Half-orc Paladin MC

[michaeljpastor]

I'm a blue book veteran of D&D new to 5e, doing research for a new character, and feeling nooby all over again.

Ive never played any type of fighter - always a caster, rogue or bow wielder. So i can't get away from some sort of magic wielder completely. After some thought i went with half-orc paladin who is fighting to rescue other half-orcs and create a nation of noble warriors who at most are mercenaries. Then i thought, well that all seems a bit Klingonish, which i later found out was a pretty common story and sentiment both. It was either back to the drawing board or go with it and im going with it regardless.

So my real question is my eventual multiclass choice, and the two other CH based casters i keep considering are sorcerer (wild mage) and warlock (and possibly hexblade, but im seeing a conflict of loyalties there - he doesn't need any more, really). If i really wanted to embrace the klingon archetype and have fun, picking bard and singing klingony opera would be a blast, but i hate the spell list. Plus, i want to become the legend, not sing about others LOL. Maybe waaay down the road ill tack it on.

So some guidance of choice would be helpful. That includes alignment and deities - I'd prefer to not be evil.

 

[bedir than]

Why are you desiring to multiclass?

 

[aco175]

You have several 3rd level paths you can take without multiclassing.

I would picture a sorcerer more a noble/good type over a warlock, but this is just my opinion.

 

[Immortal Sun]

You could probably get spells and do battle just by being a battle cleric, they cover the job pretty well in 5E.

Also: Bards can totally sing about themselves. Tales of your Heroic Deeds* are exactly what you companions need to hear to inspire them to battle.


*Heroic deeds may or may not have actually happened. Bard does not assume responsibility for the belief that anything he says is actually true. If you experience Heroism for more than 4 hours, please consult your Druid.

 

[Kobold Stew]

First, welcome to the boards. We hope you like it here. Have some XP for lurking for ten years before your first post! That's a record, surely.

In my opinion, you shouldn't think about multiclassing at least until level 6. That's when Aura of Protection comes online, and you (and your party) wants that as soon as possible.

Then look at the level 7 feature for your Oath, and decide if you want that. For me, the spell resistance aura of Oath of the Ancients is also too good to miss out on (and then you may look to the ASI at 8, and the level 3 spells at 9; the Aura of Courage at 10, and the extra 1d8 melee damage every attack at 11...). Really, Paladins have a really good run there, and you need to choose when you bail out.

But if you start with Paladin 6, and then start getting Sorcerer levels you have ranged cantrips at 1, quicken spell at 3 (for your Bonus actions), and quickened Haste at 5. That would take you to level 11.

At that point, you will have a feel for whether you want more spells, or want to jump back into the Paladin track.

This would work for any alignment, and you don't need to choose a deity if you don't wish to.

You'll want to keep a hand free to cast spells, so consider Great Weapon Fighting at Paladin 2 (or just defense).

Hope this helps!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Why do you want to multiclass in the first place?

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

I'm a blue book veteran of D&D new to 5e, doing research for a new character, and feeling nooby all over again.

Ive never played any type of fighter - always a caster, rogue or bow wielder. So i can't get away from some sort of magic wielder completely. After some thought i went with half-orc paladin who is fighting to rescue other half-orcs and create a nation of noble warriors who at most are mercenaries. Then i thought, well that all seems a bit Klingonish, which i later found out was a pretty common story and sentiment both. It was either back to the drawing board or go with it and im going with it regardless.

So my real question is my eventual multiclass choice, and the two other CH based casters i keep considering are sorcerer (wild mage) and warlock (and possibly hexblade, but im seeing a conflict of loyalties there - he doesn't need any more, really). If i really wanted to embrace the klingon archetype and have fun, picking bard and singing klingony opera would be a blast, but i hate the spell list. Plus, i want to become the legend, not sing about others LOL. Maybe waaay down the road ill tack it on.

Firstly, I would echo the others who are asking what you are multiclassing for. Knowing what you want to gain out of MCing will give a better idea of the best ways to get whatever it is.

If you want to go Sorceror, you might want to look at Divine Soul rather than Wild Magic.
If you want to go Hexblade, there does not have to be a conflict of loyalties. Perhaps there is an "Excalibur" equivalent weapon that would be a symbol of worthiness to half-orcs everywhere and aligns itself to the character's goals for example.

So some guidance of choice would be helpful. That includes alignment and deities - I'd prefer to not be evil.

What setting are you playing in?
Remember that Paladins don't need a deity. They may have sworn their oath to other things: Ancestor spirits, their lord or family, even just screamed it into the firmament as a whole.

(Actually, I can see a half-orc rejecting the gods as a whole because he sees the orc gods as failing the race by perpetuating their savagery rather than letting them rise, and the other gods for not stepping in.)

