It's that time of year as we roll into our first seasonal edition of 5e Throwdowns! This time we're looking for anything Halloween-y, this can be something you find creepy/scary, it can be replicating something from a horror movie or game etc. Whatever tickles your skeletal fancy!
A slightly shorter turn around for submissions this time around, I just thought it be fitting that the votes opened on Halloween!
Some rules for guidance:
-Please add a field at the start of your build for what you are aiming for (what horror character etc.)
-In the interest of promoting creativity and diversity in these builds, Hexblade will be allowed, but requires a minimum of 5 levels as part of your overall build. If you choose any other Warlock patron this restriction is not applicable.
-Matt Mercer's Gunslinger and Blood Hunter (please use the newest INT based version) are on the table!
-No UA, only officially published materials
-You must include a stat array (Point Buy or Standard Array)
-Build to 20 with insights on how the build hands at levels 5, 11, 17 and 20 (include hp and AC at each point for each of reading)
-Multiclassing and feat optional rules in play
-Variants for races available (V. Human, Dragonmarks, SCAG variants)
-No magic items unless you have a way to create them from a class feature
-Normal starting items and gold, mundane armor upgrades be assumed to happen during tier 2 (so you can mention Plate/Half Plate in your commentary but you can only include it in snapshots for levels 11,17 and the final 20).
-Catchy names and fluff are not a requirement but are always nice to read
Suggested format:
Level 20 level split:
Race:
Stats: Str x Dex x Con x Int x Wis x Cha x
Background:
Starting level:
Any guidance or commentary you want
At 5th level:
Any guidance or commentary you want
At 11th level:
Any guidance or commentary you want
At 17th level:
Any guidance or commentary you want
At 20th level and final thoughts:
Voting:
To sort the wheat from the chaff we'll vote on builds and declare a 'winner' (a concept that will hopefully continue in future threads and put the contest into this), to vote simply make a post quoting the build you want to vote for (snipping the content to keep things getting out of hand) and say something that indicates you're voting e.g. +1, get's my vote etc.
-Each user only gets one vote but you can edit your post at any time before the deadline to change your mind.
-If you submit a build, you must vote for someone for your entry to be considered valid
-A user can submit more than one build but they must be in separate posts (and not back to back to respect forum rules)
-You cannot vote for yourself
-Each throwdown thread will run for 7 days after which no new builds will be accepted for contention, when the build deadline has closed votes will be accepted. The voting deadline will be five days after the build deadline, votes will be tallied and the winner announced (any vote edits after the deadline has passed will also not be counted, if the original vote cannot be seen the vote will be null and void).
Build deadline/Voting opens: 31/10/2020 @ 9pm BST/4pm ET
Voting deadline: 05/11/2020 @ 9pm BST/4pm ET
PLEASE NOTE THAT VOTING IS NOW ONLY ONCE THE BUILD DEADLINE HAS PASSED.
I'm looking forward to what all the optimisers around here come up with so without further ado, let's THROWDOWN
Given the circumstances of this one, and its downright spookiness...mayhaps we can make a single exception and allow Blood Hunters for this contest? If ever there was a Throwdown the blood hunter fit like a glove...heh, and it is freely available in Official* Format on DDB here, so everybody can reference its rules as easily as they can the core content.
Given the circumstances of this one, and its downright spookiness...mayhaps we can make a single exception and allow Blood Hunters for this contest? If ever there was a Throwdown the blood hunter fit like a glove...heh, and it is freely available in Official* Format on DDB here, so everybody can reference its rules as easily as they can the core content.
The only surviving scion of a faltering noble family, Arissa has been locked away from the world her entire life by a tyrranical, domineering father. He has pledged that he will gift her to the man he finds that can revive his family's fortunes and wealth, and until that time she is to be kept under watch at the family estate. Arissa's beauty and grace would lend her well to such an arrangement, and a number of potential suitors have been invited to the estate in recent weeks to attempt to gain her father's approval. It is only a matter of time until she is given away, a slave to the will of an uncaring father and whatever lecherous noble he chooses...
Bound to her family's tyrranical will and bereft of any hope for a future chosen for herself, Arissa bides her time locked within the crumbling estate of her ancestral home. Music and the ancient tomes in the library have become her only solace as she waits for the day to come when she will be given against her will to a man of her father's choosing. Curiosity blooms within, however, when she reads of a being entombed within the family cemetary, a mysterious creature of dark legend and tempting power...
Gifted with an innate gift for music and the self-discovered magic that comes with it, Arissa begins her twisted journey as a Bard. More suited to social situations and using her abilities to support others at this level, she is not particularly adept at combat, nor does she desire to be. Her spells are tailored towards influencing others and communicating with the few living beings she encounters outside of her domineering family.
At 5th level: Bard 1 / Warlock (The Undying) 4 HP: 28 AC: 11 (Leather) Stats: 9/10/10/14/14/19 ASI: +2 to Cha Invocations: Mask of Many Faces, Agonizing Blast Spells: Chill Touch, Eldritch Blast, Toll the Dead, Cause Fear, Blindness/Deafness, Crown of Madness, Enthrall, Suggestion, Spare the Dying (Pact Boon), Vicious Mockery (Pact Boon), Primal Savagery (Pact Boon)
Arissa has found the strange creature imprisoned within the family cemetary, an ancient vampire long since forgotten within its lightless tomb. Through the enthralling power of her music and the sharing of similar fear and hatred of their individual fates, the Princess and the Monster reach a mutual understanding. After painstaking research and the manipulation of several servants, Arissa manages to free the beast from its confines, setting it loose to take her away from her own imprisonment in a blur of violence and bloodshed...
Arissa begins to learn stranger, darker powers from the imprisoned vampire, gaining levels in Warlock with the Undying patron and the Pact of the Tome. While still much of her spell selection is shaded towards manipulation rather than direct damage, she does pick up some ability to unleash the hatred within her in a more forceful, direct manner with Eldritch Blast, Chill Touch, Toll the Dead, Vicious Mockery, and Primal Savagery. Her invocation selection furthers that innate rage with Agonizing Blast as well as grants her the ability to more thoroughly disguise herself from the agents that her family will surely send looking. A double boost to her Charisma makes her spells that much stronger as well as increasing her social skills. In combat she hangs back, using support and ranged abilities to buff, debuff, and turn her enemies against one another.
At 11th level: Bard 1 / Warlock (The Undying) 10 HP: 58 AC: 12 (Studded Leather) Stats: 9/10/11/14/14/20 ASI: +1 Cha, +1 Con Invocations: Book of Ancient Secrets, Mire the Mind, Whispers of the Grave Spells: Vampiric Touch, Fear, Blight, Death Ward, Danse Macabre, Prestidigitation, Sickening Radiance (remove Cause Fear), Find Familiar (Book of Ancient Secrets), Unseen Servant (Book of Ancient Secrets)
Having fled their imprisonment, Arissa and her undead patron find themselves wandering the world. They keep a low profile, for the most part, not wishing to be found just yet by her family. Each works to build their strength as the move through the shadows of the great cities, preying at will upon those who present themselves. Whether it is blood, money, or favors owed, the pair begin exacting their toll upon the world. Their power amassing, it is only a matter of time before they return to exact their vengeance upon those that have wronged them...
Arissa's power grows apace as she continues to learn from her patron. The arts of necromancy come easily to her as she learns to manipulate the forces of life and death at her whim. She begins to pick up far more damaging spells now such as Blight and Vampiric Touch, while still maintaining a focus on control and manipulation with spells like Fear and the Mire the Mind invocation. She begins exploring new ways of casting spells with Book of Ancient Secrets, gaining access to rituals of all kinds as she can hunt them down. With a maxed out Charisma score she also begins to harden her own form against damage as her Patron's teachings draw her ever closer to his own undying nature. With Whispers of the Grave and Danse Macabre, Arissa begins delving into the beginnings of creating her own undead minions to further her dark goals.
At 17th level: Bard 1 / Warlock (The Undying) 13 / Sorceror (Shadow) 3 HP: 102 AC: 12 (Studded Leather) Stats: 9/10/12/14/14/20 Feat: Resilient (Constitution) Invocations: Sculptor of Flesh, Spells: Create Bonfire, Dancing Lights, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Feather Fall, Shield, Mirror Image, Dream, Banishment, Create Undead (Mystic Arcanum), Finger of Death (Mystic Arcanum)
Wielding death in one hand and rage in the other, Arissa sets out to take her vengeance on her own family. Along with her Patron and undead minions, she storms the family estate and lays waste to any living thing within. She moves through the bloodbath with violin in hand, an echoing dirge accompanied by the screams of her victims...
Arissa's study into other forms of magic have led her to unlock more powers within her own self, allowing her to now manipulate the essence of her spells in new ways with metamagic. With a nigh-permanent contingent of undead guardians at her side now, she bends her study to becoming more self sufficient in avoiding harm and protecting herself on the battlefield.
At 20th level and final thoughts: Bard 1 / Warlock (The Undying) 15 / Sorceror (Shadow) 4 HP: 139 AC: 12 (Studded Leather) Stats: 9/10/14/14/14/20 ASI: +2 Con Invocations: Shroud of Shadows Spells: Frostbite, Misty Step, Knock, Hallucinatory Terrain, Maddening Darkness (Mystic Arcanum)
With her vengeance taken, Arissa and her Patron take full command of her family's ancient estate, transforming it into a place of dark music and lingering death. Undead servants and protectors roam the grounds, keeping unblinking watch over their masters forevermore...
In the end, Arissa expands her spellcasting with a few well-placed minor abilities from Sorceror and higher level ones from Warlock. Never a front line combatant in any situation, Arissa is a character who sits primarily in a support role for much of her evolution, expanding into being able to deal significant damage later on as well as create a small cadre of undead servitors. Various illusion and psychic spells lend themselves to manipulating and controlling the enemy, while she has several ways to remove a particularly annoying threat completely from the battlefield.
((This is probably gonna get tweaked and updated some as I have time throughout the week, before build cutoff. Just tryin'a get up what I've got written tonight before it explodes.))
The Concept:
What you’re about to read is a take on the Vampire Hunter archetype, a killer of monsters who delves into dark, forbidden knowledge to seek the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of their prey. Through dangerous experiments in alchemy and the advancement of arcanomechanical science, the doctors of the Philosopher’s Lodge create weapons, tools, and elixirs that allow them to hunt that which hunts them in turn. Fans of Van Helsing, Blade, and the Witcher should enjoy the character presented below. Fans of the sorts of things those worthies hunt...well. Your time will come.
“The nightmares never stopped. Ever since that...thing...took my mother, my dreams are plagued by visions of that night. Father killed himself, the ******* coward. Eolan ran off with the street gangs. I tried to tell others...tell them what had happened, where my mother had gone. I was ‘invited’ to Blackhurst Sanitarium for my efforts. Ten years of my life, wasted in that stinking cesspit of cruelty and demented ‘science’. But I suppose, without the tempering I endured at the hands of the madmen calling themselves ‘doctors’ at Blackhurst, I wouldn’t have had the conviction to become what I am today. Master Cormorant tells me I should keep a journal. A record of my thoughts, a touchstone for my sanity in the days to come. The trials of the Philosopher’s Lodge are fit to make the madness of Blackhurst seem like a summer fancy, or so Master tells me. On the morrow, when I’m given the Hunter’s Bane, I suppose I shall see. Frankly, I look forward to it. Some fresh new nightmares to squeeze out those horrible eyes would be a welcome change of pace, after all.”
~From the journals of Alynne Valheim, blooded senior huntress and Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge.
Alynne Valheim Variant Human (feat: Tough) Blood Hunter/Artificer 8 | 15(16) | 13 | 15(16) | 12 | 8 Volstrucker Agent background (purely to fit the intended flavor of the build; normally I’d use a custom background for this buuuuut...) HP: 13 AC: 15 (Studded leather)
Escape from Blackhurst: Level One
“Finally...finally, I’ve found people who understand. People who believe me when I tell them what happened to Mother. They call themselves the Philosopher’s Lodge, though the ‘philosophy’ they practice is the sort that makes monsters dead. Doctor Cormorant, the man who found me after I escaped Blackhurst, says they’ve been watching the place. They think there’s a monster there, but it’s too well guarded. They want my help getting back in, finding it, and killing it. I told them I’d do it, but only if I got to watch when they killed it. Doctor Cormorant told me he was hoping I’d say that. He says there’s a place for me in the Lodge, if I can prove myself as clever and capable as he thinks I am after my escape. I’ll show him. I’ll go back into Blackhurst with a smile on my fave, if it means learning the things he can do.”
~From the journals of Alynne Valheim, blooded senior huntress and Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge.
At level 1, Alynne is freshly escaped from the Blackhurst Sanitarium and possessed of research documents and a few useful tools from that benighted hellhole. Her escape caught the eye of the Philosopher’s Lodge, a band of blood hunters who dismiss the fetishistic mysticism of the Ghostslayers and scorn the bloody corruption of the Lycans or Profane Souls. The Philosopher’s Lodge trusts to the emerging fields of science and alchemy, augmenting the Hemocraft arts of their order with dangerous concoctions and powerful new weapons. Taken in by the lodge, Alynne is given the Hunter’s Bane and manages to survive in large part due to the constant exposure to drugs and toxins she endured in Blackhurst. This same tormented treatment has yielded a stubborn resilience in her that, combined with ingenuity and determination of her escape, drew the Lodge to her in the first place. She’ll be quite some time recovering from the Bane...but the Doctors Emeritus of the Lodge see a lot of potential in this badly traumatized young girl.
“Success! I’ve successfully adapted the Celerity formula to my own biochemistry. It’s intense, intoxicating. My mind moves so swiftly, my fingers can barely keep up. Master Cormorant says I’ll learn to ride the high, but it comes with a terrible drawback. I can feel it – my mind is flighty, distracted, it’s easy to lose my focus. A weakness I cannot tolerate, given the mind-twisting powers of our enemies. I’ll have to work harder, find a way to defeat this weakness. The first way will be killing my prey before it has a chance to turn my mind. I’ve almost got the bugs worked out of my autocrossbow; another week or two of work and I’ll be able to tell Master Cormorant that my first line of defense against being turned is a dozen bolts in the back from hiding.”
~From the journals of Alynne Valheim, blooded senior huntress and Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge.
Alynne’s training is grueling, but her nightmares have hardened her. She perseveres, attaining her second level of blood hunter. Her body is unfortunately stunted and weakened from malnutrition after years in Blackhurst; while she’s certainly tougher than many urchins, her slender frame and diminutive mass restricts her to projectile combat. She takes up the crossbow, mating it to the Archery fighting style and the Rite of the Storm. While honing her basic martial talents, Alynne is also learning the arts of alchemy, science, and artifice, acquiring her first level of artificer. She continues both sets of studies at basically the same rate, acquiring a third level of blood hunter and her second of artificer commensurately. She is, of course, an adherent of the Order of the Mutant, and as an artificer she can enhance her crossbow with Repeating Shot to eliminate the need for bulky physical ammunition, as well as acting as a delivery system for certain of her spells. Access to Cure Wounds helps offset the blood hunter’s tendency for self-harm, while Shocking Grasp grants Alynne a reliable method of defending herself against threats too close for her bow.
“The hunts have been growing easier. My last three were all completed with no serious injuries. The trick Master Cormorant taught me, that brief euphoric rush, helps alleviate Celerity’s flightiness. Between that and the mental discipline exercises I’ve been doing every night, I’ve reduced the threat from the formula to a manageable level. Some of the new formulas I’ve learned help. A selection of them even work on people other than myself, and they don’t require the attention of my more delicate compounds to create. A bit of extra magical push and they simply work. Quite convenient. It turns out werewolves are as surprised as anyone else when a woman begins floating, and a surprised werewolf makes for a refreshingly simple crossbow target.”
~From the journals of Alynne Valheim, blooded senior huntress and Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge.
Alynne’s studies have progressed splendidly. Two levels of artificer allow her to select her artificer specialization – the much-maligned Alchemist, as it not only fits her other studies too well to ignore, but it actually complements her blood hunting better than the other two ‘Official’ paths do. As Alynne is not reliant on her spells, she can afford to turn them into elixirs more often, granting herself useful minor bonuses at need. More importantly, the fourth artificer level allows Alynne to prepare an additional spell and gain the Resilient: Wisdom feat, shoring up her Wisdom saving throws in the face of Celerity’s nasty drawback.
Her blood hunter’s training proceeds well. Fourth-level Blunter grants an ASI, which is taken as a 1/1 Dexterity>Constitution split. Under the effects of Celerity, her Dexterity is now ‘capped’ at 20, and her Constitution is rounded off to give a bunch more HP. She finally learns how to fire twice in a round with her autocrossbow, doubling her damage output, and she acquires the ability to brand a target with hemomantic spellcraft. A new blood curse severely hinders brutish physical attackers, and a new rite offers her flexibility in combat. She can create two Mutagens at once; one is almost always Celerity, while the other varies depending on her requirements for the day. Finally, the many years of chemically abusing her body, both in Blackhurst and with the Lodge, grants Alynne immunity to most toxins. She cannot be poisoned, and her body laughs off most forms of toxic shock. For particularly perilous fights against enemies with mind-altering abilities, she can instill an adrenaline surge allowing her to ignore Celerity’s terrifying drawback...for a few heartbeats, anyways.
“The new formula is successful. Technically. It’s all that allowed me to kill the aberrant thing Master Cormorant had become, at least. Heavily amplified aggression, inhibited moral judgment, elements of bloodlust...it’s high-functioning psychopathy in a vial. Very useful when one needs to overcome what few shreds of humanity lingers in her soul to kill her former master. Unfortunately, it’s even worse than Celerity when it comes to weakening the mind’s defenses. That’s not really the worst part, though. The worst part is when it fades from my system and all of those things the formula suppress come back. There’s a special sort of revulsion one feels when they voluntarily kill their humanity to eke out a little bit more performance in combat. I don’t know why, honestly. I haven’t really been human in many years now; why should what’s left of my soul care about this formula in particular?”
~From the journals of Alynne Valheim, blooded senior huntress and Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge.
By this point in her career, Alynne is an accomplished and respected huntress of the Philosopher’s Lodge, with dozens of successful hunts to her name and a leading role in developing new compounds, formulas, and equipment for the Lodge. Her next ASI, at Blunter 8, rounds Dex off to 18 and Wisdom off to 14. She’s gained her final two levels of artificer, enhancing her healing, granting her Expertise with all of her myriad tools, and giving her access to extra infusions. A favorite is the Homunculus Servant – a tireless sentry that protects Alynne while she sleeps and serves her will on the hunt. Her final Mutant mutagen is Cruelty – suppressing her humanity and allowing her to act with the same unchained bloodlust as her prey.
Her Celerity also improves, offering +4 to Dexterity with a cap of 24. Alynne has 22 Dexterity under Celerity and a +1 bonus on her Repeating Shot heavy crossbow, ending up with a tremendous +15 to hit. Her attacks very seldom miss, and each Rite-branded bolt deals significant damage. She can choose any number of options for her bonus action, ranging from the incredibly powerful and equally dangerous Cruelty to commanding her Homunculus to casting a Flaming Sphere to assail her foes. Exceptionally deadly, only one goal still remains unachieved. One final hunt to undertake.
Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge: Level Twenty Blood Hunter 14 (Order of the Mutant) / Artificer 6 HP: 198 AC: 16 (18 w/Celerity, 19 w/Enhanced Defense Infusion) Stats: 8 | 18 (22 w/Celerity) | 14 | 16 (20 w/Sagacity) | 14 | 8
“I found it. I finally found it. The creature that took my mother. Twenty long years its eyes have haunted my nightmares. Twenty years, the vacant smile on my mother’s face has twisted in my gut. And now it’s dead. Two days ago I tracked it to its lair, disabled its traps, slew its servitors, and ended its existence. Start to finish, in under an hour. My mother was one of them, reduced to a wretched vampire spawn. I killed her myself, and felt nothing but the briefest flutter when I did. I put her out of her misery and slew the beast that stole her humanity, and when I look back on the hunt all I can feel is annoyance at those moments where I did not perform at my peak and disappointment at the paucity of the monster’s defenses.”
“I believe that’s enough Cruelty for me. I fear the serum has altered my thinking even when it’s not present in my system. The Lodge is welcome to the formula, but I will advise against its long-term use. I’ve killed my own demon, and in the doing made a demon of myself. The Lodge has offered me a position among the Doctors Emeritus and encouraged me to pass my knowledge on to a protege. Perhaps they’re correct. We shall see if I can find someone worth my time and attention. There’s always a fresh supply of urchins scarred by the darkness, after all. One of them might eventually amount to something.”
~From the journals of Alynne Valheim, blooded senior huntress and Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge.
By twentieth level, Alynne has reached the pinnacle of her strength. Her final ASI goes to the Sharpshooter feat, taking advantage of the unnaturally high accuracy of her superboosted Celerity-fueled magic crossbow attacks to land powershot after powershot and deal catastrophic damage to her prey. Her endgame stats are not all that great, with no baseline 20 and only a 16 in her critical Intelligence score...but she can fix that whenever she likes with mutagens, and the assistance of her artifice-bolstered magical gear helps as well. Her Brand makes her all but inescapable – her foes cannot flee, they cannot teleport away, they cannot hide behind illusions, and they cannot hide in general. Her decades of sanity-bending experiences have granted her advantage against any effect that seeks to charm or frighten her. With nearly two hundred hit points, she can make generous use of her Hemocraft arts, but even without them she’s a force to be reckoned with.
A skilled alchemist, a gifted tinker, a magnificent marksman, and a monster concealed in human skin. Alynne Valheim, Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge and blooded senior huntress of the Order of the Mutant, is one of the most potent and accomplished hunters of her age. Something both more and terrifyingly less than truly human.
((This is my first time trying one of these and it was incredibly difficult for me, be gentle. I give to you the makings of a serial killer. Inspired in part by the character The Legion from Dead By Daylight.))
Augur Taft is a man that is a victim of horrible circumstance and, unknown to him, mental trauma. It is safe to say that he had no say in what he eventually became and the skills and mindsets that he picked up along the way. Some surmise that he didn't even know he was a Changeling, although that would have to be preposterous. This former sailor eventually fell into unfortunate patterns that lead to him heading down a dark path. As he is now there is no redemption to be had for him and those at are working with him. Calling themselves Asylum they have mindlessly carved a path through one port town after another but no one seems to be able to figure out how they're able to travel so freely while being known serial killers. Their marks are random and the bodies they drop seem to have no connection to one another. It is perplexing but we have to catch them soon before more innocents are lost.
Augur was a brown haired young man who had signed up to sail on the seas on the Wayfaring Wench, captained by Jeanne Parro. She was a raucous, fiery, woman with bright red hair down her back, bright green eyes, with a short and slender stature. Augur was taken by her early on and utterly captivated by her bravado and the way she could inspire people in the taverns. He signed up to sail and became a merchant sailor, primarily hauling cargo and transporting people from one part to another up and down the coast, while learning how to fight and hold his own. His father, formerly a Sailor in the Navy, had taught him how to treat a ship right which worked to his benefit when it came to his employment. And along with the rest of the crew the Wayfaring Wench was quite prosperous.
Nothing too exciting at the beginning. Our man is setting out into the world on a ship under a rowdy captain. He wields a longsword in tandem with his dueling style but also carries on him a dagger and a short bow with some arrows just in case they run into some trouble. Being a sailor out on the sea he wears light leather armor so that if he were to fall over board he'd be able to float easier than if he were weighed down by chain and plate.
The Wayfaring Wench made port a town that had a reasonable reputation. They had done business here before and only had trouble when some of the locals got a little too much alcohol in their system. Every place had their local gangs and crime but this place was better than most of the others they went too. The local garrison and high walls probably sought to that, at least that was what Augur thought. After meeting with a merchant that was to be their next client they slept for the night after loading the merchandise they'd be hauling. It was a peaceful, restful, nights sleep. In the morning Augur woke along with the rest of his crew, met up, and got ready to make sail. The Wayfaring Wench left port and was on its way down the coast. This idyllic life that Augur made for himself wasn't fit to last though.
On the third day of their week long journey to the next port town they were assaulted by pirates. A large galleon was spotted on the horizon with the flag of its miscreant crew flying high. It wasn't long before they were exchanging cannon fire and not long after that before the two crews were crossing swords with one another. But that was the day that Augur lost everything he had. The Wayfaring Lady was sunk, the crew he had known and sailed with dead, with him being the only survivor. After washing ashore he was awoken from his unconscious state by a female voice. His eyes opened to see a red haired half elf woman with dark green eyes shaking him. Her name was Lyra and she had witnessed the battle. She claimed to know who was the mastermind of the attack which caused his blood to boil. After taking some time to recover he set out with her to get to the bottom of his newly sworn revenge.
By level 5 we see Augur getting stronger as a fighter and picking up more of the features. He becomes tougher and more robust while his time on the sea helped increase his dexterity. But with the death of his crew our man has his first mental break. The perfect life he had made for himself had been stripped away and the only things he could remember was seeing a vague symbol on a piece of parchment he pulled from a body before he lost everything. His first break resulted in Lyra, a split personality in the guise of a ranger, that goads him into revenge on the Half-orc captain that attacked his crew and the Elf that hired them. The merchants signature, he didn't realize, was the vague symbol he saw. Which is the basis for Lyra's apparent knowledge.
Following Lyra he managed to trace his way along the coast over the next week on foot until eventually he got back to the port town his crew had left. He knew that the Merchant he was looking for wasn't going to be hard to find, necessarily, since they were well known in this little town. But he was cautioned by Lyra to be careful. He gave her a nod and moved through the city, snagging a shabby cloak from out front of someone's house at night to hide his appearance while Lyra took her own. He stood back as Lyra made the inquiries and did the primary part of the tracking necessary to find their target. While moving through an alley they were cornered by some members of the local criminal element. They were more organized than he originally thought. Lyra stayed back while he spoke to them. They were assuming he was moving in on their turf so he surprised them when he said that he wanted to join their side. He could hear Lyra whispering to him, claiming that they could be useful.
In the few short days that he spent among the Thieves guild he met a Drow, Talyn. He was a dark skinned, white haired, slender male. He was quiet, for the most part, which made him a good listener. Lyra seemed to have a good feeling about him so he opened up about what he was looking for in town. Talyn was sympathetic and sought to help. It took only another day and night for the three of them to find the Merchant they were looking for. It was night when they came upon his house. Lyra and Talyn stayed outside while he went in on his own. Breaking in was easy. Everyone was asleep. He searched and eventually found the first room and slowly opened the door. He saw a child, a young boy, and remembered some words that were whispered to him. "Take a hostage, it'll make him talk". He tied the kid up but went still when he heard movement. He pressed against the wall behind the door when it suddenly opened. A woman's voice was heard, filled with worry, but as she entered she fell victim to the sudden attack. With both tied up and at his mercy he dragged them into the Merchants master bedroom.
He got the answers he wanted. He had hired the pirates to kill his crew, sink the ship, and take the cargo. Talyn came up behind him and whispered in his ear. "He should known what the pain you feel is like." Before he killed the Merchant he made the Elf watch his family die. It was time to find the pirates next, so they set off.
By 11th level we see Augur increasing his skills and abilities as both a fighter as he traveled along the coast. Finding his way back honed his ability to track and find his way through the terrain to make the best time. He becomes more proficient and, in a strange sense, finds greater power within himself. Did something take interest in him? Something that supplied him with power? He didn't know. But the mental break that is Lyra solidifies herself within the mind of Augur. During his time in the Port Town he meets the Thieves Guild and, over a few days, picks up the basics of what it means to be a Rogue. Another mental break occurs as he gets closer to his objective, manifesting as Talyn. But through this new alter he learns the ways of the rogue and eventually begins his revenge, killing the Merchant and his family. Despite the fact that they were innocent.
Weeks passed which lead Augur through a harrowing series of events. Lyra and Talyn urged him forward and supported him in everything that he did to find the pirates that had killed his crew and sunk the ship. He couldn't even sleep that well anymore because all he could hear was the cannon fire in his dreams, the flash of powder, and the ring of swords. Lyra told him that he didn't need to forget, that he shouldn't, and that he should let the memories fuel him. Talyn, for his part, despite being the quiet one offered support in the form of information gathering. He took the lead on that since he was the one that was the best with disguises. he found one member of the pirate crew after another as they traveled from port town to port town. Early on he was skeptical of the Drow's ability to track and gather information. Most of the people he came across and killed seemed like normal people. But Lyra and Talyn told him they were in hiding since the pirates he was after knew he was coming. They had helped him this far, he figured, so they wouldn't steer him wrong now.
And he moved from town to town, killing those he was told to kill by the others, and even took turns with the others so that they'd have the opportunity to perfect and hone their skills. There were some close calls with local guards and he had to kill a few of them, as unfortunate as that was, but it was all a means to an end. He was sure that he was getting closer and closer to the captain of the pirate crew. He tortured, interrogated, and killed in order to get the answers he was looking for. Men, women, even children weren't safe from his dark machinations when it came to getting what he wanted.
As we see here the trauma that Augur had suffered as taken a firm hold now. This being shown, mechanically, as the multiclassing going deeper as the Ranger and Rogue dip represent the level of investment he put into those other sides of himself. The build, albeit seemingly not the best, is starting to come together. The combination of two attacks with easier criticals and sneak attack leading to more damage dealt. The dip into tough fills out the health pool and is representative of the single focus of his revenge and the work he's putting in to track down the pirates. We also see him picking up Two Weapon Fighting so that he can use his Scimitar and Dagger, the weapon of choice for Talyn, at the same time. Taking advantage of Rakish Audacity by distracting with one weapon to get a sneak attack with another. The bump to Dex represents his increase of skill when it comes to moving and fighting with two weapons and his further development of his archery skills.
He was getting closer, he could feel it in his soul, to having his revenge. He had cut a bloody path through the coastal cities, rooting out the pirates in hiding where ever he found them, at the behest of Lyra and Talyn. He could tell that he was getting stronger and it was only after he had so many bloody kills under his belt that he realized they were meant to make him stronger. Talyn explained it along the way. They weren't strong enough to take down the Pirate Captain. The Half-Orc had bested Jeanne in single combat. There was no way that he was going to be able to fight him a few months ago when this whole thing began. Each kill, each hunt, had been intentional. And now he felt like him and his two companions were honed to a fine edge like a blade. The three of them were going to be able to find the pirate captain and take him out along with his crew. To that end he bartered for passage to an island he had found out was known to house pirates. The Half-Orc, who he had learned was named Orkash the Red-Tooth, had docked there just the day before.
The crew of the ship he was on were a good group of people, they were a good crew, but unfortunately they were all tied to the pirates. He hadn't seen it before but Talyn had informed him when they were almost to the island. Augur had waited, making sure they were close, before he and the other went about systematically killing the crew like clockwork. The ship was bathed in blood and he stood upon it as it sailed toward the beach of the pirate cove and beached itself. He jumped off, hid, and waited. Sure enough the Pirates came out to search, he killed them all, shooting some down with a volley of arrows while others were snuck up on and dispatched with sword and dagger.
That day a dozen men and women were laid low until, at the end, he took the head of Orkash the Red-Tooth. "Finally.." He sighed, covered in blood with wounds covering his body. He felt like he could barely stand and swayed back and forth. "..it's over." But then he felt Talyn whisper into his ear. "I'm sorry, friend. But there's more to do." The Drow whispered softly in one ear. "These aren't the only ones." The female voice of the half-elf, Lyra, whispered in the other. "We have work to do." Augur dropped to his knees next to the corpse of Orkash. "Please, my friend, can't I rest?" He was on the verge of begging. "I have ran so far, killed so many, and suffered so much. Can't I bring it to an end?" He said as his voice craved release.
"No, my friend." Came the two voices. Now Augur's face was divided in two, one half the female visage of Lyra while the other was the dark skinned Talyn. "We can't rest until we are done." Augur closed his eyes, not realizing what had happened. His fair skinned self took its place once more. "Alright." He said, pushing himself up to his feet. "I'll finish this and then we'll rest. We'll deliver all sinners to the Asylum."
By level 20 we see the completion of the serial killer that is Asylum. This is the perfection of his disjointed, trauma filled, style of fighting. The ASI from Rogue goes toward maxing out his Dexterity and Bumping up his Wisdom to get the odd numbers out of his stat spread, since odd numbers are bad. I've chosen to keep his spell list relatively simple since he doesn't directly draw, knowingly, off of power for his spells. And kept those that I felt would lend themselves to the style of a relentless serial killer, like from the old school movies. Of course Uncanny Dodge is always a good thing to have. But Asylum, in general, is a character that fights in a disjointed manner that works well with itself. He believes that he's three separate people and so he operates as such. The fight could start with Augur attacking from the front with his scimitar to try and get in some quick damage with Zephyr Strike. Only to back off and disappear behind an obstacle only to appear again as Lyra, bow in hand, slinging arrows. A cast of silence allowing her to hide so that the sneaky Talyn appears next from the shadows to sneak attack their target. Giving the idea that someone is, indeed, fighting three people.
Completely unhinged, Asylum is driver by the two darker personalities of Lyra and Talyn to kill innocent people under the pretense of them being bad individuals who indirectly killed the crew that he loved so much. While Augur is still the main driving personality as I've explained I've tried to use the triple multiclass as a way to represent all three personalities that exist within him.
Stats: Str 16 Dex 12 Con 16 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 13 (Point Buy)
Background: Athlete
Level 1: Evil Dead Lvl 1 Artificer
HP: 12 AC: 11 (Ash doesn't realize he needs armor)
Ash starts as a student, focusing on mechanical repairs. His background as an athlete reflects his time as a football player, which includes Land Vehicle Proficiency so he can make the most of his Delta 88. Most importantly, he has luck on his side. Ash's schooling has taught him the Identify and Detect Magic spells... spells that he completely forgets he should be using when they would actually be useful. Despite all odds, Ash survives the night battling the Deadites, relying on improvised weapons and simple firearms to stay alive, even if he's not skilled or strong enough to keep others alive.
Level 5: Evil Dead 2 Lvl3 Zealot Barbarian/Lvl 2 Artificer
Str 16 Dex 12 Con 16 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 13
HP: 51 AC: 15
Our boy Ash is in trouble now! With the loss of his hand Ash is forced to improvise, forced to use his mechanical knowledge to improvise weapons and tools. Artificer gives him proficiency with firearms, including his trusty sawed off shotgun. Ash takes two cantrips... Firebolt, which explains how he's able to fire dozens of times from a double barreled shotgun, and Guidance, which he only uses on himself to further enhance his ability to miraculously succeed despite obvious failures. Most importantly, Ash loses his hand and is forced to put his two artificer infusions into compensating: he takes two instances of Replicate Magic Item to create a Prosthetic Limb and Armblade... obviously there's no chainsaws in D&D, so I'm choosing to reflavor it as a battleaxe. Unbeknownst to Ash his calling as the Chosen One is beginning to manifest as a Zealot Barbarian, Hitting the undead with extra Radiant Energy and proving difficult to kill, and easy to revive.
Level 11: Army of Darkness Lvl 9 Zealot Barbarian/Lvl 2 Artificer
Str 18 Dex 12 Con 18 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 13
HP: 122 AC: 16
Ash leaves the magic to the eggheads and has already forgotten he knows multiple spells, relying only on Firebolt for when he runs out of traditional shotgun ammo for his Boom Stick. Ash hits two ASIs at this point, dumping them into STR and CON. Ash is faster, hits harder, and reacts sooner to the Undead menace. His Feral Instincts are kicking in, and as long as he doesn't overthink things he can't be caught by surprise. His dumb luck is only getting dumber and luckier with Fanatical Focus, which gives him a second chance at passing Saving Throws. And when Ash lands a luck hit, that hit is extra messy as he gets access to Brutal Criticals that send limbs flying and blood splattering.
Level 17: Ash Vs. Evil Dead Lvl 15 Zealot Barbarian/Lvl 2 Artificer
Str 18 Dex 12 Con 18 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 15
HP: 209 AC: 16
Ash is getting used to relying on help from others and not just immediately having everyone around him turn into Deadites. His Zealous Presence allows Ash to shout out a "Battle Cry" (read: One-liner) to inspire his allies and get them out of tough jams. By now, however, Ash's Low INT and WIS scores have really gotten him in a lot of trouble... Ash has been possessed, deceived, sent to other dimensions, and just outright forgotten key information that would really save his bacon. Luckily, he hits another ASI here... unfortunately, both points go into CHA, because Ash knows which side his bread is buttered. At this point Ash hits his Persistent Rage, Rage Beyond Death, and Relentless Rage abilities, making Ashy Slashy able to take obscene amounts of damage and somehow still stay on his feet dropping quips and catch phrases.
Level 20: Hail to the King, Baby Lvl 18 Zealot Barbarian/Lvl 2 Artificer
Final Stats: Str 18 Dex 12 Con 20 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 15
HP: 233 AC: 17
Finally, Ash is the Chosen One. An Undead Killing, kind-of-inventive, mostly lucky powerhouse who miraculously survives wave after wave of undead scum. Ash's last ASI goes into CON... he's gotten older and maybe developed a bit of a beer gut, but that's just more cushion to survive falls and explosions. Ash may not be the most technically skilled fighter, but between his dumb luck and his Brutal Critical, when he hits, he hits hard. What else can you say but...
A field too far! I'm more conservative with allowing UAs as their balance and MC implications can vary wildly, I'm pretty well versed with the balance of the Blood Hunter and Gunslinger and don't think they'd break anything (I also think they're more likely to be allowed at a table, because CR).
This build is not a reference to any one specific part of pop culture, but is instead a take on a lot of common tropes in books, movies, tv shows, and D&D campaigns. The main one is a commonly used one, the existence of a powerful, sentient magic item that can dominate anyone who gives into its influences. The weapon in this build is called the "Bloodied Blade," and it has such a powerful grasp over its wielder that nothing of their original identity remains. The blade is so persuasive and conniving that it can completely dominate its user, whispering promises of power and giving them visions of glory to convince them to trade their agency for the power the blade can endow. The original users become mere husks, losing all consciousness and self-will as the blade completely takes over their body.
Another common trope used in this build is that of a fallen paladin/holy one. This is fairly common, to the point where it is becoming a bit cliché, but so are all of the other builds in this contest. This story is found in multiple stories, like Lucifer/Satan and other Fallen Angels (Judeo-Christian Religions), Lord Soth the Death Knight (Dragonlance), Zariel and Asmodeus (Forgotten Realms/Other D&D World Lore), and so on. In this build, not only is our character a paladin, but their fall from grace was started as soon as they gave into the temptations of the Bloodied Blade.
Now, the sentient, power-hungry, deceiving, diabolical, sentient force that dwells inside the Bloodied Blade has found a new user, a young, naïve elvish paladin who they believe they can use as their pawn.
