I hope I am posting this in the right forum. I would like to create a character inspired by Akame from Akame ga Kill and i'm aware that the character cannot/will not be as overpowered as in the anime, but I like the idea.
For those who don't know the character, Akame excels in speed and penetrating power, she fights with a special longsword ("Demonic" Katana, I will discuss the weapon with the DM (and probably create it as a homebrew - item)). She has good perception and is extremely focused in combat. She is also a very good cook. She was trained as an assassin by the Empire, but could not stand behind the principles of the Empire and joined a revolutionary force.
Now my question: how can I create a very fast (partly so fast that it looks like she teleports (anime / manga style, sorry), I'm thinking of a lot of speed, but also haste or a teleport (Misty Step) spells), agile (dodge/block arrows etc.), not useless in combat character? My thoughts so far: Variant Human (+ dex and wis) with the Mobile - Feat. As class (lvl 1-3 rogue (swashbuckler), lvl 4 to 8 monk (kensei)). Unfortunately I'm also toying with the fighter (samurai), but I don't know how reliable the whole thing will be then. My goal is to be able to play the character from a level 6 campaign, but I would like to plan it through to level 20 if possible.
I hope I am posting this in the right forum. I would like to create a character inspired by Akame from Akame ga Kill and i'm aware that the character cannot/will not be as overpowered as in the anime, but I like the idea.
For those who don't know the character, Akame excels in speed and penetrating power, she fights with a special longsword ("Demonic" Katana, I will discuss the weapon with the DM (and probably create it as a homebrew - item)). She has good perception and is extremely focused in combat. She is also a very good cook. She was trained as an assassin by the Empire, but could not stand behind the principles of the Empire and joined a revolutionary force.
Now my question: how can I create a very fast (partly so fast that it looks like she teleports (anime / manga style, sorry), I'm thinking of a lot of speed, but also haste or a teleport (Misty Step) spells), agile (dodge/block arrows etc.), not useless in combat character? My thoughts so far: Variant Human (+ dex and wis) with the Mobile - Feat. As class (lvl 1-3 rogue (swashbuckler), lvl 4 to 8 monk (kensei)). Unfortunately I'm also toying with the fighter (samurai), but I don't know how reliable the whole thing will be then. My goal is to be able to play the character from a level 6 campaign, but I would like to plan it through to level 20 if possible.
Can anyone give me tips on this topic?
Thank you for reading and for any feedback.
The traditional answer here is a tabaxi monk. The only monk subclass I know of offhand with a teleport is Way of Shadow; tabaxi have darkvision, but you can also multiclass into Fighter 1 for blindsight, so you can see inside your own Darkness bubble (way of shadow monks can only teleport to and from a space that isn't in bright light, so the spell is one way of many to guarantee they can teleport out of a space they're in).
The premier, go-to feat for picking up a teleport is Fey Touched, which is top notch, no notes, just an excellent feat.
It's been a while since I watched that show but my first thought was Kensei, and pick up fey touched feat at 4 (or at 1st level for variant human) for misty step 1/day. Granted, you'll have to mix in a few kicks and punches with your sword swings. Or if you're really into the teleport aspect of this character, Shadow Monk could indeed fit, especially with tasha's dedicated weapon feature. Shadow Monks also fit well with an assassin theme.
While maybe a bit ham-fisted maybe an Echo Knight could work as well, by sort of flavoring the echos as your character moving really quickly. Though the echos can be attacked and destroyed.
While not as immediately obvious if you place the emphasis on the cursed blade over the rest of the abilities, Akame could very well be a Hexblade Warlock, with the focus being between your character and your sword, and the powers granted by the sword. Stick with warlock through level 5 for the thirsting blade invocation, then take 3 levels of rogue for the swashbuckler subclass. You'll have a lot of mobility, with the ability to dash, hide and disengage as a bonus action, and if you attack a creature they don't get attacks of opportunity.
You'll also gain access to spells like misty step for short range teleports, and mirror image and blur which fit well with your character being able to move really quickly.
Though do keep in mind rules as written longswords do not trigger sneak attacks since they are neither a finesse weapon nor a ranged weapon, so discuss with your DM beforehand if he'll let you land sneak attacks with your longsword. (In my own opinion this limitation of sneak attack is silly anyway).
