Need help to "save" my character
Hello dear 3d6 community.
Edit: Thanks a lot to everyone sharing their knowledge and constructive ideas with me! This has been a great help to me. I already got a few ideas and preferences now and I will talk about them with my table and how we can incorporate the change into the story. =D
This is my first post here, so please forgive any mistakes or formatting issues.
I’m looking for advice on how to “save” my character build.
Amaro is my first DnD character ever and I created him while still learning the system, so he ended up with quite a few beginner mistakes and mismatched mechanics.
If you want to look at the character sheet I uploaded most parts of it here: https://imgur.com/a/4smVHeh
The main issue is that the actual gameplay fantasy ended up being very different from what I originally wanted:
- a small tabaxi trickster archer
- mobile battlefield skirmisher
- repositioning around the battlefield
- manipulating enemies with tricks, movement and clever positioning
- stylish fey-themed combat
I originally chose Hunter Ranger because “archer fantasy” seemed fitting. Later my group allowed me to switch subclasses to Fey Wanderer, because I thought it would better fit the character fantasy.
Unfortunately, due to misunderstanding/misreading some rules/features (English is not my native language), I incorrectly assumed:
- frightened/charmed effects would allow more battlefield manipulation/forced movement
- Fey Wanderer would gain much more teleportation/mobility
- Misty Step would become a more central/free part of the subclass gameplay
Instead, the character currently feels mechanically awkward:
- weak combat identity
- low survivability
- limited mobility
- split between support/social utility and ranged combat
- often feeling ineffective in encounters
Since both the DM and I are still relatively inexperienced with DnD mechanics and encounter balancing, combat effectiveness can vary quite a lot between encounters. In practice, Amaro often ends up feeling either overshadowed or too fragile to fully play aggressively as the mobile skirmisher fantasy I originally imagined.
Because of that, I slowly drifted into becoming more of a social/support character instead. This was additionally cemented when each of us was granted one pull from the Deck of many Things for our anniversary and I got Throne. The DM even gave me a strong social feat/homebrew bonus to support that direction (advantage on all CHA ability checks), but our campaign doesn’t always offer many social situations either.
Things that are important to keep:
- Small Tabaxi
- Cartographer / explorer identity
- Fey-touched storyline (already integrated into the campaign)
My group is very relaxed and they would probably allow another rebuild/respec if I can come up with a good direction and explanation.
I would really appreciate advice on:
- possible rebuild ideas
- future multiclass plans
- classes/subclasses that better fit the fantasy
- or ways to salvage the current build without completely replacing the character.
The rest of the party consists of:
- Firbolg Circle of Spores Druid
- Dragonborn Drakewarden (Melee) Ranger
- Dwarf War Domain Cleric
We play in an open end homebrew campaign focused on exploring a mysterious new continent. Our group is very relaxed regarding character options and generally allows most official 5e/5.5e material as well as a lot of third-party content, though we mostly use the 2024/5.5e rules.
tldr: Noob me got baited by Ranger as "mobile bow skirmisher" fantasy, but my inexperience led to a character that can only shine with social skills and perception. Now I seek help to get back to being relevant in combat again.
Thank you very much 🙂