Aberrant Mind vs. Chronurgy Wizard Advice (Cos Campaign)

[bsullivanp]

Hey everyone,

I am relatively new to D&D so am hoping to get some tips and pointers that my help me make a good choice for my upcoming campaign. For background, I am starting a revised CoS/Homebrew campaign that will go through level 20 (for context, I don't even think Strahd is the only BBEG vampire). I have never played CoS so aside from the horror theme, I have very little experience in the campaign, and none in the classes I am debating. I am joining the campaign at level 6 with a pre-existing team, so there's that too.

The party consists of a Rogue, Moon Druid/Barb, Cleric, and a Samurai. Seems to me that we have the frontline melee covered, as well as healing. So, I am looking to fill the remaining holes. With that in mind, I narrowed down to two options which I would be grateful to receive feedback around their playstyles, what they excel in, and what I can expect during a long campaign.

Chronurgy Wizard: The obvious choice might have been Necromancy, but feel this works just as well. To me, this class looks like it would be a strong addition to the party. The ritual casting feels like it could allow me to fill the utility role well (Identify, Comprehend Languages), the spell quantity is amazing, and the class progression feels pretty steady throughout. That said, does having absolutely no charisma in the party create a really difficult dynamic in social/RP settings?

Aberrant Mind Sorcerer: Aside from the obvious Lovecraftian connection of this class in this setting (tentacles), the mind control seems like a fun dynamic as a blaster/controller build. Additionally, feels like the Charisma casting would fill a gaping hole in the social skills of the party. This class seems to keep pace with the Wiz for quite a while. That said, after level 14, it looks like the class progression grinds to a halt, falling well behind the Wizard in advancement. Feels so pronounced that I wasn't sure if it is even worthwhile to take the Sorcerer past level 18. But at that stage, why even MC that late in the game. Since I am starting the campaign at level 6, have I cut off a large chunk of the enjoyable time of this class, while feeling a huge plateau later in the game?

In any case, would greatly appreciate any guidance that this group could provide. If I am committing this much time to a campaign (months and months), I would like the payoff late game to be worth it! Thanks so much in advance for the guidance.

[someguy]

Chronurgy wizard with a single lever dip in order cleric. Silvery barbs, fireball, wall of stone, bless, and many more spells give the rogue an attack. With evasion he shouldn’t mind the fireball too much, especially if you can find a ring of fire resistance for him eventually.

Though I’m more sure I could bring myself to actually drop a leomunds tiny hut In Combat, the arcane abeyance is sweet even if not taken to the max.

The value scales with rogue level so eventually your lvl 1 slots do more than 10d6. Barb/Druid is probably a decent target as well sometimes.

[Eldariel]

You can have some off-Charisma; you don't need a dedicated Charisma user especially since the party has casters with Guidance and Enhance Ability. Lacking Int is also big (e.g. traps and clues and knowing enemies and their weaknesses/abilities and so on are all Intelligence). All that considered, especially if you're new, I definitely suggest Chronurgy Wizard.

Reasons, there's a bunch. For one, it's simply more forgiving (you get to pick and switch spells instead of being stuck with them for levels). Then you get ritual casting, which is huge (including familiars, which are awesome and a class feature onto their own right) especially on this level where you've got Phantom Steed and Tiny Hut to throw for your party; near safe rests in most places (much safer than without at any rate) and superb travel speed (remember, you can keep ritualising new horses on horseback so you can maintain up to 5 steeds with constant ritualising; this gives everyone a 200' dash speed until they get hit and lets you speed across Barovia many times faster than with anything else), you get Int to Initiative to act quickly to drop your crowd control ability before the enemy gets to malhandle you, you get to play the "divination/future sight"-angle (you even have the reroll ability to that end!) and you just get all the best spells (Sorcerer lacks some). So if Chronurgist at all interests you, it does everything you want and then some (just make sure to have your familiar carry some potions or goodberries for reviving downed allies).

I wouldn't dip Order Cleric as the previous poster: I think it's better to just speed towards all the awesome stuff Chronurgist offers you. You already have Haste to give the Rogue off-turn Sneak Attack if you want that (they can use the Haste attack on their turn and ready an attack outside their turn to get Sneak Attack on both attacks - it's once per turn); you don't need a class specifically for enabling that.