Pacifist PC?

[redwizard007]

A buddy of mine has an ongoing sci-fi campaign and welcomes player assistance with world building. I took a page from the trilogy "A Call to Arms," where many of the species are emotionally incapable of violence, and started up a pacifist race of small reptilian humanoids. In theory, I can attack (with disadvantage due to racial handicap,) but that would break my concept and brand my PC as insane to the rest of his people. What I'm thinking would work is a battle field control or buff/debuff specialist. As long as I don't directly damage anyone, I can contribute and still meet my RP requirements.

Thoughts on build and spell selection for a reskinned 5e space campaign?

[Mikal]

5e isn’t meant for pacifist gaming, doesn’t work

[PhoenixPhyre]

A buddy of mine has an ongoing sci-fi campaign and welcomes player assistance with world building. I took a page from the trilogy "A Call to Arms," where many of the species are emotionally incapable of violence, and started up a pacifist race of small reptilian humanoids. In theory, I can attack (with disadvantage due to racial handicap,) but that would break my concept and brand my PC as insane to the rest of his people. What I'm thinking would work is a battle field control or buff/debuff specialist. As long as I don't directly damage anyone, I can contribute and still meet my RP requirements.

Thoughts on build and spell selection for a reskinned 5e space campaign?

Only way I've seen this work was with a halfling diviner wizard who rolled really well on stats. His only offense was a sling, but he (the player) was really good about locking things down and thinking laterally.

I do not recommend this for any non-expert players though--it's really easy for this to become seriously annoying, especially if taken to the extremes of the book series (where even being around violence was potentially fatal for some races).. Note that one of the themes of the book series is that all those other races suck because their supposed "non-violence" really means "get someone else to fight for them" or "we die horribly". The one race that strokes out if they consider violence too much is, to avoid spoilers, not the nicest race around while the super violent centauroid race actually gets some redeeming moments in a later book.

[nickl_2000]

It's not meant for it, but it is doable. Think long and hard about it to see if you would actually enjoy the character and talk it over with the DM and make sure you can switch out if it is hampering the party.

If you are going to do it I would suggest a Divine Soul Sorcerer. That gives you access to both sorcerer and cleric spells, so you get a huge amount of buffs/debuffs to choose from. You can use the twin metamagic to help out more than on person at a time. Then look for non-concentration control spells and see what is out there.

As for your bread an butter you will need to stick with control cantrips. Mold Earth and Gust come to mind. Check to see if your DM would allow you to use Mage Hand as a help action from a distance. That way you can assist others while still staying safer. If not see how liberal the DM is will allowing minor illusion usage.

[Sigreid]

So, in what way is facilitating the killing of people pacifist?

[Unoriginal]

Why would someone who is a 100% pacifist go on adventures.

Adventures imply conflicts.

[PhoenixPhyre]

So, in what way is facilitating the killing of people pacifist?


Why would someone who is a 100% pacifist go on adventures.

Adventures imply conflicts.

From the source material, most of the races aren't pacifist by ideology, they're pacifist by genetic manipulation. The thought of directly causing harm to someone else triggers a physiological reaction. However they work around this by elaborate means. And they don't have a problem hiring or working with people who are violent. In fact, humanity is used as a "thug" race by many of them to do the dirty work they cannot.

Whether it's a good fit for an adventuring-based game? I doubt it. But it's slightly different from a traditional pacifist character (who objects to violence from anyone).

[redwizard007]

Why would someone who is a 100% pacifist go on adventures.

Adventures imply conflicts.

He wouldn't be 100% pacifist, just emotionally incapable of taking life. I'd actually hold my companions that are more violent in a sort of horrified reverence. Also, not adventures, missions. Subterfuge, stealth, diplomacy, and even non-damaging combat spells would all be on the table. Think less dungeon crawl and more Star Trek. I could incapacitate with Sleep or Hold, Charm, or even buff the party, I just wouldn't carry a weapon or learn damaging spells or cantrips.

It's not a question of will this be fun/effective, it's a question of what combinations could be most effective. I can brew something up if I have to, but I'm pretty sure there are some chasis that will require less adjustment (like the already mentioned sorcerer.)

[Unoriginal]

Well, you could go Drunken Master Monk and just choose non-lethal attacks when you have to make them.

But I have the feeling it's not what you want.

Have you considered Glamour Bard or Mastermind Rogue?

[redwizard007]

After doing a little digging, there just don't seem to be enough ways to contribute on a round by round basis. I'll talk to the DM about a possible new cantrip debuff or area denial, but without a useful cantrip I don't think I'd have enough spell slots to pull this off without being a burden to the party.

[Unoriginal]

Try Mastermind Rogue. The Help action is always useful for someone.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

You could make a character all about buffs and illusions. If you made a cleric/wizard and went school of illusion you can make a character all around tricking people. Add a high charisma to the build and you can trick/talk your way out of most situations while buffing your allies you wouldn't have to have a weapon or directly hurt others.

[redwizard007]

Try Mastermind Rogue. The Help action is always useful for someone.

No doubt, but I would have little else to add in combat, and I'd be sacrificing sneak attacks for no return.

The illusionist would be great at higher level, but what would I do early? No weapon attacks for RP reason, no usually useful cantrips, and limited spell slots.

[Draken]

Summon spells and Animate Dead should help out significantly.

[Theodoxus]

5e isn’t meant for pacifist gaming, doesn’t work


No doubt, but I would have little else to add in combat, and I'd be sacrificing sneak attacks for no return.

The illusionist would be great at higher level, but what would I do early? No weapon attacks for RP reason, no usually useful cantrips, and limited spell slots.

And now you see why Mikal posted what he did.

You want to contribute to combat, but not contribute to combat at the same time...

Dragon Heist is showing there's a different way to 'play' 5E, but you need buy in from the whole party - even one renegade lone wolf is going to get the party killed...

The only way a pacifist (in whatever convoluted fashion you mean) works is a diplomancer, but if the rest of the party decides to fight, you will be bored. I'm currently playing one as a life cleric. I ultimately had to change my outlook, picking a 'favored enemy' so I could participate in combat.

And that's my potential solution for you. If you can get buy in from the DM. Pick an enemy you can fight - undead tend to be the easiest to justify; and then go hunt them exclusively. If the party runs into a pack of bandits, you try to diplomance your wait out of a physical confrontation (using spells or guile). If you fail to keep them from attacking, you help your party as best you can.

[PaxZRake]

Would focusing on Summoning work? Go with a Land Druid or maybe a Necromancer or something along those lines?

[nickl_2000]

Oh, another thought.

What about UA Ranger Beast Master? You can use your action to help the beast attack or you can use your attack action to throw nets on people. You are never technicially doing harm to anyone yourself, but you will still contribute?

Spells can focus on summons, heals, absorb elements, and battlefield control like fog cloud.

