I love refluffing material. That being said I need communal help. What class and subclass would best fit a character with the description below and why? I personally am leaning towards Beast Master Ranger, but maybe you can envision something different?
The character is basically a small child named Valence, who is 5 to 8 years old. She befriended a mimic who "adopted" her. The mimic changes forms often but usually likes to be a large backpack. Her mimic, which she nicknamed Daydream, is different then most other mimics, her's has a fondness for spiders so when it turns into a more "alive" form it grows spider legs and little talon mandible things. The child herself will not do any combat, she will basically hide behind Daydream and let Daydream do the fighting. But she will add to social and none combat encounters.
I am leaning towards Beastmaster Ranger and giving Posion Spray to the child and some other cantrip thats fitting. She would only use Daydream for Fights though, having Hunter's Mark or some other fun thing as needed for survivability.
As a general rule, PCs this young are iffy ground both for immersion and because lots of people aren’t comfortable with the concept of kids that young being in life or death peril on an ongoing basis. The “I’ve got a pet mimic that’s different than the other ones” bit is also a pretty big flag for main character syndrome or other concerns that the character is going to push for a lot of spotlight. Finally, opting to dial back your combat performance means the DM and other players are going to have to work harder to keep combat flowing effectively.
Overall, I would be very concerned if I heard someone was looking to bring a character like this to a table I was playing at. It’s not necessarily bad as an abstract story concept, but it really doesn’t mesh well with 5e, or probably most iterations of D&D as a PC- it’s likely to make other players feel uncomfortable with the character’s age and/or worried that this is going to be some kind of narrative showboat, and also is likely to underperform in combat enough for the whole party to feel like they’re playing with a handicap. If you have a table who are okay with all this, good for you, but I really, really would not recommend pursuing this for a typical table.
You could also be a druid and use summon beast to represent Daydream. To stay useful during combat, you can also cast cure wounds or healing word, as well as non-concentration spells like plant growth.
I love refluffing material. That being said I need communal help. What class and subclass would best fit a character with the description below and why? I personally am leaning towards Beast Master Ranger, but maybe you can envision something different?
The character is basically a small child named Valence, who is 5 to 8 years old. She befriended a mimic who "adopted" her. The mimic changes forms often but usually likes to be a large backpack. Her mimic, which she nicknamed Daydream, is different then most other mimics, her's has a fondness for spiders so when it turns into a more "alive" form it grows spider legs and little talon mandible things. The child herself will not do any combat, she will basically hide behind Daydream and let Daydream do the fighting. But she will add to social and none combat encounters.
I am leaning towards Beastmaster Ranger and giving Posion Spray to the child and some other cantrip thats fitting. She would only use Daydream for Fights though, having Hunter's Mark or some other fun thing as needed for survivability.
Thoughts?
OK, let's put on my DM's hat -- and securely, because this one's a doozy ;)
There's two separate hurdles to making this work -- the PC, and the companion
1) Unless it's a one-shot with a very light tone, child PCs are generally a no-go, for all the reasons Rogues mentioned. The easiest solution to this one is to not make them an actual child -- they may present as one, but they are actually a mature individual. Ways to go about this with species choice include changelings, fairies, warforged (think M3GAN), some form of undead (dhampir or reborn), that kind of thing
The most important thing is that you can't keep the fact that you're not a child secret from the other players. If everyone at the table's on the same page, the other characters might be in the dark until you share your secret with them in roleplay, but the other players need to sign up for that sort of campaign. You can't spring it on them
2) As for your mimic-ish companion, that's not going to work mechanically using any of the usual companion options (Beast Master ranger, find familiar, etc.). The closest you might get is the Battle Smith artificer's Steel Defender-- which could also fit your idea for a caster who tries to stay out of combat, as artificers get plenty of utility spell options. That could be a lot of work between you and your DM to get the flavor to fit what you're looking for, though
The other, more radical, approach would be to not treat the companion as a separate entity. What if it had some kind of symbiotic relationship with your PC? Rather than sending your mimic out to attack while Valence hangs back, the two of you could merge into one creature to go attack... which leads me to your PC being a druid, with a very very cool way to describe your wild shapes. (If you have access to it, the Circle of the Blighted from the Tal'Dorei Reborn book might be worth checking out, as it gives you some extra benefits for your wild shapes because they come out a little... off). At that point, you could also flavor any summon spells and the like as your mimic shifting into another form to go do stuff for you
Mechanically, your companion then wouldn't be a creature with its own stat block -- avoiding all the issues that come from trying to shoehorn a mimic into any of the existing companion options. It would just be a way to flavor a whole host of your features and spells
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
There is a dark gift from the Ravenloft book which basically gives someone a symbiote. You basically become Venom from the comics (sort of). Then you could play any class you wanted and the symbiote (mimic) can still flavor as a different entity, possibly one that doesn't always align with what you want to do. Now how did you get this dark gift? Good question...
