#and ranger/druid multiclass was the chosen one! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bijoumikhawal · 10 months

Text

Thoughts on ds9 main cast as DnD classes

Sisko: Is it possible to be a warlock without being the initiating party? Actually scratch that, depending on how you interpret the whole thing with his mother and the prophets, he could be a sorcerer. I don't think he's a paladin because to me the defining feature of a paladin is the oath; Sisko is initally reluctant to being the Emissary and even tries to hand off the responsibility to someone else, partially out of genuine belief they might be better suited to the job. The fact that sorcerers don't chose their power is a defining characteristic, and not all sorcerers are from a bloodline. Some have a somewhat random awakening, like Sisko’s entering the wormhole. They don't learn new magic from books; they discover new abilities through the course of life, which reminds me of the episode with his visions.

Kira: Paladin. She becomes the person she is by dedicating herself to a cause wholly and completely, she never strays from it, and she's still devoted to it to this day, to the point where she gets chosen as a vessel for the prophets during the show down that wasn't. Alternatively: you could argue monk, and say her cloister was her terrorist cell, but I don't know it's as strong as the argument for paladin. That said, I am biased.

Dax: I struggled with her, not gonna lie. I feel like her massive jock energy is a known quantity, but she's also the science officer and clearly does a lot of research. I feel like you could most safely argue warlock- like I said for Sisko, sorcerers don't choose their path, and while joining could be similar to the outside influences in sorcerers, the process itself is a choice and ultimately similar to the mutually beneficial pacts warlocks carry out.

O'Brien: his face is next to the entry for "artificer". But if we were sticking to the core classes, I think his vibe is pretty close to those posts about Wizards as IT support technicians. You don't have to be a special guy to be a wizard, you just learn your trade.

Bashir: Sorcerer, but in a hypothetical DnD AU, not the usual way where your grandmother was a dragon fucker. More of in a horrible experiment way. However, he either intentionally multiclasses or pretends to be something else, and I think that's a ranger. From DnD beyond's single sentence summary: "(A ranger is) a warrior who combats threats on the edges of civilization". Now, the stuff in the rulebook isn't necessarily the best or only conceptualization of what a class is, but Julian does have that infamous line from the pilot. From a character analysis standpoint (though not an game mechanics one) you could argue disease is a favored enemy.

Worf: He's definitely a martial heavy class, not a primarily casting class. He doesn't fit as a barbarian at all, I don't think he's got a particular devotion that makes an oath for a paladin, and I don't believe he has a spiritual element to his character found with monks (admitting of course, that I'm not familiar with TNG). He does have the solitary style rangers are associated with in ds9, but not the nature association. You could argue that by serving in Starfleet, he, like Julian, is protecting a civilization from the outskirts as someone politically involved in the Klingon Empire. And even draw in his decision to live on the Defiant into this. You could also say he's a straightforward fighter.

Odo: I think you could make an argument for Odo as a paladin- his commitment to his idea of justice and fairness is very oath like, but I also find the read of paladins as cops kind of boring and not getting at the meat of what a paladin is. You could argue druid because of the shapeshifting and the idea of balance found in the class vs his idea of justice, but I feel like overall changelings focus more on a mastery over nature than being an extension of it, and that's pretty antithetical to druids when played as standard.

Quark: I do not think he is a rogue. To be fair, we see his failed schemes because those are the interesting ones, but Quark stans to my understanding like his middle aged fail babygirl vibe. I'm not sure what else he would be though... he's a decent negotiator and a good people person, so a high charisma class. That leads me towards bard, though Quark isn't much of an artist or speech maker.

Garak: hot take! Hot take alert from the known clown! Rogue/Paladin multiclass. Rogue is obvious- its a favorite for spy type characters. However- the third episode Garak is in, we learn about his sheer devotion to Cardassia, and how he classifies it as love. Paladins aren't the way they are because of religion (though that's often a big element), it's because of devotion. And that devotion can be deeply destructive. Plus- tell me, upon thinking about it, that afterimage isn't an oathbreaker level breakdown.

#cipher talk #ds9

32 notes · View notes

ryttu3k · 2 months

Text

Thread on the BG3 subreddit for tiny headcanons. Posting my own and my favourites here for posterity!

Mine

(In response to: "The owlbear cub brings Astarion "snacks" the same way Scratch brings gifts and sometimes they go hunting together.") Astarion is more or less adopted by the cub, who he grudgingly teaches how to hunt. Astarion gets the blood, cub gets the rest. (The cub gets named 'Bite'.)

If no one in the party gets the Volo eye from his amateur surgery, Wyll replaces the stone one with it.

Astarion knows exactly who Jaheira is (and Minsc, later) and is barely resisting fanboying in excitement. She's up there with Drizzt! (Later, he and Karlach basically just jump up and down like excited kids meeting their hero.) [original post]

Relatedly, if Jaheira knew about Cazador, she would have killed him like a century ago.

Elves have expressive ears. The squad giggle a bit about it when they meet Halsin, and Astarion points out, bemusedly, that it's a normal part of elf body language. They point out that he doesn't, leading to his own realisation that Cazador stole another type of language from him. Later, he starts relearning it and it's another 'fuck you' to Cazador. [original post]

Wyll and Karlach find a music box in Avernus and spend a lot of evenings dancing and generally living their best lives. They also use the House of Hope as a base when they need a break, which now has a permanent portal between it and Devil's Fee (threats were involved), guarded by Yurgir. They use it to stock up on fresh food (both for themselves and to trade), supplies, getting news, and sending messages.

On that note, Wyll, Gale, Astarion, and Shadowheart have a book club by correspondence. He uses the portal for that, too.

Wyll, trying to find a new class after Warlock, does settle on Ranger… but he also vibes heavily with Bard, and starts learning Bardic techniques too. Multiclassing!

Gale works out over the course of the adventure and spending time with Dark Urge that he does actually have a touch of sorcery, namely the same Storm Sorcery Durge has. Mystra never let him know because she has less control over sorcery than wizardry, but now he can learn as he likes. Multiclassing, part 2!

Halsin adopts Yenna (and Grub). And the tiefling orphans. And Arabella, when she's taking a break from roaming (she's training as a wild magic sorcerer, but there's more than a hint of druid there too). And Scratch (I know what the epilogue says, I'm ignoring it) and Bite, the owlbear cub. And Myshka (Malta gets adopted by Derryth). And Us. Good kitty :)

Like in Evereska and Evermeet, Reithwin becomes linked to the Feywild. Thaniel and Oliver visit it pretty often.

Astarion goes through a period of trying a ton of different jobs to see what he most enjoys doing. As well as adventuring, they include perfumery, tailoring, bartending, and a short but memorable stint throwing knives at Circus of the Last Days (Lucretious adopts him into her House, it's a vibe). He still hasn't worked out what he wants as a career but is enjoying the freedom of being able to choose.

(He also, thanks to visiting Halsin in Reithwin a lot, learns a bit of Druidry and picks up a bat wild shape. Batstarion as a spawn! Multiclassing, part 3!)

Astarion has a really good mind for puns. Just incredibly good with wordplay, quick at it, comes out with them in response to conversation like breathing for normal people. He's constantly, crushingly disappointed in himself every single time. Just makes the funniest pun you’ve ever heard then just. Sighs in abject despair at his own words. [original post]

The first time Shadowheart really sits and meditates focusing on the full moon, she gets a furry little surprise along the lines of her first werewolf transformation. Whoops. Halsin (a werebear who sometimes still struggles with his own transformation) helps mentor her in the whole... accidentally a shapeshifter thing.

Redeemed Durge becomes Chosen of Jergal, and sets out about on a mission to stamp out any remnants of the Dead Three, once and for all. They also multiclass (part 4!) into Cleric along with Sorcerer.

