D&D 5E Help! What should I play?

[EroGaki]

I find myself in a bind. I am joining a game later today and still haven't decided on a character. The party consists of a Necromancer Wizard, Light Cleric, Shadow Monk, Assassin Rogue, and a ranged Archer Ranger.

So clearly a tank/melee character is in order.

However, I find myself unable to narrow down what type of character to play. I generally find fighters to be...dull. Ability wise, I can't help but feel distaste for a character who's only good at hitting things. That being said, if anyone can present an interesting twist to what i consider a dull class, I'd love to hear it.

I'm more inclined towards some kind of gish build; if I'm going to hit things, it would be nice to have some magic to make it fun.

We rolled our stats, and mine are: 16, 14, 13, 12, 12, 12.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'm kind of hurting for a character concept, and would hate to show up to teh gaming table without a character.

 

[Aoirorentsu]

The fighter in my party is awesome. First of all, the Eldritch Knight exists for all your gish-building needs. The battlemaster fighter has lots of tactical flexibility. Both are effective and fun at the table.

A Paladin is a good option - they have lots of flavor. Just think about what a person would be like if they devoted themselves so strongly to an ideal that their devotion got them magical powers.

In general, for the reasons you mention, where pure tanks and fighters really shine is in their personality. Who are these people in a magic-using and terrible monster-infested world who not only take on these challenges, but do so mostly through the strength of their sword arm and their wits. It's really a cool thing to think about...

Maybe your fighter is also pretty smart (ala Roy from Order of the Stick) and survives in a world of magic users by being two steps ahead; maybe your paladin pretends to serve one god but really serves another, slightly more sinister deity (this worked beautifully at my table for over a year before the other players figured it out - now that character is one of the main villains of the campaign).

As always, a character is only as fun as the way you play them. Good luck!

 

[Kobold Stew]

Have you played a fighter in 5e? It's worth trying -- the Battlemaster has a lot of options, and (for me) is more fun, with more options, than any fighter I have played.

Is there a race you've always liked to play? Almost anything can be made to work with the fighter, esp. with no suboptimal stats. Half-elf, Half-orc, Halfling, Human? Does anything spark your imagination?

What about backgrounds? For me one of the most robust features of 5e is the backgrounds. Flip through the pages, and see if there's anything that sparks something. Criminal? Sage? Acolyte? Outlander?

For me part of the fn comes in having a race/background and making it work with the class you want. Really, almost anything can be made to work, and the Battlemaster lets you have great combat effectiveness.

 

[Celtavian]

The paladin or a paladin/fighter could be fun. If you build a sword and board defensive fighter, you can do some interesting things. Take Eldritch Knight and you can take shield allowing you to boost your AC quite high a few times a day. You get smiting, LOH, and can plan out an interesting build.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

If you want a "tanky gish," it's...very hard to do worse than a Paladin. You have spells, and lots of them are specifically about making things hurt--much more focused on spell-sourced melee damage than the Eldritch Knight. Your oaths are arguably* the least controlling and best spelled-out they've ever been, compared to 3e or before which makes them substantially more flexible than you might think. You've still got the stereotypical "knight in shining armor" type, Devotion, but Ancients and Vengeance both provide interesting and flavorful twists on the classic idea too. Depending on your group's and DM's styles, you can kick just as much butt as the Fighter, without the overhead of maneuvers or extra attacks--smiting at least reads very simple, and (unless you use it when an enemy's already near death, but that's a problem with any expendable damage resource). You even get a moderately decent selection of spells, for those times you don't need to get Smite-happy P), and some of the Oaths take it another step further.

And this is coming from someone who was disappointed in the 5e Paladin. (Though you should probably take that with a grain of salt; the analogy that comes to mind is that the 5e Paladin is a good vegetarian meal for someone who came in specifically wanting meat.)

*I say "arguably" because, well, 4e technically didn't have oaths at all, and technically didn't require any specific behavior other than starting out with the same alignment as your deity. Both are very freeing compared to the nebulous catch-22 oaths of yesteryear, just in different ways. But, as with a lot of things, 5e and 4e take sufficiently different stances that it's difficult to really compare them, hence the "compared to 3e or before."

Edit:
Another option, if you have a DM amenable to custom subclass creation, would be to try to work out an "Oath of the Stars"/"Mage-knight" subclass, something akin to the 3e Knight of the Weave prestige class. That is, a subclass that gives a slightly more Wizardly bent, perhaps adding classic combat-oriented spells, with a utility here or there, via the Oath spell list. Weaving together some of the other anti-mage related subclass features, plus a custom CD and some kind of capstone, and you'd have pretty much everything you need--Paladins get most of their goodies from the base class (and Oath spells, I suppose).

 

[Wednesday Boy]

What does the party do? Do they have specific quests or pursuits? What is the demeanor or dynamic of the group?

 

[Tony Vargas]

So clearly a tank/melee character is in order.
I generally find fighters to be...dull. Ability wise, I can't help but feel distaste for a character who's only good at hitting things....
I'm more inclined towards some kind of gish build; if I'm going to hit things, it would be nice to have some magic to make it fun.

Multi-classing may be an option (ask your DM). There are several tank-ish classes - Fighter, Barbarian, and Paladin, at a minimum, arguably Moon Druid, and you could force the issue with other oddball builds, I'm sure. There is a totem Barbarian, with a few magical tricks. The fighter has the EK option which has more limited casting than a Paladin or Ranger or evenly-advancing Multi-class, and remains very focused on DPR. The Paladin has peak DPR via smites, is fairly tanky, & adds supplemental healing and casting.

I'd recommend Paladin, if you think you'd enjoy RPing one of the "Oaths."

Moon Druid if you want a more 'interesting' (not at all traditional, some system-mastery required) take on 'tanking' for your party.

 

[Remathilis]

I find myself in a bind. I am joining a game later today and still haven't decided on a character. The party consists of a Necromancer Wizard, Light Cleric, Shadow Monk, Assassin Rogue, and a ranged Archer Ranger.

So clearly a tank/melee character is in order.

Hmmm... interesting combination. A few other questions.

1.) General alignment tendencies. A Necromancer, a shadow monk, and an assassin seem to screw evilish or at least shady, while a light cleric seems... odd man out here. (The ranger could skew either way). A paladin of devotion could be a real buzz-kill to an evil-leaning party, or it could be the balancing factor between light and dark.

2.) The group has amazing stealth potential. Nobody is heavy armored, and three PCs have stealth as a primary focus. A full-tank might ruin a group that emphasizes stealth or mobility.

My first thought was for an eldritch knight: good tanking (medium armor + dex), fairly neutral, and a good self-buffer. Can go stealthy (if thats a factor) via magic or skill, and can even nova if needed.

 

[Gadget]

Have you looked at Barbarian? Good tank, can stealth with the right combo, not as reliant on Heavy Armor, a sub class with some supernatural abilities...The list goes on.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

As the group seems on the dark side, you can either go Barbarian (Hulk Smash!) which might fit in with lightly armoured, stealthy ne'er-do-welling; or go full on lantern jawed LG Paladin who conflicts with the shady aspects of the rest of the party. You know, for the lolz. But Half Orc fighter would work well too. As said before, fighters are all about the RP.