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nerdythebard · 4 months

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#59: Thor, God of Thunder

[Art Credit: Raf Grassetti] ---

It's been so long since I said this, but... Welcome, Gods and Goddesses! Our long-time reader, @dionysus-liber, has requested a mythology-accurate build of Thor - God of Thunder and Storms, God of Strength and Masculinity, Protector of the Hearth, and one of the key members of the Aesir pantheon. Now, the reason I chose the appearance from God of War: Ragnarök is because I believe this to be the most accurate portrayal we have in any media at the moment: brusque, with bushy red hair and beard, and built like a powerlifter off-season. I could've make an entire separate post describing the intricacies and little details of Thor's character, but for now, let's get down to business to defeat the Jötnar!

Next Time: Divine storm rages. It continues moving East. Watch out for horses.

Now, what was that thing we're usually do here? Ah, yes, build goals!

Divine Equipment: While Thor boasts unrivaled physical strength and stamina on his own, he is also the master of three important items that further increase his might; those being Megingjörð, the Power Belt that doubles his strength, Járngreipr, the Iron Grip Gloves granting him resistance to all the power he generates, and of course the famous hammer - Mjölnir, the Grinder.

The Force of Nature: Thor is the embodiment of pure strength and power. He brings down the full might of the Aesir gods to all enemies of Asgard. The thunder you hear in the skies is the result of his mighty hammer swinging against Jötnar skulls. While he doesn't manipulate lightning to the same extent as, for example, Zeus or Ao Kuang, the storm always joins him on the battlefield.

War Priest: People know Thor mostly due to his feats of strength and achievements on the battlefield (and probably because of... eugh... Chris Hemsworth's portrayal), but what you might not know is that Thor is also viewed as the ultimate protector. His hammer is used to bless and certify marriage ceremonies, he has the ability to heal wounds of warriors, and even resurrect his faithful chariot-pulling goats.

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There are two options when it comes to making Thor in D&D. One is to go with Goliath if you want to emphasize his endurance and strength; that would be a very good, solid base, but I've used this one in my Kratos build, so we're gonna use the other option (and this blog's regular go-to), the Aasimar from Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse. We start with a +2 and a +1 to two abilities of our choice (Strength and Constitution respectively), resistance to necrotic and radiant damage, the Healing Hands ability that lets us heal a creature for [our proficiency bonus number of d4s] Hit Points once per long rest, and the Light cantrip (to apply on the hammer :D)

Thor gets involved not only in the affairs of the divine, he is also very prominent in the lives of mortals. His protection and blessings are not only sought by warriors going a-viking (yes, viking is a verb) but also by the common folk and Scandinavian villagers. Because of that, we shall make him a Folk Hero. We gain proficiency in Animal Handling and Survival, which will be useful to take care of our goats in the desolate wastelands of Jötunnheimr, as well as proficiency with one set of artisan's tools (perhaps brewer's supplies to have a refreshing gallon of mead on the road) and land vehicles (such as goat-drawn chariot). Finally, thanks to the Rustic Hospitality feat, we may find our place among the mortals and common folk with ease and have a better chance of finding food, shelter, and potential aid in some tasks.

ABILITY SCORES

This one is a no-brainer, for Thor we must lead with Strength. Follow that up with Constitution; all that bulk has to contribute to something. Dexterity will be next, Thor does not move around the battlefield but an occasional hammer throw requires a good eye.

Wisdom will actually be next, but mostly because we need it for multiclass later. Charisma will be on the lower end; although Thor has good intimidation game, his messy appearance and brusque manners are far from some of the more charismatic characters. Finally, we're dumping Intelligence - the world of arts and science is not one we frequent.

CLASS

Level 1 - Barbarian: We need a solid base of health and damage to start with. Barbarians get a d12 as their Hit Dice, [12 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiency with light armour, medium armour, shields, simple and martial weapons. We will give Thor a hide armour and, of course, a warhammer. Our saving throws are Strength and Constitution and we get to pick two class skills from the list (Athletics and Intimidation).

As a Barbarian, we of course start with Rage. By unleashing the divine fury, for 1 minute we gain the following benefits if we're not wearing heavy armour:

Advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws

A +2 bonus to damage rolls for attacks using Strength (increases as we level up)

Resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage

Rage lasts for 1 minute but it can end earlier if we decide to end it, we are knocked unconscious, or we fail to deal or receive damage during our turn. Initially, we can Rage twice per long rest.

We also get Unarmoured Defense; if we're not wearing any armour, our AC becomes [10 + our Dexterity modifier + our Constitution modifier].

Level 2 - Barbarian: We develop a Danger Sense, giving us the advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects that we can see (such as traps and AoE spells). To apply that status, we cannot be blinded, deafened or incapacitated. While attacking, we can also declare to make a Reckless Attack; we gain an advantage on the first Strength-based attack of our turn, but for the entire turn the enemies have an advantage on attacks made against us.

Level 3 - Barbarian: At this level, we can now use our Rage three times per rest. At this level, we also get to pick our subclass, our Primal Path; since Thor is the ultimate warrior of the gods, we're gonna use Path of the Zealot. We are able to channel Divine Fury into our weapon strikes. While raging, the first creature we strike on our turn takes extra [1d6 + our Barbarian level] radiant or necrotic damage (we choose the type when we get this feature and cannot change it).

As the Warrior of the Gods, we are meant to live until Ragnarok. Revival spells (Revivify, Raise Dead, etc.) do not require any material components when used on us.

Level 4 - Barbarian: Time for the first Ability Score Improvement. We're going to grab the Thrown Arms Master feat from Critical Role's Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn (it's now on D&D Beyond, the setting is semi-canon, I'm using it!): our Strength or Dexterity increases by 1, and weapons without Thrown property (such as our current warhammer) gain that property; I would also ask the DM to allow the next part of that feat: when missing a throw, a weapon comes back to our hand; normally, it works only with light weapons, but considering our divine strength, I personally would allow it in this case.

Level 5 - Barbarian: With Extra Attack, we can now strike twice during a single Attack action. We also gain 10 feet of extra movement when not wearing heavy armour, thanks to Fast Movement.

Level 6 - Barbarian: At this level, we can literally change our own fate by being ANGRY. With Fanatical Focus, we can re-roll a failed saving throw when raging (once per rage), but we have to use the new roll. We can also now Rage four times per rest.

Level 7 - Barbarian: It's time to let go of all we've learned in Asgard about being a civilised fighter and give in to our Feral Instinct. We have an advantage on initiative rolls. Additionally if we're surprised before a combat (but not incapacitated), we can shake off the surprise and act before anyone else but only if the first thing we do is Rage.

Level 8 - Barbarian: Time for another ASI. This time, we shall put one point each into Constitution and Wisdom in order to prepare to tap into our divine portfolio with...

Level 9 - Cleric: Time to harness some divine magic! Multiclassing into Cleric doesn't provide us with any new proficiencies, but does unlock Spellcasting. Wisdom is our casting ability and we know cantrips, regular spells, and rituals. Clerics have access to their entire spell list and can prepare [Wisdom modifier + Cleric level] spells every day. We start with three cantrips (Mending, Thaumaturgy, and Word of Radiance) and two 1st-level spells (Ceremony and Cure Wounds).

Clerics also get to pick their subclass, their Divine Domain at first level. Here, it's obvious to go with the Tempest Domain to gain some power over the storms. We add two extra spells to our list (Fog Cloud and Thunderwave) and gain Wrath of the Storm: if we get hit by a creature standing within 5 feet of us, we can use our reaction to impose a Dexterity saving throw onto it; on a failed save, it takes 2d8 lightning or thunder damage (our choice) or half as much if it succeeds. We can do that a number of times equal to our Wisdom modifier per long rest.

Level 10 - Cleric: We continue our divine development with Channel Divinity. Using this feature, once per short or long rest, we can tap into the power of Asgard and utilise one of two (one deafult + one granted from our subclass) following effects:

Turn Undead: As an action, we can impose a Wisdom saving throw onto all undead creatures within 30 feet of us. On a failed save, they are Turned (cannot take reactions, must spend their turn running away from us, cannot get closer than 30 feet of us) for 1 minute or until they take damage;

Destructive Wrath: When we deal lightning or thunder damage, we can use this Channel Divinity option to deal maximum damage instead of rolling

We also get one more spell for our small but significant arsenal; let's pick Bless, so that our party can receive the grace of the mighty Thor!

Level 11 - Barbarian: For this level, we gain the Brutal Critical feature. Whenever we score a critical hit with our melee weapon, we can add one additional die for determining weapon damage.

Level 12 - Barbarian: This time, we get a subclass feature. Our Zealous Presence is truly inspiring on the battlefield. As a bonus action, once per long rest, we can unleash a thunderous roar. Up to 10 creatures within 60 feet of us that can hear us gain advantage on attack rolls and saving throws until the end of our next turn.

Level 13 - Barbarian: At this level, we get Relentless Rage. If we drop to 0 Hit Points while raging, we can make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a success, we get 1 Hit Point back. Each time we use this feature, the DC increases by +5 and resets back to 10 after a short or long rest.

Level 14 - Barbarian: We finally get another ASI. We can finally cap off our Strength to that godly 20.

Level 15 - Barbarian: Our Brutal Critical feat improves here. When scoring a critical hit, we can now add two dice to our damage rolls.

Level 16 - Barbarian: At this level, we get to channel our inner Dylan Thomas and Rage Beyond Death (...eh, they can't all be winners). While raging, we do not go unconscious if we drop to 0 Hit Points. We still have to make Death Saving Throws, but all the effects only take hold after our Rage ends... at which point, we can call Relentless Rage and possibly shrug off the damage.

Level 17 - Barbarian: To add on top of the previous feature that makes us immortal as long as we Rage, we gain Persistent Rage. The only way our Rage ends is if we choose to end it or become unconscious (which, as previously established, cannot happen from battle damage).

Level 18 - Barbarian: This is our final ASI of the build. While there is a lot of stuff we didn't develop (and two odd numbers, much to my distaste), we have to balance it out with more Constitution so that we can at least soak up some damage that will definitely hit us.

Level 19 - Barbarian: Our Brutal Critical ability improves again. This time, it's reeeeally going to hurt whatever creature we score the critical hit on, as we can add a total of three extra damage dice to our melee damage roll.

Level 20 - Barbarian: Our capstone is Barbarian 18, which gives us the Indomitable Might ability. If we make Strength checks and our roll is lower than our Strength score (i.e. 20), we can replace the outcome with our Strength score.

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And that is Thor, as close to his real-life Norse myth portrayal as I could make him. Before I give you a short summary of him, however, I also need to point out that in D&D there are three items (from DMG Guide) that directly represent Thor's Symbols of Power; those being the Hammer of Thunderbolts (Legendary Maul), Gauntlets of Ogre Power (Uncommon), and Belt of Giant Strength (various rarities and types). If you wish to implement collecting those as your character's personal quest/backstory element, feel free to discuss it with your DM. Now, back to the build, what did we manage to cook?

To start off, we're a typical tank. With Strength and Constitution being our highest abilities, adding a +4 damage to damage while raging plus several opportunities to summon lightning onto our enemies. With the Cure Wounds spell, we can stay on the battlefield a little longer, and the combination of Relentless Rage and Rage Beyond Death gives us a chance to fight even after suffering serious wounds. Our role in the party is simple: deal damage and focus the enemy attention on ourselves.

Our Unarmoured AC is 15, we have a +1 to our initiative, and the average of 197 Hit Points.

Unfortunately, for decent health pool and damage dealing we had to sacrifice pretty much everything else. Apart from Strength and Constitution, our abilities are not great and we don't have a lot of skills to contribute to besides Athletics.

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I'm back, darlings. Hope this holiday season goes well for you. I do not make any promises to not sound like a dishonest fool, but I at least hope I can give you something to enjoy. Looking forward to reconnect with all of you wonderful lot.

-Nerdy out!

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nerdythebard · 7 months

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#58: Echo [Overwatch 2]

Always ready to learn!

This fun idea comes to us from a user by the name "deduqzaru". Today, we build the ultimate adaptoid. Echo, the creation of Doctor Liao - founding member of Overwatch - is a capable Damage hero, programmed with an advanced AI to fulfill variety of roles in combat and outside of it.

Next Time: Whosoever holds this hamm— NO! Not you! We're going back to the original!

Let's list the three main directives of this build:

Jill of All Trades: Echo was created with the goal of being able to fit into many situations, whether in combat or outside of it. In-game, her kit makes her a great scout, engager and damage-dealer.

I am Thou: Echo's Ultimate skill, "Duplicate" allows her to assume the form and copy the abilities of other characters on the battlefield.

Self-Sustainable: As a robot, Echo is unaffected by many statuses and effects that would affect humans: hunger, sleep, diseases, etc.

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There were two options to start with Echo; one very obvious, the other - not so much... so I went with the obvious one and made her a Warforged. We get a +2 Constitution and +1 to one ability of our choice (Dexterity), 30 feet walking speed, and also immunity to being aged by magic. With Constructed Resilience, we gain several benefits to our fortitude:

Resistance to poison damage and an advantage on saving throws against being poisoned

We don't need to eat, drink or sleep

We are immune to diseases

We don't need to sleep, and magic cannot put us to sleep

Stemming from that last one, thanks to Sentry's Rest we can spend our long rest (shortened to a minimum of six hours) in a sort of energy-saving mode by remaining in a motionless (but still aware) state rather than unconscious sleep.

Another set of benefits we're granted by our Integrated Protection. We gain a +1 to our AC and can integrate any armour we're proficient in into our own body (and it cannot be removed against our will). Finally, Specialised Design gives us one skill proficiency (Performance) and one tool proficiency (perhaps Tinker's Tools could help us heal/repair).

Because of her learning matrix, Echo holds a huge amount of information. We will make her a Sage, giving us proficiencies in Arcana and History, three languages of our choice, and the Researcher feature - whenever we must recall a piece of lore, we know exactly where to look for the relevant information (library, archive, people of interest, etc.)

