Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 superknud Apr 28, 2015 9:17:52	DM told us last night that our next campaign will be based on a somewhat post apocalyptic <sp> Earth where nature is the most prolific power and where basically all the magic and powers are derived from nature. Given that caveat, I have narrowed my character choices down to, not surprisingly, a nature cleric, ancient oath pally, or ranger.   Few bullets about the next campain that he has hinted at: 1. No multiclass. What we choose will be what we play til 20. 2. Some classes will be outright cut from the game, and some will receive minor tweaks. Of note, no Bard and no Warlock, with Wizards only being able to specialize in 2 elements in time, and only 1 at start.  3. Not due to his hints, but we have already rolled stats, and mine were 14, 13, 13, 13, 13, 10.  I persuaded him to allow point buy so I could have a little leighway with class selection and not be so far behind some of the other players (one of whom rolled 2 18s and a 16) and he did, but I needed to allocate the points last night, so I decided on a 15, 14, 14, 10, 10, 8 set. I figured this allowed me to build a character with 2 starting 16s which I was content with and would'nt  make the party seem like it was carrying me so to speak. (and yes I understand you don't need 20s to enjoy the game, but our DM likes to ramp up encounters pretty fast so the better equipped everyone one is to both take a hit and deliver one, the better)   My initial thoughts on character selection was hill dorf nature cleric utilizing shillelagh <sp> and medium armor/shield ending up with Str 10 Dex 14 Con 16 Int 10 Wis 16 Cha 8, Half-elf ancient oath pally with sword and board with Str 16 Dex 10 Con 15 Int 8 Wis 10 Cha 16 and Wood Elf beastmaster ranger (wood elf, so original...i know) utilizing ranged attacks starting with Str 10 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 16 Cha 8.   Nature Cleric and Ancient Pally are pretty obvious why I am considering them based on the info we have about the campaign. Beastmaster Ranger is a valid option, basically because based on past behaviors of the DM, if I can RP it, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to 'tame' any beast I want, and not be limited to low CR pets. I will ask about this prior to selection just to be sure, but thematically I feel like that would be the most fun. If he balks at the pet suggestion, I will be down to either the cleric or pally.   Sorry for the wall of text ladies and gents, but any thoughts on which you might consider to be the most fun/well rounded/go with any party type selection would be greatly appreciated, as well as any other thoughts you might have.   TIA
#2 superknud Apr 28, 2015 9:39:16	Ugh, forgot the most nature oriented class Druid. I am not entirely sure what the DM is planning for that class, he has intimated that there will be changes, and possibly make the entire class were-based (starting out with wererat form and growing from that, etc) and I will have to wait until those details are hashed out to decide if it will thematically be an option for me. Were-whatever will be a race option, and basically that will be the only race that can become a druid.
#3 Kentus Apr 28, 2015 9:46:54	Even though the beastmaster features are to enhance its combat abilities, the true strength of the beastmaster is the fact of having an animal companion at all. It's a great boon in exploration and you can more or less ignore it in terms of combat most of the times (even though at the low and high levels, it's pretty good in combat). So if you want to give your post apocalyptic adventure a lot of attention, the exploration part of a beastmaster ranger is the way to go, even if you have only low CR pets. I had a drow ranger with a spider (CR0), who was more awesome than the combat oriented characters, since he knew how to get the most of his pet. So if you like to be in charge and call the shots, a beastmaster with a well chosen pet can be very fun.   Ancient paladins are powerful in being hard to kill and especially vs. magic, so if you like to be bold and decisive, this might be the most fun.   I never saw a nature cleric so far in action, so I can't say much to it.