Here's the situation- you've got one DM and one player. The player wants to play only one character. What single class, and what combo of classes, are most survivable? So, two questions really.
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You, you and you- panic. Everyone else- follow me.
I wouldn't want to try playing a 1st-level bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, or wizard with no allies in a combat-heavy campaign, but anything else should be fine.
You have quite a few options. You can throw in helpful NPCs (at the risk of stealing the spotlight from the PC if they travel with him/her and join his/her fights), you can make the PC higher level than normal, you can make it not be a combat-focused campaign (in which case you should probably use milestone advancement), you can make the PC stronger than a normal character of his/her level (a free feat at 1st level is a simple way to do this) . . .
On a less mechanical note, you have a wonderful opportunity to emulate a variety of heroic fiction that normal D&D can't touch--the saga of the lone hero.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
After first level I think Moon Druid, Ranger, and Paladin would be pretty good for self sufficiency. Would the player have fun playing a duo of some sort?
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"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I would say either a Ranger - Deepstalker, well rounded, can do melee or ranged, has some casting backup with great utility choices and enough skills to handle whatever you need.
Or.
Hexblade Warlock, o do not personally like then because of how much they overshadow the other patrons, but they are at home being a half elf so they can have great skills, are cha based so you are set for all social situations, and between repelling agonizing blasts, devil's sight and pact of the blade things you can handle just about everything. Or you could go pact of the chain instead and use GFB/BB for weapon attacks and have an amazing familiar.
What I would do is see if you would want to play a PC. You could play another character you just have to remember that you can’t make your character different in game play terms from your players.
Classes, I would say not to are the more magic classes. While they may be good they just don’t have enough HP for a starting adventurer.
Healers are trouble to because they don’t have enough damage in the long run, except for the Paladin really.
I would really steer toward a Ranger, Rogue, or a Fighter. Unless you were playing with him it would open up some more options.
After that he can multiclass into some of the other stuff.
Your dm would have to really be knowledgeable, I did this with a level 1 paladin, I got slammed on by 4 bandits with pack tactics. Overall doing this can seem like a 50/50.
I would guess that a Paladin would be the best single class character. A paladin has all the martial features you will need. A paladin has spells including a built-in healing feature. A paladin has high charisma so he is able to competently represent his interests. He is considered a character that by nature supports civilization in its best aspects and is therefore worthy of support from communities (informally) and governments (formally). If you have a mind to play a campaign this way, he might also be travelling with his squire.
A two player campaign is another matter. There are all sorts of combinations that would be effective. Now a druid, a cleric, a rogue might be a good compliment for any fighter class. magic users in a two PC campaign might be ideal, but the encounters would have to be written with this in mind. Really anything will work if the DM writes the campaign and encounters for the PCs. And this also goes for a single PC campaign. A Ranger, alone, could be an excellent campaign if the encounters are written for it. But every once in a while an encounter needs to be written to take this character away from his core strengths and challenge him in another direction.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Jokes aside, I'd say Paladin or Bard would probably be the most straightforward and the easiest (of course, a multiclass palabard would also be pretty good). Both classes give you lots of versatility both in combat, exploration and RP. They can do pretty good in a fight even when alone (especially if you go Lore or Sword bard or Vengeance paladin), they can heal themselves and they will have good charisma which is very useful for a lone character. Bards (especially lore bards) give better options when it comes to skills which is useful but that can be remedied by picking the right race and/or feats.
I'd say that it's a toss-up between the two depending on what the campaign will be about. If more combat focused I'd probably go for Paladin (and then maybe later two levels of Bard just for Jack of All Trades), if a more social setting then probably Lore Bard. Half-Elf is a perfect option for both classes, bonus to charisma and extra skills. Lightfoot halfling is also a good choice for both Paladin and Bard and you can never gp wrong with variant human.
Beastmaster Hunter, but allow the pet to act as an independent character.
They could also multiclass into Rogue for sneak attacks and extra proficiencies.
EDIT: All the healing and utility of other builds is fun and cool, but won't outweigh the benefit of 2 "good guys", particularly at lower levels. They will struggle if they are truly alone, and the DM will struggle balancing encounters that aren't just duels with one enemy.
Beastmaster Hunter, but allow the pet to act as an independent character.
They could also multiclass into Rogue for sneak attacks and extra proficiencies.
EDIT: All the healing and utility of other builds is fun and cool, but won't outweigh the benefit of 2 "good guys", particularly at lower levels. They will struggle if they are truly alone, and the DM will struggle balancing encounters that aren't just duels with one enemy.
That's an odd way of spelling "Battlesmith Artificer". ;) Which is a much better choice than Ranger and you still get the "main character and sidekick" thing going on. :)
If you are seeking the Easy loner way, then use the Minotaur Barbarian ( Battlerager Path ). If you are seeking the Medium difficulty, then choose Halfling Bard ( Whispers College ). But, if you are a tougher person who seeks the peril on every corner and on every footstep you do, then choose the Human Wizard ( Ilusionist school ).
And if you only pretend to be the typical "Hello-Goodmorning" person, then choose Dwarf Artificier ( Alchemist Path ).
Mechanically: Paladin, Artificer, and maybe Cleric are all good choices. They all have good sources of damage as well as some healing and supportive spells. Artificer especially is a versatile class.
Here's the situation- you've got one DM and one player. The player wants to play only one character. What single class, and what combo of classes, are most survivable? So, two questions really.
You, you and you- panic. Everyone else- follow me.
This depends in what the DM is planning for the character, so what adventures lie ahead.
The most versatile class is surely the Bard with great choices for different foci in level 3.
