Class Party of Five: all players same class game

[blackjack50]

A friend is running a game. Everyone wanted to be a wizard. So he let them to see what happens. I am wondering? What class would you have if you could have a 5 player game where everyone is the same class? I think I’d go Bard. A lot of variation there, plus being a traveling band would be fun.

[Man_Over_Game]

A friend is running a game. Everyone wanted to be a wizard. So he let them to see what happens. I am wondering? What class would you have if you could have a 5 player game where everyone is the same class? I think I’d go Bard. A lot of variation there, plus being a traveling band would be fun.

I'd probably want the most diversity possible. Clerics, probably. Definitely some kind of full caster, and preferably one with some melee options.

[blackjack50]

I'd probably want the most diversity possible. Clerics, probably. Definitely some kind of full caster, and preferably one with some melee options.

Yea. Cleric was another. Doing the Ninja Turtle monks would be amusing. I wonder which clsss could get the most diversity?

[Rev666]

A friend is running a game. Everyone wanted to be a wizard. So he let them to see what happens. I am wondering? What class would you have if you could have a 5 player game where everyone is the same class? I think I’d go Bard. A lot of variation there, plus being a traveling band would be fun.

A band that all go around fighting crimes and monsters while on tour.

Hell if you allow it in this scenario, they all take a 2 level warlock dip for mask of many forms and they can have their own anime girl transformation.

They could be Hanna-Barbera's The Impossibles.

[Man_Over_Game]

Yea. Cleric was another. Doing the Ninja Turtle monks would be amusing. I wonder which clsss could get the most diversity?

Probably Clerics. They range from medium to heavily armored, are a fullcaster that also gets some weapon attack support with features and optional martial proficiencies. With being able to swap around their spells each day, they have little risk of overlap except on spells that are still good even when redundant.

Try to come up with a list of spellcasters that aren't limited to just being spellcasters, and the list gets pretty dang small.

[MrStabby]

Oh, tough choice. I think probably Bard. Probably.

With a party of bards you can run a more social campaign without any players getting shut out by having a low charisma (probably).

Bard spells span a pretty wide range from healing, control, utilityandeven some damage spells.

Bards span some different functions with martial bards and more support focussed ones.

You get access to Lore bard which will help fill in any gaps in the line-up.

D8 hit die is fine, I thing with a whole party on D6 it can get a bit hairy - especially at lower levels

Different bards will really want different equipment, ok some overlap I guess.

[Wizard_Lizard]

100% would go with bards, so much versatility with all of their things. Magical secrets.
Need a healer, boom, lore bard with healing word and cure wounds as their additional magical secrets.
Need a blaster? Boom, lore bard with lightning bolt or fireball.
Need a counterspeller? Lore bard with counterspell
Need a melee? Sword bard. Also Inspiration for dayyyssss.
Close second is cleric
third would be artificer.

[Zaltman]

+1 for cleric. However, honorable mention to warlock. Diversity from patron, pact, invocations and spells.

[AvvyR]

Some of my friends and I ran a short campaign where we were all bards. The gist was that we were a band on tour, but basically every town we showed up at had some problem we needed to deal with before we could play there. It was a good time.

[Kyutaru]

All Fighter is my favorite. They can all specialize in different weapons, they're quite durable, and they have to solve problems like Muggles. It fits some fantasy stories where magic is rare and sends a bunch of troops into a monster den to try to face them off without sorcery. Since I'm not a hardcore Rules Lawyer the campaign runs smoothly and plenty of challenges can be overcome through non-magical means. But it's fun to see the ways they support each other in combat, form formations and battle plans, protect and nurse the wounded, circumvent traps and doors, and try their damnedest to stay alive. They actually do well at it and focus fire dangerous mobs to finish them off first while bringing an assortment of store bought tools to MacGuyver their way through everything. Who needs mind control when you can just come up with clever tricks and ambushes and bluff your way out of scenarios verbally? You don't need a bluff check if you're even convincing me to trust you, that's for players who would rather rely on mechanics than roleplay.

You learn a lot DMing a pack of straight fighters. They possess almost no special cheats and have to do everything manually with ingenuity. The roleplay is intense and full of moments that make you feel like wizards actually make the game worse.

[VonKaiserstein]

Most of these all campaigns tend to be short lived. Therefore, go for glory, and be the most ridiculous you can. All barbarians.