Other favourites

"- Grubb the cat is mildly clairvoyant, hence his anxiety. - Jaheira adopts Mol into her foster home. The path is long, but Mol's new family helps her to make better choices. She is highly frustrated by 'Uncle' Minsc. - Arabella's 'beardy man' is actually an avatar of Silvanus, not Elminster. Might be contradicted by epilogue now, but I'm sticking by it. - Wyll is a workout freak. He tries to get everyone to join him for early morning jogging and squats. Only Minsc ever goes. - Zevlor joins Karlach and Wyll/Tav in Avernus. They unite with the remnants of the Hellriders and become an infernal engine gang. - If both are liberated, Nessa the displacer beast and Shadow-Whiskers the displacer beast find happiness together. - Moonrise becomes a massive Selunite temple; Halsin's orphanage occupies most of the ground floor. Many previously-tadpoled absolutists who no longer have a home to go to work there. - Spawn Astarion, if unromanced and left to his own devices, eventually does become a perfumer. He markets scents to the undead and other conspicuously-scented beings, and makes quite a bit of coin. He sets up shop in Araj's abandoned apothecary, if she is dead. - Gale's mother sent Mystra a sternly-worded letter after the breakup. Delivered by Tara. it didn't help. - If rescued, Vanra is changed by her time with the hag and develops a touch of wild magic sorcery. - If Haarlep is alive and Raphael is dead, Haarlep moves into Raphael's suite in Sharress' Carress. His room is a popular attraction. - Jaheira is the best cook in camp, better than Gale. But she doesn't want anyone to know, because she doesn't want to get saddled with cooking duty. - Selunite Shadowheart eventually persuades Nocturne to leave Shar. Nocturne becomes a cleric of Lathander, god of rebirth and renewal, and helps others in her position to find rebirth without turning to the Lady of Loss." - lulufan87 (OP)

"Astarion likes cats because they've been his hunting buddies on rat capture trips." - satinsateensaltine

"- Gale has old man reading glasses, always takes them on the road along with minimum one book - Astarion actually suggested nickname "Shart" once. SH left him questioning all his life choices after. - Karlach takes short-raced Tavs over her shoulder when they can't jump a gap - Both society of Briliance and Underdark people know of Omeluum, but they aren't bothered, because it looks and is very polite. - Astarion and Shart abuse their tadpole connection to talk shit about other party members and NPCs" - notsohappynotsosad

"Wyll jokingly nicknames Astarion the Fang of Frontiers know that's he a hero and adventurer like himself." - TheCrimzenKing

"Selûnite Shadowheart gets her little rat pet. :)" - uwubewwa

"Gale becomes the most well known Wizard in the realm alongside Eliminster. But chooses to die a natural death instead of becoming effectively immortal, due to now appreciating the life he has after the campaign." - Rhinomaster22

"- Shadowheart and Nocturne have turned fully from Shar and are happily partnered. They live happily with their farm animals. - Shadowheart, Gale, Hope, and Tav have a recipe sharing circle. Tav grows night orchids and gives Shadowheart the cuttings whenever she visits. - Shadowheart and Tav swap custody of the Owlbear. - The Owlbear treats US like a sticky little sister. - Every time Tav pets the Owlbear and Scratch, she also pets US. - Spawnstarion and the Gur Monster hunters ALSO have a recipe sharing circle for scent masking and monster repellents. - Astarion is the camp tailor and mends little slogans into the team's clothing. Wyll's underwear has "Agonizing Blast" across the seat." - dirt_rat_devil_boy

"Doni is okay and survived the trip to Moonrise by finding new hiding spots. He emerges after the shadow curse is lifted and finds safety with Thaniel." - M_de_Monty

"I choose to believe that Korilla is the female singer in Raphael's Final Act" - SuspiciousWeasel15

"Halsin is a werebear that is also a Druid. He is completely unaware that he is a werebear." - aniborfy

"the reason Astarion hates flowers is because he associates them with graves and it reminds him of his own burial." - badshakes

"- Gale was a Weave Anchor same as Elminster and Volo, and that's why he survived the Orb taking him. The Orb ate what made him an anchor and it's the only reason Gale survived. Many of Mystra’s Chosen are/have been Weave anchors. - Gale was born a tempest sorcerer and that's why he was a "wizard prodigy." It explains why the game is hellbent on having him equip Witch Bolt as a spell every time he levels up. - Gale becomes Rolan’s mentor after Baldur's Gate is freed." - ariseis

"Dammon eventually joins Karlach and Wyll in Avernus because they need an infernal mechanic and he's just that nice of a guy." - CopyAngelTech

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 spoilers #headcanon #brainworm squad

6 notes · View notes

mahvaladara · 5 months

Text

Neer - BG3 Character Dev Questions

@cassieuncaged Baldur's Gate 3 Character Development Questions

For Neer (Neer is an OC from the Lore of Iasanera story). Applying the answers to the world of BG3

1: Where in the Faerûn is your Tav from?

He'd be a Reithwin survivor (as the Shaddowlands are simmilar to the Cursed Valley). A former noble and city ranger. He'd be a Selunite (though in the world he's from he's a worshiper of Nix, who's Iasanera's equivalent of Shar, having in count the goddess's behaviours and personalities, Selune is more like Nix than Nix like Shar).

2: What is your character's alignment?

Neutral good. Though he's usually quite lawful, he's not against bending the rules to fit his agenda and his morality.

3: Race and subclass?

Elf, high elf. Fey ancestry.

Druid - Circle of Stars multiclassing with Gloom Stalker.

4: If your Tav was a companion, where would they be found?

Last Light Inn or somewhere in the Shadowlands, scouting the abandoned battlefied on in one of the Reithwin building roofs with a moon lantern trying to map the corruption.

5: Dark Urge or no?

No. Noble background.

6: What companion are you platonically close with?

Gale. They both share a love for knowledge and an ambition for self improvement. They share a lot of knowledge with one another and Neer was actually the first to suggest to Gale that perhaps, he's just an educated sorcerer, the same way Neer is a wealthy druid.

Wyll. They have a simmilar background and origin. They do bond over baldurian history and feats of heroism. They have never met before, the Shadow Curse fell before Wyll and Duke Ravengard's time.

Shadowheart. They share some religious understanding and Neer understands her devotion and her religious crisys. Deep inside, he wonders if she's truly a Sharran. He respects her religion. But before she turns to Selune, he pokes fun at her.

He's indiferent to Lae'Zel. He doesn't get in her way, she doesn't get in his.

He loves drinking and laughing with Karlach and sees her as a friend.

Jaheira is his sister of arms, his mentor and both adores her sense of humor and has a large degree of admiration and respect for her.

But of all, he's more platonically close to Gale and Jaheira.

7: Romantically close with?

Halsin and/or Shadowheart/Astarion.

8: Who are they suspicious of?

Lae'Zel, Astarion, and Minthara. The Emperor.

9: Is your Tav from Baldur's Gate? Why are they travelling there?

No. He had been to Baldur's Gate, before the Shadow curse befell Reithwin. He was a member of a noble house and would often deal in diplomacy and politics, so he was often to Baldur's Gate dealing with a myriad of political businesses. Currently he was heading to Baldur's Gate in hopes of finding a solution for the Shadowcurse plaguing his home. Jaheira had sent him towards the Emerald Grove.

10: Are they proficient in playing any instruments?

Piano and violin, as it is expected for a noble bred elf such as himself.

11: Weapon of choice?

Bow and arrow and Glayve.

12: What is their orientation?

Bissexual.

13: What are their thoughts on killing? Is it a necessary evil or do they enjoy it?

Necessary evil. They don't particularly enjoy killing, but they are an ambush ranger and are not against shooting someone down to achieve his agenda.

14: What hobbies does your Tav have?

Neer is into reading, playing music and gardening. And, though he'd never admit it or be caught doing it, Neer enjoys embroidery.

15: What NPC's do they like? Which one's do they dislike?

He likes Halsin, Zevlor, Duke Ravengard, Kith'rak Voss and Withers. Has a soft spot for Mol, and the tiefling kids. Adores Arabella but is also senses something brewing but has chosen to trust Withers. Enjoys Alfira's company. He also adores dame Aelyn. Has a healthy degree of respect for Nine-Fingers, Raphael and Auntie Ethel. He despises the Emperor, Mizora, Gortash and fuckiiing Oriiin.

16: Do they have a favorite creature in the Faerûn?

Dire Wolves, dragons and tressyn. Adding owlbears to the bunch.

17: Do they enjoy life as an adventurer?

He does now. He'd never consider it when he was a noble man playing the politics game. But now he cannot see himself return to the posh, dull and pompous life of high-elven nobility.

18: What would your Tav be doing if they weren't kidnapped on the Nautiloid?

Probably trying to save Halsin from the Goblin camp anyway, as Jaheira would have pointed him towards the Emerald Grove and the Emerald Grove towards Halsin.

19: How do you think they'll meet they're end?

They had expected to be killed by the Shadow Curse or the abominations that dwell within it.

20: Would they destroy the elder brain or control it?

Destroy.

21: What is your Tav's favorite spell?

Telekinesis. Just yeet a bitch of a roof.

