D&D 5E A bit of help with a Fochluclan Lyrist in 5e

[TheDeadPoet]

Hey

I have recently come up with an invitation to do Descent into Avernus as a player. I'm used to DM a lot and this will be a blast I am sure. I am looking for a bit of advice into how I should plan the future how this weird multiclass I came up with and what I could do to improve it as of now also.

GOALS :

1 -Being a primary grappler, so a good damage migitation.

2 - A secondary support that adds a lot of small pieces to help out in various tasks.

3 - Good damage so we do not get ignored by the mobs.

4 - Key off magic spells to help us fight as a melee combatant (mostly in Wild Shape form).

Wood Elf with Point Buy :
Strenght 13
Dexterity 14
Constitution 14
Intelligence 13 (19 with headband of intellect)
Wisdom 14
Charisma 9

As for magic items the character will start with is Bracers of defence, Ring of protection, Headband of intellect.

The character starts off as a level 6 hybrid with 3 classes.

1 - Barbarian 1. We get Constitution saves, 12 hit points as a starter, 2 rage per day and some nice proficiencies. Unarmored defense will also provide a good AC calculation alternative for Wild Shape and regular form.

2 - Druid 1. My first dip. Longstrider, Faerie Fire and Healing Word are what I mostly prepare.

3 - Druid 2. Circle of the moon. Wild Shaping will be our primary mean to tank. Brown Bear is an excellent bruiser. At this level, we mostly rely on rage and wild shape to makes us a tanky as possible, which is probably one of the best ways to do so in the game in my opinion at this particular early stage. I would prepare Entangle on top of my initial 3 druid spells.

4 - Wizard 1. Our second dip. The main goal of this is to get Extra Attack at 6 and Bladesong at 2. Wizard spells are a big tool to help us become a more large grappler or to get a reliable source of advantage through Find Familiar. Shield, Silent Image, Grease, Detect Magic, Tasha's Hideous Laughter and Find Familiar.

5 - Wizard 2. We get our Bladesong, lets us add our Intelligence (+ 4) to our ACand get advantages on concentration checks. The + 10 feet part is also nice. Alarm and Detect Magic.

6 - Wizard 3. Enlarge/Reduce and Mirror Image.

As a bear we have an AC of 20 (my DM let Headband, Bracers and Ring meld into a bear form so that the bear can equip them. You can expect DM variance here).

I don't have a feat yet and I do not know what to aim at. I could also replace the Ring of protection with another magic item if I want (I don't own all of them but trading is an option in AL).

Thanks for reading my post. I'd like to read your take on what I am trying to build. Cheers.

TheDeadPoet

 

[tommybahama]

I don't know about the multiclassing, but I can say from experience that you should never grapple with a barbed devil.

 

[Salthorae]

Well - one thing I'd throw in there is that you can't cast or concentrate on spells while Raging. So any spells you want up while in melee need to be cast both before you wild shape and can't be concentration. That leaves out Enlarge/Reduce, though Mirror Image is still possible.

No shield while raging or in wild shape.

 

[RogueJK]

Personally, I think you're trying to do way too much, and aren't going to be able to do anything well.

In addition to the conflicts pointed out by Salthorae above, understand that Wild Shape is very level-dependent. It requires focusing on your Druid levels to remain competitive. (And even then, Wild Shape tend to lag a little bit in power in mid-level play.)

If you were only going to be playing a strictly low-level campaign that would end at Level 5, then a build like this dipping 2 levels of Moon Druid would be fine. But Avernus goes all the way to Level 13ish. That CR 1 Brown Bear form from your 2 level Druid dip might be useful at Level 3, but won't be very useful at Level 7 or 9 or 13.

So a more optimal path would be to decide which you want more, and focus on that... If you're more interested in being a Wild Shape Grappler, drop the Bladesinger levels and just be a Moon Druid with a 1 level Barbarian dip, or just a straight Moon Druid. Otherwise, if you're more interested in wanting a flavorful mix of Nature and Arcane magic, you should consider something like a Bladesinger with a 2-3 level Ranger dip or a 1 level Nature Cleric dip, or a Land Druid or Nature Cleric with a 2 level Bladesinger dip. Or just roleplay it, and be something like a straight Bladesinger with some of your Arcane spells reflavored to have a Nature-style bent, plus taking Nature and Survival skill proficiencies.