[Rp4man]

do redemption paladin. A subclass whose primary oaths are to be a pacifist and not fight . And they get a slew of things for doing just that.

[Sigreid]

From the source material, most of the races aren't pacifist by ideology, they're pacifist by genetic manipulation. The thought of directly causing harm to someone else triggers a physiological reaction. However they work around this by elaborate means. And they don't have a problem hiring or working with people who are violent. In fact, humanity is used as a "thug" race by many of them to do the dirty work they cannot.

Whether it's a good fit for an adventuring-based game? I doubt it. But it's slightly different from a traditional pacifist character (who objects to violence from anyone).

Do not pacifist just lacking predatory aggression. Minionmancer would be the way to go. Very much subcontracting out the nasty bits. Very doable with some illusion and control tossed in. It was the pacifist moral objection to harming others that threw me.

[the_brazenburn]

You could make a character all about buffs and illusions. If you made a cleric/wizard and went school of illusion you can make a character all around tricking people. Add a high charisma to the build and you can trick/talk your way out of most situations while buffing your allies you wouldn't have to have a weapon or directly hurt others.

I think you just described a bard.

[sithlordnergal]

So, from what I can tell the type of Pacifist you want to play is one who avoids dealing direct damage/killing people. Thankfully I find there are actually a few ways to do this:

1) Focus purely on battlefield control, illusions, buffs, and enchantments. Your best bet for this would be Diviner or Illusionist Wizard, or a Lore Bard. Personally, I would go for the Lore Bard. Focus your spells on battlefield control, debuffs, and buffs, and use your Cutting Words to defend as many allies as possible.

I made a Lore Bard who was mostly incapable of doing damage due to the Bard's restrictive spell list. Yet I was able to contribute plenty through the use of cutting words, healing word, and several buff, debuff, and mind controlling spells.

2) If you don't mind getting your hands a bit dirty, you could do what my current character is doing. So far in my game of Dragon Heist, my Rogue/Fighter has killed only one person. And that was a fluke. Outside of that, he has done nothing but non-lethal damage. Now, party members may kill them, but my Noble has not.

EDIT: Also, as a Lore Bard you would be the Skill Monkey of the group, which helps to make up for your lack of damage

[PeteNutButter]

The D&D Pacifist: A Guide on how to become "That Guy"

Even RP heavy games are at least ~30% murder. It's D&D. Look at your class, any class. I bet at least 80% of your class's abilities are on how to better murder. Being a pacifist in D&D is like playing a racing game and "not wanting to rush."

1) You can be the guy that tries to avoid fights if at all possible, but then still contributes when it breaks out.

2) You can sort of be the guy that doesn't want to actively fight, instead using magic to control. But that's an incoherent viewpoint as enabling violence is the same as doing it. If I hold you down while my friend beats you, did I beat you up? Maybe not, but that wouldn't make me pacifist. Also the limits of concentration usually force casters to end up using cantrips to contribute through damage.

3) To maximize the "That Guy" aspect, you can be an NPC, or at least as useless as an NPC. It's like the party is constantly on an escort mission and your PC is the escort. Don't be surprised if your throat gets slit in your sleep...

The first option is really the only practical way of doing this.

[Gryndle]

beyond mechanics, I strongly advise talking to the DM and the other players in depth before playing a pacifist character. I can honestly say, the most disruptive character concepts I have ever personally witnessed at the table were supposed pacifist characters.

Its the kind of concept that seems like a neat idea, but in practice you are going to cause some party friction unless you are very restrained or everyone at the table is on board with the idea

[awa]

This kind of pseudo pacifist while illogical for a human actually works better than a real pacifist in play. There are a lot of things a player can do to help that is not deal damage.

[redwizard007]

This kind of pseudo pacifist while illogical for a human actually works better than a real pacifist in play. There are a lot of things a player can do to help that is not deal damage.

I concur. In 30 years of gaming, I've seen ytue pacifists fail miserably when tried by inexperienced or inflexible players, or in inappropriate campaigns, but I have the campaign that can pull it off and would like to see if it's managable in 5e from a mechanics standpoint.

My inclination is that I need access to a utility cantrip that is usable in combat but doesn't deal damage, at least not directly. As of this moment, I have not seen such a cantrip and was reaching out to the playground. The "you can't do it because I'm a Timmy that's been playing for 8 whole years and don't have the RP chops to pull it off, so you probably can't either," is just something to tune out while sifting for gold.

Admittedly, I should have given more background on the concept and not used the word "pacifist." Lesson learned.

What I am looking for is a cantrip with the following characteristics;

1. Must be usable in most traditional combat encounters.
2. Must directly help an ally or hinder an enemy.
3. Can not require any attack roll or deal any damage.


Now does anyone have a cantrip that fits my needs?

[Galadhrim]

I think you could pull it off using a diviner wizard. Starting at level 1 you can cast grease, sleep, and tasha's. Level 3 add blindness, hold person, web. Level 5 your options continue to expand with fear, slow, hypnotic pattern.

Deciding how to control the battlefield with your concentration is the most important contribution. You can use minor illusion to distract and separate enemies as your cantrip (obviously dm dependant). You might be a little bit hampered but not terribly by not having damaging cantrips. Maybe you could get a little home brew to drop the damage from Ray of Frost.

Use your portent dice to make sure your debuffs stick to the most important enemy if you rolled low, or to make sure your party members hit if you rolled high.

Focus on obtaining all the rituals you can so that you are useful outside of battle as well.

[Sigreid]

So, in GURPS a few years ago I had a character that the DM was convinced was a pacifist. She wasn't, at least morally. What she was was someone with no combat oriented skills at all, having focused on healing and social skills. She effectively became group leader because of her ruthlessness and efficiency in planning. Even though she never did even 1 point of damage.

[Keravath]

If your character doesn't mind watching folks get slaughtered because he holds them in place then you could probably manage it.

Is the character incapable of directly doing any harm to an opponent? What exactly are the constraints?

In any case, I think the only real element lacking is a cantrip.

There are a lot of spells .. grease, snare, web, blindness, suggestion, charm, hypnotic pattern, counterspell, dispel magic, haste or greater invisibility (cast on someone else), banishment, slow, hold person or monster, faerie fire ...

Having some sort of combat useful cantrip that is not OP but does something useful is the hardest part and would require the DM to help.

Reskin the friends cantrip so that when used in combat it gives the target disadvantage on their next attack. You could scale this up so that at level 5 it would be disadvantage on 2 attacks, 3 at 11 and the entire round at 17. If that is not enough, you could also let the cantrip cause advantage against the target for the next attack due to the distraction effect.

You could similarly reskin vicious mockery by removing the psychic damage component.

Class options would likely be a sorcerer or some sort of bard (lore would work if you like the skill role in the party).

[Ivor_The_Mad]

I think you just described a bard.

oh... yah. good point. but lets say you dont want to use a bard.

