D&D 5E How does one "Champion"?

Tony Vargas · Oct 11, 2017

LegionError121 said:
I'm not exactly sure as to what I should build for a Champion in regards to having it be more than a walking suit of armour that sometimes hurts things a bit more.

So, the point of the Champion is to be simple and not to think about it much, so if you're asking yourself "Self, what should I be doing with this character to really get the most out of it and truely express the essence of the concept?" You should really formulate a reply something like "Well, Self, you should play something other than a Champion, 'cause you've outgrown it, if, indeed, it was ever the right fit for you, at all."

So I'd very much like to know as to what the different styles offer, like is being a mounted combatant good?

They offer bonuses depending on the kind of weapon you use. They offer the same thing whether you're a Champion or something more innately interesting. What the Champion does is let you eventually pick up a second style, about the only one that stacks is Defensive, so it boils down to a +1 AC.

That said, you could try to think about how to make dynamically shifting between two styles interesting, stylish(npi), or even effective (bit of a stretch). The most obvious candidate is one melee style and Archery. Thing is you might find yourself using Archery prettymuch all the time. Taking off a shield is a pain, so Protection is probably out as a mix-it-up style (unless you can count it as an off-hand weapon, then you can combine it with TWF). Taking a versatile weapon and swapping between Dueling and Greatweapon is nice and visually dynamic, but they're both just moar damage styles, and two-handing a versatile weapon doesn't make up for losing the dueling damage bonus so...

So yeah, if you would be kind enough to share your thoughts. Thank You.

It'd probably have been kinder not to have shared, in retrospect.

aco175 · Oct 11, 2017

In my few 5e campaigns all the tanks were champion fighters, no feats. One ended up going with plate and shield for the high ac and few monsters could hit him. Another went dex build and got hit a lot, but still had fun with the character. Nobody tried the other types or barbarian, so I cannot say if any are 'better'.

BookBarbarian · Oct 12, 2017

Immoralkickass said:
Multiclass Barbarian. Go Half-Orc, get the Orcish Fury feat. The question is whether you take more levels in Fighter or Barb. Fighter for 3rd attack at 11 and more crit range at 15, or Barb for Brutal Critical. Both are viable. Personally, I'd prefer Fighter 3/Barb X.

Go strength based, use greataxe.

Alternatively, Multiclass Barbarian, go Hal-Elf, and grab Elven Accuraccy, and GWM. Combining Super Advantage with an expanded Crit Range adds up to a lot of chances to Crit.

FrogReaver · Oct 12, 2017

BookBarbarian said:
Alternatively, Multiclass Barbarian, go Hal-Elf, and grab Elven Accuraccy, and GWM. Combining Super Advantage with an expanded Crit Range adds up to a lot of chances to Crit.

Elvish accuracy is broke. It will never make it to an actual book.

Oofta · Oct 12, 2017

FrogReaver said:
Elvish accuracy is broke. It will never make it to an actual book.

NOOOO! You just cursed us to years of Legolas wannabes with elvish accuracy.

Slit518 · Oct 12, 2017

LegionError121 said:
So, when I first tried 5e D&D, I went straight for the Champion Archetype. I didn't know what I was doing at the time but I told myself that "I value my character" and I told myself to "go for it" as everyone else was "squishy" and I did. My character was knocked out so many times . . .

Sadly, the group I was playing with dispanded and soon ended up as the only Caster/Wizard in another group.

Since then, I have wanted to revist the Champion Archetype despite how much people tell me "the battlemaster is better" or "just play a Barbarian" but I'm not exactly sure as to what I should build for a Champion in regards to having it be more than a walking suit of armour that sometimes hurts things a bit more.

So I'd very much like to know as to what the different styles offer, like is being a mounted combatant good? Do you use two 1 handers or a two hander like a greatsword or a battle axe? Do you focus on leveling raw stats or do you have more feat focused builds? Do you make your champions dex based or strength based? etc.

So yeah, if you would be kind enough to share your thoughts. Thank You.

First, let me start by saying the Champion seems to exist to welcome new players into playing D&D. It is not overly complicated, and it's easy to manage. Most other, if not all other characters seem a bit more complicated mechanic wise, which would be overwhelming to play for a newcomer to the genre.

Second, play the Champion as however you like. Decide which two Fighting Styles you want to blend together, for example Dueling and Archery, giving the Champion an edge on single handed weapon damage as well as with a bow.

The Champion does get increased critical threat at later levels, so it goes from 5%, to 10%, to eventually 15% chance to land a critical hit. That is fairly huge, considering the Fighter gets 4/5 attacks a round at later levels. Which, in that case increases the critical chance evermore.

If the DM that is playing allows feats, I would say pick up at least 2 of them to compliment your fighting style. And if you go Variant Human, you can add 1 more feat to "improve" the style of character you are going for.

Feats to consider while making your build:
1 - Alert
2 - Athlete
3 - Charger
4 - Crossbow Expert
5 - Defensive Duelist
6 - Dual Wielder
7 - Durable
8 - Great Weapon Master
9 - Heavy Armor Master
10 - Lucky
11 - Martial Adept - this gives you Superiority Die (though they don't mature such as the Battlemaster's)
12 - Medium Armor Master
13 - Mounted Combatant
14 - Polearm Master
15 - Resilient
16 - Savage Attacker
17 - Sentinel
18 - Sharpshooter
19 - Shield Master
20 - Tough
Also find out if the DM allows UA (Unearthed Arcana) feats. Some add +1 to attack with specific weapon types, as well as bonus effects. There are also interesting racial feats.

BookBarbarian · Oct 12, 2017

FrogReaver said:
Elvish accuracy is broke. It will never make it to an actual book.

True.

Oofta said:
NOOOO! You just cursed us to years of Legolas wannabes with elvish accuracy.

The funny thing is that with Advantage being much easier to get in Melee than at Range, through things like Reckless attack, and Shoving prone, Elven accuracy encourages Strength based Melee builds, not Legolas clones.

Wait... Two levels of Barbarian some Fighter, Elven race. NO!

JPicasso · Oct 12, 2017

The group I'm running has a single class, human champion that uses dual short swords. (yes, the flaming sort)
All of the PCs are optimized for fun, and that's what they're having.

Edit: The point I was trying to make is that you don't have to multiclass, or pick an exotic race or specialized feat to run an effective champion.

LegionError121 · Oct 13, 2017

Horwath said:
Take half orc.

17 start str.

defense style,

4th level, heavy armor master. 18 strength. 21 AC with fullplate and shield. 10% chance for crit for 3d8+4 damage.

I might do that as I've have been considering to revive a character I call "Human" but I'm not going to make it my goal to jump straight for the half orc role

Afterall, one of my 'friends' has decided that his character's trait is to hate Half Orcs to the point of wanting to kill them

Ancalagon · Oct 14, 2017

LegionError121 said:
I might do that as I've have been considering to revive a character I call "Human" but I'm not going to make it my goal to jump straight for the half orc role Afterall, one of my 'friends' has decided that his character's trait is to hate Half Orcs to the point of wanting to kill them

Could be a fun character, esp with a decent background

As far as in-party dynamics... well that doesn't sound fun to me, but hey, if it works for you...