pukunui
Legend
Hi everyone,
I'm working on building a new 14th level PC for my group's ongoing campaign (a 5e Age of Worms conversion). I'm going to make her a half-elf paladin with the Oath of the Ancients subclass and the Sentinel and Shield Master feats. I'm also considering MCing into bard and/or fighter as well for some extra versatility and the like. Bard synergizes extremely well with the oath's focus on nurturing and preserving beauty and art and such. Fighter is for extra tanking power.
I'd like 5 levels of bard, mainly for the boosted Bardic Inspiration (d8 and short rest), 4 extra skills, Jack of All Trades (which I understand applies to Initiative!), and Cutting Words. The spells are extraneous, although there are some potentially fun ones (like Tasha's hideous laughter). If there was a way I could get all the bard goodies without having to take all the spells too, I'd go with that.
In terms of fighter, I could just go with one level to get a second fighting style (so I can have both Defense and Dueling). Action Surge could potentially be nice too. At level 3, I could get either Improved Critical or some maneuvers (although I think the latter might make this character a little too complicated). If I were to go all the way to level 6, I'd also be able to get the standard 5 ASI/feat slots; otherwise I'm stuck with only getting 4. EDIT: I'd most likely only start with one level of fighter, though, and take more levels later if needed.
The trouble with going with 5 levels of bard and 6 levels of fighter is that I'd be limited to only 9 levels of paladin in total, which would mean missing out on Aura of Courage. [My last PC kept failing her Wis saves to resist being frightened, so being immune to fear sure would be nice!]
In terms of magic items, I'd love a sentinel shield and a cloak of protection. Both of those are uncommon, so ordinarily they'd be all but guaranteed. However, the DM says I can have a moonblade, which is a legendary item. He may say that I can only have that one item. He's on holiday at the moment, so I'll have to wait another week or so to know for sure. I love the fluff behind the moonblade - my character concept involves her inheriting a mostly meaningless noble title when the last true heirs die [think Phryne Fisher from Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries]. Part of the inheritance includes the moonblade. I've asked that it at least have the finesse property, although I also really like the look of the elfshadow summoning ability.
For the record, I rolled the following for my stats: 10 11 12 14 16 17.
I'm thinking STR 13 DEX 18 CON16 14 INT 10 WIS 11 CHA 16 18 (half-elf: +1 Str, +1 Dex, +2 Cha)
In addition to Sentinel and Shield Master, I'll probably bump Dex to 20 at some point and pick up Inspiring Leader. Unless I go 6 levels of fighter, that'll be it for my ASI/feat slots.
Even though I'm going with Dex, I'm also looking at trying to get mithril plate armor [so I can ignore the Str requirement and the disadvantage to Stealth], as that still gets me the best AC:
Studded leather (12) + shield (2) + 20 Dex (5) + Defense (1) = AC 20
Plate (18) + shield (2) + Defense (1) = AC 21
I'd need +1 studded leather to match what plate gets me, but that's a rare item, and I doubt the DM will say yes to that (see above). The other PCs in the group all have ACs of at least 20, with the highest being the dwarf cleric with dwarven plate who has an AC of 22. I'd love to have an AC at least that high too, since I'm going for a defender role in combat. [For the record, the party consists of a wood elf shadow monk, a human evoker wizard, a dragonborn moon druid, and a hill dwarf tempest cleric.]
What do you guys think? Any suggestions?
I'm working on building a new 14th level PC for my group's ongoing campaign (a 5e Age of Worms conversion). I'm going to make her a half-elf paladin with the Oath of the Ancients subclass and the Sentinel and Shield Master feats. I'm also considering MCing into bard and/or fighter as well for some extra versatility and the like. Bard synergizes extremely well with the oath's focus on nurturing and preserving beauty and art and such. Fighter is for extra tanking power.
I'd like 5 levels of bard, mainly for the boosted Bardic Inspiration (d8 and short rest), 4 extra skills, Jack of All Trades (which I understand applies to Initiative!), and Cutting Words. The spells are extraneous, although there are some potentially fun ones (like Tasha's hideous laughter). If there was a way I could get all the bard goodies without having to take all the spells too, I'd go with that.
In terms of fighter, I could just go with one level to get a second fighting style (so I can have both Defense and Dueling). Action Surge could potentially be nice too. At level 3, I could get either Improved Critical or some maneuvers (although I think the latter might make this character a little too complicated). If I were to go all the way to level 6, I'd also be able to get the standard 5 ASI/feat slots; otherwise I'm stuck with only getting 4. EDIT: I'd most likely only start with one level of fighter, though, and take more levels later if needed.
The trouble with going with 5 levels of bard and 6 levels of fighter is that I'd be limited to only 9 levels of paladin in total, which would mean missing out on Aura of Courage. [My last PC kept failing her Wis saves to resist being frightened, so being immune to fear sure would be nice!]
In terms of magic items, I'd love a sentinel shield and a cloak of protection. Both of those are uncommon, so ordinarily they'd be all but guaranteed. However, the DM says I can have a moonblade, which is a legendary item. He may say that I can only have that one item. He's on holiday at the moment, so I'll have to wait another week or so to know for sure. I love the fluff behind the moonblade - my character concept involves her inheriting a mostly meaningless noble title when the last true heirs die [think Phryne Fisher from Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries]. Part of the inheritance includes the moonblade. I've asked that it at least have the finesse property, although I also really like the look of the elfshadow summoning ability.
For the record, I rolled the following for my stats: 10 11 12 14 16 17.
I'm thinking STR 13 DEX 18 CON
In addition to Sentinel and Shield Master, I'll probably bump Dex to 20 at some point and pick up Inspiring Leader. Unless I go 6 levels of fighter, that'll be it for my ASI/feat slots.
Even though I'm going with Dex, I'm also looking at trying to get mithril plate armor [so I can ignore the Str requirement and the disadvantage to Stealth], as that still gets me the best AC:
Studded leather (12) + shield (2) + 20 Dex (5) + Defense (1) = AC 20
Plate (18) + shield (2) + Defense (1) = AC 21
I'd need +1 studded leather to match what plate gets me, but that's a rare item, and I doubt the DM will say yes to that (see above). The other PCs in the group all have ACs of at least 20, with the highest being the dwarf cleric with dwarven plate who has an AC of 22. I'd love to have an AC at least that high too, since I'm going for a defender role in combat. [For the record, the party consists of a wood elf shadow monk, a human evoker wizard, a dragonborn moon druid, and a hill dwarf tempest cleric.]
What do you guys think? Any suggestions?
Last edited: