What character would you make for this party?

[Rfkannen]

Howdy!

So a campaign I'm going to be is getting prepped, but I am having trouble figuring out what character I want to play mechanically (I have a couple character ideas that could be a bunch of different classes with some changes) so I was wondering what you would pick mechanically

The other members of the party are:

firbolg barbarian, from what I understand they are going to have super low int and charisma and hit things with a heavy stick. The player said they are basically Tarzan, raised by giant apes and all that.


And a rouge. The player wants to keep their character secret so I don't know much about them, but I managed to gather that they "are certainly not going to be the party face" and use a longbow. Weirdly the one thing I know about the character is what city they are from, but I know the main races in that city are high elves, so I'm pretty sure the character is one.

the stats I rolled are 17, 15, 14, 11, 9, 7. I have been given the opportunity to reroll if I don't like them and would like your opinion also on whether or not I should (if we do reroll we have to use the rerolled stats even if they are all 3s)



There is a homebrew elf subrace the dm made that is a mixture between elf and Goliath, I don't know the abilities they get but I know they get a +1 strength. They worship the god of law, war, community, honor, and civilization (the setting has a god for each alignment and this one is the lawful neutral one). I kinda want to play it so if you have an idea that would work for it I'd like to hear it, open to other ideas as well! (Not all my ideas are for that race, the other big idea was I thought it would be fun to play a classic cackling witch type, and I have a couple others, so mainly looking for mechanics that I can fit an idea into, but if you think the mechanics would fit that race I would like to hear it!)

any ideas?

ps. The campaign is going to be a sandbox, and our gm said that pillar wise it will be up to us whether we want to talk to things or kill them, but there is going to be a lot of exploration into hostile environments

[Jophiel]

I'd play a standard human to smooth all those odd numbers and lean towards Light cleric to heal the two melee characters and still hit things or blow stuff up.

With the +1's, that's
18 Wisdom
16 Constitution
15 Strength (your one odd number but 15 is min for Plate so still a good stat)
12 Charisma
10 Intelligence
8 Dexterity

Lore Bard as mentioned below is also a good choice. I've personally been playing a lot of Charisma based characters so mentally went for something else.

[Orc_Lord]

I would play a Lore Bard with expertise in Stealth.

Buff your barbarian and rogue. Heal. Sneak around with them. Perhaps give them a mastermind kind of vibe where you consider the other two your minions.

Also stab the rogue in his sleep, he is about to steal all your stuff.

[DeTess]

I'd keep those stats. You generally only need 3 good rolls unless you want to build something really odd. I think in this party you can play basically anything, but if you want to fill in a missing niche I'd grab Bard for magical support and talking to people.

[KorvinStarmast]

I'd keep those stats. You generally only need 3 good rolls unless you want to build something really odd. I think in this party you can play basically anything, but if you want to fill in a missing niche I'd grab Bard for magical support and talking to people. If you have access to the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, take Arcana Domain Cleric.
Hill Dwarf:
S 15 D 11 C 16 I 10 W 18 Ch 7

If not, then I suggest XGtE Shadow Sorcerer, pure human, or Lore Bard, Half Elf.

Human Shadow Sorcerer stats line up:
S 8 Dx 16, Con 14, INT 10 Wis 12 Cha 18.

Lore Bard, Half Elf.
S 8 Dx 16, Con 14 INT 9 Wis 11 Cha 19.

Your party needs a spell caster.
High Elf Wizard, with those stats, can be pretty darned good.

S 9 Dx 17 C 14 I 18 Wis 11 Ch 7
If you have Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Bladeslinger leaps right off the page on this one.

Have fun! :smallsmile:

[Man_Over_Game]

Personally, I try to track all the things that are missing and fill them in:

They are missing:
A Face
A Healer
A Caster
An "off tank" (not necessary if the Rogue is planning on being in melee)

Because of this, I'd recommend being either a Lore Bard (if the Rogue is in melee) or a Valor Bard (if the Rogue is being an archer). This will fit pretty much most of the blank spots in your lineup.

[Ventruenox]

What about a Divine Soul Sorcerer? Stats line up for party face skills, access to Divine and Arcane full caster power at the ready, and certain Metamagics synergize well with both your party members.

[CTurbo]

Howdy!

So a campaign I'm going to be is getting prepped, but I am having trouble figuring out what character I want to play mechanically (I have a couple character ideas that could be a bunch of different classes with some changes) so I was wondering what you would pick mechanically

The other members of the party are:

firbolg barbarian, from what I understand they are going to have super low int and charisma and hit things with a heavy stick. The player said they are basically Tarzan, raised by giant apes and all that.


