# Forum > Gaming > Roleplaying Games > D&D 5e/Next >  PHB only character: it's kinda hard to build

## Miele

I should start a campaign (CoS) which I never played before with 4 fairly new players and an experienced DM that did some other things with that group already.
The other players picked Ranger, Rogue, Monk, Wizard, so the DM asked me if I could play something that can heal: he asked for PHB only and allows multiclassing, no evil alignment. 

I would like very much to play a Land Druid and I read the majestic guide by LudicSavant to build a Lifeguard with the often mentioned Life Cleric + Land Druid combo for healing, CC and general support (I'd have to ask for Create Bonfire extra PHB or use something else for resourceless output).

Pure cleric could be a tad limited, but maybe a Light Cleric wouldn't be too bad (I still prefer druid, but I can easily adapt).

Another option would be a support oriented Bard, after all healing word is on their list, I'd also be the party Face, but RPing bards is not my kind of thing to be honest and I do care about the roleplaying part more than I care about damage and general usefulness (I can make a non optimized character and enjoy it very much).

I'd like something that works on a short term, to be fun by level 3, it's not a group that plays very often (every 2 weeks).
If you have any idea to share, I'm all for discussing them, PHB only is more challenging and limiting than I remembered.

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## icedraikon

A great PHB only support build is Vuman Thief Rogue with Healer and Inspiring Leader. Insane HP and THP value at lvl 4+

point buy gets you 16dex, 16con, 10wis, 14cha.

At level 4, you're giving 6thp and 11.5hp every short rest to every party member. With a 5 person party, you're granting the team 87.5 extra hp every short rest on top of regular Steady Aim + Light Crossbow + Sneak Attack shenanigans. 

Additionally you can res people at 1hp an unlimited # of times (presuming you have enough healers kit charges) as a bonus action using Fast Hands. You can also use Fast Hands for other things such as caltrops, ball bearings, etc. 

Fantastic build with incredible support capabilities. It is online at lvl3 with Fast Hands Healer's Kit and Steady Aim + Sneak Attack and fully online at lvl4 when Inspiring Leader comes online.

You can also double as the party face with 14cha and the right skill profs.

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## J-H

Light cleric?  You get to zap and blast, and you an also heal.  No need to multitask.  I think you know you want radiant damage.

Life is also good at healing, which means you can use some of your combat time not healing.

Low level bards are kind of 'meh' because they don't get many inspirations per day.

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## Psyren

Seconding Light Cleric and Land Druid as "healer+" options. When you don't need to heal, both options will give you plenty of offensive capability to end fights faster.

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## 5eNeedsDarksun

I'm not sure what you mean by single class Cleric being 'limited'.  For the levels CoS covers you're getting domain spells all the way through.  Channel Divinities can be used for turning regularly, which means pretty much every domain is good, even if your DM doesn't let you Harness Divine Power.  We had a Trickery Cleric in our CoS campaign; it was consistently useful and regularly the MVP of encounters.

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## Snowbluff

I think you might enjoy light cleric. It adds a reaction attack, a bunch of instantaneous aoe damage cleric isn't super great at normal, it's good against various undead, plus normal cleric spells, and also has armor and can bonk things sometimes. It's kinda hard to go wrong with it as a default option for shear versatility in PHB. 

IMO, the best support bards are Eloquence and Glamour. However, neither of these are PHB. Valor bard might be the best in terms of versatility, even if lore bard is kinda better. You get the bard skills, spells, and inspiration, but you also get armor and the ability to stab people, filling in bard's low damage and defense.

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## animorte

People have already thrown out the best options. I've never had a problem with strictly phb builds keeping up or being fun, even though most of my favorite subclasses aren't in it.

The only classes I have ever found to be limited (strictly from their phb versions) are Ranger and Sorcerer... Oh and Artificer. That class is so weak in the phb it might as well not even be there.  :Small Big Grin:

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## Frogreaver

Lore bards with aura of vitality picked at 6th level are great mid level healers and do okay early too. 

Personally Im a fan of life clerics. Channel divinity provides a ton of healing. Use it for healing and slots mostly for offense.  Perhaps take the healer feat as well.

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## diplomancer

It's Curse of Strahd. Be a Cleric. Any Cleric will do.

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## Miele

Cleric it is, thank you all for the insights.

Probably Light, maybe Life (because the prepared list is great).

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## AttilatheYeon

If you go Life 1/Lore Bard 6 you can do some amazing healing. Take Aura of Vitality and Find Steed for your magic secrets. Your DM may even let you have your mount do healing too. For more damage, Barbarian 1/Moon Druid 2 is very good and can tank like a champ.

