#I’m a bard. I already have a +15 to persuasion. do I really need to get an auto 30 on all CHA checks?

[tigerkirby215]

5e Sona, the Maven of the Strings build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Shilin Huang. Made for Riot Games.)

(Shit meme by yours truly.)

Revealing my Champion Mastery just to say that I play a lot of Sona. Don’t flame me for playing Seraphine and Yuumi I swear to god, and I have no idea why Teemo is in my top 10 highest mastery champs ngl.

Anyways you have no idea how happy I am as a Sona main that my girl is now top tier. I came to League of Legends from Overwatch (yes really) and I used to main Lucio in OW along with some of the more “techy” characters like Symmetra and Torbjorn. (Came to OW from TF2 where I mained Engineer and Medic.) Sona was a natural fit for me as a champion who was both easy to play and very similar to Lucio. It also helps that I joined the Rift during the single most engaging meta to ever grace this game. I was kinda too shit to play Janna but the Ardent Censer meta is also why I have such a high mastery on Lulu tbh.

But enough about my history with League: Sona! Honestly when I think of an archetypical support Sona pops into my head a lot sooner than Soraka: a champion based on empowering their teammates in as many ways as possible with heals, shields, movement speed, and CC to hold the enemy team down. I’ve always loved playing her because she feels like much more of a macro oriented character than other supports, with team-wide support as opposed to keeping one person alive like Soraka or Yuumi or focusing on CC like Morgana and Nami.

I’m going to build most if not all the champions eventually but man I am happy to tackle Sona now. She’s always been on my mind as my main but it was pretty difficult to think of how to make her. I think this build is good enough though!

Wow that was much longer of an intro than I’m used to. You can really tell which champions I’m excited for lol.

GOALS

Everything in harmony - Sona boosts everyone on her team with her songs as they fill the air.

Triple time! - Sona’s ability to boost her whole team into a good position is always beneficial.

Crescendo! - Fun fact: Sona’s ultimate is canonically extremely painful as she forces you to contort your limbs against your will. Why is Sona needlessly macabre? Well remember that Riot also wrote Volibear as an Eldritch old god.

RACE

Sona is Human but if you want to be cool you can make her a Kalashtar for resistance to Psychic damage and advantage on Wisdom saves. Regardless we’re going to be making what’s known as a dollar store Kalashtar with Variant Human. Increase your Charisma by 1 as well as your Constitution because we kinda don’t need much else. You also get proficiency in one skill of your choice which will of course be Performance, and a language which you can pick as you fancy: you won’t be speaking it anyways lmfao.

That’s because “Only you can hear me summoner; what masterpiece shall we play today?” Grab the Telepathic feat to complete this dollar store Kalashtar package. Increase your Charisma score by 1 and get a 60 foot telepathy to speak while being mute. You also learn the Detect Thoughts spell and can cast it once without using a spell slot. "Did he want... four autographs? I don't understand."

ABILITY SCORES

15; CHARISMA - Charisma is tied to performance and all the other stuff a Demacian noblewoman is expected to be good at.

14; DEXTERITY - Something something medium armor; even if you wear a dress there’s no reason you can’t have some padding beneath it!

13; STRENGTH - Hey this isn’t something something medium armor!

12; CONSTITUTION - Sona may be squishy in League but I value not dying more than good skill checks honestly.

10; WISDOM - Speaking of not dying: Wisdom saves are more common, and Insight is more useful than most Intelligence skills.

8; INTELLIGENCE - We had to dump something so unfortunately Intelligence gets the short end of the stick. You may have studied under the illustrious Buvelle family but most of those lessons were music classes.

If you want a better stat array going 13 / 14 / 12 / 10 / 10 / 14 with Point Buy is perfectly viable, and if your DM is cool enough to let you multiclass without Strength then you’re more than welcome to dump it.

BACKGROUND

There’s two obvious backgrounds that fit Sona: the first is Entertainer for proficiency with Acrobatics and a skill of your choice (since we already took Performance lol.) You also get proficiency with Disguise Kits and your Etwahl! (That’s what Sona’s instrument is called btw.) Your background feature By Popular Demand allows you to play any stage once. "Some, just the once.” You can perform in exchange for a place to stay, and when you do so the local people will remember your wonderful performance!

But making an Entertainer Bard is kinda cliché, no? If you want to lean into Sona’s Demacian heritage go for the Noble background. This gives you proficiency with Persuasion and History as well as a gaming set of your choice: unfortunately Tellstones isn’t an option (unless your DM decides otherwise!) so a Dragonchess Set will do well enough. Oh and you get another language that you won’t speak: fun! Your Position of Privilege makes it easy for you to arrange meetings with other important people, and the commonfolk will be kind and cordial with you.

(Screenshot from the Tellstones: King’s Gambit trailer by Riot Games.)

I personally opted to go for Noble when making this build, but if you want to choose Entertainer go right ahead! Backgrounds don’t affect too much overall and it’s up to you (and your DM) to make your own Sona!

(Artwork from League of Legends Wild Rift. Made for Riot Games. RIOT PLEASE UPDATE MUSE SONA ON PC I’M BEGGING YOU!)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - BARD 1

I mean what else did you expect? Bards get proficiency in three musical instruments of their choice: a Lyre is the closest you’ll get to Sona’s Etwahl, though a Dulcimer is also pretty close. I’d also recommend grabbing a Lute since most magical instruments come in Lute variety.

You also get proficiency in 3 skills of your choice like Perception to watch wards, Insight to watch people, and Athletics for a bit of Tenacity to break out of grapples. (As well as potentially grab some people yourself! Although Acrobatics is also perfectly fine for escaping grapples.)

As a Bard you can boost your ADC with Bardic Inspiration, letting them add a d6 to attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. You have a number of these equal to your Charisma modifier and they come back after a Long Rest.

But of course the main reason to play a Bard is to do Demacian-banned Spellcasting! You learn two cantrips from the Bard list like Vicious Mockery for some diminuendo, making it harder for the enemy to hurt your allies while also cutting them down to size. (I don’t know if your DM will let you slap your Etwahl angrily and then point at them judgingly, but you may have to break your vow of silence every now and then.) You can also learn Prestidigitation for all sorts of general magic stuff that you really shouldn’t do in front of anyone important.

You of course also learn 4 Bard spells like Cure Wounds and Healing Word for the atypical healing spells, Dissonant Whispers for some Hymn of Valor damage, and Detect Magic which you’ll likely be expected to cast as the designated support. *Sigh* Always gotta buy wards.

LEVEL 2 - BARD 2

Second level Bards could be called a Jack of All Trades, as you get to add half your proficiency bonus to any skill you aren’t proficient in. This means even if your ability scores are bad the skills you don’t have proficiency in are still good enough! You also get Song of Rest, letting your allies recover an extra d6 of health during Short Rests. And if you have Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything  Magical Inspiration will let your allies add their Bardic Inspiration to the damage or healing of a spell they cast!

And finally you can learn another spell: against as the designated support you’re expected to take Identify.

LEVEL 3 - BARD 3

Third level Bards get Expertise in two skills: Performance is an obvious must and Persuasion would probably be good as well.

But more importantly you get to choose your Bardic College and if you want to both shield your allies and speed them up look no further than the College of Glamour! That’s because Mantle of Inspiration grants 5 temporary hitpoints to a number of creatures within 60 feet of you equal to your Charisma modifier (which can include yourself by the way!) Additionally those creatures can move up to their movement speed as a reaction without provoking opportunity attacks, making this a great tool to reposition an ally who’s caught in a dangerous position!

You’re also capable of creating an Enthralling Performance: if you perform for at least 1 minute, you can attempt to inspire wonder in your audience. At the end of the performance you can choose a number of humanoids within 60 feet of you who watched and listened to all of it, up to a maximum equal to your Charisma modifier. Each target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by you.

While charmed in this way, the target idolizes you, and speaks glowingly of you to anyone who talks to them. They also hinder anyone who opposes you, although they avoid violence unless it was already inclined to fight for you. This effect ends on a target after 1 hour unless they take any damage, you attack it, or it witnesses you attacking or damaging any of its allies. If a target succeeds on its saving throw the target has no hint that you tried to charm it, and you can use this ability once per Short or Long Rest.

Finally you can learn second level spells like Hold Person, for a one-man version of your ultimate.

LEVEL 4 - BARD 4

Ah the first of many Ability Score Improvements. You may have noticed our deliberately uneven Charisma modifier: that’s because I’m going to be taking the Fey Touched feat for +1 to your Charisma, the Misty Step spell (for Flash, of course), and the Gift of Alacrity spell from Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount for a Song of Celerity! Accelerated movement? I concur.

You can also learn another spell as well as another cantrip! For your cantrip take Mage Hand for help warding those hard-to-reach areas, and for your spell take Lesser Restoration, because yeah it’s also your job to buy Mikael’s. *Sigh.*

LEVEL 5 - BARD 5

5th level Bards get a Font of Inspiration that lets their Bardic Inspiration come back after a Short Rest as well as a Long Rest. That’s good because your Bardic Inspiration increases to a d8, which also boosts your Mantle of Inspiration to grant 8 temporary hitpoints!

You can also learn another spell like Hypnotic Pattern: while it won’t do any damage and your allies can’t hit the dancing enemies it’ll still be the best recreation of your ultimate for now.

(Artwork by Katie “TeaTime” De Sousa. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 6 - PALADIN 1

I hope you weren’t expecting this to be a pure Bard build, because then I’d just be building Seraphine again! Grab your something something Medium Armor as well as a shield (well technically you need both hands free to play a musical instrument) it’s Paladin time, master of auras! 

Paladins get a Lay on Hands pool equal to 5 times their Paladin level for some more healing. You can touch a creature to give them any amount of health from your Lay on Hands, or use 5 hitpoints from your Lay on Hands pool to neutralize a poison or disease affecting them. You also get Divine Sense to locate any Celestial, Fiend, or Undead as long as they’re within 60 feet of you and not behind total cover. Don’t worry it gets a lot more exciting later.

LEVEL 7 - PALADIN 2

Second level Paladins can choose their Fighting Style and you’re still more of a mage than a warrior, so Blessed Warrior will give you two cantrips from the Cleric list that use your Charisma! Guidance is an obvious must for a support and Toll the Dead is a great option if you want to go full AP.

Should you have options for attacks to target enemies who have high Wisdom? Yeah probably: Sacred Flame might be a good choice.

Of course cantrips also imply more Spellcasting! You can prepare a number of spells equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level (rounded down) which is currently a freaking lot of spells. Let’s just go down the list, shall we?

Bless is great to buff your team and make them harder, better, faster, and stronger.

Command is a mostly harmless Enchantment spell that will force your foes to do as you, well, command. I’d argue “dance” is a reasonable Command.

Protection from Evil and Good is never bad to have in your back pocket in case you’re fighting either Kayle or Fiddlesticks.

And Shield of Faith will let you boost your ADC’s survivability with Ardent Censer!

I know you can prepare more spells but there isn’t much I want from first level of Paladin. I am contractually obligated to mention that you can also turn your spell slots into a Divine Smite if you hit an enemy with a melee weapon, but you aren’t really going to be using weapons in this build. That’s right boys hop aboard the caster Paladin train!

LEVEL 8 - PALADIN 3

Third level Paladins get to choose their Sacred Oath and Oath of the Watchers may seem weird but it’s really good at defending your allies. That’s because you get two different Channel Divinity options: Abjure the Extraplanar works similarly to the Cleric’s Turn Undead feature except it affects Aberrations, Celestials, Elementals, Fey, and Fiends.

Watcher’s Will meanwhile lets you choose a number of creatures you can see within 30 feet of you, up to your Charisma modifier. For 1 minute, you and the chosen creatures have advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws. This means that in a party of 6 this ability can give your whole party advantage on all mental saves, which is huge for keeping everyone alive against nasty casters! See? Demacia can use your magic!

Speaking of magic you get Alarm and Detect Magic as Oath spells. (Might want to swap Detect Magic from your Bard list with Mass Healing Word ty Tasha’s.) You can also use Harness Divine Power to regain a spell slot equal to half your proficiency bonus a number of times per Long Rest. And you get Divine Health, because you don’t take a sick day to stop complaining about Seraphine.

LEVEL 9 - PALADIN 4

4th level Paladins get another Ability Score Improvement: cap off that Charisma for maximum AP scaling!

(Artwork by Kelly Aleshire & Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 10 - PALADIN 5

5th level Paladins can finally prepare second level spells! As a Watchers Paladin you get access to Moonbeam as well as See Invisibility, both of which are very good for dealing with incoming gankers.

You can also prepare spells like Aid to boost your allies’ HP, Prayer of Healing (ty Tasha’s) for some out-of-combat healing, and Warding Bond for a Knight’s Vow.

Oh and you get an Extra Attack, which sure would matter if you were actually using weapons.

LEVEL 11 - PALADIN 6

6th level reasons get the main reason Sona’s a Paladin: Aura of Protection! All your saving throws are increased by an amount equal to your Charisma modifier, which is a full +5 currently! But what’s special about this ability is that it also applies to your allies within 10 feet of you, letting you give out auras a plenty to keep your allies safe!

You can also prepare another spell but again: not much I really want. So we’re going to be waiting a little while longer once again.

LEVEL 12 - PALADIN 7

7th level Watchers Paladins get Aura of the Sentinel, or as I like to call it: Song of Celerity. When you or any creature of your choice within 10 feet of you roll for initiative, they gain a bonus to initiative equal to your proficiency bonus. While this may make positioning a little difficult (everyone’s going to have to huddle around you) this ability guarantees that you can speed up all your important allies to make sure they get their powerful abilities off!

LEVEL 13 - PALADIN 8

8th level Paladins get another Ability Score Improvement or a Feat. You may have noticed your uneven Constitution score: grab good ol’ Resilient Constitution for a boost to your health and even more insurance on your Concentration checks. With your Paladin aura and proficiency you’d have a +12 total to your Constitution checks currently, meaning that if you take 24 damage or less you won’t even have to roll for Concentration!

LEVEL 14 - PALADIN 9

You are probably the only Paladin who cares about spells, so it’s nice that you get 3rd level spells now! Watchers Paladins get two very strong third level spells: Nondetection will help you deward and keep your allies safe from enemies that may try to sneak a peak at you, but Counterspell is the true best choice to stop danger from befalling your allies. What’s very good about Counterspell is that as a Bard you get to add Jack of All Trades to the skill check, meaning it’s far easier for you to deny an incomming spell than any other spellcaster! “Mages have enough problems without you.”

