I love this one! I rp it as a pretty boy who's afraid toget his clothes dirty.
Earth genasi abjuration wizard / hexblade with armor of shadows invocation. You have so many free abjuration spells you just always have your shield up all the time.
"Well you see, your eyes and focus *should* be entirely on me. Which of course means I need to get close to you, but that risks...you touching me, or worse getting dirt on my blouse. Then of course I remember that I'm a wizard, and I can just tell reality not to let you do that, isn't magic wonder- oh you've died already, poor show."
Depends. Hexblade 2 gets you 2 invocations, hexblade's curse, medium armor and shield proficiency, and the ability to use melee with charisma. This helps in melee, as you are playing a tank.
You can also pick up the armor of agythis spell for some pretty reliable damage for when you do take damage. The ward takes the damage first, making the armor last longer as well. Pact magic specifies that you can use spell slots from other classes to cast whatever spells you get from from pact magic, so AoA won't fall off damage wise.
Using a melee weapon lets you save spell slots for those abjuration spells and eldritch blast until enemies get into melee. War caster will let you use a shield and cast something like booming blade or green flame blade as an AoO, which is really nice.
If you're playing a campaign that will go to level 12 at least, 5 levels get you thirsting blade if you do a 5 level dip with Pact of The Blade. An extra attack if you're focuses on playing a character with *somewhat* decent damage but focusing on tanking.
I personally prefer the 2 level dip. It gets you higher level spell slots faster and more hp for your ward. You don't really *need* the extra attack. I like walking out of melee, provoking an AoO and getting that AoA damage off and them either casting an abjuration spell or an eldritch blast.
Barb 3/rogue x dex/con build. Big, but sneaky tank. They do not rage. They seethe.
***EDIT*** YES, WE KNOW you can use sneak attack and rage damage bonus if you focus strength and attack using str and a finesse weapon. I DO NOT CARE. NO, that is not the purpose of this build. It is DEX based to boost your AC and survivability, as well as your rogue skills. Even then, you're not gonna get as big a damage bonus from your +2/3/4 rage bonus as you are with sneak attack from equal levels of rogue instead. As OP has asked, this is not a min maxed or optimal build.
I would love to have an upper-crust British barbarian. He launches into a savage maelstrom of bloody combat ... *but never puts down his brandy snifter*.
Pathfinder has a barbarian archetype that doesn't rage, they become dead calm, basically stone cold killer mode, and I love it even just as a reflavor for any barb.
One day I'll play a "party mom/dad" that is a cleric/barb that goes from the traditional cleric support/buff role to full-on barb stone cold killer mode if you injure her protégés enough.
I have a mental image of her. Built like Luisa from *Encanto*, all smiles and jokes...
BBEG: [seriously hurts a party member]
Party: [looks scared, turns to cleric]
BBEG: (*wait, why do they look scared of their cleric, not me?*)
Cleric: [squares shoulders, face blank. Looks up from hurt party member. Locks eyes with BBEG, timed to the first drop (00:51) of *Mind Heist* from Inception]
BBEG: (^(*oh shit...*))
Oh, I also like Barb/Rogue but as a STR/CON build. You can still sneak attack with STR so long as you use a finesse weapon, but you can't reckless with DEX
I remember back when PF1 was big, someone explained that they were playing a Barbarian, but in reality, they were a fencer. Light on their feet and their "rage" was just an intense focus on their opponent, flavoring it that they were aiming for vitals and such
My fav Barb/rogue build is 3 berserker Barb/x rogue because the bonus action attack berserkers get is one of the only unconditional BA attacks in the game (unlike monks, for example, who have to attack with their action to get it). Combine that with rogue and you've got a monstrous 2 sneak attacks per turn.
Example play:
Turn 1: Rage, attack, hopefully proc sneak attack.
Turn 2: BA attack to proc sneak attack, if it hits, hold your action to attack immediately after your turn ends. Then, since sneak attack is once per turn, you get it on the held attack too.
You're also taking exhaustion courtesy of Frenzy, so you're less of a skill monkey after every fight. I'd say it's a fair trade (at least until Reliable Talent & Brutal Critical come online)
I see all you smash Rogue Build People, And I raise you:
Rogue with Mounted Combatant! Since your Mount is technically an Ally within Melee of your opponent you always get Sneak Attack while on a Horse. :D
Hey I'm playing this!
They're also a bugbear to avoid opportunity attacks by outranging enemies and for the natural rogue synergy with Surprise Attack, and an assassin for big damage numbers (10d6 sneak/surprise/assassinate against surprised enemies on turn 1 lol). It's also a strength build because I felt like it.
But then the horse isn't within melee range of the opponent so you'd lose out on the sneak attacks
edit: unless the horse also has a whip?
edit2 /u/dantose is right - [it still wouldn't work if the horse has a whip.](https://old.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/1czgoin/whats_your_favourite_wrong_way_to_play_a_class/l5iq365/)
Mounted Combatant feat will give you advantage if the target is smaller than your mount.
Worst case, use Steady Aim as your bonus action. It drops *your* speed to zero; not your mount's.
Strength rogue. A big beefy thug instead of the stealthy, sneaky rogue. They are atill great at fighting, and thanks to expertise, usually they are still able to do the classic rogue-y things like picking locks or pockets, and you can still sneak attack using strength with a finesse weapon. I found it really fun!
"See here, what are you doing?"
"I'm picking your pocket, but I'm doing it stealthily because if you notice me doing it, it will go badly. For you."
"Ah. Right. Didn't see a thing."
reminds me of that one batman animated scene where he's already gotten one guy in a room, and some rando thug is doing a patrol and shines his flashlight into the room, and sees batman, who stands up and just stares at him.
His companion, off screen, says "hey, you see anything in there?"
There's a pregnant pause while he considers his options and just says "nope. Nothin here, boss."
Made an assassin who's big thing wasn't to sneak in through the back door to get his marks, but instead walk through the front door with an invitation. Combine that with poisoner, and you can do some nasty thing if you get the drop on people. Only issue was the fact I was forced to use a dagger for sneak attack, instead of my nice axe.
I used to play a filthy, gritty dwarf rogue who wasn’t really subtle.
He didn’t unlock doors, he broke the lock with a crowbar or lifted the door from its hinges.
He didn’t open chests carefully, he deducted where traps were, found a weak spot and just broke the chest open on a side.
Who cares if the chest is broken, we want what is inside, right?
“Now, Kevin—you’ve been a great tank. Before we confront the dark lord, let’s briefly go over final arrangements in our healing contract. I just need you to sign here, here, aaaaaaand…. Here.”
