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belthaine-of-the-bog · 1 year

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Translating the Gaang to DnD 5e

When I say “translating” what I mean is converting their party roles to a DnD party while not strictly adhering to their powers and abilities so strictly. The reason for this is that because they need to use elemental magic, it would get rather boring having all of them be Sorcerers. So this is more or less an approach of what they would be if they’d been born in the world of Dungeons and Dragons as their original setting.

AVATAR AANG CIRCLE OF WILDFIRE DRUID

This one may come across as a surprising choice, but I think it fits for Aang thematically. As the Avatar, Aang is responsible for balancing the world between humanity, nature, and spirits. He’s cried over a burnt forest, felt drawn to a swamp as though it was calling to him, and eventually learned how to listen to the earth itself. The Circle of Wildfire creates an interesting connection to the Avatar Cycle. The idea that death is merely a phase of life. That destruction and death lead to new life, and that death is never the end. Just as the forest will grow back after a wildfire, so too will the Avatar return when they’ve passed away. There is an argument to be made for Divine Soul Sorcerer as Aang literally has the spirit of Raava inside of him, but both Sokka and Katara have pointed out how wise and insightful Aang is. That sagely wisdom is why I leaned toward Druid over Sorcerer. A 1 level dip into Monk can make Aang more elusive, but Druids do get spells for all 4 bending elements, allowing Aang to stay true to his avatar roots.

Protector Aasimar (+2 CHA/+1 WIS) Background: Hermit (Medicine, Religion) Druid Skills: Arcana, Animal Handling

AANG’S SPELL LIST C Create Bonfire, Gust, Mold Earth, Shape Water 1 Burning Hands, Cure Wounds, Earth Tremor, Ice Knife 2 Dust Devil, Gust of Wind, Flaming Sphere, Scorching Ray, Warding Wind 3 Erupting Earth, Plant Growth, Revivify, Tidal Wave, Wall of Water 4 Aura of Life, Control Water, Fire Shield, Stone Shape, Watery Sphere 5 Control Winds, Flame Strike, Malestrom, Mass Cure Wounds, Wall of Stone 6 Bones of the Earth, Investiture of Flame, Investiture of Ice, Investiture of Stone, Investiture of Wind, Move Earth 7 Fire Storm, Whirlwind 8 Earthquake, Tsunami 9 Storm of Vengeance

KATARA LIFE DOMAIN CLERIC

Between the death of her mother and her father being a soldier, not to mention women being expected to be healers within her culture, I would not be surprised to find that Katara was sent to a temple to train in the healing arts under her gran gran, choosing to eventually strike out on her own by Aang and whatever shenaningans he drags her and Sokka into. When it came to her spell list, I remembered her famous quote “I don’t want to heal, I want to fight”, so I made sure she was more than capable of bringing the pain as well as taking it away.

Variant Human (+1 WIS/+1 CON) Bonus Skill: Athletics Feat: Inspiring Leader Background: Acolyte (Insight, Religion) Cleric Skills: Medicine, Persuasion

KATARA’S SPELL LIST

C Light, Sacred Flame, Spare the Dying, Toll the Dead, Word of Radiance 1 Bless, Ceremony, Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, Inflict Wounds, Sanctuary, Shield of Faith 2 Augury, Lesser Restoration, Prayer of Healing, Spiritual Weapon, Warding Bond 3 Aura of Vitality, Beacon of Hope, Clairvoyance, Remove Curse, Revivify, Spirit Shroud, Water Walk 4 Aura of Life, Control Water, Death Ward, Divination, Guardian of Faith 5 Commune, Flame Strike, Greater Restoration, Holy Weapon, Mass Cure Wounds, Raise Dead 6 Harm, Heal, Sunbeam 7 Resurrection 8 Sunburst 9 Mass Heal

SOKKA BATTLEMASTER FIGHTER

Like Katara, Sokka likely ended up having to live in a temple, though not all who serve the gods are Clerics. Sometimes, knights are trained to guard and protect the temple and the priests inside, and I think Sokka would have followed this path to stay with his sister and look after her, becoming something of a bodyguard to her. This is also seen in the show itself, Sokka’s main reason for traveling with Aang and Katara initially was to watch out for his sister and protect her, and kicking some firebender butt along the way was an added perk. Sokka’s primary character arc revolves around coming into his own as a strategist, so the Battlemaster Fighter felt like a natural translation of his abilities, and is also how I would build ATLA Sokka as well, so he’s one of the few characters I probably wouldn’t change.