[willdaBEAST]

So, in GURPS a few years ago I had a character that the DM was convinced was a pacifist. She wasn't, at least morally. What she was was someone with no combat oriented skills at all, having focused on healing and social skills. She effectively became group leader because of her ruthlessness and efficiency in planning. Even though she never did even 1 point of damage.

That might be another route, despite not really meshing with the character concept. Go full healer/battlefield control. That would easily coexist with never wanting to do direct harm to another creature and give you plenty of things to do with your turn in combat. The cleric side of things could also make the character extremely reverent about the dead, praying or performing a quick ceremony for even the most vicious of enemies.

[nickl_2000]

I concur. In 30 years of gaming, I've seen ytue pacifists fail miserably when tried by inexperienced or inflexible players, or in inappropriate campaigns, but I have the campaign that can pull it off and would like to see if it's managable in 5e from a mechanics standpoint.

My inclination is that I need access to a utility cantrip that is usable in combat but doesn't deal damage, at least not directly. As of this moment, I have not seen such a cantrip and was reaching out to the playground. The "you can't do it because I'm a Timmy that's been playing for 8 whole years and don't have the RP chops to pull it off, so you probably can't either," is just something to tune out while sifting for gold.

Admittedly, I should have given more background on the concept and not used the word "pacifist." Lesson learned.

What I am looking for is a cantrip with the following characteristics;

1. Must be usable in most traditional combat encounters.
2. Must directly help an ally or hinder an enemy.
3. Can not require any attack roll or deal any damage.


Now does anyone have a cantrip that fits my needs?

What about this? It's something I created awhile back.

Blade Ward (replacement)
Abjuration cantrip

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V S
Duration: 1 round
Until the end of your next turn, the target of the spell has resistance against bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage dealt by weapon attacks.

Level 5 Any damage resisted this way is reflected back on the attacker, Level 11 you reflect resisted damage + caster mod, level 16 you reflect 2x resisted damage + caster mod.

[redwizard007]

What about this? It's something I created awhile back.

Blade Ward (replacement)
Abjuration cantrip

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V S
Duration: 1 round
Until the end of your next turn, the target of the spell has resistance against bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage dealt by weapon attacks.

Level 5 Any damage resisted this way is reflected back on the attacker, Level 11 you reflect resisted damage + caster mod, level 16 you reflect 2x resisted damage + caster mod.

I could work with that. It doesn't fit perfectly, but... No wait, it does work pretty well. I almost missed that the target could be other than the caster.

[nickl_2000]

I could work with that. It doesn't fit perfectly, but... No wait, it does work pretty well. I almost missed that the target could be other than the caster.

My original version of it was caster based. I modified it slightly to be touch instead since that was a requirement of yours. Obviously it's homebrew, but it's pretty fitting of the character, and slightly dangerous since you have to be within 5 feet of the person to give them the ability.

[Sigreid]

@OP out of curiosity, how do you see the character's attitude with regard to undead, constructs and outsiders?

[Ganymede]

So, in what way is facilitating the killing of people pacifist?

That reminds me of the old notion that "1e clerics have to use bludgeoning weapons because they are forbidden from shedding blood." It's like the devout discovered that internal bleeding was a loophole in the no shedding blood rule.

[Sigreid]

That reminds me of the old notion that "1e clerics have to use bludgeoning weapons because they are forbidden from shedding blood." It's like the devout discovered that internal bleeding was a loophole in the no shedding blood rule.

Yeah, I remember that. I can also attest that blunt weapons can shed plenty of blood IRL.

[redwizard007]

@OP out of curiosity, how do you see the character's attitude with regard to undead, constructs and outsiders?

This particular character wouldn't see a difference between living and unliving targets. He'd probably be catatonic after playing Duck Hunt. The issue would be violence rather than causing harm. Thus he is still capable of casting Hold Person and letting the target be slaughtered by an ally, but not using a baseball bat to smash a TV.

[Ganymede]

This particular character wouldn't see a difference between living and unliving targets. He'd probably be catatonic after playing Duck Hunt. The issue would be violence rather than causing harm. Thus he is still capable of casting Hold Person and letting the target be slaughtered by an ally, but not using a baseball bat to smash a TV.

He sounds less like a pacifist and more like someone that can't handle stress/excitement.

[Citan]

After doing a little digging, there just don't seem to be enough ways to contribute on a round by round basis. I'll talk to the DM about a possible new cantrip debuff or area denial, but without a useful cantrip I don't think I'd have enough spell slots to pull this off without being a burden to the party.
I'll respectfully 100% disagree with you.
So you can't do anything directly harmful? Hey, what a big deal... Or not.
Either play a Redemption Paladin if you like the kewl "eat that damage you dealt" ability and the "I'll take that (hurt) for you thanks" one.
That you would multiclass with a Lore Bard or Glamour Bard later, for at least 5 levels for short-rest based Inspiration.

Or go for the Long Death Monk way, spamming Fear as an action while you take hits for other, with possible multiclass into Trickster Cleric for distant spare the dying, or Shepherd Druid for conjurations.

So you think you cannot do anything meaningful just because you can't hit things or cast harmful spells? My poor friend, open your mind to the amaziness of being a full-blown character. :)
You can...

1. Take hurt for others (
- indirect way: Protection FS, Warding Bond spell, Redemption Paladin ability and I probably forget quite a few more)
- direct way: Cunning Action to Dash in the melee, Dodging harm, unless maybe you went all Sanctuary then use Command "Flee" or "Stop" (Glamour Bard's 6th ability is great for that, but only once per long rest).

2. Protect others: buff them (Haste, Greater Invisibility, Warding Bond, Bless, Shield of Faith, Magic Weapon, Elemental Weapon etc), prevent enemies from attacking them (sound: Silence, movement: Plant Growth, view: Fog Cloud, both: Wall of Fire, Insect Plague, etc -thinking here, obviously that you cast them in a way that you hurt nobody in the cast, after that it up to each creature's responsibility, right? Or would even that be forbidden?).

3. Heal others: Inspiring Leader, Healing Words, Healing Spirit, Aura of Vitality, Life Goodberries, some other class features, etc...

4. Help others directly or indirectly: Bardic Inspiration, Enhance Ability / Bless spell, Pass Without Trace, Polymorph, Conjuring creatures, using objects etc...

Seriously, you can *perfectly* be a first-grade party contributor in 90% of fights. As long as your character is fine with seeing friends of him hurt others.
Otherwise, it can still be done but it becomes a nice challenge (basically you'd want to be a caster that can spam contrition spells such as Command, Fear or Hypnotic Pattern or Mass Suggestion to keep everyone, included your own party, in a pacifist mood. Could be real fun, but how long before your own "friends" kill you? XD).


Why would someone who is a 100% pacifist go on adventures.

