D&D 5E [Adventurers League] [AL] [Forever T3] Pure Support Control Paladin

[JugsOfHolyness]

DESCRIPTION​

This build is meant to shine and forever stay in the Tier 3 bracket (levels 11-16) of Adventurers League (AL), specifically the Forgotten Realms campaign. It is not meant to do damage, and is instead focused purely on control and support

This build is not a theory-craft or proof of concept; it has been played in dozens of AL games from the time period of August 2020-March 2021. For those who don't know, AL games are "public" games of D&D using the 5th ED rule set. As long as both the players and DM abide by certain rules set forth by WotC, the players are able to take their character from one DM to the next, essentially making it so the whole world is your D&D group

Each AL game usually lasts 4 hours. At the end you are allowed to level up; you may choose to decline leveling up. I chose to stop leveling upon reaching LV 16 so that I could experience the hundreds of modules written for Tier 3

Tier 4 (LV 17-20) only has 21 modules that WotC has sanctioned for play in AL. You cannot repeat a module with the same character (though you as a player can repeat a module simply by creating a new character and re-leveling it), so a T4 character has no more modules to play after exhausting all 21

FEATURES​

• HP
• AC
• Saves
• Advantage against all hostile Spells, such as Fireball (Yuan-Ti)
• Advantage against all hostile Magic Effects, such as a Beholder's eye beam (Yuan-Ti)
• Resistance to all Spell damage for yourself, and allies 10 ft around you (Aura of Warding, LV 7 Ancients Paladin)
• +6 to All Saves for yourself, and allies 10 ft around you (Aura of Protection, LV 6 Ancients Paladin)
• LV 6 Aid at the beginning of every Adventure for you and 2 other party members (148 HP + 25 = 173)
• Immune to Poison damage and the Poisoned Condition (Yuan-Ti)
• Immune to Critical Hits (Adamantine Half-Plate)
• Non-magical Fire (in AL, a red dragon's breath attack is ruled as non-magical), within 30 ft of you is automatically extinguished, no action required by you (Aegis of the Raven Queen)
• Trap up to 8 enemy spellcasters with you, forcing them all to target you (Cube of Force, NOTHING option). The NOTHING option from Cube of Force is better than Wall of Force, because it also prevents escape via Misty Step or other forms of Teleportation magic (which Wall of Force does not). The problem with Cube of Force is that it is always centered around you, so you will be trapped in there with 8 spellcasters...but you're a Yuan-Ti who has Advantage on all saves against magic, and you have +10 DEX/+17 INT/+14 WIS/+20 CHR Saves
• Silence those same 8 spellcasters stuck inside the Cube with you, just to add insult to injury. Your Silence cannot be countered under any circumstances (MetaMagic Subtle, from Sorcerer)
• If those 8 spellcasters don't need components/speak to cast spells (rendering Silence useless), they're most likely Mindflayers, in which case you have +17 to your INT Save against their Mindblast ability, which you still have Advantage on as well
• Reroll one of your own d20s three times per Long Rest (Lucky Feat)
• Add 2d4 to any Save or Check that you fail (Favored by the Gods, LV 1 Divine Soul)
• Understand any language you hear, and be understood by all creatures (who knows at least one language) for 1 hour (Tongues, LV 5 Sorcerer)
• Counterspell. Your Counterspell cannot be countered under any circumstances (MetaMagic Subtle, from Sorcerer)
• Teleport 30 ft as a Bonus Action (Misty Step, LV5 Ancients Paladin)
• Force a DC 19 WIS Save on NPCs so that they give you info you need, without them knowing you tried to influence them (Yuan-Ti racial spell, Suggestion; MetaMagic Subtle, from Sorcerer)
• Open any lock (Knock, LV 3 Sorcerer)
• Force a DC 19 WIS Save to make an enemy waste their entire turn doing nothing (Does not work against Undead. Does not work if the enemy doesn't understand your language). Can be upcasted to affect more than one enemy (Command, LV 2 Paladin)

BUILD​

LEVELING
Yuan-Ti
LV 1 Paladin - Point Buy
LV 2 Paladin - Fighting Style: Defense
LV 3 Paladin - Oath: Oath of the Ancients
LV 4 Paladin - ASI: CHR & CHR
LV 5 Paladin
LV 6 Paladin - Aura of Protection
LV 7 Paladin - Aura of Warding
LV 8 Paladin - ASI: CHR & CHR
Lv 9 Sorcerer - Sorcerous Origin: Divine Soul. Favored by the Gods
LV 10 Sorcerer
LV 11 Sorcerer - MetaMagic: Subtle Spell; Quickened Spell
LV 12 Sorcerer - Feat: Lucky
LV 13 Sorcerer - Magical Guidance
LV 14 Sorcerer
LV 15 Sorcerer
LV 16 Sorcerer - Feat: Resilient (Intelligence)


SPELLS
We did not pick up the War Caster Feat. One of our hands has the Aegis of the Raven Queen shield equipped, and the other hand is holding the Staff of Power. This has several connotations which you must be aware of:

• If we are casting a spell with only Verbal & Somatic components , we cannot cast it at all unless we use 1 Sorcery Point to Subtle it
• If we are casting a spell with only a Somatic component, we cannot cast it at all unless we use 1 Sorcery Point to Subtle it
• If we are casting a spell with only a Verbal component, we do NOT need to Subtle it
• If we are casting a spell with only a Material component, we do NOT need to Subtle it
• If we are casting a spell with only Verbal & Material components, we do NOT need to Subtle it
• If we are casting a spell with all 3 Verbal, Somatic and Material components, we do NOT need to Subtle it

Paladin - Bless, Command, Aid, Find Steed, Lesser Restoration, Locate Object, Misty Step
Sorcerer - Light, Mending, Prestidigitation, False Life, Shield, Knock, Silence, Counterspell, Hypnotic Pattern, Tongues, Banishment, Dimension Door


MAGIC ITEMS
Attunement - Staff of Power, Amulet of Health, Cube of Force
Non Attunement - Tome of Leadership and Influence, Adamantine Half Plate, Aegis of the Raven Queen


MISC
Blessing of Protection (+1 AC, +1 All Saves)


MISC
My character unfortunately missed out on these, and am no longer eligible to obtain them...unless I start a new character over from scratch

• Blessing of Lathander (10 Temp HP at the start of any Adventure)
• Chosen of Auril (Immunity to Cold damage)
• "Free" Feat (Selling my soul to a certain NPC)
• Resistance to any one damage type (Wish, from a certain NPC from a certain Epic)

Epics are Adventurers League's version of raiding from MMOs. Some can be adapted for homebrew for play with a normal single group, and these are sold on DMsGuild

Most Epics however, are designed for large groups of people (think 40+), with groups being divided into tables, and each table having between 5-7 players each. These types of Epics are not sold, and the materials needed to run them are given at the sole discretion of Wizards of the Coast