Halfling Devotion Paladin for Curse of Strahd- analysis paralysis, help!

[diplomancer]

So, I'll be joining a Curse of Strahd game "mid-stream", as the party is already level 6. Party so far is a Monk, a Druid, a Rogue, a Dex Fighter and a Wizard.

2 things jumped out to my eyes when I saw the party: No one with Turn Undead, and no one Cha-Based. And, considering, well, vampires, Devotion Paladin seems almost a must.

One other interesting thing about the party: it's very stealth capable. So I don't want to ruin that with a big loud Paladin. Considering also I've played a Str Paladin to level 20, and don't want to repeat that (though it WAS a lot of fun), I've decided to go with Dexadin.

All official content is on the table (I'm not sure about the new races from the last book, though) but only Standard Array allowed (a considerable constraint over point-buy). I also have a (mild) dislike of Tasha's swapping ASI's, so though I might use it, I don't want to go too far afield. I also don't want to play V. Human or Custom Lineage

Starting equipment is 500 gp + 1 uncommon magical item

Here's what I've got so far:
Option 1:
A Tasha swapped Stout Halfling (for +1 Cha instead of Con, Dex is +2 still), Paladin 5, Hexblade 1.
Str 13, Dex 12+2, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 15+1+2. Dumping Wis instead of Int for role-playing reasons. Buy a Breastplate with starting gold. Use a Clawfoot Raptor as my Steed. Blindfighting Style. Now, the choice: Either Sword and Board with a Rapier of Warning, or 2-weapon fighting with a Short Sword of Warning and a regular short Sword. Sword and Board is obviously more defensive, but I'm breaking my head trying to figure out bonus actions for this character, apart from perhaps Smite Spells and Sanctuary for my Steed. Seems like there will be many battles where I won't have a bonus action at all! Still, starting the battle attacking the enemy and then casting Sanctuary on myself (doubling it on my Steed) sounds like a good idea.

Option 2: a bog-standard Half-Elf HexPaladin: Int and Wis as before, Str 12+1, Con 14, Dex 13+1, Cha 15+2+1 (Elven Accuracy). Less flavourful than the previous option, and a bit clichéd, but undeniably powerful. Still the same decision point about S&B or TWF.

Option 3: Mark of Storm Half-Elf: this is the more "independent" Option, as I don't rely on the party so much to provide me with advantage due to Fog Cloud. But how party friendly IS Fog Cloud anyway? Doesn't that create similar problems as Devil's sight+ Darkness? Dex 14, Cha 18, Con 13, Str 13 to begin with, get Res Con at level 8. Again, S&B or TWF?

[Corran]

So, I'll be joining a Curse of Strahd game "mid-stream", as the party is already level 6. Party so far is a Monk, a Druid, a Rogue, a Dex Fighter and a Wizard.
Lots of people. And I've heard this campaign is supposed to be tough. I'd go with inspiring leader (unless someone else can already generate temp hp for everyone semi regularly, eg another inspiring leader). Plus you've got many squishies.


Option 1:
... Stout Halfling... Use a Clawfoot Raptor as my Steed
One way to use the mount i to hit and run. Which is interesting since you've got allies who can do that too, and also allies who want to keep their distance. Use it a much as you can to deny enemies attacking (pairing it with sanctuary if someone is left behind to do the tanking; eg if the druid is a moon one and is going with a form that is more about hp and less about mobility, and assuming that initiative complies). Plus, mobility is very good on a paladin who can smite in melee, and the medium mount means you can take it to places where a larger mount would have trouble.


Paladin 5, Hexblade 1.
I like warcater with an arcane caster dip, cause it lets you stack AC (cast shield when your base AC is as best as it can be) and use OA (BB OA for a very durable character who wants to get into the very thic of it, cause shield and good base AC) better. So, going hexblade opens to you some options, but I'd have to delay either that or inspiring leader. You've already got a decent range attack, and although EB + agonizing/repelling blast + hex is plenty good on a mobile character (which you can be thanks to the mount), unless you are specifically planning for something (admiteddly pretty good) like that, I'd drop the hexblade levels. They are worth it though in the long term, when you get your second warlock levels and more ASI's. It would definitely help if you went custom lineage for a faster feat progression, cause eventually it will open more options (running around and EB'ing people being your main approach, giving the mount to someone else and going in melee with a shield, a shield of faith (potentially dodging, or using sanctuary) and BB (for OAs) your secondary approach. Long story short, hexblade levels are very much worth it but in mostly in the longer term and more importantly, you have to make them work by making good use of your ranged option and by not missing any good tanking opportunities when they appear (in which case you change to melee).