Adventures imply conflicts.
Wow. Impressive bully spirit display here.
Are you aware that conflict =/= violence? If not, it's really due time you learn. You know... For your own good in real life. XD

Seriously, yeah, sure, if you make a party completely geared about fighting, chances are that adventure will be all about killing things.
But normally, party and DM all work around exploiting the three pillars.
Exploration = chances to perceive ways to circumvent or even completely skip a potential "conflict".
Social = chances to disarm or resolve the conflict through a non-physical harmful way (one could argue that some negocations are extremely harmful still, but on the wallet or pride instead. Whether that is worse or better is another debate XD).


The D&D Pacifist: A Guide on how to become "That Guy"

Even RP heavy games are at least ~30% murder. It's D&D. Look at your class, any class. I bet at least 80% of your class's abilities are on how to better murder. Being a pacifist in D&D is like playing a racing game and "not wanting to rush."

This also is so wrong of an assertion I wonder if we play the same game.
Seriously.
Let's put out the obvious (even though you can perfectly decide to *never* kill on melee weapon attack):
Barbarian is indeed about hitting harder than ever.
Rogue has only one ability that is really dedicated to combat, but it's kinda one of the two reasons anyone would pick a Rogue (the other being usually skills from what I read around here).
Fighter? You could spend your life Shoving and Grappling, and some archetypes also give other non-harmful tools (Battlemaster, Purple Dragon, Eldricht Knight). And in a game with feats, you could have fun without ever drawing a weapon.
Without feats though, I agree it would feel like a waste for most people, so let's put it into the "born killers" category.

Now for the mixers.
Paladin? He is Death (with Divine Smite), but also Life (with Lay on Hands). He could perfectly smack down a guy straight then use Lay on Hands to stabilize/revive him once victory is owned. He also has many more tools built-in thanks to spells to make soft control or heal, although he is kinda lacking in spell slots.

Ranger? A third of his spells are direct offense, the rest is a mix of utility, control and heal. And he boasts an impressive set of tracking/exploration skills which sadly not many care about because they play bullies' game "dungeon! Kill! Next dungeon! Kill! Next..."

Monk? Class is all about knowing oneself, being a striker with bare hand (so fist vs palm) and having a way to Stun someone. That class screams soft control. :)

And now for all the ones that completely prove against your point.
Wizard, Cleric, Druid, Bard, Sorcerer. ALL of these can be played without EVER casting a harmful spell. Would they be useless? I don't think so: getting information, providing for party, controlling threats, they have so many ways to be useful that I'll bet if you ask 10 people around here how to build a "not ever one harm" character you'd get 10 really different builds.

[redwizard007]

I'll respectfully 100% disagree with you.
So you can't do anything directly harmful? Hey, what a big deal... Or not.
Either play a Redemption Paladin if you like the kewl "eat that damage you dealt" ability and the "I'll take that (hurt) for you thanks" one.
That you would multiclass with a Lore Bard or Glamour Bard later, for at least 5 levels for short-rest based Inspiration.

Or go for the Long Death Monk way, spamming Fear as an action while you take hits for other, with possible multiclass into Trickster Cleric for distant spare the dying, or Shepherd Druid for conjurations.

So you think you cannot do anything meaningful just because you can't hit things or cast harmful spells? My poor friend, open your mind to the amaziness of being a full-blown character. :)
You can...

1. Take hurt for others (
- indirect way: Protection FS, Warding Bond spell, Redemption Paladin ability and I probably forget quite a few more)
- direct way: Cunning Action to Dash in the melee, Dodging harm, unless maybe you went all Sanctuary then use Command "Flee" or "Stop" (Glamour Bard's 6th ability is great for that, but only once per long rest).

2. Protect others: buff them (Haste, Greater Invisibility, Warding Bond, Bless, Shield of Faith, Magic Weapon, Elemental Weapon etc), prevent enemies from attacking them (sound: Silence, movement: Plant Growth, view: Fog Cloud, both: Wall of Fire, Insect Plague, etc -thinking here, obviously that you cast them in a way that you hurt nobody in the cast, after that it up to each creature's responsibility, right? Or would even that be forbidden?).

3. Heal others: Inspiring Leader, Healing Words, Healing Spirit, Aura of Vitality, Life Goodberries, some other class features, etc...

4. Help others directly or indirectly: Bardic Inspiration, Enhance Ability / Bless spell, Pass Without Trace, Polymorph, Conjuring creatures, using objects etc...

Seriously, you can *perfectly* be a first-grade party contributor in 90% of fights. As long as your character is fine with seeing friends of him hurt others.


Yep. Those are great options down the road. I'm looking for something that works from level one without nerfing half the character class and fits thematically. Any help with that Cantrip I asked about?

[Asmotherion]

Play an Illusionist Wizard or Bard. Use the right spells, and you won't be directly harming anyone. Even Vicious Mockery is to some extend, just a Vicious Mockery (That happens to harm one's psyche, but irrelevant).

A good rule of thumb would be, do your thing, just be sure that your thing does not get in the way of the rest of the party's fun (For example, they'll have to effectivelly carry your weight). Refluff your thing so that it is fun for everyone.

An other example on this is how this also holds true on playing an Evil PC in a good Party, without killing the mood for everyone.

[Callak_Remier]

Redemption Paladin from Xanathars guide. Ask for party permission 1st

[StorytellerHero]

As has been suggested on this thread, illusion magic can be very useful for building a pacifist PC.

The current variety of illusion spells in the WotC books can be a bit lacking, so if the campaign is open to third party supplements, this might help you: The Prestige, a book of over a hundred illusion spells that I wrote for Dungeon Masters Guild. There are plenty of spells in it that can be used for support or survival without resorting to violence.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/235311/THE-PRESTIGE-Spells-of-Illusion-5e

[Kadesh]

Aren't pacifist PC'scalled NPCs?

[PeteNutButter]

This also is so wrong of an assertion I wonder if we play the same game.
Seriously.
Let's put out the obvious (even though you can perfectly decide to *never* kill on melee weapon attack):
Barbarian is indeed about hitting harder than ever.
Rogue has only one ability that is really dedicated to combat, but it's kinda one of the two reasons anyone would pick a Rogue (the other being usually skills from what I read around here).
Fighter? You could spend your life Shoving and Grappling, and some archetypes also give other non-harmful tools (Battlemaster, Purple Dragon, Eldricht Knight). And in a game with feats, you could have fun without ever drawing a weapon.
Without feats though, I agree it would feel like a waste for most people, so let's put it into the "born killers" category.

Now for the mixers.
Paladin? He is Death (with Divine Smite), but also Life (with Lay on Hands). He could perfectly smack down a guy straight then use Lay on Hands to stabilize/revive him once victory is owned. He also has many more tools built-in thanks to spells to make soft control or heal, although he is kinda lacking in spell slots.