22: What languages is your character fluent in?

Common, elvish, druidic and celestial.

23: What do they do after the absolute crisis?

He returns to Reithwin with Halsin to run the commune.

24: Does your character believe in the afterlife?

Yes. He very much does. This was how the Emperor was so easy to manipulate him with the image of his late wife.

25: What arcana major best represents your Tav?

The Chariot Upright on his qualities, the Emperor Reversed on his flaws.

26: What animal best represents your Tav?

The Wolf - loyalty, strong family ties, good communication, education, understanding, and intelligence.

27: What was their life like before the events of BG3?

Neer, before the Shadow Curse was a noble man of a noble elven house, married and with a child. He was a very wealthy man with a high social standing and some political power in Reithwin. He worshiped Selune, and after the worship of the Moon Maiden was abolished he conformed (but worshipped Selune in secret) to maintain his social status and wealth and comfort of his family. After the Shadow Curse he became a lone-wolf ranger, working with the Harpers to find a solution to the curse. He started learning druidic magic under the guidance of Jaheira and the harpers.

28: Is your character the de facto leader of the party? Or do they consider someone else to be the leader?

He's the de facto leader. Neer was a noble and former politician. If he wasn't born with leadership skills, his parents made sure he learnt and acquired them from an early age. When Jaheira joins the party he suggests she takes the lead but she trusts his judgement. He's killed Ketheric and proved more than his worth.

29: Does your Tav want to utilize the tadpole powers or not?

Absolutely not. And now that he figured out who the Dream Visitor was? Absolutely not.

30: What's your favorite thing about your Tav?

Other than his overall looks? This guy is very confident and secure of himself and walks around with the smuggest of smiles ever. He has a "takes no shit" atitude. So yes, he told Lae'Zel her upside down bat nose was not any better than his dangling piece of flesh. He sometimes comes off as conceited, but he doesn't do it on purpose, just an overall result of his being of noble and wealthy background and having had the privilege to study and invest on his own personal growth.

#bg3 #bg3 oc #bg3 tv #bg3 neer

12 notes · View notes

teecupangel · 8 months

Text

Hey, wanna read me defending myself in my plans to multiclass Desmond into a Rogue-Thief/Ranger-Gloom Stalker?

The thing about trying to play as Desmond in Baldur's Gate is that I'm forcing the narrative to work around my need to min-max in terms of classes allocation.

Narrative choices are easy because Desmond's more on the side of neutral good, sliding into true neutral with the whole 'stab them when it's clear they killed an innocent' guideline.

But the classes though... the thing about Assassins in Assassin's Creed is that they're not exactly a 1:1 of the Assassin subclass.

So my reasoning for the plan to multiclass Desmond into Rogue-Thief (4)/Ranger-Gloom Stalker(5) is...

Thief subclass is chosen because [Fast Hands] means +1 bonus action which would make it easier for Desmond to hide and/or dash/disengage. Hiding is the best way to get the Sneak Attack actions. [Second-Story Work] means less falling damage which could made into our narrative workaround for Leaps of Faith. Assassin subclass was passed over because Thief has more utility and Assassin is more combat oriented with focus on attacking targets that have not taken a turn yet. This could, narratively, be more or less the equivalent to the Hidden Blade's oneshot kills but it doesn't work because early level Rogue has a hard time oneshoting enemies at low level. Rogue will be leveled up to Lv4 so Desmond can get another Feat (Ability Improvement: Dex +2 to up it to 20)

Gloom Stalker Ranger is chosen because Favoured Enemy [Bounty Hunter] gives Investigation Proficiency and Natural Explorer [Urban Tracker] gives Sleight of Hand Proficiency. Narratively, Urban Tracker goes well with Desmond's background and his Bleeds are experts in the urban areas of their time. Anything that gives more Investigation Proficiency is good as part of Eagle Vision. Lv 2 will let us get Speak with Animals and Enhance Leap (Enhance Leap is pretty much necessary since Str is needed for jumping but Str is a dump stat for Rogues so yeah, we'll have Desmond cheat for this one). Lv 4 will let Desmond get Gloom Stalker subclass and automatically get Disguise Self which means we can put the Disguise Self helmet (I forgot the name) back to camp ([Dread Ambusher] is also more consistent than the Assassin subclass unique skills)

The reason why we're going for up to Lv 5 Gloom Stalker is that Desmond can get an Extra Attack + Misty Step at Lv 5 (and he can get Past without Trace as well for extra stealth)

This does leave 3 more levels to allocate and we have some options:

Rogue up to Lv 7 so Desmond can get Uncanny Dodge + Evasion and an additional 1d6 for Sneak Attack damage.

Ranger up to Lv8 so Desmond can get another feat (probably Dungeon Delver for Advantage on Perception and Saving Throws to avoid/resist traps or Savage Attacker if Desmond can now safely melee) and can get Land's Stride so he won't be slowed down by difficult terrain.

Rogue up to Lv 5 for Uncanny Dodge and an additional 1d6 for Sneak Attack damage + Ranger up to Lv 7 for an additional Lv2 Spell Slot.

Or... we go and lean into Desmond being a bartender and have him multiclass up to Lv3 Bard (or Lv2 Bard with Lv5 Rogue + Lv5 Ranger) so he can have more spells (probably Detect Thoughts and maybe something like Feather Fall? idk) or we go for Lv3 Druid (Wild Shape) as a reference to Tyranny of Washington DLC (which does have wolf and bear in the Circle of the Moon)

#desmond in faerun #where teecup shows how she normally plays rpg #look min-maxing is kinda a compulsion of mine #teecup plays as desmond in other games #just be happy i'm keeping everyone in their original class #except i changed shadowheart from trickery to light #because light is just much more tankier #and i need a tank

14 notes · View notes

hazelcephalopod · 10 months

Text

TBH the more we explore Orym’s relationship with death the more I think the Matron suits him as much if not more than the Wildmother. Now, disclaimer, I’m not expecting him to become more religious or whatever, and even if he did that does not have to mean a multiclass; nor will I get through every detail and bit of meta surrounding this. That said for meta reasons I’d imagine multiclass could likely coincide (Liam has a track record there). That said, I do want to explore and speculate about it a bit.

Orym clearly loves nature and has had very favorable interactions with the Wildmother, but I think something is missing there. Beyond that Orym has had his whole life to connect to the natural world in a magical or divine way and it just hasn’t happened. He could just com into it late, but for there’s clearly some barrier there. For the meta of course Orym was built specifically to NOT explore that, but tbh that does extend to magic as a whole. However I would like to pose that there’s just a very different vibe between nature aligned Wildmother and death/fate/blood aligned Matron even if they are both divine, AND divine magic is clearly different from Druidic -though of course not entirely seperate.

So how about The Matron? As stated she’s quite different from the Wildmother, but the two are both connected to a certain “natural duty” in maintaining a form of order and balance in the world. However the Matron seems more solemn in her obligation, those duties are of paramount importance to her. I think that form of duty does fit Orym, if one word describes him it’s probably Duty. More personally for Orym, I think there’s a draw there due to his more recent experiences with death and the danger he faces, and has choosen to do so. Orym has always felt the need to protect despite the risk. He’s always been close to death -in his adult life- that’s what he chose, he and Will knew becoming guards meant possibly dying. He respects death and the dead. He knows dealing death is a serious matter and treats it as such. He seemed to connect with what the Matron presented, grave duty and peace in death. He’d only be exploring a new aspect of things he’s already dealing with, all from someone who while not warm or kind, does understand obligation and the difficulty but necessity and drive to fulfill it despite the consequences.

If he were to multiclass I don’t think Paladin is in the cards for him, his strength and charisma are just too low mechanically. Druid is out, he’s spent too long around them and not picked it up to go that route, Ranger is unlikely for similar reasons. So, cleric, which has so many domains. For Orym my first but not exclusive thoughts are War, Peace, and Grave, with some fun outliers being Fate, Moon, and maybe Tempest. (The Moon domain b/c of all the moon bs and also the Matron was probably Ruidusborn; Tempest I have no real explanation for I just think it’s neat.)

However, he could do both the Wildmother and the Matron. That is an option, many Exandrian people in history have been chosen by multiple gods as champions and otherwise. To add to it as a strong contender, it would be interesting and maybe add something new to the dynamic if he was serving two relatively aligned gods. Heck the Inevitable End is still kicking -probably- and Lolth and Asmodeus don’t even get along so well anymore (who knows how that’s going atm though). In general I think it would just be cool too, he can have 4 moms!