The Bloodied Blade
(Note: Heroforge does not have a double-bladed scimitar weapon, so this is the closest I could get.)
The Bloodied Blade is a sentient double-bladed scimitar, as scheming, powerful entity that was crafted many millennia ago by a now-extinct, ancient race of people who ruled over the land. This race of people mastered many aspects of arcane magic, and this allowed them to accomplish a great variety of powerful magical feats. At the height of this empire's success, a powerful, evil sorcerer-lord made a pact with an infernal entity who taught them the art of blacksmithing and creating magical weapons, and how to create sentience. This ancient sorcerer created many magical weapons, but the greatest creation made by this sorcerer was a sentient magic double-bladed scimitar named the Blade of Ahkush.
This blade is a scheming magic item who serves its owner until a better or more willing host appears. The blade gets more powerful from evil acts and through the absorption of blood, causing it to be one of the most evil entities in the multiverse. This blade was owned by its creator, Ahkush, until they were slain using their own weapon, stolen by their apprentice who was convinced to slay their master and become the new "master" of the weapon by the sentient force inside of the blade. This act of betrayal and it becoming coated in blood of its former owner caused it to grow more powerful and thirsty for more power. Thus, the weapon has existed for thousands of years, repeating the cycle that feeds its growth in power. It is passed on from owner to owner, spreading evil across the realms and growing more powerful through this evil.
Quote from the Bloodied Blade's first encounter with Dehlfor Xivaria:
"At last, I have been found! Who is the fellow who has awakened be from my hundred year slumber? A stripling elven knight, it seems be. This will do very well. Very well indeed."
A young shadow-touched elf named Dehlfor Xivaria, a veteran soldier serving in the civil war of his home country, has recently become a paladin, swearing himself to restore balance to his home nation, which was currently in a state of civil war. He learned how to become a paladin from a priest of an old-faith temple in his hometown, training with weapons and learning how to use magic. Little did he know, our lowly paladin is just about to encounter the Bloodied Blade, which will change the fate of his soul and country forever.
Currently, Dehlfor Xivaria uses a rapier and a shield, scaring and fighting off monsters and travelling from village to village curing commoners of diseases. He currently is just in a preparatory state, practicing until he has the prowess
Dehlfor Xivaria has just discovered the Bloodied Blade, and become seduced by its whisperings of power and control over his home country. Now, he has formed a symbiotic bond with the blade, becoming a Hexblade Warlock with the Pact of the Blade pact boon. He uses this feature to summon a Double Bladed Scimitar as his pact weapon, using Charisma for his bonus to hit due to Hex Warrior.
The Bloodied Blade appears as a blacksteel double-bladed scimitar that is perpetually dripping blood. Due to this, Dehlfor Xivaria does not typically walk around with it constantly displayed, but will summon it when situations are getting hairy. We also take the Great Weapon Fighting fighting style, allowing us to reroll any 1 or 2 for damage with our Double-Bladed Scimitar, which will happen half of the time. Most often, we will not reroll 2's, but will reroll any 1 we get.
This is where things start getting good, just at this level. His Charisma modifier is a +3 right now, and he uses it for attacks with his rapier and double-bladed scimitar, most often using the double-bladed scimitar. He starts combat with Hexblade's Curse, in order to deal more damage in combat and be more likely to crit (which is important to this build). He then uses an action to attack, dealing 2d4+7 damage on a hit, or 4d4+7+4d8 radiant (divine smite, 6d8 against a fiend or undead). So, currently he does an average of 12 damage on the first attack (nothing to sneeze at), and on 10% of attacks when smiting, he does 35 damage (or 44 against fiends and undead). Once he gets hex up, and starts his turn with his bonus action, he deals an average of 15 damage for the first attack, or 46 with a critical smite (55 against fiends and undead), and as a bonus action attack he deals 1d4+1d6+7 damage (average of 13), or 2d4+2d6+7+4d8 (6d8 against a fiend/undead) damage on a crit (average of 36 damage or 45 against a fiend/undead).
Overall, with no crits, but both hit, that's an average of 28 damage. If Dehlfor Xivaria were to get a critical hit on both attacks, he would deal a total of 69 damage, or 87 against a fiend/undead. That's not too shabby at level 5, especially combined with the fact that we can regain spell slots on a short rest, allowing us to do at least one smite each short rest and 2 for free each long rest, and that's just for the time being. Additionally, if we use our extra 2nd level spell slot to smite, it deals an extra 1d8 damage (2d8 on a crit).
We also grab plate armor at this level, increasing our AC to where it will remain for the rest of the build, at a decent 18 (23 with shield).
Notable Spells: cure wounds for if we need to heal ourselves, compelled duel for when we need to provoke someone into fighting us, eldritch blast for if we need to do ranged combat, hex for just pure damage increase, shield when we need to stop attacks from hitting, and hold person for when we are willing to give up Hex in order to crit with everything we got.
Now, the blade has started dominating the mind of our paladin, who has grown more powerful physically and mentally. He becomes a more powerful paladin, choosing to become an Oathbreaker. We use our first ASI to increase our Charisma score to 18. We also gain Extra Attack, our two very situationally useful Channel Divinity options, and more spell slots and spells. We also get Jack of All Trades and Expertise (Deception, Persuasion), as well as becoming a College of Whispers Bard, allowing us to use our infernal tongue to frighten, deceive, and persuade others.
We use Find Steed to summon a horse that appears like a nightmare (which we will get access to later), and use it in combat in order to ignore our reduced speed.
Now, our Charisma is a +4, helping us hit and deal damage more. We start combat the same way, with Hexblade's Curse, but we now get to use Extra Attack. We then use hex, and do Extra Attack again. We then use our Extra Attack and use our bonus action to attack with the other side of our Double-Bladed Scimitar. Here's the average DPR breakdown:
1st and 2nd Attacks (normal hits): 2d4+1d6+9 each, average of 17 damage each, or 35 total. Bonus Action Attack (normal hits): 1d4+1d6+9, average of 15 damage. All 3 Attacks (normal hits): 50 damage
1st and 2nd Attacks (critical hits, 3rd level smites): 4d4+2d6+10d8+9 each (+2d8 to fiends/undead), average of 71 each, or total of 142 damage (or 80 each against fiends/undead, with 160 total). Bonus Action Attack (critical hit, 2nd level smite): 2d4+2d6+8d8+9 (+2d8 to fiends/undead), average of 57 damage (or 66 against fiends/undead). All 3 Attacks (All crits, 2 3rd-level smites, 1 2nd-level smite): 213 damage (or 240 against fiends/undead), which includes Psychic Blades once a turn.
So, an average of 50 damage on all normal hits, with a huge damage increase with critical hits, which we have a 10% change of getting each attack, or a 30% chance overall. Additionally, we have Psychic Blades, which won't significantly increase our nova damage a ton on one turn, but over the course of 4 rounds, we can deal quite a bit of damage.
We now take our last our last two levels in Warlock, getting another eldritch invocation (Eldritch Smite), and higher level Pact Magic spell slots. We also get 4 more levels in the Whispers Bard, getting bardic inspiration back on a short rest, even more spell slots to use for divine smites, and Mantle of Whispers, which allows us to steal the shadows from those we slay. We absorb their shadows into the Bloodied Blade, where it is stored until we use it to copy the physical appearance of our victims.
Our next ASI goes to Elven Accuracy, increasing our Charisma to 19, and allowing us to increase our ability to deal nova damage when we have advantage. The other ASI is for Actor, maxing out our Charisma at a 20, and allowing us to better impersonate our victims of Mantle of Whispers.
Finally, we have maxed out our Charisma at a +5. We still start combat the same way that we normally do, with Hexblade's Curse. This is our DPR breakdown:
1st and 2nd Attacks (normal hits): 2d4+1d6+12 each, average of 20 damage each, or 41 total. Bonus Action Attack (normal hits): 1d4+1d6+12, average of 18 damage. All 3 Attacks (normal hits): 59 damage
1st and 2nd Attacks (critical hits, 5th level smites): 4d4+2d6+10d8+12 each (+2d8 to fiends/undead), average of 74 each, or total of 148 damage (or 83 each against fiends/undead, with 166 total). Bonus Action Attack (critical hit, 3rd level smite): 2d4+2d6+10d8+12 (+2d8 to fiends/undead), average of 69 damage (or 78 against fiends/undead). All 3 Attacks (All crits, 2 3rd-level smites, 1 2nd-level smite): 283 damage (or 310 against fiends/undead), which includes Psychic Blades once a turn, and one Eldritch Smite.
Our average damage increases a bit for our normal attacks, 59 damage. Our nova damage is even better, way higher than before. We also get back a lot of our features on our short rests (pact magic, hexblade's curse, bardic inspirations, etc), which helps us consistently do damage between combat encounters.
With our last 3 levels, we go even more in to the bard, gaining expertise in Intimidation and Insight, allowing for us to be even better at social encounters than before. We use our last ASI to take Mounted Combatant, allowing for us to make even more use out of our Elven Accuracy feature, as well as keeping our mount alive longer. We also get Magical Secrets, giving us two very important spells: Holy Weapon and Find Greater Steed.
We replace Hex with Holy Weapon, which deals more damage and can apply its damage to different targets at the same time. We use Find Greater Steed to summon a pegasus, but the Bloodied Blade performs a dark ritual to transform it into a nightmare (unless DorkForge objects, of course).
Every single round against a Medium or smaller creature, we get advantage on all of our attack rolls. When doing so, if we have Hexblade's Curse on the target, we score a critical hit on 19's and 20's, and Elven Accuracy allows for our odds for every attack to get a critical hit to be 30%, giving us a 90% chance each turn while having advantage on every attack to get at least one critical hit. This is very useful for any nova build, especially a Hexadin.
Our DPR is the same as before, but we replace Hex with Holy Weapon, allowing for us to deal the following average damages:
1st and 2nd Attacks (normal hits): 2d4+2d8+12 each, average of 26 damage each, or 52 total. Bonus Action Attack (normal hits): 1d4+2d8+12, average of 23 damage. All 3 Attacks (normal hits): 75 damage
1st and 2nd Attacks (critical hits, 5th level smites): 4d4+14d8+12 each (+2d8 to fiends/undead), average of 74 each, or total of 148 damage (or 83 each against fiends/undead, with 166 total). Bonus Action Attack (critical hit, 3rd level smite): 2d4+14d8+12 (+2d8 to fiends/undead), average of 80 damage (or 89 against fiends/undead). All 3 Attacks (All crits, 2 3rd-level smites, 1 2nd-level smite): 308 damage (or 353 against fiends/undead), which includes Psychic Blades once a turn, and one Eldritch Smite.
Yes, this build is a nova build. Yes, it is a stereotypical, edgy Hexadin. And, yes, it uses a Double-Bladed Scimitar as a hexadin in order to get an extra smite power. No matter how overused some of these parts of the build are, that is mostly besides the point. Are there a lot of hexadin nova builds in the game, using either Polearm Master, Dual Wielding, or a Double-Bladed Scimitar to get even more attacks? Yes. Yes there are. And, it's for a good reason. No matter what anyone's personal, specified definition of what "true powergaming" is, I doubt you would ever find any powergamer who would object to only ever maximizing one ability score, while simultaneously being able to score a critical hit on 9 out of 10 of your turns against medium and smaller creatures. When you happen to get a divine smite, eldritch smite, psychic blades, hexblade's curse, and holy weapon on a crit, your DPR can jump to the moon. Even during the rare combat encounter where you do not get a critical hit, your DPR is at least 75 on average. You have plenty of spell slots to go around for smiting and spellcasting, as well as regaining many of your features on a short rest.
If you're not here for maximizing damage, that's totally fine as well. If you're just here for the spooky theme, this build has no short of terrifying capabilities, from our Channel Divinity that basically allows us to dominate any undead of CR 19 or lower, Mantle of Whispers to slay and impersonate our victims, our Nightmare steed, our Words of Terror, Fear spell, Frightening Channel Divinity to literally terrify nearly anyone, our cursing abilities, and skywrite to announce our presence to any village we choose to conquer. Oathbreakers, Whispers Bards, Hexblades, and Pact of the Blade Warlocks all have no shortage of nightmare-inducing abilities.
Though you may not care whether or not a character is capable of killing anything and everything on the battlefield, if dark and nightmarish characters are your thing, you have got to admit that a fiend-riding, sentient-weapon wielding, soulless, silk-tongue, mind-breaking fallen-paladin fits the bill of being just a bit "spooky."
Whoo! Finally done! I still may edit to fix/reword things, but this is it. Thanks for your patience and for reading this. I'm excited to see who the victor this round ends up being.
I've wanted to try one of these challenges for awhile and Halloween seems like a great time to jump in! The concept is a blend between the Wolfman/Werewolf genre and perhaps a bit of the psychological concept of our "bestial" or "primal" natures.
Level 20 level split: Barbarian 2/ Bloodhunter (Order of the Lycan) 18
Race: Half Orc
Stats: Str 20 Dex 12 Con 18 Int 13 Wis 8 Cha 8
Background: Haunted One
Starting level: Barbarian 1
Stats 15(17) | 12 | 15(16) | 13 | 8 | 8
HP 15
AC 14 (Unarmored); 16 (With Shield)
Jun’thar’s mother used to tell him, “My son, there are two animals living inside of us, one good and honorable, another evil and vicious. We must decide which one we feed and which one we starve.” An apt and powerful analogy, given that on Jun’thar’s first hunt, he witnessed his father and several others mauled by a half man, half wolf, known as a Beastman. These monsters had haunted Jun’thar’s tribe for hundreds of years.
Jun’thar’s father survived, but only to live as an embittered cripple, who took his frustration out on his family. Jun’thar grew up angry. Angry over the dishonor brought onto his family, angry about being dismissed from hunting to clean and weave, angry over how his father treated them. He wanted revenge. He was feeding the vicious animal.
From level one on, Jun’thar is a strong and hearty melee combatant. His rage drives him to hit harder and to fight longer. His relentless endurance keeps him fighting to the very last.
Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, and Survival
Darkvision
Relentless Endurance
Savage Attacks
Rage (2/long rest)
At 5th level:
17 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 8
HP 52
AC 16 (Breastplate); 18 (With Shield)
Despite his keen intellect, Jun’thar is slow to learn how to control his anger. Thankfully, due to the guidance of his mother, he learns to keep his passions in check. The elders of his tribe recognize his tenacity and prepare him to take part in a sacred order, the Beast Hunters. Over the years, the Wise Ones developed a potion that would enable the drinker to transform and take on the power of their monstrous enemies. This transformation was dangerous, as some could give over into the bloodlust of the Beastmen, but those of a strong will could stay resolute.
Jun’thar’s martial prowess increases significantly. His rage drives him to fight recklessly, and yet brutal. The more he fights, the more he develops an intuition for danger. Jun'thar also develops a special maledict to stop any sorcerors from exerting their will over him. His training as a Beast Hunter transforms him from prey to predator. Sometimes, however, his rage overwhelms him and throws him into a bloodlust.
Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, and Survival
While raging in hybrid form and rite of the storm active, we have two claw attacks, with advantage, that deal 1d6+1d4+6. A critical would be 3d6+2d4+6.
At 11th level:
Stats 20 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 8
HP 106
AC 16 (Breastplate); 18 (With Shield)
Jun’thar has earned a reputation not only in his tribe, but also among the Beastmen, as a fearsome hunter. He lives to hunt, to fight, to watch the light of his enemy’s eyes fade. He becomes more and more distant from his family and friends, focusing all of his rage and cunning into decimating the enemy.
Jun’thar’s strength swells as he spends his days constantly on the hunt for the next kill. He has become so comfortable in nature, he learns to use all of his surroundings and even his body as a weapon. He’s spent so much time fighting the Beastmen that he’s learned how to pounce and grapple his prey in the blink of an eye.
Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, and Survival
Stalker’s Prowess: +10ft movement, +10ft to long jump, +3ft to vertical
Improved Predatory Strikes: +1 to unarmed attacks
ASI: Tavern Brawler
Extra Attack
Brand of Castigation
ASI: +2 Str
While raging in hybrid form and rite of the storm active, we have three claw attacks at +10, with advantage, that deal 1d6+1d6+8. A critical would be 3d6+2d6+8.
At 17th level:
Stats 20 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 8
HP 160
AC 16 (Breastplate); 18 (With Shield)
The more Jun’thar hunted, the more he fed the vicious animal inside. He still hated the Beastmen, but he had also come to understand them. Their bloodlust and lack of empathy began to seem natural. All of nature functioned off of the survival of the fittest. Why were people supposed to be different?
Perhaps Jun’thar’s humanity would have been saved, if he had not returned home from a long hunt to find that his father had lashed out against his mother, accidentally killing her. While the tribe debated how best to carry out justice, Jun’thar let out a growl that froze every spine. Flying into an immediate bloodlust, he began by killing his father and quickly moved on to some of his friends, mentors, elders. Before the tribe could gather enough strength to restrain him, Jun’thar fled into the wild.
Jun’thar’s embrace of the beast makes him impossibly fast. He develops a new maledict to overwhelm his enemies' defenses. His new regenerative abilities, especially alongside his damage resistance, make him nigh unkillable. He fears less and less each day. He begins to master death so much that he can even will the fallen to fight a bit longer.
Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, and Survival
Movement: 45 ft
Darkvision
Relentless Endurance
Savage Attacks
Rage (2/lr)
Reckless Attacks
Danger Sense
Hemocraft Die: 1d8
Hunter’s Bane
Blood Maledict: the Fallen Puppet, Exposure, the Muddled Mind
Stalker’s Prowess: +10ft movement, +10ft to long jump, +3ft to vertical
Improved Predatory Strikes: +2 to unarmed attacks
ASI: Tavern Brawler
Extra Attack
Brand of Castigation
ASI: +2 Str
Dark Augmentation: +5ft; +1 to Str, Dex, and Con saves
Brand of Tethering
Hardened Soul: Adv on saves against being frightened or charmed
Advanced Transformation: at the start of each turn, regenerate 4 hp if under half health
ASI: Sentinel
While raging in hybrid form and rite of the storm active, we have three claw attacks at +13, with advantage, that deal 1d8+1d8+9. A critical would be 3d8+2d8+9.
At 20th level and final thoughts:
Stats 20 | 12 | 18 | 13 | 8 | 8
HP 206
AC 16 (Unarmored)
Jun’thar gorges the evil animal inside of him, abandoning the good within. In fact, he is no longer "Jun'thar," but simply "The Beast." As the alpha predator in his lands, all he knows is the hunt. All are his prey.
Jun’thar’s vicious claw attacks, rage, resistances, and regeneration make him a monster. His swift movement, strong grip, and agile maneuvers make him impossible to escape. He never loses track of his prey and his blood-curdling howl frightens all who might stand in his way. You can try to run, but the Beast will find you.
Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, and Survival
Movement: 45 ft
Darkvision
Relentless Endurance
Savage Attacks
Rage (2/lr)
Reckless Attacks
Danger Sense
Hemocraft Die: 1d10
Hunter’s Bane
Blood Maledict: the Anxious, the Fallen Puppet, Exposure, the Howl, the Muddled Mind
Stalker’s Prowess: +10ft movement, +10ft to long jump, +3ft to vertical
Improved Predatory Strikes: +3 to unarmed attacks
Advanced Transformation: at the start of each turn, regenerate 5 hp if under half health
Hybrid Transformation Mastery: unlimited use of transformation, which lasts indefinitely;
ASI: Tavern Brawler
Extra Attack
Brand of Castigation
ASI: +2 Str
Dark Augmentation: +5ft; +1 to Str, Dex, and Con saves
Brand of Tethering
Hardened Soul: Adv on saves against being frightened or charmed
ASI: Prodigy (Athletics)
ASI: +2 Con
Offense:
While raging in hybrid form and rite of the storm active, we have three claw attacks at +14, with advantage, that deal 1d8+1d10+10. A critical would be 3d8+2d10+10. Without rage, the damage only drops by 2 points per hit. Not only are his unarmed strikes magical, but he also has the Exposure maledict to overcome resistances.