Ranger? A third of his spells are direct offense, the rest is a mix of utility, control and heal. And he boasts an impressive set of tracking/exploration skills which sadly not many care about because they play bullies' game "dungeon! Kill! Next dungeon! Kill! Next..."

Monk? Class is all about knowing oneself, being a striker with bare hand (so fist vs palm) and having a way to Stun someone. That class screams soft control. :)

And now for all the ones that completely prove against your point.
Wizard, Cleric, Druid, Bard, Sorcerer. ALL of these can be played without EVER casting a harmful spell. Would they be useless? I don't think so: getting information, providing for party, controlling threats, they have so many ways to be useful that I'll bet if you ask 10 people around here how to build a "not ever one harm" character you'd get 10 really different builds.

I exaggerate by saying murder. My point is the game rules are about fighting.

Even so, since the point of combat is usually to kill (unless the whole party is on board to be nonlethal), even the healing abilities are just enabling you or your teammates' killing. Every PC is probably guilty of committing conspiracy to murder, even if all they did is heal. :smalltongue:

It's pretty difficult to design a character that has something to do every round that isn't violence. All those fancy spells you mentioned, well most of those are concentration. Meaning that you'll be forced to do something non-concentration, which is usually cantrip attack/save spells. In other words, damage, in other other words contributing.

[Theodoxus]

After your further clarification, I'm very confused.

Your character can't attack someone, even psychically via Vicious Mockery, yet has no problem with 1) other people's violence and 2) having violence be done on them? I call BS.

Pacifism I can understand, but getting physically ill from "doing harm" while you're perfectly hunky dory with everyone else doing harm around (and to) you? Not a chance.

Honestly, the cantrip you seek is Vicious Mockery. Play it up as you're giving your victim the same mental headache you're giving yourself - though there literally is no indication of actual trauma - if you think there is, that's on you...

Of course, this also goes right back to "HP as Meat"; there's not a lot of proof in the game rules that hitting someone with a weapon does any actual damage in a real world kind of way. It's really no different than cartoon or video game blood, and just as ephemeral. Yeah, that breaks verisimilitude and your character in world wouldn't realize that... but he's just a Matrix battery any way.

If you're insisting on a useful cantrip or two that literally does no damage (despite VM having no obvious damage) - Mold Earth to create ramparts and difficult terrain for your enemies will help your party. And Gust, to push enemies around the battlefield will as well. But how you get over the cognitive dissidence that violence is happening around you that you witness, is beyond me.

[redwizard007]

After your further clarification, I'm very confused.

Your character can't attack someone, even psychically via Vicious Mockery, yet has no problem with 1) other people's violence and 2) having violence be done on them? I call BS.

Pacifism I can understand, but getting physically ill from "doing harm" while you're perfectly hunky dory with everyone else doing harm around (and to) you? Not a chance.

Honestly, the cantrip you seek is Vicious Mockery. Play it up as you're giving your victim the same mental headache you're giving yourself - though there literally is no indication of actual trauma - if you think there is, that's on you...

Of course, this also goes right back to "HP as Meat"; there's not a lot of proof in the game rules that hitting someone with a weapon does any actual damage in a real world kind of way. It's really no different than cartoon or video game blood, and just as ephemeral. Yeah, that breaks verisimilitude and your character in world wouldn't realize that... but he's just a Matrix battery any way.

If you're insisting on a useful cantrip or two that literally does no damage (despite VM having no obvious damage) - Mold Earth to create ramparts and difficult terrain for your enemies will help your party. And Gust, to push enemies around the battlefield will as well. But how you get over the cognitive dissidence that violence is happening around you that you witness, is beyond me.

Confusion noted. Welcome to playing races with a truly alien outlook. Its a beast to wrap my head around this guy, but if I can pull it off mechanically it will be epic.

I think I'm going to talk to the DM about a few custom cantrips that apply status affects or bonuses. If everything comes together, I'll post the final concept here.

[Citan]

I exaggerate by saying murder. My point is the game rules are about fighting.

Even so, since the point of combat is usually to kill (unless the whole party is on board to be nonlethal), even the healing abilities are just enabling you or your teammates' killing. Every PC is probably guilty of committing conspiracy to murder, even if all they did is heal. :smalltongue:

It's pretty difficult to design a character that has something to do every round that isn't violence. All those fancy spells you mentioned, well most of those are concentration. Meaning that you'll be forced to do something non-concentration, which is usually cantrip attack/save spells. In other words, damage, in other other words contributing.
Honestly, even with that I mostly disagree.
Minor Illusion, Resistance, Guidance, Mold Earth, Shape Water, Prestidigitation, Thaumaturgy, Mage Hand can all be used to contribute in fight, although often a DM will legitimately require a successful check of some sort.
For example:
- Mage Hand picking up a focus or weapon (probably successful plain Dexterity, or maybe Intelligence, check -since only Arcane Trickster can be proficient "through" the Mage Hand).
- Thaumaturgy creating a voice "from behind" to distract enemy (possibly with a Deception check depending on what sound/word you choose and other things).
- Minor Illusion to so many effects (mask a heavy wound to make an ally appear as fresh as in the morning, dissimulate yourself behind a tree among others, try and convince enemy that you already got their precious item and are ready to crush it, things like that. All extremely YMMV obviously).
- Shape Water to create small, but large enough platforms for a Rogue or Monk to jump onto and cross water plans.
- Mold Earth to give your Ranger friend a small platform to jump onto on its turn to overcome friendly cover.
- Resistance to help a friend suffer less damage against a probably oncoming AOE, while yourself get cover thanks to him.
- Guidance otherwise as the "default" action.
Etc etc...
Just those are enough as long as you play with a minimum open-minded DM, even if of course sometimes you may end in lengthy debates (especially at the beginning) on whether and why allow or deny some interaction.

With a reasonable DM (I mean, mechanically you're diminishing yourself so no reason to refuse except because of vision of how magic works), you could also perfectly use Vicious Mockery and Thorns Whip (and possibly Ray of Frost) to just apply the debuff/movement effect but without any damage.

You could also use objects: the medicine kit to keep someone alive, oil flasks to try and make an enemy drop prone, or throw a net.
You could also use your Nature/Religion/Arcana proficiency to check whether you identify creatures you encounter for the first time, and remember about its fortes and weaknesses (instead of metagaming like sadly many people do).
Or you could Help another with whatever kind of check or attack he's making.
Or you could be tasked to stay a little back and be a communication/supply relay.
Or you could use Ring of Spell Storing to cast concentration spells for others.
Or simply place yourself between friends and enemies and get hurt for them.

Or you could use spells like False Life, Death Ward, Warding Bond and others to buff and keep your friends alive.
There are far enough non-concentration spells to pair with the concentration spells, of low level, that you can be fine using them only several encounters in a row (especially with a Sorcerer or better Sorcerer/Warlock ;)).

