Welcome, possible contestants, to the fourth monthly Throwdown (Backup Band Edition)!
You may also notice that I am neither DorkForge, Yurei453 ,Third_sundering , norSutlo. However, DorkForge is still taking some time off, and as the last rounds winner, i decided to keep the tradition of last winner does next backup game(modeled after everyone else so far's versions of the contest). I will also be using Yurei's previous version of voting, as I thought it worked quite well last round.
Just as with last round, I will be using a new theme
Concept
The Hunter- they're after you
The shadow hiding in the alley, waiting for them to pass by, ready to capture and bring them back to their patron. The feared man in the mask, interrogating for the position of the noble he needs to kill. Whether it be Boba Fett, Samus Aran, the Mandalorian, Captain Falcon, or Deadpool, one of the most interesting types of characters is the bounty hunter. The bounty hunter will find their target and do anything needed to finish their job.
A reminder for people entering builds:
This character needs to be able to find who their looking for and do whatever they need to. The character needs some form of tracking or contacts to accomplish this. Make sure to tell us if your character has some sort of specialty!
The Rules
- No UA or homebrew rules, only published material. Critical Role content (Gunslingers, Cobalt Soul/Oath of the Open Sea, Blood Hunters) is permitted.
- Stats must be included at each point of the build. Stat arrays can utilize either standard array or point buy, as the builder desires.
- Demonstrate how your build grows, with a description of how it performs at levels 1, 5, 11, 17, and 20 IF YOU DO NOT INCLUDE BREAKDOWNS AT THESE LEVELS, YOUR BUILD WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. If you provide breakdowns at every level, make sure that the ones at these levels are more in-depth than those of any other level. How your character grows, both mechanically and thematically, needs to be clearly spelled out at these levels. Keep us engaged with both, as they are both important.
- Multiclassing is in play; multiclass prerequisites are as per the book(s). Feats are also in play.
- Start your build with a supernatural gift (chosen from the Hollow One or those listed in Mythic Odysseys of Theros) or feat of your choice.
- Any legal species, subspecies, or variant species is valid.
- Magic items are not allowed, unless you’re an artificer using Infusions or otherwise have a way to get magic items from your features (Pact of the Blade, Forge Warlock, etc). EXCEPTION: Characters can use common items with no significant in-game effects, such as prosthetic limbs, ersatz eyes, capes of billowing, or other ‘fluff’ items to help sell their aesthetic/character.
- Your character can use any weapon from first level outward. Expensive armor (anything above a hundred gold) is assumed to be obtained after level 5. FIREARMS ARE ALLOWED AFTER LEVEL 5 (both Exandria and Renaissance versions, no Futuristic or Modern). You are only proficient in them if you are an Artificer, Gunslinger, or have the Gunner feat. If your build uses guns, you must still follow the theme of the build (being "indestructible" and able to take multiple hits). Repeating Shot will be allowed to work with firearms with the Reload (4-6) or Loading properties.
- Catchy names and engaging stories are MANDATORY. Entertain us! Demonstrate your ability to weave words, craft engaging stories, and charm people with your characters as well as your build's numbers! Build a character, not just abuild. Characters have personality, are relatable, and should be people we care about. If you need some examples, here they are: 1, 2, 3
- You can edit your post to fix mistakes or make changes to your build entry(s) at any time before submissions are closed and voting begins. Edits caught after that period will disqualify your build. Catch your typos before the deadline, folks!
Suggested Format
Name (level 20 class/classes) Stats: (Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha) Species Background
First-Level Stats and Commentary
Fifth-Level Stats and Commentary
Eleventh-Level Stats and Commentary
Seventeenth-Level Stats and Commentary
Twentieth-Level Stats and Commentary
ART
You must provide at least one piece of art that fits your character. This can be through the excellent resource of HeroForge to create 3D, fully colored characters of a vast variety of races, or any other piece of art you can find that fits your character (if you use someone else's art, credit them). We need to not only be able to relate to your character, but we also need to see them. (Yes, I'm changing things up a bit. This is an experiment.) The more art, the better!
VOTING
In this contest, each person who votes gets five points they can distribute as they please amongst any/all builds in the Throwdown. Love one build to death? Give it all five points! Can’t quite pick between two great builds? Give one three points and one two! Wanna spread the love? Give five different builds a point each (if you have to, anyways). The winner of the Throwdown will be the build that accumulates the most points once voting is tallied.
Some additional rules: >Each poster only gets one voting post. You’re more than welcome to vote even if you didn’t enter. >If you enter a build, you must submit a vote as well for your build to qualify to win. >Clearly Label your voting post. Examples of acceptable voting posts are in this thread. >You cannot assign points to your own build(s). >You can enter more than one build, so long as they respect the forum’s rules against double posting. >Votes must be cast AFTER the end of submissionand the opening of voting. Any votes cast or points assigned prior to that date will be ignored. Everybody gets a chance to enter. >To encourage feedback: anyone who writes feedback on everyone else’s build in the Throwdown (even just a line or two) gets a bonus point added to their own entry. If they have more than one build, the point will be added to their highest-scoring entry.
This experiment will run until May 25th (or thereabouts), when I will close submissions and open voting. Until I post and say submissions are closed, feel free to enter abuild (or multiple builds). After that, voting will run for roughly a week before I announce an end to the voting stage and start tabulating up a winner.
The only prizes I can offer are the satisfaction of winning, a place in the Hall of Victory in future Throwdowns, and a digital trophy (in the form of this emoji; 🏆).
DorkForge, the originator of these Throwdown contests here in DDB, has a Youtube channel discussing D&D 5e mechanics, character builds, and newly released character options. Recently, DF’s been plugging through the big mess of nonsense that came from Tasha’s Cauldron. Give it a look-see if you enjoy that sort of content.
Throwdown Backup Band #3 : The Villain: There is eeeevil afoot!- TabaxiRogueFighterClericWarlock's Kauss Nielots
Well i think that covers everything, tell me if i did anything wrong in this post and i'll edit it, but until then may the best hunter build win!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
NNCHRIS: SOUL THIEF, MASTER OF THE ARCANE, AND KING OF NEW YORKNN Gdl Creator of Ilheia and her Knights of the Fallen Stars ldG Lesser Student of Technomancy [undergrad student in computer science] Supporter of the 2014 rules, and a MASSIVE Homebrewer. Come to me all ye who seek salvation in wording thy brews! Open to homebrew trades at any time!! Or feel free to request HB, and Ill see if I can get it done for ya! Characters (Outdated)
Gandra added the finishing touches to her painting, a masterpiece by any definition of the word. It had taken her two months, acting in secret, but finally, it was done. No more days of chores and labor. No more chasing game for hours under the grassland's blazing sun. She would miss her family, her home. But she would be something in this world. So tonight was the night she had to leave.
At level one, Gandra is already a formidable tracker. Her expertise in survival gives her a total of +6, and pass without trace almost guarantees that she'll never fail a stealth check. With 13 HP and an average of 10 damage per turn (two handaxes), she's not bad in a fight, either.
Gandra drew her longsword from its sheath, rasping slightly against the cured leather. This was her chance. The job that could change everything. If she took out this one man, she would have enough money to get out of this city of stone, out of this life, and into a studio where she could share her art with the world. She would finally live her dream.
A flicker of motion from around the corner caught the genasi's eye. A plaintive man in the garb of a nobleman, with a golden necklace around his neck. Based on the descriptions of her employer, this was her quarry. Raising her blade, Gandra struck. She didn't miss.
By level five, Gandra's fighting skills have improved significantly. She's exchanged her handaxes and scale mail for a longsword, plate armor, and a shield. With hunter's mark, it's almost impossible for her quarries to escape her, and locate object can help in finding them. Her painting skills also come in handy for sketching pictures of the one(s) she's hunting. For damage, she does 2d8 + 8 + 2d6 per turn (plus 1d8 from Colossus Slayer if both attacks hit), for an average of 24 (28.5 with Colossus Slayer). In addition to that, her +8 survival is nothing to scoff at.
Sold. That was what the sign had said, when she arrived at what would have been her studio. She had taken on other bounties, trying to purchase more and more expensive workshops, but all of them were taken before she got there. And now she knew why. Her employers, the ones who gave her bounties- they would never let her go. They relied on her, keeping her trapped in their little game, acting as their enforcer and their hunter. Until now.
She wouldn't let them use her any longer. She wouldn't dance to their game of holding reward just beyond her reach. Someone would die for this. Multiple someones, if she had her way. And from now on, she swore to gods above that she would always have her way.
At level 11, Gandra is a beast. Tireless essentially boosts her HP by 7 (up to 110), Multiattack Defense makes her much more powerful against foes with multiple attacks, and Nature's Veil allows her to attack from hiding or flee if things look bad. In addition, Whirlwind Attack allows her to excel in fights against multiple enemies. With the combination of Earth Walk and Land's Stride, she effectively ignores most difficult terrain.
For spells, darkvision negates one of her biggest weaknesses, nondetection makes her nigh-impossible to find, and protection from energy helps to shore up her defenses against spellcasters. On the damage side, she now deals an average of 30.5 damage per turn, and much more with Whirlwind Attack.
With a burst of searing light, Gandra cut at the brigand's side, piercing through his ribs and into his heart. Another one down. Her former employers had died almost a year ago, and Gandra had devoted herself to cleansing the world of their contacts and affiliates since then. Every. Single. One.
Some called her a murderer. Others, a vigilante. Both were wrong. She had achieved her dream, in a way. She was the painter of her own destiny. And the path she had chosen was to rid the world of the darkness that had broken her, like it had everything else.
With her multiclass into paladin to signify her chance of goals, Gandra also gains a more viable use of her spell slots- smites. Though some of her spells are very useful (such as hunter's mark and locate creature) the majority wouldn't be used otherwise. Now, she can channel her power into her wrath. Abjure Enemy is also useful, since it prevents her prey from escaping her while also giving them disadvantage on attack rolls.
With Lay on Hands, Gandra also has a reliable way of healing herself, instead of waiting for a long rest to occur. As an added bonus, her Dueling fighting style increases all of her attacks' damage by 2, including Whirlwind Attack. This puts her at an impressive 52.5 damage per turn (more with a higher level smite), with a total possible damage of 146. She manages to maintain a similar DPR for several rounds afterwards.
ASI(s): +2 to Constitution at level 12 and level 17
Gandra slashed at the foes around her, blade dancing in a whirlwind of pain and death. She killed and she killed, but there were too many. It was in her nature to plead, to justify her actions, but she could not. This was the price she had to pay for the murders she had committed. She saw now that they were indeed what so many had called them. But it wasn't in her nature to give in, either.
So as she fell, she painted one last picture. A tapestry of blood and bones and terror. A canvas of night, woven with a needle of sharpened steel. And when she was done, at last, she crumbled, returning to the stone from which she had been formed.
At her full strength, Gandra is powerful by any definition of the word. With Uncanny Dodge, she essentially halves all damage taken by her, and she also has 5th level spell slots for smites. Vanish, in addition to nondetection, also makes her almost impossible to be found. Her +15 to Survival makes her an expert tracker- and with an average of 89 damage on her first turn in battle, she's quite likely to defeat her prey once she finds them.
ASI(s): +2 to Wisdom at level 20
Conclusion Whew! This build was probably the most challenging yet for me, as I was a blank slate on ideas to start off. However, Gandra manages to be an expert hunter while also being an effective scout and damage dealer, with upwards of 60 DPR at higher levels. And, of course, if she gets in a Whirlwind Attack, her damage can increase exponentially. At level 20, with her AC of 21 (25 against multiattacks) she can deflect most attacks, and her HP of 224 (essentially 232) allows her to resist any that hit. For saving throws, she has a decent bonus in the "Big Three" saves (6, 3, and 5 in DEX, WIS, and CON respectively), as well as an almost unsurpassable +11 in Strength. All in all, Gandra is an effective build in combat and exploration.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Sick theme. I'm in. Usually takes me a day or five to to decide on anything but I'm so in.
