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JustJeff88
Jan 15, 2008

I AM
CONSISTENTLY
ANNOYING
...
JUST TERRIBLE


THIS BADGE OF SHAME IS WORTH 0.45 DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCES

:dogout:
of SA-Mart forever
I like that character concept. I once played with a guy who had an illegal class combination where was a level 1 barbarian/XX monk. Basically, the character tried to be very disciplined and Zen and mostly succeeded, but whenever he was very angry or stressed he would flip the gently caress out and wreck house with no regard for his personal safety. I think that the GM made his rage extra-extra-powerful, but with a huge downside. The actual numbers weren't shared, but he saved that costly panic button for only the most serious situations.

Elfgames posted:

i mean if you look at video game queue times "nobody wants to play the healer" is a pretty universal statement

Taciturn Tactician posted:

Video games suggest that people hate playing tank just as much. More, in some games.

I've often enjoyed both, but I realise that I am in the minority. Many years ago when I was in a raid guild in WoW, I was a tank/healer druid and never had a problem getting a group to do anything. Personally, I don't understand why people want to play DPS so much. Trying to make numbers as big as possible is very boring to me. If I'm the healer and nobody dies, I did my job well. If I'm the tank and I die the healer hosed up. If nobody (else) dies because I'm the only one being hit, I did my job well. I can get my teeth around that. Having my average DPS go up 1.2% is like telling me that my average commute time to work was 23 seconds shorter this past week. So long as I made it to work on time, why would I give two swirling fucks?

Gharbad the Weak posted:

They could at least go back to some level of percentage healing.

Implement minimum and maximum healing (in come cases) and I'm with you.

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stringless
Dec 28, 2005

keyboard ⌨️​ :clint: cowboy

My most recent jaunt into WoW I only played tanks (druid and paladin) because I enjoyed being in the thick of it. Also made the queue times bearable since I'd get in a group immediately with the occasional wait for a healer.

Plus, with being in the center of the action and having PBAoEs aplenty I'd regularly out DPS the dedicated DPS players. That was always a plus.

In D&D I'm usually utility/DPS, but I've been wanting to play a straight up fighter optimized for "tanking" inasmuch as that can be effectively done in D&D. Just wading in with plate armor so the enemies can't do anything about the snipers.

stringless fucked around with this message at 05:03 on Aug 30, 2019

Ramos
Jul 3, 2012


FFT posted:

My most recent jaunt into WoW I only played tanks (druid and paladin) because I enjoyed being in the thick of it. Also made the queue times bearable since I'd get in a group immediately with the occasional wait for a healer.

Plus, with being in the center of the action and having PBAoEs aplenty I'd regularly out DPS the dedicated DPS players. That was always a plus.

In D&D I'm usually utility/DPS, but I've been wanting to play a straight up fighter optimized for "tanking" inasmuch as that can be effectively done in D&D. Just wading in with plate armor so the enemies can't do anything about the snipers.

Consider grabbing Paladin for that. You can grab all the same armor and stuff (half plate to platemail, shield, +1 AC defense style) and toss on Shield of Faith (+2 more AC) to be nigh impossible to hit in the early levels along with the Paladin's frankly silly level of auras and area of control effects. Plus, you get Aura of Protection, which is just plus your charisma modifier to every single save you can possibly make.

If you're looking to be far away from allies, consider either Oath of Conquest where you just walk up to enemies and they proceed to freak out and be unable to move or Oath of the Crown where you just get to lock down a large chunk of the field and say enemies can't leave that until they take care of you.

Ramos fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Aug 30, 2019

Conspiratiorist
Nov 12, 2015

17th Separate Kryvyi Rih Tank Brigade named after Konstantin Pestushko
Look to my coming on the first light of the fifth sixth some day

FFT posted:

In D&D I'm usually utility/DPS, but I've been wanting to play a straight up fighter optimized for "tanking" inasmuch as that can be effectively done in D&D. Just wading in with plate armor so the enemies can't do anything about the snipers.

Shield & Stick EK with PAM + War Caster, gets Shield, Absorb Elements, Protection from Evil, Blur, and does Booming Blade with its reaction attacks. Individually the toughest Fighter.

