How prepared is this character for Curse of Strahd?

[jaappleton]

So, we're doing Strahd. Its a two person campaign with the occasional third party member joining us, schedule permitting. Off hand, I figure they'll be there for roughly 40% of the time.

Because of the small party, the DM has granted every character a free Feat beginning at level 1. Yes, this means VHumans start with two Feats. Additionally, all official material is allowed. This includes Ravnica and Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron.

I ask that you ignore how lore-wise, the character makes no sense. I'm talking about the crunch here. I've worked out the backstory with the DM, so that part is covered. We're talking strictly the mechanics here.

The other full-time party member is a whip-based Dex focused Fighter using the MFoV's Sanctified Hunter (Available here: http://mfov.magehandpress.com/2017/0...ed-hunter.html archetype (He hasn't been watching Castlevania on Netflix, I swear) and the part-time third member is... Unknown at this time.

So, if you'd be so kind, please tell me how badly I expect my ass to be handed to me:

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Mark of the Sentinel Human

Sentinel’s Intuition. When you roll for Initiative or make a Wisdom (Perception) check to notice a threat, you can roll one Intuition die, a d4, and add it to the ability check.

Sentinel’s Shield. You know the cantrip blade ward. You can cast shield once with this trait and regain the ability to do so after you finish a short or long rest.

Vigilant Guardian. As an action, you can designate an ally you can see as your ward. You have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) and Wisdom (Perception) checks made to spot threats to your ward. In addition, when you are within 5 feet of your ward, and that creature is the target of an attack that you can see, you can use your reaction to swap places with your ward. When you do, you become the target of the attack. (Lasts until you designate a new creature as your ward)

Str 9
Dex 14
Con 16
Int 8
Wis 16
Cha 10

11 HP

AC 17
Shillelagh Quarerstaff +5 to Attack, 1d8+3 Bludgeoning

Proficiency in Insight, Medicine, Perception, Persuasion, Stealth

Feat: Magic Initiate - Druid
Shillelagh, Mold Earth, Absorb Elements

Background - Dimir Operative
(The following spells are added to the vanilla Cleric list because of the background)
Cantrip encode thoughts, mage hand
1st disguise self, sleep
2nd detect thoughts, pass without trace
3rd gaseous form, meld into stone, nondetection
4th arcane eye, freedom of movement
5th modify memory


Order Domain Cleric

Guidance, Light, Sacred Flame
Bless, Command, Guiding Bolt, Healing Word, Heroism, Sleep

Voice of Authority
When I cast a spell of 1st level or higher that targets an ally, they can use their Reaction to make an attack against a creature I can see.


(At level 6, I can cast Enchantment spells as a bonus action a number of times per long rest equal to my Wisdom modifier)

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So... Whatcha think?

[jdolch]

This isn't a comment on your character, it is a comment on your 2-3 person Party: You're going to die. Early and horribly. If your DM isn't severely turning the difficulty knob. CoS is deadly for a 5 person party and the way D&D works, your party gets disproportionally stronger with additional members. I am playing CoS myself atm and last session I had to leave a bit early and the discussion was, if the rest of the Party (4 ppl) should keep playing for an hour or so. This was interrupted by the DM himself saying that if they decide to play with 4 people, chances are everybody dies. Now this was last session, i don't know what's going to happen next session, we will see. We are 3 sessions in and already we had 3 close calls with party members down and 1 failure away from dying permanently.

Now CoS is supposed to be deadly, mind you. It is not a "hurray, here we go" Adventure. It is a horror movie where you, the party, are the half naked cheerleaders running across the lawn, screaming.

You have no cleric and no paladin. (At least not until you can multiclass) The sanctified Hunter may or may not be able to fill somewhat identical roles, my guess is not.

So here is one question: What are you going to do if one of you goes down? You are now down 50% Strength in a fight you were already (probably) losing when this happened. Do you have an at will heal? Does that heal take an action? Now you're not doing anything for the next round, other then helping your friend while whatever downed him, chews on your backside.

Now i am not say: Don't play CoS. Please do, it is awesome so far. I am just saying your DM probably needs to do some rebalancing or needs to help you out some other way. Have you thought about both of you playing two characters each maybe ?

Now these are just my thoughts on the matter, i am by no means an authority on game balancing.