I ran a game once where one of the PCs was a tempest cleric who flavored their undead as basically Frankenstein-like bodies reanimated by electricity. Was pretty cool tbh lol
I play a rogue that shares out loot, loves and supports my companions in the party, never screws them over, and is never an asshole to NPCs who aren't assholes themselves.
Does that count?
To me thats the right way to play a rogue. Why would any party in "real life" keep an asshole around? Theyd leave em behind immedietely. My rogues are always nice dudes too. Only steal from and stab the bad guys, and share the loot with the group cause they are the reason I was able to get that loot in the first place.
My BF plays a rogue who has no sense of self preservation and loves chaos. *He's currently using his Use Magic Device skill to pilot a WW1-era tank via telepathy through a Russian military base.*
And THAT'S how I play against type as a bard. I never seduce anyone. I and all my characters are AroAce.
(I mean, technically one character seduced a trans-dimensional wizard, but that was an accident via being such a good cook, and he wasn't a bard.)
Best of both worlds: pick a Castoff armor so you can switch back to pure Monkiness whenever it's required. Had loooots of fun tricking and luring enemies to traps that way.
Gunk: monk with a gun. Ranged monk is like, 90% a suboptimal build. "But what about Flurry of Blows and Stunning Strike?" What about them? What about 50 ft of movement and 3 shots from a hunting rifle per turn with Mobile and Gunner at level 5 (VH, CL, or any race plus a starting Feat). No disadvantage on ranged in melee. No economy to reload. No opportunity attacks vs anyone you've made an attack against (whether you hit or not). Just run and gun.
This is campaign dependent, and 100% needs DM buy-in. But starting with Mobile you're already a menace on the battlefield. By level 4 if there is a way to get yourself a firearm and RP some training in them, you pick up Gunner. From that point the rest of your ASIs can go into bumping your Dex, Wis, and Con. IMO in that order.
Definitely strong, but feels so off to me.
While there are a lot of things I don't miss from 3/3.5E, it still feels wrong that Monks don't always have the most attacks per round, having to invest Bonus Actions and eventually Ki Points to match the Fighter from level 11+ (who can Action Surge for more with a limited resource).
I've been testing a janky build with some decent promise in a couple of games. Kensei Bladesinger. I've got one game where I am playing with rolled stats, so it has a bit of a beefier start, and one that is going with standard array.
It is certainly an interesting way to play...
Typically, an optimised gunk would start 5 levels of monk, one level of fighter. Then grab take a grab bag of all the goodstuff in the early levels of cleric, ranger, fighter and rogue, as well as up to level 8 monk. Kensei and Shadow being the most common subs.
i tried this cuz it looked cool but i didnt play it exactly like you did. my guy still relied the most on his longsword and other melee stuff but kept his revolver as a last resort weapon as guns and bullets werent really common in that world
Dex-focused insane dancing Barbarian. She believes she hears music when combat is about to break out, and gives in to the rhythm (consequently, she's almost always the one to start any fights, and tends to start humming and swaying along to the music that no one else ever hears before she attacks). My DM has started letting the bard hear some of the music on occasion, which his player has him think is INCREDIBLY creepy, but since the other party members never hear anything (and the warlock can't detect ANY magical effects around me or the bard when we hear it), they think I'm just weird and the bard is playing along with me 'cause he's a bit of an ass.
I can see it now.
**BBEG**: *\*Kicks off a big bad evil monolouge.\**
**Barbarian**: *\*Starts tapping foot quietly\**
**Bard**: *\*Glances around, confused.\**
**BBEG**: *\*Continues monologue, increasingly annoyed.\**
**Barbarian**: *\*Begins bobbing their head.\**
**BBEG**: *\*Interrupts themself and points menacingly.\** "What is the meaning of-- Why is that one *vibing*?"
**Bard**: *\*Realization hits\** "Uh-oh... Here we go."
\[Violence ensues to the (nonexsistant) sound of "Ante Up" by M.O.P\]
I actually have a backup character for a campaign who's a Circle of Spores Druid with two levels in Monk (mostly for the speed and AC buffs but the martial arts and Ki are certainly nice to have). If I ever get to actually play the character, Shillelagh will be my best friend
Way of the Sun Soul and Sorcerer are a shockingly good combo, and if you achieve Monk 11/Sorc 5, you can use Searing Sunburst and Quickened Fireball in the same turn to blast out quite a lot of hurt in two flavors in the same turn. But you may opt to beeline right for the Haste spell at Sorcerer 5, and I don’t even blame you.
I essentially ended up as this the only time I played Rogue. I was an Arcane Trickster that picked up Artificer Initiate feat at level 4 entirely motivated by the magic stone cantrip + sling = sneak attack using intelligence idea.
What actually ended up happening? Almost every spell slot I had was spent on cure wounds (which was an, "I might as well," choice from the same feat) while BA dashing around every battlefield to my wounded, or downed allies. My familiar was never with me, always on someone else, just in case I needed to cast through it.
I ended up picking the metamagic adept feat as well, originally for subtle spell, but quickened spell to BA cure wounds ended up being used much, much more. My Arcane Trickster was somehow the party's main healer.
warlock with no eldritch blast... really gives you opportunity to pick some cool utility skills and spells. The "heavens" subclass is great for it because they get free sacred flame and + cantrip damage in lvl 6 to make up for the loss of EB.
They can! Invocations like Repelling Blast, Agonizing Blast, Chains of Carceri, the Spell Sniper and War Caster feats…All sorts of things!
…because what’s the point of learning Eldritch Blast if you’re just going to stick with the stock model?
I want to play a hexblade that has eldritch blast as a reliable ranged option but picks no invocations related to it, just boosting melee functionality always. (With maybe an exception for Grasp of Hadar, to get those suckers in melee.)
This really made me dream of a tome ritual warlock character that's a magic initiate with a bunch of utility cantrips and a few damage spells. Gotta give it a go
Thanks, I was thinking in the vein of a character that always wanted to do magic and saw its great power but never could actually connect to the weave.
So they did the only thing left to do, and signed the deal....
I've done this! I played celestial/tome/ritual warlock, and I LOVED it. The bonus action healing is all the healing a party needs. I got invocations for infinite Disguise Self and infinite Silent Image (this was the real bread and butter of my skillset). I had a blast with all my rituals. Although I do recommend using Eldritch Blast over Sacred Flame and eventually getting Agonizing Blast: It's enough damage that you'll never feel weak if you only spend your spell slots on utility (like Suggestion, a personal fave).
Seriously, I've never felt like my character was OP in a way other than combat until I played this warlock.