It's been a while since I watched that show but my first thought was Kensei, and pick up fey touched feat at 4 (or at 1st level for variant human) for misty step 1/day. Granted, you'll have to mix in a few kicks and punches with your sword swings. Or if you're really into the teleport aspect of this character, Shadow Monk could indeed fit, especially with tasha's dedicated weapon feature. Shadow Monks also fit well with an assassin theme.
While maybe a bit ham-fisted maybe an Echo Knight could work as well, by sort of flavoring the echos as your character moving really quickly. Though the echos can be attacked and destroyed.
While not as immediately obvious if you place the emphasis on the cursed blade over the rest of the abilities, Akame could very well be a Hexblade Warlock, with the focus being between your character and your sword, and the powers granted by the sword. Stick with warlock through level 5 for the thirsting blade invocation, then take 3 levels of rogue for the swashbuckler subclass. You'll have a lot of mobility, with the ability to dash, hide and disengage as a bonus action, and if you attack a creature they don't get attacks of opportunity.
You'll also gain access to spells like misty step for short range teleports, and mirror image and blur which fit well with your character being able to move really quickly.
Though do keep in mind rules as written longswords do not trigger sneak attacks since they are neither a finesse weapon nor a ranged weapon, so discuss with your DM beforehand if he'll let you land sneak attacks with your longsword. (In my own opinion this limitation of sneak attack is silly anyway).
Of the classes you recommend, what is the eventual combination?
Kensei/Echoknight and Hexblade/Swashbuckler?
Or would you go as far as combining Hexblade, Kensei and Swashbuckler (would probably be MAD)?
I don't know if I'd multiclass as a kensei or echo knight at all. If I did I'd wait after level 8 on the monk and level 6 on the fighter, if not even after you get your third attack in your multiattack. Instead I'd pick up mobile and fey touched to fulfill get the mobility and short range teleports. If you went fighter you could also ask your dm if you could reflavor a great sword into a no-dachi.
If you were to multiclass on any of these classes, considering your classes, I'd recommend multiclassing with swashbuckler as mentioned for the flavor and mobility. I'd wait to after 5 as a hexblade before multiclassing.
And yeah, a kensei/echo knight would be MAD, since echo knights use their constitution modifier for the amount of echos they can manifest IIRC. Coupled with how MAD monks are by default and considering the feats you want I wouldn't want to combine the two unless you roll amazingly for stats.
I think what you're describing could either be a pure Monk, or a monk multiclass with Fighter.
Monks don't need to be Kensei any longer to use swords: now (with the optional rule from Tasha's), any monk can treat any non-Heavy non-Special simple or martial weapon that they're proficient in as a Monk Weapon. Which means, Kensei aren't really about swords any longer, but rather more specifically about having better AC than other monks, treating nonmagical weapons as magical, being able to buff a hit with a ki point to do a few points of extra damage, and being able to reroll a miss once per turn. You can absolutely be a sword-wielding Shadow Monk, and if anything, Shadow Monk doesn't have any class features that try to pressure you into making Unarmed Strikes during your Attack like Kensei does, so they're even swordy-er. I'm not sure if the source inspiration deals with shadows and darkness.... but if you're interested in teleportation, Shadow Monk is the subclass that does that. Drunken Master's, however, emphasize speed a little more than Shadow do, by increasing your speed by 10 and giving you a free Disengage any turn where you Flurry of Blows (which you can do on most turns). At high level, they also can make more Flurry attacks than other Monks too, which again emphasizes that speed!
Any sort of Fighter is a good MC with Monk, because (1) level 2 gives you Action Surge, which again gives you more attacks in one turn, emphasizing speed, and (2) you could get three attacks per attack action if you go as far as Level 11 Fighter, and (3) the extra ASI/Feat that Fighter 6 gives you can be useful for a monk, who often wants several ability scores good or high. The Echo Knight is a good suggestion for being teleportation-themed, and also you can make some extra attacks on a number of turns based on your Con modifier. Samurai is a poor suggestion, because it uses its Bonus Action for other things that compete with your Martial Arts. Battle Master is a very versatile choice, with Maneuvers that can make you feel very fast or supernatural (like punching someone and having them fly 15 feet away, or tripping or disarming opponents). Psi Warrior might also be thematic, if your inspiration involves not only running up walls but also sometimes flying (and they also can do attacks that throw enemies 10 feet, representing fast momentum behind the blow if you'd like).
