Druid Barbarian. First he uses his superior strength to take the weapons from the enemies. Then he polymorphs so they can't take away the weapons from him.
I had a Barbarian Druid that gained lightning immunity from a blue dragon necklace which he made himself from a blue dragon the party killed and mainly used lightning based spells.
A bard who is a warrior princess playing into every Disney Princess stereotype of causing everyone around her to break out into song and dance would be fun to play.
I personally love the idea of a dashing rouge instead of a sneaky rouge. The kind of person who is the center of attention. The one who jumps into battle swinging from a chandelier. The one who's smooth talking antics and dumb luck will get them into as much trouble as it gets them out of. All while still being good enough with a sword to out duel anyone they meet. That is why swashbuckler rouge is my favorite subclass in 5e. It does all that and more.
If you want to take this to a whole other level I recommend looking at PF2E’s Swashbuckler Class as one of its main features is Bravado; which allows you to deal a small amount of extra damage on attacks but you have to get it by pulling off various wild tasks which in addition to certain pre-determined ways to get it can also be gotten by any feat the GM rules significantly risky with one example given being swinging from a chandalier
I did something similar with a college of whispers bard. I made him very flamboyant and the dm and the party really underestimated him at first. They thought he was gonna be the comic relief until he dropped the theatrics. He had the sharpshooter feat and was really deadly with a crossbow. He had a ton of additional damage stacks from his subclass and level dips into rogue. Later took crossbow expert and he could multi attack. I made him a gunslinger essentially who would use crossbows as his primary weapon of choice. He had spells like faerie fire to give himself and the party advantage. He could deal additional psychic damage by using his bardic inspiration that scaled with level due to his bard subclass as well as sneak attack from levels in rogue. I also had a habit of buying stuff to coat my ammo in like poisons and other things for even more damage. So he could quickly deal a ton of burst damage and often made use of cunning action. This combined with his control spells made him very annoying to fight. Because he could just hide all over the map and take chunks out of an enemies health from a safe distance.
You do understand why “class stereotypes” exist right? Rashemi are literally the archetypal barbarians with actual berserker lodges. Wizards literally have to perpetually study and practice. Rogues have to be dexterous and fleet of foot because if they are not they get hanged publicly or removed of their hands. “Fighters” are generally always trained by militaries of one kind or another. Stereotypes exist for a reason.
@@dragonriderabens9761 It is both true and relevant. TTRPG's are not like video games and the perception that they are causes people to think of characters in much narrower terms. Not that some people wouldn't be doing it anyway, it just makes it happen more often.
I once played a chaotic good necrobard. Death domain cleric and college of spirits. They wander the land in tribute to their dead wife. He was the conducter, and she one of the players. Now he goes out raising the dead for a nights of festivities wherever he goes. Combining a number of necromancy and illusion spells the dead rise with the appearance they had in life. Letting the living say goodbyes to those they couldn't, letting the dead tell their tales and sing their songs to those who'll listen. all combined with a subtle touch of madness brings the build full circle.
JoCat has spoken of a character of his that is an Orc/Half-Orc Bard who is timid and innocent, actually worked as a farmhand much of his life, and has a girl back on the farm he worked on who he plans to return to one day when his adventure is over. That character is SO incredible!
fathomless patron is a lobster you found on the brink of death before tossing them into the ocean, they revealed their name is Tyler and keeps in touch with you
I have a warlock who's just... Some dude. He made a pact with the raven Queen and she mostly just tells him to ensure people don't die early. She only recently made him start making she they aren't late either. He's dressed like a moderately affluent civilian and doesn't refer to himself as a warlock unprompted. He's also the one in charge of the party's brain cell, so at least two members haven't realized it and think he just has a cool bird.
A bard who is a stage magician. I think it's ridiculous that bards are generally restricted to music, and I think a character that uses real magic to fake fake magic has gotta be a lot of fun.
I have a bard who, instead of playing music, writes and reads stories to cast his spells. I like the idea of Bard's being any type of performer or entertainer, it keeps the flavor of the class diverse but still unique
I actually had a similar concept of a Spellcaster being a magician. He was a elf warlock that become a magician to make money to sustain himself after he runaway from a cult. Only used him for a campaign that faded away and one shot but he was still fun to play.
The campaign I'm in has one of these! Combined with the fact my Bladesinger also has the Entertainer background, it's going to be fun when we get pulled to actually perform (my character spent a decade traveling with a famous troupe of entertainers, and he's been invited back, so it's going to be happening at some point) What's really ironic is that not only was the Bard the one to deliver the letter, she's actually seen him perform--but she hasn't yet connected his stage and real identities.)
I'm actually just about to have a character like that lol, a mannequin/puppet Warforged bard(def not an automaton stage magician who got possessed XD) who's planned to have a single healing spell, the rest will be to buff themselves and shred enemies lol Also, did a pre-game lv. 20 test too, and it gonna have a minimum 27 AC, and that's without future equipment :D
somehow this reminded me of a gag in the webcomic "order of the stick", where the party's Bard learned the "dashing swordsman prestige class". among other things, it let him use his Charisma bonus instead of Strength when rolling attack or damage rolls! the catch was that he had to make some sort of quip or pun every round, which got him into trouble during a LONG battle.
Man those shenanigans are amazing fun. Last i looked the world was about to end, and all i can think about now is that echos of wisdom literally has the same biggest bad to be fought...
Yeah like, unironically Ranged Monk is actually the more optimal build since Most Monks are Dex builds anyways and flurry of blows by RAW atleast still works since kensai literally allows you to flurry of blows with weapons, and like you mentioned Shadow Monk literally thrives on pot shots, not to mention Monks come with a built in Anti range ability so even if you get into a literal shoot off you already have the advantage of a fucking 1d10 damage reduction by level 3, Hell I wish they'd bring back the Zen Archer class in the newest edition from 3.5e
@@draconicprince Kensei gun monk cannot flurry of blows with weapons iirc, but _can_ use Deft Strike or Focused Aim to trigger Ki-Fuelled Attack. I don't think Shadow gun monk is likely to be very good though? Passing up on Deft Strike means passing up on reliable Ki-Fuelled Attack procs, so you're only getting two attacks on a lot of turns instead of three.
My current character, Theodore Stormstrike, is a Cleric. Twist is… he’s a fully offensive build. It’s because of this that we have to end fights quickly, as we do not have a single healing spell.
Same with my War domain Cleric of Loviatar. She gave up on using armor (dex focus) and doesn't heal because her religion teaches her to learn from pain instead of avoiding it.
I haven't done it yet but im hoping to play a fiend warlock tiefling who's patron is his mother and his idea of being rebellious is being cheerful and benevolent while she encourages him to be dark and edgy.
One of my favorite characters was a celibate bard whose focus was in learn and share knowledge. His bardic inspiration was focused in combat tactics he learned on his travels (irl it sounded like "if you kill it, it will die")
The idiot Wizard is one concept that is a favorite of mine, has high STR, CON and DEX but has a 10 in INT so he isn't strictly an idiot, not smart but not an idiot, but by Wizard standards he sure is. I just love the idea of this guy who somehow ends up becoming an Arch Mage and still isn't quite sure how basic magical theory works even though he's a god damn Wizard. Also you can build a Wizard that doesn't rely on make spell attacks or forcing saving throws and still be surprisingly effective so all your low INT does to you in 5E is reduce the number of spells you can prepare.
this reminds me of a comic book i have, "Rick and Morty vs D&D, chapter 2 painscape". some old D&D characters Rick created and discarded when he was a kid, have come to life seeking revenge. one is "Sorcerick", a wizard with only 8 INT! the leader of the group is "Barderick", who was supposed to be a Bard, but had only 7 CHR.
Everyone remembers Krod the angry carpenter rogue. “YOU NO SEE KROD!” Personally my wrong class combo is a bladesinger wizard and barbarian multiclass, you may be out of spells but not out of options and you may still use bladesong while raging so that’s cool. Getting extra AC and damage equal to your intelligence modifier is a little MAD but ultimately fun.
Sneak Barbarian. Whispering "Glarg Kill..." In the ear of some mook and proceeding to slice their torso in half with a battleaxe will never NOT be funny.
I always wanted to try out the Wobbuffet Wizard which if you don’t know, Wobbuffet is a Pokémon that only knows moves that can indirectly hurt its opponents and learns no damaging moves. Essentially, you play an Abjuration Wizard and get your hands on that Armor of Agathys spell(usually by dipping a level into Warlock) and double dip your temp health with your Abjuration Ward because the ward takes damage before the temp hp and every time you take damage you deal it to melee attackers. Max Constitution and Dexterity instead of intelligence for frontline capability and take area denial and buffing spells. Then you take what would normally be tank feats like tough or the Armored Feats with war caster (not for the opportunity spell but instead for your focus to be a weapon) so you can smack people while Commanding them with the spell to strike you with their weapon. At later levels with force cage, enlarge, tons of counterspells, and other such atrocities you can really make a quite powerful frontline mage that can win against fighters by beating them at their own game and shut down pure casters by getting in their space and denying them the utility they usually offer.
My sniper barbarian is a nice example. I'm using a Greatbow (from the dnd weapons expanded), which has 2d6 damage, with a range of 150/600 ft. Greatbows use strength instead of dexterity to make attacks, but need one action to reload. I pair this with the piercer feat for extra damage, and a quarterstaff/halberd along with the polearm master feat to defend on close range. This results in 60+ damage a pop if set up correctly. Extremely ineficcient. Astoundingly cool when I pop a troll's head on the first turn of combat and then proceed to do guerilla warfare, hiding and reloading my bow as I reposition around the map, and then becoming a blender once anything gets close to me. Life is good.
May i ask what dnd weapons expanded you are referring to? Sounds like a cool build for a barbarian. Am curious if you're willing to point me in the right direction to find dnd weapons expanded.
Two of them: 1) Shepherd Druid vigilante, who does not know that he's a Druid and doesn't have a particular affinity for nature other than being able to talk to animals - he just thinks he's good with animals and knows some magic. He cannot Wild Shape or do anything very Druidic. He mainly fights with his slingshot and magic stones. 2) Draconic Sorcerer pugilist, who's basically Louis Armstrong from FMA. Big, loud, proud, and his favourite spell is to punch people in the face. And I decided he can only use Lightning/Thunder/Force-type damage spells. The rest of his spells are aimed toward bolstering his melee performance. He was first used with PHB'14, but I look forward to trying him with the new PHB'24.
I had a Kobold Ranger who like the spellcasting Ranger in the video, did a lot more spellcasting than your average Ranger. With the Tasha optional features and Druidic Warrior Fighting Style, he was fighting enemies using a Shillelagh enhanced Quarterstaff, a bow for the various Ranger arrow Spells, and Horizon Walker abilities. He was a fun little guy to play
My favorite "weird" way of playing a class is the "Big Stick Energy" Druid who completely neglects Wild Shape in favor of wading in to melee with a big stick. Pick up Shillelagh from Druid, then get either Green Flame Blade from a dip in Arcana Cleric (pre 2024), or True Strike from either high elf or your Background and a single level of Fighter or Ranger for Medium Armor and Weapon Mastery (post 2024). If your DM still allows Green Flame Blade post 2024, grab that instead of True Strike. The goal here is to turn a humble stick into the deadliest weapon possible by stacking Shillelagh with a melee attack Cantrip in order to double dip on damage boosts. I did this with a Wildfire Druid once and the crazy mobility from that subclass as well as the ability to boost Fire damage made me an incredibly hard hitting skirmisher AND a top notch healer.
0:03 "Barb 3/ Rogue any" I've played this before, this is a slasher movie villain, this is your Jason Vorhees your Michel Mayers your Leatherface and its FUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN
@troperhghar9898 Start in Rogue (deep gnome), use one short sword and put 17 in Dex, 15 in Con, 12 in Cha, 10 in Int, 8 in Wis, and 13 in Str Get Barb lvl one for shield and unarmored defence for 17 AC and rages Two in Rogue (take Swashbuckler) One in rogue (19 Dex, 16 Con, 19 AC) Another in Rogue Two in Barb (Beast). Another in Barb (20 Dex, 18 Con, 21 AC) Another in Barb for extra attack Another in Barb for beast climb, jump, and swim Another in Barb for half dash and initiative bonus One in Rogue for expertise Another in Rogue for Evasion Another in rogue for ASI (20 CON, 13 CHA, 22 AC) Another in rogue for duels Another in rogue for tough feat Another in rogue for reliable talent Another in rogue for resilient feat in CON Swashbuckler 11, Beast 9, More damage than rogue, more hp and damage resistance than barb. Op saving throws (prof in dex int and con) and advantage on wis cha and int. If buying/crafting magic items is involved gauntlets of ogre power or belt of giant strength are op and take phantom rogue instead to get advantage on con saves too.
Cold Barbarian. It's pure roleplay, but you're character is really, really stoic and just suddenly gets into the flow of things. Basically they're trying to be a good knight. They're basically like a German Mercenary with the zweihander fancy beard, stache and breastplate armour. Really fancy looking. But he just gets into the groove in the fight out of nowhere and is suddenly a massive threat.
Nuclear operation bard....I take one healing spell and then the rest are mischievous or AOE attacks like thunder wave, thunder clap, shatter, and fire ball. Most people believe the stereotype of the bard being horny and just buffing the party or healing them. They don't expect a Leroy Jenkins, Loki type.
I'm actually just about to have a character like that lol, a mannequin/puppet Warforged bard, who's planned to have a single healing spell, the rest will be to buff themselves and shred enemies lol Also, did a pre-game lv. 20 test too, and it gonna have a minimum 27 AC, and that's without future equipment :D
The closest I have is a PF2e Barbarian that dual-wields daggers. He's a kobold lawful evil* ambitious to the point of tossing self-preservation to the wind guy who wants to become a leader of like-strong-willed individuals. Barbarian in PF2e is designed mostly around using two-handers, as light weapons get less damage from rage bonuses, but light weapons have less multi-attack penalties, so he just becomes a flurry of angy. Also returning on the daggers so he can throw them as well with rage bonus applying to thrown, and dual-weapon fighter archetype giving throwing bonuses as well. He also had martial archetype so he could open a fight with a radial buff to allies. Y'know, to be a leader-type. His name was Needles, and his daggers were named Fang and Claw. *Alignement isn't really a thing in PF2e, but just added to give a vibe. He was serious and selfish, but knew enough that you can't lead without people skills. Also he had legal knowledge to rival a lawyer.
@davewilson5846 the time I made a difficult fight easy using the spells Dancing Lights and Minor Illusion springs to mind. The party had split up expecting a "peaceful negotiation" with some bandits, (we were basically outlaws at the time) the bandits brought more guys than expected (not to mention a large "beast") and ambushed us. Dancing Lights kept the "beast" (we never did find out what it was) out of the fight by "orbiting" the thing, which confused it. While a Minor Illusion of a headless ghost (that I convinced my DM was more convincing than usual because you expect stuff to go through a ghost) to disrupt the enemy team work (and scare off a few) that was a lot more fun than expected.
wild magic sorc that doesnt want wild magic surge? wtf you are supposed to use tides of chaos for advantage and then wild magic surge to regain advantage
@@finalfantasy50 I made the build with "Illusionist" in mind but Fae heritage Sorcerer was the best I could get. The whole point was to mess with the enemy and THEN bonk them.
@nicholasfarrell5981 thanks, buddy. I'd highly recommend it. The looks of surprise when I stepped to the front when our paladin went down was hilarious. I miss those players and that campaign.
In 3.5 , A Vivacious (template) Pixie (Savage Species) 1Ranger /The rest Scout with Swift Hunter feat. Every round a 30 ft ranged Ray that heals living allies or hurts undead enemies for 1D4+Cha mod +skirmish . This is a non spell caster , a non cleric/druid/paladins etc Healer that is naturally invisible, incorporeal and has great mobility options , skill points and stealth .
Roll a half orc, 20 str 16 con/dex, 12 cha, then proceeded to inflict "Beefcake, the World's Strongest Bard" on my friends. Probably the most fun character I've ever played. Dumb as a box of rocks, couldn't sing or dance, but he sure could fight.
Any warlock that doesn't rely on eldtich blast/agonizing blast. Defunct now, but my favorite version was a crossbow hexblade. You take Improved Pact Weapon and your heavy crossbow does +1 on top of your CHA, so you're now more accurate and deadly than just EB. With the right build (crossbow expert, sharpshooter, thirsting blade, lifedrinker, maddening hex, etc), your raw damage in modifiers outperform EB+agonizing blast at every tier. This is without mentioning the fact that as a *weapon attack* you can pile on Eldritch Smite to knock enemies out of the sky, or use magical ammunition for increased damage
One idea I have for a character of mine(he's the protagonist for a book I want to write), is that if he was in DND, he would be a tiefling Hexblade Warlock who really should be a bard due to his love of music. Also, instead of seducing people, people are endeared by his earnest and innocent charm(which he is oblivious to). His instrument is an eight-stringed guitar that is homemade. Also, his sword is possessed by his twin sister(she was cursed/transformed into the sword and his main goal is to free his sister from the curse). His name is Damian and he is a cinnamon roll.
Mid strength high con high int wizard. When you do manage to get past mirror image, grats. You effectively scratched the tank. And got a grapple for your troubles. Shocking grasp is a fun time when they can't get away.
