What would be the most optimized character you could create if you rolled a 3 in every score? For some reason, you are going to try to keep this character alive as long as possible.
A Hill Dwarf Life Cleric, maybe? No speed reduction from wearing heavy armor, so the low STR/DEX doesn't hurt as much (though encumbrance will still be a problem). +CON and WIS with extra HP gives you a fighting chance. Bless and Shield of Faith don't factor in your spellcasting modifier or DC, along with a host of other Cleric buffs. Life bonuses offset the negatives that I assume your spellcasting modifier imposes on your healing spells (this doesn't come up much, but there's no "if positive" rider on the spells). You won't be very good at doing much, but you'll still be a halfway-decent support character. Human might also be a good play to turn all those -4 modifiers into -3, but it's still pushing into a lot of barriers.
Moon Druid is another good pick, since (assuming you found some way to survive to level 2) the animal shift replaces your physical stats, at least.
Moon Druid is another good pick, since (assuming you found some way to survive to level 2) the animal shift replaces your physical stats, at least.
Great ideas. You could even combine the two: 1 Life Cleric/X Moon Druid. Goodberry doesn't rely on your spellcasting ability and benefits disproportionately from Disciple of Life (1 HP per berry -> 4 HP per berry).
Unless the DM is charming me with his or her bard skills, I'm making a wizard and bum rushing the first pc I see.
Seriously, you're not keeping this character alive even if you try. For me, best case scenario is a goliath fighter. You've got stone's endurance, second wind, and the defense style to help keep you alive. If your DM is kind, you might be able to convince him or her that your powerful build should negate your encumbrance penalties. At -3 hp mod at every level, you actually have a case for rolling your hp. Assuming you survive to 20, you've got enough ASIs to maybe have +0 in two abilities?
You have 5 Con and +1hp per level. That makes you at least a bit durable. You also have +1 Wis and your spells only have a -3 modifier.
Remember that there is no minimum for hp increase per level. So rolling could actually kill you... (heart attack from what you just experienced?)
You could then try to get resilient constitution which raises Con to a great 6 that is only a -2 penalty and you may now actually make some concentration checks and some melee.
That´s it. You are nearly as durable as a wizard with 10 Con. Not great, but also not too bad. Well chosen healing spells and buff spells and you may even pull your own weight. Edit: all you can wear however is a ring mail. Not even a shield is possible. Maybe breast plate and shield may also work which will be even lighter than ring mail, but too expensive at level 1. On the other hand a shield and weapon won´t do you a lot good. Your AC is bad anyway, you won´t hit or do damage. So maybe increasing Str may be a priority. Either by just increasing strength by 2 which will increase your carrying capacity by 66%, or by heavy armor mastery. That will greatly increase your staying power.
A different idea might be variant human, taking +1con and +1str at level 1 and chosing tough as your starting feat. That will allow you to actually wear ringmail and shield and will let you start with good enough equippment. A different approach might be chosing heavy armor mastery at level 1 since it will increase your surability in hand to hand combat by a greater margin. You also have enough strength for both chain mail and a shield. resilient consitution comes at level 4. You won´t increase wisdom because to be honest, that +1 to DC and healing spells won´t do a lot for you.
Well you know for a fact you can't be a wizard- you'd literally kill yourself because your hp would be so low.
It would probably be nice to be a hill dwarf Druid (circle of the moon) or barbarian (path of the totem warrior- bear). As the Druid you'd be able to turn into a beast during combat and not have to worry about being so weak anymore. You'll be a regular character. As the barbarian you'll have more health, unfortunately your armor class will be terrible, but you can Rage + take half damage on pretty much everything which is a big deal if you have very little health.
If those don't work I'd suggest trying to build a class with the highest possible AC without having to do any crazy shenanigans...
Remember that there is no minimum for hp increase per level. So rolling could actually kill you... (heart attack from what you just experienced?)
I had approached the hypothetical with the Mearls min, but I guess this is one of those things Mearls and Crawford disagree on. Perhaps Keith didn't like the answer he got from Mearls?
Mearls isn't a great person to ask for rules questions; it's not part of his job description. His answers aren't official and he makes mistakes fairly often.
I would definately go with Wizard. I'd focus on improving Constitution who ever I could. And takes all spells that have no save or attack roll. The wizard's Int doesn't matter when he casts Sleep it would actually be a lot of fun trying weasel your way out of death with each encounter. Only trouble is with low Int come few prepared spell. So plan carefully.
I'd go with a Firbolg Cleric of Life. Firbolg gives you both +2 to Wisdom and Powerful Build (which you are going to need if you actually want to be able to carry anything. like rations?)
