so I want to make arthur pendragon in d&d but I dont want to go the typical route of like paladin, what other more martial based builds could I go with that could give me this?
i would prefer to only go like 5 levels of any caster at most
I mean, fighter Eldritch Knight should work. It has access to spells as well and is also a martial class. Fighter also does seem quite fitting for such a knight/king.
Just thinking about it, knight would also probably be your backround since Arthur was a knight before he was a king.
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I mean, fighter Eldritch Knight should work. It has access to spells as well and is also a martial class. Fighter also does seem quite fitting for such a knight/king.
Just thinking about it, knight would also probably be your backround since Arthur was a knight before he was a king.
This👆, but with a 2 level dip into Paladin. That’s how I would do it.
I mean, fighter Eldritch Knight should work. It has access to spells as well and is also a martial class. Fighter also does seem quite fitting for such a knight/king.
Just thinking about it, knight would also probably be your backround since Arthur was a knight before he was a king.
This👆, but with a 2 level dip into Paladin. That’s how I would do it.
Im actually trying to avoid paladin and looking for a more martial based focus, not really wanting hexblade cuz thats mainly a caster
I like the EK idea but I kinda wanna see what other martial things I could do
Sounds like you're really asking 'what Fighter subclass works best for Arthur Pendragon.' I'd go with Battlemaster, and take Commander's Strike, Commanding Presence, and Rally for starters.
There is nothing in history claiming Arthur was a spell caster in any way. But everyone knows he was a knight, a great leader and commander who made himself king by sticking to his ideals.
In most modern stories he was advised and accompanied by Merlin.
I mean possibly? but barb, or rogue ir monk could work too, im asking for non normal ways to do this cuz everyone always says either paladin for the holy french version, or fighter barb for the historical
It's hard to tell what you're after here. Most of the versions that are depicted of Arthur are a non magical Knight with great ability to lead. Battlemaster would be the most logical choice, followed by Champion, then maybe Eldritch Knight for some of the more supernatural versions (the Fate series comes to mind, though that might be more paladin, anime is weird). The mechanical functions of Barbs, rogues and monks don't really fit for for King Arthur Pendragon, at least not as I understand him to be (my knowledge on the subject is limited at best) Barb could potentially work, but to get the full benefit of raging, you can't be wearing heavy armor. Also Barb gets the best AC when not wearing armor, unless you sacrifice dex & con to have higher mental stats, which doesn't really fit the aesthetic of the King of Legend You could multiclass into one of the others for a little flavor, Rogue or Ranger could be good for that. Those are my thoughts anyway.
I mean, fighter Eldritch Knight should work. It has access to spells as well and is also a martial class. Fighter also does seem quite fitting for such a knight/king.
Just thinking about it, knight would also probably be your backround since Arthur was a knight before he was a king.
This👆, but with a 2 level dip into Paladin. That’s how I would do it.
Im actually trying to avoid paladin and looking for a more martial based focus, not really wanting hexblade cuz thats mainly a caster
I like the EK idea but I kinda wanna see what other martial things I could do
You've never played a Hexblade if you think it remains mostly a caster on its own.
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Arthur did not cast spells. He hit things with weapons, he lead his men in battle. Depending on which version he was quick witted and intelligent, kind and with a great sense of fairness, morality, and loved his people. He definitely wasn’t a warlock, or a paladin as he wasn’t even slightly religious. Nor did he ever cast spells. Read a book called le morte d'arthur and take a look at (yes I know it’s Wikipedia but it’s still a good starting place) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Morte_d'Arthur
Sounds like you're really asking 'what Fighter subclass works best for Arthur Pendragon.' I'd go with Battlemaster, and take Commander's Strike, Commanding Presence, and Rally for starters.
If you don't want him to use spells, then I agree with Pocketmouse on Battlemaster. Otherwise, I'd still go with EK.
If your trying to make Arthur let me ask what source you are using that actually has him casting spells of any sort? He was trained in statecraft by Merlin but not in magic. He was raised as sir Kay’s squire being trained to eventually become a night himself. Then the whole knighthood/kingship thing is thrust on him when he pulls the sword ( not Excalibur) from the stone proving that he ( the young squire, not even a full knight yet) is the rightful king of England. In some of the 20th century stories they delve into his childhood a bit more and have Merlin turn him into a fish and some other animals so he can better understand his full responsibilities later but again it’s his “pet Wizard” Merlin casting not Arthur. I know of nowhere in the major stories where he castes spells- it’s always Merlin or maybe His half sister Morgana that castes spells on him. So with casting ruled out your basically left with the non casting fighters, rogues and barbarians as subclasses. Since he is the representative of civilization the barbarians and rogues are out leaving the various non casting fighters. Of those while battlemaster certainly fits he is primarily portrayed as a mounted knight not a foot warrior ( though the reality is he probably was primarily a foot warrior) so the cavalier is the most appropriate. It’s really too bad you can’t multiclass with different subclasses of the same class - a L10 Battlemaster/L10 Cavalier or L10 Champion/L10 cavalier would probably best describe him. For DnD purposes he would be in plate armor with a shield, long sword and possibly a mace. Realistically as an English war and leader of the immediate post Roman period (450-550 AD) he would have worn scale, Chainmail or banded mail armor with a shield. Sword, dagger and long spear (early lance). While the sword in the stone was most likely a masterwork longsword Excaliber would be a straight +3 longsword or a longsword of Sharpness I know of no special powers it had except extreme strength and the ability to cut through armor and other weapons fairly easily.
