I'm in a D&D group and one of our players can't think of what to play. He knows he wants a tank build but has no other ideas besides that.
We've narrowed the races down to: Goliath Aarakocora, Half-Orc, Dwarf, and Dragonborn.
We've also narrowed it down to the Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, Monk, or Paladin class.
Our party already has 1 goliath barbarian and plenty of support. I've thought that either the "folk hero" or "soldier" backgrounds will help with building a backstory but other than that I've hit a wall. He cant think of a character or backstory but neither can I. Any ideas would be helpful.
Well if he wants to play Goliath Barbarian as well, he should be allowed to play the character he wants to play.
Two barbarians can be a lot of fun. They could go for completely different sub classes, and even if they don't, the way they play the characters will be completely different.
It could help with backstory, the Goliaths are brothers and are always trying to one up each other.
Our party already has 1 goliath barbarian and plenty of support. I've thought that either the "folk hero" or "soldier" backgrounds will help with building a backstory but other than that I've hit a wall. He cant think of a character or backstory but neither can I.
Start with asking what makes the character a tank. Are they simply huge, and spent their whole lives being the person other people hid behind? Are they too stubborn to go down when they're "supposed" to? Are they heavily armored (artificers can be tanky too)? Do they enjoy the pain and adrenaline rush that comes with taking damage? That could help guide race and class decisions, as well as getting a start on the backstory.
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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)
As for tanks, if it's not just survivability for the character, but also aggro the paladin Class can bring some fun to the table.
A paladin also provides excellent saves for themselves and others, with warding bond they can take half the damage someone else will, heal if needed and are also great for damage with smites (especially waiting for crits).
If you also go down the path of oath of the ancients paladin you will grant resistance to all spells, the combination (if 20 charisma) means you also grant +5 to all saves. In effect this means a fireball most of the time will deal 1/4 damage. This is pretty tanky. With lay on hands if needed, impressive auras and the warding bond on friendly spellcaster you're likely to be a primary target for anyone that want to win against your team, doesn't fill the tank role much more than that. The full plate armor, plus shield, doesn't make things worse for you.
The high charisma means you ALSO fill a social slot.
I know paladins often seem to get multiclassed to other classes like sorcerer, but... I've played both a combination (because it fit so well with the story I just had to take sorcerer levels) and a straight paladin.
Theme: half elf paladin, oath of the ancients, bringer of joy. The goal is, be the light in the world. Live life to the fullest, bring joy where you can. Chaotic good.
I had a mitral halfplate, skipped the shield and soloed a longsword with the thought I could swap between bow and sword but ended up just using the sword because I gave the bow away. Should have gotten a shield but never got around to it.
I took the chef feat for some good food, had a hewards bag of spices thing, made glorious food each morning. And of course I played the lute everywhere we went. Entertainer background. Tons of roleplay.
In battle I was the tactical pointman of the group, often drawing fire, charging in, smiting evil for tons of damage, protecting the weak and making sure no one failed a save or hardly took damage from spells. We got hit point blank by a 46damage fireball, my aura let everyone have +5 on saves and resistance. 12 damage each. I often rushed people to give them a healing hand to get them back up.
If this kinda theme isn't what you're looking for, a half orc version works well too. Their racial ability is incredible. Oath of the crown has additional ways to try and get people forced to attack you.
If dwarf i think dwarf monk is a kinda interesting thing, there's a feat that let's them heal when they take the dodge action (dwarves) and monks can use ki to dodge as a bonus action.
Going fighter, maybe battle master, gives you tons of cool options for being a close up bodyguard, taking or preventing damage for someone close, maneuvers that let's your team move out of the way and so on(swap places with them). Perhaps a Goliath battle master? Weapon and shield, protect someone close.
An aaracokra tank seems like a waste of a flyer. Outside of that, nothing wrong with an old-fashioned dwarf fighter.
Exactly what I was going to say! The classics are classics for a reason, dwarf fighter is fun.
One Soldier backstory I’ve wanted to use for a dwarf is that he was wounded and could have been killed by an orc on the opposing side, but instead the orc escorted him safely from the battlefield. Now he’s sworn off war in favor of adventuring, and hopes to one day find and thank the orc for saving his life.
I'm going to go off the rails of the original meaning of this post and maybe you could explain your ideas too, but here is a somewhat ridiculous, but powerful character build.
You know how the Kobold race in Volo's Guide to Monster's has the Pack Tactics trait (The kobold has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the kobold's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated) and the rouge skill Sneak Attack reallies on having advantage on the attack. Now if you were to have a kobold rouge in the BACKPACK of a close range character (Fighter, barbarian, etc), you have an incredable damage output for sneak attack every turn.
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Well met! Welcome fellow adventurers, to Waterdeep! Ignore the drunken dwarf trying to flip off all the giants in existence and the Tempus-worshiping bounty hunter setting homes on fire with a flaming boat. If you see them dropping short swords on Citadel Felbarr, don't be worried. It is a usual occurrence.