Okay, I know this much about my build. It will have 14 levels of Armorer Artificer. Figuring out the final details of the build from there, but I know this much.
She's a runaway, turned pirate, turned bounty hunter and uses the Cloak of the Manta Ray, Winged Boots, Helm of Telepathy and Dimensional Shackles.
Sorry this took so long. I was waiting for Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft to come out so I could see what changes the official player content had and possibly use whatever I thought would fit this build. Luckily, the official player options did give me quite a few ideas, so I got to work on my build as soon as I could. I present to you, Scourge the Unrelenting, the Reborn Battle Smith Artificer.
Scourge the Unrelenting
"Wake up,"were the first words Scourge can remember hearing. The demanding tone came from a female figure that was looming over him. He opened his eyes, confused as to where he was, why he was there, and who he was.
"Good, good, you work,"The stern woman remarked, as she marked down something on a clipboard, "Command Set OmegaTriple13 Initiate."
Something clicked mentally inside Scourge, something inside him taking command of his mouth and saying, "Verify Identity."
"Doctor Viktra Mordenheim. Key Word: Cerebellum."
"Project Unbreakable Initiated," Scourge replied. He looked down at the straps that were connecting his body to a slanted table.
"Remove my restraints,"He commanded.
"Very well, my creation. Very well,"She said as she released him. As Scourge stood up, Viktra smiled deviously, "Go find her. Bring my Elise back to me alive. I need the Unbreakable Heart intact. May you succeed where all else have failed."
Scourge
Reborn Battle Smith Artificer 20 Ability Scores: 10 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 12 | 8 Hit Points: 163 Armor Class: 23 (28 with Shield)
Scourge knows nothing of his past. Or, that is to say, nothing about the past of the body parts that he is made up of. He simply knows that he's mostly male and mostly human, but he is also a mixture of elven, half-orcish, and dwarven body parts. His "mother", Dr. Viktra Mordenheim, made it a point to brag to him about how diverse all of his body's and brain's "donors" were, explaining that his natural aptitude for artifice came from a large part of his brain coming from a renowned inventor, with another part coming from an Archmage, his eyes coming from a professional marksman, and his life was jump-started by his blood coming from a powerful sorcerer. Simply put, Scourge was born to be a master hunter.
Scourge has just left his "mother" to begin finding leads about the location of Elise. He has a ring that bears the sign of Dr. Vitra Mordenheim, in order to help intimidate others into giving him leads. If his lacking Charisma fails to convince suspects to give up whatever information they may have, he moves to more unpleasant means of extracting the information he seeks.
Just beginning to learn the trade of bounty hunting, Scourge begins his career focusing on the most important part of his current task: keeping his targets alive. This is why he has Spare the Dying and Cure Wounds, as well as Snare. He currently focuses mainly on using Magic Stone to take down his enemies, using his light crossbow when he doesn't have any rocks handy.
At this level, Scourge is mainly trying to survive in combat. When he does focus on damage using Magic Stone, he does 1d6 + 3 bludgeoning damage, which is an average of 6.5 on a hit. He is pretty good at surviving, though, as he has access to Cure Wounds twice a day, and if he gets knocked down to 0 hp he has advantage on death saving throws thanks to being a Reborn, and if he gets a 16 or higher on the roll, he comes back to consciousness at 1 hit point.
That gives him a 75% chance of coming back at one hit point every time he is knocked to 0 hit points, of course barring a situation where someone finishes him off.
As a peasant walks down a lonely path through the woods, carrying a basket filled with food, nervously checking the area around her for dangerous animals and other unsavory denizens of the dark forests of Lamordia. She flinches as she hears a twig snap, checking for the source of the noise, sighing when she sees that it was only a squirrel. Letting down her guard, she continued down the path, not noticing the trap she stepped into until it wrapped around her foot and suspended her upside-down. As she struggled to escape, a tall figure with gray skin dressed in armor and wielding an array of weaponry stepped into view from behind a thick tree.
Scourge tossed a stone up and down in his left hand before suddenly chucking it at the peasant's forehead, knocking her out cold. Just as she was about to die from her wounds, Scourge stepped forward and administered a shock through the tip of his fingers that revitalized her in an unconscious state.
Scourge smiled. He investigated the basket of goodies that was now scattered across the floor of the forest. He knew he caught the one that was providing food for Elise. Time to find out what she knew.
When his previous tactics to capture Elise failed, Scourge decided to go down a more . . . deadly way of achieving his goal. He heard rumors of the Vistani, travelers from other Domains of Dread, that transported goods and supplies. He heard whispers of a type of weapon more powerful than a typical weapon, one that called thunder and hit others with deadly accuracy, something known as a "Piss-Toll". He reasoned that its name must come from the crack of its thunder being frightening enough to make those who heard it wet themselves. He also heard rumors of the town of Neufurchtenburg having a regular trade with the Vistani in order to obtain similar weapons. However, Scourge wanted to learn how to create a "Piss-Toll", not just take one off of the hands of some commoner. Seeking this powerful weapon, Scourge arranged a meeting with a leader of a Vistani Caravan, Madame Ester the Hexblood Sorceress.
During the meeting, Scourge managed to trade valuable information in return for the secrets of "Piss-Tolls". When he was just about to procure one, he made the mistake of offending Madame Ester, who then refused to sell him the weapon he was seeking. When he tried to take it with force, she cursed him using her Evil Eye, the curse made it so Scourge could never venture from Lamordia into any other Domain of Dread, and marked him for life as an "Unsavory" in the eyes of the Vistani. The curse infused itself into the nature of Scourge, granting him the Fey Touched feat (choosing Hunter's Mark as his first level spell). The pain from the curse wracking his body, he grabbed whatever blueprints were lying on the table and fled the encampment as quickly as he could.
After being cast out of the Vistani camp, Scourge quickly got to work to craft a "Piss-Toll" using his stolen blueprints, having to use his Repeating Shot infusion to make it functional. He also used one of the blueprints he found to craft something called a "Steel Defender", which he named "Menace", taking the form of a huge, metallic wolverine. Through his travelling and gaining blacksmithing experience, Scourge was able to gain much more experience in combat. Not only is he more deadly than before, he also can survive more onslaught than he could before, using Menace to deflect attacks, and a temporary Force-Field when an attack would get close to hitting him.
In combat, Scourge starts with Hunter's Mark, moving Menace into melee, and then uses his firearm, "Piss-Toll". He has a +6 bonus to hit with it, dealing 1d10 + 1d6 + 5 piercing damage on a hit (average of 14), and makes two attacks each Attack action. On his second turn, he also commands Menace to use Force-Empowered Rend, which has a +7 to hit, dealing 1d8 + 3 force damage on a hit (average of 7.5). On his first turn he deals an average of 28 damage, and on his second this bumps up to an average 35.5 damage (assuming all attacks hit).
Scourge and Menace walk through the dark forests of Lamordia at night, scouting the surrounding area for a place to lay an ambush. Scourge got word of where Elise flew to from Scourge's previous run in with Elise, where he failed to capture his target and barely escaped with his life. This time she would not get away. She couldn't. Scourge had prepared as well as he could for capturing her, getting the best armor, weapons, and mechanical servant that he could buy or make. He swore to himself that this time he would succeed, or he would die trying. When he finally found an ideal place to set up his trap at the site he knew Elise would be visiting, he covered himself and Menace in leaves and branches to blend them in. Then he waited.
After just over two hours of waiting, a hunched over female figure with long, white hair whose chest was emitting magical, golden light. It was now or never. Scourge quickly muttered a few arcane words to mark Elise and took his shot, commanding Menace to leap out of the bushes and attack her. The first two shots hit their mark, causing Elise to emit a furious bellow. His Piss-Toll gave him away, making Menace's strikes miss as he struck. Frightened, Elise ran away into the woods, Menace hitting as an opportunity attack as she ran off.
Chasing after her, Scourge ran down the hill that he had been hiding on. Unfortunately, he lost his footing as he ran down, and slid on his face through the moist soil and leaves that covered the forest floor. When he finally got back his bearings, Elise was gone.
Level 11: Heartless
Reborn Battle Smith Artificer 11 Ability Scores: 10 | 14 | 15 | 18 | 12 | 8 Background: Urban Bounty Hunter HP: 80 AC: 21 (+2 Breastplate, Repulsion Shield, Cloak of Protection), 26 with Shield, 23 with Haste, 28 with Haste and Shield Supernatural Gift: Hollow One Feats: Fighting Initiate (Archery), Fey Touched (INT) Skills: Acrobatics, Arcana, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Stealth Other Proficiencies: Thieves' Tools, Smith's Tools, Tinker's Tools, Alchemist's Supplies, Dragonchess, Panpipes Active Infusions: Enhanced Defense, Repulsion Shield, Repeating Shot, Replicate Magic Item: Cloak of Protection Cantrips: Magic Stone, Mending, Spare the Dying 1st-Level Spells: Absorb Elements, Cure Wounds, Heroism, Shield, Snare 2nd-Level Spells: Branding Smite, Darkvision, Magic Weapon, Warding Bond, Web 3rd-Level Spells: Aura of Vitality, Conjure Barrage, Haste, Intellect Fortress, Revivify
Failure, again! Scourge was both physically and metaphorically kicking himself. He knew he needed to train harder, get more experience before he could take on Elise. He needed to test himself, to kill targets more powerful than Elise to be sure that he could take her down the next time they met. He decided to head to Neufurchtenburg, concluding that this would likely be the best town to test himself against.
It was a massacre. Using his Piss-Toll, his Steel Defender, Menace, and magical inventions, he sieged the town. Taking down guardsmen left and right with his quick firearm, tearing apart primitive constructs with Menace's Force-Empowered Rend, and magically blocking all the bullets that would have riddled his body using a defensive shield that he emitted from his Repulsion Shield. They didn't stand a chance. After it was over, Scourge reverse engineered whatever inventions he could find in the town, learning better skills to enhance his combat prowess.
Becoming even more deadly in combat using his firearm, Scourge takes the Fighting Initiate (Archery) feat to improve his accuracy. When Scourge needs to catch up with an escaping target, he casts Haste on himself to double his speed. Furthermore, he becomes even harder to hit, making a magical cloak and repulsion shield to raise his AC as high as possible at this level. Furthermore, Arcane Jolt allows him to deal more damage than he could before, and save the life of targets that he needs to take alive.
Additionally, Scourge is a master at succeeding as saving throws, especially to maintain concentration. Haste grants him advantage on Dexterity saving throws, his Cloak of Protection grants him a +1 bonus to all saving throws, and Flash of Genius allows him to succeed at any near-miss saving throws.
Scourge starts combat with Haste, shooting Piss-Toll once and ordering Menace to attack. He has a +11 bonus to hit with Piss-Toll. On his first turn, Scourge deals 1d10 + 1d8 + 9 damage, which is an average of 19 magical piercing and force damage. On his second turn, he makes three attacks with Piss-Toll and orders Menace to use Force-Empowered Rend once, dealing 3d10 + 1d8 + 19 damage if all 4 attacks hit, which is an average of 40 magical piercing and force damage. Once a turn, if he rolls a low number on Piss-Toll's d10 damage die, he can reroll it and take the new number. If he gets a critical hit with Piss-Toll, he deals 3d10 + 5 piercing damage. The Damage Breakdown is below for after his first round of combat:
Average Damage (all hit, no crits): 40 damage (47 if he uses Arcane Jolt). Maximum Damage (all hit, no crits): 57 damage (64 if he uses Arcane Jolt). Average Damage (all hit, all crits): 77.5 damage (91.5 if he uses Arcane Jolt). Maximum Damage (all hit, all crits): 118 damage (142 damage if he uses Arcane Jolt)
On average, his damage is quite good per turn, but he can do small bursts of Nova damage when he wants/needs to.