Glaive PAM + Sentinel Battle Master. Some area control and combat utility, and the best at pure damage.

lightrook
Nov 7, 2016

Pin 188

For a different take, since anything based on your reaction is only good once per round, you could consider a plate cleric that uses Spirit Guardians to slow down nearby enemies. Sentinel isn't any less useful, and Magic Initiate or a quick dip can get you the Blade cantrips to put some sting on your melee attacks. War Caster and Sentinel are still nice, although PAM isn't as critical when you already have ways to burn your bonus action. You'll also have CC spells for tying people up at range and healing once people actually do take damage.

Conspiratiorist
Nov 12, 2015

17th Separate Kryvyi Rih Tank Brigade named after Konstantin Pestushko
Look to my coming on the first light of the fifth sixth some day
For a (Tempest) Cleric I'd just take Resilient Constitution and max WIS, maybe MI Wizard for BB and Familiar on level 8 or 12, but otherwise there really isn't any room for feats since WIS 20 is so valuable.

Jonas Albrecht
Jun 7, 2012


Taciturn Tactician posted:

Video games suggest that people hate playing tank just as much. More, in some games.

I love tanking but getting screamed at by strangers when things go wrong loving sucks.

Polo-Rican
Jul 4, 2004

emptyquote my posts or die
I was trying to brainstorm an interesting wizard character to play as, and came up with a fun idea for a party wizard who basically uses magic to enjoy life, to get wasted, and to experience cool things, with hinted implications that he's hiding from some pretty serious past trauma. But then I realized that the character I'd written was exactly Rick from Rick & Morty. d'oh!!!

The idea can definitely still work, but even if I tweak the character to make him less Rick-like, I'm going to constantly be thinking about whether or not I'm playing it too close to Rick.

Polo-Rican fucked around with this message at 14:56 on Aug 30, 2019

nelson
Apr 12, 2009
College Slice
I think that half-orc barbarian “human monk” we were talking about could be lawful neutral/good. He had a troubled early childhood in a chaotic household but found peace and solace in the orderly monetary. He likes rules and order. Having the fork on the wrong side of the plate makes him agitated. If someone cuts in line he will yell at them to get in the back; if they don’t listen he will get frustrated and forcibly move them. If he sees someone steal, or bully or kill an innocent, something inside of him will snap. He’ll go into an uncontrollable rage, drop whatever he’s doing and go after them with his “hammer of justice” (his maul).

nelson fucked around with this message at 15:22 on Aug 30, 2019

TooMuchAbstraction
Oct 14, 2012

I spent four years making
Waves of Steel
Hell yes I'm going to turn my avatar into an ad for it.
Fun Shoe

nelson posted:

I think that half-orc barbarian “human monk” we were talking about could be lawful neutral/good. He had a troubled early childhood in a chaotic household but found peace and solace in the orderly monetary. He likes rules and order. Having the fork on the wrong side of the plate makes him agitated. If someone cuts in line he will yell at them to get in the back; if they don’t listen he will get frustrated and forcibly move them. If he sees someone steal, or bully or kill an innocent, something inside of him will snap. He’ll go into an uncontrollable rage, drop whatever he’s doing and go after them with his “hammer of justice” (his maul).

He got kicked out of paladin school for being too militant, is what you're saying.

Taciturn Tactician
Jan 27, 2011

The secret to good health is a balanced diet and unstable healing radiation
Lipstick Apathy

JustJeff88 posted:

I've often enjoyed both, but I realise that I am in the minority. Many years ago when I was in a raid guild in WoW, I was a tank/healer druid and never had a problem getting a group to do anything. Personally, I don't understand why people want to play DPS so much. Trying to make numbers as big as possible is very boring to me. If I'm the healer and nobody dies, I did my job well. If I'm the tank and I die the healer hosed up. If nobody (else) dies because I'm the only one being hit, I did my job well. I can get my teeth around that. Having my average DPS go up 1.2% is like telling me that my average commute time to work was 23 seconds shorter this past week. So long as I made it to work on time, why would I give two swirling fucks?