[busterswd]

You have no cleric and no paladin. (At least not until you can multiclass) The sanctified Hunter may or may not be able to fill somewhat identical roles, my guess is not.

So here is one question: What are you going to do if one of you goes down? You are now down 50% Strength in a fight you were already (probably) losing when this happened. Do you have an at will heal? Does that heal take an action? Now you're not doing anything for the next round, other then helping your friend while whatever downed him, chews on your backside.

He is a cleric.


Curse of Strahd is... odd. The random encounter tables can actually be pretty brutal early on, and given the nature of the story and format of the adventure, death is very possible, even with a full party.

Spoiler: Minor spoilers

Show

It's a pretty open ended adventure, with some pre-written encounters being hilariously unbalanced if you decide to go there at the wrong times (you can, for example, attempt to take on Strahd almost immediately, or do a variety of other very suicidal sidequests.)

That being said, GM fiat is somewhat written into the adventure, so if he's familiar with the adventure, he may be able to semi railroad your group for safety.

Be good aligned, if you're trying to maximize crunch. Try talking or hiding first.

[jdolch]

Oh, must have misread that. Anyway, that doesn't answer the question.

[ProsecutorGodot]

I have two questions before I can give you an informed answer:

What level are you starting at (I assume it's 1st level, just need to be sure) and are you starting in Death House?

For my gut reaction, It's hard for me to specifically mention how well put together this character is without potentially spoiling content. There are also a lot of potentially random variables that could shape how useful a character like this can be.

I can say with certainty that you are better equipped and prepared than the Cleric who went through while I ran it, although I believe that Order Domain is a bit of a weak choice with such a small party. Grave and Life would both be better fits.

[Ganymede]

It looks like you followed all of the appropriate character creation rules, so you should be good to go! Just don't play like you're in a video game and try to kill every scary thing you come across.

[jdolch]

It looks like you followed all of the appropriate character creation rules, so you should be good to go!

I don't even remember why I was worried.

[jaappleton]

I have two questions before I can give you an informed answer:

What level are you starting at (I assume it's 1st level, just need to be sure) and are you starting in Death House?

For my gut reaction, It's hard for me to specifically mention how well put together this character is without potentially spoiling content. There are also a lot of potentially random variables that could shape how useful a character like this can be.

I can say with certainty that you are better equipped and prepared than the Cleric who went through while I ran it, although I believe that Order Domain is a bit of a weak choice with such a small party. Grave and Life would both be better fits.

I figured Order Domain was quite a strong choice.

So, the Fighter’s Archetype lets him add his Wis mod to damage VS Aberration, Fiends, Undead and Shapeshifters. That extra Wis mod damage is considered Radiant. So at-will Radiant damage should be covered between the two of us. He’s also taking Crossbow Expert, reflavored as a boomerang crucifix, for a bonus action attack.

Whenever I target my ally with a spell, they can use their reaction to attack.

I figured it was a great way to take advantage of action economy.

First round I Bless, he gets a Reaction Attack. So that’s minimum two attacks right off the bat, including his Action, with Bless applied to help ensure the attacks hit.

Every time I heal him? Reaction Attack.

I’ve kept myself in the dark on Strahd on purpose this whole time, because I didn’t want it spoiled. Although with the nature of the Internet, there’s been a couple things that I have seen.

1. Locations of certain things and such can be somewhat randomized

2. It appears some NPCs may tag along to join the fight.

Considering the second point, I think if we’re really getting our ass kicked, the DMPC character may be able to do a little more than usual.

And it seems we may also be getting a 4th member, who should be full time.

[ProsecutorGodot]

I figured Order Domain was quite a strong choice.

So, the Fighter’s Archetype lets him add his Wis mod to damage VS Aberration, Fiends, Undead and Shapeshifters. That extra Wis mod damage is considered Radiant. So at-will Radiant damage should be covered between the two of us. He’s also taking Crossbow Expert, reflavored as a boomerang crucifix, for a bonus action attack.

Whenever I target my ally with a spell, they can use their reaction to attack.

I figured it was a great way to take advantage of action economy.

First round I Bless, he gets a Reaction Attack. So that’s minimum two attacks right off the bat, including his Action, with Bless applied to help ensure the attacks hit. Every time I heal him? Reaction Attack.

