the standard stuff, and the more fancy stuff maybe you negotiate a sale with. It is easy, only requires you keeping track of everything, and adds a nice flavor to the character. I suggest champion because it is the most easy to keep track of character, which would allow you to not be super flashy, but still effective, and achieve the same goal.

The only thing I may disagree with was your idea of trying to get the SCAG cantrips involved. I would leave it at just the PHB for now, and maybe later in the campaign (once the DM gets more comfortable) you could ask about introducing them, or waiting to the next campaign.

[DarkKnightJin]

That's why I asked if they could be.
If they say no, I can still work with that.

And honestly, I haven't settled on a class and archetype yet. I might still go Champion for simplicity. Though I'm not sure EK is going to be that much more complex.

[JPicasso]

I think EKs are very nerfed without the cantrips from SCAG. But your mileage may very.

Whatever fighter archetype, but keeping the initiate with your cool spells totally makes the character. Those spells are probably sub-optimal, but adds much flavor. I'd go for it.

Also, I'm going to steal this guy as an NPC in my games. Muhahahaha

[DarkKnightJin]

I think EKs are very nerfed without the cantrips from SCAG. But your mileage may very.

Whatever fighter archetype, but keeping the initiate with your cool spells totally makes the character. Those spells are probably sub-optimal, but adds much flavor. I'd go for it.

Also, I'm going to steal this guy as an NPC in my games. Muhahahaha

Go for it. The Dragonborn Death Cleric I theorycrafted as one of my first characters wound up as a low level BBEG in a friend's campaign.
If you want your party to have a traveling merchant that seems like he's always a bit behind them to clean up the things they leave behind.. I'd be flattered if you used Trystan. He'd be a nice source of Healing Potions for the party, if they need 'em.