I love making characters, and have had an idea I really love and keep going back to.
I've found some advice on builds online, but a lot of the time it's not quite right for what I'm looking for. I would welcome any advice, if nothing else, I just love to get the ideas out there.
So, this character is 'Apollo' themed. Apollo being the god of Archery, Prophecy, the Arts, Medicine, and the Sun. Anyone read Rick Riordan's 'the Trisal of Apollo series'? Loved it and heavily influenced the inspiration for this character. I want them to be a devotee, descendant, or at the very least influenced by Apollo (Or another god I could make up with all the same features lol)
So, initial thought: Protector Aasimar (Light cantrip, darkvision, healing, it all works!), Bard, because it covers SO much, and I love bards. It gives access to the prophecy and healing type spells, charisma/ influencing, and eventual access to sun/ fire/ radiant spells. And Bards just have creativity and performing baked right in to them.
So, Hexblade Warlock for Charisma weapons, specifically Long bow. I figure 5 levels of Hexblade to get Improved Pact Weapon, Thirsting Blade, and Eldritch Smite.
I'm picturing a character who is very pleasant, and charismatic, and it just makes sense for their attacking ability to be based off their charisma. I'm also picturing them casting (most) all of their spells using their bow. So, they'd be good at using a real/ regular bow, and then flavor things like Eldritch Blast, Healing Word, Sleep, as them shooting a 'magical arrow' at the target. Also thinking of getting the Metamagic Adept to get the Distant Spell metamagic, so things like Cure Wounds could be flavored to shoot an arrow at the recipient.
So my thought is 1st level Bard (cause they're AWESOME!), 2-6 being Hexblade (1-5) then Bard the rest of the way.
I know they won't get many slots for Eldritch Smite, but I do love the idea of the archer knocking something huge or smaller prone! Don't really care about any Hexblade/ Warlock things after that. Only going to 5 for the invocations, including a second attack. Considered Devil's Sight, or Agonizing Blast over Eldritch Smite, but I like the fun and versatility with Eldritch Smite. And I don't see this sun god devotee creating darkness, so makes Devil's sight a little less useful.
But the biggest problem I have is what Bard subclass to go with! They're all so good. I've made/ played most of them, and am just having trouble deciding.
Lore is, just always good, the default.
I'm not sure Valor or swords add much that I don't already get with level 5 Hexblade.
Eloquence and Glamour both seem like pretty good ideas, and fit well thematically. (Playing Eloquence right now and he is AWESOME!)
Creation, Spirits, and Whispers are all good of course, but I'm not sure any of them really match the flavor I'm going for.
So the biggest thing I'm looking for is ideas as to which Bard subclass to go. What do you think is the most flavorful & optimized-ish combination. This is clearly not a total min-max, but I do want him to be good at what he does. Also, I may have missed something that would make a ton of sense? Feel free to point it out! A previous thought was going the 5 Hexblade and the rest Divine Soul sorcerer, which would also be great spell selection wise and metamagic wise, but the Bard just so wonderful and covers so much of the character idea all by itself, I just decided on that. Just can't settle on that darn subclass!
Oh, this is not currently being used in a campaign, but we MAY play Rime of the Icemaiden and I'm thinking he could be fun for that. In the meantime, just assume typical stats, and anything in the official books should be fine.
So, sorry for the long post! Please help out if you have any ideas/ opinions!
TLDR: Making an Apollo-themed Archer character, Hexblade for 5 levels, the rest Bard. What subclass for Bard?
I feel eloquence or glamour would be best, coming from someone who’s first character was a half-orc glamour bard. They’re fun, and it’s enjoyable to play with the performer/fey/illusion aspects of the subclass.
Given that Apollo was also vengeful in the Trojan War, you could make use of Whispers bard and the additional psychic damage upon attacks. The fear aspects from simple words could tie in to that theme; he was the god of plagues, too. Don't cross him or you will see the dark side of him type of angle.
Usually, any Bard build is best with Lore or Eloquence, and this is no exception. In this case, Lore is the really low-hanging fruit, since you can pick up whatever spells you deem most appropriate to Apollo, and you can use your Charisma to help you do things like grapple. Lore is also by far the more martial of the two, since you can use Charisma to protect yourself and others from attacks.
