Characters

Thrown Weapon Fighting (5e)

/ Aaron S / Leave a comment

I had a character concept that I wanted to try drafting for awhile. I wanted a character focused around throwing weapons, someone focused on chucking things as quickly and violently as possible. I also noticed I haven’t posted to the blog in awhile since DnD maps have been on a hiatus because of work, so I thought I should probably draft something up to post.

The Concept

The idea will be to create a character that has their thrown weapon attacks as buffed as possible, without resorting to Artificer or magic item tomfoolery. You won’t be as strong as if you went full-melee or full-ranged attack focused, but you’ll be a threat at both.

To achieve this, we’ll be focusing on grabbing all the feats and Fighting Styles that buff thrown weapons and dual wielding. Our character will be dual wielding throwable weapons so that we can tack on an extra bonus action ranged or melee weapon attack by taking advantage of the fact that several weapons with the “Thrown” property in DnD 5e are also “Light” weapons that can be dual wielded.

Class Options

Fighter is the strongest and most versatile option for this type of character in my opinion. You gain access to all the Fighting Style options you’d need as well as the higher frequency of Ability Score Increase class features allowing for better Ability Scores and optional Feats. For martial archetypes Champion and Brute both give good options to complement this build. Champion allows us to attempt a crit-fishing build or Brute allows for some free extra damage and resilience. Other options could include Battle Master for the battle maneuvers or Rune Knight because of it’s general strength.

Ranger is a secondary option for some alternate character flavor. While they get the option for the Fighting Styles you’d want, having fewer Ability Score Increases than the Fighter makes them less attractive from a damage and mechanics-enabling perspective. What you gain in return is the extra utility features that Ranger offers as well as spellcasting options that could potentially be useful.

Rogue can also work with parts of this build. You’ll be limited to using daggers as your thrown weapon if you want to be able to trigger your Sneak Attack bonus damage because of the finesse requirement. The Rogue class also may not be able to find ways to get the Fighting Styles you’d want, but you could still make it work. You’ll probably have to only take the Thrown Weapon Fighting style instead of both that and Two-Weapon Fighting and lose out on some raw damage as a result, but you gain the rest of the Rogue’s toolkit so it could be a pretty even trade.

I’m including Barbarian for a quick overview so others like me don’t bother to look into it. Rage mechanics generally require melee weapon attacks in order to function, so thrown weapon attacks don’t work well with the class.

Fighting Styles

Fighting Styles are pretty crucial for helping this build along.

Two-Weapon Fighting: This is the option I prefer to take first. This just allows us to add our Ability Score modifier to the damage for attacks with our offhand weapon. The damage ends up being quite high early on with being able to attack with action and bonus action, but you’ll see it taper off eventually (but who plans for a long campaign anyway?).

Thrown Weapon Fighting: This was the option added to 5e that enabled this build to be viable. It allows you draw the new thrown weapon as part of the attack instead of having to “reload” between throws, as well as gives a +2 to the ranged damage of thrown weapons. You’ll take it second most likely, because it’s not super relevant until you get the Extra Attack class feature, but this is the more important one take between this and Two-Weapon Fighting.

(Optional) Close Quarters Shooter (UA): One of the options you could eventually get if you go Champion or Brute Fighter and get the extra Fighting Style. Allows you to point blank throw weapons into people and gives a +1 to ranged attack rolls. What could be more fun?

(Optional) Superior Technique: One of the options you could eventually get if you go Champion or Brute Fighter and get the extra Fighting Style. Allows you to take some Maneuvers from the Battle Master Fighter Archetype.

(Optional) Defense: One of the options you could eventually get if you go Champion or Brute Fighter and get the extra Fighting Style. +1 to your AC, a simple but effective favorite.

Features

Fighting Initiate: A simple feat we take to get a bonus Fighting Style. This is the first feat we take in order to enable the thrown weapon mechanics we want for the build, and is the only “required” feat for the build.

(Optional) Dual Wielder: Probably the best extra option for this build. This gives us +1 AC as well as lets us dual wield thrown weapons without the “light” property, such as javelins and spears.

(Optional) Tough: If you find yourself not durable enough as a “ranged” character, this is the extra option for you.

(Optional) Piercer/Slasher: Both of these are good utility options depending on your choice of weapon.

Example Character Sheet

Here’s an example character of this stated for level 6. While he may not be a shining example of all the optimizations DnD has to offer, he’s certainly playable and fun sounding character. Ability scores are used with point-buy.

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check on my other content! I try to update this site somewhat regularly with new content, mostly with maps and homebrew sheets from my campaigns.

The Barbarian-Druid Multiclass (5e)

/ Aaron S / Leave a comment

A common-ish class combo in Dungeons and Dragons fifth edition is the Barbarian-Druid multiclass. The idea of this character is to become a raging beast, using the Barbarian Rage mechanic and Druid Wild Shape to become a super tank in combat. I was lucky enough to have the experience of making and playing this type of character in a past campaign, so I thought I’d write a guide on the setup and some of the more quirky aspects of the class combination.