For reference, I'm also someone who plays a lot of tanks and healers, but it's not like I don't notice that my queue times are 1/50th as long compared my DPS friends :v:

Jonas Albrecht posted:

I love tanking but getting screamed at by strangers when things go wrong loving sucks.

this is also true

Crumbletron
Jul 21, 2006



IT'S YOUR BOY JESUS, MANE

Polo-Rican posted:

I was trying to brainstorm an interesting wizard character to play as, and came up with a fun idea for a party wizard who basically uses magic to enjoy life, to get wasted, and to experience cool things, with hinted implications that he's hiding from some pretty serious past trauma. But then I realized that the character I'd written was exactly Rick from Rick & Morty. d'oh!!!

The idea can definitely still work, but even if I tweak the character to make him less Rick-like, I'm going to constantly be thinking about whether or not I'm playing it too close to Rick.

I'm playing a wizard right now that's all about magic tort law and it's great. My counterspell is an objection

Splicer
Oct 16, 2006

from hell's heart I cast at thee
🧙🐀🧹🌙🪄🐸

JustJeff88 posted:

I've often enjoyed both, but I realise that I am in the minority. Many years ago when I was in a raid guild in WoW, I was a tank/healer druid and never had a problem getting a group to do anything. Personally, I don't understand why people want to play DPS so much. Trying to make numbers as big as possible is very boring to me. If I'm the healer and nobody dies, I did my job well. If I'm the tank and I die the healer hosed up. If nobody (else) dies because I'm the only one being hit, I did my job well. I can get my teeth around that. Having my average DPS go up 1.2% is like telling me that my average commute time to work was 23 seconds shorter this past week. So long as I made it to work on time, why would I give two swirling fucks?
It's hard to git gud at tanking or healing without practice, it's hard to get practice at tanking or healing outside of raids, and if you tank or heal in PUG raids when you haven't already got gud assholes will yell at you for not fixing their fuckups fast enough. I loved tanking with my tank rogue in Rift but DPS was infinitely less stressful, and that was with a game where you get multiple specs per character you can freely swap between.

dex_sda
Oct 11, 2012


Crumbletron posted:

Secrets aren't bad but you definitely need to get people on board, to a point.

This is the ticket right here.

Smashing Link
Jul 8, 2003

I'll keep chucking bombs at you til you fall off that ledge!
Grimey Drawer

nelson posted:

I think that half-orc barbarian “human monk” we were talking about could be lawful neutral/good. He had a troubled early childhood in a chaotic household but found peace and solace in the orderly monetary. He likes rules and order. Having the fork on the wrong side of the plate makes him agitated. If someone cuts in line he will yell at them to get in the back; if they don’t listen he will get frustrated and forcibly move them. If he sees someone steal, or bully or kill an innocent, something inside of him will snap. He’ll go into an uncontrollable rage, drop whatever he’s doing and go after them with his “hammer of justice” (his maul).

I was thinking along the same lines of him being lawful, most likely neutral. The excessive focus on order is a reaction to the troubled upbringing. I think the Good/Evil axis could be undecided for a bit as well.

nelson
Apr 12, 2009
College Slice

Smashing Link posted:

I was thinking along the same lines of him being lawful, most likely neutral. The excessive focus on order is a reaction to the troubled upbringing. I think the Good/Evil axis could be undecided for a bit as well.

Yep, I originally wrote just lawful neutral but started second guessing myself. The important trait is the excessive focus on order. I’ll be interested to hear how this guy turns out once you start playing. I hope you have a lot of fun with him!

Smashing Link
Jul 8, 2003

I'll keep chucking bombs at you til you fall off that ledge!
Grimey Drawer

nelson posted:

Yep, I originally wrote just lawful neutral but started second guessing myself. The important trait is the excessive focus on order. I’ll be interested to hear how this guy turns out once you start playing. I hope you have a lot of fun with him!

Thanks man.