And a rouge. The player wants to keep their character secret so I don't know much about them, but I managed to gather that they "are certainly not going to be the party face" and use a longbow. Weirdly the one thing I know about the character is what city they are from, but I know the main races in that city are high elves, so I'm pretty sure the character is one.

the stats I rolled are 17, 15, 14, 11, 9, 7. I have been given the opportunity to reroll if I don't like them and would like your opinion also on whether or not I should (if we do reroll we have to use the rerolled stats even if they are all 3s)



There is a homebrew elf subrace the dm made that is a mixture between elf and Goliath, I don't know the abilities they get but I know they get a +1 strength. They worship the god of law, war, community, honor, and civilization (the setting has a god for each alignment and this one is the lawful neutral one). I kinda want to play it so if you have an idea that would work for it I'd like to hear it, open to other ideas as well! (Not all my ideas are for that race, the other big idea was I thought it would be fun to play a classic cackling witch type, and I have a couple others, so mainly looking for mechanics that I can fit an idea into, but if you think the mechanics would fit that race I would like to hear it!)

any ideas?

ps. The campaign is going to be a sandbox, and our gm said that pillar wise it will be up to us whether we want to talk to things or kill them, but there is going to be a lot of exploration into hostile environments


Half-Elf Paladin with 18 Str, 16 Con, and 16 Cha. Choose whichever Oath you are most interested in.

[Vogie]

Since there's so much you don't know, Druid is the best choice, especially if you're going in blind at level 1. You can then become a support character via Shepherd, healer via Dreams, Controller via Land, or a little bit of everything via Moon.

[SleepIncarnate]

Bard. You have access to a ton of spells (especially if you go lore), which enables you to be both the healer and controller for combat. You've also got song of healing for out of combat healing. With your high charisma, you'll be a natural choice for the face. Since the rogue isn't going to be a face, you could then pop the social skills as your choices of expertise. At high levels, this can be awesome and obscene, in a good way. Deception with expertise in it becomes basically the "Alter Reality" cantrip, as you could end up with up to a +17 to all deception rolls.

Since you're starting at level 1, you can give it a couple levels to get the feel of your other party members before picking your college, and going for glamour (control), lore (skills/caster), or valor (off tank) depending on which way you feel the party needs most.

I'd also recommend taking a single level of sorcerer at level 2 for the cantrips. Your best origin choices for just the single level are likely either divine soul (for access to the cleric list for heals) or storm (for better battlefield mobility). Booming blade is a great cantrip for you to pick up if you do lean toward valor bard as an off tank.

As for race, half elf or tiefling are both great, iconic choices. I lean a bit more toward tiefling (especially the dispater or glasya subtypes from MotF), as the extra cantrip and spells are great, and the extra proficiencies from half elf aren't as beneficial for bards considering that you have jack of all trades.

[MrStabby]

I am going to explicitly suggest Not Bard.

Or at least don't build a social character. Two players in your group have explicitly rejected wanting to play the social side of the game, spending a lot of time on a pillar of the game they cannot join in on is probably not going to appeal to the table.

I would suggest Wizard - they can fill just about any gaps you need with the right spells: animated objects can tank, polymorph buffs, banishment controlls, fireball manages crowds... and the general utility and ritual spells should help you solve out of combat problems.

[SleepIncarnate]

I am going to explicitly suggest Not Bard.

Or at least don't build a social character. Two players in your group have explicitly rejected wanting to play the social side of the game, spending a lot of time on a pillar of the game they cannot join in on is probably not going to appeal to the table.

I would suggest Wizard - they can fill just about any gaps you need with the right spells: animated objects can tank, polymorph buffs, banishment controlls, fireball manages crowds... and the general utility and ritual spells should help you solve out of combat problems.

This is all the more reason to play a face. There will be times where the only good solution to a situation is to socialize. Persuading a hermit to give you the thing you need for your quest, intimidating someone to give you information, or lying to a guard to keep from being arrested. A face will enable the party to get through these situations quickly, without resorting to violence.

As for the benefits listed for the wizard, well, almost all of those also apply to bard as well. Swap out the direct damage control of things like fireball for heals (which is something the party needs), and you're pretty well set. And if fireball is really desired, it can be stolen from the wizard or sorcerer lists with magical secrets.

But to be clear, just because the other players have made characters who are not built to be a face does not mean that they're outright rejecting the social aspects of the game, just that it's not the focus of their characters. They may be expecting the OP to fill that role as face.

