Advice for a character- Cleric or Druid

[Mikaleus]

Hello everyone.

So a friend and I want to play a pair of brothers- in - arms. They join the organisation in the game who are investigating the issues within my DMs city - namely undead horrors, foul demonic Magic and fey.

Currently the group (level2) consists of
2 Rangers
1 Barbarian
1 Draconic Sorcerer
1 wizard/rogue

My friend has gone with a fallen Aasimar Conquest paladin, betrayed and left for dead in the water. My character finds this angelic being, and heals him.
Learns of his betrayal, and seeks to help him deal with his horrors and hope to encourage him to find a new path once his revenge has been taken. (No point in arguing with such a warrior to not pursue their revenge he figures).
An old acquaintance of my character, a half elven bard (my old character in the game) sends word of unnatural abominations in the city and requests my aid. Fortunately, this city also is residence of the one who betrayed my comrade.

Kudos to my DM, he has set it up so that the organisation and sessions are sort of oneshots in a way to meet the demands of a group of players whose commitments means they can’t all make the session all the time.

So am currently trying to decide between a Nature Domain Cleric or a Druid. Druids are incredibly versatile and my favourite circles are shepherd, moon and land.

Note- updated my post to reflect the backstory and new info. Massive thanks to those who posted before this change with their great advice :)

[Bobthewizard]

With that party, I'd go with a bard or wizard for better battlefield control. No one else does it so you'd stand out. Or if you don't want to be a spell caster, a totem barbarian taking Wolf at 3 to give all your melee allies advantage would be pretty sweet with a rogue and a paladin.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Given the existing player characters, is the party a little in favors or midevil combat vs magic?

A druid would give the party a spell caster, resurrection eventually, Healing Word and them animal shennanigans. A Druid is an under rated spellcaster in my opinion and can compliment martials.

[Bobthewizard]

Given the existing player characters, is the party a little in favors or midevil combat vs magic?

A druid would give the party a spell caster, resurrection eventually, Healing Word and them animal shennanigans. A Druid is an under rated spellcaster in my opinion and can compliment martials.

I agree. I almost included it with bard and wizard in my post but thought it would be more of a stretch thematically as the brother of a conquest paladin. If the OP can make the story work though, a druid would be great.

[Mikaleus]

I totally forgot we also have a Draconic Sorcerer in the party too.

Druid is interesting. Perhaps a more survival of the fittest mentality , to fit in with a brother who wields steel and dominates with fear.

[dragoeniex]

A Whispers/Glamour or Swords/Valor bard would be a good complement. Not only does a bard lend the party a full caster; it makes sense to have a pair of charismatic, dangerous brothers where one tends more physical and loud, and the other is more subtle in both battles and interactions.

Whispers is great if you want to work the social end and toss in a pseudo-smite to really match your beefier bro, while Glamour is what you want to do if you prefer less shady in your social master. Swords and Valor if you want to stick with the weapons theme he and your party have going on, though imo you have enough martials as-is.

While my vote is definitely "bard," a cleric would be another great fit for the brothers. You could be under the same deity or a somewhat opposing one, depending on what dynamic you'd like to play up.

[Mikaleus]

A Whispers/Glamour or Swords/Valor bard would be a good complement. Not only does a bard lend the party a full caster; it makes sense to have a pair of charismatic, dangerous brothers where one tends more physical and loud, and the other is more subtle in both battles and interactions.

Whispers is great if you want to work the social end and toss in a pseudo-smite to really match your beefier bro, while Glamour is what you want to do if you prefer less shady in your social master. Swords and Valor if you want to stick with the weapons theme he and your party have going on, though imo you have enough martials as-is.

While my vote is definitely "bard," a cleric would be another great fit for the brothers. You could be under the same deity or a somewhat opposing one, depending on what dynamic you'd like to play up.
If I hadn’t already played a bard, I’d have gone bard for sure.

Another fact I forgot to mention that race wise, Fallen Aasimar for the conquest paladin.

[Mercurias]

I'm an extremely unsubtle player at times. My thought would be to make a Celestial Warlock in order to help shore up the party's ranged damage and healing. It would be pretty easy to run your character as a traveling priest who is pact-bound to an agent of your deity. The Combination of Celestial Resistance and something like the Inspiring Leader feat will grant a good amount of additional Temporary HP, and you'll also have Bonus Action healing dice you can chuck around the battlefield for your friends. For roleplay, your character could easily be working as his brother's keeper, advisor, guide, or even be the one continuing to drive him on towards conquest.

You could also run a War or Life Cleric extremely easily and pair up well with your character's brother. Spirit Guardians is a great companion spell to the Conquest Paladin's fear effects, because while your enemies are paralyzed in terror your spell will be dishing out 3d8 to 9d8/round to everything in its radius. Your main concern here will be keeping yourselves too tightly grouped in the event of an enemy fireball spell, but thankfully you'll have access to healing spells.