ABILITY SCORES

We'll start with Dexterity to move around the battlefield and position ourselves to different roles. Constitution will be next, our body is made of quality materials. After that, we're taking Intelligence, as recording information is what we're all about.

Charisma will be next; we're an adaptoid who can also impersonate others, we need to be convincing. Wisdom is on the lower end, we're still learning after all. Finally, we're dumping Strength.

CLASS

I've had a few ideas here, depending on which race I was going to pick for Echo. In the end, I've decided on something interesting and went Rogue start-to-finish. Rogues get the d8 as their Hit Dice, [8 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiencies with light armour, simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords, and thieves' tools. Let's give Echo a studded leather set and a hand crossbow (and maybe darts) to integrate into her body, the latter to represent her primary tri-shot attack. Our saving throws are Dexterity and Intelligence, and we get to pick four skills from the class list (Acrobatics, Deception, Insight, and Perception).

Level 1: We begin this build by gaining Expertise in two skills we're already proficient in, or one skill and thieves' tools. We can double our proficiency bonus for any checks we make using those skills. Let's apply that to Deception and Insight. We can also apply Sneak Attack to strikes that we make with advantage; once per turn, if we attack with an advantage (or our target is within 5 feet of another creature hostile to it), we can add extra 1d6 damage (the value changes as we level-up).

We also learn Thieves' Cant (can't what?), a series of special code phrases and symbols that is recognisable only to us and those who operate in the same circles as us (so, like... Python, C++, HTML, pick your poison) to decode or encode messages.

Level 2: We can now use Cunning Action to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide actions as bonus actions.

Level 3: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 2d6. We also pick our subclass, the Roguish Archetype. Since Echo needs several abilities that are similar to magic, despite my dislike of MagiTech, we will make her an Arcane Trickster. We gain Spellcasting, with Intelligence as our casting ability. We learn cantrips and a fixed number of regular spells. We gain the Mage Hand cantrips and two others of our choice (Light and Shocking Grasp) and three 1st-level spells: Disguise Self, Feather Fall, and Magic Missile. With those three, we have covered Echo's ultimate (to a degree), her passive ability to glide, and her primary tri-shot.

Additionally, with Mage Hand Legerdemain, we can make our Mage Hand invisible and use it to perform additional tasks (pickpocketing, using thieves' tools with it, etc.).

Level 4: Time for the first Ability Score Improvement, and we will use it to bump up our Dexterity by two points. We can also grab the Identify spell to access our vast database.

Level 5: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 3d6. We can now activate our extra jet boosters and make an Uncanny Dodge; doing so, we can use our reaction to halve the damage of an attack hitting us (if we can see it).

Level 6: We get an upgrade to our Expertise, by selecting two more skills that will benefit from the effect: let's choose History and Perception.

Level 7: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 4d6. We also unlock 2nd-level spells, so let's grab Aganazzar's Scorcher to replicate Echo's Focusing Beam ability.

Here, we also gain a very useful maneouvre ability: Evasion. When we are forced to make a Dexterity saving throw against an effect that would result in us taking half damage on a success (such as the Fireball spell), we instead take no damage. On a failure, we take half damage instead of full damage.

Level 8: Another ASI. We can cap our Dexterity to 20 for even better AC and Initiative bonus. To replicate Echo's Sticky Bombs ability, let's use the spell Snilloc's Snowball Swarm.

Level 9: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 5d6. We gain a new subclass feature: Magic Ambush. If, while casting a spell, we are hidden from our target, the creature has a disadvantage if the spell requires them to make a saving throw.

Level 10: Halfway through the build and we get a new cantrip (Light) and another spell. Let's get Detect Thoughts to improve our impersonations. We also get another ASI; let's put two points into Constitution here.

Level 11: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 6d6. We now gain a Reliable Talent, which makes our proficient skills even more refined; whenever we make a skill check using a skill we're proficient in, we treat every roll of 9 and below as 10. We also get another spell; let's pick See Invisibility to upgrade our visual sensors.

Level 12: For this level's ASI, instead of increasing any traits, we're gonna pick a feat that furthers Echo's specialisation: with the Actor feat we get a +1 to our Charisma, an advantage on Deception and Performance checks used to impersonate another person, as well as the ability to mimic the speech and sound of another person or creature (if we hear them speaking for at least 1 minute).

Level 13: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 7d6. We also unlock another class feature; Versatile Trickster lets use use our invisible Mage Hand to distract a target within 5 feet of it as a bonus action. Doing so, gives us an advantage on attacks against that target until the end of the turn.

Additionally, we unlock 3rd-level spells and we can finally become the aerial support with Fly.

Level 14: At this level, we install some new update to our sensors and gain Blindsense. If we're able to hear, we are aware of the location of any hidden or invisible creature within 10 feet of us.

For our next spell, we're going to grab Melf's Minute Meteors for some cover fire/carpet bombing.

Level 15: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 8d6 and our software gets some patches, because thanks to Slippery Mind we gain proficiency in Wisdom saving throws (and oh, we desperately need it).

Level 16: For another ASI, we can round up Charisma and Intelligence with one point each. We can also grab another spell, so let's disappear from the enemy's radar with Nondetection.

Level 17: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 9d6.

Time for our final subclass feature; Spell Thief allows us to hack the system and steal the knowledge of how to cast the spell from another once per long rest. Immediately after being targetted by a spell (or being in the area of one), we can use our reaction to force the caster to make a saving throw. On a failed save, the spell is cancelled and we steal the knowledge behind it. For the next 8 hours, we can cast the spell using our spell slots and the original caster cannot access that spell.

Level 18: We become the most Elusive target there is. If we aren't incapacitated, attacks against us cannot be made with an advantage.

Level 19: Our Sneak Attack bonus is now 10d6. With the final ASI of the build, we will cap our Constitution to a 20. We also unlock 4th-level spells for the endgame; let's take Locate Creature to be an even better pursuer.

Level 20: Our capstone is Rogue 20, which gives us Stroke of Luck. Once per short or long rest, we can turn a failed attack or ability check into a success. For the final spell of the build, let's grab Ice Storm and re-flavour it into carpet bombing.

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And that is Echo, carrying the spirit of one of the founders of Overwatch. Let's see what we came up with:

First of all, we have all the boxes of being the cutting edge automaton checked; we do not require food and water or sleep, we are immune to diseases, and can still keep watch even during stasis. We have good detection skills thanks to spells, mobility, and good Insight. Finally, we have also covered Echo's mimicking ability thanks to Disguise Self and proficiency in Deception and Performance.

Our AC is 18, wew have a +5 to our Initiative, and the average of 176 Hit Points.

Although we have hit two 20s in this build (Dexterity and Constitution), we don't have much in terms of other abilities. Our Strength modifier is still a negative, and our Wisdom is pretty low; even with proficiency in saving throws, it may be challenging to resist some crowd control effects. Sometimes, hackers might get the better of us.

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Wow, it's been some time since I've typed the ending words. I enjoyed this one, the Overwatch characters have a really good potential to use in your D&D game; let me know if I should do more of those. It's good to do this again, and I saw that you guys wanted more gods, so I shall deliver.

I'll see you in the next one, darlings! - Nerdy out!

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #character building #d&d 5e #dnd 5e #overwatch #echo #overwatch 2 #warforged #rogue #blizzard #video gaming #dnd character #dnd5e #dnd build #echo overwatch

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nerdythebard · 11 months

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The Loxodon in the Room...

Hi, everyone.

My friends, my lovely readers, my gods and goddesses and every deity in-between... we need to talk. Or, well, I need to talk and would like you to lend me your ears. This is not an easy thing to talk about, and as of writing these words I still don't have an answer or a clear path of where I will go from now on, but what gave me the incentive to come out and say something was the post by the inspiration behind this here blog, @grailfinders, which you can find [here]. Just to make it clear, I don't want people to think I'm copying the GrailFinders crew or that because they said something I need to as well; you can recall I've dropped a hint at that some time ago... but I feel like inaction is worse that any statement I make, so here goes:

Recent actions of D&D owners, Wizards of the Coast, were simply vile. Disgusting. Without any empathy for their customer base. It showed that the corporate minds behind Hasbro will stop at nothing to have their goal of annual financial growth fulfilled. Please also note that this is directed at the upper echelon of the company; from what we know, the creative team behind D&D and other employees still care about us and our experience. But the situation with the OGL, the MtG anniversary, the Creators' Summit, and now with sending the literal Pinkertons over something that could've been resolved peacefully... the future does not look bright for Hasbro or WotC.

On the other hand, the basic rules and mechanics of D&D 5e are now under Creative Commons and blogs such as this one are not targetted since I do not earn money from it. So why am I complaining, one would ask. Because it doesn't feel right. Because after the community rose up and forced Hasbro to change their policy on the OGL, I saw the power of the fandom. It's real, and I want to contribute my fair share. Since the OGL situation, I have ceased to support any new products coming from Hasbro or WotC; I've cancelled my D&D Beyond subscription and any pre-orders I've planned to get. For the foreseeable future, I don't think I will get any new books or materials (even if they were to release my longtime dream: official guide to the Feywilds with a stat block for Baba Yaga). I'm not telling you to do the same, no. Quite the opposite: you do what you feel is right. Educate yourself about the whole situation and then decide whether or not you feel like supporting WotC. I will not praise or condemn you for your decisions.

As for this blog, that remains an unknown. What I am certain is that I will finish all backed-up requests; I do owe you that. I don't know if I shall accept new ones yet, or what to do with the blog later. Maybe I will remain with D&D but will put more (or exclusive) focus on third-party content and build your requests using fan content. Maybe I will switch systems - I've recently began dabbling in City of Mist and that brought me a lot of fun. Or maybe you think I should ignore the subject alltogether and reclaim D&D for you, the people. I am open to your comments and suggestions. Because in the end, it's you who build this blog by providing me with materials. I only turn them into a story.

And the story of this blog is not yet over <3

#dnd #dnd5e #wizards of the coast #ogl #dungeons and dragons #hasbro #character building #dnd build

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nerdythebard · 11 months

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#57: Yang Xiao Long [RWBY]

[Art Credit: izumi_sai] ---

Let me explain:

The request to build a D&D version of everybody's favourite punny brawling bombshell, Yang Xiao Long, came from an anonymous reader as the most recent one. However, I have decided to make this a priority since the requestor mentioned they have a campaign coming and they wish to play as the iconic character from RWBY. If I'm too late, I am so sorry... but I will at least go out with a Yang! ...Eh? Eh?

Next Time: Back to our regularly scheduled program with Doctor Liao and the origins of Skynet!

Now then, let's see what we need to past this Hunter exam!

One Punch Gal: Yang is a master of hand-to-hand combat, but she's also quite proficient with her gauntlet guns, the Ember Celica, to attack enemies at a distance... with her fists.

Uno Reverse Hulk: Yang absorbs the kinetic energy from attacks directed at her (but keeps the pain) to reinforce her own attacks and protections.

One Woman Army: Early on, Yang's battle tactics were simple: walk in and own everything and everyone. As the problems in the world of RWBY evolved, so did her approach to resolving fights, but she still remains the strongest member of the team and its chief frontliner.

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As far as we know, Yang is a human; we will, however, use the Aasimar from Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse to represent her ability to use Aura and Semblance. We get a +2 and a +1 to two abilities of our choice (Constitution and Strength respectively), speed of 30 feet, Celestial Resistance to radiant and necrotic damage, Healing Hands ability that allows us to, once per long rest, heal a number of Hit Points equal to [our proficiency bonus]d4, and the Light cantrip.

Yang is a rather famous Huntress, known for her physical prowess, so we're gonna give her the Athlete background. We gain proficiencies in Acrobatics and Athletics, one language of our choice, proficiency with land vehicles (which means we can get our Bumblebee before we get the... other Bumblebee) and the Echoes of Victory feature; whenever we arrive at a new location, there is a 50/50 chance we will find a fan of ours, who is willing to share information or provide a shelter.

ABILITY SCORES

Strength will be our primary focus; we need to be able to effectively punch anything ranging from random bar thugs to giant nightmare werewolves. Constitution will be next, the other half of being the frontliner is the ability to take a hit. Dexterity is after that, Yang learns to evade and position herself a bit later in her career; plus, we need to take care of the physical stats first.

Charisma is next, her puns may be awful but Yang herself is rather charming (and quite intimidating when she needs to be). Wisdom will be on the lower end, because she still gets a good advice every now and then, and we're dumping Intelligence.

CLASS

Level 1 - Barbarian: Let's start with a solid base. Barbarians get d12 as their Hit Dice, [12 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiencies in light armour, medium armour, shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons. Yang does not wear armour, and we will not use weapons (but we still are gonna get the Ember Celica, trus me) but can grab something simple just in case. Our saving throws are Strength and Constitution, and we get to pick two class skills from the list (Intimidation and Perception).

Barbarians start with their signature ability, Rage. As a bonus action, we enter a state of furious, gaining the following benefits provided we do not wear a heavy armour:

Advantage on Strength-related checks and saving throws

A +2 bonus to damage rolls of our Strength-based melee weapon attacks

Resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage

While raging we cannot cast spells or concentrate on them. Rage lasts for 1 minute or until we're knocked unconscious. It also ends if we do not attack/take damage from a hostile create for one turn.

We also gain Unarmoured Defense. When unarmoured, our AC equals [10 + our Dexterity modifier + our Constitution modifier]. We can still use a shield and gain this benefit.

Level 2 - Barbarian: We awaken our Danger Sense. If we're not blinded, deafened, or incapacitated, we gain an advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects we can see, such as traps or spells. We also learn how to make a Reckless Attack; when we attack for the first time, we can declare it reckless and gain an advantage on melee weapon attacks for that turn. Unfortunately, all enemies have an advantage on attacks made against us for that time.

Level 3 - Fighter: Time to get some technique to our fists. Multiclassing into Fighter gives us proficiencies we already have, so we can skip those. We get to choose our Fighting Style, and it's a no-brainer to grab Unarmed Fighting for Yang. We can now deal [1d6 + our Strength modifier] bludgeoning damage with our unarmed strikes. If we do not use any weapons, the die changes to 1d8. We also get Second Wind, which allows us to heal [1d10 + our Fighter level] Hit Points as a bonus action once per short or long rest.

