SmiloDan RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 |
We're playing in 3 days and the berserker and eldritch knight can't make it.
The party is a hill dwarf Life cleric (me), elf arcane trickster, human ranger hunter archer, and human diviner wizard blaster.
My friend might be able to pinch hit as our tank. What should we make for him?
College of Valor bard, barbarian, War cleric, Circle of the Moon druid, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, Swashbuckler rogue, Blade Pact warlock?
HOPEFULLY we scared the dragon away.
But hope is for corpses.
We need a decent dragonslayer tank that is also versatile enough to be fun and useful in Rise of the Rune Lords.
Thanks!
SmiloDan RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 |
SmiloDan RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 |
He says he wants to be an eldritch knight with a lance. A dragoon.
I'm thinking maybe I should suggest a glaive or halberd, the feats Great Weapon Master, Polearm Master, and Sentinel.
For spells, I'm thinking of suggesting blur, expeditious retreat, flaming sphere, magic missile, shatter, shield, thunderwave.
Not sure what cantrips to suggest.
For race, I'm thinking half-orc, tiefling (for Int), dragonborn, high elf (for Int), half-elf (for Int and Str), or human.
Petty Alchemy RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16 |
For tanking, I'd probably go Bearbarian or Moon Druid (and turn into a bear?)
Bear can B 4 tank.
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For EK, I'm guessing Haste is beyond his reach at lvl 10? Spells which protect vs. elemental damage are the way to go when facing a dragon.
You can never go wrong with Human, but I'd ask his opinion on race.
SmiloDan RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 |
SmiloDan RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 |
Blazej |
My thoughts are drawn to how to best implement the dragoon concept in 5th edition. I'm going off a lot on memory (for Dragoons) so I might make bad assumptions here and there. My recollections of the dragoons are effectively mobile tanks that leap into air (very high) and fall upon the enemy.
I think a lance or pike would be attractive as weapons, a lot of the dragoon is focused on thrusting weapons rather than sweeping attacks. I would recommend pike of the two. Although I like lance better for the theme, pike works better mechanically for not having to worry about disadvantage for being close to the enemy.
I'm not going to recommend good feats... but I'm looking at a way to get the feel of leaping attacks and the mobility I would associate with them while not being able to leap that high (relatively to dragoon jump attacks).
Athlete focuses on making him feel more mobiles. He will be able to easily get back up, making near standing leaps, and climb over terrain with ease.
I looked at Charger a bit, but while it is a large mobility increase I do think there are better options to get there.
I agree with Great Weapon Master. I do want to pair both this and Charger together to create a devastating and massive leap attack, still don't think it is necessary.
Mobile. This I think is teh best feat for the concept since it will allow him to get from one part of the battle to the next as if he were flying.
I still like Polearm Master for pike, it is better for halberd, but it is nice to have an attack to threaten enemies out of your space rather than just wating for them to leave.
Sentinel makes sense for shutting down movement for creates trying to approach.
For a Dragoon Eldtrich Knight I want to say the best background is Soldier, but I could go through the list and see any fitting. Soldier doesn't provide any new proficiency options, but I don't think he would be forced into a skill he wouldn't want.
Blazej |
Since Eldritch Knight War Magic gives him a weapon attack everytime he casts a cantrip, I feel these would be useful cantrips.
Blade Ward: Resist damage from weapon attacks while getting one attack can make him feel like the tank or hopefully ask to keep him from being overwhelmed if attacks press in.
True Strike: While I don't think he will have any problems hitting, but since he already would have two attacks on any turn where he isn't casting spells, this seems to me only useful if he has disadvantage possibly.
Otherwise I see a ranged attack and a melee spell to fill out. Maybe only one attack cantrip and something more that feels more interesting than damage.
SmiloDan RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 |
I was thinking of having one of his bonded weapons be a javelin. Then he could throw it as part of his attack action, and teleport it back into his hand as a bonus action, and either throw it again, or make a melee attack with his glaive before summoning his javelin back.
I'm actually leaning towards suggesting Sage for his background. It would give him Arcana and History proficiencies, Research to do something when out of combat (we spend a lot of time in libraries in this campaign for some reason!), and he can gain Intimidation and Athletics as his fighter class skills.
The player says he wants to be a tiefling, which I think is a good and flavorful option. Thaumaturgy can be a fun cantrip, he can use hellish rebuke as a "ranged attack of opportunity," and darkness can be his battlefield control spell. Also, the racial spells expand his repertoire of spells and increase the amount of magic he can do per day, so he will be more eldritch.
I might reconsider the Charger feat. I like the idea of pushing the opponent back 10 feet, so it has to move up 10 feet to attack you, which would provoke an opportunity attack from Polearm Master and be stopped by Sentinel. But it would mean losing the Great Weapon Master, or at least delaying it.
Petty Alchemy RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16 |
It's not as good a combo as you might think, Charger requires you to Dash and that means giving up the Fighter's Extra Attacks (which he gets more of than any other class). If you choose to shove on your charge, you're not doing any damage, just forcing them to provoke (assuming you made the Athletics check for shove, assuming they come at you and don't have reach).
And it's not going to help at all against a dragon. Honestly, I'd consider Tough over it (some PCs in my game have taken it. On CR enemies can hit very hard, the dragon is probably a killer.
For Dragon Slaying, Shield Master would be very valuable. +2 to Dex saves and use your reaction to take no damage instead of half. If the Dragon is CR 20, I imagine taking no damage is very important.
Assuming average Fighter HP, you're looking at 10+6*9+2*10=84 (Assuming a 14 Con, since you're taking a bunch of feats and probably raising Str). The breath weapon alone does 72 (your weak dex save for half). You get cooked in one round.
Else for spells, consider Absorb Elements from http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/EE_PlayersCompanion.pdf
It will at least blunt the breath.
SmiloDan RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 |
SmiloDan RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32 |