I have been invited to a Dads and Sons game where we are introducing our 7-10yos to DnD. DM invited me to play as well. I want to be a support character allowing the boys to have fun but be there if decision need to be made or survival ensured. I have always wanted to play an assassin with a code. Brief list of rules are: -I must be paid for me to kill and the cost is always high. I will have a formula for dice roll and creature level. -My client (victim) must have means to defend themselves. Loophole is if they are rich they could hire bodyguards which is their defense. -The source of my contract can never be revealed or else the contract is void. -Withdrawn means of assassination is not allowed. Ie no poison, spells, mechanism.
Here is the problem I have. Since I want to have our boys have fun and be supporting role, I want to be able to heal my party if needed and be a skilled killer. What class should my character be?
A College of Whispers Bard would get you pretty close to what you are looking for in my opinion. You kind of have Sneak Attack in the form of Psychic Blades while having full access to the Bards spell list which include many support and healing spells.
If your table allows multiclassing then 1 level of Hexblade Warlock at the start would be the cherry on top to get you spells like Booming Blade and make your character only need CHA.
Take the healer feat level 1 with either custom lineage or variant human. I am currently playing a rogue (Phantom) with it. It means that the rest of the party hasn't murdered the druid who blows all his spells in the first combat leaving no healing for the party. Its basically a cure wounds for every character per short rest for the cost of uses of a healer kit.
As far as helping the kids have fun, healer allows the cleric/bard/druid from doing nothing with their spells since they have to save them for healing. The phantom allows you at level 3 to pick up any skill/tool after a short rest. That allows you to fill in skill wise for anything the party might have missed in character creation.
You might also consider a Ranger, for example a Gloom Stalker; they're quite assassin leaning and as with any Ranger they're a half caster so have access to spells including Cure Wounds and Healing Spirit. Downside is that unlike the Bard they don't get access to Healing Word directly which I prefer for being a bonus action (can bring someone back up from unconscious and still do something else).
There are Trickster and Twilight clerics who are reasonably fighty and can be very support oriented; Twilight's Channel Divinity is easily the strongest of any Cleric domain (to the point you might need to adjust encounter difficulty) but it's very on point for a stealth crew creating magical dim light for sneaking in, plus temporary hit points for damage mitigation.
If you do want to go Rogue though; like Elfdope says you could just take the Healer feat or just a healer's kit in general for healing, and this could allow you to go a Mastermind who is a good support Rogue (using Help from a range to give allies advantage for their own sneak attacks if you're a party of Rogues or similar, as well as on checks by literally supporting them to succeed).
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
I have been invited to a Dads and Sons game where we are introducing our 7-10yos to DnD. DM invited me to play as well. I want to be a support character allowing the boys to have fun but be there if decision need to be made or survival ensured.
I have always wanted to play an assassin with a code. Brief list of rules are:
-I must be paid for me to kill and the cost is always high. I will have a formula for dice roll and creature level.
-My client (victim) must have means to defend themselves. Loophole is if they are rich they could hire bodyguards which is their defense.
-The source of my contract can never be revealed or else the contract is void.
-Withdrawn means of assassination is not allowed. Ie no poison, spells, mechanism.
Here is the problem I have. Since I want to have our boys have fun and be supporting role, I want to be able to heal my party if needed and be a skilled killer. What class should my character be?
A College of Whispers Bard would get you pretty close to what you are looking for in my opinion. You kind of have Sneak Attack in the form of Psychic Blades while having full access to the Bards spell list which include many support and healing spells.
If your table allows multiclassing then 1 level of Hexblade Warlock at the start would be the cherry on top to get you spells like Booming Blade and make your character only need CHA.
Take the healer feat level 1 with either custom lineage or variant human. I am currently playing a rogue (Phantom) with it. It means that the rest of the party hasn't murdered the druid who blows all his spells in the first combat leaving no healing for the party. Its basically a cure wounds for every character per short rest for the cost of uses of a healer kit.
As far as helping the kids have fun, healer allows the cleric/bard/druid from doing nothing with their spells since they have to save them for healing. The phantom allows you at level 3 to pick up any skill/tool after a short rest. That allows you to fill in skill wise for anything the party might have missed in character creation.
You might also consider a Ranger, for example a Gloom Stalker; they're quite assassin leaning and as with any Ranger they're a half caster so have access to spells including Cure Wounds and Healing Spirit. Downside is that unlike the Bard they don't get access to Healing Word directly which I prefer for being a bonus action (can bring someone back up from unconscious and still do something else).
There are Trickster and Twilight clerics who are reasonably fighty and can be very support oriented; Twilight's Channel Divinity is easily the strongest of any Cleric domain (to the point you might need to adjust encounter difficulty) but it's very on point for a stealth crew creating magical dim light for sneaking in, plus temporary hit points for damage mitigation.
If you do want to go Rogue though; like Elfdope says you could just take the Healer feat or just a healer's kit in general for healing, and this could allow you to go a Mastermind who is a good support Rogue (using Help from a range to give allies advantage for their own sneak attacks if you're a party of Rogues or similar, as well as on checks by literally supporting them to succeed).
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Paladin would also be a fit. You already have an "oath", they get heals and spells, and are a good spike damage class.
Twilight or Trickery Clerics could solve the issue. Use criminal or bounty hunter for a background, and flavor text to fill in the gaps?