Of course you can prepare some more spells like Aura of Vitality for Aria of Perseverance, and Revivify for an ADC’s Guardian Angel. But having access to spells like Remove Curse, Dispel Magic, Crusader’s Mantle, and even Daylight on the Paladin spell list are all extremely useful to be able to prepare. Remember that you are doing yourself a disservice by not taking time to think about what the best spells to prepare would be for your current quest. "Every note is important."

(Artwork by Kelly Aleshire & Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 15 - BARD 6

Now that we’ve got all our auras it’s time to go back to Bard for Mantle of Majesty! As a bonus action, you cast Command without expending a spell slot as you take on an appearance of unearthly beauty for 1 minute. During that minute you can cast Command as a bonus action on each of your turns without expending a spell slot. Additionally any creature charmed by you automatically fails its saving throw against the command you cast with this feature. You do have to concentrate on this feature (like a spell), and once you use it you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.

You can also learn another spell but there isn’t much I want from the third level of Bard, really. Oh and you get Countercharm which is awful and I hate it, but since you didn’t take a 10th level in Paladin I suppose you have to use it. Spend an action to give allies advantage on their saving throws against charms and fears, I guess.

LEVEL 16 - BARD 7

7th level Bard; 4th level spells. Freedom of Movement will let you help either yourself or an ally with Mikael’s Crucible, and Dimension Door is great to get into lane fast, or back to base fast!

LEVEL 17 - BARD 8

8th level Bards get another Ability Score Improvement, and if you don’t like the look of something something Medium Armor then the Eldritch Adept feat might be able to help. Take the Mask of Many Faces invocation to be able to cast Disguise Self at will to change your skins as you please.

Could you have taken this earlier? Absolutely. Are there better invocations? Yeah probably, but by level 17 you can make some of your own choices. Build your own Sona: this is merely a guide and you can make your own choices.

Speaking of own choices: take whichever spell you want at this level. There’s plenty of great ones for a 4th level Bard and I can’t recommend anything in particular to you. Every musician has their own style, and it’s up to you to find your own!

(Artwork by Yan Li. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 18 - BARD 9

9th level Bards get to pretend that increasing Song of Rest from a d6 to a d8 by total level 18 is helpful.

You do get access to 5th level spells like Mass Cure Wounds, which is like Mass Healing Word but better! "Harmoniously."

LEVEL 19 - BARD 10

10th level Bards get Expertise in two more skills: Perception is an obvious must to watch over your wards but beyond that? Honestly pick your poison with whatever skill you want since by level 19 you can make your own choices. (Though my personal choice would be Athletics to hopefully give some more safety against grapples.)

But of course the main boon of reaching level 10 in Bard is the Magical Secrets! ...I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you again: there honestly aren’t any spells in particular I want as Magical Secrets. Sure I could recommend spells like Haste or whatever but are they really going to be that great by total level 20? To be honest even the spells on the Bard list like Animate Objects, Greater Restoration, Hold Monster, Rary's Telepathic Bond, Scrying, and Synaptic Static are very good (although I’d sooner replace some of your old spells with them.)

Again I know this is supposed to be a “guide” but most people won’t hit level 19 anyways, so I don’t think it’s that bad for me to recommend you take your own steps to make your own Sona. Hell, build some AP if you want! I know I would!

LEVEL 20 - BARD 11

Our final level is the 11th level of Bard and I’ll be honest: it’s just to add Otto's Irresistible Dance to your spell list. It can only affect one person but it’s still your ultimate by total level 20.

Oh and you were supposed to get a cantrip last level. Uhhhhh I dunno take Mending lol.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

The rhythm connects us all - You have dozens of spells to keep your team alive and active during a fight, not to mention that all your Paladin auras and abilities really help them give 110%. It’s worth mentioning that Gift of Alacrity combined with Aura of the Sentinel is a d8 + 6 to an Initiative roll, which will almost always guarantee that whoever you want to go first will be going first!

A true masterpiece should celebrate living - Despite your somewhat weird level split you maxed out the only stat which matters for you: Charisma. And woah holy shit turns out Paladins are really good with maxed out Charisma! +5 to all saves means even your lowest save is a +4, and the saves your proficient in vary between +13 for Dexterity and Constitution (both very common!) and a whopping +16 save on Charisma!

Curtains up; I'm ready - Jack of All Trades also does quite nicely to help your middling skills. Even though I dumped most of your mental skills you’re still proficient enough that you won’t be completely helpless when caught off guard. And when you’re in the zone with Persuasion or Performance you are easily the best girl around!

CONS

Don't make me get off stage - It was my intention to recreate Sona’s positional gameplay with this build but it does present some gameplay issues when trying to maximize your effectiveness. Where do you position yourself as a character who’s still primarily a squishy caster despite your good saving throws and AC? Can you give everyone in your party support, or are they too spread out to get value out of your 10 foot range auras?

Quiet, please! - You have a damn good concentration check, but what do you concentrate on? Not only do you have a ton of spells but they all scale very good with levels and you have spell slots that go far higher than your maximum level spell. It can be hard to choose what to do with those 7th and 8th level slots.

The world is cruel... Until that changes, I'll never stop playing - One of many “meta” problems with this build was my choice to focus almost entirely on support. Sure Toll the Dead is a great damaging cantrip but your only two damaging spells are Moonbeam and Dissonant Whispers. Again: you don’t have to follow my build point-for-point and while you’ll be flamed in League for building Sona full AP I don’t think your friends will mind if you take some damaging spells.

But if you can’t tell it was really hard for me to come up with those downsides. With the exception of the positional requirements a Bardadin is a very strong build and Sona is a very strong support. Boost your teammates with your own amazing power and make sure everyone’s alive and jamming! Your power may have been forgotten over the years but no one’s ever upset to have a great support at their side. And remember: Seraphine may be in K/DA but you’re in Pentakill, and you have your own label! No one can replace DJ Sona!

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #122: Tristan

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re building another member of the Round Table, Sir Tristan, the “child of sadness”. This knight’s bowstrings are equal part deadly weapons and musical instruments, but his most dangerous weapon is just look at that final ascension art all the KotRT were so close I’m not crying you’re crying.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: Sun’s out, guns out.

Race and Background

Don’t worry, we’re not doing anything weird this time. Tristan is, in fact, a human! As a Variant Human, you get +1 to Dexterity and Wisdom, Performance proficiency, and the Sharpshooter feat. Any cover less than full won’t affect your aim, and you can fire at long range normally. Additionally, you can take a -5 penalty to hit for a +10 bonus to damage.

Much like Lancelot, you’re a Knight of the Order, giving you Religion and Persuasion proficiency.

Ability Scores

Make sure your Wisdom is high- you can hit headshots without opening your eyes, that’s some real good perception. Second is your Charisma, your bow is also a harp, and you’re really good with it. Following that up is Dexterity. Your harp is also a bow, and you’re really good with it. Writing deadly lyrics on the fly isn’t easy, so your Intelligence isn’t bad. After that is Strength- bows actually take a lot of strength to use, but you don’t really need it here so...

That being said, we’re still dumping Constitution. You’re famously unlucky, and you died to poison, that’ll affect your HP almost as badly as Okita.

Class Levels

1. Ranger 1: Being a paladin would be nice, but smiting doesn’t work with ranged weapons. You know what does? Being a ranger. First level rangers get proficiency with Strength and Dexterity saves, as well as three ranger skills. Grab Animal Handling, Athletics, and Perception for better horsemanship and archery skills.

Speaking of better skills, first level rangers can also be Canny, doubling your proficiency bonus in Performance. You can also mark a creature when you hit them thanks to Favored Foe. Once per turn for the next minute, you can add 1d4 to your damage against that target. It’s a bit weaker than Hunter’s Mark, how sad. You can also use it a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus.

2. Ranger 2: For your fighting style, Blind Fighting is almost completely useless, but it does explain how you’re able to fight without opening your eyes. (Seriously though if you want a semi-serious build go with Archery, it’s so much more useful than 10′ of darkvision.)

You can also cast Spells this level using your Wisdom. Grab Cure Wounds for some feel-good music, and Snare for your first rope trap. I said you were really good with that bow, and I meant it. This spell creates a rope trap in a 5 foot cube that requires an investigation check (DC eight plus proficiency plus wisdom modifier) to notice. A creature that triggers the trap has to make a dexterity save (same DC) or it’s restrained above the ground. Each turn, the trapped creature can make another dexterity save at disadvantage or another creature can make an Arcana check to free the creature.

3. Ranger 3: Third level rangers join a conclave, and you’re so depressing you’re a Gloom Stalker. You get Disguise Self as part of your subclass, though it’s not particularly in character for you. How sad. You’re also a Dread Ambusher, adding your wisdom to intiative. You can also move faster on your first turn, and you can make an extra attack with your action that turn as well. The extra attack also deals an extra 1d8 damage. You also gain Umbral Sight, a.k.a. 60 feet of darkvision, rendering that blind fighting almost entirely useless. Also, while in darkness, you’re invisible to other creatures with darkvision. 

You also get Primeval Awareness, letting you spend an action and spell slot to sense aberrations, celestial, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead within a mile of you. Finally, you get another spell. Entangle creates a larger area snare that requires a strength save to break free from if you’re caught in the area when it’s cast. Regardless, the area is difficult terrain until your concentration is broken.

4. Ranger 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Dexterity for a higher AC and better archery skills.

5. Ranger 5: Fifth level rangers get an Extra Attack with their attack action, and they can cast second level spells. Your free spell here is another very fancy way to use your bowstrings, Rope Trick. This spell sends a rope 60′ straight up and creates an extradimensional space for you and up to seven friends. You’re relatively safe inside for the duration, just make sure you’re out before the hour’s up. Falling sixty feet doesn’t seem like fun.

You can also create a Cordon of Arrows to protect an area, throwing four arrows at creatures who come too close. Almost as deadly as your bow, and significantly less work for you.

6. Bard 1: I told you we were making that bow a harp. First level bards can cast Spells using their Charisma, and they can mete out Bardic Inspiration as a bonus action, giving an ally a d6 they can add to one skill check, saving roll, or attack roll. You can use this a number of times per long rest equal to your charisma modifier.

For spells, Prestidigitation will help you turn your bowstrings into smaller objects; Vicious Mockery, Dissonant Whispers, and Bane give you minor curses you can place with your dirges; and Healing Word and Heroism gives you some more positive energy to hand out to party members. Don’t get those mixed up, that would be sad.

You also get another skill proficiency; you’re good at getting out of the way of attacks, so I’d say that’s Acrobatics. 

7. Bard 2: Second level bards are Jack of All Trades, giving you half proficiency on all your checks that don’t already have your proficiency bonus. You also make Camelot a bit more lively with your Song of Rest, enhancing healing done during short rests by 1d6. Finally, you get Magical Inspiration, meaning your inspiration dice can now be used to give spells more damage or healing. 

For spells, you can now turn your bowstrings into a safety net, thanks to Feather Fall. 

8. Bard 3: Your college of choice is the College of Whispers, giving you the ability to curse people in casual conversation thanks to your Words of Terror. Speaking to a humanoid alone for at least a minute forces a wisdom save or they become frightened of a creature of your choice for an hour or until they or their allies are seen being attacked. You can use this once per short rest. Go on, make your king afraid of herself, I’m sure it won’t backfire.

You also get Psychic Blades, allowing you to burn inspiration to add psychic damage to your attack once per round.

Finally, you get Expertise in two skills, doubling your proficiency bonus. Grab Perception to help you see with closed eyes and Performance because I’m a sucker for quadrupling things.

You can also cast Lesser Restoration for a stronger form of healing music, removing some of your party’s debuffs.

9. Ranger 6: At sixth level your Favored Foe grows to 1d6, making it almost as good as Hunter’s Mark. You also become Roving, giving you 5 extra feet of movement, plus a swimming and climbing speed. You might not get a fancy magic horse like the other knights of the round but... actually no, you should probably still get a horse.

10. Ranger 7: Seventh level Gloom Stalkers get an Iron Mind, giving you proficiency in Wisdom saves. You can also cast Healing Spirit this level for some hands-free healing, so you can heal while you heal! Or curse while you heal, either’s good.

11. Bard 4: Use this ASI to bump up your Charisma for more inspiration and better bard spells. You can also cast True Strike if you need to remember what a tragedy looks like, or Calm Emotions to make your enemies too depressed to fight.

12. Bard 5: Your Bardic Inspiration and Psychic Blades both grow in power, and you become a Font of Inspiration, recharging your inspiration on short rests instead of long ones.

Your final bardic spell is Bestow Curse, allowing you to technically do anything you want with the DM’s approval. Given curses include: Disadvantage on one ability score’s checks and saves. Disadvantage on attack rolls against you. Wasting a turn every time they fail a wisdom save. Dealing extra damage to them. Have some fun with it, they certainly won’t.

13. Ranger 8: Bump up your Wisdom with this ASI for a better initiative and stronger spells. You’re also Fleet of Foot, meaning you can move through difficult terrain quickly, and you don’t take damage from nonmagical plants. You also get advantage on magical plant spells. Not... super useful, but it’ll give you a better shot against Poison Ivy.

14. Ranger 9: Ninth level Gloom Stalkers can cast Fear, in case you weren’t giving your foes enough debuffs as is, and you also get Conjure Barrage to make your Failnaught truly unavoidable. Except by monks. And rogues. Still pretty good though.

15. Ranger 10: You’re now Tireless, meaning you can spend an action (a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus) to gain temporary hp. Your exhaustion also decreases on short rests too. You can also use Nature’s Veil to become invisible for a round as a bonus action, the same number of times per long rest as Tireless. We’re going a bit heavy on the evade spam here to make up for the fact that we dumped constitution what is wrong with us. 

16. Ranger 11: Thanks to your new Stalker’s Flurry, you can’t miss even if you do miss- you can make an extra attack as part of your attack action if one of your normal attacks missed.

You can also cast Protection from Energy this level, because honestly we weren’t sure what to do here. You’ll get more Tristany spells when we get fourth level slots, promise. 

17. Ranger 12: For your final ASI, bump up your Charisma again for stronger bard spells and a better performance overall.

18. Ranger 13: For your fourth level spells, Freedom of Movement and Greater Invisibility give you even more ways to avoid capture and damage. Ah, they keep missing. How sad.

19. Ranger 14: Your Favored Foe grows to a d8 now, and you can Vanish as a bonus action,  meaning you can hide and nobody can track you without magic. 

20. Ranger 15: Fifteenth level Gloom Stalkers can make a Shadowy Dodge as a reaction, giving disadvantage on an attack roll against you if the attack wasn’t made with advantage.

You can also turn your bowstrings into a Grasping Vine, forcing your opponents to dance like puppets. On a- on a string. You get it?