Now, the choice: Either Sword and Board with a Rapier of Warning, or 2-weapon fighting
S&B when you'll stay in melee against enemies that hit for decent damage. Twf when hit and running or when trying to drop a glass cannon or "boss" that's not focusing on you. It takes an action to equip or drop a shield, so you better know what you are doing before you get into combat (but that's not the main reason to scout ahead anyway). Otherwise guess, but dont let your equipment at hand decide for you what you are going to do. "Wasting" 2 AC points if hit and running is probably not a good reason to decide to stick to melee if hit and running is the better approach already, and vice versa. Dont forget that you can also shoot a shortbow.


Option 2
Option 3
The small race sound better, because of the medium mount. Or at least more interesting.



Mark of Storm Half-Elf: this is the more "independent" Option, as I don't rely on the party so much to provide me with advantage due to Fog Cloud. But how party friendly IS Fog Cloud anyway? Doesn't that create similar problems as Devil's sight+ Darkness?
Depends on how well the party is set up to take advantage of it.
Darkness is generally easier to play with since you can move it or cover the object on which it was cast. While fog cloud, once used, it stays in one place until concentraion is lost/dropped. On the plus side, it covers a bigger area and it blocks senses against which darkness does not do anything. But of how much benefit therse things are to the party is hard to say unless we know more about each pc (subclasses, feats for starters), and a lot depends on how much they would be willing to leverage such tactics (cause it might take investment on their part that they might not be willing to make, for good or bad).

[diplomancer]

Lots of people. And I've heard this campaign is supposed to be tough. I'd go with inspiring leader (unless someone else can already generate temp hp for everyone semi regularly, eg another inspiring leader). Plus you've got many squishies.


One way to use the mount i to hit and run. Which is interesting since you've got allies who can do that too, and also allies who want to keep their distance. Use it a much as you can to deny enemies attacking (pairing it with sanctuary if someone is left behind to do the tanking; eg if the druid is a moon one and is going with a form that is more about hp and less about mobility, and assuming that initiative complies). Plus, mobility is very good on a paladin who can smite in melee, and the medium mount means you can take it to places where a larger mount would have trouble.


I like warcater with an arcane caster dip, cause it lets you stack AC (cast shield when your base AC is as best as it can be) and use OA (BB OA for a very durable character who wants to get into the very thic of it, cause shield and good base AC) better. So, going hexblade opens to you some options, but I'd have to delay either that or inspiring leader. You've already got a decent range attack, and although EB + agonizing/repelling blast + hex is plenty good on a mobile character (which you can be thanks to the mount), unless you are specifically planning for something (admiteddly pretty good) like that, I'd drop the hexblade levels. They are worth it though in the long term, when you get your second warlock levels and more ASI's. It would definitely help if you went custom lineage for a faster feat progression, cause eventually it will open more options (running around and EB'ing people being your main approach, giving the mount to someone else and going in melee with a shield, a shield of faith (potentially dodging, or using sanctuary) and BB (for OAs) your secondary approach. Long story short, hexblade levels are very much worth it but in mostly in the longer term and more importantly, you have to make them work by making good use of your ranged option and by not missing any good tanking opportunities when they appear (in which case you change to melee).


S&B when you'll stay in melee against enemies that hit for decent damage. Twf when hit and running or when trying to drop a glass cannon or "boss" that's not focusing on you. It takes an action to equip or drop a shield, so you better know what you are doing before you get into combat (but that's not the main reason to scout ahead anyway). Otherwise guess, but dont let your equipment at hand decide for you what you are going to do. "Wasting" 2 AC points if hit and running is probably not a good reason to decide to stick to melee if hit and running is the better approach already, and vice versa. Dont forget that you can also shoot a shortbow.


The small race sound better, because of the medium mount. Or at least more interesting.



Depends on how well the party is set up to take advantage of it.
Darkness is generally easier to play with since you can move it or cover the object on which it was cast. While fog cloud, once used, it stays in one place until concentraion is lost/dropped. On the plus side, it covers a bigger area and it blocks senses against which darkness does not do anything. But of how much benefit therse things are to the party is hard to say unless we know more about each pc (subclasses, feats for starters), and a lot depends on how much they would be willing to leverage such tactics (cause it might take investment on their part that they might not be willing to make, for good or bad).