In any group I have ever played in, the other characters would intervene and prevent the child from adventuring (if necessary, forcibly putting the child into some sort of protective custody if necessary). What group of characters would EVER allow a 5 yr old to accompany them, except long enough to get them to safety. Not to mention town guards, nobles, or any kindly villager...
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Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.
All i can say is make what feels good to you. Don't worry to much about party composition, as long as you're all having fun. Just getting a basic idea about what different classes are good at, like druids and clerics make for good healing and support classes, but are definitely not slouching in combat. Introducing a new character can be fun as well. Like if you ran into these cultists inside their lair or such, you can talk to your GM and maybe you're character is a captive who has a useful piece of information about the cultists, so the party pulls him along for his knowledge. Just a few things i thought of on the spot. https://xender.vip/
I love refluffing material. That being said I need communal help. What class and subclass would best fit a character with the description below and why? I personally am leaning towards Beast Master Ranger, but maybe you can envision something different?
The character is basically a small child named Valence, who is 5 to 8 years old. She befriended a mimic who "adopted" her. The mimic changes forms often but usually likes to be a large backpack. Her mimic, which she nicknamed Daydream, is different then most other mimics, her's has a fondness for spiders so when it turns into a more "alive" form it grows spider legs and little talon mandible things. The child herself will not do any combat, she will basically hide behind Daydream and let Daydream do the fighting. But she will add to social and none combat encounters.
I am leaning towards Beastmaster Ranger and giving Posion Spray to the child and some other cantrip thats fitting. She would only use Daydream for Fights though, having Hunter's Mark or some other fun thing as needed for survivability.
Thoughts?
If you're looking for something a bit different, you could play this character as a warlock; Both Fae and Great old one could work with the overall theme of having the mimic as a "pet" and then if you add in pact of the chain you could have it take on the shape of your familiar.
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I love refluffing material. That being said I need communal help. What class and subclass would best fit a character with the description below and why? I personally am leaning towards Beast Master Ranger, but maybe you can envision something different?
The character is basically a small child named Valence, who is 5 to 8 years old. She befriended a mimic who "adopted" her. The mimic changes forms often but usually likes to be a large backpack. Her mimic, which she nicknamed Daydream, is different then most other mimics, her's has a fondness for spiders so when it turns into a more "alive" form it grows spider legs and little talon mandible things. The child herself will not do any combat, she will basically hide behind Daydream and let Daydream do the fighting. But she will add to social and none combat encounters.
I am leaning towards Beastmaster Ranger and giving Posion Spray to the child and some other cantrip thats fitting. She would only use Daydream for Fights though, having Hunter's Mark or some other fun thing as needed for survivability.
Thoughts?
As a general rule, PCs this young are iffy ground both for immersion and because lots of people aren’t comfortable with the concept of kids that young being in life or death peril on an ongoing basis. The “I’ve got a pet mimic that’s different than the other ones” bit is also a pretty big flag for main character syndrome or other concerns that the character is going to push for a lot of spotlight. Finally, opting to dial back your combat performance means the DM and other players are going to have to work harder to keep combat flowing effectively.