Pros

Thanks to all those evades you can pump out and your ability to maneuver in darkness, you’re very hard to hit. Turn invisible, dodge weirdly, stay invisible, or make your target fear you, it’s all good.

Thanks to your curses and fear building skills, you’re a good debuffer, which can help whittle powerful enemies down while your party starts getting hits in.

Thanks to spells like Cordon of Arrows, Snare, and Grasping Vine, you can also set up plenty of battlefield hazards to control and slow enemy movement. Nobody wants to rush in just to get flung into the air like a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

Cons

Remember how we dumped constitution at the beginning? That’s going to bite us in the ass. Even at level 20, you still have less than 100 hp, meaning if a wizard with Power Word Kill spots you your story’s ending early. This is why going invisible is so useful for you.

Blind Fighting would be more of a gimmick usually, but you’re an archer! Seriously, just take archery.

Being a bard and a ranger means you split your magic abilities between charisma and wisdom, eating up a lot of ASIs that could have gone towards your dexterity or constitution instead for more survivability and bow damage.

[hellyeahheroes]

Building Gwen Poole in D&D 5e

Hey, guess who just got told my company is not working next week. Well, let’s celebrate by doing another D&D build, I had lately few ideas, including a character that makes me smile, unless she is making me feel bad for her

Let me quickly list the Goals for this build. First of all, we need to be able to enter Whitespace, cross beyond panel borders and then back. Second, we need to have knowledge only someone from real world entering a fantasy one could have. Finally, we need to summon Gwens from previous books to aid us. And one more for me is to not make this identical to Tulok the Barbarian’s Deadpool build, since the man already been an inspiration so much for these posts. Which will be hard since Gwen does lend herself well to similiar combination of two classes, spoiler alert.

As always, Ability Scores will be determiend by Standard points Array of 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8, if you or your DM prefer point buy or rolls, go ahead and treat these as guidelines.

Strength: 10, we really don’t need it but Gwen carries a lot of weapons around so I cannot give this an 8

Dexterity: 14, despite the big boots I really doubt your suit is a medium armor, what with those bare legs and all.

Constitution: 13, hit points aren’t meat points and you survive in dangerous situations just fine.

Intelligence: 12, you are well-read in world of your heroes

Wisdom: 8,  you let Ms. Marvel convince you you’re an enteirly different species and your life is a lie and you also tried dating Quentin freaking Quire.

Charisma: 15, people like you and even if they don’t believe your claams of being from another world, they’ll likely dismiss them with a heartfelt laughter than trying to book you a psychologist appointment.

Now for Race, I hinted I don’t believe the “Gwen is a mutant” retcon so I’m going with Variant Human. If you think everything must be a mutant now, then go with any Aasimar or Half-Elf. Variant Humans get to be bitter about X-Men, add +1 to two Ability Scores, go with Charisma and Constitution, gain one free language and one free Skill, pick History since you know it because you’re a human from our world, and a feat. Crossbow Expert lets you ignore loading quality of crossbows, let’s you shoot creatures within 5 feet of you without a disadvantage and make an attack with a loaded crossbow as a bonus action after you hit a foe with a one-handed weapon attack. Crossbows are easy to reskin as guns but be warned that this does not turn a crossbow into an automated gun - you still need a hand to reload the crossbow after every shot, which now counts as a part of your attack, but requires a free hand. Which means you cannot wield two crossbows or fire more than one shot in a single round without a free hand. It could be fixed with some Artificer levels but we’re not doing that here, so make sure you’re on good terms with Riri Williams if you want to shoot two guns or use gun and a blade in an accord.

For Background, Far Traveller is someone who came from far, far away and you are literally from real world. You get Insight and Perception proficiency, can pick any free language of choice and one musical instrument or gaming tool and world has All Eyes On You - people notice you’re not from around and take interest in you.

Time to go with Class Levels

1st Level: We’ll kick things off as a Bard, letting gets to be proficient in any 3 skills, let’s go with Persuasion, Deception and Acrobatics. You are also proficient with Dexterity and Charisma saving throws, light armor, shields, simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords and three musical instruments of your choice. 

You also get Bardic Inspiration, giving you a number of d6 dices equal to your Charisma modifier per long rest that you can hand over to someone that they can add to any ability check, attack roll, or saving throw that they make in the next 10 minutes. They can do it after they roll but before DM declares result of the roll. So you can now cheer on your heroes while fighting alongside them.

Bards are also spellcasters. You get to know a number of spells and have a number of spell slots per long rest that you can spend to cast them and if you cast one from higher level spell slot, it will be stronger. You learn more spells as you advance but cannot know a spell of level higher than highest spell slot you can use. You also get Cantrips which you can cast always and scale with your level, getting stronger at 5th, 11th and 17th character level. If a spell requires you to make an attack roll you sum up your Proficiency Bonus and your Charisma modifier to add to the roll. And if you add 8 to those two values you get your Save Difficulty, which a creature has to beat if your spell forces them to make a saving throws.

A Bard starts with two Cantrips and 4 known spells

Vicious Mockery is a staple for Bards, it lets you mock someone so bad, they must make a Wisdom saving throw or take 1d4 psychic damage and have a distadvantage on next attack roll they make before end of its next turn.

Message is a spell functioning as a magic phone, letting you send a short message to someone within the range and then can make a short reply.

Identify lets you see if you recognize an item as something you once read in a comic book - it tells you if the item is magical, magic-imbued, what magical properties it has or what spells are affecting it, how to use it, if it requires attunment and how many charges it has.

Tasha’s Hideous Laughter makes you tell a joke that forces the target to make a Wisdom Saving Throw or fall prone and be incapitated and unable to stand up due to overwhelming laughter. Target gets another save at end of each of its turns or a save with an advantage whenever someone deals damage to it.

2nd Level: We stick to Bard to gain 2nd-Level feature Jack of All Trades, letting you add half of your Proficiency modifier to all skills you are not proficient with. You also gain Song of Rest, letting you play some music when your team is resting and rolling hit dice to regain hitpoints, letting everyone roll an additional 1d6. I don’t think it is a power per se that Gwen has, but could totally see her try to cheer up her friends and heroes.

And speaking of cheering up, you get one new spell - Heroism let’s you instill the bravery in one willing creature, making it immune to being frightened and on each of its turns letting them gain temporary hit points equal your Charisma modifier. Again, Hit Points can represent someone’s luck or will to fight so if you see Batroc having a hard time against Captain America, you can cheer him up to keep fighting. I mean, you would but you like Cap too, so maybe hope Batroc fights Taskmaster or something?

3rd Level: And it’s still a Bard, on 3rd Level gaining admission to something Gwen never got in real life - a college. Bardic College, to be more specific. I was thinking of College of Satire but really, College of Lore fits our needs much better. You gain profficiency with three more skills, I’d go with Athletics, Stealth and Sleight of Hand. Since all bards also gain Expertise, letting you choose two skills for which your Proficiency Bonus is doubled, use it on Athletics and Perception which depend on two lowest Ability Scores you have.

Your spell for the level is Invisibility, which lets you skip through eniemies you don’t feel like fighting, we can refluff this as early “slipping out” to the whitespace, but some creatures can still see you and you are “pulled back” (read: made visible) if you try to interact with something or attack anyone. 

College of Lore also gets Cutting Words, which lets you say something that spooks or confuses a creature. Mechanically it lets you use your Inspiration die the opposite way they are normally used, letting you roll to subtract from attack roll, saving throw or an ability check.

I mean, that’s basically how it works

4th Level: Still sticking with the Bard for an Ability Score Improvement, go for your Charisma, since not only your spells but also Bardic Inspiration relies on it.

You also get a new spell and a new Cantrip

Prestidigitation lets you make a number of smaller effects you can play as you messing around with Whitespace. Knock let’s you unlock one nonmagical lock on door or an object. Maybe play it as you “skipping” the door through Whitespace or cutting out to when the object is already unlocked?

5th Level: Surprise, surprise, it is still Bard. 5th Level mostly improves Bardic Inspriation - now it uses d8s and you regain them on a short rest as well. You also gain the access to 3rd level spell - Nondetection can make you or someone else immune on being spied by magical means for 8 hours. Situational? Yes. But something Gwen can do as a person capable of walking out of the reality where people like Doctor Strange or Professor X cannot find her? Very. You can also use it on objects. 

6th Level: Bar...oh hey, we’re doing Fighter now. 1st Level fighter gains proficiencies with light and medium armor and martial weapons as well as Second Wind, letting you once per short rest as a bonus action regain 1d10+your Fighter level hit points. You also get to choose a Fighting Style - Archery grants Gwen +2 to ranged weapon attacks.

ALTERNATIVES: As you can see, I decided to do Gwen as someone gun-toting, if you’d rather her use a sword then picking Defensive Duelist at first level and Dueling style now. Mind you, you need to have a free hand for spellcasting so unless you take a War Caster feat (which is also an option) you cannot duel-wield either sword and crossbow (which would also require sacrificing your Ability Score Improvement for Crossbow Expert) or two swords and use many of your abilitties. On a side note, Gwen is also profficient now with heavy Crossbow, so you can use that as a shotgun.

7th level: 2nd Level Fighter gets Action Surge, letting you once per Short rest gain an extra Standard Action

8th Level: 3d Level Fighter gains a Martial Achertype. I was thinking which one Gwen would choose. Wade went with a Champion but we don’t want Gwen to be exactly like him even if we’re already mixing two of the same classes Tulok did. I have a better pick. Gwen is suppsoed to represent the modern fandom that jumped into comics during New 10s, right? If that’s the case then, without streotyping here, we should ask ourselves what would likely be her possible gateway to D&D.

Echo Knight has been introduced in Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, the world designed by Matt Mercer for his Critical Role games. You can use your bonus action to Manifest Echo, letting you pull an echo of yourself from another timeline or, in your case, another book you were in. This Gwen has AC 14+ your Proficiency modifier, 1 hit point and immunity to all conditions, uses your saving throws and you command her to moves on your turn. She vanishes if she dies, you’re incapitated, you dismiss her, summon another Gwen or find yourself more than 30 feet away from her. 

As a bonus action you can  sacrifice 15 feet of your movement to swap places with other Gwen, you can choose if your attacks originate from your position or her and you can use your reaction to have her make an opportunitty attack if an opponnent would trigger one. And a number of times equal your Constitution Modifier per Long rest you can make her take an extra attack as a part of your attack action with Unleash Incarnation.

Now, to get third Gwen we would need 18 levels of Echo Knight, but we would lose or all other abilitties about Whitespace then. Instead I suggest you circle through Gwens, as it seems that Echo Knight can summon an Echo as many times as they feel like, just not at once. 

9th Level: 4th Level Fighter gets an Ability Score Improvement, Round up your Charisma

10th Level: 5th Level Fighter gains an Extra Attack, letting you attack twice as a part of the same action. Meaning you can make up to seven attacks with Action Surge, two uses of Unleash Incarnation and Crossbow Expert, provided you’re having a free hand. Unless DM allows it I do not think you can have other Gwen reload your guns, so all problems of Crossbow Expert still apply. Dual Wielding meele or mixed meele and ranged Gwen would get to the same level of attacks.

11th Level: 6th Level Fighter gets another Ability Score Improvement, start focusing on your Dexterity - even a meele Gwen is better off using finesse weapons and it adds to your AC.

12th Level: The Bard returns! 6th level Bard learns Countercharm, letting you use your action to give everyone you consider friendly an advantage on saving throws against being frightened or charmed - I guess it’s Gwen cheering other heroes up more or warning them she read about the baddie they’re facing and he has mind altering powers

You also get one more spell. It is sad we are behind with the spells...or are we? College of Lore Bard can gain Magical Secrets - a Bardic feature we will gain later as well, but this is an additional one and early. It lets you add two spells from any spell list to your spells known, as long as they’re on a level you can cast. Unlike the standard Bard version we will get later, the two spells we get now do not count to our maximum of spells know. Meaning we get three new spells

Tongues will let you read world baloons translated to English for the American readers and apparently let you add translation to  your own dialogues for an hour.

Blink lets you roll at the end of each of your turns and if you get 11 or higher you slip into Whitespace a.k.a. Etheral Plane and reappear in space no more than 10 feet away from where you were at the beginning of your next turn. When you are in whitespace you cannot be attacked or interacted with creatures on material plane. It is not as powerful as in Pathfinder but still - don’t cheat on this, don’t be an asshole and if you are pray you never see a spider.

Fireball is your grenade/rocket launcher. Creatures within range are dealt 8d6 fire damage, half on a succesful Dexterity saving throw.

13th and 14th level: 7th level Bard gains an acess to 4th level spells and 8th Level bard gains an Ability Score Improvement, invest in Dexterity again. I’m doing the two together since each gives you one more spell too add:

Dimension Door lets you teleport anywhere with range of 500 feet, as long as you can see, visualize or know the area. You can bring anything up to your carrying capacity and one creature also carrying no more than its maximum with you. However, if another creature occupies the selected space, you run into it and get knocked back through Whitespace, taking 4d6 force damage.

Greater Invisibility works like Invisibility, but now you can take things with you or attack until it ends naturally. Play it as you slipping in and out of Whitespace.

15th Level: 9th Level Bard gets to improve Song of Rest, now using a 1d8 instead of 1d6. And you gain access to 5th level spells. Legend Lore is a spell seemingly tailor-made for a fangirl - you can gain (or in your case, recall that you’ve read) knowledge about specific person, object or location. It may be vague, the more you already know the better results. This lets you put fun in your fangirl...wait.

16th Level: 10th Level Bard improves Bardic Inspriation dice to d10s, gains Expertise in two more Skills, I’d go with History and Persuasion, and learns one more cantrip and Magical Secrets - this works like before but these spells count to your maximum of spells know.

Blade Wards grants you until end of your next turn resistance agaisnt bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from weapon attacks. Your armor is at best light, this may help if you want to go into meele.

Banishment let’s you force a creature to make a Charisma saving throw or let you send them into Whitespace. They get to come back like Paste Pot Pete did after it ends, but if they’re not from this plane and if you don’t break your concentration for one minute, they’re banished for good.

Banishing Smite is similiar - next time you hit a creature with a weapon attack, and it does not specify it must be a meele attack, you deal it extra 5d10 force damage and if you reduce it to 50 or less hit points, you send them to the Whitespace. There is no save, but there is no chance to keep target permamently out. Either spell still can save lives against tough enemies.

17th Level: 11th Level Bard learns to cast 6th level Spells, but I don’t see any so we will grab one more from 5th level - Scrying let’s you poke through Whitespace to find a person and observe them and their activities. They get a Wisdom saving throw to resist being spied on, I guess trying to reassert that their current narrative place is off-page. The better you know them and better materials connecting to them you have, the harder resisting your prying eyes gets. Just please don’t use it to stalk your friends, okay?