PS: that the Matron has come up for Orym has really surprised me, as the cast has avoided retreading previous paths but considering Orym’s everything I think he could be the first character whose player decides “yeah it fits too well, yelp. What could I do with it this time around?”

PPS: again, he could very well never explore it much further and not multiclasss. This is just some fun speculation. Or he could and just not this way, and I will most likely love every minute of it no matter what.

#critical role #cr spoilers #Long post #surprisingly #this was supposed to be a short little musing #It became verbose meta speculation

18 notes · View notes

red-dragon-archfiend · 1 year

Text

Today I've given each non-Sorcerer class in D&D 5e a multiclass build combining them with Draconic Sorcerer. The power level of these builds ranges from terrific to typical to terrible, and Draconic is usually not the most optimal subclass to choose for them anyway, but I try to highlight when the subclass features are important. I'll start by just giving you the list of each combination, and below the cut I'll go into far more detail about each one, including how it functions and how viable I think it is.

Artificer: Half-Elf Draconic Sorcerer 17/Alchemist Artificer 3

Barbarian: Half-Elf Ancestral Guardians Barbarian 12/Draconic Sorcerer 8

Bard: Custom Lineage Draconic Sorcerer 17/Eloquence Bard 3

Cleric: Mountain Dwarf Draconic Sorcerer 19/Order Cleric 1

Druid: Half-Elf Spores Druid 17/Draconic Sorcerer 3

Fighter: Half-Elf (Drow) Eldritch Knight Fighter 11/Draconic Sorcerer 9

Monk: Half-Elf (Drow) Draconic Sorcerer 16/Kensei Monk 4

Paladin: Half-Elf Draconic Sorcerer 14/Crown Paladin 6

Ranger: Half-Elf Hunter Ranger 16/Draconic Sorcerer 4

Rogue: Ravenite Dragonborn Swashbuckler Rogue 19/Draconic Sorcerer 1

Warlock: Hellfire Tiefling Draconic Sorcerer 17/Hexblade Warlock 3

Wizard: Half-Elf Bladesinging Wizard 17/Draconic Sorcerer 3

To clarify a few things, the reason Half-Elf is chosen so frequently isn't just my own personal affinity for Half-Elves, but also because the stat increases Half-Elves offer are crucial for making the many MAD combinations (multi-ability dependent) function. If you're playing with stronger starting stats than those afforded by Point Buy, it's fine to change for a different race in most circumstances. As for the color of your Dragon Ancestor, it only matters on a mechanical level if you take six or more levels of Sorcerer. If you do, fire is generally the best choice, so Red, Gold, or Brass Dragon works best, but if you don't, any color works the same, so just choose the one you like best or what makes sense for your character. I'd also recommend starting with Sorcerer unless the other class gives you heavy armor, also offers constitution save proficiency, or if the class is (for some reason) Monk, because newly acquired versions of Unarmored Defense replace previous versions, and chances are Draconic Resilience will work better for you than the Monk's Unarmored Defense. Also, remember if you get armor that you're going to need space in the back for your wings when you hit Sorcerer level 14, so be sure to set time aside to get your armor modified.

Artificer: Not really exciting, but Infusions are always helpful, and medium armor and shields improves our durability. Healing Word is all we need to bring up downed party members, and Experimental Elixir gives us a free potion every day. We don't get to CHOOSE which one we get, but all of them are helpful, especially in a diverse party where at least somebody could benefit from whichever result our Elixir provides. The real value from this combination is flavor; a Sorcerer who experiments with their own magical blood is a cool concept!

Barbarian: This is kind of a joke? The idea is to cast Mirror Image and Fire Shield before we enter a rage, using Extended Spell to make them last longer. Ancestral Guardians makes attacking anybody but us both difficult and unrewarding, and our spells make that same for attacking us too. If you're not particularly attached to Draconic Sorcerers like I am, I'd recommend Clockwork Soul instead so you can learn Armor of Agathys.

Bard: This one is pretty straightforward. Silver Tongue is incredible, both classes use charisma, and choosing Custom Lineage and choosing a feat that increases charisma offsets the fact that we get one less ASI to work with. Notably, Sorcerers stop learning new spells after level 17, and our spell slots still scale like a full-classed character since we're combining two full casters, so we're only trading 3 Sorcery Points, Draconic Presence, an ASI, and Sorcerous Restoration for all the things those Bard levels have to offer. Not necessarily better than a full-classed Sorcerer at level 20, but not really worse either, if you're in a social campaign where Silver Tongue goes a long way.

Cleric: This one is actually really cool, I'm glad I thought of it. Voice of Authority is great in any party that makes weapon attacks a lot, and Font of Magic lets us make more spell slots to keep using it. An additional charisma-based skill is great for a Sorcerer, and the combination of heavy armor and shields in addition to constitution save proficiency from starting Sorcerer give us Fighter-like durability, outside of hit points, but those are already better than usual thanks to our great Mountain Dwarf stat increases. Mountain Dwarf also adds poison resistance, which goes nicely with fire resistance from Elemental Affinity, and more importantly we're not slowed by heavy armor, so we can dump strength.

Druid: Spores was chosen because it's the melee Druid, and Draconic Sorcerer offers better AC, constitution saving throw proficiency, Booming Blade, Shield, Mirror Image and Metamagic. Notably you get access to a lot of utility cantrips that Druids lack, like Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion, and Mage Hand, so I'd suggest grabbing those to make yourself more useful outside combat. It's MAD and delays your Druid levels by more than I'd like, but given how allergic Druids generally are to multiclassing, I'd say this is a reasonably effective combination.

Fighter: This one takes advantage of Draconic Resilience to focus on dexterity. Metamagic is the big draw though, that combined with Action Surge and War Magic gives us a buffet of action economy. Either pick of a rapier and use the blade cantrips, or a longbow to use with ranged cantrips. Consider taking Elven Accuracy to use with Faerie Fire, and Quickened Spell to pair with Scorching Ray and Action Surge longbow attacks to capitalize on that advantage as much as possible. By level 20, this build can use Action Surge to make six longbow attacks, then follow with Quickened Scorching Ray, upcast to sixth level, for a total of thirteen attacks in that turn, with super-advantage if you have Elven Accuracy and cast Faerie Fire beforehand. This sounds incredible, and it is, but the biggest problem this build faces is (spoilers) it's mostly outclassed by Sorcerer/Paladin and Sorcerer/Warlock, as you'll see below, because they can accomplish similar things much more effectively and with less multiclassing investment. This build absolutely works, especially if you were disappointed by the Arcane Archer and want something stronger, but consider those other two combinations first.

Monk: This one is terrible, but there is something you can maybe do with it. If you take Elven Accuracy and Great Weapon Master, you can make two-handed longsword attacks with dexterity for big damage, using one of the blade cantrips. Martial Arts is an amusing bonus action, but compared to Quickened Spell it's kinda just filler. If your DM allows the use of Dedicated Weapon, you can use the Elf Weapon Training feature from the Half-Elf variants in place of Skill Versatility to make the Way of the Kensei entirely obsolete, so you can choose a different subclass, which may as well be the Way of the Ascendant Dragon, if only for flavor purposes. Is that the most practical choice? Not really. But this build is itself very impractical, so it doesn't matter much. Really, if you want to be a dragon-themed Monk, just play Way of the Ascendant Dragon, it's really cool and does everything you'd want it to do.

Paladin: In stark contrast with the last one, this one is not only good but actually better than most single-classed builds. The Sorcadin, as it's called, is one of, if not the, strongest multiclass combinations possible, and also my favorite build in D&D 5e. There's a lot to say about it, but the TLDR is Quickened Spell means we can be a Paladin and a Sorcerer at the same time, and our Sorcerer levels give us a lot more spell slots to burn for Divine Smite. I could write an entire post about this combination, from the several ways to play it, the sheer potential it has, and the narrative potential of a warrior motivated by a personal oath they chose for themselves grappling with powerful inner magic they had no say in possessing.

Ranger: With quite possibly the best combination out of the way, back to one of the worst. This one has similar problems to Monk, but it's not quite as bad. The idea here is to use Horde Breaker in conjunction with Green Flame Blade to do sizeable damage to two foes at once. Draconic Resilience aside, not much to say about this one, though the flavor is neat. Like with the Monk, the Ranger has a dragon-themed subclass in the Drakewarden, so I'd recommend just playing that instead.

