What party of 5 would represent best 5e at this point?

[Wasp]

Hi everyone

I was wondering, at this point in time what would be for you the most "iconic" party of 5 characters that really represents what D&D 5e is about compared to previous editions (or other RPGs)? Let's say in 2nd tier? What races and classes best represent the mechanics and atmosphere of 5e - if there's such a thing? i mean, maybe the great thing about this edition is that it's not as "formulaic" as maybe 4th edition (I don't know enough about the previous edition to judge that)?

Just a thought for discussion for the weekend

Cheers

Wasp

[DrKerosene]

Well, I suppose a Battlemaster, any Warlock, any Monk, any Bard, and a Crossbow Expert Hunter Ranger, would be a good way to demonstrate how 5e classes differ from previous editions.

Should also allow for demonstration of how some classes are very Short Rest dependant.

Has a mix of melee techniques, a ranged specialist, a cantrip user, and ...probably vicious mockery.

Bards should also help demonstrate the skill system, the concept of (dis)advantage, and adding dice or expertise.

[DevilMcam]

well it would according to fantasy sources and my experiences be something like :

A halfing rogue, probably arcane trickster (aka the Scout)
An elven wizard, for which i can't predict a subclass(aka the Loremaster)
A Dwarvish Fighter, probably battlemaster (aka the Muscle)
A human Paladin, possibly ancient but all subclasses are very good/popular (aka the Face)
and a Human Ranger, most likely beastmaster even though it's fairly weak (aka the Explorer)

One for each of the skill-related ability scores
Variations may of course apply. And most Experienced players would ditch the ranger in favor for a druid or a cleric

[Democratus]

Seems to me that the thing about 5e is that there isn't an "iconic" party.

The idea is that with 5e, every table is its own thing. "Rulings, not rules" being the motto of 5e.

So go nuts and make a party of super-wonky exceptions to the rule. That's expressive of 5e as much as fighter/thief/wizard/cleric was to 1e.

[Skylivedk]

According to DM rants:

5 players with Hexblade dips.

2 Hexblade / 18 Bard
1 Hexblade / 2 Fighter / 17 Wizard
1 Hexblade / 12 Battlemaster (or Samurai) / 7 Gloom stalker (or 3 Gloomstalker, 11 Ftr, 5 Scout, 1 hexblade)
1 Hexblade / 6 Paladin / 13 Sorcerer

and of course
17 Hexblade / 3 Fighter [can be anything here]

can also be Hexblade 1 / Moon or Sheperd Druid X or my wonky build - will post in the Gish thread.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Any party can work, and any class can fill any skill role. I'm currently playing a deep gnome urchin wizard, who does all the sneaking and disabling of traps and locks, since we don't have a rogue. So the 5e party should at least partially showcase characters that are good at things their class typically wouldn't do.

For example, include a mountain dwarf sailor wizard, who wears medium armor and always has an opponent grappled with one hand while he casts spells with the other hand.

[FabulousFizban]

ranger
barbarian
wizard
thief
and acrobat

[LudicSavant]

According to DM rants:

5 players with Hexblade dips.

2 Hexblade / 18 Bard
1 Hexblade / 2 Fighter / 17 Wizard
1 Hexblade / 12 Battlemaster (or Samurai) / 7 Gloom stalker (or 3 Gloomstalker, 11 Ftr, 5 Scout, 1 hexblade)
1 Hexblade / 6 Paladin / 13 Sorcerer

and of course
17 Hexblade / 3 Fighter [can be anything here]

can also be Hexblade 1 / Moon or Sheperd Druid X or my wonky build - will post in the Gish thread.

We had the same idea xD

[HiveStriker]

Hi everyone

I was wondering, at this point in time what would be for you the most "iconic" party of 5 characters that really represents what D&D 5e is about compared to previous editions (or other RPGs)? Let's say in 2nd tier? What races and classes best represent the mechanics and atmosphere of 5e - if there's such a thing? i mean, maybe the great thing about this edition is that it's not as "formulaic" as maybe 4th edition (I don't know enough about the previous edition to judge that)?

Just a thought for discussion for the weekend

Cheers

Wasp
Cleric (or Druid), Fighter, Rogue, Bard, Wizard.
Choice being made...
a) Favoring the most "iconic" classes = ones for which most people would have a similar idea of associated fluff and "in summary" what they are good at.
Cleric is the religious guy that heals,
Fighter is the "brute" that does one thing but does it well.
Rogue is the sneaky guy that deals massive damage.
Bard is the party face and skillmonkey, expectedly.
Wizard is, well, the wizard, aka the guy that uses powerful yet understandable effects;

b) Demonstrating all the kind of magic (including their absence)
Cleric = prepared caster
Fighter = no magic
Rogue = no magic
Bard = "known" caster
Wizard = "written" caster.

Decent case could be made to swap Bard with Warlock, to demonstrte the existence of short-rest casters, but this one is not easy to grasp.
Same between Fighter and Monk: Monk is iconic enough, but harder to play correctly at low levels.
Bard could be swapped by Sorcerer also, but this class needs good understanding and knowledge of spells and game mechanics.

As for archetypes...
Honestly everything goes...
"Double down on iconic": Life / Champion / Thief / Lore / Evoker.
"Display some mechanical nuances": Nature (reaction, skill) / Battlemaster (short-rest resource) / Thief (kept to demonstrate creativity with "mundane" items ;)) / Whispers (extra damage + spy feature) / Illusion (demonstrate creativity with illusions).