Order domain is quite strong, but I was basing this off the premise that you would only be having 2 (or 3) members in your party. It's not a fantastic use of your turn to be a buff machine so focused on giving him extra attacks. If something happens to him and you've spent all your resources in attempts to make him attack more and have nothing left to make yourselves live longer then you're not going to have much success. Order is not a bad choice, I just believe that it's not the best choice you could have made and that hurts your chances of survival.

There was also the note on the Fighter where you mentioned that he was going to be using primarily a whip. The subclass you linked doesn't allow a Whip to benefit from that radiant damage feature. Seems like an oversight considering the theme of the class or they instead wanted to push how useful the consumables in Castlevania were. His weapon(s) of choice affect how useful your class feature is.

This is not me saying bad wrong fun and it's definitely a bit biased after a bad experience I had with homebrew classes, but I have more issue with your Fighter's build. The archetype looks solid but at the moment with the information you've given me he won't have any weapons that actually can trigger that bonus damage without the DM making further changes to the class.

I’ve kept myself in the dark on Strahd on purpose this whole time, because I didn’t want it spoiled. Although with the nature of the Internet, there’s been a couple things that I have seen.

1. Locations of certain things and such can be somewhat randomized

2. It appears some NPCs may tag along to join the fight.

Considering the second point, I think if we’re really getting our ass kicked, the DMPC character may be able to do a little more than usual.

And it seems we may also be getting a 4th member, who should be full time.

While both of these are true, I wouldn't recommend making assumptions about how useful or for how long they stick around.

To clarify, despite my opinion of the parties class choices, you both seem well prepared for the type of enemies and encounters you might see in Barovia. Due to the nature of the campaign however you're going to have a really rough time of things. Your DM seems like a stand up guy and it looks like he wants the table to have a good time more than he wants to make you suffer in Barovia so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Spoiler

Show

In Barovia, even a TPK can be overcome with only a few lasting side effects.

[jaappleton]

One key concern I do have about CoS:

How viable is it to take rests? Am I openly inviting myself be slaughtered by taking a rest, or should I be ok?

[ProsecutorGodot]

One key concern I do have about CoS:

How viable is it to take rests? Am I openly inviting myself be slaughtered by taking a rest, or should I be ok?

That depends entirely on where you take them. Some places are safer than others and depending on how your adventure pans out you might have an easier time finding a time and place to rest. There are towns in Barovia, and those towns do have Inns.

[jaappleton]

For the record, Godot, I do appreciate all the insight you're giving me. If I came across as combative or argumentative, I didn't mean to. I really do appreciate the insight.

I think we both know having a Cleric or Paladin in the group is key for... certain items only the Divine can wield. >_>

We're having a sit down for our first session to go over who is making what characters, as the 3rd player and the 4th haven't played D&D before. So the DM, myself, and the other player will be walking them through D&D Beyond, what kind of adventure CoS is, etc.

So I won't know the full party makeup until then.

That being said, anything I should be on the lookout for in regards to my character? I'm open to swapping to Light or Life Domain, or even Grave (preventing Crits and healing max dice when someone is down is pretty good).

Do you think certain Races might be better? I've heard some say Poison is something to look out for, and its no secret that Vampires often have Charm effects.

[ProsecutorGodot]

That being said, anything I should be on the lookout for in regards to my character? I'm open to swapping to Light or Life Domain, or even Grave (preventing Crits and healing max dice when someone is down is pretty good).

Do you think certain Races might be better? I've heard some say Poison is something to look out for, and its no secret that Vampires often have Charm effects.

I didn't think you were being at all argumentative but I always appreciate someone willing to keep the spirit of good faith in the conversation.

I don't think that being an Order Cleric is going to be a huge issue with the information that you've given me, I'm just personally of the opinion that being a Life or Grave Cleric in CoS is overall a better choice, Grave Cleric being the best overall in my opinion. I didn't mean to imply that it was at all bad to take a different subclass, all of them have their uses.

For races everything that's usually a good choice is an even better choice in CoS, especially with Darkvision in mind. Poison resistance is alright but I would also recommend necrotic resistance as many undead creatures (that you may or may not see) deal bonus necrotic damage on their attacks. Necrotic resistance is very difficult to come by as a racial feature however.