18th Level: 12th Level Bard gets last Ability Score Improvement, round up your Dexterity.

19th Level: 13th Level Bard improves Song of Rest to 1d10 and gains access to 7th level Spells. Etherialness lets you just hop to the Whitespace...I mean, Etherial Plane, for up to 8 hours, effectively saving you from an encounter if you would die othertwise. It let’s you regroup, regain your strength, plan ahead, move away or even bypass whole area, effectively skipping to different pages, and doesn’t require concentration to do it.

20th Level: And we wrap things up with 14th Level of Bard. College of Lore grants you Pearless Skill, letting you now use Bardic Inspiration on your own rolls. You also get two more Magical Secrets

Delayed Blast Fireball is a bomb - you put on a fireball in a place. Any creature that touches it must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw to be able to throw it in a different place. Whenever they suceed or not, it explodes anyway, same if your spell ends or you break concentration. It deals 12d6 fire damage plus an extra 1d6 for each of your turn that ended without it detonating, half on a succesful Dexterity Saving Throw.

Plane Shift lets you and up to 8 creatures move to a different plane of existence, meaning you can now team-up with Squirrel Girl to kick Mephisto’s butt. Teleport could be more useful as it let’s you move within a single plane, but then you don’t get to freak Squirrel Girl out by pointing there is no reason someone isn’t punching the devil in the face at all times.

Overview: So this is how I’d do Gwenpool - College of Lore Bard 14/Echo Knight Fighter 6. Let’s see how valid this build is

Pros: You have a pretty decent amount of hit points, somewhere around 160 on average, while having multiple ways to avoid damage. You are a good utility caster with multiple ways to gather information or scout ahead and you have a pretty good array of skills on top of that, making you a good use for non-combat situations. You also have pretty good mobility options, letting you move as you wish across the battlefield. Finally, whenever you picked meele or ranged options, you can dish out a lot of attacks if needed, or even blast out some foes.

Cons: Your Constitution is mediocre, meaning your Concentration and use of Unleash Incarnation could be better. Second, your spell selection is somewhat situational, some of the options we took may not always be useful, even if they are in character. Third, your Wisdom saving throw is horrible so charming, frightening or just Hold Person will be your bane. Finally, you do not have any ways of dealing magical damage, unless your DM throws a magic rapier and/or crossbow your way and your fireballs deal fire damage, which many creatures are resistant or even immune to.

However overall you are able to fill or support in multiple roles, from scout to party face to damage dealer to information gatherer, which makes you great to have. Remember, however, that this is not one-person show and you work better as a part of a team.

For example

-Admin

[iwritesometimes]

quarantine q&a

the ever-fabulous @lazaefair​ (AND I’VE JUST SEEN @poemsingreenink​ as well!!!<3) tagged me to complete a little cabin-fever antidote quiz, so HERE WE GO!!

Are you staying home from work/school?

staying home, but still working. technically i’m even working a little extra because i have to be on call on sundays, as we have a lot of work related to coronavirus plaguing my department. however, i get to do all this work in my PJs, from the comfort of my couch, with cats adhered to various parts of my body. so it’s, on average, a thousand times better than the way i usually have to work.

If you’re staying home, who’s there with you?

my little sister and her fiancée, and our collective five cats. guys: we live with so many cats in this house. that’s not a new coronavirus development. it’s just how we live. SO many cats.

Are you a homebody?

extremely - to be honest, i rarely go places anyway, and even then mostly with my family. all my friends are online. but even i, legendary hermit in a metaphorical cave (with wifi), am starting to feel vaguely cabin fevery. i’m going to relish a trip to the grocery store this weekend. i might cry on the vet tech when i go pick up louie’s meds.

An event that you were looking forward to that got cancelled?

my dad and i were supposed to go to NYC to see Keane this weekend. i’m so bummed we’re not going to get a chance to go. he and i rarely do things together just us, and i was hoping to take him to Levain, which is like two blocks from the venue, to try their supposedly amazing cookies. also, KEANE, who i wasn’t sure were ever going to release another album or tour again. THANKS, CORONAVIRUS. also, on a much less petty note, one of my best friends was supposed to get married next month, and now that’s been postponed. i’m glad we’re not going to either event, of course, and it’s the right thing to do. but it still sucks.

What movies have you watched recently? What shows are you watching?

so, EXTREMELY ill-advisedly, my sister made me watch Contagion with her last weekend. DON’T DO THIS. as a palate cleanser, however, we later watched Warcraft, and i loved it, and none of you can judge me. if i had seen that shit at like 10 years old i would have lost my goddamn mind. even at 33 it was pretty great to get to see Lothar as a bumbling moron and Khadgar as his magical twink sidekick. the CGI was eye-searing, the storyline was much more followable than i expected, and the shoulderguards were patently huge. it was a big dumb fun movie.

we then had some more big dumb fun bingeing The Letter for the King, right up until the point in the last episode where two of the male sidekick characters - the warrior and the bard, who had been a little flirty throughout if you squinted - OUT AND OUT KISSED, and we screamed and hyperventilated, and then they dropped an anvil of foreshadowing IMMEDIATELY after and we googled to see their fate. yeah, one of them gets killed like a half hour after that. we stopped watching right where we’d paused it. we’re still utterly furious. it was so much fucking cute fun. goddammit.

i also blitzed The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel recently and enjoyed it overall. i have watched ALL of The Repair Shop that is available to me and if you need a show to put on when you just need a fucking break, i could not recommend it more. i started Black Sails and i’ll probably continue it because everyone says it’s amazing. i tried the first episode of The Untamed and oooo boy, did it make absolutely no sense whatsoever to me and i literally could not tell you a single thing that happened in it. i keep hearing it gets better, so i’m gonna try to soldier through. THE GIFSETS ARE JUST SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL. but lordy that was a rough experience. 

What music are you listening to?

mostly the usual “lofi hiphop study” crap i keep on to work to. i listened through most of Carpenter Brut’s discography yesterday and it was GREAT. listening to Keane, of course - their new album is so sad and frustrating, subject-matter-wise, but OOO THE SONGS ARE REALLY GOOD.

What are you reading?

lol, endless coronavirus messaging for work :’( also, all fifteen (15) fics in the hugh/elnor tag on ao3 FUCK i need to WRITE something for them.

also might fuck around and reread Persuasion for the LONGING.

What are you doing for self-care?

been HYPER limiting my time online/on social media. i’m sorry if i’ve been hard to get hold of, i’m not trying to ignore anyone or disappear. i’m just basically working constantly on wordswordswords about this stupid pandemic and then, when i clock out, playing videogames or watching my sisters play videogames (the Ori games and Hollow Knight have been a balm in these times - even if Hollow Knight is about a spreading infection and the collapse of an unjust society WHOOOOOPS) or daydreaming about nonexistent Star Trek romances and not looking at twitter, the news, discord, or even tumblr too much. i just can’t take it.

so anyway! lol. sorry. it’s late and i need to go to bed, i’ve barely been sleeping. it’s been a weird couple of weeks. i love you all and hope sincerely you’re staying safe out there and looking out for each other. take a walk tomorrow, if you can, or drive around for the fresh air. it’s springtime, the world is still beautiful, we just have to stick it out a few more weeks in our depression caves. THE ONLY WAY OUT IS THROUGH, Y’ALL!!!!!

if the following gorgeous people have any interest in divulging their quarantine agendas and haven’t done so already, i would love to hear from them!!

@northstarfan​ @boba-fettuccine​ @omicheese​ @wolfhalls​ @onyxmoonstone​ @look-and-wonder​ @bebeocho​ @shih-shoulda-had-it​

[toxicdogars]

DND!!

Tumblr Meets D&D - Your Muse as a D&D Character

Blue

The last of my builds for this round, we finally get to a Pokemon Adventures character, which means we actually have a heckin’ lot to base this build off of, both from the canon source and from @maskedthief‘s interpretation of her. Blue is the third trainer to rise from Pallet Town, having set out on her journey around Kanto to take part in the league tournament after stealing a Squirtle from Professor Oak’s lab. She’s run into the likes of Red and Green plenty of times, though major moments include stealing Red’s Boulder and Cascade Badges as well as selling him a bunch of fake items. There’s also the raid on Silph Co, where she helped Red and Green knock Team Rocket outa there, even pulling a few fast ones on the mistress of Psychic Types and Rocket Admin, Sabrina. We should also be reminded of her backstory, kidnapped at a young age by a giant bird and raised as one of the Masked Man’s minions. It was there she learned all about Evolution- when something will evolve, how it evolves, how fast it can evolve, etc. These are skills we should be able to translate into some forms of knowledge, which is our first goal. In addition we need to make sure her hands are fast and just as sticky and that she can move fast to wing it outta there. Lastly, let’s try to get some of her Pokemon team represented, with the bulk of them being of the Fairy Type, we should ensure that Blue has plenty of fey influence. Once again, we’ll be using Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition and all books and articles related to it.

Ability Scores

These ventures will use standard array, a set of numbers given as a sort of average stat pool. Feel free to roll for stats if you wanted to use this character, just treat this arrangement as a general order for what stats are most important. We won’t need to bother with multiclassing, so just make sure you use the stat spread as a guideline and you’ll be passing with flying colors. ...Too soon? 

Strength: 8 (Won’t really help us.) Dexterity: 15 (Main attacking stat and useful for thievery) Constitution: 10 (I don’t wanna dump it.) Intelligence: 13 (Need this to be pretty solid.) Wisdom: 12 (Definitely has decent Insight rolls.) Charisma: 14 (Definitely knows how to please people.)

Race

Let’s look at some options here. We could make Blue a Human, since she is one (as far as we’re aware) and get her a free Feat. But I think we can do that juuuuust a little bit better. Know how I mentioned the fey earlier? Let’s actually make Blue a Half-Elf. Half-Elves get the best of Humans and Elves, starting with the typical 30 feet of movement, +2 to their Charisma score (raising it to 16), +1 to two different stats of their choice (bump Dexterity to 16 and Intelligence to 14), and Darkvision out to 60 feet. It doesn’t look very easy to see outta that mask, so she definitely had to see better in low light. Not to mention it’s very handy for a thief. Her Fey Ancestry would also give her advantage on charm saves and she wouldn’t be able to be put to sleep by magic, great for staying away from insomnia and nightmares, eh? She would also get Skill Versatility, gaining two skills of her choice. I’d recommend Arcana for her knowledge of magical metamorphosis and History to cover any research on Evolution already done. As for Languages, she gets Common, Elvish, and a language of her choice. Perhaps Auran, the language of beings close to the Elemental Plane of Air? 

Class and Background

Now, for our thief-y little girl here, I’m thinking that the best way to go is Bard, her About page does mention she’s a good singer, right? Okay that’s a big fat lie and we know it. It’s obvious, she’s a Rogue. Do I even need to explain why? No, she probably stole the reason and flew on outta here. 

Rogues start with a d8 hit die (decent, not the best), proficiency in Dexterity and Intelligence saving throws, simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords, thieves’ tools, and four skills from a pretty big list. Of the options listed, Acrobatics, Deception, Investigation, and Persuasion cover her agility and people skills effectively. We’ll get some more skills to aid her thieving from her background. Toss on some light armor, I’d recommend studded leather. As for what weapons to focus on, I’d suggest any Finesse weapon to pair well with her Dexterity. While there’s no real in-character option, but a rapier is pretty stylish and could evoke a sweet masked thief vibe. It deals a d8 + her Dexterity modifier in damage too, making it the strongest option for her. 

As for her background, let’s focus on her time with the Masked Man and call her an Urchin. But since we’re altering it a bit, feel free to rename it Kidnapped Youth or something like that. Take proficiency in Sleight of Hand and Perception to round off her thief-y skills. As I’ve said before, backgrounds also give you access to tools. Her Ditto could be represented early with proficiency in a Disguise Kit while proficiency in the Forgery Kit could make her just as deceptive in writing as she is with spoken word.

This build’s gonna be pretty easy, Rogue from start to finish. We’ll take a look at what Blue gets at each level and discuss ways to make use of them and cover any choices that need to be made. At Rogue 1, Blue gets one of the best things about being a Rogue, a way to make her anime as fuck with incredible skill checks in the skills she uses most:

Expertise: Choose two of your skill proficiencies, or one of your skill proficiencies and your proficiency with thieves' tools. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of the chosen proficiencies..

I’d suggest Arcana to make her an expert in Evolution and Sleight of Hand to make her hands as fast as possible. For the record, proficiency bonuses start at +2 and reach +6 by level twenty, so that’s a free +12 in those stats by the end of the build. Pretty dang good if you ask me. Rogues also get their other key feature at this level, which helps them deal more damage in their turn:

Sneak Attack: Once per turn, you can deal extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.You don't need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn't incapacitated, and you don't have disadvantage on the attack roll.

And lastly our girl Blue gets Thieves’ Cant, a secret language of ciphers and symbols that can carry secret messages. Pretty handy way to exchange secret communications.

Thieves’ Cant: You know thieves' cant, a secret mix of dialect, jargon, and code that allows you to hide messages in seemingly normal conversation. Only another creature that knows thieves' cant understands such messages. It takes four times longer to convey such a message than it does to speak the same idea plainly. In addition, you understand a set of secret signs and symbols used to convey short, simple messages, such as whether an area is dangerous or the territory of a thieves' guild, whether loot is nearby, or whether the people in an area are easy marks or will provide a safe house for thieves on the run.