[Mongobear]

If I hadn’t already played a bard, I’d have gone bard for sure.

Another fact I forgot to mention that race wise, Fallen Aasimar for the conquest paladin.

If Aasimar had an Int option, id say Was Wizard. How do you feel about Tiefling? Wouldn't be legit bros, but I like the idea of an Aasimar and Tiefling bro'ing up and adventuring. Maybe one of the Mordenkainens variants?

[Mikaleus]

If Aasimar had an Int option, id say Was Wizard. How do you feel about Tiefling? Wouldn't be legit bros, but I like the idea of an Aasimar and Tiefling bro'ing up and adventuring. Maybe one of the Mordenkainens variants?

Actually that’s a great idea. His backstory is a fallen Aasimar warrior who was once a proud hero that was betrayed and cast into the abyss. The energies of the place, coupled with the hatred and vengeance, caused him to become fallen.

And that’s where my character could come in.

A Tiefling. Serving in the blood war. Comes across this fallen Aasimar and sees a potential ally.

Hmmm I’m loving this path of thought

[Mongobear]

Actually that’s a great idea. His backstory is a fallen Aasimar warrior who was once a proud hero that was betrayed and cast into the abyss. The energies of the place, coupled with the hatred and vengeance, caused him to become fallen.

And that’s where my character could come in.

A Tiefling. Serving in the blood war. Comes across this fallen Aasimar and sees a potential ally.

Hmmm I’m loving this path of thought

War Wizard is what I meant in my first post, stupid typos...

It kind of fits the fluff of the whole War/Conquest thing.

Alternatively, you could go for a personal favorite combo of mine--Evoker + Sickening Radiance. Seriously, that spell is insane, especially when you can Sculpt out yourself/friends.

Combo'd with your Conquest bro's Frightened = 0 Speed thing, and you can just sit back and watch your enemies slowly die to exhaustion.

[Mikaleus]

Found out the other person is playing a wizard / rogue.

[Bobthewizard]

Found out the other person is playing a wizard / rogue.

Now that you have a wizard and a sorcerer in the party, and knowing the brother is a fallen Aasimer, I'd go protector Aasimer for the Wisdom and be a cleric. Any of Life, Light, War or Order would be thematically appropriate. Then you could be the conscious for your fallen brother, futilely trying to get him to change his ways. You wouldn't agree on his choice, but you'd love each other nonetheless, and still be best friends. You'd have conflict and a bond together.

[Mikaleus]

I'm an extremely unsubtle player at times. My thought would be to make a Celestial Warlock in order to help shore up the party's ranged damage and healing. It would be pretty easy to run your character as a traveling priest who is pact-bound to an agent of your deity. The Combination of Celestial Resistance and something like the Inspiring Leader feat will grant a good amount of additional Temporary HP, and you'll also have Bonus Action healing dice you can chuck around the battlefield for your friends. For roleplay, your character could easily be working as his brother's keeper, advisor, guide, or even be the one continuing to drive him on towards conquest.

You could also run a War or Life Cleric extremely easily and pair up well with your character's brother. Spirit Guardians is a great companion spell to the Conquest Paladin's fear effects, because while your enemies are paralyzed in terror your spell will be dishing out 3d8 to 9d8/round to everything in its radius. Your main concern here will be keeping yourselves too tightly grouped in the event of an enemy fireball spell, but thankfully you'll have access to healing spells.

Great advice :)

I like the Nature Domain, and that reaction ability later on could help in such a fiery issue.

[Mikaleus]

Updated my original post with current info. Thanks to everyone for their ideas so far :)

[DarkKnightJin]

War Wizard is what I meant in my first post, stupid typos...

It kind of fits the fluff of the whole War/Conquest thing.

Alternatively, you could go for a personal favorite combo of mine--Evoker + Sickening Radiance. Seriously, that spell is insane, especially when you can Sculpt out yourself/friends.

Combo'd with your Conquest bro's Frightened = 0 Speed thing, and you can just sit back and watch your enemies slowly die to exhaustion.

Evoker w/ Sickening Radiance and Conquest Paladin was a combo I hadn't considered yet.
Though a Druid with Plant Growth would be 'more effective' at keeping most enemies within the radius of SR to wither and die, I feel.

[Man_Over_Game]

This team is severely lacking in healing. Considering the Paladin is going Conquest (and probably doesn't want to hit nearby allies with his Fear effects), he probably won't be adjacent to allies often enough to use Lay on Hands.

So I'd focus on the healing bit.