At this level, we also gain the racial ability Celestial Revelation. As a bonus action, we can unleash our celestial energy Aura and transform for 1 minute. With the Radiant Consumption option, we emit a bright light for 10 feet and a dim light for another 10. Until the transformation ends, each creature within 10 feet of us suffers radiant damage equal to our proficiency bonus, and we can add the same amount of radiant damage to one target whenever we attack it.

Level 4 - Fighter: We get Action Surge, which allows us to once per short or long rest take an extra Action on our turn in combat.

Level 5 - Fighter: We pick our first subclass, our Martial Archetype. We will focus on the power behind Yang's punches and pick the Champion Archetype. With Improved Critical, our weapon attacks score a critical hit on either a 19 or a 20.

Level 6 - Fighter: We finally get our first Ability Score Improvement. We need to increase our Wisdom and Dexterity by 1 point each.

Level 7 - Fighter: We now get Extra Attack. We can now make two strikes during a single Attack action.

Level 8 - Fighter: Our next ASI. We can finally put two more points into Wisdom and jump classes to refine our technique.

Level 9 - Monk: Unfortunately, once again we have to pass on some multiclassing benefits. Additionally, here is where we could gain Unarmoured Defense, but the one from Barbarian's side of the build is a bit better for us. We do, however, gain access to Martial Arts. While unarmed (or wielding a monk weapon) and unarmoured we gain the following benefits:

We can use our Dexterity or Strength when using unarmed strikes and monk weapons

We can roll a d4 in place of the regular damage dice for unarmed strikes and monk weapons; that Martial Arts dice changes as we level up.

When we use the Attack action unarmed or with a monk weapon, we can use our bonus action to make another unarmed attack.

Since Yang uses the long-ranged Ember Celica, we can replace that (for now) with a set of monk darts (or, you can ask your DM for a hand-mounted small crossbows)

Level 10 - Monk: Halfway through the build and we unlock the Monk's key feature known as Ki (hah!). We gain a pool of Ki Points that we can spend in order to gain some extra features. We start with three of those:

Flurry of Blows: Spending 1 Ki Point lets us make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action if we make the Attack action.

Patient Defense: Spending 1 Ki Point lets us take the Dodge action as a bonus action.

Step of the Wind: Spending 1 Ki Point lets us the Dash or Disengage actions as bonus actions, and it doubles your jumping distance for the turn.

We also gain Unarmoured Movement. As long as we're not wearing armour, our speed gains a +10 feet bonus.

Level 11 - Monk: We learn how to Deflect Missiles. When targeted by a projectile, we can use our Reaction to reduce the damage by [1d10 + our Dexterity modifier + our Monk level]. If we manage to reduce the damage to 0, we catch the projectile and can use the same Reaction to make a ranged (20/60) attack with it.

Here, we also pick our third subclass - our Monastic Tradition. We can now activate our Aura with Way of the Sun Soul. We can now fire off even more devastating bolts with our Ember Celica. With Radiant Sun Bolt, we gain a new way to use our Attack action: a special spell attack with the range of 30 feet, we are proficient with it and add our Dexterity modifier, the damage type is radiant and the damage die is our Martial Arts die. We can also make those attacks as our Flurry of Blows technique.

Level 12 - Monk: We finally get another ASI. Let's put two points into Dexterity to increase all the important stuff. At this level, we also learn Slow Fall - we can reduce our falling damage by [our Monk level x5]. Additionally, since we didn't get anything from multiclassing into either Monk or Fighter, I personally would allow to take the optional Quickened Healing feature, but discuss it with your DM.

Level 13 - Monk: Our Martial Arts die becomes 1d6 now. We also gain a new Ki option - Stunning Strike. When we hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, we can spend 1 Ki Point to attempt to stun it. The target must make a Constitution saving throw or become stunned until the end of our next turn.

At this level, the Monk would've gotten the Extra Attack. Since we already have it from Fighter, we wouldn't stack it. That being said, I would allow it to evolve, since this is around the time you would get Extra Attack Upgrade as a Fighter, and we do need to make Yang more punchy. Once again, discuss it with your DM.

Level 14 - Monk: With Ki-Empowered Strikes, our punches now count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities... which means you can punch ghosts now. Also, our Unarmoured Movement bonus is not +15 feet.

We also gain a subclass upgrade. With Searing Arc Strike, we can now spend 2 Ki Points as a bonus action immediately after an attack to cast Burning Hands. We can spend more Ki Points to raise the spell's level

Level 15 - Monk: Time for some strategic positioning both physically and mentally. With Evasion, we now take no damage if we succeed on an area-of-effect Dexterity saving throw (if we fail, we take half damage when we would normally take full damage). With Stillness of Mind, we can use our Action to end a charmed or frightened effect on ourselves.

Level 16 - Monk: Time for another ASI, and we're going to raise our Strength by two points to... pack more of a punch? ...Eh? Eh?

...Well, they can't all be winners.

Level 17 - Monk: With Unarmoured Movement Improvement, we can now run across liquids and vertical surfaces without losing our foothold (as long as we have enough movement).

Level 18 - Monk: Our Unarmoured Movement bonus is now +20 feet. We also explore more healing properties of our Aura with Purity of Body; we are now immune to all poison and disease.

Level 19 - Monk: Our Martial Arts die is now a 1d8. It's also time for another subclass upgrade; with Searing Sunburst, we can create an orb of light and hurl it at any point within 150 feet. Every creature within 20 feet radius has to make a Constitution saving throw or take 2d6 radiant damage. While it doesn't seem like a lot, we can spend some Ki Points to increase the damage (1 Ki Point for extra 2d6 to a maximum of 3 Ki Points).

Level 20 - Monk: Our capstone is Monk 12, which gives us an ASI. While we could max out our Strength, let's put two points into Constitution for better AC and extra HP before the big final fight with Salem.

---

And that's the Goldilocks Berserker. Let's see how we did:

First of all, for someone who exclusively uses her fists, we've managed to compile quite a roster of damage-dealing. At our absolute maximum, in one turn we can punch twice as a standard attack for 1d8+4, add two more attacks with Flurry of Blows, and then use Action Surge to do that whole thing again for the maximum of 48 damage. And if that doesn't work out, we have some Ki-based Kamehameha shots and if it seems like we're getting too much damage we can easily heal.

Our unarmoured AC is 17, we have a +3 to our Initiative, 50 feet of ground speed, and the average of 181 Hit Points.

While we have a rather decent physical ability spread (18/16/18), our mental side is rather abandoned. We are also a single-purpose character: we need to punch stuff, and the few skill proficiencies we have are also geared for that.

---

And that's Ms Xiao Long. That was fun, though I did not expect to make her so similar to the previous build. Anywho, to the anonymous person who requested this - I hope it meets your expectations and your campaign turns out to be fun. Enjoy!

-Nerdy out!

#dnd #character building #fighter #dnd build #dnd character #dnd5e #wizards of the coast #team rwby #rwby yang #yang xiao long #rwby #rooster teeth #bumblebee #monk #way of the sun soul #barbarian #ember celica

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nerdythebard · 1 year

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#56: Malenia, Blade of Miquella [Elden Ring]

[Art Credit: Aleksandra Skiba on ArtStation] ---

What's her name again?

This request comes from an anonymous reader. Surely, their goal was to give some of you lovely folks violent flashbacks. It is in fact time to venture into the world of Elden Ring and yet again face Malenia, Blade of Miquella. I'll be completely honest, I do not get the appeal of Souls games, so I never bothered to look into them, but you all very well know that your wish is my command. So let's step into the arena!

Next Time: GODDAMNIT, BARBARA!

Let's see what we need to equip for this fight:

I am Malenia

Blade of Miquella

And I have never known defeat

Um... okay... whatever you say.

---

Malenia, Blade of Miquella, is a demigod, and specifically mentioned to be an Empyrean; in D&D terms, Empyreans are celestials so that will make her an Aasimar. Using the new rules from Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse, we get a +2 and a +1 to two abilities of our choice (let's get Dexterity and Constitution respectively), speed of 30 feet, Celestial Resistance to necrotic and radiant damage, 60 feet of Darkvision, the Light cantrip, and the Healing Hands ability that lets us heal a creature for [our proficiency bonus x d4] once per long rest as an Action.

Malenia, Blade of Miquella (this is the last time, I promise), is going to have the Soldier background, as we can definitely use those Athletics and Intimidation proficiencies. We also gain proficiency with one gaming set and operating land vehicles, and the Military Rank feature, which will make soldiers related to our former (remember, the concept is that D&D characters begin their new lives as adventurers) organisation recognise us, and may provide us with supplies, shelter, or help.

ABILITY SCORES

We'll start with Dexterity, as we need to be nimble with our moves and swing our weapon better than Benny Goodman. Constitution will be next, since we've never known defeat. Follow that up with Wisdom, for our Rot damage.

After that, we get Charisma - Malenia's got that intimidation skill perfected. Strength will be on the lower end, in case we need to switch weapons, and we're gonna dump Intelligence - we just need others things more.

CLASS

Level 1 - Fighter: We start with the classic, but a useful one. Fighters start with a d10 as their Hit Dice, [10 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiencies in light armour, medium armour, heavy armour, shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons. Apart from her helmet and prosthetics (the latter of which you can also get, as described in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything), Malenia doesn't appear to use any armour, so we'll skip that for now, and grab her a rapier; it's not exactly a katana, but it's the best finesse weapon we can get for now.

Our saving throws are Strength and Constitution, and we get to pick two class skills from the list (Acrobatics and Perception).

Fighters get to pick their Fighting Style. You could consider picking Blind Fighting since Malenia has no eyes and doing so would make you aware of everything within 10 feet of you, but in this case we need to deal damage and a lot of it; we're going with Dueling. When we're wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapon, we get a +2 to damage rolls.

Fighters also get to tap into Second Wind. As a bonus action, we can regain [1d10 + our Fighter level] once per short or long rest.

Level 2 - Fighter: With Action Surge we can now take one additional Action on our turn once per short or long rest.

Level 3 - Fighter: We choose our first subclass, our Martial Archetype. Malenia uses a long katana/odachi, but because her spirit is essentially unbreakable (and she's never known defeat), we're gonna go with the Samurai archetype. We get a bonus proficiency in one skill from the list (Insight) and we gain Fighting Spirit; as a Bonus Action, we can give ourselves an advantage on weapon attack rolls until the end of our turn and gain 5 Temporary Hit Points. We can use this ability three times per long rest.

We also gain a racial ability - Celestial Revelation. We get to choose a form to transform into for 1 minute as a bonus action (once per long rest). To keep with Malenia's Rot theme, we're gonna get the Necrotic Shroud; creatures within 10 feet of us who can see us must make a Charisma saving throw or become frightened of us until the end of our next turn. Additionally, once per turn we can deal extra [our proficiency bonus] necrotic damage to a single target when making a weapon attack or cast a spell.

Level 4 - Monk: Let's jump classes for some faster and more nimble slashes. Multiclassing into Monk gives us proficiency with stuff we already know, so instead we jump straight into Unarmed Defense. While wearing no armour or shield, our AC becomes [10 + our Dexterity modifier + our Wisdom modifier]. We also learn Martial Arts. When benefitting from Unarmed Defense and using our bare hands or a monk weapon (which the rapier qualifies as), we gain the following benefits:

We can use Dexterity instead of Strength for attack and damage rolls of our unarmed and monk weapon strikes.

We can use a 1d4 instead of the dice used for our unarmed strikes and monk weapon attacks (the value changes as we level up).

When we use our Attack action to do an unarmed strike or a monk weapon attack, we can use our Bonus Action to make an unarmed strike.

Level 5 - Monk: We gain access to the Monk's resource - the Ki energy. We start with a pool of Ki Points (that we recover when we finish a short or long rest), which we can spend to achieve the following effects:

Flurry of Blows: Immediately after making an Attack, we can spend 1 Ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action.

Patient Defense: Spending 1 Ki point lets us take the Dodge action as a bonus action.

Step of the Wind: Spending 1 Ki point lets us take the Dash or Disengage actions as bonus actions, and doubles our jump distance for the turn.

We also gain Unarmoured Movement. When not wearing armour or using a shield, our speed increases by 10 feet.

Level 6 - Monk: Here, we learn how to Deflect Missiles. Whenever we're a target of a ranged weapon attack, we can use our Reaction to attempt to reduce the damage by [1d10 + our Dexterity modifier + our Monk level]; if the result reduces the damage to 0, we catch the projectile and can use the same Reaction to throw the projectile (range 20/60) and make an attack.

We get to pick our second subclass, our Monastic Tradition. To get better with our only weapon, we're gonna choose Way of the Kensei. We can now make our rapier a kensei weapon, which will give it extra bonuses. We gain proficiency with either caligrapher's supplies or painter's supplies (choose either), and with Agile Parry, if we make an unarmed strike as part of our Attack, we can gain a +2 to our AC by using our weapon to defend ourselves. We also gain Kensei's Shot, but since we're not using ranged weapons, we'll skip that one.

Level 7 - Monk: Finally, we get our first Ability Score Improvement. We're gonna boost our Dexterity and Constitution, as it will be useful in the next level. Here, we also gain Slow Fall, which helps us when falling, reducing fall damage by [our Monk level x5]. I would also ask your DM if you can take the optional feature Quickened Healing from Tasha's (since we didn't get anything when multiclassing), which lets you spend 2 Ki Points to roll a Martial Arts die and heal the rolled number of Hit Points.

Level 8 - Druid: Time to make some things rot. Multiclassing into Druid once again gives us proficiencies we already have, so we'll jump straight into Spellcasting. Wisdom is our casting ability and we know cantrips and rituals. Druids have access to their full spell list, and they can prepare [our Wisdom modifier + our Druid level] spells each day. We start by choosing two cantrips (Infestation and Resistance) and two 1st-level spells (Jump and Longstrider). We also learn Druidic, a language unique to the druids.

