looking for inspiration

[n00b]

Last adventure ended in a TPK in Strahd. My char technically lived since I was absent from the session but no group to return to so he's in limbo for the foreseeable future. This char was a ranged Fighter/Rogue and in another campaign I'm playing a Warlock/Rogue. So what I'd like to play is some sort of front-line style. I was thinking of doing it as a cleric with a dip in something to give him a little oomph so to speak, and I would rather not wear the "party healer" mantle. Also not looking to be a grappler or "battlefield control" type either. I just just want to wade in a hit stuff. I'm not committed to cleric, I just thought it might be interesting so I'll take suggestions on anything really. We're starting at level 1 so it's fine if I don't actually start as a cleric. Realistically the campaign isn't likely to last beyond level 10 or 12 so coming online by level 4 or 5 would be nice. We are rolling for stats but since we haven't rolled yet use standard point buy to determine distribution. I can assign stats accordingly after they're known. Anything regarding race/class is permissible. PHB, Xanathar's, Volo's, UA, SCAG, all are usable. Looking forward to hearing your recommendations. Would also like to hear what feats and skills you'd recommend as well as progression. Thanks!

[hymer]

I just just want to wade in a hit stuff.

Mountain dwarf champion fighter or totem barbarian.

[Ganymede]

Well I just made a Firbolg Charlatan Paladin of Redemption. Maybe a weird combination like that is what your party needs. Though, I'd be more interested in the roleplay opportunities of being a sole survivor of a TPK.


Personally, as someone running Curse of Strahd, I want to hear about the circumstances of your TPK.

[peterispeter]

Cleric, Fighter, and Barbarian are each solid choices. If you want to avoid becoming the party healer, you should take the blast spells available to clerics. These aren't available for the first few levels, however, so you may fall into this role. Fighter is extremely versatile, but if you take the Champion Fighter you can end up dealing massive amounts of damage. The rage you get from barbarian makes them an extremely powerful choice.

[n00b]

I have considered just starting as Fighter, Barbarian, or Paladin for 2 or 3 levels. Then maybe swing over to cleric. Paladin makes it a bit more MAD than I care for. What Barbarian totem at level 3?

Edit: can't cast while raging though, correct?

[hymer]

What Barbarian totem at level 3?
I'd say bear, but wolf is really good depending on the party. Eagle isn't shabby, either, but you don't seem to be aiming for a mobility build.


Edit: can't cast while raging though, correct?
Correct. Also can't Concentrate.

[Vogie]

If you're not going to be the only one in the thick of battle, I'd suggest Deep Stalker Ranger 5 / Protection Cleric X, with Sentinel

[n00b]

If you're not going to be the only one in the thick of battle, I'd suggest Deep Stalker Ranger 5 / Protection Cleric X, with Sentinel

I've not played a cleric yet and am not as familiar with them. What's the synergy there? I've heard of Ranger/Life Cleric for the goodberry, but not this.

[FelineArchmage]

I haven't played cleric in 5e yet, but most of the PCs my husband has played have been clerics so I have some knowledge of them for 5e.

To be honest, in 5e, clerics have a LOT of versatility due to their domain choices and their starting proficiencies. It is 100% possible to be a party tank as a cleric. The action economy for them is fantastic, and they have a whole range of spells depending on what you want to do. If you are still considering on being a cleric but want to get into the thick of things, go into the tempest domain. You automatically gain proficiency with heavy armor and martial weapons. You can maximize your lightning damage with channel divinity, and if someone attacks you, you can do some lightning damage as a reaction.

You also have spells like spiritual weapon and healing word and both are bonus actions. You will be able to do multiple attacks (spiritual weapon) or some healing/support (healing word) all in one turn.

[Vogie]

I've not played a cleric yet and am not as familiar with them. What's the synergy there? I've heard of Ranger/Life Cleric for the goodberry, but not this.

Deep stalker gets extra actions up front even before you hit level 5 for the extra attack, and the Defense fighting style, as well as action surge. That particular Cleric is all about jumping in the way - Shield of the Faithful gives you the Protection fighting style as well, Radiant Defense - hitting stuff with radiant damage, and later gaining an added benefit of getting healed yourself when you do toss a heal out to someone else.

[Throne12]

I have a player in my game playing a kobolt paladin. I don't like the -2 to STR for the kobolt so I got rid of it. He runs around in special made plate armor and use a warhammer two handed. In my game all kobolt are sugar Addicts and marshmallows are the main food source. So his a small metal man hopped up on a sugar high and get Distracted by anything shiny. He charges in looking like baby groot in Guardians vol2

[Ninja_Prawn]

Surprised no one's mentioned the War domain yet. That thing is brutal in melee at low levels, and the rest of the party can't complain about lack of spell slots for healing when they see spiritual weapon and spirit guardians in action.

[n00b]

Here's a question about some of those combos. If I were a Deep Stalker(or Gloom Stalker) Ranger/War domain cleric, both of those archetypes give an extra attack when you take the attack action. Do those extra attacks stack or combine or do you only get a net of 1 extra attack?

[Ninja_Prawn]

They do not stack, I'm afraid. The same as if you were a fighter 5/barbarian 5.

Sorry, I thought war clerics got Extra Attack at level 6.

[n00b]

They do not stack, I'm afraid. The same as if you were a fighter 5/barbarian 5.

If you're a Fighter 2/War Cleric and used action surge, would you get a net of 4 attacks that round? Assuming you have enough points in your wisdom modifier to do so.

[hymer]

If you're a Fighter 2/War Cleric and used action surge, would you get a net of 4 attacks that round?

No. You get one attack with your action, and with action surge you get your action back for another attack. And then one attack with your bonus action. So three attacks with that combo at that level.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Apologies. War Priest and Extra Attack do stack. That's what I get for not reading the books.

