I am an inexperienced player (only half a campaign as valor bard an one campaign as a "cool" fiend pact of tome warlock) and for the next one, I'd like to stay away from spell casting and exploit others options.
The character I want to play is that of a face with high charisma and dexterity scores, with the ability to persuade and inspire others, who can do great things outside of combat but with good melee damage. Kind of like a rebel leader. In the next party, there will be a paladin, a druid and I think we need a stealthy character that solves social situations, and a second non-tank fighter. I think the swashbuckler is my choice.
The problem is that we play with the basic rules of the player's handbook and I am evaluating some options to get closer to what I want. We can use feats and human variant. I'm not crazy about multiclassing but it could be an option.
-Valor Bard: I love the concept of the bard as a leader. A charismatic, cultured, capable and brave character, although in melee I think he's a bad choice. Also, the paladin and druid don't need the healing of a bard. The druid is already a good caster and the paladin could be the face.
-BattleMaster Fighter: basing a fighter on dexterity and charisma I don't know if it's a good idea but although it wouldn't be the most optimal build, giving up the ability to cast spells for doing more damage in combat even if it's not enough to reach the paladin, could work for me.
-Rogue (any multiclass): I don't like classic rogues and I think that arcane trickster is far from what I want. However the possibility of disabling traps, resolving similar situations and being able to access the sneak attack are too tempting for me.
What race? skills? feats? what combination of multiclass if strictly necessary?
That's an interesting challenge, to make a character like this without using any optional rules or supplements.
I would advise you to choose Half Elf with the Entertainer background, and then to do two levels of Rogue - for the skills, Expertise and Cunning Action - and then switch to Battle Master Fighter, taking the Archery Fighting Style and control maneuvers. I would be aiming for a Robin Hood style character. You would be an excellent ambusher who could still hold their own in melee, especially if you fight along side the Paladin and so can benefit from Sneak Attacks. Entertainer, Rogue and Half Elf gives you a wide variety of social skills as well as Expertise and you could pass yourself off as a troubadour. Half Elf allows you to get good DEX, CON and CHR off the bat, as well as some useful resistances and Darkvision. You only need two levels of Rogue to get almost all of what you want flavour wise. Going Fighter the rest of the way will give you Extra Attack and the extra ASIs will compensate for the multiclass.
I am an inexperienced player (only half a campaign as valor bard an one campaign as a "cool" fiend pact of tome warlock) and for the next one, I'd like to stay away from spell casting and exploit others options.
The character I want to play is that of a face with high charisma and dexterity scores, with the ability to persuade and inspire others, who can do great things outside of combat but with good melee damage. Kind of like a rebel leader. In the next party, there will be a paladin, a druid and I think we need a stealthy character that solves social situations, and a second non-tank fighter. I think the swashbuckler is my choice.
The problem is that we play with the basic rules of the player's handbook and I am evaluating some options to get closer to what I want. We can use feats and human variant. I'm not crazy about multiclassing but it could be an option.
-Valor Bard: I love the concept of the bard as a leader. A charismatic, cultured, capable and brave character, although in melee I think he's a bad choice. Also, the paladin and druid don't need the healing of a bard. The druid is already a good caster and the paladin could be the face.
-BattleMaster Fighter: basing a fighter on dexterity and charisma I don't know if it's a good idea but although it wouldn't be the most optimal build, giving up the ability to cast spells for doing more damage in combat even if it's not enough to reach the paladin, could work for me.
-Rogue (any multiclass): I don't like classic rogues and I think that arcane trickster is far from what I want. However the possibility of disabling traps, resolving similar situations and being able to access the sneak attack are too tempting for me.
What race? skills? feats? what combination of multiclass if strictly necessary?
Thank you!
That's an interesting challenge, to make a character like this without using any optional rules or supplements.
I would advise you to choose Half Elf with the Entertainer background, and then to do two levels of Rogue - for the skills, Expertise and Cunning Action - and then switch to Battle Master Fighter, taking the Archery Fighting Style and control maneuvers. I would be aiming for a Robin Hood style character. You would be an excellent ambusher who could still hold their own in melee, especially if you fight along side the Paladin and so can benefit from Sneak Attacks. Entertainer, Rogue and Half Elf gives you a wide variety of social skills as well as Expertise and you could pass yourself off as a troubadour. Half Elf allows you to get good DEX, CON and CHR off the bat, as well as some useful resistances and Darkvision. You only need two levels of Rogue to get almost all of what you want flavour wise. Going Fighter the rest of the way will give you Extra Attack and the extra ASIs will compensate for the multiclass.
Here's a sample build I came up with, using only PHB rules. https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/116016958/wmop0A