I'd like to open a thread so everyone can share a build idea they came up for a specific purpose or theme. It could be that your character could do one thing extremely well, or you built a Hulk clone, or a master investigator, or whatever. I'll start with mine.
I built a former spy & assassin who worked for a nefarious queen. He defected and went into hiding when he was given a target he did not want to kill. He was a master at infiltration because.... think Mystique from X-Men.
This combination is so obvious that I doubt I'm the first to come up with it, but I have not seen it discussed.
Changeling + College of Eloquence Bard + Glamoured Studded Leather
Changeling let's you change your appearance and your voice, and unlike the Disguise Self Spell physical touch will not give it away. Eloquence Bard gives you Silver Tongue, making your deception checks very reliable. Glamoured Studded Leather lets you change the appearance of your armor to anything you want, including regular clothing.
There are so many ways you can use this! Getting chased by a mob? Turn the corner and turn yourself into a beggar. The town mayor suspects the owner of a shady tavern is selling illicit products? Kidnap the bar manager, and show up to work as him. You can even enhance this ability by casting Detect Thoughts on the person you want to impersonate. Or just confidently walk right by the guards by disguising yourself as someone who belongs there.
The possibilities are endless. You can let your imagination run wild.
Eladrin + conjugation wizard 6/shadow monk 6 for a zippy zappy teleporter (also because. nightcrawler.)
A level 18 Conjurer with misty step as their at-will 2nd-level spell can use both misty step and Benign Transposition (gonna go check the name of that feature once I post this….) every single turn.
Not that anyone particularly needed to know that, your comment just reminded me of the fact.
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Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
Eladrin + conjugation wizard 6/shadow monk 6 for a zippy zappy teleporter (also because. nightcrawler.)
A level 18 Conjurer with misty step as their at-will 2nd-level spell can use both misty step and Benign Transposition (gonna go check the name of that feature once I post this….) every single turn.
Not that anyone particularly needed to know that, your comment just reminded me of the fact.
Way too high level for it to pertain to me, but that's the type of thing that this thread is about :)
Eladrin + conjugation wizard 6/shadow monk 6 for a zippy zappy teleporter (also because. nightcrawler.)
A level 18 Conjurer with misty step as their at-will 2nd-level spell can use both misty step and Benign Transposition (gonna go check the name of that feature once I post this….) every single turn.
Not that anyone particularly needed to know that, your comment just reminded me of the fact.
Way too high level for it to pertain to me, but that's the type of thing that this thread is about :)
Yeah, same for me.
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Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
Not too long ago, I was working on a build based around Bugbears from Monsters of the Multiverse... the race adds 2d6 of damage on every attack made against a target who hasn't taken a turn yet in combat... it's totally nuts on builds with a lot of hits per round. Even without getting into multiclassing, just playing as, say... a Monk can output more damage in a single round than a dedicated assassin rogue of the same level.
So with that in mind... The idea is to go Gloomstalker Ranger for 3 levels, Monk for 2 Levels, and Samurai Fighter for the rest of the levels. The idea is to take the Unarmed fighting style from Fighter, but you're still fighting with a greatsword... Then you attack, which gets you an additional attack from Gloomstalker Ranger... then you action surge, attack again, which also benefits from gloomstalker, then drop your sword so you can use Flurry of Blows for two additional attacks. The earliest this build really comes online is at level 10, with 5 levels of Fighter for Extra Attack.... that's 8 attacks total, with an additional 2d6 added to each one, plus an additional 2d8 from Gloomstalker. At Max level, Samurai Rapid Strike can turn that into 11 attacks in a single round... just from Bugbear Sneak Attack alone, that's 22d6 of damage, all tacked onto all the attacks that came before it.
The "special purpose" of this build is to be the getaway driver for the party, taking the reins on a couple of horses pulling a cart with the party inside.
The Glory Paladin's Aura of Alacrity gives a +10 bonus to movement speed so long as a creature starts its turn within 5feet of me. While im sitting in the driver's seat the horses should get this bonus every turn. The Glory Paladin also eventually gets Haste, which could be used in the event that only one creature is pulling the cart. These two bonuses can give the creature(s) a steady bonus to their speed to help us outrun pursuers
The Glamour Bard gives the Mantle of Inspiration, which can allow several creatures to move up to their speed as a reaction, which could thematically be used to cause the horses to move at double time for a round. Expertise is good for Animal Handling and Jack of All Trades could potentially give a bonus to skill checks related to land vehicles.