If you already have a barbarian, it would make sense to try something different, so I'd say that should help you narrow it down. Based on the interest in a "tank build" I'd say either fighter or paladin would be your best bet. For a "tank build" you're going to need to be able to take damage and deal it. Monks can deal damage but they're a lot more about precision and tact, while rangers are more about using the environment to your advantage. That narrows it down to two options- paladin or fighter. The logical question there is what interests your friend more? Would they prefer to focus on combat or are they interested in exploring a divine magic?
If your friend is interested in the idea of experimenting with a dedicated warrior and using magic, than he could try going paladin. If he's more interested in combat and wants something more straightforward, I'd say go with a fighter. Both classes can equip heavy armor and weapons, which will be helpful if he wants to go the route of acting as a tank for the party.
As far as coming up with a backstory, there is only so much I can do without knowing more about your game world, but a good place to start would be to think about why your character fights. Is she a mercenary fighting for coin? A gladiator who fights for entertainment? Does she have any rules about who she fights and how she fights or is she willing to take anything? Is she acting for herself or for others? Don't worry too much about fitting it into the lore of your world right away, just start trying to come up with some ideas about what motivates your character.
You also mentioned some possible races. You could look at some of the lore surrounding those candidates and see if you can find some ideas from there. You mentioned one possibility being a goliath, a race that's known for its great strength and a constant desire to outdo themselves. Maybe your goliath fighter has been a gladiator for some time and fought all the major opponents, and now joins the party hoping to find a greater challenge.
A half-orc could have some good opportunities depending on what human-orc relations are like in your world. Perhaps this half-orc character has been stuck in between two worlds and looked down on by humans and/or orcs. The fighting pits were the only place that would accept them and they took out a lot of pent-up rage from years of being excluded by both humans and orcs on their opponents. Or they took up the sword in the hopes of fighting back against the oppressive system that has mistreated half-orcs and are looking for a good opportunity at payback or justice. Or maybe they just get a thrill out of combat and love a good challenge. Or you could write a subversion of the usual orc stereotype and make a half-orc who is committed to fighting with honor and dignity.
Similarly with a dwarf you could look at a few different possibilities. They're often stereotypically associated with hammers and axes but if your friend is feeling ambitious he could experiment with trying a different combination of weapons. Maybe a dwarf who relies on dual flails or swordplay?
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I'm in a D&D group and one of our players can't think of what to play. He knows he wants a tank build but has no other ideas besides that.
We've narrowed the races down to: Goliath Aarakocora, Half-Orc, Dwarf, and Dragonborn.
We've also narrowed it down to the Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, Monk, or Paladin class.
Our party already has 1 goliath barbarian and plenty of support. I've thought that either the "folk hero" or "soldier" backgrounds will help with building a backstory but other than that I've hit a wall. He cant think of a character or backstory but neither can I. Any ideas would be helpful.
An aaracokra tank seems like a waste of a flyer. Outside of that, nothing wrong with an old-fashioned dwarf fighter.
Have you used the roll tables in PHB to get started? Or the Heroic Chronicle in EGtW.
it’s difficult to fill in blanks for a character with no race, class, background or idea to start from.
Well if he wants to play Goliath Barbarian as well, he should be allowed to play the character he wants to play.
Two barbarians can be a lot of fun. They could go for completely different sub classes, and even if they don't, the way they play the characters will be completely different.
It could help with backstory, the Goliaths are brothers and are always trying to one up each other.
Start with asking what makes the character a tank. Are they simply huge, and spent their whole lives being the person other people hid behind? Are they too stubborn to go down when they're "supposed" to? Are they heavily armored (artificers can be tanky too)? Do they enjoy the pain and adrenaline rush that comes with taking damage? That could help guide race and class decisions, as well as getting a start on the backstory.
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)
As for tanks, if it's not just survivability for the character, but also aggro the paladin Class can bring some fun to the table.
A paladin also provides excellent saves for themselves and others, with warding bond they can take half the damage someone else will, heal if needed and are also great for damage with smites (especially waiting for crits).
If you also go down the path of oath of the ancients paladin you will grant resistance to all spells, the combination (if 20 charisma) means you also grant +5 to all saves. In effect this means a fireball most of the time will deal 1/4 damage. This is pretty tanky. With lay on hands if needed, impressive auras and the warding bond on friendly spellcaster you're likely to be a primary target for anyone that want to win against your team, doesn't fill the tank role much more than that. The full plate armor, plus shield, doesn't make things worse for you.
The high charisma means you ALSO fill a social slot.
I know paladins often seem to get multiclassed to other classes like sorcerer, but... I've played both a combination (because it fit so well with the story I just had to take sorcerer levels) and a straight paladin.
Theme: half elf paladin, oath of the ancients, bringer of joy. The goal is, be the light in the world. Live life to the fullest, bring joy where you can. Chaotic good.
