I was hoping to solicit some character build ideas. I’d like to build a charisma based character (levels 12-15) who would be a good king? What classes or build ideas come to your mind, or might you suggest? Perhaps a bard with a focus on oration? Or a paladin warrior king? Or a diviner capable of seeing the future?
Not an evil king, but one capable of ruling well or justly. What abilities, features, or feats would you think would fit a king well?
I’m imagining a typical medieval fantasy style kingdom somewhere in forgotten realms. For likely on the smaller side. But to be honest, I’m open to ideas. Perhaps it is a secret dwarven stronghold hidden deep under a mountain. Initially I was imagining a more human centric realm not quite large enough to be a threat to neighbors, but still vital to the area.
Initially I imagined a more peaceful, but rugged culture with more of an emphasis on diplomacy and survival. But again, I’m open to ideas.
[Redacted] Your character easily could be a king in exile, a prince who might become a king one day, someone who wants to overthrow a dictator and install themselves as king. Plenty of perfectly good character ideas that would fit your question. And, even if you were making a character who was actively a king, they do not know what game you are playing. Perhaps that is what your party has agreed to play, with various people serving as advisors. Perhaps you are engaging in a one-player game (either solo play or one player and one DM). Or, perhaps there is something else going on. Posting just to say one's idea is dumb, without actually getting the context, is never helpful--which I expect was their aim all along, given they baited you into a simple answer instead of asking a more complicated question that would actually allow them to get the information they needed to give a worthwhile critique.
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To actually answer your question without gatekeeping, any of the options you listed would be good for different reasons. To be actually useful, the options you listed would all work. Bard holds high charisma, spells useful to leadership, and a large number of useful skill options. Paladins have Cha as a secondary stat and fit the noble holy warrior archetype common throughout history. A diviner who can wheel or woe their kingdom would certainly be helpful - though, that might make a better advisor than the king themself.
To provide some other ideas beyond what you already considered:
Sorcerers are Charisma casters who derive their power from their bloodline--that gives them an inherent lineage element that could fit well with a monarch who derives their authority through their lineage. This could be a particularly fun option for a prince who went missing at birth (think Cymbeline)--your sorcerer's blood could be a marker of your royal blood.
Fighter is another good option, giving you martial prowess. 2024 Fighters have some additional tools to make them a bit more effective out of combat, which could help with some of the Charisma options. The Samurai subclass has some specific Charisma elements.
Warlock is another Charisma class which could be interested and a bit unexpected. If you are a character looking to regain/gain a kingdom, you could make the pact with a powerful entity to help you in your quest. Divine Warlock could work for a "good" Warlock, and also has a fun little "Divine Right of Kings" element you could work in.
Plenty of options - think about what you want to do and what you want to play, then figure out a way to marry those two concepts.
Thanks Caerwyn_Glyndwr for the support, and for the many ideas. I think I want to explore the idea of leadership, and what it means to be a leader. Though of course every leader is different.
I am looking to create a charisma based character., and I’ve been seeking ideas of what others might think a king might be like in D&D. For me, I often think of a leader as one who seeks to serve and protect others. For example, a paladin might fall into that category, especially their Aura of Protection.
I also imagine a leader or king as someone who attempts to solve things with words first, before the sword, in the attempt to save the lives of his subjects. You gave the good example of a bard. And their skills would certainly be useful.
And I also think leaders must be strong to do the things that others might not. But what might aid or exemplify strength in this case in D&D is open to interpretation.
What is leadership to you, and how might you personify it in D&D? What combination of feats, class abilities, or spells might make for a successful leader, role playing aside?
It really is important to know what the character would be the king of and who, to get an idea of how to pick the class and attributes of a PC that "would" be king. Are they a lost heir to a specific kingdom, a commoner working their way up a social ladder, a bumbling idiot that blunders their way into a throne...
Personally, I wouldn't ignore anyone offering advice, but I would take all of it with a grain of salt.
I mean, is this an abstract idea, or something you're looking to bring to a table that's getting ready to play? If it's the latter, have you run this by anyone yet? Because, while there's pretty much no truly objective "wrong" way to play, it's gonna be a pretty big "Main Character Syndrome" red flag if you sit down for session 0 and tell people cold that you're planning to play a king. That's a lot of implicit extra influence on the setting you're bringing to bear if you start off as a reigning monarch. Not outright unworkable, but it's something you'd need to workshop out with the DM well in advance, if they and the rest of the table are amenable.
To add to the class suggestions, a Battlemaster Fighter is a good pick as well; there's a maneuver to help with social rolls and it generally fits one of the classic fighting king tropes to have a highly educated sort of subclass background.
I was hoping to solicit some character build ideas. I’d like to build a charisma based character (levels 12-15) who would be a good king? What classes or build ideas come to your mind, or might you suggest? Perhaps a bard with a focus on oration? Or a paladin warrior king? Or a diviner capable of seeing the future?
