I have a fun idea for a character and already ran through it with my DM and he's approved. I essentially want to make moonknight but dnd. The way I want this set up is one body but 3 characters. Two will quickly learn of each other and work together but the third will lurk. I know I want to go with a cleric and a barbarian as the lurking character. I want to have a class that is the everyday stuff guy, a class for the fighting and danger, and barb that will only come out at like 25% hp that will only kill. I don't know if I want to do cleric as the combat class or something else but I'm set on these two classes. I need help figuring out if cleric for combat is the right choice and who to have for everyday stuff or visa versa.
I am aiming to have a unique and fun character but I don't want to always be the center of attention. I understand that other people are playing and will want to do something cool so I want to actively avoid making the character great in every category of the game. Kind of why I want to make cleric the fighting personality as it is less of a central character in that aspect and more of a background/supporting character. We have two paladins, a barbarian, a sorcerer, and a monk in the party outside my current character that will be killed off soon. A decent amount of the people are newer to dnd than I am so, while I want a fun character, I want to try to play off them as much as I can. Can anyone help with some input on what the third character could be and whether that character should be the combat one or the everyday one? I might just make one character and give them the attacks and abilities of the others or just make three separate sheets, idk. The physical stats will remain the same on all but maybe the other stats will be different or just have the scores swapped around or something, not sure yet. We roll for stats so maybe I roll well enough I don't have to bother with them at all.
This is one of those things that the DM and other players might agree to before the campaign, but which can quickly become problematic in terms of actual gameplay. The biggest problem, as presently designed, is that you are cherrypicking classes that give you advantages based on where you are at. Low on health? Congratulations, you have now switched over to a class that can give itself resistance to the most common damage types. These kinds of semi-scripted changes can also make things difficult on other party members - imagine you are in a tough fight and are really counting on your cleric to provide some heals and they suddenly become a barbarian. There also is just the general frustration that can come when someone is playing something very far outside the established rules, since players might feel the character got a neat and special dispensation from the DM.
You will want to keep those potential pitfalls in mind when designing and roleplaying your character, and be extra careful to pay attention to how other players might react.
A better way to do this - don’t have it begin at session one. Over the course of your adventures - no earlier than a third of the way into the campaign - your character could become cursed in some way. That tends to play better, if it (a) organically grew out of the story, and (b) feels more like a DM-driven moment, rather than a player asking for unique treatment.
It also can help if you make the transformation timetable a bit less chaotic - while not as close to the character you are going for, there are ways to add the transformation, without adding as much chaos that interferes with the other party members. For example, “every short and long rest, roll 1d4. On a 1-3, stay the same persona; on a 4 switch.” That provides some stability, while also having a decent chance of switching once or twice a session. You could even have the DM roll a d100 whenever you do that, and that gives whatever chance they choose for the third persona to come out (which would always wear off at the next rest, so it doesn’t stay around too long).
You could do it very differently, use the lowest HP of all classes and go rogue, fighter, cleric and warlock. But again the issue is having 4 different PC's vs 1 PC for everyone else.
Now if everyone is doing something sort of like you, maybe have more levels then you or some other series of things to keep play balance. But I think switching personalities, nor remembering what the other might know and just PC drama might be more then the group expects.
Having said that I have played and let players play unusual concepts that worked out and some broke the game so have something in place if the PC does not work out the way you and your GM think it will.
Well, the "balance" is already off as there are 6 in the party and 2 of which have gotten lucky with 2 decks of many things and are 1 lvl higher than the rest of us. I wanted to do this character because 1) dm wants to have some sort of death in the party and since I'm the most experienced, I volunteered my character. 2) I saw a meme that sparked the idea and I want to play interesting characters. I'm less of a fighting only player and more of a role player. I've had several moments of making my character do something that I knew wouldn't work but I figured my character wouldn't. 3) I want to show the rest of the people at the "table" that they can make dynamic character and don't have to stick to "can I wack good?". My other character was a drug addict and had fun making light of things when I felt it appropriate and make people really enjoy playing. So, while I want to do this character, I figured asking people here who definitely have more experience with homebrew than I do, what their opinions are and advice. So I can make it fun for me and the other people and help promote out of the box thinking.
Well, the "balance" is already off as there are 6 in the party and 2 of which have gotten lucky with 2 decks of many things and are 1 lvl higher than the rest of us. I wanted to do this character because 1) dm wants to have some sort of death in the party and since I'm the most experienced, I volunteered my character. 2) I saw a meme that sparked the idea and I want to play interesting characters. I'm less of a fighting only player and more of a role player. I've had several moments of making my character do something that I knew wouldn't work but I figured my character wouldn't. 3) I want to show the rest of the people at the "table" that they can make dynamic character and don't have to stick to "can I wack good?". My other character was a drug addict and had fun making light of things when I felt it appropriate and make people really enjoy playing. So, while I want to do this character, I figured asking people here who definitely have more experience with homebrew than I do, what their opinions are and advice. So I can make it fun for me and the other people and help promote out of the box thinking.
The info you provided there is very important to your question on advice. As it provides a lot more detail for people to try and come up with ideas to solve your issues.
3) above is a potential serious issue for me just reading it, I want to show people... It can be very minor but again it can be a problem. So why do you have to show people they can or have to make dynamic PC's? Also not all games are that way and even in games I have played in with more Dyn PC's there were some that were more fleshed out then others.