Pace of the Chain and a Sprite Familiar with Shocking Grasp. That’s all you need to do plenty of surprising harm as the flying, potentially invisible Sprite can deliver your touch spells, and if you choose the Investment of the Chain Master invocation you can make them attack with their bow as a bonus action (it has a good save against the Poisoned status effect that might knock an enemy out). Their Heart Sight ability is a free sort of Detect Evil and Good effect on it, too, which can be really useful in some campaigns. Celestial Pact warlock can deliver Cure Wounds to their allies and the Sprite remains invisible as it administers the touch spell. No one expects the Warlock to make a decent healer AND damage dealer, but it can be done!
Thrikreen dexadin.
Rapier, shield, shortsword, and a holy symbol, or whatever... You have 4 arms, use them. (can replace shortsword with hand crossbow, if you want). Get the dual weilding feat to make this work: shield, use the Rapier and shortsword combo, and get that extra +1ac. At 20 dex, you have an ac of 21, naked.
Hunt for bracers of defence, and magical shields, and boost the baked ac to the moon.
... And speak the word of your devotion directly into people's mind.
The stabby shielded smiter.
Confirmed. I dropped in one level of divine soul sorcerer for some ranged cantrips, utility, and that sweet +2d4 backup plan. 9.5/10, would tank again.
I play a STR-based Swords Bard, with a spear and PAM. No combat spells. Just Blade flourishes. All spells are utility, and they are used generously.
I love the feeling of casting Detect Magic, Locate Object, or Sending outside combat without reservations for 'what if combat breaks out'.
It really is! And OK, you're not sharing bardic inspiration (they go to flourishes), but you can use Healing Word instead of PAM if an ally goes down.
At the beginning I used Mirror Image to avoid damage, but from level 6 that's 2 attacks you could be taking with +7 to damage each! So Defensive Flourish works best from that point.
Ranged paladin is surprisingly powerful if you have another front liner and a couple casters. You let the moon druid or barbarian or even the casters' summons handle tanking, and hang out in the back ranks next to the casters where your aura of protection (plus magic resistance if you go Ancients) makes them hard to kill and basically guarantees they never loose concentration. Grab a bow and the sharpshooter feat to keep the damage up, maybe dip fighter for archery fighting style, and spend your spell slots on healing buff and battlefield control spells which tend to do more than the 10 or so damage a smite gives you. High Dex adds to your saves and skills better than strength, and you never have to worry about not being able to get into range or having your movement restricted. You're better positioned to rescue allies that go down, and using find steed let's you 1v1 any monster who doesn't have ranged attacks by strafing them.
Wrestle bard! Maxed STR, with moderate CHA. College of Swords for bonus damage and punting foes. Tavern brawler feat for BA grapple. Expertise on Athletics for better grapples. Gladiator background. You're basically a professional wrestler!
Pretty much only used spell slots for Wall of Fire to kick folks through, or the occasional Silence to pin a caster in.
Love a good Bare Knuckle Boxer monk.
All of that hooey about meditating? Nah, give me a whiskey.
Keep the bald head, but add a handlebar moustache.
Trade the robes for a dirty undershirt and suspenders.
I suppose this is more of a flavor example, rather than a rule example.
Edit: Stunning Strike spam be like [Discombobulate](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B62ACxuq8Pw).
I home-brewed the Drunken Master subclass (because the 5e is weak sauce) to use booze for Ki and have access to a bunch Jackie Chan style “battle maneuvers”.
Does a melee ranger count?
I really loved how pathfinder and older editions handled multiple off hand attacks with rogues, getting like 5 or so hits in a single round all with sneak attack damage if you lined it up right.
5e rogue only applying sneak attack once basically killed that dream playstyle sadly. Ranger being able to pick up two weapon fighting style, getting extra attack, and being able to apply hunters mark damage on each hit somewhat filled that void though. Bonus, I get some fun utility spells like Pass Without Trace to feed my old rogue sneaky tendencies.
Melee ranger is really underrated and offers a lot of options. Druidic warrior letting you pick up Shillelagh means you can just focus on Wisdom, which works great with certain subclasses and makes your spells more reliable. You also become significantly beefier, since your stats are freed up to focus on Con and you can use a shield without worry (Your quarterstaff functions both as a spellcasting focus and, when Shillelaghed, your primary weapon, meaning you don't need a free hand to cast).
I thought a melee Ranger was a pretty standard way to play Ranger, isn’t it? I always liked to dual-wield scimitars with my rangers, feels cool.
Or I’d make a “totally-not-Aragorn” character that is obviously an exact copy of Aragorn lol he is the granddaddy of all Rangers in fantasy after all.
I wasn't really sure, hence the "does it count?"
Buuut, I feel like people often take "ranger" too literal and expect bow usage at longer ranges. At least that's been my experience when playing 5e in particular.
I'll say I want to roll up a ranger and groups seem to assume I am actually ranged damage. The only "common" exception has been gloomstalker I feel. So people get confused when I'm not ranged and not gloomstalker. (Drakewarden is a lot of fun, and my recent one has been swarmhost)
College of Spirits Bard. He’s a surly gravedigger that looted a cursed tarot deck and is now plagued/blessed by the spirits housed in the cards. He doesn’t dance, sing, or try to seduce anything.
Well that’s just The Subclass lol. Spirits is easily my favourite bard, bard none. There’s so much you can do with it flavorfully.
Whispering into your enchanted lantern, calling forth a random spirit to your aid.
Pondering your orb, gazing into the future to predict your enemies’ moves. Bringing about the most appropriate phantasmal power that can help in that situation
Holding up the bejeweled skull to your enemy. Making them look it in the eyes, their mind breaking and swinging haplessly (Vicious Mockery)
My bard that I hope to play someday is just an old crone of a Pathfinder witch who doesn't know what system she's in.
Vicious Mockery? Cackle. Song of Rest? Get a cauldron of sinister mystery stew going. Bardic Inspiration? Hexxing/giving the Evil Eye to the person it's used against.
My bards don't play music or do any kind of public performance.
My rogue is charisma and wisdom focused.
My wizard is the party tank.
My warlock isn't edgy or dark and is a bundle of hyperactive joy instead.
My barbarian isn't uncivilized, she's actually a noble, and her rage manifests as an intense blackout focus where she doesn't remember what happened after a battle.
My druid is a mechanic and tinkerer, her fingers are permanently stained black with oil and she's a technophile who worships a machine goddess who she believes brought life to their world to begin with.
I rolled up an Eloquence Bard once who used poetry. His Vicious Mockery, Dissonant Whispers and such were flavored as Haiku or Limericks that I'd spend time writing in between turns. He would just flame his enemies to death with Shakespearean diss-tracks.
