I’ve been trying to create a character inspired by the Surrealist art/philosophy movement (Dali, Magritte, Ionesco, etc.). I’m envisioning a character that creates surrealistic images to delight their audience or to confuse and confound their foes. Illusion and Transmutation spells like Silent Image, Phantasmal Force, Dream, Hypnotic Pattern, Major Image, Polymorph, etc. seem like they would help achieve my purpose.
So far, I’m leaning towards a Glamour Bard for their charisma, charm effects, and access to a fair number of illusion spells. Any thoughts on how to build this character?
Hmm ... have you considered the surreal and absurdist possibilities of the Creation Bard? When you can physically manifest weird objects from your wildest fantasies and then make them dance? Also your Bardic Inspiration comes with whimsical little images that float around the recipient like cartoon stars around the head of someone who just got whacked with a mallet.
I would suggest they either be a firbolg, who can maintain a concentration spell and go invisible at the same time for some neat bait and switch tactics, or probably even better yet a changeling, who can stretch their shapechanging abilities to their utmost not to simply blend in, but to shock, amuse, frighten, or baffle audiences. The Kalashtar have telepathy if you also want to add mindspeech to your performances.
I think Changeling is the way to go, personally.
Mechanically you just want to hit Charisma as hard as you can, expertise in Performance and Deception, maybe proficiency in the disguise kit for all your costuming needs.
Wondering if this could balance well with a Wizard either Illusionist (to play off already stated associaiton with Surrealism's illusionist sense) or maybe transmutation (this ties in well with college of creation and sort of literalizes the "over reality" that surrealism literally means and is actually at the heart of Breton's manifestoes.
Otherwise, yeah a Bard who leans into surrealism sounds pretty cool. I could also see Absurdism hitting a lot of Bard notes too in novel ways. Last I'm also thinking of a more "raw nerve" Bard that draws on expressionism work ranging from Munch to Scream Theater and (without splitting hairs) Francis Bacon.
If you're interested is spending some dough to expand your game, there's an issue of MCDM's Arcadia that presents some "dream lands" PC races that are easy to code into DDB homebrew, all of them have pretty surrealist qualities to them. There's some other really cool stuff in the issue (some neat ideas for aerial combat in 5e), but those races sort of hit the surrealist drive on the head. Otherwise, definitely changeling or kalashar ... As an outlier I'd even say if you wanted to go "out there" you could do a Githzerai who's contemplations within limbo have led him to manifest as this surrealist Bard conceit, and it's taken its spread of this "understanding" through its art as sort of its vocational mission in the mutliverse. Whether he's a heretic or prophetic to the larger Githzerai viewpoint would be interesting background if the game "went there" (Limbo's a cool place to play if your DM wants to keep track of a lot of shifting elements).
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
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I’ve been trying to create a character inspired by the Surrealist art/philosophy movement (Dali, Magritte, Ionesco, etc.). I’m envisioning a character that creates surrealistic images to delight their audience or to confuse and confound their foes. Illusion and Transmutation spells like Silent Image, Phantasmal Force, Dream, Hypnotic Pattern, Major Image, Polymorph, etc. seem like they would help achieve my purpose.
So far, I’m leaning towards a Glamour Bard for their charisma, charm effects, and access to a fair number of illusion spells. Any thoughts on how to build this character?
Hmm ... have you considered the surreal and absurdist possibilities of the Creation Bard? When you can physically manifest weird objects from your wildest fantasies and then make them dance? Also your Bardic Inspiration comes with whimsical little images that float around the recipient like cartoon stars around the head of someone who just got whacked with a mallet.
I would suggest they either be a firbolg, who can maintain a concentration spell and go invisible at the same time for some neat bait and switch tactics, or probably even better yet a changeling, who can stretch their shapechanging abilities to their utmost not to simply blend in, but to shock, amuse, frighten, or baffle audiences. The Kalashtar have telepathy if you also want to add mindspeech to your performances.
I think Changeling is the way to go, personally.
Mechanically you just want to hit Charisma as hard as you can, expertise in Performance and Deception, maybe proficiency in the disguise kit for all your costuming needs.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Wondering if this could balance well with a Wizard either Illusionist (to play off already stated associaiton with Surrealism's illusionist sense) or maybe transmutation (this ties in well with college of creation and sort of literalizes the "over reality" that surrealism literally means and is actually at the heart of Breton's manifestoes.
Otherwise, yeah a Bard who leans into surrealism sounds pretty cool. I could also see Absurdism hitting a lot of Bard notes too in novel ways. Last I'm also thinking of a more "raw nerve" Bard that draws on expressionism work ranging from Munch to Scream Theater and (without splitting hairs) Francis Bacon.
If you're interested is spending some dough to expand your game, there's an issue of MCDM's Arcadia that presents some "dream lands" PC races that are easy to code into DDB homebrew, all of them have pretty surrealist qualities to them. There's some other really cool stuff in the issue (some neat ideas for aerial combat in 5e), but those races sort of hit the surrealist drive on the head. Otherwise, definitely changeling or kalashar ... As an outlier I'd even say if you wanted to go "out there" you could do a Githzerai who's contemplations within limbo have led him to manifest as this surrealist Bard conceit, and it's taken its spread of this "understanding" through its art as sort of its vocational mission in the mutliverse. Whether he's a heretic or prophetic to the larger Githzerai viewpoint would be interesting background if the game "went there" (Limbo's a cool place to play if your DM wants to keep track of a lot of shifting elements).
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.