Hi, I'm reacquainting myself with tabletop D&D after many years, when I experimented with it in my youth. As such this is my first character build in 5e, so please be gentle.
This is based on a tanky "unkillable" build which was thinly outlined in a Nerdarchy YouTube video. It centers around the following traits/talents; the half-orc's "Relentless Endurance", the shadow sorcerer's "Strength of the Grave", and the long death monk's "Mastery of Death". The video also alluded to taking 7 levels of cleric near the end to get the "Death Ward" spell, but I can decide much later on that. Yes I know this build is still very much killable, especially for the first eleven levels, and possibly even a liability at level one as I take my only level of shadow sorcerer.
As I'll only be taking the one level of shadow sorcerer and will be mostly relying on my martial prowess in combat as my character levels up, I was thinking I'd largely focus on utility spells. I'll likely roleplay with a counterintuitive personality, similar to "Death" from Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" graphic novel series and with a philosophy and strategy similar to a "faceless man" from Game of Thrones. As such here is what I was thinking for spells:
Cantrips
Chill Touch: I have to have some way of dealing damage from a distance to start as my AC, HP, and melee damage is going to be pretty low. Plus I may need a way to deal magical damage until I get Ki-Empowered Strikes at level seven. From a roleplay perspective, Chill Touch seems appropriate to my Shadowfell influenced origin.
Magic Hand and Message: The general utility of these cantrips seems hard to beat plus I really love the idea of tapping on a target's shoulder and then whispering in their ear from an undisclosed location to unnerve and misdirect.
I'm torn between, True Strike, Mending, and Prestidigitation for my final cantrip. True Strike seems useful but also like it might be a waste of an action as I could already be attacking with that action. Mending seems to have good general utility, but also seems like something another magic centric party members may already have. Prestidigitation seems potentially useful and like it could facilitate the aesthetic of my character, but potentially frivolous.
Level One spells
Disguise Self: This plays into the "faceless man" strategy, great for infiltration and getting in close, as well as being a way to deal with negative racial bias as a half-orc.
For my second first-level spell I'm undecided between Comprehend Languages, Jump, and Shield. In a way a long death monk is a scholar. Understanding languages is useful to that effect although it could possibly be redundant if I opt to level to monk 13 in which I get "Tongue of Sun and Moon", plus this seems like another spell a magic centric party member might have. Jump, unless it stacks with Step of the Wind at monk level 2 it's likely redundant but if it does, HOLY COW!, Shield, Seems like this could be a lifesaver at level 1. Plus it seems like it might stack well with unarmored defense.
I don't know how ability score allocation will work yet. Based on the simple method, my character's increased abilities will be something like:
Dex and Wisdom are a given for monks and 13 Charisma is a requirement for the beginning sorcerer. I kind of hate to make Intelligence my 4th highest ability but as the long death monk is a scholarly class I feel like I wouldn't be role-playing it right if I didn't. I can only hope my character's talent for evading death can offset their average constitution. I don't see much use for strength with my classes so it seems right to put it at the bottom.
I'm open to advice on everything but my chosen class levels and roleplay. Thank you for taking the time to read through this.
I would say swap your that constitution and intelligence should be swapped. Shield is the spell to go for, and probably go for mending. It has some great utility, that or prestidigitation.
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
If the clue is to have the highest number of revives possible, what is the point in taking 1 level of shadowsorcerer here? By taking another level of monk instead you would get 1 point of KI which can be channeled into avoiding going unconcous without the conditions of the shadowsorcerer. Since there is no cap on uses of the monk ability 7 cleric levels would be much better spent on 7 more Ki points from monk, giving you 7 more revives :)
So assuming the clue is to be a hard to kiss as possible, going monk of the long death 20 seems like the way to go. The big drawback is of course that all of this kicks online at level 11, but on the upside you are not gimping the character in other ways before that. It will be a fully functional monk from start to finish. This would also allow you to focus on fewer ability-scores. That said, there could be a ton of other reasons to do something else.
One option to allow you to spend less stats on wisdom is to get another form of base-armor: Warlock for mage armor at will, dragon sorcerer for natural armor og barbarian for con to armor.
I would say swap your that constitution and intelligence should be swapped. Shield is the spell to go for, and probably go for mending. It has some great utility, that or prestidigitation.
While from an optimization standpoint swapping Con and Int makes perfect sense. I guess I was thinking of roleplay but I may go for it anyway. If I can get an idea that nobody else in the party has mending I will go with it. Otherwise, I will take prestidigitation or minor illusion. Thank you.
If the clue is to have the highest number of revives possible, what is the point in taking 1 level of shadowsorcerer here? By taking another level of monk instead you would get 1 point of KI which can be channeled into avoiding going unconcous without the conditions of the shadowsorcerer. Since there is no cap on uses of the monk ability 7 cleric levels would be much better spent on 7 more Ki points from monk, giving you 7 more revives :)
So assuming the clue is to be a hard to kiss as possible, going monk of the long death 20 seems like the way to go. The big drawback is of course that all of this kicks online at level 11, but on the upside you are not gimping the character in other ways before that. It will be a fully functional monk from start to finish. This would also allow you to focus on fewer ability-scores. That said, there could be a ton of other reasons to do something else.
One option to allow you to spend less stats on wisdom is to get another form of base-armor: Warlock for mage armor at will, dragon sorcerer for natural armor og barbarian for con to armor.