Jun'thar also finishes with a +17 to grapple, with advantage, and can be initiated as a bonus action if he successfully hits with an unarmed strike.
His speed, grapple, and tracking abilities, along with the potential stun from the Howl maledict, make escape difficult. Brand of Tethering even punishes those for fleeing and can stop the dash action and teleportation.
Defense:
Jun'thar has a giant pool of hit points. The Barbarian rage and Lycan transformation provide nice damage resistance. When these resistances apply, our regeneration ability effectively gives us 10hp per round. If someone does manage to drop us to 0, our Relentless Endurance helps us fight just a bit longer.
Our Dark Augmentation adds a bit to our physical saving throws, while Danger Sense helps with our reflex saves. We also have advantage against being charmed and frightened, and Muddled Mind maledict helps us break concentration checks.
And there you go! A raging, frothing, werewolf orc (I shouldn't have worked on this so late at night...) From an optimization standpoint, I'll make a couple of comments.
1. The glaring weakness of this build is Jun'thar's Wisdom saving throw. Playing him in a party would get more and more...interesting. The idea, however, is that he slowly gives into his baser desires. In the end, Jun'thar is a lone wolf and doesn't play nicely with others.
2. I've never tried to build around unarmed strikes before. My head is still spinning a bit from the awkward rules. If your DM would loosen some of the rules for unarmed strikes, you might have a wider range of feats available. In that case, the feat from VHuman might pay off more. I, however, really love the Savage Attacks ability of the Half-Orc with our reckless attacks.
Thanks for reading! I welcome any feedback, corrections, or brilliant modifications you have. And good luck to the other participants!
(Those who can't tell need to get their head looked at, but this is meant to be your stereotypical werewolf. I have realized that every single one of my throwdown builds so far have been NOVA or DPS builds, which don't really have a lot of variety, so my next build will be a control build)
'The descent into hell is easy'- Vergil, The Aeneid
'Whats i-it like?' The boy asked. A gruff voice answers out of the shadows. 'Painful. And lonely'. There is a moment of silence, then the boy speaks again. 'I-I could come here. Keep y-you company'. The boy starts as he hears a choking noise, but he soon realizes it is laughter. 'No, boy. I am dying. But if you stay a little longer, I will tell you the story. My father would kill me if a story like this was lost to the mists of time.' At first the boy is dubious, but he quickly settles down. The yellow eyes blink once, the close. 'It all started in the small town of Ren...'
Race: Shifter (Beasthide). Shifting for temporary HP and more AC? I do believe this is compatible
Stats: Str 15 (+1) Dex 12 Con 14 (+2) Int 14 Wis 8 Cha 8
Background: Outlander fits pretty well
Starting level: Bloodhunter! Pretty good stuffs at first level: Weapons and armour (Not that you will ever need armour later on), Hunters bane, Blood maledict and our first blood curse! We will pick Blood curse of the muddled mind, as spellcasters are your biggest threat.
Any guidance or commentary you want: 'I was orphaned at an early age, but luckily I was found and raised by the village bard Carden. I was not troublesome as a child. I am told that I was sweet tempered, quiet and determined. I think all of those traits died somewhere along my journey.....' His eyes wander for a second, then snap back to the boy 'Nine years I lived in that village. Nine happy, carefree years. It was the war that changed everything. Somewhere, unbeknownst to our little town, tow countries had declared war. Guess what stood in the path of the marching army and their destination. We didn't put up much of a fight. Most of the men were conscripted to fight. The women.....my mother.....I escaped into the woods. A few of the soldiers saw me, but they didn't chase. They knew that the woods would be my doom. And they were. After a few hours, I collapsed exhausted and shaking. By some miracle I managed to pass the night without anything eating me, and in the morning I resumed my course, not that I had any idea where I was going. It was around mid-day when a new obstacle crossed my path...'
Level 2: More BH and more treats....or are they tricks? Who cares. Crimson rite is a great way to put on the pain, and we can grab archery so we have a ranged attack for later levels. We are gonna choose rite of the storm as it is mechanically the best, and we love thunder fang round here Level 3: You are officially a werewolf! Lycan is obviously our subrace, and oh boy is it amazing. Hybrid transformation gives you more AC, rage-like resistances, dual wielding claws, and the ability to beat the absolute crap out of anyone who stands between you and a vampire. You also get......um......bloodlust. Great ability.....'specially when we auto fail the save due to barb's rage.....Moving on! Level 4: ASI going into Strength!. More damage! More accuracy! More....stuff
At 5th level: Extra attack! More DPR is fun!
Any guidance or commentary you want: 'It was somehow the most beautiful and hideous thing I had ever seen. In a clearing directly ahead of me were two of the largest wolves I have ever seen, one grey, the other pitch black. Their elongated teeth were flashing as they roared, their sleek pelts marred with blood from their various wounds. They were locked in a deadly embrace, swiping at each other while their jaws snapped and barked. I was extremely frightened and let out a squeal of terror. Even through the sounds of their battle, they heard me. The black wolf, caught in what I now know as a bloodlust, charged for me. I would have died right there, but the grey wolf grabbed the other's back leg in it's jaws and snapped it in two. He rushed at me, scooping me up in his mouth. We ran for miles. I passed out somewhere along the way, and when I woke, a man was standing over me. For some strange reason, I knew this was the wolf that had saved me. With horror, I realized something. Something that would change my life forever...'
Level 6: Barbarian! Rages, which don't do much for you right now apart from some extra rage damage, and UNARMORED DEFENCE! NO MORE DISGUSTING GEAR (Shield excluded)! You may wan't a weapon when you are not transformed tho. Just a quick AC calculation with all of everything..... 14 from stats, +1 from hybrid, +1 from shifter, +2 from shield.... 18! Not bad for a naked warrior Level 7: More barbarian! Reckless attack is AMAZING....useless, as we are attacking with dex, but WE ARE NOT! Danger sense is, and always will be, awsome. Level 8: Barb level, netting you the Wolf (But it is actually bear) totem, allowing you to resist absolutely everything*. Rage has become more useful! Level 9: More Bloodhunter netting you brand of castigation....It is an offensive/defensive, good/bad, tank/DPR ability. As you can tell, I don't know how I feel about this, but It cannot hurt to apply it at any chance you get. Level 10: More bloodhunter. This is so good I could literally cry. Bonus jump is fine, but due to bounded accuracy a flat to-hit bonus is solid gold.
At 11th level: ASI! Max out your str with all benefits included.
Any guidance or commentary you want: 'On my first class trip in his jaws I had been bitten. It was just a scratch from one of his teeth, but it was enough. That evning it was a full moon and we would know for sure, but from the look in his eyes, I knew I was doomed. My first change was a mix of emotions, I was angry at the world, at my life, but gratitude also surged through me. This is the cost of my life, and I knew I would gladly pay it. I learned that the grey werewolf's name was Lucian. For years he tutored me, showing me the ways of the wolves. On my sixteenth birthday, he announced me a full wolf of the forest. I was happy that day, but there was one thing that was gnawing at my mind- Who was responsible for my parents deaths?. When I confronted Lucian, he refused to answer my question. He brushed it off, but as I mentioned earlier, I was persistent. Eventually he revealed that the king of the country was a vampire. The were-creatures, as the natural guardians of the forest, had been opposing the bleak expansion of his empire for years. In my heart I knew what I had to do, even if it killed me to do it. Lucian warned me against it, but the very next morning I set off. I was going to kill a king....
Level 12: Grim....psy....spychemoetry? Yeah thats it. Gives you some boring lore bonuses that we will skip for the purposes of keeping this interesting. Level 13: Pretty good defensive ability, but our int....kinda sucks. Level 14: Final Barb level snagging us a cheeky feat. There are some great choices but there is only one choice. Lucky will drastically improve the chances of you surviving any encounter with a spell caster. Level 15: Final bloodhunter level and you are truly vibing now. Two uses of your werewolf ability and a re-gen so you are not constantly stuck in bloodlust....Yes. Level 16: First fighter level! Nothing useful about fighting style, but grab dueling in case you find yourself out of werewolf abilities in a mineshaft. At 17th level: ACTION SURGE. Must I say any more?
Any guidance or commentary you want: 'It took me weeks of trekking through enemy territory, but eventually I reached the dark tower in which the vampire resided. I made my way through the city around the tower, keeping my identity hidden. When I reached the entrance, I was denied entry, but luckily I had spied a water drain that led in earlier that day. It was unguarded by men, as the current was so strong that no man could swim their way up the stream far enough to gain entry without magic, and the city wards prevented that. However, their logic had not accounted for a nine foot tall wolf with paws like paddles. I easily made my way into the tower, exiting in what would have been a kitchen, but the vampire did not eat food, so it was unnecessary. I ascended the tower with a dubious excitement. This was the moment I had been waiting for, the chance to avenge my parents. In my folly, I did not notice the lack of traps or guards blocking my path. When I made it to the throne room, the vampire was waiting for me. He said nothing, just stood there and watched. The fight didn't last long. I charged him, ready to strike him with my claws, but he said a single word and I was frozen in place. He laughed at my foolishness, and foolishness it was. He didn't kill me, no that would be too kind. Instead he diseased me. He infected my blood, causing constant spasms of pain and weakness. He reduced me to what I am now, and sent me to this cave to live out the rest of my life in agony. I have been here for years until.....you.'
Level 18: MORE Bloodhunter getting you the ever amazing FEAT OF TOUGHNESS. Yeah you have a few HP to spare now.... Level 19: EVEN MORE Bloodhunter getting you.....Brand of tethering. What a great ability. Level 20: Hey mages...Guess what I heard! I heard you can't charm or frighten Mr Wolf any more. Yeah thats right go run away
Final thoughts: The wolf closes its eyes and lays its head down on its paws. The boy doesn't speak for a little while, but when the wolf doesn't go on, he looks aghast 'What h-happened next? That c-can't be the ending!' The wolf opens its eyes again. 'But it is. This story has no happy ending, boy.' The boy gets up 'b-but evil never wins!' The wolf looks at him tiredly 'It's a little late for sentiment boy. Soon the entire world will be under his grasp, and evil will be all thats left.' The boy quietens. A moment of silence stretches into a minute, a minute into an hour. Finally the boy speaks again, but quietly 'Bite me' The wolf snaps to attention. The boy speaks louder 'Bite me, make me a were-wolf. Let me carry on your quest. My parents are gone as well' He shrugs 'I have nothing to lose'. The wolf regards him for a moment, the nods. The boy walks over, and the wolf speaks. 'You are brave boy. Braver than most. Remember this- the descent into hell is easy, it is easy that dark path. Stay in the light, and all will see you and rejoice.' There is a quick flash of pain in the boys eyes as the wolf's fang cuts his forearm, then calm. The wolf sees the same determination as he had when he was younger in the boys eyes. With a grunt of approval, he collapses, his body turning to dust....
Well, well, well. I could've done a more optimized build but I wanted to stay with the theme. You have a pretty decent DPR with your Claws, Brands, Crimson rites, and more. Your HP rivals a Barbarians at 228, then doubled to 456 due to resistances, then add another average of 26 due to shifter. Your AC is not bad sitting at 18, and your utility is pretty solid due to Bloodhunter having a lot of niche tracking/lore abilities. The build has two major weaknesses. A mage with wis based saving throw spells can wreck you but the other is THE FREAKING AMOUNT OF BONUS ACTIONS YOU NEED TO SET UP IN COMBAT! You need one for Hybrid Transformation, one for rage, one for crimson rite, one for shifting, one for your blood curses AND one to attack......that is five rounds before you are fully set up....but once you are, I doubt any creature could take you down (Don't quote me on that).
The boy looks back, his hair flying over his shoulder 'I will finish what you started.' With not another look back, he starts to walk, then run, His feet turning into paws and his face into a maw. 'Ave atque valē, Greymark'
*Psychic damage not included
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
The concept: Spooky Circumstances
It's that time of year as we roll into our first seasonal edition of 5e Throwdowns! This time we're looking for anything Halloween-y, this can be something you find creepy/scary, it can be replicating something from a horror movie or game etc. Whatever tickles your skeletal fancy!
A slightly shorter turn around for submissions this time around, I just thought it be fitting that the votes opened on Halloween!
Some rules for guidance:
-Please add a field at the start of your build for what you are aiming for (what horror character etc.)
-In the interest of promoting creativity and diversity in these builds, Hexblade will be allowed, but requires a minimum of 5 levels as part of your overall build. If you choose any other Warlock patron this restriction is not applicable.
-Matt Mercer's Gunslinger and Blood Hunter (please use the newest INT based version) are on the table!
-No UA, only officially published materials
-You must include a stat array (Point Buy or Standard Array)
-Build to 20 with insights on how the build hands at levels 5, 11, 17 and 20 (include hp and AC at each point for each of reading)
-Multiclassing and feat optional rules in play
-Variants for races available (V. Human, Dragonmarks, SCAG variants)
-No magic items unless you have a way to create them from a class feature
-Normal starting items and gold, mundane armor upgrades be assumed to happen during tier 2 (so you can mention Plate/Half Plate in your commentary but you can only include it in snapshots for levels 11,17 and the final 20).
-Catchy names and fluff are not a requirement but are always nice to read
Suggested format:
Level 20 level split:
Race:
Stats: Str x Dex x Con x Int x Wis x Cha x
Background:
Starting level:
Any guidance or commentary you want
At 5th level:
Any guidance or commentary you want
At 11th level:
Any guidance or commentary you want
At 17th level:
Any guidance or commentary you want
At 20th level and final thoughts:
Voting:
To sort the wheat from the chaff we'll vote on builds and declare a 'winner' (a concept that will hopefully continue in future threads and put the contest into this), to vote simply make a post quoting the build you want to vote for (snipping the content to keep things getting out of hand) and say something that indicates you're voting e.g. +1, get's my vote etc.
-Each user only gets one vote but you can edit your post at any time before the deadline to change your mind.
-If you submit a build, you must vote for someone for your entry to be considered valid
-A user can submit more than one build but they must be in separate posts (and not back to back to respect forum rules)
-You cannot vote for yourself
-Each throwdown thread will run for 7 days after which no new builds will be accepted for contention, when the build deadline has closed votes will be accepted. The voting deadline will be five days after the build deadline, votes will be tallied and the winner announced (any vote edits after the deadline has passed will also not be counted, if the original vote cannot be seen the vote will be null and void).
Build deadline/Voting opens: 31/10/2020 @ 9pm BST/4pm ET
Voting deadline: 05/11/2020 @ 9pm BST/4pm ET
PLEASE NOTE THAT VOTING IS NOW ONLY ONCE THE BUILD DEADLINE HAS PASSED.
I'm looking forward to what all the optimisers around here come up with so without further ado, let's THROWDOWN
The Contestants:
Archaeolexi's 'Arissa, the Dark Princess' 5 Votes
Yurei1453's 'Alynne Valheim' 3 Votes
Everett_D's 'Inspector Delavyn'
TransmorpherDDS' 'ASH WILLIAMS'
Third_Sundering's 'The Bloodied Blade'
croftstr's 'Jun'thar, Monster Hunter or The Beast' 2 Votes
GoodBovine's 'Child of the Moon'
JoeltheWarlus' 'Elezer Nerex, herald of the outer gods'
BramblefootDruid's 'The Dark Hunter'
The winner is Archaeolexi's 'Arissa, the Dark Princess,' congratulations Archaeolexi and thank you to everyone that submitted a build and voted!
Previous winners:
Throwdown #1: The Gish - Yurei1453's 'Aine, Avandra's Blade'
Throwdown #2: The Terminator - Yurei's 'ATLAS'
Throwdown #3: The Solo Tour- GoodBovine's 'The Dark Angel'
Throwdown #4: Powergamer's Potluck- Yurei1453's 'Yferna the Feywarden'
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Query if I may, DF.
Given the circumstances of this one, and its downright spookiness...mayhaps we can make a single exception and allow Blood Hunters for this contest? If ever there was a Throwdown the blood hunter fit like a glove...heh, and it is freely available in Official* Format on DDB here, so everybody can reference its rules as easily as they can the core content.
Please do not contact or message me.
Great suggestion, consider it approved!
Subscribe to our channel for character builds, roleplay and DM tips: www.youtube.com/c/dorkforge
Interested in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything? Check out our playlist on Youtube
Please feel free to message us with any requests or build challenges!
Well this came along at just the right time, this character idea has been burning a hole in my pocket for a while now!
So here you are, I introduce...
Arissa, the Dark Princess
The only surviving scion of a faltering noble family, Arissa has been locked away from the world her entire life by a tyrranical, domineering father. He has pledged that he will gift her to the man he finds that can revive his family's fortunes and wealth, and until that time she is to be kept under watch at the family estate. Arissa's beauty and grace would lend her well to such an arrangement, and a number of potential suitors have been invited to the estate in recent weeks to attempt to gain her father's approval. It is only a matter of time until she is given away, a slave to the will of an uncaring father and whatever lecherous noble he chooses...
Level 20 level split: Bard 1 / Warlock (The Undying) 15 / Sorceror (Shadow) 4
Race: Fallen Aasimar
Stats: Str 9 Dex 10 Con 14 Int 14 Wis 14 Cha 20
Background: Noble
Starting level: Bard 1
HP: 8
AC: 11 (Leather)
Opening Stats (point buy): 9/10/10/14/14/17
Proficiencies: Performance, Deception, Insight, History, Persuasion, Viol, Dulcimer, Flute, Dragonchess
Spells: Friends, Message, Speak with Animals, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Dissonant Whispers
Bound to her family's tyrranical will and bereft of any hope for a future chosen for herself, Arissa bides her time locked within the crumbling estate of her ancestral home. Music and the ancient tomes in the library have become her only solace as she waits for the day to come when she will be given against her will to a man of her father's choosing. Curiosity blooms within, however, when she reads of a being entombed within the family cemetary, a mysterious creature of dark legend and tempting power...
Gifted with an innate gift for music and the self-discovered magic that comes with it, Arissa begins her twisted journey as a Bard. More suited to social situations and using her abilities to support others at this level, she is not particularly adept at combat, nor does she desire to be. Her spells are tailored towards influencing others and communicating with the few living beings she encounters outside of her domineering family.
At 5th level: Bard 1 / Warlock (The Undying) 4
HP: 28
AC: 11 (Leather)
Stats: 9/10/10/14/14/19
ASI: +2 to Cha
Invocations: Mask of Many Faces, Agonizing Blast
Spells: Chill Touch, Eldritch Blast, Toll the Dead, Cause Fear, Blindness/Deafness, Crown of Madness, Enthrall, Suggestion, Spare the Dying (Pact Boon), Vicious Mockery (Pact Boon), Primal Savagery (Pact Boon)
Arissa has found the strange creature imprisoned within the family cemetary, an ancient vampire long since forgotten within its lightless tomb. Through the enthralling power of her music and the sharing of similar fear and hatred of their individual fates, the Princess and the Monster reach a mutual understanding. After painstaking research and the manipulation of several servants, Arissa manages to free the beast from its confines, setting it loose to take her away from her own imprisonment in a blur of violence and bloodshed...