JustJeff88
Jan 15, 2008

I AM
CONSISTENTLY
ANNOYING
...
JUST TERRIBLE


THIS BADGE OF SHAME IS WORTH 0.45 DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCES

:dogout:
of SA-Mart forever

Splicer posted:

It's hard to git gud at tanking or healing without practice, it's hard to get practice at tanking or healing outside of raids, and if you tank or heal in PUG raids when you haven't already got gud assholes will yell at you for not fixing their fuckups fast enough. I loved tanking with my tank rogue in Rift but DPS was infinitely less stressful, and that was with a game where you get multiple specs per character you can freely swap between.

Same in WoW, even then (during WotLK). My first time off-tanking, I made a gently caress-up that I'm embarrassed about to this day, but fortunately my guild were not arseholes.

Fake Edit: Sorry for the derail

Baku
Aug 20, 2005

by Fluffdaddy

Elfgames posted:

i mean if you look at video game queue times "nobody wants to play the healer" is a pretty universal statement

Yet there are tens/hundreds of thousands of people playing MMOs and D&D who "like healing". I'm not saying the 4E "most of your support comes from riders on offensive powers" model is bad; that's a great idea for a class (or build). So is a dedicated healer. Hell, I think there's room for a game with 12 classes with 5+ specializations apiece to include two different kinds of healers.

People hated the basic/AD&D Cleric because it's a mechanically boring class written in such a way as to encourage RPing a moralizing wet blanket in a game about murder hobos. And because there's a critical dearth of imagination in mass market fantasy adventure games, other games often copy this model outright for their own healers, mostly offering no clear explanation for why only religious spellcasters can heal, which contributes to them continuing to be unpopular.

KittyEmpress
Dec 30, 2012

Jam Buddies

In 4e, I always found Defender was the second most taken role, with Leader being third, and Controller in far dead last. Meanwhile I'd open up a game recruit here or on an IRC and I'd get 20 people wanting striker spots.

But the religious thing is important - for druids, clerics, and paladins, more often than anything else, I've seen people say "I don't play them because I don't like having to be religious."

Marathanes
Jun 13, 2009
I'm a big fan of support/damage classes where you at least have the ability to heal - Celestial Lock, Divine Soul Sorc, Tranquility Monk, Artificer, Mystic, Paladin, Ranger, Bard, Cleric, etc.. Hell, more than 50% of the classes in the game CAN heal others if they need to, if they're set up the right way, and about a third can do it natively. The more people that CAN heal in a party the better. Damage can be spikey and the dice can be fickle. I don't advocate for a dedicated healer because if you need one of those, something is gone wrong on the DM side, IMO.

Nehru the Damaja
May 20, 2005

Anyone seen any half-decent Warden homebrews? I got invited to a 4e game and realized looking at the classes that Warden is basically what I'd been trying to homebrew under another name. So I assume there's something out there already.

Ryuujin
Sep 26, 2007
Dragon God
Not sure, DMSGuild has a bunch, and someone linked a free one when I was searching. Also in searching it seems like Robert Schwalb was working on a 5e Warden back in February. And he apparently was the one that wrote the 4e one.

From a quick glance far too many of these are like half-spellcasters, instead of not spellcasters at all.

EDIT: Found Schwalb's, and looking at the preview even that has casting. ... Here it is.

Despite spellslots a quick review I found suggests it gets a lot of things I associate with the Warden so I picked it up and I will be taking a look at it. Not that I am in any games that allow third party, or even Unearthed Arcana, material.

Ryuujin fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Aug 31, 2019

Pussy Quipped
Jan 29, 2009

If a character is Feebleminded for a day or two then gets a greater restoration, would they have any memory of their time as a 1 int 1 cha drooling animal?

Azza Bamboo
Apr 7, 2018


THUNDERDOME LOSER 2021
Whichever is more fun.

MonsterEnvy
Feb 4, 2012

Shocked I tell you

Pussy Quipped posted:

If a character is Feebleminded for a day or two then gets a greater restoration, would they have any memory of their time as a 1 int 1 cha drooling animal?

Your choice I would say.