Rogue: Better AC on the only Rogue that wants to be in melee a lot, Booming Blade for more damage, and we already want good charisma so we can actually get some solid use out of our few spells. Ravenite Dragonborn was chosen for Vengeful Assault, which paired with Quickened Spell (from Metamagic Adept unless we decide to take more Sorcerer levels) allows us to make more sneak attacks outside of our own turn. If that's not your speed, Half-Elf is once again the best option, this time because Rogues really like the extra skills. If you liked the Fighter build, you could play an Arcane Trickster instead of a Swashbuckler and take several more Sorcerer levels, though managing the build becomes a lot harder at that point. Still pretty solid though, an Arcane Trickster with several uses of Subtle Spell could be an absolute menace.

Warlock: The "Sorlock", the only combination here that rivals Sorcadin, though I'd say this specific version is probably worse. All the benefits of Warlock without the downsides! We can even convert our Pact Magic slots into Sorcery Points every short rest. Hellfire Tiefling was chosen to capitalize on Elemental Affinity and to use Darkness alongside Devil's Sight, since we want to get the most out of Draconic as our subclass. Usually Sorlocks take Eldritch Blast, but Elemental Affinity means Fire Bolt is almost (but not as) good, so we can afford to take another invocation besides Agonizing Blast. I'd recommend choosing Pact of the Chain and taking Investment of the Chain Master, because we might as well get a pseudodragon familiar to match the theme. The real gimmick to this particular Sorlock is combining Elemental Affinity with Hex Warrior to make Green-Flame Blade a viable melee option, especially with Quickened Spell. This matches and even outpaces the damage from a Hexblade with Pact of the Blade just using a longsword, and we have the spell slots to make casting Shield actually worth it, which pure Hexblades can't do. Not the most optimal way of playing a Sorlock, but certainly a cool one that's still very effective.

Wizard: Same benefits as the Spores Druid and works for the same reasons, though Wizard spells are stronger in general than Druid spells, so Metamagic is even more of a benefit. Consider learning Shield and Shadow Blade as Sorcerer spells, so you always have them prepared. Between Sorcerer and Wizard, we'll eventually have 9 cantrips, fixing the Bladesinger's struggle to fit in their combat cantrips and utility cantrips at the same time, but like with the Druid, MADness is the main issue here, and the Bladesinger really doesn't want to be more MAD than it already is. You may want to prioritize dexterity over intelligence or charisma, or if that sounds too gimmicky, try a more traditional subclass like Abjuration, Divination, War, or whatever makes sense for your dragon ancestor. An Evoker with red dragon ancestry or an Enchanter with green dragon ancestry feels thematically appropriate and fun to me!

#musings #dungeons and dragons #dragons #sorcerer/paladin is my favorite build in the game #but i like sorcerer/cleric since i hadn't thought of this particular build before working on this project #and i think it actually would work really well

8 notes · View notes

toi-monogatari · 6 months

Text

Bucky

Durge-tav Bucky

Class: barbarian multiclass fighter

Race: halfling

I made this one at first as a joke. I joked around with my friend that I'll make a character look like me and took the short halfling (I am not very tall but I am taller than halflings) and then made it resemble me as much as possible. Or well... How I used to look like naturally, since they don't have half dyed hair in my hairstyle in the game.

The name of the durge is Bucky cus that is my Chosen name.

Pronouns she/them but I often refer to this character as she instead.

This is also the save where is said: let's play like how I'd make decisions irl while also do my best to for once not romance astarion (we romance gale here)

Party: (again) astarion, gale and karlach. In this save we multiclass a lot. It's a new save tho so it's all slow. More about it in a moment.

Personality:

Basically whatever I feel at that moment. Do I want to help someone? Yes. Do I want to fuck someone up? Yes. Do I need to talk with someone about my unresolved childhood issues? Probably.

But in short: we helped the druids and killed some goblins. We got halsin to join our marry gang. We do our best to be good. Sometimes fail slightly.

Backstory:

Bucky doesn't remember her story from before the nauthloid attack at all.

Relationships:

Astarion (rogue ranger). Not much of a relationship. Sure they talk but Bucky is just cold towards him. Often pushes him away or dismisses him. Still is quite nice to him but my emotional compass irl adjusts to the way people treat me. He didn't treat me well and he didn't trust me, I don't either. As easy as that.

Gale (wizard, cleric of bahamut (yes not mystra on purpose. Fuck her.)). He's her little light. She needs his kindness to remind her what her life means. She perhaps gets attached to affection too easily, but she's not naive. Had volo lobotomy TM

Shart: dead. There is no relationship. She's dead. Killed by durge. Just cus I didn't want to have anything to do with that story line.

Karlach: (barbarian fighter) they're not that close but they do travel together. They wouldn't share stories at the campfire or anything like that together... Or talk. As Bucky is unsure how to feel near someone this positive. It feels unreal to her.

Wyll: became a demon and is kind of neglected in my camp. I kinda just don't want to do that backstory. I first was considering if I romance him or gale.

Alfira: dead and Bucky regrets it and told everyone immediately

We don't have anyone else in camp yet.

#bg3 tav #tav #bg3 #oc

1 note · View note

bookshelfpassageway · 6 years

Text

My next D&D game might be a not-super-serious one-shot run by one of the players, and I just got the email saying that the plot is that we’re all misfit good kobolds trying to track down a golden dragon to serve under.

I’m already super attached to all of the characters I don’t know yet

#my posts #WE'RE TWO FOOT TALL LIZARD PEOPLE THEY'RE /ADORABLE/#i'm trying to figure out what mine is aside from A Girl who is named Koopa who is ready for ACTION and FIGHTING THINGS #because Eugene is a very tactical coward who Does Not Like Direct Conflict #i can't decide on her class though #if we're looking for a master to serve then flavorwise that knocks out Cleric and Warlock. arguably Druid and Paladin too #i'm taking out Rogue and Ranger bc again i want to be in the middle of the action #Wizard doesn't sound impulsive enough plus you've got like minus five hit points and Kobolds have an INT penalty #so i'm thinkin like... Bard or Sorcerer or Fighter?#we're all third level too so i also have to decide SUBCLASS things #unless i multiclass #and then there's backgrounds to be chosen and ohh boy so many choicesssss #too many choices for a goofy one-off #trying to figure out some good Incompetent Lackey tropes for a girl who makes decisions of questionable quality and wants to square up 24/7 #are there any good FUN D&D archetypal tropes that aren't just ''hot mess''#?#because i would love to try some new ones but we've only got like 3.5 hours

3 notes · View notes

navyblueprince · 3 years

Text

cr3 classes guesses (please refer to this awesome video I watched which influenced by guesses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmKq1FRdVCg )

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam - I think either got Wizard (cause of Liam) or will settle with Druid. That being said I wouldn’t be surprised if Sam went for a Paladin route.

Taliesin - anything Matt made, honestly from what I've heard it’s probably Sorcerer

Liam - this one is difficult but I think he might try for a more magic-leaning ranger, probably also leaning on the protection aspect alongside Sam

Marisha - Bard (she’s said it multiple times)

Laura - yeah based on Jester and wanting to be a warlock she’s either going to go for warlock again or go for a Fighter/Barbarian/Monk melee type class. I think either path is going to be really fun to see Laura transition back more into Vex ~ Grelnok or a character that doesn’t have a high INT/WIS.

Ashley - I can definitely agree that she’s probably going to lean into something more researchable like Wizard, Druid, Sorcerer. or even Warlock

Travis - honestly I’d love to see Travis go for a healing class (cleric or paladin) or a Druid but rogue would make more sense after enjoying rping Fjord vs Grog

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regardless, I think Sorcerer is probably going to be the most likely chosen cause it hasn’t had it’s time to shine while I think Cleric is probably the least likely to be chosen cause of Pike/Jester/Caduceus.

Similarly, I don’t think we’ll be seeing another Paladin multiclass because of Vax/Fjord whereas a mage multiclass might see the light of day (not including Veth’s).

I’m excited to see another take on Bard and Warlock the most--unless Sam or Travis get Druid.

#cr3 #critical role 3 #cr2 spoilers #critical role 2 spoilers

1 note · View note

theworldbrewery · 4 years

Text

multiclass your... FIGHTER!!

Before you’ve even chosen a subclass, you have proficiency in all weapons and all armor (including shields), your fighting style, your Second Wind, and an Action Surge. Most of the fighter’s other features are Extra Attacks, and at one point the ability to reroll a failed saving throw.