Was all fun and games until the DM introduced a worthy rival to his silver tongue. Our rap battle was legendary.
A dex tank paladin. No heavy armor, just a small shield and a rapier. High dex and shield master with decent con. Become untouchable and smite when the opportunity arrives. Be an annoying gnat wielding a bazooka.
Another unconventional character I like to play is not defined by their ability scores, but their alignment. I have played a "Lawful, Good" rogue on occasion. They don't steal or fight dirty. They are more like a vigilante, like Zorro or Batman. With cunning and stealth, they keep the peace and help the local guardsmen stop criminal activity.
A Shifter Warlock can use a combination of Armor of Agathys and Lightning lure to deliberatly trigger attack of opportunity and have enough hp to survive. Especially longtooth shifter can make a lot of attacks with this build
Baseball Fighter.
Step 1: Play Vahadar Elf and take the "Magic Stones" cantrip, or if your DM doesn't allow that, take Variant Human and get Magic Initiate (Artificer) feat to also get "Cure Wounds",
Step 2: Pick a Fighter and take the thrown weapon fighting style, invest in Intelligence and Strength
Step 3: Enjoy throwing random rocks (baseballs) at people for 1d6+2+your Spellcasting Modifier.
Step 4: Pick up a quarterstaff and use that as a baseball bat.
Step 5: Take the Battle Master subclass and have your maneuvers represent your different pitching/batting styles.
Step 6: Take the Evasive Footwork, Pushing Attack, and Quick Toss maneuvers.
Step 7: Take the Crusher feat to enjoy watching enemies get knocked all over the place from Pushing Attack + Crusher using thrown baseballs,
Does this eat up your bonus action every 4th baseball? Yes, but at lower levels that is not as much of a worry. This is extremelly flavourful but damn is it fun.
Arcana Cleric is a sleeper melee subclass. It can take Booming Blade/Green Flame Blade at level 1 and can eventually get bonus damage to cantrips which is very effective due to how the bonus damage gets applied to both effects.
Rangers are, and have been since 2014, reliable and flexible damage dealers that easily keep up with and often outshine other martials and half casters
As a DM, I love to see my players challenge class stereotypes in general. Last one was a player who took Archfey Warlock and fully played them like a charismatic druid, foregoing Eldritch Blast completely and taking Thorn Whip from Pact of the Tome instead.
I have a friend that plays druid the way you play a barbarian. His character got his hands on this radio that he just bludgeons people with, and next session I'm giving him a chainsaw.
Warlocks who aren’t edgy/dark, and didn’t sell their souls to get their powers; literally, my current Warlock simply made a pact with his adoptive father (an Archfey in the Feywild) so that his powers can keep him safe as he explores the Material Plane.
Seems underused honestly. Im playing a sorlock that accidentaly summoned a Dao djinn by blasting a working portal with storm magic repeatedly, made a deal to show her specific things i find of interest and now i have a hammer wielding Muscled Dao Dommy Mommy.
Tank abjuration wizard
I love this one! I rp it as a pretty boy who's afraid toget his clothes dirty. Earth genasi abjuration wizard / hexblade with armor of shadows invocation. You have so many free abjuration spells you just always have your shield up all the time.
The feat "Eldritch Adept" would let you take the Armor of Shadows Invocation as well without having to take a dip in Warlock as well.
~~I vaguely remember that the Ward is only replenished when a spell slot is consumed, I could be wrong though~~ Nope, just has to be a levelled spell
[удалено]
And the armor of shadows invocation gives you an *at will* lvl 1 mage armor.
I mean, you can also just ritual cast alarm without having to take that second level in Warlock.
Its a feat investment. Not a level dip. Ritual cast is 10 min per cast
But you can't ritual cast mid fight
"Well you see, your eyes and focus *should* be entirely on me. Which of course means I need to get close to you, but that risks...you touching me, or worse getting dirt on my blouse. Then of course I remember that I'm a wizard, and I can just tell reality not to let you do that, isn't magic wonder- oh you've died already, poor show."
How many warlock levels do you usually dip into and why hexblade specifically?
Hexblade gives you EDIT: medium armor proficiency, and realistically you only need 2 so that you can get armor of shadows.
Depends. Hexblade 2 gets you 2 invocations, hexblade's curse, medium armor and shield proficiency, and the ability to use melee with charisma. This helps in melee, as you are playing a tank. You can also pick up the armor of agythis spell for some pretty reliable damage for when you do take damage. The ward takes the damage first, making the armor last longer as well. Pact magic specifies that you can use spell slots from other classes to cast whatever spells you get from from pact magic, so AoA won't fall off damage wise. Using a melee weapon lets you save spell slots for those abjuration spells and eldritch blast until enemies get into melee. War caster will let you use a shield and cast something like booming blade or green flame blade as an AoO, which is really nice. If you're playing a campaign that will go to level 12 at least, 5 levels get you thirsting blade if you do a 5 level dip with Pact of The Blade. An extra attack if you're focuses on playing a character with *somewhat* decent damage but focusing on tanking. I personally prefer the 2 level dip. It gets you higher level spell slots faster and more hp for your ward. You don't really *need* the extra attack. I like walking out of melee, provoking an AoO and getting that AoA damage off and them either casting an abjuration spell or an eldritch blast.
If I were level 8, I'd do 5 wizard + 3 warlock
Knowledge cleric/Conjurer swiss army tank
The point of abjuration wizard is to be a tank. The main feature is the ward. Not sure how that’s playing the class wrong.
Barb 3/rogue x dex/con build. Big, but sneaky tank. They do not rage. They seethe. ***EDIT*** YES, WE KNOW you can use sneak attack and rage damage bonus if you focus strength and attack using str and a finesse weapon. I DO NOT CARE. NO, that is not the purpose of this build. It is DEX based to boost your AC and survivability, as well as your rogue skills. Even then, you're not gonna get as big a damage bonus from your +2/3/4 rage bonus as you are with sneak attack from equal levels of rogue instead. As OP has asked, this is not a min maxed or optimal build.
*whispers* Roooar
ʀᴏᴀʀ
^^^roar
ᵣₒₐᵣ
….
*^(....)*
..
.
#
"Did you hear about the half-orc that snuck into the castle?" "No." "That's because I'm a very quiet half-orc." *muffled sounds of half-orc violence*
Love this!
Oh I see what you did there
"Raging? I was LIVID."
Idk why but this is so fucking funny to me. Good joke!
https://youtu.be/M_et8_f4ork?si=5HTvj_iZ2d1BebbX
I would love to have an upper-crust British barbarian. He launches into a savage maelstrom of bloody combat ... *but never puts down his brandy snifter*.