[Mikal]

A human champion fighter because anything else is too “complex” for their poor minds to wrap their head around

An archivist wizard because why shouldn’t the wizard get free energy swap of any spell in their repertoire resource free?

A sorcerer with the elemental metamagic option just to rub the above in, but that’s okay because he’s a reskinned tiger because he wants the tiger racial abilities while looking human and you know, “rule of cool”

A rogue who barely gets sneak attack and doesn’t have reliable talent because the DM thinks they’re “unbalanced”

An actually competent PC, usually made by someone who’s played previous editions, who usually carries the rest.

[DeTess]

If it has to be an iconic party, then obviously we need a classic five-man band (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveManBand) (warning, tvtropes link). That means we need a leader, a lancer, a smart guy, a big guy and a heart.

The smart guy is easy. They'll have to be a wizard, as no other class really keys off of intelligence. You could put an artificer there, but imho it isn't as iconic as the good old wizard.

There area couple of options for the big guy. Traditionally the barbarian fits best, but you could put a fighter, a paladin or even a moon druid there. Given the reputation of the Moon druid in 5e though, I think one of them needs to be in the party, and the big guy is actually a great slot for them.

The leader and lancer should be a battlemaster fighter and a paladin. Which is which doesn't really matter, but it'd probably fit best if the leader was the paladin, and the lancer is the battlemaster.

For the heart, there are a couple of options. A life cleric could fit well, as would a more support oriented druid or a bard. As we've already got a druid as the big guy, I wouldn't put a second one here though, and the paladin already covers the religion angle of things, so I'd put a bard here.

[Rakoa]

In my opinion, the iconic party would be...

Life Cleric

Thief Rogue

Champion or Battlemaster Fighter

Lore Bard

Wizard of any subclass

[MrStabby]

So:

A monk - to show they are good in this edition
A hexblade/divine soul coffeelock - to show that munchkinery is still alive
A beastmaster ranger, to help the coffeelock shine
A wizard focussed on utility spells
A rogue to watch the wizard use spells to solve all the skill challenges

[Zetakya]

Hi everyone

I was wondering, at this point in time what would be for you the most "iconic" party of 5 characters that really represents what D&D 5e is about compared to previous editions (or other RPGs)? Let's say in 2nd tier? What races and classes best represent the mechanics and atmosphere of 5e - if there's such a thing? i mean, maybe the great thing about this edition is that it's not as "formulaic" as maybe 4th edition (I don't know enough about the previous edition to judge that)?

Just a thought for discussion for the weekend

Cheers

Wasp

A Sorcadin, a Coffeelock, a Lore Bardlock, a Moon Druid and a Life Cleric walk into a bar. The Barman says, "ah, you must be the adventurers".

[KorvinStarmast]

I was wondering, at this point in time what would be for you the most "iconic" party of 5 characters that really represents what D&D
First Group

1 Arcane Trickster Rogue (Who has decent Cha Score and is also the face so they put expertise in at least one social skill)
1. Paladin (Oath of Ancients or Vengeance, to show how Paladins have changed and to smite when it matters.)
1. Monk - Way of the Open Hand or Way of Shadows (To show that monks work)
1. Tempest Cleric (To show that clerics are not heal bots)
1. Warlock (GOO: to show that WoTC is happy to go out of their way to do something inconsistent with all of the rest of the classes and how they are built).

Nothing Multiclassed.

Second Group

1 Moon Druid (no, we don't need a cleric!)
1 Barbarian (Totem or Ancients)
1 Ranger (Gloom Stalker or Hunter)
1 Sorcerer (Wild Magic or Shadow)
1 Lore Bard (A skill monkey need not be a rogue)

Nothing Multiclassed

---------------------

Omitted: Wizards and Artificers. The former because someone set fire to their book, and spell selection drives newbies crazy. The latter because it doesn't fit any of 5e's default assumptions on Bounded Accuracy nor on magic item rarity.

Fighter: sub in Fighter Battle master for Barbarian if desired.

[Tanarii]

Human Fey Warlock Folk Hero
High Elf Eldritch Knight Fighter Sage (/Wizard after 10th)
Mountain Dwarf Paladin Noble
Rock Gnome Arcane Trickster Rogue Guild Member (locksmith)
Half-Elf Lore Bard Charlatan

[arnin77]

I would go with:

1. Someone strength based (Fighter, Barbarian , Paladin)
2. Someone dex based (Rogue, Ranger, Bard, Monk, Fighter)
3. Someone int based (Wizard, Artificer)
4. Someone wisdom based (Cleric, Druid)
5. Someone Charisma based (Sorcerer, Warlock, Bard, Paladin)

[Tanarii]

I would go with:

1. Someone strength based (Fighter, Barbarian , Paladin)
2. Someone dex based (Rogue, Ranger, Bard, Monk, Fighter)
3. Someone int based (Wizard, Artificer)
4. Someone wisdom based (Cleric, Druid)
5. Someone Charisma based (Sorcerer, Warlock, Bard, Paladin)
Based on this I'm gonna change one to pick up Wis. :smallamused:
human warlock folk hero -> human tempest cleric folk hero

[Nidgit]

A Sorcadin with the obligate Hexblade 1 dip, for Cha-focused multiclass powergaming.
A Battlemaster going full GWM/PAM and maybe with a Totem Barbarian dip, to exemplify feat-based optimization and high damage output.
A Tempest Cleric, to show clerics aren't just healbots anymore.
A Lore Bard, to show Bards are crazy awesome and not some joke anymore.
A Moon Druid with low stats, because they're famously strong anyway and show off how characters can still be relevant even with bad rolls.