This is partially a character build question and partially a story question.  I want to give a character who is a King real class levels. I’m looking for ideas on what classes might make for a good king, and by extension ideas for a good back story.

It seems that Charisma could make for a obvious primary stat (or secondary). And the king would need to travel with the party for a time. So I was imagining a king without a kingdom perhaps, but I’m open to ideas for a character build and/or story that might personify a kingly character?

Thanks in advance!

In reality, there is nothing limiting you except for imagination. Barbarian chieftains could conceivably be considered a king, particularly if there are several loosely affiliated tribes. However, there is nothing saying that the king couldn't have trained with a barbarian, or even just developed a personal style that is barbarian like. Similar concepts could be brought up for any of the classes. Robin Hood is comparable to a rogue who was a noble. Aragorn/Strider was a ranger who has a similar backstory to what you are talking about. I think the more important question is what fighting style does he have, why is he currently without a kingdom, and did he learn the fighting style before or after he lost his kingdom?

Barbarian- mentioned earlier

Bard- the king had a beautiful singing voice and discovered that his music had magical abilities. He ended up being too passive, lost his kingdom so he sought out the college of X to train so he would have the ability to gain back the thrown.

Cleric- the third in succession, the Prince was sent to the monastery of X god to become a priest since it was unlikely that he was going to inherit the throne. However, his father was killed in battle, his eldest sibling was poisoned by the second sibling who had become a tyrant. The god has infused him with his power so that he can claim the throne and he is now rallying the commoners to his banner.

Druid- the king was out hunting, was gored by a boar, and ended up being saved by a druid. While being brought back to health, the king developed a kinship with nature and realized that his calling was with nature. Meanwhile, the successor to the crown is pushing to become king the longer the actual king is missing, which causes much turmoil in the kingdom. 

Fighter- standard backstory of the general-king who leads his army, perhaps like King Arthur or King Richard the Lionheart.

Monk- Could be similar to cleric above, could be like Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, could just be someone who abstains from the throne in favor of spiritual enlightenment. He can't condone the actions that his successor is taking and decides to intercede.

Paladin- Fighter with more of a religious bent to it

Ranger- Aragorn from Lord of the Rings, or simply a king that favors hunting.

Rogue- Robin Hood becomes king following the death of Richard after marrying Marian, Richard's cousin.

Sorcerer- The royal family has a secret, they have magical bloodlines. This I'd the main reason that they came to power, but the knowledge was lost over the centuries. It was thought to have skipped a generation with this king among those in the know, and he was deposed shortly after coming to power. The stress of running for his life triggered his sorcerous powers.

Warlock- the king was doing fine until an extraplanar being forced the pact on him. Since warlocks are perceived as evil, the king was banished for heresy or some similar reason, perhaps just the fact that he was a warlock. Perhaps a touch like Brandon Sanderson's Elantris.

Wizard- Fighter, but with brains instead of brawn.

Even backgrounds could be diverse; Noble would be the obvious, but any of the backgrounds could lead up to the character becoming king, could be what he became after he was deposed, or what his official training was as king.

 Of course, Charlatan could even have a king as his persona that he's developed, maybe a touch like King Ezekial on the Walking Dead. He has developed enough followers through his deception and absolute charisma who actual believe that he's making a push to overthrow the government. This could fit well with bard, rogue, sorcerer, warlock (perhaps the patron wants a puppet king), wizard (he's got the masterplan and perhaps the school of divination to help), cleric (perhaps with a trickster god, like Loki), or even a paladin of conquest, vengeance, or even an oathbreaker.

In reality, the character concept is the important part, the rest is just flavor. 

Does it have to be a class? We have stat blocks for Noble for a reason....

Quote from Metamongoose >>

Does it have to be a class? We have stat blocks for Noble for a reason....

Agreed.  As a rule, I don't treat NPCs like PCs at all.  Perhaps it's a difference in fundamental approach to the game, but PCs are supposed to stand out as opposed to being members of a world where everyone has a class and associated abilities.  

