Friends, I played lots of DnD before and I was playing support characters like cleric and abjuration wizard(crowd control focused) lately. Now I am in a new campaign with newbie friends and I rolled for my stats pretty decent too(17-17-17-14-13-8). The problem is about creating the character I wanted to play an offensive character this time but my party picked vengeance paladin, moon druid, and drunken master monk so if I pick something offensive we are likely to die and I want them to have fun and love this game that I loved so much. What should I do I changed my character 6-7 times already and I could not create something that I love :(
If you know what you need in order to have fun, then don't compromise. If that means your party is more vulnerable, then so be it. A high stakes game can be its own fun.
Rule 1) Talk to your DM
Your DM is in control of the world, and should be prioritizing everyone's enjoyment. They have unlimited tools for adapting the world to your party. Let them know your concerns and see what they have to say.
For example, I'm DMing for an all caster party, so I ran a quick "calibration" encounter to see what would happen before getting into the "real" campaign. I'll be making adjustments accordingly. That might include giving the party a "Sidekick" with a bit more durability, starting them off at a higher level, or giving them a boon or two to even the playing field.
Rule 2) Talk to your Party
If your goal is for everyone to have fun, then gently explain the Pros and Cons of your party composition in a supportive way. If everyone is still onboard, give it a shot, and act as a role model for how to navigate both success and failure. Worst case scenario, you face a TPK and get to start fresh. Best case scenario, your party barely scrapes by in new and exciting ways that are unique to your group. Win/Win!
I would play what you want. You aren't being a bad player this way. D&D does not require a certain party composition they way a raid in an MMO does. And honestly the only potential hole I see in the party is that unless someone has it in their background, you don't really have anyone to pick locks and find traps. Not necessary by any means, but if a Rogue fits into one of your ideas of an offensive character, you'd both be filling a gap in the parties skills, but also be playing the kind of character you want to.
An unusual party compositions can be a lot of fun, and you might be surprised how they push you to come up with interesting solutions to problems. You mentioned that the other players are new. Hopefully your DM is not going to throw them into the hardest encounters possible in that case. And if they do, well, what happens isn't your fault and you playing whatever sort of character it is you feel obligated to play isn't going to save the party. You're friends are much more likely to have a good time if you are also having a good time, and a character you don't like won't help you do that.
Is your issue that you have a character you love but that you think that it doesn't fit into the party, or is it that you can't make one you love at all?
If it's the former, use the character you want to use - particularly if you have been playing the supporting roles for a while and want to take on some more direct action. With a druid and a paladin, you should be able to get some healing spells in the party. If the DM is good, they'll give non-healing parties more health potions to keep the game fun. You shouldn't have a bad game because no-one picked a support unit - just a different one.
If it's the latter, what is it that you're struggling to love? Are you trying to find a playstyle you like, or struggling to make a character you like?
If you do feel obligated to play some support, try out a bard. They are extremely versatile and you gain a useful mix of offensive, control and healing spells. That way you could be offensive while still helping out with the healing/crowd control areas that you seem to feel are necessary.
Current party is Monk, Druid, Fighter Barbarian. Not a lot of heals and seriously short on magic. With a good DM, our biggest "issue" is toting a bunch of magical items around without knowing what they are until we hit a town where someone can Identify them. Minor inconvenience at best.
Pick a class you love, go with it and trust your DM to NOT screw the group over from missing something (ie: arcane magic or some such)
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
Yup. I tend to rule that the players can spend a few hours studying a magic item, and at the end of that period they can attempt an Intelligence check to identify its purpose. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
You can play a character that pumps out damage and is still a supporter. An offensive cleric with spirit guardians and spiritual weapon will be doing some pretty legit damage but can pull out a healing word when needed.
You can be an Ancestral Barbarian and use your reaction all the time to reduce damage to others and your turn just start smashing faces.
Cavalier fighter can pump out damage while actively making the enemy pay for targeting someone else but you.
Celestial Warlock can pump out Eldritch Blast + Hex damage all day an still be able to toss a Healing Light BA out.
Mercy Monk can punch the life back into people while punching the life out of others.
Bladesinger wizard means you can cut through people and good luck to an enemy to get you to drop the buff you put on the paladin....you are the master of concentration.
There are a LOT of offensive options that have great support features built in.
With the custom lineage option from Tasha's, you can start out with
STR 19
Con 17
DEX 14
INT 13/8
Wisdom 17
CHA 8/13
Start out as fighter 2.
For your bonus feat, go with PAM or dual wield for extra attacks. PAM is a bit better because you get a lot of opportunity attacks in addition to your bonus attack. Pick a fighting style to taste.
From there, go Tempest Cleric. If you don't care about action surge or a fighting style, you can just go straight tempest cleric.
Your first ASI splits between STR and WIS. You now have top-tier offensive melee and casting stats.
You also get a complete suite of cleric support spells.
Second ASI is sentinel (with PAM). Congratulations. You are now a controlling roadblock. If you went dual wielding, Warcaster is a good choice too. Or you could take magic initiate to get Booming Blade for more raw damage.