Among subclasses: Arcane Archer gets special options for their arrows, Battle Master gets equally badass options for “superiority maneuvers,” Cavalier mostly gets advantages and disadvantages against melee enemies, Champion gets an improved critical and an additional fighting style, Eldritch Knight bonds with a melee weapon and gains abjuration and evocation casting, and Samurai mixes bonus skills with temporary HP and temporary advantage on weapon attacks.

Multiclassing DON’Ts:

You should expect to be getting hit a lot. Most fighters spend their time in melee range, so if you multiclass into a caster, you better have a killer Constitution. Don’t go after a caster class like wizard or sorcerer, whose hit dice are a mere d6. You need every hitpoint you can get, and if you like spellcasting, you should just take the Eldritch Knight subclass instead.

Druid is also not your best bet unless you choose a Circle that lets you use Wild Shape to do something that isn’t turning into an animal, because all your fighter skills are centered around weapon attacks and being a beast won’t help you with that.

Multiclassing MAYBEs:

Fighter + Bard

Bards get a d8 for hit dice, so they’re a safer bet if you’re choosing a caster class. Those low-level spells will cost you an action except for Healing Word, so in combat, you should favor the use of healing and Bardic Inspiration as bonus actions while you attack with your action. Outside combat, bard gets you skills and post-combat healing.

Fighter + Monk

Most of the nice parts of being a monk at low levels have to do with the perks to being unarmored. But you’re already proficient in all armor, so unless you have a good Dex and a sweet Wisdom it may not be worth it, even for the unarmored movement perk--seeing as how you can’t use a shield with these abilities either. Ki points can still be nice to get a bonus action, but the unarmed attack damage just isn’t worth it for Flurry of Blows when you have an Action Surge that does functionally the same thing, but with stronger weapons.

Fighter + Ranger

This is a perfectly good multiclass, but there’s nothing about ranger that is especially well-suited to fighter. You’ll get extra skills and languages, and an additional fighting style, but that’s about it at early levels. If you pushed it to 3rd level, the ranger archetype you choose could definitely change that, but until then the ranger doesn’t offer much to enhance the fighter’s existing abilities--unless you’re a Samurai, in which case, the emphasis on skills and languages is perfect for you.

Fighter + Warlock

You can definitely make this one work for you, but except for Hex, most of the spells that do the most for you are Actions, which means at best expending an Action Surge to cast a spell and at worst having to use your whole action--and because it’s not the Attack action, you don’t get to use your Extra Attack. It’s not really an ideal build unless you’re in it for Hex and the Eldritch Invocations, or if you go for the Hexblade pact, which improves you in melee combat to some degree.

Multiclassing HELL YEAHs:

Fighter + Cleric

Cleric is great if you do one thing--you choose a combat-oriented Divine Domain at first level, when you first multiclass. Like bard, you should use your spell slots on bonus-action healing and out-of-combat work, but if you’re War Domain, for instance, you can Attack as a bonus action and at 2nd level use Channel Divinity to add a +10 to an attack roll. This is a great multiclass to use for damage output with a little healing on the side.

Fighter + Barbarian

There’s nothing outstanding about this multiclass...except Reckless Attack granting advantage on every attack...so at 11th level, you get 3 Attacks per action, and on an Action Surge you get six total Attacks on your turn, greatly increasing your chances of a critical hit--and if you have a Champion’s Improved Critical those odds double. Not to mention that when you rage, you halve most weapon damage and deal additional damage. Not ideal for the Eldritch Knight, though.

Fighter + Paladin

This multiclass is really nice to blend the benefits of cleric and barbarian--additional damage and additional healing, even if both are a little less powerful than when you pick one. Lay on Hands can help you keep yourself (but more importantly your allies) standing--despite being an action, sometimes it’s worth it to keep your cleric from going down, and it’s a last resort anyway. You’ll also get a second fighting style and use your spellcasting to deal radiant damage or smite your enemy. This could blend especially well with the Eldritch Knight, since you can cast your knight and paladin spells in either class’s slots.

Fighter + Rogue

Sneak Attack and Cunning Actions are excellent for your fighter’s existing abilities, especially if you’re a Cavalier (tell me it’s not hysterical to imagine taking a bonus action to hide while mounted...but seriously, you can gain advantage against enemies which gets you sneak attack!) And you’ll get skill bonuses through Expertise!

like what we do? buy us a coffee!

#dnd #d&d #dungeons and dragons #critical role #taz #multiclassing

277 notes · View notes

5eforgemaster · 4 years

Text

New Conversion Kit: Spellsword

October Brewfest: Week 3

Tomorrow we finally transition into full caster subclasses (with a few coming next week as well), but for today, we’ll split the difference and take a look at some advice for blending magic and warfare.

This conversion kit is mostly a matter of spell choice. There’s a number of ways to get spells on a martial character, but getting the desired effect takes some precision. Let’s get into it.

Kit Overview

Investment Type: Spell Selection and/or Feat.

Minimum Investment: As above. If you aren’t a spellcaster with access to the spells, multiclass into one, or take the Magic Initiate feat.

Overall Impact: You use spells, not to supplant martial skill, but to enhance it.

Investment

Your investment here is heavily determined by your existing class.

Artificers, Wizards, Sorcerers, and Warlocks have the most variety- but Clerics, Druids, and Bards have access to a few choice spells too. Eldritch Knights and Arcane Tricksters share the wizard’s spell list. For any of these classes, Feats or multiclassing might be attractive to get at additional spells, but you have access to enough spells to develop a combat style out of the gate.

If you’re a non-caster, a Paladin, or a Ranger, you’re going to have to work for it a bit more. Multiclassing is an option, as is the Magic Initiate feat. We’ll discuss methods below.

Multiclassing, as always, requires a 13 in a specific Ability Score. (Intelligence for Artificers and Wizards; Charisma for Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Bards; or Wisdom for Druids and Clerics)

I advocate for minimum investment, so I would advise using the following rules to decide how you’ll get at your spells:

If you’re a full caster, one level of multiclassing is easy. Unless you’re lacking in the appropriate ability score. In that case, select the magic initiate feat.

If you’re a Ranger or Paladin, then multiclassing into Druid or Cleric is painless, since they all key off of Wisdom.

If you’re a non-caster, I have to advocate for Magic Initiate. You don’t have nearly as much to gain from multi-classing as a character who can already cast spells.

Now’s a good time to discuss scope. This article aims to blend magic and martial combat. If you’re a full caster, you won’t want to do this all the time. If you’re looking to bolt a toolbox of spells onto the side of your fighter chassis, this isn’t the article for you. We want your spells and attacks to be (roughly) equal parts of a cohesive combat style. For this reason, we will be focusing on Cantrips.

Narrative Impact

The narrative impact here can be fairly varied, based on what you want to do with the kit, your class, and whether you multiclassed to get to the spells you’re using.

For full casters, consider how you wound up on the front lines. Elves are known for mixing their traditions (Bladesingers, anyone?) and Dwarves are quite hardy. Abjurers and War Mages have good reason to stick close to their comrades, while many Clerics stay close to provide healing.

This is a conversion kit where the narrative impact can sometimes be minimal, but considering it can certainly help you define your character. Certain Artificer and Bard archetypes lean into frontline battle, and Druids might simply stick close for their wildshape. If your archetype assumes you’ll be getting up close and personal, then by all means skip to the mechanical impact section for advice on getting the most out of your cantrip choices.

For everyone else, this can be much more exciting.

Whether you multiclassed or utilized magic initiate, you can latch onto the class you chose to inform your narrative.

Do you have latent magical power as a sorcerer? If so, what’s stopping you from becoming a full sorcerer? Is the bloodline weak, recently manifested, or is your innate magic perhaps the result of recent events instead? Perhaps you even detest or mistrust your bloodline.

Have you studied magic as a Wizard? Who taught you the few tricks you know? Were there others? Were you satisfied with what you learned, or do you thirst for further knowledge? If you’re a High Elf, the study of magic may be culturally important. If, like an Artificer or Bard, your magic stems from study of a craft, you might wish to answer similar questions about your narrative.

Did you recieve your magic from a patron, similar to a Warlock? Perhaps your magic was a gift meant to tempt you, and you have refused it. Did you serve willingly? Or disappoint your patron in some way? Perhaps there is a broken pact in your history, or you simply did not prove yourself to the being who gave you your power and took a new path.

If your magic is Divine, like a cleric, when and how did you find your faith? Do you serve or venerate any particular god? What separates you from clerics and paladins? Do you lack devotion, or do you simply believe that your path will serve your god just as well as any other?