At Rogue 2, we can satisfy that speedy goal of mine and get a way for her to soar like a Pidgeot compared to the average adventurer:

Cunning Action: You can use your Bonus Action to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action. Thanks to the Class Feature Variant Unearthed Arcana article, she can additionally use this bonus action to Aim. When using your bonus action in this way, you give yourself advantage on your next attack roll on the current turn. You can use this bonus action only if you haven’t moved during this turn, and after you use the bonus action, your speed is 0 until the end of the current turn

At Rogue 3, Blue can pick a roguish archetype. Arcane Tricksters gain the ability to cast wizard spells, relying on their Intelligence modifier to enchant and illuse. This means her Intelligence modifier is added to the attack rolls of spells and the difficulty check of saving throws her spells require. She gains two cantrips from the wizard list alongside Mage Hand, and three first spells, two of which must be enchantment or illusion schools with the third being free of that restriction. In case someone doesn’t know the difference, cantrips are simple magical tricks you can pull off at will, while leveled spells require expending one of your spell slots of a level equal to or higher than the spell’s level. Here’s some options:

Mage Hand: A conjuration cantrip that manifests a spectral hand that can be used to do a ton of really small things like lifting small objects, pulling levers from a distance, that sort of thing. It’s like a tiny ghost thing, which would be perfect if Blue ever picked up, say, a Shuppet or something. Especially with the benefits that Arcane Trickster gives her, as you’ll see down below. Dancing Lights: An evocation cantrip that creates lines of multicolored orbs of light, like fairy lights. It does require concentration to maintain them, but it’s still a nice little spell for its effects. Message: An transmutation cantrip that that allows the user to send a telepathic message to someone they point at, and that individual can respond telepathically. It’s like a walkie talkie, or a cell phone. A shitty cell phone. With a range of only a hundred and twenty feet. Disguise Self: A first level illusion spell that will let Blue take on different appearances. This is essentially her Ditto, able to shift her into the likeness of Sabrina, for instance.  Charm Person: A first level enchantment spell forces a Wisdom saving throw on the target, and if they fail they become charmed by her and basically become her bestest friend while they’re affected. A great way to get what she wants if her own natural charisma isn’t enough.  Find Familiar: A first level conjuration spell that has a buncha random rules, that you’re gonna wanna look up, but it basically amounts to the ability to summon a pet that will stick around and help her out. I’d recommend a pooch of some sort, and since this spell can allow the beast summoned to be considered a different creature type, it could be a fey dog. You know. Like Snubbull. 

Also at this level, Blue gains some swanky upgrades to her Mage Hand spell, letting her use it for more rogue-y things. Additionally, her Sneak Attack dice go up to 2d6:

Mage Hand Legerdemain: When you cast Mage Hand, you can make the spectral hand invisible, and you can perform the following additional tasks with it: -You can stow one object the hand is holding in a container worn or carried by another creature. -You can retrieve an object in a container worn or carried by another creature. -You can use thieves' tools to pick locks and disarm traps at range. -You can perform one of these tasks without being noticed by a creature if you succeed on a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check contested by the creatures Wisdom (Perception) check. -In addition, you can use the bonus action granted by your Cunning Action to control the hand.

At Rouge 4, Blue gets the first of her Ability Score Improvements (ASIs). Let’s take the +2 and put it in Dexterity, bumping that up to 18 for better hit and damage rolls with her rapier and better armor. She also gets another spell, which can be from the enchantment or illusion schools:

Color Spray: A first level illusion spell that releases brilliant light in a cone that blinds a certain amount of hit points’ worth of individuals for one round. It’s not the best way to stall a foe, but it’s certainly in character. It’s a solid use of Flash, which would have been an HM back in the day that I suspect one of her team would have had. 

At Rouge 5, Blue gets another incredibly helpful core feature that makes it a lot easier for Rogues to survive in the midst of combat. And it certainly fits her character, as the Pokemon Adventures trainers aren’t hesitant to get right up there with their foes in battles. In addition, her Sneak Attack dice go up to 3d6:

Uncanny Dodge: When an attacker that you can see hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to halve the attack's damage against you.

At Rogue 6, Blue gains Expertise in two more skills (or her thieves’ tools) of her choice. Let’s make her social skills even more busted and take expertise in Deception and Persuasion. 

At Rogue 7, Blue gets a spell, which can now be of second level, and another key feature which makes her even harder to hit than she was before, even by some of the strongest spells in the game. In addition, her Sneak Attack dice go up to 4d6:

Mirror Image: A second level illusion spell that functions like Double Team, creating illusory clones that can draw fire, making it harder to hit the real Blue. A handy little technique that I could see Blue making a lot of use of.  Evasion: When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

At Rogue 8, Blue gets her second ASI and let’s use that to max her Dexterity score at 20 for the best hit, damage, and armor modifiers for her level. She also gets a spell from any school:

Thunderwave: A first level evocation spell that blasts a fifteen foot radius around her with damaging sound, a bit like Hyper Voice, which I have no doubt her Jiggly knows. It’s handy to have magical damage, and with such a focus on utility spells this might be the best option for damage if her rapier won’t cut it.

At Rogue 9, Blue gets another Arcane Trickster feature that makes her oh-so deliciously more capable of messing with her enemies. In addition, her Sneak Attack dice go up to 5d6:

Magical Ambush: If you are hidden from a creature when you cast a spell on it, the creature has disadvantage on any saving throw it makes against the spell this turn.

At Rogue 10, Blue gets her third ASI and lets use that to bump her Intelligence by +2 (raising it to 16) for better saves and and hit rolls. She also gets her fourth cantrip and another spell, which again must be from the enchantment or illusion schools:

Ray of Frost: An evocation cantrip that looses a blast of cold energy like some sort of beam or ray of ice. The book says it’s fired from the caster, but I see no trouble flavoring it as tossing out a pokeball to summon a mighty Blastoise to douse a foe with cold water. Some nice damage at range, since cantrips scale up with level, gaining additional damage dice.   Hold Person: A second level enchantment spell that forces a Wisdom saving throw on a foe, restraining them in place if they fail. This is your Whirlpool on Blasty or some sorta weird fairy magic from Jiggly or Clefy. Combine it with Magical Ambush to make it really hard for the enemy to pass the save.

At Rogue 11, Blue gains another spell from the enchantment or illusion schools and another touchstone feature for improving her skills, and let’s just say it’s going to make her a complete monster with the skills she has expertise in. In addition, her Sneak Attack dice go up to 6d6:

Sleep: A first level enchantment spell that uses Sing to put a certain number of hit points’ worth of foes in the area to sleep. This is a little more effective than Color Spray and hits over a wider area, but there are times when blinding a foe may be more useful than simply knocking them out. Regardless, a useful spell to have in her kit.  Reliable Talent: Whenever you make an ability check that lets you add your proficiency bonus, you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10.  

Seriously, consider this for a second. A Sleight of Hand check from her at this level has a bonus of +13 (5 from Dexterity, 8 from doubled proficiency). That means the lowest she can roll on a Sleight of hand check is 23. Lowest. That’s crazy. And super amazing for stealing her friends’ wallets before casually handing them back to them.

At Rogue 12, Blue gets her fourth ASI and lets use that to bump her Charisma by +2 (raising it to 16) to make her all the more sociable and manipulative.

At Rogue 13, she gets another spell, which can now be of third level. Blue apparently decided that it wasn’t good enough to be stabbing people and casting spells at the same time and decided to make it so she can really fuck up a single person that was getting on her nerves. In addition, her Sneak Attack dice go up to 7d6:

Fear: A third level illusion spell that forces foes to make a Wisdom saving throw or be frightened by some terrifying visage. Why not show her enemies a massive shadowy bird of doom? Oh, they aren’t afraid of birds? Ouch. I suppose ya could spook ‘em with something else though.  Versatile Trickster: As a bonus action on your turn, you can designate a creature within 5 feet of your Mage Hand. Doing so gives you advantage on attack rolls against that creature until the end of the turn.

At Rogue 14, Blue gains another spell from any school and a feature that may not be perfectly in character, but it does extrapolate on how low to the ground her ears can be. And I see nothing wrong with giving characters features that build on their canon:

Tidal Wave: A third level conjuration spell that releases a massive wave of crushing water, dealing bludgeoning damage over a wide area should the targets fail a Dexterity saving throw. This is the best approximation of Blasty’s Hydro Cannon I could find. Blindsense: If you are able to hear, you are aware of the location of any hidden or invisible creature within 10 feet of you.  

At Rogue 15, Blue gets a really handy way to mitigate that lower Wisdom score, something I’d wanted to deal with since the beginning. In addition, her Sneak Attack dice go up to 8d6:

Slippery Mind: You gain proficiency in Wisdom saving throws.

At Rogue 16, Blue gets her fifth ASI and honestly her stats look pretty fine, so let’s exchange that ASI for a Feat, and I’d recommend a way to give her more skill proficiencies- as in the Skilled Feat. She also gets another spell from either of her restricted schools:

Skilled:  You gain proficiency in any combination of 3 skills or tools of your choice. Round off her survival skills by taking Survival, Nature, and Animal Handling.  Invisibility: A second level illusion spell that does what it says on the tin, turning Blue invisible for the duration, as long as she maintains her concentration. Really dang handy, and something I suspect could be possible with Ditty, reflecting the light around them to turn invisible or something.

At Rogue 17, Blue gets another Arcane Trickster feature that makes her the bane of enemy casters. Considering her smarts and her knowledge of Pokemon, it does make sense that she’d be able to put her magical know-how to fuck up other people’s days. In addition, her Sneak Attack dice go up to 9d6:

Spell Thief: Immediately after a creature casts a spell that targets you or includes you in its area of effect, you can use your reaction to force the creature to make a saving throw with its spellcasting ability modifier. The DC equals your spell save DC. On a failed save, you negate the spell's effect against you, and you steal the knowledge of the spell if it is at least 1st-level and of a level you can cast (it doesn't need to be a wizard spell). For the next 8 hours, you know the spell, can cast it using your spell slots, and the creature can't cast that spell until the 8 hours have passed. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

At Rogue 18, Blue gets yet another feature that makes her really damn hard to hit. Kinda terrifying if ya ask me, she’s lookin’ more like a DBZ character with how many options she has to dodge:

Elusive: No attack roll has advantage against you while you aren't incapacitated.

At Rogue 19 Blue gets her sixth ASI and lets also trade that one in for a Feat. I’d recommend Alert, so she’s always making use of her skills to keep an eye on things. She also gets another spell from one of her restricted schools, which can now be of fourth level. In addition, her Sneak Attack dice go up to 10d6:

Alert: Always on the lookout for danger, you gain the following benefits: -You can't be surprised while you are conscious. -You gain a +5 bonus to initiative. -Other creatures don't gain advantage on attack rolls against you as a result of being unseen by you. Charm Monster: A fourth level enchantment spell that does what Charm Person does to people but to monsters. it forces a Wisdom saving throw, and if the monster fails they become Blue’s best friendy-wend. Very handy to stop marauding monstrous beastly Pokemon if ya ask me.  

At Rogue 20, Blue gets her another spell from any school, and her capstone feature, and a pretty solid one at that:

Mordenkainen’s Faithful Hound: A fourth level conjuration spell that yes, may seem a bit odd of a pick, but it’s actually kinda nifty. It summons an invisible dog that guards you for eight hours, chompin’ on anything that gets in Blue’s way for 4d8 piercing damage. Now I said that her Familiar could be Snubbull, and I stand by that, so I suggest you use this spell to emulate her Nido instead. The loyal Nidoqueen already behaves like a guard dog, so it seemed pretty dang fitting to me.  Stroke of Luck: If your attack misses a target within range, you can turn the miss into a hit. Alternatively, if you fail an ability check, you can treat the d20 roll as a 20. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest. 

See what I mean? A once per short rest instant win button. Call it her Dex Holder plot armor if ya want. 

Final Thoughts

Know how I said Clair was terrifying? Blue is just as much, if not moreso. I’ve already talked about just how busted Expertise is and how good it is on someone like Blue, but let’s look at just how many of her skill checks are going to be amazing. There are eighteen skills in the game, and Blue has proficiency in eleven of them. Hell, she practically has proficiency in the hidden nineteenth skill, Initiative! Alert gives her a bonus that’s only one off of her proficiency, so yeah. Not to mention that four of the skills she’s proficiency in will never roll lower than a 20 on the die, seeing as her +12 proficiency bonus stacks on top of Reliable Talent’s ability to turn anything under 10 to 10. That’s just. Really damn good. The few skills she’s not proficient in are just ones she probably wouldn’t need to take anyway. With only seven skills left, her allies could easily handle them. I mean. Yellow definitely has the Medicine and Religion skills covered, both Green and Red have Athletics no doubt. What’s left? Performance? She’s not good at singing. Stealth? Why be sneaky when you can waltz right in and take what you want? Intimidation? That’s more Green’s thing. Insight? That’s more Yellow’s thing. And ah. That’s all the skills left. Yeah. Blue’s a freakin’ skill monkey. And she’s got great damage with her Sneak Attack and plenty of ways to get advantage so she can always get the big damage off. Not to mention her spells make her a threat even at range, mixing in magical damage to boot.

There’s not many cons. I mean… spell slots are a limited resource, sure, but that’s why you gotta be picky about you use them. We also never boosted her Constitution, leaving her with pretty low hit points throughout the build, even with maximum rolls on the hit dice. But that’s why I always say you roll for stats- You’re more than likely going to get a roll you like better to at least get a small bonus. My advice? If you can get a Constitution score of 14 as a Rogue or some sort of caster, then you are perfectly fine as is. And if ya don’t have the Con, Blue still has a ton of ways to avoid damage with all those features from Rogue. Seriously, twenty levels of Rogue makes for a stupidly infuriating game of cat and mouse, and I’m sure Blue would love that.

I hope you enjoyed this. Feel free to tell me how wrong I am with my choices.

