I want to make a Bear Totem Barbarian/Rogue mutliclass that starts with the shield master feat in 5e.
The build so far:
Str 16 (15 +1 variant human) Dex 16 (15+1 variant human) Con 14 Int 8 Wis 10 Cha 8
Shield Master at Lvl 1 as my human variant feat.
Equipment would be a rapier, a shield, and some medium armor.
Basically how I'd like an ideal turn of combat to go is as follows (let's assume this is turn 2 as turn 1 would use the bonus action to rage).
Reckless attack with the rapier.
Reckless would give advantage which should trigger sneak so the attack should be 1D8+2+2D6
Then as a bonus action I would perform the shield bash, which is a contested athletic role. Once I get some levels in rogue, I would have expertise, so a +9 to athletics plus advantage from raging should mean a success most of the time, leaving the enemy open to advantage attacks until it can get up next time.
How would you suggest to progress this character?
How many levels in each class?
Are there any feats I should consider?
What Rogue archetype should I take?
How viable do you think this build would be at level 10? 20?
I recommend starting rogue, go barb 5 totem bear, go 5th level rogue thief (fast hands and climb speed seemed more useful compared to other subclasses scout and swashbuckler could be considered), then go the rest barbarian. Rogue 5/barbarian 15.
If you are going medium armor, is there a reason why you are putting more than 14 in dex? Skills or initiative would be understandable, but medium armor caps at +2 dex and you don't need to use dex to attack with a rapier. That would free up 2 points for other skills plus the +1 from human variant. If you are planning on using the skills and/or initiative, that's fine.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
I don't want to start rogue because if I multiclass INTO Barb later I don't get medium armor proficiency. So if I don't want to burn another feat of getting med armor proficiency, I need to start with Barb.
Sounds good. Probably put expertise into Athletics when you multiclass.
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
I don't want to start rogue because if I multiclass INTO Barb later I don't get medium armor proficiency. So if I don't want to burn another feat of getting med armor proficiency, I need to start with Barb.
Fair enough. In that case do Barb 5, then rogue 5, then rest barb.
Fair enough. In that case do Barb 5, then rogue 5, then rest barb.
I think I actually settled on 5 Barb/15 Rogue because the only real damage I'm going to get from this build is from sneak attack die. I decided to go 5 Barb so that I could get the Barb second attack and increased speed. I just have to figure out how I'm going to do it. I was thinking Barb 2/Rogue 6/Barb 3/Rogue 9.
I recommend starting rogue, go barb 5 totem bear, go 5th level rogue thief (fast hands and climb speed seemed more useful compared to other subclasses scout and swashbuckler could be considered), then go the rest barbarian. Rogue 5/barbarian 15.
Just be careful with swashbuckler lowering your initiative with your -1 charisma. In fact, I'd think that inquisitive might be better, though I agree with thief or scout. This is particularly true when you go rogue 15.
I was actually thinking Arcane Trickster for out of combat utility.
Just remember AT are limited to mostly illusion and enchantment magic, but that could be fine. Illusion and enchantment magic has a lot of use outside of combat unlike evocation and abjuration.
I don't want to start rogue because if I multiclass INTO Barb later I don't get medium armor proficiency. So if I don't want to burn another feat of getting med armor proficiency, I need to start with Barb.
Why not use the Barbarian unarmored defense? If you are going Barb 5 Rogue 15, you're still getting 5 ASIs/feats on top of the Shield Master feat you start off with. 2 of those go to boosting your strength to 20, but what are the other 3 going to? You're starting off with 15 AC from unarmored defense, which is only 1 less than Chain Mail, but doesn't give you disadvantage on stealth, and the same AC as a Chain Shirt. Yes, you can buy a Breastplate or Half Plate later, but you could also take ASIs in Con or Dex later which boost your unarmored defense. I don't think your character is that heavy on other feats it needs, so it could definitely decide to boost its Con up to 20 with the other 3 ASIs, which also boosts it up to 18 unarmored defense (plus 2 more from a shield). Or it could have 17 unarmored defense if you decide to start with 16 Con and 14 Dex, and it leaves you with room for one feat, on top of having 20 Strength, 20 Con, 14 Dex, and Shield Master.
