we are about to start a new campaign with only 2 players at level 1. The other player is going to play a thiefling warlock of the fiend. Campaign is going to be lots of roleplay but also quite a lot of combat including some dungeons which promise to be quite challenging even for a more numerous party.
Both of us are getting a bonus feat at level 1 (since there are just the 2 of us). The warlock is probably going to use that to get healing word to have a way of getting me back up should I go down. Not the most optimal choice possibly but loosing 1/2 players is like loosing half of our action economy.
What would your advice be for the second character. I figure some kind of melee character so we got some coverage when we get into melee.
Atm I'm thinking about a variant human paladin with a polearm but any suggestions are more than welcome.
Polearm paladin is a good choice, I defiantly suggest you get tough as that extra 2 hp per level may sound not a lot but trust me when I say that can help. Warlock might want to look into staying near your moment speed of distance just in case since warlock is a bit squishy. Aside from that it depends how creative you two are, setting traps, ambushing enemies when they are alone, and making use of the terrain are just some simple things that can be expanded upon for various effects. Hope this helps, Good Luck!
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Hi I'm Chris! Been playing and DMing DND for 9+ years, I still love to learn but I still wish to share my stories and experiences for others to enjoy/view. May the dice ever be in your favor! :)
Tough I'll look into but at the moment our first priority is to set up easy synergies. (which is easier said than done) So we are actually looking into how we are going to cover a lot of bases (since most seems impossible) while trying not to fall into the trap of jack of all trades but master of none.
A tall challenge, but it sounds like fun atm. And the fact that she is a warlock who has EB at will should help a lot for recurring good damage.
Depending on how long your campaign will run, Druid or Clerics. Moon Druid is the strongest Class on level 2, period. Both of them are full casters so none of them will fall off on later levels (although Druid might be tricky in the mid-level range). Clerics can just about do everything they want from healing to blasting to supporting to fighting. Standalone, Druids and Clerics are probably the strongest classes in the game, and with only two characters, I'd highly recommend either.
Is there a specific druid subclass or druid subclass that you would advise for? Moondruids are indeed superstrong at low level for the bear transformation.
Moon Druid is my recommendation if you know the campaign will only last until level 5-6ish. Land Druid is the better one of the rest (normally I would suggest Shepard, but your group is too small to leverage it), I'd suggest Grassland in particular because Haste is an absolutely delicious spell. Animal Friendship is 24 hours for low levels and good enough to charm a couple beasts into being meatshields.
As for Clerics, almost all of them are great. Just pick your favourite flavor. You get armor and weapons and full spellcasting in addition to your domain. I wouldn't advise Life Cleric (The extra healing is nearly useless in your group), Forge and Knowledge in particular give you some useful utility without making you squishy. War Domain is almost a Paladin, but you change the raw DPR a Paladin can do with the huge selection of spells a Cleric has.
The Campaign is meant to go to level 20. So I presume that rules out the moon druid.
My goal here was to not take a primary spellcaster since my gf is playing a warlock and I always play a primary spellcaster in D&D. That is how I ended up with the paladin to have utility, some healing and decent AC/damage.
Somehow it makes me sad that the ideal solution is still the same: take a primary spellcaster. But I cannot say that it surprises me.
Are your stats rolled or standard array/point buy? Paladin is heavily MAD if you're not planning on also taking Warlock levels yourself. If you have rolled stats, then that might not be an issue. Bear Totem Barbarian would let you be even more capable in combat than the Paladin, but you would be giving up spellcasting for yourself.
For your partner's Warlock, it sounds like they're planning on taking the Magic Initiate feat? I'd recommend that they don't. Healing Word is not on any of the spell lists for Warlock patrons, so the most that they would be able to get out of that is one casting per long rest. They can't use their Warlock spell slots to cast it. The other benefit of the feat would be additional cantrips, but Warlock already has the absolute best combat cantrip in existence. Spending a feat on utility cantrips feels like a waste under normal circumstances; with only 2 players, that's even more of a waste. I'd recommend they take at least one level in Sorcerer. Sorcerer and Warlock are both Charisma casters. Levels in Sorcerer will give them additional spell slots, access to more spells (going Divine Soul Sorcerer gives them access to the entire Cleric spell list), metamagic, and the ability to convert spell slots/sorcery points.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
In favor of a Druid is Goodberry which you can cast and give the berries to your companion. And if the warlock goes Pact of the Chain, her familiar can feed you a berry if you get knocked unconscious.
