D&D 5E What is your favorite dnd character to play ?

Rule Dice

Villager
Without naming it, my favorite D&D character to play is one with a big contradiction—like a noble warrior with a secret fear of failure or a cheerful bard hiding a tragic past. It’s those unexpected moments where their layers show that really make them come alive.

How about you? Do you love characters who defy expectations or ones who lean hard into classic archetypes? And how do they tend to interact with the party?
 

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I like a skillful character who is decent in a fight and knows a bit of magic, inspired by characters like John Constantine and Harry D'Amour. Back in 2e that generally meant some variant of a bard, adjusted to minimize the music aspect (this approach directly informed the Wordsmith class I wrote for DCC).

In 5e, I can do it with a Rogue (Thief) and a Magic Initiate and/or Ritual Magic feat, which honestly works way better. If only magic circle had the Ritual tag . . .
 

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Between this thread and the eternal 'what is/should be the Ranger' threads, I think it safe to say that there's space for another generalist character without the bard flavor. Too bad the 3e Factotum didn't catch on*; or artificer felt more... honestly I don't know specifically why I don't think it works. *although admittedly the name and implementation were both rather droll

I too like a character who has an answer to situations as varied as a charging monster, locked door, castle to sneak into, or dying friend. Back in my redbox days, this would by by playing an elf, cleric, and thief together. In AD&D a cleric/druid and F/M/T or bard. In 3e any of the gish-builds with some skill-support and enough Use Magic Device for healing wands and scrolls. 4e I can't say I landed on any one thing. Same with 5e -- valor bard works; rangers, artificers, dex-based paladins and Eldritch Knights** work; convoluted multiclass builds work. None of them work perfectly, or come with thematic baggage that I might want to run sometimes but not repeatedly. We'll see if anything becomes my go-to idea for D&D'24. *honestly, what I did was a fighter, ranger, or paladin and then a half-elf C/M/T because we misread the multiclass chart once and it stuck.
**with feats or dips for skills (and healing for EKs)

Roleplaying Wise I like to play a character who can be the mild butt of the joke for the rest of the party. It seems to encourage more interparty roleplay.
I enjoy either the hyper-competent (or thinks they are) loner-survivalist with a heart of gold who acts like they are being seriously burdened by these naive treasure-hunters or do-gooders, but secretly likes being needed (/actually relying upon them). That, or the character with the glaring buffoonish trait to which they are completely unaware -- say, Othar Tryggvassen or Zapp Brannigan (minus the skeeviness).
 

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