First time 5e questions

[Efrate]

So I am going to be playing in a 5e game soon, and as I'm a player and not a dm for once, I'm trying my best to stick to just phb and not done deep into dmg or mm. I come from a background of lot of 3.5 and pf, so I have a few questions. Planned character concept is a half orc fighter battle master with a maul for a weapon.

Setting seems to be very low magic, is this true?

Piggybacking on that, how necessary is magic as a non magic class to remain relevant? No magic Mart in every town, but if I don't have a magic weapon am I still able to contribute?

All numbers are bound in a fairly small range, do low level threats remain significant for a long time? It looks like your total growth is massively stymied gaining maybe plus 5 on hits, saves, skill checks and even ac over 20 levels, between proficiency and asi. It worries me that at level 20 a bunch of goblins is still potentially a serious threat.

Do you ever feel that much stronger? Again from a non caster perspective.

Feats being optional, as well as multiclassing, scares me s bit. Dm call but it makes a lot of choices, especially if it's as low magic as it seems, much more relevant and licks you in hard. Some feats if allowed still look like trash. Traps are not good when you can't get out of them with magic or new abilities.

In what order of importance would you rank the following

Gaining advantage on rolls.
Proficiency in saves.
Proficiency in skills.
Proficiency in tools.
Giving opponents disadvantage on rolls.

Should I look to invest in more damage, more survivability, or more in proficiencies?

I'm hoping I'm overthinking things, but any opinions or answers would be appreciated.

[JeffreyGator]

Setting seems to be very low magic, is this true?

Sort of. By default there is less profusion of magical items than 3.5


Piggybacking on that, how necessary is magic as a non magic class to remain relevant? No magic Mart in every town, but if I don't have a magic weapon am I still able to contribute?

You should be fine. Eventually you may encounter stuff that is resistant (half-damage) from non-magical attacks. By then you will likely have a magic weapon.


All numbers are bound in a fairly small range, do low level threats remain significant for a long time? It looks like your total growth is massively stymied gaining maybe plus 5 on hits, saves, skill checks and even ac over 20 levels, between proficiency and asi. It worries me that at level 20 a bunch of goblins is still potentially a serious threat.

There is a lot more that you can do and you are better at it. From level 1-20 your proficiency goes from 2-6, your primary stat goes from 3 to 5/6 and you probably have at least + magical. It's not the +40 that you had in 3.5 but I think that the +10 is still significant.

Action economy is also more precious. There is benefit from things not being so far apart that goblins can never be ignored. The intro adventure includes a tough but achievable encounter at level 4 against a DRAGON.


Do you ever feel that much stronger? Again from a non caster perspective.

Yes - especially once the subclass kicks in. Which is by level 3 much sooner than 3.5s prestige options.


Feats being optional, as well as multiclassing, scares me s bit. Dm call but it makes a lot of choices, especially if it's as low magic as it seems, much more relevant and licks you in hard. Some feats if allowed still look like trash. Traps are not good when you can't get out of them with magic or new abilities.

Some options are better than others. I think most tables and AL allow feats and multi-classing.


In what order of importance would you rank the following

My preferences are:
Gaining advantage on rolls. This is worth +5 generally and is a big deal.
Giving opponents disadvantage on rolls. This can be huge.

Proficiency in skills. I tend to play skill based characters
Proficiency in saves. Everybody is good at one common and one uncommon without feats or something else
Proficiency in tools. Thanks to bounded accuracy everyone can try most anything even without having to be amazing at all levels.



Should I look to invest in more damage, more survivability, or more in proficiencies?


Your orc/2 battle-master can mostly ignore proficiencies. Athletics is good for grappling, perception is always good.


I'm hoping I'm overthinking things, but any opinions or answers would be appreciated.

Thinking is good.

[Unoriginal]

Setting seems to be very low magic, is this true?


It's low magic compared to 3.X, not low magic by itself.

'course, it depends on the setting.

Also, the casters are just as strong as the martials, this editions (though not all classes are good at the same things, for obvious reasons).




Piggybacking on that, how necessary is magic as a non magic class to remain relevant? No magic Mart in every town, but if I don't have a magic weapon am I still able to contribute?

You absolutely do not need a magic weapon or magic at all to stay relevant.

