One of the players in a game I am running is a new player and has a very specific set of things he would like to do in game. I thought it would be fun to list his desires here and see what the community recommended as far as class or multiclass. So here is what he wants:
-he likes melee a lot more than spellcasting, but he wants to cast some spells
-he wants to be a selfish caster. Meaning his spells heal himself and buff himself. They don't even have to be super damaging. He wants to use spells to defend himself, buff his AC, buff his hit, buff his damage, etc. options to buff whatever he needs at the time, I guess.
-he wants to be survivable and self-sufficient
-he wants to be decent at skills
i told him that he probably isn't going to get all of this. He doesn't have to be great at it, but he wants to average to good in everything he listed. To me, with the buffing and what not, he wants a character that would do best in a solo campaign? That's what this seems like to me. Which means Bard is out because they can only buff others, right?
What suggestions are you thinking? My first thought is cleric of some sort (war maybe). Paladins have too few spell slots I think. Although neither class is particularly good at skills.
Eldrich knight get's those first 3. Or vengence paladin.
Arcane trickster gets 1,2 and 4. Though they tend to be more ranged then melee.
Bards (Valor) are the only other class that get's expertise for skills. Though the majority of their spells are about controling enemies, and their insperation is innately selfless.
Ranger could possibly work. Gets 1 extra skill.
Piossibly a moon druid. You get to be tanky melee (though low damage). You can get all the "skill" spells.
Can eldritch knights and arcane tricksters buff themselves? I didn't think wizard spell list had self buffs on it.
Half Elven Oath of Vengance Paladin or Pact of the Blade Warlock. Half-elven to compensate for skills and they also happen to get +2 Cha... so Cha-based casters fit right in.
Paladins have only a couple spell slots, true... but in general, they casts one concentration spell per combat encounter; Lvl 2 = Bless/Divine Favor, Lvl 5 = Bless/Magic Weapon (or divine favor), Lvl 9 = Bless/Haste, Lvl 14+ = Bless/Haste/Aura of XXXX) and use the rest of their spell slots to add Divine Smite damage... at least, that's what my Paladin does. Possibly I'm biased because I do love my Paladin.
I've heard good things about Blade Warlocks, but I've yet to see one played so I can't really judge. It just seems like they fit the requirements you have.
But Paladins rock.
A standard human starts out with +1 to every attribute. Point buy let's you get: 13 13 13 13 12 11 which turns into 14 14 14 14 13 12.
A variant human could start out with the skilled feat to get a total of 4 skills from race.
Bards are the true jack of all trades class. A College of Lore Bard gets 3 skill proficiencies at level 3, plus the bard gets 3 choices at level 1.
An Arcane Trickster rogue might also be a good choice. Combat, spells, and built-in solo-sneaky-style.
Be sure he understands this is a group effort though. I'm pretty sure the whole table wouldn't like to watch him solo a dungeon on a "scouting" mission. 
- Eck
JS20 wrote:
JS20 wrote:
Oh. I also should add that I seriously doubt I'll run this campaign past level 10-12 so I don't want to break his heart with stuff that won't come into play for his character because it is a higher level spell/ability.
My suggestion is the Fiend Blade Warlock. It has some issues with AC, but buff damage? Check. Buff HP? The class is awesome with THP generation. It has a great suite of little helpful at will effects. For anything greater healing-wise, some healing potions should be fine.
The Blade Warlock actually caps out in power at around 12, so that should fit nicely in your campaign run.
Eck wrote:
War cleric can buff up and be anything they want to be. Grab a second attack here and there. Guidance to buff skills needed. Spells for offense and defense buffs. Spiritual weapon to attack on your bonus action. Go dex, con, wis for good saves, archery/finesse, and sneaky armor. And, if you really want to be a hero, bring your party member back from the dead.
JS20 wrote:
Class: Paladin / Sorceror
Race: Half-elf
Paladins are the ultimate 5e melee spellcaster.
By level 6 a paladin gets:
1. +Cha Bonus saving throws (the power of this ability cannot be understated).
2. Divine smite. Spell slots can be turned into damage!! Yes please!
3. Ability to get advantage when needed with oath of vengance (Read this as buff chance to hit)
4. Buff spells like divine favor and bless. One is a good damage buff and one is a good attack rolle buff.
5. Healing ability with lay on hands and heal spells.
6. Very unique smite spells for melee combat.
Why sorceror? Spell selection and bonus action buffs!
By level 3 a sorceror can know some of these spells.
1. Disguise Self
2. Shield
3. Blur
4. Mirror Image
5. Misty Step
6. Enhance ability (Great for skills!!!)
7. Enlarge/Reduce
8. Invisibility
9. Levitate
10. Alter Self
Level 5 sorcerors get to know spells like
1. Fly
2. Haste
3. Blink
4. Fireball
This covers all the major bases really well except skills and they weren't totally forgotten about. If he feels like his skills are insufficient then have him take a level of rogue to boost them.