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Paladin/sorcerer(favoured soul) is a nice combo. Favoured soul gives you access to cleric AND sorcerer spells which is pretty awesome for a Paladin. You basically are taking spells from three classes (although some Paladin and Cleric spells overlap)

That said, straight paladin gives you spell casting and lots of cool auras. The advantage of Sorcerer is more spell slots for smiting orc-hating evil doers.

How long will the campaign go? After 6th or 7th level Paladin, it will feel like a slow treck in the mid levels as your sorcerer levels only net you low level spell slots and not much more. By 12th, (5th or 6th level sorcerer), you will start picking up steam.

IF you stay at 6th level paladin, you get access to 9th level slots(17th level caster) and 7th level spells at 20th (if you think you will play that long). You can get teleport and raise dead etc...

But straight Paladin would give you what you want too.

 

[Blue]

So my real question is my eventual multiclass choice, and the two other CH based casters i keep considering are sorcerer (wild mage) and warlock (and possibly hexblade, but im seeing a conflict of loyalties there - he doesn't need any more, really).

Unlike in some earlier editions, multiclassing is not only not the only path to a powerful build, but it's somethign where you need to work to make sure you don't accidentally shoot yourself in the foot.

You can definitely make good multiclassed characters, and Paladin / Sorcerer is a classic, with Paladin / Warlock also workable. But a straight Paladin is also in the front part of the power curve and will also serve you fine.

There are a lot of people asking "why do you want to multiclass" and that's the question of the hour. What do you specifically want to get out of it? Ranged options? More spell slots for Divine Smite? Higher level slots for spellcasting? Utility?

Here's some contradictory pieces of advice:

1. Stay straight paladin. There's a cost of opportunity to multiclassing and paladins really do get a lot of stuff. They also get some great spells which you can't pick as spells known except with paladin casting levels.

2. Grab a single early level of sorcerer or warlock (hexblade). Taking sorcerer as your first level could get you CON saves which are good for keeping Concentration on spells, but won't give you heavy armor and with a STR-based Half-Orc it's probably the route you want to take. the CHR-to-attack part of Hexblade isn't all that useful either, but was so the Shield would be on your list - a very useful spell for melee. (It's already on your sorc list). Also both get the melee cantrips from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide that will increase your melee damage and give cool effects, though aren't compatible with extra attack which you get at Paladin 5.

3. Stay paladin until well established - it's a long road - and then multiclass. Well established - well, 5th is extra attack, 6th is the minimum for your signature aura. Not before then. 7th is your subclass aura which could be quite nice. If you're already 7th you don't want to miss you ASI at 8th, that's one of the ways to accidentally shoot yourself in the foot. Then you have the choice of saying in to get your level 11 power bump or not (and the ASI at 12th, 11 -> 12 gives you a full caster level when multiclassing).

3a. Sorcerer will give you higher level slots, for actual casting. Twin spell, good CON, and you can buff yourself and an ally quite nicely to accentuate your paladin abilities. Remember that you can only pick spells known that JUST your sorcerer levels would grant, so you'll have slots well above what you know spells for. You can upcast but you'll not have higher level spells for a long time. Sorcerer is the long haul - it gives you enough to start that you don't really regret not taking more paladin levels too much, but gets better once you have 5, 7 or more levels of it. If your campaign won't realistically go past the pre-teens, this doesn't give as much. If it will definitely go to 20, this might be the way to go.

3b. Warlock gives a whole different casting mechanism. It doesn't add to your paladin slots, it adds a separate track fo them that comes back with a short rest. 3 levels of warlock give you invocations, patron, pact, and two 2nd level spells slots per short rest for divine smite (+3d8 radiant damage) or casting. This will give you a quicker pay-off then sorcerer but doesn't have as much top-side potential for synergizing with paladin - so if you are going to end pre-teen or early teens that will give more, if you're going to 20 sorcerer will surpass. But rememebr, you still have to play it all the way up, so maybe that's okay - get your power to play with for more of the campaign even if it's not quite as powerful at the end.

Hexblade has it's curse which is nice, especially with the Half-Orc racial and both synergize nicely with Oath of Vengance (and the Great Weapon Fighting feat). But that's very "one foe" focused. Other oaths have a lot of good things in them, whcih may lead you to other patrons. The Fiend gives temp HP on every kill which can just keep you going. Celestial (from Xanathar's Guide to Everything) gives you bonus action healing. At 3rd, while Pact of the Blade seems intuitive, Pact of the Chain can give you a familiar that can use the Help action to grant advantage during combat.

 

[CTurbo]

I wholeheartedly recommend you stick to single class Paladin. The 5e Paladin is just really REALLY strong on it's own. You'll get something great at pretty much every level all the way up to a Capstone that ranges from really good to damn near broken depending on which Oath you choose.