EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
Alright. My personal taste in games is something I haven't even remotely kept secret--I'm a huge fan of 4e, and I found the 5e playtest profoundly disappointing. However, someone in a skype chat floated a trial balloon for interest in playing a 5e game, and there was fair interest. Since I know the system relatively well, haven't actually played after release, and saw that there might not be quite enough people to make a full group, I figured--hey, why not, I'll try to give it a shot. Maybe I'll end up pleasantly surprised.
The problem is, I'm not entirely sure what to play, class-wise. One of the other players has already got the exact class/subclass pair I'd usually use (Devotion Paladin) because I love Paladins. The next thing I'd like to play straight-up doesn't exist in 5e (Brawling Fighter)--or would be really underpowered and would probably sour my experience of the system, which I'd honestly like to avoid. And...unfortunately, the third thing I'd want to play doesn't exist either, namely Warlord. And no, I do not consider the Battlemaster, no matter what maneuvers or feats it has, to be a "Warlord." I strongly suspect my opinion on that front won't change.
So at this point I'm kind of floundering for what to play. Some things look kind of neat, but they sound like they'd leave me bored when mechanical engagement is important (rather than roleplay or story, which I have no problems engaging with in pretty much any system). For example, the Totem Barbarian has some interesting features, but apart from raging a couple times a day and almost purely passive totem benefits, the Totem Barbarian does...nothing non-combat until 10th level, which we may not even reach (the guy offering to DM has a spotty schedule in my experience). Other things sound like they'd be mechanically engaging, but won't deliver the experience I'd like to have--for instance one of my other go-to class choices, the Sorcerer, looks like it doesn't fight in melee very well at all.
Basically, I want three things:
1. Enough utility effects, in and out of combat, that I feel like I have tools to engage the system regardless of the challenge we're currently facing. Doesn't have to be 'a spell for every problem' or anything nearly so extreme...I just don't want to read my character sheet and wonder, "How little will my presence actually matter, in terms of successfully completing our goals?"
2. Primarily fighting as a melee combatant. I like to be more in the thick of things, rather than picking off enemies from afar, whether by bow or by spell.
3. Something that makes sense for a dragonborn, because I <3 dragonborn (even though they're painfully lackluster in 5e). I'm open to reskinning, but only to a point.
I'm not really looking for "optimization" advice per se, just...trying to get suggestions for where to start thinking about what to play. Thinking of things with a mostly 4e mindset makes it hard to get my bearings. I find myself pining for the INCREDIBLY flavorful early-playtest Sorcerer, that slowly experienced a transformation (from 'mostly caster' to 'mostly warrior') over the course of the day. Alas, that journey was killed before it even got a chance to start.
Also, some potentially useful information, e.g. what people have proposed/stated they want to play:
Devotion Paladin
Shadow Monk (possibly MC Moon Druid--because 'ninja bear' sounds awesome to him)
Bard (not sure which kind)
I don't know what level we're starting at, nor whether we are using a homebrew setting, a home-written campaign in an official setting, or a prewritten adventure path.
The problem is, I'm not entirely sure what to play, class-wise. One of the other players has already got the exact class/subclass pair I'd usually use (Devotion Paladin) because I love Paladins. The next thing I'd like to play straight-up doesn't exist in 5e (Brawling Fighter)--or would be really underpowered and would probably sour my experience of the system, which I'd honestly like to avoid. And...unfortunately, the third thing I'd want to play doesn't exist either, namely Warlord. And no, I do not consider the Battlemaster, no matter what maneuvers or feats it has, to be a "Warlord." I strongly suspect my opinion on that front won't change.
So at this point I'm kind of floundering for what to play. Some things look kind of neat, but they sound like they'd leave me bored when mechanical engagement is important (rather than roleplay or story, which I have no problems engaging with in pretty much any system). For example, the Totem Barbarian has some interesting features, but apart from raging a couple times a day and almost purely passive totem benefits, the Totem Barbarian does...nothing non-combat until 10th level, which we may not even reach (the guy offering to DM has a spotty schedule in my experience). Other things sound like they'd be mechanically engaging, but won't deliver the experience I'd like to have--for instance one of my other go-to class choices, the Sorcerer, looks like it doesn't fight in melee very well at all.
Basically, I want three things:
1. Enough utility effects, in and out of combat, that I feel like I have tools to engage the system regardless of the challenge we're currently facing. Doesn't have to be 'a spell for every problem' or anything nearly so extreme...I just don't want to read my character sheet and wonder, "How little will my presence actually matter, in terms of successfully completing our goals?"
2. Primarily fighting as a melee combatant. I like to be more in the thick of things, rather than picking off enemies from afar, whether by bow or by spell.
3. Something that makes sense for a dragonborn, because I <3 dragonborn (even though they're painfully lackluster in 5e). I'm open to reskinning, but only to a point.
I'm not really looking for "optimization" advice per se, just...trying to get suggestions for where to start thinking about what to play. Thinking of things with a mostly 4e mindset makes it hard to get my bearings. I find myself pining for the INCREDIBLY flavorful early-playtest Sorcerer, that slowly experienced a transformation (from 'mostly caster' to 'mostly warrior') over the course of the day. Alas, that journey was killed before it even got a chance to start.
Also, some potentially useful information, e.g. what people have proposed/stated they want to play:
Devotion Paladin
Shadow Monk (possibly MC Moon Druid--because 'ninja bear' sounds awesome to him)
Bard (not sure which kind)
I don't know what level we're starting at, nor whether we are using a homebrew setting, a home-written campaign in an official setting, or a prewritten adventure path.