Halflings have been getting faster with each edition since 2003 (20ft to 25ft in 2014 to 30ft in 2024). While they might be getting still faster in the future, I was interested to see just how fast a halfling could get in the current edition. So let's build a fast one !
For Class we are taking "Monk" because Monks rock now and are one of the fastest movers (aside from magic). For skills I pick Acrobatics and Stealth. I also give him Bagpipes as it would be extremely scary to hear the sounds of kittens being squashed to death from all around you if he circles you at high speed while playing them.
As Background we pick "Guide". Since our goal is to move around at high speeds this character should be pretty good at scouting out large areas in a short time. He gets survival and since we already picked stealth we pick perception as our second skill. This is to prevent us from running into stuff because we aim to move at high speeds. He also gets proficiency with cartographer's tools which should allow him to map out areas as he moves around. Conveniently "Guide" also allows us to get +1 to Dex, Con and Wis which are all useful to us.
Our origin feat is "Magic Initiate" (we shall tie it to wisdom as that is a monk-stat anyways) and pick the cantrips Thunderclap (just to give the impression we are breaking the sound barrier every now and then) and mending (moving around through forests and bushes might shred his clothes so this should come in handy). His spell is longstrider which allows him to raise his movement speed by 10ft for one hour without any rolls or concentration needed.
Species will be halfling which amongst other things allows us to move through other creatures spaces as long as they are medium or larger.
For abilities I'm just going with standard array. Feel free to use point buy to min-max this character even more.
Strength 8, Dex 15+1, Con 13+1, Int 10, Wis 14+1, Cha 12
So far our level 1 quickling has only 30ft movement speed but at least he can use longstrider to up it to 40ft. Nothing special so far, so let's move on.
At level 2 our speed increases by 10ft and we also get to use dash as a bonus action. Better yet, if we care to spend a focus point we combine this with disengage ! If longstrider is up, he now has a speed of 50ft and can move 3 times per turn (dash as a bonus action, dash as an action and his regular move) for a total of 150ft. Outrunning a horse at level 2 isn't bad but we can do better.
At level 3 we get to pick our subclass which actually doesn't matter so feel free to pick whatever strikes your fancy. I would recommend against "Warrior of Shadow" as a bonus action teleport of 60ft will only slow us down in the end. "Warrior of the Elements" will give us eventually a fly speed and swim speed equal to our normal speed, but keep in mind that our little guy will be able move around freely (even across liquids) in any case.
At level 4 we get to pick our first feat. Obviously we shall take "Speedy" wich raises our speed by 10ft again. It also allows us to ignore difficult terrain for the rest of the turn if we dash. Nice. Our total is now 180ft. Oh, and we improve Dex by 1 point to 17.
At level 6 our base speed is improved by 5ft bringing our total speed to 195ft. Moving on.
At level 8 we get to pick another feat. Let's take Charger. This raises our damage or let's us push the enemy around if we move at least 10ft in a straight line before a melee attack (no problem with this build). It also raises our speed by 10ft while dashing. (Bringing our speed per round to 215ft). Dex get's another bump to 18.
Beginning at level 9 we can now move over liquids and along vertical surfaces.
At level 10 our speed get's upped another 5 ft (raising our max movement per round to 230ft).
At level 12 we get another feat. Let's take a basic ability score improvement to max out our dex to 20. Can't hurt.
At level 14 our base speed is raised yet again by 5ft allowing us to cover up to 245ft per round. Our basic move at this point is 65 (already faster then a horse), we have a dashing speed of 75 and we can up all of those by 10ft by using longstrider.
At level 16 we get our last normal feat. I'm taking Alert to improve our initiative bonus to an impresse +10 bonus (just to make sure we can always move before any enemies can act) but you might pick differently.
At level 18 our speed is improved yet again by 5ft which gives us an impressive possible total of 260ft per round.
At level 19 finally we will obviously pick the epic boon of speed which will increase our speed again by 30ft and also allows to raise our wisdom to 16. We now have a basic movement speed of 100ft, improved to 110ft while dashing and we can add 10ft more to each move if longstrider is on. This allows us a total movement of 350ft (40 mp/h or 64km/h). Of course this might be improved with magic items or helpful magic from other party members. A haste spell for example would allow us to double our speed and dash once more for a total of 940ft per round (107 mp/h or 172 km/h). Keep in mind that while moving like that we ignore difficult terrain, can move out of threatened areas, through creatures spaces (if they are at least medium size) and move over liquids or along vertical surfaces. And if we want an action our speed would still be 720ft allowing us to attack... or play the bagpipes.
Edit: I know this is far below supersonic speed. Hopefully you will forgive me a little clickbait :)
If you’re born in the 70s or 80s you just build Steve Austin, the 5 million dollar man, bionic man. In this case it was the halfling monk (bionic style). I found the good reading.