This character can play very well using either dex or str based weapons. Personally I would play him as dex based since dex based skills are a bit more fun. Use a shortsword and shield or rapier and shield. However, str based would work great too.
I'll chime in and say Oath of Vengeance paladin, like some of the other posters. Paladins have spells but are more melee. Their spells are geared to buffing and healing. They also have lay on hands for some extra healing as well as saving throw bonuses and some flat out immunities. The vengeance paladin gets some nice buff spells from the arcane list like hunter's mark and haste. The class features for vengeance give him advantage on rolls against a chosen target. The vengeance paladin is pretty much geared towards buffing up and stomping on monsters. Though I can can easily see eldrich knight, arcane trickster, or bladlock working too. I just get the feeling that paladin may be more in line with the player's playstyle, based on their wishlist.
I would recommend a fighter/sorc or a fighter/abjurer over an eldrich knight I think. The EK just takes so long for its spell progression to move along. As an example, a 14th level fighter/caster has its 4th level spells with improved invisibilty, which is awesome giving you advntage and the opponent disadvantage, even if it does know where you're at. You need to be 19th lv as an EK to get this.
Also, the EK's special abilities really aren't all that special. Weapon bonds value is situational, eldich strike could be reproduced if you go fighter/sorc with the expediditure of spell points, but it would be rare you would use this anyway since your spellcasting is more about buffing than attack magic. War magic is something I don't see us using much either. For what cantrip are you giving up your additional attacks 90% of the time? Improved war magic is nice, if reproducible by spending spell points with quicken spell as a fighter/sorc.Arcane charge is nice...not thrilling, but nice.
The only real advantage to being an EK that I can see is that you'll have a handful of additional hitpoints, but this is more than made up for by using the abjurer's arcane ward in combination with what will be your bread and butter spell, Shield.
Monk of the Four Elements.
-Primarily a melee class. Gains increased movement. Upon getting third level, he gains access to Elemental Disciplines, which are spells and/or spell like abilities.
-Every Spellcaster can be played selfishly, regardless of your spell choices. Having said that, however, Four Elements gives you access to many mainly self-buffing spells, including a Fly spell at level 11, if you choose it.
-Very self-sufficient, does not need much in the way of equipment. In fact, he doesn't even need material components. At 7th level, becomes all but immune to area magic damage. Gains proficiency to all saves at level 14.
-About as decent as everyone else, here. Choosing Human Variant as your race grands you an additional skill, and you also get a free Feat at level 1, which you could use to gain the Skilled Feat, for proficiency with 3 more Skills. However, you could alternatively choose Magic Initiate, which grants you access to two At-Will Cantrips from a spellcasting class, including Guidance, which grands you a +1d4 on any single skill check.
Elemental Disciplines to keep in mind:
-Elemental Attunement (you gain this automatically)
-Fangs of the Fire Snake
-Fist of Four Thunders
-Mist Stance
-Ride the Wind
-Water Whip
Warlocks can fill that "selfish caster" desire of his. Especially if he's Fiend pact. Though, as far as skills go, he doesn't get a lot of them unless he rolls a variant human and picks up the Skilled feat. *shrugs*
As far as melee goes, he can use a dagger and wait til level 3 to obtain Pact of the Blade so he can summon a weapon whenever he wants.
Hibiki54 wrote:
One more vote for half-elf paladin.
+ good melee abilities
+ buff & protection spells and abilities
+ 6 skills
+1 to a Paladin.
Oath of the Ancients will give you Resist(Spell damage), and one Channel Divinity power can Restrain your enemy so you (and your friends) can clobber him without worries of retaliation.
Compel Duel spell can make sure you get ALL the credit for taking down BBEG, too. (Be sure to remind your Bard of that, next time he Performs the tales of your deeds in front of an audience.)
You can AC a Paladin to be almost unhittable by melee foes.
I'll talk to him about paladins and warlocks, I think. Arcane Tricksters and Eldritch Knights are also good, but I think they might move along a bit too slowly for him. The Paladin RP might be tricky. There's no rule that says an Oath Breaker paladin must be evil is there? I mean no more than a Death Cleric or Warlock, I guess, but he is someone who actually has forsaken whatever noble ideals they had, so a "good" guy he's not.
Nevermind, DMG says that an oathbreaker "must be evil."
JS20 wrote:
Not that I ever played 3.5 very much, but doesn't his idea also sort of look like a Psychic Warrior or something like that? Not that I would dare try to homebrew a class, but that would be the best fit, I think. I guess paladins are the current psychic warriors.
JS20 wrote:
I talked to him last night and I guess the number one thing on the list is the ability to buff himself. Get stronger, get faster, get more skilled, grow/shrink, make himself tougher more accurate, etc. Obviously not all at once, but I think he likes the idea of changing his physical abilities based on the problem at hand.
JS20 wrote:
Yeah, I'm running warlock and paladin by him. By the way, is it possible to build a melee capable sorcerer without heavily multiclassing?
JS20 wrote:
Yunru wrote:
Yunru wrote:
FrogReaver wrote: