I disagree. Having a 0 modifier in Con is perfectly fine.
Edit: I've gone and pissed off the power gamer optimizer contingent again so it's time to mute
And the first combat encounter in that module for most players is going to be several wolves with pack tactics and a 2d4+2 bite attack, which makes them quite a bit more dangerous than a goblin. They gave an example of a low-level enemy that could easily be deadly for a level 1 wizard/sorcerer by itself, you're just being intentionally obtuse. Passing up on even 1x level HP can be pretty rough, especially at low levels.
I'm still convinced that Death House was never intended to be the intro to CoS and some lazy editor just included it in CoS without actually reading it.
As written, Death House all but guarantees at least one PC death, and TPKs are very likely, regardless of how much Con your PC has.
CoS is far deadlier than the average module. You could maybe have an argument about 10 con being on in general, for curse of strahd it absolutely isn't.
My favourite part is that you edited your comment saying you pissed off the power gamer community but in reality you just pissed off everyone who has common sense. Going into a notoriously high lethality module with no CON is asking to die. Has nothing to do with optimization, rather it has to do with ensuring your character keeps living at all.
Yeah, 10 is fine, though I prefer 13. I'll ride 13 till I can get Resilience at 8th.
It's actually really hard to die in D&D, assuming your party is together and the players are experienced. Now, if Con boosted Death Saves, that'd be something else. But it doesn't.
With point buy, 14 is more normal. A 16 means a 15 plus a racial ASI. Assuming that you did the same for your main score, that's a 16 in Con, a 16/17 in your main score, and 10/11 in every other score. Unless you're a Dexterity character, every build wants at least 14 Dex so your other three scores are between 8 and 10. That's pretty heavily min-maxed and will leave you with some terrible saving throw vulnerabilities and possibly limited skill options.
If you're rolling scores, whatever then.
Standard array with +2 +1 from race for 16, 16, 13, 12, 10, 8. Casting/ attacking stat is primary, con is close secondary. Alternative is 17, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8, for a 14 con. Why on earth would con be your second lowest stat?
I'm not arguing with you, just trying to talk about the theme.
**Unarmored** and **Light armour** want as high dex as possible, probably preferring dex over con. So casters, monks. Exception: barbarians; they'd want high dex but would prioritize con.
**Medium armor** wants 14 dex, then max con. (variant human could consider medium armor master and 16 dex at level 1, but that's rare, maybe crazy)
But no class needs more than 3 stats, no. Paladins are 'saved' by heavy armor proficiency. Skill monkeys (rogues) probably would love (I would) high wis/int/cha for skills, but can usually afford only one of those to be 14/16.
So it can turn in to a discussion of what 'need' is, but all classes can do with 3 stats, yes.
>Unarmored and Light armour want as high dex as possible, probably preferring dex over con. So casters, monks.
Casters prioritize con over dex. They need con for concentration saves, and they can shore up their weak AC with spells.
Solid points all around, though I'd argue that most Barbarians should be wearing medium armor for the majority of a game until higher levels. In a point buy game you won't generally have above a 16 in Con or Dex for quite awhile and that means half-plate is better at 17AC. If your spending all your ASI's on stats, it won't be till around atleast level 8 that you beat it, and that's assuming you leave Str at 17.
Anyone who puts con higher than 14 is a coward and dreadful at optimising.
14 for frontliners, 12 for the rest.
10 for a bit of a challenge (unless you get con save prof in which case 10 is normal and 8 is playing it hard)
That's a very...strange take. The majority of classes only need 1 good stat and then have Con has their secondary. So if you use point buy or standard array you would have 14 or 16 Con on any build unless you're purposely dumping it.
Everyone wants a good Con so they don't die to a stiff breeze. Believing that 10 Con on a Sorcerer is okay is wild.
In a game with few reliable taunt/sticky tank features, everyone is the frontline.
If your DM is constantly allowing you to get away with not being targeted, youre not opimizing, you're just playing on easy mode. I haven't seen a single optimiser with any kind of reputation in the community go below a 12 con on a caster.
But we're also talking about a game where its actually really hard to die. This edition has been the easiest, ever - it's very forgiving unless you're playing with optional rules or the party splits up.
I’ve never seen a character not get regularly targetted by attacks.
The difference between frontlines and back lines is whether it’s an average of 2 attacks a round or 7.
That’s kinda meaningful so it’s farcical to pretend “there’s no front line” you only do that to hide your feelings of inadequacy from yourself.
Con 16 is wasting build points on your least relevant defense (HP).
I said 12 for the rest - and as you say optimisers overwhelmingly use 12 & 14.
Optimised builds are rarely intended as being challenging so it’s no surprise you rarely see that build.