Additionally, if someone manages to get Scourge down to 0 hit points, he has a +1 bonus to death saving throws thanks to his Cloak of Protection, advantage on death saving throws thanks to being a Reborn, and comes back up a 1 hit point if he gets a 16 for the death saving throw due to being a Hollow One.
Nervous, Elise ran through the woods at night, keeping an eye on her surroundings and veering away from anything that made her nervous. She was on the move after nearly being captured just over a month ago by a being known only as "Scourge" and his metallic bestial companion "Menace". She had heard of a massacre at Neufurchtenburg from one of her few remaining allies, knowing that this was meant as a sign from Scourge to her. If she was normal, Elise would have broken down in tears weeks ago, but the golden heart that beat inside her chest had warped her mind, body, and her emotions, leaving only her drive to survive as her primary motivation in life. She didn't know her purpose in life, and no longer had the mental capacity to ponder such philosophical issues, only knowing that her survival was key to the future of Lamordia.
As she ran through a small passage between a hill and a cliff, Elise suddenly got stuck in a mass of webbing that had appeared out of nowhere. Frantic, she heard a boom being emitted from her the top of the cliff to her left. She turned towards her stalker, Scourge the Unrelenting, who had found her once more. Too late, Elise dodged to the side, the glowing magical bullet being propelled at high speeds towards her forehead. Her nervous system was only able to alert her of extreme pain as the bullet collided with her hardened skin as she fell unconscious and began to die. As her Unbreakable Heart was about to beat its last few beats, she felt as revitalizing electric energy mended her failing body together in a living, yet dormant state.
Scourge smiled a wicked grin, feeling the sick pleasure of accomplishing his purpose in life. It was too bad that Elise never discovered hers.
"Third time's the charm,"He cackled wickedly as he lifted up Elise's sleeping body and tied her to Menace, "Time to return to Mother."
After Scourge delivered the unconscious and bound body of Elise to Dr. Viktra Mordenheim, his "mother" betrayed him. His purpose had been served, and he had grown to powerful for Viktra to allow him to roam free. When she attempted to subdue him, Scourge broke free of the commands keeping him in place, and fled Schloss Mordenheim, leaping into the Sea of Secrets and hiding at the bottom of the seafloor until he could be sure Viktra had stopped searching for him (as a Reborn, he doesn't need to breath, eat, drink, or sleep, so he could've stayed down there for ages).
Scourge soon travelled to the mainland of Lamordia, stealing away a ship and sailing towards the Mists that bordered Lamordia. He knew that he couldn't escape to any other Domain of Dread due to the Curse of the Vistani Matron, Madame Ester, but also knew that he had no safety so long that he remained in Lamordia. He had to try to escape his frozen, shadowy prison, and failure wasn't an option. Once he was able to pass through the mists, Lamordia's trap on him both physically and spiritually was released. He was deposited from the Mists in the scarred wastelands of the Shadowfell, left to wander for an eternity through the endless dreary, gray wilds of the dark echo of the Material Plane.
Travelling through these wastes gave Scourge the time to perfect his design of Menace, infusing it with magic and giving its external armor more plating (Improved Defender). He had to become smarter, training himself mentally to face the horrors of the dark realm he was now trapped in (using his level 12 ASI to increase his Intelligence by 2), as well as forcing himself to become more deadly and accurate with his firearm (Sharpshooter at level 16). He also was able to replicate the enchantment from his Cloak of Protection into a smaller form; an enchanted ring.
Scourge starts combat as he did before, with Haste, and then attacks once with Piss-Toll. His firearm now deals 1d10 + 6, which is an average of 11.5 damage on a hit (+16 using Sharpshooter, 21.5 damage on a hit) piercing damage on a hit, and has a + 14 bonus to hit with it (+9 when using Sharpshooter, which he uses almost all the time). Menace now deals 1d8 + 6 damage on a hit, which is an average of 10.5 force damage. The damage breakdown for turns after his Haste is up is listed down below:
Average Damage (all hit, no crits): 45 damage (59 with Arcane Jolt, 75 with Sharpshooter, and 89 with both). Maximum Damage (all hit, no crits): 62 damage (86 with Arcane Jolt, 92 with Sharpshooter, and 116 with both). Average Damage (all hit, all crits): 82.5 (110.5 with Arcane Jolt, 112.5 with Sharpshooter, and 140.5 with both). Maximum Damage (all hit, all crits): 130 damage (178 with Arcane Jolt, 160 with Sharpshooter, and 208 with both)
Now Scourge has a +2 bonus to death saving throws, making him even more likely to survive being knocked to 0 hit points (again, unless someone chooses to finish him off).
I escaped. I'm now to the Material Plane. I'm not sure why arriving here was my goal, but I had to hope that it would have a place for me, unlike the Shadowfell. I arrived in a cornfield near a barn. As I left the cornfields and made my way to the barn, a halfling farmer started questioning me about what I was doing in his crops. I explained that I went through a gateway that took me there, and he complained about this always happening. He looked at me strangely, particularly at the golden stitches on my neck and forehead, but he didn't mention it. I'm not sure he's ever seen a . . . whatever I am before he met me. He was kind enough to point me to a major city, and gave me a wooden cart for me to ride in. Menace pulled me to the city, and I began a new life as a professional bounty hunter. I don't need money for food, or drink, or even armor or weaponry, so I am the cheapest bounty hunter of my skillset. I don't mind. This was my purpose in life. If you don't have anything better to do, you might as well do what you're good at, right?
I still feel empty. I know that one day I must return to Lamordia and finish what I started. My Mother can't be allowed to replicate the Unbreakable Heart. I'm in no rush, though. She's not gonna figure it out this quickly. I might as well just sit back and "relax" until fate drags me back to my so called "homeland".
Until then, I wait. And while I wait, I hunt. And none shall escape me. None shall escape the Scourge.
For Scourge's final ASI, he takes Piercer, just to bump up his AC by 1, and his last infusion is an Amulet of Health, bumping up his Constitution from a 15 to a 19, which increases his HP by 40, overall making him be able to take quite a few hits (when he does get hit, that is, which is quite rare given his extremely high AC). At level 20, he gets Soul of Artifice, and given that he's attuned to 5 magic items, he now gets a +5 bonus to all saving throws (including death saving throws, which he already has advantage on due to being a Reborn and a +2 bonus to due to his Cloak and Ring of Protection, making it very, very unlikely for him to fail a death saving throw).
His bonus to hit with Piss-Toll and Menace's Force-Empowered Rend are the same as they were at level 17, and his damage doesn't increase at all from what it was before. He's simply quite a bit harder to kill, which is a major part of his theme (due to being a Reborn). His damage breakdown for this level is identical to that he had at level 17.
Conclusion
Let's cover the strengths and weaknesses of our build. First off, our strengths.
Scourge the Unrelenting is 2 things. First and foremost, he is an extremely reliable and deadly hunter, which is the point of this build. He uses the highest damaging one-handed ranged weapon in the game, and is able to ignore its main restriction; ammunition, due to his use of the Repeating Shot infusion. Not only is he using one of the best weapons in the game, but he also pairs it with Sharpshooter, Piercer, Repeating Shot's benefit to hit and damage rolls and making his weapon attacks magical and dependent on his Intelligence modifier, and will also use Arcane Jolt when he needs to deal Even!More!!!DAMAGE!
And he isn't just deadly, he's also resilient (thus his title "The Unrelenting"). He has magical medium armor with a +2 Dexterity modifier, a magical shield that can push away enemies that come into melee range, a magical cloak, and a magical ring that all statically increase his armor class. Even if someone can manage to hit his already amazing AC, he can boost it by 5 more using a 1st level spell slot as a reaction, and can command his Steel Defender to grant disadvantage on that attack roll if it is within 5 feet of him. Now, as anyone who's been playing 5e for long enough to participate in one of these builds competitions probably knows, you can get around AC easily if you have effects (typically spells) that can damage based on saving throws. Let's take a look at his saving throw bonuses (listed worst to best):
His worst saving throw bonus is a +6, and his best is a +12. 'Nuff said.
Even if you can get him down to 0 hit points, if you don't finish him off (which is difficult when his Steel Defender is still active when he's unconscious and going to protect him, and even though attacks are made at advantage against unconscious targets, his AC is still 23 while unconscious), he's extremely likely to come back to kill you (given that he has advantage on death saving throws with a +7 bonus to them, and the ability to come back at 1 hit point if he gets a 16 or above for the saving throw, which happens anytime he rolls a 9 or higher, which will be most of the time).
Simply put? He's deadly and hard to kill. And not just "deadly", but really deadly, and not just "hard to kill", but really hard to kill.
If you've got Scourge hunting you, good luck. You're going to need it.
Whoo! That's it. I hope you like my build, and I'm excited to start voting in a few days! Good luck to all of you!
Thonum sits in a classroom, bored. Enough with the theoretical scenarios, Thonum just wanted to kill. Mages, in particular.He thinks back to the day his brother died. slain by a mage. well, he would avenge him!!
at this stage, thonum is pretty weak. his main combat tactic is sneaking from the shadows and stabbing people. he pulls this of quite well, with a plus 7 to stealth.
he was poor, dirt poor.so here he was, killing goblins for cash. one day though.... one day.
thonum is now a full fledged assassin. With a plus 10 to stealth, he is nearly undetectable.he has a better sneak attack, and can auto crit when he is concealed. he has learned a bit of druid magic, and uses animals to spy for him.
It was the perfect murder. a friendly squirrel had told him of the defenses, but there was no need to worry. he knew what he was doing.He, was avenging his brother.a guard turned to where he was.a bolt of fire shot out of his fingers, and hit the guard in the neck, killing him instantly. that was the end of that.
thonums offensive abilities have increased drastically. he has ventured into spellcasting, and it will help him a lot. with 2 attacks a turn, he is a killing machine. chromatic orb can help him offensively, and with detect magic he can check for traps ,wards, and the presence of mages.when bystanders investigate, he can cast sleep, or disguise self and melt away.
his quarry would not escape him, as he lurked in the shadows, invisible to all. suddenly, a blur of movement, a scream, and then..... nothing. thonum chuckled to himself. the deed was done.
we picked up some new spells and a few cool abilities, but most importantly, invisibilty. with a +17 to stealth and invis, he is practically impossible to spot.
Thonum and Mordenkainen circle each other, looking for a chance to strike.As mordenkainen prepares to disintegrate him, the inconceivable happens. nothing. thonum quickly seizes the opportunity, running in, stabbing 6 times with his blade and teleporting away. as he watches, the greatest wizard to ever live, dies at his feet. a smile crosses his face, and he fades into darkness.
thonum now has the most useful thing to date. counterspell. he can negate spellcasters attacks, and then teleport away. he is a monster, lurking, and tracking his prey. and he never fails.
Finally, the surprise attack feature and Sneak Attack mean that Ardemn can sneak up on its foes relatively easily, then deal to them 2d6 slashing damage with the greatsword + 1d6 sneak attack damage + 2d6 surprise attack damage . That's 5d6 - a minimum of 5 damage, an average of 15 damage, and a maximum of 30 damage on the rogue's first turn. And as it has advantage to hit, it will quite likely hit.
