I have played Baldur's Gate 3 so I'm a little familiar with 5e rules but I have never played DnD so I feel like I could be missing some way to make him better. I am joining in the middle of a campaign which is why I am skipping to lvl 6.
For example, I had no idea what proficiencies to choose. I chose intimidation and perception, but idk if that's a useful/fitting choice for Chesty.
Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Edit: I should add that we are doing a Spelljammer campaign.
I should add- Chesty is basically Riddick/Gimli/Chesty Puller
Looking at what you have, you probably do not need training in both Intimidation and Persuasion. Both skills are about using your words to convince others to take a course of action—you do not need both on the same character (unless, perhaps, you are playing a charisma character with lots of skill proficiencies). Realistically, you probably do not need either of them—Charisma is your dump stat, so you are never going to be good at either (though, taking Intimidate so you are a scary angry dwarf is a pretty solid roleplay reason to take that skill).
Insight is probably a better skill than either—being even a small bit better at telling when someone is lying is always helpful, and it is based on your +0 Wisdom, rather than a skill you have a -1 in.
One other thing to consider - Champion Fighter is considered the most vanilla class in the game. It is very linear, very simple, and does not have much in the way of options for specialisation or growth. Lots of new players choose it for its simplicity, and realise that, even for new players, it is perhaps a bit too simple. I am not saying you shouldn’t play a Champion if that is what you really want, but you should at least give other Fighters, like Battlemaster, a look. They are less intimidating to play than the rules might make it seem, and tend to be more dynamic and engaging than Champion.
Looks pretty good to me the only thing I would consider changing (this would be dependent on how you want to play the character, and the campaign you are playing in) would be switching proficiencies in either intimidation or persuasion to stealth to help offset the disadvantage from the armor. Again just something I would consider.
I am sure others will come along with other ideas as well. Enjoy the game and have fun!
You might ask your DM about magic items at that level too, if the DM is going to let you have some they can really change what you do at level the 4 ASI and at level 8 ASI. There are plenty of feats that allow a +1 to an ability score while offering cool buffs and spells etc. If the DM allows them.
Thanks for the advice. I think I will switch it to Insight and Survival. Do you think Survival would be a good choice? The other characters in my party will probably be doing most of the talking, so I think you're right in that intimidation would probably be wasted. I like the Insight idea though because I could definitely see Chesty randomly blurting out to call someone out on their lying.
I agree Champion Fighter is vanilla as hell. I was going to go with Battle Master, but I rolled with a Battle Master Lae'zel thru 3 playthroughs of BG3 and it just kinda got old. I'm hoping the extra chance of rolling crits will make up for the lack of riposte and other attack choices.
I went with Fighter because my DM said the party could use a tank, and I felt like keeping things as simple as possible for my first campaign would be a good idea, especially with me joining midway thru a campaign. I don't want to hold up the party trying to figure out what I should be doing. This way I can just be like "Chesty smashes their face with his warhammer again" and learn the rest of the classes along the way by watching my teammates play.
Once my DM inevitably kills off Chesty, I think I'm going to make a halfling rogue named Tom Hanks. By the time he dies hopefully I'll be experienced enough to get into the magic classes.
Survival is one of those skills where your millage will differ depending on your DM and campaign type—so I can’t really say if it is going to be a good fit for you without intimately knowing your campaign. I will say, a good DM tries to ensure all your skills are useful, so if you have no additional information, I would say you probably are safe going for Survival.
If you want to play a simple tank class, you should look into Caviller—I think they are probably the best Fighter for Tanking. Even if you ignore most of the stuff about them being mounted combatants (unless you have a mount)—they are formidable on the battlefield.
One problem 5e tanks have is pulling aggro—there are not many great ways to do that. Caviller can, forcing enemies to attack other players with disadvantage, so they focus their attacks on the tank (who they can attack normally). The class also has ways to buff AC of themself or adjacent creatures, potentially turning a hit into a miss, and ways to stop the enemy from running away from the melee users to try and get to the casters or ranged users.
It also is not as complicated as Battlemaster, while still being a bit more dynamic than Champion. I am currently DMing for a brand new player who chose Caviller, and it has been pretty easy for her to pick up and play.
>stealth to help offset the disadvantage from the armor.
That's a great point but I picture Chesty as more of a bull in a china shop type so I don't think I could justify choosing stealth. Hopefully I find some sweet light armor to make up for his clumsiness.
I looked into Cavilier a bit and it looked really fun but we are doing a Spelljammer campaign and I know next to nothing about it but it seems to be set in space and riding around on a horse in space just seems weird to me. Plus Chesty hates horses. He says it's because he doesn't trust anything that can shit and walk at the same time, but deep down it's because he is too short to mount them without help, and he hates being picked up.