Dreams Druid is surprisingly good in this regard. Since you can heal as a bonus action, you do not need to use Healing Word. This also means that you can cast a leveled spell in the same turn that you heal an ally (when using Healing Word limits you to cantrips), so you're always able to maintain momentum. Additionally, this cuts down on the number of spell slots you spend, since you're not using spell slots to heal. It'd also fit well with the narrative of your character.

In lieu of that, the Grave or Life Cleric would fit well with this party, with the Life Cleric being a better choice if you need a stronger melee line in the group (like if both rangers are ranged specialists).

Nature Cleric would work fine, too, but a lot of its unique features are a bit redundant with having two Rangers.

[hymer]

It should obviously be a druid. The question is what kind of circle? A shepherd could be nurturing towards the wounded (physically and psychologically) paladin, but with a party that size you may hesitate to be a minionmancer. I'd go Land in your case, a wise and patient person, who can teach these enthusiastic, young people a thing or two. Grassland for Haste when you want to be particularly supportive of your Aasimar friend.

[Nhym]

If you are interested in Druids, take a look at my Shepherd Druid Guide: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?588987-Circle-of-the-Shepherd-Druid-Guide-to-Fuzzy-Fury&highlight=shepherd+druid

[Mikaleus]

MOG- dreams druid does sound an interesting alternative healer compared to the shepherd Druid.
Would a Druid have any overlap with the rangers like the Nature Cleric ?

Hymer- exactly. The shepherd circle would be great but with so many potential players at the table at any good time, I don’t want to annoy too many people haha.
Thematically appropriate land choices for the setting would be coastal and forest. Possibly grasslands.

Nhym- your guide was an excellent read. Thankyou for sharing

[Nhym]

MOG- dreams druid does sound an interesting alternative healer compared to the shepherd Druid.
Would a Druid have any overlap with the rangers like the Nature Cleric ?

Hymer- exactly. The shepherd circle would be great but with so many potential players at the table at any good time, I don’t want to annoy too many people haha.
Thematically appropriate land choices for the setting would be coastal and forest. Possibly grasslands.

Nhym- your guide was an excellent read. Thankyou for sharing

No problem! Shepherd Druids also have caring for those in need built into their character. Other than the obvious heals, I can definitely see a Shepherd Druid working as a sort of radagast from LOTR, patrolling your forest looking after sick and wounded animals.

I have a section in the guide for making combat as efficient as possible so the other players don't get mad at you. Besides that, you can definitely also just limit your summons to 1-4 creatures if you really want.

[Mikaleus]

UPDATED OP

My DMs city is a bit like a Venetian Ravnica with the aquatic races living in a city below the surface city.

My Druid is from the city below.

Thinking Water genasi, Simic Hybrid or the DM has also allowed Green Merfolk from Ixalan.

Swaying towards Coastal Druid, mostly for the thematica.

Been given a generous amount of gold, and spiked armor from SCAG made of shells is a possibility.

Point buy for stats.

[Nhym]

UPDATED OP

My DMs city is a bit like a Venetian Ravnica with the aquatic races living in a city below the surface city.

My Druid is from the city below.

Thinking Water genasi, Simic Hybrid or the DM has also allowed Green Merfolk from Ixalan.

Swaying towards Coastal Druid, mostly for the thematica.

Been given a generous amount of gold, and spiked armor from SCAG made of shells is a possibility.

Point buy for stats.

Water Genasi make excellent druids. Natural swim speed is amazing anywhere with water so you don't have to worry if you get knocked out of wild shape, but since you can get that with the Simic Hybrid, the free cantrip and spell are where its at. Shape water cantrip has so many uses if you are creative (being able to change its state from liquid to solid is great as is).

I would still suggest you reconsider Shepherd Druid as you can have 4 reef shark companions, which is awesome with pack tactics and potential underwater settings, but Coastal Druid still isn't bad for Misty Step and Mirror Image.

I would suggest for point buy: Str-8 Dex-14 Con-14 Int-10 Wis-15 Cha-10
So with Genasi that's Str-1 mod Dex+2 Con+3 Int 0 Wis+3 Cha 0

[Man_Over_Game]

MOG- dreams druid does sound an interesting alternative healer compared to the shepherd Druid.
Would a Druid have any overlap with the rangers like the Nature Cleric ?

Hymer- exactly. The shepherd circle would be great but with so many potential players at the table at any good time, I don’t want to annoy too many people haha.
Thematically appropriate land choices for the setting would be coastal and forest. Possibly grasslands.

Nhym- your guide was an excellent read. Thankyou for sharing

A bit less so.

See, the thing that makes a Nature Cleric stand out is that it:

Interacts with animals/nature, on a low level
Provides resistances for elemental damage


See, it's not a nature specialist, like a Druid is, and Rangers often pack a spell that duplicates the resistance effect of the Nature Cleric (Absorb Elements). They're quite similar to a Ranger-Cleric, in a way.

