D&D 5E Challenge: optimize my gnome paladin...

[faria]

I want to make a forest gnome Oath of the Ancients paladin who rides forest animals into battle with a wooden spear and wooden shield.

I know I'll need Mounted Combat at some point. I was looking at Inspiring Leader too to make myself more "useful" to the group, since I'm already nerfing myself. Maybe max CHR and go Protection school too?

Black bears and panthers seem like the best mounts for a gnome. Correct me if I'm wrong!

I could use some help with this character...

 

[pdegan2814]

For a Gnome? Black Bear seems too large. I'd lean more towards a Mastiff. A panther might be alright size-wise, but they want to be leaping and pouncing and climbing trees, they're a lot less likely to put up with a rider(I mean c'mon, they're CATS). A dog is going to be closer to a size-appropriate "horse-like" mount, I would guess. The Monster Manual entry for the Mastiff explicitly says that Halflings and other "Small" humanoids can ride them as mounts. If you have a generous DM, and can come up with the right story to make it work, you might even get away with using a standard Wolf. Other "Medium" sized beasts might also be possible, if you can come up with a way to get one that's friendly and trainable.

 

[Voort]

1. Skip the spear, use a lance. It's a d12 reach weapon that even a small PC can use one-handed while mounted.

2. Convince another PC to let you ride them into battle. You can be stabbing from a barbarian's shoulders, or mounted on a druid mid-charge. The mounted combatant feat will let you tank for a melee character by riding them.

 

[mellored]

Nothing wrong with a gnome paladin. You're basically immune to spells at level 6.

Which may be a tactic. Charge in, get your self surrounded, then get a bard to cast hypnotic pattern over you.

 

[Miladoon]

1. Skip the spear, use a lance. It's a d12 reach weapon that even a small PC can use one-handed while mounted.

2. Convince another PC to let you ride them into battle. You can be stabbing from a barbarian's shoulders, or mounted on a druid mid-charge. The mounted combatant feat will let you tank for a melee character by riding them.

Agree. An armored-up gnome on the back of a web-slinging large spider is a pretty cool visual.

 

[Quartz]

Can a small character use a full-sized lance?

 

[mellored]

Can a small character use a full-sized lance?

Yes.

They cannot use heavy weapons. Lances aren't heavy (apparently).

 

[Quartz]

Black bears and panthers seem like the best mounts for a gnome. Correct me if I'm wrong!

What about a giant weasel?

 

[faria]

PC Mount:
I like the idea of riding a PC and using Mounted Combatant to tank for them. It might mean I can't use Lance though because it gets disadvantage once within a 5ft range...unless the PC also has a reach weapon... Or...ooh! I have an idea! I can get the Shield Master feat so I can bonus attack shove the enemy into 10ft range, and then attack with my Lance!!! Should I get Shield Master before Mounted Combatant to negate all those disadvantaged attacks? Note: Mounted Combatant's advantage WOULD cancel it out too, but that only applies to enemies smaller than my (probably) Medium-sized mount...

Animal Mount:
If we stick to an animal mount (or if the PCs complain), then what's the optimal choice? What about a Giant Frog for the swallow ability or a Giant Crab for the grapple?

Tactics:
I like the idea of running into the middle of a group of enemies and having a bard/wizard cast Hypnotic Pattern or some other AOE (because of my racial and class bonuses diminishing magical affects on me). Sounds like a solid tactic, but wouldn't the magic affect my mount? Interesting question: is there a magic resistant mount? I don't think this is a good idea with a PC mount... Then again, Aura of Warding gives resistance to damage and Aura of Protection gives resistance to effects... Protection fighting style would be useless though because I'm already getting the Mounted Combatant bonus that lets me take damage instead. What's a better fighting style?

Feats:
Are Shield Master and Mounted Combatant the only feats I need? Is it worth getting Sentinel with a Lance? Most of the bonuses are within 5ft... How about Inspiring Leader? I'm guessing by the time I pick up a 3rd feat at level 12, Inspiring Leader's usefulness has worn off because it doesn't scale very well... Are there any maneuvers worth picking up from Martial Adept? Maneuvering Attack sounds useful with a PC mount, but doesn't stack well with Shield Master's shove... Any other feats worth considering or should I just focus on capping STR>CON/CHR when I hit 12?

 

[mellored]

You want to carry a sword as well as a lance either way.

Paladins can use find steed, which has "While mounted on your steed, you can make any spell you cast that targets only you also target your steed." So you can readily get yourself surrounded for hypnotic pattern. Mounted combat works for melee attacks, making your mount untouchable.

Inspiring leader scales fine. +1 per level upto 6 allies (probably including your mount) * 2 short rest. It's a top feat. Shield master will help allies blast you with fireball, but resilience Con would as well. And sentinel helps keep you surrounded. Of course, +2 Cha or +2 Str would also be useful.