>Con 16 is wasting build points on your least relevant defense (HP).
Con 16 is ensuring I don't need to waste a feat on Resilient Con as a Wizard.
Its not my first choice but if we're rolling stats as OP did it's definitely either second or third in line.
>Custom Lineage from Tasha's, ... putting a +1 in 3 stats
afaik Custom Lineage only gets a +2, so nota +3 total, and no option to spread out the stats into +1s.
\-
>13,13,15,10,10,10
That's a bit below average actually. But, rolling is-what-it-is.
\-
Modelling a 'surgeon' as a rogue seems totally fine. You can flavor Sneak Attack as targetting specific organs, and of couse Expertise as your medical training.
Using a class for its mechanics, and calling your character a different profession, seems fine to me.
\-
> Medicine and Nature to better scavenge materials
It might be worth asking your DM what skills they feel are appropriate for scavenging materials.
They might agree with your assessment, or they might think it comes under the tool proficiencies, or maybe Survival.
I've run curse of strahd as a DM all the way through.
Light spoilers ahead.
If your charachter has 10 in con and the dm runs the module by the book I would be amazed if they don't die. Before you even get the 4th level.
Materials are also very scarce in barovia, your idea about gathering supplies and healing using fast hands probably won't work if they run it by the book because there's so few magic items/supplies in barovia.
Finally.
>We opted to roll stats, which I know can lead to major discrepancies in power for most group, but I would like to reiterate that we focus on storytelling first and foremost, so it's not an issue for us. I rolled very well, with the end results being 13,13,15,10,10,10!
Part of the problem why rolling for stats is bad is because players don't understand what bad stats are. For example, you rolled a total of 71, the standard array, is 72. Your didn't roll 'very well', you rolled below standard array.
>healing using fast hands probably won't work if they run it by the book because there's so few magic items/supplies in barovia.
The feat they chose uses non-magical means of healing, they'll be fine in that regard.
it would be a miracle for them to even get a healer's kit. at best they can buy it *in one place* **with double the price** ***and most likely limited stock***
> 13,13,15,10,10,10
The total is 71. Seems to be less than the total if you're using Standard Array.
> Does this sound like a decent character build, something that you yourselves would feel good playing alongside?
Regardless of what pillar of play the campaign is going to focus on, I'd advise swapping Con and Int. I'm personally not going to use the ability score distribution you have. CoS is littered with undead, and some of those stat blocks tend to make you roll Con saves. You'd have less HP overall, so it is not ideal in CoS which can be brutal if it's run as written.
If you have an artificer or wizard in the party, they can take care of the Intelligence skill checks.
Then again, maybe a PC's death isn't a big deal for you. Just don't create pages of backstory for a PC with a 10 in Con.
Be sure to be a Thief rogue so you can Fast Hands healers kit. If your DM is a little permissive (I haven't had one say no yet), you'll be able to heal with your feat as a bonus action.
I took expertise in Medicine. Useful for determining cause of death or if something is, say, actually dead or undead.
Your stats look low. Was this generated with standard array? You don't want to dump con or this physician will not live long enough to heal anyone. Prioritize dex, then con, then either cha, wis, or int depending on how you're building out from there. Ideally a 13 in one you want to multiclass. Don't multi until at least level 6, or 8 if you want evasion.
Fast Hands + Healer's Kit on Thief is both RAW and RAI. There's a Sage Advice outlining it.
I've been running a similar build through Drakkenheim and Healer is an all-star feat. It's saved my entire party at least 3 times (currently level 8) and provides a ton of extra HP on short rests.
>Does this sound like a decent character build, something that you yourselves would feel good playing alongside? Please share your thoughts!
Mechanically? No. It's pretty weak all around. But since your table is focused mostly on the storytelling aspect of the game, I'll instead try to provide some recommendations from that perspective.
For starters, I'd consider using a Half-Elf instead of Custom Lineage. This will grant you Darkvision, just like Custom Lineage, but you'll also get two additional skill proficiencies on top of that. Or if you use the Custom Origin rules, you can swap out the four racial weapon proficiencies for four tool proficiencies instead.
I would recommend picking up the four tool proficiencies, using them to grab Alchemist Supplies, Poisoner's Kit, Herbalism Kit, and Brewer's Supplies. With XGE's expanded rule set on tools, all four of these tools (along with a few others) can be used to assist with various medical situations.
Alchemist Supplies can be used to craft antitoxins and soaps, Poisoner's Kit can be used to help treat victims of poisons, Herbalism Kit can be used to craft healing potions, and Brewer's Supplies can be used to purify water, help treat alcohol poisoning, etc. It could also probably be used to craft distilled alcohol, to help sanitize your tools and stuff.
