D&D 5E The Charismatic Fighting "Hero" - Which Core Class does it Best?

[Voadam]

Does Cap really use Noble Prose or stirring speech in in combat though?

It seems to me that he uses his combat expertise to provide openings for his allies to take advantage of more than anything else. Tripping, distracting, pushing, disarming, maneuvering all seem to be more in line with how Cap fights at least in the MCU.

"patriotic or noble pose".

Most every combat, first round.

 

[Fenris-77]

I agree with an earlier poster; a swashbuckler/battlemaster multiclass works best. Lots of feats, very effective of moving to wherever they need to be, decent CHA combat and out of combat options, plenty of personality and unique fighting style. Only challenge is it takes a while to fully come online, although it’s not really underpowered in the meantime.

I agree, I really like this multiclass, regardless of exactly how it's put together. Having to go a little MAD to make the CHA thing work isn't ideal, but it's not awful either and does add a lot of out of combat utility to the character. To answer the actual thread question, I'd put this option right up there with the Paladin, and maybe above the Paladin depending on what kind of Paladin build we're talking about.

 

[BookBarbarian]

"patriotic or noble pose".

Most every combat, first round.

Ah I was confusing it with the "stirring speech", thus prose.

Anyway he's not much for inspiring words during combat as much as creating openings with his battle ability.

 

[CleverNickName]

"patriotic or noble pose".

Most every combat, first round.

There's more to "Charismatic Fighting Hero Archetype" than just the character class. I mean, Neville Longbottom was a wizard, and Samwise was a gardener. But the question was which D&D class *best* fits the bill...not which one *could* fit the bill.

So I have to vote Paladin.

 

[Ashrym]

I would go rogue.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Neville Longbottom was a wizard, and Samwise was a gardener.

This raises the question which should have come up in the first place: does the OP mean "charismatic warrior protagonist"? Neville and Sam are sidekicks, even Aragorn is a supporting character in the books. Whilst Frodo is not a warrior nor especially charismatic. I can't actually think of that many charismatic warrior protagonists that aren't Marvel. Beowulf and James T. Kirk are the only ones who come immediately to mind.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Any class can suffice. It ain't what you play - it's how you play it.

 

[Tony Vargas]

This raises the question which should have come up in the first place: does the OP mean "charismatic warrior protagonist"? Neville and Sam are sidekicks, even Aragorn is a supporting character in the books. Whilst Frodo is not a warrior nor especially charismatic.

Sam sure seemed like he had a high Loyalty Base.

I can't actually think of that many charismatic warrior protagonists that aren't Marvel. Beowulf and James T. Kirk are the only ones who come immediately to mind.

A protagonist in fantasy/myth/legend, that is a) a warrior, and b) not exclusively on a solo quest the whole time, is probably a Charismatic Fighting Hero. He may grow into the charismatic part, especially in more modern fantasy offerings which often have coming-of-age elements, or he may have only occasional, temporary allies rather than a band of loyal companions like Robin Hood, but protagonists in heroic fantasy are rarely lacking the CHA departement.

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

I can't actually think of that many charismatic warrior protagonists that aren't Marvel. Beowulf and James T. Kirk are the only ones who come immediately to mind.

Go back a few decades - Errol Flynn playing Robin Hood. More recently, Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones or Sean Bean as Sharpe.

Look at literary characters like The Three Musketeers, Cyrano de Bergerac, Zorro, Flash Gordon.

Also real-life (or possible "larger than life") characters like Calamity Jane, Annie Oakley, Gustavus Von Tempsky (from my own country's history).

 

[MostlyHarmless42]

Your poll is inherently flawed for a couple reasons.

First, it heavily favors the paladin or the bard as the elimination of feats and non-players handbook subclasses *completely* neuters the fighter in pretty much all possible versions of the archetypical "hero". The entire advantage the fighter has here is extra feats, simpler class complexity (which allows a focus on roleplaying instead of managing mechanics), and several fighter subclasses (purple dragon knight/banneret, samurai, and the cavalier) and feat options are decided to specifically fill this character space. Ignoring them isnt fair to the fighter and the poll should allow ALL official content.

Second, dont underestimate the strength of a mastermind/washbuckler rogue, an order cleric, or celestial blade warlock (all of which with a high charisma) with the proper background or feats.