Li Shenron
Legend
I've been running a 5e campaign for my family and kids, and one of them now wants to write and run a short adventure, so I am switching my seat and going to finally play a PC myself for the first time in 5e (not counting PbP).
The others are going to keep playing their current characters, even if the short adventure will be unrelated to my campaign which will be paused just for an evening (how does that make sense? it doesn't - no question asked). They play a Moon Druid, a Battlemaster Fighter and a Swashbuckler Rogue, all are 3rd level. The last character, a centaur Life Cleric, will be absent since the player will DM the game. All those PCs were pre-generated by me at 1st level when we started the campaign, to make things easier for my kids, but afterward they made all the level-up decisions themselves. That batch of pre-gens originally included a Wizard - it was my kids' first ever game of D&D, so I suggested the iconic four - but one of the kids somehow heard about druids and wanted to play one, so the others picked 3 PCs out of 4, and the Wizard was left over.
Alright... so now that I join the game as a player, my first thought was to pick up that leftover Wizard and join the party, at 1st level of course! But just to complicate my life, in a moment of relax I quickly built up one additional PC for each other arcane spellcaster class, just to see how they compared to each other... and now of course I can't decide which one to play!!
So just for fun, here I am asking the community to vote for which of these PC you find more interesting. They're nothing special really, after all they will start at 1st level. I don't promise I will play the one that gets most votes tho, this is just to collect some opinions and food for thoughts
You'll see some pattern here: all PCs use the same ability scores array, and basically here I always pick the highest score for the spellcasting stat, and put the other good scores to Dex and Con for defense.
This is a very classic Wizard with iconic spells. This means not very creative or flexible at 1st level, mainly combat oriented, but being the squishiest of the party, the typical tactic will be to stay at range and possibly behind cover all the time.
One spell slot will be essentially always blown on Mage Armor, but the slot can be recovered with Arcane Recovery, so there'll still be 2 other spells cast per day. There are 3 other knows spells to prepare, and it means Feather Fall (for emergencies), Charm Person (for social encounters) and either Burning Hands or Sleep (to have an area spell) but not both, and definitely not Magic Missile since I will be already spamming Ray of Frost most of the times. The PC has quite a fair chance at contributing out-of-combat thanks to the skills and Mage Hand (my favourite cantrip!).
I picked the spells quite casually since I am not familiar with them, based on just the image of them being "very bardish" and easy to connect to some roleplay. It sounds like this could be a fun character who attacks at range with Vicious Mockery and then close in to melee with a rapier while singing to inspire or heal allies (as a bonus action). The problem is that the AC is very low, even lower than Wizard and Sorcerer who have their own boosts to AC while the Bard doesn't have with the starting leather armor.
It's always difficult to build a Sorcerer without thinking that the Wizard always gets something better... however at 1st level at least I can't really feel the gap. I won't have spell points yet to make up for the lack of Arcane Recovery, and yet thanks to the natural armor I will have the same AC as the Wizard (who needs to blow the extra slot with Mage Armor to get that).
Obviously I picked at least a couple of spells that have flexible usage, Chromatic Orb for combat and Prestidigitation for minor tricks outside combat. Mainly however I will be spamming Fire Bolts from range, and Shocking Grasp if someone closes to melee (it has the nice side effect of preventing OAs). I know that True Strike is considered bad, but I want to see if I can make it work to maximize the chance of Chromatic Orb so that I don't waste my few precious slots, even if it means to take 2 rounds.
It would be nice to find something to do with those Alchemist's Supplies, IIRC there is nothing in core but maybe something in Xanathar's?
Well I've never player one before, so I am going straightforward with the most obvious tactic: Hex + Eldritch Blast ad infinitum. The fact that the starting package gives two daggers for some reason, made me toy with the idea of trying out 2WF in melee, but this PC has a very low AC like the Bard, so she should probably try to avoid melee as much as possible.
Apart from a couple of minor social tricks, the PC feels quite thin outside combat... I should probably pick a more out-of-combat spell than Faerie Fire but I also want to emphasize the fey-ish image, since it's probably the coolest feature of this character.
So which one would you play and how? Feel free to point out any flaw or incorrect reasoning, as well as any suggestion for changes, but be aware that I care nothing for min-maxing
The others are going to keep playing their current characters, even if the short adventure will be unrelated to my campaign which will be paused just for an evening (how does that make sense? it doesn't - no question asked). They play a Moon Druid, a Battlemaster Fighter and a Swashbuckler Rogue, all are 3rd level. The last character, a centaur Life Cleric, will be absent since the player will DM the game. All those PCs were pre-generated by me at 1st level when we started the campaign, to make things easier for my kids, but afterward they made all the level-up decisions themselves. That batch of pre-gens originally included a Wizard - it was my kids' first ever game of D&D, so I suggested the iconic four - but one of the kids somehow heard about druids and wanted to play one, so the others picked 3 PCs out of 4, and the Wizard was left over.
Alright... so now that I join the game as a player, my first thought was to pick up that leftover Wizard and join the party, at 1st level of course! But just to complicate my life, in a moment of relax I quickly built up one additional PC for each other arcane spellcaster class, just to see how they compared to each other... and now of course I can't decide which one to play!!
