D&D 5E I'm *GASP* Actually Going to Be Playing 5e in a Few Weeks -- What are the Character Creation Pitfalls to Avoid?

[Bigkahuna]

As far as I can tell after 2 years of playing the only class that is unanymously disliked in my group is the Fighter Champion. The adjectives vary from useless, to boring, but ... yeah other than that I have never heard a complaint from my group. Plenty on the forums though but I think my gamers aren't very power gamey so they don't crunch math.

As a GM I think the most baddass build I have seen is a Human Barbarian (using feat start variant) with Greater Weapon Master and a 2 handed great sword. At first level you can potentially do 25 points of damage with that thing and if you go Beserker your able to do multiple attacks. Its kind of crazy. I've seen a 3rd level Barbarian dish out over 100 points of damage in like 3-4 rounds.

 

[S'mon]

As far as I can tell after 2 years of playing the only class that is unanymously disliked in my group is the Fighter Champion. The adjectives vary from useless, to boring, but ... yeah other than that I have never heard a complaint from my group. Plenty on the forums though but I think my gamers aren't very power gamey so they don't crunch math.

As a GM I think the most baddass build I have seen is a Human Barbarian (using feat start variant) with Greater Weapon Master and a 2 handed great sword. At first level you can potentially do 25 points of damage with that thing and if you go Beserker your able to do multiple attacks. Its kind of crazy. I've seen a 3rd level Barbarian dish out over 100 points of damage in like 3-4 rounds.

My Polearm Master GWM (Primeval Thule Slayer path doubles Rage bonus) Barbarian-4 is doing d10+17 & d4+17 (-5, Reckless), with another d10+7 or d10+17 reaction attack on anyone entering his reach. Even at 1st-3rd I reckon Polearm Master's 3 attacks/round beats GWM -5/+10.

 

[CapnZapp]

So, only when a DM deigns to run the game as recommended?

I know our un-scientific ENWorld polls have suggested that's actually rather rare, but still.

That is because that recommendation comes with no mechanical enforcement.

It's bloody hard to whip up story reason after story reason why the party can't just chill, when the game rules almost invite you to rest, proscribing *no* consequences for doing so.

I so wish you all would STOP suggesting "just play 6+ encounters and your balance issues go away" when that suggestion is simply impractical as hell.

 

[CapnZapp]

This whole post reads like an assumption that disadvantage some how equates to failure. Which I find quite at odds with my considerable experiences in play. Countless rolls attempted at disadvantage have managed to succeed in spite of it, by my accounting. Heck, twice in the last year, I can distinctly recall an attack made with disadvantage scoring a critical hit.

But WRT the barbarian here. Where are we getting the base assumption that one trained in Athletics, making a roll with disadvantage, would somehow be worse at it than, say, his wizard, cleric, or rogue ally? He's still, statistically, the best man for the job.

Bounded accuracy people. A first level barbarian has what? A +5 in Athletics? That's more than the statistical penalty disadvantage is applying on most checks.

Disadvantage isn't the end of the world given expected DCs.

It's really very very simple:

If you dislike playing a wuss who's getting all "exhausted" after fights, the berserker simply is a failed class option.

That's it. No ifs, no buts.

 

[Waterbizkit]

I'm short on time, so I'll attempt to keep this brief.

Firstly, play want you want and you're chances of enjoying the game are damn good. There's little in this edition that truly qualifies as a "trap" so the field is wife open for you to play whatever tickles your fancy.

To address the side topic concerning Barbarians, I find that those who dump on the Berserker option: 1) Probably haven't seen one in play over a significant period of time and are more likely theory-crafting to come to their conclusions. 2) Tend to overvalue the Bear Totems damage resistance while simultaneously undervaluing or outright ignoring the Berserkers Mindless Rage. Being able to shrug off both fear and charm is nothing to turn your nose up at, having seen a Berserker do it multiple times to avoid being neutered and conversely seeing a Bear Totem have all of that massive resistance turned on his party members because he couldn't shake the debilitating effects.

Of course your own experiences will vary. Some tables may not necessarily see many enemies that fear or charm the party very often. Regardless, the argument always ends up revolving around Frenzy because rather than looking at the archetypes as a whole, everyone wants to focus in on one or two little bits. Having seen both in play, I think they're both equally good and the choice of which to play should be based on what you like more, not what the Internet wants to theorize about.

Play what you want. Have fun. That's sort of the point right?

 

[ChrisCarlson]

It's really very very simple:

Is it really? Are you sure? That seems very unlikely given the countless, unknowable variables rampant in the TTRPG community and its diverse, unique table-to-table environments. But you go on keepin' on assigning your personal predilections to the entire community at large.

If you dislike playing a wuss who's getting all "exhausted" after fights, the berserker simply is a failed class option.

