Need a non-magical character to ground a magical party in a low magic setting.

[Rfkannen]

A friend of mine is talking about restarting a campaign she was running a while ago, and she talked about how one of the problems she had was that the setting she runs is a low magic grounded roman empire style thing, but the characters were all used to high magic, and she needed one low magic person to ground the party, and she asked if I could join to be that character (especially good since I know the setting well)



The other members of the party:


A tiefling (super rare in this setting) rogue
a life cleric ( tragic backstory about gaining divine power and accidently blowing some people up)
a melee valor bard
and a wizard (treasure hunter who gets their power from a mysteries book they found on the lookout for other ancient magical artifacts)
The tiefling and the bard have intertwined backgrounds that deal with one of the few mages of the setting.






The setting


Magic is super rare

There is a big roman empire analog

we are in a country that managed to rebel against the roman empire analog with the help of a wizard who became the wizard king

the wizard king is treated sort of like a god

Now that the war is over you have a lot of former soldiers with no jobs who become pirates or bandits (or adventurers) or the like.
war was around 50 years ago now I think? (humans involved are older now)





The character would want to be a fairly normal person from the setting:


Has a high reverence for magic ( Character should be loyal to the wizard king)

Should probably be tied to the recent civil war against the roman empire analog.

Educated person, knows the stuff I know as a player who has played in this setting before.

One of: human, halfling, dwarf.







Any ideas? Any questions? Any characters you think would for the requirements? Any characters you think would fit the party?

[Amnestic]

With non-magical characters you're limited to fighter, barbarian and rogue pretty much. Since you've already got a rogue and a bard, skills are covered so fighter (non-EK) or barbarian (not-Wild Magic) I suppose?

With background switcheroos there's no reason your barbarian couldn't be educated. If you want to go whole hog you can refluff the rage as intense focus or the like instead of frothing anger too.

Really any of the barbarian subclasses would work here. Maybe your family has served the wizard king for a long time which is how you got educated, but then your path of the beast nature manifested and you got disowned by the family? Ancestral Guardian would be good too for a bit of tankiness.

[Wraith]

Artificer is another way you could go, particularly Alchemist. You don't have "magic" in-character, you just have access to and knowledge of a fairly crude sort of technology that you hope will one day let you ape the ancient and powerful magics that you were told stories about as a child.
Pick your spells carefully and make sure to RP them as non-magic - it's not a healing spell, you're taking a bandage out of your bag and applying it to the wound! - and I think it could almost work as a sort of travelling doctor or John Dee-style scientist, especially if you ask nicely to be allowed to use V.Human and pick up the Healer feat.

It's also a decent support class and you focus on both INT and skill proficiencies, so it would be fairly easy to portray a character as a sort of guide or mentor who knows a lot of things and can point the way.

Ranger would work in a similar manner - RP your abilities of things like Natural Explorer as being your down-to-earth knowledge of the land, and your spells aren't 'magic' as such, just a result of your careful martial training and practical know-how.

[Mastikator]

Variant human fighter, battlemaster,
Trip and precision maneuvers are a must have (plus maybe menacing)
soldier background fits perfectly with requirements.

Doesn't get more grounded than a human fighter. But with a bonus point for being really strong.

If going archery, sharpshooter feat and archery fighting style
If going melee damager, great weapon master and great weapon fighting style
If going tank, maybe heavy armor master?

Sharpshooter/great weapon master and precision maneuver is really good early game and stacks with extra attacks really well, so you won't have to worry about not being strong next to the spell casters.

[MoiMagnus]

You could play an officer of the Roman army.

So a fighter battlemaster, with either Int, Cha or Sag depending on whether you are more a strategist, a commander, or an elite soldier.
I'd take vHuman with a first level feat which is not combat-related (depending on the mental stat you chose).

Or a dwarf if you want to play someone that was already in the army during the big war.

[RogueJK]

Variant human fighter, battlemaster,
Trip and precision maneuvers are a must have (plus maybe menacing)
soldier background fits perfectly with requirements.

Doesn't get more grounded than a human fighter. But with a bonus point for being really strong.

If going archery, sharpshooter feat and archery fighting style
If going melee damager, great weapon master and great weapon fighting style
If going tank, maybe heavy armor master?

Sharpshooter/great weapon master and precision maneuver is really good early game and stacks with extra attacks really well, so you won't have to worry about not being strong next to the spell casters.

My thoughts almost exactly. However, in addition to a 100% non-magical character to ground the party, your party needs a frontline tank, so I'd go for that instead of Ranged (though Archer Battlemasters are definitely great).

