I've played a few very non-traditional campaigns before, but they've been very focused on roleplay and storyline! The campaign I'm joining coming up is also focused on roleplay, but probably with a good deal more combat and mechanics thrown in. That's unfortunately where I'm less confident!
I have a character that's personality-wise ready to go- he has flavor that I really want to keep! He's a wise, gentle, sincere counselor archetype with a lot of intensity beneath his surface. He wants to understand how the universe works, but he's realizing that he has to understand himself before he tackles problems on so grand a scale. I also imagine him having some kind of martial prowess- not necessarily in wielding a greatsword or a warhammer, but more just being able to land a solid kick.
He's an aasimar, cleric of knowledge, and I'm considering taking levels in monk to fill out the Jedi-esque side of his character.
Is this a wise idea or am I setting up to shoot myself in the foot? I don't know a lot about mechanics and I haven't been focused on optimizing before. It's really important to me that his character stays true, but I want more than anything for the game to be fun for everyone else as well and I don't want to have a build that causes annoyance or frustration!
This build sounds great, you will get a few great features from monk, like unarmored defense(in which you can add your wisdom mod), and I think you would do well except for a part of spellcasting. You would be always a little behind in your spellcasting because of the dip in monk, but it wouldn't be to bad if taking only a few levels in monk. How many levels in monk are you proposing? I don't think dipping into monk would make it much more complicated, since it is one of the more simplistic classes of the game, and the rules on multiclassing aren't super hard to understand, and if you have understanding fellow players, it should be completely fine.
Thank you so much for the help! I'm thinking three levels in monk? Not sure though! I also had a question about stats- is it alright to have strength and constitution low to account for high wis and dex, or is that a really bad idea?
Do you plan to focus on unarmed combat, or do you want to be mostly with a weapon, but then be able to have unarmed as an option. I only ask because if you don’t go much into monk, you’ll only be doing a d4 of damage punching people. That can work fine, as long as the party isn’t expecting much from you, damage-wise. Are they expecting you to be the cleric and heal people, or is your role more open? because the kind of character you describe could easily be a straight monk. The multi-class combo gives you more options, just be sure of the trade-offs in slower advancement in you abilities.
Another thing to consider, if you just want to be a cleric who is able to punch things, is the tavern brawler feat. It will give you the unarmed strike of a monk (although not their other bits) but let’s you stay pure cleric. Of course you need to wait until level 4 for it.
Yes, but if he stays cleric, DEX isn’t very important anymore. No more than typical for a cleric that is. Its not very good if he wants to dump str, absolutely right. I’m just throwing out options.
I think the 3rd level is slightly unnecessary, since you already will have all the main features of a monk except for the deflect missiles and monastic tradition, which you might find useful rp wise, but it would also put you back a level in your spellcasting. Whatever you do try to account the weights of the different options, and remember that this game's purpose is to have fun, and you shouldn't worry too hard about the different mechanical approaches, as long as your character appeals to you.
Also, I think a medium of dex and con should suffice, possibly a 14 in both will be good. Assuming you want to take a 10 in int, if you take point buy, I recommend(before the racial bonuses):
I believe it'll be a bard and myself for healing, so I'll definitely need to stick with a cleric role. For rp reasons, I think he would use unarmed combat as well as a weapon- but I think with the build (low strength) I might need the extra points of damage a weapon would provide. Thank you for the help!
I'm doing a Tempest Cleric with Dexterity as its top stat and Strength as its dump stat. It's perfectly fine to dump strength on a Cleric, as long as you have a decent Dexterity score. Every character needs one of those two scores to be at least a decent score because of the AC. You'll use your Dexterity score to boost your AC, as well as for using finesse weapons (unless you prefer to use Wisdom based attack cantrips).
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Hi there! I would love some help building.
I've played a few very non-traditional campaigns before, but they've been very focused on roleplay and storyline! The campaign I'm joining coming up is also focused on roleplay, but probably with a good deal more combat and mechanics thrown in. That's unfortunately where I'm less confident!