Arissa begins to learn stranger, darker powers from the imprisoned vampire, gaining levels in Warlock with the Undying patron and the Pact of the Tome. While still much of her spell selection is shaded towards manipulation rather than direct damage, she does pick up some ability to unleash the hatred within her in a more forceful, direct manner with Eldritch Blast, Chill Touch, Toll the Dead, Vicious Mockery, and Primal Savagery. Her invocation selection furthers that innate rage with Agonizing Blast as well as grants her the ability to more thoroughly disguise herself from the agents that her family will surely send looking. A double boost to her Charisma makes her spells that much stronger as well as increasing her social skills. In combat she hangs back, using support and ranged abilities to buff, debuff, and turn her enemies against one another.
At 11th level: Bard 1 / Warlock (The Undying) 10
HP: 58
AC: 12 (Studded Leather)
Stats: 9/10/11/14/14/20
ASI: +1 Cha, +1 Con
Invocations: Book of Ancient Secrets, Mire the Mind, Whispers of the Grave
Spells: Vampiric Touch, Fear, Blight, Death Ward, Danse Macabre, Prestidigitation, Sickening Radiance (remove Cause Fear), Find Familiar (Book of Ancient Secrets), Unseen Servant (Book of Ancient Secrets)
Having fled their imprisonment, Arissa and her undead patron find themselves wandering the world. They keep a low profile, for the most part, not wishing to be found just yet by her family. Each works to build their strength as the move through the shadows of the great cities, preying at will upon those who present themselves. Whether it is blood, money, or favors owed, the pair begin exacting their toll upon the world. Their power amassing, it is only a matter of time before they return to exact their vengeance upon those that have wronged them...
Arissa's power grows apace as she continues to learn from her patron. The arts of necromancy come easily to her as she learns to manipulate the forces of life and death at her whim. She begins to pick up far more damaging spells now such as Blight and Vampiric Touch, while still maintaining a focus on control and manipulation with spells like Fear and the Mire the Mind invocation. She begins exploring new ways of casting spells with Book of Ancient Secrets, gaining access to rituals of all kinds as she can hunt them down. With a maxed out Charisma score she also begins to harden her own form against damage as her Patron's teachings draw her ever closer to his own undying nature. With Whispers of the Grave and Danse Macabre, Arissa begins delving into the beginnings of creating her own undead minions to further her dark goals.
At 17th level: Bard 1 / Warlock (The Undying) 13 / Sorceror (Shadow) 3
HP: 102
AC: 12 (Studded Leather)
Stats: 9/10/12/14/14/20
Feat: Resilient (Constitution)
Invocations: Sculptor of Flesh,
Spells: Create Bonfire, Dancing Lights, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Feather Fall, Shield, Mirror Image, Dream, Banishment, Create Undead (Mystic Arcanum), Finger of Death (Mystic Arcanum)
Wielding death in one hand and rage in the other, Arissa sets out to take her vengeance on her own family. Along with her Patron and undead minions, she storms the family estate and lays waste to any living thing within. She moves through the bloodbath with violin in hand, an echoing dirge accompanied by the screams of her victims...
Arissa's study into other forms of magic have led her to unlock more powers within her own self, allowing her to now manipulate the essence of her spells in new ways with metamagic. With a nigh-permanent contingent of undead guardians at her side now, she bends her study to becoming more self sufficient in avoiding harm and protecting herself on the battlefield.
At 20th level and final thoughts: Bard 1 / Warlock (The Undying) 15 / Sorceror (Shadow) 4
HP: 139
AC: 12 (Studded Leather)
Stats: 9/10/14/14/14/20
ASI: +2 Con
Invocations: Shroud of Shadows
Spells: Frostbite, Misty Step, Knock, Hallucinatory Terrain, Maddening Darkness (Mystic Arcanum)
With her vengeance taken, Arissa and her Patron take full command of her family's ancient estate, transforming it into a place of dark music and lingering death. Undead servants and protectors roam the grounds, keeping unblinking watch over their masters forevermore...
In the end, Arissa expands her spellcasting with a few well-placed minor abilities from Sorceror and higher level ones from Warlock. Never a front line combatant in any situation, Arissa is a character who sits primarily in a support role for much of her evolution, expanding into being able to deal significant damage later on as well as create a small cadre of undead servitors. Various illusion and psychic spells lend themselves to manipulating and controlling the enemy, while she has several ways to remove a particularly annoying threat completely from the battlefield.
((This is probably gonna get tweaked and updated some as I have time throughout the week, before build cutoff. Just tryin'a get up what I've got written tonight before it explodes.))
The Concept:
What you’re about to read is a take on the Vampire Hunter archetype, a killer of monsters who delves into dark, forbidden knowledge to seek the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of their prey. Through dangerous experiments in alchemy and the advancement of arcanomechanical science, the doctors of the Philosopher’s Lodge create weapons, tools, and elixirs that allow them to hunt that which hunts them in turn. Fans of Van Helsing, Blade, and the Witcher should enjoy the character presented below. Fans of the sorts of things those worthies hunt...well. Your time will come.
“The nightmares never stopped. Ever since that...thing...took my mother, my dreams are plagued by visions of that night. Father killed himself, the ******* coward. Eolan ran off with the street gangs. I tried to tell others...tell them what had happened, where my mother had gone. I was ‘invited’ to Blackhurst Sanitarium for my efforts. Ten years of my life, wasted in that stinking cesspit of cruelty and demented ‘science’. But I suppose, without the tempering I endured at the hands of the madmen calling themselves ‘doctors’ at Blackhurst, I wouldn’t have had the conviction to become what I am today. Master Cormorant tells me I should keep a journal. A record of my thoughts, a touchstone for my sanity in the days to come. The trials of the Philosopher’s Lodge are fit to make the madness of Blackhurst seem like a summer fancy, or so Master tells me. On the morrow, when I’m given the Hunter’s Bane, I suppose I shall see. Frankly, I look forward to it. Some fresh new nightmares to squeeze out those horrible eyes would be a welcome change of pace, after all.”
~From the journals of Alynne Valheim, blooded senior huntress and Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge.
Alynne Valheim
Variant Human (feat: Tough) Blood Hunter/Artificer
8 | 15(16) | 13 | 15(16) | 12 | 8
Volstrucker Agent background (purely to fit the intended flavor of the build; normally I’d use a custom background for this buuuuut...)
HP: 13
AC: 15 (Studded leather)
Escape from Blackhurst: Level One
“Finally...finally, I’ve found people who understand. People who believe me when I tell them what happened to Mother. They call themselves the Philosopher’s Lodge, though the ‘philosophy’ they practice is the sort that makes monsters dead. Doctor Cormorant, the man who found me after I escaped Blackhurst, says they’ve been watching the place. They think there’s a monster there, but it’s too well guarded. They want my help getting back in, finding it, and killing it. I told them I’d do it, but only if I got to watch when they killed it. Doctor Cormorant told me he was hoping I’d say that. He says there’s a place for me in the Lodge, if I can prove myself as clever and capable as he thinks I am after my escape. I’ll show him. I’ll go back into Blackhurst with a smile on my fave, if it means learning the things he can do.”
~From the journals of Alynne Valheim, blooded senior huntress and Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge.
At level 1, Alynne is freshly escaped from the Blackhurst Sanitarium and possessed of research documents and a few useful tools from that benighted hellhole. Her escape caught the eye of the Philosopher’s Lodge, a band of blood hunters who dismiss the fetishistic mysticism of the Ghostslayers and scorn the bloody corruption of the Lycans or Profane Souls. The Philosopher’s Lodge trusts to the emerging fields of science and alchemy, augmenting the Hemocraft arts of their order with dangerous concoctions and powerful new weapons. Taken in by the lodge, Alynne is given the Hunter’s Bane and manages to survive in large part due to the constant exposure to drugs and toxins she endured in Blackhurst. This same tormented treatment has yielded a stubborn resilience in her that, combined with ingenuity and determination of her escape, drew the Lodge to her in the first place. She’ll be quite some time recovering from the Bane...but the Doctors Emeritus of the Lodge see a lot of potential in this badly traumatized young girl.
Skills: Arcana, Athletics, Deception, Investigation, Perception, Stealth
Tools: Alchemist’s Supplies, Poisoner’s Kit
Rites: None (yet...)
Blood Curses: Eyeless
Mutagens: None (yet...)
Spells: None (yet...)
Infusions: None (yet...)
Student of Unnatural Philosophy: Level Five
Blood Hunter 3 (Order of the Mutant) / Artificer 2
HP: 47
AC: 15 (16 w/Celerity, 17 w/Enhanced Defense Infusion)
Stats: 8 | 16 (19 w/Celerity) | 13 | 16 (19 w/Sagacity) | 12 | 8
“Success! I’ve successfully adapted the Celerity formula to my own biochemistry. It’s intense, intoxicating. My mind moves so swiftly, my fingers can barely keep up. Master Cormorant says I’ll learn to ride the high, but it comes with a terrible drawback. I can feel it – my mind is flighty, distracted, it’s easy to lose my focus. A weakness I cannot tolerate, given the mind-twisting powers of our enemies. I’ll have to work harder, find a way to defeat this weakness. The first way will be killing my prey before it has a chance to turn my mind. I’ve almost got the bugs worked out of my autocrossbow; another week or two of work and I’ll be able to tell Master Cormorant that my first line of defense against being turned is a dozen bolts in the back from hiding.”
~From the journals of Alynne Valheim, blooded senior huntress and Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge.
Alynne’s training is grueling, but her nightmares have hardened her. She perseveres, attaining her second level of blood hunter. Her body is unfortunately stunted and weakened from malnutrition after years in Blackhurst; while she’s certainly tougher than many urchins, her slender frame and diminutive mass restricts her to projectile combat. She takes up the crossbow, mating it to the Archery fighting style and the Rite of the Storm. While honing her basic martial talents, Alynne is also learning the arts of alchemy, science, and artifice, acquiring her first level of artificer. She continues both sets of studies at basically the same rate, acquiring a third level of blood hunter and her second of artificer commensurately. She is, of course, an adherent of the Order of the Mutant, and as an artificer she can enhance her crossbow with Repeating Shot to eliminate the need for bulky physical ammunition, as well as acting as a delivery system for certain of her spells. Access to Cure Wounds helps offset the blood hunter’s tendency for self-harm, while Shocking Grasp grants Alynne a reliable method of defending herself against threats too close for her bow.
Skills: Arcana, Athletics, Deception, Investigation, Perception, Stealth
Tools: Alchemist’s Supplies, Poisoner’s Kit, Tinker’s Tools, Thieves’ Tools
Rites: Storm
Blood Curses: Eyeless
Mutagens: Celerity, Sagacity, Percipient, Impermeable
Spells: Guidance, Shocking Grasp, Cure Wounds, +2 Artificer
Infusions: Repeating Shot, Enhanced Defense, Replicate Goggles of Night, Replicate Bead of Nourishment
Huntress of the Blood: Level Eleven
Blood Hunter 7 (Order of the Mutant) / Artificer 4
HP: 110
AC: 15 (17 w/Celerity, 18 w/Enhanced Defense Infusion)
Stats: 8 | 17 (20 w/Celerity) | 14 | 16 (19 w/Sagacity) | 13 | 8
“The hunts have been growing easier. My last three were all completed with no serious injuries. The trick Master Cormorant taught me, that brief euphoric rush, helps alleviate Celerity’s flightiness. Between that and the mental discipline exercises I’ve been doing every night, I’ve reduced the threat from the formula to a manageable level. Some of the new formulas I’ve learned help. A selection of them even work on people other than myself, and they don’t require the attention of my more delicate compounds to create. A bit of extra magical push and they simply work. Quite convenient. It turns out werewolves are as surprised as anyone else when a woman begins floating, and a surprised werewolf makes for a refreshingly simple crossbow target.”
~From the journals of Alynne Valheim, blooded senior huntress and Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge.
Alynne’s studies have progressed splendidly. Two levels of artificer allow her to select her artificer specialization – the much-maligned Alchemist, as it not only fits her other studies too well to ignore, but it actually complements her blood hunting better than the other two ‘Official’ paths do. As Alynne is not reliant on her spells, she can afford to turn them into elixirs more often, granting herself useful minor bonuses at need. More importantly, the fourth artificer level allows Alynne to prepare an additional spell and gain the Resilient: Wisdom feat, shoring up her Wisdom saving throws in the face of Celerity’s nasty drawback.
Her blood hunter’s training proceeds well. Fourth-level Blunter grants an ASI, which is taken as a 1/1 Dexterity>Constitution split. Under the effects of Celerity, her Dexterity is now ‘capped’ at 20, and her Constitution is rounded off to give a bunch more HP. She finally learns how to fire twice in a round with her autocrossbow, doubling her damage output, and she acquires the ability to brand a target with hemomantic spellcraft. A new blood curse severely hinders brutish physical attackers, and a new rite offers her flexibility in combat. She can create two Mutagens at once; one is almost always Celerity, while the other varies depending on her requirements for the day. Finally, the many years of chemically abusing her body, both in Blackhurst and with the Lodge, grants Alynne immunity to most toxins. She cannot be poisoned, and her body laughs off most forms of toxic shock. For particularly perilous fights against enemies with mind-altering abilities, she can instill an adrenaline surge allowing her to ignore Celerity’s terrifying drawback...for a few heartbeats, anyways.
Skills: Arcana, Athletics, Deception, Investigation, Perception, Stealth
Tools: Alchemist’s Supplies, Poisoner’s Kit, Tinker’s Tools, Thieves’ Tools, Woodcarver’s Tools
Rites: Storm, Frozen
Blood Curses: Eyeless, Bloated Agony
Mutagens: Celerity, Sagacity, Percipient, Impermeable, Mobility
Spells: Guidance, Shocking Grasp, Cure Wounds, +3 Artificer
Infusions: Repeating Shot, Enhanced Defense, Replicate Goggles of Night, Replicate Bead of Nourishment
Distinguished Mistress of the Hunt: Level Seventeen
Blood Hunter 11 (Order of the Mutant) / Artificer 6
HP: 168
AC: 16 (18 w/Celerity, 19 w/Enhanced Defense Infusion)
Stats: 8 | 18 (22 w/Celerity) | 14 | 16 (20 w/Sagacity) | 14 | 8
“The new formula is successful. Technically. It’s all that allowed me to kill the aberrant thing Master Cormorant had become, at least. Heavily amplified aggression, inhibited moral judgment, elements of bloodlust...it’s high-functioning psychopathy in a vial. Very useful when one needs to overcome what few shreds of humanity lingers in her soul to kill her former master. Unfortunately, it’s even worse than Celerity when it comes to weakening the mind’s defenses. That’s not really the worst part, though. The worst part is when it fades from my system and all of those things the formula suppress come back. There’s a special sort of revulsion one feels when they voluntarily kill their humanity to eke out a little bit more performance in combat. I don’t know why, honestly. I haven’t really been human in many years now; why should what’s left of my soul care about this formula in particular?”
~From the journals of Alynne Valheim, blooded senior huntress and Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge.
By this point in her career, Alynne is an accomplished and respected huntress of the Philosopher’s Lodge, with dozens of successful hunts to her name and a leading role in developing new compounds, formulas, and equipment for the Lodge. Her next ASI, at Blunter 8, rounds Dex off to 18 and Wisdom off to 14. She’s gained her final two levels of artificer, enhancing her healing, granting her Expertise with all of her myriad tools, and giving her access to extra infusions. A favorite is the Homunculus Servant – a tireless sentry that protects Alynne while she sleeps and serves her will on the hunt. Her final Mutant mutagen is Cruelty – suppressing her humanity and allowing her to act with the same unchained bloodlust as her prey.
Her Celerity also improves, offering +4 to Dexterity with a cap of 24. Alynne has 22 Dexterity under Celerity and a +1 bonus on her Repeating Shot heavy crossbow, ending up with a tremendous +15 to hit. Her attacks very seldom miss, and each Rite-branded bolt deals significant damage. She can choose any number of options for her bonus action, ranging from the incredibly powerful and equally dangerous Cruelty to commanding her Homunculus to casting a Flaming Sphere to assail her foes. Exceptionally deadly, only one goal still remains unachieved. One final hunt to undertake.
Skills: Arcana, Athletics, Deception, Investigation, Perception, Stealth
Tools: Alchemist’s Supplies, Poisoner’s Kit, Tinker’s Tools, Thieves’ Tools, Woodcarver’s Tools
Rites: Storm, Frozen,
Blood Curses: Eyeless, Bloated Agony, Binding
Mutagens: Celerity, Sagacity, Percipient, Impermeable, Mobility, Cruelty
Spells: Guidance, Shocking Grasp, Cure Wounds, Healing Word, Ray of Sickness, Acid Arrow, Flaming Sphere, Invisibility, +4 Artificer
Infusions: Repeating Shot, Enhanced Defense, Replicate Goggles of Night, Replicate Bead of Nourishment, Replicate Cloak of Elvenkind, Homunculus Servant
Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge: Level Twenty
Blood Hunter 14 (Order of the Mutant) / Artificer 6
HP: 198
AC: 16 (18 w/Celerity, 19 w/Enhanced Defense Infusion)
Stats: 8 | 18 (22 w/Celerity) | 14 | 16 (20 w/Sagacity) | 14 | 8
“I found it. I finally found it. The creature that took my mother. Twenty long years its eyes have haunted my nightmares. Twenty years, the vacant smile on my mother’s face has twisted in my gut. And now it’s dead. Two days ago I tracked it to its lair, disabled its traps, slew its servitors, and ended its existence. Start to finish, in under an hour. My mother was one of them, reduced to a wretched vampire spawn. I killed her myself, and felt nothing but the briefest flutter when I did. I put her out of her misery and slew the beast that stole her humanity, and when I look back on the hunt all I can feel is annoyance at those moments where I did not perform at my peak and disappointment at the paucity of the monster’s defenses.”
“I believe that’s enough Cruelty for me. I fear the serum has altered my thinking even when it’s not present in my system. The Lodge is welcome to the formula, but I will advise against its long-term use. I’ve killed my own demon, and in the doing made a demon of myself. The Lodge has offered me a position among the Doctors Emeritus and encouraged me to pass my knowledge on to a protege. Perhaps they’re correct. We shall see if I can find someone worth my time and attention. There’s always a fresh supply of urchins scarred by the darkness, after all. One of them might eventually amount to something.”
~From the journals of Alynne Valheim, blooded senior huntress and Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge.
By twentieth level, Alynne has reached the pinnacle of her strength. Her final ASI goes to the Sharpshooter feat, taking advantage of the unnaturally high accuracy of her superboosted Celerity-fueled magic crossbow attacks to land powershot after powershot and deal catastrophic damage to her prey. Her endgame stats are not all that great, with no baseline 20 and only a 16 in her critical Intelligence score...but she can fix that whenever she likes with mutagens, and the assistance of her artifice-bolstered magical gear helps as well. Her Brand makes her all but inescapable – her foes cannot flee, they cannot teleport away, they cannot hide behind illusions, and they cannot hide in general. Her decades of sanity-bending experiences have granted her advantage against any effect that seeks to charm or frighten her. With nearly two hundred hit points, she can make generous use of her Hemocraft arts, but even without them she’s a force to be reckoned with.
A skilled alchemist, a gifted tinker, a magnificent marksman, and a monster concealed in human skin. Alynne Valheim, Doctor Emeritus of the Philosopher’s Lodge and blooded senior huntress of the Order of the Mutant, is one of the most potent and accomplished hunters of her age. Something both more and terrifyingly less than truly human.
