Party of Newbies

[jaappleton]

So my old 4E group is getting back together, except this time, its 5E.

In my 4E days, I was a complete powergamer. Not just an optimizer. I mean powergamer. THAT guy. The person that's infamous for being a jackwagon at the table and only caring about high damage numbers.

Yeah, that was me. Not proud of it, but I've learned.

I want to be in a support role, really helping them shine. I don't want to talk unless its to guide them along the proper path, I don't want to pump out extraordinary damage numbers in combat.

Heck, I'm not certain I want to talk at all. I once played a magic bear named Ruxpin at another 5E table and literally played a non-verbal Moon Druid stuck in Bear form, that was pretty fun. Might consider something like that again. (Though one player is heavily leaning Stars Druid)

Right now I'm really leaning Life or Grave Cleric. I know Life is fairly boring, but its wonderfully effective. Grave can lay down that channel divinity curse to really help another character shine, I think that might be the better way to go overall. I don't want to be chatty, so as much as its an excellent support class, I want to avoid Bard. Diviner is also really solid, but I think I'd rather let someone else feel empowered by hurling out Fireballs and Lightning Bolts.

Big bonus points to anything I can make puns with. A Warforged filled with bees? I wouldn't bee-lieve it. Crying tears of honey? I live for this sort of stuff.

[nickl_2000]

As much as I hate to say it, I don't think there is a better option for a support class better than a Divine Soul Sorcerer. You can twin haste or enlarge/reduce, you can bless, you can heal. You would just have to play it as a non-social character, perhaps the attractive, attention grabbing, strong, silent type?

[jaappleton]

As much as I hate to say it, I don't think there is a better option for a support class better than a Divine Soul Sorcerer. You can twin haste or enlarge/reduce, you can bless, you can heal. You would just have to play it as a non-social character, perhaps the attractive, attention grabbing, strong, silent type?

....You make a very fair point. I can be a Charisma class without necessarily being Charismatic, so to speak. It IS quite possibly the greatest buffer in the game, its certainly in that debate. We play with UA, so with the Class Variant UA the whole 'only get new spells on leveling up' isn't such an issue as it would be for vanilla Sorcs.

[Unoriginal]

Regardless of the build, I would take the Acolyte background with proficiency in Brewer's Kit (and maybe Alchemist's Supplies) and an old overweight Friar Tuck-type priest and booze-maker.


In term of class, I want to point out that the Sorcerer has access to Subtle Spell if you want to be completely non-verbal.

[Gtdead]

So my old 4E group is getting back together, except this time, its 5E.

In my 4E days, I was a complete powergamer. Not just an optimizer. I mean powergamer. THAT guy. The person that's infamous for being a jackwagon at the table and only caring about high damage numbers.

Yeah, that was me. Not proud of it, but I've learned.

I want to be in a support role, really helping them shine. I don't want to talk unless its to guide them along the proper path, I don't want to pump out extraordinary damage numbers in combat.

Heck, I'm not certain I want to talk at all. I once played a magic bear named Ruxpin at another 5E table and literally played a non-verbal Moon Druid stuck in Bear form, that was pretty fun. Might consider something like that again. (Though one player is heavily leaning Stars Druid)

Right now I'm really leaning Life or Grave Cleric. I know Life is fairly boring, but its wonderfully effective. Grave can lay down that channel divinity curse to really help another character shine, I think that might be the better way to go overall. I don't want to be chatty, so as much as its an excellent support class, I want to avoid Bard. Diviner is also really solid, but I think I'd rather let someone else feel empowered by hurling out Fireballs and Lightning Bolts.

Big bonus points to anything I can make puns with. A Warforged filled with bees? I wouldn't bee-lieve it. Crying tears of honey? I live for this sort of stuff.

Generally speaking, playing support with newbies is fun. Everyone feels great, they feel useful because dealing damage is extremely satisfying, and the most important thing is that they don't need to read too much (which is what pushes newbies away from the game).

I don't really want to comment on your build with this post, but I want to give this piece of advice. If your DM likes to create encounters on the more difficult side, you need to be able to take serious action sometimes. I've had newbies overextend too much, using spells on fights that were already decided (for example, the enemies were only low cr melee, I had 20 armor and was spamming dodge on a choke point), wasting attacks on 3/4 cover. And the most important of all, they don't know how to protect themselves. No prone against ranged, prefering to dash and overextend instead of moving with dodge.

So many times, I've had teammates playing ranged characters, dealing zero damage due to cover penalties and dying to a critical. Perhaps it's my luck, but I kind of expect it any time I play at low levels with new players.

In your shoes I'd prefer to play something with a bit more killing power than a life cleric. Perhaps a tempest cleric, or a paladin, or a divine soul sorcerer. Something that can surgically apply the right pressure when needed. You don't have to steal anyone's thunder, but a maximized shatter against a cultist fanatic spamming inflict wounds, can really help things along. I speak from experience :p .

[jaappleton]

Generally speaking, playing support with newbies is fun. Everyone feels great, they feel useful because dealing damage is extremely satisfying, and the most important thing is that they don't need to read too much (which is what pushes newbies away from the game).

I don't really want to comment on your build with this post, but I want to give this piece of advice. If your DM likes to create encounters on the more difficult side, you need to be able to take serious action sometimes. I've had newbies overextend too much, using spells on fights that were already decided (for example, the enemies were only low cr melee, I had 20 armor and was spamming dodge on a choke point), wasting attacks on 3/4 cover. And the most important of all, they don't know how to protect themselves. No prone against ranged, prefering to dash and overextend instead of moving with dodge.

So many times, I've had teammates playing ranged characters, dealing zero damage due to cover penalties and dying to a critical. Perhaps it's my luck, but I kind of expect it any time I play at low levels with new players.

In your shoes I'd prefer to play something with a bit more killing power than a life cleric. Perhaps a tempest cleric, or a paladin, or a divine soul sorcerer. Something that can surgically apply the right pressure when needed. You don't have to steal anyone's thunder, but a maximized shatter against a cultist fanatic spamming inflict wounds, can really help things along. I speak from experience :p .

I totally understand what you're saying here. If necessary, I need to be able to turn the tide, so to speak.

I get your point about Tempest Cleric, but the way it can just maximize damage, I can see how that'd be quite... Given my previous reputation for our time with 4E, I don't want that in my wheelhouse. You, me, and many others here are well aware of Tempest, as well as its limitations. Sure it can push out that max Shatter, which is AWESOME, but after that its a pretty mundane Cleric. For this table, I would rather avoid having to explain, "Yes I can do that, buuuuut-"

Until they're a bit more familiar with what everything can do, and they gain more of an understanding. When its someones first few sessions, Tempest can seem exceptionally powerful.