Options - Instead of dwarf, githyanki. Nearly everything remains the same but your weapon proficiencies include swords and your starting stats are nice.
If you want to be a very narrow 'evocation heavy' caster in armor, do look at light clerics - or fire clerics as they really should be named. If your a variant human you would even be able to get heavy armour proficiency as your feat. Light clerics are monsters. All the juicy cleric parts but with burning hands, scorching ray and fireball. This doesnt take into account the recharge per short rest 'smart bomb' of there channel divinity.
Sticking with a Dwarven metal mage. Abjuration is limited in effect if your party dont take short rests, Diviners are great once or twice a day, Transmuters (at 6th) have some nice options and you can even gain con save proficiency - increasing your durability and concentration checks success. Necromancy wont work unless your party and gameworld is amenable to the shambling horde. - If you have a fallen paladin the party though the pairing is brutally effective.
If your playing the Waterdeep Dungeon of the Mad Mage your Runic flavour may become more valuable than you could possibly imagine. - There are so many shark jumps in that one your climbing a shark-scalator sharknado.
Whatever you end up playing I hope you enjoy it and continue to enjoy the game everyone.
I have thought about just taking a level in Cleric as suggested. However, I don't know if that is worth the loss of spell level access.
That said, my GM says a Forge Cleric would fit in really well and he seemed excited about the idea. That also makes me wonder if I should change Dwarf subtypes since I will have access to all Armor and shields from the Forge Cleric.
That brings a whole new question. Should I take 1 level of Forge Cleric or more?
I will have to read Cleric spells again since my current Ranger Cleric is really a Ranger with Bonus Action Healing Word.
Sick, if you want full caster to have access to the new tier of spells as soon as possible, stick with one class. Forge clerics, (most clerics) dont have a great deal of blast magic spells and you may end up stuck in a tank / heal role which I had the impression (perhaps mistakenly) that you were trying to move away from. Light will give you fiery death opportunities. Forge will allow you a rather obscene AC. Neither require dwarf. Armoured mages are possible, and it was what you asked about to begin with though, dont doubt yourself if thats what you want to play.
Yes this started as a way to make a non-squishy mage, but it has turned into this whole identity as a craftsman.
The GM last night for our next campaign (we rotate GMs) said if we are thinking about rebuilding a keep he would enable that and that it would be fun. As such I plan to be head blacksmith and be in charge of forging equipment and the armory. He will gain prestige by being with the people and hopefully craft a nice narrative. Get to know merchants and go on adventure to find rare materials to craft magic items (for balance purposes instead of finding them).
This guy will be rock hard and be able to blow stuff up. He is going Abjuration to keep with the Dwarf anti-magic protection theme, but I plan to have fireball and other evocations handy.
Unless you are trained in the appropriate set of Tools, or have a copy of an item, Minor Conjuration to create complicated items is problematical. With a Forge domain cleric at least you get Smithing tools which helps.
My Conjuration wizard/Forge domain cleric took the Keen mind feat and spends a chunk of time daily practicing conjuring up items ashe has previous come across and memorized.
I commonly conjure things like hand crossbows, anvils (small and light unfortunately), hunting traps (they disappear if they do damage, a 3 x 3 x 3 foot cube of oil (which immediately spreads since you can't conjure a barrel with it), and many other common items and materials.
One of the things I like to do with the Forge domain Channel Divinity is turn common metal items we come across into gold trade bars (100 gp value) and I always carry several in my Bag of Holding so I can use the same Channel Divinity to create things like a thing sheet of lead or silver, silver daggers, etc. The class combo works wonderfully.
I am currently playing 2 experimental class combos: a conjuration wizard / UA - Artificer (2019) and a UA - Artificer / Forge domain cleric. Both started at 5th level, and only have 1 session under there belts.