Level 9 - Druid: Although druids gain their signature ability, Wild Shape here, we will not focus on that in this build (we will be using the resource for something else), so allow me to skip straight into picking our third subclass - our Druid Circle. There is absolutely no question here, we're picking Circle of Spores.

From the circle conntected to rot and decay, we pick up our first feature: Halo of Spores. We're surrounded by an invisible aura of spores and bacteria, which we can unleash onto a target. Whenever a creature moves into a space within 10 feet of us (or starts its turn there), we can use our Reaction to deal 1d4 necrotic damage (unless the target makes a Constitution saving throw) which increases as we level up (1d6 at lv. 6, 1d8 at lv. 10, and 1d10 at lv. 14).

We can also channel magic into our own spores to create a Symbiotic Entity. By sacrificing one usage of our Wild Shape, we can awaken the spores on our body and gain [4 Temporary Hit Points per Druid level], as well as the following benefits (which last for 10 minutes or until we lose the THP or until we use Wild Shape again):

When we deal damage from our Halo of Spores, we roll the damage die a second time and add it to our attack

Our melee weapon deals extra 1d6 necrotic damage to any target we hit

We can also get another spell; let's grab Protection from Evil and Good.

Level 10 - Druid: Halfway through the build and we don't unlock anything class-related, only 2nd-level spells. Enhance Ability may aid us in case of saving throws for abilities we do not excel at, and we pick up two spells from our subclass: Blindness/Deafness and Gentle Repose.

Level 11 - Druid: Time for another ASI. Putting two points into Dexterity, we now max our primary damage-dealing and evasive ability. We also collect one more 2nd-level spell, Wither and Bloom, and one more cantrip - Primal Savagery.

Level 12 - Druid: Once again, we do not unlock any class features but we get 3rd-level spells. Let's grab Plant Growth, and get Animate Dead and Gaseous Form from our subclass.

Level 13 - Druid: We get our second subclass feature - Fungal Infestation. We can now spread our spores to a recently killed person or beast. If a Small or Medium creature dies within 10 feet of us, we can use our Reaction to animate it for 1 hour (or until defeated or dismissed) with 1 Hit Point. We can use this feature a number of times equal to our Wisdom modifier per long rest. The Cleanrot knights will now serve us!

Level 14 - Monk: Time to get more sword strikes to our build. We get Extra Attack - we can now attack twice, instead of one time, during a single Attack action (plus unarmed strikes as a Bonus Action). We also get Stunning Strike; when we hit a target with our melee weapon attack, we can spend 1 Ki Point to attempt to stun the target. The target has to make a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of our next turn. Additionally, our Martial Arts die becomes 1d6.

Level 15 - Monk: Our Unarmoured Movement bonus is now +15 feet. At this level, we can now deal extra Punchables™ with Ki-Empowered Strikes; our unarmed attacks now count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities. From our subclass, we gain One with the Blade, which gives us the following benefits:

Magic Kensei Weapons: Our kensei weapon attacks now count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities.

Deft Strike: When we hit the target with our kensei weapon, we can spend 1 Ki Point to add extra damage to our weapon equal to our Martial Arts die. We can only do so once per turn.

Level 16 - Monk: At this level, we get two really useful abilities to avoid harm. Evasion allows us to take no damage when failing a Dexterity saving throw would make us take half damage (and half damage if we'd normally take full damage). With Stillness of Mind, we can use our Action to shake off one charmed or frightened effect.

Level 17 - Monk: Time for another ASI. Let's put one point into Wisdom and one into Constitution.

Level 18 - Monk: We gain Unarmoured Movement Improvement. We can now effortlessly move across vertifcal surfaces and liquids without sacrificing any loss of movement.

Our Unarmoured Movement bonus is now +20 feet. With Purity of Body we are now sure that the Rot or any of its strains will touch us, as we're immune to poison and disease.

Level 19 - Monk: For the final ASI, we'll put one point into Constitution and leave the last one into Intelligence.

Level 20 - Monk: Our capstone is Monk 12, which gives us our final subclass upgrade: Sharpen the Blade. We can now imbue our weapon with Ki, spending up to 3 points to increase the weapon's attack force, damage, or both for 1 minute. Our Martial Arts die also changes into 1d8.

---

And that's Malenia, Blade of Miquella, who has never known defeat! (I had to squeeze that last one in!). Let's see what we have here:

First of all, we have a lot of ways to deal damage, depending whether we with to attack with our weapon, our unarmed stikes, or our Rot powers. We have also several ways of sustaining ourselves, whether by gaining Temporary Hit Points, healing with Second Wind, or casting a spell.

Our AC is 17 (+2 if we use Agile Parry), we have 50 feet of movement, a +5 to our initiative, and the average of 163 Hit Points.

This build is also difficult to maintain because of a triple multiclass, which means a lot of resource management: Ki Points, Wild Shape, Spell Slots, Martial Arts die... plus, the many options of attacking and several versions of managing your Action, Bonus Action, and Reaction moveset, this may cause some confusion.

---

Ho boy, that was something. It seems to be a satisfying build, but I also feel like I've spent a bit too much on it. I also had to reschedule the next build, but I'll explain why later. If you want to, I'll also provide commentary on the few controversies with Wizards of the Coast and D&D situation, but all in due time.

Remember that I love you and wish you all a good day or night!

-Nerdy out!

#dnd #character building #dnd build #dnd character #dnd5e #wizards of the coast #elden ring #elden ring malenia #i am malenia #malenia goddess of rot #malenia blade of miquella #fighter #kensei monk #druid #d&d druid #circle of spores

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nerdythebard · 1 year

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If you ever needed any more reason to stay away from any new product released by WotC...

So uh, if you want to know what Wizards of the Coast is up to, they allegedly sent the Pinkertons (a private security guard, which is a fancy way to say for-hire thugs) to the person who leaked a Magic: The Gathering set. Who wasn't under a NDA or anything (not that it'd justify said measures).

The Pinkertons went to his home, threatened to put him in jail, seized a bunch of his stuff and made his wife cry.

youtube

Anyways, uh, I wonder if there's still gonna be bootlickers trying to defend WOTC on this?

(Reblogs for awareness are appreciated!)

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nerdythebard · 1 year

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#55: Elizabeth [BioShock: Infinite]

(Art Credit: Irishhips on deviantArt) ---

Welcome back, my friends!

I forgot to credit our requestor of the previous build, but luck would have it they also requested this one, so many thanks to our lovely family member, @nerdybear91 for both Harry Dresden and Anna DeWitt aka Elizabeth from BioShock: Infinite. Now, let's see what true Multiverse of Madness looks like!

Next Time: Let me solo her!

What do we need to survive navigating a giant floating city filled with brainwashed cultists, until we can finally reach Paris?

Everything & Everywhen (All At Once): Elizabeth's ability to manipulate Tears allow her to perform a multitude of multiversal effects. We will have to flavour a lot to make it look like we have control over all realities.

It's Big Brain Time: Having nothing to do but read, Elizabeth became familiary with a variety of subjects including medicine, music, arts, literature, etc.

Sneaky Supplier: Another interesting skill of Elizabeth's is that she can pick almost any lock we ask her to, and decipher any message. She's observant and can support Booker with resources and money during combat. Also get out of harm ways pretty well despite sometimes standing in the middle of thew fight.

---

Elizabeth is a Human. Although her innate powers to manipulate the Tears would qualify her as a Variant Human, we're gonna take it a step further and give her the Mark of Passage from Eberron: Rising from the Last War. We get a +2 Dexterity and a +1 to one ability of our choice (Intelligence), ability to speak Common and one language of our choice, thanks to Courier's Speed our standard speed is 35 feet, with Intuitive Motion we can add 1d4 to any Acrobatics check used to operate and maintain a land vehicle, and if ever we gain the ability to cast spells we get some additional Spells of the Mark. Finally, with Misty Passage we can cast the Misty Step spell once per long rest (with Dexterity as our ability modifier).

Being left alone for so long and having nothing to do but reading made Elizabeth quite a Sage. We gain proficiency in Arcana and History, two languages of our choice, and the Researcher feature; we can now lead Booker around to the right place when trying to find a piece of information (such as code for a lock).

ABILITY SCORES

We're starting with Intelligence; we've spent so long in seclusion with nothing but books. Follow that up with Dexterity, to help us with lockpicking, stealth, and platforming across Columbia. Constitution will be next, we can survive a lot of running and experiments in alternate timeline.

Wisdom will be next, what good is book knowledge if you do not apply it in real life. Charisma is on the lower end; Elizabeth had so little human interaction, she didn't have time to perfect her persuasion or intimidation skills. Finally, we're dumping Strength.

CLASS

Level 1 - Rogue: Running away from your adopted-but-not-really father who was using your powers to control the entire brainwashed city sounds like a good definition of going rogue. We start with a d8 as our Hit Dice, we get [8 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiencies with light armour, simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords, and thieves' tools. Elizabeth doesn't have any armour or weapons in the game, but consider giving her at least a dagger. We'll cover the armour later. Our saving throws are Dexterity and Intelligence, and we get to pick four class skills from the list (Investigation, Perception, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth).

Rogues start by honing their skills even further with Expertise. We select two skills we're proficient in (or one skill + thieves' tools) and we double our proficiency bonus (not our ability modifier) when using those skills. We're gonna get better in Stealth, to make sure we are unseen in dangerous situations, as well as thieves' tools, to make sure no lock poses a challenge.

Rogues also get the abilit to Sneak Attack. Once per turn, if you have an advantage on your attack (and use a ranged weapon or one with the finesse property) or your target is within 5 feet of another creature hostile to it, you can add 1d6 extra damage to your damage roll.

We also learn Thieves' Cant, a system of words and phrases that can be used to convey a hidden message to others who also speak it (for me, it's always Cockney Rhyming Slang).

Level 2 - Rogue: We learn Cunning Action. From now on, we can transform the following Actions into Bonus Actions:

Dash - We gain extra movement for the duration of the turn, equal to our ground speed;

Disengage - Moving away from the target's melee range does not provoke an attack of opportunity;

Hide - We make a Stealth check to hide.

Level 3 - Rogue: Here, we pick our subclass - our Rogue Archetype - and for the smart and observant Elizabeth, I can think of nothing better but the Inquisitive archetype. With our Ear for Deceit, we can treat any Insight check roll that's lower than 7 as 8. With Eye for Detail, we can use a Bonus Action instead of an Action to make a Perception or an Investigation check. Always useful to find extra ammo, salts, or money. We also master Insightful Fighting, which lets us make a contested Insight check against the target's Deception; if we're successful, we come up with a good positioning and strategy, and we can apply Sneak Attack damage even if we don't have an advantage.

Speaking of Sneak Attack, our bonus damage now becomes 2d6.

Level 4 - Rogue: Time for our first Ability Score Improvement. We're gonna put one point into Constitution for better Hit Points and one into Wisdom, as we slowly come to the realisation something's not right in Columbia...

Level 5 - Wizard: Now it's time to play with port.. err Tears. Multiclassing into Wizard gives us... nothing, unfortunately. We do, however, learn Arcane Recovery: once per day (during a short rest), we can recover some spell slots we've expended. The spell slots can have a combined level equal to (or less than) half of our Wizard level rounded up.

Related to that, we now learn Spellcasting. Intelligence is our casting ability, and we know cantrips, regular spells, and rituals. Wizards can write new spells into their spellbook (or perhaps pulling those spells from other timelines) and they start with a few spells of their choice: three cantrips (for us it's Create Bonfire, Mending, and Sword Burst) and six 1st-level spells (we'll get Alarm, Detect Magic, Distort Value, Mage Armour, Tenser's Floating Disk, and Unseen Servant). From our Mark of Passage we also learn Expeditious Retreat and Jump.

Level 6 - Wizard: We pick our second subclass here, our Arcane Tradition. To make our Tears and multiverse manipulations more stable, we're going to pick the School of Conjuration. Since we are now a Conjuration Savant, the time and money we spend when copying Conjuration spells to our spellbook is halved. With Minor Conjuration, we can conjure an inanimate object in our hand or on the ground within 10 feet radius. The object must be no bigger than 3 feet on a side and weigh up to 10 pounds, be non-magical, and when conjured it sheds dim light for 5 feet. It lasts for 1 hour or until taken or dealt damage, and we can only create one object at the time.

We also get to pick two more 1st-level spells: Silent Image and Snare.

Level 7 - Wizard: At this level we unlock 2nd-level spells. From our level-up we can get two new spells (Arcane Lock and Borrowed Knowledge) and from our Mark of Passage we get Misty Step and Pass Without Trace.

Level 8 - Wizard: Time for another ASI. This time, we're putting two points in Constitution, to get some better survivability. We also get a choice of a new cantrip (Message) and two more spells (Locate Object and Mirror Image).

Level 9 - Wizard: We unlock 3rd-level spells. Let's get Galder's Tower and Melf's Minute Meteors from our level-up, and we will get Blink and Phantom Steed from our Mark of Passage.

Level 10 - Wizard: Halfway through the build and we get Benign Transportation. We can use our action to teleport into an unocupied space within 30 feet of us. Alternatively, we can pick a space occupied by a Small or Medium creature and (if they're willing) swap places with them. We can do that once per long rest or until we cast a Conjuration spell of at least 1st-level. And speaking of Conjuration magic, let's grab two summoning spells here: Summon Fey and Summon Shadowspawn.

Level 11 - Wizard: We unlock 4th-level spells. From our level-up, let's grab Banishment and Fabricate. From our Mark of Passage we also get Dimension Door and Freedom of Movement.

Level 12 - Wizard: Time for more ASI. For now, let's improve our Dexterity by two point for some better Initiative, AC, and hiding skills. For our spells, let's gram Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum and Summon Construct to call some more support

Level 13 - Wizard: We unlock 5th-level spells. From our level-up, let's grab Legend Lore and Wall of Force. We also gain our last spell from the Mark of Passage: Teleportation Circle.