With that, I can equip chain mail and a shield/mace. Unfortunately I would only have 4hp - so would have to pray/bully the DM into allowing average HP gain on level up (that would be 5-4=1 per level until Con can be boosted/Tough feat acquired due to Con modifier of -4)
Goliath Firbolg (Moon) Druid - Hire myself out to adventuring parties to carry supplies. All ASI go into Wisdom. Hope for the 19 INT headband magic item. CHA is left low both mechanically and fits within the RP of the character.
Edit: Forgot that Firbolgs also had Powerful Build. Replace Goliath with Firbolg and do the same thing.
A commoner who is often stricken with illnes just trying not to die lol! Using his mightier lantern to lit up the area and hope he doesn't get targeted by anything, stats of three across the board.. Even my DM would let your enroll those stats lol! Though ours the lowest you can get is 4, we roll an extra dice then drop the lowest unless it's a 1.... And he did roll one of his 12k npcs as all 4's, he just survives in a shop trying to help his family and not be a burden since he can barely walk lol
A commoner who is often stricken with illnes just trying not to die lol! Using his mightier lantern to lit up the area and hope he doesn't get targeted by anything, stats of three across the board.. Even my DM would let your enroll those stats lol! Though ours the lowest you can get is 4, we roll an extra dice then drop the lowest unless it's a 1.... And he did roll one of his 12k npcs as all 4's, he just survives in a shop trying to help his family and not be a burden since he can barely walk lol
edit: on further thoughts I'd play a rogue I think, or a fighter, specialize in thrown weapons and use splash weapons like acid flasks and alchemist fire. Use human for the stat boosts, con and dex if having to chose two and use the feat for more hp. Pop those dex and con up so you don't accidentally ropnthrnalchemistnfire on yourself instead of throwing it
It's gotta be a Moon Druid. Wildshapes mean you don't have to worry about your physical scores at all, they're all being replaced anyway. This means that you can actually fight (And kill) squishies wearing cloth. On top of that, you can sneak around, even though your stealth is terrible, and that keeps you alive.
Got something wearing medium or heavy armor? Great! Heat Metal allows for no save, no roll required persistent damage which Also gives it disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks. Keep in mind that even medium armor takes at minimum 10 rounds to remove, and the whole time they're doing that, they're not doing other things, and once they finish, they've got no armor. So Heat Metal is pretty reliably able to be used for as long as you want, or until the target is dead. If you're scared they'll kill you in the meantime, just Meld into Stone and hide in there while things are heating up outside.
For race, you'll want variant human for the bonus feat, or if not that, then yeah, Firbolg or something with powerful build for the bonus carry capacity.
Now, as far as target items and feats (ability score increases are worthless, you'll never get them high enough to matter), an amulet of health and gauntlets of ogre power are priority #1 and 2, as the amulet of health will give you +7 hp per level, and make you actually able to maintain concentration checks, while the gauntlets of ogre power will let you actually carry equipment and use stuff while also providing you with an option for combat which is not solely reliant on wildshapes. Other great options include a Broom of Flying and / or eventually a cloak of invisibility to keep you out of the thick of things as much as possible.
As far as feats, ritual caster (wizard) is always helpful. Healer is also great. Neither relies on your stats at all, and ritual caster (wizard) gives you +500lb carrying capacity. War Caster will help maintain concentration, and Mage Slayer is handy for you as well. You'll also need to be Lucky to survive, so that's a great feat as well, if you get that far.
It should be pointed out even with this, the character won't survive. Saves vs Wis, Int or Cha are going to be failed left and right, even with the proficiency bonus in Wis and Int, so unless you have a dedicated Bard or Wizard throwing out counterspells to keep your mind from being taken over, it's only a matter of time. Still, I firmly believe this gives you the Best chance to live.
Assuming level 2 or higher, Human Moon Druid. Nobody ever wants to play regular humans, but this would wind up giving you +1 to all your saves, +1 AC, +1 HP/Level, +1 Initiative, etc etc etc. Always turn into a support type creatures, stay the hell out of combat since any hit that KO's your animal form could KO you with those low HP (Start at 5, average 2 HP/Level after that)
This character is a sack of butts, but since your total starting ability point total is about 45 total points lower than average (assuming 3D6 x 6), the 6 stat points available to humans provides your best chance of survival. If you can make it to level 4, 8, and 12 and get an ASI, I'd probably pick up Tough since it's equal to +4 Con for you worth of HP, Alert since that's +10 Dex for the sake of determining if you or the thing that will kill you gets to make the first move, and Lucky since luck is the ONLY way you can survive. No reason to try upping your stats since they'll never NOT be terrible and any one of them would be your downfall. Just go for the feats that affect game rules directly. I would have suggested Resilient, but lucky is about the same probability increase and can be uses in more versatile situations.
