Either a great idea for a "tank", or a terrible one. Need help deciding.

[Dreaconis]

So, I've put together an idea for an aggro grabber. I know that tanks dont necessarily exist in D&D, but I came up with a plan after someone went cleric and my healer build went out the window. I'll give a (fairly) brief rundown of the character/backstory so you know why I'm wanting to do it, so I dont just hear, "make a paladin!" 50 times.

Backstory:
So, my character is an Aasimar who ran away from their own hometown because they were suffocated by the responsibility and ostracism of their divine nature. They fell in with a group of hexblades, because of there insatiable curiosity with dieties, both good and evil. However, up on learning of my PC's divine heritage, they sacrificed them to their patron to gain its favor and more power. My character called out to the gods for revenge and life, the raven queen answered. She brought them back as a revenant and a warlock to carry out her will in the mortal plane as a soul collector and assassin of lower priority undead (we're starting at level 3 so I wanted to explain why a little in my backstory). Their new mission is to train and protect this group of seemingly random travelers from dying, my character doesnt know why, they're just following orders.
So, that's the story, here's the build. First of all, at level 20, I'll have 3 levels of sorcerer (stone origin) and 17 of warlock (tome). The reason for sorc multiclass is to allow for the use of a few more spell slots, font of magic, and spell enhancements. The spells will be centered around control and temp hitpoints.

Spell list(excluding damage based ones):
Lvl 3 lock-
Shocking Grasp
Armor of Agathys
False Life
Lightning Lure
Toll the Dead (my character heals from necro damage)
Lvl 3 sorc-
Compelled Duel
Earth Tremor
Blur
Lvl 4+
Investiture of Stone
Vitriolic Sphere (necro heal aoe)
Circle of Death (necro heal aoe)
Mental Prison
Soul Cage

Stats:
Str 14
Dex 14
Con 18
Int 13
Wis 10
Cha 17
AC 16
HP 30 (+ false life and AoA) at lvl 3
Planned feats:
Tough and warcaster. Then adding 2 to dex and 1 to int and cha.

Does anyone have ideas on what can improve this build or tweaks that can make them more durable and/or force enemies better. I'm taking any suggestions beyond changing main class lol any input would be appreciated.

[Davrix]

I mean it works but it feels clunky and keep in mind your Sorc points cap at 3 at lv 3 so you can only ever have 3 to make spell slots with. So your only going to create lv 1 spell slots.

You should look at the order of the crown paladin as it gets a feature to actually taunt or the Conquest paladin for the juicy fear aura at lv 7 that can immobilize a section of the battlefield while providing damage and buffs to the party with the save aura. Because keep in mind tanking isn't just about control it's also about how well you can help the party out.

You can do a hex warlock / paladin with much better synergy and be much more tanky for it. Cause I mean full plate with a shield and the Shield spell = 25 AC before magic items and you will have your Char bonus to all your saves. The only thing you would need is a way to nab absorb elements and you will be a lean mean tanky machine. Just make sure your first level is in paladin for the proficients and dump str once its 15 or if you get starting gold buy some mithril full plate or gloves of giant strength.

[Citan]

Hi!

Well, I have no problem with your multiclass in itself, but I wonder what exactly you'd like to achieve, how you think you'll play this character?

Because I agree with Davrix here, the Sorcerer part is quite limited.
Especially considering you want to tank: I guess you wanted to preserve access to 8th and 9th level spells, but wouldn't you like to get Stone's Aegis from level 6?
Plus you'd get at least 2 spells of 3rd level among a very nice list for someone who wants to protect people (Counterspell, Slow, Fear, Hypnotic Pattern, etc...).
And ability to create 3rd level spells, or better pool for Metamagics...

