Fighter1/Rogue3/WizX or Fighter1/Wiz6(X)/Rogue3?

[JugsOfHolyness]

I love to be tanks in MMOs, but for obvious balance reasons pnp doesn't have a forced taunt move. Therefore I'm settling on a Wizard who will never use any damaging spell besides Vicious Mockery, and everything else in his repertoire will be control-type of spells (Fog of Cloud, etc).

In all instances of whichever route I go, I definitely want to keep:

FIGHTER 1
Plate Armor + Shield and no weapon means I can have 21 AC and still cast spells


ROGUE 3
For the Mastermind archetype. I love the idea of having Help as a Bonus Action


VICIOUS MOCKERY
Doesn't use up Concentration, and the idea of Mocking someone and using the Help action in the same turn then hiding behind a wall I created via Silent Image last turn sounds fun to me



My campaign is starting out at level 7, so I'm having a hard time choosing between:


Fighter1/Rogue3/WizX
Fighter1/Wiz6(X)/Rogue3



Option A will force me to take Human Variant as a race, because I need to have Magic Initiate if I want to be able to both Mock and Help right at campaign start. This is also the character I have prepped already with spell selections, skills and stuff written out. I just haven't rolled for stats yet since my group hasn't met yet.

^This option sucks because I won't have access to Counterspell, but If I just hide behind walls created by Silent Image it *should* be ok, right? I also won't have access to the awesome Divination 6 feature.



Option B will allow me to take any race (because I can just Magic Initiate with my Wiz6). This'll also give me access to the Divination 6 feature right away, along with Level 3 spells. Each time I cast Counterspell, I get back Suggestion. Each time I cast Suggestion I get back Silent Image.

^This option sucks because I can't Help action every single turn at campaign start. This is also sucky because if I do go with another race, I won't have access to the Tough feat until a veryyyyy long time (I had planned to take Tough in Option A). Alternatively I could just be a Variant Human here in Option B too.


Any help or suggestions would be appreciated thank you

[Grod_The_Giant]

If you take Vicious Mockery with Magic Initiate, the save DC will be based on Cha, while the rest of your spells will be Int-based-- not a great position. As an alternative, can I suggest Bard? Their list is well-oriented towards debuffing and controlling, they can cherry-pick options off other lists, and both PHB subclasses have good defensive specials. Something like Fighter 1/Lore Bard 6 might be just want you want. Heavy armor, Con saves, Cutting Words, Vicious Mockery, goodies like Faerie Fire, Phantasmal Force, and Fear, Magical Secrets to grab your favorite two spells from other lists... (and heck, if you pick up Counterspell, Jack of All Trades will boost it). Bardic Inspiration is similar to bonus-action Help, albeit slightly more limited. You could go Fighter 1/Lore Bard 6 and then start in on Rogue if you want, I suppose.

The key thing, though, is that you need to hit 5th level in something. Every class (with the possible exception of Rogue) gets a major boost to their effectiveness at 5th level-- Extra Attack, third level spells, etc. If you don't have that, you're going to struggle, because monsters take a dramatic leap in power at the same point.

[Vorpalchicken]

Could do a variant tiefling to get Vicious Mockery. Doesn't option B add up to 10 levels? I would perhaps consider Fighter 1/Rogue X
If you are really good at spontaneous insults then vicious mockery is fun but otherwise I think it would get boring (and not too effective at this level since it only affects one attack roll)
Without Magic Initiate, how were you planning on getting Vicious Mockery by the way?

edit - Away from book but I believe Diviners only get lower spell slots back when they cast Divination spells, not illusions or enchantments or abjuration.

[smcmike]

Yeah it would make more sense to be a Bard. If you want to be heavy armor support, Life Cleric 1/Bard X will work just fine.