More ideas for my ridiculous stated character (the Barbarian Beastmaster)

[CTurbo]

Ok so stats are 20, 19, 19, 17, 8, 6. Haven't decided on race but it can't be any monster race. Can't go higher than 20 in anything.
Starting level 1 or 2 and get a free feat(vhuman gets 2)

First 2 levels would be Barbarian for sure. Stats should be 20 Str, 20 Dex, 20 Con, 17 or 18 Wis with Int and Cha dumped depending on race(there are so many race combos that could achieve that)
Next 3 levels would be UA Revised Ranger choosing Beastmaster(Panther) with boosted stats. DM gave me +10 stats to add to the current Panther's array as well as letting it have as many hit dice as my character(5) to increase hp since I wouldn't be getting it until character level 5. We settled on 18 Str(+4), 16 Dex(+1), 14 Con(+4), 3 Int, 14 Wis, 8 Cha(+1) for the Panther which I think is reasonable if not a little on the squishy side still.

After level 5, I can't decide if I want to take 3 more levels of Barbarian to get 2nd attack(stacks with the Ranger's 5th level Coordinated attack), then go 2 more Ranger levels FOR coordinated attack or go ahead and take 5 straight Ranger levels, and then 2 more Barb levels. I'm pretty sure that if we make it to level 10, I want to be Barb 5, Ranger 5. After that.... I have no idea. Some Fighter levels maybe? Some Cleric levels perhaps? More Ranger? Too far to plan.

I can't decide whether to go TWF or GWF. I could go GWM or Duel Wielder as free feat. Or PAM! Forgot about PAM. I do want Sentinel pretty early to help protect my Panther. TWF makes up for not getting a true 2nd attack until character level 8 at the earliest and maybe as late as level 10.

I think Ancestral Guardian Barbarian would be good at helping protect my Panther too. I like the level 3 ability.

Back on feats, the DM will let my Panther take a feat at Ranger 4 if it's logical. Stuff like Alert, Mobile, Tough are fine, but not Warcaster, PAM, Spell Sniper, Weapon Master etc... I'm big on utility so feats like Magic Initiate and Ritual Caster rate highly with me and I'll almost certainly take one of them. Res(Wis) should be taken at some point too.



Anyway, sooooooo many ideas.... how does this one look? Any glaring weaknesses? Spells would only be out of combat stuff or things to use while not raging. Can't be raging 100% of the time anyway so I'm not concerned about their lack of synergy.


Oh yeah what's a good race choice? Vhuman is what I'm leaning towards because I only really need a +1, +1 to get 20s in Str, Dex, and Con. I could grab an offensive feat and a utility feat or Sentinel. Half-Orc, Goliath, Stout Halfling, Half-Elf, and Mountain Dwarf are all options.





Note: I could completely swap Barbarian with Monk and put the other 20 in Wis instead of Str. Then the 17 could go in Str, Int, or Cha.... I'd take Archery or Dueling at Ranger 2. Hmm....

Also, I don't HAVE to take 5 levels in Barbarian. I could go Barb 2, Ranger 5, and then take 5 straight levels in Fighter or Monk for the second attack. So many decisions lol

[BloodSnake'sCha]

How about taking a small race and munted combat?
You will ride your panther, make every attack hit you and let him control his own movement so he will have more options for actions.

[Crgaston]

How about taking a small race and munted combat?
You will ride your panther, make every attack hit you and let him control his own movement so he will have more options for actions.

Ooh yeah... a Ghostwise Halfling with PAM for Spear/shield + riding a panther would be sweet.

[Mercurias]

I do enjoy the idea of a tiny, angry man furiously Panther-Jousting his way through through his adventures.

[CTurbo]

Nah I don't want to do mounted combat for this one. That's a different idea for a different character.

[Foxydono]

I would make the following character with those stats, monk 15 / bladesinger 5. You start off as half elf with the observant feat, making your stats 20/20/20/20/8/6. You dump Charisma and Strength.