[Jophiel]

This is all the more reason to play a face. There will be times where the only good solution to a situation is to socialize. Persuading a hermit to give you the thing you need for your quest, intimidating someone to give you information, or lying to a guard to keep from being arrested. A face will enable the party to get through these situations quickly, without resorting to violence.
But, without knowing the DM and his campaigns, you have no idea if this is true. If 95% of your time is spent hacking through jungles or climbing through dungeons ("a lot of exploration into hostile environments") and killing all the critters then you're going to wish you had points in something besides +7 Persuasion and Deception. As long as everyone hasn't dumped Charisma and at least one person takes Persuasion proficiency from a class or background, they could very well be fine on the rare occasions where a hermit comes into the game.

I'm not saying that bard is a bad idea since they're very versatile but this doesn't sound like a campaign where a dedicated face is going to be very important.

[Helldin87]

Divine Soul Sorcerer seems to fill the void! CHA based casting that can heal, deal damage, and of course face well. You won't be tanking but you DO have access to shield and healing to mitigate damage.

Take a V human ritual caster and learn ALL THE RITUALS to further add utility? Two +1s get you to something like this:

STR 7 DEX 14 CON 16 INT 9 WIS 11 CHA 18

take find familiar and detect magic as your starter rituals =D.

Have fun! Ultimately 5e supports really off-the-wall parties.

[RogueJK]

The party has a tank, a ranged attacker, a way to handle scouting and thieving, and two characters set up for doing big damage to single enemies at a time. They currently lack AOE to handle large groups of weaker enemies, a way to control/debuff enemies, a way to heal and buff allies, and a way to handle social situations.

Therefore the party needs a blaster, controller, buffer, healer, and face...


Divine Soul Sorcerer seems to fill the void! CHA based casting that can heal, deal damage, and of course face well.

Bingo. Divine Soul Sorcerer is most likely the best single class to handle all five of the needed areas well.

Something like a Half-Elf with:

STR 7
DEX 15+1
CON 14
INT 9
WIS 11+1
CHA 17+2

A Lore Bard could potentially handle those five areas too, with the right spell choices (especially with Magical Secrets), and a similar stat arrangement as above. They'd be better at the social aspect with Expertise and additional skill choices, but they wouldn't be quite as optimal as the Divine Soul Sorcerer on everything else.


And a Land (Arctic or Mountain) Druid or Light Cleric with a moderate CHA and some social skill proficiency is another fairly good option with the ability to handle all those areas decently well, with Light Cleric being a bit more blast-heavy and Land Druid being a bit more control-heavy.

Something like a Hill Dwarf with:

STR 7
DEX 14
CON 11+2
INT 9
WIS 17+1
CHA 15

[Citan]

Howdy!

So a campaign I'm going to be is getting prepped, but I am having trouble figuring out what character I want to play mechanically (I have a couple character ideas that could be a bunch of different classes with some changes) so I was wondering what you would pick mechanically

The other members of the party are:

firbolg barbarian, from what I understand they are going to have super low int and charisma and hit things with a heavy stick. The player said they are basically Tarzan, raised by giant apes and all that.


And a rouge. The player wants to keep their character secret so I don't know much about them, but I managed to gather that they "are certainly not going to be the party face" and use a longbow. Weirdly the one thing I know about the character is what city they are from, but I know the main races in that city are high elves, so I'm pretty sure the character is one.

the stats I rolled are 17, 15, 14, 11, 9, 7. I have been given the opportunity to reroll if I don't like them and would like your opinion also on whether or not I should (if we do reroll we have to use the rerolled stats even if they are all 3s)



There is a homebrew elf subrace the dm made that is a mixture between elf and Goliath, I don't know the abilities they get but I know they get a +1 strength. They worship the god of law, war, community, honor, and civilization (the setting has a god for each alignment and this one is the lawful neutral one). I kinda want to play it so if you have an idea that would work for it I'd like to hear it, open to other ideas as well! (Not all my ideas are for that race, the other big idea was I thought it would be fun to play a classic cackling witch type, and I have a couple others, so mainly looking for mechanics that I can fit an idea into, but if you think the mechanics would fit that race I would like to hear it!)

any ideas?

ps. The campaign is going to be a sandbox, and our gm said that pillar wise it will be up to us whether we want to talk to things or kill them, but there is going to be a lot of exploration into hostile environments
Hi all!
Sorry no time to read other answers in thread, I'll be quick (well, as far as I can XD).

