Hiya! So my friend introduced to D&d a few days ago so I’m new to the game :)
So just what the title says… how to make Krypteia Spartan? Which Class and Subclass would be perfect for it?
For info on Krypteia:
“Krypteia ("hidden, secret"), was an ancient Spartan state institution involving young Spartan men. It was an exclusive element of Sparta's state-sponsored child-rearing system in which participation afforded its members, known as kryptai (κρύπται, members of the Krypteia), the opportunity to test their skills further and to prove themselves worthy of the Spartan polity. As an organisation, the Crypteia's mandate and practices are still debated by historians
The Crypteia had young Spartan men, probably between the ages of 21 and 30, who were described as "those judged to have the most intelligence." The men were known as hêbôntes, one of the many social categories that preceded full Spartiate citizenship, and had completed their rearing at the agoge with such success that they were marked out as potential future leaders by Spartan officials.The training kryptai endured was undoubtedly harsh, but the way in which their training was conducted is debated.
According to Plato, the kryptai did not use footwear during the winter and slept without shelter. He also describes them as being unsupervised and as depending on themselves alone for survival. Plato's description might seem to imply that the kryptai were forced to be independent, but some scholars think that they may have had attendants at certain times to watch over them.
Every autumn, Spartan ephors would declare war on the helot population which would allow them to kill a helot without fear of punishment.The chosen kryptai were then sent out into the countryside armed with daggers with the instructions to kill any helot they encountered travelling the roads and tending to fields they deemed too plentiful.” From Wiki
This will depend in large part on how you're trying to fit this idea into a game. From what I can make out on a quick overview, these Crypteia Spartans are basically state-sanctioned bandits/terrorists, which doesn't seem to be the ticket. It more sounds like you're looking for the most Spartan of Spartans - the Spartan so tough they survived and mastered training even regular tough-as-nails Spartans shy away from. If that's your goal, there's a few different options.
The simplest method would be Variant Human for the Skill Expert feat allowing you to gain extra skills, as well as Expertise in a single skill. Expertise lets you double your proficiency bonus for a skill, giving you a huge edge with it. A survivalist Toughest Tough Guy would take Expertise in Survival; a state-sponsored terrorist who murders freely would probably take Expertise in Intimidation. Then, take the Barbarian class. The pop-culture Spartan Warrior(TM) fights unarmored, with savagery and power only barely tamed by skill and discipline. The best single class way to represent that is barbarian. Subclass would be dependent on what you feel like playing, as honestly the basic barbarian abilities cover most of what you need.
Do be aware that it's more difficult than you might think to drop a historical character fully formed into someone else's game. You'll likely have to make changes to this character to fit the game you actually play, especially since the key takeaway for these Crypteia dudes seem to be "I wander around the countryside genociding peasants with a dagger!" With my [magiciitem]Helm of Devil Command; DM Hat[/magicitem] on, that would raise all kinds of red flags and I'd sit down with you to have a talk about the dangers of murderhoboing and what you're hoping to get from the game. Remember that in most D&D games you're the Heroes, however tarnished and jackhole-y you might be, and playing a character whose core trait is "stabs farmers with dagger on say-so of state" is, ahh...fraught.
TL;DR: use Variant Human to get Skill Expert and play a barbarian, but not before talking to the DM and making sure they're okay with your idea.
This will depend in large part on how you're trying to fit this idea into a game. From what I can make out on a quick overview, these Crypteia Spartans are basically state-sanctioned bandits/terrorists, which doesn't seem to be the ticket. It more sounds like you're looking for the most Spartan of Spartans - the Spartan so tough they survived and mastered training even regular tough-as-nails Spartans shy away from. If that's your goal, there's a few different options.
The simplest method would be Variant Human for the Skill Expert feat allowing you to gain extra skills, as well as Expertise in a single skill. Expertise lets you double your proficiency bonus for a skill, giving you a huge edge with it. A survivalist Toughest Tough Guy would take Expertise in Survival; a state-sponsored terrorist who murders freely would probably take Expertise in Intimidation. Then, take the Barbarian class. The pop-culture Spartan Warrior(TM) fights unarmored, with savagery and power only barely tamed by skill and discipline. The best single class way to represent that is barbarian. Subclass would be dependent on what you feel like playing, as honestly the basic barbarian abilities cover most of what you need.
Do be aware that it's more difficult than you might think to drop a historical character fully formed into someone else's game. You'll likely have to make changes to this character to fit the game you actually play, especially since the key takeaway for these Crypteia dudes seem to be "I wander around the countryside genociding peasants with a dagger!" With my [magiciitem]Helm of Devil Command; DM Hat[/magicitem] on, that would raise all kinds of red flags and I'd sit down with you to have a talk about the dangers of murderhoboing and what you're hoping to get from the game. Remember that in most D&D games you're the Heroes, however tarnished and jackhole-y you might be, and playing a character whose core trait is "stabs farmers with dagger on say-so of state" is, ahh...fraught.