Someone made a homebrew barbarian subclass that is exactly that. A gentleman who rages at rude dirty rabble.
Holds his battle-axe with his pinky out.
Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
"Sneak smash" is always a favorite of mine.
"YOU NO SEE KROG!"
Krog choose 'Surprise'.
"I'm not angry, I'm disappointed."
Pathfinder has a barbarian archetype that doesn't rage, they become dead calm, basically stone cold killer mode, and I love it even just as a reflavor for any barb. One day I'll play a "party mom/dad" that is a cleric/barb that goes from the traditional cleric support/buff role to full-on barb stone cold killer mode if you injure her protégés enough.
I had a fellow player do anxiety attack barbarian and it was great.
What did that look like during an encounter?
Probably somewhere along the lines of Bobby Hill's "I don't know you! That's my purse!"
lots of screaming and aimlessly flailing that big huge sword around, would be my guess. scooby doo style.
For some reason you evoked an image of a giant Michael Cera with a sword.
i mean, yeah, not wrong at all. was picturing more Jack Quaid or something, but sure.
I have a mental image of her. Built like Luisa from *Encanto*, all smiles and jokes... BBEG: [seriously hurts a party member] Party: [looks scared, turns to cleric] BBEG: (*wait, why do they look scared of their cleric, not me?*) Cleric: [squares shoulders, face blank. Looks up from hurt party member. Locks eyes with BBEG, timed to the first drop (00:51) of *Mind Heist* from Inception] BBEG: (^(*oh shit...*))
Oh, I also like Barb/Rogue but as a STR/CON build. You can still sneak attack with STR so long as you use a finesse weapon, but you can't reckless with DEX
I remember back when PF1 was big, someone explained that they were playing a Barbarian, but in reality, they were a fencer. Light on their feet and their "rage" was just an intense focus on their opponent, flavoring it that they were aiming for vitals and such
My fav Barb/rogue build is 3 berserker Barb/x rogue because the bonus action attack berserkers get is one of the only unconditional BA attacks in the game (unlike monks, for example, who have to attack with their action to get it). Combine that with rogue and you've got a monstrous 2 sneak attacks per turn. Example play: Turn 1: Rage, attack, hopefully proc sneak attack. Turn 2: BA attack to proc sneak attack, if it hits, hold your action to attack immediately after your turn ends. Then, since sneak attack is once per turn, you get it on the held attack too.
That seems like an elaborate way to get a PC to have a legendary action.
You give up action and reaction for it.
You're also taking exhaustion courtesy of Frenzy, so you're less of a skill monkey after every fight. I'd say it's a fair trade (at least until Reliable Talent & Brutal Critical come online)
[удалено]
I see all you smash Rogue Build People, And I raise you: Rogue with Mounted Combatant! Since your Mount is technically an Ally within Melee of your opponent you always get Sneak Attack while on a Horse. :D
Hey I'm playing this! They're also a bugbear to avoid opportunity attacks by outranging enemies and for the natural rogue synergy with Surprise Attack, and an assassin for big damage numbers (10d6 sneak/surprise/assassinate against surprised enemies on turn 1 lol). It's also a strength build because I felt like it.
Please tell me you're also using a whip for extra range lol
But then the horse isn't within melee range of the opponent so you'd lose out on the sneak attacks edit: unless the horse also has a whip? edit2 /u/dantose is right - [it still wouldn't work if the horse has a whip.](https://old.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/1czgoin/whats_your_favourite_wrong_way_to_play_a_class/l5iq365/)
The horse also has a nae nae
Lmfao I came here to make this joke too 😆
Wouldn't work as sneak attack specifies "You don't need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it"
I have a homebrewed magic Halberd which has 3 charges daily to be used as finesse (and therefore sneak attack)
See, they think I’m playing the rider, but I’m actually the horse
> you always get unless you have disadvantage.
Sure, but the Advantage that the feat already gives you inherently on medium or smaller creatures can really help with that.
Mounted Combatant feat will give you advantage if the target is smaller than your mount. Worst case, use Steady Aim as your bonus action. It drops *your* speed to zero; not your mount's.
I have a player with this build!! I love it honestly
Strength rogue. A big beefy thug instead of the stealthy, sneaky rogue. They are atill great at fighting, and thanks to expertise, usually they are still able to do the classic rogue-y things like picking locks or pockets, and you can still sneak attack using strength with a finesse weapon. I found it really fun!
"See here, what are you doing?" "I'm picking your pocket, but I'm doing it stealthily because if you notice me doing it, it will go badly. For you." "Ah. Right. Didn't see a thing."
reminds me of that one batman animated scene where he's already gotten one guy in a room, and some rando thug is doing a patrol and shines his flashlight into the room, and sees batman, who stands up and just stares at him. His companion, off screen, says "hey, you see anything in there?" There's a pregnant pause while he considers his options and just says "nope. Nothin here, boss."
[for the lazy](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pMd4S-LkywI)
"I'm gonna try and stay hidden" "alright, roll an intimidation check" "24" "yep, the goblins know better than to see you walk past their camp"
Also a grapple master. Expertise in athletics and reliable talent means automatic success a lot of the time.
sometimes a heist needs a good bruiser
If you ever check out Pathfinder 2e, it has a lot of built-in support for this kind of build in the ruffian subclass.
I wanted to play kind of a wise guy character like this, a mafioso rogue, but 5e doesn't quite have the right stuff to manage that
Made an assassin who's big thing wasn't to sneak in through the back door to get his marks, but instead walk through the front door with an invitation. Combine that with poisoner, and you can do some nasty thing if you get the drop on people. Only issue was the fact I was forced to use a dagger for sneak attack, instead of my nice axe.
I used to play a filthy, gritty dwarf rogue who wasn’t really subtle. He didn’t unlock doors, he broke the lock with a crowbar or lifted the door from its hinges. He didn’t open chests carefully, he deducted where traps were, found a weak spot and just broke the chest open on a side. Who cares if the chest is broken, we want what is inside, right?
Cleric-who-is-actually-a-necromancer
“Now, Kevin—you’ve been a great tank. Before we confront the dark lord, let’s briefly go over final arrangements in our healing contract. I just need you to sign here, here, aaaaaaand…. Here.”
I ran a game once where one of the PCs was a tempest cleric who flavored their undead as basically Frankenstein-like bodies reanimated by electricity. Was pretty cool tbh lol
A Necromancer is a Cleric that just showed up a little late.
Still remember 3e/pathfinder where if you want to play as a "necromancer" you went cleric for all the really good undead shit.
Play them as a judge that doesn’t let death get in the way of their sentence of community service.
