Need help building my first 5e campaign character (AoE + healing + skills)

[Morph Bark]

So I just got invited to my first real 5e campaign, rather than just oneshots or being the GM all the time. It is for a Hoard of the Dragon Queen campaign.

The rest of the party is a wildshape-focused druid and two rogues. They are at level 5 and have been adventuring for about a year (sessions every other week over Roll20).

I want to do:

• healing
• Area of Effect damage
• skills the others don't have proficiency in (Arcana, History, Investigation, Religion, Persuasion or Intimidation, mayyyyyybe Insight?)

I figured some variety of Cleric, Bard or Warlock would be cool and potentially fit these requirements. (The party has had a ton of sorcerers and wizards before that have died or gotten kicked out.)
I don't want to multiclass.
I think I'd like to play a non-PHB race, but figure I'd pick something that would fit the build and then check with my DM if it's cool.

The books that are allowed:

• Player's Handbook (PHB)
• Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (SCAG)
• Volo's Guide to Monsters (VGtM)
• Xanathar's Guide to Everything (XGtE)
• Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (MToF)
• Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (TCoE)
• Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons (FToD)
• Monsters of the Multiverse (MotM)
• Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos (SCC)

With those parameters in place, what can I do?

EDIT: Since this is my first time making a character for a campaign, I also have no idea what spells or feats or subclasses would be good here, so I appreciate anyone suggesting those. (:

[stoutstien]

It's a small party with a high likelihood of having an emphasis on stealth so I would look into options at wooden interfere with that.
I'd actually suggest the artillerist. It ticks all the boxes. They're pretty good at doing what's needed when it's needed.

[KorvinStarmast]

So I just got invited to my first real 5e campaign, rather than just oneshots or being the GM all the time. It is for a Hoard of the Dragon Queen campaign.

Spoiler: the deal

Show

The rest of the party is a wildshape-focused druid and two rogues. They are at level 5 and have been adventuring for about a year (sessions every other week over Roll20).

I want to do:

• healing
• Area of Effect damage
• skills the others don't have proficiency in (Arcana, History, Investigation, Religion, Persuasion or Intimidation, mayyyyyybe Insight?)

I figured some variety of Cleric, Bard or Warlock would be cool and potentially fit these requirements. (The party has had a ton of sorcerers and wizards before that have died or gotten kicked out.)
I don't want to multiclass.
I think I'd like to play a non-PHB race, but figure I'd pick something that would fit the build and then check with my DM if it's cool.

The books that are allowed:

• Player's Handbook (PHB)
• Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (SCAG)
• Volo's Guide to Monsters (VGtM)
• Xanathar's Guide to Everything (XGtE)
• Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (MToF)
• Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (TCoE)
• Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons (FToD)
• Monsters of the Multiverse (MotM)
• Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos (SCC)

With those parameters in place, what can I do?

Warlock, Pact of the tome, Celestial
vHuman
Res Con feat

Or
vHuman Lore bard
Resilient Con feat

[GeneralVryth]

I'll second the Bard thought (though I do have a soft spot in my heart for Celestial Warlocks). Bards cover all of your bases with just the base class (though they are weaker at AOE damage, but they do have solid AOE control). Lore Bards get you access to solid AOE spells earlier, or you can go another flavor like Valor or Blades and have a solid melee option to be less reliant on spells.

As for race, vHumans are great with the feat, though Half-Elfs would also be solid adding even more skills and an extra stat point. Though if you have more of an idea on how your envision your character playing you can get more nuanced suggestions.

[Saelethil]

My 2 thoughts:
Half-elf Lore Bard
Or
V-human Light cleric (skilled or skill expert feat)

[Morph Bark]

Since this is my first time making a character for a campaign, I also have no idea what spells or feats or subclasses would be good here, so I appreciate anyone suggesting those. (:

It's a small party with a high likelihood of having an emphasis on stealth so I would look into options at wooden interfere with that.
I'd actually suggest the artillerist. It ticks all the boxes. They're pretty good at doing what's needed when it's needed.