You don't necessarily need to be strong in melee, you need to be able to survive. Avoiding melee most of the time is possible with spell casters.
we are about to start a new campaign with only 2 players at level 1. The other player is going to play a thiefling warlock of the fiend. Campaign is going to be lots of roleplay but also quite a lot of combat including some dungeons which promise to be quite challenging even for a more numerous party.
Both of us are getting a bonus feat at level 1 (since there are just the 2 of us). The warlock is probably going to use that to get healing word to have a way of getting me back up should I go down. Not the most optimal choice possibly but loosing 1/2 players is like loosing half of our action economy.
What would your advice be for the second character. I figure some kind of melee character so we got some coverage when we get into melee.
Atm I'm thinking about a variant human paladin with a polearm but any suggestions are more than welcome.
A fighter of some type makes sense, except for a paladin. From a RP perspective, why would a paladin hang out with a thieving warlock with an evil patron?
we are about to start a new campaign with only 2 players at level 1. The other player is going to play a thiefling warlock of the fiend. Campaign is going to be lots of roleplay but also quite a lot of combat including some dungeons which promise to be quite challenging even for a more numerous party.
Both of us are getting a bonus feat at level 1 (since there are just the 2 of us). The warlock is probably going to use that to get healing word to have a way of getting me back up should I go down. Not the most optimal choice possibly but loosing 1/2 players is like loosing half of our action economy.
What would your advice be for the second character. I figure some kind of melee character so we got some coverage when we get into melee.
Atm I'm thinking about a variant human paladin with a polearm but any suggestions are more than welcome.
A fighter of some type makes sense, except for a paladin. From a RP perspective, why would a paladin hang out with a thieving warlock with an evil patron?
Because not all Paladins are holy snobs, and not all Warlock patrons are inherently evil.
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You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
we are about to start a new campaign with only 2 players at level 1. The other player is going to play a thiefling warlock of the fiend. Campaign is going to be lots of roleplay but also quite a lot of combat including some dungeons which promise to be quite challenging even for a more numerous party.
Both of us are getting a bonus feat at level 1 (since there are just the 2 of us). The warlock is probably going to use that to get healing word to have a way of getting me back up should I go down. Not the most optimal choice possibly but loosing 1/2 players is like loosing half of our action economy.
What would your advice be for the second character. I figure some kind of melee character so we got some coverage when we get into melee.
Atm I'm thinking about a variant human paladin with a polearm but any suggestions are more than welcome.
A fighter of some type makes sense, except for a paladin. From a RP perspective, why would a paladin hang out with a thieving warlock with an evil patron?
Because not all Paladins are holy snobs, and not all Warlock patrons are inherently evil.
What does being a snob have to do with it? A good aligned character isn't going to associate with an evil one unless they have to. And yes, I know in 5E a paladin don't have to be good, but I think most people play it that way.... and the OP didn't specify.
we are about to start a new campaign with only 2 players at level 1. The other player is going to play a thiefling warlock of the fiend. Campaign is going to be lots of roleplay but also quite a lot of combat including some dungeons which promise to be quite challenging even for a more numerous party.
Both of us are getting a bonus feat at level 1 (since there are just the 2 of us). The warlock is probably going to use that to get healing word to have a way of getting me back up should I go down. Not the most optimal choice possibly but loosing 1/2 players is like loosing half of our action economy.
What would your advice be for the second character. I figure some kind of melee character so we got some coverage when we get into melee.
Atm I'm thinking about a variant human paladin with a polearm but any suggestions are more than welcome.
A fighter of some type makes sense, except for a paladin. From a RP perspective, why would a paladin hang out with a thieving warlock with an evil patron?
Because not all Paladins are holy snobs, and not all Warlock patrons are inherently evil.
What does being a snob have to do with it? A good aligned character isn't going to associate with an evil one unless they have to. And yes, I know in 5E a paladin don't have to be good, but I think most people play it that way.... and the OP didn't specify.