Variant Human (+1 STR/+1 CON) Bonus Skill: Performance Feat: Slasher (+1 STR) Fighting Style: Dueling Background: Soldier (Athletics, Intimidation) Fighter Skills: Insight, Perception, Survival

TOPH BEIFONG BEASTMASTER RANGER

While this might seem odd at first, I think this is the most appropriate build for Toph in a DnD setting. Firstly, the Ranger class gets to pick a fighting style, and they can pick the Blind Fighting style so Toph can fight without needing to see. Secondly, Toph is connected to the Earth. Aside from the Druid, no other class is as connected to nature and the earth than the Ranger. Thirdly, Toph ends up a hermit living in a swamp. So clearly given the choice between dealing with people or living alone in the wilderness, Toph is going to pick the wilderness every time. She even learned how to see and fight by leaving civilization and learning from animals in nature, and she complained about feeling “confined and restricted” upon entering Ba Sing Se, showing a clear distaste for cities and large crowds of people. As silly as the idea of a blind archer might seem, Toph is surprisingly appropriate as a Ranger. I chose Beastmaster as while ATLA Toph doesn’t have an animal companion, I could easily see DnD Toph having a Badgermole mount or some other Beast of the Earth by her side. Or perhaps give her a Winged Boar, since it’s the symbol of her family.

Variant Human: (+1 DEX/+1 WIS) Bonus Skill: Intimidation Feat: Alert Fighting Style: Blind Fighting Background: Outlander (Athletics, Survival) Ranger Skills: Animal Handling, Nature, Perception

TOPH’S SPELL LIST 1 Ensnaring Strike, Hunter’s Mark, Searing Smite, Speak with Animals 2 Beast Sense, Summon Beast 3 Conjure Animals, Conjure Barrage, Speak with Plants 4 Dominate Beast, Locate Creature, Guardian of Nature 5 Commune with Nature, Conjure Volley, Swift Quiver, Wrath of Nature

ZUKO THIEF ROGUE

When Zuko’s not firebending, he shows a mastery of ninjutsu techniques. Between the Blue Spirit, his infiltration of the Northern Water Tribe, and his teaming up with Katara in the Southern Raiders, we see time and again that Zuko is well-equipped for stealth missions, utilizing the ninjutsu arts of In-Nin and Yo-Nin, sneaking in covertly without being seen, and hiding in plain sight to avoid detection. We also see in the show that Zuko has no issue with theft, as his second outing as the Blue Spirit is used to disguise himself as he robs and intimidates Earth Kingdom civilians. I could see Zuko being the son of a powerful crime lord, with his sister as a dangerous assassin while he’s a skillful and nimble thief. Or perhaps he was abandoned by his posh, aristocratic family and took up a life of crime to survive. There’s a lot of ways to cook a backstory for Zuko here, but being a Thief feels about right for where Zuko would be in the world of Dungeons and Dragons. Like with Aang, one level of Monk can make Zuko more dexterous and nimble if one so chooses.

Variant Human: (+1 DEX, +1 WIS) Bonus Skill: Intimidation Feat: Fighting Initiate (Two-Weapon Fighting), Dual Wielder Background: Urban Bounty Hunter (Deception, Stealth) Rogue Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Sleight of Hand, Perception Rogue Expertise: Athletics, Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, Stealth

SUKI WAY OF KENSEI MONK

The other character I’m unlike to change, Suki has been trained in hand-to-hand combat as well as weapon training. However, unlike the Unarmed Fighting Style Fighter, Suki clearly showcases that she’s far more focused on dexterity, and the Unarmed Fighting Style focuses on Strength-based punching. So, the Way of the Kensei Monk is the best way to make her able to fight with Dex-based hand-to-hand combat or dex-based weapon attacks, such as with her fans, a sword, or a bow.