Baku
Aug 20, 2005

by Fluffdaddy
One logical way to go, I think, would be to treat experiencing that kind of severe mental damage something like the way you remember being really drunk or high the next morning. You have a vague recollection of major events, but it's all foggy and skewed and you're probably missing or misremembering some things.

That's how I imagine snapping out of an enchantment feels, anyway.

piL
Sep 20, 2007
(__|\\\\)
Taco Defender
Re: Tank and Healer Talk

The aforementioned Tank-blame issue is one obvious issue, but I think the other is that the games are always multiphased, with some of the play being solo and some of the play being group. And since the core mechanic is generally making the other guys bar shrink more quickly, the DPS experience is more similar in the solo and group portions of play than tanking or healing experiences are in those different phases of play.

Midig
Apr 6, 2016

Ok. So my campaign started with in-medias res inside a dungeon trying to wipe out an orc clan before they can gather up other clans under their cause. In my world, orcs are highly destructive, cruel and warmongering. But they do not sacrifice humans in dark rituals(all their offerings are on the battlefield) or create their own armor and weapons (getting it from pillaging). The PCs can figure out that these orcs have odd behavior based on finding an armory room and a sacrificial dagger on an altar.

The players will either find out that they were too late and overhear a gathering of many orcs, an impressive speech and orcs storming out in hundreds. Or get captured and get sacrificed to a god, giving them a chance to escape. They luckily have an unknown friend as an intelligent rat who can free them if they fail their strength rolls. After killing a few orcs and a war cleric of the tribe or they just watch them storm out, they will find an amulet with a black stone. This stone signifies the belief in a god of deceit, who can be worshipped from any statue or relic as long as you use the necklace as a channeling point. The god will gain power and influence as long as the stone is used to channel it. The user of the stone can make it appear as any symbol they desire.

Depending on if they get captured or listen in, they will get an opportunity to warn cities close by (they got horses). The orcs will not attack well-fortified cities, but lay waste to the countryside by burning down villages, crops etc. The count of the city they were sent from is also a believer in this god of trickery. But I used my rat companion to point out his necklace and they had to listen in on him talking about how evil he is to let the PCs know he influenced the orc tribes to gather up.

I wanted to know if there would be any cooler way to let the players figure this out without spoon feeding it to the PCs and perhaps foreshadow the revelation so that it is not immediately obvious, but still makes them go "ah ha" when they figure it out. Naturally, the count is using this ploy to weaken nearby cities and solidify his power, as well as sate his desire to wreak havoc through deception.

Midig fucked around with this message at 12:56 on Sep 1, 2019

dex_sda
Oct 11, 2012


Midig posted:

perhaps foreshadow the revelation so that it is not immediately obvious, but still makes them go "ah ha" when they figure it out. Naturally, the count is using this ploy to weaken nearby cities and solidify his power, as well as sate his desire to wreak havoc through deception.

In general, for that kind of thing: think hard of clues that you can put out there to what the twist is that make sense in your world. Remember that players never catch on, so you don't need to be too subtle. Write down a huge list of clues you can pepper into the game. Then, use at least one-two per session.

If they don't get it, you'll have spoonfed them enough they'll go "oh! that makes sense" when you reveal it. And if they figure it out, you might have the inclination to twist something more or lead them astray again. Do not do this, it is absolute poison. If they figure it out, they did and that's loving cool and you should even reward them. Make it possible for them to gain the upper hand from their cleverness. In fact, you should actually want this outcome to happen - a cool twist is really cool, and intelligent stories/villains are really cool, but it's basically a coin flip whether you frustrate your players with secrets and foreshadowing - unless you give them an honest to God, very good chance of figuring things out ahead of time.

dex_sda fucked around with this message at 14:24 on Sep 1, 2019

Midig
Apr 6, 2016

Well, the problem is not them figuring it out, but that they had to have help from an NPC to receive the first clue. It's actually dumb for him to be wearing a necklace signifying his occult beliefs, even if normal NPCs have no idea what it means.

dex_sda
Oct 11, 2012


Midig posted:

Well, the problem is not them figuring it out, but that they had to have help from an NPC to receive the first clue. It's actually dumb for him to be wearing a necklace signifying his occult beliefs, even if normal NPCs have no idea what it means.

