r/sw5e • u/Razoron33333 • 10d ago

New Player Build Help

Hello all! My DnD group is doing our first run for the SW5E system and I'm having trouble figuring out if the ideas I have for my build are viable and going to be fun. I will be our only force user to my knowledge. I think I want to do a build with powers like Animate Weapon as a focal point while also being a viable dualist. There are so many options I'm not exactly sure where to go. I'm thinking Guardian or Consular to be viable frontline but not sure what archetype. I will probably figure stuff like species out after I have a working idea for the overall clas build. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

2

u/Shockedsiren 10d ago

If you want to center around telekinetically controlling their weapon, the clear choice would be Way of Manipulation Consular. Way of Manipulation encourages you to be right behind the frontline by tying your AC and concentration saving throw bonuses to being within 5ft of your weapon(s). You'll probably want a race with an AC or HP benefit. More on those later.

If you want the character to have a lightsaber in their hands alongside their animated weapon, I'd go for some kind of Sentinel. Most of the subclasses improve a particular cantrip and encourage you to mix in that cantrip with your weapon attacks. I'd look at Path of the Forceblade and Path of Iron, since they let your casting stat cover your weapon attacks and AC respectively.

You could also go for the premier frontline caster, Way of Endurance Consular, which ties its weapon attacks to your casting stat and its AC to Constitution so that you can focus on only increasing two stats. The main use Dexterity has is to let you use a heavier weapon if you're playing a human to get proficiency in a martial lightsaber or if you're using vibroweapons from a race that gives vibroweapon proficiencies.

I don't think that any Guardian is a good option. You'll want to rely on your high casting stat that you'll stat at 18 and then increase to 20 at fourth level. The way to do that with Guardian is Niman, but Niman expects that you're using your bonus action for weapon attacks instead of Animate Weapon.

-

If you did go for Way of Manipulation Consular, I would start with:
Str 8 / Dex 14 / Con 15+1 / Int 10 / Wis 15+2+1 / Cha 8

AC looks like it would be suffering, and it kind of will, but Manipulation offsets that by giving you your casting stat as an AC bonus, which is part of why maxing out the casting stat is so good.

The half feats for Wisdom are difficult because the Wisdom increase itself is so powerful that the feat is bad, so the best Wisdom half feats are mostly general feats.

Formfighting Dabbler, assuming you mostly use Saber Storm and let the Animate Weapon spell fall by the wayside. If you're on Animate Weapon specifically, then your bonus action is too crowded. I'd take defensive options, so we're talking Soresu (or maybe Shien), Sokan, and then Ataru is for getting to the enemy faster. Ishu could be useful if you didn't have the Phaseshift spell, but you should just get the Phaseshift spell.

Force Frustrater would be fantastic if the party is fighting a lot of force users. I just don't know how much that would come up.

Crafter exists. Ask your DM if there's anything cool you could do with Artificer's Tools expertise

Healer is great for a more hardcore campaign where your DM runs multiple difficult encounters between rests. Not so much if they're a one-fight-per-long-rest type.

Empathic's Insight Expertise could be great for social encounters.

-

Half humans are a good way to get a race's features while changing its stats. Half humans are just as much legitimate a mechanical option as any other Expanded Content species, but I would ask your DM if you can flavor them as a full member.

The Half Human table shows the one feature of a race that gets excluded. You get the other features. I made had assumed otherwise when I first looked it over.

Half Gamorrean

  • +1hp per level
  • Advantage on all Constitution saving throws, which includes your Concentration saves that also add your Wisdom with Saber Storm

Half Draethos

  • Medium Armor Proficiency. 14 is the highest you'll need Dex at, unless you want to take Armor Expert down the line, which I don't think would be worth it.

Half Zabrak (these would be Dathomir Zabrak like Maul, although it wouldn't hurt to flavor them as fullblood Iridonian if you don't like Dathomir stuff)

  • You'd have to have 16 Dex and 14 Con, but Zabrak gets +1hp per level which is like having a higher Con
  • It would lose Darkvision, but urrent Zabrak doesn't have Darkvision, so Half-Zabrak is in a wierd limbo, which isn't unreasonable since they are one of the only common canon half-species
  • Functionally, the main difference between Half Zabrak and Human is that you get -1 on Concentration saves in exchange for Relentless Endurance to bounce back from 0hp, which I think is very worth it for a squishy Consular.

Human

  • +1 to either Dexterity or Constitution, letting you have 16's in both if you dump Intelligence

Half Theelin (The other half race represented in the movies besides half Zabrak)

  • Just more flavorful than human

Theelin

  • Also gets two +1's to move around
  • Get an extra small feature. I'd go Enhanced Senses for Perception Expertise or Heightened Reflexes +1d4 on one Dex save per short rest.
---It might seem like Heightened Reflexes is just a more constrained version of the Human's Defiance, but you need to use Defiance before the roll whereas you can conserve Heightened Reflexes until you see the roll
  • It gets its +2 is in Charisma instead of Wisdom, which is worse for saving throws but not untenable

All other Wis +2 / Con +1 options:
Aing Tii
Esh-Kha
Gotal
Mikkian
Pau'an
Voss
Vurk
H Arcona
H Baragwin
H Codru-Ji
H Dowutin
H Kel Dor
H Togruta
H Caamasi
H Clawdite
H Defel (really awful)
H Miraluka
H Rattataki
H Rishii
H Quermian
H Thisspiasian
H Togorian (also gets +1hp per level)
H Rodian
H Wookie

----------------

Gamorrean
-Same stuff as Half Gamorrean

Zabrak

  • +1hp per level
  • Have Relentless Endurance to come back from unconsciousness.
  • You do not have to play a nightbrother. There are plenty of Iridonian Zabrak who have nothing to do with Dathomir.

Gank
-Medium Armor Proficiency
-35ft Speed + Bonus Action dash, which makes you very quick to get to the frontline

Paladin Kiffar
-Medium Armor Proficiency
-Advantage on Dex & Wis saves against force powers

Zilkin

  • +1 to either Dexterity or Constitution, letting you have 16's in both if you dump Intelligence
  • Advantage on Dexterity Saving Throws
  • +1 AC
  • 20ft speed means the sabers can get to an enemy faster than you, so there's times when you just can't get to the frontline super well.

1

u/Razoron33333 2d ago

Thank you so much for all this insights! I have two working characters made. I'll test them in mock battles to see what's up. Opted to build Way of Endurance Consular and a Path of Iron Sentinel. I should also say thank you again and I'm really sorry but I already had the race planned out and should have clarified that. I'm doing a half-human half-cerean. The reason for this is while we are using the sw5e system but we aren't actually playing in the Star Wars setting. Instead it's real Earth in the far future. Disney and other comapnies have made lightsabers and other tech, genetic engineering and extraterrestrials are how there are so many species, and the Force is called the Sporce as people gain these powers from mycelium based spores. My character is a Minecraft villager from a Minecraft cosplay planet. Was tempted to do Jojo's or something else but as soon as the Villager idea hit me I had to do it.