Level 14 - Wizard: We get to pick our final cantrip (Mage Hand) and unlock next subclass feature. With Focused Conjuration, when we're concentrating on a Conjuration spell, our concentration cannot be broken. For this level's spells, let's pick Mislead and Rary's Telepathic Bond.

Level 15 - Wizard: We unlock 6th-level spells. Let's grab Arcane Gate and True Seeing to detect the smallest of Tears.

Level 16 - Wizard: With another ASI, we can bump up our Constitution by two more points here. For this level's spells, we can actually get back a bit and grab Far Step and Scrying.

Level 17 - Wizard: Unlocking 7th-level spells here. Time to finally start exploring other worlds and timelines with Dream of the Blue Veil and Plane Shift.

Level 18 - Wizard: We get access to our final subclass feature. Durable Summons give all creatures we summon or create additional 30 Temporary Hit Points upon summoning. Let's bring the image of another world to us with Mirage Arcane and summon another Elizabeth with Project Image.

Level 19 - Wizard: We unlock 8th-level spells. We can now create our own little worlds with Demiplane, and it's finally time to call an old friend with Illusory Dragon.

Level 20 - Wizard: Our capstone is Wizard 16, where we end with an ASI. So let's get some more Dexterity for that nice-looking 20. For our final spells, let's take Maze and Mighty Fortress.

---

And that's our Multidimensional Marvel, Elizabeth. Let's see what we came out with:

First of all, this is clearly a support character. Their purpose is to hide, sneak, move around the battlefield, and provide assistance to the party by conjuring additional reinforcements. With enhanced ground speed, several teleporting spells, and proficiency in stealth, we should be able to provide long-range support without risking detection or damage.

Our AC is 15 (18 with Mage Armour), +5 to Initiative, and average of 142 Hit Points.

Unfortunately, we don't have a lot in terms of direct offense, both magical and physical. While our Dexterity managed to reach 20, we still have a negative Strength modifier and our Wisdom and Charisma are on the lower end; this could be problematic, since those are two of the more used saving throws.

---

Oh, wow. That took way too long than I wanted. I actually scrapped the entire build (originally it was Echo Knight Fighter with Illusion Wizard) and watched several playthroughs to get a feel for Elizabeth, but I hope in the end I've created something playable.

Unfortunately, a lot has happened during the time I was away, my loves. As of today, I've lost my job for which I've moved cities to live on my own. Silverlining, I will have time for you, so I guess we're back in action. I'll see you in the next one, my friends.

-Nerdy out

#dnd build #dnd character #dnd #dnd5e #character building #wizard #wizards of the coast #rogue #inquisitive rogue #conjuration wizard #elizabeth bioshock #anna dewitt #bioshock #bioshock infinite #elizabeth comstock

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nerdythebard · 1 year

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SMITE 2023 Lineup: Analysis & Predictions

Wow, I did not make a lot of posts in 2022, did I...

Hey eveyone! Since we've done this last year, I thought I would once again share my first thoughts on what SMITE is planning to release this coming year in terms of gods. This whole blog started with SMITE, and I promise you the God Builds will continue.

Before reading any further, here is the video for you to get familiar with. Anyway, let's go!

Seems like it's going to be five new gods this year, and if that's all we're getting they may be released roughly every 2-3 months. Starting off with Surtr, the Norse Fire Jotun in January. Surtr is famously known as the herald of Ragnarok - it's his fate to use his flaming sword to kill Freyr and destroy our world, only for a new better one to be reborn from the ashes. If you actually look at the released Surtr Teaser, you can see some elements of that story - killed over and over again, a fire jotun gets reborn into Surtr. It's kinda funny how the in-game mini-boss said 'enough is enough' and decided to become a player.

Next up, in the release for (maybe) March, we see what I would assume is another in-game structure, the Phoenix Tower. Moreover, the narration talks about flames and rebirth, which would indicate a Phoenix (which wouldn't be odd, seeing as we have other non-god characters, such as Cerberus, Fenrir, and Ratatoskr), but then we move to this Lion King-esque Pride Rock formation with a shadowy, feline figure, which many say could be the Manticore - a monster that reached the status of inside joke in the community; originally, a boss for Training Mode, the Manticore was deleted from the game and never heard from again (for the 2016 April Fools, the devs made a God Reveal video for playable Manticore, so perhaps it now becomes reality)

Potentially scheduled for May is a a fertility deity. With a Southern American pyramid in the background, it doesn't take a lot of guessing to bet on Ixchel - Mayan Goddess of Medicine, Midwifery, and Rain.

Moving down to the Underworld in (maybe) July, we see what looks like a river of souls, and with the narration talking about the lost being carried, it seems like another obvious one - Charon, the Greek psychopomp. The Ferryman of the Dead.

And finally, ending the year... in September... we have another death deity. We see chicken and bones, purple colours and skulls, and the architecture typical for New Orleans... this has to be Maman Brigitte or another Ghede loa. She was supposed to be the last goddess of 2022, but was unfortunately pushed back.

And that seems to be it. Let me know your ideas, and I'll soon meet you all... in Columbia ;)

-Nerdy out!

#hirez smite #hirezstudios #smite #smite lineup #smite gods #gods #dnd #dnd 5e #prediction #dungeons and dragons #surtr #phoenix #manticore #ixchel #charon #maman brigitte

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nerdythebard · 1 year

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#54: Harry Dresden [The Dresden Files]

(Art Credit: Mika-Blackfield on deviantArt) ---

Yer a wizard, Harry!

This one is a two-parter, coming from an anonymous requestor. This time, we tackle Chicago's only practicing wizard, Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden (the more names the more secure the wizard). I remember reading the books in high school and beyond, since I'm a big nerd of everything that includes magic and urban fantasy, and I have to admit, it was one of the books that inspired me to start writing. Let's jump into this case then!

Next Time: Part Two: Now you're playing with portals... Lizzie

So, what does the White Council says about becoming a wizard?

Non-Squishy Wizard: While Harry uses magic (in accordance with the Laws... mostly) as his primary tool, he's not lacking when it comes to physical abilities. Perks of being a Winter Knight, I guess.

Master Blaster Caster: Harry's speciality seems to be magic related to combat magic: blasts of force, fire, wind, as well as occasional necromancy and thaumaturgy.

Temptation of the Dark Side: Let's be honest, every wizard will occasionally give in. So does Harry, who's broken some of the Laws of Magic when the situation needed him to.

---

Harry is a human in a world where the supernatural and the mundane mixes and blends together. We're going to make him a Variant Human. We get a +1 to two abilities of our choice (Intelligence and Constitution), ability to speak, read, and write Common and one more language of our choice, proficiency in one skill (Perception), and one feat of our choice; War Caster gives us advantage on Constitution saving throws when concentrating on a spell, ability to perform somatic components even when holding something in both hands, and whenever a creature provokes an attack of opportunity from us, we can cast a spell (casting time 1 action and targetting one creature) instead of making a weapon attack.

Honouring Harry's profession, we'll going to give him the Investigator background. We grab proficiencies in Insight and Investigation, proficiencies with a disguise kit and thieves' tools, and the Official Inquiry feat; thanks to it, we can use a combination of improv and deflecting questions to gain access to places and people connected to our investigations.

ABILITY SCORES

Intelligence will obviously be our first pick, followed by Dexterity and Constitution. Harry often finds himself in sticky situations where he is either forced to run and evade, or straight-up tank the damage.

Wisdom will be next, to keep some positive modifiers for saving throws. Charisma will be on the lower end, Harry is a known blunt and brusque asshole throughout most of the series. Finally, we're dropping Strength.

CLASS

There is also no surprise here; Harry is a Wizard start-to-finish. Wizards get a d6 as their Hit Dice, [6 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, no armour or tool proficiencies (we'll get that soon), proficiencies with daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, and light crossbows. We're obviously gonna pick a staff and perhaps keep a few darts and daggers around. Our saving throws are Intelligence and Wisdom, and we get to pick two class skills from the list (Arcana and History).

Level 1: Wizards learn how to manage their resources with Arcane Recovery. Once per day, after a short rest, we can recover expended spell slots: a total level of spell slots must be equal to or less than half of our Wizard level, and we cannot recover spells slots of 6th-level and above (for example, if we're 4th-level Wizard, we can recover two 2nd-level slots or two 1st-level slots and one 2nd-level, etc.)

As the paragons of the arcane, Wizards starts with Spellcasting. Intelligence is our casting ability, and we know cantrips and rituals. Wizards start with a set number of spells and gain two new spells during every level-up (in addition to any spell they collect during their travels). We start with three cantrips (Fire Bolt, Minor Illusion, and Gust) and six 1st-level spells (Absorb Elements, Burning Hands, Detect Magic, Healing Elixir, Protection from Evil and Good, and Shield).

Level 2: At this level, we pick our subclass, our Arcane Tradition. I was considering making Harry an evoker, since elemental magic seems to be his weapon of choice, or perhaps a necromancer since it's been stated to be his unusual talent... but ultimately, Harry is a Wizard who also packs a punch without the use of magic, so we need to be able to fight. Bladesinger Wizards learn enchanted swordsmanship from the elves, so it fits for our Winter Knight. Since we're Trained in War and Song, we gain proficiency with light armour (for that, let's grab a standard studded leather - if you can, ask your DM for a glamoured one, to mimic Harry's coat), one-handed melee weapon (let's grab a rapier for the Finesse property), and in Performance skill.

We also learn how to chant a Bladesong. Think of it as the Barbarian's Rage, only applied to a weapon. While the Bladesong is active (1 minute or until we're incapacitated, cancel it willingly, don medium or heavy armour, or use a two-handed weapon attack), we gain the following benefits:

Bonus to our AC equal to our Intelligence modifier

Walking speed increased by 10 feet

An advantage on Acrobatics checks

Bonus to Constitution saving throws made for maintaining concentration on spells (equal to our Intelligence modifier)

For this level's spells, we can grab Thunderwave and Unseen Servant to give us a facisimile of Bob.

Level 3: We do not get any new class features, but we do unlock 2nd-level spells. Darkvision for eliminating the weakness of our human eyes, and Misty Step for taking a shortcut through the Nevernever seem like a good choice here.

Level 4: Time for our first Ability Score Improvement. Let's raise our Intelligence by two points, and I'll surprise you by saying that this is our final Intelligence score. I know, Wizards should strive to max it out (or even go beyond), but Harry's not one of those super smart Wizards. We need to make him a magic combatant.

For this level's spells, we're gonna grab Magic Aura and Scorching Ray. We also get another cantrip (Blade Ward).

Level 5: No new class features, but we unlock 3rd-level spells. By picking Galder's Tower you can essentially create a copy of Harry's island, Demonreach. To gain an upper hand against other Wizards, let's grab Dispel Magic (or, if you're playing in a modern day setting and really want that 'magic destroys technology' vibe, pick up Haywire from the Modern Magic Unearthed Arcana).

Level 6: We get another subclass feature: stolen from the Fighter we get Extra Attack. We can now make two strikes instead of one during a single Attack action. For this level's spells, we're gonna make ourselves even more resistant to attacks with Protection from Energy, and we'll reach into more shady territory with Summon Lesser Demons.

Level 7: We unlock 4th-level spells. For some offense we can grab Ice Storm, and to get everybody's favourite lazy dog, Mouse, we're gonna pick Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound.

Level 8: Another ASI! We'll increase of Dexterity by two points to get some better swings for our sword. For this level's spells, we will travel the border of breaking the Third Law of Magic and pick up Phantasmal Killer, and then make sure we divide and conquer our fights with Wall of Fire.

Level 9: At this level, we unlock 5th-level spells. Time for some bigger artillery to join our repertoire. Let's start by finally causing trouble for the Council and break the Fifth Law. Danse Macabre shall help us with that (it's the next best thing after an undead T. rex). Next, we can elevate our detective business by employing Scrying.

Level 10: Halfway through the build, and we finally get a subclass update! With Song of Defense, we can now spend a spell slot (while our Bladesong is active) and absorb the damage dealt to us. The maximum amount of damage we can absorb is [Spell slot's level x5]. This means that by sacrificing a 5th-level spell slot or above, we can now tank a full-power Fireball.

We also get our final cantrips here: let's pick Toll the Dead now that we have some proper damage dealing options. For this level's spells, let's consult Bob with Legend Lore, and use Dawn in case any vampires decide to be too cocky.

Level 11: We unlock 6th-level spells, and it's time to break the First Law and cast Disintegrate on our uncle. We will also mimic the Death Curse and pick Contingency. By setting up the 'my death shall release [X]' as a trigger condition, we can be sure to get the last laugh.

Level 12: Finally another ASI. Let's bump up our Constitution to get some better Hit Points in the mid- to late-game. For this level's spells, we're gonna make some more deals by casting Summon Fiend and then finally gain the proper Soulgaze via True Seeing.

Level 13: We unlock 7th-level spells here. Let's cause even more damage with Delayed Blast Fireball and Reverse Gravity.

Level 14: We unlock our final subclass feature. With Song of Victory, we can add our Intelligence modifier to our melee attacks while our Bladesong is active.

For this level's spell we will pick Sequester and Whirlwind.

Level 15: We unlock 8th-level spells. We can utilise the energy of the storm with Control Weather and then shield our own mind from Lawbreakers with Mind Blank.

Level 16: If you manage to get this far and get this ASI, it is finally time to grab the Tough feat. Out Hit Points maximum is increased by [our level x2] and every level-up henceforth we can add +2 Hit Points. For this level's spell, we'll grab Demiplane and Maddening Darkness.

Level 17: We unlock the apex of the arcane; the 9th-level spells. Let's use Gate and Invulnerability.

Level 18: We gain a feature called Spell Mastery. We choose one 1st-level and one 2nd-level spell from our spellbook and can now cast them without spending spell slots, effectively transforming them into cantrips. Let's do that to Shield and Scorching Ray.

For this level's spells, let's grab Meteor Swarm and Prismatic Wall.

Level 19: With the final ASI of the build we will actually add to our Strength to remove the negative modifiers. For this level's spells we'll use Gate and Imprisonment.