If you want high spells in the end though, then your build is probably optimal. :)

[Dreaconis]

I hadn't clarified the font magic, my gm is homebrewing a slight amount for the flavor. He's allowing my sorc points to surpass the cap, but its non stackable. Basically, he's allowing to convert all of my spell slots (sorc and lock) into points before a short rest, but I cant do that again until after a long rest. So, I'll usually hover around 10 until much later levels. Also, the purpose for the sorc has two reasons; It allows for a few spells I did want like blur, phantasmal force, absorb elements (I had planned on that one, I just missed it in the post), earth tremor, frostbite, sword burst, mold earth. Secondly, by 3rd level it will have given me a good amount of cantrips/spells while giving me low level slots to have some freedom in casting for spells that dont scale or that I dont care about scaling, during rp and combat. One of my biggest fears about warlock has been the fact that spellcasting requires survival game ammo logic. Also, I'm a fallen aasimar, so I get an aoe fear spell innately.
I went over paladin and I thought it was really cool. Here's the problem. I've heard constant warnings online and in videos against over multiclassing. Not having a class to at least 15 usually makes them fairly useless late game. Between the sorc and paladin, I gained more from low levels. That's been the reason for my hesitance. So, I went with sorc because it offered a better total outcome.

[Vogie]

1) AoA and False life don't stack. You may want to pick up the False life invocation, so you can start all fights with 8 THP automatically, then cast AoA when those are burned through.

2) I assume your AC of 16 is Light armor (12) + Dex (2) + Shield (2). If you use Mage Armor (via invocation) it'd be 13+2+2=17, and once you get a single level in Stone Sorcerer you get Stone's Durability which would bump you up to 19 (13+ Con 4 + Shield 2) which will be nice. You'll be able to get to 20 by using an ASI to bump your Con up to 20.

3) If you haven't started this character yet, I'd suggest instead being Stone Sorc 1 then RQ Warlock 2. That way you also get prof with Constitution Saving Throws without having to use feats

4) Since you are already going to be sorcerer, you don't need Pact of the Tome to pick up Shocking Grasp... you get it free just by being a sorcerer. I'd suggest being a RQ Bladelock, and pick up the Improved pact weapon invocation (XGtE) at warlock level 3, so you can use your weapon as a spellcasting focus, so you don't have to keep dropping your weapon, casting, then picking it up again.

5) if you do both 3 & 4, you don't really have to pick up War Caster, as 2/3rds of it is covered. If you want to pick it up later to do AoOs with spells, sure, but it isn't nearly as required as it is now.

6) Wait until after level 6 (SS 1, RQW 5) to get a second level in Sorcerer... font of magic is only really "you get another 1st level spell", and both ASIs and either Thirsting Blade OR Eldritch Smite (both?) are going to be better investments in the levels

[Dreaconis]

1) AoA and False life don't stack. You may want to pick up the False life invocation, so you can start all fights with 8 THP automatically, then cast AoA when those are burned through.

2) I assume your AC of 16 is Light armor (12) + Dex (2) + Shield (2). If you use Mage Armor (via invocation) it'd be 13+2+2=17, and once you get a single level in Stone Sorcerer you get Stone's Durability which would bump you up to 19 (13+ Con 4 + Shield 2) which will be nice. You'll be able to get to 20 by using an ASI to bump your Con up to 20.

3) If you haven't started this character yet, I'd suggest instead being Stone Sorc 1 then RQ Warlock 2. That way you also get prof with Constitution Saving Throws without having to use feats

4) Since you are already going to be sorcerer, you don't need Pact of the Tome to pick up Shocking Grasp... you get it free just by being a sorcerer. I'd suggest being a RQ Bladelock, and pick up the Improved pact weapon invocation (XGtE) at warlock level 3, so you can use your weapon as a spellcasting focus, so you don't have to keep dropping your weapon, casting, then picking it up again.

5) if you do both 3 & 4, you don't really have to pick up War Caster, as 2/3rds of it is covered. If you want to pick it up later to do AoOs with spells, sure, but it isn't nearly as required as it is now.

6) Wait until after level 6 (SS 1, RQW 5) to get a second level in Sorcerer... font of magic is only really "you get another 1st level spell", and both ASIs and either Thirsting Blade OR Eldritch Smite (both?) are going to be better investments in the levels

Thank you for your help. That was extremely helpful. Only two aspects of it I have to contest. Unfortunately, you're unable to stack AC like that. I looked it up when I was helping my girlfriend make a gloom ranger/way of death monk. Unfortunately one overwrites the other in any sense. You either get race, class, or armor/spell AC traits, they dont stack. Secondly, my character uses a ring as a focus, so it wont require any weirdness with my weapon. Other than that, I'll strongly consider your proposition. Bladelock was one i struggled with for a very long time because my weapon was given to me by my patron and has to stay with me or i start losing health. So, bladelock seemed natural. However, I'm mainly interested in the tome for the rituals and additional cantrips. The ones I posted are only the ones applicable to the tank/control aspect of my build. The idea is to switch some out as new things become available.

