| HeshKadesh |
Forever DM here in the middle of a homebrew game. I don't often get to play on the side of the table, but have an occasion coming up where the players will gradually encounter what amounts to a rival adventuring party working for the rival of their patron.
So far they have encountered one of the characters I will be including and are taking time to study his skills and tactics, and will do the same with the others so that they can prepare for an upcoming fight against them.
I've seen conventional wisdom is to use NPCs and slap on the odd Class Feat on for identity but the players feel confident that they can defeat anything I put in front of them as well (out of game), and so I am creating the characters from the ground up and eventually have a 5v5 fight, with each character built from the same rules;
Level 16, Free Archetype allowed
Just in case my players are reading on the sly, I'm just going to list their roles and general tactic/identity for the combat.
Leader; Obedience Champion with Bastion and Guardian Archetype feats. Focuses on applying various Persistent Damage, and as many bonus reactions as possible.
Right Hand Man; Inexorable Iron Magus with Intelligent Greataxe that uses Rail Dash to move him next to enemies, then Spell Swipe. I had originally intended for Chain Lightning for further Lightning AoE theme, but have encountered a dispute if that's a 1 or 2 target spell. Thoughts welcome. Unsure of Archetype.
Blaster Caster; Whisper of Wings Witch Ritualist. Unsure of further archetype, but expect to make the most amount of use of Free Action Sustains, will be opening up with Whirlwind. Unsure of further Archetype.
Scout Archer; Wolf Rider Fighter using Ranged attacks atop the wolf, Beastmaster + Cavalier feats. He's a merc, so could turned from the enemy rival party, instead being replaced with a Guardian with Archer archetype to Clobber, Taunt and Intercept.
Support Caster; Cloistered Cleric, uses 3 actions every turn to cast a Cone of Harm which prones enemies quite easily. Perhaps Marshal, but again unsure of Archetype.
I'd be grateful for any suggestions for fairly passive/low action economy Archetypes for the Right Hand Man and Support Caster; as well as something to fill the empty slots for the Support Caster.
Thanks.