D&D 5E What Class would be best?

[laughinggas]

So my DM is the kind that wants to make it very difficult for the players. He is constantly trying to instill fear that he is trying to kill us. With that said and a need to make a new character I was seeking help to figure out what best would help the party.

We roll 4d6 drop lowest. We are allowed multiple times (within reason) but when we decide to re-roll we lose the prior stat set. My first roll I got the following:

17, 17, 17, 10, 8, 7

Our party consists of an open palm monk, divination wizard, war cleric, arcane thief, and GOO tome warlock. Everyone but the warlock dumped charisma and the warlock is only proficient at deception.

Our monk and cleric have 18 AC, the Rogue has 15 AC, the warlock and wizard try to stay out of melee.

I was thinking of playing a character with intimidate or persuasion or both and possibly going polearm for the ridiculous lockdown in combat.

a few questions:
1) Should I try re-rolling for better stats? I would even be fine with the 3rd 17 being a 14 and upping the 10 to a 12 but we are not allowed to fudge stats.

2) what would be the best class to help supplement our current party? If polearm shenanigans would greatly help us in combat, what is the best chasis to deliver it? (I would want to shy away from Battle Master if I could since I just came from 1)

Materials available is PHB, EE, SCAG, and all Unearthed Arcana.

 

[Li Shenron]

Just choose any martial type: Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin or Ranger.

You could also play a non-martial class and give it a more martial bent via subclasses and other details (Druid of the Moon, Valor Bard...).

But don't think too much about filling the gaps precisely. The game is better when the party is not good at everything. In addition, the other players chose freely, so why shouldn't you?

 

[laughinggas]

Okay, a couple things i forgot but Druids and Paladins are not allowed for story reasons, Race-wise only tieflings and aasamir have been stated as not allowed again for story reasons.

The reason I do not feel free to choose whatever is because I feel a compulsion to fill a need. My first character was a warforged ranged battlemaster and it didn't fill any role but now that the campaign is under way the compulsion is back.

The 2 different ideas I thought would be fun is either having a crazy pole arm build (using tunnel fighting style) for unlimited AoOs.

The other was using booming blade as an AoO on a tempest cleric but it seemed too feat intensive (i wanted to again use a polearm).

Also, I like to power game and create the best possible character I can but still enjoy the role playing side of things. I just think very mechanically and get excited for combinations of abilities.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Keep them! If you have a fightery niche and you want to fill it (very important), go Fighter. I'd be tempted to go Human and put all your 17s in physical stats and the 10 in Wis.

 

[akr71]

It sounds like your party could use a tank. The monk and cleric have good AC's, but if you throw someone up front with a good AC and high HP, the rest of the party has a little bit of room to do what they need to (sneak, throw spells, buff, whatever). So I would vote for Fighter, Barbarian or Paladin. While raging barbarian can be quite intimidating, you'll need to put those 17's elsewhere - no big deal though. Use your ASI on your charisma as you level up. If you where heavy armor, you don't really need a high Dex, so the Fighter can intimidate or be quick - your choice.

If it were me, I would do as follows
Fighter S17 D17 or 10 C17 I7 W8 Ch10 or 17
Paladin S17 D10 C17 I7 W8 Ch17
Barbarian S17 D17 C17 I7 W8 Ch10

A human barbarian would end up S18 D18 C18 I8 W9 Ch11 Not to shabby!
The fighter could be S18 D11 C18 I8 W9 Ch18 Also pretty impressive out of the gate.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Half-orc Barbarian? 19/18/17 physical stats, which becomes 20/18/18 at 4th level? What's not to love?

Screw social skills....if none of the other people are willing to "cover" them you don't have to take one for the team. It could be fun to be constantly flubbing the diplomacy.

 

[laughinggas]

Half-orc Barbarian? 19/18/17 physical stats, which becomes 20/18/18 at 4th level? What's not to love?

Screw social skills....if none of the other people are willing to "cover" them you don't have to take one for the team. It could be fun to be constantly flubbing the diplomacy.

I was thinking about it. Thing is I am one of the more vocal players. Of the 6 of us, 2 are new to P&P RPGs in general and another is just playing a passive character who speaks rarely.

If I went Barbarian, I would see if my DM would let me use STR instead of CHA for intimidation checks so I could do something socially.

 

[KahlessNestor]

Tou can cover front line tank AND social witj a moon druid. Dump those 17s in your mental stats, or maybe one in dex instead of Int, and go to town with wild shaping and Sentinel, if you want.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Okay, a couple things i forgot but Druids and Paladins are not allowed for story reasons, Race-wise only tieflings and aasamir have been stated as not allowed again for story reasons.

Ouch--that sucks. A Paladin could kick all kinds of butt with those stats. Drop the 7 in Int and the 8 in Dex (or Str, if going for a Dex build instead), pump Cha/Con/Str and you'd be golden; play as a Half-Elf to start with 19 Cha and 18 Str/Con...yeah that would've been juicy as heck. Too bad!

Valor Bard may a good choice, if your Cleric and Monk think they can take the heat. You'll be squishy for the first few levels until you get Medium armor, but you'll be able to dabble in pretty much everything the other party members can do. Or if you choose to go Lore Bard instead, you can be the king of the skills as a Half-Elf: JoAT on all checks you aren't proficient with, and a whopping 10 skills at level 3 (3 from Bard, 2 from Half-Elf, 2 from background, and 3 more from College of Lore), plus some Expertise on top. Go +2 Cha/+1 Dex/+1 Con and you'll be a relatively formidable combatant, you'll have solid HP, and your spells will be potent at early levels. Come level 4, take +1 Cha, +1 to your 7 stat, and you're sitting pretty; the rest of your ASIs can be spent as you like, whether to boost Dex to 20, get rid of pesky negative scores (though JoAT solves most of that problem), or to get some tasty feat that lets you do something ridiculous (not entirely sure what that would be for either kind of Bard, but there are guides out there you can check out for advice). Even for a mediocre-Str Valor Bard, Grappling (and shoving) is an option, due to Expertise.

Alternatively, with such killer stats, you may consider playing an ubertank Barbarian; you can easily start with 19 Str/19 Con/17 Dex as a Mountain Dwarf, and by level 4 you can have max Str/Con. Level 8, you can pick up Resilient (Dex) to give yourself two really good saves and 18 Dex, and (if the game lasts that long) level 12 gives you maxed out physical ability scores. From there, you can shore up your weak mental scores, or double down on combat-prowess feats. The Bear Totem (at level 3) gives you resistance to all damage (except psychic) while Raging, which makes you incredibly beefy--especially when paired with your crazy-high AC (10+4+3 = 17 without a shield!) and monstrous HP (16+11+11 = 38 HP at level 3, good gracious!) You may do a little less damage early on, as most of your ASIs will be needed to punch Str, Con, and Dex to the max (because you, unlike most, can DO that) but you'll be nigh unstoppable on the battlefield unless the enemy fields lots of Wis or Cha saves. But that's what the ninnies in robes are for!

The game is better when the party is not good at everything.

[citation needed]

 

[laughinggas]

Tou can cover front line tank AND social witj a moon druid. Dump those 17s in your mental stats, or maybe one in dex instead of Int, and go to town with wild shaping and Sentinel, if you want.

We are not allowed to play Druids or Paladins due to story reasons.