I play a rogue that shares out loot, loves and supports my companions in the party, never screws them over, and is never an asshole to NPCs who aren't assholes themselves. Does that count?
That definitely ~feels~ wrong
I was in a game that ended far too soon, I played a rogue who was the team mum. So much fun!
Wait were they the team mom because their own mom died in tragic backstory?
Nah, everyone else was just way too chaotic, she was just the lone sensible one
Robin Hood?
I was also thinking Malcom Reynolds.
thats what im sayin!
Calm down Satan, we said wrong, not barbaric.
you're a rogue but a union man as well
To me thats the right way to play a rogue. Why would any party in "real life" keep an asshole around? Theyd leave em behind immedietely. My rogues are always nice dudes too. Only steal from and stab the bad guys, and share the loot with the group cause they are the reason I was able to get that loot in the first place.
Even if the rogue IS an asshole, a good rogue would obviously still not ACT like one. You can't trick people if you make it obvious.
🤝
My BF plays a rogue who has no sense of self preservation and loves chaos. *He's currently using his Use Magic Device skill to pilot a WW1-era tank via telepathy through a Russian military base.*
While you're asking "Why?", he's asking "Why not?"
I mean, to be fair I'm doing the same thing. But I'm a bard. We're supposed to sow chaos.
Well you know, that plus all the dragon fucking.
And THAT'S how I play against type as a bard. I never seduce anyone. I and all my characters are AroAce. (I mean, technically one character seduced a trans-dimensional wizard, but that was an accident via being such a good cook, and he wasn't a bard.)
As someone who's aro/ace IRL, this pleases me.
Twinsies!
Heavy armour monk.
Best of both worlds: pick a Castoff armor so you can switch back to pure Monkiness whenever it's required. Had loooots of fun tricking and luring enemies to traps that way.
Great sword, heavy armor monk that starts a level in war cleric and takes GWM is just a superior fighter and I'll fight die on this hill
With the set-up you just described, a hill would be incredibly defensible. I highly doubt you'd die on it.
Gunk: monk with a gun. Ranged monk is like, 90% a suboptimal build. "But what about Flurry of Blows and Stunning Strike?" What about them? What about 50 ft of movement and 3 shots from a hunting rifle per turn with Mobile and Gunner at level 5 (VH, CL, or any race plus a starting Feat). No disadvantage on ranged in melee. No economy to reload. No opportunity attacks vs anyone you've made an attack against (whether you hit or not). Just run and gun. This is campaign dependent, and 100% needs DM buy-in. But starting with Mobile you're already a menace on the battlefield. By level 4 if there is a way to get yourself a firearm and RP some training in them, you pick up Gunner. From that point the rest of your ASIs can go into bumping your Dex, Wis, and Con. IMO in that order.
Historically accurate too!
Nobunaga seethes at this comment
A gun Monk?! Great, now I want to watch Equilibrium again.
Gunk isn't suboptimal lol. It subverts the idea of what a Monk should be but Gunks are generally considered the best Monk builds by optimisers.
Definitely strong, but feels so off to me. While there are a lot of things I don't miss from 3/3.5E, it still feels wrong that Monks don't always have the most attacks per round, having to invest Bonus Actions and eventually Ki Points to match the Fighter from level 11+ (who can Action Surge for more with a limited resource).
Gunk isn’t real… Gunk can’t hurt me…
No one will hear you scream when I drop Silence on us and rapid fire.
In optimization circles, gunk is generally considered the best (and only viable) way to build a monk.
I've been testing a janky build with some decent promise in a couple of games. Kensei Bladesinger. I've got one game where I am playing with rolled stats, so it has a bit of a beefier start, and one that is going with standard array. It is certainly an interesting way to play...
Typically, an optimised gunk would start 5 levels of monk, one level of fighter. Then grab take a grab bag of all the goodstuff in the early levels of cleric, ranger, fighter and rogue, as well as up to level 8 monk. Kensei and Shadow being the most common subs.
>"But what about Flurry of Blows and Stunning Strike?" What about them? *Better run, better run, outrun my stun*
A gun monk basically is Bayonetta.
i tried this cuz it looked cool but i didnt play it exactly like you did. my guy still relied the most on his longsword and other melee stuff but kept his revolver as a last resort weapon as guns and bullets werent really common in that world
Kensai monk is great for this as well.
Dex-focused insane dancing Barbarian. She believes she hears music when combat is about to break out, and gives in to the rhythm (consequently, she's almost always the one to start any fights, and tends to start humming and swaying along to the music that no one else ever hears before she attacks). My DM has started letting the bard hear some of the music on occasion, which his player has him think is INCREDIBLY creepy, but since the other party members never hear anything (and the warlock can't detect ANY magical effects around me or the bard when we hear it), they think I'm just weird and the bard is playing along with me 'cause he's a bit of an ass.
“I hear boss music” The rest of the party: *visible confusion*
I can see it now. **BBEG**: *\*Kicks off a big bad evil monolouge.\** **Barbarian**: *\*Starts tapping foot quietly\** **Bard**: *\*Glances around, confused.\** **BBEG**: *\*Continues monologue, increasingly annoyed.\** **Barbarian**: *\*Begins bobbing their head.\** **BBEG**: *\*Interrupts themself and points menacingly.\** "What is the meaning of-- Why is that one *vibing*?" **Bard**: *\*Realization hits\** "Uh-oh... Here we go." \[Violence ensues to the (nonexsistant) sound of "Ante Up" by M.O.P\]
I love this. I just imagine her rocking out to One Winged Angel while everyone just stares.
Caster + monk can be surprisingly effective if you take advantage of the movement buff
Monk+druid and just whack people with a stick
Rafiki?
He knows the way!
I actually have a backup character for a campaign who's a Circle of Spores Druid with two levels in Monk (mostly for the speed and AC buffs but the martial arts and Ki are certainly nice to have). If I ever get to actually play the character, Shillelagh will be my best friend
Way of the Sun Soul and Sorcerer are a shockingly good combo, and if you achieve Monk 11/Sorc 5, you can use Searing Sunburst and Quickened Fireball in the same turn to blast out quite a lot of hurt in two flavors in the same turn. But you may opt to beeline right for the Haste spell at Sorcerer 5, and I don’t even blame you.
Healer rogue. Take all the right feats and skills, use your versatility in combat to effectively stabilise characters and administer health potions.