War medic bard. Playing regular with support and control spells and bardic inspiration until allies start to go down, then you use a combination of teleportation from misty step and being a shadar kai to get to them and the healer feat, cure wounds or healing word to get them back up. Bonus for being a creation bard and animating a healers kit to go on its own and heal people (probably something to ask your dm if he allows)
Bard that throws a Lyre like a discus. He has some levels in Rogue to get sneak attack with it since it’s a ranged weapon. To cast spells, he primarily beatboxes.
Warlock healer. I have two spell slots and a pool of healing. My only attack is E- Blast because sometimes the best way to save a life, is to take one. In the morning everyone gets free temp hp, i get the most because im special. And after a enough levels you get a free self revive each day, giving you back half your hp. And with the pact of the chain, with my baby dragon within 100ft, i can self heal for max amount everytime i heal. I say all of this, to remind everyone of the fact that this is like the 3rd weakest way to heal the team. Next to healer monk, and classes that dont have healing spells but the player really wants to be a non magical medic. I love it.
My bud made a warlock that hated using his spells. Instead, a combination of lucky creation rolls and choosing a race with purely physical benefits left him a hulking brute, mostly using his spellslots to dish out hellish rebukes while he focused on beating his enemies into a pulp with his fists. It even made sense in the roleplay, as he was not a warlock willingly - the pact was forced on him by a fae queen for cutting down her favorite tree.
In a pathfinder game that I am apart of, I initially started off as a witch, but in every session I was having little to no use aside from healing and maybe some debunks on the enemy, that and my squishyness meant that I was dropping every session at some point, that or full on dying and brought back by shenanigans. Then when the dm said to go multiclassing on all our characters, most assumed I would go with something that synergies with the stats of a witch. No, I went witch/monk. Focusing on spells that boosted my actions each turn aswell as my allies. Items to boost my speed and abilities that made my harder to hit and faster aswell. By the end even though my team was saying it wouldn't work and that I was giving myself a nerf. That was until 95 feet per action speedy witch blasting spirits out of our possessed party members, buffing allies and myself to give us all more action economy while acting like a paliden as I layer hands upon our enemies with flurry of blows to save on spell slots and still dealing great damage. That and monk made my saving throws better and all of my successes from saves into crit successes. Meaning the dragon couldn't hit me with all it had at the end of the halloween ark. They expected me to play like a witch, instead I played it like an anime character and got op
My favorite Dread Necromancer usually becomes the face of the group. It's a Cha casting class, you're usually not truly undead until 20th level, even if the DM wants to force you to look like a corpse in-spite of there being nothing that says you have to a ring of Chameleon Power isn't expensive really and the DC for making a human undead look not undead is pretty low with a disguise check. And the lich motif is just that, a motif. You don't have to look like a necromancer while being a Dread Necromancer. My favorite thing to do dip the first level of War Mage, put points in Profession: Lay Priest, and be very vague about his training until people aren't sure if he's a Favored Soul or a Sorcerer.
I play a green Dragonborn, refuses to poison breath human beings as he is an honorable luchador I center him around grappling more than martial arts (he’s a monk)
I'm in a campaign now where I'm playing a rouge with high strength, and charisma, but low wisdom due to selling my wisdom to cure an infection I got, and my character is part Warlock as well.
Rouge but ranged weaponry. Sneak attack applies to ranged weapons, no need to get into melee danger, become a back line menace. I like compounding it with inquisitive subclass and 3 levels of fighter(battle master) to get some great supportive options. Race and starting things up to you.
I like the cleric of a god of magic character. Arcane Cleric in 2014 5th edition was pretty much what I was looking for. Some wizard spells along with the strong cleric utility and healing spells. You also get medium armor proficiency to survive combat better.
I hads a cool idea for a rogue/warlock. Teifling Born into nobility, keana learned many useful skills, fencing, negotiating, and other such courtly things, but she preferred fencing, she was a teiflibg born into a human moble house, and was seen as odd, but nobody questioned it much. she didnt want to be a noble. She liked to spend time with the servants, and shirking her duties, in favor of pulling pranks. but wanted to see the world, so before her 21st birthday, she ran away. unbeknownst to her, her parents sold part of her soul long ago, as a thing to keep thier noble house alive. It was also how she became half feind. When her 21st birthday hit, so did her magic
Melee Fire Sorcerer/Rogue An Eladrin pyromancer with an unlosable dex save, taking a quarter damage from their own fireballs, and dealing Sneak Attacks with their summoned fire blade.
My recent character is a lawful good rouge and that pissed off only of the other players because rouges apparently can only be evil, neutral or chaotic. Hearing that other players understand a lawful good rouge just makes me happy.
@@DavidAndrews-eb7gm The group I'm in tend to get angry if you play a class, race, or play style not to the most stereotypical form (All dwarfs hate elves and are alcoholics, all paladins can only be lawful good, If you even go 5ft away from the party you are as good as dead). I like to make high concept characters, I blame liking games like Call of Cthulhu and Cyberpunk where just saying "I'm a human fighter" as your entire character does not cut it. But yah I would say it annoys the other players.
My first ever character was a really strong warlock. He was a dragonborn, so very big, tall, and intimidating. I latched onto that part heavily. He had magic, but when it came time for talking and threatening and intimidation, my guy was at the forefront, a hulking 3 meters tall and punching cracks into stone walls. If that campaign had actually gone on for longer than five sessions, he might have ended up multiclassing into fighter to improve that fighting spirit even more. And now I love brawny spellcasters as opposed to lanky nerdy high INT/WIS spellcasters, (or even worse, the 'frail old man' spellcaster a la Gandalf or Dumbledore).
One I had fun with I called the 'True Four Elements' Monk. Monk x/Arcana Cleric 1. I start as a CL Monk with Magic Initiate (Druid) and take Primal Savagery, Thorn Whip, and Absorb Elements. At lvl 2 I take a level of Arcana Cleric and pick up 2 Wizard attack cantrips, and 3 Cleric cantrips, so I now have 7 cantrips all based off Wisdom. It's suboptimal, but it's fun. You can just push Wis and it gets you AC, Spell Attack bonus, and Spell/Monk ability Save DC. I like to take Gift of the Gem Dragon at lvl 5 for Telecinetic Reprisal to mitigate multi-attack melee enemies.
Twilight Cleric Play them as a Martial Class that gives everyone temporary HP. They get proficiency for every armor and weapon, except guns. Then, use spiritual weapons or spirit guardians and shield when attacked. Have full plate with a greatsword or a rapier and a shield.
@m3371 Most people play Twilight Cleric as a spellcaster since they are a full caster. They usually stay in the back and cast spells to buff and heal the party.
Nerdy Bards unite! Mine used to be a history / literature teacher whose interest in music and instruments only stemmed from their connection to storytelling. He basically wrote fanfic (well, a one-man fan performance- note that he is not proficient in Performance) after we saw an opera.
Divination Wizard without many Damage spells. Just this dude who can see _the future._ Potentially, he’s seen too much. Also great to pair with the Stout Halfling as Zee Bashew said and just play this half-insane hobbit who has seen portents of ungodly evils and is doing everything in their power to stop them.
Not a halfling but this is actually one of my game's BBEGs. The "He's seen too much." bit. The Headmaster of the Divination school himself. He's a deeply flawed man who's seen a future of the world's end that appears to be impossible to change, hence he's thrown his lot in with the big bad, who seems to be the only person who knows what to do to save people's lives through the world ending. He has some strong damage spells mostly given to him from getting the Lorehold spells (we used the strixhaven schools as a reference for this world's 'Arcanaeums') and some boss mechanic stuff lets him use them, but by and large he's a support to the big bad whose consequences for existing are disastrous for the players. He can scry on people with proper Scrying or Clairvoyance, he can get insight into the events they're trying to avert, has tracking spells like Locate Object and the like, and even has Legend Lore which he uses to keep the BBEG a step ahead of the players he's aware of. He's the one with Astral Assembly that lets the villains do their Evil Villain meet-up talks. He is genuinely the crux of the enemy's entire information network. Taking him out would be a *devastating* blow to the enemy faction. But in combat he's actually pretty weak, and he mostly focuses on fucking with initiative, using buffs, and using Portents and other reaction-divination to absolutely screw with people. He uses Misty Step and/or Thunder Step and his Familiar's "switch places with me" ability constantly to get himself and/or someone else out of reach. And, y'know. He's a wizard. He's squishy. A divination wizard makes a crazy scary antagonist when you really consider what their spell list gives them. So much of it is, well, information gathering, and villains who're constantly a step ahead of you for *justifiable, understandable mechanical reasons* is a MENACE.