You have a base AC of 20, making it 25 with bladesinging and 30 with shield spell. You'll almost bet impossible to hit. On top of that you'll be proficient in all saves when you hit monk 14, and at 15 you won't die of old age either, making your character pretty epic. On top of this you can cast 3rd level spells such as fly, haste, Counterspell etc.

You also have plenty of movement speed and you'll be proficient in a lot of stuff since your an half elf. Since you don't need any more stats, you can invest in feats like mobile, alert, lucky etc. Since you start off with observant, your passive perception will be a steady 20, which will help you out a lot.

The main train for this build, is that you need good intelligence, Dexterity, Wisdom and preferably also Constitution, so you have to have very solid stats for it to work :)

[CTurbo]

I would make the following character with those stats, monk 15 / bladesinger 5. You start off as half elf with the observant feat, making your stats 20/20/20/20/8/6. You dump Charisma and Strength.

You have a base AC of 20, making it 25 with bladesinging and 30 with shield spell. You'll almost bet impossible to hit. On top of that you'll be proficient in all saves when you hit monk 14, and at 15 you won't die of old age either, making your character pretty epic. On top of this you can cast 3rd level spells such as fly, haste, Counterspell etc.

You also have plenty of movement speed and you'll be proficient in a lot of stuff since your an half elf. Since you don't need any more stats, you can invest in feats like mobile, alert, lucky etc. Since you start off with observant, your passive perception will be a steady 20, which will help you out a lot.

The main train for this build, is that you need good intelligence, Dexterity, Wisdom and preferably also Constitution, so you have to have very solid stats for it to work :)

Monk/Bladesinger was one or the very first ideas I had so good job lol

How would YOU progress this character? I was thinking Monk 2, Bladesinger 2, Monk 3,...?

[CTurbo]

Ok so stats are 20, 19, 19, 17, 8, 6. Haven't decided on race but it can't be any monster race. Can't go higher than 20 in anything.
Starting level 1 or 2 and get a free feat(vhuman gets 2)

First 2 levels would be Barbarian for sure. Stats should be 20 Str, 20 Dex, 20 Con, 17 or 18 Wis with Int and Cha dumped depending on race(there are so many race combos that could achieve that)
Next 3 levels would be UA Revised Ranger choosing Beastmaster(Panther) with boosted stats. DM gave me +10 stats to add to the current Panther's array as well as letting it have as many hit dice as my character(5) to increase hp since I wouldn't be getting it until character level 5. We settled on 18 Str(+4), 16 Dex(+1), 14 Con(+4), 3 Int, 14 Wis, 8 Cha(+1) for the Panther which I think is reasonable if not a little on the squishy side still.

After level 5, I can't decide if I want to take 3 more levels of Barbarian to get 2nd attack(stacks with the Ranger's 5th level Coordinated attack), then go 2 more Ranger levels FOR coordinated attack or go ahead and take 5 straight Ranger levels, and then 2 more Barb levels. I'm pretty sure that if we make it to level 10, I want to be Barb 5, Ranger 5. After that.... I have no idea. Some Fighter levels maybe? Some Cleric levels perhaps? More Ranger? Too far to plan.

I can't decide whether to go TWF or GWF. I could go GWM or Duel Wielder as free feat. Or PAM! Forgot about PAM. I do want Sentinel pretty early to help protect my Panther. TWF makes up for not getting a true 2nd attack until character level 8 at the earliest and maybe as late as level 10.

I think Ancestral Guardian Barbarian would be good at helping protect my Panther too. I like the level 3 ability.

Back on feats, the DM will let my Panther take a feat at Ranger 4 if it's logical. Stuff like Alert, Mobile, Tough are fine, but not Warcaster, PAM, Spell Sniper, Weapon Master etc... I'm big on utility so feats like Magic Initiate and Ritual Caster rate highly with me and I'll almost certainly take one of them. Res(Wis) should be taken at some point too.



Anyway, sooooooo many ideas.... how does this one look? Any glaring weaknesses? Spells would only be out of combat stuff or things to use while not raging. Can't be raging 100% of the time anyway so I'm not concerned about their lack of synergy.