Level 20: Our capstone is Wizard 20, which gives us the Signature Spells feature. This works in a similar manner to the previous Spell Mastery, however we get to choose two 3rd-level spells that we can cast once per a short or long rest without expending spell slots. Let's select Dispel Magic and Protection from Energy.

For our final spells, let's finally choose Wish and Weird.

---

So that's Harry-but-not-the-one-you-think. Let's see what came out of this:

First of all, we're a full Wizard which in late game provides plenty of utility options for both ourselves and our allies. Additionally, with the Bladesinging subclass, we can hold our own in combat. We also have a nice bag of skills to use in our detective work. Overall, I'm actually satisfied from the resources we've created.

Our AC (when utilised absolutely everything at our disposal at once) is 24, we have a +3 to our Initiative, and the average of 178 Hit Points.

Unfortunately, we suffer a little bit in terms of abilities. We have no ability score of 20 and a relatively low Strength and more importantly Wisdom, which leaves us vulnerable.

---

Happy 2023, my dears. Now that my life is relatively back together (also, guess what, I've become a sworn translator of English! :D), I can return to you with some goodies. There is still a few requests and I know some of you are waiting to return to more God Builds. Let's kick off the new year with a blast!

-Nerdy out!

#dnd build #dnd #dnd5e #dungeons and dragons #dnd character #character building #harry dresden #dresden files #jim butcher #wizard #bladesinger

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nerdythebard · 2 years

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#53: Kratos [God of War]

(Art Credit: Raf Grassetti) ---

My friends, it's time for the man! The myth! The legend!

Thanks to an anonymous reader, we're gonna traverse the worlds of D&D as Kratos. The Ghost of Sparta. Godslayer. The God of War. Farbauti. We'll do the 2018 version, as God of War: Ragnarök approaches. Also, heads up, this will be just Kratos and, sorry to disappoint you, only wielding the Leviathan Axe. We have to restrain him somehow ;) Enjoy!

Next Time: Have you ever used the yellow pages to hire a wizard from Chicago?

...Read it, boy.

I... Would Like... To... RAGE: There's no denying it, Kratos might just be the strongest character in video games. His ability to channel his rage into pure power is legendary, especially when he manages to control it in the 2018 game.

Let Me Axe You a Question: Kratos's new toy, the Leviathan Axe, is a magical weapon capable of channeling ice magic. It always return to him when called.

I AM MY SCARS: There's no running away from one's past and Kratos really owns up to his. The time spent in Midgard really made him wiser and, although not purely altrustic, he's gained some degree of empathy.

---

Kratos is a son of Zeus, and a god of his own, but we're going to focus on his power and might rather than his birth heritage. We're going with a Goliath from the Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse version. We get a +2 and a +1 to two abilities of our choice (Strength and Constitution respectively), and thanks to the Little Giant feat we gain proficiency in Athletics and count as one size larger when determining carrying and lifting capacity. As Mountain Born, we have resistance to cold damage and can survive high altitudes with no negative consequences. Stone's Endurance allows us to use our reaction to shrug off damage (1d12 + our Constitution modifier) a number of times equal to our proficiency bonus per long rest.

Kratos's past haunts him to this very day, so making him a Haunted One seems to fit the most. We gain proficiencies in two skills from the list (Investigation and Survival), learn two languages (although we should leave it to the Boy), and get the Heart of Darkness feature. Although others might be intimidated of us (and let's be honest, who wouldn't be?), they may extend courtesy and attempt to aid us to the best of their ability. It doesn't mean they would fight or die for us, but a shelter or a meal (or upgrading our axe) is definitely on the table.

ABILITY SCORES

We'll start with the obvious ones: Constitution will be first (if using Standard Point Array) and Strength will be second; that way, we'll put it both at 16 from the start. Dexterity will be next, Kratos can roll around and dodge quite well.

We'll follow that up with Charisma, as Kratos's intimidation can also act as very effective persuasion. Wisdom will be a little low, especially since Kratos became a rather skilled survivalist, and we're dumping Intelligence; Kratos is from Sparta, not Athens.

CLASS

Level 1 - Barbarian: I mean... was there ever any doubt? Barbarians get d12 as their Hit Dice, [12 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiencies with light armour, medium armour, shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons. Kratos wears a variety of armours or none at all, so what you choose it doesn't matter here. We are going to grab a shield and a battleaxe (because it can be used in one or both hands, as opposed to a greataxe). Our saving throws are Strength and Constitution, and we get to pick two class skills from the list (Intimidation and Perception).

Barbarians begin their journey by tapping into the vast ocean of Rage. As a bonus action, twice per long rest, we can Rage for up to 1 minute (or until we end it/are knocked unconscious/hadn't attacked a creature or received damage during our last turn) as long as we're not wearing heavy armour. While Raging, we gain the following benefits:

We have an advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.

When we make a melee weapon attack that uses Strength, we get a +2 bonus damage (increases as we level up).

We have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

With Unarmoured Defense, our AC is [10 + our Dexterity modifier + our Constitution modifier] as long as we're not wearing any armour. We can still use shields.

Level 2 - Barbarian: Thanks to our divine Danger Sense, we have an advantage on Dexterity saving throws against dangers that we can see, such as traps and spells, as long as we're not blinded, deafened, or incapacitated. We have Head and Boy to warn us against attacks.

We also have an option to make Reckless Attacks. When making the first attack on our turn, we can choose to make it Reckless. Doing so, gives us advantage on Strength-based attack for the entire turn, but all attack made against us until our next turn also have advantage.

Level 3 - Barbarian: Starting now, we can Rage three times per long rest.

Time to pick our first subclass, to walk our Primal Path. Since Kratos gained divine power and was a servant of Ares, we will make his Rage truly godly and choose the Path of the Zealot. Thanks to Divine Fury, the first creature we hit with a weapon attack takes extra [1d6 + half of our Barbarian level] radiant or necrotic damage (our choice, but we cannot change it).

As a former Warrior of the Gods, we are brought back to life more easily. Spells such as Raise Dead or Revivify, or any other that would bring us back from death, require no material components when used to us. Death can have us when it earns us.

Level 4 - Barbarian: Time for our first Ability Score Improvement. Let's make our punches and attacks deal more damage, and put two points into Strength.

Level 5 - Fighter: Time to get more technical and get into contact with two grumpy dwarfs. Multiclassing into Fighter doesn't give us any new things, but we can adopt a Fighting Style. We have a weapon, but our unarmed attacks need power, too, so we're gonna pick Unarmed Fighting. Our fists now deal [1d6 + our Strength modifier] bludgeoning damage. If we're not holding a weapon or a shield, that d6 can become d8. In combat, at the beginning of our turn, we can also deal 1d4 damage to any creature grappled by us.

With Second Wind we can use our bonus action to heal [1d10 + our Fighter level] Hit Points once per a short or long rest.

Level 6 - Fighter: Thanks to Action Surge, once per a short or long rest we can take one additional Action in combat during our turn.

Level 7 - Fighter: We pick our second subclass here, our Martial Archetype. We can now breathe some magic into that axe of ours by becoming the Eldritch Knight. First and foremost, we unlock Spellcasting with Intelligence as our casting ability. We know two cantrips (Ray of Frost and Thunderclap) and three 1st-level spells (Absorb Elements, Earth Tremor, and Frost Fingers).

Finally, we gain Weapon Bond. By bonding our axe to ourselves, we can never be disarmed (as long as we're not incapacitated) and summon the weapon back to us wherever it is (as long as we're on the same plane of existence) as a bonus action.

Level 8 - Fighter: Another ASI. The only reason, we didn't switch back to the Barbarian here is so we can grab the Strike of the Giants feat from the 2022 Wonders of the Multiverse Unearthed Arcana. As a bonus action, we can imbue our weapon with magic of the giants. For the next minute, the first strike we make with that weapon causes additional effect depending on the magic chosen. We're picking magic of the Frost Giants, which deals extra 1d6 cold damage. If the target is a creature, it has to make a Constitution saving throw or have its speed reduced to 0 until the start of our next turn.

For our final spell, we're gonna get a few more Hit Points with False Life.

Level 9 - Barbarian: Going back to improve the quantity instead of quality of our attacks, we get Extra Attack. We can now attack twice instead of once during a single Attack action. Our ground speed also increases by 10 feet (if we're not wearing heavy armour) thanks to Fast Movement.

Level 10 - Barbarian: Halfway through the build, we can now Rage four times per long rest. We also get a new subclass feature: Fanatical Focus. If while Raging we're fail a saving throw, we can re-roll once per Rage. However, we have to use a new result even if it's worse than the original.

Level 11 - Barbarian: With our Feral Instincts, we now have an advantage on Initiative rolls. Additionally, any ambush or surprise that would happen during combat do not work on us.

Level 12 - Barbarian: Another ASI! This time, we're gonna bump our Constitution by two points.

Level 13 - Barbarian: Whenever we get luck, enemies die! With Brutal Critical, whenever we score a melee attack Critical Hit, we can roll additional damage die (e.g. a battleaxe's damage die is 1d8 [or d10 if used two-handed], so on a Natural 20 we roll 2d8 [or 2d10]). It is also here that bonus damage from our Rage becomes a +3.

Level 14 - Barbarian: Time for another subclass feature: Zealous Presence. As a bonus action, we unleash a rage-filled roar that encourages up to ten creatures within 60 feet of us, giving them advantage on attack rolls and saving throws until the start of our next turn. We can do so once per long rest.

Level 15 - Barbarian: We can now tap into Relentless Rage. Now, we can keep fighting even if we're dead... kinda. If we drop to 0 Hit Points while Raging (and not be insta-killed), we can make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a success, we recover 1 Hit Point. The DC increases by 5 each time we use this feature after the first. After we finish a long rest, the DC resets back to 10.

Level 16 - Barbarian: One more ASI for the road, and we're gonna grab every tank's friend – the Tough feat. Our Hit Points Maximum increase by [our level x2] and every level-up henceforth gives us +2 Hit Points. Additionally, we can also Rage 5 times per long rest now.

Level 17 - Barbarian: We improve our Brutal Critical. On a Critical Hit, we now roll two extra damage dice.

Level 18 - Barbarian: For the final subclass feature, we'll be able to Rage Beyond Death. When we drop to 0 Hit Points, we don't go unconscious. We still have to make Death Saving Throws, and suffer the normal consequences, but we only drop unconscious when our Rage ends and we're at 0 Hit Points then.

Level 19 - Barbarian: We can stay angry for an unlimited amount of time with Persistent Rage. Our Rage can only end if we choose to do it or if we drop unconscious. With the previous level's feature in mind, in theory we now can never be unconscious.

Level 20 - Barbarian: Our capstone is Barbarian 16, which gives us... an ASI. Yeah, ending it on a low note, unfortunately, but at least we can capstone our Strength with a 20.

---

And that is our boy... err... Kratos. Ekhm, let's see what we got:

First of all, we've made the most durable build. Kratos is a frontline powerhouse whether he wields a weapon or not. We can soak damage and deal damage, and our Rage lets us turn the battle to our favour. Kratos has the largest Hit Points pool of all the builds we've done so far: beating both Songbird and Edelgard. With several ice-themed attacks, we can also keep enemies stationary for us or our party members.

Our AC is 17 (with a shield), we have a +1 to our Initiative, and a whoppin' 250 Hit Points on average.

Unfortunately, by focusing on Kratos's physical might, we've sacrificed pretty much all remaining abilities. With a negative Intelligence modifier and a low Wisdom and Charisma score, we also might be vulnerable to Charmed and Frightened effects. It's a shame we couldn't grab the next two Barbarian features (Indomitable Might and Primal Champion), as they would make us even better. What I would suggest is hunt in your game for Belt of Dwarvenkind, which would increase your Constitution by 2 (and give you a swanky dad-beard).

---

Another one off the list! This was pretty straightforward and seems situational, but this is the best I could think of. I hope the requestor is satisfied, and I'll see you in the next one, my loves!

-Nerdy out!

#dnd 5e #dungeons and dragons #dnd #d&d 5e #character building #d&d #fighter #d&d build #barbarian #path of the zealot #eldritch knight #goliath #kratos #god of war ragnarok #gow ragnarok #gow #god of war #ghost of sparta

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nerdythebard · 2 years

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One D&D

Hello, my darlings!

First of all, don't worry, the next build is coming along nicely. I will return to it after this short interlude.

Now, as some of you may know, Wizards of the Coast are currently launching new playtest material for their 5.5 edition (they say it's not, but we all know it bloody well it) called One D&D. There are upgrades in rules, classes, and mechanics (spoiler alert: Ranger changes are GOOD). So here's my question:

Would you be interested in seeing my thoughts on these playtest changes? Or should I just stick to builds?

Let me know, and I'll see you soon!

-Nerdy out

#dnd 5e #dnd #d&d 5e #d&d #dungeons and dragons #one d&d #wizards of the coast #ttrpg #rpg

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nerdythebard · 2 years

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#52: Sayaka Miki [Madoka Magica]

(Art Credit: Mangaka Quarter & Studio Shaft) ---

So, my friends... what is your wish?

Mine would be to finally finish my assignments on this blog, but I'm not gonna sold my soul to a marshmallow cat thing. I'll leave that to some Japanese schoolgirls. Like this here Sayaka Miki, our super-speedy indestructible witch hunter, courtesy of @will0whisper. And I'll say this upfront, this will be just Sayaka, I will not make her witch form here.

Next Time: Boy...

Let's start with the terms of our contract:

Fast and Blue... Sonic will sue: In combat, Sayaka reliest on her speed and agility. She can even react to magic that stops time, and at her fastest she looks like a flash of light.

Indestructible and Relentless: Although all magical girls have the ability to heal, Sayaka's is the strongest. To a point that she can regenerate missing limbs.

Sword Specialist: Sayaka uses a single cutlass. She can also summon multiple swords at once, and they always return to her like boomerangs.

