So I'm probably gonna be joining in on a new campaign soon and I have this character concept I really like, but I can't quite figure how I make it happen. I have a lot of thoughts and I'd love some input and ideas.
The general idea is that I'm neutral/lawful evil changeling cultist who is tasked with capuring peoples stories and essence. To achieve this he's gonna be posing as a neutral good middle aged storyteller type who latches on to different adventuring parties, subtly trying to make them lose their mind and to be there to record their life stories and committing their souls to his dark master when they die. He's probably also gonna be actively sacricing people along the way, people who have already lived their stories.
In combat I can see him being support focused with some damage output to fall back on, using exclusively words and other mind focused forms of magic.
So... what's obvious to me is that I'm gonna need some warlock levels. I really like the great old one patron because it comes with the awakened mind ability, which is great for driving people insane and basically fits really well with the character concept. I'm also fairly sure I can convince my DM to reflavour eldrich blast into a sorta of psionic blast.
The main approach I've been considering is starting a bard and dip 2-3 levels into warlock around level 5 or straight away at level 2. I don't really like waiting till level 5 bard because it the evil disciple aspect is fairly important to the character concept, however I've seen quite a few posts suggesting that not waiting till 5 is kinda shooting myself in the foot as Bards get quite a few neat features at that level.
With regards to 2 or 3 warlock dip... I can't quite make my mind up, at 2 I get my invocations which Is probably the main thing. It means I can get the ability to read all text which is gret for the character concept and works well with awakened mind as I can now "talk" to anyone if I need to. The second invocation I'd probably use for the +charisma modifier to eldritch(psionic) blast. At 3 however I'd gain access to a cool invisible familiar which would be really handy for scouting and other subtle trickery... Trouble is If I dip 3, I'm just one level away from getting an ability score improvement, and if I don't dip to 4 I'll be quite far behind on that front. If I do go to 4 however, I'll have to wait till level 9 to gain access to the great bard abilities, and level 9 is (from my experience) like 2 years of playing.
Which brings me to my other options, going full warlock or bard.
Going full warlock would mean I can get the invisible familiar without sacrificing much, and would (obviously) play well into the cultist aspect of the character. Trouble is that It'd be very difficult to have a truthworthy, supportive front to the party. So I'd considered taking magic initiate (druid) and take guidance, mold earth(to hide bodies) and healing word. Also, as much as healing word would fit with the supportive storytellar side, I'm not sure it gels that well with a warlocks limited spellslots. I've also seen a lot of people saying that warlock is stronger as a mutliclass dip and perhaps not so powerful on it's own.
Going full bard would play well with the storyteller side, and I've get plenty of support features whilst sacrificing the potential for eldritch blast damage fall back.. which isn't so bad. The trouble of course is that I lose the ability to mess with peoples minds, and the whole dark cultist aspect is sort of lost. Obviously I could just roleplay a lot of it.. But I think It'd feel kinda hollow if I couldnt back it up with some features.
I'm like half a min maxer and half a roleplayer so I kinda want something that's thematically correct but also is somewhat strong in terms of mechanics. I'm open to feedback and ideas. :)
Edit: Oh yea and I don't really believe in theory crafting so much around lvl 20 builds as that'll either never happen or be a minimal part of the entire experience.
So I'm probably gonna be joining in on a new campaign soon and I have this character concept I really like, but I can't quite figure how I make it happen. I have a lot of thoughts and I'd love some input and ideas.
The general idea is that I'm neutral/lawful evil changeling cultist who is tasked with capuring peoples stories and essence. To achieve this he's gonna be posing as a neutral good middle aged storyteller type who latches on to different adventuring parties, subtly trying to make them lose their mind and to be there to record their life stories and committing their souls to his dark master when they die. He's probably also gonna be actively sacricing people along the way, people who have already lived their stories.
In combat I can see him being support focused with some damage output to fall back on, using exclusively words and other mind focused forms of magic.
So... what's obvious to me is that I'm gonna need some warlock levels. I really like the great old one patron because it comes with the awakened mind ability, which is great for driving people insane and basically fits really well with the character concept. I'm also fairly sure I can convince my DM to reflavour eldrich blast into a sorta of psionic blast.
The main approach I've been considering is starting a bard and dip 2-3 levels into warlock around level 5 or straight away at level 2. I don't really like waiting till level 5 bard because it the evil disciple aspect is fairly important to the character concept, however I've seen quite a few posts suggesting that not waiting till 5 is kinda shooting myself in the foot as Bards get quite a few neat features at that level.
With regards to 2 or 3 warlock dip... I can't quite make my mind up, at 2 I get my invocations which Is probably the main thing. It means I can get the ability to read all text which is gret for the character concept and works well with awakened mind as I can now "talk" to anyone if I need to. The second invocation I'd probably use for the +charisma modifier to eldritch(psionic) blast. At 3 however I'd gain access to a cool invisible familiar which would be really handy for scouting and other subtle trickery... Trouble is If I dip 3, I'm just one level away from getting an ability score improvement, and if I don't dip to 4 I'll be quite far behind on that front. If I do go to 4 however, I'll have to wait till level 9 to gain access to the great bard abilities, and level 9 is (from my experience) like 2 years of playing.
Which brings me to my other options, going full warlock or bard.
Going full warlock would mean I can get the invisible familiar without sacrificing much, and would (obviously) play well into the cultist aspect of the character. Trouble is that It'd be very difficult to have a truthworthy, supportive front to the party. So I'd considered taking magic initiate (druid) and take guidance, mold earth(to hide bodies) and healing word. Also, as much as healing word would fit with the supportive storytellar side, I'm not sure it gels that well with a warlocks limited spellslots. I've also seen a lot of people saying that warlock is stronger as a mutliclass dip and perhaps not so powerful on it's own.
Going full bard would play well with the storyteller side, and I've get plenty of support features whilst sacrificing the potential for eldritch blast damage fall back.. which isn't so bad. The trouble of course is that I lose the ability to mess with peoples minds, and the whole dark cultist aspect is sort of lost. Obviously I could just roleplay a lot of it.. But I think It'd feel kinda hollow if I couldnt back it up with some features.
I'm like half a min maxer and half a roleplayer so I kinda want something that's thematically correct but also is somewhat strong in terms of mechanics. I'm open to feedback and ideas. :)
Edit: Oh yea and I don't really believe in theory crafting so much around lvl 20 builds as that'll either never happen or be a minimal part of the entire experience.