He's a Ranger/Ranger. I've never seen anything that would indicate that he's taken a level of Fighter. If you want to build something different from him, the only way to get proficiency in Heavy armor if to take Fighter first. That's pretty much the only time it matters.
By the end of the book series? He's still just a Ranger, and he's at least level 20 if not higher.
He’s an NPC. He doesn’t have to follow the standard rules for classes. For example, there is no figurine of wonderous power for a panther in this edition (at least I don’t see one) But that said, I think geann is right. He’s a straight ranger all the way. Level would depend on when in his career you meet him.
When Chris Perkins ran Drizzt Do'Urden for Acquisitions Incorporated he went with Fighter, you can see the stats here, but that seems to have been preference on his part.
The problem with adapting a fictional character is that they don't neatly fit into any of the classes exactly, as authors have a tendency to make them do things that a proper character built using a class could not, so there's always a bunch of crossover.
So thematically he definitely should be a Ranger, but with the way he acts in combat Fighter may be more appropriate. But as an NPC you can just do a monster stat block and throw in whichever mix of abilities you like, i.e- make him a Ranger that just happens to have Second Wind and Action Surge.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
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When he was statted up in 1st Edition AD&D (The Savage Frontier), Drizzt was a 10th-level ranger. By the time 2nd Edition (Heroes' Lorebook) rolled around, he had climbed all the way to 16th-level. Then WotC took over and turned him on his head by multiclassing as a Fighter 10, Barbarian 1, Ranger 5 (Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting). But in fairness, rangers were fighter kits for a very long time and basically everyone was multiclassed in 3.X. And if you play Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms, he's a pure ranger again.
And using Chris Perkins' stats, in case you were wondering. Which is also arguably weaker than his previous incarnations by a considerable margin. That might just come with the territory of adapting from previous editions, but there was a conversion guide from WotC and I dislike how he didn't adhere to that. On the other hand, if he needed to be toned down so as not to completely outshine the player characters during a streamed game then I get that, too. Would any of us be happy with a DMPC tagging along whose level is twice mine? I wouldn't be. But I also think it breaks verisimilitude to have this legendary adventurer, with centuries of experience, be on par with me after just a few months of adventuring.
TL;DR
Dude is an NPC. He's whatever the DM needs him to be from at that moment. I'd take the ability scores, adjust the gear slightly, and make him a 16th-level ranger. But that's if I ever decided to run him. I can't say the same for the other Companions of the Hall. They all got reincarnated.
And using Chris Perkins' stats, in case you were wondering. Which is also arguably weaker than his previous incarnations by a considerable margin. That might just come with the territory of adapting from previous editions, but there was a conversion guide from WotC and I dislike how he didn't adhere to that. On the other hand, if he needed to be toned down so as not to completely outshine the player characters during a streamed game then I get that, too. Would any of us be happy with a DMPC tagging along whose level is twice mine? I wouldn't be. But I also think it breaks verisimilitude to have this legendary adventurer, with centuries of experience, be on par with me after just a few months of adventuring.
Yeah, I mean mountains of salt required, and it's not clear what stats he used originally as Chris Perkins featured him both as an NPC and then in the following session as a player character for himself (as two of the normal players had a turn each at DMing). Also as Drizzt, Chris rolled horribly and lost both his magic swords seemingly irrecoverably so… probably not-canon. 😂
I'd probably go for something like Ranger main as well for PC build, since you can build for solid damage output even without the Fighter's extra attacks, though I'd be tempted by a level or two in Fighter for the early level abilities (Action Surge in particular for the occasional burst of murder, plus Second Wind and an extra fighting style), and maybe Champion for higher crit chance, so maybe Fighter 3/Ranger 13? Not sure about Ranger sub-class; maybe Gloom Stalker or Monster Slayer?
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
I would lean more into the Hunter archetype, choose options geared more towards fighting multiple foes (e.g. Horde Breaker, Whirlwind Attack, etc.), and list goblins as among his first favored enemies.
Another Thing to keep in mind with Drizzt. He's from an Older Edition. So while he doesn't necessarily fit classes are today. There is a possibility that they matched an Older Edition. In the case of this particular Drow. He broke the Rules in First Edition for Ranger, Defined and completely matched the rules in 2nd edition for pretty much all of it's run. And then stopped matching with 3.x because of various reasons.