With 8 levels still free in this build, you could maybe also dip into sorcerer to get the Twinned Spell metamagic so that you can target more than one creature pulling the cart with speed buff spells. Idk
I have a build I want to try playing that's a Fairy Rune Knight. Use Giant's Might to go from small to large size, then Enlarge/Reduce to go from large to huge in the first round of combat. With the Skill Expert feat for Athletics expertise and Giant's Might giving advantage on strength (athletics) checks, you can grapple pretty much whatever giant monstrosity you want. Add in the Grappler feat later on to restrain them so the rest of your party gets advantage, because you're a cool team player like that.
So yeah, he's a dude who becomes a giant to fight equally-giant monsters with grapples and mystical rune powers. He's Ultraman.
I have a build I want to try playing that's a Fairy Rune Knight. Use Giant's Might to go from small to large size, then Enlarge/Reduce to go from large to huge in the first round of combat. With the Skill Expert feat for Athletics expertise and Giant's Might giving advantage on strength (athletics) checks, you can grapple pretty much whatever giant monstrosity you want. Add in the Grappler feat later on to restrain them so the rest of your party gets advantage, because you're a cool team player like that.
So yeah, he's a dude who becomes a giant to fight equally-giant monsters with grapples and mystical rune powers. He's Ultraman.
At level 18, you can already become Huge using Giant's Might. So with Enlarge/Reduce you could become Gargantuan and grapple a Tarrasque!
Yup. And if you don't need to use Enlarge/Reduce (or can't due to space constraints), the Fey-Touched feat is a good option because you can use your concentration to maintain a Hex spell instead, adding extra damage (in addition to Giant's Might's extra damage, even!) while also making it harder for your opponent to get out of your grapples, since grappling uses opposing skill checks instead of a save. Alternatively, you could take War Caster as a feat for advantage when maintaining concentration so you aren't as likely to get shrunk down when hit.
Not too long ago, I was working on a build based around Bugbears from Monsters of the Multiverse... the race adds 2d6 of damage on every attack made against a target who hasn't taken a turn yet in combat... it's totally nuts on builds with a lot of hits per round. Even without getting into multiclassing, just playing as, say... a Monk can output more damage in a single round than a dedicated assassin rogue of the same level.
So with that in mind... The idea is to go Gloomstalker Ranger for 3 levels, Monk for 2 Levels, and Samurai Fighter for the rest of the levels. The idea is to take the Unarmed fighting style from Fighter, but you're still fighting with a greatsword... Then you attack, which gets you an additional attack from Gloomstalker Ranger... then you action surge, attack again, which also benefits from gloomstalker, then drop your sword so you can use Flurry of Blows for two additional attacks. The earliest this build really comes online is at level 10, with 5 levels of Fighter for Extra Attack.... that's 8 attacks total, with an additional 2d6 added to each one, plus an additional 2d8 from Gloomstalker. At Max level, Samurai Rapid Strike can turn that into 11 attacks in a single round... just from Bugbear Sneak Attack alone, that's 22d6 of damage, all tacked onto all the attacks that came before it.
Ah yes, the new bugbear. The one-shotter of medium encounters. What about some assassin rogue mixed in for even more first turn damage?
Mine? A flying rune knight. My original idea was with aaracockra, but any flying race does the job. The plan? Grab enemy, fly straight up while holding enemy, drop enemy from 200 feet in the air, maybe less if enemy isn’t overly tanky. This build isn’t likely to be practical.
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Royalty among the charge kingdom. All will fall before our glorious assault!
I'm making a character called Dragon Boy, who is built to appear unassuming but actually be a bit of a beast. He's a goblin draped in a skin from some big lizard, and charisma is his dump stat (he's friendly, but he is also dirty, smelly, speaks slightly broken common, and doesn't feel the need to lie or conceal anything - he's an open book!).
Rune Knight Fighter and monster Slayer Ranger build, using the Druidic Warrior fighting style in the ranger build to gain Shilleglah. He's a goblin with a club, but very quickly can become a large goblin with a magical club that does 1d8 damage instead of 1d4, with (if you blow it all at once) 1d6 extra damage from giant might, 2d6 extra fire damage from fire rune, 1d6 from Slayers Prey, 1d4 from favoured foe, +2 damage for Duelling (fighter fighting style), + strength, bludgeoning damage.
