This week I decided to go against type not in background, but rather in regards to class and race. While it’s stated from the outset that any character race can play as any character class, there are some that favor different classes because of their racial abilities and ability score modifiers. However, one of my favorite things about 5th Edition D&D, at least in the lower levels, is that the math is flattened to the point where you don’t have to maximize certain ability scores in order to be incredibly effective in your role. And so I decided to throw caution to the wind today and picked a race and class combination that I had never before considered – a Goliath Sorcerer. Eventually the idea for Thundercaller was born, a young Goliath that came into his abilities at the onset of adulthood and became something of a local celebrity and hero for his powers. His Charisma is nothing great to begin with, but it’s still above average, still giving him a decent chance of using his abilities successfully in combat, especially in terms of combat checks. His spell saves aren’t phenomenal by any stretch, but a DC of 12 gives an unmodified roll of a d20 only about a 40% chance of success. Still, with that in mind, I picked fewer spells that rely on saving throws to be entirely successful or at least still did something on a successful saving throw.
Absorb Elements was the other super odd choice that I went with. This spell is a reaction that you can trigger when you are hit by a spell that does elemental damage in order to gain resistance to the triggering damage for that attack. Then, you store that energy and release it on your next melee attack, dealing extra elemental damage. Sorcerers aren’t known for their strength in melee. Well, add in a race that gets a nice Strength bonus as well as a Constitution bonus to stay up after a hit or two and you have a sorcerer that can trade a couple of blows with an enemy before needing to fall back. And the storm sorcerer’s tempestuous magic ability allows you some unrestricted battlefield mobility when you cast non-cantrip spells. This character would definitely benefit from some armor however, so picking up light armor proficiency wouldn’t be a bad idea. Another option would be to swap your Intelligence and Strength scores to get a 14 Strength and qualify for a level dip in Barbarian to pick up the unarmored defense ability.
Whether this character has any kind of actual staying power at the table or if he’s better left off as a thought exercise is a matter left up to debate. But even if it’s the latter case, it was a fun thought exercise to conduct. What do you think? And what are some of your favorite “non-typical” class and race combinations that you’ve seen?
Ben Erickson
