theironjef posted:How would one build a character around level 16 that is both a crossbow specialist and a natural leader? I have never played 5e but I need a character that fits that description very soon. Rogue with high CHA?
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Oct 4, 2017 04:35
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theironjef posted:How would one build a character around level 16 that is both a crossbow specialist and a natural leader? I have never played 5e but I need a character that fits that description very soon. Battlemaster fighter with archery fighting style, crossbow expert. Either take the inspiring leader feat or just roleplay it.
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Oct 4, 2017 04:47
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theironjef posted:...and a natural leader? This isn't really a thing that mechanically exists in 5e.
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Oct 4, 2017 04:50
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Fighter, take Dex as your highest ability score, which should be 15 base with the standard array. Have at least a 13 in Charisma. Level 1: take Archery as your Fighting Style Level 3: take Battlemaster as your Archetype Learn the Rally maneuver, the Precision Attack maneuver, and the Commander's Strike maneuver. Level 4: take the Crossbow Expert feat Level 6: increase your Dex to 17 Level 7: learn the Distracting Strike maneuver, and the Menacing Attack maneuver Level 8: increase your Dex to 19 Level 12: increase your Dex to 20 (and put the other +1 score to something else) Level 14: take the Sharpshooter feat Level 16: take the Inspiring Leader feat That's it. Your character is the best at crossbow shooting with max Dex, Crossbow Expert and Sharpshooter, and you have all of the thematically-relevant "leadership" abilities in the form of Inspiring Leader and Rally, as well as the Warlord-esque "help a teammate" maneuvers. If you decide to be an Elf or a Halfling, that starts you with 17 Dex, so you can get to 20 Dex sooner. If you can be a Variant Human, that starts you with 1 feat at level 1, so you can get Crossbow Expert immediately.
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Oct 4, 2017 05:03
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theironjef posted:How would one build a character around level 16 that is both a crossbow specialist and a natural leader? I have never played 5e but I need a character that fits that description very soon. Valor Bard with the Swift Quiver spell taken through the Magical Secrets class feature. Optional single level of Fighter for the fighting style and Constitution proficiency. Sharpshooter feat for damage. Four crossbow attacks per round, full spell casting, Charisma secondary, Inspiration to buff your allies, Expertise to boost your four most important leader-ish skills by +5 each. Don't play a loving Fighter, jesus christ you guys it's a level sixteen game, the guy needs to have actual abilities.
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Oct 4, 2017 05:11
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OutsideAngel posted:Don't play a loving Fighter, jesus christ you guys it's a level sixteen game, the guy needs to have actual abilities. I intentionally went fighter because he mentioned never playing 5e before. Your build is good but that's a ton of stuff to manage and learn.
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Oct 4, 2017 05:16
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Kaysette posted:I intentionally went fighter because he mentioned never playing 5e before. Your build is good but that's a ton of stuff to manage and learn. Ahh yes, it makes sense now. Make his first time terrible so he never plays 5e again. You're truly doing him a favour.
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Oct 4, 2017 05:20
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Kaysette posted:I intentionally went fighter because he mentioned never playing 5e before. Your build is good but that's a ton of stuff to manage and learn. Don't worry about that, I'm pretty sure this guy knows how to read RPG books.
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Oct 4, 2017 05:20
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Zomborgon posted:Don't worry about that, I'm pretty sure this guy knows how to read RPG books. Sorry, didn't mean for that to sound condescending. Just went for a simple build in two sentences that did what was asked. Theironjeff, you had the cool dark elder army, right? I remember that av from the 40k thread.
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Oct 4, 2017 05:23
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Yep, no need to argue on my behalf. I just haven't gotten around to 5e yet, but I have read and played my fair share of other stuff. The lightning and star patterns Dark Eldar army was also mine, I sort of miss painting. Sold off the rest, but they're still safe in the battlefoam in the garage.
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Oct 4, 2017 05:25
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I wrote what I was familiar with. It's not my fault that "guy who shoots dudes really well" is qualitatively NOT the Fighter.
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Oct 4, 2017 05:29
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OutsideAngel posted:Valor Bard with the Swift Quiver spell taken through the Magical Secrets class feature. Optional single level of Fighter for the fighting style and Constitution proficiency. Sharpshooter feat for damage. That sounds all about right. Character's for a one shot game anyway, might as well snag the fighter level, he'll never see level 17.
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Oct 4, 2017 05:37
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theironjef posted:That sounds all about right. Character's for a one shot game anyway, might as well snag the fighter level, he'll never see level 17.
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Oct 4, 2017 06:58
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Splicer posted:Dump stat Str by the way, there's maybe once per session where a high Dex character would care about Str and at level 16 it'll be solved by spells anyway. Every character should have 10 STR to be able to jump across 10 ft gaps.
