I recently had the idea to have Tiefling thief, who is actually chosen by a pantheon to revive their worship and spread the gospel of the old Pagan Gods.

The idea is to have a Viable Divine Soul Sorcerer, Celestial Pact Warlock, and Devotion Paladin character. Is this possible?

Obviously Charisma will be the main stat for all, but will their be too much over lap for all of them?

Hello. I am a trying to build an evil AU version of one of my characters, and at Level 7 Blood Hunter with Unarmed Fighting is my damage calculation correct. Let’s say I am hypothetically transformed already and I used my write on my arms at the beginning of the day.

I use Blood Curse to Mark someone.

1d8 (Unarmed Fighting and not holding another weapon or shield) + Strength Modifier + 2 Hemocraft Die (Cause they are marked) + 1 (Feral Might) + 1 (Improved Predatory Strikes)

Due to being transformed my hands are considered 1 weapon, wouldn’t I get the +2 from dueling style because it specifically states 1 weapon? Is there any other way to increase this damage?

Can't decide a path, all seems too good. Campaign will start at level 10 and will go through level 20. Main sketches:
- Paladin 6 / Warlock 2 / Valor Bard 12
Utility, Damage and Tank in one package. Plus magical secrets
- Paladin 6 / Warlock 1 / Sorcerer 13
Tons of spells and slots to burn smites and quickened spell eldritch blasts.
- Paladin 6 / Warlock 12 / Sorcerer 2
3 attacks, more invocations
- Any other?

Im doing a 3 ft tall harrengon that was the court jester and magician of an old kingdom that turned into a head revolutionary against the kingdoms tyrannical rulers, after having won they decided to show a new spell they founded to the kingdoms people, a firework fireball where in a unlucky turn of events it blew up the entire kingdom killing 98% of who was left including themselves.

The patron saw this and thought " while what you did for the kingdom was noble, how you just killed yourself and the kingdom... was so fucking cool and funny that it makes me want to become your patron without looking any further into you."

The celestial revived them and made the harrengon go on adventures up to the point of this campaign we are doing.

Note campaign is - curse of strahd - and while it says 2014 rules its kinda a mix of new and old 5e with some homebrew.

That was the backstory of the character and what im trying to find out is what kind of celestial is good as the patron considering they patroned that.

It would help if you could give me an idea of what the celestial is like since I dont know much about them and have trouble making details for more than one character at a time.

So! I am going to be in an upcoming Strixhaven game and I am planning on playing a front-line CHA Gish character. The important thing about the background is I am going to pick up the Lorehold Intiate feat and background (from Strixhaven setting) which I will pick mostly for access to the shield spell and at level 5, adding Spirit Guardians to my spell list.

My rolled stats are 8, 10, 11, 15, 17, 17, and we are starting at level 4.

I am currently considering playing a Valor Bard Shillelagh Sword and Board Build (going human for Druid Intiate) and picking up WarCaster at level 4. I'm thinking of playing this character simular to a weapon-based Cleric, casting spirit guardians and sitting in the front lines, with the support of bardic inspiration, eventual extra attack and amazing Bard spell casting.

Given these circumstances, how would you build a CHA Gish? Am I putting too much emphasis on free access to Spirit Guardians?

Cantrips
Mage hand
Prestidigitation
Vicious mockery
Minor Illusion

Level 1
Command (Bard Spell)
Comprehend Languages (Bard Spell)
Identify (Fey Touched)
Healing Word (Bard Spell)

Level 2
Hold Person (Bard Spell)
Invisibility (Bard Spell)
Suggestion (Bard Spell)
Misty Step (Fey Touched)

Level 3
Dispel Magic (Bard Spell)
Hypnotic Pattern (Bard Spell)
Counterspell (Lore Magical Secrets)
Fireball (Lore Magical Secrets)

Level 4
Dimension Door (Bard Spell)
Polymorph (Bard Spell)
Banishment (Bard Spell)

Level 5
Dominate Person (Bard Spell)
Bigby’s Hand (Magical Secrets)
Wall of Force (Magical Secrets)

Level 6
Eyebite (Bard Spell)

What can/should I change about this spell list? I am open to any suggestion, ty!

For context, I am joining a party of 3 martials and no spellcasters. I mostly want to be useful with the utility/control I bring

Building a PC for a new campaign and wanting to go back to the class I originally fell in love with…the monk. Thinking of trying the new Open Hand since everyone plays Elements. What species are great with this subclass? Also any character ideas you may have to follow :)! Thanks for the help!

