First, what would be your favorite base class to do this with?
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Inquiry I've gathered from the comments: Yes, every character will be starting at level 3! No real limitations on source material, as long as it's legitimate source material. No homebrew unless we're adjusting things around the table as needed, house rules and such.
Provided the story within provides an entire following be it a cult, guild, school, temple... A traveling troupe of performers as bards, a fight club (that we don't talk about) for barbarians, a nomadic tribe of druids, or training in a church of clerics...
I've been working on some various story arcs in a new campaign and I will have different sections in which players will have prebuilt different classes to play out the story of each particular section before stepping over to the next one. Eventually the paths of destiny should all come together for a greater cause.
There are 4 PCs and each plan to approach a different style, some in the image of their own backstory of how they joined whatever the group may be, others approaching the versatility potentially required within your typical game.
I'm trying to think about how to do this with Fighters, given their general lack of versatility. You haven't said anything about race or level limitations, but I am going to presume, given the campaign that you describe, that they would be fourth level.
Psi Warrior, Variant Human with Healer and Magic Initiate (Cleric) Feats. Support character.
Battle Master, Charlatan background, Commanding Presence and Tactical Assessment. Face and front liner.
Battle Master, DEX build, Archery fighting style, criminal or urchin background. Stealth, range, crowd control maneuvres
Although Cleric is the easiest, I think the most fun might be four Artificers. The Armorer is built for Guardian mode as a tank/Controller with Sentinel, but also handles sneaking and doors/traps in Infiltrator mode. The Battlesmith is a melee striker mounted on their Steel Defender. The Artillerist is the ranged blaster/AoE character, though probably using the THP protective field from their cannon most of the time. The Alchemist is the main Support/Healer. All of them can heal, or probably take over any other role, in a pinch. With some coordination, they could have every tool proficiency between them (don’t let the Alchemist be the one with Cooking Tools!).
Each of them could have different tech styles your players choose, e.g. magi-tech, steam punk, mad electrical scientist, chemist, pyro/bomber, mechanical genius, etc. And argue about which tech to use to solve every problem.
I’m doubling down on a specific subclass: 4 Purple Dragon Knights.
So much healing at level 3:
Each PDK heals 1d10+3 (ave 8.5), plus 9 to your teammates. That’s 17.5 X 4 = 70hp healed every short rest.
At Level 11:
198hp every short rest. Every Indomitable becomes a reroll for someone else. Four Action Surges every short rest. In one round each PDK can attack 3 times, Action Surge for 3 more, and allow an ally attack once more with Rallying Surge. That’s 28 attacks in one round and 12 per round thereafter.
At Level 20 it gets kind of ridiculous:
342hp per short rest. In four rounds of combat they can attack for 28 attacks (per Short Rest), and 16 per round thereafter. At this point you can alpha strike so many times that everything will melt faster than it can hurt you.
I know Wizards are known for being kind of garbage alone in a battle, but I think it would be an amazing campaign of roleplay and actual intellectual challenges if you were to play a party of pure wizards. Most of the previous replies to this have been talking about dps or tank/damage/support combos, but I really think wizards would be a fun option for four competent and hopefully experienced players. Early levels, a lot of the time you would be thinking your way out of dangerous situations because an actual sneeze might kill you, which for me is still a fun way to play, but once you get to later levels you can get off some crazy combos with your spells, subclass abilities, and permanent effects. Maybe have everyone magic jar into a stronger body to make your combat power stronger, with everyone having counterspell prepared in case of an enemy casting dispel magic... Or take turns polymorphing the weakest wizards into beasts... Four high level Chronurgy Wizards True Polymorphing the Tarrasque into a squishy creature round 1 of combat guaranteed (As long as they go first and they'd end up with 1 exhaustion each, but that's a different discussion)... Hold person and Sickening Radiance... Lots of fun options only limited to your imagination rather than a fixed dps or party dynamic, plus massive of out of combat functionality and options.
I think Clerics could pull this off better than any other class, but I personally would probably want to do this with Bard.
First, for the frontline fighter I'd put in a Valor Bard. I know that Swords is generally more popular as a gish because of the flourishes, but Valor Bard gets access to Shields and all Martial Weapons, and Combat Inspiration is more useful for the party overall, but that's my personal taste. I wanna double down on this character being the tank for the party, so I'm going for a Goliath to get Stone's Endurance.
Next for the stealth/infiltration, we're going for Whispers Bard, because why not? I feel like this one's pretty self-explanatory, but just to double down on the stealth aspect I'll make them a Bugbear, which includes a unique sneak attack feature and proficiency with stealth. Plus the Long Limbed ability lets them attack while staying out of melee range. Alternately, you could stick with Goblinoids and go Goblin, which lets you disengage and hide as a bonus action, giving you a lot of Rogue-like abilities.