And when it come to 5th edition. The Classes may have the same names and the same base concepts. But mechanically most of them are just very different things from what they were in 2nd edition. Assuming they even existed in that edition which certain ones didn't. So characters like Drizzt They basically become NPC's with special versions of classes that PC's can't have no matter what you do if you want to accurately represent them.
Im only 2 books in, and I would say he is mostly straight up fighter with a small dip into ranger. Mostly just based on how his dual scimitar combat is described mechanically, he seems like a total fighter who isn't using any kind of magic to power his sword attacks.
Same answer I gave in the first of these threads you made. He has some minor spellcasting from Mielikki which is sufficient to give both an upper and a lower bound to his Ranger levels in 5E, there's absolutely no question he's got a 1-dip in Barbarian, and the rest is Fighter.
Im only 2 books in, and I would say he is mostly straight up fighter with a small dip into ranger. Mostly just based on how his dual scimitar combat is described mechanically, he seems like a total fighter who isn't using any kind of magic to power his sword attacks.
in Second Edition Dual Wield fighting like he does was standard capability of any ranger and one of their two signature styles. The other was archery.
He was trained in Menzoberrenzan (or however you spell it) and seemed to be a bog standard, if highly skilled, drow fighter. He dipped into barbarian when he was exiled. And only after he came to the surface did he fall in love with nature and get ranger training.
He's a character from a book series. He can be pretty much anything in any order. That's thing about storybook characters. The author is the DM, and that's his own pet player character. A lot of times when a DM does that, the character ends up being kind of OP.
Ed Greenwood's pet character was Elminster. He ended up as a god. Drittz is maybe a bit less OP than that.
If it was up to me, and I was dealing with someone else's character, I'd tell them to start out with a Drow and eventually get to Gloomstalker before taking another class.
He's a character from a book series. He can be pretty much anything in any order. That's thing about storybook characters. The author is the DM, and that's his own pet player character. A lot of times when a DM does that, the character ends up being kind of OP.
Ed Greenwood's pet character was Elminster. He ended up as a god. Drittz is maybe a bit less OP than that.
If it was up to me, and I was dealing with someone else's character, I'd tell them to start out with a Drow and eventually get to Gloomstalker before taking another class.
The Difference between Elminster and Drizzt however is Ed played him as a character before making him an OP pet PC in literature. Drizzt was purely designed for books. That may be part of why while Elminster is completely outrageous in some respects he's a little more internally consistent and easier to figure out.
If you look at what Drizzt does, he's a pure fighter. He's got the ranger title, but he never uses any ranger magic at all; the only magic he uses is the innate drow spells. What's his favored foe? He rarely does any wildernessy things. He's not a beast master, because Gwen is a figurine of wonderous power. You never see "the hunter" come out anymore, so if he had barb levels, he no longer uses them. In the last few books you can make the argument for monk, but really, he's just a straight fighter.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
If you look at what Drizzt does, he's a pure fighter. He's got the ranger title, but he never uses any ranger magic at all; the only magic he uses is the innate drow spells. What's his favored foe? He rarely does any wildernessy things. He's not a beast master, because Gwen is a figurine of wonderous power. You never see "the hunter" come out anymore, so if he had barb levels, he no longer uses them. In the last few books you can make the argument for monk, but really, he's just a straight fighter.
As I recall Gwen breaks some of the rules of Figurine's of wonderous power. And in previous editions there was stuff for making such figurines your beast master pet. Though I don't think anything for 5e got beyond UA for that kind of thing. As for his favored foe. He likely has various kinds of humanoids for his favored foe. Many people forget those are a favored foe option because you can only pick subtypes and that can make them more inconsistent which people already complain about without considering that as an option on top of it.
And Here's something to remember. Just because PC's can't have a version of a class. Doesn't mean that a version of the class can't exist for NPC's. Does this mean that we as players can't quite copy such characters? Yes, it does. But it does not mean that they are not of that class. There is every possibility that He's some kind of Magic-less Ranger or FoWP Beast Master even without players being able to accomplish such things. Even certain subclasses such as the Death Cleric that we can technically make PC's for weren't necessarily meant really for players to actually have. So this is a completely fair interpretation when it comes to somebody like Drizzt.
In 3rd edition, his favored enemies were goblins +2 and magical beasts +1. So, in 5e terms, his first pick is probably humanoids (with goblins and 1 other). His second is monstrosities, and his 3rd would be...whatever the player wants to give him.
I'd go a few levels into Scout Rogue, if for no other reason, that it encompasses Drizzt's skills as a ranger in the wilderness...without the nature magic of the class.
