Party balance isn't hugely important in 5e to begin with, and most classes have enough variation in their subclasses to make it viable. Especially if you allow UA.
A party of warlocks needs tanks to absorb attacks to they can be useful. In a surprise ambush a part of Warlocks would suffer greatly, especially at low level.
I was in a short campaign years ago with three Clerics. Without going into a ton of detail, it was basically one Good, one Neutral, one Evil. A lot of fun, but we knew it was a short time scenario. I can see where five or six Clerics could go far. Except for maybe a trap-heavy dungeon?
A party of all clerics would absolutely destroy anything in their path. They would be unstoppable.
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Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
You can have a party of "all same class" from any class. It may take some adjusting by DM for some encounters - but they should be doing that anyway regardless.
There was a stream with Satine Phoenix as DM where they were all Bards and that seemed to work. There was a Critical Role one-shot where they were all Rogues and that worked brilliantly.
Encounter Balance is primarily a DM thing, not a class thing. Class composition is a lot less important in this edition than it was previously.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Gonna depend quite a bit on the class. It should be easy with bard, cleric, druid, or warlock, somewhat more challenging for sorcerer or wizard because they're short on defensive options, and then starts going downhill because the non-casters are short on 'solve this problem' effects, area damage, and battlefield control. Barbarian seems like the worst off as it doesn't have any good ranged options.
I think any class could work, but then I've run a lot of games with 1-2 players over various editions of D&D. When I DM I keep the group of players in mind when I'm designing things. Not just their class composition but how experienced they are as players when it comes to the challenges I have in mind, and what sorts of things they seem to enjoy or not enjoy. So if my group is a party of wizards, I'm unlikely to throw them into a giant arena room that seals as soon as they enter, an anti-magic sphere drops, and then 50 orcs (who have additional fighter levels) attack, to use an extreme example.
On the other hand, even if a group doesn't have a great way to handle something doesn't mean you can't throw it at them. In the barbarians not having good ranged options example, they can still throw javelins and use bows, so they aren't completely helpless. I might very well design an adventure that somewhat plays on their weaknesses, but only to a point, or if I wanted to be a bit more extreme about it then I might have them find out in town that the big, bad monster they are going to fight can fly and give them the opportunity to prepare for that if they wish. They they shrug and ignore the warning and just decide it is too much for them and they'd rather go do something else, that is cool too.
As a balance, I like to sometimes design things to play on player strengths too and give people a chance to particularly shine.
You can have a party of "all same class" from any class. It may take some adjusting by DM for some encounters - but they should be doing that anyway regardless.
There was a stream with Satine Phoenix as DM where they were all Bards and that seemed to work. There was a Critical Role one-shot where they were all Rogues and that worked brilliantly.
Encounter Balance is primarily a DM thing, not a class thing. Class composition is a lot less important in this edition than it was previously.
You reminded me, there was a short article in a Dragon Magazine about running single-class parties AGES ago. No idea how I could find it, but it basically said the same thing. I remember one specific example from the article about how an all-rogue party would be all about heists and break-ins and other sneaky jobs. I imagine an all-fighter group might work best in a campaign set on a battlefield, where they're part of a larger force with supply lines and cleric support and such.
If you played a party of all clerics the party would never die, and there would be a ton of diversity. Healers, casters, tanks, even skills, could be handled by the different domains.
Back in 3.5 I Dm'd a campaign that had only wizards. Each wizard was limited to one school of magic and could only learn and cast spells from that school. I also used spell points and allowed each character to have some more interesting familiars. The whole campaign was a lot of fun and is remembered fondly by everyone involved to this day.
For 5e I would agree with the warlock idea as they are the most versatile class by far on character creation
Right now we have a party of 4 barbarians, a bard, a rogue, a Druid, and a paladin. Before the Druid and paladin joined, it was pretty boring to be a part of the group, not gonna lie, we just steam rolled anything. It was good for our campaign (a traveling fight circuit, kinda like the WWE, but gladiatorial in nature) because we were winning our bouts, but definitely made for boring moments. Now with the other two, I feel we have a great range.
I’ve always wanted to run a campaign entitled “Five crazy knights”. Where the characters (fighters/knights in shinning armor types) had to rely completely on potions and magical items for their magical needs.
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What would happen with a party of 5 to 7 was only one class?