I would look at this as an opportunity rather than a hindrance. There can be roleplay reasons why these two find themselves forced to work together, and there's potential for some interesting PC-to-PC tension and conflict. Provided both players are willing to RP it that way, it could make for some very memorable adventures in an "odd couple" sort of way. That is providing they even actually ARE in alignment conflict.
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I like to make everyone's day a little more surreal.
we are about to start a new campaign with only 2 players at level 1. The other player is going to play a thiefling warlock of the fiend. Campaign is going to be lots of roleplay but also quite a lot of combat including some dungeons which promise to be quite challenging even for a more numerous party.
Both of us are getting a bonus feat at level 1 (since there are just the 2 of us). The warlock is probably going to use that to get healing word to have a way of getting me back up should I go down. Not the most optimal choice possibly but loosing 1/2 players is like loosing half of our action economy.
What would your advice be for the second character. I figure some kind of melee character so we got some coverage when we get into melee.
Atm I'm thinking about a variant human paladin with a polearm but any suggestions are more than welcome.
More than they would have to for any party, your DM is going to have to adjust every encounter to your 2 characters. With that in mind, everyone will probably have more fun if you play the character you want to. A warlock and rogue accidentally saving the world while trying to loot an ancient tomb is an as compelling story as a conquest paladin teaming up with a warlock to conquer it. Or a redemption paladin dragging his possessed friend along in an effort to save their soul. Hell, a Fiend bladelock and a Fiend tomelock wouldn't be the worst 2 person party.
We have actually no idea what we have to do in the campaign since it is "sandbox" based. So we might end up saving the world, we might end up dooming it. One never knows in these cases :-)
The solution is proposed is something we both like as a sound but we kinda wanted to do a reality check, in case we missed something. After all, some of you have been playing 5e for longer than us and might have run into issues we might not have thought of.
(I kinda feel like answering to a character from unlimited bladeworks now)
Warlock really wants to go fiend and will take with her bonus feat the magic initiate feat to get healing word from bard and some utility spells. Damage spells are kinda covered since a warlock has the best damage cantrip in the game in Eldritch Blast.
Thanks for the feedback and confirming us the choice we made is not a horrendous one :)
Warlocks can be super flexible, and I guess it's wise to wait until you figure out your path, so she can decide if she's going blade-, tome-, or chain-lock. If you go full Paladin, or Barbarian, or straight Fighter, she should go Tome )with Book of Ancient Secrets invoc.) for extra cantrips, spells & rituals which will be invaluable outside of combat. Truly able to deal EB damage, decent weapons and armor usage, and great Fiendly patron spells. If you go Cleric, with the right spells, she can go Bladelock for good up-close damage, and ranged EB, and all else is gravy.
Multi-classing into Sorcerer (for a Tomelock) is really smart, or Rogue Swashbuckler (for a Bladelock) is a great 3-level dip at some point, if she can afford to keep her spells "on hold" for a few levels.
Thanks for the tip. From what I understood at this point her preference is for chain since she really really wants a pet pseudo dragon/Imp.
I totally follow the idea of getting access to all the rituals in the game but I'll have to settle for a pet who will give advantage in combat (there are worse things). The same reasoning was followed when choosing her patron: she knew hexblade was possibly the more optimal choice but fiend was the more interesting choice.
We are willing to compromise a bit regarding optimal versus interesting since there are only 2 of us but it is still a game we play for fun. So that counts for a lot too. Rogue is a sad case since she genuinely likes the rogue archetype but is very sad there is little to no synergy with warlock since EB and sneak attack don't stack with each other.
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Est Sularus oth Mithas
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Greetings,
we are about to start a new campaign with only 2 players at level 1. The other player is going to play a thiefling warlock of the fiend. Campaign is going to be lots of roleplay but also quite a lot of combat including some dungeons which promise to be quite challenging even for a more numerous party.
Both of us are getting a bonus feat at level 1 (since there are just the 2 of us). The warlock is probably going to use that to get healing word to have a way of getting me back up should I go down. Not the most optimal choice possibly but loosing 1/2 players is like loosing half of our action economy.
What would your advice be for the second character. I figure some kind of melee character so we got some coverage when we get into melee.
