I've been contemplating whether or not stealth is a realistic goal for STR based characters.
My paladin is STR based with a Spy background and I'm wondering if this is simply a suboptimal choice. Is the +2 proficiency in stealth completely negated by the fact that I have disadvantage to stealth from wearing chainmail? Does the boon and the penalty pretty much negate each other? Is taking the Spy background a poor choice unless your character is DEX based?
I'm curious if there's a way to optimize my character and have my class and background better compliment each other.
One idea I had was to not take the weapon/gear package and consider a lighter armor that doesn't impose disadvantage on stealth, but I'm not sure if it's worth the AC loss. Another option I've considered is Medium Armor Proficiency, but it seems like a waste of a feat to pursue a skill that should be inherent to your choice of background. Anyone else trying to reconcile a similar character concept?
Advice, opinions, and suggestions most welcome.
Paladin already has Medium Armor Proficiency. Do you mean Medium Armor Master?
Disadvantage is certainly bigger than +2 proficiency bonus at low levels, though proficiency is helping to offset the disadvantage. If you can persuade someone in your party to be a Trickery Doman cleric he can negate the disadvantage for you with his Domain feature ;)
Simple solution. Don't wear Chainmail all the time, especially when you want to be stealthy.
just ask your dm to do some/all group checks for stealth, and let the dex guys make the checks, and when yours flunk the test, it wont matter.....
Moirdryd2 wrote:
Level 2 Ranger/Druid/other spell - pass without trace. This more or less makes even a person in plate mail as good at Stealth as his or her sneaky friends and also makes the sneaky friends virtually undetectable.
Removing your armor or stripping down to leather or a breastplate for sneaking is also a good suggestion.
1 level of rogues gives you expertise. Even in heavy armor, and low Dex, that can be enough. At least against non-preceptive creatures.
Paladins have medium armor by default.
You can play a Dex based paladin. We have one in our party who uses a bow and raiper.
A friend can use the help action to remove disadvantage. If there is a cleric they can also cast guidance.
1eejit wrote:
Angel7 wrote:
Thoughts_My_Aim wrote:
Well, you don't have to use lighter armour as a consistent trade off. You just bundle the chain in a velvet bolt and carry it in with you (killer on the shoulders mind you, and it can't go in the backpack) then, when you've circumvented the guards, cut some throats etc and your expecting a more serious fight you can put it back on. Or you can leave it behind with the camp, baggage etc for the times when you need it.
There are a number of possibilities...
* Wear medium armor. Breastplate is still AC 14 + 2 dex. That is 16 (before shield) which is only two off from platemail. This is a fair trade off to be stealthy. If you have a high dexterity, then yes... the medium armor mastery feat is an option, allowing half plate (15) and +3 dex for a total of 18 with no penalty.
* You can look at having two sets of armour. One when say riding a your mount -- stealth is likely meaningless. And a light suit, which you can switch into for specific missions. With a mount, carrying a suit of studded leather isn't an issue.
* You can look at magic. Barkskin, shield of faith, etc. all help increase your AC.
* You can look at magic to make you stealthy while in plate. Invisibility and silience are good examples. You may not need both... depending upon how you are sneaking, silence might be good enough to get you fairly close through say darkness, fog, or heavy forest.
* You can look at magic which can negate the disadvantage when wearing plate. Say... enhance ability (dexterity). This gives you an advantage, which removes your disadvantage.
* You can look at magical items -- cloaks and boots of elvenkind for example.You might be able to look at armor which is silent or has some stealthy property.
* When you get Find Steed (5th), ask your DM about mounts which might be stealthy -- elk maybe, but a lion or tiger is pretty stealthy. DMs call if you are mounted whether you would have to make a check in addition to your mount -- painting/covering your armor black/dark green, and having silence would likely ensure only your mount needs to roll.
That's a surprising amount of possibilities. Much appreciated.
Since I'm STR based, Medium Armor Master wouldn't be a good choice, especially with INT and DEX being my dump stats for better STR and CHA.
Aside from buffs and spells, I'm going to work towards obtaining a breastplate, which is better than wasting a feat, and should be attainable before the 4 level stat boost/feat.
Despite the awesomeness of Sentinel, I've decided on taking Mounted Combatant instead. Flail smashing undead from the saddle is just too cool a concept to pass on. 
So... When I'm able to trade in my Chainmail for a Breastplate, I will no longer have disadvantage on Stealth and the prof bonus from Spy background will actually feel like a bonus.
Dropping 2 AC for better Stealth also seems like a reasonable trade off. A 1AC loss would be preferred and a 3AC loss would be a deal breaker for me, so I suppose a -2AC is a fair compromise, and I also use a shield. (I'm guessing that works out to about a 10 percent greater chance of getting hit give or take). Another factor in my decision to not use a feat for better Stealth is I'll be banging my helm against a rock if we do come across a magic item or piece of armor that provides a similar benefit. During my paladin's entire career, I'm probably looking at only 2 feats so I have to choose carefully (probably one for effectiveness and one for flavor/concept)
Very excited to have my pally basically worked out, so I can now play around with the equally fun background, ideal, flaw, fluff part. Thank you for all the great assistance with my concept everyone.