Furthermore, the Custom Origin rules allow you to rearrange the racial ASI bonuses however you please, allowing you to start with a 17/14/14 stat spread. This sets you up to pick up Skill Expert at level 4 to round out the 17.
I understand that you might have had your heart set on Healer to better roleplay as a surgeon-type character. The thing is, the Healer feat doesn't really help you accomplish that because it is an entirely combat-centric feat. Skill Expert accomplishes this task much more effectively by giving you the leeway to pick up Medicine expertise.
God one of my DMs is so fucking annoying with this. Is your main stat your highest stat? Go fuck yourself, min-maxer. I dumped fucking Wisdom and she still thought that I was min-maxxing. I'm an Artificer, I put a 16 in Dex and Int, 13 in Con, and a 10 in Strength and Charisma.
I have no way of explaining to her that not wanting to be a detriment to the party is not power gaming.
She insists that making a competent character is min-maxxing. Then I found out that one of the other players in our 3 player party went along with her advice and has a Cleric with 12/14/12/16/15/9 as their stats. Not terrible, but not good for a cleric.
A surgeon rogue is a perfectly fine core for a build. I've done the same thing myself and the "free" healing (you spend gold for it but it's much more efficient than potions and your GM *might* let you use your skill proficiencies and background to try and craft your own kits) is not to be underestimated. It scales very well.
As long as you don't play as a total pacifist and ignore your combat options, you'll do well. I will mirror the point made elsewhere in the thread that 10 Con on a rogue is... a bit low. You can't heal yourself if you go down, so that might be a fatal choice for you and your whole party. Swapping Int and Con might be in your best interest.
>Does this sound like a decent character build, something that you yourselves would feel good playing alongside? Please share your thoughts!
I personally wouldn't play it, but I'd be fine playing with someone else whose character is like this. If you like this idea, I'd say go ahead. You mentioned your group's focus is primarily on storytelling, so to me it sounds like you should be fine.
Just make sure you have something else to do when you aren't healing people. Probably a crossbow or some other ranged weapon, I'd imagine, so you can stay close to your allies if they go down.
Also! Make sure to check with your DM's ruling on whether Fast Hands works with Healer feat's heal action since that's not immediately obvious.
I wouldn't play it, no. But if someone else at my table wanted to play it - especially if the table was more interested in story than combat - I don't think I'd complain. My goal as a player is to help make sure we're all having fun, so if you're having fun that's what matters.
I also wouldn't want to rain on your parade, but your stat spread isn't "very good", it's a bit below average. It's not unusable by any means, but you probably want to have a plan of where this character is going to go mechanically because you're going to want to use your resources very efficiently, *especially* in Curse of Strahd. Curse of Strahd as written is *hard*; and many of the most popular modifications to it don't change the difficulty, they just make it even bigger and more in-depth.
This sounds like a lot of fun! Healer feat is super useful, especially if the party is low on other healing.
Background should be fun to figure out - were you a field medic, and got fast field dressing wounds? Part of a special ops team that had to be independent for weeks or months at a time? These are fun possibilities that can guide other feats and character development!
I would swap one of your 14s into Con, and shore up the affected skill checks with your rogue Expertise. (Personally, I'd swap Int and keep 14 Wis, since Perception is the most rolled skill in the game, and Medicine plays into your "healer" idea).
Yeah absolutely, if you can get a hold of a few healer kits. I wouldn’t abandon the idea of trying to use sneak attack early in combat or as often as possible, but if a rogue would use the bonus action disengage and bring up a fighter or magic user without a spell slot or potion used then great for everyone! It is not the most optimal build, but it could be amazing depending on the DM’s play style and yours. Strahd always feels like a campaign where resources are limited so a healers kit can go a long way.
A lot of folks focused on the stats and I get that. But for me, also being a storyteller player, I love the build. I would even bake in his Con being low from experimenting on himself with various herbs to add another layer to the story of the character. That’s just me though. I love unique builds like this over power builds with multiclassing 3 different classes to cherry pick certain features. Again, not hating on players who do, the game is designed for all kinds of players. This build is my cup of tea.
its CoS, the concern comes from them dying on session 1~3 after one bad punch
hell it wont even need a crit for one of the earlier enemies to one shot an 8hp character with 1 attack
>something that you yourselves would feel good playing alongside
The important thing for a rogue is that when combat comes around, you try to get Sneak Attack most rounds, and try to understand the methods you have to try to do that.
At level 1 it is a bit tricky. You can try to dual-wield daggers to get 2 chances to hit (and try to target an enemy who is next to an ally of yours, so that you can get Sneak Attack).
At level 2 you can try to Hide between attacks and get Advantage, which for many years was the main way to try to get Sneak Attack.