Atm I'm thinking about a variant human paladin with a polearm but any suggestions are more than welcome.
Est Sularus oth Mithas
Polearm paladin is a good choice, I defiantly suggest you get tough as that extra 2 hp per level may sound not a lot but trust me when I say that can help. Warlock might want to look into staying near your moment speed of distance just in case since warlock is a bit squishy. Aside from that it depends how creative you two are, setting traps, ambushing enemies when they are alone, and making use of the terrain are just some simple things that can be expanded upon for various effects. Hope this helps, Good Luck!
Hi I'm Chris! Been playing and DMing DND for 9+ years, I still love to learn but I still wish to share my stories and experiences for others to enjoy/view. May the dice ever be in your favor! :)
Thanks for the advice.
Tough I'll look into but at the moment our first priority is to set up easy synergies. (which is easier said than done) So we are actually looking into how we are going to cover a lot of bases (since most seems impossible) while trying not to fall into the trap of jack of all trades but master of none.
A tall challenge, but it sounds like fun atm. And the fact that she is a warlock who has EB at will should help a lot for recurring good damage.
Est Sularus oth Mithas
Depending on how long your campaign will run, Druid or Clerics. Moon Druid is the strongest Class on level 2, period. Both of them are full casters so none of them will fall off on later levels (although Druid might be tricky in the mid-level range). Clerics can just about do everything they want from healing to blasting to supporting to fighting. Standalone, Druids and Clerics are probably the strongest classes in the game, and with only two characters, I'd highly recommend either.
Thanks for the feedback Shotagonist.
Is there a specific druid subclass or druid subclass that you would advise for? Moondruids are indeed superstrong at low level for the bear transformation.
Est Sularus oth Mithas
Moon Druid is my recommendation if you know the campaign will only last until level 5-6ish. Land Druid is the better one of the rest (normally I would suggest Shepard, but your group is too small to leverage it), I'd suggest Grassland in particular because Haste is an absolutely delicious spell. Animal Friendship is 24 hours for low levels and good enough to charm a couple beasts into being meatshields.
As for Clerics, almost all of them are great. Just pick your favourite flavor. You get armor and weapons and full spellcasting in addition to your domain. I wouldn't advise Life Cleric (The extra healing is nearly useless in your group), Forge and Knowledge in particular give you some useful utility without making you squishy. War Domain is almost a Paladin, but you change the raw DPR a Paladin can do with the huge selection of spells a Cleric has.
The Campaign is meant to go to level 20. So I presume that rules out the moon druid.
My goal here was to not take a primary spellcaster since my gf is playing a warlock and I always play a primary spellcaster in D&D. That is how I ended up with the paladin to have utility, some healing and decent AC/damage.
Somehow it makes me sad that the ideal solution is still the same: take a primary spellcaster. But I cannot say that it surprises me.
Est Sularus oth Mithas
Totem Warrior Barbarian. Take Bear as your 3rd level totem.
Are your stats rolled or standard array/point buy? Paladin is heavily MAD if you're not planning on also taking Warlock levels yourself. If you have rolled stats, then that might not be an issue. Bear Totem Barbarian would let you be even more capable in combat than the Paladin, but you would be giving up spellcasting for yourself.
For your partner's Warlock, it sounds like they're planning on taking the Magic Initiate feat? I'd recommend that they don't. Healing Word is not on any of the spell lists for Warlock patrons, so the most that they would be able to get out of that is one casting per long rest. They can't use their Warlock spell slots to cast it. The other benefit of the feat would be additional cantrips, but Warlock already has the absolute best combat cantrip in existence. Spending a feat on utility cantrips feels like a waste under normal circumstances; with only 2 players, that's even more of a waste. I'd recommend they take at least one level in Sorcerer. Sorcerer and Warlock are both Charisma casters. Levels in Sorcerer will give them additional spell slots, access to more spells (going Divine Soul Sorcerer gives them access to the entire Cleric spell list), metamagic, and the ability to convert spell slots/sorcery points.
I'd recommend their "freebie" feat be used for Resilient (Constitution) or War Caster.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I would suggest that one of you gets proficiency with thief tools (through class background or feat) my gut was also some form of paladin.