Dwarves are a fantastic option for clerics, as usual. Some races I would recommend in no particular order (and if you have the option to pick them) would be Kalashtar, Firbolg and Aasimar. Aasimar is likely the weakest of these options due to its ability score increases but notably has strong racial abilities and resistance to necrotic damage.

This is all my opinion of course, I'm not trying to push you into making these decisions. As your character is, it would be perfectly playable for the campaign. Most of my concerns are based around the party size.

[Vekon]

I'll be the guy that tells you "play what you want, so long as you enjoy it".

CoS is a very dangerous game. As written entirely by-the-book, parties of almost any size and class have a chance to lose a few PCs, or even TPK.
A DM worth the price of the module isn't going to play by the book in a smaller party. Things will be likely changed to make it possible to survive while still providing a realistic challenge and an air of danger. D&D as a game is already in the favor of the players most of the time.

All in all your build is fine, and your party is fine. Death is possible no matter what build you or the rest of your party goes. That's how CoS plays. Just have fun.

[RickAsWritten]

No character(or player, for that matter) is ever prepared for Curse of Strahd. I, and my Dwarven Forge Cleric, still have PTSD from the horrors that were witnessed.

Dueregar and Kobolds(and...*vomits* Drow) are fun in Strahd because there is no bright light.

[jaappleton]

No character(or player, for that matter) is ever prepared for Curse of Strahd. I, and my Dwarven Forge Cleric, still have PTSD from the horrors that were witnessed.

Dueregar and Kobolds(and...*vomits* Drow) are fun in Strahd because there is no bright light.

Unless you find the Sun Sword. In which case.... Wear blinders?

[jaappleton]

We went from 2 players to 5 with an occasional 6th.

Ok then.

[Laserlight]

All of this also depends on how combative you are. Some encounters are just going to be a fight no matter what; some you can avoid or talk your way past.

Of course, in avoiding fights, it helps if you're sufficiently amoral to allow despicable monsters prey on innocents. Such is life in Barovia.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

This isn't a comment on your character, it is a comment on your 2-3 person Party: You're going to die. Early and horribly. If your DM isn't severely turning the difficulty knob. CoS is deadly for a 5 person party and the way D&D works, your party gets disproportionally stronger with additional members. I am playing CoS myself atm and last session I had to leave a bit early and the discussion was, if the rest of the Party (4 ppl) should keep playing for an hour or so. This was interrupted by the DM himself saying that if they decide to play with 4 people, chances are everybody dies. Now this was last session, i don't know what's going to happen next session, we will see. We are 3 sessions in and already we had 3 close calls with party members down and 1 failure away from dying permanently.

Now CoS is supposed to be deadly, mind you. It is not a "hurray, here we go" Adventure. It is a horror movie where you, the party, are the half naked cheerleaders running across the lawn, screaming.

You have no cleric and no paladin. (At least not until you can multiclass) The sanctified Hunter may or may not be able to fill somewhat identical roles, my guess is not.

So here is one question: What are you going to do if one of you goes down? You are now down 50% Strength in a fight you were already (probably) losing when this happened. Do you have an at will heal? Does that heal take an action? Now you're not doing anything for the next round, other then helping your friend while whatever downed him, chews on your backside.

Now i am not say: Don't play CoS. Please do, it is awesome so far. I am just saying your DM probably needs to do some rebalancing or needs to help you out some other way. Have you thought about both of you playing two characters each maybe ?

Now these are just my thoughts on the matter, i am by no means an authority on game balancing.

My group Started CoS last year and we started with a 2 person party. one person died 5 min in. You make one mistake and you are dead. We, in the end, had a 4 person party; Me a human monk, a high elf rogue, a human druid, and a half-orc barb. We had like 3 neat TPKs where I was the only one left standing thankfully the DM was merciful and kept reviving everyone. Also, I like the character concept you have going. Perfect for 2 people.

[Bel-Torac]

There are plenty of NPC's that can help you out. If the DM can give you some to help you fight, you guys should be fine. But yes, 1 paladin and cleric is a minimum requirement not to keep dying. Did it with a full party and it was still difficult (bard, cleric, paladin/cleric, paladin/warlock, 2x fighter, monk)