black ops party build?

[Jgosse]

I am building a party for a brief campaign and I need the best options for each class for a stealth build.

Party level 5

Example
Shadow monk


I also am looking for ways of gaining stealth proficiency.
I think I have all the backgrounds but not sure about races.

Backgrounds:
Urban Bounty Hunter
Criminal
Urchin

Races:

Thanks for all the help guys.

[Skyblaze]

What level are you planning on playing at?

[Jgosse]

What level are you planning on playing at?

sorry level 5 and updated my post to include that.

[Man_Over_Game]

Barbarian: Totem, can scout and find targets well.
Fighter: Arcane Archer with Skulker, adds ranged control with stealth
Monk: Shadow, for obvious reasons
Paladin: Vengeance? Not a great stealth unit, but a good single target thug.
Ranger: Gloom Stalker, for obvious reasons
Rogue: Assassin, for obvious reasons
Bard: Whispers/Lore, more skills and spells for successes, Whispers can look like others.
Cleric: Trickery, to enhance the group's stealth
Druid: Dreams/Land>Grasslands. Dreams helps your team hide in plain sight for a rest, Grasslands adds a lot of stealth spells
Sorcerer: Shadow, for Super-Darkness
Warlock: Archfey, for teleports and Fear/Charm effects.
Wizard: Illusion/Enchantment, for hiding in plain sight or for silently removing problems.

[Spiritchaser]

You really want someone with pass without trace.

A Druid can bring this, along with a tonne of sneaky squirrel shinanigans that will more than pay for themselves.

[Griswold]

Here are the official races which are of interest to a stealthy game:


Bugbears get proficiency in Stealth
Wood Elf can take Wood Elf Magic feat to get Pass Without Trace 1/long rest
Deep Gnome can take Svirfneblin Magic feat to get Nondetection at will, which is ridiculous. If invisible, they can't be seen with See Invisibility or similar spells.
Goblins can Hide as a bonus action
Half-Elves get 2 skill proficiencies of their choice.
Variant Humans get 1 skill proficiency of their choice.
Kenku get 2 skill profiencies from a list (which includes Stealth)
Tabaxi get free skill proficiency in Stealth
Several Tiefling subraces get Disguise Self 1/long rest.
Aereni Elves get expertise in one skill of their choice.
Mark of Shadow Elves get +1d4 to all Stealth checks, and can hide while observed as a bonus action 1/rest.
Envoy Warforged get 1 skill proficiency of their choice.
Changelings can shapeshift into anyone they've observed, and have advantage to pass themselves off.

[No brains]

Just say "Black ops!" when you do anything like videogamedunkey does. Also have the FFIX soundtrack ready for some reason.

[Jgosse]

Here are the official races which are of interest to a stealthy game:


Bugbears get proficiency in Stealth
Wood Elf can take Wood Elf Magic feat to get Pass Without Trace 1/long rest
Deep Gnome can take Svirfneblin Magic feat to get Nondetection at will, which is ridiculous. If invisible, they can't be seen with See Invisibility or similar spells.
Goblins can Hide as a bonus action
Half-Elves get 2 skill proficiencies of their choice.
Variant Humans get 1 skill proficiency of their choice.
Kenku get 2 skill profiencies from a list (which includes Stealth)
Tabaxi get free skill proficiency in Stealth
Several Tiefling subraces get Disguise Self 1/long rest.
Aereni Elves get expertise in one skill of their choice.
Mark of Shadow Elves get +1d4 to all Stealth checks, and can hide while observed as a bonus action 1/rest.
Envoy Warforged get 1 skill proficiency of their choice.
Changelings can shapeshift into anyone they've observed, and have advantage to pass themselves off.


Awesome thanks.

[Ventruenox]

Additional Races: Bugbear, (Warforged Envoy), (Half-Elf), (vHuman), (Kenku), (Lizardfolk), (Gityhyanki), Cosi Merfolk, (Tajuru Elf), Tabaxi. "(race)" indicates an optional choice.

Classes: A little more tricky to answer. Some classes have abilities that work well with stealth, but may not be an option on the class list. Consult the SRD.

Backgrounds: Doesn't matter. You can always build your own.