Yeah, lucky and tough feats would be very important I think. I will agree to that. I'd think no casters though, their spells would be too easily resisted if they even had the ability to cast spells with stats that bad.
Yeah, lucky and tough feats would be very important I think. I will agree to that. I'd think no casters though, their spells would be too easily resisted if they even had the ability to cast spells with stats that bad.
That's why you focus on spells which have no save, like heat metal. 5e doesn't have a minimum spellcasting stat in order to cast, the only time your stats affect your ability is when you're under a feeblemind effect, and even then is the exception, not the rule, as having a 1 in a stat otherwise does not preclude casting.
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What would be the most optimized character you could create if you rolled a 3 in every score? For some reason, you are going to try to keep this character alive as long as possible.
And that's all I have to say about that.
A Hill Dwarf Life Cleric, maybe? No speed reduction from wearing heavy armor, so the low STR/DEX doesn't hurt as much (though encumbrance will still be a problem). +CON and WIS with extra HP gives you a fighting chance. Bless and Shield of Faith don't factor in your spellcasting modifier or DC, along with a host of other Cleric buffs. Life bonuses offset the negatives that I assume your spellcasting modifier imposes on your healing spells (this doesn't come up much, but there's no "if positive" rider on the spells). You won't be very good at doing much, but you'll still be a halfway-decent support character. Human might also be a good play to turn all those -4 modifiers into -3, but it's still pushing into a lot of barriers.
Moon Druid is another good pick, since (assuming you found some way to survive to level 2) the animal shift replaces your physical stats, at least.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
Multiclassing would be difficult because you wouldn't meet stat prereqs
Good point. I rarely have to worry about those so I tend to forget they exist.
Unless the DM is charming me with his or her bard skills, I'm making a wizard and bum rushing the first pc I see.
Seriously, you're not keeping this character alive even if you try. For me, best case scenario is a goliath fighter. You've got stone's endurance, second wind, and the defense style to help keep you alive. If your DM is kind, you might be able to convince him or her that your powerful build should negate your encumbrance penalties. At -3 hp mod at every level, you actually have a case for rolling your hp. Assuming you survive to 20, you've got enough ASIs to maybe have +0 in two abilities?
I´d also suggest a hill dwarf cleric.
You have 5 Con and +1hp per level. That makes you at least a bit durable. You also have +1 Wis and your spells only have a -3 modifier.
Remember that there is no minimum for hp increase per level. So rolling could actually kill you... (heart attack from what you just experienced?)
You could then try to get resilient constitution which raises Con to a great 6 that is only a -2 penalty and you may now actually make some concentration checks and some melee.
That´s it. You are nearly as durable as a wizard with 10 Con. Not great, but also not too bad. Well chosen healing spells and buff spells and you may even pull your own weight. Edit: all you can wear however is a ring mail. Not even a shield is possible. Maybe breast plate and shield may also work which will be even lighter than ring mail, but too expensive at level 1. On the other hand a shield and weapon won´t do you a lot good. Your AC is bad anyway, you won´t hit or do damage. So maybe increasing Str may be a priority. Either by just increasing strength by 2 which will increase your carrying capacity by 66%, or by heavy armor mastery. That will greatly increase your staying power.
A different idea might be variant human, taking +1con and +1str at level 1 and chosing tough as your starting feat. That will allow you to actually wear ringmail and shield and will let you start with good enough equippment. A different approach might be chosing heavy armor mastery at level 1 since it will increase your surability in hand to hand combat by a greater margin. You also have enough strength for both chain mail and a shield. resilient consitution comes at level 4. You won´t increase wisdom because to be honest, that +1 to DC and healing spells won´t do a lot for you.
Well you know for a fact you can't be a wizard- you'd literally kill yourself because your hp would be so low.
It would probably be nice to be a hill dwarf Druid (circle of the moon) or barbarian (path of the totem warrior- bear). As the Druid you'd be able to turn into a beast during combat and not have to worry about being so weak anymore. You'll be a regular character. As the barbarian you'll have more health, unfortunately your armor class will be terrible, but you can Rage + take half damage on pretty much everything which is a big deal if you have very little health.
If those don't work I'd suggest trying to build a class with the highest possible AC without having to do any crazy shenanigans...
Mearls isn't a great person to ask for rules questions; it's not part of his job description. His answers aren't official and he makes mistakes fairly often.