Unfortunately, I haven't played or run Shadowrun since 1st / 2nd Edition. I still have all my books and material, just no players. It's just as well since all my free gaming time is taken up playing / DM'ing D&D 5E. :)
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Watch your back, conserve your ammo, and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
I like the idea, but don't think I will be making that change. My inspiration is Dwarf Runesmiths from Warhammer Fantasy. I think a Focus on Abjuration really brings home the anti magic feel.
That said your build does a ton of cool stuff and makes me kind of jealous.
I run/play in a Weekly Shadowrun game for about 9 months of the year. I love it, but sometimes wish it was more streamlined. They made Shadowrun Anarchy, but I kind of feel it is too streamlined. I guess I am hard to please. haha
I use Hero Lab with the ShadowRun 5e rules set I purchased. I also have the hard covered rule book for ShadowRun 5e, but have yet to play it due to lack of interest. :/
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Watch your back, conserve your ammo, and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
I run Chummer it is free and usually up to date within 90 days, but you do need the books for certain rules to keep from crossing Copyright.
Shadowrun can be difficult to get a game together, even though they might be the 3rd or 4th biggest game.
I have found that if you run it players will turn up, but if you are only looking to play it is nearly impossible to find a game.
That is a big reason why r/Runnerhub and r/EmeraldGrid are so populated. They also have official Shadowrun Missions online at Shadowcasters.Network but they don't have near the community.
I highly recommend Shadowrun Anarchy https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/194759/Shadowrun-Anarchy it is easier by a mile and enables you to play it is a great jump off point and then if you find that you need more crunch you can go to 5th or start blending 5th rules in. (I'll be running Anarchy at Origins Game Fair this year).
I like it on general principle.
Options - Instead of dwarf, githyanki. Nearly everything remains the same but your weapon proficiencies include swords and your starting stats are nice.
If you want to be a very narrow 'evocation heavy' caster in armor, do look at light clerics - or fire clerics as they really should be named. If your a variant human you would even be able to get heavy armour proficiency as your feat. Light clerics are monsters. All the juicy cleric parts but with burning hands, scorching ray and fireball. This doesnt take into account the recharge per short rest 'smart bomb' of there channel divinity.
Sticking with a Dwarven metal mage. Abjuration is limited in effect if your party dont take short rests, Diviners are great once or twice a day, Transmuters (at 6th) have some nice options and you can even gain con save proficiency - increasing your durability and concentration checks success. Necromancy wont work unless your party and gameworld is amenable to the shambling horde. - If you have a fallen paladin the party though the pairing is brutally effective.
If your playing the Waterdeep Dungeon of the Mad Mage your Runic flavour may become more valuable than you could possibly imagine. - There are so many shark jumps in that one your climbing a shark-scalator sharknado.
Whatever you end up playing I hope you enjoy it and continue to enjoy the game everyone.
I have thought about just taking a level in Cleric as suggested. However, I don't know if that is worth the loss of spell level access.
That said, my GM says a Forge Cleric would fit in really well and he seemed excited about the idea. That also makes me wonder if I should change Dwarf subtypes since I will have access to all Armor and shields from the Forge Cleric.
That brings a whole new question. Should I take 1 level of Forge Cleric or more?
I will have to read Cleric spells again since my current Ranger Cleric is really a Ranger with Bonus Action Healing Word.
Which will be the most fun for you? You’ve got a great concept!!
Professional computer geek
My GM says we are starting at 3rd level so here is my New Harold
https://ddb.ac/characters/11020623/bZht83
I’d switch Resistance out for a different cantrip. You’ll find that you almost never use it if you keep it. Other than that, great job!
Professional computer geek
Easy fix, I'll keep tuning.
Can a cleric swap cantrips at resting or are they locked in?
Cantrips are locked in for every class unfortunately
Professional computer geek
Sick, if you want full caster to have access to the new tier of spells as soon as possible, stick with one class. Forge clerics, (most clerics) dont have a great deal of blast magic spells and you may end up stuck in a tank / heal role which I had the impression (perhaps mistakenly) that you were trying to move away from. Light will give you fiery death opportunities. Forge will allow you a rather obscene AC. Neither require dwarf. Armoured mages are possible, and it was what you asked about to begin with though, dont doubt yourself if thats what you want to play.