Character Levelling

Choosing how to level your character is important for making it work. In our case, because the strength of your Druid Wild Shape is tied to your Druid level, you’ll generally prefer putting level-ups into your Druid class.

However, among the things you’ll want from the Barbarian class are Rage, Unarmored Defense, Reckless Attack, and possibly a Primal Path. Worth noting, Extra Attack has some special rules associated with it that I’ll go into in a later section.

For levelling splits, I’d advise to start druid and not dip barbarian until you have at least Wild Shape and your Druid path at 3rd level. It’s also worth waiting until you have your first extra Druid Circle feature at level 6 before putting your your second level into Barbarian, as 6th level druid is a large power-spike.

Here’s a table of the early class levels, with powerful features in bold:

123456
BarbarianRage, Unarmored DefenseReckless AttackPrimal PathAbility Score ImprovementExtra AttackPath Features
DruidSpellcastingWild Shape, Druid Circle2nd Level SpellsAbility Score Improvement3rd Level SpellsDruid Circle feature

For subclass options, your Druid path is locked in to Circle of the Moon. The reasons are pretty obvious once you get into the class, Moon Druid allows you to Wild Shape as more powerful creatures as well as allows you to expend spell slots to heal yourself.

For Barbarian, if you make it far enough to pick a Primal Path, you’ll have more options. In fact, almost any option is worthwhile and it’s almost entirely up to preference. I find Totem Warrior to be fun flavor for a Druidic wildman-esque character or Zealot as a sort of avenger of nature.

Ability Scores

For ability scores, the optimal thing would be to focus on your mental ability scores (INT, WIS, CHA) because these are maintained while in Wild Shape (STR, DEX, CON use the Wild Shape creature’s stats). Wisdom is a Druid’s casting ability so it would make sense to prioritize this, and then Constitution would also be important in order to survive outside of your Wild Shape.

Other than that, your stats are fairly free range for this build. You could emphasize Strength or Dexterity to be a martial threat even in your regular form or you could emphasize your Intelligence and Charisma in order to shore up against saves involving those stats. It’s up to the character you want to create!

Extra Attack vs Multiattack

Many higher levelled Druid Wild Shape options have an action called Multiattack allowing them to do multiple attacks from their list of actions. For example, the brown bear has the following options:

Individually biting or clawing are separate actions but they are used together with one Multiattack action.

Barbarian at fifth level also has an ability called Extra Attack, which states “Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.” The key phrase in this is “the Attack action”. If you look at the brown bear example, Multiattack is its own action and not an Attack action in the ruleset. The individual Bite and Claws ARE however “Melee Weapon Attacks” (they are considered “natural weapons”) and as such can individually be used with the Multiattack class feature.

Natural Armor vs Unarmored Defense

Wild Shape creatures use their Natural Armor AC listed on their stat blocks. It’s just a flat number and cannot be increased or decreased as Natural Armor.

Unarmored Defense, however, is a first level Barbarian feature that lets you replace your characters normal AC (natural or from armor) to 10 plus your Dexterity modifier plus your Constitution modifier. This is usable even in Wild Shape, allowing you to use the Wild Shape creature’s Dexterity and Constitution (NOT your player character’s stats) to benefit your AC. It depends on the creature, but generally this gives an extra 1 or 2 points into your AC, which is always helpful.

Spellcasting and Lack Thereof

Druid are a full-spellcasting class, but we’ll be largely ignoring that in favor of being a large, angry animal. Normally in Wild Shape a Druid is able to maintain the concentration of spells they cast in their regular form, but the Barbarian Rage prevents spellcasting and concentration of spells while active.

The mechanic replacing our spellcasting will be Moon Circle Druid’s class feature which allows us to expend a spell slot in order to self-heal as a bonus action. Since expending the spell slot for the class feature is not the same as casting a spell, not only can you use it in while in Wild Shape but you can also use it while in your Barbarian Rage. This allows for heavy tanking on the part of the player character by using both the Barbarian Rage damage resistance combined with the consistent ability to regenerate health.

Wild Shape Advice

Not all Wild Shape forms are created equal. Some are powerful damage dealers, some are weaker damage-wise but more reliable, and then some have very specific utility purposes.

Fortunately, a great guide for this already exists on rpgbot.net. You can find the page here. It goes over the list of animals pretty extensively, and probably goes more in depth than I would here.

Other Stuff

That’s it for now. I may add more to this guide later, but feel to comment or email about any important mechanics that should maybe be added to this guide!

