Finding some inspiration to make a build heavily inspired by M'Baku from marvel.
I like the idea of using EK to build the toolkit of a tribal warrior and shaman. Booming Blade will be magic borrowed from the storm gods, while Shield will be invigorating his wooden shield with growth magic to become a huge, dense barricade. Find Familiar is his connection to the spirit realm; a physical manifestation of this link. I'm looking at the outlander background to fill out skills for the concept as I really want survival and insight and would use fighter to pick up athletics and perception. His quarterstaff would be ornate and exquisitely carved from rare wood, with a special significance to his tribe. I also like the idea of putting a little Musashi lore in him, taking inspiration from his dual using a wooden sword made from a boat oar. As champion among his people, this warrior shaman will seek duals to continue to prove his strength and relish victories won over enemies wielding metal weapons as a testament to his prowess.
Mechanically, what draws me to this concept is combining the forced movement from Crusher (new feat from ToCE for anyone that does not know) with the Booming Blade opportunity attacks a Warcaster + Polearm Master EK can make. Importantly, Crusher uses the same language as Sneak Attack: it can be used once a turn, meaning you can force the movement on someone that you hit with your Booming Blade opportunity attack. If they want to close the distance again and attack you then they immediately take the extra damage.
Custom Lineage enables picking up all three feats by level 6 while ending up with an 18 strength thanks to crusher.
I'd love to hear thoughts on the concept and mechanics. Any thoughts on ways to further develop the tribal warrior-shaman vibe using EK spells would be lovely. Should this build multiclass or go straight EK?
I did the Warcaster+PAM combo on a paladin/sorcerer; it's very effective on any melee build as a high-power punishment. Slap on Sentinel and only a select few can truly escape. If shield is available for a spellcaster other than warlock, I almost always take it.
I haven't used Crusher yet, so I can't say for sure how strong it is. However, I can confirm that battlefield control is deceptively powerful. Kicking an enemy into the heart of your melee allies puts them in a very bad place, especially so if they're durable frontliners like barbarians, paladins and melee rangers and fighters.
I love the flavoring. Many games I've played in have PCs that are very stereotypical at best and bland at worst, so this creative reimagining of the EK is most welcome!
Thanks! I find that Eldritch Knight has far more flavor baked into the name than the actual mechanics behind the class. I've noticed my friends are very apprehensive about the class when I suggest it for their various build ideas and I think it mostly has to do with that name. "Eldritch Knight" has a very particular aesthetic but I don't think anything in the class's mechanics points to being limited like that. More generally, I like to approach builds as a collection of mechanics that fit a character's story (while also searching for mechanical synergies that tickle my fancy). Whatever classes I use are mostly tools to achieve whatever goals I have and can be easily reskinned to fit my needs.
I really like the forced movement of crusher, especially because there is no save. I don't think the 5 feet of movement is that impressive on its own, but I really like the synergy with the EK's OA booming blades. It also helps you "disengage" for free on your turn after smacking someone with a BB, and can still be used on your reaction in the same round.
I totally agree with you with regards to the name... I view the name of the sublcasses as more of a suggestion or example.. What's important is that you're a fighter with some magical abilities, so if you wanna flavor it as a shaman go right ahead... Infact I would never mention "eldritch knight" being your class to anyone but your DM. Just consistently present yourself as a shaman and hopefully your friends will start to view your character in that light.
So what you want to do mechanically is to use polearm master+booming blade+crusher when an enemy approaches you within 5 ft(due to you using a polearm with 5 ft reach). I think it's a clever way to get around the 5 ft restriction of booming blade.
Your concept could work with a few other classes though. The concept sounds like it should be wisdom or charisma based instead of intelligence, so perhaps a ranger would be more fitting than an EK?
A completely different approach would be taking a paladin... You get the heavily armored aspect and magic.. Plus it sort of has this "chosen warrior" vibe to it. Sort of a spiritual nature paladin.
I love when people don't announce their class(es) and simply play. I think that should be done much more frequently than it is. I'm bored of the well balanced party that comes from discussing what everyone's build will be. How are all of these perfect groups forming? Where is the ragtag team of 3x rogues and a fighter muscle? It's a sense of realism I'd love to have more of in my 5e experience.
As for mechanics: While crusher can keep enemies at bay that used all of their movement to get in range, that's a side benefit much more than what excites me. For enemies that don't use all of their movement to engage, the 5 foot push means the enemy has to move again to engage and thus triggers the BB extra damage immediately. That's what gets me giddy.
I definitely thought about ranger and paladin but they don't have easy access to booming blade. Fighter also allows everything to come online by level 6, as opposed to level 8. I value the quick maturation of builds very heavily. While the EK has intelligence based spells, it really doesn't need to invest in intelligence because most spells EK's take don't use it. I'm happy flavoring this shaman's magic as studying the gods and their ways and not a faith based divine connection.
Finding some inspiration to make a build heavily inspired by M'Baku from marvel.