> warlock that didn't make pact with dark edgy forces, but with his adopted father Well, my warlock made a pact with his own real mother who happens to be the Red Knight, goddess of strategy. She taught him the art of long distance contactless fighting, and he can basically cut an enemy's throat from 300 feet away (actually it's his Eldritch Blast).
im playing an order cleric 1/clockwork sorc 7, my gameplan is to get into melee and twin spell greenflame blade (dm let me use the scag version and let me get a magical maul as part of my backstory), one of my favorite moments were stepping up to 4 enemies, critting with one of them and using the fire bounce to finish off the last two enemies I also use armor of agathys with stone's endurance and bastion of law to take no damage whilst enemies take 100 cold damage in return
0:58 The rogue in the party I DM for has tendency to snatch any treasure he can get his hands on, but then, once the party returns to town and goes on a shopping spree, he just starts randomly buying everything for everyone else
Not exactly playing a class wrong but, So whips Theyre a finesse weapon Meant to give dex classes a melee weapon with some reach However... What people often forget is, You dont NEED to use dexterity for these weapons So I have a paladin bugbear, who uses a whip to smite people from afar Just Thunderous crack of the whip to unleash the clap of gods I may have made this build out of spite because my GM wouldnt let me smite with thrown javelins...
5:26 I had a game once where I basically did this as a sorcerer who cast invisibility. It isn't casting a spell or dealing damage so I just kept sneaking around the bring my allies back up. When I ran out of potions, I started getting more from allies I picked up, before they ran off to distract the enemy for me long enough to bring up the next person in line.
My favorite is super rest utility warlock. Choosing many useful utility or roleplay spells. Depending on how you travel and how you use a general days time. You can cram as many short rests you want. With this you basically have your utility spells always available for check buffs, lookout, etc I actively played this character as a little lazy and made sure to have the party get a cart big enough to rest on so that I could be topped up for any encounter.
Dedicated support Paladin. Just dump your points into CHA and CON and become a walking aura of buffs in healing. Subclasses like Redemption, Crown, Ancients, and Glory are good for it but they can all work. The builds are pretty good but for some reason a lot of D&D players are allergic to Paladin that don't just wanna nuke shit lol. Another build I'm playing right now takes a little bit of homebrewing but is fun. It's not RAW but my DM let my trigger sneak attack on my unarmed strikes in exchange for not being proficient in Martial Weapons. Variant Human with Tavern Brawler and Grappler. At level 5 multiclass into Fighter for Unarmed Fighting Style. Take Expertise in Athletics for better grapple checks. Now you just grapple them and beat the shit out of them since you get advantage you get to trigger your sneak attack without allies. Very fun.
All my spellcasters prioritise Dex (16) and Con (16) over spellcasting ability score (14) using point buy. Usually with a starting 1 level dip into Draconic Sorcerer if I can make the ability score class minimums work. 14 Con if need be. Unarmoured AC 16 (21 with Shield), +3 HP per level (+4 per sorcerer level). Massively increases my chances of surviving to get an ASI, usually +2 points to spellcasting ability.
One of my favorites is a fake "Druid"; a half elf that has wild hair, wears clothes made from leaves, and uses material components to cast spells like Animal Messenger. But actually they're a Bard. Turns out their spells have a lot of overlap.
I really want to style a Paladin character with a combat strategy of laying in wait from a clifftop with a long gun, firing as many shots at the opponents as possible before they can get up there, and then dumping every spell slot into Bayonet Smiting the survivors.
My barbarian is the peacekeeper of the party. He speaks 4 languages and uses his linguistic skill to defuse situations. But when it comes to battle, he can rage like no other, he just prefers to avoid unnecessary conflict so he can save his effort for the real fight
A party member of my campaign played a barbarian that, for a while in the first few session truly believed to be a rogue because his parents would always play into his idea of being so stealthy because he was significantly smaller than anyone in his tribe. Not until a dragon killed an npc he grew to care about did he first enter rage and realize he was much more affective as a vengeful murder machine. Love roleplay like that.
I made a "noble" bard who could barely fight in melee and just used support spells. I just follow my allies around and tell them what to do, ordering them to protect me when enemies arrive while I fulfill some secondary goal or use supportive magic It's basically just a normal bard but the extra touch of roleplay was really fun
Got permission from DM to have "finesse axes" made. Played a high str rogue dwarf dual welding axes that could backstabb. His subterfuge came from fighting dirty, not being sneaky
My first 5e character was a beetle fairy paladin. His strongest stat was constitution. He had disadvantage on strength checks, but would routinely muscle his way out of bad situations. His only equals were the other paladin or our barbarian.
Investigation/Interrogator paladin. Used it for a murder mystery one shot. High Charisma, Oath of the Crown, takes spells like zone of truth, detect poison/disease, command, ect... use all your smite slots for spells.
If you pick up druidic fighter and then you'll be able to fight with a staff and/or sling with as much effectiveness as a sword-and-board ranger while focusing on wisdom. Only get as much dexterity as you need for good ac(14 max). So while your damage is okay but middling, your spells are just as likely to hit as a full druid, which is important if you're playing something like swarmkeeper that really wants a good spell dc for their 'gay baby jail' combo where they repeatedly throw every enemy into a web. If you're playing with the new weapon-mastery rules then using a staff is even better for this combo since you can knock people prone. You normally want to multiclass into a cleric or actual druid at some point mind you since your ranger levels don't get you much beyond fifth level.
pen tester/ locksmith rogue is a fun one. depending on your DM, stealth can be impossible at times for the whole party, so better to focus on CHA skills and thieves tools
I have a bard who fell in love with a noble's daughter and got exiled from his fiefdom due to satirizing him, and despite not learning his lesson about satirizing a powerful noble, he only does satire through his music rather than a comedy routine
Aasimar Wizard. Take lightly armored, moderately armored, heavily armored, war caster, and weapon master. You are now a flying full plate Valkyrie with spells and a spear.
I’m a big fan of unorthodox warlock patrons, one of mine was my character’s husband who was a wizard that was messing with Shadowfell magic, and accidentally turned himself into a sword. A Hexblade who constantly bickers with his own sword like a married couple
Druid Barbarian. First he uses his superior strength to take the weapons from the enemies. Then he polymorphs so they can't take away the weapons from him.
Nice idea. Battlemaster's disarming strike would really help here.
@@godofzombitaking the feat for the manuver would save a third class dip so pribably the best option
My players did this with the item the big bad was after.
Wouldn’t just make more sense to play a path of the beast barbarian?
I had a Barbarian Druid that gained lightning immunity from a blue dragon necklace which he made himself from a blue dragon the party killed and mainly used lightning based spells.
Bard player in the same party as the dancing Barbarian: "Why do I suddenly hear boss music?"
Just hear a subtle beat, passive perception hits the check, and realization sets in. "She's been bobbing to this the ENTIRE TIME?"
As a bard player I would one hundred percent start playing with the music and feed the barbs fighting spirit more
A bard who is a warrior princess playing into every Disney Princess stereotype of causing everyone around her to break out into song and dance would be fun to play.
You gotta take Otto’s irresistible dance
I personally love the idea of a dashing rouge instead of a sneaky rouge.
The kind of person who is the center of attention.
The one who jumps into battle swinging from a chandelier.
The one who's smooth talking antics and dumb luck will get them into as much trouble as it gets them out of.
All while still being good enough with a sword to out duel anyone they meet.
That is why swashbuckler rouge is my favorite subclass in 5e. It does all that and more.
I knew a guy who kept misspelling "rogue" as "rouge."
If you want to take this to a whole other level I recommend looking at PF2E’s Swashbuckler Class as one of its main features is Bravado; which allows you to deal a small amount of extra damage on attacks but you have to get it by pulling off various wild tasks which in addition to certain pre-determined ways to get it can also be gotten by any feat the GM rules significantly risky with one example given being swinging from a chandalier
@mattillman
For some reason this particular grammatical error always makes me see red.
I did something similar with a college of whispers bard. I made him very flamboyant and the dm and the party really underestimated him at first.
They thought he was gonna be the comic relief until he dropped the theatrics.
He had the sharpshooter feat and was really deadly with a crossbow. He had a ton of additional damage stacks from his subclass and level dips into rogue.
Later took crossbow expert and he could multi attack.
I made him a gunslinger essentially who would use crossbows as his primary weapon of choice.
He had spells like faerie fire to give himself and the party advantage.
He could deal additional psychic damage by using his bardic inspiration that scaled with level due to his bard subclass as well as sneak attack from levels in rogue.
I also had a habit of buying stuff to coat my ammo in like poisons and other things for even more damage.
So he could quickly deal a ton of burst damage and often made use of cunning action. This combined with his control spells made him very annoying to fight.
Because he could just hide all over the map and take chunks out of an enemies health from a safe distance.
So you want to play Captain Jack Sparrow
One of my favorites was a Lawful Neutral rogue who made a lawful living as a locksmith.
Reminded me of Chilchuck ahhahah
It feels like a lot of people conflate not playing a class stereotype with playing a class "wrong" and frankly that kinda concerns me
Video games made it like this. They don't understand that this game is not like a video game.
The word wrong is click bait he immediately invalidates it at the beginning haha
You do understand why “class stereotypes” exist right? Rashemi are literally the archetypal barbarians with actual berserker lodges. Wizards literally have to perpetually study and practice. Rogues have to be dexterous and fleet of foot because if they are not they get hanged publicly or removed of their hands. “Fighters” are generally always trained by militaries of one kind or another. Stereotypes exist for a reason.