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Halflings have been getting faster with each edition since 2003 (20ft to 25ft in 2014 to 30ft in 2024). While they might be getting still faster in the future, I was interested to see just how fast a halfling could get in the current edition. So let's build a fast one !
For Class we are taking "Monk" because Monks rock now and are one of the fastest movers (aside from magic). For skills I pick Acrobatics and Stealth. I also give him Bagpipes as it would be extremely scary to hear the sounds of kittens being squashed to death from all around you if he circles you at high speed while playing them.
As Background we pick "Guide". Since our goal is to move around at high speeds this character should be pretty good at scouting out large areas in a short time. He gets survival and since we already picked stealth we pick perception as our second skill. This is to prevent us from running into stuff because we aim to move at high speeds. He also gets proficiency with cartographer's tools which should allow him to map out areas as he moves around. Conveniently "Guide" also allows us to get +1 to Dex, Con and Wis which are all useful to us.
Our origin feat is "Magic Initiate" (we shall tie it to wisdom as that is a monk-stat anyways) and pick the cantrips Thunderclap (just to give the impression we are breaking the sound barrier every now and then) and mending (moving around through forests and bushes might shred his clothes so this should come in handy). His spell is longstrider which allows him to raise his movement speed by 10ft for one hour without any rolls or concentration needed.
Species will be halfling which amongst other things allows us to move through other creatures spaces as long as they are medium or larger.
For abilities I'm just going with standard array. Feel free to use point buy to min-max this character even more.
Strength 8, Dex 15+1, Con 13+1, Int 10, Wis 14+1, Cha 12
So far our level 1 quickling has only 30ft movement speed but at least he can use longstrider to up it to 40ft. Nothing special so far, so let's move on.
At level 2 our speed increases by 10ft and we also get to use dash as a bonus action. Better yet, if we care to spend a focus point we combine this with disengage ! If longstrider is up, he now has a speed of 50ft and can move 3 times per turn (dash as a bonus action, dash as an action and his regular move) for a total of 150ft. Outrunning a horse at level 2 isn't bad but we can do better.
At level 3 we get to pick our subclass which actually doesn't matter so feel free to pick whatever strikes your fancy. I would recommend against "Warrior of Shadow" as a bonus action teleport of 60ft will only slow us down in the end. "Warrior of the Elements" will give us eventually a fly speed and swim speed equal to our normal speed, but keep in mind that our little guy will be able move around freely (even across liquids) in any case.
At level 4 we get to pick our first feat. Obviously we shall take "Speedy" wich raises our speed by 10ft again. It also allows us to ignore difficult terrain for the rest of the turn if we dash. Nice. Our total is now 180ft. Oh, and we improve Dex by 1 point to 17.
At level 6 our base speed is improved by 5ft bringing our total speed to 195ft. Moving on.
At level 8 we get to pick another feat. Let's take Charger. This raises our damage or let's us push the enemy around if we move at least 10ft in a straight line before a melee attack (no problem with this build). It also raises our speed by 10ft while dashing. (Bringing our speed per round to 215ft). Dex get's another bump to 18.
Beginning at level 9 we can now move over liquids and along vertical surfaces.
At level 10 our speed get's upped another 5 ft (raising our max movement per round to 230ft).
At level 12 we get another feat. Let's take a basic ability score improvement to max out our dex to 20. Can't hurt.
At level 14 our base speed is raised yet again by 5ft allowing us to cover up to 245ft per round. Our basic move at this point is 65 (already faster then a horse), we have a dashing speed of 75 and we can up all of those by 10ft by using longstrider.
At level 16 we get our last normal feat. I'm taking Alert to improve our initiative bonus to an impresse +10 bonus (just to make sure we can always move before any enemies can act) but you might pick differently.
At level 18 our speed is improved yet again by 5ft which gives us an impressive possible total of 260ft per round.
At level 19 finally we will obviously pick the epic boon of speed which will increase our speed again by 30ft and also allows to raise our wisdom to 16. We now have a basic movement speed of 100ft, improved to 110ft while dashing and we can add 10ft more to each move if longstrider is on. This allows us a total movement of 350ft (40 mp/h or 64km/h). Of course this might be improved with magic items or helpful magic from other party members. A haste spell for example would allow us to double our speed and dash once more for a total of 940ft per round (107 mp/h or 172 km/h). Keep in mind that while moving like that we ignore difficult terrain, can move out of threatened areas, through creatures spaces (if they are at least medium size) and move over liquids or along vertical surfaces. And if we want an action our speed would still be 720ft allowing us to attack... or play the bagpipes.
Edit: I know this is far below supersonic speed. Hopefully you will forgive me a little clickbait :)
If you’re born in the 70s or 80s you just build Steve Austin, the 5 million dollar man, bionic man. In this case it was the halfling monk (bionic style). I found the good reading.