Replacement character

[carrdrivesyou]

So my paladin is about to bite the dust with no hope of escape. So I am thinking up a backup character. The other two in the party are a Dwarf artificer and an Aarakocra ranger. Something to note: this is a Gritty Realism game, so a long rest takes a week and short rests take 8 hours.

I was thinking a short rest class, but I am rather tired of warlocks.

Your thoughts playgrounders?

[firelistener]

A fighter or monk would work well. Fighter will be very similar to your paladin, and monk plays a little different. Since you lack the AC that other classes have early on, monks rely more on their bonus actions and ki points to sustain rather than just deal damage. If you run out of Ki though, the monk is usually much worse off than a fighter without their short rest features and has to resort to ranged attacks or harrassing enemies targeting someone else. So if you think you'll have lots of fights between short rests, it's probably safer to opt for fighter if you think your new character will take a lot of the hits in combat.

[Aett_Thorn]

Are the other two playing more ranged or melee characters?

If ranged, then playing a Battlemaster Fighter could be useful, as they are almost entirely short-rest dependent.

If melee, then go something different and go Dreams Druid. Use your subclass ability for healing, freeing up spells for something else, since they're at more of a premium.

[carrdrivesyou]

Are the other two playing more ranged or melee characters?

If ranged, then playing a Battlemaster Fighter could be useful, as they are almost entirely short-rest dependent.

If melee, then go something different and go Dreams Druid. Use your subclass ability for healing, freeing up spells for something else, since they're at more of a premium.

The ranger flies around with a bow and the artificer is our healer but uses offensive cantrips.

[Sudsboy]

If you can get by without a "tank" type character, I'd be tempted to play a rogue in gritty realism. Sneak attack would be that much more valuable in a resource-scarce scenario.

[Dork_Forge]

What level are we talking about here? A mix of Fighter/Rogue would give you a bunch of short rest and no resource abilities as well as enough skills to cover the skill monkey role (which your group doesn't seem to have covered). If you go Battlemaster I'd say consider Martial Adept, when you need to wait until the next day for your SD back you should take everyone you can get.

[Sigreid]

I pretty much agree with the post above. In a gritty realism campaign, the rogue is king.

[nickl_2000]

Go Arcane Archer Fighter. Your group is more likely to take short rests, so you get your magic shots back more often. Add in two levels of rogue for when you have the time and your group is killer at setting traps and kiting.

[Dork_Forge]

Go Arcane Archer Fighter. Your group is more likely to take short rests, so you get your magic shots back more often. Add in two levels of rogue for when you have the time and your group is killer at setting traps and kiting.

Whilst they're more likely to take short rests, that means they'll have an abiltity they can use twice per day if done by the book, of all the Fighter Subclasses (besides maybe PDK) it's the most limited in, and dependent on, resources.