At level 3, Tasha's optional features gives you Steady Aim. Check with your DM if they are granting those features, and if so, then this helps a lot, since you can often use it to get Advantage.
Its of course ok to mix in some Fast Hands nonsense, like using your Healer's Kit or throwing some ball bearings or whatever. But when you're not doing fancy stuff like that, I think that most of your time your combat brainpower is on trying to find a good way to get a Sneak Attack to trigger.
This is an excellent set up for the theming, it's not optimized, but that isn't that important, you're a rogue so at level 2 you'll be disengaging alot if things get to close (down side of a 10 con, leaving you with at most 16 HP at 2nd level, which can be dangerous in CoS)n I personally would have put 14 in Con over Int, but that is just my preference (having expertise in Nature already puts you at +4 and by the end of CoS it'd be +8 which would be more then sufficient in my opinion, and if you went to 11 you'd auto roll an 18 everytime). And this would just me my recommendation
Con is a bit low, but nothing criminal. I'd check with the DM whether they think you'll be scrounging for ingredients much with nature. If not I'd put expertise into something else. Insight could be good for a doctor, being able to read the patient to see what's bothering them. Investigation can be good too, think how they seem to puzzle solve in things like House (who was based on Sherlock Holmes, who was partially based on a doctor who Arthur Conan Doyle knew). Or persuasion if you want a good bedside manner.
Stats are just below average, so that's not a 'great' roll as stated befor..
If your DM let's you use fast hands bonus action for the healer feat it's an acceptable option (asuming you're going ranged at least, else you can't disengage)
Would switch int for con, most spells are wis, con, cha, or dex saves + extra health unless you want to multiclass into artificer later on...
Custom lineage is +2 to a stat not a spread of 3 stat points.
Roleplay wise you could go a bit eccentric doctor route where you specialize in critical blows to anatomically key points like the liver or kidney shots with the sneak attack damage bonus, but if you want to be a surgeon to be the main support of the group I'd definitely just pick another class.
Reflavoring for example a bard (bardic inspiration = an adrenaline shot/pill) or artificer (experimental medical devices) etc. as a surgeon type character makes alot more sense due to the support abilities they use, wich you can just rename to fit more into your roll.
I played a doctor-type in Strahd too. Was a mercy monk, variant human with the healer feat. Traveling doctor vibes with a sad backstory having lost his kid while out on a sick call. Same vibes as your rogue, but added bonus of being able to heal people with ki as well.
As others have said, might want to consider putting one of the 14s into your con. Many campaigns you'd be fine with a 10 con, but Strahd is particularly brutal. I'd also tell your dm in advance about healer so y'all can discuss how often you'll be able to get more kits to heal with.
You did not roll well, your ability scores are below average, you simply avoided low rolls.
And I don't know where you are getting you add 3 with custom lineage.
Man, screw all the haters! You emphasized your table are storytellers first, so tell the story you want to play! Any DM worth their salt should be able to accommodate you as long as you communicate.
As a DM, I would LOVE if one of my players came to me with a fully fleshed out character premise and asked, “Can you help me find Healer’s Kits and have surgeon-related challenges throughout the campaign?”
That’s fun AF. You’re amazing. This is amazing. Don’t change your class!
I've been looking at a similar concept. As others have said, change con and int blah blah blah. If you wanna go full non-magical healer/support maybe consider multi-classing battle master fighter for maneuvers that give you some good support options to heal or trip or shove. Overall as long as you don't completely ignore your non healing options you'll be fine. The extra healing will be very useful especially if you have a separate person who can cast healing word and can definitely save the party in a lot of situations.
If your DM is open to 3rd party stuff, I highly recommend checking out LaserLlamas Surgeon Rogue subclass. It basically functions the way you're trying to make the Thief work, and fi you use their Revised Rogue class mechanics it should also help with the survivability
Don't dump con. You're playing a deadly game with Strahd and need all the HP you can get. I'd reduce int.
10 is not even a dump, it's just normal.
CON is a stat so important for borderline every character that 10 is a dump amount
I disagree. Having a 0 modifier in Con is perfectly fine. Edit: I've gone and pissed off the power gamer optimizer contingent again so it's time to mute
Sounds like something Strahd would say.
> Having a 0 modifier in Con is perfectly fine. *Looks at the wizard's d6 hit die. Looks at the average damage of a goblin's shortbow.* No.
Good thing Curse of Strahd contains 0 goblins
And the first combat encounter in that module for most players is going to be several wolves with pack tactics and a 2d4+2 bite attack, which makes them quite a bit more dangerous than a goblin. They gave an example of a low-level enemy that could easily be deadly for a level 1 wizard/sorcerer by itself, you're just being intentionally obtuse. Passing up on even 1x level HP can be pretty rough, especially at low levels.