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## KorvinStarmast

> *Pure cleric could be a tad limited*, but maybe a Light Cleric wouldn't be too bad (I still prefer druid, but I can easily adapt).


That is incorrect.  Clerics are very good in tiers 1 and 2, which is where most of CoS takes place. Light cleric is, thematically, very well suited to deal with the grim setting of Barovia. I've played a variety of pure clerics, and  Monk/Cleric multiclass.  Since someone else is a monk, with your party composition either a Devotion Paladin or a Light Cleric is almost a perfect fit for the party.  

At low level clerics are very good to play right out of the box._
Also: turn undead. You'll want to  have that handy. 


> A great PHB only support build is vHuman Thief Rogue with Healer feat and Inspiring Leader feat. Insane HP and THP value at lvl 4+


Also a good idea,   :Small Smile:  but with all of the undead that the party will be fighting, having a cleric with easy access to radiant damage is hard to pass up.



> You can also double as the party face with 14cha and the right skill profs.


Amen. Make the cleric a half elf, and off you go.  :Small Smile:

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## kazaryu

As a note, check with your dm to see if he allows lifecleric+good berry if youre wanting to go that route. Its debated whether it works or not

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## Keravath

Keep in mind every cleric can use Spirit Guardians and Spritual weapon which can be staples for a cleric that gets close to the fight. Clerics also get Banishment at level 7 which is a very useful spell for helping to make fights easier. All clerics can heal but keep in mind that clerics do not generally get Aura of Vitality unless playing with the Tasha's expanded spell lists. 

Aura of Vitality gets mentioned specifically because it is probably the best out of combat healing spell since it lets you heal 20d6 of damage in a minute distributed in groups of 2d6 to whoever needs it most. 

I think the original design of the spell was a paladin unique option so the 20d6 was less of an issue when paladins get 3rd level spells at 9th level. However, in the hands of a life cleric this becomes 10 x (2d6+5) healing which is outstanding for a 3rd level spell slot.

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## Theodoxus

Without being too spoilery - CoS has some amazing magic items for clerics. I played as a Life cleric and once I started finding book specific magic items, I quickly became even more essential to the plot than just the undead wrangler.

I do think a Devotion Pally would be a very fun time too though... if I were to play through the campaign again, I would be hard pressed to pick between Life and Devotion... outside of other party member picks.

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## RogueJK

Tempest, Light, and Life are all strong Cleric options from the PHB.  And Light/Tempest also allows you to contribute as an AoE blaster, to supplement the Wizard (or substitute for the Wizard if they're focusing on other playstyles).

Lore Bard or especially Life Cleric 1/Lore Bard X is also a solid option for a PHB-only healer without being a Cleric (other than the potential 1 level Life dip to boost your healing spells and gain armor/shield proficiency).  I know you said you dislike RPing bards, but not all Bards have to be the stereotypical "horny flamboyant troubadour"... maybe he's just a nontraditional priest who enjoys reading about history/lore and singing hymns.  Bards get access to about half of the healing/restoration spells already, and you can use your Level 6/10/14 Magical Secrets to snag Cleric and Paladin healing spells that aren't on the Bard list, stuff like Prayer of Healing, Revivify, Aura of Vitality, Mass Healing Word, Heal, etc.  Then take the Inspiring Leader feat to leverage your high CHA into Temp HP to further negate the need for healing.

Something like:
Variant Human Life Cleric 1/Lore Bard X
STR 8
DEX 13+1
CON 14
INT 9
WIS 13
CHA 15+1
ASIs: Inspiring Leader at 1, 18 CHA at Bard 4, Warcaster or 20 CHA at 8th
Important 1st Level Cleric Spells: Protection from Evil, Cure Wounds (Domain), Bless (Domain)
Important Bard Spells: Healing Word, Lesser Restoration, Greater Restoration, Revivify (Magical Secret), Aura of Vitality (Magical Secret), etc.





> on top of regular Steady Aim + Light Crossbow + Sneak Attack shenanigans


Steady Aim isn't in the PHB.  It's a recent addition in Tasha's.  You'd need to revert back to the earlier and less reliable Cunning Action: Hide + Shoot with Advantage tactic.

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## 5eNeedsDarksun

Trickery Cleric also works well is CoS because Channel Divinity tends to be used for turning, so their awkward other CD feature isn't so much of an issue.  So you're left with a Cleric with the best spell list.

