Going to AL for first time: which character should I play?

[Puh Laden]

So this will be my first time going to AL and my first time playing Tomb of Annihilation (I assume). I have a bunch of character ideas, and thankfully, AL's PHB+1 rule helped me narrow them down. I know I'll be starting at level 1, but I'll list which subclass I'm interested in anyway. I'm deciding between the following:

Lawful Evil Drow Noble Bard (College of Whispers) of the Zhentarim -- This is the character I want to play conceptually, but I'm not sure how good of a fit it will be for my first AL game. For starters, she's evil, and I'm afraid that'll make a bad impression even if I'm not evil to the other players. Second, I'm not sure how useful the College of Whispers will be in a campaign I hear is full of undead. Third, most of my characters end up being me in practice. I always come up with zany schemes, and while I've been able to get away with it by saying it's me coming up with the scheme -- not my character -- and attributing it to the group instead of my PC, I'm not sure if that will rub some people the wrong way if that ends up happening. But then, maybe a drow noble bard would come up with zany schemes.

Neutral Lizardfolk Outlander Druid (Circle of the Land) of the Emerald Enclave -- I like the idea of this character, but I'm not too confident in my ability to role-play it other than sitting back and being somewhat quiet, which I honestly probably will be anyway.

Lawful Neutral Vuman Sage Wizard (Diviner) -- I really like wizards, and I already have this character figured out. The idea is that she is all about following the stars of fate. The bonus feat would be Alert to go with the idea that she already knows what's going to happen, she's just going along with it. But I wonder if there might already be a diviner wizard, since it seems popular here.

Neutral Wood Elf Soldier Rogue (Scout) -- I like the idea of a scout being an actual military scout. Plus, I don't really have a role-play idea for this one, so I feel I could just be myself.

Lawful Good High Elf Soldier Fighter (Arcane Archer) -- The same basic idea as the wood elf, but with haughtiness and more obvious elvishness.

[KorvinStarmast]

Neutral Wood Elf Soldier Rogue (Scout) -- I like the idea of a scout being an actual military scout. Plus, I don't really have a role-play idea for this one, so I feel I could just be myself.

Lawful Good High Elf Soldier Fighter (Arcane Archer) -- The same basic idea as the wood elf, but with haughtiness and more obvious elvishness.
Do you already have Xanathar's Guide?

[Easy_Lee]

I recommend one of the first three. Everyone plays martials and blasters in AL. You have a big advantage showing up with a support, and a humongous advantage if you coordinate your build with a friend ahead of time.

[Puh Laden]

Do you already have Xanathar's Guide?

I don’t but figure I don’t need it until level 3. In which case, I can just wait until I get it if needed.

[Deathtongue]

I've only played up to level 5 (from level 1) of for Tomb of Annihilation but druid of any type seems ridiculously strong. Our druid Animal Friendship'd a Giant Crocodile and has been pretty much carrying the party the past month.

[rooneg]

Mostly, just play what you want. Any of the options you put forth seem fine to me.

That said, flexibility is key with organized play. You never know what the other players are bringing to the table, so being able to fill multiple roles (either by having multiple characters, or by having a character who can do more than one thing) is worthwhile. Personally, I keep a bunch of AL characters lying around, and while I may show up intending to play a particular one I am usually willing to audible to something else if it turns out there's a critical deficiency in our party, i.e. no healer, no party face, no skill monkey, no front line combatant, etc. I've had all of those happen while it's not like you can't get away with having no healer (for example), things sure work better when you've got one.

[djreynolds]

If you are comfortable moving between melee and ranged, and have a very good understanding of reaction, action, and bonus action.

Rogue is the best.

You're always useful in combat, in fact every 2 levels the damage goes up.

You have 4 expertise skills by level 6

You cut damage in half at level 5.

And you can easily multiclass. And, just a 13 in wisdom you can grab 2 levels of ranger. You can grab 1 level of fighter and 2 levels of ranger... 2 fighting styles and some spells like hunter's mark and a skill. And a favored enemy to boot.

The biggest issue in the AL for you possibly is finding magic finesse weapons, other than that rogue's can do everything.... no rest needed

IMO rogues are always needed because they save that wizard from having to prepare spells to do what your skills do. For a wizard this great, he/she doesn't need to grab levitate or spider climb because you got that covered.

With that said, I rarely dump strength as a rogue, 10-12 is fine if you can afford it and I grab expertise in athletics. It really is helpful that for scouting and climbing.... alone.

I like stealth and perception at 1st, and then IMO athletics at 6th and maybe acrobatics... but survival could be cool for you.

[mgshamster]

Lizardfolk and Circle of Dreams comes from two different books, so you can remove that option. That won't fit in with the PHB +1 rule.

[2D8HP]

.....Neutral Wood Elf Soldier Rogue (Scout) -- I like the idea of a scout being an actual military scout. Plus, I don't really have a role-play idea for this one, so I feel I could just be myself.