In favor of a Druid is Goodberry which you can cast and give the berries to your companion. And if the warlock goes Pact of the Chain, her familiar can feed you a berry if you get knocked unconscious.
You don't necessarily need to be strong in melee, you need to be able to survive. Avoiding melee most of the time is possible with spell casters.
Professional computer geek
A fighter of some type makes sense, except for a paladin. From a RP perspective, why would a paladin hang out with a thieving warlock with an evil patron?
Because not all Paladins are holy snobs, and not all Warlock patrons are inherently evil.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
The OP indicated that his warlock's patron is a fiend.... "Fiend is a term used in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game to refer to any malicious otherworldly creatures within the Dungeons & Dragons universe. These include various races of demons and devils that are of an evil alignment and hail from the Lower Planes.
What does being a snob have to do with it? A good aligned character isn't going to associate with an evil one unless they have to. And yes, I know in 5E a paladin don't have to be good, but I think most people play it that way.... and the OP didn't specify.
I would look at this as an opportunity rather than a hindrance. There can be roleplay reasons why these two find themselves forced to work together, and there's potential for some interesting PC-to-PC tension and conflict. Provided both players are willing to RP it that way, it could make for some very memorable adventures in an "odd couple" sort of way. That is providing they even actually ARE in alignment conflict.
I like to make everyone's day a little more surreal.
Paladin or Cleric sounds like the best option - melee heavy, but some casting/healing/boon options.
Also - if your Warlock goes Celestial instead of Fiend, you get built-in healing...
More than they would have to for any party, your DM is going to have to adjust every encounter to your 2 characters. With that in mind, everyone will probably have more fun if you play the character you want to. A warlock and rogue accidentally saving the world while trying to loot an ancient tomb is an as compelling story as a conquest paladin teaming up with a warlock to conquer it. Or a redemption paladin dragging his possessed friend along in an effort to save their soul. Hell, a Fiend bladelock and a Fiend tomelock wouldn't be the worst 2 person party.
Thanks for the feedback Acme.
We have actually no idea what we have to do in the campaign since it is "sandbox" based. So we might end up saving the world, we might end up dooming it. One never knows in these cases :-)
The solution is proposed is something we both like as a sound but we kinda wanted to do a reality check, in case we missed something. After all, some of you have been playing 5e for longer than us and might have run into issues we might not have thought of.
Again, thanks for the feedback
Est Sularus oth Mithas
Hiya Berzerker,
(I kinda feel like answering to a character from unlimited bladeworks now)
Warlock really wants to go fiend and will take with her bonus feat the magic initiate feat to get healing word from bard and some utility spells. Damage spells are kinda covered since a warlock has the best damage cantrip in the game in Eldritch Blast.
Thanks for the feedback and confirming us the choice we made is not a horrendous one :)
Est Sularus oth Mithas
Denstoffy,
Warlocks can be super flexible, and I guess it's wise to wait until you figure out your path, so she can decide if she's going blade-, tome-, or chain-lock.
If you go full Paladin, or Barbarian, or straight Fighter, she should go Tome )with Book of Ancient Secrets invoc.) for extra cantrips, spells & rituals which will be invaluable outside of combat. Truly able to deal EB damage, decent weapons and armor usage, and great Fiendly patron spells.
If you go Cleric, with the right spells, she can go Bladelock for good up-close damage, and ranged EB, and all else is gravy.
Multi-classing into Sorcerer (for a Tomelock) is really smart, or Rogue Swashbuckler (for a Bladelock) is a great 3-level dip at some point, if she can afford to keep her spells "on hold" for a few levels.
Berzerker,
Thanks for the tip.
From what I understood at this point her preference is for chain since she really really wants a pet pseudo dragon/Imp.
I totally follow the idea of getting access to all the rituals in the game but I'll have to settle for a pet who will give advantage in combat (there are worse things). The same reasoning was followed when choosing her patron: she knew hexblade was possibly the more optimal choice but fiend was the more interesting choice.
We are willing to compromise a bit regarding optimal versus interesting since there are only 2 of us but it is still a game we play for fun. So that counts for a lot too. Rogue is a sad case since she genuinely likes the rogue archetype but is very sad there is little to no synergy with warlock since EB and sneak attack don't stack with each other.
Est Sularus oth Mithas