What's the most unusual party of Fighter, Wizard, Cleric, Rogue?

[Wasp]

Hi everyone

with all the new and sometimes quite unusual sublasses from Tasha etc: If you had to reinterprete the "clishé" party with a Fighter, a Wizard, a Cleric and a Rogue in the most "un-clishé" or unusual way that still "works" for adventuring - what would you do?

The framework
1 Fighter, 1 Wizard, 1 Cleric, 1 Rogue, no multiclassing but feats are allowed
Materials allowed include UA
Backstories not necessery but appreciated

I was thinking Echo Knight, Invention Wizard, Twilight Cleric and Phantom Rogue

[Amechra]

Until I saw that you actually wanted the specified classes, I was going to bring up my Fighter//Swashbuckler, Arcane Trickster, Bard//Warlock (Celestial), and Shadow Monk party, which were explicitly set up to be non-traditional ways to fill those roles.

[da newt]

Gnome Fighter
Orc Wizard
Goblin Cleric
Warforged Rogue

Add silly subclasses, background, and ability scores as you like to really make it unusual.

[Corran]

Well, normally you'd expect of the fighter and cleric to tank. So I'll go with:
1) (Half)Elf archer fighter, nimble and graceful and with better mental stats that you'd expect, at the expense of con.
2) Halforc str based rogue, played as a melee thug type.
3) Melee-comfortable wizard (can be done in many ways), and the incentive is that they are in melee to activatee the strogue's sneak attack (possibly also to trigger sentinel).
4) Halfling or gnome trickery cleric, played as a rogue (scouting, hiding in shadows, striking from a safe position in the back).

That's the idea. Mechanically, I think trickery cleric nails it, but for the other characters it could go in many different ways when it comes to subclasses. For races I went mostly for what I though suited better the image or the cliche I wanted to support.

In short, the fighter is your wizard, the wizard is your cleric, the cleric is your rogue, the rogue is your fighter. In some ways at least.

[stoutstien]

Battle master fighter- the face. Pump dex and Cha take rally, commanding, and bait n switch.
Skill expert for boosted Cha check of choice

Abj wizard mark of healing- mitigation and healing

Thief rogue V human moderate armor/ sentinel at 4 - the tank. Surprising effective

Light cleric- blaster

[Eldariel]

Bladesinger Mark of Healing Jorasco Halfling - healer and melee
Goblin Trickery Cleric - the stealth/illusion/social type
[race-independent] SS Battlemaster Archer - ranged controller Fighter
High Elf Thief with Moderately Armored and Healer-feats and Athletics Expertise - the combat medic and frontline + UMD caster

[KorvinStarmast]

The framework
1 Fighter, 1 Wizard, 1 Cleric, 1 Rogue, no multiclassing but feats are allowed
Materials allowed include UA

No UA. I only ask that the Halfling be allowed the Prodigy feat.

Backstories not necessery but appreciated

OK, I'll fit that in.
(As an aside: it is spelled cliché)

Note: There is no tank.

Fighter: Halfling, Battle Master
Clever and brave, this halfling uses speed and trickery to defeat his foes. Will not stand toe to toe with anyone. Saw his cousin get his butt kicked once when trying to mix it up with a half orc in a waterfront bar. Lesson learned.
S 14 D 16 C 14 I 9 W 10 Ch 12
Background: Sailor. Skills Intimidation, Stealth, Athletics, Perception
Dueling Fighting style. Sword and Board.
ASI@4 Dex 18; ASI@6 Feat = Alert ASI@8 Feat = Prodigy (Athletics expertise) @10 Second Fighting Style = Defense ASI@12 Dex = 20 ASI@14 CON 16 ASI@16 Feat = Tough ASI@19: Resilient, Int or Wis.

Cleric: Tiefling, Light Domain
Crazy mixed up kid whose momma was an Aasimar and whose daddy was an Incubus. Ended up going to the seminary thanks to "a rich uncle" who paid his tuition (as well as the bribe to the judge to keep him out of jail for yelling "Fire!" in a crowded town hall (used the Thaumaturgy cantrip to amplify his voice, caused a stampede, many injured) ... He's a tiefling, or something kind of like that. Also a pathalogical liar. Heck, he's such a liar he can't even tell himself the truth.