For such a small group, I see the main approaches.
1. Make the most of this small group in terms of resource.
-> Divine Soul Sorcerer with Twin and Extended (and later Subtle): Extended Aid & Death Ward, Twin Haste/Greater Invisibility, party-wide upcast Invisibility, Enhance Ability, Warding Bond... A dip in Hexblade Warlock would be advised for the sake of homogeneity with your comrades and better resilience.
-> Ranger (any, although Gloomstalker has nice perks, notably Rope Trick): another way to homogeneity: lesser spells, less shenanigans, but great stealth (Pass Without Trace), pretty good healing (Healing Spirits), great versatility (Conjure Animals). A dip in Life Cleric will make it even better, pushing Healing Spirit to insane efficiency and giving a party-wide Bless as 1st level spell.
-> Ancients Paladin: to make the most of it, requires all three of you to stick not too far from one another, or have the Rogue really play hide and seek and tag-team with Barbarian. Will really help against some situations (casters), and can be absolutely gorgeous if Barb goes Wolf or simply makes an habit of using Shove.

2. Be the perfect complement in tryptic close/middle/far (close Barb, middle Rogue, far you) :
-> Shepherd Druid has everything you need in terms of control/buff/etc, but many of its spells rely on environment alteration (notably making difficult terrain). So you need to be sure you can coordinate with your pals, Barbarian especially if you want to use those spells. Don't fret though, with just Pass Without Trace, Healing Spirit, Earth Tremor, Conjure Animals, Polymorph, Sleet Storm, you'll be a great asset. By far the best choice is versatility through spells is your schtick, and also by far the best choice if you need to heavily bump party-wide action economy in emergency (with Conjurations being sensibly tougher).
-> Wizard: Evoker is always solid, although not required if Barb goes Bear and Rogue stays middle, in which case Abjurer, Diviner or Bladesinger would all be good.
-> Bard: Glamour has a very useful alternative effect for Bardic Inspiration, especially synergistic with Barb (permanent half-damage) and Rogue (reaction to halve damage) making those THP last further. Lore Bard has early Magic Secrets and can get some of the best spells of all classes later. Plus you'd be the party face and have some nice rituals (Speak With Animals, Leomund's Tiny Hut).

3. Be as flexible as possible (true gish).
-> Tempest Cleric: one of the most loved on this forum, for good reasons: works equally well in melee and range, can be as deadly as a Fireball user when needed, has also basic but efficient control spells...
-> Hexblade Tome Warlock: relying on either Booming Blade (melee) or Eldricht Blast (range), getting useful spells on short rest that enable nasty tricks (like party-wise, half-day-long Invisibility), provided your DM is playing nice, you can be as good or better as a Druid in support thanks to (potentially) knowing all rituals. Plus a great array of cantrips, and easy possibility to get great at party-facing with some dips (Rogue, Bard) or Invocations/feats.
-> Trickery Cleric: has some of the best bonus spells (Mirror Image, Pass Without Trace, Polymorph), and can be very effective with a creative mind. Otherwise, best built with a dual-classing in any among Rogue (better single target damage), Druid (above reasons + "self-centered" AOE), Monk (martial damage).
-> Knowledge Cleric: can be a bit bland to play, but has the merit of being a full Cleric with short-rest based proficiency in anything you may need. And if you get a bit bored, there are many things to dual-class into: Monk, Fighter, Rogue, Druid, Ranger.
-> Swords or Valor Bard: first archetype is more self-centered, second is more supportive, both hold well in middle lines.
-> Bladesinger Wizard: you'll play more as a classic Wizard or hit & runner at first, but then you can be as "Wizardish" or as "martialish" as you want, all depending on spell use. Mobile is a given feat for him, and a dip in (starting) Fighter, Cleric or Rogue are good options.

TL;DR From what I read in OP, my strongest suggestion would definitely be Druid one head above everyone else (with Ranger close behind especially if you expect to explore more or less the same two/three environments.
a) With your rolled stats, as a Human, you can go 8 STR / 12(16) DEX / 15 CON / 10 INT / 18 WIS / 16(12) CHA
So you can easily be a party face (if *really* need be get Expertise one way or another, but proficiency + 16 CHA + Enhance Ability when needed should be enough).
If you go Moon, you can also live with very crappy stats, DEX included, since you'll swap physical stats. It means you won't open fights as often though.
If you instead go Shepherd, you can easily dip one level into Rogue (one level should not make your Rogue pal feel threatened especially if you pick it later ^^) to get Expertise.

b) Druid gets the most tools to make exploration easier, between direct travel buffs (Pass Without Trace, Longstrider, Water Walking/Breathing), information getters (Speak With Animals/Plant, Commune, etc) and at higher level some of the best ever tools (Transport Through Plants or whatever name was).

c) Druid also gets the best versatility in "have a spell that fits the situation": mobility/visibility control, heal, direct damage, condition, buffs... Wizard has better spells in most categories, but the freedom to select your spells each day among whole dozens is invaluable.

d) Just Conjure spells is a class feature in itself: use animals or elementals as shields, scouts, mounts, builders, merchants, messengers...

