One of my DnD groups have been discussing things lately and trying to decide what class James Bond is. It's been discussed that Bard and Rogue seem the most likely options, but I was curious to other DnD players' opinions on what he would be, and why? If anyone has a stat block they made for him, I think the group would enjoy that too, but we're mostly just curious about what class we think he would be 

Why Bard?

I did a bit of internet diving and build I can find for Bond...James Bond...all seem to be Half Elves with Soldier background and Rogue Inquisitive class.

Quote from Wysperra >>

Why Bard?

 I think it was discussed Bard because they are so generally skilled in many things, and good at getting laid? 

Quote from Wysperra >>

Why Bard?

 Well, for starters Bards are built on Charisma and Rogues are built on Dexterity.  So ... Bard.

College of Lore ... so Bard

Jack of all Trades ... so Bard

Persuasion, Deception, and Intimidation are all Charisma Skills ... so Bard

Doesn't wear Heavy or even Medium armor ... so Bard

Spell Casting ... so Bard

It seems to me there are all sorts of reasons to think James Bond would be a Bard.

I could also see him being built as an unusual Dex/Chr Rogue so you can make him more deadly in melee combat, but James Bond is not really an assassin even if he is "Licensed to Kill."  He tries to achieve his aims without killing most often it seems to me.  But when he does break bad and start killing, it seems more like a magic user slinging fireballs than a rogue stabbing the poor fellow multiple times.  When James Bond goes into killing mode he lays waste to everything half the time.

But if you think he is a Druid or a Barbarian, hey, go for it.  There's room in this hobby for everyone, just not at my table for everyone.

Given some of his fight sequences I would say dex is as important for James bond as charisma.
I am not sure why college of lore in particular
Yes persuasion and deception are cxharisma skills (007 rarely intimidates), acrobatics, sleight of hand and stelth are all dex based.
Neither Bards or Rogues are proficient in medium armor
Spell casting, James Bond, Really?????

I agree I wouldn't see james bond as an assassin, but to me bards are performers and spell casters, James bond is high charisma but many rogue skills are based of charisma.

James Bond is highly skilled at unarmed combat so maybe a splash of monk but no more than a level or 2. He can fight with melee weapons but is most known for using a gun, you could go gunslinger due to this but the core of D&D is a world without guns so I would say dsome sort of bow is the equivelent to a gun.

So I see James Bond as a martial fighter, with little or no armor who is also very high Charisma. That screams Rogue to me but then the question is what sub class, there are several options:

Inquisitive: 007 always knows what the bad guy is about to do and counters it with his attack which fits in with eye for detail and insightful fighting but it is more wisdom and inteligence based

Mastermind: His ability in languages and gaming fits with master of intregue but Q provides the forgeries and he rarely disguiises himself. Misdirection is written into just about every Bond fight sequence

Swashbuckler: This is really an option vbecause of Panache which is very muich a Bond feature to both hostile and non-hostile creatures, the other subclass feature less so,

Wild Card : If allowable I would have to go with this here is something from each subclass feature
Tricks Up the Sleeve:  Your penchant for games has afforded you the ability to subtly manipulate fortune to your favor.
Wild Card's Gambit: Also at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with one of the following gaming sets: (with features based around skill at gaming)
Shifting the odds: You are acutely aware of how to quit when you’re ahead, (OK I don't think 007 has ever actually teleported but getting out of a battle by jumping off a cliff because he happens to be wearing a parachute is pretty close (and it is charisma based).
Joker Wild: You gain resistance to all damage, and are immune to the grappled, paralyzed, stunned, and restrained conditions. Some the the other aspects are less Bondlike but the way BOnd can avoid the bid Bad's plans to incapacitate him and avoid taking serious damage while bullets are firing everywhare fits is with this.

Obviously, he wouldn't be a rogue.

He'd be a Bard.

JAMES Bard.

James Bond is an idealized/romanticized "gentleman spy" and as such is a rather unrealistic character but makes for interesting and exciting stories. He rarely does much sneaking and doesn't benefit from sneak attack because people don't watch a Bond movie to see a re-enactment of a Metal Gear game. They watch it to see him engaging in witty banter with villains, confidently flirting with the villain's girlfriend, getting into a knock down drag out brawl with the villain's bodyguard, then cleverly finishing off the villain in a dramatic and flashy fashion before boinking the villain's newly single girlfriend as the credits roll. 

Sounds to me like any number of flavors of bard could work quite well, as long as they have a bit of fighting ability in addition to the generally expected charisma for days and utility spells (in place of Q's gadgets). Maybe a multiclass with fighter or monk for the fighting part, but bards can be competent in fights, and again their magic can become useful (old James has never shied away from shamelessly using any advantage he can against some big bruiser).

I'd say rogue with either inquisitive or mastermind, and maybe a couple levels of artificer if you want to emphasize his gadgets. But since he doesn't make them himself they'd be better represented as items given to him by an artificer Q. Insightful fighting gives him 'sneak attack' without having to be hiding and taking people by surprise all the time. Allowing him to start reading how an enemy fights and then topple them. 