Overall, I would be very concerned if I heard someone was looking to bring a character like this to a table I was playing at. It’s not necessarily bad as an abstract story concept, but it really doesn’t mesh well with 5e, or probably most iterations of D&D as a PC- it’s likely to make other players feel uncomfortable with the character’s age and/or worried that this is going to be some kind of narrative showboat, and also is likely to underperform in combat enough for the whole party to feel like they’re playing with a handicap. If you have a table who are okay with all this, good for you, but I really, really would not recommend pursuing this for a typical table.
You could also be a druid and use summon beast to represent Daydream. To stay useful during combat, you can also cast cure wounds or healing word, as well as non-concentration spells like plant growth.
OK, let's put on my DM's hat -- and securely, because this one's a doozy ;)
There's two separate hurdles to making this work -- the PC, and the companion
1) Unless it's a one-shot with a very light tone, child PCs are generally a no-go, for all the reasons Rogues mentioned. The easiest solution to this one is to not make them an actual child -- they may present as one, but they are actually a mature individual. Ways to go about this with species choice include changelings, fairies, warforged (think M3GAN), some form of undead (dhampir or reborn), that kind of thing
The most important thing is that you can't keep the fact that you're not a child secret from the other players. If everyone at the table's on the same page, the other characters might be in the dark until you share your secret with them in roleplay, but the other players need to sign up for that sort of campaign. You can't spring it on them
2) As for your mimic-ish companion, that's not going to work mechanically using any of the usual companion options (Beast Master ranger, find familiar, etc.). The closest you might get is the Battle Smith artificer's Steel Defender-- which could also fit your idea for a caster who tries to stay out of combat, as artificers get plenty of utility spell options. That could be a lot of work between you and your DM to get the flavor to fit what you're looking for, though
The other, more radical, approach would be to not treat the companion as a separate entity. What if it had some kind of symbiotic relationship with your PC? Rather than sending your mimic out to attack while Valence hangs back, the two of you could merge into one creature to go attack... which leads me to your PC being a druid, with a very very cool way to describe your wild shapes. (If you have access to it, the Circle of the Blighted from the Tal'Dorei Reborn book might be worth checking out, as it gives you some extra benefits for your wild shapes because they come out a little... off). At that point, you could also flavor any summon spells and the like as your mimic shifting into another form to go do stuff for you
Mechanically, your companion then wouldn't be a creature with its own stat block -- avoiding all the issues that come from trying to shoehorn a mimic into any of the existing companion options. It would just be a way to flavor a whole host of your features and spells
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
There is a dark gift from the Ravenloft book which basically gives someone a symbiote. You basically become Venom from the comics (sort of). Then you could play any class you wanted and the symbiote (mimic) can still flavor as a different entity, possibly one that doesn't always align with what you want to do. Now how did you get this dark gift? Good question...
In any group I have ever played in, the other characters would intervene and prevent the child from adventuring (if necessary, forcibly putting the child into some sort of protective custody if necessary). What group of characters would EVER allow a 5 yr old to accompany them, except long enough to get them to safety. Not to mention town guards, nobles, or any kindly villager...
Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.
I enjoy making character concepts, I could just make her a female halfling. But want to focus more on the class refluff.
All i can say is make what feels good to you. Don't worry to much about party composition, as long as you're all having fun. Just getting a basic idea about what different classes are good at, like druids and clerics make for good healing and support classes, but are definitely not slouching in combat. Introducing a new character can be fun as well. Like if you ran into these cultists inside their lair or such, you can talk to your GM and maybe you're character is a captive who has a useful piece of information about the cultists, so the party pulls him along for his knowledge. Just a few things i thought of on the spot. https://xender.vip/
If you're looking for something a bit different, you could play this character as a warlock; Both Fae and Great old one could work with the overall theme of having the mimic as a "pet" and then if you add in pact of the chain you could have it take on the shape of your familiar.