TL;DR: use Variant Human to get Skill Expert and play a barbarian, but not before talking to the DM and making sure they're okay with your idea.
I already talked to the dm about my character and they’re okay with it but we made some changes :)
I was struggling with class and subclass that’s all
Based on skimming parts of the Wikipedia article you linked to, it’s really hard to pin down a specific class/subclass. They only seem to use daggers, no mention of much armor, maybe only ever moved at night, maybe not, but were pretty stealthy. Borderline sociopaths, but following orders. Military training. There’s lots of options that get at parts of it, but nothing that really quite gets all of it. To me, this says you should probably be trying to get at it through role play and flavor, rather than relying on game mechanics. That said, I’d suggest looking at a scout rogue or way of shadows monk. And pick a background (or make a homebrew background, they’re actually fairly easy) that gives you survival proficiency.
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Hiya! So my friend introduced to D&d a few days ago so I’m new to the game :)
So just what the title says… how to make Krypteia Spartan? Which Class and Subclass would be perfect for it?
For info on Krypteia:
“Krypteia ("hidden, secret"), was an ancient Spartan state institution involving young Spartan men. It was an exclusive element of Sparta's state-sponsored child-rearing system in which participation afforded its members, known as kryptai (κρύπται, members of the Krypteia), the opportunity to test their skills further and to prove themselves worthy of the Spartan polity. As an organisation, the Crypteia's mandate and practices are still debated by historians
The Crypteia had young Spartan men, probably between the ages of 21 and 30, who were described as "those judged to have the most intelligence." The men were known as hêbôntes, one of the many social categories that preceded full Spartiate citizenship, and had completed their rearing at the agoge with such success that they were marked out as potential future leaders by Spartan officials.The training kryptai endured was undoubtedly harsh, but the way in which their training was conducted is debated.
According to Plato, the kryptai did not use footwear during the winter and slept without shelter. He also describes them as being unsupervised and as depending on themselves alone for survival. Plato's description might seem to imply that the kryptai were forced to be independent, but some scholars think that they may have had attendants at certain times to watch over them.
Every autumn, Spartan ephors would declare war on the helot population which would allow them to kill a helot without fear of punishment.The chosen kryptai were then sent out into the countryside armed with daggers with the instructions to kill any helot they encountered travelling the roads and tending to fields they deemed too plentiful.” From Wiki
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypteia
Here’s a video one:
https://youtu.be/oS6HVhG2iY0
Fighter with proficiency in survival.
Champion, Samurai, or Purple Dragon Knight as the subclass.
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This will depend in large part on how you're trying to fit this idea into a game. From what I can make out on a quick overview, these Crypteia Spartans are basically state-sanctioned bandits/terrorists, which doesn't seem to be the ticket. It more sounds like you're looking for the most Spartan of Spartans - the Spartan so tough they survived and mastered training even regular tough-as-nails Spartans shy away from. If that's your goal, there's a few different options.
The simplest method would be Variant Human for the Skill Expert feat allowing you to gain extra skills, as well as Expertise in a single skill. Expertise lets you double your proficiency bonus for a skill, giving you a huge edge with it. A survivalist Toughest Tough Guy would take Expertise in Survival; a state-sponsored terrorist who murders freely would probably take Expertise in Intimidation. Then, take the Barbarian class. The pop-culture Spartan Warrior(TM) fights unarmored, with savagery and power only barely tamed by skill and discipline. The best single class way to represent that is barbarian. Subclass would be dependent on what you feel like playing, as honestly the basic barbarian abilities cover most of what you need.
Do be aware that it's more difficult than you might think to drop a historical character fully formed into someone else's game. You'll likely have to make changes to this character to fit the game you actually play, especially since the key takeaway for these Crypteia dudes seem to be "I wander around the countryside genociding peasants with a dagger!" With my [magiciitem]Helm of Devil Command; DM Hat[/magicitem] on, that would raise all kinds of red flags and I'd sit down with you to have a talk about the dangers of murderhoboing and what you're hoping to get from the game. Remember that in most D&D games you're the Heroes, however tarnished and jackhole-y you might be, and playing a character whose core trait is "stabs farmers with dagger on say-so of state" is, ahh...fraught.
TL;DR: use Variant Human to get Skill Expert and play a barbarian, but not before talking to the DM and making sure they're okay with your idea.
Please do not contact or message me.
I already talked to the dm about my character and they’re okay with it but we made some changes :)
I was struggling with class and subclass that’s all
thank you for your input :)
Based on skimming parts of the Wikipedia article you linked to, it’s really hard to pin down a specific class/subclass. They only seem to use daggers, no mention of much armor, maybe only ever moved at night, maybe not, but were pretty stealthy. Borderline sociopaths, but following orders. Military training. There’s lots of options that get at parts of it, but nothing that really quite gets all of it. To me, this says you should probably be trying to get at it through role play and flavor, rather than relying on game mechanics.
That said, I’d suggest looking at a scout rogue or way of shadows monk. And pick a background (or make a homebrew background, they’re actually fairly easy) that gives you survival proficiency.