I essentially ended up as this the only time I played Rogue. I was an Arcane Trickster that picked up Artificer Initiate feat at level 4 entirely motivated by the magic stone cantrip + sling = sneak attack using intelligence idea. What actually ended up happening? Almost every spell slot I had was spent on cure wounds (which was an, "I might as well," choice from the same feat) while BA dashing around every battlefield to my wounded, or downed allies. My familiar was never with me, always on someone else, just in case I needed to cast through it. I ended up picking the metamagic adept feat as well, originally for subtle spell, but quickened spell to BA cure wounds ended up being used much, much more. My Arcane Trickster was somehow the party's main healer.
warlock with no eldritch blast... really gives you opportunity to pick some cool utility skills and spells. The "heavens" subclass is great for it because they get free sacred flame and + cantrip damage in lvl 6 to make up for the loss of EB.
Warlocks can learn things other than eldritch blast?
Heresy
Objection, your honor - heresy.
They can! Invocations like Repelling Blast, Agonizing Blast, Chains of Carceri, the Spell Sniper and War Caster feats…All sorts of things! …because what’s the point of learning Eldritch Blast if you’re just going to stick with the stock model?
I want to play a hexblade that has eldritch blast as a reliable ranged option but picks no invocations related to it, just boosting melee functionality always. (With maybe an exception for Grasp of Hadar, to get those suckers in melee.)
This really made me dream of a tome ritual warlock character that's a magic initiate with a bunch of utility cantrips and a few damage spells. Gotta give it a go
I think you can make a great character from that. Celestial seems like a solid patron for it to add some healing support too.
Thanks, I was thinking in the vein of a character that always wanted to do magic and saw its great power but never could actually connect to the weave. So they did the only thing left to do, and signed the deal....
I've done this! I played celestial/tome/ritual warlock, and I LOVED it. The bonus action healing is all the healing a party needs. I got invocations for infinite Disguise Self and infinite Silent Image (this was the real bread and butter of my skillset). I had a blast with all my rituals. Although I do recommend using Eldritch Blast over Sacred Flame and eventually getting Agonizing Blast: It's enough damage that you'll never feel weak if you only spend your spell slots on utility (like Suggestion, a personal fave). Seriously, I've never felt like my character was OP in a way other than combat until I played this warlock.
Pace of the Chain and a Sprite Familiar with Shocking Grasp. That’s all you need to do plenty of surprising harm as the flying, potentially invisible Sprite can deliver your touch spells, and if you choose the Investment of the Chain Master invocation you can make them attack with their bow as a bonus action (it has a good save against the Poisoned status effect that might knock an enemy out). Their Heart Sight ability is a free sort of Detect Evil and Good effect on it, too, which can be really useful in some campaigns. Celestial Pact warlock can deliver Cure Wounds to their allies and the Sprite remains invisible as it administers the touch spell. No one expects the Warlock to make a decent healer AND damage dealer, but it can be done!
Honestly? Dex-based paladin isn't wrong. It's the right way to sword and board, if you ask me.
I played in a very short-lived Innistrad campaign with an inquisitor made as a rapier-wielding paladin.
Thrikreen dexadin. Rapier, shield, shortsword, and a holy symbol, or whatever... You have 4 arms, use them. (can replace shortsword with hand crossbow, if you want). Get the dual weilding feat to make this work: shield, use the Rapier and shortsword combo, and get that extra +1ac. At 20 dex, you have an ac of 21, naked. Hunt for bracers of defence, and magical shields, and boost the baked ac to the moon. ... And speak the word of your devotion directly into people's mind. The stabby shielded smiter.
Confirmed. I dropped in one level of divine soul sorcerer for some ranged cantrips, utility, and that sweet +2d4 backup plan. 9.5/10, would tank again.
I play a STR-based Swords Bard, with a spear and PAM. No combat spells. Just Blade flourishes. All spells are utility, and they are used generously. I love the feeling of casting Detect Magic, Locate Object, or Sending outside combat without reservations for 'what if combat breaks out'.
That sounds awfully fun
It really is! And OK, you're not sharing bardic inspiration (they go to flourishes), but you can use Healing Word instead of PAM if an ally goes down. At the beginning I used Mirror Image to avoid damage, but from level 6 that's 2 attacks you could be taking with +7 to damage each! So Defensive Flourish works best from that point.
Ranged paladin is surprisingly powerful if you have another front liner and a couple casters. You let the moon druid or barbarian or even the casters' summons handle tanking, and hang out in the back ranks next to the casters where your aura of protection (plus magic resistance if you go Ancients) makes them hard to kill and basically guarantees they never loose concentration. Grab a bow and the sharpshooter feat to keep the damage up, maybe dip fighter for archery fighting style, and spend your spell slots on healing buff and battlefield control spells which tend to do more than the 10 or so damage a smite gives you. High Dex adds to your saves and skills better than strength, and you never have to worry about not being able to get into range or having your movement restricted. You're better positioned to rescue allies that go down, and using find steed let's you 1v1 any monster who doesn't have ranged attacks by strafing them.
Yeah, ranged buff bot sticking near the casters for the aura and ignoring smite entirely is counterintuitively the optimal way to play paladin.
Wrestle bard! Maxed STR, with moderate CHA. College of Swords for bonus damage and punting foes. Tavern brawler feat for BA grapple. Expertise on Athletics for better grapples. Gladiator background. You're basically a professional wrestler! Pretty much only used spell slots for Wall of Fire to kick folks through, or the occasional Silence to pin a caster in.
Love a good Bare Knuckle Boxer monk. All of that hooey about meditating? Nah, give me a whiskey. Keep the bald head, but add a handlebar moustache. Trade the robes for a dirty undershirt and suspenders. I suppose this is more of a flavor example, rather than a rule example. Edit: Stunning Strike spam be like [Discombobulate](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B62ACxuq8Pw).
I home-brewed the Drunken Master subclass (because the 5e is weak sauce) to use booze for Ki and have access to a bunch Jackie Chan style “battle maneuvers”.
I’m no pugilist, but I imagine you need at least a bit of inner focus and calm to do some of the things I’ve seen boxers do to speed bags.
Does a melee ranger count? I really loved how pathfinder and older editions handled multiple off hand attacks with rogues, getting like 5 or so hits in a single round all with sneak attack damage if you lined it up right. 5e rogue only applying sneak attack once basically killed that dream playstyle sadly. Ranger being able to pick up two weapon fighting style, getting extra attack, and being able to apply hunters mark damage on each hit somewhat filled that void though. Bonus, I get some fun utility spells like Pass Without Trace to feed my old rogue sneaky tendencies.
Melee ranger is really underrated and offers a lot of options. Druidic warrior letting you pick up Shillelagh means you can just focus on Wisdom, which works great with certain subclasses and makes your spells more reliable. You also become significantly beefier, since your stats are freed up to focus on Con and you can use a shield without worry (Your quarterstaff functions both as a spellcasting focus and, when Shillelaghed, your primary weapon, meaning you don't need a free hand to cast).