Power that stems from nature like that of the druids is much more difficult to pin down. Have you always had a kinship with nature? How did this kinship develop, and what do you make of it? Do you have other skills or knowledge as a result?Were you taught secrets by a member of a drudic order? Have you formally joined them? Do you serve any particular role, if so? Do they resent you for having those secrets?

Mechanical Impact

Because we have a very specific goal with this kit, we will focus on a specific selection of cantrips. I have deliberately left out most ranged attack cantrips- you don’t need me to tell you that ranged, magical damage is a good thing to have. You’ve either already chosen a few or have a different means of dealing damage lined up. If you’re here, you want something interesting.

I’ll divide the cantrips by category, listing the relevant cantrips and the class lists these spells are available to after each header.

Area of Effect

Available to: Everyone

Spell Options: Green-Flame Blade, Sword Burst, Thunderclap, and Word of Radiance.

These are good for damaging or clearing out multiple nearby enemies. I want to stick to interesting cantrips that do something besides damage, however AoE damage is one of the hardest things for martial characters to get.

Sword Burst, Thunderclap, and Word of Radiance are functionally just different aesthetics for the same effect: xd6 damage to all adjacent characters (if they fail a save. The save and damage types vary slightly, but you really only need one of these.

Green-Flame Blade is unique in that it has two effects: First, it magically enhances your melee damage, making it useful for even single targets. Second, it only damages one other target, but the damage is guaranteed if you hit the first target with a melee attack. You might be able to justify taking two AoE spells in this case.

Debuff

Available to: Artificer, Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard.

Spell Options: Frostbite and Vicious Mockery.

Much like the area of effect spells, these are different spells that achieve the same end. Stick to one or the other.

(There is a slight difference; Vicious Mockery affects all attacks while Frostbite calls out weapon attacks specifically. This makes Mockery slightly better, but it’s only available to Bards.)

These spells impose disadvantage on a single attack roll. It’s not a huge edge, and not something you want to use for yourself. This spell is for casting on an enemy that you just can’t peel off of an ally to grant them some breathing room. Truthfully, I have to recommend that you choose a spell from the following category instead, if you can.

Disable

Available to: Sorcerers, Wizard.

Spell Options: Sapping Sting and Shocking Grasp.

These are two wildly different spells, but they can still serve somewhat similar purposes.

Shocking Grasp is a melee only spell that denies enemies their reaction. This can help allies get out of a threatened area, but it also denies other useful reactions such as shield spells and parries if it hits.

Sapping Sting might be hard to get depending on your DM, but is a ranged spell that forces foes prone. This can be useful for keeping foes at bay, helping allies flee dangerous melee opponents, or setting up your own melee attackers.

Sapping Sting is more versatile, but Shocking Grasp just works when the appropriate scenario comes up. This is one category where you can justify picking both.

Drag

Available to: Artificers, Druids, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Wizards.

Spell Options: Gust, Lightning Lure, and Thorn Whip.

Drags allow you to consistently manipulate enemy positions. Lightning Lure and Thorn Whip pull enemies toward you, placing them at risk of Opportunity Attacks from you, while Gust allows you to push enemies away from your allies (so it’s not quite a drag, sue me).

You really only need one of these. Lightning Lure and Thorn Whip are valuable if you’re ‘sticky’ and can keep enemies nearby, while Gust has a longer range and might be a better choice if the enemies will just move back into position anyway.

Keep in mind that Lightning Lure and Gust contest strength saves, while Thorn Whip relies on an attack roll.

Lockdown

Available to: Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard.

Spell Options: Booming Blade.

There’s only one Cantrip that fills this role, and it’s the king of it. Booming Blade. You’re losing out on very little damage thanks to its initial damage, and it deals heavy damage to anyone who tries to move after being struck. This alone can make you quite sticky and makes drags more attractive.

This one benefits more heavily than others from the right support, so be sure to check out that section if this spell interests you.

‘Traps’

Available to: 7th Level Eldritch Knights

Spell Options: Blade Ward and True Strike

The ‘available to’ section above surely looks a little odd if you’ve been playing 5e for a while. But seriously, these spells eat your entire turn for minimal benefit. However, Eldritch Knights can sometimes sneak some use out of them thanks to their 7th level war magic feature.

True Strike can be used to set up in advance for a big hit on your next turn, and Blade Ward lets you heavily tank up against humanoid foes where necessary- but they only somewhat work for Eldritch Knights because they can still attack while using them. This is a little too niche for me to go into detail, but it didn’t seem right not to mention it at all.

Choosing your Cantrips

Whether you’re a full caster setting aside one or two cantrips for mixing it up in melee, or a magic initiate with only two slots to fill, you’ll want to make your choices count.

By pairing your cantrips into a cohesive strategy, you can maximize their impact.

Pairing Area of Effect spells with Drags will let you ensure you have at least two targets to work, while pairing a Drag with a Lockdown allows you to force foes to duel you. Taking a Disable and a Drag allows your allies to move freely while foes are driven out of position.

If you aren’t sure what else to do, grab one AoE spell for groups and either Booming Blade or Green-flame Blade. (The latter spells are useful for single target damage even if you don’t use their secondary effect).

Kit Support

War Caster is an old standby for melee spellcasters. All of its benefits are useful, but we’re interested in the ability to cast a single target spell in place of an opportunity attack. This really opens up your ability to combo your cantrips together. You might consider using Booming Blade as a reaction to prevent foes from fleeing, or a disable or debuff to take the pressure off of the enemy’s next target. Any damaging cantrip is more punishing than a single attack, and using drags can force enemies to into position for this strategy. Keep in mind that this doesn’t work with AoE spells.

In all honesty, I think letting your reaction be the bulk of your spellcasting while you otherwise strike with weapon attacks is the best way to use this kit- it allows both aspects of your character to shine without competing with one another.

If you want to push this further, Polearm Master allows you to severely punish foes who attempt to close with you when combined with the previous feat, since it allows you to make opportunity attacks against foes who enter your reach. Keep in mind you’re casting a spell, in place of an opportunity attack, not as an opportunity attack, so we can’t further combo with Sentinel to stop them in their tracks.

While slightly more niche, Mobile plays well with Green-Flame Blade and Booming Blade- if you hit, your enemies don’t get to attack you when you move away. This is nice for Green-flame Blade, but devastating when used with Booming Blade since enemies who pursue you will suffer extra damage. This feat also allows squishier characters to skirmish without taking extra damage from opportunity attacks.

Pitfalls

If you are a full spellcaster, you might struggle to survive in melee. The feats that grant armor proficiency can grant some reprieve, or utilizing mage armor. Consider adopting hit and run tactics using the mobile feat if those don’t appeal to you.

The ‘canned’ spellswords don’t suffer from being out of place nearly as much- Eldritch Knights, Bladesingers, Moon Druids, Valor or Sword College Bards, and most Clerics have the armor or skills to fight on the front lines- as do Mountain Dwarves.

There is, of course, the usual risk of investing in this strategy and proceeding not to use it at all. The best way to mitigate this risk is to make sure that your spell choices aren’t both shut down by the same things. Pick spells that target different saves and serve different purposes, and you should use at least one in most fights.

