Character suggestions for a 1 shot adventure

[KnotaGuru]

Hello, I'm playing in a 1-shot adventure soon and not sure what to play. Suggestions?

Here's the details:
- 4 players (don't know what anyone else is playing)
- start at level 6, no leveling, so will end at level 6
- standard 27-point buy
- all published source material allowed
- starting magic items: 1 rare, 1 uncommon, 2 common

[Sam113097]

Well, it's only for a one-shot, so I recommend trying out a character concept or class that you've never tried before! In such a short game, you don't really need to worry about party roles (5e does a good job at reducing the need for tank/healer/etc.), so just try out an idea that sounds fun!

You've got quite a few magic items to begin with, so a character that can use a few lesser-known ones might be fun! Perhaps a Thief with Fast Hands to use a bunch of different traps/wands!

[SpawnOfMorbo]

Hello, I'm playing in a 1-shot adventure soon and not sure what to play. Suggestions?

Here's the details:
- 4 players (don't know what anyone else is playing)
- start at level 6, no leveling, so will end at level 6
- standard 27-point buy
- all published source material allowed
- starting magic items: 1 rare, 1 uncommon, 2 common

Human

Cleric (Life) 1/ Sorcerer (Dragon) 1/ Rogue 1/ Barbarian 1/ Fighter 1/ Bard 1

Get all stats to 13 except Int which will be 10. All stats get a +1, so you will have a lot of 14s.

Use a dagger and heavy armor + shield.

Background and skills? Whatever you like but grab Athletics for expertise in shoving.

Your main tactics won't to be dealing damage but supporting your allies. Grab spells that support, like bless.

You have some bardic inspiration, don't forget to use it.

[Expired]

Have you played with this DM and group before? If so, do they prioritize one aspect of D&D (e.g. combat, social, or exploration) over another?

[KnotaGuru]

Have you played with this DM and group before? If so, do they prioritize one aspect of D&D (e.g. combat, social, or exploration) over another?

I have played with this group before. I think it's going to be more combat oriented. Might be some investigation/mystery.

[Man_Over_Game]

I'd go something that was versatile in multiple roles, had a slight emphasis towards melee (I think too much melee is better than too much range), and was able to adapt.

Nothing fits that nearly as perfectly as a Cleric or Moon Druid.

If everyone picked Rogue, Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin, etc, the game would be kinda bland, since those classes are kinda stuck with all the same mechanics. However, two Clerics can easily have enough differences to have completely different playstyles and benefits to the team.

[Expired]

I have played with this group before. I think it's going to be more combat oriented. Might be some investigation/mystery.
In that case, I'd play a Rogue—any archetype is fine but I favor the Arcane Trickster.

[Chad.e.clark]

Level 6 Lore Bard, Prestidigitation for one cantrip. Grab Cli Lyre with rare magic item, Decanter of Endless Water for uncommon magic item.

Laugh at the other casters as you cast Level 4 spells through the power of music while they only have piddly level 3 spells, and Prestidigitate your endless water decanter into wine or at least have it taste like wine.

[KnotaGuru]

Sounds like a couple of the players have decided:
1. Monk
2. Artificer Artillerist
3. (Still undecided)
4. (Me)

[Man_Over_Game]

Sounds like a couple of the players have decided:
1. Monk
2. Artificer Artillerist
3. (Still undecided)
4. (Me)

So far, the party has:

Dexterity
Wisdom
Intelligence
Mobility
Damage
Middling magic

So the least-filled niche is probably something super-durable or super-squishy, preferably with stats that haven't been mentioned (like a Sorcerer or Paladin).

[CTurbo]

I agree with a Cha focused character. Level 6 makes me think of the Paladin's Aura of Protection!

But really all 4 of the Cha focused classes get really good subclass features at level 6.

[DrKerosene]

Option 1, Elf Barbarian. Elven Accuracy + Reckless Attack. Maybe take your first level in Fighter.

Option 2, Fiend Pact Warlock. At level 5-6, no one should be able to sling more Fireballs than you. Optionally take one level of Paladin or Fighter.

Option 3, VHuman Battlemaster, play some kind of a feat combo.

Option 4, Lore Bard who steals Find Steed & Conjure Woodland Beings. You are the horse lord.

[KnotaGuru]

The 3rd player is going Arcane Archer Fighter. That leaves us with no STR or CHA. Artificer has cure light wounds while the monk (open hand) and fighter have limited self-healing.

A paladin seems to make the most sense. Do I go vhuman sword & board with Shield Master, Inspiring Leader, or HAM? Or PAM/Sentinel?

Order of the Crown seems good for this group.

I can select Belt of Giant strength or even a Cloak of Displacement for my rare item and a +1 weapon as my uncommon item.

[DrKerosene]

The 3rd player is going Arcane Archer Fighter. That leaves us with no STR or CHA. Artificer has cure light wounds while the monk (open hand) and fighter have limited self-healing.