So just for fun, here I am asking the community to vote for which of these PC you find more interesting. They're nothing special really, after all they will start at 1st level. I don't promise I will play the one that gets most votes tho, this is just to collect some opinions and food for thoughts
You'll see some pattern here: all PCs use the same ability scores array, and basically here I always pick the highest score for the spellcasting stat, and put the other good scores to Dex and Con for defense.
Code:
[B]Wizard[/B]
Background: Sage (Librarian)
Abilities: Int 16, Dex 15, Con 14, others 11
Skills: Arcana, History, Investigation, Insight
Languages: Common, Elven, Orcish, Draconic
Features: Arcane Recovery, Ritual Casting, Researcher
Cantrips: Light, Mage Hand, Ray of Frost
Spells (4 prepared, 2 slots): Burning Hands, Charm Person, Feather Fall, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, SleepThis is a very classic Wizard with iconic spells. This means not very creative or flexible at 1st level, mainly combat oriented, but being the squishiest of the party, the typical tactic will be to stay at range and possibly behind cover all the time.
One spell slot will be essentially always blown on Mage Armor, but the slot can be recovered with Arcane Recovery, so there'll still be 2 other spells cast per day. There are 3 other knows spells to prepare, and it means Feather Fall (for emergencies), Charm Person (for social encounters) and either Burning Hands or Sleep (to have an area spell) but not both, and definitely not Magic Missile since I will be already spamming Ray of Frost most of the times. The PC has quite a fair chance at contributing out-of-combat thanks to the skills and Mage Hand (my favourite cantrip!).
Code:
[B]Bard[/B]
Background: Entertainer (Storyteller)
Abilities: Cha 16, Dex 15, Con 14, others 11
Skills: Acrobatics, History, Insight, Performance, Persuasion
Tools: Disguise Kit, Lute, Fiddle, Fife, Bagpipe
Languages: Common
Features: Bardic Inspiration, Ritual Casting, By Popular Demand
Cantrips: Friends, Vicious Mockery
Spells (2 slots): Healing Word, Dissonant Whispers, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Disguise SelfI picked the spells quite casually since I am not familiar with them, based on just the image of them being "very bardish" and easy to connect to some roleplay. It sounds like this could be a fun character who attacks at range with Vicious Mockery and then close in to melee with a rapier while singing to inspire or heal allies (as a bonus action). The problem is that the AC is very low, even lower than Wizard and Sorcerer who have their own boosts to AC while the Bard doesn't have with the starting leather armor.
Code:
[B]Sorcerer[/B]
Archetype: Draconic Bloodline
Background: Guild Artisan (Alchemist)
Abilities: Cha 16, Dex 15, Con 14, others 11
Skills: Arcana, Insight, Intimidation, Persuasion
Tools: Alchemist's Supplies
Languages: Common, Draconic, Undercommon
Features: Draconic Ancestry, Guild Membership
Cantrips: Prestidigitation, Fire Bolt, Shocking Grasp, True Strike
Spells (2 slots): Chromatic Orb, Color SprayIt's always difficult to build a Sorcerer without thinking that the Wizard always gets something better... however at 1st level at least I can't really feel the gap. I won't have spell points yet to make up for the lack of Arcane Recovery, and yet thanks to the natural armor I will have the same AC as the Wizard (who needs to blow the extra slot with Mage Armor to get that).
Obviously I picked at least a couple of spells that have flexible usage, Chromatic Orb for combat and Prestidigitation for minor tricks outside combat. Mainly however I will be spamming Fire Bolts from range, and Shocking Grasp if someone closes to melee (it has the nice side effect of preventing OAs). I know that True Strike is considered bad, but I want to see if I can make it work to maximize the chance of Chromatic Orb so that I don't waste my few precious slots, even if it means to take 2 rounds.
It would be nice to find something to do with those Alchemist's Supplies, IIRC there is nothing in core but maybe something in Xanathar's?
Code:
[B]Warlock[/B]
Archetype: Archfey Patron
Background: Hermit (Nature)
Abilities: Cha 16, Dex 15, Con 14, others 11
Skills: Medicine, Nature, Deception, Religion
Tools: Herbalism Kit
Languages: Common, Sylvan
Features: Fey Presence, Discovery
Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Minor Illusion
Spells (1 slot): Faerie Fire, HexWell I've never player one before, so I am going straightforward with the most obvious tactic: Hex + Eldritch Blast ad infinitum. The fact that the starting package gives two daggers for some reason, made me toy with the idea of trying out 2WF in melee, but this PC has a very low AC like the Bard, so she should probably try to avoid melee as much as possible.
Apart from a couple of minor social tricks, the PC feels quite thin outside combat... I should probably pick a more out-of-combat spell than Faerie Fire but I also want to emphasize the fey-ish image, since it's probably the coolest feature of this character.
So which one would you play and how? Feel free to point out any flaw or incorrect reasoning, as well as any suggestion for changes, but be aware that I care nothing for min-maxing
