So I had a cool idea for a character but I'm not 100% sure how I would translate it mechanically and after sitting in front of the character creator for a solid hour with no ideas. So here we go:
This is Bruce, and the way I want to play him is as this Soft spoken and polite goober. Despite his fierce appearance he would be no more dangerous to a normal person than a kitten pawing at it's mama's face. He's quick to joke, always optimistic, and his ultimate goal is to make a real best friend. I can kind of imagine him being a little talented in some spells, but maybe not much worth noting. I do know that as a profession he'll be a local village hunter who gets hired to track game and bring back fresh hunts. However, he almost seems to be ashamed of how effective he can be as a hunter; and only hunts enough to feed himself and the people around him. At the end of the day all he wants is a roof over his head, cool place to sleep, and a cup of tea. His voice I think of a light scottish accent (not so much that it's absurd, but enough to hear the difference in speech).
For a physical description: Bruce is 6'7" and weighs in at about 245lbs. He has blue/ white skin with stripes reminiscent of a tiger, and fins on his head, arms, and legs, he also possesses a tail. I like to imagine he has a small pair of half moon specticles that he puts on when it's time to read/write.
I did write his likes and dislikes if this also helps:
Likes: Writing Poetry, Tea, Reading, cooking, humming to himself while he works.
You are mostly describing personality. That has no mechanics, role it as you want. If you want him to be nice, then roleplay him nice.
Then, for the hunter part, it sounds like a Ranger to me. Become a Beast Master if he has an animal companion. Or a hunter if he especially excels at hunting things (or moster slayer if he kills really big things). Plus it would also cover the "I can kind of imagine him being a little talented in some spells" part.
He might even have found a dragon egg on one of his hunts, and be a Drakeguarden. Or be blessed by fairies and be a Feywander. Or whatever you want to play mechanically.
If you're a poacher, you could be a rogue scout. For the magic part, he might have some feat like Magic Initiate, Fey Touched, or the like.
All martials are incredibly dangerous in combat, we have to lean into spellcaster to focus more on support and hence be less murderous.
Race: Mark of Finding Human with homebrew modification: racial spell at level 3 is locate animals and plants, not locate object. Languages: Common, Primordial
I wouldn't describe a bard as "a little talented in some spells, but maybe not much worth noting." Bards are spell focused. The description could be read as reasonable high charisma but not nesessaarilly if his ultimate goal is a "real best friend" why doesn't he already have one? could that mean low charisma.
I see his main skill as hunting with sum magic abilitiies and that strikes me as Ranger, Hunter is the obvious subclasss but monster hunter also fits well. They are not the most powerful subclasses in the game but they are certainly playable and able ot make a decent contribution to the party.
Most rangers go ranged or at least use a finesse weapon to avoind being too MAD. (You need dex, wis and con so having strength based attacks can be an issue) but 6'7" and 245lb makes me think he swould be most likely to attack with strength, you could potentially reduce your wisdom and only use spells that do not rely on your wisdom of which their are plenty (e.g. goodberry, fog cloud, hunter's mark)
I would pick lizardfolk as race, for background I think outlander or folk hero fit your description best.
All martials are incredibly dangerous in combat, we have to lean into spellcaster to focus more on support and hence be less murderous.
Race: Mark of Finding Human with homebrew modification: racial spell at level 3 is locate animals and plants, not locate object. Languages: Common, Primordial.....
Martials can be nice and not "murderous". The concept of only hunting enough to feed those around him can equally apply to only killing things that endanger the innocent. While true that a pacifist probably needs to be a spellcaster this character concept is not.
Did you look at the images does not look human to me. I would also not assume a homebrew change of a feature to force it into the character concept.
I would also advise against taking 4 different classes, it can get very complex how different features interact and it is very easy to end up with an ineffective character. There was no mention of a pet but if the OP wants a pet Beast master works well, if the effectiveness of hunting is due to physic powers you can go soulknife cocentreate on one (I am not sure where star druid and peace cleric fit into the concept) at level 11 you really want either extra attack or at least 4 or 5 sneak attack dice.
I'm really digging all the suggestions, and I'm kinda taking bits from each post to see what happens. So far what I've come up with is a Lizardfolk (reflavored in a custom background to specify that he's a shark). Ranger (still tossing around Monster Hunter or Drakewarden), that emphasizes more defensive/ supportive spells. Still tossing around the different background features to use, and I did like the idea of folk hero to use for the personality part of it (since it's characteristics line up well with Bruce's personality). And I may try for a St-ranger just for shiggles, since imagining a big shark man hunting with a greataxe while being exceptionally silent sounds hilarious to me. Optimal? Maybe not. But the group I'll be bringing him into has a DM I've known for quite a while and knows how to work around weird character ideas.
