#oooOOps i went overboard i have ten wikidot tabs open rn

[swarmkeepers]

top five dnd classes/top five wizard subclasses (since you've done some brilliant meta abt them today!)

oh that’s so kind of you <3 thank you beth i’m glad you liked my ramblings!

idk if i’ve said this but i have not actually played dnd (i’m looking for a campaign! but no luck so far) so the only classes and subclasses i know extensively are a) the ones that d20 characters play, esp the ones i write or write meta for b) the ones that naddpod/other actual play characters play and c) the one (1) my brother plays, bc we talk abt his campaign a lot and he loves playing planeswalker ranger and he makes it sound very fun. deoptimized, but very fun.

that being said i’ll try to take a stab at both if that’s okay!

dnd classes--

5. rogue - the rogue subclass features are so very very cool and diverse and just. punching up, being skilled and dexterous and such a classic classic class? riz gukgak this one’s for you but also it’s for calroy and penny and sklonda and ruby and liam. 

4. paladin - the naddpod tumblr meta got to me, okay? the inherent conflict of paladin-ing. yES. this is a class i don’t know if i’d want to play but the meta is absolutely chefs kiss and the current tuc2 season is really turning that up to 11. 

3. barbarian - anger as power is very very cool to me and like the mechanics of rage are just straight-up good! i think this is probably the class i most immediately want to play. i don’t find any particular subclass super flavorful but the class features and the just. overall philosophy of the class. anger but weaponized. yeah that’s the good stuff. 

2. warlock - it’s about the inherent conflict of a patron warlock relationship. trying to puzzle out the warlock spellcasting mechanics and the cantrip/invocation focus is really interesting to me! ket s-aint-elmo said once that warlocks are debaters, negotiating for a good deal with their patron, and as a former competitive debater i simply have no choice but to love warlocks. 

1. sorcerer - i love metamagic as a mechanic. but (ironically) i find it really hard to write meta or fic about? i really want to play it someday; i think there’s something really fun about inherent magical ability, magic that comes from heritage, magic that can be very controlled or very chaotic! these top 2 are cha caster classes because i love the mechanics and the flavor but i think i’d find them very hard classes to play (just because they’re kind of complicated classes in general but also i don’t think i’m high cha irl. do not make me your party face under any circumstances). they’re both aspirational “someday” classes.

wizard subclasses--

5. war magic - entirely bc of a one ms. esther sinclair. to protect yourself like an abjurer, to wield the raw power of an evoker, but also to be fast and to be tactical and to know what you’re fighting for! 

4. chronurgy - fully because of naddpod HBS. rule of cool, straight up. 

3. divination - portent is just so so good as a mechanic and this subclass more than any other wizard subclass (in a whole int based class! ) is about the power in knowing. yes please. 

2. abjuration - flavor wise, so so delicious. it’s about using knowledge (a thing that is individual) to protect (a thing that is communal)! abjuration also has the most spells that are reaction-cast which is very cool to me there’s something there about urgency and instinct and an innate desire to protect. also, the same way that warlocks and paladins have a kind of inherent conflict to their class, i think abjurers have something similar (is it selfish/is it dark/is it about denial or is it protective/is it asserting yourself for others/is it about banishing the evil to make room for the good). 

1. conjuration - it might be because i just wrote a ton of meta for it today alsdkfja but the transportation/communication aspects of this school are very cool to me? i like the cantrips and the lower level spells which are kind of evocation-y but like. c’mon, this is the school with wish and plane shift and thunderstep and mage hand the conjuration spells are the coolest ones imho. it just feels magical!

#oooOOps i went overboard i have ten wikidot tabs open rn #what i have learned in the process of this #i love cha classes. i really love cha classes #too bad i think i'd be really bad at playing them #but they are so fun to meta about #sola said #thank you beth!! #dnd #kristenbeeapples #sola answered #long post