Oh yeah what's a good race choice? Vhuman is what I'm leaning towards because I only really need a +1, +1 to get 20s in Str, Dex, and Con. I could grab an offensive feat and a utility feat or Sentinel. Half-Orc, Goliath, Stout Halfling, Half-Elf, and Mountain Dwarf are all options.





Note: I could completely swap Barbarian with Monk and put the other 20 in Wis instead of Str. Then the 17 could go in Str, Int, or Cha.... I'd take Archery or Dueling at Ranger 2. Hmm....

Also, I don't HAVE to take 5 levels in Barbarian. I could go Barb 2, Ranger 5, and then take 5 straight levels in Fighter or Monk for the second attack. So many decisions lol


I'm leaning more into this idea, but I'm struggling to decide on which Fighting Style approach to take.

TWF
Pros-
1. gives me an extra attack much earlier than I would normally have one.
2. gives me a reliable bonus action use.
3. has feat support(Duel Wielder)
4. NOT completely dependent on feat(two handaxes would probably be fine)
5. Has Fighting Style option

Cons-
1. Outclassed later in game in DPR compared to other styles(reaction attacks don't hit as hard)
2. Relies on bonus actions so will compete at times for other options




PAM
Pros-
1. Superior to TWF in dpr
2. gives me a reliable bonus action use
3. has feat support
4. increases range
5. doesn't hurt quite as bad when bonus action is used for other things than attacking

Cons-
1. completely dependent on feat to work
2. does NOT get a Fighting Style boost
3. much more limited weapon options
4. Attacking from 10ft away may not be a good idea if I'm in melee with my Panther and DON'T want it getting attacked all the time.



GWM
Pros-
1. Conditional bonus action attack
2. Conditional extra damage per hit
3. Strong option for fighting next to my Panther
4. Reaction attacks would hit really hard

Cons-
1. Completely dependent on feat to work
2. Not as strong on a build with just 1 attack (I wouldn't get a true second attack until late... like character level 10)
3. no Fighting Style support



Sword and Board
Pros-
1. a reliable mix of offense and defense
2. absolutely no feat required
3. has Fighting Style support

Cons-
1. I'm actually afraid that having TOO high of an AC(22 with shield) would be counterproductive to protecting my Panther. I feel like if I'm TOO hard to hit, my Panther would get even more focus than normal.
2. This actually is probably the lowest DPR option here and the extra defense isn't really necessary.


Notes:
1. Sentinel is a priority and I expect to get a lot of reliable use from it's reaction attack fighting next to my Panther while wanting to protect it.
2. I intend to attack recklessly 99% of the time
3. If I went with PAM or GWM, I could take the Archery Fighting style. Even though I don't want to "play an archer", it still provides a strong alternative option, and this character will certainly get some Longbow usage at times.

Biggest questions at the moment other than Fighting Style
1. Which race would be best?
2. Is getting 2 starting feats from vhuman worth giving up darkvision?
3. Am I right thinking that PAM could be a trap option for a Beastmaster? I realize that PAM+Shield could help control the battlefield and could potentially keep enemies away from my Panther. But I don't really want enemies away from my Panther, because my Panther would not be very effective that way, I just want them to focus on me.
4. What are other ways I can protect my Panther. Keep in mind I would rather spend my reaction attacking and killing an enemy than using it to mitigate damage from my Panther. I do intend on going taking Ancestral Guardian for it's nice 3rd level ability.

[Foxydono]

Monk/Bladesinger was one or the very first ideas I had so good job lol

How would YOU progress this character? I was thinking Monk 2, Bladesinger 2, Monk 3,...?
It depends a bit on the monk you want to play. I would probably start as monk, and level it to 5/6 for extra attack and maybe monastic tradition depends on which route you take. You'll have stunning strike two attacks etc. Afterwards, I go bladesinger two, than monk rest of the way till 14. Than three more level wizard and than last level monk.

Going 2/2 is possible as well and you'll have an even higher ac, but I don't think you need that much ac at that level. That's why I think going for extra attack and stunning strike first will be more fun and worthwhile.