For your blaster I'm going to recommend a Lore Bard. The additional Magical Secrets allow them to get some potent damage spells, and cutting words for extra defense. I feel like this is kind of cheating, but I'll go for Aarakocra or Owlin to give the ability to fly out of range of most attacks and focus on being the battlefield control leader.
Finally, most group builds assume some combination of "Tank, DPS, Utility, and Healer", but basically every single Bard in this group has access to enough healing to more than make up for a lack of a dedicated healer, so instead the last role I want to include is the dedicated Face of the party, which is gonna be hard because a group of Bards is already basically a crew of Faces, but to really rise above that there's nothing better than an Eloquence Bard. And no race takes advantage of the benefits of the Eloquence College than a Changeling. Snag expertise in Persuasion and Deception and you can basically walk into any room and immediately take complete control of the situation.
A team of rangers can do almost any adventure.(without knowing which first) It probably won't be easy mode but it also won't be impossible difficulty. Tactics, flexibility and teamwork required.
I recommend one gloomstalker, faywander, one pet subclass, and one open choice.(swarmkeeper is tempting)
I know of several tables that have done all rangers and it sounds like they all had a good time.
A team of rangers can do almost any adventure.(without knowing which first) It probably won't be easy mode but it also won't be impossible difficulty. Tactics, flexibility and teamwork required.
I recommend one gloomstalker, faywander, one pet subclass, and one open choice.
A team of rangers can do almost any adventure.(without knowing which first) It probably won't be easy mode but it also won't be impossible difficulty. Tactics, flexibility and teamwork required.
I recommend one gloomstalker, faywander, one pet subclass, and one open choice.
It is easier for me to explain why four Paladins are adventuring together than anything else.
Strictly by mechanics, I might choose Clerics. I can make four different clerics that can survive combat better than I can make four different other things.
I could understand four Barbarians, four Fighters, four Rangers, four Druids, four Monks even, but the other classes are hard to imagine four of them wanting to go and achieve the same thing.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
I could understand four Barbarians, four Fighters, four Rangers, four Druids, four Monks even, but the other classes are hard to imagine four of them wanting to go and achieve the same thing.
That's where the concept of coming together to combat a greater threat (a greater enemy) can easily be applied. ;)
I've pondered this question before. Basically any class that has access to support and damage magic are strong choices: Artificer, bard, cleric, druid, paladin, ranger, sorcerer, warlock.
Especially if they are tanky: Artificer, cleric, druid, paladin, ranger
I played in an all rogue group once, a long time ago. I think it was D&D3.5
Rogues could get an ability to use magic items and wands so we covered healing through wands of cure wounds and staff of healing for restoration. Another of the players took arcane spell wands. It was really tough but a heck of a lot of fun. I think I played a two weapon fighter whirling dervish type with a khopesh in each hand.
Sorcerer would be hard early on, until they gained enough HP to survive a round of attacks from something actually threatening. Divine Soul can carry healing duties and the other 4 pick their preference, as they will all be combination Blaster/Utility. Once Polymorph opens up, this group gets a lot more viable, due to being able to morph one into the tank.
Clerics or Paladins are almost too easy to cover all roles with, really. Subclasses on both gran sufficient variety to handle all the needed tasks and really excel in combat at all levels.
Bards run into the same challenge to a lesser degree, as he Sorcerers. Low HP makes low level fights touch and go, but as HP goes up allowing one to not be dropped from a single round of attacks (usually at least) the amount of buff/debuff/control available in a group of Bards can ruin any attacking group's day pretty quickly.
All told, a good table, with the DM on board with the plan, could make any combo viable, with some creative thinking and unusual use of spells and abilities. Casters would need methods to overcome being squishy, Martials would need an answer for a lack of magic, though Fighter and Rogue could compensate for those to some degree. I think it would be great fun to play in a group of all one class, personally. The thinking involved would be a thrill, seeking innovative ways to get by a challenge intended for your polar opposite. (Bunch of skinny Wizards need to move a massive boulder, or a quartet of beefy Barbarians need to shut down a magical barrier kind of stuff)
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
Druids, for my money, would be the most fun, most dynamic at most of the tiers of play.
Moon can tank early. Wildfire gives you tremendous tactical fun. They all would have a lot of control, healing, depending on the setting. Just sounds like a hoot.
Cleric has always been the best choice mechanically for a party. Since 3rd edition for certain.
I'm surprised by Bard and, especially, Artificer as numbers 2 and 3. I suppose a group of Bards could be a traveling band which could be amusing 🤔 but a group of Artificers?
For my wistful pick, I always wanted to play/run a party of all fighters. Ex soldiers and mercenaries like The Black Company.
First, what would be your favorite base class to do this with?
- - - - - - - - - -
Inquiry I've gathered from the comments: Yes, every character will be starting at level 3! No real limitations on source material, as long as it's legitimate source material. No homebrew unless we're adjusting things around the table as needed, house rules and such.