The Hexblade dip is mostly for being SAD. And Shield spell, and Hexblade Curse. I'm not sure I even would take another level. EB+AB is great, specially if a game is going to tiers 3 and 4; but for tiers 1 and 2 (which is what Curse of Strahd is), Magic Stone already gives you a good enough ranged attack, and you only need one level for that (plus, Halflings and Magic Stones. Fun!), specially on a build where I'm already having trouble finding good uses for my bonus action. I don't think I'm even getting Eldritch Blast with my other cantrip, probably going for Booming Blade, just in case I decide to get Warcaster later (level 8 feat will probably be either that or Inspiring Leader; as you've pointed out, it's a great feat for this party, and it also helps the survivability of the mount).

But you did point out something very useful to me. I don't need to get "locked in" a style, specially since my Fighting Style is Blindfighting. I can just get a Short Sword of Warning and use either a shield or another short sword as needed, as long as I have a round to prepare and expect what's coming. Yes, it's one damage less if I just put on the shield and keep fighting with the short sword, but it's not even that, if I can really prepare and know the enemy does not have resistance to non-magical damage. So that's one decision point less (and the one I was agonizing over the most, thanks!).

[da newt]

The hexblade dip will make you SAD which is handy. I'm a big fan of Res Con on a Pali, and anything that allows you to BA attack for more smite chances. Revenent Blade or PAM or Duel Wielding - which ever you prefer but PAM shield and beat stick is my preferred (and works fine for smalls).

In my experience CoS is an unhappy campaign (by design), I'm not a fan. Just be ready for the continuous slog of no allies, no reason to think you can succeed or improve anything.

[Keravath]

You should check with the DM about what equipment you can have to start unless he has already approved the breastplate and magic items.

As written, equipment in Barovia is both expensive and hard to find. Magic items are also scarce until the end.

I think that paladin looks like a good choice for this party and a level of hexblade helps alot with being SAD. Considering that the adventure will go to level 9-12 range depending on how the DM is doing leveling, the character is only going to have 2 ASI/feat to use. Some folks are suggesting Inspiring Leader which is a great feat, it offers up level+cha mod temp hit points every short or long rest (assuming you have the 10 minutes which is likely if you have just finished a rest). However, that also takes away from boosting your CHA which affects your to hit/damage/saving throws (since you get your aura in one more level). Resilient con is also a good choice for a front line paladin if you plan on concentrating on something like bless. On the other hand, some paladins save up their slots for smites - especially since using bless can often take your first action in a combat when you might prefer to rush in and attack.

So there are several trade offs.

If you are using the Tashas options, you should also look at which kind of halfling you would rather be since they give different secondary abilities with the same options for stat distributions.

If Tasha's custom lineage is an option then you could have 20 cha with your first ASI at the expense of other stats.
e.g. 13 14 13 9 8 15 +2+1 to start - with either 20 cha and take resilient con at 8 paladin or pick up resilient con at level 4 paladin for con saves and 14 con and then 20 cha at level 8 paladin (level 9 character) and have a charisma 1/2 feat to start like Fey Touched (Misty Step can be a useful tool) or one of the other good 1/2 feats - and have con save proficiency.

Other than that, either half-elf or mountain dwarf with give you the best stat lines to start with.

As far as playing with the lighting rules goes - this is entirely DM dependent. Some DMs hate the RAW for it and come up with their own house rules sometimes on the fly.

RAW - if you can't see your target and they can' see you then both attacks will be straight rolls. In addition, due to the advantage canceling disadvantage - all other sources of advantage and disadvantage are negated because they don't stack. The biggest RAW limitation of throwing up darkness or a fog cloud is that it prevents spells that require the caster to see their target.

However, I've played with DMs who just don't like that. They have trouble picturing how you would target creatures by sound alone, that characters are still aware of a creatures location unless that creature takes the hide action to move stealthily and make their location unknown. In addition, there are no rules making movement without sight into difficult terrain. Movement is unaffected - the blinded condition does not impose any constraints on movement. As a result, RAW, creatures can move their full movement through a room where they can't actually see the obstacles.