[memoriarty]

Behold! The DnD Ask Meme Fairy! I pray thee go through and answer all 20 for your characters, but counting off style (one character answers 1, 4, 7, etc; another is 2, 5, 8, etc). Then sort your babies by Hogwarts houses 💕

(And after almost a year I answer this beautiful ask <3)  1) What would they consider to be their biggest failure? (Aslan) Aslan is that kind of person who refuses to deal with his own problems by minimizing and ignoring them up until it’s too late to hide them under the proverbial rug. In the past he was scammed by his former lover, but out of shame, pride and a misplaced sentiment of romantic commitment he didn’t reveal their identity to almost anyone. Now that this man is back in his life, teasing him, relying on his feelings again and putting Aslan and his companions and family in danger, Aslan blames himself for not having done everything in his power to stop him back then.  Close second: that one time he killed one of his fellow companions with a Thunderwave. OPS. 2) What’s the story behind their name? (Nemo/Cedric) This is an easy one! When I first played him, I had just finished playing Ace Attorney Dual Destinies and wanted to give a nod to one of my favorite characters out of the whole franchise: The Phantom. Since he is described as “a no one”, I choose the latin word “Nemo” (that literally means no one xD) and that’s it. The similarities between the two end there, I prefer a more Fulbright-ish personality. No worries, he is a good paladin <3. For the second name the story is simple: I didn't choose it. Or better said, I choose it in a list of random generated names that my master came up with… since neither of us was ready to see the character die in that particular fight. Fortunately the party was able to grant him another chance at life the next session.  3) What’s their relationship with their family? (Mekare) Pretty complicated, I must say. She was born into an extramarital union together with her twin sister Dalista, but since both of them were Tieflings their father cut all connection with their mother and them, and made it pretty clear they weren’t welcome. Since then they traveled the world, in search of a place to call their own. Unfortunately in the process they caught unwanted attention that ended with the death of the mother and the separation of the two sisters. Finding her lost sister is Mekare’s biggest obsession. 4) What’s one song that describes them or is them? (Aslan) Oh well, I could quote all P!ATD discography since almost all their songs remind me of my favorite bard in some way or another. BUT, I’ll go with “Into the Unknown'' (Frozen 2) since it depicts his internal and emotional turmoil quite well. His character arc revolves around coming to terms with his past trauma, opening himself to new, healthy long-term relationships (with partners, friends and family alike) and realizing what he really wants for his life. And this song could very much be read under this interpretation, I think. 5) Who is their best friend? (Nemo) Ok, this is something I wasn’t able to fully explore during my playtime with him. Having joined the party in the mid/late half of the campaign I didn’t have much time to build such strong relationship bonds with the pgs of my fellow party members. They were friends, but not the best of friends. Probably this changed afterwards, but we didn’t played it /YET/ So for now, I’ll say that his best friends are Smara and Amaimon. They’re his two extraplanar pets: a Nightmare (Smara) well smarter than he is, truth to be told, and a Displacer Beast (Amaimon). 6) Why are they their class? (Mekare) After all of that - her mother long gone and her sister lost - Mekare wandered for days and days without caring for her needs, yet still relentless she continued her travelling into the deep of the forest. She was then approached by an elderly couple of druids. Mekare much like a feral animal tried to flee but not hard enough. The two druids were able to rescue her to the safety of their “circle”. Since then she stayed with “The circle of the moon” learning their craft and growing as a wise Tiefling until she felt ready to start her research for her lost sister.  7) What do they think of their party members? (Aslan) He likes them, yet they still haven’t gained his full trust. Not because they are untrustworthy but ‘cos Aslan himself has a long way to go before being able to fully dwell in a friendly relationship just for the sake of it. They survived a lot together ( the dethronement of a faux king, the impending chaos breaking havoc in the material plane are just some examples) and have a lot to come ahead. The only real thing he doesn’t like about his group is their complete inability to be stealthy at any given time.  8) In what ways are they similar to you? (Nemo) We are both Lawful Good af, and that is one. On a more serious note, we are both naive up to a fault even, seeing in everyone a possibility for change and betterment.  9) In what ways are they different from you? (Mekare) For one she had a sister and I am an only child. She’s angrier, lonelier and more focused than I could ever be. She’s the incarnation of the energy of a burning fire mixed with the patience of running water, a force to be reckoned with.  10) What do they look for in a romantic partner, if they have a romantic orientation? (Aslan) Aslan hadn’t thought about a /romantic/ partner in a looong time. He had his fair share of sexual encounters with both women and men, of various humanoids races, along the way. but he didn’t think of them as much more than a one-night-stand. Anyway, what Aslan is searching for in a romantic partner is their kindness, a caring nature and an unwavering honesty; he wants to feel safe and loved in their arms; at his side he desires a person who believes in him. And he wants to be that person for their partner.  11) If they had a patronus or animagus form, what would it be? (Nemo) A little premise: I’m not a big fan of HP so I will be brief here. I think if Nemo had to take an animal form it’ll be a Deer or an Elk. They strike me as strong yet pacific animals, able to fight when it matters and yet being perceived as peaceful.  12) What do they smell like? (Mekare) Being a Tiefling, her scent is for the most part characterized by the odor of sulfur, with a hint of burnt sandalwood and wild flowers. 13) What is their secret skill? (Aslan) Aslan isn’t the kind of person that likes to keep their skills a secret, he loves the attention, the praise that comes with being good at something. He loves being known and watched. But there are still skills and abilities he doesn't particularly spam publicly, for one all the skills connected with enchantments and “forced persuasion”. Thanks to his affiliation to the “bardic college of glamour” and his fairy patron he is a pretty good charmer.  14) What is their relationship to spirituality? (Nemo) Nemo is a very spiritual person, as a Paladin his faith in the goddess of death is unwavering and serving her to the very end is the greatest honour he could possibly foresee for himself. But he isn’t a preacher, he could go for days without speaking of his belief to anyone but himself and his horse. He isn’t affiliated to a church or any kind of organized religion.   15) If they were to be remembered for something, what would they want to be remembered for? (Mekare) She doesn’t care much about being remembered by anyone that isn’t her twin sister. She doesn’t aspire to be a hero or a saviour, she wants her only family back whether the price may be… if she does something to be remembered for along the way is just tangential.  16) Why did they become an adventurer? (Aslan) After losing part of his family fortune and being sent away by his dad, Aslan wasn’t in a good place. He was making a living as a bard moving from town to town, from tavern to tavern, living by the day as best as he could but a lifestyle such as this would’ve been harmful in the long run. Enter an old, grumpy dwarf, a cute yet deadly assassin and a handsome, alluring tiefling and you got the recipe for adventure!While the reason he started travelling was to get some inspiration for his writings and stories, after a while it became clear even to himself that he stuck with the group cos he cared deeply for them, even if he couldn’t help but be weary. Nowadays he’s a bit unsure if he wants to stick around after having taken care of his ex tho. 17) What’s one thing about their backstory that came to you after you already started playing the campaign? (Nemo) Oh well, all his past adventures on the material plane are something I hadn’t thought through beforehand. At the same time I wasn’t fully able to explore them in game, so they're still pretty much in the vague. But I’m pretty sure that I’ll be using some of the characters from his background in a project of mine: Gymnadenia, is a very athletic and enthusiastic Dryad he helped saving a forest, while Panthera Lea is a cute, little Chimera he and Gymnadenia rescued from an evil circus.  18) Do you have any headcanons for them that haven’t come up in game? Or headcanons for other party members? (Mekare) Almost all of her background has yet to come up in game, since I played her in a series of very plot driven sessions. But I hope to play her in full force in the near future.  19) Any ships with your character? If a PC or NPC, what interaction launched it? (Aslan) With Jarrett, a tiefling that he encountered at the very start of the campaign. He’s a NPC. Aslan himself has yet to wrap his head about his feelings for him but I hope he does it in the near future, cos things aren’t looking good for him in the “sentimental department” as of late. With Bozkurt, his ex-lover. A very badwrong and unhealthy ship, but I’m too weak to say no to my daily dose of angst.  With Kelner, another NPC. He is a half elf bard we rescued from a group of inquisitors, he wasn’t very big on money so he and Aslan set for another kind of payment ;) but I can see Aslan give him another chance. 20) What would your character consider their biggest success? Or what is your favorite success your character has had so far? (Nemo) Nemo isn’t one to boast in his own personal success. He puts himself and his achievement behind those of his own companions and he probably would be much more proud to be of help to someone rather than to be the sole “successful” person in the room. Nevertheless he finds a sense of personal satisfaction in being, once again,  the “Champion” of the goddess of death thanks to his rightful actions and attitude.  BONUS: B) Group them by Harry Potter houses

Mekare Slytherin - Aslan Ravenclaw - Nemo Hufflepuff

[fearlesshades]

D&D Stories

@charlesoberonn asked for fun stories from Dungeons and Dragons so here are some of the best from the group I'm in right now. (There's eight of us and we are currently in 3 different campaigns so there's a lot of shenanigans.)

(Under read more because wow so much shenanigans it got way longer than I thought it would)

First Campaign:

This party consists of: a pyrophobic elven druid, a dragonborn sorcerer (pyromancer), a dwarven fighter, a half-elf warlock, a half-orc paladin, a changeling bard, a human ranger (me) and her Tibetan Mastiff, Pup.

We met our dwarf after he had pissed off an evil wizard and was teleported away, where he dropped on top of a table in the beginning tavern.

We met our warlock when he was completely naked

He had clothes. They were in his bag. He didn’t remember why he was naked.

Upon being confronted by a cultist asking after the gem we had just found in a mine, our sorcerer responds with, “What’s a gem?”

The time we were all being slaughtered by dragon wormlings (no spell slots between the 7 party members, four AOEs at our faces) and the dragons kidnapped our paladin to carry him to the top of the tower and our bard got to second base with a god

So we had already been in this tower and we had looked through the trapdoor in the ceiling. After seeing the BBG’s crest in the sky a la Dark Mark with bats pouring out of its mouth we closed the trapdoor and continued on our way. Turns out this tower roof was where we were supposed to meet BBG for the first time and have our first big battle with him.

We were trying to get out of the castle so we could rest in the forest without fear of being attacked en masse by the castle. As we’re walking through the front door the four creepy dragon statues turned into four creepy baby dragons that immediately dropped a couple of us.

We were struggling. Dying. It was not good. Until...

UNTIL

Our bard looked down and saw ‘Blessing of Milil’ written on his sheet.

Like three months ago real word time he had left like 10 gold at Milil’s alter and our DM had told him to write that, which we all promptly forgot about

But, in our dire straights, we decided it was time to try whatever that was.

Bard starts playing and calling to Milil. And light comes down from the heavens with tinkling music, surrounding our almost dead paladin and invigorating him. It filled his HP, his Lay On Hands, and his spell slots to the brim.

He starts slashing, healing, etc, managing to get everyone else out of the entryway. He then turns to get himself out of the entryway when he got hit from behind and dropped.

Dragon wormling takes him and starts flying for the top of the tower with the BBG fight we had accidentally skipped

Our sorcerer (no spell slots and 2 HP) and I (also no spell slots and 3 HP) sprint to the top of the tower where we are immediately Charmed by BBG.

We are expecting Death

Meanwhile, on the ground, our bard is still playing in the hopes of wresting one more favor from Milil

Milil shows up in person in front of him

Milil dusts him off (restores all his spell slots and inspirations and HP), then slaps him on the ass, sending him flying up to the top of the tower, screaming an empowered Counter-Charm the whole way.

The time our sorcerer set a tree on fire right next to our (pyrophobic remember) druid.

The time our sorcerer tried to make up for setting a tree on fire next to our druid’s head by getting him a magic flower pot

The pot is enchanted to resist cold so the flower doesn’t die and has a Ring of Spell Storing wrapped around it

He spent an entire day (in game) and thirty minutes (real world) doing this

The time we (level 7) fought an ancient red dragon with our DM’s old party

Three of them came up to play with us

One was an insane cleric named Pancake Flea (yes really)

One was a level 15 Druid (we didn’t know he was level 15 until we came up to the dragon though)

The third we thought was a bronze colored dragonborn paladin

He was not

He was an ancient bronze dragon

When we came up to fight the ancient red he dropped the polymorph or whatever the fuck he was using and transformed into a giant fucking dragon who then went toe to toe with the other one, sassing the whole way

The time I pissed off the DM by making him come up with what all the hundreds of alchemical bottles in a witch’s brewing room were and he blinded my dog in retaliation

The time our bard cast sleep on skeletons. And then did it again.

The time our paladin (of Bahamat. Oath of Devotion) ran away from skeletons, leaving our much less tanky sorcerer alone in their path

The time we made our DM hate us by using Leomund’s Tiny Hut to take a long rest in a dungeon, and then fought all of the things that had gathered around outside the hut through the walls of it

The time we beat the BBG I’ve talked about before by shoving him in an invisible box and ignoring him until he was tired

Staff of Power is ridiculous, and has Wall of Force

Second Campaign:

This party consists of: a human dragonknight and his friend platinum dragon, a human Eldritch Knight, a dwarven sorcerer, a half-elf monk, a human barbarian, a halfling bard, and a halfling rogue (me).

The time the rest of the group forgot to get me thief’s tools and then asked me to pick locks cause the key was broken

Turns out our sorcerer has mend. And didn’t use it on the broken key.

The time(s) our barbarian (INT 7) crit:

(Little bit of background, the barbarian, for roleplay reasons, can only attack while raging and can only rage when someone else in the party has been hurt)

Created a hang-glider out of bug parts, thereby allowing us all to get over a chasm and escape

Cast shriek because he couldn’t attack yet and the bard had just cast shriek

(He screamed and crit on the attack role, he did like 3 damage or something)

Did the best goddamn pose after the two halflings flipped onto his shoulders to diffuse tension

The time our sorcerer hit me with lightning so I hit him with fruit.

I wanted to hit him with fruit until I did equal damage he had done to me with the lightning (it worked out to 15 fruits that would have needed to hit him) but the rest of the party didn’t let me

Everyone in the party asking the dragonknight for permission to do everything, from getting out of line, to retrieving a dagger (ok it was actually just me but that’s only cause he had yelled at the sorcerer for not following orders) (also this character of mine is 16 (14 in halfling years))

Third Campaign:

This party is made up of: a human ranger, a human rogue, a tiefling multiclass, a human barbarian, a gnome mad scientist, a human monk, and a goliath fighter (me).

The time I got into a shouting match with a statue about the city outside that had been completely wiped off the face of the planet about 30,000 years ago

He didn’t know the city was gone

The city was fUCKING GONE

The time three of us couldn’t shake one bad guy’s concentration cause we were rolling too low on damage

The time our rogue got the entire town guard on his side and threw the ranger in jail

He said the ranger had stolen his dagger, which he actually just happened to have a match to, but the point was he was rolling really well on deception, the guards were rolling really low on insight, and the ranger was rolling really low on persuasion, so ranger went in jail

We went to get the ranger out of jail and the rogue said he would drop the charges if he got his dagger back. When the ranger got out of the jail, he started yelling at the rogue. The rogue had been doing so well on his roles the entire guard was basically in love with him and smacked the ranger, yelling about how “this nice, honorable young man just got you out of jail! How dare you speak to him like that, he’s so nice!”

The time our ranger filled a Bag of Holding with water and got all his stuff wet

The time my goliath (who doesn’t like alcohol btw) got into a drinking contest with the Viking barbarian and passed out, before waking back up and the two of us went drunkenly singing through and out of the town we were supposed to buy all our supplies in and our DM had spent hours on all the different shops and the various people running them

Just goes to show: don’t put effort into anything as a DM cause your players will fuck it up

The second time my goliath got into a drinking contest with the barbarian, won this time, before waking up with the worst hangover ever and deciding to stick to what she actually wants out of life and had milk with her breakfast

Don’t change for anyone, kids

[surveyjunkie]

i wish the tide would take me over

The 5000 question survey part 7

601. Do you have a lust for life?

Not at the moment, no. 602. Do you want to get more out of life?

Of course. I just don’t have the means at the moment.  603. Would you want to learn to: Convert to Buddhism?

I’ve considered it. 

Cure a hangover?

It’s not really that hard to cure or prevent a hangover. Just take a multivitamin with a glass of water. Or drink pickle juice. 

Lie persuasively?

I already know how to do that. << 604. What character from a movie is most like you?

Kristen Wiig’s character from Bridesmaids.  605. Are you comfortable with the idea of your own death?