I wouldn't want to try playing a 1st-level bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, or wizard with no allies in a combat-heavy campaign, but anything else should be fine.
You have quite a few options. You can throw in helpful NPCs (at the risk of stealing the spotlight from the PC if they travel with him/her and join his/her fights), you can make the PC higher level than normal, you can make it not be a combat-focused campaign (in which case you should probably use milestone advancement), you can make the PC stronger than a normal character of his/her level (a free feat at 1st level is a simple way to do this) . . .
On a less mechanical note, you have a wonderful opportunity to emulate a variety of heroic fiction that normal D&D can't touch--the saga of the lone hero.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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After first level I think Moon Druid, Ranger, and Paladin would be pretty good for self sufficiency. Would the player have fun playing a duo of some sort?
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I would say either a Ranger - Deepstalker, well rounded, can do melee or ranged, has some casting backup with great utility choices and enough skills to handle whatever you need.
Or.
Hexblade Warlock, o do not personally like then because of how much they overshadow the other patrons, but they are at home being a half elf so they can have great skills, are cha based so you are set for all social situations, and between repelling agonizing blasts, devil's sight and pact of the blade things you can handle just about everything. Or you could go pact of the chain instead and use GFB/BB for weapon attacks and have an amazing familiar.
Dunno whats best, but I too would play a Warlock.
Variant Human with Magic Initiate Feat-Druid, with Shillegah Cantrip and Cure Wounds Spell. Quarterstaff (arcane Focus) and Eldritch Blast.
Whats not to love?
Perpetually annoyed that Eldritch Knights can't use Eldritch Blast, Eldritch Smite, and Eldritch Sight.
What I would do is see if you would want to play a PC. You could play another character you just have to remember that you can’t make your character different in game play terms from your players.
Classes, I would say not to are the more magic classes. While they may be good they just don’t have enough HP for a starting adventurer.
Healers are trouble to because they don’t have enough damage in the long run, except for the Paladin really.
I would really steer toward a Ranger, Rogue, or a Fighter. Unless you were playing with him it would open up some more options.
After that he can multiclass into some of the other stuff.
This was an hypothetical situation only. However, I currently play a PC with a small group of two players.
You, you and you- panic. Everyone else- follow me.
I kind of do this right now just to practice with my character.
Right now I’m working with a wizard/sorcerer and figuring out how to get and use a Fighters two weapon fighting to cast 2 spells.
Your dm would have to really be knowledgeable, I did this with a level 1 paladin, I got slammed on by 4 bandits with pack tactics. Overall doing this can seem like a 50/50.
I would guess that a Paladin would be the best single class character. A paladin has all the martial features you will need. A paladin has spells including a built-in healing feature. A paladin has high charisma so he is able to competently represent his interests. He is considered a character that by nature supports civilization in its best aspects and is therefore worthy of support from communities (informally) and governments (formally). If you have a mind to play a campaign this way, he might also be travelling with his squire.
A two player campaign is another matter. There are all sorts of combinations that would be effective. Now a druid, a cleric, a rogue might be a good compliment for any fighter class. magic users in a two PC campaign might be ideal, but the encounters would have to be written with this in mind. Really anything will work if the DM writes the campaign and encounters for the PCs. And this also goes for a single PC campaign. A Ranger, alone, could be an excellent campaign if the encounters are written for it. But every once in a while an encounter needs to be written to take this character away from his core strengths and challenge him in another direction.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Lone? Ranger.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
A rather comprehensive list of free WotC D&D resources
Deck of Decks
Badum-tish!
Jokes aside, I'd say Paladin or Bard would probably be the most straightforward and the easiest (of course, a multiclass palabard would also be pretty good). Both classes give you lots of versatility both in combat, exploration and RP. They can do pretty good in a fight even when alone (especially if you go Lore or Sword bard or Vengeance paladin), they can heal themselves and they will have good charisma which is very useful for a lone character. Bards (especially lore bards) give better options when it comes to skills which is useful but that can be remedied by picking the right race and/or feats.
I'd say that it's a toss-up between the two depending on what the campaign will be about. If more combat focused I'd probably go for Paladin (and then maybe later two levels of Bard just for Jack of All Trades), if a more social setting then probably Lore Bard. Half-Elf is a perfect option for both classes, bonus to charisma and extra skills. Lightfoot halfling is also a good choice for both Paladin and Bard and you can never gp wrong with variant human.
Then of course there is this...
http://purplelizardman.com/2018/01/27/paragon-of-luck/
Not possible. The two weapn fighting style has nothing to do with casting spells.
Beastmaster Hunter, but allow the pet to act as an independent character.
They could also multiclass into Rogue for sneak attacks and extra proficiencies.
EDIT: All the healing and utility of other builds is fun and cool, but won't outweigh the benefit of 2 "good guys", particularly at lower levels. They will struggle if they are truly alone, and the DM will struggle balancing encounters that aren't just duels with one enemy.
That's an odd way of spelling "Battlesmith Artificer". ;) Which is a much better choice than Ranger and you still get the "main character and sidekick" thing going on. :)
If you are seeking the Easy loner way, then use the Minotaur Barbarian ( Battlerager Path ). If you are seeking the Medium difficulty, then choose Halfling Bard ( Whispers College ). But, if you are a tougher person who seeks the peril on every corner and on every footstep you do, then choose the Human Wizard ( Ilusionist school ).
And if you only pretend to be the typical "Hello-Goodmorning" person, then choose Dwarf Artificier ( Alchemist Path ).
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
Thematically: I would say a ranger.
Mechanically: Paladin, Artificer, and maybe Cleric are all good choices. They all have good sources of damage as well as some healing and supportive spells. Artificer especially is a versatile class.
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