New Character

[Name2020]

I recently joined a game with 7 other people and the DM told me we already had 2 paladins, 1 barbarian, and 1 bard on our team. I really don't know what to play as they made all this before I joined and I am still relatively new to DnD. Any help appreciated.

[clash]

Ultimately the first question is what words you like to play?

As far as party mechanics go you have a lot of single target damage some good team support and presumably some battlefield control from the bard. Your team is missing any good area damage. I would recommend a blast wizard or cleric like evocation wizard or tempest cleric but only if that sounds appealing to you.

Anything will really work together for a team so at the end if the day play a character you will enjoy.

[Name2020]

Personally, I like to play melee style characters like paladins and fighters, getting in the thick of the battle is just so much fun for me. I really wanted to play a bloodhunter this campaign, but that kinda got thrown out the window when;

A: I saw we had 2 paladins, lots of party conflict.

B: We have 3 melee based characters, I don't want to do something for a whole campaign just for 3 other players to do it 20x better then me. (I don't know if this is a selfish point, but I really don't want to be just another one of them, I don't really know how to put it in text tbh).

[djreynolds]

Swashbuckler rogue.

It's the best

[Mercurias]

An Arcane Trickster Rogue might be up your alley.

If you pick High Elf as your race and the DM allows SCAG Cantrips, you can supplement your sneak attack with Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade from lv 1 on. Arcane Tricksters are also great scouts, trapsmiths, thieves, and assassins. It's the kind of character that can do a whole lot within its specialties, and it's a lot of fun to play.

[Nidgit]

Monk seems like the best option to me. Skirmishing should give you some nice tactical crunch and your Paladins and other melee members will love you for setting up stun-crits.

Swashbuckler with a Battle Master dip, or maybe Arcane Trickster, could both be good. Tempest Cleric is also a strong option for a character that can switch between melee and blasting as necessary, particularly if you pick up Booming Blade.

[KittenMagician]

you could go best of both worlds (melee and splash damage that is) and go bladesinger wizard. they are pretty good melee fighters while still being wizards with all that that would entail (fireball, identify, fly, invisibility, etc.) i am currently playing a bladesinger and at level 2 has a 21 AC (rolled stats 18 dex and 18 int (everything else is 13 or less) mage armor = 13+dex. blade song allows you to add int to AC so total 13+dex+int.) add some fun spells on top of this like crown of stars and false life and fire shield and you kinda start looking like an elegant graceful kratos.

anyway i hope you figure it out and have fun

[Tawmis]

A Ranger is always an option to. They can kind of do a little of everything (melee, ranged, and spells). They're similar to the bards in that way.

[CDPhenix]

So you mentioned you wanted to play a melee character that gets into the thick of battle, but there's already a few of those in the party, in addition to that someone recommended playing a blaster for the area control. One thing you could do is play a mix of these rolls, I'm thinking something like a hexblade warlock for a mix of arcane capabilities and the martial prowess, if you would like to try and multiclass I'd recommend mixing in some sorcerer (probably stone sorcerer if your DM will allow it) so you can quicken some scag cantrips as a way of casting a spell and making attacks on the same turn. other than that bladesinger could work as well.

[carrdrivesyou]

A super fun build is the divine soul sorcerer. Just choose whatever spells you want and go to town. You can be super supportive, or just a full on pyromaniac. Go nuts.

[Evaar]

Strictly mechanically speaking -

With two paladins and a bard, you should have healing covered. With two paladins and a barbarian, you have tanking pretty well covered.

Bard can cover utility casting but it depends how they built.

Bard can cover most skills, but may not have built to be a scout.

You don't have any real ranged damage options, single target or AOE.

You don't have anyone who's especially good with Wisdom.

You don't have anyone who's especially good with Intelligence.

So I can see a few options, but they depend on how the Bard built.

My first instinct is to go Wizard with a 1 level Cleric dip, get yourself both a decent Wisdom and Intelligence score (like Wisdom 14, Intelligence 16, focus Intelligence after that). You can pick whatever spells you want to cover blasting needs, but I'd mostly go with "god wizard" type spells since you have so much melee to take advantage of it. I'd start with 1 level of Knowledge Cleric and then go Enchanter Wizard the rest of the way - you say you like being in the thick of melee, this would give you Medium Armor proficiency and the Enchanter's Hypnotic Gaze ability which is used in melee but won't be redundant with the rest of the melee group. Your party has Charisma covered, you should be able to enable them to get away with all sorts of shenanigans by backing them up with some Enchantment magic in social encounters. This gives you the ability to get into the thick of combat while being reasonably well-protected, it prevents you being redundant with the rest of the melee, and it covers most of the gaps in your party. It leaves you without a player scout, but you can still pretty well fill that role with a familiar. I'm recommending Knowledge Cleric because it lets you cover more skills that your team probably doesn't have super well represented; you could go with a domain that gives Heavy Armor but in my experience Medium is plenty. Since the melee pile is likely to be pretty crowded, that also puts you in a good position to make use of the Enchanter's Instinctive Charm ability. You will probably have at least one enemy adjacent. Encourage the rest of the melee to pick up Sentinel if they can.