My first thoughts were that a party of warlocks would surprisingly be balanced.
A party of all bards would do pretty well too.
Party balance isn't hugely important in 5e to begin with, and most classes have enough variation in their subclasses to make it viable. Especially if you allow UA.
A party of warlocks needs tanks to absorb attacks to they can be useful. In a surprise ambush a part of Warlocks would suffer greatly, especially at low level.
Clerics. You can have a pretty good variety of roles and all of them can heal when needed.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I was in a short campaign years ago with three Clerics. Without going into a ton of detail, it was basically one Good, one Neutral, one Evil. A lot of fun, but we knew it was a short time scenario. I can see where five or six Clerics could go far. Except for maybe a trap-heavy dungeon?
A party of all clerics would absolutely destroy anything in their path. They would be unstoppable.
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Anzio Faro. Lvl 5 Prot. Aasimar Light Cleric.
But the group of all bards would host better parties.
A party of Clerics could handle all rolls.
You can have a party of "all same class" from any class. It may take some adjusting by DM for some encounters - but they should be doing that anyway regardless.
There was a stream with Satine Phoenix as DM where they were all Bards and that seemed to work. There was a Critical Role one-shot where they were all Rogues and that worked brilliantly.
Encounter Balance is primarily a DM thing, not a class thing. Class composition is a lot less important in this edition than it was previously.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Clerics would definitely be the best options, but Warlocks and Fighters would work too.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Fair enough.
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Anzio Faro. Lvl 5 Prot. Aasimar Light Cleric.
Gonna depend quite a bit on the class. It should be easy with bard, cleric, druid, or warlock, somewhat more challenging for sorcerer or wizard because they're short on defensive options, and then starts going downhill because the non-casters are short on 'solve this problem' effects, area damage, and battlefield control. Barbarian seems like the worst off as it doesn't have any good ranged options.
I think any class could work, but then I've run a lot of games with 1-2 players over various editions of D&D. When I DM I keep the group of players in mind when I'm designing things. Not just their class composition but how experienced they are as players when it comes to the challenges I have in mind, and what sorts of things they seem to enjoy or not enjoy. So if my group is a party of wizards, I'm unlikely to throw them into a giant arena room that seals as soon as they enter, an anti-magic sphere drops, and then 50 orcs (who have additional fighter levels) attack, to use an extreme example.
On the other hand, even if a group doesn't have a great way to handle something doesn't mean you can't throw it at them. In the barbarians not having good ranged options example, they can still throw javelins and use bows, so they aren't completely helpless. I might very well design an adventure that somewhat plays on their weaknesses, but only to a point, or if I wanted to be a bit more extreme about it then I might have them find out in town that the big, bad monster they are going to fight can fly and give them the opportunity to prepare for that if they wish. They they shrug and ignore the warning and just decide it is too much for them and they'd rather go do something else, that is cool too.
As a balance, I like to sometimes design things to play on player strengths too and give people a chance to particularly shine.
You reminded me, there was a short article in a Dragon Magazine about running single-class parties AGES ago. No idea how I could find it, but it basically said the same thing. I remember one specific example from the article about how an all-rogue party would be all about heists and break-ins and other sneaky jobs. I imagine an all-fighter group might work best in a campaign set on a battlefield, where they're part of a larger force with supply lines and cleric support and such.
If you played a party of all clerics the party would never die, and there would be a ton of diversity. Healers, casters, tanks, even skills, could be handled by the different domains.
Back in 3.5 I Dm'd a campaign that had only wizards. Each wizard was limited to one school of magic and could only learn and cast spells from that school. I also used spell points and allowed each character to have some more interesting familiars. The whole campaign was a lot of fun and is remembered fondly by everyone involved to this day.
For 5e I would agree with the warlock idea as they are the most versatile class by far on character creation
Right now we have a party of 4 barbarians, a bard, a rogue, a Druid, and a paladin. Before the Druid and paladin joined, it was pretty boring to be a part of the group, not gonna lie, we just steam rolled anything. It was good for our campaign (a traveling fight circuit, kinda like the WWE, but gladiatorial in nature) because we were winning our bouts, but definitely made for boring moments. Now with the other two, I feel we have a great range.
I’ve always wanted to run a campaign entitled “Five crazy knights”. Where the characters (fighters/knights in shinning armor types) had to rely completely on potions and magical items for their magical needs.