So a fighter 5/war cleric 1 using Action Surge and War Priest gets 5 attacks per turn.

[n00b]

No. You get one attack with your action, and with action surge you get your action back for another attack. And then one attack with your bonus action. So three attacks with that combo at that level.

So the extra attack granted by War Cleric or the Ranger archetypes use your bonus action?

[Level2intern]

Tempest cleric can be a decent tank and an amazing blaster. Wade into melee with bless or spirit guardians up and blast with maximized shatters Take magic initiate or spell sniper to snag booming blade if you want a more potent melee attack.

I've really enjoyed the class. It feels a lot like the old fighter/mage and not at all like a healbot. Why spend slots on heals when you can melt faces!

[Vogie]

They all stack.

The Underdark Scout states:

On your first turn during combat, you gain a +10' bonus to your movement speed, and if you use the Attack action, you can make one additional attack

This is separate and different from

Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Which is also different and separate from:

War Priest
When you use the Attack action, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

So, a

Deep Stalker Ranger 3 / War Cleric 1 could have an Action of 2 attacks (on the first turn, 1 attack each turn after that), and another attack as a bonus action
Deep Stalker Ranger 5 / War Cleric 1 Could have an action of 3 attacks (on the first turn, 2 attacks each turn after that), and another attack as a bonus action
Without using action surge, a Fighter 5 / War cleric 1 could have an action of 2 attacks, and another attack as a bonus action.
With action surge, the Fighter 5/ WC 1 would have an action of 2 attacks, a bonus action attack, and then an action surge, giving an additional 2 attacks. The action surge can go before or after the bonus action, as long as it's after the first action. The bonus action can go before the main action, after the main action but before the action surge, or after both the action and the action surge.
If you hate yourself, a Fighter 11/ Deep Stalker Ranger 3 / War Cleric 1 could have first turn action of 4 attacks, a Bonus action of 1 attack and an Action Surge Action of 3 attacks (per Sage Advice, the Scout bonus doesn't transfer to the action surge, as it is only for the first turn action).

[n00b]

I like the ranger/cleric combo so I believe I'm going with that. Here's where I run into a bit of a snag. I'd like to be str based not dex. And would like to wear plate and use a 2H weapon (though 2H is not set in stone, might be sword/shield). How would I allocate stats and what race would work well? Also how would progression look with feats?

[ThatDrowPlayer]

You simply cannot go wrong with the Forge Domain. You are practically a paladin, but you get plenty of casting plus great versatility.

First, you get proficiency with heavy armor, meaning you get to take that chainmail at character creation. Pick up your shield, and you're sitting on 18 AC. Second, Forgers get the ability to enchant either one suit of armor or one weapon after every long rest, making them magical and +1. The bonus fades once you take another long rest, but this should be the first thing you do every day. I would personally take the +1 armor bonus, bringing you to 19 AC on level 1. No one gets a higher starting AC.

For your spells, I would cast either Bless to boost my attacks to ensure I hit as well as I defend, or you can take Shield of Faith to bump your AC to 21. You get two 1st level spell slots at level 1, and most sessions in my experience have 3-4 encounters in them, so you could cast either Bless or Shield of Faith in almost every fight if you want to focus on melee attacks.

For 4th level, I would recommend taking Heavy Armor Master, Magic Initiate (Wizard) or War Caster as a feat if you don't take an Ability Increase. Rolling stats can mean higher starting scores than point buy does, so you may luck out and get more feats.

HAM gets you a +1 increase to Strength (max 20), but it gets you damage resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons, although you take 3 less damage instead of half damage. You get a better version on level 17, but if your game is only going to 10 then this bumps up your survivability.

MI(W) is how we're going to get the Shield spell back. You of course get a couple cantrips from the class, but what we want is the Shield spell. The UA-Forge Domain originally had this, but Xanathar's removed it because when cast with your other buffs you get around 26 AC against one attack. You can pick it up with MI, and use it once per long rest.

WC gets you something you will probably need eventually, and that is advantage on your concentration checks to keep a buff going. If you use Bless or Shield of Faith a lot, you will probably want this feat. You also can perform somatic components for your spells with your shield equipped, but that's only important if your DM enforces that rule. You can also cast cantrips as opportunity attacks if that is your thing.

At 6th level, you gain resistance to fire. Pretty solid, as that is one of the most common types of damage in the game, but what we really want is the second benefit. +1 additional bonus to AC when you're wearing heavy armor. With just the chainmail, shield, and the 1/long rest buff, you're sitting on a fat 20, and Shield of Faith will get you 22 AC. Plate makes it better.

At level 8, you might be able to get one of the feats mentioned above, plus you gain the ability to deal 1d8 bonus fire damage on your attack rolls. It is resisted by many enemies, but at least it's in addition to your normal damage so you won't deal crap against them.

And that is it unfortunately for the Forge Domain until level 17, but this combines many aspects of your other characters, and it makes you more durable than a paladin while on the front lines. I would also get some healing spells for the attacks that do stagger you, as well as some rituals to improve your utility as they don't cost you spell slots thanks to Ritual Caster (Forgers get Identify on level 1 as a domain spell, which means it doesn't count against your daily allotment for preps). With all this, proper equipment and spell selection, plus those feats, you should have no trouble being the mightiest player at the table.

[n00b]

Considering..

Half-Orc (Considered Firbolg as well)
Str 17
Dex 14
Con 13
Int 8
Wis 14
Cha 8

Level 1: War Cleric - Heavy armor prof
Level 2: Gloom Stalker
Level 3: Gloom Stalker - Defense fighting style
Level 4: Gloom Stalker

After that will need to decided if I want extra attack and go to Gloom Stalker 5 or just keep leveling War Cleric.

Thoughts?