Congratulations. You are now one of the best blasters in the game, and can wreck in melee by using multiple attacks + spirit guardians
Yup. I tend to rule that the players can spend a few hours studying a magic item, and at the end of that period they can attempt an Intelligence check to identify its purpose. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
By RAW, a character can spend a short rest and identify an item. From DMG:
Alternatively, a character can focus on one magic item during a short rest, while being in physical contact with the item. At the end of the rest, the character learns the item’s properties, as well as how to use them. Potions are an exception; a little taste is enough to tell the taster what the potion does.
I understand people wanting to house rule that you need the spell, or just generally making it more difficult but RAW, characters can just do it in an hour, so magic required.
And to the OP, I’m another vote for play what you want. No matter which class you choose, it will make some things easier and some things harder. Just do what’s fun for you.
Yup. I tend to rule that the players can spend a few hours studying a magic item, and at the end of that period they can attempt an Intelligence check to identify its purpose. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
By RAW, a character can spend a short rest and identify an item. From DMG:
Alternatively, a character can focus on one magic item during a short rest, while being in physical contact with the item. At the end of the rest, the character learns the item’s properties, as well as how to use them. Potions are an exception; a little taste is enough to tell the taster what the potion does.
I understand people wanting to house rule that you need the spell, or just generally making it more difficult but RAW, characters can just do it in an hour, so magic required.
And to the OP, I’m another vote for play what you want. No matter which class you choose, it will make some things easier and some things harder. Just do what’s fun for you.
I tend to think that the time to work out a magic item's purpose is a little more complex. For me, my house rule is that it takes verying legnths of time depending on what the characters say they will try to find out and also how complex the item is (you can work out a +1 shortsword in a matter of minutes, for example).
A party with a strong front line takes less damage overall
A party that does a lot of damage can kill things quickly so they take less damage
Play what you want. It will probably be fine, especially if you pick something with durability. As a DM, I would consider balancing things for this party (if it is even needed) to be my job, not yours.
5e is extremely forgiving of team composition. This isn't an MMO where if you sing don't bring a tank, two dps, and a healer into the dungeon then you might as well not bother trying. There's not really any such thing as an "unbalanced 5e party", and if you're a little light on support, maybe your DM helps out a little by making healing potions more common in the world.
20 levels of draconic bloodline sorcerer. Take fireball. convert all your spellslots into sorcery points. turn all of your new sorcery points into 3rd level spellslots. you now have 17 3rd level spellslots, and 20 other sorcery points. Every turn, expend two third level spellslots, and two sorcery points, and cast fireball twice for 16d6 damage.
NOTHING, AND I MEAN NOTHING, IS MORE FUN THAN BEING ABLE TO CAST FIREBALL TWICE IN ONE TURN.
If this doesn't work, 15 levels of lore bard. Get expertise in persuasion. Persuade commoners to kill themselves. Add your bardic inspiration die to this, and roll an average of 32 on your persuasion with maxed charisma.
Friends, I played lots of DnD before and I was playing support characters like cleric and abjuration wizard(crowd control focused) lately. Now I am in a new campaign with newbie friends and I rolled for my stats pretty decent too(17-17-17-14-13-8). The problem is about creating the character I wanted to play an offensive character this time but my party picked vengeance paladin, moon druid, and drunken master monk so if I pick something offensive we are likely to die and I want them to have fun and love this game that I loved so much. What should I do I changed my character 6-7 times already and I could not create something that I love :(
Talk to the other players. Discuss who might want to play different roles.
Rule 0) Have Fun
If you know what you need in order to have fun, then don't compromise. If that means your party is more vulnerable, then so be it. A high stakes game can be its own fun.
Rule 1) Talk to your DM
Your DM is in control of the world, and should be prioritizing everyone's enjoyment. They have unlimited tools for adapting the world to your party. Let them know your concerns and see what they have to say.
For example, I'm DMing for an all caster party, so I ran a quick "calibration" encounter to see what would happen before getting into the "real" campaign. I'll be making adjustments accordingly. That might include giving the party a "Sidekick" with a bit more durability, starting them off at a higher level, or giving them a boon or two to even the playing field.
Rule 2) Talk to your Party
If your goal is for everyone to have fun, then gently explain the Pros and Cons of your party composition in a supportive way. If everyone is still onboard, give it a shot, and act as a role model for how to navigate both success and failure. Worst case scenario, you face a TPK and get to start fresh. Best case scenario, your party barely scrapes by in new and exciting ways that are unique to your group. Win/Win!
The Druid can heal, buff, tank, AOE, and control. Paladins can heal, tank, DPR and buff. The monk can control with respectable DPR if using tashas.
I don’t know why you wouldn’t be able to choose anything you wanted.
I would play what you want. You aren't being a bad player this way. D&D does not require a certain party composition they way a raid in an MMO does. And honestly the only potential hole I see in the party is that unless someone has it in their background, you don't really have anyone to pick locks and find traps. Not necessary by any means, but if a Rogue fits into one of your ideas of an offensive character, you'd both be filling a gap in the parties skills, but also be playing the kind of character you want to.