Hmmm. That's not been my experiences with the class. Maybe you should choose to play it differently? After all, I just looked up the exhaustion rules in the PHB and so no reference to "wuss". Nor does the class option mandate you overuse it. Smarter play could potentially alleviate most of the apparent issues here.

And once more, I will yet again repeat myself by reiterating: Disadvantage does not equal failure. Bounded accuracy, bro. I know. Because I've seen it. In play. At the table. Repeatedly. What have you seen in play to inform you otherwise?

That's it. No ifs, no buts.

Speaking of soft opinions wrapped up to look like hard facts, I thought you didn't wish to respond to me anymore? What happened?

 

[TheLoneRanger1979]

To the OP:

Between a relatively low cap on primary abilities and lots of ASIs (more then any other class in fact), i'd say go for a fighter! Why?

It will give you the most flexible platform to build almost any warrior type you can imagine AND you won't have to plan ahead. Especially if you haven't played DnD before or in a long time. You want to be classical ranger? 5E Fighter can do it. An armored knight? That too! Big bare fist brawler, look no further. You won't be able to mess up from a mechanical PoV too. If starting at 16 of your primary to-hit stat (be it STR or DEX), by level 6 you will have it at 20 and you have the other 4-6 levels for pure fun and experimentation without having to feel guilty how your "sub optimal" choices have doomed the party ;D

If your game allows feats, after level 6 you can go for any that seams like a good fun to you. And again, you'll still hit as good and often as any other. But what kind of fighter you might ask? There are 3 of them. Well, if you don't like to bothered by resource management and just like wacking thing on head consistently, go champion. If you like more brain games go battle master ol eldrich knight. The first one will be more of a tactics dude (if you chose those maneuvers) or a rapid intervention force. The second will suit you better if you are into fighter - mages. But either the champion or battlemaster can be used to simulate other classes, sometimes better then the current classes do it them selves (as mentioned above). So fellow RP-er, go for the fighter and and don't worry too much about it. The class is so flexible you can chose the direction you wanna play it as your character grows and your playing experience mounts!

 

[happyhermit]

...

I so wish you all would STOP suggesting "just play 6+ encounters and your balance issues go away" when that suggestion is simply impractical as hell.

Just play with optional rest rules and your balance issues will go away

It's really very very simple:

If you dislike playing a wuss who's getting all "exhausted" after fights, the berserker simply is a failed class option.

That's it. No ifs, no buts.

I dislike playing a wuss who's getting all "exhausted" after fights.

That doesn't make the berserker "simply a failed class option".

The berserker is not a "wuss" and and they don't get exhausted after "fights", they get exhausted after going into a state beyond what even regular raging barbarian enter.

Making an incredibly weak argument that a class that many people have found to be fun, different, great for roleplay and story telling, and a source of meaningful decisions is "a failed class option" just seems pointlessly argumentative. Fine, you didn't like it, but others do.

 

[77IM]

I'd just like to reiterate that the OP, [MENTION=85870]innerdude[/MENTION], is asking us for trap options to watch out for. The Frenzied Berserker clearly isn't a trap option since a lot of people seem to find it perfectly adequate. The Totem Warrior (with bear totem resistance) may be more powerful (though there's debate about that too) but that's kind of a separate issue as long as Frenzied Berserker is viable, which it clearly is, since people out in the world are doing it and doing great.

 

[Tony Vargas]

That is because that recommendation comes with no mechanical enforcement.

5e has no mechanical enforcement I'm aware of. It has built-in mechanical incentives, certainly. But they're only as strong as they dependable from the players' PoV, and since so many 5e mechanics require DM judgment to function, that's 'not very.'

I so wish you all would STOP suggesting "just play 6+ encounters and your balance issues go away" when that suggestion is simply impractical as hell.

Balance isn't a major goal, if its was a goal at all, of 5e. We got two years of L&Ls telling us about Next and how impossibly wondrous it was going to be. It was going to let you play characters from different editions at different tables, bring about world peace, etc, etc... the only nod 'Balance' ever got was the promise of "Crystal Clear Guidance" as to where it would balance. And it delivered: 6-8 encounters/day w/ 2-3 short rests. If you want balance, you have you prescription - if you don't take the pills, you can't can't sue the doc for malpractice.

If you dislike playing a wuss who's getting all "exhausted" after fights, the berserker simply is a failed class option.

If you dislike playing a bookworm who gets his magical powers from dusty tomes but forgets them when he casts 'em Magic-users were a failed class option. That's just a rather aggressive way of expressing a subjective opinion. But...

I'll grant that it's a little weird how hard it is to recover from exhaustion.

and...

Berserker isn't a failed class, even if we accept your premise. It's a failed sub-class, you could just play a Totem Barbarian, instead. 'Problem' solved.