Character build help

[Mystical-man]

I am currently going to be playing a character in a next session who is a bit of the old tactician type. The main idea is that he can fight on front lines with melee or ranged weapons just as good as anyone else but use wisdom to do so and he can predict opponent's attacks allowing him to attempt to dodge them, it's a rough idea for now and I would like it if anyone could give feedback. Homebrew is allowed in this session so if you have homebrew subclasses or feats that could really help this feel like what I am trying to create then please say.

Stats for what I have btw (this is including racial bonuses and I am going with variant human so feat choice advice is also very useful)
STR 10
DEX 14
CON 13
INT 14
WIS 18
CHA 14

also these stats can be changed around and the DM allows for the -2 +1 rule for stat rolls

[nickl_2000]

As it is, the only way to make melee attacks with Wisdom is the Shillelagh spell. So, you will need to get that somehow.

Option 1) Nature Cleric 1/Samurai Fighter X, Shillelagh as your Druid Cantrip. You get lots of options for in combat and out as well that can be fluffed as the old tactician type. Fluff Bless and Guidance as the PC giving advice for other on how to hit better and survive better in combat. Samurai have a good feel for the older skilled warrior and utilizes Wisdom for abilities. Drop Charisma or Strength by 2 and get a +1 to Con.

Option 2) Magic Initiate Druid for Magic Stone, Shillelagh, Faiery Fire (or whatever else seems good). Then take whatever else seems fun to you. You can cheese it up with PAM on a Shillelagh staff and get 1d8+Wis and Bonus action 1d4+Wis attack. Samurai would still be good for this build, this is always good with Ranger too. Battlemaster is very flavorful for your ideas, but you would suffer from having a low Dex bonus for your DCs, so be careful what maneuvers you choose.

Option 3) Monk, just straight out monk. Won't be as good, but certainly fits the flavour.



Honestly, I thing option 2 gives you good ranged, melee, and lets you choose any class you like and is probably the best choice. Option 1 work for you as well though. Option 3 seems the weakest.

[Bannan_mantis]

As it is, the only way to make melee attacks with Wisdom is the Shillelagh spell. So, you will need to get that somehow.


well not entirely, in official then yes but the OP stated homebrew was allowed so you could make wisdom melee attacks in other ways. Maybe a feat that allows the use of WIS instead of STR/DEX could work and if it's just using WIS instead of STR/DEX then you could make it a half feat, also for classes that would work for wisdom front liners here are some listed

Fighter/Samurai or Fighter/Champion, Samurai would work better theme wise in my opinion for what you might be looking for but champion fighter could also work from it only increasing damage output and weapon capability but remarkable athlete and survivor might not work with the theme of a old warrior

Warlock/Hexblade, if your DM allows to change out and use WIS instead of CHA for spell casting then this could work quite well, armour of hexes could be you predicting their attacks and Hexblade's curse could simply be you reading their movements and predicting what they might do next

Cleric, cleric is more of a maybe as they typically rely on some amount of strength but not all of them do so cleric could be a good choice, mainly war domain and forge domain for their excellent frontline abilities

Monk?, Monk is gunna be weird since your gunna need more DEX so if you wanna play a monk then find a way to change the reliance on DEX a bit wether it be through tweaking or changed but your DM might not be super okay with that. For subclasses way of long death and way of four elementals don't specifically require DEX (at least I think they don't) so they could be good choices.

Mystic, Soul knife could work for this if your DM allows the mystic class, they have a lot of neat abilities and if you are gunna play one then change WIS and INT around (quite note though, mystics are very complicated so you should only choose it if you feel your up to the challenge of playing one)

[Vogie]

Since you allow Homebrew, then UA is certainly available. Order Cleric looks like it's your go-getter.

However, since you are likely not trying to be heavily armored, I would mix in 7 levels of Kensai monk. That allows you to have a longbow with scaling monk damage, plus extra damage via Kensai's shot, and your occasional crit can be greatly increased via Deft Strike. In addition, you be rocking unarmored defense, have Evasion, and you can boost your AC with Agile Parry.

The eventual build will be Kensai Monk 7 / Order Cleric 13


If you want a bit more RAW crunchiness, you can instead pull an Inquisitive Rogue / Battlemaster Fighter blend. You'll probably end up with something like Rogue 13 / BM 7 for a total of 5 maneuvers and 5 Superiority die (up to 7 maneuvers & 6 die with the Martial Adept feat), and using your Insightful Fighting and high Wisdom to augment your relatively small regular damage with inflated sneak attack die.

[Man_Over_Game]

The most synergistic option that I've looked into that matches what you're looking for would be a Four Elements Monk with Magic Initiate (Druid) for Shillelagh. Other options result in you losing out on a lot of power in AC and damage.