All the game's maths were calculated without magic items, which means that any magic item you get is a pure boost in power, not a requirement.

Sure, some creatures are harder to kill without magic, but a martial will still deal enough damages to them, and if you need to bypass that there are still other options.



It looks like your total growth is massively stymied gaining maybe plus 5 on hits, saves, skill checks and even ac over 20 levels, between proficiency and asi. It worries me that at level 20 a bunch of goblins is still potentially a serious threat.

Why?

Though to be fair, 20 goblins aren't THAT much of a threat at so high a level. They will likely hurt, they're not to be underestimated, but the PC will almost always come out on top with only some bruises. Issues start when you have to fight 8+ groups of 20 goblins without rest, due to ressource strain.


Also, there is no skill check in 5e. It's an Ability check, and the proficiency bonus is added when the skill is relevant.



Do you ever feel that much stronger? Again from a non caster perspective.

Never played at high level myself, but from what I've seen, yes.



Feats being optional, as well as multiclassing, scares me s bit. Dm call but it makes a lot of choices, especially if it's as low magic as it seems, much more relevant and licks you in hard. Some feats if allowed still look like trash. Traps are not good when you can't get out of them with magic or new abilities.


Some feats won't be useful for what you want, but basically none of them are "trap options" that seem like they'd give you something less powerful than what is promised. If you change your mind or the DM goes an unexpected way and you end up never using it, though...

Still, you literally have to put efforts into **** up to make a weak 5e character.



In what order of importance would you rank the following

Depends of the character. Some would value more skills more than a lot of HPs, some swear by the capacity to tank several different saves.

For a straightforward bruiser who wants to be the best at fighting, I'd rate:

Proficiency in saves/Gaining advantage on rolls/Giving opponents disadvantage on rolls. (all equal)
Proficiency in skills.
Proficiency in tools.

You don't really need many skills or tools, but if they fit your concept...



Should I look to invest in more damage, more survivability, or more in proficiencies?

Well, it depends the person you want to play.


https://youtu.be/-cSFPIwMEq4

You don't need more damage, nor do you need more survivability or more proficiencies. But any option would be nice to have.

[khachaturian]

In what order of importance would you rank the following

Gaining advantage on rolls.
Proficiency in saves.
Proficiency in skills.
Proficiency in tools.
Giving opponents disadvantage on rolls.


To give you an unsatisfying answer... it depends on your build and role in the party.

- A character with the great weapon master feat benefits from advantage on attack rolls
- A character maintaining concentration on a conjure x spell or spirit guardians benefits from advantage and proficiency on con saves
- giving enemies disadvantage on rolls is great in any situation, but most conditions that confer this from spells, like blindness and entangle offer a save at the end of each turn

I think that many parties have 1-2 sources of reliable DPS, such as sharpshooter, great weapon master, sneak attack, while the rest of the party provides support and resource-dependent nova capabilities

[sophontteks]

Magic is pretty prevalent in 5e. There are less magic items, but still lots of magic.

Most of your questions can't be answered because they depend on what your team is. This is a team game and if you want to maximize your value you'll be picking up the role that they need most.

In 5e the balance between magic users and non-magic users is pretty good, probably the best its ever been. Magic users can only cast one concentration spell at a time, so they can't stack a bunch of stuff any more.

Feats are perfectly balanced vs. ASIs but the feats themselves vary in their effectiveness. The game isn't about min-maxing anyway though, so even some of the weaker options may help a character develop as the player wants.

Multiclassing IMO doesn't bring much to the table and a lot of people shoot themselves in the foot trying to maximize their potential at this hypothetical level 20 scenario while hurting themselves in the short run.

[2D8HP]

So I am going to be playing in a 5e game soon, and as I'm a player and not a dm for once, I'm trying my best to stick to just phb and not done deep into dmg or mm. I come from a background of lot of 3.5 and pf, so I have a few questions.


Cool.

I've never played 3.5, but I own that editions PHB, I played a lot of 0e and 1e way back, and I've played some 5e which has been fun, so I'll try and answer the best I can.


Planned character concept is a half orc fighter battle master with a maul for a weapon.


Sounds fun, Battlemaster is a little more tactical and has neat options, but it's more to keep track of, kinda like playing a spell caster. Go Champion if you want a "training wheels class".