@@mkklassicmk3895 that's...not even remotely true -_-
and even less relevant
@@dragonriderabens9761 It is both true and relevant. TTRPG's are not like video games and the perception that they are causes people to think of characters in much narrower terms. Not that some people wouldn't be doing it anyway, it just makes it happen more often.
I once played a chaotic good necrobard. Death domain cleric and college of spirits. They wander the land in tribute to their dead wife. He was the conducter, and she one of the players. Now he goes out raising the dead for a nights of festivities wherever he goes. Combining a number of necromancy and illusion spells the dead rise with the appearance they had in life. Letting the living say goodbyes to those they couldn't, letting the dead tell their tales and sing their songs to those who'll listen. all combined with a subtle touch of madness brings the build full circle.
00:55 I love that "NPC" was transcribed in the subtitles as "employees."
To be fair, when I was employee in the customer service industry, it really did feel like being an NPC lol
I mean... If you play the Gun-Monk, you can pick up Kensei as a subclass and thus make the Gun a Monk-Weapon...
And get bonus damage too
Equilibrium...
@@basedeltazero714 "The gun kata treats the gun as a [Monk] weapon..."
JoCat has spoken of a character of his that is an Orc/Half-Orc Bard who is timid and innocent, actually worked as a farmhand much of his life, and has a girl back on the farm he worked on who he plans to return to one day when his adventure is over. That character is SO incredible!
A non-edgy warlock? I'm still wanting to homebrew a warlock who's patron is their party. There powers come from the "Power of Friendship!"
Hexblade warlock, have the party purchase you a sword and pact of the blade it, mission accomplished
fathomless patron is a lobster you found on the brink of death before tossing them into the ocean, they revealed their name is Tyler and keeps in touch with you
I played a Celestial Warlock as a healer/support caster type once.
I have a warlock who's just... Some dude. He made a pact with the raven Queen and she mostly just tells him to ensure people don't die early. She only recently made him start making she they aren't late either.
He's dressed like a moderately affluent civilian and doesn't refer to himself as a warlock unprompted. He's also the one in charge of the party's brain cell, so at least two members haven't realized it and think he just has a cool bird.
Most of my warlocks get their powers from bored eldritch beings that want another person to experience life through.
A bard who is a stage magician.
I think it's ridiculous that bards are generally restricted to music, and I think a character that uses real magic to fake fake magic has gotta be a lot of fun.
I have a bard who, instead of playing music, writes and reads stories to cast his spells. I like the idea of Bard's being any type of performer or entertainer, it keeps the flavor of the class diverse but still unique
I actually had a similar concept of a Spellcaster being a magician. He was a elf warlock that become a magician to make money to sustain himself after he runaway from a cult. Only used him for a campaign that faded away and one shot but he was still fun to play.
I'm getting vibes of The grrrreat and powerful, Trrrrrixie! from this.
The campaign I'm in has one of these! Combined with the fact my Bladesinger also has the Entertainer background, it's going to be fun when we get pulled to actually perform (my character spent a decade traveling with a famous troupe of entertainers, and he's been invited back, so it's going to be happening at some point)
What's really ironic is that not only was the Bard the one to deliver the letter, she's actually seen him perform--but she hasn't yet connected his stage and real identities.)
I'm actually just about to have a character like that lol, a mannequin/puppet Warforged bard(def not an automaton stage magician who got possessed XD) who's planned to have a single healing spell, the rest will be to buff themselves and shred enemies lol
Also, did a pre-game lv. 20 test too, and it gonna have a minimum 27 AC, and that's without future equipment :D
I play a barbarian who thinks himself to be a paladin, his rages are in his mind channeling the rage of his god
Exalted Hero of Khorne
Zealot barbarian exists my guy
He needs to turn zealot
Is he a Pelor worshiper?
somehow this reminded me of a gag in the webcomic "order of the stick", where the party's Bard learned the "dashing swordsman prestige class".
among other things, it let him use his Charisma bonus instead of Strength when rolling attack or damage rolls!
the catch was that he had to make some sort of quip or pun every round, which got him into trouble during a LONG battle.
Someone else who reads Order of The Stick!
Man those shenanigans are amazing fun.
Last i looked the world was about to end, and all i can think about now is that echos of wisdom literally has the same biggest bad to be fought...
Gunk being suboptimal is some kind of joke, because really shadowgunk is the most optimal way to play monk.
Yeah like, unironically Ranged Monk is actually the more optimal build since Most Monks are Dex builds anyways and flurry of blows by RAW atleast still works since kensai literally allows you to flurry of blows with weapons, and like you mentioned Shadow Monk literally thrives on pot shots, not to mention Monks come with a built in Anti range ability so even if you get into a literal shoot off you already have the advantage of a fucking 1d10 damage reduction by level 3, Hell I wish they'd bring back the Zen Archer class in the newest edition from 3.5e
I’ll be sure to remember this if we do a campaign with firearms allowed.
I was looking for this. Being a gunk sacrifices nothing, and you can even do it with a bow or crossbow if need be
@@draconicprince Kensei gun monk cannot flurry of blows with weapons iirc, but _can_ use Deft Strike or Focused Aim to trigger Ki-Fuelled Attack. I don't think Shadow gun monk is likely to be very good though? Passing up on Deft Strike means passing up on reliable Ki-Fuelled Attack procs, so you're only getting two attacks on a lot of turns instead of three.
My current character, Theodore Stormstrike, is a Cleric. Twist is… he’s a fully offensive build. It’s because of this that we have to end fights quickly, as we do not have a single healing spell.
Same with my War domain Cleric of Loviatar. She gave up on using armor (dex focus) and doesn't heal because her religion teaches her to learn from pain instead of avoiding it.
Well, that's one more damage dealer so ending fights earlier should be doable
I haven't done it yet but im hoping to play a fiend warlock tiefling who's patron is his mother and his idea of being rebellious is being cheerful and benevolent while she encourages him to be dark and edgy.
Playing as a defensive monk
Move forward to draw attacks away from your party, attack twice to annoy an enemy, then dodge as a bonus action
One of my favorite characters was a celibate bard whose focus was in learn and share knowledge. His bardic inspiration was focused in combat tactics he learned on his travels (irl it sounded like "if you kill it, it will die")
Ranged barbarian. Whose ranged weapon is a ballista bolt thrown by hand with immense strength
I saw that in a ProJared video once.
That is a definitely epic idea.
You mean ballistae
@@cynicalnitro8416wow. Auto correct did not like ballista.
Though it would be ballista, not ballistae, as there was just the one bolt
The idiot Wizard is one concept that is a favorite of mine, has high STR, CON and DEX but has a 10 in INT so he isn't strictly an idiot, not smart but not an idiot, but by Wizard standards he sure is. I just love the idea of this guy who somehow ends up becoming an Arch Mage and still isn't quite sure how basic magical theory works even though he's a god damn Wizard. Also you can build a Wizard that doesn't rely on make spell attacks or forcing saving throws and still be surprisingly effective so all your low INT does to you in 5E is reduce the number of spells you can prepare.
this reminds me of a comic book i have, "Rick and Morty vs D&D, chapter 2 painscape".
some old D&D characters Rick created and discarded when he was a kid, have come to life seeking revenge.
one is "Sorcerick", a wizard with only 8 INT!
the leader of the group is "Barderick", who was supposed to be a Bard, but had only 7 CHR.
'How'd you make it into the Magaambya?' 'I had a football scholarship.'
Everyone remembers Krod the angry carpenter rogue.
“YOU NO SEE KROD!”
Personally my wrong class combo is a bladesinger wizard and barbarian multiclass, you may be out of spells but not out of options and you may still use bladesong while raging so that’s cool. Getting extra AC and damage equal to your intelligence modifier is a little MAD but ultimately fun.
Sneak Barbarian. Whispering "Glarg Kill..." In the ear of some mook and proceeding to slice their torso in half with a battleaxe will never NOT be funny.
My favorite way to play a class wrong is to die in a fashion as gruesome as it is hilarious
I always wanted to try out the Wobbuffet Wizard which if you don’t know, Wobbuffet is a Pokémon that only knows moves that can indirectly hurt its opponents and learns no damaging moves. Essentially, you play an Abjuration Wizard and get your hands on that Armor of Agathys spell(usually by dipping a level into Warlock) and double dip your temp health with your Abjuration Ward because the ward takes damage before the temp hp and every time you take damage you deal it to melee attackers. Max Constitution and Dexterity instead of intelligence for frontline capability and take area denial and buffing spells. Then you take what would normally be tank feats like tough or the Armored Feats with war caster (not for the opportunity spell but instead for your focus to be a weapon) so you can smack people while Commanding them with the spell to strike you with their weapon. At later levels with force cage, enlarge, tons of counterspells, and other such atrocities you can really make a quite powerful frontline mage that can win against fighters by beating them at their own game and shut down pure casters by getting in their space and denying them the utility they usually offer.
