SmokingSkull
First Post
For my current character I thought of his backstory first, followed by how do they solve problems followed by how did they end up as an adventurer. Enter my Goliath Fighter/Barbarian: This is a man who is strong, tough, wizened and hardened through his experiences in life. He would leave his own clan to find himself, join an army, fall in love, become a father and lose it all, all before becoming an adventurer. This would translate into him having the Soldier background, choosing two handed weapons as his first fighting style and picking skills that make sense for a rough and tumble, grew up on the fringes kind of guy. As I played him and developed his personality I would choose things that not only made him better but branch off in ways I did not predetermine.
This was the first character I multiclassed, in all the sessions of D&D I ever played. But going Barbarian was twofold: First and foremost it was a story reason why he did (His anger was destroying him, to the point where it jeopardized the party plus identity issues within himself) and secondly, the Totem Warrior was the perfect vehicle to tell this story plus what it came with was appealing mechanically. As I levelled him up I would choose things like GWM, Mobile and Resilient (Wisdom) to round out his character: GWM cause he's a big man who uses big weapons, Mobile because of his training as a shocktrooper in the army, and Resilient (Wisdom) due to the constant barrage of mental attacks waylayed against him and his untimely demise before he was brought back changed his perspective. Before any of this though I chose Champion, not because it was the best but because I imagined the character as a very straightforward, deals with problems head on type of guy. He's the heavy hitter of our party, no one else even comes close melee damage wise besides the resident Frenzy Barbarian that never MCed at all.
I've asked my friends a few times if they felt my character was OP, my DM being the sarcastic ass he is says yes but he only does so jokingly, everyone else really had no qualms though our Tempest Cleric gets a little jealous sometimes, especially when I use my AS plus a few GWM strikes to really rip the enemy apart. I digress, my previous examples are quite anecdotal but the point is I've never felt RPing a character and making optimized choices was ever mutually exclusive. Just my two copper for what it's worth.
This was the first character I multiclassed, in all the sessions of D&D I ever played. But going Barbarian was twofold: First and foremost it was a story reason why he did (His anger was destroying him, to the point where it jeopardized the party plus identity issues within himself) and secondly, the Totem Warrior was the perfect vehicle to tell this story plus what it came with was appealing mechanically. As I levelled him up I would choose things like GWM, Mobile and Resilient (Wisdom) to round out his character: GWM cause he's a big man who uses big weapons, Mobile because of his training as a shocktrooper in the army, and Resilient (Wisdom) due to the constant barrage of mental attacks waylayed against him and his untimely demise before he was brought back changed his perspective. Before any of this though I chose Champion, not because it was the best but because I imagined the character as a very straightforward, deals with problems head on type of guy. He's the heavy hitter of our party, no one else even comes close melee damage wise besides the resident Frenzy Barbarian that never MCed at all.
I've asked my friends a few times if they felt my character was OP, my DM being the sarcastic ass he is says yes but he only does so jokingly, everyone else really had no qualms though our Tempest Cleric gets a little jealous sometimes, especially when I use my AS plus a few GWM strikes to really rip the enemy apart. I digress, my previous examples are quite anecdotal but the point is I've never felt RPing a character and making optimized choices was ever mutually exclusive. Just my two copper for what it's worth.