Quote from nostrildamus >>

Quote from Metamongoose >>

Does it have to be a class? We have stat blocks for Noble for a reason....

 

Agreed.  As a rule, I don't treat NPCs like PCs at all.  Perhaps it's a difference in fundamental approach to the game, but PCs are supposed to stand out as opposed to being members of a world where everyone has a class and associated abilities.  

 I think it depends on the story. Just because you use the noble stat block doesn't mean he couldn't have some martial training, it just wouldn't be enough to merit classes. On the other hand, if you wanted a concept from my earlier wall of text, giving class levels would make sense, but it definitely requires more work. 

It may also depend on the function of the NPC in the story. Is the NPC supposed to assist the party in combat against difficult foes? Is the NPC a "VIP" character who is simply be escorted or protected? Should the NPC die or his life be in danger?

Some NPCs I play like normal characters with races and classes if they are supposed to assist the players in difficult combat situations.

But if the NPC is supposed to be more of a challenge or burden than a blessing you should just use something like the Noble stat block, making it a challenge to keep him alive.

What's the function of the NPC in the story?

Thank you all for the ideas and input so far.  I'm looking to build a NPC/character who would be a contributing member of an adventuring party.  Thus why I defaulting to thinking of a character with class levels.  

For example, I initially was imagining a King who's smallish kingdom was overrun or destroyed.  He seeks redemption, revenge, or perhaps to reclaim his homelands.  He is a Noble by background, has Chr as his highest stat, the Inspiring Leader feat, and a number of levels as an Oath of the Crown Paladin.  But I wonder what other interesting options might be out there.

Yes, most any class can have the title King, but I'd like to find a way to align mechanics and story together – to make a character with strong leadership, influence, and/or nobility.  Though perhaps I am limiting myself too much.  

EN world released a class called the Noble in their "A touch of class" book. I haven't yet checked it out myself, but it may be of some use in making this character.

It sounds to me like the mechanics that you are most interested in are social skills. As such, I would think that either Bard or Rogue would be a good choice since they have expertise to apply double proficiency. They also get a high number of skill proficiencies and both have subclasses that could be used for the revenge angle. Bard would be excellent if your revenge plot is more in the vein of the Count of Monte Cristo and have the king portray himself as something he's not.. perhaps the herald for his kingdom. He could show up saying he's been waylaid on route and that the kingdom needs help. He's told that the kingdom has been destroyed, which he of course aware. He isn't arrested as an attempt to hide the complicity of people he's come to. He meets the party and starts an underground resistance. He continues to use his herald persona to get valuable resources, etc etc. I'm thinking that college of whispers would be the subclass for the revenge aspect.

Rogue would likely be assassin with a similar approach. Maybe a mastermind. 

Outside of that, you're looking at charisma classes with whatever flavoring you want. The revenge angle is what speaks to me the most from what you said, but that may not be what floats your boat. Paladin Oath of Vengeance, sorcerer, or warlock with the later two probably focusing more on what the king is willing to do to get revenge, and possibly being a multiclass perhaps Paladin 3/4 to get the oath of the crown that you wanted plus maybe the ASI/feat you mentioned if he's not variant human. Then he decides to mingle his blood with a dragon or somehow gained the shadow or storm magic. Or perhaps he seeks out a fiend, a hex blade, or whichever patron seems more on theme. You do seem to have an idea of what it is you want, hopefully one of those ideas will help you narrow it down. 

noble npc with the yuan-ti pureblood's racial abilities and different spells and just call it a human again.

or really go with any npc that might make sense. or don't stat him out at all, if he's not going to be involved in any combat.

Quote from The_Humble_Giant >>

This is partially a character build question and partially a story question.  I want to give a character who is a King real class levels. I’m looking for ideas on what classes might make for a good king, and by extension ideas for a good back story.

It seems that Charisma could make for a obvious primary stat (or secondary). And the king would need to travel with the party for a time. So I was imagining a king without a kingdom perhaps, but I’m open to ideas for a character build and/or story that might personify a kingly character?