You could be a former Empire soldier, highly trained in the use of polearms, fighting with Heavy Armor and either Spear+Shield+Dueling fighting style or with a 2H Polearm with GWM+Defense fighting style if you want more damage, and using your Maneuvers for some additional combos. (I'd suggest 2H+Defense, since your AC will only be 1 point lower, but you'll seriously boost your damage output, provided you're smart about when you apply GWM's -5/+10.)

Go with a VHuman Battlemaster, picking up Polearm Master at Level 1, boosting STR at 4, then Sentinel at 6, then either Great Weapon Master (if 2H) or maxing STR at 8. This makes you very "sticky", and gives you useful ways to weaponize your Action, Bonus Action, and Reaction every round in combat. Enemies are faced with not being able to close with you (if using 2H reach polearm) and not being able to Disengage from you or move away from you, while being punished for attacking people other than you when within your reach yet having a hard time hitting you because of your high AC if they choose to just attack you.

Trip Attack maneuver is useful for the first attack in your multi-attack routine, to grant yourself Advantage on subsequent attacks that round, and also grant Advantage to other allies' melee attacks between your turn and the enemy's turn when they can stand up. (Extra handy if the initiative order allows the Rogue to go in between your turn and the enemy's turn for easy Sneak Attacks, provided he's not an Archer Rogue in which case Proning the enemy would actually be detrimental for that.)

Trip Attack combos especially well with GWM, since you can Trip Attack + Advantaged GWM Attack + Bonus Action Advantaged GWM Attack, increasing the likelihood of landing those big +10 damage hits. The value goes up at Level 11 when you gain an additional attack each round, allowing you then to make 3x Advantaged GWM attacks after your Trip Attack. And if you really want to lay down some hurt, Trip first and then follow up with your multiple Advantaged GWM attacks plus then Action Surge for a bunch more Advantaged GWM attacks that same turn. Big damage.


And you'll definitely want the Commander's Strike maneuver, to allow the Rogue to get off-turn Sneak Attacks (for 2x SA per round). This is one of the very few ways to double a Rogue's Sneak Attack output. They'll be your best friend.

[KorvinStarmast]

Variant human fighter, battlemaster, I was going to suggest this

If going tank, maybe heavy armor master? Yeah, in a party that squishy, tank will be needed.
Str to 18 at level 4, Sentinel at level 6, or the other way around.

My other suggestion is vHuman cavalier, heavy armor master.

[iTreeby]

I'd say that fighter battlemaster is your best bet. Tasha's has a maneuver that let's you add a superiority die to knowledge roles and I think that could be useful for your character to know as much about the setting as you do so that you can share that information without meta gaming.

[Sparky McDibben]

If you don't want to play a tank, don't feel like you have to. There's also scout rogue (ranger/infiltrator), assassin (possibly Imperial-trained and trying to get info on the wizard-king?), thief, etc. You could also try a non-magical ranger or paladin. Depending on how you spin it, you could see if the DM will let you have paladin spell slots for smiting purposes only and a couple extra ASIs, for instance. Just flavor everything else as being non-magical (your aura comes from an intense dedication to your teammates, for instance).

This might require some fast-talking on your part, but I personally love it when my players bring me quirky concepts like this.

[GiantOctopodes]

I really feel you'd have the most fun with a Barbarian.

Survival could be useful to the group in a variety of situations and doesn't appear to be covered. You'd do enough damage and participate meaningfully enough in the fights to not feel totally useless. As presumptively someone native to the world but not the empire itself, you'd fit in with the "band of oddities" that seem to be there while still maintaining the low magic perspective.

Battlemaster Fighter makes all the sense in the world if you're part of the empire itself, but I fear if you go for the Empire trained soldier route, you'll end up being a worse diplomat than the Bard and spend most of your time admiring how awesome your allies are.

Mind you again there's nothing at all wrong with Fighters, they're perfectly capable on the battlefield, just like everyone else, and you can certainly bring skills to bear just like the Barbarian can. You also reduce the very heavy Multi Attribute Dependency Barbarians suffer from (most of the time they really want Strength, Dex, Con, and Wis to be good, so Int and Cha are almost always dumped, so they can play very stereotypically). I just personally feel any of the Totem Barbarians would feel more interesting and fun to play in that setting and with that group, and worry you'd blend into the background too well as a fighter, if that makes sense.

As others have said you don't Have to be a tank, so running through options beyond Barbarian and Fighter:
Monk - Not sure this fits with "keeping the rest of the party grounded", frankly - zipping around at crazy speeds, running up walls, and fighting a bunch of armed and armored individuals with your bear hands is cool and fun and awesome, but also feels at bare minimum pseudo-mystical, if not outright magical. Still, it is fun and cool.
Rogue - Doubling up on another character's class is fine, there's really nothing wrong with it. Things play out differently than they would if you didn't have that, and I've never had it be a problem in a campaign I've ran or played in. Rogues especially absolutely excel in their Niche, and there's plenty of room for you to have different niches.
Variant class - Literally every other class is a spellcaster, but certainly there are always variant classes. That would depend on your DM and all, but if for some reason Barb, Fighter, Monk and / or Rogue just aren't calling to you, the DM could potentially have some other options. Personally I think any of them would be fine choices, but if I were in your shoes, it'd be Barbarian in a heartbeat.