I have a character that's personality-wise ready to go- he has flavor that I really want to keep! He's a wise, gentle, sincere counselor archetype with a lot of intensity beneath his surface. He wants to understand how the universe works, but he's realizing that he has to understand himself before he tackles problems on so grand a scale. I also imagine him having some kind of martial prowess- not necessarily in wielding a greatsword or a warhammer, but more just being able to land a solid kick.
He's an aasimar, cleric of knowledge, and I'm considering taking levels in monk to fill out the Jedi-esque side of his character.
Is this a wise idea or am I setting up to shoot myself in the foot? I don't know a lot about mechanics and I haven't been focused on optimizing before. It's really important to me that his character stays true, but I want more than anything for the game to be fun for everyone else as well and I don't want to have a build that causes annoyance or frustration!
This build sounds great, you will get a few great features from monk, like unarmored defense(in which you can add your wisdom mod), and I think you would do well except for a part of spellcasting. You would be always a little behind in your spellcasting because of the dip in monk, but it wouldn't be to bad if taking only a few levels in monk. How many levels in monk are you proposing? I don't think dipping into monk would make it much more complicated, since it is one of the more simplistic classes of the game, and the rules on multiclassing aren't super hard to understand, and if you have understanding fellow players, it should be completely fine.
Thank you so much for the help! I'm thinking three levels in monk? Not sure though! I also had a question about stats- is it alright to have strength and constitution low to account for high wis and dex, or is that a really bad idea?
You can safely lower strength with that build as long as you have a decent Dex and rely on finesse attacks, but never dump your con.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Do you plan to focus on unarmed combat, or do you want to be mostly with a weapon, but then be able to have unarmed as an option. I only ask because if you don’t go much into monk, you’ll only be doing a d4 of damage punching people. That can work fine, as long as the party isn’t expecting much from you, damage-wise.
Are they expecting you to be the cleric and heal people, or is your role more open? because the kind of character you describe could easily be a straight monk. The multi-class combo gives you more options, just be sure of the trade-offs in slower advancement in you abilities.
Another thing to consider, if you just want to be a cleric who is able to punch things, is the tavern brawler feat. It will give you the unarmed strike of a monk (although not their other bits) but let’s you stay pure cleric. Of course you need to wait until level 4 for it.
Tavern Brawler locks your unarmed strike to Strength, so it's also a poor choice for someone who is looking at more of a dex build.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Yes, but if he stays cleric, DEX isn’t very important anymore. No more than typical for a cleric that is.
Its not very good if he wants to dump str, absolutely right. I’m just throwing out options.
Even if he wants to stay cleric, dumping both dex and strength is not a good option.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I think the 3rd level is slightly unnecessary, since you already will have all the main features of a monk except for the deflect missiles and monastic tradition, which you might find useful rp wise, but it would also put you back a level in your spellcasting. Whatever you do try to account the weights of the different options, and remember that this game's purpose is to have fun, and you shouldn't worry too hard about the different mechanical approaches, as long as your character appeals to you.
Also, I think a medium of dex and con should suffice, possibly a 14 in both will be good. Assuming you want to take a 10 in int, if you take point buy, I recommend(before the racial bonuses):
Str: 8, Dex: 14, Con: 14, Int:10, Wis: 15, Cha: 10.
Your wis will be a 16 after bonuses, and your cha a 12, assuming you are a protector aasimar.
I believe it'll be a bard and myself for healing, so I'll definitely need to stick with a cleric role. For rp reasons, I think he would use unarmed combat as well as a weapon- but I think with the build (low strength) I might need the extra points of damage a weapon would provide. Thank you for the help!
I'm doing a Tempest Cleric with Dexterity as its top stat and Strength as its dump stat. It's perfectly fine to dump strength on a Cleric, as long as you have a decent Dexterity score. Every character needs one of those two scores to be at least a decent score because of the AC. You'll use your Dexterity score to boost your AC, as well as for using finesse weapons (unless you prefer to use Wisdom based attack cantrips).