What do you mean by "wooden interfere"?

What is the artillerist? Is that a new class?

Warlock, Pact of the tome, Celestial
vHuman
Res Con feat

Or
vHuman Lore bard
Resilient Con feat

Why those subclasses and the Resilient Con feat specifically?

My 2 thoughts:
Half-elf Lore Bard
Or
V-human Light cleric (skilled or skill expert feat)

I'll second the Bard thought (though I do have a soft spot in my heart for Celestial Warlocks). Bards cover all of your bases with just the base class (though they are weaker at AOE damage, but they do have solid AOE control). Lore Bards get you access to solid AOE spells earlier, or you can go another flavor like Valor or Blades and have a solid melee option to be less reliant on spells.

As for race, vHumans are great with the feat, though Half-Elfs would also be solid adding even more skills and an extra stat point. Though if you have more of an idea on how your envision your character playing you can get more nuanced suggestions.

What spells would y'all suggest for a Lore Bard or Light Cleric?

Are there AoE options for melee now?

What non-core races would y'all suggest as alternatives to vHuman or Half-Elf?

[Kane0]

Kobolds and Goblins are popular, I find Genasi to be quite fun, and I hear good things about Fairies and Shadar-Kai.

Artillerist is an Artificer subclass, you can find the Artificer in Tasha's. Its an Int-based halfcaster and great 5th-wheel addition to a party much like a bard.

I'd second some kind of Cleric, Bard or a Celestial Warlock. You could go for a Dreams or Stars druid too! But artificer also slots in well with pretty much any party.
Notably, Gift of the Metallic Dragon is a feat you could use to add some healing to a sorcerer or wizard, or you could just choose Healer or Inspiring Leader on anything.

Edit: there's a few AoE cantrips like thunderclap and word of radiance, but there isnt much support for them. Light clerics specifically get fireball, but all clerics get spirit guardians.

[stoutstien]

What do you mean by "wooden interfere"?

What is the artillerist? Is that a new class?

My autocorrect is on the fritz. Wouldn't interfere with stealth.

The Artillerist is a artificer subclass from Tasha's.

With a small party I would definitely lean for a class that is prepared rather memorized if you are looking at spell casting.

[GeneralVryth]

Since this is my first time making a character for a campaign, I also have no idea what spells or feats or subclasses would be good here, so I appreciate anyone suggesting those. (:

The truth is most things in 5e are good enough as long as you pick things that work together and with your party (you have 2 rogues and a druid in your party so being good at Stealth is going to be good, and picking up missing skill space is always useful). That's why I really suggest trying to imagine how you see your character playing, it's a lot easier to provide specific suggestions to meet a specific idea. Otherwise you are just going to get bombarded with general decent to good ideas that may or may not work together or end up being what you want to play as.

Think of some answers to the following questions.
1. In combat what do you imagine your character doing if they have a choice? Are they staying back lobbing spells? Are they casting a couple important spells and then firing off shots from a crossbow or diving in to melee sword drawn? Are you employing hit and run tactics to try and gum up the enemy or standing your ground? I hope you get the idea.
2. When the party meets an unknown group to talk, what is your character doing? Are they taking the lead trying to open negotiations? Are you lying your rear off? Are you trying to distract while a rogue gets in position? Are you just sitting back and observing waiting for tells? Are you using magic to try and trick or control their minds?
3. Out in the wilderness what kind of character are you? Are you an academic out of their depth? Are comfortable in unknown places, always keeping your footing physically and mentally? Are you using magic to aid you or reliant on whatever skill you possess?

In short I am asking how you envision behaves in combat, conversation, and out exploring. Knowing general answers makes it a lot easier to make recommendations closer to what you want.

Why those subclasses and the Resilient Con feat specifically?

What spells would y'all suggest for a Lore Bard or Light Cleric?