If you really want stealth, utilizing buffs via spells, advantage, or inspiration is great. Casting Pass Without Trace is the best option. (Earth Genasi, Trickery Cleric, Druid, Shadow Monk, or Ranger)

[Jgosse]

Barbarian: Totem, can scout and find targets well.
Fighter: Arcane Archer with Skulker, adds ranged control with stealth
Monk: Shadow, for obvious reasons
Paladin: Vengeance? Not a great stealth unit, but a good single target thug.
Ranger: Gloom Stalker, for obvious reasons
Rogue: Assassin, for obvious reasons
Bard: Whispers/Lore, more skills and spells for successes, Whispers can look like others.
Cleric: Trickery, to enhance the group's stealth
Druid: Dreams/Land>Grasslands. Dreams helps your team hide in plain sight for a rest, Grasslands adds a lot of stealth spells
Sorcerer: Shadow, for Super-Darkness
Warlock: Archfey, for teleports and Fear/Charm effects.
Wizard: Illusion/Enchantment, for hiding in plain sight or for silently removing problems.


great thanks

[Rukelnikov]

Barbarian: Totem (choosing appropiate animal totems)
Bard: Any
Cleric: Trickery
Druid: Any (spores a bit less)
Figther: I think EK, not sure though
Monk: Shadow (All work)
Paladin: Ancients? Vengeance? Not really sure
Ranger: Gloom Stalker/Horizon Walker (All work)
Rogue: Thief/Scout (All work)
Sorcerer: Shadow/Divine Soul (All work)
Warlock: GOO/Archfey (All work)
Wizard: Divination/Illusion (All work)

[Agent-KI7KO]

Customising background skills/proficiencies is a core rule, not a variant one. Just pick whatever you like within reason.

Example: A Cloistered Scholar with Stealth and Sleight of Hand is a Librarian who steals books. Take Calligraphy Tool proficiency and you’re a guy who “borrows” books that shouldn’t be borrowed and copies them.

[CTurbo]

I'd go-


Drow Assassin
Wood Elf Shadow Monk
Tabaxi Shadow Sorcerer
Bugbear Eagle Barbarian
Lightfoot Halfling Warlock (any)
Ghostwise Halfling Druid (any)


Every character takes 3-5 levels of Gloom Stalker lol

[KorvinStarmast]

Example: A Cloistered Scholar with Stealth and Sleight of Hand is a Librarian who steals books. Take Calligraphy Tool proficiency and you’re a guy who “borrows” books that shouldn’t be borrowed and copies them. Add a language (exotic) and this background is filled up. :smallwink: (or another tool, maybe thieves tools for getting into the vault of really rare and expensive books?)

[Crushgrip]

Customising background skills/proficiencies is a core rule, not a variant one. Just pick whatever you like within reason.

Example: A Cloistered Scholar with Stealth and Sleight of Hand is a Librarian who steals books. Take Calligraphy Tool proficiency and you’re a guy who “borrows” books that shouldn’t be borrowed and copies them.

This ^. Also, as far as backgrounds go, people always seem to miss the text on page 125 of the PHB which states, "If a character would gain the same proficiency from two different sources, he or she can choose a different proficiency of the same kind (tool or skill) instead." So, if your class and background have the same skill proficiency's, choose whatever you want!

[No brains]

I originally forgot to include something useful in my post, so hopefully this makes up for it.

Wood Elf's Mask of the Wild trait is excellent for black ops because it allows a creature to hide in a spot that creatures would not normally think is a spot where a creature can hide. Through a liberal interpretation, light obscurement from 'natural phenomena' applies to all instances of shadows.

Think carefully about how you want to read this and how you will let players apply it.

[Quoz]

To refocus, these are parts of the toolkit, and you want as many as you can get. (List incomplete, this is just top of my head)

Proficiency skills
Stealth
Disguise kit
Thieves tools
Perception
Deception
Insight
Acrobatics/Athletics

Expertise in the above skills (Bard, Rogue, Prodigy feat)
Easy sources of advantage in those skills

Spells:
Pass Without Trace
Silence
(Greater) Invisibility
Fog Cloud/Darkness/other concealment
Friends/Suggestion/other charm and influence
Zone of Truth
Various Detect spells
Disguise self

Class/Race/Other abilities
Truesight/darkvision/blindsinght
Alternate move speeds (fly/climb/swim)
Better use of hiding (halfling/wood elf easier requirements; goblin/rogue hide as bonus action)
Disguises
Sneak attack
Initiative bonuses