Skills: Arcana, Athletics, Deception, Investigation, Perception, Stealth
Tools: Alchemist’s Supplies, Poisoner’s Kit, Tinker’s Tools, Thieves’ Tools, Woodcarver’s Tools
Rites: Storm, Frozen, Oracle
Blood Curses: Eyeless, Bloated Agony, Binding, Muddled Mind
Mutagens: Celerity, Sagacity, Percipient, Impermeable, Mobility, Cruelty
Spells: Guidance, Shocking Grasp, Cure Wounds, Healing Word, Ray of Sickness, Acid Arrow, Flaming Sphere, Invisibility, +4 Artificer
Infusions: Repeating Shot, Enhanced Defense, Replicate Goggles of Night, Replicate Bead of Nourishment, Replicate Cloak of Elvenkind, Homunculus Servant
Please do not contact or message me.
I can't wait for builds! I've got a good one up my sleeve...
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((This is my first time trying one of these and it was incredibly difficult for me, be gentle. I give to you the makings of a serial killer. Inspired in part by the character The Legion from Dead By Daylight.))
Augur Taft is a man that is a victim of horrible circumstance and, unknown to him, mental trauma. It is safe to say that he had no say in what he eventually became and the skills and mindsets that he picked up along the way. Some surmise that he didn't even know he was a Changeling, although that would have to be preposterous. This former sailor eventually fell into unfortunate patterns that lead to him heading down a dark path. As he is now there is no redemption to be had for him and those at are working with him. Calling themselves Asylum they have mindlessly carved a path through one port town after another but no one seems to be able to figure out how they're able to travel so freely while being known serial killers. Their marks are random and the bodies they drop seem to have no connection to one another. It is perplexing but we have to catch them soon before more innocents are lost.
~Inspector Delavyn.
Level 20 level split: Fighter 10 (Champion), Ranger 5 (Gloom Stalker), Rogue 5 (Assassin)
Race: Changeling
Stats: Str 13, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10
Background: Sailor
Starting level
Fighter 1
HP- 12
AC- 13 (leather)
(Standard Array plus Changeline bonuses)
Str 13
Dex 15
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 13 (+1)
Cha 10 (+2)
Proficiencies: Str, Con, Acrobatics, Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Navigators Tools, Vehicle (Water)
Features(Fighter): Dueling Fighting Style
Augur was a brown haired young man who had signed up to sail on the seas on the Wayfaring Wench, captained by Jeanne Parro. She was a raucous, fiery, woman with bright red hair down her back, bright green eyes, with a short and slender stature. Augur was taken by her early on and utterly captivated by her bravado and the way she could inspire people in the taverns. He signed up to sail and became a merchant sailor, primarily hauling cargo and transporting people from one part to another up and down the coast, while learning how to fight and hold his own. His father, formerly a Sailor in the Navy, had taught him how to treat a ship right which worked to his benefit when it came to his employment. And along with the rest of the crew the Wayfaring Wench was quite prosperous.
Nothing too exciting at the beginning. Our man is setting out into the world on a ship under a rowdy captain. He wields a longsword in tandem with his dueling style but also carries on him a dagger and a short bow with some arrows just in case they run into some trouble. Being a sailor out on the sea he wears light leather armor so that if he were to fall over board he'd be able to float easier than if he were weighed down by chain and plate.
Level 5
Fighter 4 (Champion)/Ranger 1
HP- 48
AC- 14 (leather)
Str 13
Dex 17 (ASI +2)
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 13
Cha 10
Proficiencies: Str/Con, Acrobatics, Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Survival Navigators Tools, Vehicle (Water)
Features(Fighter): Dueling Fighting Style, Action Surge, Improved Critical.
Features(Ranger): Favored Enemy Humanoid (Half-Orc, Elf), Natural Explorer (Coast)
The Wayfaring Wench made port a town that had a reasonable reputation. They had done business here before and only had trouble when some of the locals got a little too much alcohol in their system. Every place had their local gangs and crime but this place was better than most of the others they went too. The local garrison and high walls probably sought to that, at least that was what Augur thought. After meeting with a merchant that was to be their next client they slept for the night after loading the merchandise they'd be hauling. It was a peaceful, restful, nights sleep. In the morning Augur woke along with the rest of his crew, met up, and got ready to make sail. The Wayfaring Wench left port and was on its way down the coast. This idyllic life that Augur made for himself wasn't fit to last though.
On the third day of their week long journey to the next port town they were assaulted by pirates. A large galleon was spotted on the horizon with the flag of its miscreant crew flying high. It wasn't long before they were exchanging cannon fire and not long after that before the two crews were crossing swords with one another. But that was the day that Augur lost everything he had. The Wayfaring Lady was sunk, the crew he had known and sailed with dead, with him being the only survivor. After washing ashore he was awoken from his unconscious state by a female voice. His eyes opened to see a red haired half elf woman with dark green eyes shaking him. Her name was Lyra and she had witnessed the battle. She claimed to know who was the mastermind of the attack which caused his blood to boil. After taking some time to recover he set out with her to get to the bottom of his newly sworn revenge.
By level 5 we see Augur getting stronger as a fighter and picking up more of the features. He becomes tougher and more robust while his time on the sea helped increase his dexterity. But with the death of his crew our man has his first mental break. The perfect life he had made for himself had been stripped away and the only things he could remember was seeing a vague symbol on a piece of parchment he pulled from a body before he lost everything. His first break resulted in Lyra, a split personality in the guise of a ranger, that goads him into revenge on the Half-orc captain that attacked his crew and the Elf that hired them. The merchants signature, he didn't realize, was the vague symbol he saw. Which is the basis for Lyra's apparent knowledge.
Level 11
Fighter 7 (Champion)/Ranger 3 (Gloom Stalker)/Rogue 1
HP- 89
AC-14
Str 13
Dex 17
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 13
Cha 10
Proficiencies: Str/Con, Acrobatics, Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Survival, Stealth, Navigators Tools, Vehicle (Water)
Features(Fighter): Dueling Fighting Style, Action Surge, Improved Critical, Extra Attack, Remarkable Athlete.
Features(Ranger): Favored Enemy Humanoid (Half-Orc, Elf), Natural Explorer (Coast), Archery Fighting Style, Primeval Awareness, Gloom Stalker Magic, Dread Ambusher, Umbral Sight.
Features(Rogue): Expertise (Stealth, Acrobatics), Sneak Attack (1d6), Thieves' Cant.
Spells: Hunters Mark, Longstrider, Zephyr Strike.
Following Lyra he managed to trace his way along the coast over the next week on foot until eventually he got back to the port town his crew had left. He knew that the Merchant he was looking for wasn't going to be hard to find, necessarily, since they were well known in this little town. But he was cautioned by Lyra to be careful. He gave her a nod and moved through the city, snagging a shabby cloak from out front of someone's house at night to hide his appearance while Lyra took her own. He stood back as Lyra made the inquiries and did the primary part of the tracking necessary to find their target. While moving through an alley they were cornered by some members of the local criminal element. They were more organized than he originally thought. Lyra stayed back while he spoke to them. They were assuming he was moving in on their turf so he surprised them when he said that he wanted to join their side. He could hear Lyra whispering to him, claiming that they could be useful.
In the few short days that he spent among the Thieves guild he met a Drow, Talyn. He was a dark skinned, white haired, slender male. He was quiet, for the most part, which made him a good listener. Lyra seemed to have a good feeling about him so he opened up about what he was looking for in town. Talyn was sympathetic and sought to help. It took only another day and night for the three of them to find the Merchant they were looking for. It was night when they came upon his house. Lyra and Talyn stayed outside while he went in on his own. Breaking in was easy. Everyone was asleep. He searched and eventually found the first room and slowly opened the door. He saw a child, a young boy, and remembered some words that were whispered to him. "Take a hostage, it'll make him talk". He tied the kid up but went still when he heard movement. He pressed against the wall behind the door when it suddenly opened. A woman's voice was heard, filled with worry, but as she entered she fell victim to the sudden attack. With both tied up and at his mercy he dragged them into the Merchants master bedroom.
He got the answers he wanted. He had hired the pirates to kill his crew, sink the ship, and take the cargo. Talyn came up behind him and whispered in his ear. "He should known what the pain you feel is like." Before he killed the Merchant he made the Elf watch his family die. It was time to find the pirates next, so they set off.
By 11th level we see Augur increasing his skills and abilities as both a fighter as he traveled along the coast. Finding his way back honed his ability to track and find his way through the terrain to make the best time. He becomes more proficient and, in a strange sense, finds greater power within himself. Did something take interest in him? Something that supplied him with power? He didn't know. But the mental break that is Lyra solidifies herself within the mind of Augur. During his time in the Port Town he meets the Thieves Guild and, over a few days, picks up the basics of what it means to be a Rogue. Another mental break occurs as he gets closer to his objective, manifesting as Talyn. But through this new alter he learns the ways of the rogue and eventually begins his revenge, killing the Merchant and his family. Despite the fact that they were innocent.
Level 17
Fighter 10 (Champion)/Ranger 4 (Gloom Stalker)/Rogue 3 (Swashbuckler)
HP- 175
AC- 15
Str 13
Dex 19 (+2)
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 13
Cha 10
(Fighter ASI used for Tough Feat, Ranger ASI spent on Dex)
Proficiencies: Str/Con, Acrobatics, Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Survival, Stealth, Navigators Tools, Vehicle (Water)
Features(Fighter): Dueling Fighting Style, Action Surge, Improved Critical, Extra Attack, Remarkable Athlete, Tough Feat (Fighter ASI lvl 8), Indomitable, Two Weapon Fighting Style.
Features(Ranger): Favored Enemy Humanoid (Half-Orc, Elf), Natural Explorer (Coast), Archery Fighting Style, Primeval Awareness, Gloom Stalker Magic, Dread Ambusher, Umbral Sight.
Features(Rogue): Expertise (Stealth, Acrobatics), Sneak Attack (2d6), Thieves' Cant, Cunning Action, Fancy Footwork, Rakish Audacity.
Spells: Hunters Mark, Longstrider, Zephyr Strike.
Weeks passed which lead Augur through a harrowing series of events. Lyra and Talyn urged him forward and supported him in everything that he did to find the pirates that had killed his crew and sunk the ship. He couldn't even sleep that well anymore because all he could hear was the cannon fire in his dreams, the flash of powder, and the ring of swords. Lyra told him that he didn't need to forget, that he shouldn't, and that he should let the memories fuel him. Talyn, for his part, despite being the quiet one offered support in the form of information gathering. He took the lead on that since he was the one that was the best with disguises. he found one member of the pirate crew after another as they traveled from port town to port town. Early on he was skeptical of the Drow's ability to track and gather information. Most of the people he came across and killed seemed like normal people. But Lyra and Talyn told him they were in hiding since the pirates he was after knew he was coming. They had helped him this far, he figured, so they wouldn't steer him wrong now.
And he moved from town to town, killing those he was told to kill by the others, and even took turns with the others so that they'd have the opportunity to perfect and hone their skills. There were some close calls with local guards and he had to kill a few of them, as unfortunate as that was, but it was all a means to an end. He was sure that he was getting closer and closer to the captain of the pirate crew. He tortured, interrogated, and killed in order to get the answers he was looking for. Men, women, even children weren't safe from his dark machinations when it came to getting what he wanted.
As we see here the trauma that Augur had suffered as taken a firm hold now. This being shown, mechanically, as the multiclassing going deeper as the Ranger and Rogue dip represent the level of investment he put into those other sides of himself. The build, albeit seemingly not the best, is starting to come together. The combination of two attacks with easier criticals and sneak attack leading to more damage dealt. The dip into tough fills out the health pool and is representative of the single focus of his revenge and the work he's putting in to track down the pirates. We also see him picking up Two Weapon Fighting so that he can use his Scimitar and Dagger, the weapon of choice for Talyn, at the same time. Taking advantage of Rakish Audacity by distracting with one weapon to get a sneak attack with another. The bump to Dex represents his increase of skill when it comes to moving and fighting with two weapons and his further development of his archery skills.
Level 20
Fighter 10 (Champion)/Ranger 5 (Gloom Stalker)/Rogue 5 (Swashbuckler)
HP-201
AC-16
Str 13
Dex 20 (+1)
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 14 (+1)
Cha 10
(Rogue ASI spent on Dex and Wis)
Proficiencies: Str/Con, Acrobatics, Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Survival, Stealth, Navigators Tools, Vehicle (Water)
Features(Fighter): Dueling Fighting Style, Action Surge, Improved Critical, Extra Attack, Remarkable Athlete, Tough Feat (Fighter ASI lvl 8), Indomitable, Two Weapon Fighting Style.
Features(Ranger): Favored Enemy Humanoid (Half-Orc, Elf), Natural Explorer (Coast), Archery Fighting Style, Primeval Awareness, Gloom Stalker Magic, Dread Ambusher, Umbral Sight.
Features(Rogue): Expertise (Stealth, Acrobatics), Sneak Attack (3d6), Thieves' Cant, Cunning Action, Fancy Footwork, Rakish Audacity, Uncanny Dodge.
Spells: Hunters Mark, Longstrider, Zephyr Strike, Silence.
He was getting closer, he could feel it in his soul, to having his revenge. He had cut a bloody path through the coastal cities, rooting out the pirates in hiding where ever he found them, at the behest of Lyra and Talyn. He could tell that he was getting stronger and it was only after he had so many bloody kills under his belt that he realized they were meant to make him stronger. Talyn explained it along the way. They weren't strong enough to take down the Pirate Captain. The Half-Orc had bested Jeanne in single combat. There was no way that he was going to be able to fight him a few months ago when this whole thing began. Each kill, each hunt, had been intentional. And now he felt like him and his two companions were honed to a fine edge like a blade. The three of them were going to be able to find the pirate captain and take him out along with his crew. To that end he bartered for passage to an island he had found out was known to house pirates. The Half-Orc, who he had learned was named Orkash the Red-Tooth, had docked there just the day before.
The crew of the ship he was on were a good group of people, they were a good crew, but unfortunately they were all tied to the pirates. He hadn't seen it before but Talyn had informed him when they were almost to the island. Augur had waited, making sure they were close, before he and the other went about systematically killing the crew like clockwork. The ship was bathed in blood and he stood upon it as it sailed toward the beach of the pirate cove and beached itself. He jumped off, hid, and waited. Sure enough the Pirates came out to search, he killed them all, shooting some down with a volley of arrows while others were snuck up on and dispatched with sword and dagger.
That day a dozen men and women were laid low until, at the end, he took the head of Orkash the Red-Tooth. "Finally.." He sighed, covered in blood with wounds covering his body. He felt like he could barely stand and swayed back and forth. "..it's over." But then he felt Talyn whisper into his ear. "I'm sorry, friend. But there's more to do." The Drow whispered softly in one ear. "These aren't the only ones." The female voice of the half-elf, Lyra, whispered in the other. "We have work to do." Augur dropped to his knees next to the corpse of Orkash. "Please, my friend, can't I rest?" He was on the verge of begging. "I have ran so far, killed so many, and suffered so much. Can't I bring it to an end?" He said as his voice craved release.
"No, my friend." Came the two voices. Now Augur's face was divided in two, one half the female visage of Lyra while the other was the dark skinned Talyn. "We can't rest until we are done." Augur closed his eyes, not realizing what had happened. His fair skinned self took its place once more. "Alright." He said, pushing himself up to his feet. "I'll finish this and then we'll rest. We'll deliver all sinners to the Asylum."
By level 20 we see the completion of the serial killer that is Asylum. This is the perfection of his disjointed, trauma filled, style of fighting. The ASI from Rogue goes toward maxing out his Dexterity and Bumping up his Wisdom to get the odd numbers out of his stat spread, since odd numbers are bad. I've chosen to keep his spell list relatively simple since he doesn't directly draw, knowingly, off of power for his spells. And kept those that I felt would lend themselves to the style of a relentless serial killer, like from the old school movies. Of course Uncanny Dodge is always a good thing to have. But Asylum, in general, is a character that fights in a disjointed manner that works well with itself. He believes that he's three separate people and so he operates as such. The fight could start with Augur attacking from the front with his scimitar to try and get in some quick damage with Zephyr Strike. Only to back off and disappear behind an obstacle only to appear again as Lyra, bow in hand, slinging arrows. A cast of silence allowing her to hide so that the sneaky Talyn appears next from the shadows to sneak attack their target. Giving the idea that someone is, indeed, fighting three people.
Completely unhinged, Asylum is driver by the two darker personalities of Lyra and Talyn to kill innocent people under the pretense of them being bad individuals who indirectly killed the crew that he loved so much. While Augur is still the main driving personality as I've explained I've tried to use the triple multiclass as a way to represent all three personalities that exist within him.
ASH WILLIAMS
Alright, you primitive screwheads, it's time to get down to the real King of the Spooky Season. Let's Begin.
Level 20 level split: Level 18 Zealot Barbarian/ Level 2 Artificer
Race: Variant Human (Feat: Lucky)
Stats: Str 16 Dex 12 Con 16 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 13 (Point Buy)
Background: Athlete
Level 1: Evil Dead Lvl 1 Artificer
HP: 12 AC: 11 (Ash doesn't realize he needs armor)
Ash starts as a student, focusing on mechanical repairs. His background as an athlete reflects his time as a football player, which includes Land Vehicle Proficiency so he can make the most of his Delta 88. Most importantly, he has luck on his side. Ash's schooling has taught him the Identify and Detect Magic spells... spells that he completely forgets he should be using when they would actually be useful. Despite all odds, Ash survives the night battling the Deadites, relying on improvised weapons and simple firearms to stay alive, even if he's not skilled or strong enough to keep others alive.
Level 5: Evil Dead 2 Lvl3 Zealot Barbarian/Lvl 2 Artificer
Str 16 Dex 12 Con 16 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 13
HP: 51 AC: 15
Our boy Ash is in trouble now! With the loss of his hand Ash is forced to improvise, forced to use his mechanical knowledge to improvise weapons and tools. Artificer gives him proficiency with firearms, including his trusty sawed off shotgun. Ash takes two cantrips... Firebolt, which explains how he's able to fire dozens of times from a double barreled shotgun, and Guidance, which he only uses on himself to further enhance his ability to miraculously succeed despite obvious failures. Most importantly, Ash loses his hand and is forced to put his two artificer infusions into compensating: he takes two instances of Replicate Magic Item to create a Prosthetic Limb and Armblade... obviously there's no chainsaws in D&D, so I'm choosing to reflavor it as a battleaxe. Unbeknownst to Ash his calling as the Chosen One is beginning to manifest as a Zealot Barbarian, Hitting the undead with extra Radiant Energy and proving difficult to kill, and easy to revive.
Level 11: Army of Darkness Lvl 9 Zealot Barbarian/Lvl 2 Artificer
Str 18 Dex 12 Con 18 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 13
HP: 122 AC: 16
Ash leaves the magic to the eggheads and has already forgotten he knows multiple spells, relying only on Firebolt for when he runs out of traditional shotgun ammo for his Boom Stick. Ash hits two ASIs at this point, dumping them into STR and CON. Ash is faster, hits harder, and reacts sooner to the Undead menace. His Feral Instincts are kicking in, and as long as he doesn't overthink things he can't be caught by surprise. His dumb luck is only getting dumber and luckier with Fanatical Focus, which gives him a second chance at passing Saving Throws. And when Ash lands a luck hit, that hit is extra messy as he gets access to Brutal Criticals that send limbs flying and blood splattering.