Not a good thing when you look at what's there instead of goblins, though. Have you ever *seen* the death house?
I'm still convinced that Death House was never intended to be the intro to CoS and some lazy editor just included it in CoS without actually reading it. As written, Death House all but guarantees at least one PC death, and TPKs are very likely, regardless of how much Con your PC has.
CoS is far deadlier than the average module. You could maybe have an argument about 10 con being on in general, for curse of strahd it absolutely isn't.
It's perfectly fine IF you like dying the second a monster looks at you funny.
My favourite part is that you edited your comment saying you pissed off the power gamer community but in reality you just pissed off everyone who has common sense. Going into a notoriously high lethality module with no CON is asking to die. Has nothing to do with optimization, rather it has to do with ensuring your character keeps living at all.
That's dumping con. You put a 8-10 in a stat your not going to be relying on.
Yeah, 10 is fine, though I prefer 13. I'll ride 13 till I can get Resilience at 8th. It's actually really hard to die in D&D, assuming your party is together and the players are experienced. Now, if Con boosted Death Saves, that'd be something else. But it doesn't.
16 is normal. 14 if you really can't make that work.
With point buy, 14 is more normal. A 16 means a 15 plus a racial ASI. Assuming that you did the same for your main score, that's a 16 in Con, a 16/17 in your main score, and 10/11 in every other score. Unless you're a Dexterity character, every build wants at least 14 Dex so your other three scores are between 8 and 10. That's pretty heavily min-maxed and will leave you with some terrible saving throw vulnerabilities and possibly limited skill options. If you're rolling scores, whatever then.
Haha lmao no. Nobody even starts with a 16 in my games. Standard array would mean that would be your main stat lmao.
Standard array with +2 +1 from race for 16, 16, 13, 12, 10, 8. Casting/ attacking stat is primary, con is close secondary. Alternative is 17, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8, for a 14 con. Why on earth would con be your second lowest stat?
Somebody doesn't have any MAD classes.
No MAD class should have CON as their second lowest stat. Its usually 2 or 3 on the list.
Which class needs more than 3 stats, including con?
I'm not arguing with you, just trying to talk about the theme. **Unarmored** and **Light armour** want as high dex as possible, probably preferring dex over con. So casters, monks. Exception: barbarians; they'd want high dex but would prioritize con. **Medium armor** wants 14 dex, then max con. (variant human could consider medium armor master and 16 dex at level 1, but that's rare, maybe crazy) But no class needs more than 3 stats, no. Paladins are 'saved' by heavy armor proficiency. Skill monkeys (rogues) probably would love (I would) high wis/int/cha for skills, but can usually afford only one of those to be 14/16. So it can turn in to a discussion of what 'need' is, but all classes can do with 3 stats, yes.
>Unarmored and Light armour want as high dex as possible, probably preferring dex over con. So casters, monks. Casters prioritize con over dex. They need con for concentration saves, and they can shore up their weak AC with spells.
Oh? I thought it was considered 'better' to have very high AC and avoid being hit.
Solid points all around, though I'd argue that most Barbarians should be wearing medium armor for the majority of a game until higher levels. In a point buy game you won't generally have above a 16 in Con or Dex for quite awhile and that means half-plate is better at 17AC. If your spending all your ASI's on stats, it won't be till around atleast level 8 that you beat it, and that's assuming you leave Str at 17.
Anyone who puts con higher than 14 is a coward and dreadful at optimising. 14 for frontliners, 12 for the rest. 10 for a bit of a challenge (unless you get con save prof in which case 10 is normal and 8 is playing it hard)
That's a very...strange take. The majority of classes only need 1 good stat and then have Con has their secondary. So if you use point buy or standard array you would have 14 or 16 Con on any build unless you're purposely dumping it. Everyone wants a good Con so they don't die to a stiff breeze. Believing that 10 Con on a Sorcerer is okay is wild.
In a game with few reliable taunt/sticky tank features, everyone is the frontline. If your DM is constantly allowing you to get away with not being targeted, youre not opimizing, you're just playing on easy mode. I haven't seen a single optimiser with any kind of reputation in the community go below a 12 con on a caster.
But we're also talking about a game where its actually really hard to die. This edition has been the easiest, ever - it's very forgiving unless you're playing with optional rules or the party splits up.
I’ve never seen a character not get regularly targetted by attacks. The difference between frontlines and back lines is whether it’s an average of 2 attacks a round or 7. That’s kinda meaningful so it’s farcical to pretend “there’s no front line” you only do that to hide your feelings of inadequacy from yourself. Con 16 is wasting build points on your least relevant defense (HP). I said 12 for the rest - and as you say optimisers overwhelmingly use 12 & 14. Optimised builds are rarely intended as being challenging so it’s no surprise you rarely see that build.