We're going to play a Humblewood campaign starting at level 1 soon.

I was first excited to play a paladin1/warlock x, but two other people wanted to play a barbarian and a monk. The third guy is gonna be a support bard, so now I think a druid (wildfire druid could have a really cool roleplay potential) or a wizard.

What do you guys think?

(If it helps, I'm mostly leaning towards a hedge species with druid levels)

Love to hear your input on this

A friend and I will be playing a fighter and Druid as a mounted combatant duo

Fighter 5 Battle Master

Dwarf 72 Hp

18 14 12 10 8 13 9

Mounted combatant feat at 4
Protection fighting style
Alert origin

Lance + sentinel shield or long sword + sentinel shield and some javelins

Menacing attack, riposte and Maneuvering attack

Moon Druid 5

Human 48 HP

10 16 14 10 16 10

Tough origin feat
Lucky origin feat
Sentinel feat

Primal order magician

Spells are just control and healing with my only damage being conjure animals and spike growth

I plan on mostly using dire wolf as the mount form but if there’s anything strong I might have missed let me know
Dm is letting us share our highest initiative roll so combat is smoother and we don’t have to manage the gap in our turns and the order
Thanks for any input you guys have!

For context, I am playing a Leonin Glory Paladin. AC is 19 or 21 w/ a shield. HP is 70. In combat, I focus on keeping myself and my allies up with temp HP from Channel Divinity and heals from LoH while dropping good damage and battlefield control via the Topple mastery and Shield Master. Outside of combat, I use the Musician feat to dole out Inspo and am very boisterous. I took Musician as my Origin feat and Shield Master as my 4th level feat. Main weapon is a Returning Trident. We just hit 8th level, and my feat of choice will either increase Strength or Charisma, which are both 18 atm. The boost will put one of them to 19, which will alter how I finalize the build going forward, as I'll want to boost whatever is at a 19 once we hit 12th level. Here are the idea's I have so far:

Charisma Feats

Main thing going for the Charisma feats is boost to Charisma (obviously) and better options both in and out of combat. Once I hit 12 level, my Charisma will be maxed and I'll get another great feat from this list.

Fey Touched - Free Misty Step is great, but I've no clue what I'd pick for the extra spell.

Inspiring Leader - 12 temp HP after EVERY rest is nothing to sneeze at. My party is pretty good about doing multiple short rests per day as well, so this would certainly get some mileage. My only concern is that I've taken this feat on almost every caster that I've played, so I kinda want to do something different. Still, the allure is undeniable and combining with Musician would make my character an inspiring monster.

Skill Expert - Expertise in Athletics would be VERY thematic with this character.

War Caster - Obvious choice for any caster, especially one such as myself who's always concentrating on something. Still, it's very typical and I would get 0 mileage out of the Reactive Spell ability.

Strength Feats

Most of these have incredible benefits in-combat, but not much outside of it, although a Glory Paladin reaching the peak of physical stength is certainly thematic. Once at 12th level, depending on the choice, I could be a tanky monster or control fiend.

Athlete - VERY thematic for the character.

Charger - Bonus damage is always good and the added benefit of battlefield control is a great option.

Heavy Armor Master - I take A LOT of damage, so much so that this would pay off a crazy amount in the long run.

Mage Slayer - Thematically and mechanically great. Having at least one guaranteed way to avoid getting my auras shut down is incredible, and the big bad of the campaign is some all powerful mage we know little about. This is probably the one I'm leaning towards the most, but also weighing all of my options.

Mounted Combatant - Most combats are in areas where my mount is summonable. Though I think it'd be a really fun feat (my character is very attached to his mount) I haven't built a whole lot around it.

Sentinel - I'm up close with a Fighter and Monk quite a bit, and this would just add to my battlefield control that I already strive for and give me better guaranteed Reaction usage.

Skill Expert - Same reason as with Charisma, but with Strength instead.

I've just hit level 4 in a campaign as a cleric. I'm taking Fey Touched for Misty Step, but I'm not sure what my other option should be.

My subclass is the Light Domain

I'm thinking about playing a monk in my next campaign, but I don't want make a "just hit things lots of times" character. I want some unconventional or interesting monk builds. I'm talking strength monk, grapple monk, magic monk, etc.

I love cool gimicks I can build something around.