S 14 D 12 C 14 I 9 W 14 Ch 12
Background: Charlatan. Skills: Insight, Deception, Sleight of Hand, Medicine
ASI@4 WIS=16; ASI@8 Wis = 18 ASI@12 Wis = 20 ASI@16 Warcaster ASI & 19 Con = 16

Wizard: Goliath, Enchantment School
Run out of her clan due to being the most talented BS artist and 'used car salesperson' personality type that the clan had ever seen. Also, she is the sharpest knife in the drawer. Dad was clan chief, so she gets the Noble background. She certainly puts on airs ...

S 10 D 14 C 16 I 14 W 10 Ch 10
Background: Noble Skills: Arcana, Insight, History, Persuasion
ASI@4 INT=16; ASI@8 INT = 18 ASI@12 INT = 20 ASI@16 Warcaster ASI@19 Con = 16

Rogue: Fire Genasi; Scout
Too clever by half. Once started a forest fire by carelessly handling the produce flame cantrip. She has since "seen the light" and become a rabid nature advocate. Comes to the party as a fugitive, due to her previous associations with an enviro-terrorist organization in the campaign world. Will sometimes set fire to something as a distraction, or to provide misdirection.

S 12 D 14 C 16 I 10 W 12 Ch 12
Background: Criminal Skills: Deception, Stealth, Perception, Intimidation, Sleight of Hand, Investigation Expertise - Stealth, Ivestigation
ASI@4 DEX=16; ASI@8 DEX = 18 ASI@10 DEX = 20 ASI@12 Alert ASI@16 Resilient WisASI @19 CON = 16.

How does this party make it all work? They are not optimized.

They scout and they try to set the conditions for any combat. The would rather parley with, fool, or BS whomever they meet. The Enchanter uses spells to get some potential enemies "on side"; Cleric is damage control, buff, debuff, and occasionally uses the flare to get people out of trouble.

Hit and run, with an emphasis on Run so that they can live to fight another day.

[Luccan]

Not sure I want to build 4 characters, so I went mostly with unexpected combinations of class, subclass, and background. Assuming no ASI reshuffling at character creation, most of these don't "make sense", but I will admit that sadly they're still largely intended to do the things their class is actually good at. Still:

Half-Orc Arcana Cleric, Noble background
Mountain Dwarf Illusionist, Entertainer background
Lizardfolk Swashbuckler, Sage Background
Firbolg Str-Fighter Cavalier, Folk Hero background

[noob]

The fighter is called fighter and fights everything they can fight(allies included).
The wizard is called wizard and use magic for everything they can use magic for.
The cleric is called cleric and prays in all the situations.
The rogue is called rogue and sneaks around constantly hiding even from the other party members.
They are all caricature and so stereotypical few writers would ever write the stories of those generic characters with no personality.
Which makes them unusual.

[Wraith]

The All Warlock party:

"Fighter" - Hexblade, of course. Take Goliath or Aasimar as your race for extra health/independent healing if you like, but primarily you need a big stick with which to hit people and armour to prevent the same from happening to you.

"Wizard" - Pact of the Tome, take Magic Initiate and go crazy with Cantrips for all occasions. Pick up a Ring of Spell Storing and a Pearl of Power or two for good measure, maybe splash into Sorcerer for Coffeelock shenanigans.

"Cleric" - Divine Patron speaks for itself. Probably Pact of Tome again, but Hexblade is also permissible if you want something more akin to War Cleric than Life Cleric.

"Rogue" - Pact of the Talisman. Use feats to pick up a few extra tool proficiencies and talisman-buff yourself to pretend that you knew what you were doing all along.

Bonus points if no-one tells each other that they're a Warlock and they spend the entire camping pretending so as not to be outed as agents of a higher power.

The All Artificer party:

"Fighter" - Goliath Armourer, or maybe Forge Adept. You bump your AC through the roof and tank like a madman with all of your custom-made magic items keeping you above the curve. Goliath gives you the raw strength and HP needed to stay in the fight and allows you spend those points on your INT, kind of like an Eldritch Knight-lite.

"Wizard" - Maverick (from Exploring Eberron), or Artillerist. Long-ranged damage is all basically the same, isn't it?

"Cleric" - Alchemist with the Healer feat. Battlesmith might work too, though at least with the Alchemist, if you get KO'd someone can pick you up by pouring a potion down your neck.

"Rogue" - I mean, your team is going to have so many tool proficiencies and odd random skills, having one "Rogue" seems redundant, but if you had to pick one then I suppose another Forge Adept or Armourer could fit the role?