[Vogie]

It's not an issue of stacking - Stone's Durability literally sets your AC to "13 + your Constitution modifier if you aren't wearing armor. This effect lasts until you end it as a bonus action, you are incapacitated, or you don armor other than a shield". Your con is 18, so your mod is 4. If you have a shield, which doesn't count as armor (see underlined), you'll have 19 AC (13+4+2). Once you boost your Con to 20, your modifier is 5, which gets you to 20 AC. That's just your raw stats and stone's durability from Stone Sorcerer 1, regardless of Race, and you won't be physically wearing any armor outside of your shield.

With a single level in warlock and a single level in sorcerer, you'll have 6 cantrips already, jumping up to 7 when you reach warlock level 4. Since you already don't need the spellcasting focus, presumably you could stay a Tome lock, or be a bladelock who picked up the Ritual Caster feat somewhere along the way.

If you really need even more cantrips and ritual casting, why not just eschew warlock mechanically, and be a Sorcerer/War Wizard? 100% of Your AC comes from Stone's Durability, and with 2 levels in War wizard you can have an additional +2 AC on reaction via Arcane Deflection locking you into only using cantrips... which you were planning to do anyway! That'll give you effectively 21 AC as long as you keep getting hit (going up to 22 AC once you boost your Con). You'll get Ritual casting AND the ability to summon a raven as a familiar as soon as Wizard level 1. Between the Find Familiar ritual and ritual spell Alarm, you basically have the Raven Queen 'lock's abilities down... You can tell everyone you're connected to the Raven Queen, it just won't say "raven Queen" on the class section of your sheet. Arcane Recovery isn't as awesome as pact magic, but between that and font of magic, you'll be sitting pretty. You don't even need to adjust your stats - you have the charisma to MC out of Sorcerer, and the Int to MC into wizard.

Theoretically, you could even triple-class Stone Sorc 1/WW 2/ Raven Queen X...

[Dreaconis]

It's not an issue of stacking - Stone's Durability literally sets your AC to "13 + your Constitution modifier if you aren't wearing armor. This effect lasts until you end it as a bonus action, you are incapacitated, or you don armor other than a shield". Your con is 18, so your mod is 4. If you have a shield, which doesn't count as armor (see underlined), you'll have 19 AC (13+4+2). Once you boost your Con to 20, your modifier is 5, which gets you to 20 AC. That's just your raw stats and stone's durability from Stone Sorcerer 1, regardless of Race, and you won't be physically wearing any armor outside of your shield.

With a single level in warlock and a single level in sorcerer, you'll have 6 cantrips already, jumping up to 7 when you reach warlock level 4. Since you already don't need the spellcasting focus, presumably you could stay a Tome lock, or be a bladelock who picked up the Ritual Caster feat somewhere along the way.

If you really need even more cantrips and ritual casting, why not just eschew warlock mechanically, and be a Sorcerer/War Wizard? 100% of Your AC comes from Stone's Durability, and with 2 levels in War wizard you can have an additional +2 AC on reaction via Arcane Deflection locking you into only using cantrips... which you were planning to do anyway! That'll give you effectively 21 AC as long as you keep getting hit (going up to 22 AC once you boost your Con). You'll get Ritual casting AND the ability to summon a raven as a familiar as soon as Wizard level 1. Between the Find Familiar ritual and ritual spell Alarm, you basically have the Raven Queen 'lock's abilities down... You can tell everyone you're connected to the Raven Queen, it just won't say "raven Queen" on the class section of your sheet. Arcane Recovery isn't as awesome as pact magic, but between that and font of magic, you'll be sitting pretty. You don't even need to adjust your stats - you have the charisma to MC out of Sorcerer, and the Int to MC into wizard.

Theoretically, you could even triple-class Stone Sorc 1/WW 2/ Raven Queen X...

That makes a lot of sense. I'll definitely need to look into that. I could just keep the revenant angle as my connection to her. I'll really consider this build. Thank you.