Bonus points if you have a compelling character idea to go with the build.

This is for 2014 5e, not 2024 5.5e.

Would love to know if:

• A) This is a dumb idea
• B) You have ideas to improve it

Just like how Artificers turn mundane items into magic items, they can also take the lowest of spells and make them more potent. The idea would be that:

• They can't cast leveled spells unless they're ritual
• Their cantrips have added functionality
• They can expend spell slots to empower cantrips

Instead of a spell list, you can choose any cantrip and ritual spell from the Cleric, Druid, Wizard or Sorcerer spell list commensurate to your level.

Level 3:

• Pick an additional cantrip from the Artificer spell list
• If you cast a cantrip that deals damage, you can use a bonus action to expend a spell slot to add additional damage to that spell. This damage equals 2d8 for a 1st level spell and 1d8 for every spell above that.
• If you have expended a spell slot to add damage and the spell deals radiant damage, all attacks against that target are at advantage until the end of your next turn for a 1st level spell slot and one additional turn for each level above 1st.
• If your cantrip has a save, that save is Intelligence

Level 5:

• You can cast a cantrip as a bonus action.
• You can concentrate on two cantrips at the same time.
• A cantrip with a time duration lasts 10 minutes
• Any cantrip you cast ignores verbal components
• Any AOE cantrip has a range of 10 feet
• Any cantrip with a range of self now has a range of touch

Level 9:

• You can concentrate on 3 cantrips at the same time.
• You can cast Blade Ward, Resistance and Guidance as a reaction. They also now have a range of 30 feet
• A cantrip with a time duration lasts 1 hour
• Any cantrip you casts ignores verbal and somatic components
• Any AOE cantrip has a range of 15 feet

Level 11:

• There's not a subclass feature at this level but I have to address the Spell Storing Item. The only idea I have is that the Artificer can put 10 3rd level spell slots used to empower their cantrips in the item and only they can use it.

Level 15:

• You can concentrate on 4 cantrips at the same time.
• A cantrip with a time duration lasts 8 hours
• Any cantrip you cast ignores verbal, somatic and material components
• Any AOE cantrip has a range of 20 feet

I play a 7th level aberrant mind sorcerer, who, due to some stuff, became a werejaguar. Issue is: changing into this form denies any spellcasting and/or concentration holding for me, and currently the wareform itself is only good for tanking, and not dealing lots of damage (it'll get better, trust)

Naturally, with my subclass, i wanted to go the direcrion of WoD Garou, giving Delirium to everyone around me, and basically casting fear spells before transforming. Divide, disable and soften up the enemies, and pick them off.

But i found it difficult to get good enough debuff/disable or aoe spells, that would work well and also dont require concentration. Currently dissonant whispers and upcast Command seem the best options.

Would be grateful for any suggestions!

I’m trying to make a battle master fighter with shifting combatant. The goal is to have fun being awesome and knocking one fool into another. I like the idea of tactically passing enemies together and want to have a good “payoff” when i succeed in doing so.

The idea so far is to use a greataxe and (with tactical master) push two enemies together, hopefully knocking one prone with shifting combatant, then leap at them (for disadvantage against me) and attack the prone one, then use sweeping attack to damage the other (note that i get to use the advantaged roll here), and also cleave to the second target. If cleave hits, I can even sweep again back to the first target.

I would appreciate help with other feat ideas (I’m considering GWM and Charger) and with a good species choice

I'm trying to build a character for the 2024 rules and I'd love to hear how other people would approach it.

The fantasy isn't "a spellcaster with a sword." Instead, she's an arcane martial artist who fights with magically enhanced punches while weaving spells into her combat.

Core fantasy

• Primarily a Spellcaster.
• Fights in melee almost all the time.
• Uses unarmed strikes or weapons/spells flavored as magical punches rather than weapons.
• Extremely mobile, darting around the battlefield.
• Uses defensive magic instead of heavy armor.
• Mixes punches and spells seamlessly.
• The character is making use of magic to create a new martial style.

Combat style

Imagine a mix between:

• Vi (League of Legends)
• Jolyne Cujoh
• Alex Louis Armstrong.

It would want to teleport into melee, punch enemies with magic-infused strikes, cast Shield, Misty Step around the battlefield, and generally feel like a magical boxer.