Are there AoE options for melee now?

What non-core races would y'all suggest as alternatives to vHuman or Half-Elf?

Lore Bards are basically good at everything that isn't weapons based combat. They have 6 skills and 2 expertise of your choice, before looking at backgrounds or racials. They get early magical secrets that lets them 2 choose spells of their choice to know from any class. And then they have the other Bard goodies like Bardic Inspiration to help the party in a variety of ways and Song of Rest to help with healing.

Spell selection depends a lot on preferred play-style. But nothing really beats Fireball for AOE damage from affar, or Spirit Guardians close up, which is part of why Light Clerics and Lore Bards were suggested they can get access to either/both spells at level 5 or 6, and also have access to some healing (Healing Word being the most important).

There are some more melee focused AOE spells, Spirit Guardians is likely the most notable, but Green-Flame Blade is a solid AOE melee cantrip.

I will leave the non-core race suggestions to the others, though like everything else racial suggestions are a lot easier to make when there are more known specifics about the character concept.

If the goodies of a Lore Bard appeals to you, but you would also like to be more melee focused there is a 1 level dip that would work well (though I hate for the cheesiness factor) and that is the Hexblade Warlock. 1 level of that gets you medium armor prof, shields prof, martial weapons prof, and lets you attack with 1 handed melee weapons using Cha. It also gets you a couple of Warlock cantrips, Green-Flame Blade and Eldritch Blast likely being the most important. It works well with most Bard subclasses.

[Dalinar]

So I just got invited to my first real 5e campaign, rather than just oneshots or being the GM all the time. It is for a Hoard of the Dragon Queen campaign.

The rest of the party is a wildshape-focused druid and two rogues. They are at level 5 and have been adventuring for about a year (sessions every other week over Roll20).

I want to do:

• healing
• Area of Effect damage
• skills the others don't have proficiency in (Arcana, History, Investigation, Religion, Persuasion or Intimidation, mayyyyyybe Insight?)

I figured some variety of Cleric, Bard or Warlock would be cool and potentially fit these requirements. (The party has had a ton of sorcerers and wizards before that have died or gotten kicked out.)
I don't want to multiclass.
I think I'd like to play a non-PHB race, but figure I'd pick something that would fit the build and then check with my DM if it's cool.

The books that are allowed:

• Player's Handbook (PHB)
• Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (SCAG)
• Volo's Guide to Monsters (VGtM)
• Xanathar's Guide to Everything (XGtE)
• Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (MToF)
• Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (TCoE)
• Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons (FToD)
• Monsters of the Multiverse (MotM)
• Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos (SCC)

With those parameters in place, what can I do?

EDIT: Since this is my first time making a character for a campaign, I also have no idea what spells or feats or subclasses would be good here, so I appreciate anyone suggesting those. (:

Bard or Cleric are both pretty solid picks here, as is Artillerist Artificer or Divine Soul Sorcerer. However, I'm going to maybe go against the grain a little here and suggest playing a second druid, perhaps Circle of Stars.

• Healing: with TCOE, Druids gained access to Aura of Vitality, a spell that (IMO) was clearly tuned around only being available to ninth-level paladins for whom a third-level slot is a much bigger investment. Stars also allows you to chuck d8+WIS when you cast a spell using a spell slot to heal someone, which is useful for making those healing slots go a long way (especially if more than one person goes down at once).
• AOE: in situations where damage is more important than healing, you can use Starry Form to instead get a bonus action attack every round for d8+WIS, which is not technically AOE but might be nice for cleaning up weak targets. Mostly AOE will come from your spell list. Spike Growth is the biggest and most obvious here, or you could go Call Lightning for a more traditionally blaster option. Flaming Sphere might work as well. You'll also get Wall of Fire at level 7, though obviously that's a little ways away yet. Outside of Stars subclass, a Land Druid (Mountain) also gains access to Lightning Bolt, which oddly enough isn't normally a druid spell. There are also a handful of potent AOE control spells that don't deal damage, like Plant Growth.
• Skills: Druids get two of Arcana, Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Religion, and Survival. Arcana and Insight overlap with the things you asked, though you'll want to pick up more INT skills from your background and probably invest some stats in INT as well.