I don't think you actually want any Rogue levels, I think that rogue features are rendundent with but poorly synergize with monk builds, usually.
Monks of most subclasses get 99% of their good abilities by level 14, once they've unlocked Diamond Soul: the last step up from a d8 to a d10 monk weapon die is only about 1 average damage per hit (maybe 5 or 6 damage per turn), so may not be worth 3 more levels to unlock. If defense isn't you main priority, then you can even stop at 11, or even 10! If you're starting at 6, and conceivably will play deep into T3 or even T4, then you have plenty of room to multiclass Fighter and Monk, so I would encourage you to go that route.
You really don't need Wisdom over 16 on a Monk, unless you want exceptional AC, keep that in mind when prioritizing your levels/feats. You'll likely want Fey Touched, which is at least one +1 Wisdom in your career, so if you don't plan to max Wisdom you may actually want to start with it at 15 instead of 16, in favor of an extra point of Con?
Start as a Fighter at 1, so that you actually have martial weapon (sword) proficiencies, and as a Fighter 3 (Echo, Psi, or Battlemaster)/Monk 3 (Drunken) at level 6. Starting with Mobile as a VHuman is fine (you might be able to optimize a custom lineage a little harder, but it's fine), and you should have 8/16/16/8/15/8 or 8/16/15/8/16/8 as you prefer. With having "wasted" a feat on a non-stat feat (Mobile), you need to hustle a little to catch up to 20 Dex, so you're going to actually push Fighter before Monk. At character level 7, bump Fighter to 4 and take Fey Touched (+1 Wisdom), picking up Misty Step and something like Gift of Alacrity, Hunter's Mark, Hex, or Heroism. At character level 8, bump Fighter to 5 for Extra Attack, and then character level 9 is Fighter to 6 or Monk to 4 for an ASI (+2 Dex), and character level 10 is Fighter to 6 or Monk to 4 for another ASI (+2 Dex).
You're now a level 10 character with 20 Dex and 16 or 17 Wisdom and 15 or 16 Constitution, who can attack twice per attack action, do 1 or 2 bonus action unarmed strikes, can Action Surge, has a speed of 50 (or 60 when you flurry), and can even teleport sometimes. That's a good baseline start on your concept. Fighter 7 will get you a fun feature as a Psi or Echo but practically nothing as a Battlemaster, and 8 will get you another feat (Skill Expert (Stealth or Athletics) to add +1 to either Con or Wisdom, depending on which one's odd), but it may be time to hit pause on Fighter and push Monk for several levels instead (especially if you want to be able to get Diamond Soul at character level 20). As a Fighter 6/Monk 14 you'll have two more feats to choose, or as a Fighter 8/Monk 12 you'll have three, so consider Skill Expert (+1 Con or Wisdom), ASI +2 Wisdom (to push that AC), or anything that seems fun like Shadow Touched, Chef, Tough, or whatever with the remainder of your options.
Hello together
I hope I am posting this in the right forum.
I would like to create a character inspired by Akame from Akame ga Kill and i'm aware that the character cannot/will not be as overpowered as in the anime, but I like the idea.
For those who don't know the character, Akame excels in speed and penetrating power, she fights with a special longsword ("Demonic" Katana, I will discuss the weapon with the DM (and probably create it as a homebrew - item)). She has good perception and is extremely focused in combat. She is also a very good cook.
She was trained as an assassin by the Empire, but could not stand behind the principles of the Empire and joined a revolutionary force.
Now my question: how can I create a very fast (partly so fast that it looks like she teleports (anime / manga style, sorry), I'm thinking of a lot of speed, but also haste or a teleport (Misty Step) spells), agile (dodge/block arrows etc.), not useless in combat character?
My thoughts so far:
Variant Human (+ dex and wis) with the Mobile - Feat.
