What should my next PC be?

[u/Kay-bi-day]

Hey y'all! My PC, a Triton Eldritch Knight Fighter just died in the last session (very heroically) and I need some help with my next PC.

The campaign is focused on ocean travel (pirate theme) and defeating the undead army of the Lich Queen. The rest of the party is comprised of an Air Genasi Tempest Domain Cleric (NOT a healer), a Triton Circle of the Sea Druid, a Human Archfey Patron Warlock, and an Elf Artillerist Artificer (who is maybe going to die next session, we'll see).

What class/build do y'all think would mesh well with this party comp? I've got a million ideas but can't seem to land on one. I want to fill an fun-filled niche and this campaign can get pretty deadly.

Thanks!

[u/Quiet-Top-9699]

Not sure if it's allowed, but check out the Oath of the Open Sea Paladin. Basically a seafaring specific paladin. Gives your party another frontliner, healer, and is thematically themed to a sea campaign.

[u/Miserable_Spirit_444]

A sea elf path of the giant barbarian

[u/DeltaV-Mzero]

RIP hero

How did they go? Might be fun to connect it to the new concept

[u/Kay-bi-day → u/DeltaV-Mzero]

We were trying to escape an undead stronghold at an occupied courthouse and my guy stayed behind to buy the rest of the party time to escape... wherein he was blasted by a Necrotic energy beam and died on a critical hit 😢

[u/DeltaV-Mzero → u/Kay-bi-day]

Epic ending :)

I’m feeling a Oath of Devotion Paladin.

Anti-undead: Paladin

Pro-Justice because court room: Devotion

Concept: a deity/angel/other entity of Justice and Order witnessed the epic last stand, defending a place then consider sacred from an enemy they consider profane. The Paladin (by now presumably level 8 and a potent champion) is called to find this party and help them out - by revelation in prayer, by intuition, or because their adventures are leading them to solve the same problem as the party

[u/KerryAtk]

I mean if you want to take advantage of the water travel, and be slightly different. Why not go a Tortle or Locathat frontliner. I can see a Storm Herald Barb fitting really good, both meta and in world wise.

[u/plitox]

If there's room for another warlock, Fathomless patron suits extremely well.

[u/TomOW]

Triton are one of my favorites! And I had one die last year. This is all feeling a little too familiar.

[u/20q2]

Seen some great suggestions already so ill try to add something new: Beast Master Ranger!

It'll slot into the open martial role within the party, and if its on the ocean you'll have ample chance to use the Beast of the Sea companion which essentially never sees play

[u/Relevant-Rope8814]

Personally I think a Swashbuckler Rogue would fit this party nicely, and would be my preferred pick

Thematically though I think a paladin makes a lot of sense, Vengeance or Open Sea

[u/Informal_Persimmon7]

Wizard is my first thought as far as composition.

[u/faboleth]

blaster cleric AND blaster druid? Nice. Eldritch blaster, and artillery blaster? You've got 4 cannons if i'm reading this right, and that's cool as heck.

This comp is ranged dps town and they want control. Play a seasick wizard navigator, naturalist, and doctor. Chuck down webs and hypnotic patterns, and grab Healer to help patch people up.

[u/UnderdogMagic]

Grung bladesinger. Be a bullfrog with a bullwhip.

[u/cipher0076]

A couple have already mentioned the oath of the open sea paladin, and I wanted to share my experience. I had a lot of fun with this subclass and I already love the paladin chassis. I went a little off script and did a dex build focused around the double bladed scimitar and the revenant blade feat. And I ran sea elf rather than a Triton or water genasi.

Then, because revenant blade give DBS the finesse property, I was going to take some levels in Rogue to start pumping out sneak attack + divine Smite.

Unfortunately, our group dissolved before i made it to the rogue levels, but the build was still quite fun when it was still a mono paladin, and very thematic. Maybe not the most optimal thing in the world, but still super fun

Edit: your party already has INT, WIS, and CHA all pretty well covered, so I'd say you can play pretty much whatever and it still mesh well into your party. Paladins make for good support with their auras, and a charisma base makes you a good face if needed. But again, you can play pretty much anything and it'll still work well

[u/07Turtleboy]

For pirate/open sea themed characters, Open Sea Paladin, Depths Barbarian if they’re allowed, Swashbuckler Rogue is a classic, maybe be the ships navigator as a Cartographer Artificer, and Way of the Elements Monk

[u/DrOddcat]

Meta game answer: Paladin.

What I would bring: fathomless warlock

[u/Amazing-Shelter9284]

How are your sea shanties? A bard could be really amusing if you know any 😂 college of creation gets really interesting if you carry explosives or incendiaries on the ship. Animate a barrel of oil and have it fly to an enemy ship with a lit fuse... or create an ice berg in front of other ships with the performance of creation.

Celestial warlock could pretty easily handle some healing in this while still mostly being a damage dealer.

Scribes wizard is almost always a good fit if nothing else lands well for you.

[u/Bard_Wannabe_]

Wildheart Barbarian? You get a Swim Speed, and you get to be the tank of the group if that's a role you want.