My sniper barbarian is a nice example. I'm using a Greatbow (from the dnd weapons expanded), which has 2d6 damage, with a range of 150/600 ft. Greatbows use strength instead of dexterity to make attacks, but need one action to reload.
I pair this with the piercer feat for extra damage, and a quarterstaff/halberd along with the polearm master feat to defend on close range.
This results in 60+ damage a pop if set up correctly. Extremely ineficcient. Astoundingly cool when I pop a troll's head on the first turn of combat and then proceed to do guerilla warfare, hiding and reloading my bow as I reposition around the map, and then becoming a blender once anything gets close to me.
Life is good.
May i ask what dnd weapons expanded you are referring to? Sounds like a cool build for a barbarian. Am curious if you're willing to point me in the right direction to find dnd weapons expanded.
Two of them:
1) Shepherd Druid vigilante, who does not know that he's a Druid and doesn't have a particular affinity for nature other than being able to talk to animals - he just thinks he's good with animals and knows some magic. He cannot Wild Shape or do anything very Druidic. He mainly fights with his slingshot and magic stones.
2) Draconic Sorcerer pugilist, who's basically Louis Armstrong from FMA. Big, loud, proud, and his favourite spell is to punch people in the face. And I decided he can only use Lightning/Thunder/Force-type damage spells. The rest of his spells are aimed toward bolstering his melee performance.
He was first used with PHB'14, but I look forward to trying him with the new PHB'24.
I had a Kobold Ranger who like the spellcasting Ranger in the video, did a lot more spellcasting than your average Ranger. With the Tasha optional features and Druidic Warrior Fighting Style, he was fighting enemies using a Shillelagh enhanced Quarterstaff, a bow for the various Ranger arrow Spells, and Horizon Walker abilities. He was a fun little guy to play
Melee strength based warlocks that dont even know eldritch blast
My favorite "weird" way of playing a class is the "Big Stick Energy" Druid who completely neglects Wild Shape in favor of wading in to melee with a big stick. Pick up Shillelagh from Druid, then get either Green Flame Blade from a dip in Arcana Cleric (pre 2024), or True Strike from either high elf or your Background and a single level of Fighter or Ranger for Medium Armor and Weapon Mastery (post 2024). If your DM still allows Green Flame Blade post 2024, grab that instead of True Strike. The goal here is to turn a humble stick into the deadliest weapon possible by stacking Shillelagh with a melee attack Cantrip in order to double dip on damage boosts. I did this with a Wildfire Druid once and the crazy mobility from that subclass as well as the ability to boost Fire damage made me an incredibly hard hitting skirmisher AND a top notch healer.
0:03 "Barb 3/ Rogue any"
I've played this before, this is a slasher movie villain, this is your Jason Vorhees your Michel Mayers your Leatherface and its FUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN
@troperhghar9898 Start in Rogue (deep gnome), use one short sword and put 17 in Dex, 15 in Con, 12 in Cha, 10 in Int, 8 in Wis, and 13 in Str
Get Barb lvl one for shield and unarmored defence for 17 AC and rages
Two in Rogue (take Swashbuckler)
One in rogue (19 Dex, 16 Con, 19 AC)
Another in Rogue
Two in Barb (Beast).
Another in Barb (20 Dex, 18 Con, 21 AC)
Another in Barb for extra attack
Another in Barb for beast climb, jump, and swim
Another in Barb for half dash and initiative bonus
One in Rogue for expertise
Another in Rogue for Evasion
Another in rogue for ASI (20 CON, 13 CHA, 22 AC)
Another in rogue for duels
Another in rogue for tough feat
Another in rogue for reliable talent
Another in rogue for resilient feat in CON
Swashbuckler 11, Beast 9,
More damage than rogue, more hp and damage resistance than barb. Op saving throws (prof in dex int and con) and advantage on wis cha and int. If buying/crafting magic items is involved gauntlets of ogre power or belt of giant strength are op and take phantom rogue instead to get advantage on con saves too.
Cold Barbarian. It's pure roleplay, but you're character is really, really stoic and just suddenly gets into the flow of things. Basically they're trying to be a good knight. They're basically like a German Mercenary with the zweihander fancy beard, stache and breastplate armour. Really fancy looking. But he just gets into the groove in the fight out of nowhere and is suddenly a massive threat.
Nuclear operation bard....I take one healing spell and then the rest are mischievous or AOE attacks like thunder wave, thunder clap, shatter, and fire ball. Most people believe the stereotype of the bard being horny and just buffing the party or healing them. They don't expect a Leroy Jenkins, Loki type.
I'm actually just about to have a character like that lol, a mannequin/puppet Warforged bard, who's planned to have a single healing spell, the rest will be to buff themselves and shred enemies lol
Also, did a pre-game lv. 20 test too, and it gonna have a minimum 27 AC, and that's without future equipment :D
You could always reskin a sorcerer as a bard . . .
1:39 Yes!!! Until my… your dm exclusively sends you to places “your steed simply cannot go.”
Warlock +oathbreaker Paladin just for the lore
The closest I have is a PF2e Barbarian that dual-wields daggers. He's a kobold lawful evil* ambitious to the point of tossing self-preservation to the wind guy who wants to become a leader of like-strong-willed individuals. Barbarian in PF2e is designed mostly around using two-handers, as light weapons get less damage from rage bonuses, but light weapons have less multi-attack penalties, so he just becomes a flurry of angy. Also returning on the daggers so he can throw them as well with rage bonus applying to thrown, and dual-weapon fighter archetype giving throwing bonuses as well. He also had martial archetype so he could open a fight with a radial buff to allies. Y'know, to be a leader-type.
His name was Needles, and his daggers were named Fang and Claw.
*Alignement isn't really a thing in PF2e, but just added to give a vibe. He was serious and selfish, but knew enough that you can't lead without people skills. Also he had legal knowledge to rival a lawyer.
Didn't get to play her long but, Monk/Fae heritage Sorcerer who (thanks to the DM) sacrificed her damaging spells to not have wild magic surges.
You must have at least one funny story with this character, please share.
@davewilson5846 the time I made a difficult fight easy using the spells Dancing Lights and Minor Illusion springs to mind. The party had split up expecting a "peaceful negotiation" with some bandits, (we were basically outlaws at the time) the bandits brought more guys than expected (not to mention a large "beast") and ambushed us. Dancing Lights kept the "beast" (we never did find out what it was) out of the fight by "orbiting" the thing, which confused it. While a Minor Illusion of a headless ghost (that I convinced my DM was more convincing than usual because you expect stuff to go through a ghost) to disrupt the enemy team work (and scare off a few) that was a lot more fun than expected.
wild magic sorc that doesnt want wild magic surge? wtf
you are supposed to use tides of chaos for advantage and then wild magic surge to regain advantage
@@finalfantasy50 I made the build with "Illusionist" in mind but Fae heritage Sorcerer was the best I could get. The whole point was to mess with the enemy and THEN bonk them.
@MrRob-wg8uf that had to have been fun
In a 3.5 campaign I played a transmuter wiz as a melee tank. It was my favorite character ever.
Always wanted to try one of those, but I never had the guts. Good on ya.
@nicholasfarrell5981 thanks, buddy. I'd highly recommend it. The looks of surprise when I stepped to the front when our paladin went down was hilarious. I miss those players and that campaign.
In 3.5 , A Vivacious (template) Pixie (Savage Species) 1Ranger /The rest Scout with Swift Hunter feat. Every round a 30 ft ranged Ray that heals living allies or hurts undead enemies for 1D4+Cha mod +skirmish . This is a non spell caster , a non cleric/druid/paladins etc Healer that is naturally invisible, incorporeal and has great mobility options , skill points and stealth .
Roll a half orc, 20 str 16 con/dex, 12 cha, then proceeded to inflict "Beefcake, the World's Strongest Bard" on my friends. Probably the most fun character I've ever played. Dumb as a box of rocks, couldn't sing or dance, but he sure could fight.
Bardic inspiration from flexing?
Any warlock that doesn't rely on eldtich blast/agonizing blast. Defunct now, but my favorite version was a crossbow hexblade. You take Improved Pact Weapon and your heavy crossbow does +1 on top of your CHA, so you're now more accurate and deadly than just EB. With the right build (crossbow expert, sharpshooter, thirsting blade, lifedrinker, maddening hex, etc), your raw damage in modifiers outperform EB+agonizing blast at every tier.