Not an evil king, but one capable of ruling well or justly. What abilities, features, or feats would you think would fit a king well?
What is the nature of the culture this King would lead? Knowing that would impact the functional side of the choices.
I’m imagining a typical medieval fantasy style kingdom somewhere in forgotten realms. For likely on the smaller side. But to be honest, I’m open to ideas. Perhaps it is a secret dwarven stronghold hidden deep under a mountain. Initially I was imagining a more human centric realm not quite large enough to be a threat to neighbors, but still vital to the area.
Initially I imagined a more peaceful, but rugged culture with more of an emphasis on diplomacy and survival. But again, I’m open to ideas.
PC. But it could just as easily be an NPC with class levels, right?
[Redacted]
Your character easily could be a king in exile, a prince who might become a king one day, someone who wants to overthrow a dictator and install themselves as king. Plenty of perfectly good character ideas that would fit your question. And, even if you were making a character who was actively a king, they do not know what game you are playing. Perhaps that is what your party has agreed to play, with various people serving as advisors. Perhaps you are engaging in a one-player game (either solo play or one player and one DM). Or, perhaps there is something else going on. Posting just to say one's idea is dumb, without actually getting the context, is never helpful--which I expect was their aim all along, given they baited you into a simple answer instead of asking a more complicated question that would actually allow them to get the information they needed to give a worthwhile critique.
----
To actually answer your question without gatekeeping, any of the options you listed would be good for different reasons. To be actually useful, the options you listed would all work. Bard holds high charisma, spells useful to leadership, and a large number of useful skill options. Paladins have Cha as a secondary stat and fit the noble holy warrior archetype common throughout history. A diviner who can wheel or woe their kingdom would certainly be helpful - though, that might make a better advisor than the king themself.
To provide some other ideas beyond what you already considered:
Sorcerers are Charisma casters who derive their power from their bloodline--that gives them an inherent lineage element that could fit well with a monarch who derives their authority through their lineage. This could be a particularly fun option for a prince who went missing at birth (think Cymbeline)--your sorcerer's blood could be a marker of your royal blood.
Fighter is another good option, giving you martial prowess. 2024 Fighters have some additional tools to make them a bit more effective out of combat, which could help with some of the Charisma options. The Samurai subclass has some specific Charisma elements.
Warlock is another Charisma class which could be interested and a bit unexpected. If you are a character looking to regain/gain a kingdom, you could make the pact with a powerful entity to help you in your quest. Divine Warlock could work for a "good" Warlock, and also has a fun little "Divine Right of Kings" element you could work in.
Plenty of options - think about what you want to do and what you want to play, then figure out a way to marry those two concepts.
Thanks Caerwyn_Glyndwr for the support, and for the many ideas. I think I want to explore the idea of leadership, and what it means to be a leader. Though of course every leader is different.
I am looking to create a charisma based character., and I’ve been seeking ideas of what others might think a king might be like in D&D. For me, I often think of a leader as one who seeks to serve and protect others. For example, a paladin might fall into that category, especially their Aura of Protection.
I also imagine a leader or king as someone who attempts to solve things with words first, before the sword, in the attempt to save the lives of his subjects. You gave the good example of a bard. And their skills would certainly be useful.
And I also think leaders must be strong to do the things that others might not. But what might aid or exemplify strength in this case in D&D is open to interpretation.
What is leadership to you, and how might you personify it in D&D? What combination of feats, class abilities, or spells might make for a successful leader, role playing aside?
It really is important to know what the character would be the king of and who, to get an idea of how to pick the class and attributes of a PC that "would" be king. Are they a lost heir to a specific kingdom, a commoner working their way up a social ladder, a bumbling idiot that blunders their way into a throne...
Personally, I wouldn't ignore anyone offering advice, but I would take all of it with a grain of salt.
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
I mean, is this an abstract idea, or something you're looking to bring to a table that's getting ready to play? If it's the latter, have you run this by anyone yet? Because, while there's pretty much no truly objective "wrong" way to play, it's gonna be a pretty big "Main Character Syndrome" red flag if you sit down for session 0 and tell people cold that you're planning to play a king. That's a lot of implicit extra influence on the setting you're bringing to bear if you start off as a reigning monarch. Not outright unworkable, but it's something you'd need to workshop out with the DM well in advance, if they and the rest of the table are amenable.
To add to the class suggestions, a Battlemaster Fighter is a good pick as well; there's a maneuver to help with social rolls and it generally fits one of the classic fighting king tropes to have a highly educated sort of subclass background.
King Arthur would be a Paladin.
King Charlemagne would be a Cleric.
Beowulf would be a Barbarian.
The Dragon King would be a Sorcerer.
MacBeth would be a Warlock.
King Richard would be a Fighter.
King John would be a Rogue.
Louis XIV would be a Bard.
The Druid King would be a Druid.
King Solomon would be a Wizard.
The Monkey King would be a Monk.