It doesn't change much. Think hard what clues they can get that make sense and make sure they're not subtle. Feed lots of them at once.

Alternatively... you can run it the standard way puzzles should be ran. Only keep in mind the info they already have and the rough solution. See what they figure out on their own, and if the idea they have to get more information is in any way reasonable, give it to them. This requires a lot of improvisation though, and it's narrative sleight of hand you need to be careful with (it makes the players feel clever because their ideas work, but if you do it too much they'll realise whatever they do will get them to the answer and the illusion is broken).

e; not that it's necessarily bad that the illusion is broken - PbtA games and derivatives run on giving the players narrative control like that and they are incredible - but it might be jarring if your players expect by-the-book D&D

dex_sda fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Sep 1, 2019

nelson
Apr 12, 2009
College Slice
Just make sure the players know that this is a really strange thing for orcs in this world to do. When starting a new campaign the players are looking for how the world works and will assume everything is normal unless it’s made obvious that it isn’t.

Midig
Apr 6, 2016

The rat also at some point reveals that he was cursed by that same person and can be freed, but honestly, I think I will retcon it since having a talking rat in the party is fun. Last time I ran it, when they come back the sheriff asked for a report of the incidents, and a successful investigation roll from each player filled in a clue based on previous information they gathered from the cave (Orc rituals, armory, black stone, Wargod statue). This can lead him to sending you to the local wizard, who confirms that the black stone is odd, but the source is unknown.

I think I will then put more emphasis on this count not sending out help to other cities, the sheriff and other members such as the local wizard, among them a local folk hero questioning his decision to let other cities be left to ruin as well as the not very hospitable treatment of refugees fleeing the orcs coming in seeking aid. So that even if the NPCs don't see him as worshipping evil, he is at least someone they are not meant to like. Originally, he was also talking down to the players and mocking them for having done nothing, but I don't think it came across as the count being hostile towards them, but just arrogant.

Then at some point making the folk hero dies somehow "in an accident" and the local wizard's house burns down. If the players storm in, they will find a black book in the hands of the wizard, providing information about a certain cult. The official story of the fire will be that one of his apprentices was clumsy and managed to set the place on fire through his carelessness. That the deaths were tragic, but not a surprise. If they do not storm in, one of the apprentices under an invisibility spell (since the wizard cannot bear to be distracted by people when doing his studies) will hand you the book, along with a note stating that it is not safe for him to be here and that he must get out. That, IMO should clue them in, then the rat can make some suggestions on how to go about revealing the crimes of this count.

Midig fucked around with this message at 14:54 on Sep 1, 2019

Open Marriage Night
Sep 18, 2009

"Do you want to talk to a spider, Peter?"


My friend wants to DM a pirate campaign, and the rest of my party is making stand ins for One Piece characters. Since I don’t watch the show, I thought I’d try a Forge domain Cleric that focuses on flintlock pistols since they’re allowed.

Any good tips or tricks for running Forge, or playing in a campaign with gunpowder?

Baku
Aug 20, 2005

by Fluffdaddy

Open Marriage Night posted:

Any good tips or tricks for running Forge, or playing in a campaign with gunpowder?

It's less relevant to a Forge Cleric than someone with Extra Attack, but a big consideration for a gunpowder setting is that as far as I can tell the only way (RAW) to ignore loading on guns is to have an Artificer with the Repeating Shot infusion (which eats up one of their class abilities). There are several simple solutions - letting Crossbow Expert apply to guns, creating an alternate feat with a similar function, handing out homebrew items, or just removing loading (which has the side effect of making guns superior ranged weapons, which may be what the group wants) - but if the DM doesn't pursue any of them, any martial character using guns is going to suck past level 5 or so.

Forge is mostly about being an unkillable pain in the rear end in heavy armor, so it doesn't really synergize with ranged weapons; you run into MAD issues. It also doesn't get martial weapon proficiency, so (depending on your DMs ruling) you probably need to acquire that to use a gun. It's a strong spec, but I don't think it suits what you're going for. If you want to be a marksman with spells and group utility, I'd look at something like War Bard or the aforementioned (Battlesmith) Artificer.