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## NecessaryWeevil

> I know you said you dislike RPing bards, but not all Bards have to be the stereotypical "horny flamboyant bards"... maybe he's just a nontraditional priest who enjoys reading about history/lore and singing hymns.


Amen. Your Class is your toolbox, but not your personality or even your backstory.

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## diplomancer

> Without being too spoilery - CoS has some amazing magic items for clerics. I played as a Life cleric and once I started finding book specific magic items, I quickly became even more essential to the plot than just the undead wrangler.
> 
> I do think a Devotion Pally would be a very fun time too though... if I were to play through the campaign again, I would be hard pressed to pick between Life and Devotion... outside of other party member picks.


I've played a Devotion Paladin in Curse of Strahd- it's very good. Perhaps too good once you reach level 7- that Charm immunity aura makes Strahd far less scary.

Still, I'd say this party could use a full caster better. And as it's quite stealth-capable, I'd suggest skipping the heavy armor; you don't want to be that guy.

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## Snails

> Also: turn undead. You'll want to  have that handy. Also a good idea,   but with all of the undead that the party will be fighting, having a cleric with easy access to radiant damage is hard to pass up.


That there is a winning argument.  The area of effect of Channel Divinity: Radiance of the Dawn is _immense_ and there are no issues with hitting friendlies.  When fighting lots of undead, this is often better than a Fireball, it is Short Rest refresh, and you get it at level 2.

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## Miele

Thank you all for the amazing suggestions!
I'm heading towards cleric as I said.
I want to specify that when I said cleric is limited, it wasn't because of the class, but because I played many clerics with different domains, attitudes, skills and extras, so it's a bit limited in the RPing aspect as I tried already many different approaches!
 I love the class dearly, yet I never played a Life one (shame on me!).
When 5e was published I played a Light Cleric as my first character, although I wasn't extremely optimized, it was a blast, figuratively and literally.

I will decide between Life and Light once I try to build them on test sheets up to level 4 or 5.
I need to pick a race, a background story, etcetera. The DM wants us to be commoners, not "adventurers" from the get go. 
Creative process begins now!

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## KorvinStarmast

> Amen. Your Class is your toolbox, but not your personality or even your backstory.


 +1




> I will decide between Life and Light once I try to build them on test sheets up to level 4 or 5.
> I need to pick a race, a background story, etcetera. The DM wants us to be commoners, not "adventurers" from the get go. 
> Creative process begins now!


 I played a half elf Knowledge Cleric in my first CoS campaign (campaign died due to DM having RL constraints) and he did OK. 
I'd suggest Life or Light, but that's based on my own experiences.  My current celestial warlock is doing OK in CoS, new group, but I look through Light Domain features and wonder "did I hamstring myself?" No, I didn't, we have a Devotion paladin, and I support her.

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## Zuras

Even War, Knowledge and Trickery clerics are quite solid.  

War gets some grief because its Tier  1 features dont scale well, but theyre still a lot of fun.  No spoilers, but its not like giving everyone in the party extra radiant damage at 5th level (crusaders mantle) wont ever be important in an undead centric adventure.

Trickery has great domain spells, and if your DM lets skills matter at all, Knowledge is solid.

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## Mors

I will also concur that a light cleric is a great choice in general, especially for a phb game. And as a bonus you will satisfy your DM's request of being a "healer" while excelling in buffing, damage and control. 

Notable highligts are Radiance of the Dawn, fireball and spirit guardians. At 3 lvl only the first is available, but along with Bless and Aid you make a great party contribution in damage and buffing already. Sanctuary and good AC keep you alive and survivable as well.

At lvl 5 light cleric really comes online with fireball and spirit guardians, giving you additional powerful options to choose from.

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## 5eNeedsDarksun

> I will also concur that a light cleric is a great choice in general, especially for a phb game. And as a bonus you will satisfy your DM's request of being a "healer" while excelling in buffing, damage and control. 
> 
> Notable highligts are Radiance of the Dawn, fireball and spirit guardians. At 3 lvl only the first is available, but along with Bless and Aid you make a great party contribution in damage and buffing already. Sanctuary and good AC keep you alive and survivable as well.
> 
> At lvl 5 light cleric really comes online with fireball and spirit guardians, giving you additional powerful options to choose from.


Yeah, by 6th you've potentially got 6 Channel Divinities per day (with 2 good options) and 3 3rd level spells, including SG that has a long duration.  That's a lot of opportunities to significantly impact combat encounters, even if you save a lot of your 1st and 2nd level slots for healing.

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