The Best MAD Character

[Vekon]

In short, what do you all believe would be the most optimal/versatile/powerful combination of characters and classes when the concern of ability scores isn't much of a problem? This question stems from me rolling absolutely absurd stats for a PotA game I'll be playing in.

Any multiclassing, min-maxing, optimizing ideas are welcome. Unique builds encouraged. I'm not looking to play the best of best characters personally, but I was more so curious as to what people thought.

For those wondering, I rolled 18, 18, 16, 15 ,14, 13.

[Aett_Thorn]

With scores like that, i’d do something completely odd like a Paladin/Druid, or a Ranger/Warlock, or a Bladesinger/Monk.

[Beechgnome]

Well, with the caveat that I have no concept of how you could have rolled those numbers 'naturally' (without simulating 1000s of attempts) and that as a DM I would not allow them...

I would be a mountain dwarf pact of the blade warlock and make strength and constitution your 2 18s (bumping to 20) and make charisma 16.

taking booming/green flame would make it ridiculous. Well, it already is ridiculous. Moreso.

[GlenSmash!]

Paladin/Monk, or Paladin/Ranger would be neat.

[Mortis_Elrod]

With scores like that, i’d do something completely odd like a Paladin/Druid, or a Ranger/Warlock, or a Bladesinger/Monk.

this or Ranger/Paladin

[Mortis_Elrod]

Well, with the caveat that I have no concept of how you could have rolled those numbers 'naturally' (without simulating 1000s of attempts) and that as a DM I would not allow them...

I would be a mountain dwarf pact of the blade warlock and make strength and constitution your 2 18s (bumping to 20) and make charisma 16.

taking booming/green flame would make it ridiculous. Well, it already is ridiculous. Moreso.

don't be so cynical ive seen such stats rolled IRL before some people are just lucky.

[MagneticKitty]

don't be so cynical ive seen such stats rolled IRL before some people are just lucky.

Honestly I don't believe them either. Only one person in our group rolled an 18. They also rolled a 3. Hahah.

Maybe paladin redemption / monk tranquility

[Beechgnome]

don't be so cynical ive seen such stats rolled IRL before some people are just lucky.

Perhaps I am being too cynical. I've never seen anyone roll like that, but obviously it is possible.

I do feel when someone has those kinds of rolls and everyone else has point buy it can ruin game balance - with other players feeling their characters are diminished. But if people are cool with it, then it does open crazy possibilities.

[Aett_Thorn]

Perhaps I am being too cynical. I've never seen anyone roll like that, but obviously it is possible.

I do feel when someone has those kinds of rolls and everyone else has point buy it can ruin game balance - with other players feeling their characters are diminished. But if people are cool with it, then it does open crazy possibilities.

Yeah, if I were to DM for a character with rolls like that, I’d probably push the player to make a flavorful character over a powerful one. Otherwise, the balance between characters would be off and other players might not have fun.

This would be the perfect time in my group for the Orcish Wizard or Kobold Barbarian or Goliath Rogue.

[Naanomi]

Paladin Monk, or maybe... Assassin/Shadow Monk/Hexblade ‘ultimate ninja’?

[Foxydono]

Honestly I don't believe them either. Only one person in our group rolled an 18. They also rolled a 3. Hahah.

Maybe paladin redemption / monk tranquility
It depends, I know a group that rolls 5d6 for all stats three times and picks the best of the three. This way you can easily have those stats. With 4d6 those numbers are unlikely though, but still possible. With 3d6 it's nearly impossible to roll that high.

[Foxydono]

To answer your question, one of the best things to be is a bladesinger. Get 20 dex and int and 16 wis and take a monk level for unarmored defense. You can plit it however you like. Best is probably to go wizard all the way or you could go 14 monk and be proficient in all saves. Evasion is nice to have as well.

Another route is to go bladesinger barbarian. You take barb just for the unarmored defense since you won't be raging. With 16 con you will have a good health pool also, plus you can wear a shield. With 20 dex and int and 16 con with shield and shield spell, you can have an AC of 30. This AC will last you till 15+ before anything can effectively hit you. For non-melee you obviously have Counterspell.

[Vekon]

Perhaps I am being too cynical. I've never seen anyone roll like that, but obviously it is possible.

I do feel when someone has those kinds of rolls and everyone else has point buy it can ruin game balance - with other players feeling their characters are diminished. But if people are cool with it, then it does open crazy possibilities.


Honestly I don't believe them either. Only one person in our group rolled an 18. They also rolled a 3. Hahah.

Maybe paladin redemption / monk tranquility

I certainly wouldn't make a post like this simply to lie about it. And I already had a character concept in mind before rolling and plan to stick with it. But regardless of all that, I'm just looking for opinions; for the purposes of this we could really just pretend all of the stats rolled were 18s.

