D&D 5E Noob help for a tempest cleric

[UKDFink]

Folks,

Im going to apologise for being lazy here - but it's also that I have very little experience (ive had one session from the starter set) so I dont want to make any mistakes and miss obvious stuff I may not have read.

I need help. Im playing DnD round at a mates in a few weeks. Ive got all of the books (except xanathar) but to be honest I just dont have the time to invest in reading it all at the moment (i literally get 5 minutes to myself a day and thats usually to enjoy on the toilet.)

Ive been allocated a role as cleric and will be the only one with access to healing spells. Looking into it I think I want to do a tempest cleric. We will be starting at level 3 and its possible we will hit level 4 during the adventure.

From the research I have managed so far I have come up with the following (feel free to rip up). With point buy :Variant Human with +1 to Con and Wis + Resilient + Survival
Str 14
Dex 12
Con 16
Int 8
Wis 16
Cha 10

Im pretty sure I can pick the healing/support spells I need...bless, healing word etc. What I dont know is how to arm myself.

Can I cast spells with a shield and hammer? What damage spells should I use etc. Ive heard talk of using shillelagh or booming blade. How does that work?

This will be for a one shot that will take place over one evening but likely to be used again when we can get round to writing a follow up.

I think im asking for someone to write me a character. Sorry!

I dont really get all of the acronyms yet so be gentle

Thanks in advance

 

[aco175]

You should not feel that you have been allocated to being the cleric, you should embrace it. I liked playing my tempest cleric, dwarf of the storm. I played using a warhammer 2-handed instead of shield, but I think you can still cast using both. The problem with this type of cleric is the lack of healing power compared to the life cleric. It is more a fighting cleric.

 

[CTurbo]

My Tempest Cleric has been my favorite character to play with in 5e so far. I feel like it is an extremely powerful Class/Domain. You get full armor and weapon proficiencies so you'll want to use Heavy Armor which means you're going to want at least a 15 in Str so you can wear full plate. With point buy, Variant Human, and the Heavy Armor Mastery feat, I started with

16 Str
10 Dex
14 Con
8 Int
16 Wis
10 Char

The Heavy Armor Mastery feat is EXTREMELY strong at low levels and is never useless at higher levels as things start attacking more than once. Resilient Con is also very good for a Cleric so you can't go wrong there either. You could still start with these stats if you want Res(Con)

16 Str
10 Dex
16 Con
8 Int
16 Wis
8 Char

I started off using Morningstar + Shield and Chain Mail for 18 AC but once I got into Full Plate, my AC was 20. I found a Ring of Protection for another +1 to AC. I actually ended up ditching the Shield and using a +1 Greatsword after a while because I was so hard to hit, and when I did get hit, I only took partial damage.

You'll want to bump Wis at level 4 most likely. I actually took +2 to Str with my guy because I wanted him to be more melee focused. It's fun to play unoptimized characters sometimes, and I started to feel like he was overshadowing the group a bit. (he really was)

The Tempest Features are a blast and the Domain spells are great.

At low levels, Wrath of the Storm is ridiculous. You will flat out kill the first few enemies who attack you using your reaction haha. In our first encounter, I was surrounded by 3 guards, I killed one on my turn, the middle guard attacked me for 3 damage, which I negated completely, and was able to kill him with my reaction. The 3rd guard threw down his weapon and surrendered haha.

Destructive Wrath is one of the best abilities in the whole book if you ask me. Once a day starting at second level, and twice at level 6, you will flat our end an encounter before it even begins. We were not going in the direction our DM wanted us to go in so he sent a large 20+ group of Gnolls our way to try to get us to turn around. I cast Shatter, maxed the damage, and killed like 14 or 15 of them immediately. DM was pissed haha. he said we were not even supposed to fight them.

You're definitely going to have a lot of fun with your character.



Oh yeah spells, you still have access to all of the normal Cleric spells so you scan stock up on healing and buffing spells. I chose to be way more offensive and only take a couple healing spells, but you can do whatever you want of course. I found it better to just end the encounter by killing the enemies than to waste a turn trying to heal. I remember one encounter where I had a couple of friends in my blast zone and I chose to kill them too along with the enemy because I knew I had Spare the Dying and I could just revive them right afterwards hahaha

 

[UKDFink]

Perfect - thanks [MENTION=6855234]CTurbo[/MENTION].

Dont worry [MENTION=27385]aco175[/MENTION] - I am embracing it - its was my first choice.

Just so much info that I have a severe bout of analysis paralysis.

 

[schnee]

Can I cast spells with a shield and hammer?

If your holy symbol focus is on your shield, you'll be fine casting all spells that don't have an expensive or consumable material component - like Continual Flame, for example.

What damage spells should I use etc. I've heard talk of using shillelagh or booming blade. How does that work?

You have Thunderwave and Guiding Bolt to cause big damage. And, Spiritual Weapon is great for a huge battle.

You can't get Booming Blade or Shillelagh unless you use your feat for Magic Initiate - neither one of those are on the Cleric spell list - so to get them you'll give up the Resilient feat. That matters with a spell like Bless - that one makes several other members of the party land attacks that would have otherwise missed, or make saving throws that would have failed. It's one of the best Cleric spells at lower levels. But, that spell is 'Concentration', so you have a chance of losing it if you get struck for damage before the end of the combat - so having a feat like Resilient or War Caster will make it less risky to mix it up in combat alongside the others at the same time.