[Luccan]

A background can give you an education, but for classes, Fighter does offer History proficiency. If you're looking to avoid magic altogether, your options are a bit limited. Especially if you don't want to double up on Rogue. Even the Barbarian only has two truly non-magical subclasses and they're generally poorly regarded (Berserker and Battlerager).

Battlemaster, Cavalier, Samurai, and Purple Dragon Knight/Banneret have class features intended to represent some form of higher education than the average person. Mainly just bonus proficiencies, but Battlemaster gets their assessment ability and Banneret and Samurai get bonuses on Persuasion.

[Eldariel]

That party doesn't look all that squishy to me? Life Cleric and Valor Bard are both more than sufficiently durable frontliners, and Rogue can tank against individual enemies too. I think the party, on the contrary, is specifically lacking in ranged prowess.

One Sharpshooter would expand the operational range to 600' which is a pretty massive tactical benefit in many scenarios. Could go the CBE/SS route if wanting to retain a melee option as well: Longbow for maximum range, Heavy Crossbow at medium range and Hand Crossbow for close combat. Battlemaster Fighter works quite well here (though as always, it doesn't scale that well - but Tasha's options make it a bit better at least, with you able to boost your Stealth/Initiative and Charisma checks). Precision Attack, Menacing Attack and maybe Trip Attack or Ambush (or Pushing Attack or Maneuvering Attack) as the first 3 though.


Definitely make use of the new Tasha's maneuvers to add a bit to the skill side too though; Knowledges, Stealth or Charisma skills are all available.

[CheddarChampion]

That party doesn't look all that squishy to me? Life Cleric and Valor Bard are both more than sufficiently durable frontliners, and Rogue can tank against individual enemies too. I think the party, on the contrary, is specifically lacking in ranged prowess.

I agree. I think shortbow/longbow better fits the Roman theme than a crossbow does, but I agree.

Battlemaster is probably better but a Samurai flavored as being favored by Mars could work. You don't have "Fighting Spirit," you momentarily gain a blessing from the God of War. If that isn't too magical, that is.

[Segev]

Character personality-wise, you can play up the reverence for magic such that he feels like he’s in awe of the rest of the party, or you can play up his grounded experience from the war and make the reverence for magic be tempered by being the veteran that he is.

In the former case, I suggest a younger character; less experienced and more sheltered, but eager to make his mark in the name of the king. In the latter, I suggest either an older character (thirties, minimum), or some op whose been through a hard life for his age.

It depends on what kind of grounding you want to provide. Do you want to be the one constantly amazed at the magic of his allies, and always being caught by surprise so they get the common folk reaction? Or do you want to be the one who reminds them that others aren’t used to it by serving as their buffer to the world, easing NPCs about the strange powers of the party?

[Eldariel]

I agree. I think shortbow/longbow better fits the Roman theme than a crossbow does, but I agree.

Battlemaster is probably better but a Samurai flavored as being favored by Mars could work. You don't have "Fighting Spirit," you momentarily gain a blessing from the God of War. If that isn't too magical, that is.

You can just fluff it as a moment of heightened awareness or taking aim or whatever. It doesn't need to be mythical in any way.

[Mastikator]

I was going to suggest this
Yeah, in a party that squishy, tank will be needed.
Str to 18 at level 4, Sentinel at level 6, or the other way around.

My other suggestion is vHuman cavalier, heavy armor master.

After thinking about it for a second I wonder if Sentinel at 1st level isn't the way to go, and take Superior Technique with either menacing attack or trip attack, apply that d6 superiority dice when an enemy attacks someone other than you. If I'm not mistaken both would cause the attack to done at disadvantage. You only get one superiority dice at level 1 but most fights only last a couple of turns and an early advantage tends to pay dividends.

[JediMaster]

After thinking about it for a second I wonder if Sentinel at 1st level isn't the way to go, and take Superior Technique with either menacing attack or trip attack, apply that d6 superiority dice when an enemy attacks someone other than you. If I'm not mistaken both would cause the attack to done at disadvantage. You only get one superiority dice at level 1 but most fights only last a couple of turns and an early advantage tends to pay dividends.

Psi Knight plus Bladesinger is sexy.

[Droppeddead]

I agree. I think shortbow/longbow better fits the Roman theme than a crossbow does, but I agree.

Battlemaster is probably better but a Samurai flavored as being favored by Mars could work. You don't have "Fighting Spirit," you momentarily gain a blessing from the God of War. If that isn't too magical, that is.