Next would be an arcane trickster rogue, and this you'd mostly play from range. This will cover scouting no problem, and you can still slip into melee combat when you want to. You won't be redundant with the others, as you get to capitalize on their presence by nature of being a rogue. Depending on the books you have available to you, you can attack with a SCAG cantrip, and even throw Shadow Blade onto that. You'd focusing more on damage and less on utility with this and I doubt your team is hurting for damage, but you are still bringing something they aren't. A shortbow or crossbow works just as well for sneak attacking purposes, but your ability to get advantage when your party isn't able to reach a creature in melee is circumstantial (unless your DM rules that you can stand within a Darkness spell and fire out of it without penalty in which case you're gravy).

Then there's a variety of Ranger options, and I'd lean fully into archery via the Hunter conclave. You can cover scouting, wisdom checks, ranged damage both single target and AOE via volley, plus a little bit of utility here and there.

I wouldn't go Sorcerer or Warlock only because you already have 3 high charisma characters in the party. But either of those can cover the ranged damage gaps noted above.

Hope that's helpful. I'd definitely recommend Wizard with a Cleric dip above the others, and having played that built previously I can say it was a lot of fun.

[Avonar]

If you're fairly new to this, definitely avoid multiclassing or anything like that. I think either a cleric, druid or sorcerer would work well, sorcerer is a good choice for someone new to playing a spellcaster, it's a lot less intimidating when you do not have to change spells every day. What you take is what you have.

Remember: you don't have to be the best at combat, you just have to have fun.

[CheddarChampion]

I'd go with something that can do melee while boosting your fellow melee combatants: Cleric.
Bless and Hold Person can help a lot.

War Cleric with Crusader's Mantle is good. You can use a bonus action to attack on the same turn you buff.
Life Cleric is good for teaming up and keeping everyone alive. Warding Bond + multi-person healing can work very well.
Nature Cleric can pick up Shillelagh to be SAD.
Pick up Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade (both from XGtE) with Magic Initiate, High Elf, or Variant Half Elf. This pairs well with Divine Strike.

With the right playstyle, you'll feel like you're calling the shots (and will thus stand out).

[Burley]

Warlock is great because you get to throw explode-y spells around and have some fun roleplay options. Plus, you get your spells back with a short rest, rather than a long rest. You can be less judicious with your big-badda-booms, because you can rest for a bit and do 'em again.

[Man_Over_Game]

Personally, I like to play melee style characters like paladins and fighters, getting in the thick of the battle is just so much fun for me. I really wanted to play a bloodhunter this campaign, but that kinda got thrown out the window when;

A: I saw we had 2 paladins, lots of party conflict.

B: We have 3 melee based characters, I don't want to do something for a whole campaign just for 3 other players to do it 20x better then me. (I don't know if this is a selfish point, but I really don't want to be just another one of them, I don't really know how to put it in text tbh).

Since you're new, it'd probably be best to do something relatively simple in execution. I've found that players have the most fun when they're playing something that matches the complexity that they're looking for.

Monk, Ranger, or Swashbuckler Rogue are my suggestions. Straightforward, yet versatile enough to melee combat and still stand out against multiple melee allies.

[Wildarm]

I recently joined a game with 7 other people and the DM told me we already had 2 paladins, 1 barbarian, and 1 bard on our team. I really don't know what to play as they made all this before I joined and I am still relatively new to DnD. Any help appreciated.

With 8 players, your group is probably facing off against large numbers or higher CR threats than normal for your level. Personally, I'd lean towards a character type that can help avoid the inevitable insta-gibs that can occur with a series of lucky crits or being caught outside the group for whatever reason.

Suggestion - Ghostwise Halfling Grave Cleric with Bountiful Luck Feat
- Max heals for downed characters(will happen often with 8 characters)
- Spend your reaction to prevent a crit
- Spend your reaction to allow anyone to reroll a 1

You'll be everyone's friend.

[Guy Lombard-O]

I'd go with something that can do melee while boosting your fellow melee combatants: Cleric.
Bless and Hold Person can help a lot.

War Cleric with Crusader's Mantle is good. You can use a bonus action to attack on the same turn you buff.
Life Cleric is good for teaming up and keeping everyone alive. Warding Bond + multi-person healing can work very well.
Nature Cleric can pick up Shillelagh to be SAD.
Pick up Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade (both from XGtE) with Magic Initiate, High Elf, or Variant Half Elf. This pairs well with Divine Strike.

I'd just add the Light Cleric, because as others have pointed out your party looks to be lacking in the blasting department, and that's sort of the Light Cleric's shtick.

[RogueJK]

Tempest Cleric seems like a great fit, allowing you to mix it up in melee while still adding some AoE blasting and buffing to the party.

Bladesinger Wizard would also allow the same, and opens up the option of possibly dipping 1/2/3 levels in Rogue to pick up an additional skill and Thieves Tools proficiency, some extra Sneak Attack damage in melee, plus Expertise in something like Stealth and Perception. (For a dedicated Bladesinger Wizard, I'd likely stick to 1 level of Rogue, to minimize the delay to your spellcasting.)