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Oct 4, 2017 07:10
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Conspiratiorist posted:Every character should have 10 STR to be able to jump across 10 ft gaps.
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Oct 4, 2017 07:34
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Splicer posted:That's why you have one guy with 20 str. To carry you. Jesus?
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Oct 4, 2017 12:49
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Arivia posted:Jesus?
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Oct 4, 2017 13:34
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gradenko_2000 posted:I wrote what I was familiar with. It's not my fault that "guy who shoots dudes really well" is qualitatively NOT the Fighter. Well, that's not exactly true. With Action Surge and Precision Attack, the Battlemaster is probably still the absolute best at shooting guys. It's just that a Bard can be like 80-90% as good at shooting guys AND have full loving spell casting AND be way better at mundane skills AND get to Inspire allies. At high levels it's even more lopsided. Would I like a second round of attacks one more time per short rest (2nd use of Action Surge) or eight hours of Advantage on literally every roll (one cast of Foresight)?
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Oct 4, 2017 16:08
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So my D&D group was presented with the option to check leads in either the Feywild or the Underdark, and ultimately we decided we would  split the party . We're doing this by rolling up new PCs to accompany either half of the party during each session.I'm going with a Drow Fighter, I think, since my Sorlock is going to the Feywild. So questions: How is Eldritch Knight, should I multiclass, and if so what should I take? ETA: Or comedy UA Arcane Archer. Reene fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Oct 4, 2017 |
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Oct 4, 2017 16:47
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What level are the new chars and do you know what your other teammates are playing?
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Oct 4, 2017 18:18
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Reene posted:So my D&D group was presented with the option to check leads in either the Feywild or the Underdark, and ultimately we decided we would Most advice I've seen suggests if you want to play EK, just play a Bladesinger or Valor Bard instead.
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Oct 4, 2017 18:21
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I just started playing with an Adventurer's League group and was given a pre-made fighter to use while they wrapped up their current campaign. We'll be starting a new story (I think he said Out of the Abyss) next week with level one characters, so I'll be making one of my own for the first time. I'm planning on doing a halfling rogue, but was going to bring a couple level one characters so I have a few choices in case there's party overlap. What are some of your favorite classes, especially for newer players? I've heard Tempest Clerics and fun, so I was planning on bringing one of those, as well as a paladin. How about casters, I don't really have a feel for the difference between wizard/sorcerer/warlock.
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Oct 4, 2017 18:30
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odinson posted:What level are the new chars and do you know what your other teammates are playing? Everyone is level 15. Other characters are a bladelock, a divination wizard, a barbarian, and a mystic.
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Oct 4, 2017 18:51
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Reene posted:and a mystic. Lol. I hope you have an experienced DM
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Oct 4, 2017 21:39
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Reene posted:I'm going with a Drow Fighter, I think, since my Sorlock is going to the Feywild. So questions: How is Eldritch Knight, should I multiclass, and if so what should I take? EK is a tough-as-nails tank through judicious use of Shield, Resist Elements and Haste. 30 AC and damage type resistance while still keeping their 3-4 attacks per round is no joke. Their DCs key off INT but you can completely ignore it and just focus on the no-roll spells. Their archetype abilities beyond spell slots are rather lackluster, and really kind of a trap if you try to use them without analyzing what they do for you, but EK is overall an excellent way to go because you're on the Fighter chassis, and adding spellcasting to that chassis just works. Your 14th level gives you an extra Feat and your free-to-choose 3rd level spell, and 15th gives you the Action Surge teleport, so I wouldn't recommend dipping into other classes. However, if you want to be more of a spellsword type instead of a fighter that uses spell slots for defensive self-buffs and some out of combat utility, going DEX with 7 levels of EK to nab War Magic and the rest in Blade Singer is legit.
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Oct 4, 2017 21:44
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Turtle Dad 420 posted:Lol. I hope you have an experienced DM We do, and the mystic has been in the campaign for awhile. Only my PC and the bladelock will be completely new for this stretch. I think I'm okay with being more martial-focused given that we'll have a wizard and a warlock and it'll be a nice break from my sorlock. I just want some stuff to supplement that, add some potential utility away from combat, and give it more of a Drow-y feel. I know it's not the best fighter subclass but I'll take competing with the barbarian as good enough.
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Oct 4, 2017 22:03
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I recommend if you are doing EK to take some of the melee cantrips from the SCAG. They tend to work well with how the EK works. People tend to underestimate the EK, but every time I have seen it in play it tends to be really solid.