No, is anyone? 606. How do you feel about arranged marriages?

They’re fucked up. 607. What do you hate that everyone else seems to like?

Diet Coke or IPAs  608. What do you like that others seem to hate?

Sour beer 609. If you had to be named after a month, which month would you pick?

April 610. Is time more like a highway or a meadow to you?

Highway

611. What is your favorite movie?

Silver linings playbook.  612. Which would you choose to be back in the day: a warrior, an alchemist, a minstrel, a bard, an oracle, a peasant, or a merchant?

I’d chose to be an oracle, I think. <<  613. What is your favorite song lyric?

I don’t have just one, that’s too hard. 614. What will you never run out of?

"I forgive you”s 615. If you could force someone to fall madly in love with you, (anyone you choose) would you do it?

I already have who I want.  616. Have you ever seen the Disney movie The Black Cauldron?

Long long ago.  617. Have you ever read The Black Cauldron by Alexander Lloyd (or any of his other books in the Prydain Chronicles)?

Long long ago. 

618. Have you ever written a paper the night before it was due? Yup…

How about the day it was due?

Yes.  619. Is there a movie you have watched so many times that you can quote it line for line?

Maybe Mean Girls, or Coming to America.  620. What is your favorite season?

Late spring/early summer 621. Do you mind being described as cute?

No. 622. What is the tackiest object in your home?

I’m not sure.  623. What do you think people are most ignorant towards?

Mental health 624. What is it that makes you an interesting person?

Other than my background, I don’t really think anything about me is interesting.  625. What makes other people interesting to you?

I feel like that’s a loaded question. I’m usually always the most interested in people who don’t talk very much because they come off as mysterious, but I also think a person’s personal experiences or views on life make them interesting too. 

626. How open to suggestion are you?

Fairly open

627. Is Michael Jackson black or white?

Black.  628. Are you often lonely?

Just when I’m at work. These surveys are a personal escape from the bleakness that surrounds me when I’m here.  629. What’s the most unusual pet you’ve ever had?

Bearded dragon, but they’re not considered unusual anymore.  630. Have you ever threatened an authority figure?

I don’t think so 631. If you had to choose would you rather make all your decisions henceforth with your head only or with your heart only?

Head only 632. How imaginative are you?

Fairly 633. Do you like the Counting Crows?

They’re okay 634. If you took this survey from the diary (5000 Q Survey V2.0) did you note me so I could read it?

I did not. 635. Are you more tense or laid back?

A weird combination of both 636. Does your happiness depend on anyone else, or are you happy no matter what any one says or does?

Somewhere in between? I think it definitely depends on my loved ones but I also know I need to create my own 637. What do you think of the idea of putting the bible into the format of a fashion magazine to attract the interest of teenagers?

LOL. 

638. How often do you drink to get drunk? Once or twice a week

639. Would you consider yourself to be diplomatic?

Too diplomatic sometimes. 

640. Do you think that most of the classes you have taken were taught in such a way as to make plain the relevance of the subject matter in your everyday life?

I majored in psychology, so yes. 

641. Do you remember Crystal Pepsi?

No, I’m too young. I’ve heard of it though. 

642. When was the last time you spent a night away from home?

Whenever I was last at Josh’s. 

643. Some people say that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Is that true?

It’s somewhat true. If you ask a question it means you are seeking knowledge rather than claiming you know something.  644. What is the most interesting TV channel?

I haven’t had cable in a couple of years now, but I thought TLC always had some pretty interesting/wacky shows. 

645. Name one song you could live without hearing ever again:

Probably every single twenty one pilots song. (sorry)

646. Do your pets understand you when you talk?

Kind of, yeah. I think they know when I’m talking about them.  647. What are three things you HAVE NOT done that might surprise people?

I’ve never surfed, been to overnight camp, or gotten my tonsils removed 648. Have you ever had a secret admirer?

Kind of...more like a stalker I suppose.  649. Have you been to a museum this year?

No

650. Do you ever watch porn?

I used to on occasion.  651. Do you think that it would be a good idea if people served in the army, navy or air force for a while before they were allowed to vote?

No. 652. If you were required to do this to vote, would you?

I wouldn’t be allowed in the army for various health reasons, so it doesn’t matter. That’s part of why I don’t think it would be a fair requirement.  653. Do people often give you weird looks?

No 654. Do like Japanese cooking?

Yes.  655. Do you care for stray animals?

Whenever I can, I try to. I’ll put out food for stray cats if they’re wandering around the neighborhood.  656. Which animated movies have you seen and what did you think of them: A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Garfield Halloween, The Secret of Nimh, The Last Unicorn, The original Lord of the Rings cartoons

I’ve only seen A Charlie Brown Christmas, and I thought it was okay. I’m not big into Peanuts. 

657. Are you ambidextrous (equally good at using both hands)?

Nope, I’m right handed. 658. Do you always say; “bless you” after someone sneezes, or do you hesitate?

Not always, but most of the time.  659. If you and your friends could go away for 2 days over Halloween weekend where would you go?

America, probably. I feel like Halloween in the US is intense. I’d love to go to one of those really fancy haunted houses. Don’t Universal have one each year? << Yes, we are super into Halloween here, it’s one of the few things about the states that I love! You can find crazy haunted houses just about anywhere.  660. Which of these animated movies have you seen and what did you think of them: Watership Down, As the Wind Blows, Grave of the Fireflies, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Spirited Away

How The Grinch Stole Christmas was missing something to it, but it was entertaining. And Spirited Away was fucking amazing.  661. Do you feel that society is male dominated, female dominated, or neutral?

Male dominated.  662. What words offend you?

Words don’t really offend me, actions do.

663. They’re just words. Can you get over it?

I said they didn’t bother me :)  664. Have you ever looked into different religions?

Buddhism and Judaism  665. Which ones have you looked into?

^ 666. What do you think of Satanism as a religion?

A lot of them are more chill than some Christians are...but I don’t really agree with them.  667. Do you like it better when your classes are taught sitting in rows or sitting in a circle?

It depends on the class.  668. Have you ever read your own tarot cards?

I have not. 669. Which ones do you like better, the three old star wars movies or the 2 new ones?

Old 670. If you scream in outer space does it make a sound?

No, I don’t believe so. But I could be wrong.  671. If you saw The Queen of the Damned did you want to be a vampire/Goth afterwards?

Haven’t seen it. 672. If you saw SLC Punk did you want to be punk afterwards?

Haven’t seen that either. 673. What is your favorite zombie movie?

21 Days Later! 674. Best kids birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater

Roller rink and sleep over 675. What were your parties like when you were a kid?

Small outdoor parties. Sometimes by the pool.  676. Best teen (about 15-16) birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater, house party, catered in a hall, restaurant, family trip, concert

House party or catered.  677. What are/were your 15-16 year old parties like?

Mine were always just dinner and a movie, but my wealthier friends would have big Sweet 16′s at like venues with catered food and DJ’s.  678. Best 18th birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater, house party, catered in a hall, restaurant, family trip, concert, club, pool hall, college party

College party. Because college was so cool to me as a high schooler hah. 

679. If you are 18 what was your party like?

We went to Benihana’s and then the hookah bar

680. Best 21st birthday party: ceramics, chuck-e-cheese, roller rink, bowling, sleep over, movie theater, house party, catered in a hall, restaurant, family trip, concert, club, pool hall, college party, bar, Atlantic city/Las Vegas trip

Las Vegas trip sounds pretty lit. <<<

681. If you saw The Craft were you interested in wicca/paganism/magic afterwards?

Haven’t seen it.

682. What are your top 3 priorities?

Mental health, relationships, school/work. << 

683. If you saw fight club did you want to get into a fistfight afterwards?

No

684. What is your favorite smell?

Coconut

685. Give everything below a humor rating (1 = laugh your ass off, 2 = lol, 3 = smile, 4 = lame, 5 = not funny, 6 = offensive): People falling

2

Rape jokes

6

Sarcastic comments

2

Blonde jokes

5

Dirty jokes

2

God/religion jokes

3

Long-ass jokes

3

Death jokes

3

Pain/sickness jokes 5

Animals doing cute stuff

1

Bodily functions

3

Knock jokes

5

Ethnic jokes

3

Puns

2

Ironic situations

1

685. If you saw Cruel Intentions did you want to have lots of meaningless sex afterwards?

No.

686. Do you get at least three hugs per day?

From the same person, yes.

687. What should someone never say to you/call you if they want to remain on your good side?

A cunt or a bitch? Lol 

688. If you saw Trainspotting did you want to do drugs afterwards?

I haven’t seen trainspotting

689. Do movies have a great influence on you?

Sometimes

690. Do you have a favorite reality TV show?

Not anymore, I used to love reality TV back when I had cable though. 

691. Are there certain roles that people are pressured to play in society or can they basically do whatever they want?

There are definitely roles in order to feel “accepted” or “normal”. It’s all bullshit. 

692. How does the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake compare to the original movie?

I don’t think I’ve seen either

693. Have you ever held a magnifying glass over an insect to burn it?

Nope, that’s kind of a creepy thing to do.

694. Have you ever pulled the wings off a fly, butterfly or any other insect?

^

695. What would you think of a guy (if you’re into guys) or a girl (if you’re into girls) who wanted to take you to the park to feed the birds and look at the turtles and fish in the water on a date?

I mean, sure. 

696. Do you use public pools?

Yeah, but I prefer not to.

697. Do you use public bathrooms?

Yup.

698. Do you use public showers?

Yup.

699. How old will you be in 17 years?

41 years old 0_o

700. Would it effect you at all if you knew that a very large meteor was headed towards earth that would impact in 17 years?

Yeah, that would suck

[tigerkirby215]

5e Irelia, the Blade Dancer build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Jessica “OwleyCat” Oyhenart. Made for Riot Games.)

FINE I’LL MAKE IRELIA GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!

Irelia is my least favorite champion in League. She’s not my most banned (Shaco) nor is she the champion I complain the most about, but she is absolutely the champion that I look at and constantly think “this character actively ruins the game for me.” I’ll admit that Irelia’s role in the Sentinels of Light story was pretty interesting but you’re still not going to make me like Irelia, Riot!

I’m not going to bore everyone with a long-winded rant about my hatred for this character and how what I thought was going to be a nerf actually made her S tier (joy to the fucking world I now actually have to ban her) but I will say this: there are no champions who I won’t make a genuine build for if I take the time to make a proper blog post about them... Except Talon, but that’s because Talon has one of the most boring kits in the entirety of League of Legends.

GOALS

Step. Two. Whirl. Lift! - What? Do you think that a champion with literally unlimited dashes is unfair?

Perfection of form - We’ll also need to weave our blades around us like a dress, slicing at foes and protecting yourself in one fluent motion.

Remember the Placidium! - When in doubt just use more blades.

RACE

Irelia’s a human... but making humans all the time is boring. Irelia has an innate magic and I’d consider being in-tune with Ionia’s spirit a connection to the Fey. So I decided to make her an elf for the sake of this build, more particularly an Aereni High Elf from Eberron for the innate Expertise.

A regular High Elf works too if your DM doesn’t allow Eberron races; the only thing that really changes with the Aereni High Elf is that you get Expertise in a skill. Valenar elves are also cool for the Double Scimitar.

You can also make Irelia a human but there aren’t many feats I want for her except maybe Mobile, but I felt like being an elf was more fun to grab other feats.

As an elf you have +2 to your Dexterity score, Keen Senses for proficiency in the Perception skill (gotta watch those wards!), and the Fey Ancestry of Ionia grants you advantage against charms and immunity to being put to sleep magically. Instead of sleeping you can spend time in a Trance meditating to regain strength. You only need 4 hours in a trance to rest, and are fully aware of your surroundings while doing so.

As an Aereni Elf you get Expertise in one skill of your choice: we’ll be taking Performance because... well you are a dancer. As a High Elf you learn one Cantrip from the Wizard list, and we’ll actually be taking Prestidigitation to aid in our performances. Oh and you’d normally be increasing your Intelligence by 1 but we’ll instead be increasing your Wisdom because... well it fits Irelia more. (No big loss if you increase Intelligence instead though.) And you can learn one language of your choice: pick whatever you think would inspire fear into the heart of Noxians!

ABILITY SCORES

15; CHARISMA - A dancer is meant to be beautiful first and foremost.

14; DEXTERITY - Of course dancing takes nimbleness. "When no one's around, I dance for myself."

13; WISDOM - This is where the +1 from our race is going! Keep in-tune with the natural world and Ionia’s spirit.

12; CONSTITUTION - You are still a top laner with just... way too much sustain. (Feel free to swap this with Wisdom for more HP but less roleplay.)

10; INTELLIGENCE - Nature is an intelligence skill and military tactics are good to learn, but we simply need everything else more.

8; STRENGTH - You swing your blades with the rhythm of the natural order. Which is to say Riot doesn’t like buff ladies.

BACKGROUND

A dancer is a type of Entertainer. You get proficiency in Acrobatics but since you already have expertise in Performance feel free to grab Nature to become more in-tune with the world around you. You also get proficiency with a Disguise Kit and an instrument of your choice: pick whatever you think suits you and make your own Ionian war hero!

You feature By Popular Demand makes you known as both a dancer and a war leader! You can perform in exchange for a place to rest for you and your allies, and people will remember your dance and treat you with respect.

(Artwork by Bo “chenbowow” Chen. Made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

What? Did you expect this to just be 20 levels of Swords Bard? Honestly Rogue serves as a better recreation of Irelia’s abilities, at least at early levels. That and I want proficiency in 4 skills, so take Insight, Persuasion, Intimidation, and Slight of Hand proficiency to lead and dance with grace. You also get Expertise in two of those skills: Acrobatics is a must but since we’ve already got proficiency in Performance you may as well grab Persuasion for good relations with Ionia’s people.

You also get Thieves’ Cant to speak in the way only other performers can understand, “performers” in this case being other Rogues. But of course the main skill you get is Sneak Attack, giving you an extra d6 of damage if you have advantage on your attack or an ally is near the enemy you’re attacking.

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

I always love when I get to recreate League of Legends dashes by just... letting you use the Dash action a lot. Second level Rogues can make Cunning Actions to Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a Bonus Action. Keep it simple stupid and weave around your foes on the battlefield.

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

Third level Rogues get to choose their Roguish Archetype, and to dance around the battlefield while slicing down foes the Swashbuckler is a great choice to keep your rhythm in check. Your Fancy Footwork will allow you to attack a foe before slipping away without provoking Opportunity Attacks while your Rakish Audacity will allow you to add your Charisma to your Initiative to always be the first on the front line.

