D&D 5E Favorite "Against the Grain" builds that are still effective

[Z. H. Darkstar]

What are some of your favorite builds that defy normal CharOp convention but are still effective at what they do?

My personal favorites are my drunken stick-fighter Cleric/Ranger, Aylagur Buschbudd, and my Druid/Monk "intelligent mount," Jh'mi D'behr.

Aylagur Buschbudd
VHuman (Polearm Master) Outlander (Exile)
Starting Stats: Str 10 Dex 14 Con 16 Int 8 Wis 16 Cha 8
Nature Cleric 1/Hunter Ranger (Colossus Slayer) 5/Cleric 15
Gear: Quarterstaff (fluffed as human-made mash paddle), Shield (fluffed as lid from a barrel of elven wine used in ceremonies to his deity), Half-plate (fluffed as being made of repurposed kegs of dwarven ale)
Strategy: Turn 1, Shillelagh and swing. Turn 2, Hunter's Mark and swing. Turns 3+, swing as many times as possible.

Jh'mi D'behr
VHuman (Sentinel) Soldier (Cavalry)
Starting Stats: Str 10 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 8 Wis 16 Cha 8
Moon Druid 2/Monk 1/Druid 6/Open Hand Monk 6/Druid 14
Gear: Quarterstaff (for when not a bear), Military Saddle (for use as a bear)
Strategy: Be a bear. Partner with a martial PC who has Mounted Combatant. Become the Bear Cavalry! Use claw-claw-headbutt-headbutt combo via Extra Attack and Flurry of Blows. Reactions are spent on either Sentinel or Deflect Arrows as necessary.

 

[mellored]

Warlock 7/Rouge 2.

Greater invisibility + booming blade + bonus action hide.

 

[Z. H. Darkstar]

Warlock 7/Rouge 2.

Greater invisibility + booming blade + bonus action hide.

That's just dirty...I love it.

Tack on War Caster to smack them with another BB if they provoke an OA.

 

[famousringo]

I've been trying to figure out if monk and wild shape are actually compatible, so I'll take this as one data point that bears can in fact make unarmed attacks. I suppose unarmored defense works too, Dex + Wis of a wild shape bear almost certainly being better than natural armor + Dex.

One idea I have in my pocket is a bear totem barbarian 3/infernal bladelock X combo, leveraging the barbarian's resistance and the warlock's temp HP into an infinite health pool. The raging barbarian's inability to maintain Hex is offset by additional Armor of Agathys retaliations.

Another idea is Eldritch Knight 7/Sorcerer X, using Quicken with big spells to get full normal attacks, or Twin with Booming Blade and War Magic to do solid DPR while locking down two opponents. Best used with Warcaster for better AC, more reliable buffing and effective opportunity attacks. Dump Int to avoid the MAD.

And finally, a gnomish Beastmaster Ranger X/Wizard 3 with a giant frog companion. The giant frog is rideable, can be protected with Mounted Combatant, and auto-grapples on a hit. Why wizard? To buff the frog! Cast Mage Armor on it to improve AC, cast Enlarge on it to swallow medium targets, cast Jump to snatch a flier out of the sky with a 30 foot high jump + grapple. Also gets you extra beastliness with Find Familiar.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Sorcerer with Greater Invisibility and Quicken Spell who relies on Quickened Lightning Bolt + regular action Hide.

I don't know if it's sufficiently "against the grain" for optimizers, but I originally conceived of a sorbardlockleric (Sorc 3/Cleric 1/Warlock 5/Lore Bard 6-11) as kind of a grotesque joke/thought experiment which turned out to be not only the best healer in the game but also surprisingly gishy, versatile, and viable. It was against the grain for me but now I kind of like it, to the extent that I would actually consider playing one even though I would have to be 5% cleric, and I hate clerics. One reason it was against the grain for me is that it's a full caster who never gets 9th level spells, and especially never gets the Wish spell--but in exchange you get to be a fantastic support caster and a gish at the same time. And BTW you are SAD, so you can afford all the multiclass dips even though you only get 3 ASIs.

 

[RCanine]

What are some of your favorite builds that defy normal CharOp convention but are still effective at what they do?

While I think the duo is fun, I'm not sure I'd call a vhuman polearm master or sentinel moon druid "against the grain"

 

[Ovarwa]

Hi,

It would be amusing to grab all the cantrips. Not in order, Warlock4/Bard1/Sorc1/Cleric1/Druid1 perhaps with some EK and maybe AT, with Charisma and Dex for high stats, with a touch of Wisdom, or no Druid/AT and Str/Heavy Armor instead.

Not the most powerful character, but that's a lot of cantrips! And EB works as well as ever.

Anyway,

Ken

 

[mellored]

Half elf Rouge 1/knowledge cleric 1 /warlock2/lore bard 3.

All the skills, and bless + Eldritch Blast for combat.

 

[Z. H. Darkstar]

Hi,

It would be amusing to grab all the cantrips. Not in order, Warlock4/Bard1/Sorc1/Cleric1/Druid1 perhaps with some EK and maybe AT, with Charisma and Dex for high stats, with a touch of Wisdom, or no Druid/AT and Str/Heavy Armor instead.

Not the most powerful character, but that's a lot of cantrips! And EB works as well as ever.

Anyway,

Ken

While not grabbing EVERY cantrip, you can get cantrips of every type of energy damage with Tomelock 3/Sorc 1/Bard 1.

 

[RCanine]

It would be amusing to grab all the cantrips. Not in order, Warlock4/Bard1/Sorc1/Cleric1/Druid1 perhaps with some EK and maybe AT, with Charisma and Dex for high stats, with a touch of Wisdom, or no Druid/AT and Str/Heavy Armor instead.

My AL character has this theme. I didn't grab all of the cantrips, but I'm trying to cherry-pick the good ones. I'm still leveling, but at Fighter 3/Warlock 5 I'll have:

• Thaumaturgy (from race)
• Eldritch Blast (Warlock 1)
• Sword Burst (Warlock 1)
• Guidance (Book of Ancient Secrets)
• Shillelagh (Book of Ancient Secrets)
• Thorn Whip (Book of Ancient Secrets)
• Minor Illusion (Warlock 4)
• Booming Blade (from Eldritch Knight)
• Mage Hand (from Eldritch Knight)

The basic premise is to get 20 AC from Medium Armor, Shield and Defensive style, and only need to pump one stat (Charisma).

Booming Blade + Shillelagh + War Caster is a pretty sick combo, and Booming Blade is awesome for EKs. But it feels like a lot of investment given that I can Thorn Whip for my OAs. I might swap those two, but what for? Acid Splash or Vicious Mockery and either Friends, Mending or Prestidigitation, maybe. Create Bonfire also has some neat implications, but due to AL rules I can't take both it and Booming Blade.