So just out of pure curiosity I wanted to see if a somewhat competent build could be made for a 12th level character with 1 level in every class. I know its completely ridiculous and way less powerful than a normal 12th level character but it's something I wanted to do anyway. This is what I've got so far, tell me if you can think of other options! I'm avoiding Unearthed Arcana and homebrew but anything else is fair game. I'm also assuming the character will start at level 12, so the order you get class levels doesn't matter except for the starting class.
Race: Half-Elf - Using point buy system allows a stat spread of 13, 14, 8, 13, 14, 16. The -1 to constitution is unfortunate but allows a 16 Charisma, 14 Dexterity and 14 Wisdom (which allows slightly better spellcasting and AC). Other spreads and races work - variant human can make a similar build sacrificing the added point to Wisdom or Dexterity for a Feat that increases Charisma which could be preferable.
Starting Level: Rogue - Highest Number of starting proficiency's plus Expertise with Thieves Tools means you'll always have some use as the party's lockpicker.
Warlock: Hexblade Patron - Hex Warrior allows us to use our higher Charisma for attack rolls for one weapon (rapier) which I believe still allows Sneak Attack as it only stipulates that a finesse weapon is used for the attack. Eldritch Blast and Toll the Dead as cantrips and Hex and Armour of Agathys as first level spells.
Wizard: Low Intelligence means we should avoid spells with attack rolls and saving throws. Booming Blade, Prestidigitation and Mage Hand for cantrips and Alarm, Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Find Familiar, Feather Fall and Shield as first level spells (since we can only prepare 2 of these spells a day).
Bard: Message and Vicious Mockery for cantrips and Disguise Self, Dissonant Whispers, Silent Image and Sleep for 1st level spells.
Sorcerer: Divine Soul - Gives us a way of casting Cleric spells through our better spellcasting ability as well as Favoured by the Gods for when we inevitably miss an important attack. The spells here can be varied but I went with Green-Flame Blade, Sacred Flame, Ray of Frost and Minor Illusion for cantrips and Inflict Wounds and Magic Missile (as well as Cure wounds from Divine Soul) for 1st level spells.
Cleric: Forge Domain - Blessing of the Forge essentially gives a +1 to one weapon which stacks with Hex Warrior as long as you use Blessing first and always prepared identify is useful. Guidance, Light and Spare the Dying as cantrips and prepare Bless, Protection from Evil and Good and Shield of Faith.
Druid: Druidcraft and Mending as cantrips and prepare Absorb Elements, Healing Word and Speak with Animals.
Fighter: Dueling Fighting Style makes our rapier a little more damaging although Protection and Defense are also beneficial.
Ranger (Revised): Personal preference for Favoured Enemy but I went with Humanoids as I feel this character may get into shenanigans with NPCs and may need to fight their way out.
Barbarian: Using medium armour still allows us to Rage if there's a door that needs broken down but we lose our spells in exchange for only +2 damage. Use as utility.
Paladin: Not much to say here. Divine Sense and Lay on Hands have some utility.
Monk: Unfortunately all the Level 1 Monk abilities require using no armour or shields. You could sacrifice your AC and use a shortsword instead of a rapier for bonus action attacks but with only 14 Dexterity it's not really worth it.
Overall this gives us 16 Cantrips, 21 first level spells, 5 caster levels, a spell DC of 15 and spell attack bonus of +7 (for Charisma spells) around 54 HP, 9 proficiency's, proficiency with all armour and weapons, an AC of 18 (Breastplate + Shield) and a whole bunch of other stuff. In terms of damage, Hex warrior and Blessing of the Forge gives an attack bonus with our rapier of +8 and damage could look something like this: 1d8 + 4 (Normal Weapon Damage) + 2 (Fighting Style) + 2 (If Humanoid) + 1d6 (If Hex is cast) + 4 (If Hexblade's Curse is active) + 2d8 (Booming Blade (another 3d8 if the target moves)) + 1d6 (Sneak Attack). Obviously this is in a best case scenario but with proper time and preparation it isn't impossible.
There's so many other ways this idea could work, I'm curious if there's anything that could make this even more viable!
I think I tried thinking of a character like this once, I didn't go into depth of it's spells or subclasses but I did determine that it was possible. When I did it I started as Wizard and put Int as my dump stat cause there's a minimum Int requirement to multiclass into Wizard, but not too start as Wizard.
I think as far as 12th level characters goes being a member of every class is... less than ideal. Although you do actually have somewhat decent DPR, and you're definitely an interesting character.