I would definately go with Wizard. I'd focus on improving Constitution who ever I could. And takes all spells that have no save or attack roll. The wizard's Int doesn't matter when he casts Sleep it would actually be a lot of fun trying weasel your way out of death with each encounter. Only trouble is with low Int come few prepared spell. So plan carefully.
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I'd go with a Firbolg Cleric of Life. Firbolg gives you both +2 to Wisdom and Powerful Build (which you are going to need if you actually want to be able to carry anything. like rations?)
With that, I can equip chain mail and a shield/mace. Unfortunately I would only have 4hp - so would have to pray/bully the DM into allowing average HP gain on level up (that would be 5-4=1 per level until Con can be boosted/Tough feat acquired due to Con modifier of -4)
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Sounds like a 2E Gully dwarf!
GoliathFirbolg (Moon) Druid - Hire myself out to adventuring parties to carry supplies. All ASI go into Wisdom. Hope for the 19 INT headband magic item. CHA is left low both mechanically and fits within the RP of the character.Edit: Forgot that Firbolgs also had Powerful Build. Replace Goliath with Firbolg and do the same thing.
A commoner who is often stricken with illnes just trying not to die lol! Using his mightier lantern to lit up the area and hope he doesn't get targeted by anything, stats of three across the board.. Even my DM would let your enroll those stats lol! Though ours the lowest you can get is 4, we roll an extra dice then drop the lowest unless it's a 1.... And he did roll one of his 12k npcs as all 4's, he just survives in a shop trying to help his family and not be a burden since he can barely walk lol
It's gotta be a Moon Druid. Wildshapes mean you don't have to worry about your physical scores at all, they're all being replaced anyway. This means that you can actually fight (And kill) squishies wearing cloth. On top of that, you can sneak around, even though your stealth is terrible, and that keeps you alive.
Got something wearing medium or heavy armor? Great! Heat Metal allows for no save, no roll required persistent damage which Also gives it disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks. Keep in mind that even medium armor takes at minimum 10 rounds to remove, and the whole time they're doing that, they're not doing other things, and once they finish, they've got no armor. So Heat Metal is pretty reliably able to be used for as long as you want, or until the target is dead. If you're scared they'll kill you in the meantime, just Meld into Stone and hide in there while things are heating up outside.
For race, you'll want variant human for the bonus feat, or if not that, then yeah, Firbolg or something with powerful build for the bonus carry capacity.
Now, as far as target items and feats (ability score increases are worthless, you'll never get them high enough to matter), an amulet of health and gauntlets of ogre power are priority #1 and 2, as the amulet of health will give you +7 hp per level, and make you actually able to maintain concentration checks, while the gauntlets of ogre power will let you actually carry equipment and use stuff while also providing you with an option for combat which is not solely reliant on wildshapes. Other great options include a Broom of Flying and / or eventually a cloak of invisibility to keep you out of the thick of things as much as possible.
As far as feats, ritual caster (wizard) is always helpful. Healer is also great. Neither relies on your stats at all, and ritual caster (wizard) gives you +500lb carrying capacity. War Caster will help maintain concentration, and Mage Slayer is handy for you as well. You'll also need to be Lucky to survive, so that's a great feat as well, if you get that far.
It should be pointed out even with this, the character won't survive. Saves vs Wis, Int or Cha are going to be failed left and right, even with the proficiency bonus in Wis and Int, so unless you have a dedicated Bard or Wizard throwing out counterspells to keep your mind from being taken over, it's only a matter of time. Still, I firmly believe this gives you the Best chance to live.
Assuming level 2 or higher, Human Moon Druid. Nobody ever wants to play regular humans, but this would wind up giving you +1 to all your saves, +1 AC, +1 HP/Level, +1 Initiative, etc etc etc. Always turn into a support type creatures, stay the hell out of combat since any hit that KO's your animal form could KO you with those low HP (Start at 5, average 2 HP/Level after that)
This character is a sack of butts, but since your total starting ability point total is about 45 total points lower than average (assuming 3D6 x 6), the 6 stat points available to humans provides your best chance of survival. If you can make it to level 4, 8, and 12 and get an ASI, I'd probably pick up Tough since it's equal to +4 Con for you worth of HP, Alert since that's +10 Dex for the sake of determining if you or the thing that will kill you gets to make the first move, and Lucky since luck is the ONLY way you can survive. No reason to try upping your stats since they'll never NOT be terrible and any one of them would be your downfall. Just go for the feats that affect game rules directly. I would have suggested Resilient, but lucky is about the same probability increase and can be uses in more versatile situations.
Yeah, lucky and tough feats would be very important I think. I will agree to that. I'd think no casters though, their spells would be too easily resisted if they even had the ability to cast spells with stats that bad.