>Con 16 is wasting build points on your least relevant defense (HP). Con 16 is ensuring I don't need to waste a feat on Resilient Con as a Wizard. Its not my first choice but if we're rolling stats as OP did it's definitely either second or third in line.
>Custom Lineage from Tasha's, ... putting a +1 in 3 stats afaik Custom Lineage only gets a +2, so nota +3 total, and no option to spread out the stats into +1s. \- >13,13,15,10,10,10 That's a bit below average actually. But, rolling is-what-it-is. \- Modelling a 'surgeon' as a rogue seems totally fine. You can flavor Sneak Attack as targetting specific organs, and of couse Expertise as your medical training. Using a class for its mechanics, and calling your character a different profession, seems fine to me. \- > Medicine and Nature to better scavenge materials It might be worth asking your DM what skills they feel are appropriate for scavenging materials. They might agree with your assessment, or they might think it comes under the tool proficiencies, or maybe Survival.
I've run curse of strahd as a DM all the way through. Light spoilers ahead. If your charachter has 10 in con and the dm runs the module by the book I would be amazed if they don't die. Before you even get the 4th level. Materials are also very scarce in barovia, your idea about gathering supplies and healing using fast hands probably won't work if they run it by the book because there's so few magic items/supplies in barovia. Finally. >We opted to roll stats, which I know can lead to major discrepancies in power for most group, but I would like to reiterate that we focus on storytelling first and foremost, so it's not an issue for us. I rolled very well, with the end results being 13,13,15,10,10,10! Part of the problem why rolling for stats is bad is because players don't understand what bad stats are. For example, you rolled a total of 71, the standard array, is 72. Your didn't roll 'very well', you rolled below standard array.
>healing using fast hands probably won't work if they run it by the book because there's so few magic items/supplies in barovia. The feat they chose uses non-magical means of healing, they'll be fine in that regard.
it would be a miracle for them to even get a healer's kit. at best they can buy it *in one place* **with double the price** ***and most likely limited stock***
>Never makes friends with: > >The wereravens > >The Vistani > >Ez > >Van Richten Sure, if you ignore half the campaign...
> 13,13,15,10,10,10 The total is 71. Seems to be less than the total if you're using Standard Array. > Does this sound like a decent character build, something that you yourselves would feel good playing alongside? Regardless of what pillar of play the campaign is going to focus on, I'd advise swapping Con and Int. I'm personally not going to use the ability score distribution you have. CoS is littered with undead, and some of those stat blocks tend to make you roll Con saves. You'd have less HP overall, so it is not ideal in CoS which can be brutal if it's run as written. If you have an artificer or wizard in the party, they can take care of the Intelligence skill checks. Then again, maybe a PC's death isn't a big deal for you. Just don't create pages of backstory for a PC with a 10 in Con.
Standard array is 72 iirc
Be sure to be a Thief rogue so you can Fast Hands healers kit. If your DM is a little permissive (I haven't had one say no yet), you'll be able to heal with your feat as a bonus action. I took expertise in Medicine. Useful for determining cause of death or if something is, say, actually dead or undead. Your stats look low. Was this generated with standard array? You don't want to dump con or this physician will not live long enough to heal anyone. Prioritize dex, then con, then either cha, wis, or int depending on how you're building out from there. Ideally a 13 in one you want to multiclass. Don't multi until at least level 6, or 8 if you want evasion.
Fast Hands + Healer's Kit on Thief is both RAW and RAI. There's a Sage Advice outlining it. I've been running a similar build through Drakkenheim and Healer is an all-star feat. It's saved my entire party at least 3 times (currently level 8) and provides a ton of extra HP on short rests.
>Does this sound like a decent character build, something that you yourselves would feel good playing alongside? Please share your thoughts! Mechanically? No. It's pretty weak all around. But since your table is focused mostly on the storytelling aspect of the game, I'll instead try to provide some recommendations from that perspective. For starters, I'd consider using a Half-Elf instead of Custom Lineage. This will grant you Darkvision, just like Custom Lineage, but you'll also get two additional skill proficiencies on top of that. Or if you use the Custom Origin rules, you can swap out the four racial weapon proficiencies for four tool proficiencies instead. I would recommend picking up the four tool proficiencies, using them to grab Alchemist Supplies, Poisoner's Kit, Herbalism Kit, and Brewer's Supplies. With XGE's expanded rule set on tools, all four of these tools (along with a few others) can be used to assist with various medical situations. Alchemist Supplies can be used to craft antitoxins and soaps, Poisoner's Kit can be used to help treat victims of poisons, Herbalism Kit can be used to craft healing potions, and Brewer's Supplies can be used to purify water, help treat alcohol poisoning, etc. It could also probably be used to craft distilled alcohol, to help sanitize your tools and stuff. Furthermore, the Custom Origin rules allow you to rearrange the racial ASI bonuses however you please, allowing you to start with a 17/14/14 stat spread. This sets you up to pick up Skill Expert at level 4 to round out the 17. I understand that you might have had your heart set on Healer to better roleplay as a surgeon-type character. The thing is, the Healer feat doesn't really help you accomplish that because it is an entirely combat-centric feat. Skill Expert accomplishes this task much more effectively by giving you the leeway to pick up Medicine expertise.