---

Now, Sayaka is a human, that much is clear. We are making her a Variant Human to reflect her transformation into a magical girl. We're gonna put a +1 to our Dexterity and Constitution, get proficiency in Acrobatics, and pick up the Mobile feat right away. This increases our speed by 10 feet, our Dash action isn't impaired by difficult terrain, and if we make a melee weapon attack (doesn't matter if we hit or not), we do not provoke opportunity attacks until the end of the turn.

Hunting witches sounds like a good excuse to make Sayaka an Urban Bounty Hunter. We get to choose two proficiencies (here: Insight and Stealth), and choose two tool proficiencies from musical instrument, gaming set, or thieves tools. Finally, thanks to Ear to the Ground feature, we can form a large network of contacts with people ranging from highest and lowest classes. Work with your DM to establish which circles you operate in.

ABILITY SCORES

Dexterity is obviously going to be our highest score, and we're going to work on it pretty early on. For the sake of future multiclassing, we will put the next number in Wisdom and another in Constitution.

Charisma will be on the lower end. We do not parley with witches but we do care about our friends. Strength will be on the lower end, our strikes are quick and many. Finally, we're dumping Intelligence because we need other abilities more.

CLASS

Level 1 - Fighter: We start with big damage early on. Fighters get the d10 as their Hit Dice, [10 + Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiencies with light armour, medium armour, heavy armour, shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons. Sayaka doesn't wear any armour, so we have to survive with AC 13 for now, and a cutlass is a shortsword so that's what we're choosing for her. Our saving throws are Strength and Constitution, and we get to pick two class skills from the list (Athletics and Perception).

Fighters get to pick their Fighting Style. For Sayaka, we'll grab the Superior Technique style, which lets us select one manoeuvre from the Battle Master subclass and gives us one d6 Superiority Die to fuel the ability. We're gonna pick Lunging Attack, which lets us spend the Superiority Die to extend our weapon's reach by 5 feet. If our attack hits, we add the SD result to our damage die.

Thanks to Second Wind, we can use our bonus action to regain [1d10 + our Fighter level] Hit Points once per short or long rest.

Level 2 - Fighter: With Action Surge, we can take an additional Action on our turn once per a short or long rest.

Level 3 - Fighter: At this point, we will pick our subclass: our Martial Archetype. To give Sayaka the appearance of a magical girl, we need spells, so it's time for the Eldritch Knight. They use mostly defensive and damage-dealing spells, so we don't need to worry about Sayaka becoming a full caster. Speaking of, we get Spellcasting: Intelligence is our casting ability, and we know catrips and a fixed amount of regular spells. We start with two cantrips (Blade Ward and Sword Burst) and three 1st-level spells (Expeditious Retreat, Shield, and Mage Armour).

We also gain Weapon Bond. Unless we're incapacitated, we cannot be disarmed. As a bonus action, we can summon the weapon to our hand from any distance as long as the weapon and us are both on the same plane of existence. We can bond up to two weapons in this way.

Level 4 - Fighter: Time for our first Ability Score Improvement. We're gonna double down and raise our Dexterity by two points. We can also pick up another spell (Longstrider).

Level 5 - Monk: More agility! More weapons! Multiclassing into Monk doesn't give us proficiencies in anything new, but we do get Unarmoured Defense: when wearing no armour, our AC is [10 + our Dexterity modifier + our Wisdom modifier]. We also learn Martial Arts, which gives us several benefits:

We can use Dexterity instead of Strength for attack and damage rolls of our unarmed strikes.

We can use a d4 instead of our Strength modifier for damage rolls of our unarmed strikes.

When we use the Attack action on our turn to make an unarmed strike (or a monk weapon attack), we can use our bonus action to make one unarmed strike.

Level 6 - Monk: We learn Unarmoured Movement. When not wearing armour or a shield, our speed increases by 10 feet.

We also unlock the Monk's secret magic - the Ki. We gain a pool of Ki Points (starting with 2), which we can spend to fuel various Monk abilities. We unlock three such abilities at this level:

Flurry of Blows: Spending 1 Ki Point immediately after using the Attack action lets us make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action.

Step of the Wind: Spending 1 Ki Point lets us take the Dodge action as a bonus action on our turn.

Patient Defense: Spending 1 Ki Point lets us take the Dash or Disengage action as a bonus action on our turn. Our jumping distance doubles for that turn.

Level 7 - Monk: We are now able to Deflect Missiles. As a reaction, we can reduce the damage taken from a projectile attack by [1d10 + our Dexterity modifier + our Monk level]. If the damage result in 0, we catch the projectile and can use the same reaction to make a ranged attack with that projectile.

We also pick our second subclass, our Monastic Tradition. To become even better at swordplay, we're gonna pick the Kensei tradition. This tradition gives us several benefits in both melee and ranged weapons (as well as proficiency with calligrapher's supplies), but since we're using the former, I'm gonna focus on just one benefit - Agile Parry. After we make an unarmed strike, we can use our weapon to defend ourselves; we gain a +2 to our AC until the start of our next turn.

Level 8 - Monk: Thanks to Slow Fall, we can use our reaction to reduce the falling damage by [our Monk level x5].

It's also time for another ASI. We're gonna raise our Dexterity by one point, but we also gonna need one point in Charisma moving forward, because it's time for...

Level 9 - Warlock: Don't get too excited there, floof butt, we only need one level here. Now, Warlocks also get Spellcasting, but theirs work in a different way: Charisma is their casting ability, and while they also know cantrips and regular spells, their spells always fire at the highest possible level. We start with three cantrips (Friends, Green-Flame Blade, and True Strike), and we get two 1st-level spells: we're gonna grab Protection from Evil and Good, and we'll wait with the second one for our subclass.

Which we're gonna choose right now! Time to choose our Otherworldly Patron. Now, Kyubey grants wishes and that could make a case for the Genie Patron, but his reason for all of this is to prevent the Heat Death of the Universe. In his own twisted way, he protects order. We're making him a Celestial Patron. This gives us access to an Expanded Spell List, from which we'll grab Cure Wounds. We also get some bonus cantrips (Sacred Flame and Light) and we can wield Healing Light: we have a pool of Healing Dice (d6) equal to [1 + our Warlock level]. As a bonus action, we can spend a number of Healing Dice (equal to our Charisma modifier) to restore Hit Points of a creature within 60 feet of us. Our pool replenishes after we finish a long rest. We can finally grant Sayaka's wish and heal Kyousuke's hands.

Alright, back to more slashing!

Level 10 - Fighter: For more slashing we need Extra Attack. During a single Attack action, we can now make two strikes instead of one.

Level 11 - Fighter: Another ASI, and we can finally cap our Dexterity. The remaining point we can put into Charisma for a nice even number.

Level 12 - Fighter: We gain a new subclass feature. With War Magic, whenever we use our Action to cast a cantrip, we can use our Bonus Action to make one weapon attack.

We also unlock 2nd-level spells here. Let's grab Blur to get even more defense.

Level 13 - Fighter: Another ASI. This time, let's actually boost our invulnerability by getting our trusted Tough feat. Our Hit Points increase by [our overall level x2] and at each level-up henceforth we get +2 Hit Points. For this level's spell, let's get Darkvision.

Level 14 - Fighter: We become Indomitable. Once per long rest, when we fail a saving throw, we can re-roll the dice. We have to use the new roll, though, even if it's worse than the original one.

Level 15 - Monk: Our Martial Arts Die changes to 1d6. At this level, we would've gotten an Extra Attack. Personally, I would've allowed here an upgrade that let's us attack three times during a single Attack action, but discuss it with your DM.

What we do get is Stunning Strike. After making a successful melee weapon attack, we can spend 1 Ki Point to attempt to stun the target. The enemy has to make a Constitution saving throw or be Stunned until the end of our next turn.

Level 16 - Monk: Our Unarmoured Movement bonus increases to a total of +15 feet. We also gain Ki-Empowered Strikes. Our unarmed strikes now count as magical for the purpose of overcoming immunities and resistances.

We also get another subclass upgrade: One with the Blade. Our weapon attacks also count as magical for the purpose of overcoming non-magical resistances and immunities. Additionally, once per turn, when we successfully hit the target with a weapon attack, we can spend 1 Ki Point to add extra damage equal to our Martial Arts Die.

Level 17 - Monk: We gain probably one of the best ability in the game: Evasion. When we're forced to make a Dexterity saving throw that would make us take half damage when successful, we instead take no damage. A failed saving throw results in half damage.

We also gain some mental fortitude with Stillness of Mind. We can use our Action to end one Charmed or Frightened effect.

Level 18 - Monk: This is our final ASI of the build. We're gonna grab some more Constitution and put two points there.

Level 19 - Monk: Our Unarmoured Movement improves significantly. While moving, we can now move across liquid and vertical surfaces without losing the grip.

Level 20 - Monk: Our capstone is Monk 10. This improves our Unarmoured Movement bonus to a total of +20 feet. We also reach Purity of Body, which makes us immune to all poisons and disease. No witch tricks can harm us now.

---

And that's Sayaka Miki. Let's see if we fulfilled the provisions of our contract:

First of all, we're super nimble and speedy. With the ground speed of 60 feet, ability to move across liquids and up the walls, the Mobile feat and Dexterity-based fighting style, we are very difficult to pin down and we can position ourselves pretty much everywhere.

Our base AC is 17 but can reach up to 25. We have a +5 to our Initiative and the average of 195 Hit Points.

Unfortunately, triple multiclassing means we have a lot of resources to keep track of (two different kinds of spellcasting, Ki Points, Healing Dice). We also have a negative Intelligence modifier and a rather paltry Strength score.

---

Phew, this one was interesting. I think we've managed to make a solid Dexterity combatant. Have fun zipping around the battlefield, my loves. I'll see you next time for... well, Sayaka's polar opporite.

-Nerdy out!

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nerdythebard · 2 years

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#51: Chris Lightfellow [Suikoden III]

(Art Credit: Michelle-Kristolia on DeviantArt) ---

Hello again, my lovelies!

This here request comes to us from @papanierthedestroyer, who decided to reach into the past and dig up a video game from the early 2000s. Chris Lightfellow is the captain of the Zexen Knights, a terrific mounted combatant, and a paragon of knightly virtues. Let's put the ultimate Knight into the ultimate Knight Fantasy Game.

Next Time: Con...tract?

We must gather a party before venturing forth, so let's see what makes Chris a great addition to ours:

Poster Girl: Chris is a knight of great renown, a hero to the people of Zexen, and overall a great person.

Let it Flow: Chris possesses the True Water Rune, one of 27 markings with capabilities much greater than regular runes. Among other things, the True Water Rune grants Chris the ability to heal.

Winged Hussarette: Chris is a proficient combatant both on foot and in a saddle, and a genius with a shortsword.

---

There is nothing that would suggest Chris is anything else than a human, but because of her affinity with the True Water Rune, we're going to make her a Human (Variant). We start with a +1 to two abilities of our choice (Dexterity and Constitution), we know Common and one more language of our choice, one skill proficiency of our choice (Animal Handling and Athletics) and one feat of our choice; the Mounted Combatant feat gives us major benefits while fighting on horseback and not incapacitated.

Since Chris is a fierce captain of the elite Zexen Knights, we're gonna give her the Knight of the Order background. We get proficiency in Persuasion and one from the following: Arcana, History, Nature, and Religion. We also learn one more language and gain proficiency with either one musical instrument or one gaming set. Additionally, the Knighty Regard feature lets us seek shelter and help from fellow knights of our order. It's important to have friends everywhere you go.

ABILITY SCORES

As an inspiring leader, we're gonna put our Charisma in front. We'll then go with Strength in order to swing our weapon with might. Dexterity will be next, useful for both avoiding strikes and our horse-riding skills.

Follow that up with Wisdom, a must-have for every good leader. Constitution will be on the lower end, but we'll make up for it with AC in early game. Finally, we're dumping Intelligence only because we need other scores more.

CLASS

This one is rather simple. We need a good fronline combatant, who can hold their own and be a support for others. Plus, we need some healing to mimic the True Water Rune, and that makes Chris a Paladin start-to-finish.

Paladins get the d10 as their Hit Dice, [10 + Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiencies with light armour, medium armour, heavy armour, shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons. For Chris, we can go with a breastplate and either a longsword or a rapier. Our saving throws are Wisdom and Charisma, and we can pick two class skills from the list (let's grab Insight and Medicine).

Level 1: We start by awakening our Divine Sense. As an action, we can detect the presence of any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of us, as well as any consecrated or desecrated place or object. We also know how to Lay on Hands, which gives us a pool of healing energy equal to [our Paladin level x5]. We can use this pool of energy to heal creatures via touch, or remove one disease or poison by spending 5 points.

Level 2: We get to pick our Fighting Style. Since we've got mounted combat covered, we can focus on our abilities as a knight commander and pick the Protection style. We can now use our reaction to impose a disadvantage on a creature attacking our ally, as long as it happens within 5 feet of us. We have to have a shield to use this feature.

Paladins also gain Spellcasting. Charisma is our casting ability, and we can prepare a maximum of [our Charisma modifier + half of our Paladin level] spells per day. We do not know any rituals or cantrips. In this build, we start with three 1st-level spells; let's pick Heroism, Cure Wounds, and Searing Smite to mimic Chris's Phoenix Rune.

At this level, Paladins also get Divine Smite. By spending one spell slot, we can add extra radiant damage to our melee weapon attack (2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, extra 1d8 for each higher slot, for a maximum of 5d8). Fiends and undead receive additional 1d8 radiant damage (for a maximum of 6d8).

Level 3: Thanks to our Divine Health, we are now immune to any disease.

At this level, we also get to pick our subclass, we swear our Divine Oath. For Chris, I've decided we should go with the classic paragon of virtue, justice, and honour. We're swearing the Oath of Devotion. This gives us access to some new spells that are always prepared for us (Protect from Evil and Good and Sanctuary), and lets us use two Channel Divinity effects (we can use one per a short or long rest):

Sacred Weapon: As an action, we imbue our weapon with divine magic. For the next minute, we can add our Charisma modifier to every damage roll we make with the weapon. The weapon also emits bright light in a 20-foot radius (and dim light for another 20) and becomes magical for the duration if it's not magical already.