#spellcaster #conversion kit #october brew festival #wizard #warlock #sorcerer #druid #cleric #bard #artificer #eldritch knight #dnd #dnd 5e #d&d #d&d 5e #5e #dungeons and dragons #dungeons & dragons

12 notes · View notes

seafleece · 4 years

Text

in perfect honesty this is mostly to explain it to myself but here’s the basis for the system we’re starting out with in my emergence campaign:

rather than a class, each character creates a class “pool” of four d&d classes and instead goes by a title that encompasses all four and the kind of character they combine to create. the example i’ll use here is edel, a mustelid tabaxi variant— her class pool is pilot, wizard, druid, and ranger, and her title is the nomad.

we separated out the features she gains from each class into four basic level archetypes specific to her character’s goals: spellcasting, survival/nature, information, and piloting. every time you level, you level up in one of these archetypes as opposed to a class, and are awarded a number of points to spend on the features that fall under that archetype. for level 1, we instead took the “general skills” level, wherein you spend 4 points to take some level 1 features from each class and pick one class’s proficiencies to take on. at higher levels, a general skills level might include taking extra proficiencies, adding, removing, or swapping out a class from the pool, or spending points for stat increases. everyone has the base pilot class in their pool (drawn from a star wars 5e setting) because of the nature of this campaign. different features, even level 1 features, cost different points, and the amount of points you have to spend depends on what archetype you’re leveling up in/what level you reach in that archetype. spellcasting schools are coalesced under the same archetype, and use the same chosen stat no matter the base class. subclasses are applied when relevant, and feats are awarded situationally/discussed between dm and player, and may potentially be bought using points at certain levels.

the point is mainly to allow for a character that feels more well-rounded, whose increased abilities and features are actually personal, and whose archetype isn’t completely dependent on one class, as well as to streamline multiclassing without forcing players to spend their ASI/feat levels buffing multiple stats to even allow them to multiclass. spells are still the same until further notice, though i’m planning to do some overhaul of spell specifics and more heavily rely on their tags (buff/debuff, damage, etc.).

tl;dr the rigidity of d&d classes and their features makes me want to cry sometimes, so i’m futzing with it for the emergence campaign. the characters we have so far are edel, the nomad (druid/wizard/pilot/ranger), caeles, the successor (noble/rogue/artificer/pilot), and anomaly, the tinkerer (artificer/rogue/cleric/pilot), and they already feel infinitely more complex than standard level 1 d&d characters. this system i’m making can only ever really be a hack of d&d unless i redo classes, but for now i’m happy with it, and i’m really excited to see how it works.

#fleece.txt #d&d #emergence #homebrew #ttrpg

32 notes · View notes

arcanaheadcanons · 5 years

Text

the arcana cast plays d&d

-this was all of course started by julian

-as he is very meticulous and theatrical he makes for a good dm

-he does character voices and sound effects

-full stat sheets for every npc even if they’re never used

-dozens of intricate hand-drawn maps for all the towns and dungeons

-the players are asra (arcane trickster rogue) portia (conjuration wizard) lucio (champion fighter) and nadia (multiclassed healer)

-muriel refuses to attend but julian has made a recurring npc to represent him

-“leirum” is a hybrid druid/ranger who begrudgingly gives the party quest advice in exchange for them leaving the forest alone and also because nadia saved his familiar (“annani”) in the past

-(julian is a good storyteller but he sucks at making up names)

-lucio still hasn’t figured it out and he thinks that his character and leirum are the best of friends

-for the entire campaign lucio is being a murderhobo, asra is messing with lucio, and portia is messing with julian, so it is once again up to nadia to be the guiding voice of reason

-nadia has thoroughly hybridized her character (cleric/sorcerer/bard) for the sole purpose of healing in order to keep their two mages and one reckless tank alive

-julian was confused by her class combination at first but now he has to actively plan encounters around her abilities

-through a solid week of wheedling and bribery lucio also got her to minmax his fighter

-though he doesn’t seem to understand what minmaxing actually is because whenever he has to use int/wis/cha he gets all huffy about those stats being bad

-he also doesn’t seem to get that you can’t solve everything by killing it

-one boss KO’d asra and portia’s characters but nadia and lucio still wiped the floor with it because they’re just that overpowered as a pair

-despite lucio being able to one-hit-kill him asra will not stop stealing his belongings and slandering his name to the npcs behind his back

-lucio says asra’s being a bad team player

-asra insists that it’s what his character would do

-asra is absolutely being a bad team player and he thinks it’s hilarious

-portia’s character is peak bard personality (she won’t stop seducing people and creating whimsical distractions) but she’s playing a wizard because they have the most versatile spell list and she wants to break the game

-julian’s most ambitious project was a tower-based mega-dungeon with an actual hundred floors

-at the very start of the adventure portia put a dimension door at the base of one of the tower’s structural supports, collapsing the whole thing

-she allowed julian to retcon this when he tearfully showed her the four overstuffed binders of notes that she had just made null and void

-but she’s still very proud of that moment

-julian is considering putting them through the curse of strahd module sometime

-asra is the only one who knows that strahd campaigns are notorious for getting kinky out of nowhere (it’s not part of the module it just happens because vampires) and he has chosen not to share this information but instead sit back and watch the oncoming trainwreck

#the arcana #d&d #asra #nadia #julian devorak #muriel #portia devorak #lucio #my posts

333 notes · View notes

yay855 · 6 years

Text

What your D&D Class Says About You

Fighter: You are probably not a very interesting person. I mean, for pete’s sake, in the game where you can be any number of unique and interesting classes, you choose the guy who can do absolutely nothing but whack people with a stick. But yeah, cool, you get extra feats and you’re a meat shield for the rogue and wizard.

Barbarian: You seriously want to be the Hulk. If you didn’t play as a half-Orc, you played as a regular one. Your weapon of choice is most likely a greataxe. You “secretly” use D&D as an excuse to vent your frustrations at the world around you, and often like to use your rage ability to shout and scream.

Cleric: You are the dad/mom friend. You realized that everyone else would be screwed without a healer, and so you chose the one healing class in the game. Sure, it’s not that bad, you’re still a decent melee class with a good range of harmful and helpful spells, but you know that you’d probably try a different class in a heartbeat if given the option.

Druid: You wanted to be a Cleric, but realized that Druids kind of have it all. Spells, armor, and you can even turn into an animal if you need to actually fight. You may or may not also be a giant hippie who wants to play the most-natural class out there, pun intended.

Monk: You want to be Naruto, Goku, or any other anime character out there. Sure, you can’t throw a rasenshuriken or kamehameha, but monks are also the only class that makes unarmed combat actually viable, and you really wanna punch things.

Paladin: You would have chosen a cleric, but you don’t really care about your party members. So, you decided to go with the best of both worlds- a slightly-less-than-fighter who gets a few dinky spells and a few healing abilities. You’re also not going to use any of those on your party members until the fight is over. If you wanted to actually be a healer, you would have chosen a Cleric.

Ranger: Something about this class called to you- maybe it was how it was a dex-based fighter with bonuses to specific enemy types. Maybe it was being able to get Druid spells without having a Neutral alignment. Maybe you just wanted an excuse to stay far, far away from the actual combat while still participating.

Bard: You really loved to play Rock Band. Whether or not you were good at it is up for debate, but, regardless, you absolutely love music and acting and all the performing arts. You don’t even really mind having to play a generalist class who’s mediocre at everything but buffing his party members and interacting with NPCs. You most likely sing your favorite songs when using your bardic powers, or recite your favorite poems. That, or you’re just a nutjob who wanted to be as annoying as possible, and realized that the class all about performing is the best way to accomplish that.

Wizard: You are a being of phenomenal cosmic power, a being who bends the fabric of reality itself! Or at least, you thought you would be; as it is, you feel kind of ridiculous having to rest after every fight just to get your spells back, because you don’t actually have any meaningful number of them yet. And the ones you do have, while useful, aren’t that great. But just you wait until you get to level nine spells, because then you’ll show them all! That’s what you tell yourself, anyways.

Sorcerer: You like playing Wizards, you really do, but the fact is, quality is better than quantity. And those pansy bookworms have way too few spell slots! You’d much rather just bombard your foes with fireballs and summoned monsters- after all, that’s what spellcasters are supposed to do!

Warlock: You tried playing a sorcerer, but you still kept running out of spells! Also, you killed your party members with one too many Fireballs. Instead, you decided that you needed to play a class that gets tons of spells per day, can let you really hurt your foes with magic, and doesn’t make you accidentally kill your party. In comes the Warlock! A class so bizarre and twisty, few can genuinely understand it, let alone master it. Good luck!

Favored Soul: Good job- you managed to be a Cleric and a Sorcerer at the same time! Too bad the class isn’t really good for much other than multiclassing into a Prestige Class intended for Clerics and Paladins. You are clearly an optimizer, or a newbie who wants to heal without restriction. Either way, you probably annoy your DM.

Spirit Shaman: Wow, how deep did you even dig for this one? It’s a class designed to combat a specific meta-category of foes, ones who tend to be quite uncommon save in a few campaigns. Either you didn’t actually understand what a Spirit Shaman can and cannot do, or your DM decided to run a campaign with tons of spirits, and let you play as the class designed specifically to combat them.

Swashbuckler: You wanted to be a pirate, and Duelist is a prestige class. On the upside, you chose the one melee class that does a lot of damage without extra-special weapons; on the downside, your stats are a bit all over the place. You don’t mind though, because you see yourself as a discount rogue. Sure, you can’t pick a lock or disarm traps, and you don’t get a sneak attack bonus, but... wait, where were you going with that?

#D&D #dungeons and dragons

2 notes · View notes