D&D 5E New campaign - give me your opinion (Light Cleric)

[kkmonk]

Hey guys
I'm new here and also new to D&D. Did not play any previous editions.
We did make a one-shot LvL 5, where i played a drow warlock, which was pretty cool.
Now we've made a session 0 with some "DM-generated" chars to get into the story.
Next week we start with the campaign with our own chars, and i've made my sheet now.
Please give me your opinion about it, any tips 'n tricks are welcome (critic also!).

Group-Frame:
DM (He want to let us have a hard time in fights)
4 Players (incl. myself)
1 rogue
1 wizard
1 unkown (tank or a warlock)
1 cleric (me)

We do start wihtout equipment (no weapons no armor etc.), as we were kidnapped. We can buy something at end of 1. session.

Only PHB allowed.


Here are my details (incl. the things i want to buy):

Graim Dankil, Light cleric, hilldwarf, good-neutral, sailor as background (yes, a dwarf-sailor), smith as "profession".
LvL 1

Attributes dice rolled, incl. hilldwarf-points:
STR 13
DEX 14
KON 14
INT 9
WIS 18
CHA 10

Advantage on:
- Insight + Medicine (class)
- Athletic + Perception (background)


Items to buy:- warhammer (not that important)
- shield (holy focus will be on it)
- scale male (leads to an AC of 18)
- backpack etc.
- healers set
- smith tools
- heal pots


Spells:

Cantrip
Sacred Flame (for dmg purposes)
spare the dying
guidance
light (class)

1. lvl (+5 spells, wisdom-mod + cleric-lvl)
burning hands (class)
faerie fire (class)
bless
cure wounds
healing word
Command
Guiding bolt

2. lvl (what i want to take)
flaming sphere (class)
scorching ray (class)
Silence
hold person
prayer of healing
spiritual weapon

3. lvl (what i want to take)
Daylight (class)
fireball (class)
dispel magic
mass healing word
revivify
spiritual guardians


So far with the spells. I got many good dmg-spells through the light domain, and also the domain feature. Therefore i tend to take heal and CC spells from the cleric, as we do not have any (other) healer.



What doyou think?


Best greetings

KKmonK

 

[delphonso]

I think this is a solid build - Clerics can be a lot of fun. Looking at the rest of the party, though, you might want to consider a different build depending on how the mystery player goes.

Your current strategy looks like a lot of save spells, which should be okay for a while with your high wisdom. But can be very frustrating when they miss. Buffs like Bless are very nice though. Guidance is great for anything outside of combat.

If your 2nd player goes warlock, you'll be a DPS party with not much defense. In that situation, I would switch Light for Life domain, switch your Dex and Str scores and go for a tank healer. I'd also swap Int and Cha in that situation, since that Warlock can do all the talking you'll need. If they go tank, I think your party is a little light on healing, but shouldn't struggle if your DM isn't relentless with fights.

 

[FrogReaver]

What kind of rogue?

 

[Esker]

If they go tank, I think your party is a little light on healing, but shouldn't struggle if your DM isn't relentless with fights.

If they go Paladin, you'll have plenty of healing. But even if they go Fighter or Barbarian, between the healing and buffing you can do on the side and the wizard's ability to prevent damage via control/debuffs, I wouldn't worry too much about having enough healing. Direct healing is overrated, IMO, and most DMs will give access to potions if there isn't a huge healing presence in the party.

Switching to Life domain if the other player goes with a Warlock might be nice if you're into being a heal-focused character, although you also may not want to be the only one in the group in heavy armor, since if everyone else is stealthy, you could wind up getting in the way of successful group stealth checks. At least with medium armor you can switch to a breastplate once you can afford it.

I would put your 13 in CON, to get it to 15 post-racial, and leave STR at 12. You're likely to want a concentration boost at some point, so may as well set yourself up to take Resilient and get an extra point to your modifier out of it. I can't imagine you ever bumping up your 13 STR, unless you wanted to take Heavily Armored I guess, but even then you won't actually need STR for anything outside the occasional Athletics check and maybe the odd warhammer attack, so 12 vs 13 is the same.

Otherwise, looks like a good start!

 

[FrogReaver]

Hey guys
I'm new here and also new to D&D. Did not play any previous editions.
We did make a one-shot LvL 5, where i played a drow warlock, which was pretty cool.
Now we've made a session 0 with some "DM-generated" chars to get into the story.
Next week we start with the campaign with our own chars, and i've made my sheet now.
Please give me your opinion about it, any tips 'n tricks are welcome (critic also!).

Group-Frame:
DM (He want to let us have a hard time in fights)
4 Players (incl. myself)
1 rogue
1 wizard
1 unkown (tank or a warlock)
1 cleric (me)

Solid party. But I have a few concerns.
1. rogues really want a melee ally and it's not clear there will be one
2. When you wade into melee you will have fairly poor opportunity attacks to help keep enemies stuck to you (spirit guardians at level 5 can help with this)
3. If you are the enemies decide to attack you anyways then you will be more focused on healing yourself.

We do start wihtout equipment (no weapons no armor etc.), as we were kidnapped. We can buy something at end of 1. session.

Here are my details (incl. the things i want to buy):

Graim Dankil, Light cleric, hilldwarf, good-neutral, sailor as background (yes, a dwarf-sailor), smith as "profession".
LvL 1

Good choices

Attributes dice rolled, incl. hilldwarf-points:
STR 13
DEX 14
KON 14
INT 9
WIS 18
CHA 10

I don't have an issue with these stats. I might have done 12 str and 10 int but it's not a major difference either way.

Advantage on:

• Insight + Medicine (class)
• Athletic + Perception (background)

I think you mean proficiency with

Items to buy:

- warhammer (not that important)

• shield (holy focus will be on it)
• scale male (leads to an AC of 18)
• backpack etc.
• healers set
• smith tools
• heal pots

Sounds good

Spells:

Cantrip
Sacred Flame (for dmg purposes)
spare the dying
guidance
light (class)

Good cantrip choices

1. lvl (+5 spells, wisdom-mod + cleric-lvl)

burning hands (class)
faerie fire (class)
bless
cure wounds
healing word
Command
Guiding bolt

All combat focused spells - there's not a lot many general purpose level 1 spells to keep prepared. Just be aware you can prepare different spells after a long rest.

Some situationally useful ones -
Create or Destroy Water
purify food or drink
detect poison and disease
detect evil and good
detect magic

2. lvl (what i want to take)
flaming sphere (class)
scorching ray (class)
Silence
hold person
prayer of healing
spiritual weapon

Mostly combat focused spells. Level 2 has some fairly decent non-combat spells.

Suggestions to consider at times
Augury (recommend always having prepared)
Enhance Ability (recommend always having prepared)
Zone of truth - situationally useful
Lesser Restoration - (recommend always having prepared)
Locate object - sometimes good to prepare
Continual Flame - useful to prepare when you have a few days and give everyone in the party something that can provide light that they don't need to carry

3. lvl (what i want to take)
Daylight (class)
fireball (class)
dispel magic
mass healing word
revivify
spiritual guardians

I like the list. I do recommend being aware of the useful non-combat spells you can prepare at the start of the next day given your adventure and circumstances. There are some pretty useful ones here.

So far with the spells. I got many good dmg-spells through the light domain, and also the domain feature. Therefore i tend to take heal and CC spells from the cleric, as we do not have any (other) healer.

I think you are a bit too focused on combat only.

 

[cmad1977]

I think you’re gonna have a blast.