As class (lvl 1-3 rogue (swashbuckler), lvl 4 to 8 monk (kensei)). Unfortunately I'm also toying with the fighter (samurai), but I don't know how reliable the whole thing will be then.
My goal is to be able to play the character from a level 6 campaign, but I would like to plan it through to level 20 if possible.
Can anyone give me tips on this topic?
Thank you for reading and for any feedback.
The traditional answer here is a tabaxi monk. The only monk subclass I know of offhand with a teleport is Way of Shadow; tabaxi have darkvision, but you can also multiclass into Fighter 1 for blindsight, so you can see inside your own Darkness bubble (way of shadow monks can only teleport to and from a space that isn't in bright light, so the spell is one way of many to guarantee they can teleport out of a space they're in).
The premier, go-to feat for picking up a teleport is Fey Touched, which is top notch, no notes, just an excellent feat.
It's been a while since I watched that show but my first thought was Kensei, and pick up fey touched feat at 4 (or at 1st level for variant human) for misty step 1/day. Granted, you'll have to mix in a few kicks and punches with your sword swings. Or if you're really into the teleport aspect of this character, Shadow Monk could indeed fit, especially with tasha's dedicated weapon feature. Shadow Monks also fit well with an assassin theme.
While maybe a bit ham-fisted maybe an Echo Knight could work as well, by sort of flavoring the echos as your character moving really quickly. Though the echos can be attacked and destroyed.
While not as immediately obvious if you place the emphasis on the cursed blade over the rest of the abilities, Akame could very well be a Hexblade Warlock, with the focus being between your character and your sword, and the powers granted by the sword. Stick with warlock through level 5 for the thirsting blade invocation, then take 3 levels of rogue for the swashbuckler subclass. You'll have a lot of mobility, with the ability to dash, hide and disengage as a bonus action, and if you attack a creature they don't get attacks of opportunity.
You'll also gain access to spells like misty step for short range teleports, and mirror image and blur which fit well with your character being able to move really quickly.
Though do keep in mind rules as written longswords do not trigger sneak attacks since they are neither a finesse weapon nor a ranged weapon, so discuss with your DM beforehand if he'll let you land sneak attacks with your longsword. (In my own opinion this limitation of sneak attack is silly anyway).
I know nothing about the anime, but if they’re a good cook, there’s the chef feat.
Hi there
First of all, thanks for your advices.
Of the classes you recommend, what is the eventual combination?
Kensei/Echoknight and Hexblade/Swashbuckler?
Or would you go as far as combining Hexblade, Kensei and Swashbuckler (would probably be MAD)?
I don't know if I'd multiclass as a kensei or echo knight at all. If I did I'd wait after level 8 on the monk and level 6 on the fighter, if not even after you get your third attack in your multiattack. Instead I'd pick up mobile and fey touched to fulfill get the mobility and short range teleports. If you went fighter you could also ask your dm if you could reflavor a great sword into a no-dachi.
If you were to multiclass on any of these classes, considering your classes, I'd recommend multiclassing with swashbuckler as mentioned for the flavor and mobility. I'd wait to after 5 as a hexblade before multiclassing.
And yeah, a kensei/echo knight would be MAD, since echo knights use their constitution modifier for the amount of echos they can manifest IIRC. Coupled with how MAD monks are by default and considering the feats you want I wouldn't want to combine the two unless you roll amazingly for stats.
I think what you're describing could either be a pure Monk, or a monk multiclass with Fighter.
Monks don't need to be Kensei any longer to use swords: now (with the optional rule from Tasha's), any monk can treat any non-Heavy non-Special simple or martial weapon that they're proficient in as a Monk Weapon. Which means, Kensei aren't really about swords any longer, but rather more specifically about having better AC than other monks, treating nonmagical weapons as magical, being able to buff a hit with a ki point to do a few points of extra damage, and being able to reroll a miss once per turn. You can absolutely be a sword-wielding Shadow Monk, and if anything, Shadow Monk doesn't have any class features that try to pressure you into making Unarmed Strikes during your Attack like Kensei does, so they're even swordy-er. I'm not sure if the source inspiration deals with shadows and darkness.... but if you're interested in teleportation, Shadow Monk is the subclass that does that. Drunken Master's, however, emphasize speed a little more than Shadow do, by increasing your speed by 10 and giving you a free Disengage any turn where you Flurry of Blows (which you can do on most turns). At high level, they also can make more Flurry attacks than other Monks too, which again emphasizes that speed!