Drizzt isn't known for his spellcasting, save for his racial drow spells...Scout Rogue gives him the various Expertise in the skills that make him famous.
Likewise, the "Thieves Cant", as an amusing side-bonus, could be flavored as the sign-language of the drow.
The rest would most certainly go into Fighter, as he is primarily a warrior-prodigy, giving him the Extra Attacks & proficiency appropriate for the flurry of scimitars he wields.
Scimitars being finesse weapons, the use of Sneak Attack does not go to waste.
I'm thinking Battlemaster, as his knowledge of fighting was handed down directly from his father, and the various maneuvers represent those instances where Drizzt has altered his tactics on the fly.
I hate to ask. But depending on who the DM is, it just might make a difference.
And what is his level in each respective class?
He's a Ranger/Ranger. I've never seen anything that would indicate that he's taken a level of Fighter. If you want to build something different from him, the only way to get proficiency in Heavy armor if to take Fighter first. That's pretty much the only time it matters.
By the end of the book series? He's still just a Ranger, and he's at least level 20 if not higher.
<Insert clever signature here>
He’s an NPC. He doesn’t have to follow the standard rules for classes. For example, there is no figurine of wonderous power for a panther in this edition (at least I don’t see one)
But that said, I think geann is right. He’s a straight ranger all the way. Level would depend on when in his career you meet him.
When Chris Perkins ran Drizzt Do'Urden for Acquisitions Incorporated he went with Fighter, you can see the stats here, but that seems to have been preference on his part.
The problem with adapting a fictional character is that they don't neatly fit into any of the classes exactly, as authors have a tendency to make them do things that a proper character built using a class could not, so there's always a bunch of crossover.
So thematically he definitely should be a Ranger, but with the way he acts in combat Fighter may be more appropriate. But as an NPC you can just do a monster stat block and throw in whichever mix of abilities you like, i.e- make him a Ranger that just happens to have Second Wind and Action Surge.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
When he was statted up in 1st Edition AD&D (The Savage Frontier), Drizzt was a 10th-level ranger. By the time 2nd Edition (Heroes' Lorebook) rolled around, he had climbed all the way to 16th-level. Then WotC took over and turned him on his head by multiclassing as a Fighter 10, Barbarian 1, Ranger 5 (Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting). But in fairness, rangers were fighter kits for a very long time and basically everyone was multiclassed in 3.X. And if you play Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms, he's a pure ranger again.
And using Chris Perkins' stats, in case you were wondering. Which is also arguably weaker than his previous incarnations by a considerable margin. That might just come with the territory of adapting from previous editions, but there was a conversion guide from WotC and I dislike how he didn't adhere to that. On the other hand, if he needed to be toned down so as not to completely outshine the player characters during a streamed game then I get that, too. Would any of us be happy with a DMPC tagging along whose level is twice mine? I wouldn't be. But I also think it breaks verisimilitude to have this legendary adventurer, with centuries of experience, be on par with me after just a few months of adventuring.
TL;DR
Dude is an NPC. He's whatever the DM needs him to be from at that moment. I'd take the ability scores, adjust the gear slightly, and make him a 16th-level ranger. But that's if I ever decided to run him. I can't say the same for the other Companions of the Hall. They all got reincarnated.
Yeah, I mean mountains of salt required, and it's not clear what stats he used originally as Chris Perkins featured him both as an NPC and then in the following session as a player character for himself (as two of the normal players had a turn each at DMing). Also as Drizzt, Chris rolled horribly and lost both his magic swords seemingly irrecoverably so… probably not-canon. 😂
I'd probably go for something like Ranger main as well for PC build, since you can build for solid damage output even without the Fighter's extra attacks, though I'd be tempted by a level or two in Fighter for the early level abilities (Action Surge in particular for the occasional burst of murder, plus Second Wind and an extra fighting style), and maybe Champion for higher crit chance, so maybe Fighter 3/Ranger 13? Not sure about Ranger sub-class; maybe Gloom Stalker or Monster Slayer?
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
I would lean more into the Hunter archetype, choose options geared more towards fighting multiple foes (e.g. Horde Breaker, Whirlwind Attack, etc.), and list goblins as among his first favored enemies.
But beyond that...
Another Thing to keep in mind with Drizzt. He's from an Older Edition. So while he doesn't necessarily fit classes are today. There is a possibility that they matched an Older Edition. In the case of this particular Drow. He broke the Rules in First Edition for Ranger, Defined and completely matched the rules in 2nd edition for pretty much all of it's run. And then stopped matching with 3.x because of various reasons.