Yes, from an end or even mid-campaign what you are suggesting makes perfect sense. But many characters never make it that far and In the early game I think I'd prefer access to two opportunities to evade death rather than just the one on the long path to level 11 Plus I'm already committed to the character's backstory which is why I stated that "I'm open to advise on everything BUT my chosen class levels and roleplay." None-the-less I do appreciate the thought you put into it. It is quite likely I will stick with the monk past level 12. Although "finding religion" could have some fun roleplay connotations. Thank you.
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Hi, I'm reacquainting myself with tabletop D&D after many years, when I experimented with it in my youth. As such this is my first character build in 5e, so please be gentle.
This is based on a tanky "unkillable" build which was thinly outlined in a Nerdarchy YouTube video. It centers around the following traits/talents; the half-orc's "Relentless Endurance", the shadow sorcerer's "Strength of the Grave", and the long death monk's "Mastery of Death". The video also alluded to taking 7 levels of cleric near the end to get the "Death Ward" spell, but I can decide much later on that. Yes I know this build is still very much killable, especially for the first eleven levels, and possibly even a liability at level one as I take my only level of shadow sorcerer.
As I'll only be taking the one level of shadow sorcerer and will be mostly relying on my martial prowess in combat as my character levels up, I was thinking I'd largely focus on utility spells. I'll likely roleplay with a counterintuitive personality, similar to "Death" from Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" graphic novel series and with a philosophy and strategy similar to a "faceless man" from Game of Thrones. As such here is what I was thinking for spells:
Cantrips
Chill Touch: I have to have some way of dealing damage from a distance to start as my AC, HP, and melee damage is going to be pretty low. Plus I may need a way to deal magical damage until I get Ki-Empowered Strikes at level seven. From a roleplay perspective, Chill Touch seems appropriate to my Shadowfell influenced origin.
Magic Hand and Message: The general utility of these cantrips seems hard to beat plus I really love the idea of tapping on a target's shoulder and then whispering in their ear from an undisclosed location to unnerve and misdirect.
I'm torn between, True Strike, Mending, and Prestidigitation for my final cantrip. True Strike seems useful but also like it might be a waste of an action as I could already be attacking with that action. Mending seems to have good general utility, but also seems like something another magic centric party members may already have. Prestidigitation seems potentially useful and like it could facilitate the aesthetic of my character, but potentially frivolous.
Level One spells
Disguise Self: This plays into the "faceless man" strategy, great for infiltration and getting in close, as well as being a way to deal with negative racial bias as a half-orc.
For my second first-level spell I'm undecided between Comprehend Languages, Jump, and Shield. In a way a long death monk is a scholar. Understanding languages is useful to that effect although it could possibly be redundant if I opt to level to monk 13 in which I get "Tongue of Sun and Moon", plus this seems like another spell a magic centric party member might have. Jump, unless it stacks with Step of the Wind at monk level 2 it's likely redundant but if it does, HOLY COW!, Shield, Seems like this could be a lifesaver at level 1. Plus it seems like it might stack well with unarmored defense.
I don't know how ability score allocation will work yet. Based on the simple method, my character's increased abilities will be something like:
15 Dex, 14 Wisdom, 13 Charisma, 12 Intelligence 11 Constitution, 10 Strength
Dex and Wisdom are a given for monks and 13 Charisma is a requirement for the beginning sorcerer. I kind of hate to make Intelligence my 4th highest ability but as the long death monk is a scholarly class I feel like I wouldn't be role-playing it right if I didn't. I can only hope my character's talent for evading death can offset their average constitution. I don't see much use for strength with my classes so it seems right to put it at the bottom.
I'm open to advice on everything but my chosen class levels and roleplay. Thank you for taking the time to read through this.
I would say swap your that constitution and intelligence should be swapped. Shield is the spell to go for, and probably go for mending. It has some great utility, that or prestidigitation.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
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If the clue is to have the highest number of revives possible, what is the point in taking 1 level of shadowsorcerer here? By taking another level of monk instead you would get 1 point of KI which can be channeled into avoiding going unconcous without the conditions of the shadowsorcerer. Since there is no cap on uses of the monk ability 7 cleric levels would be much better spent on 7 more Ki points from monk, giving you 7 more revives :)
So assuming the clue is to be a hard to kiss as possible, going monk of the long death 20 seems like the way to go. The big drawback is of course that all of this kicks online at level 11, but on the upside you are not gimping the character in other ways before that. It will be a fully functional monk from start to finish. This would also allow you to focus on fewer ability-scores. That said, there could be a ton of other reasons to do something else.
One option to allow you to spend less stats on wisdom is to get another form of base-armor: Warlock for mage armor at will, dragon sorcerer for natural armor og barbarian for con to armor.
While from an optimization standpoint swapping Con and Int makes perfect sense. I guess I was thinking of roleplay but I may go for it anyway. If I can get an idea that nobody else in the party has mending I will go with it. Otherwise, I will take prestidigitation or minor illusion. Thank you.
Yes, from an end or even mid-campaign what you are suggesting makes perfect sense. But many characters never make it that far and In the early game I think I'd prefer access to two opportunities to evade death rather than just the one on the long path to level 11 Plus I'm already committed to the character's backstory which is why I stated that "I'm open to advise on everything BUT my chosen class levels and roleplay." None-the-less I do appreciate the thought you put into it. It is quite likely I will stick with the monk past level 12. Although "finding religion" could have some fun roleplay connotations. Thank you.