Princes of the Apocalypse - what to play

[Seekergeek]

So stats have been rolled and they're medium. 8, 10, 14, 16, 15, 8. Nothing to sneeze at or complain about there whatsoever. Without too much in the way of spoilers, and without knowing aside from a warforged dexadin who is in the party, what would you run in the module with PHB, XG and Ebberron on the table as well as the UA content that hasn't been amended by publishing?

We're doing a round-table class selection and I've got myself second pick. I like to force my character into part of the narrative and the DM is pretty on-board with trying to weave character motivations in to the published module so I'm putting out feelers, I guess, for what types of characters/classes might have an easier time than others finding a footing in the story.

[EdenIndustries]

Anything that can get elemental resistance would be very helpful. Tiefling comes to mind. Bear totem barbarian too. Lots of elemental magic in that module.

[Eldariel]

Anything planar obviously caters to spellcasters, particularly Wizards, Warlocks and Clerics (since they deal with those things as a part of their daily craft) - and some Sorcerers and Bards of that bent. Those classes are also very powerful, never a poor addition to any party, and very customizable to do whatever you want or whatever needs to be played. So I'd roll with one of those three. But it does depend on your preferences: what do you actually like? Diviner Wizard works extremely well as a seer half-mad with seeing things humans aren't meant to see. Abjurer trying to keep those who don't belong away works as well. Warlock bargaining with otherworldly powers works extremely well, and Clerics as well (depending on their exact bent).

It's also a rather brutal adventure where high power spellcasting (preferably in conjunction with high initiative and good stealth skills) is very convenient to have to fight enemy casters. You obviously want Absorb Elements (it's an adventure about elements after all) or some other way to absorb elemental damage, and some good AOE magic. That's why my first instinct is to suggest a Wizard (Hypnotic Pattern is a general purpose lifesaver), though Cleric (Silence is golden) and Warlock of course work here too to a degree. Counterspell is also really good to have access to (obviously). Vuman or any race granting elemental resistances slots right in and fluff-wise obviously having planar links in your family does cater to the whole (then again, human scholars slot in perfectly as well). Elemental immunity would be even better but that's hard to access without higher level spellcasting.

If I were to pick a build for this adventure, Abjurer Wizard would rate pretty high up there. It can protect itself and its allies, there's a lot of spellcasting going on which you need to deal with and durability helps. That said, initiative is also nice as is autofailing saves so the usual suspects in War Wizardry and Divination are also good picks. But the Divination Ward does gain a lot of value here.

[SpawnOfMorbo]

So stats have been rolled and they're medium. 8, 10, 14, 16, 15, 8. Nothing to sneeze at or complain about there whatsoever. Without too much in the way of spoilers, and without knowing aside from a warforged dexadin who is in the party, what would you run in the module with PHB, XG and Ebberron on the table as well as the UA content that hasn't been amended by publishing?

We're doing a round-table class selection and I've got myself second pick. I like to force my character into part of the narrative and the DM is pretty on-board with trying to weave character motivations in to the published module so I'm putting out feelers, I guess, for what types of characters/classes might have an easier time than others finding a footing in the story.

With those starting stats, I would pick up cleric.

Now, I have a few go to builds for Cleric but the following is my two go to whenever I always want to be useful in any campaign.



Life Charger

Race: V. Human
Class: Life Domain Cleric
Background: Any (I love a charlatan cleric though)

Str: 16 (15+1)
Dex: 10
Con: 14
Int: 8
Wis: 17 (16+1)
Cha: 8

Tactics: Run around and hit stuff! Heal stuff. Use your action to take the help action whenever you cast a bonus action spell (like shield of faith or spiritual weapon)! You won't be the best at any one thing (well, healing, yes) but you will be able to help out everyone at any given time.

At first level 1d6 + 3 + 5 (~12) is pretty good since you can eat OA like no one's business.

At 4th take Observant for that +1 Wis and bonus to passive perception. 18 wis is more than enough.

At 8th level take +2 Strength or Magic Initiate Druid (I like Primal Savagery/Shillelagh, Thorn Whip, and Endure Elements).