And when it come to 5th edition. The Classes may have the same names and the same base concepts. But mechanically most of them are just very different things from what they were in 2nd edition. Assuming they even existed in that edition which certain ones didn't. So characters like Drizzt They basically become NPC's with special versions of classes that PC's can't have no matter what you do if you want to accurately represent them.
Im only 2 books in, and I would say he is mostly straight up fighter with a small dip into ranger. Mostly just based on how his dual scimitar combat is described mechanically, he seems like a total fighter who isn't using any kind of magic to power his sword attacks.
Same answer I gave in the first of these threads you made. He has some minor spellcasting from Mielikki which is sufficient to give both an upper and a lower bound to his Ranger levels in 5E, there's absolutely no question he's got a 1-dip in Barbarian, and the rest is Fighter.
in Second Edition Dual Wield fighting like he does was standard capability of any ranger and one of their two signature styles. The other was archery.
He was trained in Menzoberrenzan (or however you spell it) and seemed to be a bog standard, if highly skilled, drow fighter. He dipped into barbarian when he was exiled. And only after he came to the surface did he fall in love with nature and get ranger training.
That's my take anyway
heck if you take in account the last 2 or 3 series of book of Salvatore Drizzt also took some level in monk.
He's a character from a book series. He can be pretty much anything in any order. That's thing about storybook characters. The author is the DM, and that's his own pet player character. A lot of times when a DM does that, the character ends up being kind of OP.
Ed Greenwood's pet character was Elminster. He ended up as a god. Drittz is maybe a bit less OP than that.
If it was up to me, and I was dealing with someone else's character, I'd tell them to start out with a Drow and eventually get to Gloomstalker before taking another class.
<Insert clever signature here>
The Difference between Elminster and Drizzt however is Ed played him as a character before making him an OP pet PC in literature. Drizzt was purely designed for books. That may be part of why while Elminster is completely outrageous in some respects he's a little more internally consistent and easier to figure out.
If you look at what Drizzt does, he's a pure fighter. He's got the ranger title, but he never uses any ranger magic at all; the only magic he uses is the innate drow spells. What's his favored foe? He rarely does any wildernessy things. He's not a beast master, because Gwen is a figurine of wonderous power. You never see "the hunter" come out anymore, so if he had barb levels, he no longer uses them. In the last few books you can make the argument for monk, but really, he's just a straight fighter.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
As I recall Gwen breaks some of the rules of Figurine's of wonderous power. And in previous editions there was stuff for making such figurines your beast master pet. Though I don't think anything for 5e got beyond UA for that kind of thing. As for his favored foe. He likely has various kinds of humanoids for his favored foe. Many people forget those are a favored foe option because you can only pick subtypes and that can make them more inconsistent which people already complain about without considering that as an option on top of it.
And Here's something to remember. Just because PC's can't have a version of a class. Doesn't mean that a version of the class can't exist for NPC's. Does this mean that we as players can't quite copy such characters? Yes, it does. But it does not mean that they are not of that class. There is every possibility that He's some kind of Magic-less Ranger or FoWP Beast Master even without players being able to accomplish such things. Even certain subclasses such as the Death Cleric that we can technically make PC's for weren't necessarily meant really for players to actually have. So this is a completely fair interpretation when it comes to somebody like Drizzt.
In 3rd edition, his favored enemies were goblins +2 and magical beasts +1. So, in 5e terms, his first pick is probably humanoids (with goblins and 1 other). His second is monstrosities, and his 3rd would be...whatever the player wants to give him.
Hmm...
I'd go a few levels into Scout Rogue, if for no other reason, that it encompasses Drizzt's skills as a ranger in the wilderness...without the nature magic of the class.
Drizzt isn't known for his spellcasting, save for his racial drow spells...Scout Rogue gives him the various Expertise in the skills that make him famous.
Likewise, the "Thieves Cant", as an amusing side-bonus, could be flavored as the sign-language of the drow.
The rest would most certainly go into Fighter, as he is primarily a warrior-prodigy, giving him the Extra Attacks & proficiency appropriate for the flurry of scimitars he wields.
Scimitars being finesse weapons, the use of Sneak Attack does not go to waste.
I'm thinking Battlemaster, as his knowledge of fighting was handed down directly from his father, and the various maneuvers represent those instances where Drizzt has altered his tactics on the fly.
This seems to "hit" all the qualities of Drizzt.
You’re forgetting monk
Tamahawk