That's a level 6 build (3 rune knight, 3 Monster Slayer), so I still have 2 levels to spend. I could go for Rogue as well for an additional 1d6 whenever I have advantage... and being a bit rogueish fits the character. Or I can go for 2 levels in Fighter for ASI and extra attack, which is probably more effective.
I'm making a character called Dragon Boy, who is built to appear unassuming but actually be a bit of a beast. He's a goblin draped in a skin from some big lizard, and charisma is his dump stat (he's friendly, but he is also dirty, smelly, speaks slightly broken common, and doesn't feel the need to lie or conceal anything - he's an open book!).
Rune Knight Fighter and monster Slayer Ranger build, using the Druidic Warrior fighting style in the ranger build to gain Shilleglah. He's a goblin with a club, but very quickly can become a large goblin with a magical club that does 1d8 damage instead of 1d4, with (if you blow it all at once) 1d6 extra damage from giant might, 2d6 extra fire damage from fire rune, 1d6 from Slayers Prey, 1d4 from favoured foe, +2 damage for Duelling (fighter fighting style), + strength, bludgeoning damage.
That's a level 6 build (3 rune knight, 3 Monster Slayer), so I still have 2 levels to spend. I could go for Rogue as well for an additional 1d6 whenever I have advantage... and being a bit rogueish fits the character. Or I can go for 2 levels in Fighter for ASI and extra attack, which is probably more effective.
You can't Sneak Attack with a club as it is not finesse. Sneak Attack and Shillelagh are not compatible.
That's fair. Pondering going path of beast barbarian as that fits the theme as well, though I don't like multiclassing beyond 2 as you lose out on more powerful abilities... also need to see how it all interacts with rage (I think there's a lot of bonus actions going on here...)
I'd like to open a thread so everyone can share a build idea they came up for a specific purpose or theme. It could be that your character could do one thing extremely well, or you built a Hulk clone, or a master investigator, or whatever. I'll start with mine.
I built a former spy & assassin who worked for a nefarious queen. He defected and went into hiding when he was given a target he did not want to kill. He was a master at infiltration because.... think Mystique from X-Men.
This combination is so obvious that I doubt I'm the first to come up with it, but I have not seen it discussed.
Changeling + College of Eloquence Bard + Glamoured Studded Leather
Changeling let's you change your appearance and your voice, and unlike the Disguise Self Spell physical touch will not give it away. Eloquence Bard gives you Silver Tongue, making your deception checks very reliable. Glamoured Studded Leather lets you change the appearance of your armor to anything you want, including regular clothing.
There are so many ways you can use this! Getting chased by a mob? Turn the corner and turn yourself into a beggar. The town mayor suspects the owner of a shady tavern is selling illicit products? Kidnap the bar manager, and show up to work as him. You can even enhance this ability by casting Detect Thoughts on the person you want to impersonate. Or just confidently walk right by the guards by disguising yourself as someone who belongs there.
The possibilities are endless. You can let your imagination run wild.
Eladrin + conjugation wizard 6/shadow monk 6 for a zippy zappy teleporter (also because. nightcrawler.)
Also a martial Hawkeye-esque build, variant human (sharp shooter) + arcane archer 5/scout rogue up to 13
:)
A level 18 Conjurer with misty step as their at-will 2nd-level spell can use both misty step and Benign Transposition (gonna go check the name of that feature once I post this….) every single turn.
Not that anyone particularly needed to know that, your comment just reminded me of the fact.
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
Way too high level for it to pertain to me, but that's the type of thing that this thread is about :)
Yeah, same for me.
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
Not too long ago, I was working on a build based around Bugbears from Monsters of the Multiverse... the race adds 2d6 of damage on every attack made against a target who hasn't taken a turn yet in combat... it's totally nuts on builds with a lot of hits per round. Even without getting into multiclassing, just playing as, say... a Monk can output more damage in a single round than a dedicated assassin rogue of the same level.
So with that in mind... The idea is to go Gloomstalker Ranger for 3 levels, Monk for 2 Levels, and Samurai Fighter for the rest of the levels. The idea is to take the Unarmed fighting style from Fighter, but you're still fighting with a greatsword... Then you attack, which gets you an additional attack from Gloomstalker Ranger... then you action surge, attack again, which also benefits from gloomstalker, then drop your sword so you can use Flurry of Blows for two additional attacks. The earliest this build really comes online is at level 10, with 5 levels of Fighter for Extra Attack.... that's 8 attacks total, with an additional 2d6 added to each one, plus an additional 2d8 from Gloomstalker. At Max level, Samurai Rapid Strike can turn that into 11 attacks in a single round... just from Bugbear Sneak Attack alone, that's 22d6 of damage, all tacked onto all the attacks that came before it.
