D&D 5E Party Make Up

[Logan Ashkettle]

Wanted some advice on my party makeup. I am joining a party that has a ranger, sorcerer, and a barbarian. I think being a paladin would be useful to the party (and I would like to try the new Oath of Conquest), but the inner Dnd player in me is telling me to play a cleric. Any advice? Thanks!

 

[Charlaquin]

Cleric would of course complement the party better, but playing a Paladin certainly won’t disadvantage the party. I think it’s better to play whatever interests you more. If you have more fun with the character, it’s worth having slightly less party synergy, as long as you’re not hamstringing the group. A Paladin would be a great fit for that party if that’s what’s caught your fancy.

 

[steeldragons]

Cleric would of course complement the party better, but playing a Paladin certainly won’t disadvantage the party. I think it’s better to play whatever interests you more. If you have more fun with the character, it’s worth having slightly less party synergy, as long as you’re not hamstringing the group. A Paladin would be a great fit for that party if that’s what’s caught your fancy.

^THIS^

Your inner D&D player should be saying "play what's going to be fun/you're interested in"...arguably the differences between a Paladin and Cleric are trivial anyway.

I'm sure you'll still be called upon to help heal folks up...plus Oaths, Auras, mounts and use of big swords Conquest Paladin sounds fun and a good fit for this group... as in most things in life, your initial thought/first answer is usually the correct way to go.

 

[Blue]

Play what you're interested in. But if what you are interested in is "complementing the party", as your initial question seems to ask, then I have a couple of suggestions.

First, sans outdoor skills from the ranger, the party seems really lacking. You mentioned a paladin, and focusing on some face skills could work out really well. Rogue-like skills could work well, and there's also no one covering intelligence skills (which could be done well by a cleric of knowledge as well). A bard can cover a good range of skills between expertise and jack of all trades.

Second, I'd be really interested in finding out if the ranger was primarily ranged or melee. If melee then you have two out of four and I'd suggest not going for melee - which would be a slowdown on your paladin thoughts. On the other hand if it's a ranged ranger then a front-liner would be useful, be it a melee character like the paladin or a heavily armored cleric.

Third, they have no healing - is that something you want to cover? (Well, they could have some goodberries going on.) Paladin healing is limited and takes an action - but you could pseudo fit the role with Lay on Hands and the Inspiring Leader feat. Cleric as you mentioned could deal with it as well, but they aren't the only healers. Druids can do decent healing and bards don't suck.

So, for complementing this party, I'd suggest the following to try to hit two or all three of those gaps:

With a ranged ranger
Human variant Paladin with diplomacy skills and the Inspiring Leader feat
Heavily armored cleric
Moon Druid (but watch for skill overlap with the ranger)

With a melee ranger
Bard with some healing and a bunch of skills. Lore might work out better than Valor.
Cleric of Knowledge (or others, that just helps fill in skill gaps)
Ranged Rogue
Druid (but watch for skill overlap with the ranger)

I'm suggesting just from PHB, there are some other options that can fit from other sources as well.

 

[Logan Ashkettle]

Thanks for the advice so far everyone! For clarification, the ranger is a ranged ranger (that sounds funny writing it out?) UA beastmaster with some homebrew stuff to make it more usable. I am thinking we need another front line fighter with some healing abilities and thought the paladin would be the best option, but could also see a cleric. Just don't know what would be the most helpful. I was thinking cleric because revivify, but if I could get my hands on a scroll of revivify and use that if needed, but still looking for advice!

 

[GlassJaw]

If your party needs help with makeup I'd recommend playing a rouge.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I certainly agree with listening to what your inner voice is telling you will be fun. And yeah, getting a solid frontline can be very important, depending on the type of campaign. Though a good DM will make whatever party composition work, it’s certainly useful if you’re trying to give the sorcerer and ranged ranger space to work.

Thanks for the advice so far everyone! For clarification, the ranger is a ranged ranger (that sounds funny writing it out?) UA beastmaster with some homebrew stuff to make it more usable. I am thinking we need another front line fighter with some healing abilities and thought the paladin would be the best option, but could also see a cleric.

 

[Charlaquin]

Thanks for the advice so far everyone! For clarification, the ranger is a ranged ranger (that sounds funny writing it out?) UA beastmaster with some homebrew stuff to make it more usable. I am thinking we need another front line fighter with some healing abilities and thought the paladin would be the best option, but could also see a cleric. Just don't know what would be the most helpful. I was thinking cleric because revivify, but if I could get my hands on a scroll of revivify and use that if needed, but still looking for advice!

Cleric is probably going to be the more helpful option thanks to more and better healing resources, plus Bless. Just take a Domain that gives you access to heavy armor and you’ll make a fine secondary melee combatant. Paladin will also do well in your party, being a better frontline fighter than the cleric, but a worse healer/buffer. Valor Bard is another good option that can heal and fight in melee decently (though it does both worse than the other two classes), but will also bring some skill expertise to the table that your party is otherwise lacking. Any of those options should be a good fit, it just depends on which appeals to you more. Cleric will be the best option for supporting your allies in combat. Bard will be the best option for supporting them out of combat. Paladin will be the best option for acting as a combatant yourself, while still providing a degree of combat support. Which ever of those you think would be the most fun and/or most useful to your team will be a solid choice.

 

[BookBarbarian]

You should definitely play what you want, what calls to you.

That being said the evil DM in me says that party is low on Int without a Wizard. I'd be tempted to toss some Intellect Devourers at them.

 

[Mort]

You should definitely play what you want, what calls to you.

That being said the evil DM in me says that party is low on Int without a Wizard. I'd be tempted to toss some Intellect Devourers at them.

Intellect Devourers are among (if not the) the most under CRd monsters in the game, they're just nasty. When my group was 5th level, I threw 2 at them (by the book an easy encounter for 6 5th level characters). Granted there was some surprise involved, but it was not only not "easy" it was by far the hardest encounter they had up to that point and several levels beyond.

As for the OP question:

I'll joint the chorus of play what you like - it will give you the most enjoyment out of the character.

But if you want input on what the specific party could use? A cleric would be a great addition. They're just so flexible in 5e in addition to the big healing boost. Plus the fact that this party seems sorely lacking on healing capability.