5eNeedsDarksun
2022-10-10, 04:09 PM
Just thought I'd start a thread about my experiences in a current campaign with no full casters and also see if anyone else out there has tried this and how they found it.
We're currently 13th level and the party consists of my Assassin 11/Cleric 2, a Ranger (Gloomstalker) 13, a Battlemaster/ Rogue, and a Barbarian/ Rogue. The player with the Barbarian/ Rogue started with an Artificer who ended up dying, so we would have had another 1/2 caster. We're going through a somewhat modified (beefed up) version of Tomb of Annihilation and our (more or less rookie) DM is planning on getting us to around the end of tier 3 by the conclusion.
Some observations:
1) As you might imagine, the absence of high level magic that might shift the type of campaign possible has meant we're not playing a significantly different game than characters would normally play in tier 1 and early tier 2. I'm thinking about the absence of things like teleports, which would trivialize or eliminate entirely parts of the game.
2) Low level magic is still relevant. My Bless spell continues to be great as does Healing Word; I could use a few more slots though. The Ranger is our biggest source of spells and might have multi-classed in a different group, but access to 4th level magic is pretty attractive under the circumstances. Pass Without Trace is obviously excellent when we have been able to use it
3) Magic Items become really valuable. For example, I've got a full set of Prayer Beads and a Fear Wand. The Fear Wand gets us effectively some AOE, which we're really lacking and the Prayer Beads provide a few spells way beyond what I'd normally have access to. Greater Restoration has been used a number of times. One other note on the Prayer Beads: They are amazing on a martial with a Cleric dip. The fact they cast on a BA means you've got your full Attack action left, which is generally going to be significantly better than the Cantrip that a full Cleric would be using most of the time.
4) This one is more related to our lack of an obvious 'face' character, but moderate Chr and Expertise for both my character and the Rogue/BM in different Cha based skills, as well as a couple of different languages have meant we've been able to cover the social pillar well enough. Other mundane skills get used more regularly as well, since we can't just push the spell button.
5) We don't have a lot of healing. Cautious play, trying to put our characters in position where damage will be distributed fairly evenly, and 5e's very generous rest rules make this usually not an issue.
I think this has lead to a game where our newer DM has been able to manage into tier 3, where with a more normal group of characters he might have struggled. We know that games often peter out around the end of tier 2 for a number of reasons; perhaps this approach might help some groups. For me personally, I have enjoyed playing my character, but the presence of the magic items I mentioned earlier has given more options and helped a lot.
Anyway, just wondered if others out there have experienced this sort of game and how it went?
We're currently 13th level and the party consists of my Assassin 11/Cleric 2, a Ranger (Gloomstalker) 13, a Battlemaster/ Rogue, and a Barbarian/ Rogue. The player with the Barbarian/ Rogue started with an Artificer who ended up dying, so we would have had another 1/2 caster. We're going through a somewhat modified (beefed up) version of Tomb of Annihilation and our (more or less rookie) DM is planning on getting us to around the end of tier 3 by the conclusion.
Some observations:
1) As you might imagine, the absence of high level magic that might shift the type of campaign possible has meant we're not playing a significantly different game than characters would normally play in tier 1 and early tier 2. I'm thinking about the absence of things like teleports, which would trivialize or eliminate entirely parts of the game.
2) Low level magic is still relevant. My Bless spell continues to be great as does Healing Word; I could use a few more slots though. The Ranger is our biggest source of spells and might have multi-classed in a different group, but access to 4th level magic is pretty attractive under the circumstances. Pass Without Trace is obviously excellent when we have been able to use it
3) Magic Items become really valuable. For example, I've got a full set of Prayer Beads and a Fear Wand. The Fear Wand gets us effectively some AOE, which we're really lacking and the Prayer Beads provide a few spells way beyond what I'd normally have access to. Greater Restoration has been used a number of times. One other note on the Prayer Beads: They are amazing on a martial with a Cleric dip. The fact they cast on a BA means you've got your full Attack action left, which is generally going to be significantly better than the Cantrip that a full Cleric would be using most of the time.
4) This one is more related to our lack of an obvious 'face' character, but moderate Chr and Expertise for both my character and the Rogue/BM in different Cha based skills, as well as a couple of different languages have meant we've been able to cover the social pillar well enough. Other mundane skills get used more regularly as well, since we can't just push the spell button.
5) We don't have a lot of healing. Cautious play, trying to put our characters in position where damage will be distributed fairly evenly, and 5e's very generous rest rules make this usually not an issue.
I think this has lead to a game where our newer DM has been able to manage into tier 3, where with a more normal group of characters he might have struggled. We know that games often peter out around the end of tier 2 for a number of reasons; perhaps this approach might help some groups. For me personally, I have enjoyed playing my character, but the presence of the magic items I mentioned earlier has given more options and helped a lot.
Anyway, just wondered if others out there have experienced this sort of game and how it went?