Yeah, I don't know where this Arthur with spellslots notion comes from. Battlemaster most likely, maybe a Champion. HIs only magic would be Excalibur, though I think it's magic would be more buffing his leadership ability than any weapon traits. The Knights, also all Champions, maybe Battlemasters. Lancelot would have 20s across STR/DEX/CON.
Mordred I could see working as a Hexblade if you lean in heavily to the magic behind the Orkney/Gaels faction (I recently read White so it's fresh in my mind).
Yeah, I don't know where this Arthur with spellslots notion comes from. Battlemaster most likely, maybe a Champion. HIs only magic would be Excalibur, though I think it's magic would be more buffing his leadership ability than any weapon traits. The Knights, also all Champions, maybe Battlemasters. Lancelot would have 20s across STR/DEX/CON.
Mordred I could see working as a Hexblade if you lean in heavily to the magic behind the Orkney/Gaels faction (I recently read White so it's fresh in my mind).
The notion usually comes from the more popular french retelling of the myth, which usually in detail calls them paladins or some such in one or two places, its based off Charlemagne, in this story hes FAR more religous, and he "smites his foes"
The actual arthur myth doesnt have him doing anything magical really, except for maybe his magic sword, and he was able to take a great many wounds in battle, which is why I thought barb/fighter might be fun to think about too, because he was always labeled as "ferocious in battle yet civilized outside of it"
Thank you for reiterating my point about Excalibur. And pointing out where D&D got the word Paladin from. Paladins under Charlemagne during the Holy Roman Empire were sort of "holy warriors," at least nominally, in that their militancy was politically tied to the Church, and early D&D iterations of Paladins got magical powers presumably through their divine connections vs the vague metaphysics behind the present Oaths. I guess if you see the crossovers of some Arthurian stuff with French romance you do see a handful of Knights performing a miracle here and there. Forgot about that.
Anycase, as this thread has said, Arthur doesn't really fit the mode of the modern D&D Paladin, and I think your fighter options are limited to Battlemaster and Champion.
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so I want to make arthur pendragon in d&d but I dont want to go the typical route of like paladin, what other more martial based builds could I go with that could give me this?
i would prefer to only go like 5 levels of any caster at most
not sure if this goes here but ty for help
I mean, fighter Eldritch Knight should work. It has access to spells as well and is also a martial class. Fighter also does seem quite fitting for such a knight/king.
Just thinking about it, knight would also probably be your backround since Arthur was a knight before he was a king.
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HERE.Hexblade Warlock. Excalibur is his magic weapon.
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This👆, but with a 2 level dip into Paladin. That’s how I would do it.
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Im actually trying to avoid paladin and looking for a more martial based focus, not really wanting hexblade cuz thats mainly a caster
I like the EK idea but I kinda wanna see what other martial things I could do
Sounds like you're really asking 'what Fighter subclass works best for Arthur Pendragon.' I'd go with Battlemaster, and take Commander's Strike, Commanding Presence, and Rally for starters.
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I am with pcoketmouse on this.
There is nothing in history claiming Arthur was a spell caster in any way. But everyone knows he was a knight, a great leader and commander who made himself king by sticking to his ideals.
In most modern stories he was advised and accompanied by Merlin.
I mean possibly?
but barb, or rogue ir monk could work too, im asking for non normal ways to do this cuz everyone always says either paladin for the holy french version, or fighter barb for the historical
It's hard to tell what you're after here. Most of the versions that are depicted of Arthur are a non magical Knight with great ability to lead. Battlemaster would be the most logical choice, followed by Champion, then maybe Eldritch Knight for some of the more supernatural versions (the Fate series comes to mind, though that might be more paladin, anime is weird).