I'm building him at levels 3 and 10 to get comparisons and to really see where this stuff takes me later on in future levels.
I'm really digging all the suggestions, and I'm kinda taking bits from each post to see what happens. So far what I've come up with is a Lizardfolk (reflavored in a custom background to specify that he's a shark). Ranger (still tossing around Monster Hunter or Drakewarden), that emphasizes more defensive/ supportive spells. Still tossing around the different background features to use, and I did like the idea of folk hero to use for the personality part of it (since it's characteristics line up well with Bruce's personality). And I may try for a St-ranger just for shiggles, since imagining a big shark man hunting with a greataxe while being exceptionally silent sounds hilarious to me. Optimal? Maybe not. But the group I'll be bringing him into has a DM I've known for quite a while and knows how to work around weird character ideas.
I'm building him at levels 3 and 10 to get comparisons and to really see where this stuff takes me later on in future levels.
Thanks everyone for posting!
If you want him to be an actual shark person, you can do better than Lizardfolk - Lizardfolk need to breathe air. Here are the PC races that can breathe underwater:
Sea Elf
Water Genasi
Grung**
Locathah*
Triton
Simic Hybrid (assuming you choose to be able to, which you would)
*: Grung and Locathah will die without access to enough water to submerge in, with different rules for how long they need to spend in the water and what the penalties are for not doing so.
**: Grung have no swimming speed.
In addition, the following races either don't need to breathe to begin with, so you won't have to come up for air (but you definitionally won't be able to breathe water):
Warforged (but this would make you a robot shark)
Reborn
Dhampir
Special mention: Air Genasi only need to breathe while incapacitated. That means they can and will drown, just that they usually won't.
There are no options here that combine the fundamentally sharky nature of breathing underwater and being able to bite, so here's the closest you can get:
Simic Hybrid (Underwater Adaptation, Grappling Appendage): This offers two grappling appendages even though you only have one mouth, and they deal bludgeoning, not piercing or slashing. You could homebrew this easily to be slashing or piercing damage (depending on how you think of the bite) and reduce the appendage count to 1 in exchange for natural armor from your fish scales or something.
Dhampir (Lizardfolk Lineage): This gets you a genuine bite and a swim speed, but you don't need to breathe water, as you don't need to breathe anything. You'll also have the best climb speed of any PC race, and it'd be intensive homebrewing a replacement for it.
I’d argue a rogue is off the list. I don’t see a rogue who does sneak attacks as someone who is ashamed of themselves for having to be violent.
Hunter seems a good fit, but the idea of only having to hunt as a last resort option seems like it isn’t really their main focus. But the RP can always swing that back.
Any one think some druid levels might fit? You can get all your living off the land skills from a Druid, and being close to nature feels like a good reason they resent their hunts. On the other hand Rangers get to take druid cantrips as their fighting style which helps mash the two classes without actually multi classing. And having a beast friend seems fun now with the reworks.
However, he almost seems to be ashamed of how effective he can be as a hunter; and only hunts enough to feed himself and the people around him.
Just for something completely different than what's been suggested so far... "ashamed of how effective he is" made me think he has some secret ability or power than makes him a more effective hunter, and secrets lead me to warlock
Make him Pact of the Blade (for the big ole axe), and an Archfey patron for that charming Fey Presence that makes hunting just a little too easy
Backstory almost writes itself -- Bruce went out hunting one day, trapped a (insert creature with fey/mystic associations here), it suddenly spoke and begged for its life, and when he agreed to spare it, it revealed itself as his eventual Patron. Perhaps it needs a mortal to help undo some curse on it, or was looking for a champion of the woodlands to serve it
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
My thoughts, maybe they're a little bit of a stretch, but my first thought when I read the description is a Fey Wanderer ranger. The character has good martial and hunting capabilities, but also desperately wants a friend. The Fey Wanderer will allow you to be a good face, a good talker by using your Wisdom on top of your charisma. Perhaps focus on Wisdom over your dexterity, maybe he can start with a bow, but tries his best to rely on a Quarterstaff (One enchanted with shillelagh that rangers can now take with the druidic warrior fighting style) seeing as it isn't typically as violent of a weapon. You said he likes to read and write poems, perhaps some of his reading has lead him to strange, wonderful magical fairytales, fairytales that now are seemingly effecting his real life.