Sneak Attack doesn't work with greatswords, I think.
Finally, the surprise attack feature and Sneak Attack mean that Ardemn can sneak up on its foes relatively easily, then deal to them 2d6 slashing damage with the greatsword + 1d6 sneak attack damage + 2d6 surprise attack damage . That's 5d6 - a minimum of 5 damage, an average of 15 damage, and a maximum of 30 damage on the rogue's first turn. And as it has advantage to hit, it will quite likely hit.
Sneak Attack doesn't work with greatswords, I think.
correct. it can only be finesse, dex based, or ranged weapons.
Ardemn Idante (Rogue 19 - Assassin / Monk 1) Stats: (Str 10 | Dex 20 | Con 19| Int 8 | Wis 12 | Cha 15) Bugbear Criminal
At 1st level:
With the Bugbear's innate proficiency in Stealth and Expertise increasing that Stealth (assuming we pick for it to keep it's stealth proficiency), the Bugbear is extremely stealthy (+7 to stealth checks).
It's ability scores at this level are, using Standard Array, (Str 10 | Dex 17 | Con 15 | Int 8 | Wis 12 | Cha 13).
It has 10 hit points.
As it has the Long Limbed feature, it can attack from far away in the shadows.
Ardemn takes the Savage Attackerfeat - purely just for pain purposes.
Finally, the surprise attack feature and Sneak Attack mean that Ardemn can sneak up on its foes relatively easily, then deal to them 1d6 slashing damage with the shortsword + 1d6 sneak attack damage + 2d6 surprise attack damage . That's 4d6 - a minimum of 4 damage, an average of 12 damage, and a maximum of 24 damage on the rogue's first turn. And as it has advantage to hit, it will quite likely hit.
At 5th level:
The bugbear takes a single level in Monk, so, as per Tasha's, the Warhammer can count as a monk weapon for the bugbear, and the bugbear has an AC of 15
The Bugbear gains an ASI and adds 2 to Dex, for 19
The bugbear takes the Assassin subclass - now, with it's +10 to stealth, almost all its starting round attacks will be crits.
This means that the bugbear can deal, if it surprises successfully, (1d6 bludgeoning with the warhammer (using two hands) + 2d6 sneak attack damage + 2d6 surprise attack damage) x 2 + 4 damage from dex.
That is a minimum of 10 damage, and a maximum of 68 damage on one hit.
At 11th level:
The bugbear gains 2 ASIs - +1 to Dex (means Dex = 20, AC 16, stealth + 13), and +3 to Con (means Con = 18, average Hit points = 107)
The bugbear now deals roughly (assuming surprise) (1d6 + 5d6 + 2d6) x2 + 5 damage from dex.
That is a minimum of 21 damage and a max of 105 damage.
Seventeenth-Level Stats and Commentary
The bugbear gains 2 ASIs - +1 to Con (means Con = 19, average hit points = 161) and +1 to Cha (Cha = 15 with feat).
The Bugbear takes the Shadow-Touched feat - invisibility means more likely surprise.
Due to the reliable talent feature, the bugbear has a minimum stealth roll - without invisibility - of 27.
Do I need to add the average damage?
Twentieth-Level Stats and Commentary
The bugbear takes the Tough feat - Hit points average equals 228
The bugbear finally gains the death strike feature. This means that the first turn in combat can now be worse!
The bugbear deals an average of, assuming surprise (remember, minimum roll of 27), (1d6 + 10d6 + 2d6) x 2 + 5 damage, and the target must make a Con save - the DC for which is 19. On a failed save, the target takes double damage.
This means the minimum damage is 31 damage, the average damage on a save is is 80, the average damage on a failed save is 160, and the maximum damage on a failed save is 370 damage (I had to get my calculator out to double-check that).
Oh, and this is with non-magic weapons. And no cheats. Just maths.
Don't forget to give is a story and at least 1 piece of art
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NNCHRIS: SOUL THIEF, MASTER OF THE ARCANE, AND KING OF NEW YORKNN Gdl Creator of Ilheia and her Knights of the Fallen Stars ldG Lesser Student of Technomancy [undergrad student in computer science] Supporter of the 2014 rules, and a MASSIVE Homebrewer. Come to me all ye who seek salvation in wording thy brews! Open to homebrew trades at any time!! Or feel free to request HB, and Ill see if I can get it done for ya! Characters (Outdated)
Thonum sits in a classroom, bored. Enough with the theoretical scenarios, Thonum just wants to kill.mages, in particular.
other stuff coming soon. just want to claim a spot
How are his scores so high? And how does he have a 6 in CHA?
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Ardemn Idante (Rogue 19 - Assassin / Monk 1) Stats: (Str 10 | Dex 20 | Con 19| Int 8 | Wis 12 | Cha 15) Bugbear Criminal
At 1st level:
With the Bugbear's innate proficiency in Stealth and Expertise increasing that Stealth (assuming we pick for it to keep it's stealth proficiency), the Bugbear is extremely stealthy (+7 to stealth checks).
It's ability scores at this level are, using Standard Array, (Str 10 | Dex 17 | Con 15 | Int 8 | Wis 12 | Cha 13).
It has 10 hit points.
As it has the Long Limbed feature, it can attack from far away in the shadows.
Ardemn takes the Savage Attackerfeat - purely just for pain purposes.
Finally, the surprise attack feature and Sneak Attack mean that Ardemn can sneak up on its foes relatively easily, then deal to them 1d6 slashing damage with the shortsword + 1d6 sneak attack damage + 2d6 surprise attack damage . That's 4d6 - a minimum of 4 damage, an average of 12 damage, and a maximum of 24 damage on the rogue's first turn. And as it has advantage to hit, it will quite likely hit.
At 5th level:
The bugbear takes a single level in Monk, so, as per Tasha's, the Warhammer can count as a monk weapon for the bugbear, and the bugbear has an AC of 15
The Bugbear gains an ASI and adds 2 to Dex, for 19
The bugbear takes the Assassin subclass - now, with it's +10 to stealth, almost all its starting round attacks will be crits.
This means that the bugbear can deal, if it surprises successfully, (1d6 bludgeoning with the warhammer (using two hands) + 2d6 sneak attack damage + 2d6 surprise attack damage) x 2 + 4 damage from dex.
That is a minimum of 10 damage, and a maximum of 68 damage on one hit.
At 11th level:
The bugbear gains 2 ASIs - +1 to Dex (means Dex = 20, AC 16, stealth + 13), and +3 to Con (means Con = 18, average Hit points = 107)
The bugbear now deals roughly (assuming surprise) (1d6 + 5d6 + 2d6) x2 + 5 damage from dex.
That is a minimum of 21 damage and a max of 105 damage.
Seventeenth-Level Stats and Commentary
The bugbear gains 2 ASIs - +1 to Con (means Con = 19, average hit points = 161) and +1 to Cha (Cha = 15 with feat).
The Bugbear takes the Shadow-Touched feat - invisibility means more likely surprise.
Due to the reliable talent feature, the bugbear has a minimum stealth roll - without invisibility - of 27.
Do I need to add the average damage?
Twentieth-Level Stats and Commentary
The bugbear takes the Tough feat - Hit points average equals 228
The bugbear finally gains the death strike feature. This means that the first turn in combat can now be worse!
The bugbear deals an average of, assuming surprise (remember, minimum roll of 27), (1d6 + 10d6 + 2d6) x 2 + 5 damage, and the target must make a Con save - the DC for which is 19. On a failed save, the target takes double damage.
This means the minimum damage is 31 damage, the average damage on a save is is 80, the average damage on a failed save is 160, and the maximum damage on a failed save is 370 damage (I had to get my calculator out to double-check that).
Oh, and this is with non-magic weapons. And no cheats. Just maths.
Don't forget to give is a story and at least 1 piece of art
Will do! Just sleepy at the moment
understandable, its been a long monday
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NNCHRIS: SOUL THIEF, MASTER OF THE ARCANE, AND KING OF NEW YORKNN Gdl Creator of Ilheia and her Knights of the Fallen Stars ldG Lesser Student of Technomancy [undergrad student in computer science] Supporter of the 2014 rules, and a MASSIVE Homebrewer. Come to me all ye who seek salvation in wording thy brews! Open to homebrew trades at any time!! Or feel free to request HB, and Ill see if I can get it done for ya! Characters (Outdated)
Thonum sits in a classroom, bored. Enough with the theoretical scenarios, Thonum just wants to kill.mages, in particular.
other stuff coming soon. just want to claim a spot
How are his scores so high? And how does he have a 6 in CHA?
I rolled for stats, and mountain dwarf has a +2 to 2 things, which I customized using tashas.
I don't think you're allowed to roll...
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Thonum sits in a classroom, bored. Enough with the theoretical scenarios, Thonum just wants to kill.mages, in particular.
other stuff coming soon. just want to claim a spot
How are his scores so high? And how does he have a 6 in CHA?
I rolled for stats, and mountain dwarf has a +2 to 2 things, which I customized using tashas.
I don't think you're allowed to roll...
rolling is not allowed, otherwise itd be op, only point buy and standard
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NNCHRIS: SOUL THIEF, MASTER OF THE ARCANE, AND KING OF NEW YORKNN Gdl Creator of Ilheia and her Knights of the Fallen Stars ldG Lesser Student of Technomancy [undergrad student in computer science] Supporter of the 2014 rules, and a MASSIVE Homebrewer. Come to me all ye who seek salvation in wording thy brews! Open to homebrew trades at any time!! Or feel free to request HB, and Ill see if I can get it done for ya! Characters (Outdated)
Reserving this spot on page 2 (you madlads already have builds eh?) for my upcoming character, which I have no Idea yet, but I bet I'll come up with one.
BTW the Throwdown should be number 4 not number 3 ;)
Reserving this spot on page 2 (you madlads already have builds eh?) for my upcoming character, which I have no Idea yet, but I bet I'll come up with one.
BTW the Throwdown should be number 4 not number 3 ;)
thanks for telling me, i'll fix that
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NNCHRIS: SOUL THIEF, MASTER OF THE ARCANE, AND KING OF NEW YORKNN Gdl Creator of Ilheia and her Knights of the Fallen Stars ldG Lesser Student of Technomancy [undergrad student in computer science] Supporter of the 2014 rules, and a MASSIVE Homebrewer. Come to me all ye who seek salvation in wording thy brews! Open to homebrew trades at any time!! Or feel free to request HB, and Ill see if I can get it done for ya! Characters (Outdated)
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Welcome, possible contestants, to the fourth monthly Throwdown (Backup Band Edition)!
You may also notice that I am neither DorkForge, Yurei453 , Third_sundering , nor Sutlo. However, DorkForge is still taking some time off, and as the last rounds winner, i decided to keep the tradition of last winner does next backup game(modeled after everyone else so far's versions of the contest). I will also be using Yurei's previous version of voting, as I thought it worked quite well last round.
Just as with last round, I will be using a new theme
Concept
The Hunter- they're after you
The shadow hiding in the alley, waiting for them to pass by, ready to capture and bring them back to their patron. The feared man in the mask, interrogating for the position of the noble he needs to kill. Whether it be Boba Fett, Samus Aran, the Mandalorian, Captain Falcon, or Deadpool, one of the most interesting types of characters is the bounty hunter. The bounty hunter will find their target and do anything needed to finish their job.
A reminder for people entering builds:
This character needs to be able to find who their looking for and do whatever they need to. The character needs some form of tracking or contacts to accomplish this. Make sure to tell us if your character has some sort of specialty!