This is without mentioning the fact that as a *weapon attack* you can pile on Eldritch Smite to knock enemies out of the sky, or use magical ammunition for increased damage
One idea I have for a character of mine(he's the protagonist for a book I want to write), is that if he was in DND, he would be a tiefling Hexblade Warlock who really should be a bard due to his love of music. Also, instead of seducing people, people are endeared by his earnest and innocent charm(which he is oblivious to). His instrument is an eight-stringed guitar that is homemade. Also, his sword is possessed by his twin sister(she was cursed/transformed into the sword and his main goal is to free his sister from the curse). His name is Damian and he is a cinnamon roll.
Guaranteed sneak attacks while on a horse made me laugh out loud and I had to explain it to my wife who doesnt play dnd. Thanks for that haha
For a more portable example of this, you could be a gnome, halfling or other small race riding a mid sized animal, like a big dog :D
Mid strength high con high int wizard. When you do manage to get past mirror image, grats. You effectively scratched the tank. And got a grapple for your troubles.
Shocking grasp is a fun time when they can't get away.
War medic bard. Playing regular with support and control spells and bardic inspiration until allies start to go down, then you use a combination of teleportation from misty step and being a shadar kai to get to them and the healer feat, cure wounds or healing word to get them back up.
Bonus for being a creation bard and animating a healers kit to go on its own and heal people (probably something to ask your dm if he allows)
Bard that throws a Lyre like a discus. He has some levels in Rogue to get sneak attack with it since it’s a ranged weapon. To cast spells, he primarily beatboxes.
Warlock healer. I have two spell slots and a pool of healing. My only attack is E- Blast because sometimes the best way to save a life, is to take one. In the morning everyone gets free temp hp, i get the most because im special. And after a enough levels you get a free self revive each day, giving you back half your hp. And with the pact of the chain, with my baby dragon within 100ft, i can self heal for max amount everytime i heal.
I say all of this, to remind everyone of the fact that this is like the 3rd weakest way to heal the team. Next to healer monk, and classes that dont have healing spells but the player really wants to be a non magical medic.
I love it.
...The rogue sounds only like a friendly rogue.
My bud made a warlock that hated using his spells. Instead, a combination of lucky creation rolls and choosing a race with purely physical benefits left him a hulking brute, mostly using his spellslots to dish out hellish rebukes while he focused on beating his enemies into a pulp with his fists. It even made sense in the roleplay, as he was not a warlock willingly - the pact was forced on him by a fae queen for cutting down her favorite tree.
In a pathfinder game that I am apart of, I initially started off as a witch, but in every session I was having little to no use aside from healing and maybe some debunks on the enemy, that and my squishyness meant that I was dropping every session at some point, that or full on dying and brought back by shenanigans. Then when the dm said to go multiclassing on all our characters, most assumed I would go with something that synergies with the stats of a witch. No, I went witch/monk. Focusing on spells that boosted my actions each turn aswell as my allies. Items to boost my speed and abilities that made my harder to hit and faster aswell. By the end even though my team was saying it wouldn't work and that I was giving myself a nerf. That was until 95 feet per action speedy witch blasting spirits out of our possessed party members, buffing allies and myself to give us all more action economy while acting like a paliden as I layer hands upon our enemies with flurry of blows to save on spell slots and still dealing great damage. That and monk made my saving throws better and all of my successes from saves into crit successes. Meaning the dragon couldn't hit me with all it had at the end of the halloween ark. They expected me to play like a witch, instead I played it like an anime character and got op
My favorite Dread Necromancer usually becomes the face of the group. It's a Cha casting class, you're usually not truly undead until 20th level, even if the DM wants to force you to look like a corpse in-spite of there being nothing that says you have to a ring of Chameleon Power isn't expensive really and the DC for making a human undead look not undead is pretty low with a disguise check. And the lich motif is just that, a motif. You don't have to look like a necromancer while being a Dread Necromancer. My favorite thing to do dip the first level of War Mage, put points in Profession: Lay Priest, and be very vague about his training until people aren't sure if he's a Favored Soul or a Sorcerer.
I play a green Dragonborn, refuses to poison breath human beings as he is an honorable luchador I center him around grappling more than martial arts (he’s a monk)
This video screams 'task failed successfully'
I'm in a campaign now where I'm playing a rouge with high strength, and charisma, but low wisdom due to selling my wisdom to cure an infection I got, and my character is part Warlock as well.
So, a cheeky rouge who shares a compact with the devil then.
Rouge but ranged weaponry. Sneak attack applies to ranged weapons, no need to get into melee danger, become a back line menace. I like compounding it with inquisitive subclass and 3 levels of fighter(battle master) to get some great supportive options. Race and starting things up to you.
That's just normal rogue.
Perhaps. Unique build for a rouge though.
Armorer artificer using the infiltrator armor. Just shoot electric bolts and deal sneak attacks on top of that.
That Rogue is just Bugs Bunny.
I like the cleric of a god of magic character. Arcane Cleric in 2014 5th edition was pretty much what I was looking for. Some wizard spells along with the strong cleric utility and healing spells. You also get medium armor proficiency to survive combat better.
I hads a cool idea for a rogue/warlock. Teifling
Born into nobility, keana learned many useful skills, fencing, negotiating, and other such courtly things, but she preferred fencing, she was a teiflibg born into a human moble house, and was seen as odd, but nobody questioned it much. she didnt want to be a noble. She liked to spend time with the servants, and shirking her duties, in favor of pulling pranks. but wanted to see the world, so before her 21st birthday, she ran away. unbeknownst to her, her parents sold part of her soul long ago, as a thing to keep thier noble house alive. It was also how she became half feind.
When her 21st birthday hit, so did her magic
Melee Fire Sorcerer/Rogue
An Eladrin pyromancer with an unlosable dex save, taking a quarter damage from their own fireballs, and dealing Sneak Attacks with their summoned fire blade.
My recent character is a lawful good rouge and that pissed off only of the other players because rouges apparently can only be evil, neutral or chaotic. Hearing that other players understand a lawful good rouge just makes me happy.
So would it be fair to say that the make-up of your character annoys the other players?
@@DavidAndrews-eb7gm The group I'm in tend to get angry if you play a class, race, or play style not to the most stereotypical form (All dwarfs hate elves and are alcoholics, all paladins can only be lawful good, If you even go 5ft away from the party you are as good as dead). I like to make high concept characters, I blame liking games like Call of Cthulhu and Cyberpunk where just saying "I'm a human fighter" as your entire character does not cut it. But yah I would say it annoys the other players.
In cricket we call that ‘playing a straight bat”.
Well done, sir.
My first ever character was a really strong warlock. He was a dragonborn, so very big, tall, and intimidating. I latched onto that part heavily. He had magic, but when it came time for talking and threatening and intimidation, my guy was at the forefront, a hulking 3 meters tall and punching cracks into stone walls.
If that campaign had actually gone on for longer than five sessions, he might have ended up multiclassing into fighter to improve that fighting spirit even more. And now I love brawny spellcasters as opposed to lanky nerdy high INT/WIS spellcasters, (or even worse, the 'frail old man' spellcaster a la Gandalf or Dumbledore).
Oath of the Crown Paladin who serves whoever is wearing the nearest crown.
One I had fun with I called the 'True Four Elements' Monk. Monk x/Arcana Cleric 1. I start as a CL Monk with Magic Initiate (Druid) and take Primal Savagery, Thorn Whip, and Absorb Elements. At lvl 2 I take a level of Arcana Cleric and pick up 2 Wizard attack cantrips, and 3 Cleric cantrips, so I now have 7 cantrips all based off Wisdom. It's suboptimal, but it's fun. You can just push Wis and it gets you AC, Spell Attack bonus, and Spell/Monk ability Save DC. I like to take Gift of the Gem Dragon at lvl 5 for Telecinetic Reprisal to mitigate multi-attack melee enemies.
Twilight Cleric
Play them as a Martial Class that gives everyone temporary HP.
They get proficiency for every armor and weapon, except guns.
Then, use spiritual weapons or spirit guardians and shield when attacked.
Have full plate with a greatsword or a rapier and a shield.
this just sounds like regular twilight cleric
@m3371 Most people play Twilight Cleric as a spellcaster since they are a full caster.
They usually stay in the back and cast spells to buff and heal the party.
@aerikhelms then they are idiots. Clerics are front to mid range characters.
3:26 That dancing barbarian sounds like a really fun time and something I would do
Nerdy Bards unite! Mine used to be a history / literature teacher whose interest in music and instruments only stemmed from their connection to storytelling. He basically wrote fanfic (well, a one-man fan performance- note that he is not proficient in Performance) after we saw an opera.
Divination Wizard without many Damage spells. Just this dude who can see _the future._ Potentially, he’s seen too much.
Also great to pair with the Stout Halfling as Zee Bashew said and just play this half-insane hobbit who has seen portents of ungodly evils and is doing everything in their power to stop them.
Not a halfling but this is actually one of my game's BBEGs. The "He's seen too much." bit. The Headmaster of the Divination school himself.
