Setting Up a D&D character.

[Astromancer]

I'm invited to join a D&D group in a couple of weeks. We all get to use two 16's and four 13's as stats. We're each spotted six levels.

So I was thinking for having my character start as a Barbarian who came into a civilized area, perfered the lifestyle fell in love with reading and decided to be a Wizard. However, the Wizards showed him he was a Sorcerer and helped him tap his powers.

My Barbarian was from a cold maritime climate (think the far northwestern corner of Ireland) and came from fisher folk that raised crops and dairy cattle on the side. Basically a seagoing farmboy. The Sorcerous Origin involves Storm Spirits.

My first two levels were Barbarian, the other four are Storm Socerer.

Any advice or suggestions? I want a tough spellcaster with useful non-magical skills.

[Fred Brackin]

Which edition is actually important. You could be doing 3.x or 5 from your description. If you're doing 4 I probably can't help you.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Which edition is actually important. You could be doing 3.x or 5 from your description. If you're doing 4 I probably can't help you.

Fifth edition. The GM just bought the books.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Fifth edition. The GM just bought the books.

Ah! Then the first thing to notice is 3rd level Barbarian gains. Specifically Primal Path and your 3rd Rage. Those are both big deals. With 2 only Rages I was frequently unsure whether or not I should use one on a given encounter but by the time i had 3 it had become clear that 3 encounters per day was the norm for that Campaign (Ravenloft).

The 4th level in Sorceror you are only giving up temporarily and aside from the Ability Score Increase is relatively small. If you're leaving barbarian and never going back 3rd level is pretty important.

The other perhaps not obvious element is choice of tool proficiency. When you are given one of those it can be an important opportunity to expand your character's ability. I've seen a lot of 5e characters who were able to Pick Locks because they were Proficient in Thieves' Tools. There are other useful choices.

[ak_aramis]

Your GM is munchkining you all out the gate...

Standard is a lower array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.
Giving you 15, 15, 13, 13, 13, 13 is 10 extra levels or 11 attribute build points. That's a rather significant change.

Tough spellcasters are Clerics or Warlocks, not sorcerers.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by ak_aramis

Your GM is munchkining you all out the gate...

Standard is a lower array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.
Giving you 15, 15, 13, 13, 13, 13 is 10 extra levels or 11 attribute build points. That's a rather significant change.

Tough spellcasters are Clerics or Warlocks, not sorcerers.

I was using the levels of Barbarian to supply the tough and levels of Sorcerer to supply the spells. The PC is supposed to seem like a big dumb jock while being a intellectual.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Ah! Then the first thing to notice is 3rd level Barbarian gains. Specifically Primal Path and your 3rd Rage. Those are both big deals. With 2 only Rages I was frequently unsure whether or not I should use one on a given encounter but by the time i had 3 it had become clear that 3 encounters per day was the norm for that Campaign (Ravenloft).

The 4th level in Sorceror you are only giving up temporarily and aside from the Ability Score Increase is relatively small. If you're leaving barbarian and never going back 3rd level is pretty important.

The other perhaps not obvious element is choice of tool proficiency. When you are given one of those it can be an important opportunity to expand your character's ability. I've seen a lot of 5e characters who were able to Pick Locks because they were Proficient in Thieves' Tools. There are other useful choices.

I'll consider that suggestion.

What do you think of the sailor background? My character is from Fisherfolk.

Also, what Primal Path do you think might suit a PC from the equivalent of Northwestern Ireland who's going to become a Storm Origin Sorcerer?

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

I'll consider that suggestion.

What do you think of the sailor background? My character is from Fisherfolk.

Also, what Primal Path do you think might suit a PC from the equivalent of Northwestern Ireland who's going to become a Storm Origin Sorcerer?

Sailor is a pretty focussed choice. If you want to be able to handle and navigate watercraft it does both.

Primal Paths from the PHB is about roleplaying choices. Path of the Berserker gets you Frenzy which is very big for staight up combat. Totem Spirits can get you Bear for miscellaneous resistances. Eagle for Mobility or Wolf for bolstering your close comrades.

My Barbarian character, Krak-Raised-By-Wolves took Frenzy and used it in many fights but really only once per day was at all safe because you take on a level of Exhaustion when you're done. The exhasution rules are seriouss tuff.

If you have access to Xanator's Guid it has a Path of the Storm Herald that sems relevant to your interests. Take that one and during every round of Rage you can hit a nearby enemy with a 1D6 lightning bolt. This is at leasst cool-looking. :)

[ak_aramis]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

I was using the levels of Barbarian to supply the tough and levels of Sorcerer to supply the spells. The PC is supposed to seem like a big dumb jock while being a intellectual.

Assuming sorcerer first, and 6 levels, your split is hp: 6+3+3+6+6+6 = 30
a Cleric or Warlock is 8+4+4+4+4+4 =28. But the cleric or warlock also has the extra 4th level feat/att slot, which the split does not; which said, if going for bruiser, you dump in con, and add 6 more HP. This gives more spells (for cleric) and more potent spells (both cleric and warlock).

And the Warlocks start with the best cantrip attack. Makes up for only 2 castings per short-rest.

[Bengt]

Barbarians can't cast or concentrate on spells while ragining, and Rage is pretty much the only thing that makes a Barbarian particular tough. The D12 hit dice is heavily diluted when multiclasing with Sorcerer as you'll get a mix of D12 and D6 hit dice. And when multi classing you wont have the stats to get much out of unarmoured defense.

Warrior + caster is easier to make tough as you can cast in any armour if you are proficient with it, and as long as you take Warrior as your level 1 class you'll be proficient in all armour.