The Rules
- No UA or homebrew rules, only published material. Critical Role content (Gunslingers, Cobalt Soul/Oath of the Open Sea, Blood Hunters) is permitted.
- Stats must be included at each point of the build. Stat arrays can utilize either standard array or point buy, as the builder desires.
- Demonstrate how your build grows, with a description of how it performs at levels 1, 5, 11, 17, and 20 IF YOU DO NOT INCLUDE BREAKDOWNS AT THESE LEVELS, YOUR BUILD WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. If you provide breakdowns at every level, make sure that the ones at these levels are more in-depth than those of any other level. How your character grows, both mechanically and thematically, needs to be clearly spelled out at these levels. Keep us engaged with both, as they are both important.
- Multiclassing is in play; multiclass prerequisites are as per the book(s). Feats are also in play.
- Start your build with a supernatural gift (chosen from the Hollow One or those listed in Mythic Odysseys of Theros) or feat of your choice.
- Any legal species, subspecies, or variant species is valid.
- Magic items are not allowed, unless you’re an artificer using Infusions or otherwise have a way to get magic items from your features (Pact of the Blade, Forge Warlock, etc). EXCEPTION: Characters can use common items with no significant in-game effects, such as prosthetic limbs, ersatz eyes, capes of billowing, or other ‘fluff’ items to help sell their aesthetic/character.
- Your character can use any weapon from first level outward. Expensive armor (anything above a hundred gold) is assumed to be obtained after level 5. FIREARMS ARE ALLOWED AFTER LEVEL 5 (both Exandria and Renaissance versions, no Futuristic or Modern). You are only proficient in them if you are an Artificer, Gunslinger, or have the Gunner feat. If your build uses guns, you must still follow the theme of the build (being "indestructible" and able to take multiple hits). Repeating Shot will be allowed to work with firearms with the Reload (4-6) or Loading properties.
- Catchy names and engaging stories are MANDATORY. Entertain us! Demonstrate your ability to weave words, craft engaging stories, and charm people with your characters as well as your build's numbers! Build a character, not just abuild. Characters have personality, are relatable, and should be people we care about. If you need some examples, here they are: 1, 2, 3
- You can edit your post to fix mistakes or make changes to your build entry(s) at any time before submissions are closed and voting begins. Edits caught after that period will disqualify your build. Catch your typos before the deadline, folks!
Suggested Format
Name (level 20 class/classes)
Stats: (Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha)
Species
Background
First-Level Stats and Commentary
Fifth-Level Stats and Commentary
Eleventh-Level Stats and Commentary
Seventeenth-Level Stats and Commentary
Twentieth-Level Stats and Commentary
ART
You must provide at least one piece of art that fits your character. This can be through the excellent resource of HeroForge to create 3D, fully colored characters of a vast variety of races, or any other piece of art you can find that fits your character (if you use someone else's art, credit them). We need to not only be able to relate to your character, but we also need to see them. (Yes, I'm changing things up a bit. This is an experiment.) The more art, the better!
VOTING
In this contest, each person who votes gets five points they can distribute as they please amongst any/all builds in the Throwdown. Love one build to death? Give it all five points! Can’t quite pick between two great builds? Give one three points and one two! Wanna spread the love? Give five different builds a point each (if you have to, anyways). The winner of the Throwdown will be the build that accumulates the most points once voting is tallied.
Some additional rules:
>Each poster only gets one voting post. You’re more than welcome to vote even if you didn’t enter.
>If you enter a build, you must submit a vote as well for your build to qualify to win.
>Clearly Label your voting post. Examples of acceptable voting posts are in this thread.
>You cannot assign points to your own build(s).
>You can enter more than one build, so long as they respect the forum’s rules against double posting.
>Votes must be cast AFTER the end of submissionand the opening of voting. Any votes cast or points assigned prior to that date will be ignored. Everybody gets a chance to enter.
>To encourage feedback: anyone who writes feedback on everyone else’s build in the Throwdown (even just a line or two) gets a bonus point added to their own entry. If they have more than one build, the point will be added to their highest-scoring entry.
This experiment will run until May 25th (or thereabouts), when I will close submissions and open voting. Until I post and say submissions are closed, feel free to enter abuild (or multiple builds). After that, voting will run for roughly a week before I announce an end to the voting stage and start tabulating up a winner.
The only prizes I can offer are the satisfaction of winning, a place in the Hall of Victory in future Throwdowns, and a digital trophy (in the form of this emoji; 🏆).
DorkForge, the originator of these Throwdown contests here in DDB, has a Youtube channel discussing D&D 5e mechanics, character builds, and newly released character options. Recently, DF’s been plugging through the big mess of nonsense that came from Tasha’s Cauldron. Give it a look-see if you enjoy that sort of content.
HALL OF VICTORY
Throwdown #1: The Gish – Yurei’s “Aine, Avandra’s Blade”
Throwdown #2: The Terminator – Yurei’s “AS7 ATLAS”
Throwdown #3: The Solo Tour – GoodBovine’s “The Dark Angel”
Throwdown #4: Powergamer’s Potluck – Yurei’s “Yferna, the Feywarden”
Throwdown #5: Spooky Circumstances – Archeolexi’s “Arissa, the Dark Princess”
Throwdown #6: Magus Maximums – Third_Sundering’s “Impending Doom”
Throwdown #7: Dash Action Through the Difficult Terrain - Yurei453's "Santa's Little Helper"
Throwdown Backup Band #1: The Gish 2: Booming Boogaloo - Third_Sundering's "Urik Zorhav the Steelwarden"
Throwdown Backup Band #2: The Terminator 2.0: Judgement Day Will Come - HeironymusZot's "Inoshishi, the demon of Rinkoku" tied with Sutlo's "Little Jacky Oaths - the Iron Rider"
Throwdown Backup Band #3 : The Villain: There is eeeevil afoot!- TabaxiRogueFighterClericWarlock's Kauss Nielots
Well i think that covers everything, tell me if i did anything wrong in this post and i'll edit it, but until then may the best hunter build win!
NNCHRIS: SOUL THIEF, MASTER OF THE ARCANE, AND KING OF NEW YORKNN
Gdl Creator of Ilheia and her Knights of the Fallen Stars ldG
Lesser Student of Technomancy [undergrad student in computer science]
Supporter of the 2014 rules, and a MASSIVE Homebrewer. Come to me all ye who seek salvation in wording thy brews!
Open to homebrew trades at any time!! Or feel free to request HB, and Ill see if I can get it done for ya!
Characters (Outdated)
Okay, I finished my build. I really liked the theme this time.
Heroforge: https://www.heroforge.com/load_config=18099048/
Gandra, Stone Reformed
Earth Genasi Hunter Ranger 16/Vengeance Paladin 4
Ability Scores: 20 | 10 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 8
HP: 224
AC: 19
Background: Folk Hero
Feat: Heavily Armored
Level One: Walker of Plains
Earth Genasi Ranger 1
Ability Scores: 16 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 8
HP: 13
AC: 14 (Scale Mail)
Skills: Animal Handling, Athletics, Investigation, Perception, Survival (Ex)
Spells: Pass Without Trace (Merge with Stone)
Tools: Painter's Supplies
Gandra added the finishing touches to her painting, a masterpiece by any definition of the word. It had taken her two months, acting in secret, but finally, it was done. No more days of chores and labor. No more chasing game for hours under the grassland's blazing sun. She would miss her family, her home. But she would be something in this world. So tonight was the night she had to leave.
At level one, Gandra is already a formidable tracker. Her expertise in survival gives her a total of +6, and pass without trace almost guarantees that she'll never fail a stealth check. With 13 HP and an average of 10 damage per turn (two handaxes), she's not bad in a fight, either.
Level Five: Walker of Stone
Earth Genasi Hunter Ranger 5
Ability Scores: 18 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 8
HP: 49
AC: 21 (Plate, Armored Fighting Style, Shield)
Skills: Animal Handling, Athletics, Investigation, Perception, Survival (Ex)
New Spells: Alarm, Hunter's Mark, Longstrider, Speak with Animals (Primal Awareness), Beast Sense (Primal Awareness), Locate Objecta
Tools: Painter's Supplies
Gandra drew her longsword from its sheath, rasping slightly against the cured leather. This was her chance. The job that could change everything. If she took out this one man, she would have enough money to get out of this city of stone, out of this life, and into a studio where she could share her art with the world. She would finally live her dream.
A flicker of motion from around the corner caught the genasi's eye. A plaintive man in the garb of a nobleman, with a golden necklace around his neck. Based on the descriptions of her employer, this was her quarry. Raising her blade, Gandra struck. She didn't miss.
By level five, Gandra's fighting skills have improved significantly. She's exchanged her handaxes and scale mail for a longsword, plate armor, and a shield. With hunter's mark, it's almost impossible for her quarries to escape her, and locate object can help in finding them. Her painting skills also come in handy for sketching pictures of the one(s) she's hunting. For damage, she does 2d8 + 8 + 2d6 per turn (plus 1d8 from Colossus Slayer if both attacks hit), for an average of 24 (28.5 with Colossus Slayer). In addition to that, her +8 survival is nothing to scoff at.
ASI(s): +2 to Strength at level 4
Level Eleven: Walker in Darkness
Earth Genasi Hunter Ranger 11
Ability Scores: 20 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 8
HP: 103
AC: 21 (Plate, Armored Fighting Style, Shield)
Skills: Animal Handling, Athletics, Investigation, Perception, Survival (Ex)
New Spells: Darkvision, Nondetection, Protection from Energy, Speak with Plants (Primal Awareness)
Tools: Painter's Supplies
Sold. That was what the sign had said, when she arrived at what would have been her studio. She had taken on other bounties, trying to purchase more and more expensive workshops, but all of them were taken before she got there. And now she knew why. Her employers, the ones who gave her bounties- they would never let her go. They relied on her, keeping her trapped in their little game, acting as their enforcer and their hunter. Until now.
She wouldn't let them use her any longer. She wouldn't dance to their game of holding reward just beyond her reach. Someone would die for this. Multiple someones, if she had her way. And from now on, she swore to gods above that she would always have her way.
At level 11, Gandra is a beast. Tireless essentially boosts her HP by 7 (up to 110), Multiattack Defense makes her much more powerful against foes with multiple attacks, and Nature's Veil allows her to attack from hiding or flee if things look bad. In addition, Whirlwind Attack allows her to excel in fights against multiple enemies. With the combination of Earth Walk and Land's Stride, she effectively ignores most difficult terrain.
For spells, darkvision negates one of her biggest weaknesses, nondetection makes her nigh-impossible to find, and protection from energy helps to shore up her defenses against spellcasters. On the damage side, she now deals an average of 30.5 damage per turn, and much more with Whirlwind Attack.
ASI(s): +2 to Strength at level 8
Level Seventeen: Walker of Death
Earth Genasi Hunter Ranger 13/Vengeance Paladin 4
Ability Scores: 20 | 12 | 20 | 10 | 14 | 8
HP: 191
AC: 21 (Plate, Armored Fighting Style, Shield)
Skills: Animal Handling, Athletics, Investigation, Perception, Survival (Ex)
New Spells: Bane, Cure Wounds, Freedom of Movement, Locate Creature (Primal Awareness)
Tools: Painter's Supplies
With a burst of searing light, Gandra cut at the brigand's side, piercing through his ribs and into his heart. Another one down. Her former employers had died almost a year ago, and Gandra had devoted herself to cleansing the world of their contacts and affiliates since then. Every. Single. One.
Some called her a murderer. Others, a vigilante. Both were wrong. She had achieved her dream, in a way. She was the painter of her own destiny. And the path she had chosen was to rid the world of the darkness that had broken her, like it had everything else.