The mechanical functions of Barbs, rogues and monks don't really fit for for King Arthur Pendragon, at least not as I understand him to be (my knowledge on the subject is limited at best)
Barb could potentially work, but to get the full benefit of raging, you can't be wearing heavy armor. Also Barb gets the best AC when not wearing armor, unless you sacrifice dex & con to have higher mental stats, which doesn't really fit the aesthetic of the King of Legend
You could multiclass into one of the others for a little flavor, Rogue or Ranger could be good for that.
Those are my thoughts anyway.
You've never played a Hexblade if you think it remains mostly a caster on its own.
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Whose Arthur are you recreating? T. H. White's? Thomas Mallory's? Mark Twain's? K. M. Shea's? Bernard Cornwell's? Mary Stewert's? Edmund Spenser's?
Arthur did not cast spells. He hit things with weapons, he lead his men in battle. Depending on which version he was quick witted and intelligent, kind and with a great sense of fairness, morality, and loved his people. He definitely wasn’t a warlock, or a paladin as he wasn’t even slightly religious. Nor did he ever cast spells. Read a book called le morte d'arthur and take a look at (yes I know it’s Wikipedia but it’s still a good starting place) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Morte_d'Arthur
He has stats in the AD&D 1st edition Deities and Demigods if you can find a copy of it.
I was honestly expecting this to be asking about Arthur the Aardvark :P Who, for the record, would probably be a bard.
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Arthur was a fighter! He was primarily a mounted knight/warrior so Most probably a cavalier. He doesn’t cast spells - he has Merlin for that.
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If you don't want him to use spells, then I agree with Pocketmouse on Battlemaster. Otherwise, I'd still go with EK.
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HERE.If your trying to make Arthur let me ask what source you are using that actually has him casting spells of any sort? He was trained in statecraft by Merlin but not in magic. He was raised as sir Kay’s squire being trained to eventually become a night himself. Then the whole knighthood/kingship thing is thrust on him when he pulls the sword ( not Excalibur) from the stone proving that he ( the young squire, not even a full knight yet) is the rightful king of England. In some of the 20th century stories they delve into his childhood a bit more and have Merlin turn him into a fish and some other animals so he can better understand his full responsibilities later but again it’s his “pet Wizard” Merlin casting not Arthur. I know of nowhere in the major stories where he castes spells- it’s always Merlin or maybe His half sister Morgana that castes spells on him. So with casting ruled out your basically left with the non casting fighters, rogues and barbarians as subclasses. Since he is the representative of civilization the barbarians and rogues are out leaving the various non casting fighters. Of those while battlemaster certainly fits he is primarily portrayed as a mounted knight not a foot warrior ( though the reality is he probably was primarily a foot warrior) so the cavalier is the most appropriate. It’s really too bad you can’t multiclass with different subclasses of the same class - a L10 Battlemaster/L10 Cavalier or L10 Champion/L10 cavalier would probably best describe him. For DnD purposes he would be in plate armor with a shield, long sword and possibly a mace. Realistically as an English war and leader of the immediate post Roman period (450-550 AD) he would have worn scale, Chainmail or banded mail armor with a shield. Sword, dagger and long spear (early lance). While the sword in the stone was most likely a masterwork longsword Excaliber would be a straight +3 longsword or a longsword of Sharpness I know of no special powers it had except extreme strength and the ability to cut through armor and other weapons fairly easily.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Yeah, I don't know where this Arthur with spellslots notion comes from. Battlemaster most likely, maybe a Champion. HIs only magic would be Excalibur, though I think it's magic would be more buffing his leadership ability than any weapon traits. The Knights, also all Champions, maybe Battlemasters. Lancelot would have 20s across STR/DEX/CON.
Mordred I could see working as a Hexblade if you lean in heavily to the magic behind the Orkney/Gaels faction (I recently read White so it's fresh in my mind).
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
The notion usually comes from the more popular french retelling of the myth, which usually in detail calls them paladins or some such in one or two places, its based off Charlemagne, in this story hes FAR more religous, and he "smites his foes"
The actual arthur myth doesnt have him doing anything magical really, except for maybe his magic sword, and he was able to take a great many wounds in battle, which is why I thought barb/fighter might be fun to think about too, because he was always labeled as "ferocious in battle yet civilized outside of it"
Thank you for reiterating my point about Excalibur. And pointing out where D&D got the word Paladin from. Paladins under Charlemagne during the Holy Roman Empire were sort of "holy warriors," at least nominally, in that their militancy was politically tied to the Church, and early D&D iterations of Paladins got magical powers presumably through their divine connections vs the vague metaphysics behind the present Oaths. I guess if you see the crossovers of some Arthurian stuff with French romance you do see a handful of Knights performing a miracle here and there. Forgot about that.
Anycase, as this thread has said, Arthur doesn't really fit the mode of the modern D&D Paladin, and I think your fighter options are limited to Battlemaster and Champion.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.