[AttilatheYeon]

Make a water genasi monk/druid. Try to get to level 9 druid for guardian of nature or whatever it's called. Name the character Spruce Lee. 😁

[CTurbo]

Gnome Paladin 6/Monk 14 with Shield Master and Warcaster. Proficient in all saves with advantage(but str) plus Cha mod. Never fail a save again

Paladin/Cleric would be awesome

Barbarian/Monk would be impossible to kill

Tempest Cleric/Blue Draconic or Storm Sorcerer

Lore Bard/Land Druid would be the most utilitest character ever made lol

Champion 11/Paladin 2/Ranger 3/Swords Bard 4 and have 5 Fighting Styles


Oh yeah I have personally rolled two 18s before that ended up being a Sorcerer as well as 18, 17, 16, and 16 on a separate occasion that I made into a Paladin with 18 Str, 16 Dex 18 Con, and 18 Cha to start.

I have also seen a roll where 13 was the highest and only roll over 10

And I'm talking about 4d6 drop lowest

[Vekon]

Gnome Paladin 6/Monk 14 with Shield Master and Warcaster. Proficient in all saves with advantage(but str) plus Cha mod. Never fail a save again

Paladin/Cleric would be awesome

Barbarian/Monk would be impossible to kill

Tempest Cleric/Blue Draconic or Storm Sorcerer

Lore Bard/Land Druid would be the most utilitest character ever made lol

Champion 11/Paladin 2/Ranger 3/Swords Bard 4 and have 5 Fighting Styles


Oh yeah I have personally rolled two 18s before that ended up being a Sorcerer as well as 18, 17, 16, and 16 on a separate occasion that I made into a Paladin with 18 Str, 16 Dex 18 Con, and 18 Cha to start.

I have also seen a roll where 13 was the highest and only roll over 10

And I'm talking about 4d6 drop lowest

I honestly love the idea of a paladin/cleric combo. Barb/Monk seems too awesome as well; which subclasses would you think have good synergy?

This is my second time having two 18s over a large number of games. But before it was two 18s, and the rest were below 13.

[Aett_Thorn]

Barb/Monk seems too awesome as well; which subclasses would you think have good synergy?

Bear totem/Shadow Monk. Become the drop bear!

[CTurbo]

Bear Totem/Long Death to be impossible to kill

Tabaxi Elk Totem/Shadow Monk with Mobile feat to be a blur

[quark12000]

Alfred E. Neuman

[CTurbo]

Frenzy Barb/Cleric to be able to cast greater restoration on yourself to fix exhaustion lol

Go War Cleric so you could get a limited number of Bonus action attacks while not raging plus that big +10 to hit when you really need it. GWF with a greataxe of course.

[Naanomi]

One of those 'proficient in every skill' builds (V. Human w/skilled, Scout 3/Lore Bard 3/Knowledge Cleric 1)... you have the stats to be good at everything, why not actually be good at everything?

[CTurbo]

I think a Barbarian/Bladesinger would be a lot of fun. I'd play it as a full caster with a really bad temper lol. Probably use a Battleaxe or Morningstar. No spells while raging but you CAN use Bladesong while raging.

Or Dex Barb/Bladesinger with Rapier and Elven Accuracy.


Bladesinger/Cleric would be fun too. Bonus to Concentration spells is great for Clerics. Never drop Spirit Guardians.

War gives you a limited bonus attack
Light and Tempest give you a cool use of reaction.

[Quoxis]

Paladin 2/whisper bard 4/zealot barbarian 14
- high nova damage with rage, divine fury, smites and psychic blades (3d6+4d8+10+ weapon damage, and almost all of that twice per turn because of multiattack)
- virtually invincible because zealot rages beyond death and just before ending their rage, they can use the (non-casting) class feature of the paladin, lay on hands, to heal themselves - whoosh, alive again, no need to worry
- utility casting via bard

Needs tons of Str, Con, Cha, plus wis and Dex shouldn’t be too low.


Tempest cleric 6/storm herald barbarian 3/moon druid 11

Become a literal force of nature by transforming into an air elemental, push and throw opponents around with whirlwind and bonus action lightning damage, cause chaos and terror while waltzing through enemy lines like the tornado you are.

[Arkhios]

"Avenger"/"Shadowdancer" (a.k.a. Oath of Vengeance Paladin/Way of Shadow Monk)

[SpoCk0nd0pe]

You could stack classes that add attributes to AC. Like Monk+Barbarian.

Paladins are a prime candidate for those high stats because they want high str and cha to begin with, also like high con and are starved on feats.

[Arkhios]

You could stack classes that add attributes to AC. Like Monk+Barbarian.

Unarmored Defense (or other abilities that set a different base for your AC) from multiple sources don't stack. Whichever was taken first applies, the other doesn't do anything.

At best, if your DM allows, you might be able to use whichever is better.

But again, even if you were a sorcerer+barbarian+monk, you don't use 13+Dex+Con+Wis as your AC.

You use:
10+Dex+Con (barbarian)
or
10+Dex+Wis (monk)
or
13 + Dex (mage armor or draconic bloodline sorcerer)

[CTurbo]

Unarmored Defense (or other abilities that set a different base for your AC) from multiple sources don't stack. Whichever was taken first applies, the other doesn't do anything.

At best, if your DM allows, you might be able to use whichever is better.

