So I’m about to embark on my 2nd ever campaign (first one I was in got disbanded around level 6 or 7...) and I was looking into a beast master ranger with a mastiff pet he uses as his mount! The DM (who is also semi new) said I could use a dwarf as a race and still ride my “overly large” mastiff pet.
The image I have in my head is a decently armored dwarf riding a mastiff with either a spear or a Warhammer, a shield, and a crossbow.
My questions are, stat wise what works? Any feats worth taking? Is it viable at all? The concept sounds fun and I don’t care too much for min/maxing but I don’t want to be totally useless
I'd recommend taking the Mounted Combatant feat if you start struggling to keep your mount alive. If you plan on using the crossbow as your primary weapon, you'll also want to take the Crossbow Expert feat so you can use Extra Attack with it; otherwise, you're better off with a shortbow.
Other than the mounted combatant feat is there anything else? Primarily I plan on using a spear or Warhammer as my weapon. With the mobility of my mount I feel I can kinda pick my fights.
Is dex better than strength for what I’m going for?
I thought small races can’t use heavy weapons or am I confusing something else, if so that nixes the lance. Not really a fan anyway, you have disadvantage at 5ft with one
I thought small races can’t use heavy weapons or am I confusing something else, if so that nixes the lance. Not really a fan anyway, you have disadvantage at 5ft with one
Dwarves are medium. Forgot about the disadvantage at 5 ft though.
I would say that Dex of 14-15 gives you the +2 AC with medium armor. But your melee weapons are Str based so you're going to need a bit there as well. Or you could go light/finesse melee and use your Dex instead. And I think that you can add or Dex to ranged attacks as well.
If you go for the feat medium armor master then you would want to boost your Dex to 16-17 for the bonus +1AC.
So is your larger-than-normal Mastiff a size Large? I'm confused about that.
It would help to know what level you are starting your character at also.
Off top of my head, I would recommend starting with Fighter level 1, then multi-classing to Ranger, especially if you want high Strength. While you get a lower DEX and therefore lower initiative bonus, you get to wear heavier armor. You also get CON proficiency right from the get go. This is big for half-casters. You really want to maintain concentration on Hunter's Mark, Conjure Animals, etc. while you are in the thick of combat. You fall a little behind in terms of spell and core Ranger stuff, but Beast Master Ranger, esp when having the animal companion as a mount, doesn't get really great stuff anyway until level 11. In exchange, you also get an extra fighting style and second wind on top of the other goodies just mentioned.
So I’m about to embark on my 2nd ever campaign (first one I was in got disbanded around level 6 or 7...) and I was looking into a beast master ranger with a mastiff pet he uses as his mount! The DM (who is also semi new) said I could use a dwarf as a race and still ride my “overly large” mastiff pet.
The image I have in my head is a decently armored dwarf riding a mastiff with either a spear or a Warhammer, a shield, and a crossbow.
My questions are, stat wise what works? Any feats worth taking? Is it viable at all? The concept sounds fun and I don’t care too much for min/maxing but I don’t want to be totally useless
Any help is greatly appreciated!
I'd recommend taking the Mounted Combatant feat if you start struggling to keep your mount alive. If you plan on using the crossbow as your primary weapon, you'll also want to take the Crossbow Expert feat so you can use Extra Attack with it; otherwise, you're better off with a shortbow.
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Other than the mounted combatant feat is there anything else? Primarily I plan on using a spear or Warhammer as my weapon. With the mobility of my mount I feel I can kinda pick my fights.
Is dex better than strength for what I’m going for?
Since you are mounted, you can use a lance one handed.
I thought small races can’t use heavy weapons or am I confusing something else, if so that nixes the lance. Not really a fan anyway, you have disadvantage at 5ft with one
With the mobility of having a mount I think keeping my distance won’t be too much of a factor no?
You would take an opportunity Attack every time you backed up
Dwarves are medium. Forgot about the disadvantage at 5 ft though.
I would say that Dex of 14-15 gives you the +2 AC with medium armor. But your melee weapons are Str based so you're going to need a bit there as well. Or you could go light/finesse melee and use your Dex instead. And I think that you can add or Dex to ranged attacks as well.
If you go for the feat medium armor master then you would want to boost your Dex to 16-17 for the bonus +1AC.
So is your larger-than-normal Mastiff a size Large? I'm confused about that.
It would help to know what level you are starting your character at also.
Off top of my head, I would recommend starting with Fighter level 1, then multi-classing to Ranger, especially if you want high Strength. While you get a lower DEX and therefore lower initiative bonus, you get to wear heavier armor. You also get CON proficiency right from the get go. This is big for half-casters. You really want to maintain concentration on Hunter's Mark, Conjure Animals, etc. while you are in the thick of combat. You fall a little behind in terms of spell and core Ranger stuff, but Beast Master Ranger, esp when having the animal companion as a mount, doesn't get really great stuff anyway until level 11. In exchange, you also get an extra fighting style and second wind on top of the other goodies just mentioned.