Variant Human: (+1 DEX/+1 WIS) Bonus Skill: Performance Feat: Fighter Initiate (Dueling Fighting Style) Background: City Watch (Athletics, Insight) Monk Skills: Acrobatics, Perception

I think all around, the Gaang translates pretty well to the DnD setting. Obviously, some powers are lost in the process, but their actual core personalities remain in tact, and the skills and abilities they learn from the DnD world feel organic to the types of people they would be in this alternate universe without bending. If you want to see how they’d be built without losing their elemental powers though, check out their builds on Youtube by Tulock the Barbraian, he’s the main reason I did a translation post instead of a direct build post.

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belthaine-of-the-bog · 1 year

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Building an Embodiment of the Fairytale Princess (2.0)

This is nothing new. I’ve done this build before, which I’ll link right [here]. The post did really well, and people seemed to love the concept. However, since then, Mythic Odysseys of Theros and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything have both come out, bringing with them not only new subclasses, but new features, spells, mechanics, and elements that I couldn’t take into consideration the first time around. So, I decided that rather than just adding a tag on post like I did before, I’d just remake the build with the new features being taken into consideration. Like before, the focus of the build is to create an embodiment of the generic fairytale princess and not any one particular character. So without further ado, let’s get into it.

Like before, we’ll be choosing Variant Human for our race of choice. We’ll channel Sleeping Beauty to be gifted by the fey with blessings of Beauty, Grace, and Song for +1 CHA, +1 DEX, and Performance proficiency. We also get a bonus feat, and thanks to Tasha’s, we can now take Fey Blessed for +1 CHA. However, if she doesn’t cast with Charisma, then substitute those CHA bonuses with Wisdom instead.

The generic fairytale princess is a maid of purest heart, so we’re Lawful Good. But for your more rebellious princesses, Neutral Good or Chaotic Good are also valid.

Background is obviously Noble for proficiency with History and Persuasion.

CLASSES & SUBCLASSES

BARD

This one seems pretty obvious. Bards love to sing and dance, like your stereotypical princess. Because Charisma is their top stat, and they have expertise, it can make them great negotiators, and allow them to excel in dialogue interactions.

GLAMOUR

This college is very fitting for a fairytale princess, as it is focused on making oneself as beautiful and charming as the Fairest of Them All.

LORE

Lore bards share information, whether they tell stories, recite plays, share philosophy, or spread juicy gossip, the Lore Bard gets more magical secrets, and added expertise to make your princess an even bigger Mary Sue. In actual medieval history, princesses often learned to play instruments and sing, recite prayers or poems, or tell stories to visiting guests, and it was considered a part of her education and duty to do so.

CLERIC

While not every princess is a devout religious girl, their stories tend to be set in the medieval period when a good princess would have been expected to be chaste and pious. So on that front, worshiping a good deity would be befitting of such a character.

LIFE

The fairytale princess raises up those they care about, and nothing is more supportive and helpful than keeping your friends on their feet. The Life Cleric turns your princess into a kind soul who weeps for her friends and patches them up after the battle, turning your princess into a useful ally against the wicked witches and dangerous dragons.

LIGHT

Not all Fairytale Princesses are passive or support players. Those who lean toward Light are the princesses who stand as the Big Good of their story and battle the forces of Darkness with the power of the Light. Of the three Cleric options that fit the archetype, this is the best option for being a powerhouse in combat.

PEACE

Don’t get me wrong, I still hate this domain for wearing the skin of the Love Domain we were supposed to get, and you can absolutely still play it that way. How this domain went from Love to Togetherness to Pacifism is beyond me, but it’s a fairly strong subclass. The classic princess archetype is supposed to be gentle and kind, fitting for one who worships a god of mercy and forgiveness. It’s a value often toted as the strongest characterization of the early Disney princesses.