Provided the story within provides an entire following be it a cult, guild, school, temple... A traveling troupe of performers as bards, a fight club (that we don't talk about) for barbarians, a nomadic tribe of druids, or training in a church of clerics...
I've been working on some various story arcs in a new campaign and I will have different sections in which players will have prebuilt different classes to play out the story of each particular section before stepping over to the next one. Eventually the paths of destiny should all come together for a greater cause.
There are 4 PCs and each plan to approach a different style, some in the image of their own backstory of how they joined whatever the group may be, others approaching the versatility potentially required within your typical game.
Example (since it's my favorite) Warlocks:
Celestial patron (tome pact), Hexblade patron (blade pact), Undead patron (chain pact), Genie patron (talisman pact)
Thank you very much! XD <3 and I hope to see examples for each class!
Cleric for one reason - the subclasses are practically designed to duplicate the other classes.
Want a Druid? Take a Cleric of Nature. Fighter? Cleric of War? Mage? Cleric of Arcane/Light. Rogue? Cleric of Knowledge/Trickery.
Of course, you will have to deal with a bunch of Divas arguing about which God is best.
I'm trying to think about how to do this with Fighters, given their general lack of versatility. You haven't said anything about race or level limitations, but I am going to presume, given the campaign that you describe, that they would be fourth level.
Psi Warrior, Variant Human with Healer and Magic Initiate (Cleric) Feats. Support character.
Battle Master, Charlatan background, Commanding Presence and Tactical Assessment. Face and front liner.
Battle Master, DEX build, Archery fighting style, criminal or urchin background. Stealth, range, crowd control maneuvres
Rune Knight, general utility, more front lining
Although Cleric is the easiest, I think the most fun might be four Artificers. The Armorer is built for Guardian mode as a tank/Controller with Sentinel, but also handles sneaking and doors/traps in Infiltrator mode. The Battlesmith is a melee striker mounted on their Steel Defender. The Artillerist is the ranged blaster/AoE character, though probably using the THP protective field from their cannon most of the time. The Alchemist is the main Support/Healer. All of them can heal, or probably take over any other role, in a pinch. With some coordination, they could have every tool proficiency between them (don’t let the Alchemist be the one with Cooking Tools!).
Each of them could have different tech styles your players choose, e.g. magi-tech, steam punk, mad electrical scientist, chemist, pyro/bomber, mechanical genius, etc. And argue about which tech to use to solve every problem.
I’m doubling down on a specific subclass: 4 Purple Dragon Knights.
So much healing at level 3:
Each PDK heals 1d10+3 (ave 8.5), plus 9 to your teammates. That’s 17.5 X 4 = 70hp healed every short rest.
At Level 11:
198hp every short rest. Every Indomitable becomes a reroll for someone else. Four Action Surges every short rest. In one round each PDK can attack 3 times, Action Surge for 3 more, and allow an ally attack once more with Rallying Surge. That’s 28 attacks in one round and 12 per round thereafter.
At Level 20 it gets kind of ridiculous:
342hp per short rest. In four rounds of combat they can attack for 28 attacks (per Short Rest), and 16 per round thereafter. At this point you can alpha strike so many times that everything will melt faster than it can hurt you.
I know Wizards are known for being kind of garbage alone in a battle, but I think it would be an amazing campaign of roleplay and actual intellectual challenges if you were to play a party of pure wizards. Most of the previous replies to this have been talking about dps or tank/damage/support combos, but I really think wizards would be a fun option for four competent and hopefully experienced players. Early levels, a lot of the time you would be thinking your way out of dangerous situations because an actual sneeze might kill you, which for me is still a fun way to play, but once you get to later levels you can get off some crazy combos with your spells, subclass abilities, and permanent effects. Maybe have everyone magic jar into a stronger body to make your combat power stronger, with everyone having counterspell prepared in case of an enemy casting dispel magic... Or take turns polymorphing the weakest wizards into beasts... Four high level Chronurgy Wizards True Polymorphing the Tarrasque into a squishy creature round 1 of combat guaranteed (As long as they go first and they'd end up with 1 exhaustion each, but that's a different discussion)... Hold person and Sickening Radiance... Lots of fun options only limited to your imagination rather than a fixed dps or party dynamic, plus massive of out of combat functionality and options.
I think Clerics could pull this off better than any other class, but I personally would probably want to do this with Bard.
First, for the frontline fighter I'd put in a Valor Bard. I know that Swords is generally more popular as a gish because of the flourishes, but Valor Bard gets access to Shields and all Martial Weapons, and Combat Inspiration is more useful for the party overall, but that's my personal taste. I wanna double down on this character being the tank for the party, so I'm going for a Goliath to get Stone's Endurance.
