Not sure what class to go

[Ariamella]

So I'm currently in a 3 person party. We have a Dragonborn Barbarian and a Wood Elf Monk (not sure what archetypes they're going) acting as our frontline/melee damage and our melee damage/stealther respectively, and I can't decide what class to go. I've decided on a Tiefling Lore Bard for now to act as our party face, emergency healer and battlefield control, but I've also considered going either a wizard or a warlock. What do you guys think?

Should mention that the DM only allows material from the PHB, though she makes exceptions if the additions are minor (she let me have the far traveller background, for instance).

[odigity]

Surprised this thread isn't flooded by opinions yet...

Obviously, there's no right answer. It seems like you're already approaching the problem correctly, and your answers are spot-on.

I agree with Bard as a top-tier choice, and also suggest Cleric as another well-rounded complementary option - but Bard is still my favorite choice. Warlock is fun, but limited, and you're trying to make up for the already limited versatility of a below-average size party. Wizard has the widest spell selection, but only within the "arcane" themes, whereas Bard gets some "divine" (Cleric-ish) spells on their list, plus the Secrets ability that lets them choose from any spell list.

Race is more personal choice, as long as they're optimal for the class you're picking.

(The Dragonborn doesn't have Darkvision, so you don't have to worry about being the one person in the party who ruins things by picking a non-DV race, so you're free to grab whatever appeals to you.)

[hymer]

What do you guys think?
Druid. It's generally the answer to 'which class?' questions, of course (yes, I'm biased), but would also suit this particular group well. You need a generalized spellcaster with broad range and maximum versatility. That's a druid.

[Aaron Underhand]

With that small a party expect to get jumped. I'd go cleric 1 then lore bard. Medium armour and extra level one spell picks will really help. Wisdom 13 or 14, will help perception as well. Could even consider vhuman with observant feat.

[Ariamella]

Pretty set on what race I'm going cause of a funny backstory I came up with about being the daughter of a halfling and tiefling and being a midget demon thing. We've already had our first session but haven't leveled up yet, but I imagine our DM will let me change things up if I ask nicely since she's a good friend of mine already.


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Thank you! The bard (and rogue) are the two skill monkey classes I could think of and in this case I wanted le spells!

A cleric could work too but I didn't think of that class cause of the lower charisma. It's difficult to cover so much cause both our other classes don't offer a lot of out of combat skills or versatility x.x


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Would there be a way of being a party face without high charisma? Also, I'd be a land druid, right? I don't imagine we need any more frontline fighters so moon wouldn't be that useful.


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Ah...I didn't think of that. Damn. Worth considering too!

[CTurbo]

The group definitely needs some utility and a touch of healing. Cleric or Bard would be my first choices, but a Druid would be fine as well as a Paladin. There is no rule that says you can't have another front line guy.

Consider the lack of Charisma, I'd go Bard as my top choice. Maybe even Valor for a little extra toughness.

[Citan]

So I'm currently in a 3 person party. We have a Dragonborn Barbarian and a Wood Elf Monk (not sure what archetypes they're going) acting as our frontline/melee damage and our melee damage/stealther respectively, and I can't decide what class to go. I've decided on a Tiefling Lore Bard for now to act as our party face, emergency healer and battlefield control, but I've also considered going either a wizard or a warlock. What do you guys think?

Should mention that the DM only allows material from the PHB, though she makes exceptions if the additions are minor (she let me have the far traveller background, for instance).
Honestly any kind of fullcaster goes for your party, except Sorcerer (not enough spell known for all the grounds you have to cover*) and Warlock (too few spell slots to my taste considering you have nobody in party that can help secure a short rest).
- Druid is the most versatile, but many of its control spells rely on direct battlefield alteration. If your group is used to coordinate, this could be the best class. Otherwise it may not be, because you could actually trap/annoy your pals instead of helping them.
- Wizard, although no healing, can be a very strong provider for your party if your DM works with you to get you bonus spells through purchases or loot. The Ritual spell list in particular is overall the best of all imo.
- Bard has limited spell known, but you get a nice array of spells in single-target debuff, buff, heal, utility, and some of the best mass effect spells, plus Magic Secrets and archetype abilities. So it's definitely a strong choice too. I'd be partial to Glamour Bard instead though (party THP with a Bardic Inspiration is really great, as well as "Command as bonus action) but it's more about taste really, Lore Bard works well too (lvl 6 Magic Secrets: Conjure Animals, Healing Spirit, Counterspell, Fireball, Spirit Guardians, etc many good spells and only two to get).
- Cleric, especially Tempest and Nature, would also be great for that party (Tempest for a bit of control and nova damage, Nature for "elemental resistance", Thorns Whip and Plant Growth). There are stronger RP strings attached though.

So as you see, don't overthink it: you can play mostly whatever you want so I'd rather suggest you to think about the character concept first (how would he/she behave? Religious affinities? Rather outdoors or city brew? etc) and the kind of spells/tactics you want to focus on.

* If you are fine with having very few spell known, a Divine Soul Sorcerer may actually be extremely efficient, although shoehorned: grab Extended and Twin, and Ritual Caster (Wizard) feat for the versatility: at low levels extend Shield of Faith on you and Monk, using Twin Healing Words or Guiding Bolt as needed. At higher levels Twin Haste on both pals and let them go to town while you stay far away pewing Firebolts at enemies. Use Extended upcast Aid and Death Ward before a long rest to help your party survive.

[Ariamella]

Thanks for helping guys, I've decided to stick with my choice of a bard. The question now is whether I want to go Valor or Lore, and whether or not multiclassing into anything will do me any good.

My stats right now are 8/15/14/10/9/17, if that helps.