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Oath of Glory Paladin (9) / Glamour Bard (3)
The "special purpose" of this build is to be the getaway driver for the party, taking the reins on a couple of horses pulling a cart with the party inside.
The Glory Paladin's Aura of Alacrity gives a +10 bonus to movement speed so long as a creature starts its turn within 5feet of me. While im sitting in the driver's seat the horses should get this bonus every turn. The Glory Paladin also eventually gets Haste, which could be used in the event that only one creature is pulling the cart. These two bonuses can give the creature(s) a steady bonus to their speed to help us outrun pursuers
The Glamour Bard gives the Mantle of Inspiration, which can allow several creatures to move up to their speed as a reaction, which could thematically be used to cause the horses to move at double time for a round. Expertise is good for Animal Handling and Jack of All Trades could potentially give a bonus to skill checks related to land vehicles.
With 8 levels still free in this build, you could maybe also dip into sorcerer to get the Twinned Spell metamagic so that you can target more than one creature pulling the cart with speed buff spells. Idk
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I have a build I want to try playing that's a Fairy Rune Knight. Use Giant's Might to go from small to large size, then Enlarge/Reduce to go from large to huge in the first round of combat. With the Skill Expert feat for Athletics expertise and Giant's Might giving advantage on strength (athletics) checks, you can grapple pretty much whatever giant monstrosity you want. Add in the Grappler feat later on to restrain them so the rest of your party gets advantage, because you're a cool team player like that.
So yeah, he's a dude who becomes a giant to fight equally-giant monsters with grapples and mystical rune powers. He's Ultraman.
Yup. And if you don't need to use Enlarge/Reduce (or can't due to space constraints), the Fey-Touched feat is a good option because you can use your concentration to maintain a Hex spell instead, adding extra damage (in addition to Giant's Might's extra damage, even!) while also making it harder for your opponent to get out of your grapples, since grappling uses opposing skill checks instead of a save. Alternatively, you could take War Caster as a feat for advantage when maintaining concentration so you aren't as likely to get shrunk down when hit.
Ah yes, the new bugbear. The one-shotter of medium encounters. What about some assassin rogue mixed in for even more first turn damage?
Royalty among the charge kingdom. All will fall before our glorious assault!
Quest offer! Enter the deep dungeon here
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Mine? A flying rune knight. My original idea was with aaracockra, but any flying race does the job. The plan? Grab enemy, fly straight up while holding enemy, drop enemy from 200 feet in the air, maybe less if enemy isn’t overly tanky. This build isn’t likely to be practical.
Royalty among the charge kingdom. All will fall before our glorious assault!
Quest offer! Enter the deep dungeon here
Ctg’s blood is on the spam filter’s hands
I'm making a character called Dragon Boy, who is built to appear unassuming but actually be a bit of a beast. He's a goblin draped in a skin from some big lizard, and charisma is his dump stat (he's friendly, but he is also dirty, smelly, speaks slightly broken common, and doesn't feel the need to lie or conceal anything - he's an open book!).
Rune Knight Fighter and monster Slayer Ranger build, using the Druidic Warrior fighting style in the ranger build to gain Shilleglah. He's a goblin with a club, but very quickly can become a large goblin with a magical club that does 1d8 damage instead of 1d4, with (if you blow it all at once) 1d6 extra damage from giant might, 2d6 extra fire damage from fire rune, 1d6 from Slayers Prey, 1d4 from favoured foe, +2 damage for Duelling (fighter fighting style), + strength, bludgeoning damage.
That's a level 6 build (3 rune knight, 3 Monster Slayer), so I still have 2 levels to spend. I could go for Rogue as well for an additional 1d6 whenever I have advantage... and being a bit rogueish fits the character. Or I can go for 2 levels in Fighter for ASI and extra attack, which is probably more effective.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
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That's fair. Pondering going path of beast barbarian as that fits the theme as well, though I don't like multiclassing beyond 2 as you lose out on more powerful abilities... also need to see how it all interacts with rage (I think there's a lot of bonus actions going on here...)
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!