 

[Salthorae]

Or just roleplay it, and be something like a straight Bladesinger with some of your Arcane spells reflavored to have a Nature-style bent, plus taking Nature and Survival skill proficiencies.

There is also feats to get some Druid flavor without spending levels on it, though that is a drop of the whole grappling/wild shaping trope.

Feats to take:

• Magic Initiate (Druid): 2 cantrips + 1x 1st level spell
• Ritual Caster (Druid)
• Wood Elf Magic: +1 druid cantrip, and you learn longstrider & pass without trace

With those three feats, the right skills/background, and RP you can do a great nature/arcane blend.

If the wildshape/grappling is the more important idea, then... I agree that dropping wizard/bladesinger or maybe doing that flavor with feats in teh other direction are a good idea.

I get wanting the Int to AC, but... I'm not sure it's worth the bang for your buck.

 

[RogueJK]

I get wanting the Int to AC, but... I'm not sure it's worth the bang for your buck.

It's definitely not worth delaying your Wild Shape progression by several levels.

A Moon Druid delaying their Wild Shape and spell progression by 1 level for a dip into Barbarian/Monk for an Unarmored Defense boost to their Wild Shape AC is worth it. Any dip going beyond 1 level is not worth it, in anything but a strictly low level campaign.

For example a Barbarian1/Moon Druid 2/Bladesinger 2 could be a nifty 5th level character. If one were doing a 5th level one-shot adventure, I'd totally try it. But it'll be severely hampered as you progress beyond 5th in a long-running campaign. (And Descent Into Avernus in particular tops out at 13th level.)

 

[the Jester]

I've made a custom bard Fochluchan College, which basically gives the bard some wild shape abilities. If you're interested, I'll be happy to post the details.

 

[TheDeadPoet]

I've made a custom bard Fochluchan College, which basically gives the bard some wild shape abilities. If you're interested, I'll be happy to post the details.

Since it is Adventurer's League stuff, it would not be allowed. Also, I can emulate what they were through Bladesinger and Druid (or Druid/Bard).

 

[TheDeadPoet]

There is also feats to get some Druid flavor without spending levels on it, though that is a drop of the whole grappling/wild shaping trope.

Feats to take:

• Magic Initiate (Druid): 2 cantrips + 1x 1st level spell
• Ritual Caster (Druid)
• Wood Elf Magic: +1 druid cantrip, and you learn longstrider & pass without trace

With those three feats, the right skills/background, and RP you can do a great nature/arcane blend.

If the wildshape/grappling is the more important idea, then... I agree that dropping wizard/bladesinger or maybe doing that flavor with feats in teh other direction are a good idea.

I get wanting the Int to AC, but... I'm not sure it's worth the bang for your buck.

The Int to AC in Wild Shape is basically what allows the Brown Bear to scale pretty decently into the mid-game without a lot in Druid.

I'm currently looking at + 4 AC from Intelligence,+ 2 AC from Bracers of defence and + 3 AC from the Constitution from Bear. 19 AC as a Brown Bear is not too shabby, considering it's where I'll get my+ 4 Strenght modifier for grappling.

Also, I should emphasize that Extra Attack is worth a lot as a grappler/tank. The Wild Shape grappler still wants it. It's a weird build, I know. I can replace the whole Bladesinger with Valor bard, but I'd be losing Enlarge (which is a critical spell for grappling in mid-game). Not sure if losing Enlarge is worth for so long.

 

[TheDeadPoet]

It's definitely not worth delaying your Wild Shape progression by several levels.

A Moon Druid delaying their Wild Shape and spell progression by 1 level for a dip into Barbarian/Monk for an Unarmored Defense boost to their Wild Shape AC is worth it. Any dip going beyond 1 level is not worth it, in anything but a strictly low level campaign.

For example a Barbarian1/Moon Druid 2/Bladesinger 2 could be a nifty 5th level character. If one were doing a 5th level one-shot adventure, I'd totally try it. But it'll be severely hampered as you progress beyond 5th in a long-running campaign. (And Descent Into Avernus in particular tops out at 13th level.)

Barb 1/Druid 6/Bladesinger 6

That was my final idea of where I wanted the chatacter. I think Brown Bear with all these features can actually be more relevant then you think it could be. If you're getting hit a lot, then the job is getting done in a sense. Sure the bear can pop out in no time, but you have two forms for tough combats.

The form still has 19 AC and a possibility to rage. The party already has enough casters. I just don't want to do a regular tank with PAM and Sentinel.