I’m debating whether to make one of my characters either a fighter, sorcerer, or college of swords bard. For more context, here’s the summary of her backstory:
Shes a kalashtar (race in the war of eberonn handbook) that is disguised as, and was raised as a high elf princess. At the age of ten (10), her dream spirit thing (something that kalashtars have) showed up and started talking to her. Until the age of 16, she dove into her studies, trying to find anything that told of her experiences. After a fight with her adopted parents (she had shut herself in her room, when she was supposed to be doing royal princess things), and ended up casting a burst of magic, injuring several people, then running away, taking money, adventuring gear, and a sword with. She now wanders the woods, staying away from people, trying her best to find out about who she actually is.
At 16 she is still basically a child from an elf point of view., so it's a bit weird that she's basically a child running around. From a class point of view I agree with sorcerer. Since she wouldn't have had sufficient time to learn stuff properly it makes more sense if her abilties are "natural" so to speak.
Wild Magic sorcerer seems like it would make the most sense, chaos spells for flair because she is so young she wouldn't have full control of her abilities so casting something with a random damage type would make sense. If her powers came from another source but I would still maybe use the chaos spells because of her age maybe your DM would let you roll down the line to see if you developed and fine tuned your abilities and allow you to swap them out eventually after say a series of Arcana checks or something along those lines?
It wasn’t on the list but a warlock could work, too. Maybe the dream spirit thing wasn’t what she thought, and she kind of fell into a pact without realizing it.
Everything in the character build says "Sorcerer" to me except for the idea of wielding a sword... there really isn't any good martial sorcerer subclass... maybe Draconic Origin since it gives a boost to HP and armor.
So, without getting into multiclassing which is a whole other kettle of fish, I think I would recommend Eldritch Knight Fighter. It seems clear that you want to have some reliable melee combat skills, since you're singling out Swords Bard specifically and have a sword in your backstory, and Eldritch Knight covers that better than the other two options, and still has enough versatility in their spellcasting to be a competent spellcaster, although they likely won't take center stage as the main spellcaster in your group. The problem with Swords Bard is that it relies on a resource that you may have better uses for... the more Sword you are the less Bard you get to be. The Flourishes aren't quite as useful as they seem at first, and if you focus on utilizing your flourishes efficiently in battle you won't have Bardic Inspiration to help your allies... or alternatively, if you focus too much on helping your allies, you won't have the flourishes handy in clutch moments. Meanwhile, Fighter just straight up gets more attacks, gives you access to better and more versatile equipment, and it also gives you more ASI's, which you can use to either get Swole or really customize your character with more Feat choices.
Everything in the character build says "Sorcerer" to me except for the idea of wielding a sword... there really isn't any good martial sorcerer subclass... maybe Draconic Origin since it gives a boost to HP and armor.
So, without getting into multiclassing which is a whole other kettle of fish, I think I would recommend Eldritch Knight Fighter. It seems clear that you want to have some reliable melee combat skills, since you're singling out Swords Bard specifically and have a sword in your backstory, and Eldritch Knight covers that better than the other two options, and still has enough versatility in their spellcasting to be a competent spellcaster, although they likely won't take center stage as the main spellcaster in your group. The problem with Swords Bard is that it relies on a resource that you may have better uses for... the more Sword you are the less Bard you get to be. The Flourishes aren't quite as useful as they seem at first, and if you focus on utilizing your flourishes efficiently in battle you won't have Bardic Inspiration to help your allies... or alternatively, if you focus too much on helping your allies, you won't have the flourishes handy in clutch moments. Meanwhile, Fighter just straight up gets more attacks, gives you access to better and more versatile equipment, and it also gives you more ASI's, which you can use to either get Swole or really customize your character with more Feat choices.
Sorcery is possible but yeah, you would have to multi class into fighter and try to balance your levels out. Arcane Trickster rogue also isn't a bad idea. you can also just pick up magic initiate to increase the amount of spells for both Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster. Since your character was so studious it would make sense to have a high intelligence pool that both sub classes would benefit from. It would really come down to how you want to use your melee ability, if you want to be a front line fighter then Eldritch Knight would be the way to go, if you want to be more of a stealthy character Arcane Trickster.
I agree that, of all the Gish types, Hexblade Warlock is probably the best. Just being able to attack from Charisma is such a huge boost in versatility that it alone is almost enough of a factor to make Hexblade better than the other options, even if hte rest of the Subclass was just a whole lot of janky garbage (which, to be fair, some of it is... the ability to create a Specter feels haphazardly tacked on because they couldn't think of a more thematically appropriate 6th level feature).
