Hello. I am trying to make a character for a future a campaign. I want this this character to be a necromancer, specifically a clown necromancer. They lore behind this character is that they were once a demonic clown in the underworld. Fast forward it found a permanent host in a human in the overworld, and they have the “ability” know as freak show, basically imagine the classic carnival and there workers, the random monkey, the acrobats, the strong man, the weird freak, etc and at will the character can summon different circus undead to do its bidding depending on the task at hand whether it is to fight a boss or move around. I just want to make this character as cool and as accurate to the discretion as possible. So the million dollar question is what race and class, plus proficiency’s do I combo together to make this demon clown come to a campaign near you?
I mean, summoning is a pretty limited field in D&D. Summon Undead works as a good way to whistle up a minion without worrying about details of its appearance, but the abilities are extremely standardized between three flavors, so you can't really get the "right summon for the right job" angle going. Plus it's a 3rd level spell with a 300 gp component, so depending on what level and loadout you're starting your character with, could be a bit before it's an option. Unseen Servant could be reflavored for some of the utility stuff if your DM is okay with the "servant" looking like an appropriate spirit rather than being invisible, but again the effect is pretty narrow. As has been said, Hexblades get some cool necromancy stuff; the other big picks that come to mind are a Shadow Sorcerer, College of Spirits Bard, or a straight up Necromancy Wizard. The Wizard is the best equipped for straight up Necromancy, imo, but all the classes can play into different aspects of the concept.
Now, all this said, the "secretly a demon" gimmick is a bit of an iffy character design proposition; going by D&D lore demons are relatively specific variety of creature that don't really translate well into a Player Character. You can try workshopping the idea with your DM if they're up for it, but if they're going traditional this will be a hard sell. Really imo if you want a fiendish connection it's better to just take the angle of a mortal who got mixed up with the appropriate flavor of fiend rather than being one yourself. Less messy baggage to sort out reconciling what a Demon is per the printed material for the game vs what's a fair and balanced character in play. Tieflings and Fallen Aasimar are good for getting that "down under" vibe, Reborn and Shadar-Kai don't have the Lower Planes connection, but have decent undead flavor. Or you could just pick whatever race seems fun.
Interesting concept, but keep in mind that summoning magic in 5E is pretty weak and doesn't really start to be possible until 5th-7th level. The Undead Pact warlock from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft or the Necromancer or Conjurer Wizard are probably your best bets as far as an undead-themed character goes.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I would lean towards Warlock, Undead Patron and maybe Pact of the Chain to get an Imp Familiar. This would lean into the "secretly a demon" thing as you get an actual infernal companion. You could even talk to your DM about flavoring the spider form of the Imp to a monkey (both have a climb speed and the only other change is cosmetic) so you can get your little organ grinder monkey.
The big reason for Warlock is the access to summoning spells (like Danse Macabre) that come back on a short rest. This means that you can upcast them for a hoard of undead servants for almost every combat. The Form of Dread can make you look super demonic or super clown-like (flavor is really up to you), and Phantasmal Force can really let you mess with peoples minds.
Okay, I have a normal helpful idea, and then a zany one
So, first off, Warlock, obvs, then tiefling race. And although there isn't much in terms of customization in DnD, surely you can build a corpse, an arm here, a leg there, sew it all together and make a Frankenstein if your DM would let you do that. That seems fun.
The second, the zanier one, is to just play a healing class, because hear me out, limb attachment on living creatures, again, zany and only if your DM would allow it
Go for Tiefling but cosmetically you look human & use Entertainer for background to reflect previous "demonic clown" side and then go Lore Bard and using cutting words and bardic inspirations to lean into the clowning side of things, then use Magical Secrets to nab Summon Lesser/Greater Demons to summon your clown demon friends to "perform" in the material realm. Naturally all your friends summoned this way look like demonic clowns.
EDIT: if you want to be more of a pennywise sort of build then check out Tulok the Barbarian on youtueb who does a video on building Pennywise for 5e.