Bard doesn't make sense to me beyond 'lol bards seduce people' memes. He doesn't cast magic. He doesn't inspire people. He's not musically or artistically inclined. I think Rogue just fits better in general. 

Though, like other fictional characters outside of the scope of D&D, there's really no one singular perfect way to do it. 

Ok, the bond world has no magic while the DND world does so using his lack of spell casting as a reason to limit him to rogue/fighter/monk or combos of them is poor reasoning. His ability to charm the girls into bed could easily be uses of charm person we just aren’t seeing the flashy spell casting. Below is a possible character sheet for him as a L20 valor bard. L20 since he is simply the best. I put his background as sailor since his title is Commander Bond and he served in the navy. He obviously wouldn’t be British, in the FR he would most likely be a special agent of the Cormyrian watch wizards with access to all their stored magic items on an as needed basis so the magic items are sort of his standard issue. Since firearms aren’t present in most worlds I switched him to rapier, dagger, hand crossbow with a wand of magic missiles representing his pistol. I rolled his stats since he shouldn’t start with any deficiencies.  Valor Bard works very nicely for him I think.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/sheet-pdfs/wcwilson82355_60801238.pdf

Sure but even then he doesn't feel very 'bard' to me. Even if you expand the musical part of bards to be more artistic in general, that doesn't fit him. He doesn't really 'inspire' people magically or otherwise. I don't think charm person as a spell really fits him though. He's 'charming' sure but charm person is a magical compulsion, I think he'd just have high CHA rather than using the charm condition on people. And it's not like bards are the only ones that can charm anyway. It feels to me like people go to bard not because it fits how he operates or behaves but because 'James Bond sleeps with people, and there's a meme about bards doing the same thing.' 

And using magic to charm someone into sleeping with you is really creepy when you stop to think about it. But if you wanted to go that route, sorcerer would actually work better than bard for what he does because of the existence of subtle spell. 

Rogue just fits in better with how he generally operates I feel. Even taking the fact that magic doesn't exist in Bond movies into account, bard just feels a bit forced to me when looking at the big picture. 

I go to Bard because he knows so much.  He looks at a painting and knows who painted it, where the artist was living at the time it was painted, and that displaying that painting in a room with that Chinese vase is most inappropriate because of the revolution that was going on in China at that time ...

He drinks a sip of wine and knows what year it was made and says "The cork my have dried out, because there is no aftertaste of almond."

He is given orders to fly to Casablanca and immediately jumps on a plane.  Upon landing, he seeks out a taxi and gives fluent directions to the hotel where he wants to stay in the local language.

So to me, Bond is like a Lore Bard.  The magic is a reflection of his more modern abilities; so his lack of a Walther PPK is offset because he can throw some magic destruction.  His charm is unnaturally effective because in addition to having a high charisma he can enhance it further with magic.  He can sneak around and bypass traps because his magic tips him off the the presence of hazards. And so on ...

Quote from Nyr_Ventus >>

Sure but even then he doesn't feel very 'bard' to me. Even if you expand the musical part of bards to be more artistic in general, that doesn't fit him. He doesn't really 'inspire' people magically or otherwise. I don't think charm person as a spell really fits him though. He's 'charming' sure but charm person is a magical compulsion, I think he'd just have high CHA rather than using the charm condition on people. And it's not like bards are the only ones that can charm anyway. It feels to me like people go to bard not because it fits how he operates or behaves but because 'James Bond sleeps with people, and there's a meme about bards doing the same thing.' 

And using magic to charm someone into sleeping with you is really creepy when you stop to think about it. But if you wanted to go that route, sorcerer would actually work better than bard for what he does because of the existence of subtle spell. 

Rogue just fits in better with how he generally operates I feel. Even taking the fact that magic doesn't exist in Bond movies into account, bard just feels a bit forced to me when looking at the big picture. 

 Part of the problem is that we typically thing of Bards, first as minstrels, only after that as loremasters. The second problem is that we are used to bards being support members of a party, not the leader/hero even they are the face. While Bond has a lot of support from MI6 he is normally out there essentially on his own. At best it’s him, Felix Lieter (CIA) and a Bond girl. Of the 3 he is the clear leader with the other 2 more or less acting more as sidekicks than fellow adventurers. No Bond is definitely not a minstrel, but a lore and combat master bard working as solo investigator works. It’s not how a any of us would typically play a bard I grant but I think skill wise bard works better than rogue. He really doesn’t exhibit the skills of the rogue - he really isn’t all that stealthy more what you would expect from half PB than from 2X PB, very few if any of his “kills” seem to be by surprise (sneak attack) they better fit the effects of things like sharpshooter or CBE. I grant that Bond using magic as part of his seduction is fairly creepy but it’s not much different from using date **** drugs  and Bond is clearly an abuser  and really not a very nice guy.  He is cold and hard inside despite being a charmer outside, and he uses that charm to solve problems for his country. Music scout suggests lore bard and I can see that but that lore skill etc could be him using jack of all trades half proficiency on everything.  I chose valor bard to provide the extra attack making him better in combat.