D&D 5E 1st time Pally! :O

[Mooseberg0620]

I had aimed not to do this- buuuut figure I should cast a nice wide net.

I rolled excellent scores- 18,16,16, 13,12,8 Went human variant- currently looking at Heavy Armor master to net me a 20str (and bumped the 13 to a 14.) 16s in cha and con. 14 in wis, 12 in dex, 8 in Int. Sailor, and grabbed insight, persuasion and I think Medicine. (though mnaybe religion just for the RP.)

Im.... 65% sure Ive at least picked my weapon, Polearm. the rest of the party is a Barb, Wizard, cleric, and maybe a rogue or ranger (that palyer missed 0 sesh so we dont know.) Dueling and Sword/board is realllly tempting 2nd. Thematically it fits a lot, gives more utility, and knocking peeps down with a shield bash sounds amazing....

Wizard is playing his build close to the chest, Barb is running Totem/Bear with a 2 hander, Cleric is going Knowledge.

The character herself is going with a norse theme. Pally of Freyja or Tyr. Lookin to get revenge on the Douchebag who murdered most of her family. Despite her tragic backstory, it's not all bad. Her God/dess saved her youngest son (who himself is destined to be high king some day) and while she laments her older daughter and husband, she's proud of both of them who, "Fought like heroes". As a Valkyrie, an official rank for paladins in her culture (and yes all female Pallys), she cant own land anymore and instead roams the country side protecting the innocent, and putting the dying out of their misery with an honorable death. Most Valkyrie chose the path and stay close at home, but as a chosen she also gets her own mission that sets her away from her homeland.

Oath of Vengeance is a straight forward pick, though I could really see this character going Oath of the Ancients.

Open season on any choice ive made or yet to make. If you think my idea is good, let me know. If you think i should go another way, let me know.

 

[Guest 6801328]

It's funny how these threads NEVER start with, "So I rolled below average scores..."

 

[Mooseberg0620]

Half the posts on the old 4e Wizard boards started like that when i was there.

I remember one, "my highest score is 14. What class should I play"

 

[FrogReaver]

I had aimed not to do this- buuuut figure I should cast a nice wide net.

I rolled excellent scores- 18,16,16, 13,12,8 Went human variant- currently looking at Heavy Armor master to net me a 20str (and bumped the 13 to a 14.) 16s in cha and con. 14 in wis, 12 in dex, 8 in Int. Sailor, and grabbed insight, persuasion and I think Medicine. (though mnaybe religion just for the RP.)

Im.... 65% sure Ive at least picked my weapon, Polearm. the rest of the party is a Barb, Wizard, cleric, and maybe a rogue or ranger (that palyer missed 0 sesh so we dont know.) Dueling and Sword/board is realllly tempting 2nd. Thematically it fits a lot, gives more utility, and knocking peeps down with a shield bash sounds amazing....

Wizard is playing his build close to the chest, Barb is running Totem/Bear with a 2 hander, Cleric is going Knowledge.

The character herself is going with a norse theme. Pally of Freyja or Tyr. Lookin to get revenge on the Douchebag who murdered most of her family. Despite her tragic backstory, it's not all bad. Her God/dess saved her youngest son (who himself is destined to be high king some day) and while she laments her older daughter and husband, she's proud of both of them who, "Fought like heroes". As a Valkyrie, an official rank for paladins in her culture (and yes all female Pallys), she cant own land anymore and instead roams the country side protecting the innocent, and putting the dying out of their misery with an honorable death. Most Valkyrie chose the path and stay close at home, but as a chosen she also gets her own mission that sets her away from her homeland.

Oath of Vengeance is a straight forward pick, though I could really see this character going Oath of the Ancients.

Open season on any choice ive made or yet to make. If you think my idea is good, let me know. If you think i should go another way, let me know.

Pick defensive and utility spell options. Divine Smite will be your go to damage option.