I looked into Cavilier a bit and it looked really fun but we are doing a Spelljammer campaign and I know next to nothing about it but it seems to be set in space and riding around on a horse in space just seems weird to me. Plus Chesty hates horses. He says it's because he doesn't trust anything that can shit and walk at the same time, but deep down it's because he is too short to mount them without help, and he hates being picked up.
The cavalier's horse related abilities are typically what's called "ribbon" abilities. They're pretty, but they don't really do much. The class runs perfectly without any horses, ever. You won't miss not having one.
Also, its worth noting that the abilities apply to all mounts. There's lot and lots of ride-able creatures in D&D, with DM approval.
>stealth to help offset the disadvantage from the armor.
That's a great point but I picture Chesty as more of a bull in a china shop type so I don't think I could justify choosing stealth. Hopefully I find some sweet light armor to make up for his clumsiness.
Look into Breastplate It should keep your AC18 and get rid of the stealth disadvantage. It is 400gp, but may not fit with what you want from you character. There are magic items that can remove the disadvantage imposed by the armor as well.
Sounds like you are going to have fun with this character no matter how loud he is.
I looked into Cavilier a bit and it looked really fun but we are doing a Spelljammer campaign and I know next to nothing about it but it seems to be set in space and riding around on a horse in space just seems weird to me. Plus Chesty hates horses. He says it's because he doesn't trust anything that can shit and walk at the same time, but deep down it's because he is too short to mount them without help, and he hates being picked up.
The cavalier's horse related abilities are typically what's called "ribbon" abilities. They're pretty, but they don't really do much. The class runs perfectly without any horses, ever. You won't miss not having one.
Also, its worth noting that the abilities apply to all mounts. There's lot and lots of ride-able creatures in D&D, with DM approval.
Agree with all of this. Caviller probably should be renamed to “knight” or something, since it plays a lot more like a tank who sometimes gets up on their mount than a mounted, highly mobile combatant. It is a class I think folks glance past because the etymology is very focused on the mounted component, but the actual class excels without a mount.
Now, if you did want a mount eventually, ask yourself this: Chesty might hate horses, but how about goats? Goats are pretty cool, live in mountains, and are ornery like dwarves. Nothing stopping Chesty the Mountain Dwarf from trying to get a grumpy goat friend he can ride around on.
I looked into Cavilier a bit and it looked really fun but we are doing a Spelljammer campaign and I know next to nothing about it but it seems to be set in space and riding around on a horse in space just seems weird to me. Plus Chesty hates horses. He says it's because he doesn't trust anything that can shit and walk at the same time, but deep down it's because he is too short to mount them without help, and he hates being picked up.
The cavalier's horse related abilities are typically what's called "ribbon" abilities. They're pretty, but they don't really do much. The class runs perfectly without any horses, ever. You won't miss not having one.
Also, its worth noting that the abilities apply to all mounts. There's lot and lots of ride-able creatures in D&D, with DM approval.
I didn't know that! Dang now idk because the Cavalier class does sound awesome. I think I'm probably better off just waiting to play that later when I'm more experienced with the game tho. I basically just want to keep it as simple as possible for this first playthrough so anything beyond CHESTY SMASH is going to probably screw with my ability to pay attention to what everyone else is doing and how that works because I'll be too worried about what I should be doing or what I should have done instead etc. I am not a smart man.
Goats are great pack animals too, I rented a couple for a hike in the Sawtooth mountains years back. Way easier than horses, but not a saddle animal for a guy my size!
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CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/114420819/N9Xh6c
I have played Baldur's Gate 3 so I'm a little familiar with 5e rules but I have never played DnD so I feel like I could be missing some way to make him better. I am joining in the middle of a campaign which is why I am skipping to lvl 6.
For example, I had no idea what proficiencies to choose. I chose intimidation and perception, but idk if that's a useful/fitting choice for Chesty.
Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Edit: I should add that we are doing a Spelljammer campaign.
I should add- Chesty is basically Riddick/Gimli/Chesty Puller
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesty_Puller
Looking at what you have, you probably do not need training in both Intimidation and Persuasion. Both skills are about using your words to convince others to take a course of action—you do not need both on the same character (unless, perhaps, you are playing a charisma character with lots of skill proficiencies). Realistically, you probably do not need either of them—Charisma is your dump stat, so you are never going to be good at either (though, taking Intimidate so you are a scary angry dwarf is a pretty solid roleplay reason to take that skill).
Insight is probably a better skill than either—being even a small bit better at telling when someone is lying is always helpful, and it is based on your +0 Wisdom, rather than a skill you have a -1 in.
One other thing to consider - Champion Fighter is considered the most vanilla class in the game. It is very linear, very simple, and does not have much in the way of options for specialisation or growth. Lots of new players choose it for its simplicity, and realise that, even for new players, it is perhaps a bit too simple. I am not saying you shouldn’t play a Champion if that is what you really want, but you should at least give other Fighters, like Battlemaster, a look. They are less intimidating to play than the rules might make it seem, and tend to be more dynamic and engaging than Champion.
Looks pretty good to me the only thing I would consider changing (this would be dependent on how you want to play the character, and the campaign you are playing in) would be switching proficiencies in either intimidation or persuasion to stealth to help offset the disadvantage from the armor. Again just something I would consider.
I am sure others will come along with other ideas as well. Enjoy the game and have fun!
You might ask your DM about magic items at that level too, if the DM is going to let you have some they can really change what you do at level the 4 ASI and at level 8 ASI. There are plenty of feats that allow a +1 to an ability score while offering cool buffs and spells etc. If the DM allows them.
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
Thanks for the advice. I think I will switch it to Insight and Survival. Do you think Survival would be a good choice? The other characters in my party will probably be doing most of the talking, so I think you're right in that intimidation would probably be wasted. I like the Insight idea though because I could definitely see Chesty randomly blurting out to call someone out on their lying.
I agree Champion Fighter is vanilla as hell. I was going to go with Battle Master, but I rolled with a Battle Master Lae'zel thru 3 playthroughs of BG3 and it just kinda got old. I'm hoping the extra chance of rolling crits will make up for the lack of riposte and other attack choices.
I went with Fighter because my DM said the party could use a tank, and I felt like keeping things as simple as possible for my first campaign would be a good idea, especially with me joining midway thru a campaign. I don't want to hold up the party trying to figure out what I should be doing. This way I can just be like "Chesty smashes their face with his warhammer again" and learn the rest of the classes along the way by watching my teammates play.
Once my DM inevitably kills off Chesty, I think I'm going to make a halfling rogue named Tom Hanks. By the time he dies hopefully I'll be experienced enough to get into the magic classes.
Survival is one of those skills where your millage will differ depending on your DM and campaign type—so I can’t really say if it is going to be a good fit for you without intimately knowing your campaign. I will say, a good DM tries to ensure all your skills are useful, so if you have no additional information, I would say you probably are safe going for Survival.
If you want to play a simple tank class, you should look into Caviller—I think they are probably the best Fighter for Tanking. Even if you ignore most of the stuff about them being mounted combatants (unless you have a mount)—they are formidable on the battlefield.
One problem 5e tanks have is pulling aggro—there are not many great ways to do that. Caviller can, forcing enemies to attack other players with disadvantage, so they focus their attacks on the tank (who they can attack normally). The class also has ways to buff AC of themself or adjacent creatures, potentially turning a hit into a miss, and ways to stop the enemy from running away from the melee users to try and get to the casters or ranged users.
It also is not as complicated as Battlemaster, while still being a bit more dynamic than Champion. I am currently DMing for a brand new player who chose Caviller, and it has been pretty easy for her to pick up and play.
>stealth to help offset the disadvantage from the armor.
That's a great point but I picture Chesty as more of a bull in a china shop type so I don't think I could justify choosing stealth. Hopefully I find some sweet light armor to make up for his clumsiness.
I looked into Cavilier a bit and it looked really fun but we are doing a Spelljammer campaign and I know next to nothing about it but it seems to be set in space and riding around on a horse in space just seems weird to me. Plus Chesty hates horses. He says it's because he doesn't trust anything that can shit and walk at the same time, but deep down it's because he is too short to mount them without help, and he hates being picked up.
The cavalier's horse related abilities are typically what's called "ribbon" abilities. They're pretty, but they don't really do much. The class runs perfectly without any horses, ever. You won't miss not having one.
Also, its worth noting that the abilities apply to all mounts. There's lot and lots of ride-able creatures in D&D, with DM approval.
Look into Breastplate It should keep your AC18 and get rid of the stealth disadvantage. It is 400gp, but may not fit with what you want from you character. There are magic items that can remove the disadvantage imposed by the armor as well.
Sounds like you are going to have fun with this character no matter how loud he is.
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
Agree with all of this. Caviller probably should be renamed to “knight” or something, since it plays a lot more like a tank who sometimes gets up on their mount than a mounted, highly mobile combatant. It is a class I think folks glance past because the etymology is very focused on the mounted component, but the actual class excels without a mount.
Now, if you did want a mount eventually, ask yourself this: Chesty might hate horses, but how about goats? Goats are pretty cool, live in mountains, and are ornery like dwarves. Nothing stopping Chesty the Mountain Dwarf from trying to get a grumpy goat friend he can ride around on.
I didn't know that! Dang now idk because the Cavalier class does sound awesome. I think I'm probably better off just waiting to play that later when I'm more experienced with the game tho. I basically just want to keep it as simple as possible for this first playthrough so anything beyond CHESTY SMASH is going to probably screw with my ability to pay attention to what everyone else is doing and how that works because I'll be too worried about what I should be doing or what I should have done instead etc. I am not a smart man.
Goats are great pack animals too, I rented a couple for a hike in the Sawtooth mountains years back. Way easier than horses, but not a saddle animal for a guy my size!
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
I'm definitely making a goat-riding dwarf some day