This is how the rules are written and as a result, fog cloud or darkness would have very limited impact on the rest of the party. If your DM runs vision in a more or less RAW way then neither fog cloud nor darkness are a big impediment to the party. However, some DMs find that too unrealistic for their tastes and might impose house rules. I've run into DMs where a player with darkness+devils sight or fog cloud+ blind fighting style and the DM has not really considered the combination before and on the fly imposes all sorts of disadvantages on the party (trouble moving, disadvantage to attack creatures in the fog cloud, hitting allies by accident ... all of which are house rules sometimes introduced on the spur of the moment).

So if you are considering using these tactics, I would definitely chat with the DM first, explain it so they understand and see how they will run it in their game before bringing it into play.

One final comment, elven accuracy is a good feat IF you have a good way to regularly obtain advantage on attack rolls. If there is a character in the party that knocks targets prone, if you have darkness+devils sight or fog cloud+blindsight AND the DM rules that it has minimal impact on the rest of the party, if you are in a game where the flanking optional rule is used, if you are a rogue with bonus action hide or a character with a familiar with fly-by for the help action (the last two are only good for one attack/round), someone regularly casts faerie fire and the targets fail - in my experience, getting advantage is relatively rare unless a character or party is built to provide it - so usually I won't recommend elven accuracy UNLESS the character has some easily accessible ways to generate advantage.

Finally, just having advantage by itself is a significant boost. The incremental boost from Elven Accuracy is only really worth it if you can get advantage without a huge investment. (e.g elven Eldritch Knight with blind fighting style and fog cloud - elven accuracy would have some real synergy there in many cases - or a warlock with darkness+devils sight - or a Shield Master feat character with a DM who allows the bonus action shield bash before the attacks are made).

[KorvinStarmast]

2 things jumped out to my eyes when I saw the party: No one with Turn Undead, and no one Cha-Based. And, considering, well, vampires, Devotion Paladin seems almost a must. Our Dex halfling paladin started Devotion. It worked. And stealth friendly.

Starting equipment is 500 gp + 1 uncommon magical item I have so many ideas for that.

Option 1:
A Tasha swapped Stout Halfling (for +1 Cha instead of Con, Dex is +2 still), Paladin 5, Hexblade 1.
Str 13, Dex 12+2, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 15+1+2. Dumping Wis instead of Int for role-playing reasons. Buy a Breastplate with starting gold. Use a Clawfoot Raptor as my Steed. Blindfighting Style.Good set up.
Now, the choice: Either Sword and Board with a Rapier of Warning Suggest this one.

Option 3: Mark of Storm Half-ElfNot conversant with this so no advice offered.

I think your halfling fits best.

There was a previous suggestion to take the Inspiring Leader feat, and I think that's a good one. 16 CHA is decent, nd good enough. You can bump it to 18 when you get to level 8: those temp HP are very handy to have for the party.

[diplomancer]

You should check with the DM about what equipment you can have to start unless he has already approved the breastplate and magic items.

As written, equipment in Barovia is both expensive and hard to find. Magic items are also scarce until the end.

Well, he said one uncommon magical item and 500 gold. I assumed I could spend this gold as I pleased, but maybe I'm just carrying a lot of cash. I should check.

Late edit to avoid doubleposting: It just occurred to me; what about Lance of Warning? True, it's kinda putting all the eggs in one basket, since if my Steed dies I'll be in trouble. But maybe Sanctuary, Inspiring Leader, and perhaps even Interception Fighting Style would be sufficient to keep the mount alive most of the time?

[Corran]

EB+AB is great, specially if a game is going to tiers 3 and 4; but for tiers 1 and 2 (which is what Curse of Strahd is), Magic Stone already gives you a good enough ranged attack, and you only need one level for that (plus, Halflings and Magic Stones. Fun!), specially on a build where I'm already having trouble finding good uses for my bonus action.
At tiers 1 and 2 the main benefit of EB is the bigger range. Secondarily the ability to proc forced movement and synergize with allies (webs, walls of fire, etc) or every now and then with terrain features (though for that you need the second warlock level early, but in certain parties this can be worth it). There's a side benefit in that EB is easier to use than slings or bows (you only need one hand free), but that's neither here nor there. There is potential to it even before it gets a decent damage boost at tier 3. Though I think you've got a good theme going there with the sling, and with a mount the range of 60' wont hurt you much when you play aggressively.


