Advice wanted for a new character idea - Fae power grab

[Natediggadoggit]

So, the fae traditionally love getting power and influence by trading favors, right? I think it would be fun to create a character who has that motivation.

I'm thinking, an actual fae being from a different plane, who's visiting the mortal realm in order to accrue as many favors as possible before she returns to her plane. Her ultimate goal is to become a patron for warlock pacts - so she needs notoriety and fame, as well as many many favors owed her.

I think she avoids doing any damage herself at all costs. If in a fight, it would be fun to wheedle for favors in exchange for spells to buff party members.

What race class combination would be the best for this type of character or playstyle? assuming she gets to start at level 6.

I like the idea of her being bound to a tiny or diminutive body, like a pixie, so she has to rely on an NPC or PC carrying her around in a tiny cage. It would be part of the deal she made to be allowed to tarry on the mortal plane for an extended period of time.
I also think she avoids doing any damage herself at all costs. If in a fight, she'll wheedle for favors in exchange for spells to buff party members.

I was thinking Mastermind Rogue 3, and Divination Wizard 3. Mastermind rogue because bonus actions to assist within 30 feet are really strong, and can easily be reskinned as her using otherworldly influence, and it's always nice to have an alternative to magic use. Rogue also kind of fits because when one trades in favors, you want to be good at wheeling and dealing, and disguising fairly simple actions as super important and taxing spells to help those who are desperate.
I'm not so sure about divination wizard. I mostly want access to portent rolls, they just feel really powerful, but chronurgy wizard could also achieve that effect, right?

[Greywander]

I can't help but feel like this would probably work best as an Archfey chainlock with a sprite familiar. The sprite is your character, and the warlock is someone you've duped into serving you (alternatively, a handler designated to watch over you and curb your mischief). That's how I'd do this concept, the only problem is not getting the sprite until 3rd level. But 3rd level should come quickly, and you might be able to work out with your DM how you can have the sprite present before that (perhaps the sprite only exists for RP until 3rd level, with all the mechanical benefits stripped away until then).

Otherwise, this is a tricky concept. There are no tiny races. They even made a fairy race, but made is small instead of tiny. It's from Wild Beyond the Witchlight, if you wanted to look it up. I'm almost certain there's some secret rule for 5e design that PC races can never be tiny or large, only ever small or medium. You might consider a satyr as well.

That's not the only issue with this concept. It's fine to want to play a support character, but support sometimes means doing damage, especially if you've already used all your support spells/abilities that you can at the moment. I get that it makes sense for fae to be more tricksters than direct damage dealers, but you should at least take a damage cantrip as a backup option.

Mastermind is a decent option, and gives you something to use your bonus action on. Other than that, you'll want something with a lot of support ability. A Divine Soul sorcerer can be great support, in part because they get access to cleric spells (which are geared toward support) and also because Twinned Spell lets them double up on single-target concentration spells (great for buffing). Sorcerer also kind of fits, since fae are innately magical, and that's essentially what a sorcerer is. Divine Soul is a bit weird thematically, but gives you access to good support spells. You might also ask your DM if you can get druid spells instead of cleric spells, if you want more of a nature flavor. (Actually, a fae bloodline is overdue for sorcerer, giving access to druid spells much like Divine Soul gives access to cleric spells.) One of the nice things about sorcerer is that you can cherrypick the spells that fit your concept thematically, whereas if you were a prepared caster you'd have to choose not to prepare spells that don't fit, which would feel like you're artificially handicapping your character.

Sorcerer also works because it runs off of CHA, which sounds like it will be important for the RP aspect of your character.

Anyway, those are just some thought of mine. Hopefully you found this helpful.

[Natediggadoggit]

Great point about charisma based casting on a sorcerer! And because I get to start at level 6, I don't need to worry about leveling up to the point where I have find familiar. I'd just start at Mastermind 3, Divine soul sorcerer 3.

Per your point about needing damaging spells, I think her story is more about helping people with things other than combat. Sneaking into an enemies house and spying on them, using deception and persuasion to manipulate things behind the scenes. If I absolutely have to damage a thing, as a rogue, I could just as easily just use my hide and sneak attack if I really need to hit something, and flavor that as giving her a tiny pixie sling or bow that throws magically enhanced ammo.

Thanks for your help.

[Bobthewizard]

This sounds like a glamour bard to me. I'd go Eladrin elf. Take enchantments and buffs. Bardic inspiration is the ultimate favor.

Eloquence bard kind of replicates portent by using bardic inspiration to reduce enemy saves.

[Greywander]

I somehow forgot about bard, who is also a CHA caster as well as more of a support class. Might be a better pick than sorcerer, but you miss out on things like Twinned Spell. It's nice to have options, though.

[Sorinth]

Is your DM someone who doesn't mind ignoring/re-writing fluff?

Because the mechanics of a Genie warlock would work great. You just have to refluff the whole Patron aspect, take the mechanics but then create all the fluff yourself. I'd even be tempted to fluff it as you gaining power by accumulating favours.

Take Pact of the Chain, Investment of the Chain, and the Fey-Touched feat selecting Bane. In combat use Mind Sliver as your action and then BA attack with a Sprite/Pseudodragon to try to land those KO attacks. It can't get pretty out of hand as failing by 5 is not that hard when you have a minus 2d4 to the save and Bane is just a great overall debuff spell that helps your allies. Maybe flavour Mind Sliver as a variant of Vicious Mockery so you are mostly just standing back hurling insults at your enemies.

One thing that's worth pointing out is if you want to extract favours from fellow players talk to the out of game about it because some people would for sure have a problem with you extracting favours from them mid-combat.

[Natediggadoggit]

Thanks again all for the great advice. Genie warlock is an excellent idea, but the limitations on the vessel are kinda weird. You can only stay in it for a number of hours equal to twice your prof bonus. I will absolutely take that fey-touched feat though with bane. That's perfect.

I'm looking at the bard spell list, and it makes just as much sense as a divine soul sorcerer, and bardic inspiration is indeed strong.

[Greywander]

The nice thing about bard is that they get a fairly eclectic mix of spells. Druid, cleric, and sorcerer are all pretty heavy with their theming, but bard gets a bit of everything, the closest thing D&D has to Final Fantasy's red mage. Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to get some of the specific druid spells you'd want to fit a fey concept, but for anything not on the bard list, you also have Magical Secrets. Things like Fey/Shadow Touched, Ritual Caster, or Magic Initiate can also grab some specific spells from outside bard. Also consider Eldritch Adept, for either Misty Visions (at-will Silent Image) or Mask of Many Faces (at-will Disguise Self), both of which fit a fey or trickster concept pretty well.

If you do go bard, maybe satyr would be an even more thematic fit. You can find the satyr in the Mythic Odyssey of Theros, it's actually a pretty strong race.

[tokek]

How about - Feywild Hobgoblin (UA) Archfey Warlock of the chain.

The pixie familiar is the real character, all the "powers" of the hobgoblin come from her.

Feywild Hobgoblin has BA Help Action that has side-benefits for nice neat little boons in addition to the magic.

I would definitely not limit yourself just to buffing spells, some control spells at the very least should balance out the set.