Any sort of Fighter is a good MC with Monk, because (1) level 2 gives you Action Surge, which again gives you more attacks in one turn, emphasizing speed, and (2) you could get three attacks per attack action if you go as far as Level 11 Fighter, and (3) the extra ASI/Feat that Fighter 6 gives you can be useful for a monk, who often wants several ability scores good or high. The Echo Knight is a good suggestion for being teleportation-themed, and also you can make some extra attacks on a number of turns based on your Con modifier. Samurai is a poor suggestion, because it uses its Bonus Action for other things that compete with your Martial Arts. Battle Master is a very versatile choice, with Maneuvers that can make you feel very fast or supernatural (like punching someone and having them fly 15 feet away, or tripping or disarming opponents). Psi Warrior might also be thematic, if your inspiration involves not only running up walls but also sometimes flying (and they also can do attacks that throw enemies 10 feet, representing fast momentum behind the blow if you'd like).
I don't think you actually want any Rogue levels, I think that rogue features are rendundent with but poorly synergize with monk builds, usually.
Monks of most subclasses get 99% of their good abilities by level 14, once they've unlocked Diamond Soul: the last step up from a d8 to a d10 monk weapon die is only about 1 average damage per hit (maybe 5 or 6 damage per turn), so may not be worth 3 more levels to unlock. If defense isn't you main priority, then you can even stop at 11, or even 10! If you're starting at 6, and conceivably will play deep into T3 or even T4, then you have plenty of room to multiclass Fighter and Monk, so I would encourage you to go that route.
You really don't need Wisdom over 16 on a Monk, unless you want exceptional AC, keep that in mind when prioritizing your levels/feats. You'll likely want Fey Touched, which is at least one +1 Wisdom in your career, so if you don't plan to max Wisdom you may actually want to start with it at 15 instead of 16, in favor of an extra point of Con?
Start as a Fighter at 1, so that you actually have martial weapon (sword) proficiencies, and as a Fighter 3 (Echo, Psi, or Battlemaster)/Monk 3 (Drunken) at level 6. Starting with Mobile as a VHuman is fine (you might be able to optimize a custom lineage a little harder, but it's fine), and you should have 8/16/16/8/15/8 or 8/16/15/8/16/8 as you prefer. With having "wasted" a feat on a non-stat feat (Mobile), you need to hustle a little to catch up to 20 Dex, so you're going to actually push Fighter before Monk. At character level 7, bump Fighter to 4 and take Fey Touched (+1 Wisdom), picking up Misty Step and something like Gift of Alacrity, Hunter's Mark, Hex, or Heroism. At character level 8, bump Fighter to 5 for Extra Attack, and then character level 9 is Fighter to 6 or Monk to 4 for an ASI (+2 Dex), and character level 10 is Fighter to 6 or Monk to 4 for another ASI (+2 Dex).
You're now a level 10 character with 20 Dex and 16 or 17 Wisdom and 15 or 16 Constitution, who can attack twice per attack action, do 1 or 2 bonus action unarmed strikes, can Action Surge, has a speed of 50 (or 60 when you flurry), and can even teleport sometimes. That's a good baseline start on your concept. Fighter 7 will get you a fun feature as a Psi or Echo but practically nothing as a Battlemaster, and 8 will get you another feat (Skill Expert (Stealth or Athletics) to add +1 to either Con or Wisdom, depending on which one's odd), but it may be time to hit pause on Fighter and push Monk for several levels instead (especially if you want to be able to get Diamond Soul at character level 20). As a Fighter 6/Monk 14 you'll have two more feats to choose, or as a Fighter 8/Monk 12 you'll have three, so consider Skill Expert (+1 Con or Wisdom), ASI +2 Wisdom (to push that AC), or anything that seems fun like Shadow Touched, Chef, Tough, or whatever with the remainder of your options.
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