I don't think it's the optimal choice by any means (I think that's probably Divine Soul Sorcerer or Artillerist Artificer), but mainly the reason I bring it up in the first place is because it'll be a fun dynamic to potentially have two druids in the party with very different perspectives on what their craft means. A lot of the time I think there's an instinct we have as players to not want to play the same class as someone else in the party, either because of fears of insufficiently diversified skillsets or just a fear of being seen as uncreative or not unique. But I think that gives you room to compare AND contrast your character against the existing druid.

[KorvinStarmast]

Why those subclasses and the Resilient Con feat specifically?

Celestial for healer (I have played three so far)
Res Con for concentration saving throws, since quite a few support spells require concentration.
Lore Bard? You get magical secrets, you have healing spells, and you can use Bardic Inspiration or Cutting words in so many supportive ways that this is a fantastic support character.

What level are you beginning at?

[Saelethil]

What spells would y'all suggest for a Lore Bard or Light Cleric?

Are there AoE options for melee now?

What non-core races would y'all suggest as alternatives to vHuman or Half-Elf?

For Light Cleric I’d say Guidance, Healing Word, Enhance Ability, and Spirit Guardians. The subclass gives some good AoE (including Fireball). From there I’d personally go with Bless and Hold Person, which leaves several other preparations for utility/situational/support spells.

[Morph Bark]

Alright! I have spoken with my GM. So far what we've settled on:
- I am a half-wood elf cleric of Bahamut with the City Watch Investigator/Dragon Cult Infiltrator background
- My domain is the "Dragon domain", which is the War domain mechanically, but with the spells swapped out for the following:
1: Bless, Charm Person
2: Suggestion, Dragon's Breath
3: Spirit Guardians, Fireball
4: Elemental Bane, Stoneskin
5: Scrying, Summon Draconic Spirit

I have infiltrated the dragon cult, acting like I'm actually a worshipper of Tiamat instead. Since the party is Stealth-focused, I went with half-wood elf variant and put a decent roll in Dex (15) and got Stealth proficiency to easily fit in with them. Because that was basically a requirement for me, I figured I'd focus the rest around that too, so I got low Str and wearing only light armor, but am using a rapier as my weapon for 1d8 + Dex damage.

This is probably very suboptimal?

Anyway, I'm looking to prepare spells that will capitalize on all of this, and I still have one feat to take at level 4, which we start at. I figured I'd go with Actor largely to keep up my infiltration, but I'm curious if there's other good options for feats too. Spells suggestions for Stealth and finesse fighting with a rapier very welcome!

[Aaron Underhand]

Are you using points buy for stats, or some other method. Good stats can dramatically open options for you.

You plan not to multitasking, and your party needs an arcane full caster, even if they don't realise that.

[GeneralVryth]

Anyway, I'm looking to prepare spells that will capitalize on all of this, and I still have one feat to take at level 4, which we start at. I figured I'd go with Actor largely to keep up my infiltration, but I'm curious if there's other good options for feats too. Spells suggestions for Stealth and finesse fighting with a rapier very welcome!

Feats depend on a lot on Ability Scores. Actor is probably not going to be that useful for you in the long run, though it is certainly thematic.

For other feat ideas Resilient (Con) and Warcaster are almost certainly going to be the most useful because they help with your concentration checks which is really useful for spells like Spirit Guardians. On the more thematic front both Alert and Observant feel like they could fit the character as well, and are more likely to be mechanically useful. Of course there is also the option of the plain old +2 Wis, which won't go wrong on a Cleric that is using their spells for combat.