[OldTrees1]

Builds are minimal because you can elaborate from here.

Rogue: The Sage. They know everything. They carry around a small library and are writing at least 1 tome of their own.
Rogue with: Proficiency in Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, Religion, Survival

Cleric: The Pyro. A fire happy evoker, but nobody can find their spellbook. Fire just happens.
Cleric with: Light Domain

Wizard: The Charlatan. A no good con artist. Quick with a lockpick, they always slip away when the con is revealed.
Wizard with: Persuasion, Deception, and Thieves Tools proficiency. Mage Hand & Prestidigitation cantrips

Fighter: The Medic. Studies to be a doctor. Some of their treatments as pseudoscience nonsense but the placebo effect exists.
Variant Human Fighter with: Proficiency in Insight, Medicine, and Herbalism Kit. Has the Healer Feat (Inspiring Leader later). Carries Healing Kits, Herbalism Kit, Potions, and some nonsense.

So you have a Rogue(Sage) and a Cleric(Pyro) that act like two halves of the stereotypical Wizard. You have a Wizard that is a rogue, despite not being a Rogue. Although their silver tongue would say it better. And a Fighter that is a Healer.

[BigRedJedi]

No UA. I only ask that the Halfling be allowed the Prodigy feat.

OK, I'll fit that in.
(As an aside: it is spelled cliché)

Note: There is no tank.

Fighter: Halfling, Battle Master
Clever and brave, this halfling uses speed and trickery to defeat his foes. Will not stand toe to toe with anyone. Saw his cousin get his butt kicked once when trying to mix it up with a half orc in a waterfront bar. Lesson learned.
S 14 D 16 C 14 I 9 W 10 Ch 12
Background: Sailor. Skills Intimidation, Stealth, Athletics, Perception
Dueling Fighting style. Sword and Board.
ASI@4 Dex 18; ASI@6 Feat = Alert ASI@8 Feat = Prodigy (Athletics expertise) @10 Second Fighting Style = Defense ASI@12 Dex = 20 ASI@14 CON 16 ASI@16 Feat = Tough ASI@19: Resilient, Int or Wis.

Cleric: Tiefling, Light Domain
Crazy mixed up kid whose momma was an Aasimar and whose daddy was an Incubus. Ended up going to the seminary thanks to "a rich uncle" who paid his tuition (as well as the bribe to the judge to keep him out of jail for yelling "Fire!" in a crowded town hall (used the Thaumaturgy cantrip to amplify his voice, caused a stampede, many injured) ... He's a tiefling, or something kind of like that. Also a pathalogical liar. Heck, he's such a liar he can't even tell himself the truth.

S 14 D 12 C 14 I 9 W 14 Ch 12
Background: Charlatan. Skills: Insight, Deception, Sleight of Hand, Medicine
ASI@4 WIS=16; ASI@8 Wis = 18 ASI@12 Wis = 20 ASI@16 Warcaster ASI & 19 Con = 16

Wizard: Goliath, Enchantment School
Run out of her clan due to being the most talented BS artist and 'used car salesperson' personality type that the clan had ever seen. Also, she is the sharpest knife in the drawer. Dad was clan chief, so she gets the Noble background. She certainly puts on airs ...

S 10 D 14 C 16 I 14 W 10 Ch 10
Background: Noble Skills: Arcana, Insight, History, Persuasion
ASI@4 INT=16; ASI@8 INT = 18 ASI@12 INT = 20 ASI@16 Warcaster ASI@19 Con = 16

Rogue: Fire Genasi; Scout
Too clever by half. Once started a forest fire by carelessly handling the produce flame cantrip. She has since "seen the light" and become a rabid nature advocate. Comes to the party as a fugitive, due to her previous associations with an enviro-terrorist organization in the campaign world. Will sometimes set fire to something as a distraction, or to provide misdirection.

S 12 D 14 C 16 I 10 W 12 Ch 12
Background: Criminal Skills: Deception, Stealth, Perception, Intimidation, Sleight of Hand, Investigation Expertise - Stealth, Ivestigation
ASI@4 DEX=16; ASI@8 DEX = 18 ASI@10 DEX = 20 ASI@12 Alert ASI@16 Resilient WisASI @19 CON = 16.

How does this party make it all work? They are not optimized.

They scout and they try to set the conditions for any combat. The would rather parley with, fool, or BS whomever they meet. The Enchanter uses spells to get some potential enemies "on side"; Cleric is damage control, buff, debuff, and occasionally uses the flare to get people out of trouble.