Level 17: Ash Vs. Evil Dead Lvl 15 Zealot Barbarian/Lvl 2 Artificer
Str 18 Dex 12 Con 18 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 15
HP: 209 AC: 16
Ash is getting used to relying on help from others and not just immediately having everyone around him turn into Deadites. His Zealous Presence allows Ash to shout out a "Battle Cry" (read: One-liner) to inspire his allies and get them out of tough jams. By now, however, Ash's Low INT and WIS scores have really gotten him in a lot of trouble... Ash has been possessed, deceived, sent to other dimensions, and just outright forgotten key information that would really save his bacon. Luckily, he hits another ASI here... unfortunately, both points go into CHA, because Ash knows which side his bread is buttered. At this point Ash hits his Persistent Rage, Rage Beyond Death, and Relentless Rage abilities, making Ashy Slashy able to take obscene amounts of damage and somehow still stay on his feet dropping quips and catch phrases.
Level 20: Hail to the King, Baby Lvl 18 Zealot Barbarian/Lvl 2 Artificer
Final Stats: Str 18 Dex 12 Con 20 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 15
HP: 233 AC: 17
Finally, Ash is the Chosen One. An Undead Killing, kind-of-inventive, mostly lucky powerhouse who miraculously survives wave after wave of undead scum. Ash's last ASI goes into CON... he's gotten older and maybe developed a bit of a beer gut, but that's just more cushion to survive falls and explosions. Ash may not be the most technically skilled fighter, but between his dumb luck and his Brutal Critical, when he hits, he hits hard. What else can you say but...
Groovy.
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Is Gunslinger allowed?
This is meant to be a fun one and that's free on DDB anyway I believe, why not! I'll add it to the OP
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Hmmm.... Let's make a stretch... UA ? It's free on DDB?
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
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A field too far! I'm more conservative with allowing UAs as their balance and MC implications can vary wildly, I'm pretty well versed with the balance of the Blood Hunter and Gunslinger and don't think they'd break anything (I also think they're more likely to be allowed at a table, because CR).
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Nice. Wasn't sure. Thanks DF!
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
Explaining the Concept:
This build is not a reference to any one specific part of pop culture, but is instead a take on a lot of common tropes in books, movies, tv shows, and D&D campaigns. The main one is a commonly used one, the existence of a powerful, sentient magic item that can dominate anyone who gives into its influences. The weapon in this build is called the "Bloodied Blade," and it has such a powerful grasp over its wielder that nothing of their original identity remains. The blade is so persuasive and conniving that it can completely dominate its user, whispering promises of power and giving them visions of glory to convince them to trade their agency for the power the blade can endow. The original users become mere husks, losing all consciousness and self-will as the blade completely takes over their body.
Another common trope used in this build is that of a fallen paladin/holy one. This is fairly common, to the point where it is becoming a bit cliché, but so are all of the other builds in this contest. This story is found in multiple stories, like Lucifer/Satan and other Fallen Angels (Judeo-Christian Religions), Lord Soth the Death Knight (Dragonlance), Zariel and Asmodeus (Forgotten Realms/Other D&D World Lore), and so on. In this build, not only is our character a paladin, but their fall from grace was started as soon as they gave into the temptations of the Bloodied Blade.
Now, the sentient, power-hungry, deceiving, diabolical, sentient force that dwells inside the Bloodied Blade has found a new user, a young, naïve elvish paladin who they believe they can use as their pawn.
The Bloodied Blade
(Note: Heroforge does not have a double-bladed scimitar weapon, so this is the closest I could get.)
The Bloodied Blade is a sentient double-bladed scimitar, as scheming, powerful entity that was crafted many millennia ago by a now-extinct, ancient race of people who ruled over the land. This race of people mastered many aspects of arcane magic, and this allowed them to accomplish a great variety of powerful magical feats. At the height of this empire's success, a powerful, evil sorcerer-lord made a pact with an infernal entity who taught them the art of blacksmithing and creating magical weapons, and how to create sentience. This ancient sorcerer created many magical weapons, but the greatest creation made by this sorcerer was a sentient magic double-bladed scimitar named the Blade of Ahkush.
This blade is a scheming magic item who serves its owner until a better or more willing host appears. The blade gets more powerful from evil acts and through the absorption of blood, causing it to be one of the most evil entities in the multiverse. This blade was owned by its creator, Ahkush, until they were slain using their own weapon, stolen by their apprentice who was convinced to slay their master and become the new "master" of the weapon by the sentient force inside of the blade. This act of betrayal and it becoming coated in blood of its former owner caused it to grow more powerful and thirsty for more power. Thus, the weapon has existed for thousands of years, repeating the cycle that feeds its growth in power. It is passed on from owner to owner, spreading evil across the realms and growing more powerful through this evil.
The Bloodied Blade
Dragonmark of Shadow Elf Paladin 5/Warlock 5/Bard 10
13 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 20
HP: 149
AC: 18 (Plate)
Quote from the Bloodied Blade's first encounter with Dehlfor Xivaria:
Dehlfor Xivaria
Dragonmark of Shadow Elf Paladin 1
13 | 12 (14) | 14 | 8 | 10 | 15 (16)
Background: Soldier
HP: 12
AC: 16 (Chainmail)
Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Persuasion, Insight
A young shadow-touched elf named Dehlfor Xivaria, a veteran soldier serving in the civil war of his home country, has recently become a paladin, swearing himself to restore balance to his home nation, which was currently in a state of civil war. He learned how to become a paladin from a priest of an old-faith temple in his hometown, training with weapons and learning how to use magic. Little did he know, our lowly paladin is just about to encounter the Bloodied Blade, which will change the fate of his soul and country forever.
Currently, Dehlfor Xivaria uses a rapier and a shield, scaring and fighting off monsters and travelling from village to village curing commoners of diseases. He currently is just in a preparatory state, practicing until he has the prowess
Defiled Knight
Dragonmark of Shadow Elf Paladin 2/Warlock 3
13 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 16
Background: Soldier
HP: 41
AC: 18 (Plate)
Skills: Athletics, Persuasion, Insight, Intimidation
Dehlfor Xivaria has just discovered the Bloodied Blade, and become seduced by its whisperings of power and control over his home country. Now, he has formed a symbiotic bond with the blade, becoming a Hexblade Warlock with the Pact of the Blade pact boon. He uses this feature to summon a Double Bladed Scimitar as his pact weapon, using Charisma for his bonus to hit due to Hex Warrior.
The Bloodied Blade appears as a blacksteel double-bladed scimitar that is perpetually dripping blood. Due to this, Dehlfor Xivaria does not typically walk around with it constantly displayed, but will summon it when situations are getting hairy. We also take the Great Weapon Fighting fighting style, allowing us to reroll any 1 or 2 for damage with our Double-Bladed Scimitar, which will happen half of the time. Most often, we will not reroll 2's, but will reroll any 1 we get.
This is where things start getting good, just at this level. His Charisma modifier is a +3 right now, and he uses it for attacks with his rapier and double-bladed scimitar, most often using the double-bladed scimitar. He starts combat with Hexblade's Curse, in order to deal more damage in combat and be more likely to crit (which is important to this build). He then uses an action to attack, dealing 2d4+7 damage on a hit, or 4d4+7+4d8 radiant (divine smite, 6d8 against a fiend or undead). So, currently he does an average of 12 damage on the first attack (nothing to sneeze at), and on 10% of attacks when smiting, he does 35 damage (or 44 against fiends and undead). Once he gets hex up, and starts his turn with his bonus action, he deals an average of 15 damage for the first attack, or 46 with a critical smite (55 against fiends and undead), and as a bonus action attack he deals 1d4+1d6+7 damage (average of 13), or 2d4+2d6+7+4d8 (6d8 against a fiend/undead) damage on a crit (average of 36 damage or 45 against a fiend/undead).
Overall, with no crits, but both hit, that's an average of 28 damage. If Dehlfor Xivaria were to get a critical hit on both attacks, he would deal a total of 69 damage, or 87 against a fiend/undead. That's not too shabby at level 5, especially combined with the fact that we can regain spell slots on a short rest, allowing us to do at least one smite each short rest and 2 for free each long rest, and that's just for the time being. Additionally, if we use our extra 2nd level spell slot to smite, it deals an extra 1d8 damage (2d8 on a crit).
We also grab plate armor at this level, increasing our AC to where it will remain for the rest of the build, at a decent 18 (23 with shield).
Eldritch Invocations: Improved Pact Weapon, Devil's Sight
Notable Spells: cure wounds for if we need to heal ourselves, compelled duel for when we need to provoke someone into fighting us, eldritch blast for if we need to do ranged combat, hex for just pure damage increase, shield when we need to stop attacks from hitting, and hold person for when we are willing to give up Hex in order to crit with everything we got.
The Blade Reborn
Dragonmark of Shadow Elf Paladin 5/Warlock 3/Bard 3
13 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 18
Background: Soldier
HP: 86
AC: 18 (Plate)
Proficiencies: Athletics, Persuasion (Expertise), Insight, Intimidation, Deception (Expertise), Horn
Now, the blade has started dominating the mind of our paladin, who has grown more powerful physically and mentally. He becomes a more powerful paladin, choosing to become an Oathbreaker. We use our first ASI to increase our Charisma score to 18. We also gain Extra Attack, our two very situationally useful Channel Divinity options, and more spell slots and spells. We also get Jack of All Trades and Expertise (Deception, Persuasion), as well as becoming a College of Whispers Bard, allowing us to use our infernal tongue to frighten, deceive, and persuade others.
We use Find Steed to summon a horse that appears like a nightmare (which we will get access to later), and use it in combat in order to ignore our reduced speed.
Now, our Charisma is a +4, helping us hit and deal damage more. We start combat the same way, with Hexblade's Curse, but we now get to use Extra Attack. We then use hex, and do Extra Attack again. We then use our Extra Attack and use our bonus action to attack with the other side of our Double-Bladed Scimitar. Here's the average DPR breakdown:
1st and 2nd Attacks (normal hits): 2d4+1d6+9 each, average of 17 damage each, or 35 total.
Bonus Action Attack (normal hits): 1d4+1d6+9, average of 15 damage.
All 3 Attacks (normal hits): 50 damage
1st and 2nd Attacks (critical hits, 3rd level smites): 4d4+2d6+10d8+9 each (+2d8 to fiends/undead), average of 71 each, or total of 142 damage (or 80 each against fiends/undead, with 160 total).
Bonus Action Attack (critical hit, 2nd level smite): 2d4+2d6+8d8+9 (+2d8 to fiends/undead), average of 57 damage (or 66 against fiends/undead).
All 3 Attacks (All crits, 2 3rd-level smites, 1 2nd-level smite): 213 damage (or 240 against fiends/undead), which includes Psychic Blades once a turn.
So, an average of 50 damage on all normal hits, with a huge damage increase with critical hits, which we have a 10% change of getting each attack, or a 30% chance overall. Additionally, we have Psychic Blades, which won't significantly increase our nova damage a ton on one turn, but over the course of 4 rounds, we can deal quite a bit of damage.
Eldritch Invocations: Improved Pact Weapon, Devil's Sight
New Notable Spells: hellish rebuke, find steed, darkness, longstrider, phantasmal force, skywrite
Fallen One
Dragonmark of Shadow Elf Paladin 5/Warlock 5/Bard 7
13 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 20
Background: Soldier
HP: 128
AC: 18 (Plate)
Proficiencies: Athletics, Persuasion (Expertise), Insight, Intimidation, Deception (Expertise), Horn
We now take our last our last two levels in Warlock, getting another eldritch invocation (Eldritch Smite), and higher level Pact Magic spell slots. We also get 4 more levels in the Whispers Bard, getting bardic inspiration back on a short rest, even more spell slots to use for divine smites, and Mantle of Whispers, which allows us to steal the shadows from those we slay. We absorb their shadows into the Bloodied Blade, where it is stored until we use it to copy the physical appearance of our victims.
Our next ASI goes to Elven Accuracy, increasing our Charisma to 19, and allowing us to increase our ability to deal nova damage when we have advantage. The other ASI is for Actor, maxing out our Charisma at a 20, and allowing us to better impersonate our victims of Mantle of Whispers.
Finally, we have maxed out our Charisma at a +5. We still start combat the same way that we normally do, with Hexblade's Curse. This is our DPR breakdown:
1st and 2nd Attacks (normal hits): 2d4+1d6+12 each, average of 20 damage each, or 41 total.
Bonus Action Attack (normal hits): 1d4+1d6+12, average of 18 damage.
All 3 Attacks (normal hits): 59 damage
1st and 2nd Attacks (critical hits, 5th level smites): 4d4+2d6+10d8+12 each (+2d8 to fiends/undead), average of 74 each, or total of 148 damage (or 83 each against fiends/undead, with 166 total).
Bonus Action Attack (critical hit, 3rd level smite): 2d4+2d6+10d8+12 (+2d8 to fiends/undead), average of 69 damage (or 78 against fiends/undead).
All 3 Attacks (All crits, 2 3rd-level smites, 1 2nd-level smite): 283 damage (or 310 against fiends/undead), which includes Psychic Blades once a turn, and one Eldritch Smite.
Our average damage increases a bit for our normal attacks, 59 damage. Our nova damage is even better, way higher than before. We also get back a lot of our features on our short rests (pact magic, hexblade's curse, bardic inspirations, etc), which helps us consistently do damage between combat encounters.
Eldritch Invocations: Eldritch Smite, Devil's Sight, Improved Pact Weapon
New Notable Spells: sending, fear, tiny hut, tongues, fly, counterspell, [Tooltip Not Found], greater invisibility
The Bloodied Blade
Dragonmark of Shadow Elf Paladin 5/Warlock 5/Bard 10
13 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 20
Background: Soldier
HP: 149
AC: 18 (Plate)
Proficiencies: Athletics, Persuasion (Expertise), Insight (Expertise), Intimidation (Expertise), Deception (Expertise), Horn
With our last 3 levels, we go even more in to the bard, gaining expertise in Intimidation and Insight, allowing for us to be even better at social encounters than before. We use our last ASI to take Mounted Combatant, allowing for us to make even more use out of our Elven Accuracy feature, as well as keeping our mount alive longer. We also get Magical Secrets, giving us two very important spells: Holy Weapon and Find Greater Steed.
We replace Hex with Holy Weapon, which deals more damage and can apply its damage to different targets at the same time. We use Find Greater Steed to summon a pegasus, but the Bloodied Blade performs a dark ritual to transform it into a nightmare (unless DorkForge objects, of course).
Every single round against a Medium or smaller creature, we get advantage on all of our attack rolls. When doing so, if we have Hexblade's Curse on the target, we score a critical hit on 19's and 20's, and Elven Accuracy allows for our odds for every attack to get a critical hit to be 30%, giving us a 90% chance each turn while having advantage on every attack to get at least one critical hit. This is very useful for any nova build, especially a Hexadin.
Our DPR is the same as before, but we replace Hex with Holy Weapon, allowing for us to deal the following average damages:
1st and 2nd Attacks (normal hits): 2d4+2d8+12 each, average of 26 damage each, or 52 total.
Bonus Action Attack (normal hits): 1d4+2d8+12, average of 23 damage.
All 3 Attacks (normal hits): 75 damage
1st and 2nd Attacks (critical hits, 5th level smites): 4d4+14d8+12 each (+2d8 to fiends/undead), average of 74 each, or total of 148 damage (or 83 each against fiends/undead, with 166 total).
Bonus Action Attack (critical hit, 3rd level smite): 2d4+14d8+12 (+2d8 to fiends/undead), average of 80 damage (or 89 against fiends/undead).
All 3 Attacks (All crits, 2 3rd-level smites, 1 2nd-level smite): 308 damage (or 353 against fiends/undead), which includes Psychic Blades once a turn, and one Eldritch Smite.
New Notable Spells: dream, in case you needed further proof that this character/build can be terrifying, look no further, dominate person, geas, hold monster, and teleportation circle.
Conclusive Thoughts:
Yes, this build is a nova build. Yes, it is a stereotypical, edgy Hexadin. And, yes, it uses a Double-Bladed Scimitar as a hexadin in order to get an extra smite power. No matter how overused some of these parts of the build are, that is mostly besides the point. Are there a lot of hexadin nova builds in the game, using either Polearm Master, Dual Wielding, or a Double-Bladed Scimitar to get even more attacks? Yes. Yes there are. And, it's for a good reason. No matter what anyone's personal, specified definition of what "true powergaming" is, I doubt you would ever find any powergamer who would object to only ever maximizing one ability score, while simultaneously being able to score a critical hit on 9 out of 10 of your turns against medium and smaller creatures. When you happen to get a divine smite, eldritch smite, psychic blades, hexblade's curse, and holy weapon on a crit, your DPR can jump to the moon. Even during the rare combat encounter where you do not get a critical hit, your DPR is at least 75 on average. You have plenty of spell slots to go around for smiting and spellcasting, as well as regaining many of your features on a short rest.
If you're not here for maximizing damage, that's totally fine as well. If you're just here for the spooky theme, this build has no short of terrifying capabilities, from our Channel Divinity that basically allows us to dominate any undead of CR 19 or lower, Mantle of Whispers to slay and impersonate our victims, our Nightmare steed, our Words of Terror, Fear spell, Frightening Channel Divinity to literally terrify nearly anyone, our cursing abilities, and skywrite to announce our presence to any village we choose to conquer. Oathbreakers, Whispers Bards, Hexblades, and Pact of the Blade Warlocks all have no shortage of nightmare-inducing abilities.
Though you may not care whether or not a character is capable of killing anything and everything on the battlefield, if dark and nightmarish characters are your thing, you have got to admit that a fiend-riding, sentient-weapon wielding, soulless, silk-tongue, mind-breaking fallen-paladin fits the bill of being just a bit "spooky."
Whoo! Finally done! I still may edit to fix/reword things, but this is it. Thanks for your patience and for reading this. I'm excited to see who the victor this round ends up being.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Jun'thar, Monster Hunter or "The Beast"
Concept
I've wanted to try one of these challenges for awhile and Halloween seems like a great time to jump in! The concept is a blend between the Wolfman/Werewolf genre and perhaps a bit of the psychological concept of our "bestial" or "primal" natures.
Level 20 level split: Barbarian 2/ Bloodhunter (Order of the Lycan) 18
Race: Half Orc
Stats: Str 20 Dex 12 Con 18 Int 13 Wis 8 Cha 8
Background: Haunted One
Starting level: Barbarian 1
Stats 15(17) | 12 | 15(16) | 13 | 8 | 8
HP 15
AC 14 (Unarmored); 16 (With Shield)
Jun’thar’s mother used to tell him, “My son, there are two animals living inside of us, one good and honorable, another evil and vicious. We must decide which one we feed and which one we starve.” An apt and powerful analogy, given that on Jun’thar’s first hunt, he witnessed his father and several others mauled by a half man, half wolf, known as a Beastman. These monsters had haunted Jun’thar’s tribe for hundreds of years.
Jun’thar’s father survived, but only to live as an embittered cripple, who took his frustration out on his family. Jun’thar grew up angry. Angry over the dishonor brought onto his family, angry about being dismissed from hunting to clean and weave, angry over how his father treated them. He wanted revenge. He was feeding the vicious animal.
From level one on, Jun’thar is a strong and hearty melee combatant. His rage drives him to hit harder and to fight longer. His relentless endurance keeps him fighting to the very last.
Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, and Survival
Darkvision
Relentless Endurance
Savage Attacks
Rage (2/long rest)
At 5th level:
17 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 8
HP 52
AC 16 (Breastplate); 18 (With Shield)
Despite his keen intellect, Jun’thar is slow to learn how to control his anger. Thankfully, due to the guidance of his mother, he learns to keep his passions in check. The elders of his tribe recognize his tenacity and prepare him to take part in a sacred order, the Beast Hunters. Over the years, the Wise Ones developed a potion that would enable the drinker to transform and take on the power of their monstrous enemies. This transformation was dangerous, as some could give over into the bloodlust of the Beastmen, but those of a strong will could stay resolute.
Jun’thar’s martial prowess increases significantly. His rage drives him to fight recklessly, and yet brutal. The more he fights, the more he develops an intuition for danger. Jun'thar also develops a special maledict to stop any sorcerors from exerting their will over him. His training as a Beast Hunter transforms him from prey to predator. Sometimes, however, his rage overwhelms him and throws him into a bloodlust.
Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, and Survival
Darkvision
Relentless Endurance
Savage Attacks
Rage (2/lr)
Reckless Attacks
Danger Sense
Hemocraft Die: 1d4
Hunter’s Bane
Blood Maledict: the Muddled Mind
Fighting Style: Archery
Rites: Storm
Order of the Lycan
Hybrid Transformation: +1 to melee damage, damage resistance, +1 AC, unarmed strike (1d6), bonus action attack, bloodlust
While raging in hybrid form and rite of the storm active, we have two claw attacks, with advantage, that deal 1d6+1d4+6. A critical would be 3d6+2d4+6.
At 11th level:
Stats 20 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 8
HP 106
AC 16 (Breastplate); 18 (With Shield)
Jun’thar has earned a reputation not only in his tribe, but also among the Beastmen, as a fearsome hunter. He lives to hunt, to fight, to watch the light of his enemy’s eyes fade. He becomes more and more distant from his family and friends, focusing all of his rage and cunning into decimating the enemy.
Jun’thar’s strength swells as he spends his days constantly on the hunt for the next kill. He has become so comfortable in nature, he learns to use all of his surroundings and even his body as a weapon. He’s spent so much time fighting the Beastmen that he’s learned how to pounce and grapple his prey in the blink of an eye.
Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, and Survival
Movement: 40 ft
Darkvision
Relentless Endurance
Savage Attacks
Rage (2/lr)
Reckless Attacks
Danger Sense
Hemocraft Die: 1d6
Hunter’s Bane
Blood Maledict: the Muddled Mind
Fighting Style: Archery
Rites: Flame, Storm
Order of the Lycan
Hybrid Transformation: +1 to melee damage, damage resistance, +1 AC, unarmed strike (1d6), bonus action attack, bloodlust
Stalker’s Prowess: +10ft movement, +10ft to long jump, +3ft to vertical
Improved Predatory Strikes: +1 to unarmed attacks
ASI: Tavern Brawler
Extra Attack
Brand of Castigation
ASI: +2 Str
While raging in hybrid form and rite of the storm active, we have three claw attacks at +10, with advantage, that deal 1d6+1d6+8. A critical would be 3d6+2d6+8.
At 17th level:
Stats 20 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 8
HP 160
AC 16 (Breastplate); 18 (With Shield)
The more Jun’thar hunted, the more he fed the vicious animal inside. He still hated the Beastmen, but he had also come to understand them. Their bloodlust and lack of empathy began to seem natural. All of nature functioned off of the survival of the fittest. Why were people supposed to be different?
Perhaps Jun’thar’s humanity would have been saved, if he had not returned home from a long hunt to find that his father had lashed out against his mother, accidentally killing her. While the tribe debated how best to carry out justice, Jun’thar let out a growl that froze every spine. Flying into an immediate bloodlust, he began by killing his father and quickly moved on to some of his friends, mentors, elders. Before the tribe could gather enough strength to restrain him, Jun’thar fled into the wild.
Jun’thar’s embrace of the beast makes him impossibly fast. He develops a new maledict to overwhelm his enemies' defenses. His new regenerative abilities, especially alongside his damage resistance, make him nigh unkillable. He fears less and less each day. He begins to master death so much that he can even will the fallen to fight a bit longer.
Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, and Survival
Movement: 45 ft
Darkvision
Relentless Endurance
Savage Attacks
Rage (2/lr)
Reckless Attacks
Danger Sense
Hemocraft Die: 1d8
Hunter’s Bane
Blood Maledict: the Fallen Puppet, Exposure, the Muddled Mind
Rites: Flame, Oracle, Storm
Order of the Lycan
Hybrid Transformation: +2 to melee damage, damage resistance, +1 AC, unarmed strike (1d8), bonus action attack, bloodlust
Stalker’s Prowess: +10ft movement, +10ft to long jump, +3ft to vertical
Improved Predatory Strikes: +2 to unarmed attacks
ASI: Tavern Brawler
Extra Attack
Brand of Castigation
ASI: +2 Str
Dark Augmentation: +5ft; +1 to Str, Dex, and Con saves
Brand of Tethering
Hardened Soul: Adv on saves against being frightened or charmed
Advanced Transformation: at the start of each turn, regenerate 4 hp if under half health
ASI: Sentinel
While raging in hybrid form and rite of the storm active, we have three claw attacks at +13, with advantage, that deal 1d8+1d8+9. A critical would be 3d8+2d8+9.
At 20th level and final thoughts:
Stats 20 | 12 | 18 | 13 | 8 | 8
HP 206
AC 16 (Unarmored)
Jun’thar gorges the evil animal inside of him, abandoning the good within. In fact, he is no longer "Jun'thar," but simply "The Beast." As the alpha predator in his lands, all he knows is the hunt. All are his prey.
Jun’thar’s vicious claw attacks, rage, resistances, and regeneration make him a monster. His swift movement, strong grip, and agile maneuvers make him impossible to escape. He never loses track of his prey and his blood-curdling howl frightens all who might stand in his way. You can try to run, but the Beast will find you.
Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, and Survival
Movement: 45 ft
Darkvision
Relentless Endurance
Savage Attacks
Rage (2/lr)
Reckless Attacks
Danger Sense
Hemocraft Die: 1d10
Hunter’s Bane
Blood Maledict: the Anxious, the Fallen Puppet, Exposure, the Howl, the Muddled Mind
Rites: Flame, Oracle, Storm
Order of the Lycan
Hybrid Transformation: +3 to melee damage, damage resistance, +1 AC, unarmed strike (1d8), bonus action attack, bloodlust
Stalker’s Prowess: +10ft movement, +10ft to long jump, +3ft to vertical
Improved Predatory Strikes: +3 to unarmed attacks
Advanced Transformation: at the start of each turn, regenerate 5 hp if under half health
Hybrid Transformation Mastery: unlimited use of transformation, which lasts indefinitely;
ASI: Tavern Brawler
Extra Attack
Brand of Castigation
ASI: +2 Str
Dark Augmentation: +5ft; +1 to Str, Dex, and Con saves
Brand of Tethering
Hardened Soul: Adv on saves against being frightened or charmed
ASI: Prodigy (Athletics)
ASI: +2 Con
Offense:
While raging in hybrid form and rite of the storm active, we have three claw attacks at +14, with advantage, that deal 1d8+1d10+10. A critical would be 3d8+2d10+10. Without rage, the damage only drops by 2 points per hit. Not only are his unarmed strikes magical, but he also has the Exposure maledict to overcome resistances.
Jun'thar also finishes with a +17 to grapple, with advantage, and can be initiated as a bonus action if he successfully hits with an unarmed strike.
His speed, grapple, and tracking abilities, along with the potential stun from the Howl maledict, make escape difficult. Brand of Tethering even punishes those for fleeing and can stop the dash action and teleportation.
Defense:
Jun'thar has a giant pool of hit points. The Barbarian rage and Lycan transformation provide nice damage resistance. When these resistances apply, our regeneration ability effectively gives us 10hp per round. If someone does manage to drop us to 0, our Relentless Endurance helps us fight just a bit longer.
Our Dark Augmentation adds a bit to our physical saving throws, while Danger Sense helps with our reflex saves. We also have advantage against being charmed and frightened, and Muddled Mind maledict helps us break concentration checks.
And there you go! A raging, frothing, werewolf orc (I shouldn't have worked on this so late at night...) From an optimization standpoint, I'll make a couple of comments.
1. The glaring weakness of this build is Jun'thar's Wisdom saving throw. Playing him in a party would get more and more...interesting. The idea, however, is that he slowly gives into his baser desires. In the end, Jun'thar is a lone wolf and doesn't play nicely with others.
2. I've never tried to build around unarmed strikes before. My head is still spinning a bit from the awkward rules. If your DM would loosen some of the rules for unarmed strikes, you might have a wider range of feats available. In that case, the feat from VHuman might pay off more. I, however, really love the Savage Attacks ability of the Half-Orc with our reckless attacks.
Thanks for reading! I welcome any feedback, corrections, or brilliant modifications you have. And good luck to the other participants!
Hello Fenrir Greyback!
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
Shhhhh! Looks around nervously. I have no idea what you are talking about...
(I thought he looked somewhat like an orcish werewolf.)
Child of the Moon
(Those who can't tell need to get their head looked at, but this is meant to be your stereotypical werewolf. I have realized that every single one of my throwdown builds so far have been NOVA or DPS builds, which don't really have a lot of variety, so my next build will be a control build)
'The descent into hell is easy'- Vergil, The Aeneid
'Whats i-it like?' The boy asked. A gruff voice answers out of the shadows. 'Painful. And lonely'. There is a moment of silence, then the boy speaks again. 'I-I could come here. Keep y-you company'. The boy starts as he hears a choking noise, but he soon realizes it is laughter. 'No, boy. I am dying. But if you stay a little longer, I will tell you the story. My father would kill me if a story like this was lost to the mists of time.' At first the boy is dubious, but he quickly settles down. The yellow eyes blink once, the close. 'It all started in the small town of Ren...'
Level 20 level split: Bloodhunter (lycan) 14/ Barbarian (bear totem) 4/ Fighter 2
Race: Shifter (Beasthide). Shifting for temporary HP and more AC? I do believe this is compatible
Stats: Str 15 (+1) Dex 12 Con 14 (+2) Int 14 Wis 8 Cha 8
Background: Outlander fits pretty well
Starting level: Bloodhunter! Pretty good stuffs at first level: Weapons and armour (Not that you will ever need armour later on), Hunters bane, Blood maledict and our first blood curse! We will pick Blood curse of the muddled mind, as spellcasters are your biggest threat.
Any guidance or commentary you want: 'I was orphaned at an early age, but luckily I was found and raised by the village bard Carden. I was not troublesome as a child. I am told that I was sweet tempered, quiet and determined. I think all of those traits died somewhere along my journey.....' His eyes wander for a second, then snap back to the boy 'Nine years I lived in that village. Nine happy, carefree years. It was the war that changed everything. Somewhere, unbeknownst to our little town, tow countries had declared war. Guess what stood in the path of the marching army and their destination. We didn't put up much of a fight. Most of the men were conscripted to fight. The women.....my mother.....I escaped into the woods. A few of the soldiers saw me, but they didn't chase. They knew that the woods would be my doom. And they were. After a few hours, I collapsed exhausted and shaking. By some miracle I managed to pass the night without anything eating me, and in the morning I resumed my course, not that I had any idea where I was going. It was around mid-day when a new obstacle crossed my path...'
Level 2: More BH and more treats....or are they tricks? Who cares. Crimson rite is a great way to put on the pain, and we can grab archery so we have a ranged attack for later levels. We are gonna choose rite of the storm as it is mechanically the best, and we love thunder fang round here
Level 3: You are officially a werewolf! Lycan is obviously our subrace, and oh boy is it amazing. Hybrid transformation gives you more AC, rage-like resistances, dual wielding claws, and the ability to beat the absolute crap out of anyone who stands between you and a vampire. You also get......um......bloodlust. Great ability.....'specially when we auto fail the save due to barb's rage.....Moving on!
Level 4: ASI going into Strength!. More damage! More accuracy! More....stuff
At 5th level: Extra attack! More DPR is fun!
Any guidance or commentary you want: 'It was somehow the most beautiful and hideous thing I had ever seen. In a clearing directly ahead of me were two of the largest wolves I have ever seen, one grey, the other pitch black. Their elongated teeth were flashing as they roared, their sleek pelts marred with blood from their various wounds. They were locked in a deadly embrace, swiping at each other while their jaws snapped and barked. I was extremely frightened and let out a squeal of terror. Even through the sounds of their battle, they heard me. The black wolf, caught in what I now know as a bloodlust, charged for me. I would have died right there, but the grey wolf grabbed the other's back leg in it's jaws and snapped it in two. He rushed at me, scooping me up in his mouth. We ran for miles. I passed out somewhere along the way, and when I woke, a man was standing over me. For some strange reason, I knew this was the wolf that had saved me. With horror, I realized something. Something that would change my life forever...'
Level 6: Barbarian! Rages, which don't do much for you right now apart from some extra rage damage, and UNARMORED DEFENCE! NO MORE DISGUSTING GEAR (Shield excluded)! You may wan't a weapon when you are not transformed tho. Just a quick AC calculation with all of everything..... 14 from stats, +1 from hybrid, +1 from shifter, +2 from shield.... 18! Not bad for a naked warrior
Level 7: More barbarian! Reckless attack is AMAZING....useless, as we are attacking with dex, but WE ARE NOT! Danger sense is, and always will be, awsome.
Level 8: Barb level, netting you the Wolf (But it is actually bear) totem, allowing you to resist absolutely everything*. Rage has become more useful!
Level 9: More Bloodhunter netting you brand of castigation....It is an offensive/defensive, good/bad, tank/DPR ability. As you can tell, I don't know how I feel about this, but It cannot hurt to apply it at any chance you get.
Level 10: More bloodhunter. This is so good I could literally cry. Bonus jump is fine, but due to bounded accuracy a flat to-hit bonus is solid gold.
At 11th level: ASI! Max out your str with all benefits included.
Any guidance or commentary you want: 'On my first class trip in his jaws I had been bitten. It was just a scratch from one of his teeth, but it was enough. That evning it was a full moon and we would know for sure, but from the look in his eyes, I knew I was doomed. My first change was a mix of emotions, I was angry at the world, at my life, but gratitude also surged through me. This is the cost of my life, and I knew I would gladly pay it. I learned that the grey werewolf's name was Lucian. For years he tutored me, showing me the ways of the wolves. On my sixteenth birthday, he announced me a full wolf of the forest. I was happy that day, but there was one thing that was gnawing at my mind- Who was responsible for my parents deaths?. When I confronted Lucian, he refused to answer my question. He brushed it off, but as I mentioned earlier, I was persistent. Eventually he revealed that the king of the country was a vampire. The were-creatures, as the natural guardians of the forest, had been opposing the bleak expansion of his empire for years. In my heart I knew what I had to do, even if it killed me to do it. Lucian warned me against it, but the very next morning I set off. I was going to kill a king....
Level 12: Grim....psy....spychemoetry? Yeah thats it. Gives you some boring lore bonuses that we will skip for the purposes of keeping this interesting.
Level 13: Pretty good defensive ability, but our int....kinda sucks.
Level 14: Final Barb level snagging us a cheeky feat. There are some great choices but there is only one choice. Lucky will drastically improve the chances of you surviving any encounter with a spell caster.
Level 15: Final bloodhunter level and you are truly vibing now. Two uses of your werewolf ability and a re-gen so you are not constantly stuck in bloodlust....Yes.
Level 16: First fighter level! Nothing useful about fighting style, but grab dueling in case you find yourself out of werewolf abilities in a mineshaft.
At 17th level: ACTION SURGE. Must I say any more?
Any guidance or commentary you want: 'It took me weeks of trekking through enemy territory, but eventually I reached the dark tower in which the vampire resided. I made my way through the city around the tower, keeping my identity hidden. When I reached the entrance, I was denied entry, but luckily I had spied a water drain that led in earlier that day. It was unguarded by men, as the current was so strong that no man could swim their way up the stream far enough to gain entry without magic, and the city wards prevented that. However, their logic had not accounted for a nine foot tall wolf with paws like paddles. I easily made my way into the tower, exiting in what would have been a kitchen, but the vampire did not eat food, so it was unnecessary. I ascended the tower with a dubious excitement. This was the moment I had been waiting for, the chance to avenge my parents. In my folly, I did not notice the lack of traps or guards blocking my path. When I made it to the throne room, the vampire was waiting for me. He said nothing, just stood there and watched. The fight didn't last long. I charged him, ready to strike him with my claws, but he said a single word and I was frozen in place. He laughed at my foolishness, and foolishness it was. He didn't kill me, no that would be too kind. Instead he diseased me. He infected my blood, causing constant spasms of pain and weakness. He reduced me to what I am now, and sent me to this cave to live out the rest of my life in agony. I have been here for years until.....you.'
Level 18: MORE Bloodhunter getting you the ever amazing FEAT OF TOUGHNESS. Yeah you have a few HP to spare now....
Level 19: EVEN MORE Bloodhunter getting you.....Brand of tethering. What a great ability.
Level 20: Hey mages...Guess what I heard! I heard you can't charm or frighten Mr Wolf any more. Yeah thats right go run away
Final thoughts: The wolf closes its eyes and lays its head down on its paws. The boy doesn't speak for a little while, but when the wolf doesn't go on, he looks aghast 'What h-happened next? That c-can't be the ending!' The wolf opens its eyes again. 'But it is. This story has no happy ending, boy.' The boy gets up 'b-but evil never wins!' The wolf looks at him tiredly 'It's a little late for sentiment boy. Soon the entire world will be under his grasp, and evil will be all thats left.' The boy quietens. A moment of silence stretches into a minute, a minute into an hour. Finally the boy speaks again, but quietly 'Bite me' The wolf snaps to attention. The boy speaks louder 'Bite me, make me a were-wolf. Let me carry on your quest. My parents are gone as well' He shrugs 'I have nothing to lose'. The wolf regards him for a moment, the nods. The boy walks over, and the wolf speaks. 'You are brave boy. Braver than most. Remember this- the descent into hell is easy, it is easy that dark path. Stay in the light, and all will see you and rejoice.' There is a quick flash of pain in the boys eyes as the wolf's fang cuts his forearm, then calm. The wolf sees the same determination as he had when he was younger in the boys eyes. With a grunt of approval, he collapses, his body turning to dust....
Well, well, well. I could've done a more optimized build but I wanted to stay with the theme. You have a pretty decent DPR with your Claws, Brands, Crimson rites, and more. Your HP rivals a Barbarians at 228, then doubled to 456 due to resistances, then add another average of 26 due to shifter. Your AC is not bad sitting at 18, and your utility is pretty solid due to Bloodhunter having a lot of niche tracking/lore abilities. The build has two major weaknesses. A mage with wis based saving throw spells can wreck you but the other is THE FREAKING AMOUNT OF BONUS ACTIONS YOU NEED TO SET UP IN COMBAT! You need one for Hybrid Transformation, one for rage, one for crimson rite, one for shifting, one for your blood curses AND one to attack......that is five rounds before you are fully set up....but once you are, I doubt any creature could take you down (Don't quote me on that).
Handy sheet: https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/GoodBovine/characters/38143881
The boy looks back, his hair flying over his shoulder 'I will finish what you started.' With not another look back, he starts to walk, then run, His feet turning into paws and his face into a maw. 'Ave atque valē, Greymark'
*Psychic damage not included
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
@GoodBovine
And thus the Wolfpack begins! Let's not let those Vamp tramps win. Team Jakob all the way.
(PS - In time, I will come to forgive you for being a Bear "Wolf" Totem werewolf)
(NGL, I did not see your build lol. I started this like three days ago. Yours is pretty cool!)
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.