But you did point out something very useful to me. I don't need to get "locked in" a style, specially since my Fighting Style is Blindfighting.
The lack of any powerful feats for dex based weapons sees to that. Defensive duelist can be decent in certain situations but usually you can find better uses for your reaction (even defensive ones). If cantrips were not so easily accessible and good at scaling, dex based combat would be even better for martial characters, but it's good enough as it is for a class like the paladin, for which both S&B and twf can be actually good choices. A shame there's no fighting style that lets you unequip/equip a shield faster though IMO. But yeah, no need to get locked to one weapon set up. I agree that 2 points of damage weighted down by hit chance per round is not a good enough reason to go for a magical rapier instead of a magical shortsword/scimitar.

[5eNeedsDarksun]

Seems like you're not going to dump Str, so how about Shield Master + a level of Rogue. Expertise in Athletics and something like Stealth could be good. Gives you a d6 Sneak attack to help compensate for lost Pally level.

[diplomancer]

Seems like you're not going to dump Str, so how about Shield Master + a level of Rogue. Expertise in Athletics and something like Stealth could be good. Gives you a d6 Sneak attack to help compensate for lost Pally level.

I've considered that, and might even do it at some later point, but definitely only after Pal 7, I.e, at least 3 levels from now.


. A shame there's no fighting style that lets you unequip/equip a shield faster though IMO.

Very true, would be easy enough;
"Switch Hitter: you gain a +1 bonus to damage with your weapon attacks. Additionally, you can doff/Don a shield with a bonus action"

Going back to my doubts: what do you all think about the Lance of Warning idea? Too risky? If things got bad, I'd still have a Rapier as a back up (and could make it magical with my Channel Divinity if necessary, at the cost of an action), but my damage would be going from 1d12+4 to 1d8+2, quite a drastic difference. I'm just looking at that 1d6+4 on my sheet and getting a bit sad about it.

And if I DID go with this idea, should I take the Interception FS to mitigate that risk¹? Or just trust Sanctuary to do its job of protecting my mount? (Remember the idea: first turn Attack, cast Sanctuary on myself, that gets doubled to the steed. Later turns I attack, losing Sanctuary, but the dino is not attacking, so doesn't lose it).

1- I'm not even sure I'd easily be getting advantage from BlindFighting. I have more information about the party now; almost all without Darkvision (3 humans, one kalashtar, one Tiefling) but, from what I can see, no one has Fog Cloud or Darkness, though I could try to convince the Druid to cast it (but she's the Tiefling, so the only one that DOES have Darkvision). If I hadn't already decided on the Halfling, I'd be considering the Mark of Storm Half-Elf again... too bad it's not a Warlock spell (but Darkness is, hmm... maybe get 2 more Hexblade levels eventually; decisions, decisions...)

[Bobthewizard]

Your halfling on a clawfoot raptor sounds like fun.

I'd check with the players for the druid and wizard before I tried too many darkness/fog cloud tricks. If it messes with their common spells, you might want to just take the defensive fighting style.

For switch hitting, I played a straight dex paladin and found that TWF worked better than sword and board. The action to don/doff a shield precludes changing in the middle of a fight. I found myself shooting my bow, then moving in without my shield anyway. So carry a dagger on you. You can keep the shield for those times when you know it will be melee, but you might be better off with two weapons sometimes too. The great thing is that paladins don't need any feats or fighting styles for this to work. The dagger is mostly there to give you another chance to hit to land a smite when you need to take someone down.

A hexblade dip will make you sad, but just for one weapon, and needing that 13 STR hurts either your DEX or CON. If you go that route, you definitely carry a shield and use EB as your ranged attack. It makes everything pretty smooth. No worrying about object interactions, donning a shield, or bonus actions. I'd probably use a spear and pick up PAM for the BA attack. So that's my suggested Hexblade/Paladin build at 6. Hexblade 1/ Paladin 5, +1 spear, PAM, shield, ride the clawfoot raptor.

[diplomancer]

So, I've decided to go Halfling Paladin, with the Lance of Warning, Inspiring Leader, and Interception Fighting Style to help the Raptor survive; only one battle in the first session, which was mostly tying up loose ends from previous sessions which I'd not played.

It was fun, running around the battlefield at up to 100' speed (Lance means the mount does not need to Disengage most of the time), and even used Interception FS to save the Rogue's bacon, which is always a good way to start a campaign with a new group.

So far the DM has not targeted my mount yet, so we'll see how that goes later.