DRUID

My first time building the fairytale princess, I ignored Druid as an option because the wildshaping didn’t really make sense for a fairytale princess, but a lot of the Bardic Magical Secrets were used to steal Druid spells. However, thanks to the optional rules from Tasha’s, Druids can now use their Wildshape to summon fey that take on the shapes of animals instead of turning into the animals themselves, which makes Druid far more viable, as summoning animals is very in-character for a fairytale princess.

DREAMS

The Circle of Dreams has heavy Fey associations with references to the Summer Court ruled by Titania. It also is strongly focused on healing, and has a very Fairy Tale flavor to it. It’s an especially great option if you want to invoke Sleeping Beauty, as you can cloak your party while you sleep and send messages to people through your dreams.

SHEPHERD

The fairytale princess is strongly associated with animal buddies, and nothing makes better use of that than the Shepherd Druid, which focuses on amassing an army of critters. What’s more, the Unicorn Totem is very fitting, not only because Unicorns only approach maidens with pure hearts, but Shepherds of the Unicorn Totem get empowered healing.

SORCERER

The sorcerer is born with a spark of something special in them, and a lot of fantasy royalty have magical powers that other people in their world lack.

DIVINE SOUL

The princess doesn’t literally have to be the descendant of the gods, as the original name for the subclass was more about being favored by the gods. Still, if you want to lean into the idea of the princess as the Big Good against the Big Bad, then having her be born with the spark of the gods inside her makes for a neat characterization.

WILD MAGIC

With the new Sorcerer Shards as I’ve come to call them, we were introduced to the Feywild Shard, which was heavily geared toward Wild Magic Sorcerers, which seems to be WoTC’s way of saying that Wild Magic Sorcerers are the fey-linked sorcerous origin, so I’m including it because of our fey connection.

WARLOCK

This is the only class where there’s exactly one good option, but it’s one that works surprisingly well.

ARCHFEY

As a Warlock with a Pact of the Chain, your fairytale princess can choose to Find Familiar any cute little animal companion, or a Sprite to be your Fairy Godmother. Or rather, you can sign a pact with your Fairy Godmother, and use your Chain Pact to summon one of her emissaries to help you. The Archfey patron themselves can act as your Fairygodther, granting you and your party boons and aid where they need it.

WARLOCK INVOCATIONS

Agonizing Blast Armor of Shadows Beast Speech Eldritch Mind Eldritch Sight Gift of the Ever-Living Ones Shroud of Shadow Voice of the Chain Master

CHARISMA vs WISDOM

The big split in how you build your princess falls down the line between these two camps. The wise princess works better as a Druid/Cleric, while a charming princess is more of a Bardlock. For me personally, as much as the Cleruid fits the fairytale princess, the stereotype of the princess is usually that she is gullible, naïve, and overly trusting. Insight is a wisdom check, and something the classic princess archetype is usually bad at. Granted, Animal Handling is also Wisdom, but the Bard’s expertise can overrule a low Wisdom score. Think of it like a clash between Princess Zelda from the Legend of Zelda vs Princess Peach from Mario. Princess Zelda is wise and is much more focused on leadership and protecting her kingdom. Peach is more about the pretty dresses and having servants help her. They’re two very different camps on the princess archetype. Ultimately, which one you choose will depend on the type of princess you wish to invoke. The Classic Damsel or the Wise Matriarch.

SIDEKICKS

A new feature added in Tasha’s, sidekicks are secondary characters that can help the party and are basically simplified character builds with fewer bells and whistles. There are three main camps:

Expert. Experts are clever and knowledgeable, be they minstrels, librarians, pickpockets, merchants, or assassins. They can pick proficiency with DEX, INT, or CHA saving throws, and can be proficient or an expert with any five skills of your choice, and humanoids also gain proficiency with light armor, simple weapons, and two tools of your choice.

