This may be a rather lengthy post, so bear with me.
I joined my first serious campaign in April of this year, expressing my interest in adhering to a support role. Our DM later informed me there were two individuals within our party who were already dead-set on filling that roll, and asked if I may be interested in being a caster. I had no issue filling, but was not particularly inclined toward squishy dps. I wound up settling on Undying Warlock (as it wasn't a particularly common Patron) and had the intention of running Pact of the Tome.
At any rate, I have a very serious, equally lengthy and well-developed backstory which involves my half-elf character, Midias, unknowingly becoming beholden to the campaign setting's God of Death and Disease, Terminus. This was suggested by the DM as it fit in with his lore, and I genuinely just wanted to roll a necromancer-type character without running cleric or wizard.
Fast-forward to the present; I was convinced to take Pact of the Chain, which I don't see being particularly useful and even borderline crippling. And of course, my new self had no idea warlocks have some seriously lacking necro spells. So, my DM suggested I multiclass into sorcerer, which was fitting for Midias and could easily be shoehorned into his character. Yet, none of the origins seemed to fit his personality or character in any sense. I finally settled on Divine Soul, as this would indicate the entirety of his power could still have manifested from Terminus, but give a more definitive reason as to why the god would answer Midias's plea (indicating at some point his family had a prior investment in Terminus). Also, Divine Soul allowed me access to some of the better necromancy spells.
Anyway, this is just a roundabout way of saying, I'm worried I've bitten off more than I can chew and made some serious, irreversible mistakes. I would like to have some advice on how to proceed with a build, as far as which class I should toss levels into. I'd prefer to take at least 5 in both, but don't know how to make the decision without crippling my character. For flavor, I would prefer to take spells that fit the 'Pact', such as those involving illness, reanimation, etc (however I also love niche utility spells like the cantrips mage hand and prestidigitation). If anyone would be willing to help me determine the best way to choose my levels going forward, I would appreciate it. Additionally, the campaign, while being more roleplay heavy, has more serious combat encounters.
I am currently 3 Undying Warlock, and 1 Divine Soul Sorcerer.
Stats are as follows, though the relevancy may be nonexistent. STR 10 DEX 16 CON 18 INT 12 WIS 12
CHA 19
Thank you for your time and if you have any questions that may better help you to help me, let me know!
I have proficiency in Arcana, Deception, Intimidation, Persuasion, Religion, and Sleight of Hand. I took the Charlatan background.
I'm honestly considering maybe 15 lock/5 sorc or 14 lock/ 5 sorc at this point as it will still grant me access to the higher tier warlock spells, whereas I am already locked out of several sorcerer spells.
One quick thing I'm going to throw out there is for roleplay. Especially seeing as you're not as happy with Chain and had preferred Tome, and it seems like it could fit the basics of the story you have given plus being charlatan, perhaps you and your familiar don't really get along even though it is magically bound to your service essentially. Even better if you can convince the DM to let it talk, and it's up to him if there is more to the familiar to tie into your background that you have to discover later.
I only skimmed that. In my opinion the best level splits for sorlocks are:
warlock 3/sorcerer 17. Gains access to level 9 spells (including wish), 2 extra level 2 slots you can turn into sorcery points every short rest. Best at being an eldritch blast machine gun with quicken spell.
Warlock 14/sorcerer 6. Gets as many class features as it can. 3 level 5 warlock slots, 6 sorcery points, level 3 sorcerer spells. Decent coffeelock (explained below).
Warlock 11/sorcerer 9. Maximizes spell slots. A good coffeelock split (requires race that doesnt sleep or aspect of the moon invocation(unless you are level 10 undying warlock) and some DM consent) that lets you charge 17 level 5 spell slots during a long rest. 3 level 5 warlock slots, 9 sorcery points, level 5 sorcerer spells.
Get both classes to level 3 and decide from there.
Pact of chain isn't bad (though my favorite is pact of tome). You can get an invocation to be able to see through your familiar at infinite range and/or an invocation that makes healing magic heal you by max possible. Plus you get access to very powerful familiar options that can attack to inflict status effects, shapeshift, and turn invisible.
Some shenanigans you can do with familiar (DM permitting) is give it a ring of spell storing and you can essentially concentrate on 2 spells at a time.
Quite honestly, I get along very well with my familiar and do enjoy him to some extent, he just feels currently underpowered, which I'm sure is accurate given our low levels and the fact that I hadn't taken almost any touch spells as I hadn't been planning on having him.
The rogue won an owlbear snugglebeast at a festival for my warlock because he is plagued by nightmares and often doesn't get the proper amount of sleep. DM suggested I take Pact of the Chain and he'd make the snugglebeast my familiar. I fell in for the cute idea and now have to slowly backtrack to make it work.
Additionally, thank you as well, DxJxC, you were very concise and I should be able to look into your suggestions and figure out how I'd like to proceed from there.
You definitely don't have to worry about crippling your character. You have plenty of options depending on your fighting style. I agree with DxJxC that you should get both to level 3 to see how things go, and then consider the three class distributions they gave after you learn more about how to play your character.
You mainly want to look for synergy and avoid redundancy in your class features. The most popular synergy is Quickened Spell, Eldritch Blast with the Eldritch Blast Invocations.