Balance is for cowards. d12s are foreveryone.

Bonus points if the entire party is illiterate.

Major bonus points if the leader claims he isn't.

Things will get progressively more awesome as everyone at the table tries to outbarbarian each other.

[OldTrees1]

Definitely Bard. Bard is the only class where I can pretend to by the class I wanted without locking someone else out of their choice.
I want a Rogue? Bard
I want a Paladin? Bard
I want a Wizard? Bard
I want a Cleric? Bard
Bard is a poor substitute, but it is a substitute.

[Snails]

Some of my friends and I ran a short campaign where we were all bards. The gist was that we were a band on tour, but basically every town we showed up at had some problem we needed to deal with before we could play there. It was a good time.

Having visions of The Partridge Family.

[heavyfuel]

Wizards can be great... If you allow UA.

You can have a Dex Focused Scout Illusionist making use of the Metamagic Feat for Subtle Spell
A Theurge healer
A Bladeisnger frontliner
An Evoker focused on blasty AoE
And a Necromancer for Minionmancy/off-tankyness.

If dips are allowed, the Illusionist should dip Rogue 1, the Theurge should dip Cleric 1, and the Bladesinger should dip Fighter.

[stoutstien]

So far I've ran games with all barbarian, bard, rogue, cleric, fighter, monk, and now 2 sessions in with artificer.

Man oh man is the iron curtain a real possibility with this party.

[opaopajr]

Illusionist Wizards. I wanna see the creative potential. Especially since I am used to tables that award some XP rewards for encounter survival. How much trouble can our party misdirect?

[Kyutaru]

Wizards can be great... If you allow UA.

You can have a Dex Focused Scout Illusionist making use of the Metamagic Feat for Subtle Spell (Harry)
A Theurge healer (Ginny)
A Bladeisnger frontliner (Ron)
An Evoker focused on blasty AoE (Hermoine)
And a Necromancer for Minionmancy/off-tankyness. (Draco)

Harry Potter and the Dungeon of Dragons

[TheCleverGuy]

Playing as a horde of rampaging Barbarians would be fun, I think. With the right adventure anyway.

[Luccan]

One of the martials or Rangers. I've considered it for all of the classes at some point. Except Druid, it's too all-things-at-once for multiple Druids to feel unique, IMO. I think Fighter first, though. It's a better Everyman class than Rogue, IMO, because thieves tools and sneak Attack are pretty specific.

You want to be the sneaky guy? Focus Dex, take the right background. Magic guy? Eldritch Knight and a feat or two will do ya. And being the big weapon guy is easy.

I also favor this for Barbarian, though, because I like the idea of a game where the Barbarians actually need to plan and scout themselves (maybe use those spell features) rather than relying on the party and then just playing when the fight starts

[Zhorn]

Assuming the party gets enough gold for inks, a full party of 5 wizards would be knocking out a huge chunk of their total spell list at every level up.
2 new spells at each level, 5 wizards, a coordinated effort is 10 new spells per level. Then spend the time and gold copying the spells out of each other's books. Wouldn't need to rely on the DM dropping spell scrolls.

Playing as a horde of rampaging Barbarians would be fun, I think. With the right adventure anyway.

Even with the wrong adventure it could be great.
Playing the sole barbarian in a political intrigue game, yes you are poorly suited.
Playing a full party of just barbarians in a political intrigue game? There's no one in the party to be the voice of reason and the intrigues of barbarian diplomacy reigns supreme.

[GentlemanVoodoo]

A party of Warlocks. Whethere they all have the same patron or different ones there would be plenty of RP opportunity in that. Probably mandatory requirement each take a different pact boon just to get some diversity in the group whether these be UA or homebrewed.

[Luccan]

Oh, I remembered my variation of this idea (I never expect to play this way, but hey at least this is an appropriate thread to bring it up): The single subclass party. You have to choose the subclass carefully, if you want to avoid too much sameness. Any Warlock subclass can work, since the Boons and Invocations can result in very different characters. To some extent spell selection as well, but I feel like it wouldn't work as well for Bard or Sorcerer who get far fewer unique build choices outside spell selection for all their subclass and class abilities. Once you have one of their subclasses your character is kinda locked in. Though I suppose Dragon Sorcs who really leaned into the Bloodline might all choose different spells and differentiate themselves that way. Same with Divine Soul.