An unusual party compositions can be a lot of fun, and you might be surprised how they push you to come up with interesting solutions to problems. You mentioned that the other players are new. Hopefully your DM is not going to throw them into the hardest encounters possible in that case. And if they do, well, what happens isn't your fault and you playing whatever sort of character it is you feel obligated to play isn't going to save the party. You're friends are much more likely to have a good time if you are also having a good time, and a character you don't like won't help you do that.
Play what you want.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Is your issue that you have a character you love but that you think that it doesn't fit into the party, or is it that you can't make one you love at all?
If it's the former, use the character you want to use - particularly if you have been playing the supporting roles for a while and want to take on some more direct action. With a druid and a paladin, you should be able to get some healing spells in the party. If the DM is good, they'll give non-healing parties more health potions to keep the game fun. You shouldn't have a bad game because no-one picked a support unit - just a different one.
If it's the latter, what is it that you're struggling to love? Are you trying to find a playstyle you like, or struggling to make a character you like?
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If you do feel obligated to play some support, try out a bard. They are extremely versatile and you gain a useful mix of offensive, control and healing spells. That way you could be offensive while still helping out with the healing/crowd control areas that you seem to feel are necessary.
Chilling kinda vibe.
Current party is Monk, Druid, Fighter Barbarian. Not a lot of heals and seriously short on magic. With a good DM, our biggest "issue" is toting a bunch of magical items around without knowing what they are until we hit a town where someone can Identify them. Minor inconvenience at best.
Pick a class you love, go with it and trust your DM to NOT screw the group over from missing something (ie: arcane magic or some such)
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
Yup. I tend to rule that the players can spend a few hours studying a magic item, and at the end of that period they can attempt an Intelligence check to identify its purpose. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Chilling kinda vibe.
You can play a character that pumps out damage and is still a supporter. An offensive cleric with spirit guardians and spiritual weapon will be doing some pretty legit damage but can pull out a healing word when needed.
You can be an Ancestral Barbarian and use your reaction all the time to reduce damage to others and your turn just start smashing faces.
Cavalier fighter can pump out damage while actively making the enemy pay for targeting someone else but you.
Celestial Warlock can pump out Eldritch Blast + Hex damage all day an still be able to toss a Healing Light BA out.
Mercy Monk can punch the life back into people while punching the life out of others.
Bladesinger wizard means you can cut through people and good luck to an enemy to get you to drop the buff you put on the paladin....you are the master of concentration.
There are a LOT of offensive options that have great support features built in.
Those are god-tier stats.
With the custom lineage option from Tasha's, you can start out with
By RAW, a character can spend a short rest and identify an item. From DMG:
Alternatively, a character can focus on one magic item during a short rest, while being in physical contact with the item. At the end of the rest, the character learns the item’s properties, as well as how to use them. Potions are an exception; a little taste is enough to tell the taster what the potion does.
I understand people wanting to house rule that you need the spell, or just generally making it more difficult but RAW, characters can just do it in an hour, so magic required.
And to the OP, I’m another vote for play what you want. No matter which class you choose, it will make some things easier and some things harder. Just do what’s fun for you.
I tend to think that the time to work out a magic item's purpose is a little more complex. For me, my house rule is that it takes verying legnths of time depending on what the characters say they will try to find out and also how complex the item is (you can work out a +1 shortsword in a matter of minutes, for example).
Chilling kinda vibe.
Play what you want. It will probably be fine, especially if you pick something with durability. As a DM, I would consider balancing things for this party (if it is even needed) to be my job, not yours.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
5e is extremely forgiving of team composition. This isn't an MMO where if you sing don't bring a tank, two dps, and a healer into the dungeon then you might as well not bother trying. There's not really any such thing as an "unbalanced 5e party", and if you're a little light on support, maybe your DM helps out a little by making healing potions more common in the world.
Play what to love, don't worry.
Unless it turns out you're doing the Tomb of Horrors. Then make sure you have a rogue with high perception and investigation at least.
Chilling kinda vibe.
Truth spoken here.....
I actually did the Tomb with a divine soul sorcerer and a rogue as the whole party once. We made perception checks every step of the way.
[I'm really proud of this, so I might brag about it a bit.]
Chilling kinda vibe.
20 levels of draconic bloodline sorcerer. Take fireball. convert all your spellslots into sorcery points. turn all of your new sorcery points into 3rd level spellslots. you now have 17 3rd level spellslots, and 20 other sorcery points. Every turn, expend two third level spellslots, and two sorcery points, and cast fireball twice for 16d6 damage.
NOTHING, AND I MEAN NOTHING, IS MORE FUN THAN BEING ABLE TO CAST FIREBALL TWICE IN ONE TURN.
If this doesn't work, 15 levels of lore bard. Get expertise in persuasion. Persuade commoners to kill themselves. Add your bardic inspiration die to this, and roll an average of 32 on your persuasion with maxed charisma.