That said... it's also kind of boring. Maybe that's just because I watch a lot of D&D actual plays, but it seems like every single Warlock I see is a Hexblade. Although I guess that does also speak to the power of the subclass... it's not popular just for the flavor, it actually is just mechanically very solid.
Id go with sorcerer. You can still be fairly gishy if the sword is 100% part of your concept, and you can also multiclass into fighter down the road if you want.
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I’m debating whether to make one of my characters either a fighter, sorcerer, or college of swords bard. For more context, here’s the summary of her backstory:
Shes a kalashtar (race in the war of eberonn handbook) that is disguised as, and was raised as a high elf princess. At the age of ten (10), her dream spirit thing (something that kalashtars have) showed up and started talking to her. Until the age of 16, she dove into her studies, trying to find anything that told of her experiences. After a fight with her adopted parents (she had shut herself in her room, when she was supposed to be doing royal princess things), and ended up casting a burst of magic, injuring several people, then running away, taking money, adventuring gear, and a sword with. She now wanders the woods, staying away from people, trying her best to find out about who she actually is.
Accidental magic sounds like a sorcerer.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
At 16 she is still basically a child from an elf point of view., so it's a bit weird that she's basically a child running around. From a class point of view I agree with sorcerer. Since she wouldn't have had sufficient time to learn stuff properly it makes more sense if her abilties are "natural" so to speak.
Wild Magic sorcerer seems like it would make the most sense, chaos spells for flair because she is so young she wouldn't have full control of her abilities so casting something with a random damage type would make sense. If her powers came from another source but I would still maybe use the chaos spells because of her age maybe your DM would let you roll down the line to see if you developed and fine tuned your abilities and allow you to swap them out eventually after say a series of Arcana checks or something along those lines?
It wasn’t on the list but a warlock could work, too. Maybe the dream spirit thing wasn’t what she thought, and she kind of fell into a pact without realizing it.
Everything in the character build says "Sorcerer" to me except for the idea of wielding a sword... there really isn't any good martial sorcerer subclass... maybe Draconic Origin since it gives a boost to HP and armor.
So, without getting into multiclassing which is a whole other kettle of fish, I think I would recommend Eldritch Knight Fighter. It seems clear that you want to have some reliable melee combat skills, since you're singling out Swords Bard specifically and have a sword in your backstory, and Eldritch Knight covers that better than the other two options, and still has enough versatility in their spellcasting to be a competent spellcaster, although they likely won't take center stage as the main spellcaster in your group. The problem with Swords Bard is that it relies on a resource that you may have better uses for... the more Sword you are the less Bard you get to be. The Flourishes aren't quite as useful as they seem at first, and if you focus on utilizing your flourishes efficiently in battle you won't have Bardic Inspiration to help your allies... or alternatively, if you focus too much on helping your allies, you won't have the flourishes handy in clutch moments. Meanwhile, Fighter just straight up gets more attacks, gives you access to better and more versatile equipment, and it also gives you more ASI's, which you can use to either get Swole or really customize your character with more Feat choices.
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Sorcery is possible but yeah, you would have to multi class into fighter and try to balance your levels out. Arcane Trickster rogue also isn't a bad idea. you can also just pick up magic initiate to increase the amount of spells for both Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster. Since your character was so studious it would make sense to have a high intelligence pool that both sub classes would benefit from. It would really come down to how you want to use your melee ability, if you want to be a front line fighter then Eldritch Knight would be the way to go, if you want to be more of a stealthy character Arcane Trickster.
I agree that, of all the Gish types, Hexblade Warlock is probably the best. Just being able to attack from Charisma is such a huge boost in versatility that it alone is almost enough of a factor to make Hexblade better than the other options, even if hte rest of the Subclass was just a whole lot of janky garbage (which, to be fair, some of it is... the ability to create a Specter feels haphazardly tacked on because they couldn't think of a more thematically appropriate 6th level feature).
That said... it's also kind of boring. Maybe that's just because I watch a lot of D&D actual plays, but it seems like every single Warlock I see is a Hexblade. Although I guess that does also speak to the power of the subclass... it's not popular just for the flavor, it actually is just mechanically very solid.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Murderhobo. Definitely, murderhobo.
Info, Inflow, Overload. Knowledge Black Hole Imminent!
Carries a sword, had accidental magic after an arguement...you sure you're not a closet Path of Wild Magic Barbarian from Tasha Cauldron of Whatnot?
Id go with sorcerer. You can still be fairly gishy if the sword is 100% part of your concept, and you can also multiclass into fighter down the road if you want.