As far as the martials, Totem Barbarian might work. As long as everyone doesn't go Bear. I mean, you could do that, but it seems dull comparatively. Branch out a little, the party doesn't need you all to go Bear. Have some fun. Battlemaster and EK run into the same problem as Sorcerers. They really need to lean into a theme to make themselves stand out. I don't think the AT Rogue could pull it off even as well as the Eldritch Knight, but maybe I could be surprised. Similarly, 4e Monk. What could be interesting about that one is eschewing elemental exclusive choices for character builds and going for other themes you can find in their limited magic set. Like a Hot/Cold Tempomancer, as opposed to just choosing Water or Fire as a focus.

But this idea originally came to be using the Beastmaster Ranger... I swear I have my reasons. Rangers have spells known, favored enemy and terrain, and fighting style. Add on to that a variety of beasts to choose from and I think you can create some genuine uniqueness out of one of the least liked subclasses in the game. I will say, I actually think the UA class options kinda ruin this concept; the Beast becomes more useful, but also generic, swapping out your favored enemy for a good spell is better but takes away from the diversity, and Primal Awareness just loads a bunch of the same new spells on you. I still like the other extra options provided for this idea though (and have no problem with any of it in a normal game).

[Kane0]

Mostly normal: Clerics, Druids, Warlocks

Unconventional: Bards, Fighters, Paladins, Rangers, Rogues

Very niche: Barbarians, Monks, Sorcerers, Wizards

[pragma]

The specific tactics I'd find interesting:
* 5x battlemaster fighters with sharpshooter, crossbow expert and maybe alert -- This is basically a special ops team: go first and reduce enemies to paste in a hail of gunfire. You might be able to get more mileage out of 5x gloomstalker rangers, but I think fighters will scale well later (at the cost of healing).
* 5x warlocks with lance of lethargy -- Can apply (at least) -50 speed to targets of their choice each turn. Freeze enemies in place and eldritch blast them to death. Someone is bound to have darkness as a contingency in case an enemy shoots back.

All that said, clerics or druids are probably the winning choice. Overlapping spirit guardians would be really good (presuming you interpret spell rules so that each does damage). So would a thorn whip yo-yo dragging enemies across spike growth.

EDIT: and I mostly agree with Kane's tier list. However, I think 5x wizards should be "mostly normal" pick, it's easy enough to diversify a team of wizards. In particular, an iron wizard, a god wizard and a blaster cover a lot of bases. Sure, healing is thin on the ground, so just make sure you don't take damage!

[Kane0]

I’ve tried an all wizard party, actually getting kills was pretty challenging while trying to maintain slot expenditure efficiency. Even though they can diversify and fill all roles some things like consistent damage and healing you really notice.

[freakybeak]

Warlocks for the RP and for the chance to FINALLY get everyone agreeing to take a short rest...

[Emongnome777]

Mystic. Everyone can different AND great at their specialization.

[LudicSavant]

A friend is running a game. Everyone wanted to be a wizard. So he let them to see what happens. I am wondering? What class would you have if you could have a 5 player game where everyone is the same class? I think I’d go Bard. A lot of variation there, plus being a traveling band would be fun.

Wizards, Clerics, Bards, Druids and Warlocks all jump out at me as having strong builds available for every party role (and yes, that does mean I am saying you can make Wizards into solid healers, and no I don't mean with a UA).

[Dork_Forge]

I'd go with Fighters, mix of Dex and Str based using feats to help introduce more variety.

-Eldritch Knight to cover casting (with additional magic from Ritual Caster, maybe race too)

-PDK with Healer to specialise in putting the party back together (maybe an Aasimar or Jorasco Halfing to triple down on this)

-Battle Master for versatility in combat (being sure to take Rally just in case)

-Samurai, maybe on a GWM or SS build

-Cavalier for tanking

[LudicSavant]

Wizards can be great... If you allow UA.

You can have a Dex Focused Scout Illusionist making use of the Metamagic Feat for Subtle Spell
A Theurge healer
A Bladeisnger frontliner
An Evoker focused on blasty AoE
And a Necromancer for Minionmancy/off-tankyness.

If dips are allowed, the Illusionist should dip Rogue 1, the Theurge should dip Cleric 1, and the Bladesinger should dip Fighter.

You don't even need UA to make Wizard healers anymore.