Turn the Unholy: As an action, we can present our holy symbol and force every fiend and undead to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, they are Turned for one minute (they have to spend their turns getting as far away from us as possible and cannot come closer than 30 feet of us).

Level 4: We get out first Ability Score Improvement. We're gonna put one point into Constitution and one into Charisma, which will allow us to pick a total of two 1st-level spells: let's get Shield of Faith and Thunderous Smite.

Level 5: We get Extra Attack, which now lets us attack twice instead of once during a single Attack action. We also unlock 2nd-level spell slots, and we gain two spells from our subclass: Lesser Restoration and Zone of Truth.

Level 6: We unlock Aura of Protection. Whenever a friendly creature within 10 feet of us has to make a saving throw, it gains a bonus to that throw equal to out Charisma modifier. We also get another spell; with Find Steed we can now always have a mount at the ready.

Level 7: We unlock Aura of Devotion from our subclass. As long as we are conscious, friendly creatures within 10 feet of us cannot be Charmed.

Level 8: Time for another ASI. Let's get some more Hit Points by bumping our Constitution up by two points. We also gain another 2nd-level spell: Magic Weapon.

Level 9: At this level, we unlock 3rd-level spell slots and get two free spells from our subclass (Beacon of Hope and Dispel Magic).

Level 10: Halfway through the build, and we unlock Aura of Courage. As long as we're conscious, every friendly creature (including ourselves) within 10 feet of us cannot be Frightened. We also get another spell: Remove Curse.

Level 11: At this level, our Divine Smite improves and works even if we don't activate it. From now on, all of our melee weapon attacks inflicts additional 1d8 radiant damage.

Level 12: Another ASI. Once again, let's put one point into Constitution, but this time the remaining point will go into Wisdom, in order to better protect ourselves from various status effects. For this level's spell, we're gonna grab Elemental Weapon (or, if your party doesn't have a Cleric or an Artificer, Revivify).

Level 13: We unlock 4th-level spells and get two of those for free from our subclass (Freedom of Movement and Guardian of Faith).

Level 14: With our Cleansing Touch, we can end the effect of one spell on yourselves or a willing creature we touch. We can use this feature a number of times equal to our Charisma modifier per long rest. For this level's spell, let's grab Death Ward.

Level 15: We get another subclass feature. Purity of Spirit makes it so we're permanently under the effect of the Protection from Evil and Good spell.

Level 16: For this ASI, we're actually going to take a dive into getting some good health. The Tough feat increased our Hit Points Maximum by [our level x2] and at every level-up hereafter we gain extra 2 Hit Points. We also get another spell at this level (Aura of Life).

Level 17: We unlock 5th-level spells here and gain the final two free spells from our subclass (Commune and Flame Strike).

Level 18: All of our Auras improve their radius; it increases to 30 feet. For this level's spell, we're gonna grab Holy Weapon.

Level 19: For our final ASI, unfortunately we won't cap any ability. We will instead round-up our Constitution and Wisdom scores.

Level 20: Our capstone is Paladin 20 and that means we're getting the final subclass feature: a powerful f@ck you transformation! As the Holy Nimbus, we can use an action (once per long rest) to emanate a divine sunlight for one minute. We shine a bright light in a 30-foot radius and a dim light for another 30. When the enemy creature starts its turn in the bright light, it receives 10 points of radiant damage. For duration of the transformation, we also gain an advantage on saving throws against spells cast by fiends and undead.

For our final spell of the build, we're gonna get some help from above with Summon Celestial.

---

And that would be my take on Chris Lightfellow. Let's see what we have:

To start off, we're a classic frontliner who deals steady damage and supports their allies. With our Auras and spells that support weapon attacks, we make use everyone has a fair chance in combat. We also have a decent number of skills, making as capable both in and out of combat. Like a true leader should.

Our AC is 16 (18 if we have a shield, and 20 if we have a shield and cast the Shield of Faith spell), we have a +2 to our initiative, and the average of 196 Hit Points.

Unfortunately, for a 20th-level character, none of our abilities have the score of 20, and we still have that negative modifier on our Intelligence.

---

So... I don't really know how to address it gently, so I'll just be honest: I had a complete burnout, my loves. On top of that some affairs connected with moving to a new place and starting a new job made me push this blog onto the sidelines. There were a few attempts to return, but I simply couldn't do it in a way that satisfied me. Hopefully, the fact that I'm posting this means I can get back to what actually made me (and perhaps all of you) really happy.

Um... guess who's back?

-Nerdy out

#dnd #d&d #d&d build #dnd 5e #d&d 5e #character building #dungeons and dragons #dnd5e #ttrpg #suikoden #chris lightfellow #konami #suikoden 3 #paladin #oath of devotion

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nerdythebard · 2 years

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#50: Erin Solstice [The Wandering Inn]

(Art Credit: cmarguel on Twitter) ---

Welcome back, my lovelies.

I will be honest with you, I've been putting this one on hold for some time because I wasn't sure if I can do this right. One of our newest friends, @bomoboo, gave me quite a challenge. I didn't want to straight-up deny a request, so it kinda sat there until I got my things together. This one's not perfect, and I know it, but I hope we can work on those together and enjoy creative D&D plays henceforth. Anyway, Erin Solstice, would you mind inviting us for a game of chess?

Next Time: You either die a hero or... well, you don't become a myth.

So, what is our strategy for this game?

Isekai Protagonist: Erin is a human girl from Michigan, who ends up in a fantasy realm after walking into the bathroom. It really doesn't get more anime than that.

Peaceful Warrior: Just because Erin doesn't like fighting, doesn't mean she can't. She'll take on an entire army for you, and then happily invite you over for a game.

Jacqueline of All Trades: Anything you can think of, Erin can probably do. She crafts, she plays chess, she cooks, she brews her own ales.

---

The story gives it to us right away, Erin is a Human. But since she's essentially an anime protagonist, we're making her a Variant Human. This gives us a +1 to two abilities of our choice (Intelligence and Charisma), we can speak Common and one other language of our choice (perhaps Goblin?), we gain proficiency in one skill of our choice (Persuasion), and we get to pick a feat; for the best [Innkeeper] in Izril, we gotta pick the Chef feat from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. We can increase our Constitution or Wisdom by 1, proficiency with cook's utensils, and the ability to prepare some food and treats during a rest that provides those that eat them with some extra Hit Points. Just like mama used to make <3

Since Erin literally came to Izril from another world, we're gonna make her a Far Traveler. We gain proficiency in Insight and Perception skills, proficiency with one musical instrument or gaming set (do I need to say anything?), and one more language proficiency. The All Eyes on You feat definitely makes us stand out at first, but those curious glances and whispers could be used to our advantage to, for example, secure an audience with somebody important in exchange for a tale or two from our homeland.

ABILITY SCORES

While Erin is a talented chess player and a very pragmatic thinker, we're gonna put Charisma as our priority for her persuasion and manipulation capabilities. For her equally impressive willpower, we're getting Wisdom next (both are the most common saving throws against compulsion), followed by Intelligence.

Constitution will be next, as Erin's alcohol immunity, endurance, and recovery seem to be pretty good. Dexterity is on a lower end, and we're gonna dump Strength.

CLASS

This one was difficult, but when accounting for all of Erin's skills and items, we have to go with a Bard, start-to-finish. Bards get the d8 as their Hit Dice, [8 + our Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiencies with light armour, simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, and shortswords (feel free to pick whatever, for the purpose of the build we'll go with the classic leather, also perhaps include a dagger to mimic the knife she got from Pelt), as well as three different musical instruments. Our saving throws are Dexterity and Charisma, and we get to pick any three skills (Investigation, Performance, and Survival).

Level 1: We start with Bardic Inspiration, the class's staple. Through the means of singing, poetry, or a little entertaining jig, we can give a creature within 60 feet of us an Inspiration Die. The creature can use the Inspiration Die to add its result (starting at d6, increasing as we level up) to the next saving throw, ability check, or attack roll it makes within the next 10 minutes. We have a numer of Inspiration equal to our Charisma modifier and we regain all expended ones after a long rest.

Bards also gain Spellcasting at level 1. Charisma is our casting ability and we know cantrips, regular spells, and rituals. Bards have access to their entire spell list and get a fixed number of spells as they level up. We start with two cantrips (Friends and Prestidigitation) and four 1st-level spells (Charm Person, Cure Wounds, Detect Magic, Heroism).

Level 2: We can now reach one of our goals and became a Jack of All Trades. From now on, we can add half of our proficiency bonus (rounded down) to any ability check that we lack proficiency in. We also learn the Song of Rest: during a short rest, we can revitalise our allies with songs and stories. If the characters spend Hit Dice for healing, they can add extra 1d6 HP (the dice value changes as we level-up).

We also learn one more 1st-level spell. Since we're an innkeeper, we need to resupply. How about getting some better prices for our wares with Distort Value.

Level 3: At this level, we get to pick our subclass, our Bard College. Since Erin relies a lot on her charisma and persuasive skills, we're going to pick College of Eloquence. By carefully and beautifully weaving our words, we can resolve conflicts and achieve our goals without the need to draw a weapon. We start with Silver Tongue: whenever we make a Persuasion or Deception check, we cannot roll lower than 10. This essentially give us Rogue's Reliable Talent (a feat from Level 11). We also get to speak Unsettling Words: as a bonus action, we can spend one Inspiration Die and choose a creature within 60 feet of us. The targeted creature then have to deduct the ID result from the next saving throw it makes before the start of our next turn.

At level 3, we also get the first part of Expertise. We get to pick two skills and double our proficiency bonus to any ability check used with those skills. Let's pick Insight and Persuasion.

We also unlock 2nd-level spells. Let's pick Borrowed Knowledge.

Level 4: We get our first Ability Score Improvement. Let's bump our Dexterity up by two points for better AC. We also get a new cantrip (Vicious Mockery) and another 2nd-level spell (Locate Object).

Level 5: At this level, our Bardic Inspiration die increases its value to d8. We also become a Font of Inspiration, and now we can recover our Inspiration Dice during a short or long rest.

We unlock 3rd-level spells here, so let's grab Motivational Speech.

Level 6: We get Countercharm. As an action, we start a performance that lasts until the end of our next turn. During that time, creatures within 30 feet of us (ourselves included) gain an advantage on saving throws against being frightened and charmed.

For this level's spell, let's get Nondetection to mimic Erin's anti-scrying ring.

Level 7: We don't any new features here, but we do unlock 4th-level spells. Feel free to grab Dimension Door, in order to replicate Erin's Magical Door.

Level 8: Time for another ASI. Let's increase our Constitution by two points for that nice HP bonus. For this level's spell, we're gonna go back a level and pick Summon Fey Spirit.

Level 9: Our Song of Rest value now becomes d8, and we unlock 5th-level spells. Let's grab Mass Cure Wounds to better support our allies.

Level 10: Halfway through the build and we get a bunch of goodies. First of all, our last cantrip of the build (Mending), then our Bardic Inspiration Dice become d10s, we get two more skills to put Expertise into (Perception and Survival) and a massive spell boost with Magical Secrets. We can choose two spells from any spell list and add them to our repertoire, as long as they're of a level we can cast. We're gonna grab the 1st-level Shield spell for some AC boost and the 4th-level Fabricate spell.

Level 11: At this level, we don't gain any new class levels, but we unlock 6th-level spells. From now on, our spell gain is slowing down, so we have to make it count. Since the best Innkeeper has to serve the best food, it's clear we're gonna go with Heroes' Feast.

Level 12: Another ASI. This time, we're gonna bump up Dexterity by two points.

Level 13: Our Song of Rest now becomes d10. Additionally, we unlock 7th-level spells, and it's finally time for us to get our beloved Wandering Inn (and it actually will be wandering!) with Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion.

Level 14: Time for another magic haul. From our subclass we gain Infectious Inspiration. Whenever we successfully inspire someone and they use their Inspiration Die, we can use our reaction to automatically inspire another creature (other than ourselves) within 60 feet of us without losing an ID. We can do that a number of times equal to our Charisma modifier per long rest.

We also get to pick two more Magical Secrets. This time, let's grab Guards and Wards to have complete control over our inn, as well as Drawmij's Instant Summons to always have a pick-me-up at hand.

Level 15: Our Bardic Inspiration dice now become d12. We also unlock 8th-level spells. Let's grab Glibness to raise our charisma to the level of gods.

Level 16: Time for another ASI. Let's grab some more power before the endgame and bump up our Charisma by two points.

Level 17: Our Song of Rest value now becomes d12. We also unlock the pinnacle of D&D magic (for players), the 9th-level spells. However, let's grab the Mind Blank spell from level 8. Just wait and see...

Level 18: We get two more Magical Secrets here, and it's time to make an actual wandering inn. As long as we'll get the funds for it. And we will, because the final spells of this build are Mighty Fortress and Wish.

Level 19: For the final ASI, we're gonna bump up our Dexterity by two points.

Level 20: Our capstone is Bard 20, which gives us Superior Inspiration. Whenever we roll Initiative, if we don't have any Inspiration Dice left, we regain one.

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And that's the lovely Erin Solstice. Let's see how we did:

First of all, we're a master manipulator. With a Passive Perception of 24, we know what happens in our inn while being in its basement. With our subclass and Expertise in Charisma-based skills, I can assure you most of your conflicts will end before they even begin.

Our AC is 14 (with a standard leather armour) or 19 (with the Shield spell), we have a +3 to our Initiative and the average of 136 Hit Points.

As you can clearly see, this build was made for support purposes. We're not a frontline fighter. Our job is to make sure our allies can defeat their enemies, and then live to fight another day. Our strengths lie outside the battlefield, and we're a strong candidate for the party's Face.

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Phew, now that was something. Once again, I cannot express how thankful I am for your patience and support, my darlings. Things are starting to come up Nerdy, so I hope I can return to my groove.

I'll see you soon <3

-Nerdy out!

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #character building #d&d 5e #dnd 5e #d&d #d&d build #erin solstice #wandering inn #the wandering inn #bard #college of eloquence bard

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