[Kane0]

- My domain is the "Dragon domain", which is the War domain mechanically, but with the spells swapped out for the following:
1: Bless, Charm Person
2: Suggestion, Dragon's Breath
3: Spirit Guardians, Fireball
4: Elemental Bane, Stoneskin
5: Scrying, Summon Draconic Spirit

This is probably very suboptimal?

Anyway, I'm looking to prepare spells that will capitalize on all of this, and I still have one feat to take at level 4, which we start at. I figured I'd go with Actor largely to keep up my infiltration, but I'm curious if there's other good options for feats too. Spells suggestions for Stealth and finesse fighting with a rapier very welcome!

No that seems fine man, have fun with it. Maybe dont use your rapier too much going forward though, your cantrips will get stronger from 5 onwards and generally be more useful if you pick sacred flame, word of radiance, etc.

Actor is a pretty poor feat, maybe spring for inspiring leader to keep people up longer? Otherwise gift of the metallic or chromatic dragon are both thematically and mechanically solid, then there is of course the caster staples (resilient, warcaster, shadow/fey touched).

Edit: wait! Wood elf magic! Pass without trace! That is also pretty damn good.

[Morph Bark]

Are you using points buy for stats, or some other method. Good stats can dramatically open options for you.

You plan not to multitasking, and your party needs an arcane full caster, even if they don't realise that.

I have rolled for stats and ended up with 16, 15, 15, 14, 13, 10. (:

Since I can use either Str or Dex for my attacks, but I can use Dex for Stealth alongside the rest of the party, I'm thinking Str 13, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 15 before racial bonuses. Maybe even go Str 10 and Int 13(+1 racial bonus) to be a little better at Arcana, History, Investigation and Religion skills.

Why does my party need an arcane full caster?

For other feat ideas Resilient (Con) and Warcaster are almost certainly going to be the most useful because they help with your concentration checks which is really useful for spells like Spirit Guardians. On the more thematic front both Alert and Observant feel like they could fit the character as well, and are more likely to be mechanically useful. Of course there is also the option of the plain old +2 Wis, which won't go wrong on a Cleric that is using their spells for combat.

Hmmmm... War Caster seems especially good if instead of using a rapier I use a polearm instead. I don't suppose there are any polearms that have the finesse property?

Alert and Observant seem neat indeed, though I don't know how useful they'll be in Hoard of the Dragon Queen and with this GM's style specifically. I've never had him as a GM before.

No that seems fine gal, have fun with it. Maybe dont use your rapier too much going forward though, your cantrips will get stronger from 5 onwards and generally be more useful if you pick sacred flame, word of radiance, etc.

Actor is a pretty poor feat, maybe spring for inspiring leader to keep people up longer? Otherwise gift of the metallic or chromatic dragon are both thematically and mechanically solid, then there is of course the caster staples (resilient, warcaster, shadow/fey touched).

Edit: wait! Wood elf magic! Pass without trace! That is also pretty damn good.

I considered Wood Elf Magic, but since we've got a druid in the party who uses it regularly, I don't think I should go for that.

I love the fluff of Inspiring Leader. How long do the temporary hit points last?

Gift of the Metallic Dragon or Gift of the Gem Dragon also seem neat. For Gem Dragon I'd probably better check with my GM though.

[GeneralVryth]

Why does my party need an arcane full caster?

It doesn't :). The great thing about 5e, is parties don't really need anything.

Hmmmm... War Caster seems especially good if instead of using a rapier I use a polearm instead. I don't suppose there are any polearms that have the finesse property?

Alert and Observant seem neat indeed, though I don't know how useful they'll be in Hoard of the Dragon Queen and with this GM's style specifically. I've never had him as a GM before.

The first bullet of Warcaster is what most people are going for (the seoncd is also useful). The reaction cantrip will work nicely with Spirit Guardians and enemies trying to get away from you. But no, there are no reaction reach weapons.