P.d0t
Dec 27, 2007
I released my finger from the trigger, and then it was over...
I'm looking to make a new character for an upcoming LMoP game.

Aside from the obvious choices (Fighter, Ranger, ...rogue, I guess) what are some good options to build an archery-focused character around?

I'm not sure if Kensei or War Cleric would be any good, but both seem like serviceable options.
Is there any distinct edge between Valor bard vs. Sword bard? Are there any hidden gems in the Druid/Wizard/Sorcerer spell list, that should get some consideration?

lightrook
Nov 7, 2016

Pin 188

P.d0t posted:

I'm looking to make a new character for an upcoming LMoP game.

Aside from the obvious choices (Fighter, Ranger, ...rogue, I guess) what are some good options to build an archery-focused character around?

I'm not sure if Kensei or War Cleric would be any good, but both seem like serviceable options.
Is there any distinct edge between Valor bard vs. Sword bard? Are there any hidden gems in the Druid/Wizard/Sorcerer spell list, that should get some consideration?

Bards can snag Swift Quiver off the Ranger spell list with their level 10 Magical Secrets, but that's beyond the scope of a LMoP game.

Sorlock isn't an archer per se, but a hexblade 2/sorcerer x split can fire off two EBs a turn with Twin metamagic starting at level 5, which is another way to approach the consistent ranged damage concept. Again, though, there's the issue that it doesn't really take off until LMoP is about to end.

If you're starting at level 1 like I'm assuming, then there isn't really a lot of room for customizing anything, and the best build to hit the ground running is probably still a Vuman fighter with crossbow expert.

Conspiratiorist
Nov 12, 2015

17th Separate Kryvyi Rih Tank Brigade named after Konstantin Pestushko
Look to my coming on the first light of the fifth sixth some day

P.d0t posted:

I'm looking to make a new character for an upcoming LMoP game.

Aside from the obvious choices (Fighter, Ranger, ...rogue, I guess) what are some good options to build an archery-focused character around?

I'm not sure if Kensei or War Cleric would be any good, but both seem like serviceable options.
Is there any distinct edge between Valor bard vs. Sword bard? Are there any hidden gems in the Druid/Wizard/Sorcerer spell list, that should get some consideration?

Hexblade Warlock

Valor Bard gets proficiency in Martial Weapons (read: Longbow). Swords Bard does not.

Elf Bladesinger gets racial proficiency in longbows, so that's not a terrible way to go for archering, all things considered.

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Marathanes
Jun 13, 2009
A friend of mine played an Cleric that used a longbow and had the SS feat (not sure what domain, but probably war) that seemed really fun to play, though the campaign never got too far.

An archer Hexblade (especially if you did hand xbow with Crossbow Expert) would work and really kick in once you get the invocations for enhanced pact weapon / eldritch smite / thirsting blade / lifedrinker and the later ones (though, as I'm sure some would likely point out, it still doesn't keep pace with Eldritch Blast in terms of raw damage, afaik).

Kensei really doesn't work as a full time ranged as much as I wish it would - if you're looking for that kind of character, I'd just go Samurai/BM Fighter and use some eastern flair. Or just play a sun soul monk and shoot lasers.

Sword bard wouldn't give you longbow or heavy xbow natively, so I think valor is your better choice unless you're an Elf. If you are an Elf, it's essentially a toss up of if you want to use your inspiration dice selfishly on blade maneuvers or by giving them away as a valor bard. Keep in mind that bard archers get to steal, at level 10, the level 5 Ranger spell Swift Quiver, which could give you 4 attacks per round at the cost of your concentration.

If UA Mystic is allowed, there's a whole Mystic Discipline - Nomadic Arrow, that can give you extra attacks, extra damage, and reroll misses with ranged weapons. Plus (controversial opinion alert) psionics are cool.

As for hidden Druid/Sorc/Wiz spells, none jump to mind, though I'm sure some other folk might have some ideas.

I see some folks already beat me to most of this, so I'll let it be here.

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