A paladin seems to make the most sense. Do I go vhuman sword & board with Shield Master, Inspiring Leader, or HAM? Or PAM/Sentinel?

Order of the Crown seems good for this group.

I can select Belt of Giant strength or even a Cloak of Displacement for my rare item and a +1 weapon as my uncommon item.

Well, if you’re a single-class Paladin to level 6, you could technically make Strength your dump stat and then take that Belt. It should do more for you than a +1 weapon would (ignoring resistance to non-magic weapons).

I suppose if you should take Shield Master or PAM, etc, depends a bit on how your DM rules the order of actions can/must occur. I think having the option to start your attack with a Bonus Action Shield Bash for Prone is tempting, otherwise a Pole Arm Master (spears + shields are allowed) might be better with Sentinel or GWM added at 4th.


I do want to point out that a Sorcerer-Warlock “coffeelock” should be an option at this level, if your DM will allow something broken for the one-shot. With Hexblade, Armor Of Agathys, Blade Ward, and maybe Hellish Rebuke, you should be able to do a fair bit of damage by stacking spell slots and getting hit. Ask for a sword or modified spear type weapon with the artifact level “Answering” enchantment, (just not the +3 bonus). It lets you attack something as your Reaction after it attacks you.

[ImproperJustice]

Wild Magic Sorceror just for giggles.

Or Fire Gensei Barbarian. Be short, and call yourself Anger, like the guy from
Inside out.

Play a Tabaxi Druid completely focused around cat themed spells and abilities, and call yourself the Nekomancer.

[CTurbo]

The 3rd player is going Arcane Archer Fighter. That leaves us with no STR or CHA. Artificer has cure light wounds while the monk (open hand) and fighter have limited self-healing.

A paladin seems to make the most sense. Do I go vhuman sword & board with Shield Master, Inspiring Leader, or HAM? Or PAM/Sentinel?

Order of the Crown seems good for this group.

I can select Belt of Giant strength or even a Cloak of Displacement for my rare item and a +1 weapon as my uncommon item.


I like the Belt of Giant Str and +1 Weapon idea for a Paladin

For Oath, considering you never make it past level 6, I'd choose either Vengeance or Devotion.

I like PAM + Sentinel but don't discount taking +2 Cha to boost your Aura

Any race that can boost Cha to 16 would work. I love Aasimars, but Tiefling, Half-Elf, or even Tabaxi would be great. Variant Human could get you PAM+Sentinel+2 to Cha

[KnotaGuru]

Option 1, Elf Barbarian. Elven Accuracy + Reckless Attack. Maybe take your first level in Fighter.

Option 2, Fiend Pact Warlock. At level 5-6, no one should be able to sling more Fireballs than you. Optionally take one level of Paladin or Fighter.

Option 3, VHuman Battlemaster, play some kind of a feat combo.

Option 4, Lore Bard who steals Find Steed & Conjure Woodland Beings. You are the horse lord.

Thanks for the creative suggestions!
Option 1 - good in theory, but barbarian advantage only works with strength attack rolls, while EA applies only on Dex/Int/Wis/Cha attack rolls
Option 2 - I like the mass destruction, but the Artificer will carry a wand of fireballs so we should be set there
Option 3 - I thought about this, going vhuman battlemaster (lots of fun options with riposte, trip, menacing or precise) with HAM, PAM, & Sentinel
Option 4 - sounds fun, but not what I'm hoping for this adventure

I also thought about a full support character. VHuman Life cleric with Resilent CON and Warcaster to bless the other 3 party members, maintain warding bond on the monk, spiritual weapon and spirit guardians for damage, or toss out some heals with spells and channel divinity.

[Corran]

Sounds like a couple of the players have decided:
1. Monk
2. Artificer Artillerist
3. (Still undecided)
4. (Me)

The 3rd player is going Arcane Archer Fighter.
Preface: I am unfamiliar with what an artificer can do, so my suggestions could be off because of that.

Everyone is (or at least can and probably should) be stealthy. It'd be great for your character to be stealthy too, cause there is a big difference between an all-stealthy party and a party where everyone is stealthy apart from one tin can. So, #1 goal, be stealthy.

Same as above goes for darkvision. If everyone plays a race with darkvision (or has a easy way to get darkvision; eg human shadow monk), try to do the same. Extra points if everyone is both stealthy and has darkvision.

Everyone can attack from range (archer, artillerist?) or hit and run (monk), so you should opt for at least one of these two. The ability to kite enemies is good when no one gets left behind for the enemies to focus on. And while you could simply be tagging along doing little to nothing as everyone else is kiting, I think it's better to be able to contribute more than not spoiling your group's tactics. So, either a decent ranged attack or the ability to hit and run would be my #2 goal.

You allies are squishy (holding some reservations for the artificer), so a good combination of tanking and stickiness on your part would be useful. So, my #3 goal would be to be able to tank (and to draw some aggro when necessary), for when my allies have nowhere to run.