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Oct 4, 2017 22:07
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MonsterEnvy posted:I recommend if you are doing EK to take some of the melee cantrips from the SCAG. They tend to work well with how the EK works. People tend to underestimate the EK, but every time I have seen it in play it tends to be really solid. If you grab the war caster feat and someone triggers a movement based OA though 
Splicer fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Oct 4, 2017 |
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Oct 4, 2017 22:16
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MonsterEnvy posted:I recommend if you are doing EK to take some of the melee cantrips from the SCAG. They tend to work well with how the EK works. People tend to underestimate the EK, but every time I have seen it in play it tends to be really solid. I think the EK is probably better than the battle master in its current state, as "fighter who can have a familiar and cast shield/absorb elements" and maybe some other spells at higher levels is an improvement over the base fighter. Which likely makes it the strongest fighter. Whether or not it's better at being a gish than the Valor Bard/Bladesinger is another matter.
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Oct 4, 2017 22:17
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Magil Zeal posted:I think the EK is probably better than the battle master in its current state, as "fighter who can have a familiar and cast shield/absorb elements" and maybe some other spells at higher levels is an improvement over the base fighter. Which likely makes it the strongest fighter. Whether or not it's better at being a gish than the Valor Bard/Bladesinger is another matter.
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Oct 4, 2017 22:23
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Splicer posted:These work well for primary attacks up until level 4, at level 5 and on you're trading two or more regular attacks for one big attack which is always a bad trade. If you grab the war caster feat and someone triggers a movement based OA though At level 7 they get a weapon attack as a bonus action if they cast a cantrip. So as long as the bonus action is otherwise unused, they get one of the "lost" attacks back.
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Oct 4, 2017 22:28
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esquilax posted:At level 7 they get a weapon attack as a bonus action if they cast a cantrip. So as long as the bonus action is otherwise unused, they get one of the "lost" attacks back.
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Oct 4, 2017 22:32
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Splicer posted:These work well for primary attacks up until level 4, at level 5 you're trading two regular attacks for one big attack which is almost always a bad trade. They get situationally good at 7 with war magic then meh at 11 when you're back up to 3 native attacks. Green Flame Blade scales damage (both main and cleave) at 5, 11, and 17, which I think keeps it more than competitive if you have more than one target. mango sentinel fucked around with this message at 22:48 on Oct 4, 2017 |
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Oct 4, 2017 22:36
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mango sentinel posted:Green Flame Blade scales damage (both main and cleave) at 5, 11, and 17, which I think keeps it more than competitive if you have more than one target.
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Oct 4, 2017 23:08
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Splicer posted:It's the one attack roll that's the problem. Two shots to hit for X is better than one shot to hit for 2X Yeah I'm not sure where it falls behind in DPR once you factor miss averages but it's raw damage per hit is good. At 11 with a rapier you're doing 6d8+Dex+Dex+Int vs 3d6+Dex+Dex+Dex. Unless I'm goofing somewhere. Edit: I forgot Haste which gives melee another 1d6+Dex and narrows that gap. mango sentinel fucked around with this message at 23:26 on Oct 4, 2017 |
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Oct 4, 2017 23:10
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mango sentinel posted:Yeah I'm not sure where it falls behind in DPR once you factor miss averages but it's raw damage per hit is good.
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Oct 4, 2017 23:25
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mango sentinel posted:Yeah I'm not sure how far it falls behind in DPR once you get average aggregates but it's raw damage per hit is good. I mean they're good solid options and definitely take them for your starting cantrips, they just have this weird situation where they start out nails but become increasingly more situational as you level.
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Oct 4, 2017 23:25
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mango sentinel posted:Yeah I'm not sure where it falls behind in DPR once you factor miss averages but it's raw damage per hit is good. (20 DEX, Dueling Fighting Style) GFB with a rapier, split on the two targets, is 6d8+14+INT ~ 41+INT, or 32 single target. Just attacking is 3d8+21 ~ 34.5 But why would you use a rapier? Halberd or Quarterstaff for PAM, which combos nicely with Warcaster and BB. The best EK uses a Quarterstaff for 3d6+1d4+28 ~ 41
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Oct 4, 2017 23:35
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Splicer posted:These work well for primary attacks up until level 4, at level 5 you're trading two regular attacks for one big attack which is almost always a bad trade. They get situationally good at 7 with war magic then meh at 11 when you're back up to 3 native attacks. War Magic is why I felt they worked well with the Knight. It's constantly been one of the more useful abilities for EK's I have seen in play. Though it's always best to remember that the EK is a fighter first caster second. While things like the Bladesinger and Valor Bard are Casters first, fighters second. MonsterEnvy fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Oct 4, 2017 |
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Oct 4, 2017 23:36
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Reene posted:Everyone is level 15. The real worry is your bladelock, who is going to be overshadowed by the mystic and barbarian at essentially everything. And will also be overshadowed by your EK at essentially everything. Bladelocks are real, real bad, is what I'm saying.
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Oct 5, 2017 03:49
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