Homebrew Items

/ Aaron S / Leave a comment

These are a few of my favorite homebrew items I’ve made so far in my 5e campaign. I like to try and keep the uniqueness of the item and give the player some extra abilities or utility instead of just stat gains. I also usually try to keep these abilities as effects that are already within the 5e core rules, so most of the effects are modelled after already existing abilities or spells.

As a note, if you don’t know where to make stuff like these ‘homebrewery.naturalcrit.com’ lets you make DnD book style homebrew creations.

A giant ogre’s treasured battle-axe. It has decent effects already, but is countered by a curse if the user does not have ogre level intelligence.
Necklace of a righteous cleric. It has useful effects without attunement but requires a specific alignment and might not be useable by all party members …
A giant boulder carried as some sort of ascetic right. Strong effects but requires a huge carry weight in order to lift and use it.
And finally, one of my favorites. A gag item, to torture players with!

Homebrew Ogre Player Race (5e)

/ Aaron S / Leave a comment

Awhile back I made an ogre player race for a Dungeons and Dragon 5th edition campaign with friends. The idea is to reflect the raw strength provided by playing a civilized or smaller ogroid-humanoid with the drawbacks of limited mental ability scores.

To help keep it simple and balanced, I mainly kept racial feats within the existing 5e ruleset. Nothing in it is too fancy, but it should give the feel still of playing a strong but slow brute.

The Dndbeyond link

A PDF Copy:

ogre-homebrew-sheetDownload

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check on my other content! I try to update this site somewhat regularly with new content, mostly with maps and homebrew sheets from my campaigns.

The Strength Based Monk (5e)

/ Aaron S / 2 Comments

Sometimes you just want to smash things, regardless of your character’s vocation. Fifth edition gives some options for almost any class to become a viable beefcake.

For this post I’ll be covering the idea of a Monk class. Monks in Dungeons and Dragons -and as trope in most games- focuses on mechanics based on their dexterity and agility. In this guide we’ll be working on subverting that dependency in order to provide for their damage, utility, and survivability.

In the 5e ruleset, Monks are generally a martial focused class that use simple weapons or unarmed attacks. The damage with these instead is replaced with the class’s martial arts die, which scales with the player’s level. Monk also optionally lets you replace your strength modifier on attack and damage rolls with your dexterity modifier. Normally this enables the rest of the class’s toolkits like stealth, deflect missiles, and evasion. However, we’re going to be ignoring this in order to see what brawn can offer the class. The key to this will be multiclassing options in order to enable different routes of gameplay.

To start with, for monastic traditions, the three that directly synergize with what we’re trying to do here (as of writing this) would be Kensei, Drunken Master, and Open Hand. You can pick any tradition depending on your character, but because we’re focusing strength we end up better situated for a combat build. Kensei gives the option for martial weapons, extra damage, and extra AC with Agile Parry. Drunken Maser gives some extra character flavor and utility with Drunken Sway and Redirect Attack. Open Hand gives some additional options with their Techniques and a pretty beefy emergency self heal with Wholeness of Body.

Multiclassing is an option to make full use out of our strength focus. The two classes that give immediate benefits in this regard are Barbarian and Fighter. Most of our levels will be spent in Monk in order to keep our martial art die high enough, but our splits for class dips might look something like this, with impactful class features in bold:

12345+ (Highlights)
BarbarianRage, Unarmored DefenseReckless Attack, Danger SensePrimal PathASIExtra Attack, Brutal Critical, Path Features
FighterFighting Style, Second WindAction SurgeMartial ArchetypeASIExtra Attack, Martial Archetype Features

One level dips are the most economical, since falling behind in Monk levels can be very bad for scaling. Second level gives some useful items as well, with reckless attack being especially powerful. Third level lets us pick a class focus, this can either be for additional flavor or synergy with the build. Going beyond third level dip in this case doesn’t offer much, as it makes you fall farther and farther behind in Monk and the class features that provide worthwhile power spikes become fewer and farther between.

For stats we focus on the typical martial stats: strength, dexterity, and constitution. Mental ability scores can be mostly dumped or not depending on the character you want. The exception might be wisdom when sub-classing into Fighter, because Monk unarmored defense uses the dexterity and wisdom stats.

Depending on party role, strength or constitution can be prioritized, but dexterity will always we secondary to these. The only reason dexterity isn’t a full dump stat is for Monk abilities that still use it and for unarmored defense. Worth noting between Barbarian and monk is that you get to choose which unarmored defense you use, letting you prioritize different stats based on the choice.

My example character sheet I used for drafting this can be found here. I have the character stated at level six, because I think that’s where the build starts to come online.

Also worth noting is that there’s several good homebrews of different ‘pugilists’ styled classes, which often function as strength based monks. This guide is more focused on keeping it within the canonical ruleset, but if one of those sounds fun then you can always check with your DM if it’s okay to play.

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check on my other content! I try to update this site somewhat regularly with new content, mostly with maps and homebrew sheets from my campaigns.