Lawful Good High Elf Soldier Fighter (Arcane Archer) -- The same basic idea as the wood elf, but with haughtiness and more obvious elvishness.


The last two look the most fun to me, but I'd want to play one of the backgrounds that are new with Tomb, Archeologist or Anthropologist, and since there's mention of "custom" backgrounds in the PHB maybe Backgrounds wouldn't count against the +1?

[mgshamster]

maybe Backgrounds wouldn't count against the +1?

That's correct. Backgrounds are not beholden to the PHB+1 Rule.

[Puh Laden]

Lizardfolk and Circle of Dreams comes from two different books, so you can remove that option. That won't fit in with the PHB +1 rule.

It’s Land actually. It’s a combo I wanted to try a while ago (or grung land druid using a dmsguild homebrew), but when my home group started Curse of Strahd, I decided I had to do the other combo I wanted at the time — triton paladin. My enthusiasm for the lizardfolk has waned somewhat with the release of Xanathar’s however.

[mgshamster]

It’s Land actually. It’s a combo I wanted to try a while ago (or grung land druid using a dmsguild homebrew), but when my home group started Curse of Strahd, I decided I had to do the other combo I wanted at the time — triton paladin. My enthusiasm for the lizardfolk has waned somewhat with the release of Xanathar’s however.

Doh! Totally don't know how I read that wrong!

My apologies.

[2D8HP]

That's correct. Backgrounds are not beholden to the PHB+1 Rule.


Thanks mgshamster!

:smile:


...with the release of Xanathar’s however.


Aaargh!

I so want that book, but I can't sneak away to get it till Monday!

*rant* *rave* *mumble* *fume*

Anyway, on-topic, Tomb of Annihilation is very much a traditional struggle for survival adventure, make sure that all the traditional roles (warrior, arcane spell-caster, divine magic channeler, and trap defeater) are represented in the party, so if you can find out what the other PC's are.

Maybe have multiple characters ready?

[Puh Laden]

Aaargh!

I so want that book, but I can't sneak away to get it till Monday!

*rant* *rave* *mumble* *fume*



I know right? If I had it, I might have even more character ideas to choose between.



Anyway, on-topic, Tomb of Annihilation is very much a traditional struggle for survival adventure, make sure that all the traditional roles (warrior, arcane spell-caster, divine magic channeler, and trap defeater) are represented in the party, so if you can find out what the other PC's are.

Maybe have multiple characters ready?

How useful would an (evil) face be? I am of course referring the college of whispers drow. My picks for cantrips/spells are mage hand, vicious mockery, animal friendship, disguise self, dissonant whispers, and healing word -- though I'm thinking of possibly replacing one of those with faerie fire.

[Deathtongue]

So far? A face is more useful than you would think for a wilderness survival adventure. There are a lot of optional encounters in the wilderness and meeting up with settlements and striking deals is a thing, even at low levels.

That said, I think a druid is still probably the strongest class, at least at low and mid level, for the trek. In addition to the standard reasons why druids are good in such a setup, there are a LOT of animals you can Animal Friendship to add to your train. One of the druids for our campaign right now Animal Friendship'd a giant crocodile and re-applies that spell daily (though sometimes he ends up burning through most of his spell slots trying to get it to stick). If you're okay with being a backline caster, you could also pump up charisma as your secondary attribute and choose an appropriate background to be your face.

[rlc]

Play a heel instead of a face.

[Puh Laden]

So far? A face is more useful than you would think for a wilderness survival adventure. There are a lot of optional encounters in the wilderness and meeting up with settlements and striking deals is a thing, even at low levels.

That said, I think a druid is still probably the strongest class, at least at low and mid level, for the trek. In addition to the standard reasons why druids are good in such a setup, there are a LOT of animals you can Animal Friendship to add to your train. One of the druids for our campaign right now Animal Friendship'd a giant crocodile and re-applies that spell daily (though sometimes he ends up burning through most of his spell slots trying to get it to stick). If you're okay with being a backline caster, you could also pump up charisma as your secondary attribute and choose an appropriate background to be your face.

Oh Im fine with being backline caster; it’s my favorite way to do wizards. I’m not too sure about the reliability of animal friendship getting oneself a companion (from table to table) though, since it only says it charms it — not that it convinces it to fight for you.

[AttilatheYeon]

Oh Im fine with being backline caster; it’s my favorite way to do wizards. I’m not too sure about the reliability of animal friendship getting oneself a companion (from table to table) though, since it only says it charms it — not that it convinces it to fight for you.

Don't try toget a companion that way. But it'd good for keeping your ass out of trouble.

[AttilatheYeon]

So far our Ranger has been the most useful character in our group.

[Beelzebubba]

I think you should design and write up your three favorites, and bring them all to the game.

Then pick the one that's the best fit for the group you end up in.