As far as race is concerned, I do agree that Lizardfolk has some upsides if you want him to be flavored like a sharkperson, however i would say the new Triton update is a really good option, but with him appearing much more shark-like, and much less like an underwater-human
Although a triton hunter Ranger does seem like a good fit, I will offer another suggestion for a triton, which is a fathomless patron warlock. Maybe Bruce’s village was underwater, and he encountered a kraken or other great power of the Deep while hunting, and made a deal to spare his life or his village, etc.? Your warlock powers could be how you hunt effectively - using a tentacle to catch fish.
I think the ranger would be a good fit, potentially something that has options of subduing enemies first with things like spike growth. Pacifists can be hard to play in DND so if you really want to avoid violence at all you may be more inclined to even play a rune knight fighter, there's a good grappling build that would eliminate any "bloodshed" and the runes could be flavored as some light magical talent.
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So I had a cool idea for a character but I'm not 100% sure how I would translate it mechanically and after sitting in front of the character creator for a solid hour with no ideas. So here we go:
This is Bruce, and the way I want to play him is as this Soft spoken and polite goober. Despite his fierce appearance he would be no more dangerous to a normal person than a kitten pawing at it's mama's face. He's quick to joke, always optimistic, and his ultimate goal is to make a real best friend. I can kind of imagine him being a little talented in some spells, but maybe not much worth noting. I do know that as a profession he'll be a local village hunter who gets hired to track game and bring back fresh hunts. However, he almost seems to be ashamed of how effective he can be as a hunter; and only hunts enough to feed himself and the people around him. At the end of the day all he wants is a roof over his head, cool place to sleep, and a cup of tea. His voice I think of a light scottish accent (not so much that it's absurd, but enough to hear the difference in speech).
For a physical description: Bruce is 6'7" and weighs in at about 245lbs. He has blue/ white skin with stripes reminiscent of a tiger, and fins on his head, arms, and legs, he also possesses a tail. I like to imagine he has a small pair of half moon specticles that he puts on when it's time to read/write.
I did write his likes and dislikes if this also helps:
Likes: Writing Poetry, Tea, Reading, cooking, humming to himself while he works.
Dislikes: Needless Violence, Rude behavior, hot/dry weather, bears (they scare him).
Images: (Not embedded because I'm a gormless eejit, the two texts below are links.)
The Image that started this dive...
I made him in Heroforge!
Bard for the charm and a few spells.
You can pick Survival skill to help hunting.
You are mostly describing personality. That has no mechanics, role it as you want. If you want him to be nice, then roleplay him nice.
Then, for the hunter part, it sounds like a Ranger to me. Become a Beast Master if he has an animal companion. Or a hunter if he especially excels at hunting things (or moster slayer if he kills really big things). Plus it would also cover the "I can kind of imagine him being a little talented in some spells" part.
He might even have found a dragon egg on one of his hunts, and be a Drakeguarden. Or be blessed by fairies and be a Feywander. Or whatever you want to play mechanically.
If you're a poacher, you could be a rogue scout. For the magic part, he might have some feat like Magic Initiate, Fey Touched, or the like.
All martials are incredibly dangerous in combat, we have to lean into spellcaster to focus more on support and hence be less murderous.
Race: Mark of Finding Human with homebrew modification: racial spell at level 3 is locate animals and plants, not locate object. Languages: Common, Primordial
Background: Custom. Feature from Uthgardt Tribe Member. Proficiencies: Nature, Survival, Chef's, Leatherworker's
Classes: Stars Druid 2, Beast Master Ranger 4 (Beasts+Sylvan, local biome), Peace Cleric 1, Soulknife Rogue 4
Focus is on obnoxiously good Survival checks, you get the idea.
I wouldn't describe a bard as "a little talented in some spells, but maybe not much worth noting." Bards are spell focused. The description could be read as reasonable high charisma but not nesessaarilly if his ultimate goal is a "real best friend" why doesn't he already have one? could that mean low charisma.
I see his main skill as hunting with sum magic abilitiies and that strikes me as Ranger, Hunter is the obvious subclasss but monster hunter also fits well. They are not the most powerful subclasses in the game but they are certainly playable and able ot make a decent contribution to the party.
Most rangers go ranged or at least use a finesse weapon to avoind being too MAD. (You need dex, wis and con so having strength based attacks can be an issue) but 6'7" and 245lb makes me think he swould be most likely to attack with strength, you could potentially reduce your wisdom and only use spells that do not rely on your wisdom of which their are plenty (e.g. goodberry, fog cloud, hunter's mark)
I would pick lizardfolk as race, for background I think outlander or folk hero fit your description best.
Martials can be nice and not "murderous". The concept of only hunting enough to feed those around him can equally apply to only killing things that endanger the innocent. While true that a pacifist probably needs to be a spellcaster this character concept is not.