Thanks in advance!

 Fight probably. Paladin of the Crown. Probably also depends on the alignment of the king. Lawful I would say paladin or fighter. Evil I would say wizard (maybe sorcerer) chaotic I would say warlock or sorcerer. You can look at Alustriel Silverhand. She is a level 22 (in 5e terms) wizard. Chaotic Good. I would also base it a little on what kind of person they are. The so called "lord" of Secomber is a ranger 11th. Alustriel is a wizard. Dishonored's Emily would probably be a swashbuckler rogue / Warlock. Depending on the personality of the ruler & their station usually helps with their method of ruling. Emily is a royal empress but she frequently (perhaps to much) escapes by running the thieves highway at night. So if your king is a younger lad who doesn't always care for the traditions he might be a swashbuckler rogue, but if your king is a noble elven man who respects his people (like Alustriel) he might be a sorcerer or wizard. I've a few times given my town guard a few unique abilities. Like advantage on insight while within 5 ft of each other. Or a commander being able to buff peoples damage. A king might be a special paladin. But yeah, paladin or fighter works. Kings are hard to give classes imo. 

Hope this helps! ^^

there's also a noble sorcerer bloodline that somebody homebrewed not too long ago that should be pretty easy to find with a quick google, if you still really want to give the character class levels. 

You could also use the stats/classes/features in the Sidekick UA. Just throwing that idea out there.

I think the default class for a King would be a Paladin.  He should be the sort that serves for the greater good with honor and honesty and fairness as his principle traits.

However, for an example of a king without a kingdom we can immediately consider Thrain (or whatever the dwarf's name is in the Hobbit) as a prime example.  However, his behavior in the most recent movie version is more akin to a fighter in my view rather than a paladin.

Of course a king could be a cleric or druid depending on the setting.  Someone observed earlier that the usual progression of male nobles in medieval Europe was the Heir, a second son going into the military service and the third son to go into the clergy.  Of course this didn't always happen, but it was the best established templet once upon a time.  In less well to do families the first born son inherited the estate, the second born could find a living in the service without any means coming in, and likewise the clergy could allow a third born to earn a living.  Among farmers they may attempt to split the farm, but it could only be spread so thin among many sons.  Second and third sons were often apprenticed to craftsmen.

There is no reason a wizard couldn't be a king, but it seems to break the mold.  Wizards are not known for going especially far out of their way to help others.  They are often too wrapped up in their own research.

The one quite interesting quirk of nobility is that Admirals are almost never kings.  Generals with successful land campaigns often rise to the top, but I can't come up with a single instance when a great seaman became the king.  You would think that in England or Japan this would have happened.  But I can't think of any.

To a lesser extent, rogues and other classes are likely to become a king.  While king is usually an inherited title, leaders were raised to be king / queen and in addition to instruction in reading, writing, history and the like, their duty as a monarch was also drilled into them.  This just doesn't fit the mold of Thief, Aladdin notwithstanding.

The observation that a Bard could be a king is interesting.  I suspect an argument could be made that such a thing has happened.  Winston Churchill wasn't known as a great musician but he was a great orator.  He held the highest position in government for many years in England.  Similar great orators would be kings.  But they wouldn't likely be the performing sort of Bard.

My provincial leaders are almost always Paladins, Clerics or Fighters; Barbarians in nomadic cultures, with a frequency of about 4 : 1 : 1 respectively.

I like the idea of Samurai, fits the mold of a socialite while still being a competent fighter.  Going out to recruit worthy souls to help retake his seat.

General consensus seems to be a up front fighter of some variety, at least for the concept you have for the guy.  Really next step is what kind of personality are you thinking of, maybe something you are planning could give people some more ideas to flesh out for you.

On the DM side of things, you can always mix and match some abilities if there are certain things you feel he should have.  Maybe some extra skills or feats to show he is learned, or worldly.