I like the idea of using EK to build the toolkit of a tribal warrior and shaman. Booming Blade will be magic borrowed from the storm gods, while Shield will be invigorating his wooden shield with growth magic to become a huge, dense barricade. Find Familiar is his connection to the spirit realm; a physical manifestation of this link. I'm looking at the outlander background to fill out skills for the concept as I really want survival and insight and would use fighter to pick up athletics and perception. His quarterstaff would be ornate and exquisitely carved from rare wood, with a special significance to his tribe. I also like the idea of putting a little Musashi lore in him, taking inspiration from his dual using a wooden sword made from a boat oar. As champion among his people, this warrior shaman will seek duals to continue to prove his strength and relish victories won over enemies wielding metal weapons as a testament to his prowess.
Mechanically, what draws me to this concept is combining the forced movement from Crusher (new feat from ToCE for anyone that does not know) with the Booming Blade opportunity attacks a Warcaster + Polearm Master EK can make. Importantly, Crusher uses the same language as Sneak Attack: it can be used once a turn, meaning you can force the movement on someone that you hit with your Booming Blade opportunity attack. If they want to close the distance again and attack you then they immediately take the extra damage.
Custom Lineage enables picking up all three feats by level 6 while ending up with an 18 strength thanks to crusher.
I'd love to hear thoughts on the concept and mechanics. Any thoughts on ways to further develop the tribal warrior-shaman vibe using EK spells would be lovely. Should this build multiclass or go straight EK?
I did the Warcaster+PAM combo on a paladin/sorcerer; it's very effective on any melee build as a high-power punishment. Slap on Sentinel and only a select few can truly escape. If shield is available for a spellcaster other than warlock, I almost always take it.
I haven't used Crusher yet, so I can't say for sure how strong it is. However, I can confirm that battlefield control is deceptively powerful. Kicking an enemy into the heart of your melee allies puts them in a very bad place, especially so if they're durable frontliners like barbarians, paladins and melee rangers and fighters.
I love the flavoring. Many games I've played in have PCs that are very stereotypical at best and bland at worst, so this creative reimagining of the EK is most welcome!
Thanks! I find that Eldritch Knight has far more flavor baked into the name than the actual mechanics behind the class. I've noticed my friends are very apprehensive about the class when I suggest it for their various build ideas and I think it mostly has to do with that name. "Eldritch Knight" has a very particular aesthetic but I don't think anything in the class's mechanics points to being limited like that. More generally, I like to approach builds as a collection of mechanics that fit a character's story (while also searching for mechanical synergies that tickle my fancy). Whatever classes I use are mostly tools to achieve whatever goals I have and can be easily reskinned to fit my needs.
I really like the forced movement of crusher, especially because there is no save. I don't think the 5 feet of movement is that impressive on its own, but I really like the synergy with the EK's OA booming blades. It also helps you "disengage" for free on your turn after smacking someone with a BB, and can still be used on your reaction in the same round.
I totally agree with you with regards to the name... I view the name of the sublcasses as more of a suggestion or example.. What's important is that you're a fighter with some magical abilities, so if you wanna flavor it as a shaman go right ahead... Infact I would never mention "eldritch knight" being your class to anyone but your DM. Just consistently present yourself as a shaman and hopefully your friends will start to view your character in that light.
So what you want to do mechanically is to use polearm master+booming blade+crusher when an enemy approaches you within 5 ft(due to you using a polearm with 5 ft reach). I think it's a clever way to get around the 5 ft restriction of booming blade.
Your concept could work with a few other classes though. The concept sounds like it should be wisdom or charisma based instead of intelligence, so perhaps a ranger would be more fitting than an EK?
A completely different approach would be taking a paladin... You get the heavily armored aspect and magic.. Plus it sort of has this "chosen warrior" vibe to it. Sort of a spiritual nature paladin.
I love when people don't announce their class(es) and simply play. I think that should be done much more frequently than it is. I'm bored of the well balanced party that comes from discussing what everyone's build will be. How are all of these perfect groups forming? Where is the ragtag team of 3x rogues and a fighter muscle? It's a sense of realism I'd love to have more of in my 5e experience.
As for mechanics: While crusher can keep enemies at bay that used all of their movement to get in range, that's a side benefit much more than what excites me. For enemies that don't use all of their movement to engage, the 5 foot push means the enemy has to move again to engage and thus triggers the BB extra damage immediately. That's what gets me giddy.
I definitely thought about ranger and paladin but they don't have easy access to booming blade. Fighter also allows everything to come online by level 6, as opposed to level 8. I value the quick maturation of builds very heavily. While the EK has intelligence based spells, it really doesn't need to invest in intelligence because most spells EK's take don't use it. I'm happy flavoring this shaman's magic as studying the gods and their ways and not a faith based divine connection.
Personally I’m using this concept for a Monkey king build. With a strong bond to his quarterstaff