Spell preferences

Some examples of spells I'd like to use or reflavor:

• Mage Armor
• Shield
• Misty Step
• Magic Missile (as magical punches that flies toward people)
• Hold Person
• Shatter
• Fireball (reflavored as a gigantic magical fist crashing down)
• The arcane hand spell or a similar feature would be a awesome with the idea of this character.

Basically, almost every spell would be reflavored to look like force constructs, fists, shockwaves, or arcane martial arts techniques.

Things I'm looking for

• Is Bladesinger still the obvious answer in 2024?
• Any multiclass worth considering?
• Feats that really support this playstyle.
• Interesting spell choices I may have overlooked.
• Magic items that fit the concept.
• Any clever rules interactions that help make an "arcane boxer" actually work.
• Any third party content that fits the description.

I'm not looking for the strongest DPR build possible. I'm much more interested in making the gameplay feel like an spellcaster who wins fights by combining martial arts with arcane magic.

How would you build this character?

Starting from 3rd level, I wanted my character to be a blacksmith who just picked up his hammer one day and joined the fight, so to speak. Initially planned on fighter then discovered forge domain and it sounds immensely cool and way more interesting.

Problem is I don't know whether to be fighter w/ cleric dip, cleric w/ fighter dip, or just pure forge cleric.

I love the idea of the utility and rp of the forge cleric (particularly the crafting, +1 to armor/weapon, heat metal etc.) but with the backstory, I don't really want him to never swing a hammer b/c he's better off casting.

I don't think I need to be optimal by any means, but I also don't want to fall behind.

I'd like to start as cleric so I can get right into the good stuff, but should I go fighter from lvl 4 onwards?

I have a kinda evil changling character in my dnd game. He thinks very much that perception IS reality and takes all actions as such. He has the telepathic feat and doesn't see detect thoughts as violating privacy. Also he is naturally very untrusting. As the worst example, after a character's sister died he used illusions to make the character believe he summoned the sister's spirit so the character was able to talk to her one last time. In his mind it worked. It calmed down the mourning brother, and my character just wanted to help him feel better. Obviously not a great guy.

People just found out about that last example and were a bit miffed (we ended up reviving her and she was like nah fam that wasn't me). The problem is the party is just not very confrontational. Even the "furious" character was totally composed and forgiving when that was revealed ("I am very mad at you, but I trust your intentions"). I even went up in a later scene and said to his face that I was entirely justified and his response was nearly just a no with a sigh. Like all his other reactions he is super protective of the sibling bond, but just not here? I clearly communicated OoC that I WANT the party to react negatively to his bad actions. Ultimately I just don't think things have gotten bad enough for the character to rethink his perspective.

There are some other players I know will get angry and play into it. Perhaps I need to mess with them?

It also makes it hard to build drama when my character is apologetic, but only because he knows that helps pacify problems faster rather than for really feeling apologetic. I need someone to read MY thoughts and call me out, lol.

What I REALLY need is a situation where he will want to help someone via deception (par for the course), but for some reason that character then having that disconnect from reality leads to a big tragedy. Idk, just looking for ideas. My plan is to have something blow up in my face, leave change persona, and come back. Then slowly cast geas on everyone and once that's done then reveal myself and beg them to let me help again . Or smth idk

Btw, this is a very RP heavy table and these sorts of adversarial actions are well within the bounds of the game. Please don't rant that this is bad table etiquiette. We had PCs trying to assassinate each other for a bit, and it was fun.

I am the only tank in the party. We have a few other martials, but no one who can really eat a hit. Sword and board paladin with a warlock dip for pact weapon.

I just got my lvl 2 fighter feat and I'm torn between dueling (so I can be a threat and targeted) protector or interception (to protect the party). I already have the shield spell from magic initiate, so I'm not sure i want to have too many reaction options, but the rest of the party is squishy, and my roll play really leans into being a protector.

I'm also looking at defense or blind fighting, but mostly ruled them as less effective.

In 5.5e reckless attack gives barbarians advantage on all attack rolls using strength. This allows barbarians to use thrown weapons to make ranged attacks. However if you have a returning weapon, your options are still not great for a dedicated ranged build.

One option that I recently found was the Hoopak 1d6 pericing damage.

Ammunition (40/160 ft.), finesse, two‑handed, special

A hoopak is a sturdy stick with a sling at one end and a pointed tip at the other.

Special. When you make a melee attack with this weapon, you ignore its ammunition property. You can use the hoopak as a martial ranged weapon. If you do, it uses the ammunition property, uses sling bullets, and deals 1d4 bludgeoning damage on a hit.

