So, okay, I am looking at...

[ZorroGames]

BLUF - without ultra optimization that detracts from RP possibilities, tweaking the character.

Hill Dwarf Draconic Sorcerer (with or without MC) character. Yes, from an earlier thread of unorthodox characters. Survival is a character priority.

For AL games only.

Background Charlatan (why character is not living back in the Dwarf city) and a ‘not Evil’ “Face” role character. Lawful/Neutral alignment.

The current build looks like this:

ST 10 (why being a Mason was not a great career.)
DE 14
CO 14+2
IN 8 (not mathematically inclined)
WI 10+1 (boost with ASI eventually)
CH 15 (boost ASI eventually)

First ASI will be Feat - Tough.

Skills:

Deception
Intimidation
Persuasion
Slight of Hand

False Identity of a traveling freelance merchant working on a contract. Disguise kit. Forgery kit. Weighted dice. Mason Tools proficiency.

Draconic Affinity TBD, leaning Silver.

Talk first, Spells second, LCB and melee as little as possible.



Cantrips

Fire Bolt, Friends, Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp.

Spells

Two of Disguise Self, Magic Missile, Shield or Sleep. Debating which to start with.

Debating two levels of Warlock (Undying Patron) at fifth and Sixth levels.

Suggestions?

[Naanomi]

I’d be inclined to a 9/14/17/8/10/15 stat spread myself, first ASI +1 CHA/+1 CON

[Vexacia]

BLUF - without ultra optimization that detracts from RP possibilities, tweaking the character.

Hill Dwarf Draconic Sorcerer (with or without MC) character. Yes, from an earlier thread of unorthodox characters. Survival is a character priority.

For AL games only.

Background Charlatan (why character is not living back in the Dwarf city) and a ‘not Evil’ “Face” role character. Lawful/Neutral alignment.

The current build looks like this:

ST 10 (why being a Mason was not a great career.)
DE 14
CO 14+2
IN 8 (not mathematically inclined)
WI 10+1 (boost with ASI eventually)
CH 15 (boost ASI eventually)

a dwarven sorcerer, huh? that's neat. I dig it.


First ASI will be Feat - Tough.
don't do this to yourself. just ASI +1 CHA/+1WIS and you'll save yourself so much headache. you'll already have d8-tier health from hill dwarf, and you have 16 CON which is even more health.

the extra health from Tough will not help you that much. you'll be a lot more comfortable with higher charisma skill rolls and a higher spell save DC and than you will with a little bit of extra health.

seriously, waiting until level 16 (!!!) to have a maxed spellcasting stat on a primary spellcaster is an absolute nightmare. and with 3/4 your chosen skills below this being powered by Charisma, your social playstyle would also see far more benefit from taking an ASI instead of Tough.



Skills:

Deception
Intimidation
Persuasion
Slight of Hand

False Identity of a traveling freelance merchant working on a contract. Disguise kit. Forgery kit. Weighted dice. Mason Tools proficiency.

Draconic Affinity TBD, leaning Silver.

Talk first, Spells second, LCB and melee as little as possible.
all fair enough.

for draconic affinity, none of them matter that much. the minmaxed option is brass/gold/red for boosting Firebolt, Scorching Ray, and Fireball, but it really doesn't matter in the end.

Cantrips

Fire Bolt, Friends, Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp.
get minor illusion instead of shocking grasp.

if you need to disengage, use the disengage action which is a sure thing, rather than coinflipping that your cantrip will save you.

alternatively, minor illusion a 5'x5' partial box around you (opaque sides: front/left/right/top) then walk out the back of it. you're a dwarf so you're short enough to do it without crouching.

Spells

Two of Disguise Self, Magic Missile, Shield or Sleep. Debating which to start with.
magic missile's okay. shield's good but your spells known are dire. sleep is good early game but should be replaced towards the end of tier 1/start of tier 2.

disguise self is something only you'd know the value of given your particular campaign circumstances.

Debating two levels of Warlock (Undying Patron) at fifth and Sixth levels.
at least wait until sorcerer 5 before warlock dipping (3rd level spells are very, very powerful), but more likely dip at sorcerer 8+ so you aren't waiting until level 10 to get 18 Charisma (or 16 charisma [eww] if you didn't follow the advice above). twinned spell polymorph at sorcerer 7 is also a pretty gigantic point of power, so you might want it.

and as always, the best warlock patron for both damage and survival is Hexblade - thanks again, Wizards of the Coast, for releasing that abomination. it's really hard to beat medium armor + shields for survival.

if you don't want to or are not allowed to Hexblade, then Undying Patron works as well as any other Patron, considering they all offer you very little.

but I would only Sorlock if damage is your goal from the dip. Sorlock is EXCELLENT for reliable damage - definitely better than monoclass Sorcerer at it - but worse than monoclass Sorcerer at most other things. if you want utility and survival (and you are NOT using Hexblade for armor+shields), you'll be far better off monoclassing Sorcerer. you'll cap CHA faster, you'll get higher level spells sooner, you'll get more Sorcery Points earlier, you know, everything that goes with not multiclassing.

[Corran]

If you end up taking those two warlock levels that you mentioned, then the invocation mask of many faces (unlimited disguise self, which also saves you a spell pick of your limited sorcerer known spells), along with the actor feat (charisma bonus which rounds your starting odd charisma score, while also giving you advantage on some ability checks, but also very importantly allows you to change your voice, which is sth that disguise self does not, and that can be really helpful when you try to impersonate someone) and the cantrip friends, well, this combination (ie mask of many faces invocation + actor feat + cantrip friends) would be very handy for a charlatan, and is one you will probably have fun roleplaying (if that kind of trickery is your thing of course). Tough is an ok feat, but it becomes more useful the later you take it, so an idea could be to delay it somewhat and do something else with your ASI's till then (actor is one good choice, so are generally charisma bumps, or you could just take feats that would be more interesting than a flat bonus to hp).

[djreynolds]

Elemental adept is good for Dragon sorcerer, re-rolling 1s and 2s on a fireball is helpful.

Actor, is helpful.

[Man_Over_Game]

I made a thread of exactly this, making a Hill Dwarf Gish using 1-2 points into Hexblade, going into Draconic Sorcerer.

It took me a while to realize it, but starting into Hexblade actually gets you some major boons. Notably, you get better weapons and armor, as well as some solid melee cantrips. You also start out with a little more gold, so investing in the better armor won't hurt as bad, and you get a Shield. Total, you're rocking about 16 AC at level 1 as a full caster.

Later, if you can invest into Spell Sniper and use a Whip, you'll have a lot of options with Quickened or Twinned spell from Sorcerer with the extended range, or just straight up Eldritch Blast Jump in, lock down two enemies with Booming Blade, and walk back out without any kind of repercussions. If they try and get smart by engaging you afterwards, Arms of Hadar or Thunderwave will remind them just how poor of an idea that is.

While it sounds odd, there's nothing stopping you from drawing and putting away your weapon each round so you can still cast Shield or other spells as needed. If someone's engaged in melee combat with you, they're not likely going to provoke an Opportunity Attack from you (as you're probably their most intended target), so it's not like you need your weapon outside of your turn anyway.

Just food for thought, friend.