Now, Druids are nature specialists. They exceed anyone else when it comes to interacting with the wilderness, and are not likely to be overshadowed on that topic when compared to a Ranger. The Dream Druid, in particular, is a specialist at keeping the party safe. Unlike the Nature Cleric, which has redundant abilities when compared to a Ranger, the Dreams Druid works WITH Rangers. Where the Rangers can act as scouts and guides to sneak the party through, the Dream Druid can continue to make the party safe behind enemy lines.

[Mikaleus]

A bit less so.

See, the thing that makes a Nature Cleric stand out is that it:

Interacts with animals/nature, on a low level
Provides resistances for elemental damage


See, it's not a nature specialist, like a Druid is, and Rangers often pack a spell that duplicates the resistance effect of the Nature Cleric (Absorb Elements). They're quite similar to a Ranger-Cleric, in a way.

Now, Druids are nature specialists. They exceed anyone else when it comes to interacting with the wilderness, and are not likely to be overshadowed on that topic when compared to a Ranger. The Dream Druid, in particular, is a specialist at keeping the party safe. Unlike the Nature Cleric, which has redundant abilities when compared to a Ranger, the Dreams Druid works WITH Rangers. Where the Rangers can act as scouts and guides to sneak the party through, the Dream Druid can continue to make the party safe behind enemy lines.

Thanks mog.

[Mikaleus]

Water Genasi make excellent druids. Natural swim speed is amazing anywhere with water so you don't have to worry if you get knocked out of wild shape, but since you can get that with the Simic Hybrid, the free cantrip and spell are where its at. Shape water cantrip has so many uses if you are creative (being able to change its state from liquid to solid is great as is).

I would still suggest you reconsider Shepherd Druid as you can have 4 reef shark companions, which is awesome with pack tactics and potential underwater settings, but Coastal Druid still isn't bad for Misty Step and Mirror Image.

I would suggest for point buy: Str-8 Dex-14 Con-14 Int-10 Wis-15 Cha-10
So with Genasi that's Str-1 mod Dex+2 Con+3 Int 0 Wis+3 Cha 0

Yeah went with water genasi.
Nightvision and carapace was intriguing but having allowed Shell- Spike armor plus a shield my AC is quite high. Never mind the stealth disadvantage.

Picked totem. The buffs from coastal land and the natural recovery is pretty sweet but being able to summon totems I think will benefit the party.
Flavoured the totems to be more aquatic relevant .
Bear- Turtle Hawk- Sea Eagle Unicorn - Seahorse.

Also shape water cantrip is awesome. It came up a lot in the session last night and the dm rewards creativity.
Plus Acid resistance, and being good able to speak primordial I think genasi was a better pick than the Simic hybrid.

I also got a lot of use out of primal savagery.
Considering my hands were full, I was biting enemies with it.
Very enjoyable.

We managed to get to level 3. Currently debating whether to go with Warcaster, stat bump to Wis or Res: con at level 4.

Also love faerie Fire. So does the barb when he isn’t raging.

[sambojin]

Multiple environments? In a city?

Firbolg Moon Druid.
All the fun of a Moon Druid, but with super-Disguise Self and Detect Magic. Talking to animals and invis popping can also be handy in a city.

The other suggestions are good though. But by lvl3 you've got that side covered anyway with water breathing as a ritual. And a decent swim speed by level 4 (Dolphin or Giant Octopus).

Maybe play it as a "where the city meets the sea and the environments overlap so heavily, that is where you are strong. To ensure nature, even in this city, is always respected".

[Nhym]

Yeah went with water genasi.
Nightvision and carapace was intriguing but having allowed Shell- Spike armor plus a shield my AC is quite high. Never mind the stealth disadvantage.

Picked totem. The buffs from coastal land and the natural recovery is pretty sweet but being able to summon totems I think will benefit the party.
Flavoured the totems to be more aquatic relevant .
Bear- Turtle Hawk- Sea Eagle Unicorn - Seahorse.

Also shape water cantrip is awesome. It came up a lot in the session last night and the dm rewards creativity.
Plus Acid resistance, and being good able to speak primordial I think genasi was a better pick than the Simic hybrid.

I also got a lot of use out of primal savagery.
Considering my hands were full, I was biting enemies with it.
Very enjoyable.

We managed to get to level 3. Currently debating whether to go with Warcaster, stat bump to Wis or Res: con at level 4.

Also love faerie Fire. So does the barb when he isn’t raging.

Maintaining concentration is SUPER important for Shepherd Druids, so definitely pick Warcaster. Ideally you will want both that can res:con but Warcaster is statistically better for maintaining concentration. That and casting spells as your opportunity attack is super nice too, especially since you have Primal Savagery for it.