There are also the class features, such as Bardic Inspiration, Warlock Patrons (not all are harmful), some Wizard schools, Long Death Monk or 4E Monk, Redemption Paladin, Mastermind Rogue etc.
Wild Shape especially can be extremely helpful without you doing anything else than moving around: serving as a mount for other players, grappling a friend away from harm, shoving someone prone...
And depending on level and DM, you could also try to "half-burrow" a creature, fly and drop smoke/oil bombs or even a fellow Monk... Or spam the stupidly crazy "Mass Unseen Servant" or "Mass Tiny Servants" tactics.

Even the "goal is usually to kill" is oversimplistic. It's good if everyone around you like that and is fine with that. I just find a bit sad that your DM does not seem eager to challenge you.
Because in "real life", parties may have very divergent goals: it could still be to carnage everything of course, but you may also just want to kidnap a VIP and don't care either way about people surrounding (which also means you're not out to kill them), or you may want to try such a display of strength that people surrender instead of fighting to the death...
Or you may face situations in which you are so underpowered that only a smart and risky bet based on "accomplish objective and run the hell away" or "make it so that people didn't even know you were there" is the right way to go.

If you doubt, try by yourself: get two or three friends, grab an infiltration-heavy plot for a one-shot and tell whomever will DM it to clearly indicate that any frontal fight will end in TPK.
You'll see how much gold you can mine from your "character creation skills" when you put yourself in the appropriate mindset. :=)

(Of course the pacing will be reaaaaally different too, but hey, sometimes a chance is nice isn't it? :))

And even the "game is about fighting" is gently denying the existence of two of the three pillars. IMO the game is more about "living a (preferably great) adventure": "how I managed to raise from a simple commoner to the first landlord of the country through pure manipulation and discoveries" seems to me as interesting as "how I killed my fourth Black Dragon, except this time he couldn't do anything".

---
However, I do agree with you that I would find fishy a guy that pretends "pacifist" but actively help people 5 feet away kill others.
So yeah, some kind of party agreement is necessary for it to work without feeling clunky or artificial (or play solo XD).


Confusion noted. Welcome to playing races with a truly alien outlook. Its a beast to wrap my head around this guy, but if I can pull it off mechanically it will be epic.

I think I'm going to talk to the DM about a few custom cantrips that apply status affects or bonuses. If everything comes together, I'll post the final concept here.
Well, could you plz detail what you don't like about using illusion/manipulation cantrips? Is it a fluff problem, or you are not comfortable about how they work?

In that case, I suggest you push my above suggestion to your DM: allow you to use cantrips which can reasonably be fluffed around the concept, without dealing any damage, just the added effect.
Thorns Whip seems easy enough (or rename it Plant Whip). As well as Vicious Mockery.
Ray of Frost should work imo (but I'd understand it's debatable). Shocking Grasp, Infestation and Chill Touch too (if previous is okay).

You could also as others suggest ask the DM for very minor houserules.
Making Blade Ward a Touch spell.
Thunderclap inflicting "deaf" status for a round.
Poison Spray being a higher level cantrip that would inflict poisoned status for a round (hence "higher level": that condition is powerful).

To make it easier to work, DM could either allow you to learn one or two free cantrips at start, or follow normal rules but make "cantrip learning" something possible through some hardship or quest.

[PeteNutButter]

Honestly, even with that I mostly disagree.
Minor Illusion, Resistance, Guidance, Mold Earth, Shape Water, Prestidigitation, Thaumaturgy, Mage Hand can all be used to contribute in fight, although often a DM will legitimately require a successful check of some sort.
For example:
- Mage Hand picking up a focus or weapon (probably successful plain Dexterity, or maybe Intelligence, check -since only Arcane Trickster can be proficient "through" the Mage Hand).
- Thaumaturgy creating a voice "from behind" to distract enemy (possibly with a Deception check depending on what sound/word you choose and other things).
- Minor Illusion to so many effects (mask a heavy wound to make an ally appear as fresh as in the morning, dissimulate yourself behind a tree among others, try and convince enemy that you already got their precious item and are ready to crush it, things like that. All extremely YMMV obviously).
- Shape Water to create small, but large enough platforms for a Rogue or Monk to jump onto and cross water plans.
- Mold Earth to give your Ranger friend a small platform to jump onto on its turn to overcome friendly cover.
- Resistance to help a friend suffer less damage against a probably oncoming AOE, while yourself get cover thanks to him.
- Guidance otherwise as the "default" action.
Etc etc...
Just those are enough as long as you play with a minimum open-minded DM, even if of course sometimes you may end in lengthy debates (especially at the beginning) on whether and why allow or deny some interaction.

With a reasonable DM (I mean, mechanically you're diminishing yourself so no reason to refuse except because of vision of how magic works), you could also perfectly use Vicious Mockery and Thorns Whip (and possibly Ray of Frost) to just apply the debuff/movement effect but without any damage.

You could also use objects: the medicine kit to keep someone alive, oil flasks to try and make an enemy drop prone, or throw a net.
You could also use your Nature/Religion/Arcana proficiency to check whether you identify creatures you encounter for the first time, and remember about its fortes and weaknesses (instead of metagaming like sadly many people do).
Or you could Help another with whatever kind of check or attack he's making.
Or you could be tasked to stay a little back and be a communication/supply relay.
Or you could use Ring of Spell Storing to cast concentration spells for others.
Or simply place yourself between friends and enemies and get hurt for them.

Or you could use spells like False Life, Death Ward, Warding Bond and others to buff and keep your friends alive.
There are far enough non-concentration spells to pair with the concentration spells, of low level, that you can be fine using them only several encounters in a row (especially with a Sorcerer or better Sorcerer/Warlock ;)).

There are also the class features, such as Bardic Inspiration, Warlock Patrons (not all are harmful), some Wizard schools, Long Death Monk or 4E Monk, Redemption Paladin, Mastermind Rogue etc.
Wild Shape especially can be extremely helpful without you doing anything else than moving around: serving as a mount for other players, grappling a friend away from harm, shoving someone prone...
And depending on level and DM, you could also try to "half-burrow" a creature, fly and drop smoke/oil bombs or even a fellow Monk... Or spam the stupidly crazy "Mass Unseen Servant" or "Mass Tiny Servants" tactics.

Even the "goal is usually to kill" is oversimplistic. It's good if everyone around you like that and is fine with that. I just find a bit sad that your DM does not seem eager to challenge you.
Because in "real life", parties may have very divergent goals: it could still be to carnage everything of course, but you may also just want to kidnap a VIP and don't care either way about people surrounding (which also means you're not out to kill them), or you may want to try such a display of strength that people surrender instead of fighting to the death...
Or you may face situations in which you are so underpowered that only a smart and risky bet based on "accomplish objective and run the hell away" or "make it so that people didn't even know you were there" is the right way to go.