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Hi everyone!
I love making characters, and have had an idea I really love and keep going back to.
I've found some advice on builds online, but a lot of the time it's not quite right for what I'm looking for. I would welcome any advice, if nothing else, I just love to get the ideas out there.
So, this character is 'Apollo' themed. Apollo being the god of Archery, Prophecy, the Arts, Medicine, and the Sun. Anyone read Rick Riordan's 'the Trisal of Apollo series'? Loved it and heavily influenced the inspiration for this character. I want them to be a devotee, descendant, or at the very least influenced by Apollo (Or another god I could make up with all the same features lol)
So, initial thought: Protector Aasimar (Light cantrip, darkvision, healing, it all works!), Bard, because it covers SO much, and I love bards. It gives access to the prophecy and healing type spells, charisma/ influencing, and eventual access to sun/ fire/ radiant spells. And Bards just have creativity and performing baked right in to them.
So, Hexblade Warlock for Charisma weapons, specifically Long bow. I figure 5 levels of Hexblade to get Improved Pact Weapon, Thirsting Blade, and Eldritch Smite.
I'm picturing a character who is very pleasant, and charismatic, and it just makes sense for their attacking ability to be based off their charisma. I'm also picturing them casting (most) all of their spells using their bow. So, they'd be good at using a real/ regular bow, and then flavor things like Eldritch Blast, Healing Word, Sleep, as them shooting a 'magical arrow' at the target. Also thinking of getting the Metamagic Adept to get the Distant Spell metamagic, so things like Cure Wounds could be flavored to shoot an arrow at the recipient.
So my thought is 1st level Bard (cause they're AWESOME!), 2-6 being Hexblade (1-5) then Bard the rest of the way.
I know they won't get many slots for Eldritch Smite, but I do love the idea of the archer knocking something huge or smaller prone! Don't really care about any Hexblade/ Warlock things after that. Only going to 5 for the invocations, including a second attack. Considered Devil's Sight, or Agonizing Blast over Eldritch Smite, but I like the fun and versatility with Eldritch Smite. And I don't see this sun god devotee creating darkness, so makes Devil's sight a little less useful.
But the biggest problem I have is what Bard subclass to go with! They're all so good. I've made/ played most of them, and am just having trouble deciding.
Lore is, just always good, the default.
I'm not sure Valor or swords add much that I don't already get with level 5 Hexblade.
Eloquence and Glamour both seem like pretty good ideas, and fit well thematically. (Playing Eloquence right now and he is AWESOME!)
Creation, Spirits, and Whispers are all good of course, but I'm not sure any of them really match the flavor I'm going for.
So the biggest thing I'm looking for is ideas as to which Bard subclass to go. What do you think is the most flavorful & optimized-ish combination. This is clearly not a total min-max, but I do want him to be good at what he does. Also, I may have missed something that would make a ton of sense? Feel free to point it out! A previous thought was going the 5 Hexblade and the rest Divine Soul sorcerer, which would also be great spell selection wise and metamagic wise, but the Bard just so wonderful and covers so much of the character idea all by itself, I just decided on that. Just can't settle on that darn subclass!
Oh, this is not currently being used in a campaign, but we MAY play Rime of the Icemaiden and I'm thinking he could be fun for that. In the meantime, just assume typical stats, and anything in the official books should be fine.
So, sorry for the long post! Please help out if you have any ideas/ opinions!
TLDR: Making an Apollo-themed Archer character, Hexblade for 5 levels, the rest Bard. What subclass for Bard?
I feel eloquence or glamour would be best, coming from someone who’s first character was a half-orc glamour bard. They’re fun, and it’s enjoyable to play with the performer/fey/illusion aspects of the subclass.
Given that Apollo was also vengeful in the Trojan War, you could make use of Whispers bard and the additional psychic damage upon attacks. The fear aspects from simple words could tie in to that theme; he was the god of plagues, too. Don't cross him or you will see the dark side of him type of angle.
Usually, any Bard build is best with Lore or Eloquence, and this is no exception. In this case, Lore is the really low-hanging fruit, since you can pick up whatever spells you deem most appropriate to Apollo, and you can use your Charisma to help you do things like grapple. Lore is also by far the more martial of the two, since you can use Charisma to protect yourself and others from attacks.