He's a deeply flawed man who's seen a future of the world's end that appears to be impossible to change, hence he's thrown his lot in with the big bad, who seems to be the only person who knows what to do to save people's lives through the world ending.
He has some strong damage spells mostly given to him from getting the Lorehold spells (we used the strixhaven schools as a reference for this world's 'Arcanaeums') and some boss mechanic stuff lets him use them, but by and large he's a support to the big bad whose consequences for existing are disastrous for the players.
He can scry on people with proper Scrying or Clairvoyance, he can get insight into the events they're trying to avert, has tracking spells like Locate Object and the like, and even has Legend Lore which he uses to keep the BBEG a step ahead of the players he's aware of. He's the one with Astral Assembly that lets the villains do their Evil Villain meet-up talks.
He is genuinely the crux of the enemy's entire information network. Taking him out would be a *devastating* blow to the enemy faction.
But in combat he's actually pretty weak, and he mostly focuses on fucking with initiative, using buffs, and using Portents and other reaction-divination to absolutely screw with people. He uses Misty Step and/or Thunder Step and his Familiar's "switch places with me" ability constantly to get himself and/or someone else out of reach. And, y'know. He's a wizard. He's squishy.
A divination wizard makes a crazy scary antagonist when you really consider what their spell list gives them. So much of it is, well, information gathering, and villains who're constantly a step ahead of you for *justifiable, understandable mechanical reasons* is a MENACE.
barbarian wizard with the swordsinger feat and also dabbles in necromancy
> warlock that didn't make pact with dark edgy forces, but with his adopted father
Well, my warlock made a pact with his own real mother who happens to be the Red Knight, goddess of strategy. She taught him the art of long distance contactless fighting, and he can basically cut an enemy's throat from 300 feet away (actually it's his Eldritch Blast).
One of my friend's current characters is a Warlock... whose patron is her wife.
Melee Sorcerer. Quicken Spell a big spell, then use Mobile with Booming Blade. Or Dragon’s Breath a Familiar and an ally, and Mobile Booming Blade.
im playing an order cleric 1/clockwork sorc 7, my gameplan is to get into melee and twin spell greenflame blade (dm let me use the scag version and let me get a magical maul as part of my backstory), one of my favorite moments were stepping up to 4 enemies, critting with one of them and using the fire bounce to finish off the last two enemies
I also use armor of agathys with stone's endurance and bastion of law to take no damage whilst enemies take 100 cold damage in return
0:58 The rogue in the party I DM for has tendency to snatch any treasure he can get his hands on, but then, once the party returns to town and goes on a shopping spree, he just starts randomly buying everything for everyone else
Not exactly playing a class wrong but,
So whips
Theyre a finesse weapon
Meant to give dex classes a melee weapon with some reach
However... What people often forget is,
You dont NEED to use dexterity for these weapons
So
I have a paladin bugbear, who uses a whip to smite people from afar
Just
Thunderous crack of the whip to unleash the clap of gods
I may have made this build out of spite because my GM wouldnt let me smite with thrown javelins...
Playing a Bard as a castrati.
5:26 I had a game once where I basically did this as a sorcerer who cast invisibility. It isn't casting a spell or dealing damage so I just kept sneaking around the bring my allies back up. When I ran out of potions, I started getting more from allies I picked up, before they ran off to distract the enemy for me long enough to bring up the next person in line.
My favorite is super rest utility warlock. Choosing many useful utility or roleplay spells. Depending on how you travel and how you use a general days time. You can cram as many short rests you want. With this you basically have your utility spells always available for check buffs, lookout, etc I actively played this character as a little lazy and made sure to have the party get a cart big enough to rest on so that I could be topped up for any encounter.
I love how half of these is "not-absolutely cliche character" and is perfectly viable in most scenarios.
that barbarian that hears music, I pray she never hears Stains of Time or Red Sun Over Paradise
Dedicated support Paladin. Just dump your points into CHA and CON and become a walking aura of buffs in healing. Subclasses like Redemption, Crown, Ancients, and Glory are good for it but they can all work. The builds are pretty good but for some reason a lot of D&D players are allergic to Paladin that don't just wanna nuke shit lol. Another build I'm playing right now takes a little bit of homebrewing but is fun. It's not RAW but my DM let my trigger sneak attack on my unarmed strikes in exchange for not being proficient in Martial Weapons. Variant Human with Tavern Brawler and Grappler. At level 5 multiclass into Fighter for Unarmed Fighting Style. Take Expertise in Athletics for better grapple checks. Now you just grapple them and beat the shit out of them since you get advantage you get to trigger your sneak attack without allies. Very fun.
Evil Cleric that charges a monetary fee to the party for any healing.
I did a dwarf melee ranger with two hammers, but I think it was in 4E and wasn’t as strong in 5E
Healer rouge was actually my first thing i played. It's a fun spin on the class and not seen often.
All my spellcasters prioritise Dex (16) and Con (16) over spellcasting ability score (14) using point buy. Usually with a starting 1 level dip into Draconic Sorcerer if I can make the ability score class minimums work. 14 Con if need be.
Unarmoured AC 16 (21 with Shield), +3 HP per level (+4 per sorcerer level).
Massively increases my chances of surviving to get an ASI, usually +2 points to spellcasting ability.
variant human wizard with Fighting Initiate: Unarmed
"you better _hope_ he doesn't run out of spell slots"
One of my favorites is a fake "Druid"; a half elf that has wild hair, wears clothes made from leaves, and uses material components to cast spells like Animal Messenger. But actually they're a Bard. Turns out their spells have a lot of overlap.
I really want to style a Paladin character with a combat strategy of laying in wait from a clifftop with a long gun, firing as many shots at the opponents as possible before they can get up there, and then dumping every spell slot into Bayonet Smiting the survivors.
My barbarian is the peacekeeper of the party. He speaks 4 languages and uses his linguistic skill to defuse situations.
But when it comes to battle, he can rage like no other, he just prefers to avoid unnecessary conflict so he can save his effort for the real fight
A party member of my campaign played a barbarian that, for a while in the first few session truly believed to be a rogue because his parents would always play into his idea of being so stealthy because he was significantly smaller than anyone in his tribe. Not until a dragon killed an npc he grew to care about did he first enter rage and realize he was much more affective as a vengeful murder machine. Love roleplay like that.
I made a "noble" bard who could barely fight in melee and just used support spells. I just follow my allies around and tell them what to do, ordering them to protect me when enemies arrive while I fulfill some secondary goal or use supportive magic
It's basically just a normal bard but the extra touch of roleplay was really fun
Got permission from DM to have "finesse axes" made. Played a high str rogue dwarf dual welding axes that could backstabb. His subterfuge came from fighting dirty, not being sneaky
My first 5e character was a beetle fairy paladin. His strongest stat was constitution. He had disadvantage on strength checks, but would routinely muscle his way out of bad situations. His only equals were the other paladin or our barbarian.
Investigation/Interrogator paladin. Used it for a murder mystery one shot. High Charisma, Oath of the Crown, takes spells like zone of truth, detect poison/disease, command, ect... use all your smite slots for spells.
If you pick up druidic fighter and then you'll be able to fight with a staff and/or sling with as much effectiveness as a sword-and-board ranger while focusing on wisdom. Only get as much dexterity as you need for good ac(14 max). So while your damage is okay but middling, your spells are just as likely to hit as a full druid, which is important if you're playing something like swarmkeeper that really wants a good spell dc for their 'gay baby jail' combo where they repeatedly throw every enemy into a web. If you're playing with the new weapon-mastery rules then using a staff is even better for this combo since you can knock people prone.
You normally want to multiclass into a cleric or actual druid at some point mind you since your ranger levels don't get you much beyond fifth level.
Bruiser like thief Rogue, using a non-sneak attack weapon until they're actually being sneaky.
pen tester/ locksmith rogue is a fun one. depending on your DM, stealth can be impossible at times for the whole party, so better to focus on CHA skills and thieves tools
I have a bard who fell in love with a noble's daughter and got exiled from his fiefdom due to satirizing him, and despite not learning his lesson about satirizing a powerful noble, he only does satire through his music rather than a comedy routine
Bro, i love your videos. I listen while im at work and they help my day go by a little quicker. Keep it up and id love to sit at your table sometime.
Lawful Good Oathbreaker Paladin. Was in servitude to a demonic overlord, broke away and became an Oathbreaker.
I had a cleric player who decided to keep the rogue healed by running down a corridor stomping on the ground to set off a trap.
Aasimar Wizard. Take lightly armored, moderately armored, heavily armored, war caster, and weapon master.
You are now a flying full plate Valkyrie with spells and a spear.
I’m a big fan of unorthodox warlock patrons, one of mine was my character’s husband who was a wizard that was messing with Shadowfell magic, and accidentally turned himself into a sword. A Hexblade who constantly bickers with his own sword like a married couple
Aggressive bard
He aggressively rushes the opponents and blasts their eardrums with loud music.