If you doubt, try by yourself: get two or three friends, grab an infiltration-heavy plot for a one-shot and tell whomever will DM it to clearly indicate that any frontal fight will end in TPK.
You'll see how much gold you can mine from your "character creation skills" when you put yourself in the appropriate mindset. :=)

(Of course the pacing will be reaaaaally different too, but hey, sometimes a chance is nice isn't it? :))

And even the "game is about fighting" is gently denying the existence of two of the three pillars. IMO the game is more about "living a (preferably great) adventure": "how I managed to raise from a simple commoner to the first landlord of the country through pure manipulation and discoveries" seems to me as interesting as "how I killed my fourth Black Dragon, except this time he couldn't do anything".

---
However, I do agree with you that I would find fishy a guy that pretends "pacifist" but actively help people 5 feet away kill others.
So yeah, some kind of party agreement is necessary for it to work without feeling clunky or artificial (or play solo)...

I specifically said the game rules are about fighting. As in the majority of the rule system is about the combat pillar. This is especially true as 5e took our set DCs for skills and such. Basically 90% of what isn’t fighting is outside the rules or in securely in “DM makes it up” territory.

I’m not discounting the other pillars. I’m thoroughly enjoying playing my rogue/sorc in Dragon Heist, doing all sorts of noncombat things.

I can see by your last point that we aren’t really disagreeing. I’ve seen players try to do this and it is ultimately very frustrating to other PCs. If you don’t have buy in from the group, it’s just going to be disruptive.

There is plenty of cool RP potential. Imagine a sorcerer who felt it was immoral to cast spells. He didn’t choose his magic so he shouldn’t be forced to use it. That’s cool internal conflict that makes sense in a book. At a D&D table it’s just frustrating when your fighter is going down because he is overwhelmed by orcs that the sorcerer could have wiped on round one with a fireball.

On the other hand it could totally work with full party buy-in. Maybe the whole party has silly contrivances to prevent them from doing their job.

The Barbarian is a pious character that feels that getting angry is a sin.

The Bard thinks music is evil ala FootLoose.

The Cleric is doubting his diety.

The Druid is terrified of nature.

The Fighter is your pacifist.

The Paladin is just completely unmotivated and stands for nothing.

The Warlock regrets his deal and doesn’t want to use his magic.

The Wizard was forced into his training and resents his magic.

Sounds like a knock off of a bad comic strip.

[Aridon]

It has been mentioned but ignored on this thread, redemption paladin seems like the class that was designed around being a pacifist. I haven't read the books you all are discussing, but Redemption Pally seems like the best way to make pacifism fit in 5e.

[redwizard007]

I specifically said the game rules are about fighting. As in the majority of the rule system is about the combat pillar. This is especially true as 5e took our set DCs for skills and such. Basically 90% of what isn’t fighting is outside the rules or in securely in “DM makes it up” territory.

I’m not discounting the other pillars. I’m thoroughly enjoying playing my rogue/sorc in Dragon Heist, doing all sorts of noncombat things.

I can see by your last point that we aren’t really disagreeing. I’ve seen players try to do this and it is ultimately very frustrating to other PCs. If you don’t have buy in from the group, it’s just going to be disruptive.

There is plenty of cool RP potential. Imagine a sorcerer who felt it was immoral to cast spells. He didn’t choose his magic so he shouldn’t be forced to use it. That’s cool internal conflict that makes sense in a book. At a D&D table it’s just frustrating when your fighter is going down because he is overwhelmed by orcs that the sorcerer could have wiped on round one with a fireball.

On the other hand it could totally work with full party buy-in. Maybe the whole party has silly contrivances to prevent them from doing their job.

The Barbarian is a pious character that feels that getting angry is a sin.

The Bard thinks music is evil ala FootLoose.

The Cleric is doubting his diety.

The Druid is terrified of nature.

The Fighter is your pacifist.

The Paladin is just completely unmotivated and stands for nothing.

The Warlock regrets his deal and doesn’t want to use his magic.

The Wizard was forced into his training and resents his magic.

Sounds like a knock off of a bad comic strip.

Not sure how much of this is you being dismissive, and how much you are missing.

Are you actually saying that a player that does no damage but allows the rest of the party to be 50% more effective would be useless? This wouldn't be a hide-in-a-corner PC. He would be giving advantage and buffs to allies and disadvantage or conditions to enemies. He just wouldn't be throwing out damage. If I can't pull that off, he doesn't get played.

[Man_Over_Game]

While Redemption Paladin definitely fits with some of its abilities and lore, what other people have said about classes lacking non-violent actions on a turn-by-turn basis is very much applicable to the Redemption Paladin.

All of their abilities either deal damage or help them take damage, and none of them mention using a standard Action.

I would have liked an ability that changed their Divine Smite to something that, instead of dealing damage, rolled the Divine Smite as temporary hitpoints, and if the target takes any offensive actions within the next minute, they lose all of the remaining temporary hit points and they take 3x that value in damage.

So, for example, I could Divine Smite an ally to give them 2d8 (9) temporary hitpoints, until the 1 minute is over, or until the temporary hitpoints are used up. This does effectively remove them from the fight, though.

Or I could use the Divine Smite on an enemy. They gain the 2d8 temporary hit points. If they're attacked, the temporary hitpoints take the hit instead. If they ever attempt to attack within the 1 minute, they immediately lose whatever temporary hitpoints are left, then immediately take roughly 27 damage. Keep in mind, the normal damage from a Divine Smite + attack is roughly 1d10+4+2d8 = 18.

Write the words out so it's effectively the enemy's choice that he breaks the protection, and that the damage inflicted is actually dealt as if the creature did it to itself, and it'd be a solid match.

[MagneticKitty]

I'd go bard or druid with a nature god religion flavor. You summon other creatures to do battle for you. You summon a cloud for your god to smite people. Lots of buffs and debuffs.

Otherwise tranquility monk /redemption paladin. They do violence but only against the violent. They get buffs vs enemies that just killed a peaceful creature. Make all your blows non lethal. The up and revive enemies to 1 hp with lay on hands (tranquil monk has an equivilent)

[kane.84]

Batman is a good example of pacifist character. His arsenal mostly incapacitates opponents. But if he needs to break bone or two, he won't hesitate. Monk is good for that, like MagneticKitty mentioned above.

[KorvinStarmast]

If I hold you down while my friend beats you, did I beat you up? Maybe not, but that wouldn't make me pacifist. It would make you the accomplice. :smallwink:

Mikal covered it.

[PeteNutButter]

Not sure how much of this is you being dismissive, and how much you are missing.

Are you actually saying that a player that does no damage but allows the rest of the party to be 50% more effective would be useless? This wouldn't be a hide-in-a-corner PC. He would be giving advantage and buffs to allies and disadvantage or conditions to enemies. He just wouldn't be throwing out damage. If I can't pull that off, he doesn't get played.