With her multiclass into paladin to signify her chance of goals, Gandra also gains a more viable use of her spell slots- smites. Though some of her spells are very useful (such as hunter's mark and locate creature) the majority wouldn't be used otherwise. Now, she can channel her power into her wrath. Abjure Enemy is also useful, since it prevents her prey from escaping her while also giving them disadvantage on attack rolls.
With Lay on Hands, Gandra also has a reliable way of healing herself, instead of waiting for a long rest to occur. As an added bonus, her Dueling fighting style increases all of her attacks' damage by 2, including Whirlwind Attack. This puts her at an impressive 52.5 damage per turn (more with a higher level smite), with a total possible damage of 146. She manages to maintain a similar DPR for several rounds afterwards.
ASI(s): +2 to Constitution at level 12 and level 17
Level Twenty: Walker of Steel
Earth Genasi Hunter Ranger 16/Vengeance Paladin 4
Ability Scores: 20 | 12 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 8
HP: 224
AC: 21 (Plate, Armored Fighting Style, Shield)
Skills: Animal Handling, Athletics, Investigation, Perception, Survival (Ex)
New Spells: Find Traps
Tools: Painter's Supplies
Gandra slashed at the foes around her, blade dancing in a whirlwind of pain and death. She killed and she killed, but there were too many. It was in her nature to plead, to justify her actions, but she could not. This was the price she had to pay for the murders she had committed. She saw now that they were indeed what so many had called them. But it wasn't in her nature to give in, either.
So as she fell, she painted one last picture. A tapestry of blood and bones and terror. A canvas of night, woven with a needle of sharpened steel. And when she was done, at last, she crumbled, returning to the stone from which she had been formed.
At her full strength, Gandra is powerful by any definition of the word. With Uncanny Dodge, she essentially halves all damage taken by her, and she also has 5th level spell slots for smites. Vanish, in addition to nondetection, also makes her almost impossible to be found. Her +15 to Survival makes her an expert tracker- and with an average of 89 damage on her first turn in battle, she's quite likely to defeat her prey once she finds them.
ASI(s): +2 to Wisdom at level 20
Conclusion
Whew! This build was probably the most challenging yet for me, as I was a blank slate on ideas to start off. However, Gandra manages to be an expert hunter while also being an effective scout and damage dealer, with upwards of 60 DPR at higher levels. And, of course, if she gets in a Whirlwind Attack, her damage can increase exponentially. At level 20, with her AC of 21 (25 against multiattacks) she can deflect most attacks, and her HP of 224 (essentially 232) allows her to resist any that hit. For saving throws, she has a decent bonus in the "Big Three" saves (6, 3, and 5 in DEX, WIS, and CON respectively), as well as an almost unsurpassable +11 in Strength. All in all, Gandra is an effective build in combat and exploration.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
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If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Sick theme. I'm in. Usually takes me a day or five to to decide on anything but I'm so in.
Okay, I know this much about my build. It will have 14 levels of Armorer Artificer. Figuring out the final details of the build from there, but I know this much.
She's a runaway, turned pirate, turned bounty hunter and uses the Cloak of the Manta Ray, Winged Boots, Helm of Telepathy and Dimensional Shackles.
Space reserved for fleshing out this badass.
same.
N/A
Explanation:
Sorry this took so long. I was waiting for Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft to come out so I could see what changes the official player content had and possibly use whatever I thought would fit this build. Luckily, the official player options did give me quite a few ideas, so I got to work on my build as soon as I could. I present to you, Scourge the Unrelenting, the Reborn Battle Smith Artificer.
Scourge the Unrelenting
"Wake up," were the first words Scourge can remember hearing. The demanding tone came from a female figure that was looming over him. He opened his eyes, confused as to where he was, why he was there, and who he was.
"Good, good, you work," The stern woman remarked, as she marked down something on a clipboard, "Command Set OmegaTriple13 Initiate."
Something clicked mentally inside Scourge, something inside him taking command of his mouth and saying, "Verify Identity."
"Doctor Viktra Mordenheim. Key Word: Cerebellum."
"Project Unbreakable Initiated," Scourge replied. He looked down at the straps that were connecting his body to a slanted table.
"Remove my restraints," He commanded.
"Very well, my creation. Very well," She said as she released him. As Scourge stood up, Viktra smiled deviously, "Go find her. Bring my Elise back to me alive. I need the Unbreakable Heart intact. May you succeed where all else have failed."
Scourge
Reborn Battle Smith Artificer 20
Ability Scores: 10 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 12 | 8
Hit Points: 163
Armor Class: 23 (28 with Shield)
Scourge knows nothing of his past. Or, that is to say, nothing about the past of the body parts that he is made up of. He simply knows that he's mostly male and mostly human, but he is also a mixture of elven, half-orcish, and dwarven body parts. His "mother", Dr. Viktra Mordenheim, made it a point to brag to him about how diverse all of his body's and brain's "donors" were, explaining that his natural aptitude for artifice came from a large part of his brain coming from a renowned inventor, with another part coming from an Archmage, his eyes coming from a professional marksman, and his life was jump-started by his blood coming from a powerful sorcerer. Simply put, Scourge was born to be a master hunter.
Level One: A Newborn Killer
Reborn Artificer 1
Ability Scores: 10 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 12 | 8
Background: Urban Bounty Hunter
HP: 10
AC: 17 (Scale Mail, Shield)
Supernatural Gift: Hollow One
Skills: Acrobatics, Arcana, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Stealth
Other Proficiencies: Thieves' Tools, Smith's Tools, Tinker's Tools, Dragonchess, Panpipes
Cantrips: Magic Stone, Spare the Dying
1st-Level Spells: Absorb Elements, Cure Wounds, Snare
Scourge has just left his "mother" to begin finding leads about the location of Elise. He has a ring that bears the sign of Dr. Vitra Mordenheim, in order to help intimidate others into giving him leads. If his lacking Charisma fails to convince suspects to give up whatever information they may have, he moves to more unpleasant means of extracting the information he seeks.
Just beginning to learn the trade of bounty hunting, Scourge begins his career focusing on the most important part of his current task: keeping his targets alive. This is why he has Spare the Dying and Cure Wounds, as well as Snare. He currently focuses mainly on using Magic Stone to take down his enemies, using his light crossbow when he doesn't have any rocks handy.
At this level, Scourge is mainly trying to survive in combat. When he does focus on damage using Magic Stone, he does 1d6 + 3 bludgeoning damage, which is an average of 6.5 on a hit. He is pretty good at surviving, though, as he has access to Cure Wounds twice a day, and if he gets knocked down to 0 hp he has advantage on death saving throws thanks to being a Reborn, and if he gets a 16 or higher on the roll, he comes back to consciousness at 1 hit point.
That gives him a 75% chance of coming back at one hit point every time he is knocked to 0 hit points, of course barring a situation where someone finishes him off.
As a peasant walks down a lonely path through the woods, carrying a basket filled with food, nervously checking the area around her for dangerous animals and other unsavory denizens of the dark forests of Lamordia. She flinches as she hears a twig snap, checking for the source of the noise, sighing when she sees that it was only a squirrel. Letting down her guard, she continued down the path, not noticing the trap she stepped into until it wrapped around her foot and suspended her upside-down. As she struggled to escape, a tall figure with gray skin dressed in armor and wielding an array of weaponry stepped into view from behind a thick tree.
Scourge tossed a stone up and down in his left hand before suddenly chucking it at the peasant's forehead, knocking her out cold. Just as she was about to die from her wounds, Scourge stepped forward and administered a shock through the tip of his fingers that revitalized her in an unconscious state.
Scourge smiled. He investigated the basket of goodies that was now scattered across the floor of the forest. He knew he caught the one that was providing food for Elise. Time to find out what she knew.
Level Five: The Dreaded Gunslinger
Reborn Battle Smith Artificer 5
Ability Scores: 10 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 12 | 8
Background: Urban Bounty Hunter
HP: 38
AC: 19 (+1 Breastplate, Shield), 24 with Shield
Supernatural Gift: Hollow One
Feats: Fey Touched (INT)
Skills: Acrobatics, Arcana, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Stealth
Other Proficiencies: Thieves' Tools, Smith's Tools, Tinker's Tools, Alchemist's Supplies, Dragonchess, Panpipes
Active Infusions: Enhanced Defense, Repeating Shot
Cantrips: Magic Stone, Spare the Dying
1st-Level Spells: Absorb Elements, Cure Wounds, Heroism, Shield, Snare
2nd-Level Spells: Branding Smite, Darkvision, Magic Weapon, Warding Bond, Web
When his previous tactics to capture Elise failed, Scourge decided to go down a more . . . deadly way of achieving his goal. He heard rumors of the Vistani, travelers from other Domains of Dread, that transported goods and supplies. He heard whispers of a type of weapon more powerful than a typical weapon, one that called thunder and hit others with deadly accuracy, something known as a "Piss-Toll". He reasoned that its name must come from the crack of its thunder being frightening enough to make those who heard it wet themselves. He also heard rumors of the town of Neufurchtenburg having a regular trade with the Vistani in order to obtain similar weapons. However, Scourge wanted to learn how to create a "Piss-Toll", not just take one off of the hands of some commoner. Seeking this powerful weapon, Scourge arranged a meeting with a leader of a Vistani Caravan, Madame Ester the Hexblood Sorceress.
During the meeting, Scourge managed to trade valuable information in return for the secrets of "Piss-Tolls". When he was just about to procure one, he made the mistake of offending Madame Ester, who then refused to sell him the weapon he was seeking. When he tried to take it with force, she cursed him using her Evil Eye, the curse made it so Scourge could never venture from Lamordia into any other Domain of Dread, and marked him for life as an "Unsavory" in the eyes of the Vistani. The curse infused itself into the nature of Scourge, granting him the Fey Touched feat (choosing Hunter's Mark as his first level spell). The pain from the curse wracking his body, he grabbed whatever blueprints were lying on the table and fled the encampment as quickly as he could.
After being cast out of the Vistani camp, Scourge quickly got to work to craft a "Piss-Toll" using his stolen blueprints, having to use his Repeating Shot infusion to make it functional. He also used one of the blueprints he found to craft something called a "Steel Defender", which he named "Menace", taking the form of a huge, metallic wolverine. Through his travelling and gaining blacksmithing experience, Scourge was able to gain much more experience in combat. Not only is he more deadly than before, he also can survive more onslaught than he could before, using Menace to deflect attacks, and a temporary Force-Field when an attack would get close to hitting him.
In combat, Scourge starts with Hunter's Mark, moving Menace into melee, and then uses his firearm, "Piss-Toll". He has a +6 bonus to hit with it, dealing 1d10 + 1d6 + 5 piercing damage on a hit (average of 14), and makes two attacks each Attack action. On his second turn, he also commands Menace to use Force-Empowered Rend, which has a +7 to hit, dealing 1d8 + 3 force damage on a hit (average of 7.5). On his first turn he deals an average of 28 damage, and on his second this bumps up to an average 35.5 damage (assuming all attacks hit).
Scourge and Menace walk through the dark forests of Lamordia at night, scouting the surrounding area for a place to lay an ambush. Scourge got word of where Elise flew to from Scourge's previous run in with Elise, where he failed to capture his target and barely escaped with his life. This time she would not get away. She couldn't. Scourge had prepared as well as he could for capturing her, getting the best armor, weapons, and mechanical servant that he could buy or make. He swore to himself that this time he would succeed, or he would die trying. When he finally found an ideal place to set up his trap at the site he knew Elise would be visiting, he covered himself and Menace in leaves and branches to blend them in. Then he waited.