The main thing that this provides is some extremely high saving throw opportunities with Stunning Strike and your Elemental abilities (most of which use saving throws, which is based off of Wisdom). Since you get extra attacks, you can better use Magic Stone for some excellent 60 foot ranged attacks (just keep in mind, ranged weapons aren't eligible Monk weapons without Kensei).

You'd effectively be a wise sage, capable of manipulating entire battlefields with your whim. There are plenty of homebrew options that you could look into, though, but I tend to avoid those.

If you don't mind a bit of a lack of synergy, Cleric has a lot of options available, but you will need some Strength to provide the decent armor you'd probably prefer.
Nature would mean you don't even need to spend a feat, so every race is available.
War would make you a frontline soldier first, but you do eventually gain ways to assist your allies on a grand scale in combat.
Trickster has a lot of support options for your allies while providing you advantage on your attacks.
Arcane Cleric could be used for having a decent number of utility effects, and you could combine Green Flame Blade with Shillelagh for some decent Wisdom-based combat.
Forge has plenty of ways to assist allies while staying in the midst of combat, but doesn't have many ways of actually manipulating the battlefield.
Tempest, while focused on elemental damage, can do a lot with pushing enemies or using things like Fog Cloud, Thunderwave, and Sleet Storm to control the field.

[strangebloke]

I am currently going to be playing a character in a next session who is a bit of the old tactician type. The main idea is that he can fight on front lines with melee or ranged weapons just as good as anyone else but use wisdom to do so and he can predict opponent's attacks allowing him to attempt to dodge them, it's a rough idea for now and I would like it if anyone could give feedback. Homebrew is allowed in this session so if you have homebrew subclasses or feats that could really help this feel like what I am trying to create then please say.

Stats for what I have btw (this is including racial bonuses and I am going with variant human so feat choice advice is also very useful)
STR 10
DEX 14
CON 13
INT 14
WIS 18
CHA 14

also these stats can be changed around and the DM allows for the -2 +1 rule for stat rolls

I disagree with the idea that you should go for a cleric. Clerics are spellcasters first and foremost and don't really do much in melee past level 4. For your character, I have two major Ideas:

1. The Sword Sage

Wood Elf Kensei

starting stats: 8/16/14/14/20/13 (I switched CON and CHA, subtracted 2 from STR and added 1 to WIS)

Skills: Stealth, Insight, Perception, Acrobatics

Your AC starts out at 18, which makes you the the most robust character in the party. You can continue to be the most robust character if you want, getting an AC of 22 by level 8. You can also dodge as a bonus action. Sounds like a pretty evasive guy! Alternately you can forgo the -2/+1 change I did to your stats and pick up Elven Accuracy at level 4, boosting your WIS up to 20. This option gives you lower AC, but lets you crit more often and hit even heavily armored foes.

Most of the time, you'll be using a mix of martial arts and two-handed longsword strikes. Your damage will be solid, but nothing incredible. You can use your ki to become a full-on striker (flurry of blows, deft strike on a crit) tank (patient defense) or just use step of the wind and run everywhere. This build is very fast, quite stealthy, and pretty darn resilient.

If you want to play into the stealthy angle more, I would recommend Wood Elf Magic. If you want to play up the tactician angle, Inspiring Leader is always a solid pick. I'm particularly a fan of Wood Elf Magic since it lets you pick up a druid cantrip, pass without trace for extreme stealth, and longstrider for insane movement speed. By level six, you can cast longstrider, dash as an action, and then run 200 feet in a single round. If you already had longstrider up you can also attack on that round. That's crazy!

2. The General

Race: Vhuman

starting stats: 8/15+1/14/14/18/13+1 (I switched CON and CHA, subtracted 2 from STR and added 1 to DEX)

starting feat: Magic Initiate(Druid)

Fighting Style: Dueling

Skills: Stealth, Insight, Perception, Acrobatics, Artisans' Tools

So, the reason to go this route is pretty simple. The battlemaster gets maneuvers which play up the tactician angle, and magic initiate lets you attack with your WIS mod. As you level up you can pick up Pole Arm Master. Your damage will be very solid. At level 5 you'll have 2 attacks for 1d8+4+2 = 10.5 damage and one attack for 1d4+4+2 damage. That's assuming, of course, that you don't spend your first ASI on WIS, which you should at least consider. DEX is also a good choice. You could put the +1 from Vhuman into WIS instead of CHA, and then pick up Observant at level 4.

Pretty much any of the maneuvers here are flavorful for a tactician, whether you're goading the enemy, tripping them, or riposting. Very fun and flavorful.