What? No arcuballista for the Romans? :(

I completely agree with the Samurai being a perfect fit for the Roman martial class. Considering the sheer discipline the legions were famed (and feared) for "Fighting Spirit" could just be the result of the superior training they've recieved. If the civil war was 50 years ago then a grizzled stout halfling veteran would be a really option. A human would probably be too old but that's really up to you and the DM.

For the same reason that the Samurai would work, a gladiator Kensei monk could also be rather interesting. Just reflavour the abilities to suit the setting. Pick trident and Net for your Kensei weapons and you're all set. :)

If you want to go a more magical route a divination wizard focusing more on rital magic would work. The Romans were very much into augery. Rangers wouldn't be completely out of place. Either as gladiators, legion scouts/auxilia or as hunters supplying exotic beasts for the arenas.

If you want to go a bit more mythological but still fairly grounded a Rogue Scout armed with a sling (very Roman) would be a nice version of the the more rural feel of Greco-Roman adventurers. Wise to the world and knowledgeable of myths and lore. Perhaps that steps on the toes of the bard and the tiefling a bit much, though?

Either way, now I'm totally into a a character using a sling either as a Kensei weapon (yes, technically not permissable but I would allow it!) or combined with Sneak Attack. :D

[Bobthewizard]

All of the above are good ideas. My vote is mixing barbarian and battle master to make a hoplite soldier.

Go variant human for pole arm master and use a spear and shield. This would let you play an unarmored hoplite, which seems fitting for the setting. Heavy armor seems out of place in a Roman game to me.

Start barbarian 1 for unarmored defense and rage, then battle master to 5 for extra attack, then barbarian 3 for reckless attack and a path. I like totem or zealot.

You could go straight barbarian as a hoplite, but the dueling fighting style, action surge, and maneuvers are nice for this build.

[Droppeddead]

All of the above are good ideas. My vote is mixing barbarian and battle master to make a hoplite soldier.

Go variant human for pole arm master and use a spear and shield. This would let you play an unarmored hoplite, which seems fitting for the setting. Heavy armor seems out of place in a Roman game to me.

Start barbarian 1 for unarmored defense and rage, then battle master to 5 for extra attack, then barbarian 3 for reckless attack and a path. I like totem or zealot.

You could go straight barbarian as a hoplite, but the dueling fighting style, action surge, and maneuvers are nice for this build.

A Hoplite would most definately not go into battle unarmoured. Besides, the Hoplite tactics had been outdated for centuries when Rome was at its peak. Both Roman and Greek armour would work excellent as medium or heavy armour from a rules perspective. Especially if we consider the Manicae used against the Dacians.

[ZRN]

For a non-magical, "grounded" character with a good sense of history and military loyalty, I immediately think dwarf. It sounds like it'd be useful to have a leader-ish character who can kind of guide the group - a 4e warlord, more or less. I like the rogue mastermind in addition to the fighter battlemaster; I'd almost certainly mix the two, with the details dependent on what I wanted from the character.

[Unoriginal]

A friend of mine is talking about restarting a campaign she was running a while ago, and she talked about how one of the problems she had was that the setting she runs is a low magic grounded roman empire style thing, but the characters were all used to high magic, and she needed one low magic person to ground the party, and she asked if I could join to be that character (especially good since I know the setting well)



The other members of the party:


A tiefling (super rare in this setting) rogue
a life cleric ( tragic backstory about gaining divine power and accidently blowing some people up)
a melee valor bard
and a wizard (treasure hunter who gets their power from a mysteries book they found on the lookout for other ancient magical artifacts)
The tiefling and the bard have intertwined backgrounds that deal with one of the few mages of the setting.






The setting


Magic is super rare

There is a big roman empire analog

we are in a country that managed to rebel against the roman empire analog with the help of a wizard who became the wizard king

the wizard king is treated sort of like a god

Now that the war is over you have a lot of former soldiers with no jobs who become pirates or bandits (or adventurers) or the like.
war was around 50 years ago now I think? (humans involved are older now)





The character would want to be a fairly normal person from the setting:


Has a high reverence for magic ( Character should be loyal to the wizard king)

Should probably be tied to the recent civil war against the roman empire analog.

Educated person, knows the stuff I know as a player who has played in this setting before.

One of: human, halfling, dwarf.







Any ideas? Any questions? Any characters you think would for the requirements? Any characters you think would fit the party?

I would go for a Conan expy. Or at least start that way.

[noob]

I would go for a Conan expy. Or at least start that way.

So probably a fighter rogue multiclass?

[Unoriginal]

So probably a fighter rogue multiclass?

If you go by Robert E. Howard's work, yes. With Outlander Background, and Unarmed Fighting Style.