[Corran]

3 person party. 1 archer, 1 barbarian, and you. The party is missing control and AoE, but rolling sth squishy in a 3 person party where there is already an archer seems like a bad idea to me. I'd roll a melee character, to help the barbarian with the tanky. Lack of control will be ok as long as the archer can keep their distance (rogue = cunning action, elf = longbow = good range, so not much of a problem), which they can. So, you want a melee tanky character, with... AoE damage. Clerics get spirit guardians. Also clerics get stuff that will be useful for your barbarian. Healing hp is best when done on a barbarian. Removal of effects is great when done on dpr's (both the barbarian and the rogue then).
So yeah, I'd play a cleric (also, it's good to have access to magic that brings back the dead when no one else at the party has access to it, furthermore clerics have a big enough spell list so the utility will be most useful when the other two characters are without any magic).

[Randomthom]

What about a Divine Soul Sorcerer? Stats line up for party face skills, access to Divine and Arcane full caster power at the ready, and certain Metamagics synergize well with both your party members.

This was my thought exactly too.

Make sure to pick up Twinned Spell metamagic at lvl 2 and Haste at lvl 5.

[Mercurias]

I don't know your table, so I could be entirely wrong for suggesting this, but I'd personally run a Life Cleric or a Land Druid.

Life Clerics are sometimes looked upon by players as heal-bots, but in truth what they are is finely-tuned. The majority of your essential healing spells are baked into your character for free, which leaves you open to selecting from a greater variety of other spells on your list. Added to that, your class features boost your healing spells by a great deal so that healing magic doesn't burn through your spell slots like it can with other Clerics and Druids.

A Land Druid has some healing magic to keep your friends alive, but it also has a big boatload of support and some pretty decent attack spells scattered through. Even more useful, Land Druids regain a number of spell slots on a short rest, which can keep you from running out of spell slots so soon. Since you'd be the only caster, that might be important down the line.

[JAL_1138]

Ordinarily, I’d suggest some variation on bard, because bards can work in any party composition reasonably decently with the right college selection, skill selection, spell selection, and feat selection. Perhaps a multiclass into Paladin or Hexblade Warlock. And that would work plenty well, but others have covered most of the bard suggestions so no need for me to retread it. Sorcadin could work nicely too, since they’re melee focused but have some great buffing ability and some ranged, control, and AoE options to go along with it, plus being CHA-primary can fill the part’s social skill gap a little. Some basic healing from Paladin, or more from Divine Soul if you go with that sorcerer subclass. More sorcadin info than I could give is available on the numerous guide threads.

I’ll also suggest Tempest Cleric. They have decent blast-y options thanks to domain spells and being able to take max damage with Channel Divinity, their rebuke feature and heavy armor make them fairly useful in melee, and all clerics get the heals. The downside is you’re not going to have the kind of skill coverage a bard would, or even a charisma caster (or a knowledge-domain cleric). The Guidance cantrip can help a bit there, but not a huge amount.

For Tempest, I’d go Variant Human, because free feat, and make either Int or (alas) Cha your dump stat, take Warcaster as your starting feat so you can start casting immediately with a holy symbol on your shield and a mace in your other hand, and pick up Resilient: Constitution at 4th level. Use a shield along with heavy armor. But if you only take one of those two, take Resilient unless you really, really want to thwack things upside the head with a hammer a lot. Proficiency on all Constitution saves is generally more helpful in the long run than Advantage only on Concentration checks and not worrying about whether you need a hand free for somatic-but-not-material-component spells, but that second part of Warcaster is pretty handy if you pick up a melee cantrip something like Booming Blade via the Magic Initiate feat eventually. Starting out with 18 Wis, 14 or 16 Str, and 14 or 16 Con, you can actually afford three feats pretty well if you want the whole shebang of Resilient, Warcaster, and Magic Initiate pretty well if you want.