Sorry, probably being overly dismissive. In general I'm not a fan of overly restrictive RP that gimps a character in combat. Without buy-in from the entire party it just always leads to resentment. A melee character can choose to deal nonlethal damage and it doesn't hurt the group. But forcing yourself to never deal damage is a big restriction. It's making your character like half as effective. On one hand it's a cool challenge idea, but I'd encourage you think about how it would make you feel if you were a PC that died because another PC refused to deal damage.


It would make you the accomplice. :smallwink:

Mikal covered it.

Yeah exactly.

[Metamorph]

If I remember correctly in 3.5 there was a prestige class calles medicus. This class was not allowed to harm someone (as I remember).

So it should be possible in dnd to play without harming someone. Go for life cleric, divine soul and some bard levels and do the crazy healer/support build. Alternativly master mind instead of bard. You get nice feats from rogue after all.

[Kadesh]

If I remember correctly in 3.5 there was a prestige class calles medicus. This class was not allowed to harm someone (as I remember).

So it should be possible in dnd to play without harming someone. Go for life cleric, divine soul and some bard levels and do the crazy healer/support build. Alternativly master mind instead of bard. You get nice feats from rogue after all.

It may be a language difference, but there wasn't such a thing by that name. There was a Healer class, which was a budget cleric with a healbot spell list however, and there was a Combat Medic prestige class.

[Metamorph]

It may be a language difference, but there wasn't such a thing by that name. There was a Healer class, which was a budget cleric with a healbot spell list however, and there was a Combat Medic prestige class.

Just asked my old dm about it. You are right. It is not official done by wizards of the coast. It was a prestige class contest winner from dnd gate from 2005/06. But even if this class is homebrew. It worked well in our group.

Sorry for this misunderstanding of mine.

[R.Shackleford]

5e isn’t meant for pacifist gaming, doesn’t work

If an entire group wants to run stealth and sabotage it can work. Do a Metal Gear/Uncharted type game where you can knock creatures out easier with sleep darts, choke holds, or sneak attacks to the back of the head.

5e is actually the best D&D system to homebrew new mechanics.

Talking things out could work in the right campaign.

But what people don't seem to get is that pacifist wouldn't be helping others hurt/kill others. Even doing something like hasting an ally so that ally can slice up a creature wouldn't be a pacifist.

Now you could play a support character rather well. You could play a sabotage character rather well. But it's hard to justify being a pacifist while you're actively helping to murder things.

Now, playing a character who is trying to be a pacifist could be fun in a normal game... Just might make your allies mad.

[Finback]

The closest I can find is the Oath of Redemption, from UA (https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/UAThreeSubclasses.pdf).

"The tenets of the Oath of Redemption hold a paladin to a high standard of peace and justice.
Peace.
Violence is a weapon of last resort. Diplomacy and understanding are the paths to long lasting peace."

[R.Shackleford]

Oh yeah, I forgot about this...

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?568600-Social-Role-Playing-Rules-Talk-Action-(1-0)

Needs some tweaking but technically you could use this to be a pacifist... Talk people till they get so bored that they pass out or run away!

[Vogie]

I'd probably do something like a redemption paladin with a dip in Ancestral Guardian Barbarian. They'd need the Grappler and Shield master feat. I'd view the PC as similar to the Quaker protagonist of the movie Hacksaw Ridge, which was based on the life of an actual combat medic from US history - that is, one who is fine with entering the fray of battle, but will not themselves taking life.

The PC would be all about disarming and avoiding conflict. However, if conflict were to arise, the PC would focus on controlling and limiting the field of battle as much as possible. They'd focus on using Help actions, using their paladin and AG barb features to direct damage to themselves, and using a combination of "attacks" of Grapple and Shield Master Shove actions to trigger their AG feature.


If you are okay with Homebrew, check my sig for the Mutagenic Sorcerer, an support-y archetype that is focused on augmenting allies rather than casting spells specifically. Add that to the normal Sorcerer controlling spells, such as Sleep, Charm Person, hold person, Blind/deafen, Levitate, and so on, it could be what you're looking for.

[robbie374]

A buddy of mine has an ongoing sci-fi campaign and welcomes player assistance with world building. I took a page from the trilogy "A Call to Arms," where many of the species are emotionally incapable of violence, and started up a pacifist race of small reptilian humanoids. In theory, I can attack (with disadvantage due to racial handicap,) but that would break my concept and brand my PC as insane to the rest of his people. What I'm thinking would work is a battle field control or buff/debuff specialist. As long as I don't directly damage anyone, I can contribute and still meet my RP requirements.

Thoughts on build and spell selection for a reskinned 5e space campaign?

I am playing a mostly-pacifist character right now. In my opinion, the best way to handle it is to re-skin your actions as pacifist actions. This way, you can use any race or class and still play it to its full potential, but as a pacifist.

A few things to keep in mind:
- The importance of a spell (say Fireball) is really that it reduces hitpoints of enemies in an area by 8d6, not that it is actually a ball of fire. Fire as a damage type does have resistances, of course.
- Hit points are not strictly physical. How would psychic damage work?
- Furthermore, having half HP doesn't mean a character is 50% worse at fighting. A character with 1 HP is just as effective as one with 100 HP. Ultimately, HP isa measurement of endurance.

So, to pacify a character:
- When you inflict damage by X HP, you instead decrease by X HP your opponent's desire to continue fighting.
- Your "weapon" might be something pleasant. "You massage the monster's shoulders, and it relaxes a little. Roll 1d8 for your "longsword"/massage skills."
- Another: Your weapon is a shortbow (1d6) reskinned as a teddy bear: "You 'attack' with your teddy bear. Roll 1d20. 17 hits! You hug your teddy bear close, staring adorably into your enemy's eyes. He takes 1d6 'damage' as his temper calms ever so slightly, and he loses heart in the battle."
- The lovable barbarian who "rages" with compassion or super bubbly joy or dances entrancingly, can even deal the "killing" blow: "'Please don't hurt us!' you say in a soft, calming voice. Roll 2d6. 12! 'So beautiful! So amazing! I can't do this anymore! I give in!' your enemy cries, dropping to his knees in sorrow, having lost the will to fight."

Spells can easily be re-skinned as well.

Just choose items (that still require the same hands and action economy) and descriptions that fit your character's pacifist ways, and "fight" accordingly.

You would still declare damage, use the same damage types for resistances, etc, as normal, just making it look different.

Incidentally, looking at HP this way makes turning social encounters into combat possible.

[Luccan]

Focusing on other aspects of the game (info gathering, diplomacy, gathering resources, exploration, etc.) is one direction you could go. In combat, I would definitely focus on buffing, protecting, and healing allies. A good buffer is always valuable. It's only a problem if your group insists you can't be at all involved in conflict (not how many real world pacifists work, btw).