TLDR - 4 person party; currently have a Lizardman Barbarian, A dex-based Half-Drow Light (RPing this as if it were "fire") Cleric, and a Wood Elf Rogue Assassin (not much desire to scout, more focus on DPS). How do you round the party out for the 4th slot?
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So my gaming group is fairly small, one guy as DM, 3 other guys, and the DM's son (10-11ish?). So we have a four person party gearing up to do the Dungeon of the Mad age by starting with Tales from the Yawning Portal. This is the first time any of us, including the DM, have run official DnD content. One of the players is brand new, the other relatively new, I am pretty experienced, the DM is pretty experienced, and then the brand new 10 year old :-)
We have a lizardman barbarian (the kid), a dex based half-drow light cleric (the brand new guy), and a wood elf rogue (gonna be assassin - the relatively new guy). I started as a high elf wizard with chronurgy magic. We're level 2 and I get permission from the DM to switch characters if I want to. The reason I was thinking of this is because the lizardman barbarian is the only front-liner we have, and, to be honest, he's not exactly a stalwart figure as the 10 year old likes to be... impulsive :-)
I don't know what the official content is going to throw at us and with only 4 people in the party, I am concerned if we don't have the bases covered. But with our current group, we have one up front and three ranged people, which hasn't been working out so well because either enemies can go around the barbarian and get to the ranged dudes, or we end up suffering the penalties for shooting at enemies in close combat with the barbarian. Everyone else likes their character, so what do you think is my best option to make sure the party has what it needs?
I was thinking that if a full time spellcaster is required, I might go bard instead of wizard. Wizard is cool, but in a dungeon crawl, I dunno. I know we're low level, but it hasn't been much fun. Which do you think is more enjoyable (I know that's subjective, just give me your thoughts and why) long term, wizard or bard?
OR I was thinking of going half-orc battle master. This guy would clean up and definitely hold the front line, but then 1) we have no arcane(ish) spellcaster and 2) this guy would have fun in combat, but is totally useless outside combat.
I'm thinking the bard is the way to go because he has so much utility. But I am still concerned about 3 ranged versus 1 front line fighter. What do you guys think is the best way to round out this party, assuming the 3 other party members are locked in place. Much thanks!
I'd actually recommend Eldritch Knight as a solid compromise between the various directions you're thinking of going. And Eldritch Knight is a fully capable fighter ready to go toe-to-toe in pure physical force with any other Martial Class, but you also get access to a selection of Wizard spells that can help round out your skillset, and still give you some useful and interesting utility spells so that you don't feel like just a big dumb lug outside of combat.
As TransmorpherDDS said, eldritch knight works, or any paladin. Can help with tanking/healing, has spells that can help the party, and a rather decent AC for trying to not get hit.
I'd highly suggest PAM/Sent for crowd control if you want to help stop those things from getting past you/the barb to the ranged.
Ok, so what I seem to be getting from this all first off is that a full blown spellcaster of the wizard/bard variety isn't really necessary to do the official content adventures?
A paladin would make for a great tank but you already have divine magic from your cleric. Arcane Tricksters are also good but you already have a rogue, so I would go along the lines of Eldritch Knight if you need a tank type or a bard if you need more arcane power. A druid could actually be useful due to Moon being pretty tanky.
5e is very forgiving. You don’t need to cover every character type the way you do in other editions.
One thing that you can do with your wizard, use spells like Create Bonfire, Grease, Web, and Flaming Sphere to control the battlefield so that the chaotic barbarian playing appropriately doesn’t mean that the ranged PCs are helpless.
TLDR - 4 person party; currently have a Lizardman Barbarian, A dex-based Half-Drow Light (RPing this as if it were "fire") Cleric, and a Wood Elf Rogue Assassin (not much desire to scout, more focus on DPS). How do you round the party out for the 4th slot?
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So my gaming group is fairly small, one guy as DM, 3 other guys, and the DM's son (10-11ish?). So we have a four person party gearing up to do the Dungeon of the Mad age by starting with Tales from the Yawning Portal. This is the first time any of us, including the DM, have run official DnD content. One of the players is brand new, the other relatively new, I am pretty experienced, the DM is pretty experienced, and then the brand new 10 year old :-)
We have a lizardman barbarian (the kid), a dex based half-drow light cleric (the brand new guy), and a wood elf rogue (gonna be assassin - the relatively new guy). I started as a high elf wizard with chronurgy magic. We're level 2 and I get permission from the DM to switch characters if I want to. The reason I was thinking of this is because the lizardman barbarian is the only front-liner we have, and, to be honest, he's not exactly a stalwart figure as the 10 year old likes to be... impulsive :-)
I don't know what the official content is going to throw at us and with only 4 people in the party, I am concerned if we don't have the bases covered. But with our current group, we have one up front and three ranged people, which hasn't been working out so well because either enemies can go around the barbarian and get to the ranged dudes, or we end up suffering the penalties for shooting at enemies in close combat with the barbarian. Everyone else likes their character, so what do you think is my best option to make sure the party has what it needs?
I was thinking that if a full time spellcaster is required, I might go bard instead of wizard. Wizard is cool, but in a dungeon crawl, I dunno. I know we're low level, but it hasn't been much fun. Which do you think is more enjoyable (I know that's subjective, just give me your thoughts and why) long term, wizard or bard?
OR I was thinking of going half-orc battle master. This guy would clean up and definitely hold the front line, but then 1) we have no arcane(ish) spellcaster and 2) this guy would have fun in combat, but is totally useless outside combat.
I'm thinking the bard is the way to go because he has so much utility. But I am still concerned about 3 ranged versus 1 front line fighter. What do you guys think is the best way to round out this party, assuming the 3 other party members are locked in place. Much thanks!
I'd actually recommend Eldritch Knight as a solid compromise between the various directions you're thinking of going. And Eldritch Knight is a fully capable fighter ready to go toe-to-toe in pure physical force with any other Martial Class, but you also get access to a selection of Wizard spells that can help round out your skillset, and still give you some useful and interesting utility spells so that you don't feel like just a big dumb lug outside of combat.
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As TransmorpherDDS said, eldritch knight works, or any paladin. Can help with tanking/healing, has spells that can help the party, and a rather decent AC for trying to not get hit.
I'd highly suggest PAM/Sent for crowd control if you want to help stop those things from getting past you/the barb to the ranged.
Bladesinger is another option for a wizard who can hold the front line. Just make sure you have a good Dexterity. :)
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Ok, so what I seem to be getting from this all first off is that a full blown spellcaster of the wizard/bard variety isn't really necessary to do the official content adventures?
A paladin would make for a great tank but you already have divine magic from your cleric. Arcane Tricksters are also good but you already have a rogue, so I would go along the lines of Eldritch Knight if you need a tank type or a bard if you need more arcane power. A druid could actually be useful due to Moon being pretty tanky.
5e is very forgiving. You don’t need to cover every character type the way you do in other editions.
One thing that you can do with your wizard, use spells like Create Bonfire, Grease, Web, and Flaming Sphere to control the battlefield so that the chaotic barbarian playing appropriately doesn’t mean that the ranged PCs are helpless.
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