But by level 20 you could be decent in combat if you go Sorlock, 2 levels in Warlock for Agonizing Blast, 8 levels in Sorcerer for Quickened Cast and Sorcery Points, plus 1 level in the 10 other classes. You'll get two ASIs which would let you max out your Charisma, you'll be a 12 level caster and have access to 4th level spells, and you'd have 5 d6 inspiration dice from Bard.
The one thing that bothers me if that you said you avoided UA for the build but also used Revised Ranger.
When I first started thinking about this I also was going to start Wizard with an Int dump but apparently you need a 13 in the ability score of both your old and new class, so you need at least a 13 in everything except Con.
Yea there's so many ways to go to level 20 that I'm a little scared of tackling it but your method of going Sorlock is probably the most effective. Although, getting more levels in Monk would actually give it some use in the form of ki points, Druid gives Wild Shape for longevity, Fighter's action surge could be extremely useful to just Do More Things, Sorcerers Metamagic could ramp the damage up really high, the list goes on.
And yea the main reason for not using UA is because it increases everything by so much that it'd be even more difficult to research and decide which spells and subclasses etc. I chose to use Revised Ranger mostly because I just don't like the normal version and the revised is so much easier to keep track of things (which is important for a character where the main difficulty is keeping track of things). I'm not opposed to using UA and might return to this idea with some UA things but for now I'm keeping it (relatively) simple.
I think I tried thinking of a character like this once, I didn't go into depth of it's spells or subclasses but I did determine that it was possible. When I did it I started as Wizard and put Int as my dump stat cause there's a minimum Int requirement to multiclass into Wizard, but not too start as Wizard.
It's worth noting that you do need to fulfill the multiclass requirement for the character class you start with:
To qualify for a new class, you must meet the ability score prerequisites for both your current class and your new one, as shown in the Multiclassing Prerequisites table.
I did not realize you needed to meet the requirement for your starting class. Hmm, I guess there's not really a good way of getting around the Con requirement, although if you're going Sorlock you could go Draconic Sorcerer and get 8 extra HP.
You would need to either have your dm waive the druid limitations on metal armor or find/make non-metal half plate. Essentially, its a raging moon druid that smites as it bites. Advantage from vengeance paladin, a third attack via war cleric. Most spell options are problem solving or non casting stat dependent. Your wildshape will probably get popped, so its not exactly great.. but its as useful as i can think a build like this can be.
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So just out of pure curiosity I wanted to see if a somewhat competent build could be made for a 12th level character with 1 level in every class. I know its completely ridiculous and way less powerful than a normal 12th level character but it's something I wanted to do anyway. This is what I've got so far, tell me if you can think of other options! I'm avoiding Unearthed Arcana and homebrew but anything else is fair game. I'm also assuming the character will start at level 12, so the order you get class levels doesn't matter except for the starting class.
Race: Half-Elf - Using point buy system allows a stat spread of 13, 14, 8, 13, 14, 16. The -1 to constitution is unfortunate but allows a 16 Charisma, 14 Dexterity and 14 Wisdom (which allows slightly better spellcasting and AC). Other spreads and races work - variant human can make a similar build sacrificing the added point to Wisdom or Dexterity for a Feat that increases Charisma which could be preferable.
Starting Level: Rogue - Highest Number of starting proficiency's plus Expertise with Thieves Tools means you'll always have some use as the party's lockpicker.
Warlock: Hexblade Patron - Hex Warrior allows us to use our higher Charisma for attack rolls for one weapon (rapier) which I believe still allows Sneak Attack as it only stipulates that a finesse weapon is used for the attack. Eldritch Blast and Toll the Dead as cantrips and Hex and Armour of Agathys as first level spells.
Wizard: Low Intelligence means we should avoid spells with attack rolls and saving throws. Booming Blade, Prestidigitation and Mage Hand for cantrips and Alarm, Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Find Familiar, Feather Fall and Shield as first level spells (since we can only prepare 2 of these spells a day).
Bard: Message and Vicious Mockery for cantrips and Disguise Self, Dissonant Whispers, Silent Image and Sleep for 1st level spells.
Sorcerer: Divine Soul - Gives us a way of casting Cleric spells through our better spellcasting ability as well as Favoured by the Gods for when we inevitably miss an important attack. The spells here can be varied but I went with Green-Flame Blade, Sacred Flame, Ray of Frost and Minor Illusion for cantrips and Inflict Wounds and Magic Missile (as well as Cure wounds from Divine Soul) for 1st level spells.
Cleric: Forge Domain - Blessing of the Forge essentially gives a +1 to one weapon which stacks with Hex Warrior as long as you use Blessing first and always prepared identify is useful. Guidance, Light and Spare the Dying as cantrips and prepare Bless, Protection from Evil and Good and Shield of Faith.
Druid: Druidcraft and Mending as cantrips and prepare Absorb Elements, Healing Word and Speak with Animals.