Gift of the Ever-Living Ones will help your self-healing and you get the healing spells of a Cleric by being a Divine Soul. However, Gift of the Ever-Living Ones for self-healing is better than the Divine Soul's Empowered Healing at level 6, so you technically only gain half of the feature at Sorcerer level 6.
Your Invocations and class features give a lot of bonus spells, so always keep that in mind when picking your spells the normal way.
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This may be a rather lengthy post, so bear with me.
I joined my first serious campaign in April of this year, expressing my interest in adhering to a support role. Our DM later informed me there were two individuals within our party who were already dead-set on filling that roll, and asked if I may be interested in being a caster. I had no issue filling, but was not particularly inclined toward squishy dps. I wound up settling on Undying Warlock (as it wasn't a particularly common Patron) and had the intention of running Pact of the Tome.
At any rate, I have a very serious, equally lengthy and well-developed backstory which involves my half-elf character, Midias, unknowingly becoming beholden to the campaign setting's God of Death and Disease, Terminus. This was suggested by the DM as it fit in with his lore, and I genuinely just wanted to roll a necromancer-type character without running cleric or wizard.
Fast-forward to the present; I was convinced to take Pact of the Chain, which I don't see being particularly useful and even borderline crippling. And of course, my new self had no idea warlocks have some seriously lacking necro spells. So, my DM suggested I multiclass into sorcerer, which was fitting for Midias and could easily be shoehorned into his character. Yet, none of the origins seemed to fit his personality or character in any sense. I finally settled on Divine Soul, as this would indicate the entirety of his power could still have manifested from Terminus, but give a more definitive reason as to why the god would answer Midias's plea (indicating at some point his family had a prior investment in Terminus). Also, Divine Soul allowed me access to some of the better necromancy spells.
Anyway, this is just a roundabout way of saying, I'm worried I've bitten off more than I can chew and made some serious, irreversible mistakes. I would like to have some advice on how to proceed with a build, as far as which class I should toss levels into. I'd prefer to take at least 5 in both, but don't know how to make the decision without crippling my character. For flavor, I would prefer to take spells that fit the 'Pact', such as those involving illness, reanimation, etc (however I also love niche utility spells like the cantrips mage hand and prestidigitation). If anyone would be willing to help me determine the best way to choose my levels going forward, I would appreciate it. Additionally, the campaign, while being more roleplay heavy, has more serious combat encounters.
I am currently 3 Undying Warlock, and 1 Divine Soul Sorcerer.
Stats are as follows, though the relevancy may be nonexistent.
STR 10
DEX 16
CON 18
INT 12
WIS 12
CHA 19
Thank you for your time and if you have any questions that may better help you to help me, let me know!
What skills and background did you choose?
I have proficiency in Arcana, Deception, Intimidation, Persuasion, Religion, and Sleight of Hand. I took the Charlatan background.
I'm honestly considering maybe 15 lock/5 sorc or 14 lock/ 5 sorc at this point as it will still grant me access to the higher tier warlock spells, whereas I am already locked out of several sorcerer spells.
One quick thing I'm going to throw out there is for roleplay. Especially seeing as you're not as happy with Chain and had preferred Tome, and it seems like it could fit the basics of the story you have given plus being charlatan, perhaps you and your familiar don't really get along even though it is magically bound to your service essentially. Even better if you can convince the DM to let it talk, and it's up to him if there is more to the familiar to tie into your background that you have to discover later.
I only skimmed that. In my opinion the best level splits for sorlocks are:
Get both classes to level 3 and decide from there.
Pact of chain isn't bad (though my favorite is pact of tome). You can get an invocation to be able to see through your familiar at infinite range and/or an invocation that makes healing magic heal you by max possible. Plus you get access to very powerful familiar options that can attack to inflict status effects, shapeshift, and turn invisible.
Some shenanigans you can do with familiar (DM permitting) is give it a ring of spell storing and you can essentially concentrate on 2 spells at a time.
Quite honestly, I get along very well with my familiar and do enjoy him to some extent, he just feels currently underpowered, which I'm sure is accurate given our low levels and the fact that I hadn't taken almost any touch spells as I hadn't been planning on having him.
The rogue won an owlbear snugglebeast at a festival for my warlock because he is plagued by nightmares and often doesn't get the proper amount of sleep. DM suggested I take Pact of the Chain and he'd make the snugglebeast my familiar. I fell in for the cute idea and now have to slowly backtrack to make it work.
Additionally, thank you as well, DxJxC, you were very concise and I should be able to look into your suggestions and figure out how I'd like to proceed from there.
You definitely don't have to worry about crippling your character. You have plenty of options depending on your fighting style. I agree with DxJxC that you should get both to level 3 to see how things go, and then consider the three class distributions they gave after you learn more about how to play your character.
You mainly want to look for synergy and avoid redundancy in your class features. The most popular synergy is Quickened Spell, Eldritch Blast with the Eldritch Blast Invocations.
Gift of the Ever-Living Ones will help your self-healing and you get the healing spells of a Cleric by being a Divine Soul. However, Gift of the Ever-Living Ones for self-healing is better than the Divine Soul's Empowered Healing at level 6, so you technically only gain half of the feature at Sorcerer level 6.
Your Invocations and class features give a lot of bonus spells, so always keep that in mind when picking your spells the normal way.