Help me brainstorm a new character

[GeorgeHabadashr]

My party narrowly avoided a TPK, with my character nobly dying in a rearguard action--which means it's time to make a new character. Unfortunately, I'd neither expected to die nor given any thought to a new character, so I'm finding myself a bit uninspired.

It's a fairly demanding campaign in which we consistently find ourselves significantly outnumbered (due to some bad decisions, our near TPK was in an encounter against around forty enemies). The party is currently level four and consists of a wizard, a bard and another character who died and will likely roll up a hexblade or fighter. We also have three hirelings (2 fighters and a cleric). Also of note, in this campaign short rests last five to ten minutes (and are very common) and long rests are one week.

The new character will be level four and start with standard first level equipment. I rolled the following stats 14,14,13,12,12,9.

So far I've thought about a mountain dwarf or goliath great weapon fighter with my first ASI into strength, but it's not really exciting me. After looking through source books for several hours, I'd appreciate some fresh ideas about how I can leverage these stats into something which will be mechanically strong enough to make an impact on this campaign and be interesting to play. Help me gitp, you're my only hope.

[qube]

human paladin with inspiring leader and heavy armor mastery.
Lets see how the party fairs everyone + 6 temp hp every short rest, and a tank with damage reduction 3.

Drop the 9 in dex, STR 16 (14+1+1), CHA 14, CON 14 (13+1)

[nickl_2000]

You have got a huge party to work with. Have you considered a Shepard Druid? When you summon the bear aura everyone would gain 9 temp HP. You would be able to summon more critters when you outnumbered, and for spells you can focus on battlefield control. If you are frequently outnumbered a good control spell can make a gigantic difference in the fight. Plus healing spirit is awesome.


If you don't like Druids a Light Cleric may be an interesting choice as well. You get all the healing that any cleric gives, but you get a lot of blasting spells that would be really useful when you are fighting a lot of mooks.

A Firbolg would be a good racial choice
Str: 9+1
Dex: 14
Con: 13
Wis: 14+2
Int: 12
Cha:12

For cleric go medium armor and a shield. Your primary damage will be toll the dead and spiritual weapon, with blasting with a domain spell when there is a group of baddies in the right place. At level 4, I would probably up your Wisdom to 18 for the ASI.


Alternately Tempest Domain cleric would work well too with VHuman
Str: 14+1
Dex: 9
Con: 13
Wis: 14+1
Int: 12
Cha:12
At level 4 boost Str and Wis +1. Level 1 take whatever feat seems fun.




One other option if you didn't want to worry about strength or dex and boost other skills is the Tortle. They get 17 AC without having to worry about wearing armor. Pick up a class that can use a shield and you are at 19 AC without even thinking. Then you can put your stats in whatever else seems fun.

[Tallytrev813]

With those stat rolls I’d look at Moon Druid, no question. Strongly recommend.

This frequency of short rests makes Moon Druid and warlock top choices, along with Battlemaster fighter

1.) You become a beefy Tank, which your party needs.

2.) high frequency of short rests means refreshing Wild Shape often

3.) depends less on stat rolls.

Use first ASI either for Wisdom or a feat, I’d recommend a feat (plan to get Sentinel, War caster, Resilient, and MageSlayer)



If you want mechanically strong, your wild shapes are OP at lower levels and bad guys basically have to burn through 2 shapes and your unshaped form to kill you.

And as far as interesting, with your frequency of short rests you can use Wild shape often for utility.

[Madfellow]

With the party you have (including the npcs) and considering the quickened short rests, you might think about a monk.

[Mercurias]

Okay so what I’m seeing here is:
-Combat Heavy.
-Lots of short rests.
-No Heals.
-Often fights large groups of enemies.

I would run a Coast Druid with a 1 level Cleric dip. You’ll have some really solid concentration spells that are hazardous to large enemy groups, which will help your party increase its damage potential while potentially reducing the damage they take. Thorn Whip can be used strategically to drag enemies into hazards, or away from your Wizard and towards your Fighter.

Land Druids regain spell slots once a day on short rests, like a Wizard. That helps you last longer during grueling combat days.

A single level life Cleric dip will increase your healing economy via Disciple of Life, particularly with Goodberry. It also gives you Bless and Healing Word for free, and opens you up to using heavy armor if your DM is willing to let you find or have some made out of chitin/scales.

Out of combat, you still have Wildshape for stealth and scouting, and your perception checks will be the highest in the group.

I would probably run a Variant Human in order to get Resilient (Con) or Warcaster since it’s a multiclass and your ASI will be a little late, but Fir Bolg would also be a really good choice, as would Aarakocra if your DM will let you have it.

Hopefully this at least gives you some ideas! Good luck, and I hope your new character is a lot of fun!

[moonfly7]

I have the perfect idea for you: Sorlock, warlock sorcerer.
You see, warlocks refresh spell slots during short rests. Thing is, the sorcerer has sorcerer points that let you convert slots to points and back again. These extra slots reset during a LONG rest, not a short one. But the warlock gets new spell slots during short rests, which are crazy awesome short in your game. This means you can convert warlock slots into sorcerer slots really fast, creating a massive stock pile of spell slots. This means you'll be able to pack a ton of low level slots, think 30-50 if you do it right. Now, with the week long long rests, Its going to be a LONG time till you lose the extra slots you've gathered. Bam, instant spell power house.

[Obermax]

If your getting alot of short rests i would absolutely aim to utilize that..

14 14 13 12 12 9

dragonborn bladelock

lvl 1 fighter , great weapon fighting style

lvl 2-4 pickup 3 lvls of warlock for boon id certainly go blade then any of the patrons would work with your stats i would recommend either blade or fiend if neither of those work with your campaign / party and you can play creatively great old one can give you alot of excellent options as well

get yourself a nice 16 str 14 con 14 chr then plan to wear heavy armor



half orc battlemaster fighter
4 lvls fighter id either go defense or great weapon again then for your asi + 2 str
18 str 14 con 14 in whatever youd like and yea



if your feeling spunky you could play a combat medic
human variant - pickup the healer feet
go 3 lvls rogue thief for fast hands
then either plan to level war priest cleric or battlemaster fighter or both? with your stats i think i would avoid a dex character BUT you can rock out a 14 dex and wear medium armor for choice of fighting style i would go with defense or archery and then plan to play more of a skirmisher role and tag nice heals onto your allies whenever you have good openings and or obviously revive any who have fallen while still making full attacks - do be aware of the limitations on the healer feet (with alot of short rests though you should get alot of good use out of it)
something like this for stats? 14 dex 14 con 14 wis ??

[djreynolds]

Just go swashbuckler, fancy foot work and rakish audacity and uncanny dodge at 5th.

Expertise in stealth and perception