==========

At level 6 there will obviously be more than one build that accomplish all of the above. To steal an idea I was reading in another thread, you could be a small sized race with darkvision (eg kobold), paladin (for a medium sized mount which you'll be able to bring with you in many places a normal horse would have trouble getting; you want the mount for speed), dex based so that you can be stealthy (also ranged attack, though careful about what you are doing with your shield), oath of the crown maybe (with champion's challenge providing some additional control to your smite enhanced OA's for when you'll be tanking), or devotion (for sanctuary).

Edit: Ancients wouldn't be bad either. Nature's wrath isn't as good as champion's challenge or as access to sanctuary (always talking about this party), but moonbeam wouldn't be bad, as I just noticed that you are a bit low on AoE damage. Though now I am thinking that AoE damage should be goal #4 (assuming you can do better than the artillerist here, so essentially we are talking about fireball or spirit guardians at this level). Hmmm....

[CTurbo]

Thanks for the creative suggestions!
Option 1 - good in theory, but barbarian advantage only works with strength attack rolls, while EA applies only on Dex/Int/Wis/Cha attack rolls
Option 2 - I like the mass destruction, but the Artificer will carry a wand of fireballs so we should be set there
Option 3 - I thought about this, going vhuman battlemaster (lots of fun options with riposte, trip, menacing or precise) with HAM, PAM, & Sentinel
Option 4 - sounds fun, but not what I'm hoping for this adventure

I also thought about a full support character. VHuman Life cleric with Resilent CON and Warcaster to bless the other 3 party members, maintain warding bond on the monk, spiritual weapon and spirit guardians for damage, or toss out some heals with spells and channel divinity.

I thought about suggesting a TEMPEST Cleric. Vhuman with Warcaster and +2 Wis.

Life is a bit blah, but with Tempest, you can maximize the damage of thunder or lightning spells TWICE per short rest, and Tempest comes with control spells like Fog Cloud and Gust of Wind too.

I would skip Warding Bond though. It's really lackluster in most circumstances.

Either way with Cleric, you want at least 18 Wis.

[da newt]

Mounted Kobold Paladin w/ belt of giant ST. One shots are great for silly stuff - enjoy. Bonus points if you can convince your DM to let you ride a Worg, Giant Owl, Giant Goat, Ape, Axe Beak, Hadrosaurus, or something else interesting (same or lower CR as a warhorse so why not?).

Pack Tactics and a belt of Giant ST and smites and great mobility w/ free disengage - yes please.

Alternately, a YuanTi Paladin can be very hardy.

[KnotaGuru]

Special thanks to Corran for their suggestion on group synergy.

I opted for a Dex-based sword & board eladrin vengence paladin w/elven accuracy feat. Stats at level 6: 8,18,14,8,10,16. Went with cloak of displacement and cloak of protection, so 19 AC with disadvantage to attack rolls against me. The artificer has offered to use one of his infusions (radiant weapon) on my rapier to make it magical.

We're trying to go all stealth and darkvision (I don't need to use the light feature on my rapier to make it function). I can fight in melee (dueling fighting style) or at range (18 Dex and hunter's mark makes my bow pretty deadly), misty/fey step in/out of combat, ride my celestial warhorse for mobility, and have all the other paladin goodies.

I should have lots of opportunity for advantage on attacks: monk stunning strike or prone from flurry of blows, vow of enmity, hold person, prone from warhorse trampling charge, blinded from radiant weapon, and artificer faerie fire. Put elven accuracy to work to go crit fishing for divine smites.

[da newt]

I thought I read somewhere that you can't wear two cloaks/robes at once - but if your DM is good with it (or my memory is wrong) ...

[KorvinStarmast]

Special thanks to Corran for their suggestion on group synergy.

I opted for a Dex-based sword & board eladrin vengence paladin w/elven accuracy feat. Stats at level 6: 8,18,14,8,10,16. Went with cloak of displacement and cloak of protection, so 19 AC with disadvantage to attack rolls against me.
Those are both rare, are they not? (I'd suggest displacement if you have to choose.)
EDIT: oops, never mind.

Cloak of Protection Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)
And yes, I think you can wear two cloaks. (Talk with your DM)

The artificer has offered to use one of his infusions (radiant weapon) on my rapier to make it magical.
Make sure he uses his protector cannon when melee starts. Each round, new Temp HP can add up to a LOT of damage avoided.

[KnotaGuru]

I thought I read somewhere that you can't wear two cloaks/robes at once - but if your DM is good with it (or my memory is wrong) ...

From the DMG, pg141
MULTIPLE ITEMS OF THE SAME KIND
Use common sense to determine whether more than one of a given kind of magic item can be worn. A character can't normally wear more than one pair of footwear, one pair of gloves or gauntlets, one pair of bracers, one suit of armor, one item of head wear, and one cloak. You can make exceptions; a character might be able to wear a circlet under a helmet, for example, or be able to layer two cloaks.

DM is okay with it :)