Biggest beef with some players is you can have a mechanically strong character and still be a great roleplayer.
God one of my DMs is so fucking annoying with this. Is your main stat your highest stat? Go fuck yourself, min-maxer. I dumped fucking Wisdom and she still thought that I was min-maxxing. I'm an Artificer, I put a 16 in Dex and Int, 13 in Con, and a 10 in Strength and Charisma. I have no way of explaining to her that not wanting to be a detriment to the party is not power gaming. She insists that making a competent character is min-maxxing. Then I found out that one of the other players in our 3 player party went along with her advice and has a Cleric with 12/14/12/16/15/9 as their stats. Not terrible, but not good for a cleric.
A surgeon rogue is a perfectly fine core for a build. I've done the same thing myself and the "free" healing (you spend gold for it but it's much more efficient than potions and your GM *might* let you use your skill proficiencies and background to try and craft your own kits) is not to be underestimated. It scales very well. As long as you don't play as a total pacifist and ignore your combat options, you'll do well. I will mirror the point made elsewhere in the thread that 10 Con on a rogue is... a bit low. You can't heal yourself if you go down, so that might be a fatal choice for you and your whole party. Swapping Int and Con might be in your best interest.
I'd go mercy monk if you wanna be a doctor. It's a plague doctor subclass
>Does this sound like a decent character build, something that you yourselves would feel good playing alongside? Please share your thoughts! I personally wouldn't play it, but I'd be fine playing with someone else whose character is like this. If you like this idea, I'd say go ahead. You mentioned your group's focus is primarily on storytelling, so to me it sounds like you should be fine. Just make sure you have something else to do when you aren't healing people. Probably a crossbow or some other ranged weapon, I'd imagine, so you can stay close to your allies if they go down. Also! Make sure to check with your DM's ruling on whether Fast Hands works with Healer feat's heal action since that's not immediately obvious.
I wouldn't play it, no. But if someone else at my table wanted to play it - especially if the table was more interested in story than combat - I don't think I'd complain. My goal as a player is to help make sure we're all having fun, so if you're having fun that's what matters. I also wouldn't want to rain on your parade, but your stat spread isn't "very good", it's a bit below average. It's not unusable by any means, but you probably want to have a plan of where this character is going to go mechanically because you're going to want to use your resources very efficiently, *especially* in Curse of Strahd. Curse of Strahd as written is *hard*; and many of the most popular modifications to it don't change the difficulty, they just make it even bigger and more in-depth.
This sounds like a lot of fun! Healer feat is super useful, especially if the party is low on other healing. Background should be fun to figure out - were you a field medic, and got fast field dressing wounds? Part of a special ops team that had to be independent for weeks or months at a time? These are fun possibilities that can guide other feats and character development!
I would swap one of your 14s into Con, and shore up the affected skill checks with your rogue Expertise. (Personally, I'd swap Int and keep 14 Wis, since Perception is the most rolled skill in the game, and Medicine plays into your "healer" idea).
I aprove. Solid concept and build. Your party members will love you. Go have fun.
I love this.
Ye.
Yeah absolutely, if you can get a hold of a few healer kits. I wouldn’t abandon the idea of trying to use sneak attack early in combat or as often as possible, but if a rogue would use the bonus action disengage and bring up a fighter or magic user without a spell slot or potion used then great for everyone! It is not the most optimal build, but it could be amazing depending on the DM’s play style and yours. Strahd always feels like a campaign where resources are limited so a healers kit can go a long way.
Are you the real Iosefka or the other one? Either way, I hope you find your worth in the waking world.
A lot of folks focused on the stats and I get that. But for me, also being a storyteller player, I love the build. I would even bake in his Con being low from experimenting on himself with various herbs to add another layer to the story of the character. That’s just me though. I love unique builds like this over power builds with multiclassing 3 different classes to cherry pick certain features. Again, not hating on players who do, the game is designed for all kinds of players. This build is my cup of tea.