If you can get 20 str with heavy armor master I would recommend it too. That should solve a lot of your squishiness problems early. I honestly think I'd just increase charisma if I were you. Better Spell Casting and Better Saves. +3 is good but you have the opportunity to reach +4 and +5 really fast with max attack stat.

One suggestion I have is to find out how your DM is ruling GWF style with divine smite dice. Some rule it as applying to all damage dice and some do not. If he rules that as applying to all damage dice with the attack then you really should take a GWF and use a two handed weapon.

 

[Mooseberg0620]

Pick defensive and utility spell options. Divine Smite will be your go to damage option.

If you can get 20 str with heavy armor master I would recommend it too. That should solve a lot of your squishiness problems early. I honestly think I'd just increase charisma if I were you. Better Spell Casting and Better Saves. +3 is good but you have the opportunity to reach +4 and +5 really fast with max attack stat.

One suggestion I have is to find out how your DM is ruling GWF style with divine smite dice. Some rule it as applying to all damage dice and some do not. If he rules that as applying to all damage dice with the attack then you really should take a GWF and use a two handed weapon.

I've heard that the devs have clarified that, yes GWF only applies to damage dice from the weapon not smite damage or the like.

And yeah Im thinking polearm anyways, though I d love the idea of the Viking shield maiden for the character, Im jsut wondering if I dont have too many defensive stuff to go with shield in a wierd loop.

"Well if I take shield master, which if I go shield I should then I have a pretty insane number of defensive options, plus I can shove for advantage which makes me want to take Oath of the ancients... which makes me even more defensive.... which makes me want to opt for some great weapon fighter.... but then I lose easy advantage...." and round and round it goes.

 

[FrogReaver]

I've heard that the devs have clarified that, yes GWF only applies to damage dice from the weapon not smite damage or the like.

And yeah Im thinking polearm anyways, though I d love the idea of the Viking shield maiden for the character, Im jsut wondering if I dont have too many defensive stuff to go with shield in a wierd loop.

"Well if I take shield master, which if I go shield I should then I have a pretty insane number of defensive options, plus I can shove for advantage which makes me want to take Oath of the ancients... which makes me even more defensive.... which makes me want to opt for some great weapon fighter.... but then I lose easy advantage...." and round and round it goes.

Not everyone plays with Dev clarifications. So it's always worth asking IMO. Unless you already know your DM does. In which case disregard.

Shield master is really good on a paladin and later you can multiclass champion and actually have a good crit fisher setup if you desire. Keep in mind you can wait to use divine smite till you see a 20 come up on the dice. It's pretty effective that way and not half bad with just shield master. You'll have a good chance of seeing about 1 crit per fight (assuming 5ish round fights). If you ever take the champion levels you will see a lot more.

 

[FrogReaver]

I always find ancients iffy because many monsters don't really use spells they just do things similar to spells. Really depends on how the DM would handle that if it would even be useful.

 

[FrogReaver]

So I guess my picks would be shield master or +charisma for you. I think you'll have more fun with shield master than anything else. To really get polearm master to work good you have to play super tactically and run 10ft away and attack the enemy and then back off a bit to get the reaction attack to trigger. I would play that way if I took it but it kinda makes my character "feel" like a wuss.

Shield Master also increases your defense a lot as some of the nastier things can come from dex saves which it helps a lot on. The advantage it gives should come out to about the same damage as polearm master. Anything that helps you crit more is really fun with a paladin.

You do have some other tactical options by staying away from the barbarian and attacking the creature he is adjacent to. That way it must attack him and his damage resistance or take an OA trying to get to someone else. Unless you really just enjoy playing very tactically don't use polearm master IMO.

 

[Mooseberg0620]

Is that an endorsement for the other path? And DM is pretty cool so he would either allow it to work still or make encounters sonid get to use it.

 

[Mooseberg0620]

Unhelpfully I do like both options. But I think I should min max a bit less and let the Barb be the Barb. I'll still have good damage from smite and later advanced smite when I need it. Plus getting to knock bitches down and run them through.

Just need to figure out my path.