Next for the stealth/infiltration, we're going for Whispers Bard, because why not? I feel like this one's pretty self-explanatory, but just to double down on the stealth aspect I'll make them a Bugbear, which includes a unique sneak attack feature and proficiency with stealth. Plus the Long Limbed ability lets them attack while staying out of melee range. Alternately, you could stick with Goblinoids and go Goblin, which lets you disengage and hide as a bonus action, giving you a lot of Rogue-like abilities.
For your blaster I'm going to recommend a Lore Bard. The additional Magical Secrets allow them to get some potent damage spells, and cutting words for extra defense. I feel like this is kind of cheating, but I'll go for Aarakocra or Owlin to give the ability to fly out of range of most attacks and focus on being the battlefield control leader.
Finally, most group builds assume some combination of "Tank, DPS, Utility, and Healer", but basically every single Bard in this group has access to enough healing to more than make up for a lack of a dedicated healer, so instead the last role I want to include is the dedicated Face of the party, which is gonna be hard because a group of Bards is already basically a crew of Faces, but to really rise above that there's nothing better than an Eloquence Bard. And no race takes advantage of the benefits of the Eloquence College than a Changeling. Snag expertise in Persuasion and Deception and you can basically walk into any room and immediately take complete control of the situation.
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A team of rangers can do almost any adventure.(without knowing which first) It probably won't be easy mode but it also won't be impossible difficulty. Tactics, flexibility and teamwork required.
I recommend one gloomstalker, faywander, one pet subclass, and one open choice.(swarmkeeper is tempting)
I know of several tables that have done all rangers and it sounds like they all had a good time.
Swarmkeeper is my favorite. Fill in there.
You replied as I was editing.
It is easier for me to explain why four Paladins are adventuring together than anything else.
Strictly by mechanics, I might choose Clerics. I can make four different clerics that can survive combat better than I can make four different other things.
I could understand four Barbarians, four Fighters, four Rangers, four Druids, four Monks even, but the other classes are hard to imagine four of them wanting to go and achieve the same thing.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
That's where the concept of coming together to combat a greater threat (a greater enemy) can easily be applied. ;)
4 Bards would probalby make a great band. So fluffwise they get my vote.
From a mechanics perspective I like 4 Druids.
I've pondered this question before. Basically any class that has access to support and damage magic are strong choices: Artificer, bard, cleric, druid, paladin, ranger, sorcerer, warlock.
Especially if they are tanky: Artificer, cleric, druid, paladin, ranger
And versatile: Artificer, cleric, druid
I voted Cleric because the various sub classes can cover most of the bases.
And clerics are always good when death is on the line =)
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Flavor and functionality would lead me to Cleric or Bard.
I played in an all rogue group once, a long time ago. I think it was D&D3.5
Rogues could get an ability to use magic items and wands so we covered healing through wands of cure wounds and staff of healing for restoration. Another of the players took arcane spell wands. It was really tough but a heck of a lot of fun. I think I played a two weapon fighter whirling dervish type with a khopesh in each hand.
Sorcerer would be hard early on, until they gained enough HP to survive a round of attacks from something actually threatening. Divine Soul can carry healing duties and the other 4 pick their preference, as they will all be combination Blaster/Utility. Once Polymorph opens up, this group gets a lot more viable, due to being able to morph one into the tank.
Clerics or Paladins are almost too easy to cover all roles with, really. Subclasses on both gran sufficient variety to handle all the needed tasks and really excel in combat at all levels.
Bards run into the same challenge to a lesser degree, as he Sorcerers. Low HP makes low level fights touch and go, but as HP goes up allowing one to not be dropped from a single round of attacks (usually at least) the amount of buff/debuff/control available in a group of Bards can ruin any attacking group's day pretty quickly.
All told, a good table, with the DM on board with the plan, could make any combo viable, with some creative thinking and unusual use of spells and abilities. Casters would need methods to overcome being squishy, Martials would need an answer for a lack of magic, though Fighter and Rogue could compensate for those to some degree. I think it would be great fun to play in a group of all one class, personally. The thinking involved would be a thrill, seeking innovative ways to get by a challenge intended for your polar opposite. (Bunch of skinny Wizards need to move a massive boulder, or a quartet of beefy Barbarians need to shut down a magical barrier kind of stuff)
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
Druids, for my money, would be the most fun, most dynamic at most of the tiers of play.
Moon can tank early. Wildfire gives you tremendous tactical fun. They all would have a lot of control, healing, depending on the setting. Just sounds like a hoot.
Cleric has always been the best choice mechanically for a party. Since 3rd edition for certain.
I'm surprised by Bard and, especially, Artificer as numbers 2 and 3. I suppose a group of Bards could be a traveling band which could be amusing 🤔 but a group of Artificers?
For my wistful pick, I always wanted to play/run a party of all fighters. Ex soldiers and mercenaries like The Black Company.
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
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