Hit and run, with an emphasis on Run so that they can live to fight another day.

Just a quick interjection, you don't need Prodigy approval for the Halfling (unless you want more than Expertise in Athletics out of it and I didn't notice), you can just take Skill Expert from TCoE and get a half-ASI for fun along with Expertise, with no racial requirement. (If you were adding a tool and language proficiency too, this doesn't work, but if it is solely for Expertise, you're already covered! ;))

-BRJ

[KorvinStarmast]

...you don't need Prodigy approval for the Halfling (unless you want more than Expertise in Athletics out of it and I didn't notice), you can just take Skill Expert from TCoE and get a half-ASI for fun along with Expertise, with no racial requirement.

OK, I'll fit that in. I haven't bothered to read up any of the Tasha's feats with serious interest. I was so disappointed in racial feats in general (to me, Prodigy is what Skilled ought to be) in Xanathar's that I more or less blew them off.

Fighter: Halfling, Battle Master
Clever and brave, this halfling uses speed and trickery to defeat his foes. Will not stand toe to toe with anyone. Saw his cousin get his butt kicked once when trying to mix it up with a half orc in a waterfront bar. Lesson learned.


S 14 D 17 C 14 I 9 W 10 Ch 10
Background: Sailor. Skills Intimidation, Stealth, Athletics, Perception (later Persuasion)
Dueling Fighting style. Sword and Board.
ASI@4 Feat = Skill Expert (Athletics Exp, add skill Persuasion) Dex = 18; ASI@6 Feat = Alert; ASI@8 Dex = 20; @10 Second Fighting Style = Defense; ASI@12 CON = 16; ASI@14 Feat = Mobile; ASI@16 Feat = Tough; ASI@19: Observant (+1 Int)

[Amechra]

So... all Monk party? (Thank you Tasha's!)

The Fighter: Way of the Kensei (w/ the Soldier background)
The Rogue: Way of Shadow (w/ the Urchin background)
The Cleric: Way of Mercy (w/ the Acolyte background)
The Wizard: Way of the Sun Soul (w/ the Sage background)

They're all Wood Elves or whatever. I dunno. No one tanks, so it's all backflips all the time.

In all honesty, though, this would probably be a workable party if there was a more versatile replacement for The Wizard.

[Wraith]

In all honesty, though, this would probably be a workable party if there was a more versatile replacement for The Wizard.

Four Elements is probably the closest in terms of spellcasting/different damage types/etc, although I feel that Ascendant Dragon (UA) would also be worth a look. Either of those with the Magic Initiate feat and an unusual race like Tiefling or Triton for their innate spells would go a long way in the theme.

[Amdy_vill]

so my idea here is picking sub classes that make each class have the party roles of a class not in the line up

Fighter rune knight: the party has an odd artificer in the groups.
Wizard School of war magic/bladesinger: the party has a rather weak fighter. sadly wizards have no way to take a class role outside of replacing fighters.
Cleric nature/knowledge/order/forge: each of them work, we got a druid, bard, monk/paladin, or artificer replacement.
Rogue arcane trickster or mastermind: the party has an oddly stealthy wizard or oddly unskilled bard.

[RogueJK]

How about a party playing against type, where somone has "Three Card Monty'd" the tropes.


Fighter - Eldritch Knight with Ritual Caster: Wizard, a high INT, and several Knowledge skills.
A sturdy but bookish young man who was pushed into being a solider, but who really wanted to study at a Wizard's College, and prefers spellbooks to swords.

Wizard - Illusionist with high DEX and skills like Stealth and Sleight of Hand, plus Thieves Tools proficiency.
A con artist and burglar who uses his magic to help pull of heists and cons.

Cleric - Forge/War, with heavy armor and a high STR.
A gruff brute who revels in battle.

Rogue - Inquisitive/Mastermind/Thief with the Healer feat and Expertise in Medicine.
A quiet, wise doctor who uses his knowledge of anatomy to harm as well as heal.

[FabulousFizban]

Gnome Fighter - psi fighter
Orc Wizard - Brick: the 6int orc wiz who is a pacifist that knows blade ward, mage armor, shield, & blur. toughness feat, top stat con
Goblin Cleric - burny (light) cleric
Warforged Rogue - str rogue

Add silly subclasses, background, and ability scores as you like to really make it unusual.

fleshed it out a bit. a small bit.