Edit: Warlock 2 for agonizing blast and mask of many faces + friends + the actor feat sounds fun! Gives me a lot of damage on demand if I need it and it would give me so much potential as the party face.

Fighter 1 also sounds good for the medium armour and shield proficiencies so I don't have to go valor bard if I don't want to and I'll only be missing out on a 7th level spell slot and superior inspiration.

[Waazraath]

So I'm currently in a 3 person party. We have a Dragonborn Barbarian and a Wood Elf Monk (not sure what archetypes they're going) acting as our frontline/melee damage and our melee damage/stealther respectively, and I can't decide what class to go. I've decided on a Tiefling Lore Bard for now to act as our party face, emergency healer and battlefield control, but I've also considered going either a wizard or a warlock. What do you guys think?

Should mention that the DM only allows material from the PHB, though she makes exceptions if the additions are minor (she let me have the far traveller background, for instance).

Your reasoning is very solid. Your party misses indeed out on a 'face' role (charisma skill checks), emergency healing, and all casting (utility, buff, debuff, area of effect damage).

Lore bard is gold, since it gives, without (hardly) any effort, a lot of extra skills (incl expertise / jack of all trades), casting, emergency healing (Healing Word), out of combat healing (song of rest) and full casting. Great. Only problem I have with it is that it's quite squishy, especially in a 3 person party. I'd spend some resources in defense (wether it is through feats, multi-classing, ability scores, spells known, or whatever).

You could go with other casters. Personally, I highl value at least one party member being able to take care of the charisma skills. That would point to Sorcerer or Warlock. Sorcerer is a bit limited though, both because of its spell list and number of spells known, for your party. Warlock is great, I don't agree with the folks up here who consider it too limited. Its damage can come soley from its cantrips, freeing all spells known for other areas (area of effect, buff, debuff, battlefield control). Next its spells, it has invocations, that can help with skills, or give extra spells, or increase your survivability (important in a 3 person party). And, very important in this case: the pact boon. Tome offers lots of extra utility casting, chain an invisible scout that can also use the "help" action when needed. All of this combined, it offers just as much relevant options as the Bard, if you build it right.

It's unfortunately that it's PhB only, cause the Celestial Warlock would have been a great choice; it provides the neccesary healing as a class feature. You could ask your DM. If not: emergency healing can come from the Healer feat, or you might pick aasimar as a race. Pretty powerful, and Protection Aasimar's 1/day fly is bloody strong.

Other casters are also possible though. Druid has the most diverse spell list, imo, combined with all spells are spells known is simply great. Cleric comes close also, and can be a bit more focuessed (light or tempest are better blasters than the druid). Wizard can work as well, but it lacks healing, and is a bit more DM dependent on how much spells you get. Also, it's much more squishy than Cleric, Druid and Warlock, so I'd skip it probably. For all of those, it's possible of course to pick, lets say, 14 charisma, and consider the Prodigy feat from Xanathar's (if that's 'small' enough for your DM) to get expertise in Persuasion (or a similar skill).

tl;dr Lore Bard is a very solid choice. In this case prolly the best, though given what you want Warlock is also a solid option. And being 5e, everything can work.

[CTurbo]

I think for such a small group, a Valor Bard would be perfect. You'll appreciate the extra toughness as it would allow you to stay closer to the others more confidently while being able to ignore Dex after start to focus on maxing Cha and grabbing any feat you may want.

[hymer]

Would there be a way of being a party face without high charisma? Also, I'd be a land druid, right? I don't imagine we need any more frontline fighters so moon wouldn't be that useful.
As for facing, you can cast spells like Charm Person and Enhance Ability to get advantage on the relevant skill rolls (and Charm Person turns them friendly if they weren't already). But if you dump charisma entirely, then advantage alone probably won't be enough. The value of advantage is about +3.3 on average.
Insight is a class skill, so you can pick that up without any to-do.

Land druid would be the obvious choice, but there's nothing wrong with being a moon druid. Straight moon druids are only really effective melee combatants for parts of their career, but they are always full spellcasters. Such a druid would likely use wild shapes for personal protection in combat, which could come in handy with a small party.

[Aaron Underhand]

Lore bard /warlock looks good, consider warlock 3 for tome... Extra cantrips (guidance, ) and potentially all 1st and 2nd level rituals!

[Ariamella]

Would bard 6 > warlock 2 > bard x be fine level progression?

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

Would bard 6 > warlock 2 > bard x be fine level progression?

Yeah, though I might prefer to go straight Bard for another ASI and 4th level spells by 8.

[jaappleton]

I played one for a long time.

Lore Bard.

Cutting Words is amazingly useful, you'll save lives.

You're a bit short on spellcasting so being able to lift spells from any class through Additional Magical Secrets at lv6 cannot be understated.

It rounds everything out.

[bid]

Thanks for helping guys, I've decided to stick with my choice of a bard. The question now is whether I want to go Valor or Lore, and whether or not multiclassing into anything will do me any good.

My stats right now are 8/15/14/10/9/17, if that helps.

Edit: Warlock 2 for agonizing blast and mask of many faces + friends + the actor feat sounds fun! Gives me a lot of damage on demand if I need it and it would give me so much potential as the party face.

Fighter 1 also sounds good for the medium armour and shield proficiencies so I don't have to go valor bard if I don't want to and I'll only be missing out on a 7th level spell slot and superior inspiration.
Don't only think of the end result at level 20. Consider the whole progession: all your spells will come late.
Still, for a mostly martial party it's not a bad choice.

I'd 8 14 14 12 11 16 if you use medium armor. Odd stats are the tool of the devil:smallbiggrin:. You can still take actor and even out Cha later.


Fighter 1 / lore X doesn't delay your progression too much, but I'd valor 6 before dipping into tomelock.