Spellcaster. Trained in the secrets of the Arcane, be they a priest, a fortuneteller, or a magical creature. They can choose proficiency with INT, WIS, or CHA checks, and can be proficient in Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, Performance, Persuasion, or Religion. They choose a roll to determine their spell list: Mage (Wizard), Healer (Cleric, Druid) or Prodigy (Bard, Warlock). The sidekick has access to the spell list of the classes their role aligns with, as well as casting with that stat.

Warrior. trained fighters, be they a soldier, a city guard, a trained animal, or a hired sword. They can pick proficiency with STR, DEX, or CON saving throws, and their skill options are Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, Intimidation, Nature, Perception, and Survival. Warriors can pick a fighting style: either Offensive to add +2 to attack and damage rolls, or Defender to impose disadvantage on hitting creatures other than them while within 5 feet of the princess.

Generic Princess Sidekicks

Humanoid Guard Warrior (bodyguard) Humanoid Commoner Expert (handmaiden, governess, etc.) Humanoid Magewright Spellcaster (court mage, or advisor) Any Beast-type Warrior (animal companion)

Fairytale Inspired Sidekicks

Seven Dwarves - Dwarf Warrior Fairy Godmother - Sprite or Pixie Spellcaster Prince Charming - Humanoid Noble Warrior Wicked Witch - Barovian Witch Spellcaster Beast - Gnoll, Jackalwere, Orc, or Troglodyte Warrior Puss in Boots - Awakened Cat or Tabaxi Warrior The Frog Prince - Awakened Frog or Grung Warrior Three Little Pigs - Awakened Pig Expert, Spellcaster, & Warrior Big Bad Wolf - Wolf Warrior or Awakened Wolf Expert Robin Hood - Redbrand Ruffian or Bandit Expert Djinn of the Lamp - Dust, Ice, or Magma Mephit Spellcaster Pinocchio - Giant Stone Statue Warrior White Rabbit - Awakened Rabbit Expert Cheshire Cat - Awakened Cat Expert or Spellcaster

There is no actual limit to the number of sidekicks your character can have, so in theory, your fairytale princess could have an entire posse of talking animals hanging out and helping her.

Skills, Spells, and Features

As a Variant Human, we got Performance proficiency alongside our Fey Touched feat, and as a Noble, we have proficiency with Persuasion and History. For everything else, we’re just looking to be a standard Fairytale Princess. So we should look to be proficient with: Animal Handling, Arcana, Religion, Nature, or Medicine.

BASIC FAIRIES

Dancing Lights Faerie Fire Healing Spirits Spirit Guardians Summon Fey Conjure Woodland Beings Conjure Fey

BASIC PRINCESS THINGS

Animal Friendship Command Heroism Speak With Animals Animal Messenger Calm Emotions Find Steed Warding Bond Zone of Truth Conjure Animals Mord’s Magnificent Mansion

SNOW WHITE

Armor of Agathys Mirror Image Beacon of Hope Aura of Purity Heroes’ Feast

CINDERELLA

Fabricate Creation True Polymorph Wish

SLEEPING BEAUTY

Sleep Phantasmal Killer Dream Wall of Thorns Dream of the Blue Veil

THE LITTLE MERMAID

Charm Person Shatter Suggestion Tidal Wave Compulsion Control Water Dominate Person Maelstrom Control Weather Tsunami Storm of Vengeance

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Charm Monster Unseen Servant Tiny Servant Animate Objects Awaken Hold Monster Summon Fiend

Last time I built the fairytale princess, I gave her exactly 1 build. 18 levels of glamour bard and 2 levels of Archfey Warlock. But recently I’ve begun to instead put more stock in leaving builds open, showing instead the options that a player has to choose from. So, for this update, I’m not pushing for a specific build. I’ve laid out the appropriate spells, and the types of princesses that a player can strive to emulate with their spell lists. Consider this more of a guide to help you decide how you want to play your fairytale princess.

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