Advice for a full support

[Schwann145]

I'm joining a game with a group of mostly new players so I'm thinking I'd like to make a character who is fully about party support to the point they're not even good at combat (to help let the newbies shine even brighter).

My initial thought is straight Eloquence Bard with spell selection focusing entirely on de/buffing and utility.
Having never played Eloquence, it looks to be built to handle that wonderfully but I wouldn't mind a hearing from anyone with actual subclass experience.

Also, I'm open to other class/subclass suggestions in case I overlooked an obviously solid choice for the intended playstyle.

Thanks!

[RogueJK]

Peace Cleric 1/Lore Bard X gets you access to all the best support spells (Bless/Guidance + Bard support spells + Magical Secrets to grab more), along with Peace's powerful Bond ability, and the excellent Cutting Words support reaction.

I played a (pre-Peace) Life Cleric 1/Lore Bard X as a pure support character, basically never doing damage except the occasional Vicious Mockery d4s, and it was super effective. Just note that a pure support character makes a great 6th or 7th party member, but not so good as a 3rd or 4th party member where they'd be expected to contribute a higher percentage of party damage in combat.

And you only need a 13 WIS for this Cleric dip, since the Cleric support spells and abilities you want don't depend on WIS.

[Schwann145]

I think I still prefer Eloquence to Lore for this character, but a Peace Cleric 1 dip is amazing! Thanks for the tip!

[solidork]

It would be incredibly easy to fall into a pattern where the Eloquence bard monopolizes all of the social spotlight, so I think it should be avoided.

[Leon]

It would be incredibly easy to fall into a pattern where the Eloquence bard monopolizes all of the social spotlight, so I think it should be avoided.

Not a fault of the class, a fault of the player. One that can be avoided by sharing the spotlight ~ too much stock is generally placed in "face classes" anyway

[RogueJK]

I think I still prefer Eloquence to Lore for this character, but a Peace Cleric 1 dip is amazing! Thanks for the tip!

Eloquence is also a solid choice. You'll have slightly less support spell access due to lacking the two Additional Magical Secrets picks, and Unsettling Words isn't quite as good of a support ability as Cutting Words, but you still have the supportive Bard spell list and a couple useful support things to do with your Bardic Inspiration.

[Schwann145]

It would be incredibly easy to fall into a pattern where the Eloquence bard monopolizes all of the social spotlight, so I think it should be avoided.

Party has two Sorcerers and a Paladin. We will definitely be sharing the social spotlight. :smallbiggrin:

[KorvinStarmast]

Not a fault of the class, a fault of the player. One that can be avoided by sharing the spotlight ~ too much stock is generally placed in "face classes" anyway Which could have been avoided had WotC not made the error in establishing Charisma as a casting stat over 20 years ago. :smallyuk:

[Mastikator]

Eloquence is good, going full bard is never a bad idea for a support too. One option I would put forward is Glamour, the Mantle of Inspiration is deceptively strong, as is Mantle of Majesty (once per day, for 10 rounds cast Command as bonus action without expending spell slots).

[Greywander]

I'm going to go a different route and recommend Artificer, specifically my Revised Artificer (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?612360-Revised-Artificer-Spell-Storing-Item-replaces-Spellcasting). The reason I recommend my homebrew take on the Artificer is that the normal spellcasting is replaced by a spell-storing item system that allows you to put your spells into items and hand them off to other players. It perfectly complements your infused items and makes the Artificer even more support heavy. You can then sit back and watch the other players be awesome with the items you gave them.

Vanilla Artificer is also fine.

[Leon]

Which could have been avoided had WotC not made the error in establishing Charisma as a casting stat over 20 years ago. :smallyuk:

Nothing wrong with CHA as a Casting stat, the problem lies with expecting "Social Encounters" to be solved with a CHA check alone over roleplaying it, the check has a place but its not the whole thing (or shouldn't be). In the last group i was in we had a Bard (of glamour i think) and while we did make use of his area of expertise when needed everyone else was equally able to take part in and make advancements in social encounters through the amazing power of sensible discussion (some people may struggle with the sensible part) and occasional bribes.