Hello. I am trying to make a character for a future a campaign. I want this this character to be a necromancer, specifically a clown necromancer. They lore behind this character is that they were once a demonic clown in the underworld. Fast forward it found a permanent host in a human in the overworld, and they have the “ability” know as freak show, basically imagine the classic carnival and there workers, the random monkey, the acrobats, the strong man, the weird freak, etc and at will the character can summon different circus undead to do its bidding depending on the task at hand whether it is to fight a boss or move around. I just want to make this character as cool and as accurate to the discretion as possible. So the million dollar question is what race and class, plus proficiency’s do I combo together to make this demon clown come to a campaign near you?
I would pick Hexblade. They make great necromancers, and the pact could explain how it got to overworld. Just a thought.
I mean, summoning is a pretty limited field in D&D. Summon Undead works as a good way to whistle up a minion without worrying about details of its appearance, but the abilities are extremely standardized between three flavors, so you can't really get the "right summon for the right job" angle going. Plus it's a 3rd level spell with a 300 gp component, so depending on what level and loadout you're starting your character with, could be a bit before it's an option. Unseen Servant could be reflavored for some of the utility stuff if your DM is okay with the "servant" looking like an appropriate spirit rather than being invisible, but again the effect is pretty narrow. As has been said, Hexblades get some cool necromancy stuff; the other big picks that come to mind are a Shadow Sorcerer, College of Spirits Bard, or a straight up Necromancy Wizard. The Wizard is the best equipped for straight up Necromancy, imo, but all the classes can play into different aspects of the concept.
Now, all this said, the "secretly a demon" gimmick is a bit of an iffy character design proposition; going by D&D lore demons are relatively specific variety of creature that don't really translate well into a Player Character. You can try workshopping the idea with your DM if they're up for it, but if they're going traditional this will be a hard sell. Really imo if you want a fiendish connection it's better to just take the angle of a mortal who got mixed up with the appropriate flavor of fiend rather than being one yourself. Less messy baggage to sort out reconciling what a Demon is per the printed material for the game vs what's a fair and balanced character in play. Tieflings and Fallen Aasimar are good for getting that "down under" vibe, Reborn and Shadar-Kai don't have the Lower Planes connection, but have decent undead flavor. Or you could just pick whatever race seems fun.
Interesting concept, but keep in mind that summoning magic in 5E is pretty weak and doesn't really start to be possible until 5th-7th level. The Undead Pact warlock from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft or the Necromancer or Conjurer Wizard are probably your best bets as far as an undead-themed character goes.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I would lean towards Warlock, Undead Patron and maybe Pact of the Chain to get an Imp Familiar. This would lean into the "secretly a demon" thing as you get an actual infernal companion. You could even talk to your DM about flavoring the spider form of the Imp to a monkey (both have a climb speed and the only other change is cosmetic) so you can get your little organ grinder monkey.
The big reason for Warlock is the access to summoning spells (like Danse Macabre) that come back on a short rest. This means that you can upcast them for a hoard of undead servants for almost every combat. The Form of Dread can make you look super demonic or super clown-like (flavor is really up to you), and Phantasmal Force can really let you mess with peoples minds.
Okay, I have a normal helpful idea, and then a zany one
So, first off, Warlock, obvs, then tiefling race. And although there isn't much in terms of customization in DnD, surely you can build a corpse, an arm here, a leg there, sew it all together and make a Frankenstein if your DM would let you do that. That seems fun.
The second, the zanier one, is to just play a healing class, because hear me out, limb attachment on living creatures, again, zany and only if your DM would allow it
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My 2cp worth:
Go for Tiefling but cosmetically you look human & use Entertainer for background to reflect previous "demonic clown" side and then go Lore Bard and using cutting words and bardic inspirations to lean into the clowning side of things, then use Magical Secrets to nab Summon Lesser/Greater Demons to summon your clown demon friends to "perform" in the material realm. Naturally all your friends summoned this way look like demonic clowns.
EDIT: if you want to be more of a pennywise sort of build then check out Tulok the Barbarian on youtueb who does a video on building Pennywise for 5e.