Did you look at the images does not look human to me. I would also not assume a homebrew change of a feature to force it into the character concept.
I would also advise against taking 4 different classes, it can get very complex how different features interact and it is very easy to end up with an ineffective character. There was no mention of a pet but if the OP wants a pet Beast master works well, if the effectiveness of hunting is due to physic powers you can go soulknife cocentreate on one (I am not sure where star druid and peace cleric fit into the concept) at level 11 you really want either extra attack or at least 4 or 5 sneak attack dice.
I'm really digging all the suggestions, and I'm kinda taking bits from each post to see what happens. So far what I've come up with is a Lizardfolk (reflavored in a custom background to specify that he's a shark). Ranger (still tossing around Monster Hunter or Drakewarden), that emphasizes more defensive/ supportive spells. Still tossing around the different background features to use, and I did like the idea of folk hero to use for the personality part of it (since it's characteristics line up well with Bruce's personality). And I may try for a St-ranger just for shiggles, since imagining a big shark man hunting with a greataxe while being exceptionally silent sounds hilarious to me. Optimal? Maybe not. But the group I'll be bringing him into has a DM I've known for quite a while and knows how to work around weird character ideas.
I'm building him at levels 3 and 10 to get comparisons and to really see where this stuff takes me later on in future levels.
Thanks everyone for posting!
If you want him to be an actual shark person, you can do better than Lizardfolk - Lizardfolk need to breathe air. Here are the PC races that can breathe underwater:
*: Grung and Locathah will die without access to enough water to submerge in, with different rules for how long they need to spend in the water and what the penalties are for not doing so.
**: Grung have no swimming speed.
In addition, the following races either don't need to breathe to begin with, so you won't have to come up for air (but you definitionally won't be able to breathe water):
There are no options here that combine the fundamentally sharky nature of breathing underwater and being able to bite, so here's the closest you can get:
I’d argue a rogue is off the list. I don’t see a rogue who does sneak attacks as someone who is ashamed of themselves for having to be violent.
Hunter seems a good fit, but the idea of only having to hunt as a last resort option seems like it isn’t really their main focus. But the RP can always swing that back.
Any one think some druid levels might fit? You can get all your living off the land skills from a Druid, and being close to nature feels like a good reason they resent their hunts. On the other hand Rangers get to take druid cantrips as their fighting style which helps mash the two classes without actually multi classing. And having a beast friend seems fun now with the reworks.
Just for something completely different than what's been suggested so far... "ashamed of how effective he is" made me think he has some secret ability or power than makes him a more effective hunter, and secrets lead me to warlock
Make him Pact of the Blade (for the big ole axe), and an Archfey patron for that charming Fey Presence that makes hunting just a little too easy
Backstory almost writes itself -- Bruce went out hunting one day, trapped a (insert creature with fey/mystic associations here), it suddenly spoke and begged for its life, and when he agreed to spare it, it revealed itself as his eventual Patron. Perhaps it needs a mortal to help undo some curse on it, or was looking for a champion of the woodlands to serve it
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
My thoughts, maybe they're a little bit of a stretch, but my first thought when I read the description is a Fey Wanderer ranger. The character has good martial and hunting capabilities, but also desperately wants a friend. The Fey Wanderer will allow you to be a good face, a good talker by using your Wisdom on top of your charisma. Perhaps focus on Wisdom over your dexterity, maybe he can start with a bow, but tries his best to rely on a Quarterstaff (One enchanted with shillelagh that rangers can now take with the druidic warrior fighting style) seeing as it isn't typically as violent of a weapon. You said he likes to read and write poems, perhaps some of his reading has lead him to strange, wonderful magical fairytales, fairytales that now are seemingly effecting his real life.
As far as race is concerned, I do agree that Lizardfolk has some upsides if you want him to be flavored like a sharkperson, however i would say the new Triton update is a really good option, but with him appearing much more shark-like, and much less like an underwater-human
Although a triton hunter Ranger does seem like a good fit, I will offer another suggestion for a triton, which is a fathomless patron warlock. Maybe Bruce’s village was underwater, and he encountered a kraken or other great power of the Deep while hunting, and made a deal to spare his life or his village, etc.? Your warlock powers could be how you hunt effectively - using a tentacle to catch fish.
I think the ranger would be a good fit, potentially something that has options of subduing enemies first with things like spike growth. Pacifists can be hard to play in DND so if you really want to avoid violence at all you may be more inclined to even play a rune knight fighter, there's a good grappling build that would eliminate any "bloodshed" and the runes could be flavored as some light magical talent.