Setting seems to be very low magic, is this true?


It depends on the DM, but the published adventures I'd call medium to high magic.


Piggybacking on that, how necessary is magic as a non magic class to remain relevant? No magic Mart in every town, but if I don't have a magic weapon am I still able to contribute?


Some magic items can be cool, but you really can do stuff without them.

The only time my PC's haven't felt relevent is during negotiations with NPC's, because I couldn't think of anything to say and it wasn't appropriate to put arrows in anyone.


All numbers are bound in a fairly small range, do low level threats remain significant for a long time?


Not that I've noticed, PC's seem hard to kill early on.


It looks like your total growth is massively stymied gaining maybe plus 5 on hits, saves, skill checks and even ac over 20 levels, between proficiency and asi. It worries me that at level 20 a bunch of goblins is still potentially a serious threat.

Do you ever feel that much stronger? Again from a non caster perspective.


I've only played up to level 11 (a human Champion Fighter), and I didn't feel the PC was weak at all, actually too strong.


Feats being optional, as well as multiclassing, scares me s bit. Dm call but it makes a lot of choices, especially if it's as low magic as it seems, much more relevant and licks you in hard. Some feats if allowed still look like trash.


Most Feats look good, but I'd say going MAX Dexterity is better, with increasing other stats also good.


Traps are not good when you can't get out of them with magic or new abilities.


While some DM's have you roll a Wisdom check to detect traps, most use Intelligence instead.


In what order of importance would you rank the following

Gaining advantage on rolls.
Proficiency in saves.
Proficiency in skills.
Proficiency in tools.
Giving opponents disadvantage on rolls.


Skills, saves, tools, and I have no idea how to have opponents roll with disadvantage.


Should I look to invest in more damage, more survivability, or more in proficiencies?


Just do what you can to increase your "to hit" probability.

Archery Fighting Style is great!

Defense Fighting Style is pretty good


I'm hoping I'm overthinking things, but any opinions or answers would be appreciated.


5e PC's are pretty tough, and most DM's have you level up real fast, so be prepared for that.

[KorvinStarmast]

I come from a background of lot of 3.5 and pf, so I have a few questions. Planned character concept is a half orc fighter battle master with a maul for a weapon. Sounds like fun.

Setting seems to be very low magic, is this true?
Yes.

Piggybacking on that, how necessary is magic as a non magic class to remain relevant? No magic Mart in every town, but if I don't have a magic weapon am I still able to contribute? Get a silver weapon within the first few levels to handle some of the resistance/immunity problems. In some fights, you will be depending on your team to do magical damage to physically resistant/immune creatures. Discuss with your spell casting team mates what spells they have that can turn your weapon magical.

5e is based on teamwork. If your party doesn't do teamwork, then no advice I give you makes any sense.


All numbers are bound in a fairly small range, do low level threats remain significant for a long time? Yes. Combat as war, not combat as sport.

It looks like your total growth is massively stymied gaining maybe plus 5 on hits, saves, skill checks and even ac over 20 levels, between proficiency and asi. It worries me that at level 20 a bunch of goblins is still potentially a serious threat. Why worry? The point is to have fun.

Do you ever feel that much stronger? Again from a non caster perspective. Martials do good damage.

Feats being optional, as well as multiclassing, scares me s bit. Don't worry about that. As a battle master, you get features that other fighters don't. Read the guides on this site. Some very good advice on there for what feats are good for a battlemaster. You need to think through which battle master maneuvers you want before you ponder a choice of a feat at 4th level. (I'd boost strength, but that's me).


In what order of importance would you rank the following 5 top 1 bottom, I offer you ...
Gaining advantage on rolls. 5
Proficiency in saves. 4
Proficiency in skills. 5 (Choose wisely)
Proficiency in tools. 2
Giving opponents disadvantage on rolls. 2-3


Should I look to invest in more damage, more survivability, or more in proficiencies? yes.


I'm overthinking things
yes

read the guides on this site. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?471427-An-Illustrated-Manual-for-Inflicting-Violence-A-Guide-to-Fightering) What you choose for battle master maneuvers informs much else.

Also, read this guide. (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?468964-GUIDE-The-Art-of-War-A-Fighter-Guide&p=6705448#post6705448)