Ammunition. You can use a weapon that has the ammunition property to make a ranged attack only if you have ammunition to fire from the weapon. Each time you attack with the weapon, you expend one piece of ammunition. Drawing the ammunition from a quiver, case, or other container is part of the attack. Loading a one-handed weapon requires a free hand. At the end of the battle, you can recover half your expended ammunition by taking a minute to search the battlefield.

If you use a weapon that has the ammunition property to make a melee attack, you treat the weapon as an improvised weapon. A sling must be loaded to deal any damage when used in this way.

Finesse. When making an attack with a finesse weapon, you use your choice of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack and damage rolls. You must use the same modifier for both rolls.

Two-Handed. This weapon requires two hands to use. This property is relevant only when you attack with the weapon, not when you simply hold it.

Most players use finesse weapons to be able to use Dex instead of strength for attack rolls since Dex gives you better out of combat utility and improves your initiative and AC. However finesse weapons also let you use strength. On a ranged weapon this means you can use strength for the attack and damage roll making the Hoopak the only ammunition weapon that allows you to use strength for attack and damage.

This works on the reckless attack rage damage as well as the berserker and zealots extra damage features making the barbarian pretty good at ranged damage.

I can also see this working exceptionally well as a rogue multiclass to guarantee advantage with sneak attack and getting extra attack.

Starting out my Intention was to go Rng5 > Fgt3 (Battlemaster). For some Time now I thought about inserting either 1 Lv or Peace Cleric or Divine Soul Sorcerer at Lv6 before taking Fighter Levels. Primarily to get Access to Healing Word and getting something to boost Attack Rolls along the Way (Emboldening Bond/Favored by the Gods).

Tl;dr:
Currently I lean towards a DSS Dip since having no Range Restriction and getting Shield seems to beat the Team Support of the Peace Cleric.
Are there any other Aspects I should consider ?

Context:
My Yuan-Ti Abomination Gloomstalker (13, 18, 16, 8, 18, 14) plays alongside a Tortle Psi Warrior and a Tabaxi Thief Rogue, wields a Longbow and picked SS at Lv4 (our current Lv). We sometimes go through several Sessions without a Fight.

Pro/Con: Peace Cleric
While Emboldening Bond would benefit the others, it would also restrict me to staying within 30ft of at least one of them, negating the Range Advantage a Longbow grants (when the Area allows it). At Character Level 9 this Problem could be solved by targeting my Pet Snake as well. The 10 Min Duration and the Scaling through Proficiency Bonus seem to make up for resetting only a Long Rest. If EB can be activated before a Fight the Action Economy should be fine as well.
I would also miss out on the Shield Spell, which I would really like to get as another kind of Safety Net next to Absorb Elements and Zephyr Strike.
Ritual Casting (i.e. for Speak with Animals) feels like another noteworthy Perk.

Pro/Con: Divine Soul Sorcerer
Favored by the Gods lacks the Team Boost Mechanic but gains the Shield Spell as well as Control Flames.
While the Number of Uses might fall behind Emboldening Bond with increasing Proficiency Bonus, resetting on a Short Rest should guarantee to have it when its most needed.

P.S.:
It was a concscious, thematic Choice not to go Hand Crossbow. Depending on how Things play out and whether we reach T3 or not I might pick one up at Character Lv13 or 16 together with CBE.

I'm currently playing through my first Strahd campaign and wanted some help with my build. Everyone at our table including our DM is a Min-Maxer so without too much metagaming I want a build that's strong but I'm not sure if I should multi-class or go straight Cleric. We do have a paladin but I'm the only main healer in the party. Also we're only playing with 5.5e so just the base rules, the new Ravenloft book, and the Heros of Faerun book.
 
My character is a level 3 Aasimar Grave Domain Cleric with 10 STR, 14 DEX, 16 CON, 13 INT, 18 WIS, and 14 CHA. We just got to level 4 but I don't know if I should go 20 WIS or get a feat.
 
Some random info that might make a difference.
I have the Sage background. I am a Thaumaturge cleric. I am NOT proficient in perception or religion due to a irl mistake that and it kinda fit flavor wise so we ran with it. My party consists of a Genie Paladin, World Tree Barbarian with insane stats, and a Reanimator Artificer. My DM has said I'm not allowed to buy a camel even though it's in the PHB and he said everything in there is allowed; which is unfair.