Fighter: Dueling Fighting Style makes our rapier a little more damaging although Protection and Defense are also beneficial.
Ranger (Revised): Personal preference for Favoured Enemy but I went with Humanoids as I feel this character may get into shenanigans with NPCs and may need to fight their way out.
Barbarian: Using medium armour still allows us to Rage if there's a door that needs broken down but we lose our spells in exchange for only +2 damage. Use as utility.
Paladin: Not much to say here. Divine Sense and Lay on Hands have some utility.
Monk: Unfortunately all the Level 1 Monk abilities require using no armour or shields. You could sacrifice your AC and use a shortsword instead of a rapier for bonus action attacks but with only 14 Dexterity it's not really worth it.
Overall this gives us 16 Cantrips, 21 first level spells, 5 caster levels, a spell DC of 15 and spell attack bonus of +7 (for Charisma spells) around 54 HP, 9 proficiency's, proficiency with all armour and weapons, an AC of 18 (Breastplate + Shield) and a whole bunch of other stuff. In terms of damage, Hex warrior and Blessing of the Forge gives an attack bonus with our rapier of +8 and damage could look something like this: 1d8 + 4 (Normal Weapon Damage) + 2 (Fighting Style) + 2 (If Humanoid) + 1d6 (If Hex is cast) + 4 (If Hexblade's Curse is active) + 2d8 (Booming Blade (another 3d8 if the target moves)) + 1d6 (Sneak Attack). Obviously this is in a best case scenario but with proper time and preparation it isn't impossible.
There's so many other ways this idea could work, I'm curious if there's anything that could make this even more viable!
How abserd
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I think I tried thinking of a character like this once, I didn't go into depth of it's spells or subclasses but I did determine that it was possible. When I did it I started as Wizard and put Int as my dump stat cause there's a minimum Int requirement to multiclass into Wizard, but not too start as Wizard.
I think as far as 12th level characters goes being a member of every class is... less than ideal. Although you do actually have somewhat decent DPR, and you're definitely an interesting character.
But by level 20 you could be decent in combat if you go Sorlock, 2 levels in Warlock for Agonizing Blast, 8 levels in Sorcerer for Quickened Cast and Sorcery Points, plus 1 level in the 10 other classes. You'll get two ASIs which would let you max out your Charisma, you'll be a 12 level caster and have access to 4th level spells, and you'd have 5 d6 inspiration dice from Bard.
The one thing that bothers me if that you said you avoided UA for the build but also used Revised Ranger.
When I first started thinking about this I also was going to start Wizard with an Int dump but apparently you need a 13 in the ability score of both your old and new class, so you need at least a 13 in everything except Con.
Yea there's so many ways to go to level 20 that I'm a little scared of tackling it but your method of going Sorlock is probably the most effective. Although, getting more levels in Monk would actually give it some use in the form of ki points, Druid gives Wild Shape for longevity, Fighter's action surge could be extremely useful to just Do More Things, Sorcerers Metamagic could ramp the damage up really high, the list goes on.
And yea the main reason for not using UA is because it increases everything by so much that it'd be even more difficult to research and decide which spells and subclasses etc. I chose to use Revised Ranger mostly because I just don't like the normal version and the revised is so much easier to keep track of things (which is important for a character where the main difficulty is keeping track of things). I'm not opposed to using UA and might return to this idea with some UA things but for now I'm keeping it (relatively) simple.
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D&D Beyond FoundersIt's worth noting that you do need to fulfill the multiclass requirement for the character class you start with:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/customization-options#Prerequisites
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I did not realize you needed to meet the requirement for your starting class. Hmm, I guess there's not really a good way of getting around the Con requirement, although if you're going Sorlock you could go Draconic Sorcerer and get 8 extra HP.
DawnForgeCast on YouTube just put up a similar build.
Watch your back, conserve your ammo,
and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
Look up Puffin Forest on YouTube as well
Ok heres my critique: Its Flipping awesome man. Good job.
However here's what you need to know about multiclassing.
Some cantrips are garbage. Spare the dying please.
Drop Monk: its not really giving you anything.
Interesting build for sure.
Ok so lets look at where else to add to this. Say were driving all the way to 20 and we get Artificer. Post your ideas.
not the bard-bearians
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
Here, I even threw in Blood Hunter https://ddb.ac/characters/26676407/rBSYdT
You would need to either have your dm waive the druid limitations on metal armor or find/make non-metal half plate. Essentially, its a raging moon druid that smites as it bites. Advantage from vengeance paladin, a third attack via war cleric. Most spell options are problem solving or non casting stat dependent. Your wildshape will probably get popped, so its not exactly great.. but its as useful as i can think a build like this can be.