But again, even if you were a sorcerer+barbarian+monk, you don't use 13+Dex+Con+Wis as your AC.

You use:
10+Dex+Con (barbarian)
or
10+Dex+Wis (monk)
or
13 + Dex (mage armor or draconic bloodline sorcerer)


This is correct.


I did know a DM that allowed Mage Armor to stack with the Barb and Monk's unarmored defense. Oddly enough. My normally 18AC Barb got Mage Armor and Shield of Faith cast on him to fight a couple of Frost Giants once. 23AC is silly high for a Bear Totem Barb

[Beelzebubba]

Well, with the caveat that I have no concept of how you could have rolled those numbers 'naturally'

I saw an array that good with my own eyes last year. Both of us DMs for our West Marches games were there.

It was the first ever D&D character to a brand new player.

She played a Battlemaster we nicknamed 'Neo' because she was a combination of the 'Golden Child' and 'The One'. She succeeded at everything.

She got bored with it, and swapped to a Gnome Wizard with awful stats and ended up having a lot more fun.

[nickl_2000]

Paladin 2/ Moon Druid. Be a Smite Bear!

[Beechgnome]

I saw an array that good with my own eyes last year. Both of us DMs for our West Marches games were there.

It was the first ever D&D character to a brand new player.

She played a Battlemaster we nicknamed 'Neo' because she was a combination of the 'Golden Child' and 'The One'. She succeeded at everything.

She got bored with it, and swapped to a Gnome Wizard with awful stats and ended up having a lot more fun.

Well, yes, even the lowliest gnome stands head and shoulders above the rest. Particularly when they actually stand on your head and shoulders.

[quark12000]

Alfred E. Neuman

No, wait. Black Spy. Definitely Black Spy.

[Seba]

How would you guys build a Paladin/Ranger with those stats and what level distribution?

[Arkhios]

How would you guys build a Paladin/Ranger with those stats and what level distribution?

Cop-out answer is "ranger 5 and never look back", but I'd argue that, since both classes are so called "half-casters" and RAW 5 levels counts as total of 2 levels (not 2.5) against spell slot progression gained via multiclassing, either ranger 4 or ranger 6 and the rest in paladin, imho. Extra Attacks don't stack, so you might as well take it from paladin, since you definitely want Aura of Protection (paladin 6) as well as Improved Divine Smite (paladin 11).

[Aaron Underhand]

Paladin 6 Ranger (Hunter) 4 wizard 10

GWM and SS

Vhuman so 5 feats

Start

GWM paladin

Str 18
Dex 18
Con 16+1
Int 15+1
Wis 13
Cha 14

Additional feats resilient (con), Dex +2, Str +2

[CTurbo]

Paladin Ranger you say?

Ancients Paladin 7/BeastMaster Ranger13 (UA Revised) or go 8/12 if you want the extra ASI

Ask your DM if your companion gaining ASI/feats go off of your Ranger level or total character level. If your companion is linked only to Ranger levels, stick with just 7 or 8 Paladin levels. If he'll let your companion be linked to character levels, I'd flip it and take 12 or 13 levels of Paladin instead.

You want to be a small race and have a companion that you can mount. Kobold/Wolf is awesome for all the time Pact Tactics. Halfling is also a great race for this if you don't want to use the Pact Tactics shenanigans. I also like the Panther. Wolf or Panther would be my top choices.

Mounted Combat feat is a must. Dual Wielder is great to have, but not mandatory. Other than that, you want to max Dex, max your companion's attack stat, and possibly give your companion the Mobile feat

So what does this build do?

You take the Defensive Fighting Style with Paladin, and the TWF style with Ranger. You mount your companion and you and your companion are always in your auras. Your companion is proficient in ALL saving throws, has advantage on them, AND adds your Cha mod to them as well. Basically, your companion will never ever fail a saving throw. Since you'll have the Mounted Combat feat, your companion cannot be targeted by an attack. Basically, your companion just about cannot be hurt except by ranged spell attacks which thanks to your Aura, will only take half damage at most.

Since the Beastmaster Ranger doesn't officially get a second attack, The Paladin's second attack "stacks" giving you a total of 5 attacks per round between you and your companion as early as level 10 if you take Ranger 5/Paladin 5. All with advantage with the Kobold/Wolf combo. If you end up with 11 Paladin levels, you'd add 1d8 to each attack and SHOULD be able to smite with your Beasts attacks too since the Beastmaster's companion supposedly gets all benefits the character gets. I could understand it a DM does not agree with this though.

I would wear Medium Armor and with Half Plate + Defense + Dual Wielder your AC would be 21. I think having an AC is important on this build since you'll be taking any attack aimed at your companion too. Trade -1 AC for Breastplate if stealth is important to you.



I really want to do this and think it would be a LOT of fun.

18, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13


Kobold 12(14-2) Str, 20(18+2) Dex, 16 Con, 13 Int, 15 Wis, 18 Cha to start
Stout Halfling 14 Str, 20 Dex, 16(15+1) Con, 13 Int, 16 Wis, 18 Cha to start