Yes this started as a way to make a non-squishy mage, but it has turned into this whole identity as a craftsman.
The GM last night for our next campaign (we rotate GMs) said if we are thinking about rebuilding a keep he would enable that and that it would be fun. As such I plan to be head blacksmith and be in charge of forging equipment and the armory. He will gain prestige by being with the people and hopefully craft a nice narrative. Get to know merchants and go on adventure to find rare materials to craft magic items (for balance purposes instead of finding them).
This guy will be rock hard and be able to blow stuff up. He is going Abjuration to keep with the Dwarf anti-magic protection theme, but I plan to have fireball and other evocations handy.
Awesome, enjoy it - and dont stand too close to your own fireballs!
That's what Absorb is for... haha
Dwarf; Wizad (Conjuration), 2 levels Forge domain cleric works very nicely.
Watch your back, conserve your ammo,
and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
Is this so that you can Conjure an Item and then Duplicate it before it disappears?
Also Shadowrun is in my Top 3 Games. I am a Catalyst Demo Agent.
Unless you are trained in the appropriate set of Tools, or have a copy of an item, Minor Conjuration to create complicated items is problematical. With a Forge domain cleric at least you get Smithing tools which helps.
My Conjuration wizard/Forge domain cleric took the Keen mind feat and spends a chunk of time daily practicing conjuring up items ashe has previous come across and memorized.
I commonly conjure things like hand crossbows, anvils (small and light unfortunately), hunting traps (they disappear if they do damage, a 3 x 3 x 3 foot cube of oil (which immediately spreads since you can't conjure a barrel with it), and many other common items and materials.
One of the things I like to do with the Forge domain Channel Divinity is turn common metal items we come across into gold trade bars (100 gp value) and I always carry several in my Bag of Holding so I can use the same Channel Divinity to create things like a thing sheet of lead or silver, silver daggers, etc. The class combo works wonderfully.
I am currently playing 2 experimental class combos: a conjuration wizard / UA - Artificer (2019) and a UA - Artificer / Forge domain cleric. Both started at 5th level, and only have 1 session under there belts.
Unfortunately, I haven't played or run Shadowrun since 1st / 2nd Edition. I still have all my books and material, just no players. It's just as well since all my free gaming time is taken up playing / DM'ing D&D 5E. :)
Watch your back, conserve your ammo,
and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
I like the idea, but don't think I will be making that change. My inspiration is Dwarf Runesmiths from Warhammer Fantasy. I think a Focus on Abjuration really brings home the anti magic feel.
That said your build does a ton of cool stuff and makes me kind of jealous.
I run/play in a Weekly Shadowrun game for about 9 months of the year. I love it, but sometimes wish it was more streamlined. They made Shadowrun Anarchy, but I kind of feel it is too streamlined. I guess I am hard to please. haha
I use Hero Lab with the ShadowRun 5e rules set I purchased. I also have the hard covered rule book for ShadowRun 5e, but have yet to play it due to lack of interest. :/
Watch your back, conserve your ammo,
and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
I run Chummer it is free and usually up to date within 90 days, but you do need the books for certain rules to keep from crossing Copyright.
Shadowrun can be difficult to get a game together, even though they might be the 3rd or 4th biggest game.
I have found that if you run it players will turn up, but if you are only looking to play it is nearly impossible to find a game.
That is a big reason why r/Runnerhub and r/EmeraldGrid are so populated. They also have official Shadowrun Missions online at Shadowcasters.Network but they don't have near the community.
I highly recommend Shadowrun Anarchy https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/194759/Shadowrun-Anarchy it is easier by a mile and enables you to play it is a great jump off point and then if you find that you need more crunch you can go to 5th or start blending 5th rules in. (I'll be running Anarchy at Origins Game Fair this year).