Moving earlier in combat is almost always good. The rest of Alert and/or Observant I agree depend on the likelihood of being ambushed.

I love the fluff of Inspiring Leader. How long do the temporary hit points last?

The temp hitpoints I believe last until you take a long rest, or they are overwritten by larger source of temporary hitpoints (so usually they will be refreshed to maximum from Inspiring Leader after every rest).

[KorvinStarmast]

I have rolled for stats and ended up with 16, 15, 15, 14, 13, 10. (:

What I'd do with your die rolls for the wood elf war cleric:
16, 15, 15, 14, 13, 10.
+2 Dex
+1 Wis
S 13 D 15+2 C 16 I 10 W 15+1 Ch 14

Why does my party need an arcane full caster?

They don't. Between you and the Druid, you will be fine.
No polearms with finesse property.

Inspiring Leader meets your goals better, IMO, but, Medium Armor Master may also meet your goals. See below.

I love the fluff of Inspiring Leader. How long do the temporary hit points last?

Until used in combat or your next long rest. You can re apply them after any short rest or long rest. It is a very good feat.

At level 4: I'd suggest boosting Wisdom to 18. Do the feat at 8.
Or, if you are bound and determined to have a feat go with Inspiring Leader.
Or, since you are a cleric and going dex heavy, Medium Armor Master.
That feat is sneaky good. It allows you to add +3 of your dex bonus to armor class; makes Half Plate into AC 18 without a shield.
And, it prevents the stealth penalty of Half Plate armor.
I have used it on both Rangers and Dex Paladins in the past. It's good.

Spell Suggestions:
Cantrips: Sacred Flame, Guidance, Toll the Dead
Level 1 Spells to consider:
Guiding Bolt, Bless(you have from domain), Protection from Evil/Good, Sanctuary, Healing Word

[Morph Bark]

At level 4: I'd suggest boosting Wisdom to 18. Do the feat at 8.
Or, if you are bound and determined to have a feat go with Inspiring Leader.
Or, since you are a cleric and going dex heavy, Medium Armor Master.
That feat is sneaky good. It allows you to add +3 of your dex bonus to armor class; makes Half Plate into AC 18 without a shield.
And, it prevents the stealth penalty of Half Plate armor.
I have used it on both Rangers and Dex Paladins in the past. It's good.

Spell Suggestions:
Cantrips: Sacred Flame, Guidance, Toll the Dead
Level 1 Spells to consider:
Guiding Bolt, Bless(you have from domain), Protection from Evil/Good, Sanctuary, Healing Word

Oh Medium Armor Master looks perfect! I've taken that now. Decided to put 10 in Str, because I liked having the Int skills in a good place. I'll keep a shield handy, but since I don't have War Caster, I'll need to pick either shield or rapier and keep one hand free for spells.

Guiding Bolt and other spells that provide advantage on attacks are great for my rogue friends. Good call! Now I need to find some like that for level 2 and 3 spells.

[KorvinStarmast]

Oh Medium Armor Master looks perfect! I've taken that now. Decided to put 10 in Str, because I liked having the Int skills in a good place. I'll keep a shield handy, but since I don't have War Caster, I'll need to pick either shield or rapier and keep one hand free for spells.

Guiding Bolt and other spells that provide advantage on attacks are great for my rogue friends. Good call! Now I need to find some like that for level 2 and 3 spells.

Ok, the ones I use a lot, level 2 are:

Lesser Restoration
Spiritual weapon
Hold Person
Blindness / Deafness

but, depending on what your group is doing, getting some rubies and casting a continual light on a helmet or a head band can give one of your non invfravision PCs some light.
Don't Forget:
you can prepare different ones each day. The above are my "go to" but there are a lot of other fine ones as well.

Enhance Ability got a LOT of use in one of our groups.

The only must have level 3 spells for me are:

Revivify
Spirit Guardians
Dispel Magic

But there are a lot of good ones on the list