After just over two hours of waiting, a hunched over female figure with long, white hair whose chest was emitting magical, golden light. It was now or never. Scourge quickly muttered a few arcane words to mark Elise and took his shot, commanding Menace to leap out of the bushes and attack her. The first two shots hit their mark, causing Elise to emit a furious bellow. His Piss-Toll gave him away, making Menace's strikes miss as he struck. Frightened, Elise ran away into the woods, Menace hitting as an opportunity attack as she ran off.
Chasing after her, Scourge ran down the hill that he had been hiding on. Unfortunately, he lost his footing as he ran down, and slid on his face through the moist soil and leaves that covered the forest floor. When he finally got back his bearings, Elise was gone.
Level 11: Heartless
Reborn Battle Smith Artificer 11
Ability Scores: 10 | 14 | 15 | 18 | 12 | 8
Background: Urban Bounty Hunter
HP: 80
AC: 21 (+2 Breastplate, Repulsion Shield, Cloak of Protection), 26 with Shield, 23 with Haste, 28 with Haste and Shield
Supernatural Gift: Hollow One
Feats: Fighting Initiate (Archery), Fey Touched (INT)
Skills: Acrobatics, Arcana, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Stealth
Other Proficiencies: Thieves' Tools, Smith's Tools, Tinker's Tools, Alchemist's Supplies, Dragonchess, Panpipes
Active Infusions: Enhanced Defense, Repulsion Shield, Repeating Shot, Replicate Magic Item: Cloak of Protection
Cantrips: Magic Stone, Mending, Spare the Dying
1st-Level Spells: Absorb Elements, Cure Wounds, Heroism, Shield, Snare
2nd-Level Spells: Branding Smite, Darkvision, Magic Weapon, Warding Bond, Web
3rd-Level Spells: Aura of Vitality, Conjure Barrage, Haste, Intellect Fortress, Revivify
Failure, again! Scourge was both physically and metaphorically kicking himself. He knew he needed to train harder, get more experience before he could take on Elise. He needed to test himself, to kill targets more powerful than Elise to be sure that he could take her down the next time they met. He decided to head to Neufurchtenburg, concluding that this would likely be the best town to test himself against.
It was a massacre. Using his Piss-Toll, his Steel Defender, Menace, and magical inventions, he sieged the town. Taking down guardsmen left and right with his quick firearm, tearing apart primitive constructs with Menace's Force-Empowered Rend, and magically blocking all the bullets that would have riddled his body using a defensive shield that he emitted from his Repulsion Shield. They didn't stand a chance. After it was over, Scourge reverse engineered whatever inventions he could find in the town, learning better skills to enhance his combat prowess.
Becoming even more deadly in combat using his firearm, Scourge takes the Fighting Initiate (Archery) feat to improve his accuracy. When Scourge needs to catch up with an escaping target, he casts Haste on himself to double his speed. Furthermore, he becomes even harder to hit, making a magical cloak and repulsion shield to raise his AC as high as possible at this level. Furthermore, Arcane Jolt allows him to deal more damage than he could before, and save the life of targets that he needs to take alive.
Additionally, Scourge is a master at succeeding as saving throws, especially to maintain concentration. Haste grants him advantage on Dexterity saving throws, his Cloak of Protection grants him a +1 bonus to all saving throws, and Flash of Genius allows him to succeed at any near-miss saving throws.
Scourge starts combat with Haste, shooting Piss-Toll once and ordering Menace to attack. He has a +11 bonus to hit with Piss-Toll. On his first turn, Scourge deals 1d10 + 1d8 + 9 damage, which is an average of 19 magical piercing and force damage. On his second turn, he makes three attacks with Piss-Toll and orders Menace to use Force-Empowered Rend once, dealing 3d10 + 1d8 + 19 damage if all 4 attacks hit, which is an average of 40 magical piercing and force damage. Once a turn, if he rolls a low number on Piss-Toll's d10 damage die, he can reroll it and take the new number. If he gets a critical hit with Piss-Toll, he deals 3d10 + 5 piercing damage. The Damage Breakdown is below for after his first round of combat:
Average Damage (all hit, no crits): 40 damage (47 if he uses Arcane Jolt).
Maximum Damage (all hit, no crits): 57 damage (64 if he uses Arcane Jolt).
Average Damage (all hit, all crits): 77.5 damage (91.5 if he uses Arcane Jolt).
Maximum Damage (all hit, all crits): 118 damage (142 damage if he uses Arcane Jolt)
On average, his damage is quite good per turn, but he can do small bursts of Nova damage when he wants/needs to.
Additionally, if someone manages to get Scourge down to 0 hit points, he has a +1 bonus to death saving throws thanks to his Cloak of Protection, advantage on death saving throws thanks to being a Reborn, and comes back up a 1 hit point if he gets a 16 for the death saving throw due to being a Hollow One.
Nervous, Elise ran through the woods at night, keeping an eye on her surroundings and veering away from anything that made her nervous. She was on the move after nearly being captured just over a month ago by a being known only as "Scourge" and his metallic bestial companion "Menace". She had heard of a massacre at Neufurchtenburg from one of her few remaining allies, knowing that this was meant as a sign from Scourge to her. If she was normal, Elise would have broken down in tears weeks ago, but the golden heart that beat inside her chest had warped her mind, body, and her emotions, leaving only her drive to survive as her primary motivation in life. She didn't know her purpose in life, and no longer had the mental capacity to ponder such philosophical issues, only knowing that her survival was key to the future of Lamordia.
As she ran through a small passage between a hill and a cliff, Elise suddenly got stuck in a mass of webbing that had appeared out of nowhere. Frantic, she heard a boom being emitted from her the top of the cliff to her left. She turned towards her stalker, Scourge the Unrelenting, who had found her once more. Too late, Elise dodged to the side, the glowing magical bullet being propelled at high speeds towards her forehead. Her nervous system was only able to alert her of extreme pain as the bullet collided with her hardened skin as she fell unconscious and began to die. As her Unbreakable Heart was about to beat its last few beats, she felt as revitalizing electric energy mended her failing body together in a living, yet dormant state.
Scourge smiled a wicked grin, feeling the sick pleasure of accomplishing his purpose in life. It was too bad that Elise never discovered hers.
"Third time's the charm," He cackled wickedly as he lifted up Elise's sleeping body and tied her to Menace, "Time to return to Mother."
Level 17: An Aimless Marksman
Reborn Battle Smith Artificer 17
Ability Scores: 10 | 14 | 15 | 20 | 12 | 8
Background: Urban Bounty Hunter
HP: 122
AC: 22 (+2 Breastplate, Repulsion Shield, Cloak of Protection, Ring of Protection), 27 with Shield, 24 with Haste, 29 with Haste and Shield
Supernatural Gift: Hollow One
Feats: Fighting Initiate (Archery), Fey Touched (INT), Sharpshooter
Skills: Acrobatics, Arcana, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Stealth
Other Proficiencies: Thieves' Tools, Smith's Tools, Tinker's Tools, Alchemist's Supplies, Dragonchess, Panpipes
Active Infusions: Enhanced Defense, Repulsion Shield, Repeating Shot, Replicate Magic Item: Cloak of Protection, Replicate Magic Item: Ring of Protection
Cantrips: Magic Stone, Mending, Prestidigitation, Spare the Dying
1st-Level Spells: Absorb Elements, Cure Wounds, Heroism, Shield, Snare
2nd-Level Spells: Branding Smite, Darkvision, Magic Weapon, Warding Bond, Web
3rd-Level Spells: Aura of Vitality, Conjure Barrage, Haste, Intellect Fortress, Revivify
4th-Level Spells: Arcane Eye, Aura of Purity, Fire Shield, Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound
5th-Level Spells: Banishing Smite, Bigby's Hand, Mass Cure Wounds
After Scourge delivered the unconscious and bound body of Elise to Dr. Viktra Mordenheim, his "mother" betrayed him. His purpose had been served, and he had grown to powerful for Viktra to allow him to roam free. When she attempted to subdue him, Scourge broke free of the commands keeping him in place, and fled Schloss Mordenheim, leaping into the Sea of Secrets and hiding at the bottom of the seafloor until he could be sure Viktra had stopped searching for him (as a Reborn, he doesn't need to breath, eat, drink, or sleep, so he could've stayed down there for ages).
Scourge soon travelled to the mainland of Lamordia, stealing away a ship and sailing towards the Mists that bordered Lamordia. He knew that he couldn't escape to any other Domain of Dread due to the Curse of the Vistani Matron, Madame Ester, but also knew that he had no safety so long that he remained in Lamordia. He had to try to escape his frozen, shadowy prison, and failure wasn't an option. Once he was able to pass through the mists, Lamordia's trap on him both physically and spiritually was released. He was deposited from the Mists in the scarred wastelands of the Shadowfell, left to wander for an eternity through the endless dreary, gray wilds of the dark echo of the Material Plane.
Travelling through these wastes gave Scourge the time to perfect his design of Menace, infusing it with magic and giving its external armor more plating (Improved Defender). He had to become smarter, training himself mentally to face the horrors of the dark realm he was now trapped in (using his level 12 ASI to increase his Intelligence by 2), as well as forcing himself to become more deadly and accurate with his firearm (Sharpshooter at level 16). He also was able to replicate the enchantment from his Cloak of Protection into a smaller form; an enchanted ring.
Scourge starts combat as he did before, with Haste, and then attacks once with Piss-Toll. His firearm now deals 1d10 + 6, which is an average of 11.5 damage on a hit (+16 using Sharpshooter, 21.5 damage on a hit) piercing damage on a hit, and has a + 14 bonus to hit with it (+9 when using Sharpshooter, which he uses almost all the time). Menace now deals 1d8 + 6 damage on a hit, which is an average of 10.5 force damage. The damage breakdown for turns after his Haste is up is listed down below:
Average Damage (all hit, no crits): 45 damage (59 with Arcane Jolt, 75 with Sharpshooter, and 89 with both).
Maximum Damage (all hit, no crits): 62 damage (86 with Arcane Jolt, 92 with Sharpshooter, and 116 with both).
Average Damage (all hit, all crits): 82.5 (110.5 with Arcane Jolt, 112.5 with Sharpshooter, and 140.5 with both).
Maximum Damage (all hit, all crits): 130 damage (178 with Arcane Jolt, 160 with Sharpshooter, and 208 with both)
Now Scourge has a +2 bonus to death saving throws, making him even more likely to survive being knocked to 0 hit points (again, unless someone chooses to finish him off).
I escaped. I'm now to the Material Plane. I'm not sure why arriving here was my goal, but I had to hope that it would have a place for me, unlike the Shadowfell. I arrived in a cornfield near a barn. As I left the cornfields and made my way to the barn, a halfling farmer started questioning me about what I was doing in his crops. I explained that I went through a gateway that took me there, and he complained about this always happening. He looked at me strangely, particularly at the golden stitches on my neck and forehead, but he didn't mention it. I'm not sure he's ever seen a . . . whatever I am before he met me. He was kind enough to point me to a major city, and gave me a wooden cart for me to ride in. Menace pulled me to the city, and I began a new life as a professional bounty hunter. I don't need money for food, or drink, or even armor or weaponry, so I am the cheapest bounty hunter of my skillset. I don't mind. This was my purpose in life. If you don't have anything better to do, you might as well do what you're good at, right?
I still feel empty. I know that one day I must return to Lamordia and finish what I started. My Mother can't be allowed to replicate the Unbreakable Heart. I'm in no rush, though. She's not gonna figure it out this quickly. I might as well just sit back and "relax" until fate drags me back to my so called "homeland".
Until then, I wait. And while I wait, I hunt. And none shall escape me. None shall escape the Scourge.