If you get Shillelagh, you won't use a hammer, it'll be a club, and the spell makes it a little more effective in combat over your Cleric weapons. And, at this level, Booming Blade won't do anything unless the attacker tries to run away from you during combat - so both will have only situational benefits at this level. (Booming Blade will really pay off at 5th level, and get even better at 8th.)

But, really, you'll be totally fine with either way. 5E is a forgiving game, and doesn't punish you for trying to be creative with your character. Tempest Cleric is one of the most effective, fun classes in the book. And, if you keep playing, when you hit 4th, it's easy enough to pick up Resilient or War Caster then. Your stats are good enough to not worry about boosting your stats until your next Ability Score Increase at 8th level.

So, I'd look up the Magic Initiate feat, start reading through the various spell lists, and see what other cantrips and 1st level spell you'd pick up to go with Booming Blade. (Like, look at Gust and Thunderclap in the Elemental Evil Companion and Xanathar's Guide, those are very 'Tempest' themed. And Absorb Elements, Shield, and Feather Fall are great 'get out of serious trouble once a day' spells that fit as well.)

Thanks in advance

I hope this helps, have fun!

 

[TwoSix]

Honestly, Shillelagh and Booming Blade aren't worth it at level 3, certainly not worth a precious feat slot to get. As a tempest cleric, you're going to wait a decent Strength score for your armor, so using Shillelagh will probably be a wash, or at best a +1 to hit and damage. And Booming Blade doesn't do any extra damage at level 3 unless the target moves.

 

[Sacrosanct]

My tempest cleric was my highest level PC so far. Spiritual hammer doesn't require concentration and basically gives you an extra attack. Spiritual guardians is a must have when you get it. As mentioned above, heavy armor mastery is great at lower levels, but the first feat I got was resilient and getting saving throws for Con (since I was often in the front line and often had a spell requiring concentration up). But really, it's hard to go wrong with a tempest cleric. They are one of the best front line warriors you can get.

 

[Volund]

First off, you have a few weeks and you don't have to read much material to get ready for your first game. Spend a little time to learn the basics of your character race and class, just a few pages. Then read the rules for d20 ability checks and saves, pp 173-179, and combat and spellcasting, pp 189-204 in the PHB. Finally, figure out from this thread or elsewhere what spells you are likely to cast and read those, just a few more paragraphs. It's really not as much as you might think if you looked at all the books together.

Based on my experience playing a tempest cleric, my first D&D character, from level 1 to 16...

A 3rd level cleric is as good a melee fighter as anyone at low levels, but if you are looking to do something besides just sword and board on the front lines, here are some suggestions:

If your party has other heavy hitters like a rogue, paladin, or fighter with great weapon master or sharpshooter, Bless is awesome. With good armor and martial weapons you may feel like you should be in the fray, but you'll have more impact helping others to land their power strikes. Once Bless is up, take the Dodge action to avoid getting hit and being forced to make a concentration save. While dodging, you have several nice Bonus Action spells you can still cast depending on the situation. Spiritual Weapon lets you add extra offense, and is almost mandatory when a 3rd level party is up against monsters with resistance to non-magical weapons. If someone goes to zero hp, use Healing Word to get them back up.

If you are in a tough fight and Bless is more valuable to other attackers in your party than your own attacks, and you absolutely have to maintain concentration, use the Dodge + Sanctuary combo, which forces a monster to make a Wisdom save before attacking you at disadvantage. Assuming that you have an 18 AC, 16 Wis, and took the Resilient (Con) feat for at least a +4 on Con saves, the likelihood of a typical tier 1 monster forcing you to drop the Bless spell is tiny. About 1 out of 100 gnoll or hobgoblin or skeleton attacks would succeed. Less than 1 out of 50 ogre attacks.

As others have said, always be looking for an opportunity for a well-placed Shatter spell with Destructive Wrath to drop a cluster of low CR monsters.

If you are one of the primary melee fighters because of your party composition, Bless is still an option but you will probably be forced to make more concentration saves. (This is a good reason to take Resilient (Con) as your V. Human feat). You might want to cast Protection from Evil and Good if you are fighting the type of monsters it affects. It requires concentration but makes you harder to hit and also protects you from some nasty conditions. It has a 10 minute duration so it can even last through a couple of back to back combat encounters.

Because of Destructive Wrath, your Thunderwave and Shatter domain spells great, but you have Fog Cloud and Gust of Wind always prepared, and they can be very useful in the right situations. Find creative ways to use them. Fog Cloud can give your party a momentary reprieve or cover your escape because casters can't cast spells and monsters can't make opportunity attacks at targets they can't see. Gust of Wind disperses poison gas, Stinking Cloud and Cloudkill, let's you be a living fire extinguisher, and occasionally pushes enemies off of bridges, columns and such.

I would stay away from spells that require a single attack roll to hit or else fail entirely (Guiding Bolt, Inflict Wounds) unless you have advantage, are desperate, or confident of an impending long rest. The potential damage is tempting but the loss of a spell slot with nothing to show for it always sucks.

 

[UKDFink]

That's awesome - thanks everyone!!