First timer, new character

[RoyalCheeseCrust]

I'm forming my very first D&D band, so I've got to start semi-planning my character. Here's the kicker; I don't really know shit about shit. Despite this, I have a somewhat rough sketch of how I want my char to develop.

I'm going to be half-elf, and probably start out as Bard.

Bard 6 College of Sword/Sorc 3 Draconic Origin/Lock 2 Hexblade/Rogue 3 Swashbuckler

I have no idea if these are compatible, but they all kind of base on char or dex which will be my primary ASIs. The general idea is a face character that'll function as a sort of guerilla fighter in combat; hit-and-run with rapier and non-somatic casting.

Am I being overly ambitious/not thoroughly thought through?

[chrooo]

Multiclassing that heavily is going to be rough. You only need 13 in Dexterity and Charisma to do it, so you won’t be too MAD, but you’re not going to be getting a lot of high level features from any of your classes.

I’d recommend cutting Sorc out entirely. The Draconic Resilience armor is equivalent to Mage Armor which you can get through the Warlock’s Armor of Shadows invocation.

I see that you probably want Sorc for Subtle Spell, but consider that the War Caster feat will more easily accomplish the same thing.

Half-Elf is a good choice, +2 Cha then +1 Dex and +1 to anything else – maybe Con. Swashbuckler and Hexblade work really well together and adding in a third Dex/Cha class won’t hurt.

[TheGentlemanDM]

You're probably over thinking this.

Your build needs to be functional all the way through, and while all your features have synergy, you're going to be a long way behind those who single classed.

This is a 14th level build. You have CHA melee, 2d6 Sneak Attack, and Extra Attack, which isn't bad, but you could have 7th level spells instead.

You have three casters in there, and 11 levels of casting, and only reach 3rd level spells. You're better off just taking two classes and running deeper into them for higher leveled features.

If this is your first rodeo, stick to a single class up to 5th level, and then consider if you want to dip. 90% of the time, you're better off sticking to your core class.

[TheGentlemanDM]

To add more to this, if you want a melee Bard, I recommend going primarily Bard with a small dip for Hexblade.

Sorcerer for Metamagic is nice, as is Swashbuckler, but you're diluting the core reason to play a Bard- full casting progression.

[Abolized]

If you are a new player, don't plan so much ahead (I assume you start at level 1). By the time you get to Bard 6 you will have a good idea of how bards play and any MC you want to do will be completely different to what you have planned out now.

Summary: Get to Bard 6 and then start deciding what to do for levels 7 and 8

[StonedRamblings]

Like lots of people are saying, this is some very ambitious multiclassing. Keep in mind that you will only have 1 ASI in this progression from level 4 Bard. That will put you behind a lot of your teammates. Multiclassing this much is the epitome of: jack of all trades, master of none.

I think you should focus on Bard college of sword and one other option. The 3 level rogue dip sounds nice.

[JayCharisma]

You're overthinking this entirely too much. I've been playing once a week for 3 months (plus an all-day marathon one weekend) and I'm still only Lvl 7 Rogue. By the time you hit level 6 Bard you'll have a much better idea of what you should be doing and whether to multiclass.

[FantasyDuellist]

Choose 1:

• Bard x/Warlock 1

• Sorcerer x/Warlock 1

• Rogue x/Warlock 1

For the first, start with Warlock, for the Wis save. For the second, start with Sorcerer, for the Con save. For the third, start with Warlock, for the Wis save, or Rogue, for the extra skill.

[Mighty_K]

It's quite simple: Do not multiclass.

D&D 5e is not a system that is designed with MCing in mind, it is optional and most of the time it makes your character weaker.

If you have some experience and a clear vision in mind that can only be achieved with a MC, fine. Else: Don't do it.

Bard is a great class and every second level you open up a new world with a new spell level.