Level 20: Unrelenting Assassin
Reborn Battle Smith Artificer 20
Ability Scores: 10 | 14 | 19 | 20 | 12 | 8
Background: Urban Bounty Hunter
HP: 183
AC: 23 (+2 Breastplate, Repulsion Shield, Cloak of Protection, Ring of Protection), 28 with Shield, 25 with Haste, 30 with Haste and Shield
Supernatural Gift: Hollow One
Feats: Fighting Initiate (Archery) at Level 1, Fey Touched (INT) at level 4, Piercer (DEX) at level 8, Sharpshooter at level 16, Piercer at level 19
Skills: Acrobatics, Arcana, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Stealth
Other Proficiencies: Thieves' Tools, Smith's Tools, Tinker's Tools, Alchemist's Supplies, Dragonchess, Panpipes
Active Infusions: Enhanced Defense, Repulsion Shield, Repeating Shot, Replicate Magic Item: Cloak of Protection, Replicate Magic Item: Ring of Protection
Cantrips: Magic Stone, Mending, Prestidigitation, Spare the Dying
1st-Level Spells: Absorb Elements, Cure Wounds, Heroism, Shield, Snare
2nd-Level Spells: Branding Smite, Darkvision, Magic Weapon, Warding Bond, Web
3rd-Level Spells: Aura of Vitality, Conjure Barrage, Haste, Intellect Fortress, Revivify
4th-Level Spells: Arcane Eye, Aura of Purity, Fire Shield, Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound
5th-Level Spells: Banishing Smite, Bigby's Hand, Summon Construct, Mass Cure Wounds, Skill Empowerment
For Scourge's final ASI, he takes Piercer, just to bump up his AC by 1, and his last infusion is an Amulet of Health, bumping up his Constitution from a 15 to a 19, which increases his HP by 40, overall making him be able to take quite a few hits (when he does get hit, that is, which is quite rare given his extremely high AC). At level 20, he gets Soul of Artifice, and given that he's attuned to 5 magic items, he now gets a +5 bonus to all saving throws (including death saving throws, which he already has advantage on due to being a Reborn and a +2 bonus to due to his Cloak and Ring of Protection, making it very, very unlikely for him to fail a death saving throw).
His bonus to hit with Piss-Toll and Menace's Force-Empowered Rend are the same as they were at level 17, and his damage doesn't increase at all from what it was before. He's simply quite a bit harder to kill, which is a major part of his theme (due to being a Reborn). His damage breakdown for this level is identical to that he had at level 17.
Conclusion
Let's cover the strengths and weaknesses of our build. First off, our strengths.
Scourge the Unrelenting is 2 things. First and foremost, he is an extremely reliable and deadly hunter, which is the point of this build. He uses the highest damaging one-handed ranged weapon in the game, and is able to ignore its main restriction; ammunition, due to his use of the Repeating Shot infusion. Not only is he using one of the best weapons in the game, but he also pairs it with Sharpshooter, Piercer, Repeating Shot's benefit to hit and damage rolls and making his weapon attacks magical and dependent on his Intelligence modifier, and will also use Arcane Jolt when he needs to deal Even! More!!! DAMAGE!
And he isn't just deadly, he's also resilient (thus his title "The Unrelenting"). He has magical medium armor with a +2 Dexterity modifier, a magical shield that can push away enemies that come into melee range, a magical cloak, and a magical ring that all statically increase his armor class. Even if someone can manage to hit his already amazing AC, he can boost it by 5 more using a 1st level spell slot as a reaction, and can command his Steel Defender to grant disadvantage on that attack roll if it is within 5 feet of him. Now, as anyone who's been playing 5e for long enough to participate in one of these builds competitions probably knows, you can get around AC easily if you have effects (typically spells) that can damage based on saving throws. Let's take a look at his saving throw bonuses (listed worst to best):
Charisma: +6
Death: +7
Strength: +7
Wisdom: +8
Dexterity: +9
Constitution: +11
Intelligence: +12
His worst saving throw bonus is a +6, and his best is a +12. 'Nuff said.
Even if you can get him down to 0 hit points, if you don't finish him off (which is difficult when his Steel Defender is still active when he's unconscious and going to protect him, and even though attacks are made at advantage against unconscious targets, his AC is still 23 while unconscious), he's extremely likely to come back to kill you (given that he has advantage on death saving throws with a +7 bonus to them, and the ability to come back at 1 hit point if he gets a 16 or above for the saving throw, which happens anytime he rolls a 9 or higher, which will be most of the time).
Simply put? He's deadly and hard to kill. And not just "deadly", but really deadly, and not just "hard to kill", but really hard to kill.
If you've got Scourge hunting you, good luck. You're going to need it.
Whoo! That's it. I hope you like my build, and I'm excited to start voting in a few days! Good luck to all of you!
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
I’ll hopefully find time to do this. Looks fun!
RIP Tavern.
All hail King Jovan Fluffycloud Prince
Teleporting elf monk supremacy!, but druids are better
[Cactus]Waffles!”I don’t have any good quotes to put in my sig.” -Me
heroforge https://www.heroforge.com/load_config=18100511/
Thonum steelskull
Mountain dwarf rogue assassin 5, fighter eldritch knight 15.
Ability Scores: 18 | 20 | 12 | 20 | 10 | 8
HP: 138
AC: 17(studded leather)
Background: Urchin
Feats: magic initiate (druid)
"wizards may be sparkly, but it just makes it easier for me to to crack their skulls."
Level One: student
Mountain dwarf rogue
Ability Scores: 15 | 17 | 12 | 14| 10| 8
HP: 9
AC: 15 (studded leather)
Skills: , Insight, Investigation, Perception(Ex), sleight of hand, stealth(Ex), Survival
Tools: , Disguise Kit, masons tools, Thieves' Tools, poisoners tools
Spells: none.
Thonum sits in a classroom, bored. Enough with the theoretical scenarios, Thonum just wanted to kill. Mages, in particular.He thinks back to the day his brother died. slain by a mage. well, he would avenge him!!
Level five:hired hunter
Mountain dwarf rogue assassin 5
Ability Scores: 16 | 18| 12 | 14 | 10 | 8
HP: 33
AC: 16(studded leather)
Skills: , Insight, Investigation, Perception(Ex), sleight of hand, stealth(Ex), Survival
Tools: , Disguise Kit, masons tools, Thieves' Tools, poisoners tools
Spells: none.
he was poor, dirt poor.so here he was, killing goblins for cash. one day though.... one day.
Level eleven:bane of bards
Mountain dwarf rogue assassin 5/eldritch knight fighter 6
Ability Scores: 16| 20| 12 | 16 | 10 | 8
HP: 75
AC: 17 (studded leather)
Skills: , Insight, Investigation, Perception(Ex), sleight of hand, stealth(Ex), Survival
Tools: , Disguise Kit, masons tools, Thieves' Tools, poisoners tools
Spells: Fire Bolt, Minor Illusion, Chromatic Orb, Detect Magic, Disguise Self, Sleep
It was the perfect murder. a friendly squirrel had told him of the defenses, but there was no need to worry. he knew what he was doing.He, was avenging his brother.a guard turned to where he was.a bolt of fire shot out of his fingers, and hit the guard in the neck, killing him instantly. that was the end of that.
Level seventeen:sorcerer slayer.
Mountain dwarf rogue assassin 5/eldritch knight fighter 12
Ability Scores: 18 | 20| 12 | 18 | 10 | 8
HP: 117
AC: 17 (studded leather)
Skills: , Insight, Investigation, Perception(Ex), sleight of hand, stealth(Ex), Survival
Tools: , Disguise Kit, masons tools, Thieves' Tools, poisoners tools
new Spells: invisibility, see invisibility, misty step, darkness
his quarry would not escape him, as he lurked in the shadows, invisible to all. suddenly, a blur of movement, a scream, and then..... nothing. thonum chuckled to himself. the deed was done.
level 20: Mordenkainens murderer.
Mountain dwarf rogue assassin 5/eldritch knight fighter 12
Ability Scores: 18| 20| 12 | 20 | 10| 8
HP: 138
AC: 17 (studded leather)
Skills: , Insight, Investigation, Perception(Ex), sleight of hand, stealth(Ex), Survival
Tools: , Disguise Kit, masons tools, Thieves' Tools, poisoners tools
new Spells: counterspell, dispel magic,
Thonum and Mordenkainen circle each other, looking for a chance to strike.As mordenkainen prepares to disintegrate him, the inconceivable happens. nothing. thonum quickly seizes the opportunity, running in, stabbing 6 times with his blade and teleporting away. as he watches, the greatest wizard to ever live, dies at his feet. a smile crosses his face, and he fades into darkness.
N/A
Sneak Attack doesn't work with greatswords, I think.
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
correct. it can only be finesse, dex based, or ranged weapons.
so definitely not a greatsword
N/A
Don't forget to give is a story and at least 1 piece of art
NNCHRIS: SOUL THIEF, MASTER OF THE ARCANE, AND KING OF NEW YORKNN
Gdl Creator of Ilheia and her Knights of the Fallen Stars ldG
Lesser Student of Technomancy [undergrad student in computer science]
Supporter of the 2014 rules, and a MASSIVE Homebrewer. Come to me all ye who seek salvation in wording thy brews!
Open to homebrew trades at any time!! Or feel free to request HB, and Ill see if I can get it done for ya!
Characters (Outdated)
How are his scores so high? And how does he have a 6 in CHA?
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
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If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
understandable, its been a long monday
NNCHRIS: SOUL THIEF, MASTER OF THE ARCANE, AND KING OF NEW YORKNN
Gdl Creator of Ilheia and her Knights of the Fallen Stars ldG
Lesser Student of Technomancy [undergrad student in computer science]
Supporter of the 2014 rules, and a MASSIVE Homebrewer. Come to me all ye who seek salvation in wording thy brews!
Open to homebrew trades at any time!! Or feel free to request HB, and Ill see if I can get it done for ya!
Characters (Outdated)
I rolled for stats, and mountain dwarf has a +2 to 2 things, which I customized using tashas.
N/A
I don't think you're allowed to roll...
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
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If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
rolling is not allowed, otherwise itd be op, only point buy and standard
NNCHRIS: SOUL THIEF, MASTER OF THE ARCANE, AND KING OF NEW YORKNN
Gdl Creator of Ilheia and her Knights of the Fallen Stars ldG
Lesser Student of Technomancy [undergrad student in computer science]
Supporter of the 2014 rules, and a MASSIVE Homebrewer. Come to me all ye who seek salvation in wording thy brews!
Open to homebrew trades at any time!! Or feel free to request HB, and Ill see if I can get it done for ya!
Characters (Outdated)
no? let me check with chris.
N/A
dang. I shall remake my character
N/A
I have redone my character so it is satisfactory
N/A
Reserving this spot on page 2 (you madlads already have builds eh?) for my upcoming character, which I have no Idea yet, but I bet I'll come up with one.
BTW the Throwdown should be number 4 not number 3 ;)
Junco Hood - The whistling Archer
Half Elf - Bard, Warlock, Fighter
thanks for telling me, i'll fix that
NNCHRIS: SOUL THIEF, MASTER OF THE ARCANE, AND KING OF NEW YORKNN
Gdl Creator of Ilheia and her Knights of the Fallen Stars ldG
Lesser Student of Technomancy [undergrad student in computer science]
Supporter of the 2014 rules, and a MASSIVE Homebrewer. Come to me all ye who seek salvation in wording thy brews!
Open to homebrew trades at any time!! Or feel free to request HB, and Ill see if I can get it done for ya!
Characters (Outdated)