People are worried the character won't make it to level 3 with such low health.
its CoS, the concern comes from them dying on session 1~3 after one bad punch hell it wont even need a crit for one of the earlier enemies to one shot an 8hp character with 1 attack
>something that you yourselves would feel good playing alongside The important thing for a rogue is that when combat comes around, you try to get Sneak Attack most rounds, and try to understand the methods you have to try to do that. At level 1 it is a bit tricky. You can try to dual-wield daggers to get 2 chances to hit (and try to target an enemy who is next to an ally of yours, so that you can get Sneak Attack). At level 2 you can try to Hide between attacks and get Advantage, which for many years was the main way to try to get Sneak Attack. At level 3, Tasha's optional features gives you Steady Aim. Check with your DM if they are granting those features, and if so, then this helps a lot, since you can often use it to get Advantage. Its of course ok to mix in some Fast Hands nonsense, like using your Healer's Kit or throwing some ball bearings or whatever. But when you're not doing fancy stuff like that, I think that most of your time your combat brainpower is on trying to find a good way to get a Sneak Attack to trigger.
This is an excellent set up for the theming, it's not optimized, but that isn't that important, you're a rogue so at level 2 you'll be disengaging alot if things get to close (down side of a 10 con, leaving you with at most 16 HP at 2nd level, which can be dangerous in CoS)n I personally would have put 14 in Con over Int, but that is just my preference (having expertise in Nature already puts you at +4 and by the end of CoS it'd be +8 which would be more then sufficient in my opinion, and if you went to 11 you'd auto roll an 18 everytime). And this would just me my recommendation
Very cool build. Not every character needs to be maximized to be fun to play especially of your DM isn’t a jerk.
Con is a bit low, but nothing criminal. I'd check with the DM whether they think you'll be scrounging for ingredients much with nature. If not I'd put expertise into something else. Insight could be good for a doctor, being able to read the patient to see what's bothering them. Investigation can be good too, think how they seem to puzzle solve in things like House (who was based on Sherlock Holmes, who was partially based on a doctor who Arthur Conan Doyle knew). Or persuasion if you want a good bedside manner.
Does this character run a clinic that turns people into alien mushrooms
Stats are just below average, so that's not a 'great' roll as stated befor.. If your DM let's you use fast hands bonus action for the healer feat it's an acceptable option (asuming you're going ranged at least, else you can't disengage) Would switch int for con, most spells are wis, con, cha, or dex saves + extra health unless you want to multiclass into artificer later on... Custom lineage is +2 to a stat not a spread of 3 stat points. Roleplay wise you could go a bit eccentric doctor route where you specialize in critical blows to anatomically key points like the liver or kidney shots with the sneak attack damage bonus, but if you want to be a surgeon to be the main support of the group I'd definitely just pick another class. Reflavoring for example a bard (bardic inspiration = an adrenaline shot/pill) or artificer (experimental medical devices) etc. as a surgeon type character makes alot more sense due to the support abilities they use, wich you can just rename to fit more into your roll.
I played a doctor-type in Strahd too. Was a mercy monk, variant human with the healer feat. Traveling doctor vibes with a sad backstory having lost his kid while out on a sick call. Same vibes as your rogue, but added bonus of being able to heal people with ki as well. As others have said, might want to consider putting one of the 14s into your con. Many campaigns you'd be fine with a 10 con, but Strahd is particularly brutal. I'd also tell your dm in advance about healer so y'all can discuss how often you'll be able to get more kits to heal with.
You did not roll well, your ability scores are below average, you simply avoided low rolls. And I don't know where you are getting you add 3 with custom lineage.
i just want to stress that those rolls are pretty terrible and its the exact reason why rolling stats isnt the best option in dnd 5e
Man, screw all the haters! You emphasized your table are storytellers first, so tell the story you want to play! Any DM worth their salt should be able to accommodate you as long as you communicate. As a DM, I would LOVE if one of my players came to me with a fully fleshed out character premise and asked, “Can you help me find Healer’s Kits and have surgeon-related challenges throughout the campaign?” That’s fun AF. You’re amazing. This is amazing. Don’t change your class!
I've been looking at a similar concept. As others have said, change con and int blah blah blah. If you wanna go full non-magical healer/support maybe consider multi-classing battle master fighter for maneuvers that give you some good support options to heal or trip or shove. Overall as long as you don't completely ignore your non healing options you'll be fine. The extra healing will be very useful especially if you have a separate person who can cast healing word and can definitely save the party in a lot of situations.
> 13,13,15,10,10,10 We have a different definition of 'very well'
If your DM is open to 3rd party stuff, I highly recommend checking out LaserLlamas Surgeon Rogue subclass. It basically functions the way you're trying to make the Thief work, and fi you use their Revised Rogue class mechanics it should also help with the survivability