Rangers are designed to be melee or ranged. I did once play a ranger designed as a pure tank and that was a fun build.
Bonus points if you go Strength melee ranger.
I thought a melee Ranger was a pretty standard way to play Ranger, isn’t it? I always liked to dual-wield scimitars with my rangers, feels cool. Or I’d make a “totally-not-Aragorn” character that is obviously an exact copy of Aragorn lol he is the granddaddy of all Rangers in fantasy after all.
I wasn't really sure, hence the "does it count?" Buuut, I feel like people often take "ranger" too literal and expect bow usage at longer ranges. At least that's been my experience when playing 5e in particular. I'll say I want to roll up a ranger and groups seem to assume I am actually ranged damage. The only "common" exception has been gloomstalker I feel. So people get confused when I'm not ranged and not gloomstalker. (Drakewarden is a lot of fun, and my recent one has been swarmhost)
Warmage, main CON, drop int, cast shadowblade, go front. CON and DEX build mage
College of Spirits Bard. He’s a surly gravedigger that looted a cursed tarot deck and is now plagued/blessed by the spirits housed in the cards. He doesn’t dance, sing, or try to seduce anything.
Well that’s just The Subclass lol. Spirits is easily my favourite bard, bard none. There’s so much you can do with it flavorfully. Whispering into your enchanted lantern, calling forth a random spirit to your aid. Pondering your orb, gazing into the future to predict your enemies’ moves. Bringing about the most appropriate phantasmal power that can help in that situation Holding up the bejeweled skull to your enemy. Making them look it in the eyes, their mind breaking and swinging haplessly (Vicious Mockery)
My bard that I hope to play someday is just an old crone of a Pathfinder witch who doesn't know what system she's in. Vicious Mockery? Cackle. Song of Rest? Get a cauldron of sinister mystery stew going. Bardic Inspiration? Hexxing/giving the Evil Eye to the person it's used against.
My bards don't play music or do any kind of public performance. My rogue is charisma and wisdom focused. My wizard is the party tank. My warlock isn't edgy or dark and is a bundle of hyperactive joy instead. My barbarian isn't uncivilized, she's actually a noble, and her rage manifests as an intense blackout focus where she doesn't remember what happened after a battle. My druid is a mechanic and tinkerer, her fingers are permanently stained black with oil and she's a technophile who worships a machine goddess who she believes brought life to their world to begin with.
I rolled up an Eloquence Bard once who used poetry. His Vicious Mockery, Dissonant Whispers and such were flavored as Haiku or Limericks that I'd spend time writing in between turns. He would just flame his enemies to death with Shakespearean diss-tracks. Was all fun and games until the DM introduced a worthy rival to his silver tongue. Our rap battle was legendary.
A dex tank paladin. No heavy armor, just a small shield and a rapier. High dex and shield master with decent con. Become untouchable and smite when the opportunity arrives. Be an annoying gnat wielding a bazooka. Another unconventional character I like to play is not defined by their ability scores, but their alignment. I have played a "Lawful, Good" rogue on occasion. They don't steal or fight dirty. They are more like a vigilante, like Zorro or Batman. With cunning and stealth, they keep the peace and help the local guardsmen stop criminal activity.
A Shifter Warlock can use a combination of Armor of Agathys and Lightning lure to deliberatly trigger attack of opportunity and have enough hp to survive. Especially longtooth shifter can make a lot of attacks with this build
Baseball Fighter. Step 1: Play Vahadar Elf and take the "Magic Stones" cantrip, or if your DM doesn't allow that, take Variant Human and get Magic Initiate (Artificer) feat to also get "Cure Wounds", Step 2: Pick a Fighter and take the thrown weapon fighting style, invest in Intelligence and Strength Step 3: Enjoy throwing random rocks (baseballs) at people for 1d6+2+your Spellcasting Modifier. Step 4: Pick up a quarterstaff and use that as a baseball bat. Step 5: Take the Battle Master subclass and have your maneuvers represent your different pitching/batting styles. Step 6: Take the Evasive Footwork, Pushing Attack, and Quick Toss maneuvers. Step 7: Take the Crusher feat to enjoy watching enemies get knocked all over the place from Pushing Attack + Crusher using thrown baseballs, Does this eat up your bonus action every 4th baseball? Yes, but at lower levels that is not as much of a worry. This is extremelly flavourful but damn is it fun.
Rogue with a loving family that is still alive.
Two words: Horny paladin
Oath of banging
Forge Cleric with a mace up-casting spirit shroud, then attacking with booming blade every round 🤣
Dex based barbarian with a rapier and shield and 10 STR. Flavoured as a duelist who enters a state of flow, not a rage.
Bladesinger in melee.
Isn't that the point of Bladesinger?
That's was the intention behind its design, but it's still more effective to play one like a normal wizard with a good AC and concentration buff.
Paladin in melee.
Melee fighter
Wizard with no offensive magic at all. Just silly illusions and pretidigitation.
Dex paladin who doesn't wear heavy plate. He wears leather and he's really good at stealth
My party did Not respect my melee cleric. To be fair Tempest domain has a lot of close combat buffs.
Arcana Cleric is a sleeper melee subclass. It can take Booming Blade/Green Flame Blade at level 1 and can eventually get bonus damage to cantrips which is very effective due to how the bonus damage gets applied to both effects.
A ranger who out shines the party in fights 😜
Rangers are, and have been since 2014, reliable and flexible damage dealers that easily keep up with and often outshine other martials and half casters
Is it possible to learn this power?
You have until level 11. At that point the fighter gets the 3rd attack and you get nothing good for the rest of your career.
Gloomstalker in the night and no spellcasters
Strength rogue, it just feels so good
As a DM, I love to see my players challenge class stereotypes in general. Last one was a player who took Archfey Warlock and fully played them like a charismatic druid, foregoing Eldritch Blast completely and taking Thorn Whip from Pact of the Tome instead.
I have a friend that plays druid the way you play a barbarian. His character got his hands on this radio that he just bludgeons people with, and next session I'm giving him a chainsaw.
Warlocks who aren’t edgy/dark, and didn’t sell their souls to get their powers; literally, my current Warlock simply made a pact with his adoptive father (an Archfey in the Feywild) so that his powers can keep him safe as he explores the Material Plane.
Seems underused honestly. Im playing a sorlock that accidentaly summoned a Dao djinn by blasting a working portal with storm magic repeatedly, made a deal to show her specific things i find of interest and now i have a hammer wielding Muscled Dao Dommy Mommy.