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I want to make a Bear Totem Barbarian/Rogue mutliclass that starts with the shield master feat in 5e.
The build so far:
Str 16 (15 +1 variant human)
Dex 16 (15+1 variant human)
Con 14
Int 8
Wis 10
Cha 8
Shield Master at Lvl 1 as my human variant feat.
Equipment would be a rapier, a shield, and some medium armor.
Basically how I'd like an ideal turn of combat to go is as follows (let's assume this is turn 2 as turn 1 would use the bonus action to rage).
Reckless attack with the rapier.
Reckless would give advantage which should trigger sneak so the attack should be 1D8+2+2D6
Then as a bonus action I would perform the shield bash, which is a contested athletic role. Once I get some levels in rogue, I would have expertise, so a +9 to athletics plus advantage from raging should mean a success most of the time, leaving the enemy open to advantage attacks until it can get up next time.
How would you suggest to progress this character?
How many levels in each class?
Are there any feats I should consider?
What Rogue archetype should I take?
How viable do you think this build would be at level 10? 20?
I recommend starting rogue, go barb 5 totem bear, go 5th level rogue thief (fast hands and climb speed seemed more useful compared to other subclasses scout and swashbuckler could be considered), then go the rest barbarian. Rogue 5/barbarian 15.
If you are going medium armor, is there a reason why you are putting more than 14 in dex? Skills or initiative would be understandable, but medium armor caps at +2 dex and you don't need to use dex to attack with a rapier. That would free up 2 points for other skills plus the +1 from human variant. If you are planning on using the skills and/or initiative, that's fine.
Thank goodness it's not ANOTHER rogue-paladin.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
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If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Yeah that's a change I was thinking of making. Putting Dex down to 14 and pump Con a little bit to make up for the rogues lowered health pool.
I don't want to start rogue because if I multiclass INTO Barb later I don't get medium armor proficiency. So if I don't want to burn another feat of getting med armor proficiency, I need to start with Barb.
Sounds good. Probably put expertise into Athletics when you multiclass.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Fair enough. In that case do Barb 5, then rogue 5, then rest barb.
I think I actually settled on 5 Barb/15 Rogue because the only real damage I'm going to get from this build is from sneak attack die. I decided to go 5 Barb so that I could get the Barb second attack and increased speed. I just have to figure out how I'm going to do it. I was thinking Barb 2/Rogue 6/Barb 3/Rogue 9.
Just be careful with swashbuckler lowering your initiative with your -1 charisma. In fact, I'd think that inquisitive might be better, though I agree with thief or scout. This is particularly true when you go rogue 15.
I was actually thinking Arcane Trickster for out of combat utility.
For sure. Once I get that expertise I should have a +9 with advantage while raging. Shield bashing will be fun.
Just remember AT are limited to mostly illusion and enchantment magic, but that could be fine. Illusion and enchantment magic has a lot of use outside of combat unlike evocation and abjuration.
Why not use the Barbarian unarmored defense? If you are going Barb 5 Rogue 15, you're still getting 5 ASIs/feats on top of the Shield Master feat you start off with. 2 of those go to boosting your strength to 20, but what are the other 3 going to? You're starting off with 15 AC from unarmored defense, which is only 1 less than Chain Mail, but doesn't give you disadvantage on stealth, and the same AC as a Chain Shirt. Yes, you can buy a Breastplate or Half Plate later, but you could also take ASIs in Con or Dex later which boost your unarmored defense. I don't think your character is that heavy on other feats it needs, so it could definitely decide to boost its Con up to 20 with the other 3 ASIs, which also boosts it up to 18 unarmored defense (plus 2 more from a shield). Or it could have 17 unarmored defense if you decide to start with 16 Con and 14 Dex, and it leaves you with room for one feat, on top of having 20 Strength, 20 Con, 14 Dex, and Shield Master.