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Thread: Making the Most of Shieldmaster
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2017-08-20, 08:24 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2016
Making the Most of Shieldmaster
I can count on one hand the number of sessions of 5e I've played as a PC. Lots and lots of DMing and enough online discussion to have a good idea of the possibilities. However, I have come for advice as I finally get to play! Yay!
It's for Adventurers League so I will be using point buy (not my preference, but a friend is DMing for the first time). I will start at level 2 using a bit of my DM experience. I have Gauntlets of Ogre Power as a DM reward.
Assume I take one level of Rogue to get Expertise in Athletics and 1d6 sneak attack dice. I will be a Variant Human to get Shieldmaster feat at level one. My Strength will be 19 from the Gauntlets.
What class and stats would you choose? How would you level up? Basically I want to bash people and stab them to death, so many classes/archetypes will work.
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2017-08-20, 09:09 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2015
Re: Making the Most of Shieldmaster
You've got strength, you've got expertise, you're pretty set. The only other thing you need to maximize your shove checks is a source of advantage. The simplest way to get this is barbarian rage. Barbarian/rogue in just about any combination is great and fun, particularly if you can load up on DEX and CON (relying on the belt for STR).
Alternatively, you can use Enhance Ability or Enlarge. Enlarge gives you the option of shoving bigger creatures, so that's nice, but it's only on the Sorc/Wiz list. One option is to go EK, and grab Enlarge at 8th level. You can do something similar with a Valor Bard.
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2017-08-20, 09:12 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2016
Re: Making the Most of Shieldmaster
Rogue all the way isn't a bad move as you'll stack those SA dice and have a great shot at getting it each round with Shield Bash in play.
Maybe take Swashbuckler to fill in for when you don't get the shove off. A good way to get lots of damage dice rolling...
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2017-08-20, 09:50 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2016
Re: Making the Most of Shieldmaster
A few issues I ponder regarding Barbarian/Rogue - entering rage means I can't Shield bash that turn, though it does help for the rest of the fight.
Reckless Attack has to be declared before my first attack. Shove is an attack. So I can't use Reckless Attack after a failed shove to guarantee advantage. However, it may not matter that much.
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2017-08-20, 09:51 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2016
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2017-08-20, 10:03 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2014
Re: Making the Most of Shieldmaster
Has to be a class that can use shields. War cleric is an interesting choice. You get martial weapons, shields, heavy armor, and can spend a bonus action to make one attack a number of times per rest equal to your wisdom mod. That's a little more useful than fighter for a one level dip on a rogue.
Breaking BM: Revised - an updated look at the beast-mounted halfling ranger based on the Revised Ranger: Beast Conclave.
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2017-08-20, 10:04 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2011
- Location
- Lakeland, FL
- Gender
Re: Making the Most of Shieldmaster
Start Barbarian. Go 2 or 5 levels of Barbarian 2 for adding proficiency to Dex checks. 5 for more rage and extra attacks. You can use reckless attack to trigger sneak attack but generally triggering sneak attack isn't hard. Use a lot of thrown weapons that can target off strength.
Two attacks, to trigger sneak attack can be worth it, especially since you maybe using your bonus action to shove.
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2017-08-20, 10:35 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2015
- Location
- where South is East
Re: Making the Most of Shieldmaster
Barbarogue means Str13 / Dex13 minimum. Still, 13 16 14 8 12 12 is easy to get and good enough with those gauntlets.
I'd start barbarian and aim for barbarian 5 / rogue 1 before pumping SA dice. You really want extra attack without TWF.
Fighter / ranger would need Con16 to have the same hp as barbarian Con14, but you could dump Str. Barbarian's advantage on shove is just icing on the cake when your proficiency is +6.Last edited by bid; 2017-08-20 at 10:36 PM.
Trust but verify. There's usually a reason why I believe you can't do something.
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2017-08-20, 11:07 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2017
- Location
- Louisville
- Gender
Re: Making the Most of Shieldmaster
I'm currently playing a Fighter 8 with SM. Even without advantage (+11 from Str, proficiency, and Brawny) I have failed exactly 1 shove while clearing about 2/3rds of White Plume Mountain. Advantage is good but not necessary.
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2017-08-20, 11:31 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2016