I had a mitral halfplate, skipped the shield and soloed a longsword with the thought I could swap between bow and sword but ended up just using the sword because I gave the bow away. Should have gotten a shield but never got around to it.
I took the chef feat for some good food, had a hewards bag of spices thing, made glorious food each morning. And of course I played the lute everywhere we went. Entertainer background. Tons of roleplay.
In battle I was the tactical pointman of the group, often drawing fire, charging in, smiting evil for tons of damage, protecting the weak and making sure no one failed a save or hardly took damage from spells. We got hit point blank by a 46damage fireball, my aura let everyone have +5 on saves and resistance. 12 damage each. I often rushed people to give them a healing hand to get them back up.
If this kinda theme isn't what you're looking for, a half orc version works well too. Their racial ability is incredible. Oath of the crown has additional ways to try and get people forced to attack you.
If dwarf i think dwarf monk is a kinda interesting thing, there's a feat that let's them heal when they take the dodge action (dwarves) and monks can use ki to dodge as a bonus action.
Going fighter, maybe battle master, gives you tons of cool options for being a close up bodyguard, taking or preventing damage for someone close, maneuvers that let's your team move out of the way and so on(swap places with them). Perhaps a Goliath battle master? Weapon and shield, protect someone close.
Anything like this?
Exactly what I was going to say! The classics are classics for a reason, dwarf fighter is fun.
One Soldier backstory I’ve wanted to use for a dwarf is that he was wounded and could have been killed by an orc on the opposing side, but instead the orc escorted him safely from the battlefield. Now he’s sworn off war in favor of adventuring, and hopes to one day find and thank the orc for saving his life.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
I'm going to go off the rails of the original meaning of this post and maybe you could explain your ideas too, but here is a somewhat ridiculous, but powerful character build.
You know how the Kobold race in Volo's Guide to Monster's has the Pack Tactics trait (The kobold has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the kobold's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated) and the rouge skill Sneak Attack reallies on having advantage on the attack. Now if you were to have a kobold rouge in the BACKPACK of a close range character (Fighter, barbarian, etc), you have an incredable damage output for sneak attack every turn.
Well met! Welcome fellow adventurers, to Waterdeep! Ignore the drunken dwarf trying to flip off all the giants in existence and the Tempus-worshiping bounty hunter setting homes on fire with a flaming boat. If you see them dropping short swords on Citadel Felbarr, don't be worried. It is a usual occurrence.
Please check out my homebrew creations the Scion Succubus Variant and the Sentient Gazer with a Corpse!
If you already have a barbarian, it would make sense to try something different, so I'd say that should help you narrow it down. Based on the interest in a "tank build" I'd say either fighter or paladin would be your best bet. For a "tank build" you're going to need to be able to take damage and deal it. Monks can deal damage but they're a lot more about precision and tact, while rangers are more about using the environment to your advantage. That narrows it down to two options- paladin or fighter. The logical question there is what interests your friend more? Would they prefer to focus on combat or are they interested in exploring a divine magic?
If your friend is interested in the idea of experimenting with a dedicated warrior and using magic, than he could try going paladin. If he's more interested in combat and wants something more straightforward, I'd say go with a fighter. Both classes can equip heavy armor and weapons, which will be helpful if he wants to go the route of acting as a tank for the party.
As far as coming up with a backstory, there is only so much I can do without knowing more about your game world, but a good place to start would be to think about why your character fights. Is she a mercenary fighting for coin? A gladiator who fights for entertainment? Does she have any rules about who she fights and how she fights or is she willing to take anything? Is she acting for herself or for others? Don't worry too much about fitting it into the lore of your world right away, just start trying to come up with some ideas about what motivates your character.
You also mentioned some possible races. You could look at some of the lore surrounding those candidates and see if you can find some ideas from there. You mentioned one possibility being a goliath, a race that's known for its great strength and a constant desire to outdo themselves. Maybe your goliath fighter has been a gladiator for some time and fought all the major opponents, and now joins the party hoping to find a greater challenge.
A half-orc could have some good opportunities depending on what human-orc relations are like in your world. Perhaps this half-orc character has been stuck in between two worlds and looked down on by humans and/or orcs. The fighting pits were the only place that would accept them and they took out a lot of pent-up rage from years of being excluded by both humans and orcs on their opponents. Or they took up the sword in the hopes of fighting back against the oppressive system that has mistreated half-orcs and are looking for a good opportunity at payback or justice. Or maybe they just get a thrill out of combat and love a good challenge. Or you could write a subversion of the usual orc stereotype and make a half-orc who is committed to fighting with honor and dignity.
Similarly with a dwarf you could look at a few different possibilities. They're often stereotypically associated with hammers and axes but if your friend is feeling ambitious he could experiment with trying a different combination of weapons. Maybe a dwarf who relies on dual flails or swordplay?