At times I have made PC's to show what I expect from a player in my game to create. But most of the time we just want to play and are often rushing to finish basic stuff and do not have time until later to try and iron out other things.
Since you are going to die and this PC can go at anytime try stuff out and do not expect it to last.
From my point of view 4 classes each based on one of the phase of the moon and the rest vastly depends on your GM and group as it sounds complicated. Also not I have no problem playing in groups with higher levels PC's 3+ then others but some really freak out at that.
Good Luck
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I have a fun idea for a character and already ran through it with my DM and he's approved. I essentially want to make moonknight but dnd. The way I want this set up is one body but 3 characters. Two will quickly learn of each other and work together but the third will lurk. I know I want to go with a cleric and a barbarian as the lurking character. I want to have a class that is the everyday stuff guy, a class for the fighting and danger, and barb that will only come out at like 25% hp that will only kill. I don't know if I want to do cleric as the combat class or something else but I'm set on these two classes. I need help figuring out if cleric for combat is the right choice and who to have for everyday stuff or visa versa.
I am aiming to have a unique and fun character but I don't want to always be the center of attention. I understand that other people are playing and will want to do something cool so I want to actively avoid making the character great in every category of the game. Kind of why I want to make cleric the fighting personality as it is less of a central character in that aspect and more of a background/supporting character. We have two paladins, a barbarian, a sorcerer, and a monk in the party outside my current character that will be killed off soon. A decent amount of the people are newer to dnd than I am so, while I want a fun character, I want to try to play off them as much as I can. Can anyone help with some input on what the third character could be and whether that character should be the combat one or the everyday one? I might just make one character and give them the attacks and abilities of the others or just make three separate sheets, idk. The physical stats will remain the same on all but maybe the other stats will be different or just have the scores swapped around or something, not sure yet. We roll for stats so maybe I roll well enough I don't have to bother with them at all.
This is one of those things that the DM and other players might agree to before the campaign, but which can quickly become problematic in terms of actual gameplay. The biggest problem, as presently designed, is that you are cherrypicking classes that give you advantages based on where you are at. Low on health? Congratulations, you have now switched over to a class that can give itself resistance to the most common damage types. These kinds of semi-scripted changes can also make things difficult on other party members - imagine you are in a tough fight and are really counting on your cleric to provide some heals and they suddenly become a barbarian. There also is just the general frustration that can come when someone is playing something very far outside the established rules, since players might feel the character got a neat and special dispensation from the DM.
You will want to keep those potential pitfalls in mind when designing and roleplaying your character, and be extra careful to pay attention to how other players might react.
A better way to do this - don’t have it begin at session one. Over the course of your adventures - no earlier than a third of the way into the campaign - your character could become cursed in some way. That tends to play better, if it (a) organically grew out of the story, and (b) feels more like a DM-driven moment, rather than a player asking for unique treatment.
It also can help if you make the transformation timetable a bit less chaotic - while not as close to the character you are going for, there are ways to add the transformation, without adding as much chaos that interferes with the other party members. For example, “every short and long rest, roll 1d4. On a 1-3, stay the same persona; on a 4 switch.” That provides some stability, while also having a decent chance of switching once or twice a session. You could even have the DM roll a d100 whenever you do that, and that gives whatever chance they choose for the third persona to come out (which would always wear off at the next rest, so it doesn’t stay around too long).
You could do it very differently, use the lowest HP of all classes and go rogue, fighter, cleric and warlock. But again the issue is having 4 different PC's vs 1 PC for everyone else.
Now if everyone is doing something sort of like you, maybe have more levels then you or some other series of things to keep play balance. But I think switching personalities, nor remembering what the other might know and just PC drama might be more then the group expects.
Having said that I have played and let players play unusual concepts that worked out and some broke the game so have something in place if the PC does not work out the way you and your GM think it will.
Good Luck and Have Fun
Well, the "balance" is already off as there are 6 in the party and 2 of which have gotten lucky with 2 decks of many things and are 1 lvl higher than the rest of us. I wanted to do this character because 1) dm wants to have some sort of death in the party and since I'm the most experienced, I volunteered my character. 2) I saw a meme that sparked the idea and I want to play interesting characters. I'm less of a fighting only player and more of a role player. I've had several moments of making my character do something that I knew wouldn't work but I figured my character wouldn't. 3) I want to show the rest of the people at the "table" that they can make dynamic character and don't have to stick to "can I wack good?". My other character was a drug addict and had fun making light of things when I felt it appropriate and make people really enjoy playing. So, while I want to do this character, I figured asking people here who definitely have more experience with homebrew than I do, what their opinions are and advice. So I can make it fun for me and the other people and help promote out of the box thinking.
The info you provided there is very important to your question on advice. As it provides a lot more detail for people to try and come up with ideas to solve your issues.
3) above is a potential serious issue for me just reading it, I want to show people... It can be very minor but again it can be a problem. So why do you have to show people they can or have to make dynamic PC's? Also not all games are that way and even in games I have played in with more Dyn PC's there were some that were more fleshed out then others.
At times I have made PC's to show what I expect from a player in my game to create. But most of the time we just want to play and are often rushing to finish basic stuff and do not have time until later to try and iron out other things.
Since you are going to die and this PC can go at anytime try stuff out and do not expect it to last.
From my point of view 4 classes each based on one of the phase of the moon and the rest vastly depends on your GM and group as it sounds complicated. Also not I have no problem playing in groups with higher levels PC's 3+ then others but some really freak out at that.
Good Luck