Rakish Audacity also lets you Sneak Attack a foe who is alone on the battlefield as long as you don’t have disadvantage and they don’t have an ally within 5 feet, letting you hit them for an extra 2d6 with your blades.

Now may as well be a time to ask: Dual Wielding or single weapon? Since you’re not going to be getting a shield I’d say carrying two blades is worth it for the potential to deal more damage when needed. You can also use your Dual Wielding attack to activate Fancy Footwork more often to evade more enemies. Just be mindful of when Dashing or Dodging would be more useful.

LEVEL 4 - ROGUE 4

4th level Rogues get an Ability Score Improvement and Dexterity controls most of what we do right now, so a +2 to DEX would be beneficial.

LEVEL 5 - ROGUE 5

Normally I wouldn’t go out of my way to grab level 5 in Rogue just for the sake of Uncanny Dodge, but here’s the thing: it’s literally Irelia’s Defiant Dance! Take less damage from an attack you saw coming before striking back with your 3d6 Sneak Attack.

(Artwork by Michelle Hoefener. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 6 - BARD 1

Now it’s time for those 20 15 levels in Swords Bard! Multiclassing into Bard gives you proficiency with one musical instrument (pick your fancy) and one skill of your choice: I opted for Arcana because... well you’re fighting with magical floating blades. (Or at least you will be in due time.)

As a Bard you can inspire your allies as a Bonus Action thanks to Bardic Inspiration, letting them add a d6 to their Attack Rolls, Ability Checks, or Saving Throws. You have a maximum number of Inspiration die equal to your Charisma modifier, which come back after a Long Rest... for now.

But of course as a Bard you get Spellcasting! You learn two cantrips from the Bard list such as Message to communicate on the frontline, and Vicious Mockery which is sure what I fucking feel playing against an Irelia one-trick smurf account. You can also learn four leveled spells like Faerie Fire to mark your foes, Command to strike fear in the hearts of foes, Heroism to strike vigor in the hearts of allies, and Healing Word; because healing is always good to have.

LEVEL 7 - BARD 2

Second level Bards have dabbled in a little bit of everything: healing, damage, healing, mobility, healing, crowd control, oh and I think Irelia does need some more healing. Regardless Jack of All Trades will let you add half your proficiency bonus to any skill checks you aren’t already proficient in. (This also includes Initiative which is important to mention!)

If you use Tasha’s rules you can also grab Magical Inspiration to make your allies’ spells either heal more or do more damage thanks to your Inspiration. Oh and speaking of spells you can also grab Longstrider for more speed on the battlefield.

Oh and you get Song of Rest, the ability I always mock for scaling poorly. But it will help your allies recover after a hard battle!

LEVEL 8 - BARD 3

Irelia has many magical blades because she went to the College of Swords. Along with Bonus Proficiencies with Medium Armor and Scimitars (neither of which Rogues have for some reason) you can pick up a Fighting Style: I personally opted for Two-Weapon Fighting to get more attacks in but Dueling is also a perfectly fine.

Of course the main appeal of being a Blade Dancer is your Blade Flourish: When you attack on your turn you move 10 feet faster until the end of the turn, and if you hit you can use a Bardic Inspiration on a Blade Flourish:

Defensive Flourish lets you roll your Bardic Inspiration to add to your damage and AC.

Slashing Flourish lets you roll your Bardic Inspiration to add to your damage, and do that extra damage to any other creature of your choice (that you can see) within 5 feet of you.

Mobile Flourish lets you roll your Bardic Inspiration to add to (guess what) the damage. You can also push the target up to 5 feet away from you, plus a number of feet equal to the number you roll on that die. Immediately afterwards you can use your reaction to move up to your walking speed to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the target. It’s not quite a Dash, but it’s certainly a Bladesurge!

You can only use one Blade Flourish per turn though. Additionally you get Expertise in two skills like Insight and Nature, to know the spirit of both people and the world around you. And finally you can learn a second level spell like Hold Person for a stun before you do your full combo.

LEVEL 9 - BARD 4

4th level Bards can grab something a little better than Flash; the Fey Teleportation feat! Along with a +1 to your Charisma you learn Sylvan, but most importantly you can cast Misty Step once per Short or Long Rest to get out of a dangerous situation! It unfortunately doesn’t add the spell to your spell list (like Fey Touched from Tasha’s Cauldron) but being able to regain your mobility spell after a Short Rest is extremely useful!

Speaking of spells you learn one more Bard spell, and one more cantrip! For your cantrip take Mage Hand to grab blades from afar, and for your leveled spell take Calm Emotions. It perhaps isn’t the most practical and there are certainly better options, but it’s fitting.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 10 - BARD 5

5th level Bards get a Font of Inspiration, letting their Bardic Inspiration charges come back after a Short Rest. That’s nice because your Bardic Inspiration (and Blade Flourish die) also increases to a d8.

You can also grab a third level spell like Hypnotic Pattern, to stun an entire army with your blades.

LEVEL 11 - BARD 6

6th level Bards can finally turn their Vampiric Scepter into Blade of the Ruined King, giving them some Attack Speed for an Extra Attack. You can still only use one Blade Flourish per turn, but at least now you can attack twice with your action or up to three times if you make a Two-Weapon Fighting attack.

You can also grab another spell but there’s not much I want from third level, so instead I’ll talk about Countercharm, which is dumb and bad. You spend an action to give yourself and nearby allies advantage against Charms and Fears. Or you could fight through the fear and slay your foes... or cast Heroism or Calm Emotions.

LEVEL 12 - BARD 7

7th level Bards can learn 4th level spells like Dimension Door to teleport into lane or back to base, and Freedom of Movement for some Tenacity.

LEVEL 13 - BARD 8

8th level Bards get another Ability Score Improvement. We’ve been investing more in Bard so more Charisma would be nice for more Blade Flourishes and better spellcasting.

You can also learn another spell but again: don’t really want anything, so we’re going to wait for...

(Artwork by Jana Schirmer. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 14 - BARD 9

9th level Bards get to pretend that Song of Rest is a useful ability that scales well, especially when multiclassing. I mean, at least it’s a d8 now!

You also get 5th level spells like Animate Objects. Hey: it only took us 14 levels to get your blades! You can also grab Rary's Telepathic Bond (ty Tasha’s) to keep to team chat with everyone.

LEVEL 15 - BARD 10

10th level Bards get Expertise in two more skills: take Arcana to further your connection to Ionia, and Slight of Hand for the specific hand movements to manipulate your blades. You also see your Bardic Inspiration increase to a d10, which also means your Blade Flourishes deal a d10 of damage!

Additionally you get Magical Secrets from any class so you can use your unique brand of blade magic. And by far the most blade-like spell you can grab (at this level) is Steel Wind Strike, to dash through multiple foes for a big burst of damage!

Additionally we will be grabbing Blade of the Ruined King (finally) with Spirit Shroud; yes it’s a bit of a low-level spell but it serves as a great damage boost to your melee attacks and also keeps enemies close for you to fight them. And finally you get one more cantrip: Mending will help you keep your outfit in check.

Also if you want you can replace Message with Prestidigitation now that you have Rary’s Telepathic Bond.

LEVEL 16 - BARD 11

11th level Bards get 6th level spells: you can lean into your lessons as a dancer and take Otto's Irresistible Dance to force your foes to keep up with the rhythm or die trying. "Okay, I'm warmed up."

LEVEL 17 - BARD 12

12th level Bards don’t get extra spells, but they do get another Ability Score Improvement: more Charisma means more Bardic Inspiration die (for more Blade Flourishes), better spells, and more initiative so capping that out would give you more bang for your buck overall.

(Artwork by Art of Maki. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 18 - BARD 13

Hey remember when I said Song of Rest is a useful ability? Well it’s a d10 now!

At least you can learn Forcecage to take Noxians as prisoners of war to be properly judged... As long as they don’t have a filth bucket in their cell.

LEVEL 19 - BARD 14

14th level Swords Bards as masters of their blades, and can perform a Master’s Flourish using a d6 instead of one of their Bardic Inspiration.

You also get two more Magical Secrets, and hey we can finally grab your ult! Take Blade Barrier to cut the armies off with your Vanguard’s Edge. Alternatively if you need to go back to base take Word of Recall to recall back to your fountain. Which is to say: I had no other good spells to give you.

LEVEL 20 - BARD 15

15th level Bards see their Bardic Inspiration die (and their Blade Flourish die) increase to its maximum size of a d12! And you can cap off the build with an 8th level spell, but in all honesty there isn’t many spells I want from 8th level. So use that slot to upcast and take Hold Monster instead to finally be able to stun Wukong.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Grace bends where strength breaks - You have a variety of ways to deal consistent damage between competency with swords, Blade Flourishes, and powerful spells.

I move to unsung melodies and unbeaten rhythms - +12 to initiative and the ability to move between enemies you attack freely means you’re guaranteed to be on the battlefield fast and able to put yourself in a position to fight with your allies.

Never stop learning; there's always a form you don't know - It was not my intention but turns out Bards and Rogues get a lot of skill proficiencies. +17 in Performance and Persuasion, +16 in Acrobatics and Slight of Hand, +14 in Insight, and +12 in Arcana and Nature. Not to mention Jack of All Trades helping you with all the skills you don’t have proficiency in.

CONS

Each form has a name known only to the wind - So your Dexterity isn’t maxed out, which means you’re a little lacking in both AC and hit chance. Honestly level 5 of Rogue isn’t that good, even if Uncanny Dodge works well as Defiant Dance. 4 / 16 would’ve been better for another ASI.

Stay ready, and there is no need to get ready - Most of your fun spells are accessed at a very high level, with your lower leveled spells dedicated more to utility. You’re a sword fighter first and foremost but seeing as your Charisma is maxed it would be good to use your high Charisma.

We are sharpest where we break! - Low DEX and no Shield (no Shield spell and two-weapon Fighting) means that your AC isn’t the most impressive. That along with 120 health means that a few bad hits can put you in the danger zone. Sure Uncanny Dodge gives you a reliable way to soak up damage but a good surprise hit will quickly put an end to you.

But you don’t need to worry about weaknesses when you’re probably smurfing anyways. Dash, dance, and decapitate foes in a graceful death of a thousand cuts. Keep your style and inspire the commonfolk to take up arms to protect their homeland. Just don’t get too out of line, or Riot might nerf your movement speed by 5.

(Artwork by Bo “chenbowow” Chen. Made for Riot Games.)

[tigerkirby215]

5e Samira, the Desert Rose build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Jessica 'OwleyCat' Oyhenart. Made for Riot Games.)

Still fucking hate this champ but her theme still slaps.

The eternal joke of me putting off making a build for Samira is finally over, though ironically enough my distain for this champ has only grown overtime. Jesus fucking Christ Rito can you nerf this champ’s goddamn damage? Like nerfing her lifesteal is nice and all but it doesn’t mean shit when my dumbfuck teammates picked 4 assassins into her and I’m the only one who can CC her as a Lulu.

Ah well: Samira still definitely fills a fantasy everyone wants, being a badass with sword and gun styling on the competition. Devil May Cry? Yeah I suppose Samira would be pretty good in a campaign against Fiends.

GOALS

You want style? You've found her - Smile, Sweet, Sister, Sadistic; we’ll need to Surprise the Service with Style to Spare. Sssssssssssssssssamira.

Eyes up! - We’ll need to be everywhere at once, dashing and dancing around the battlefield so no one can lock us down.

Showtime! - When push comes to shove it’s time to speeeeeeeeeen~

RACE

Samira is human no matter what the meta might dictate, and for once in my life I actually want something particular from Variant Human. But firstly: you can increase two Ability Scores of your choice by 1: increase both Dexterity and Wisdom for sharp sight and sharper shots. You also get a skill of your choice and a language of your pleasing. For your skill take Slight of Hand for flips and other gun tricks, and for your language Infernal will be good for your Inferno Trigger.

Again: we came to Variant Human land for a Feat because two guns are better than one. The Crossbow Expert Feat will give you a variety of benefits: no need to reload (or at least the ability to ignore the Loading property), no disadvantage in melee range... But most importantly if you fire a Hand Crossbow (which will be working as our handgun in this build) you can fire it again as a Bonus Action! "Well! Look at you."

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - Dexterity is tied to both shooting and backflips.

14; CHARISMA - Who needs a military license when you’ve got style?

13; WISDOM - Wisdom measures how in-tune you are with the world around you, and you need heightened senses not to die doing stupid shit.

12; CONSTITUTION - Most of Samira’s sustain comes from Lifesteal but we won’t really be able to get lifesteal, so just focus on not dying really.

10; STRENGTH - It takes a lot of upper body strength to do the stuff that Samira does but Riot isn’t about to make another Illaoi.

8; INTELLIGENCE - Your primary goal is to do things as recklessly and dangerously as possible... “for the Vine” as the kids say. Vine shut down ages ago!

BACKGROUND

Samira is a mercenary. I wonder if there’s a background for that... hey look at that Mercenary Veteran in the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide! You get proficiency in Athletics and Persuasion as well as Ground Vehicles and a gaming set of your choice. But of course the main benefit of being a mercenary is the Mercenary Life. You can easily identify other mercenaries and know bits and pieces of their lives. You can also easily find work by hanging around taverns and such until Captain Indari passes on some info to you.

(Artwork made for Riot Games)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Starting off as a Rogue because I like skill proficiencies! Skills like Acrobatics, Perception, Insight, and Performance; you were a street performer once! You also get Expertise in two of those skills: Acrobatics and Athletics are necessary to be everywhere at once.

You can chat in Noxian military code thanks to Thieves’ Cant, but c’mon that’s not what we’re here for. We’re here for Sneak Attack! If an enemy is distracted or you have advantage you can stick a d6 where the sun don’t shine!

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

Second level Rogues get Cunning Action, letting them Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a Bonus Action. Dance around the battlefield like an Olympic gymnast... does Runeterra have the Olympics?

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

Third level Rogues get to choose their Roguish Archetype: to be the queen of style and also make people think you’re from Bilgewater (yeah I get it; it’s because of the eyepatch) look no further than the Swashbuckler subclass. Swashbucklers get two abilities at level 1 but honestly it’s more like three abilities: Rakish Audacity will let you add your Charisma modifier to initiative rolls so you can get into fights fast, and will also let you Sneak Attack anyone who’s beside you. I’d consider it less like you sneak attacking them and more like you slashing them with your sword. Oh and speaking of Sneak Attack? That increases to 2d6 now.

Speaking of sword slashing: Fancy Footwork is the mobile feat! Well, it makes it so that after you try to make a melee attack against an enemy you can move away without provoking opportunity attacks. It’s a little weird to run around with a sword in one hand and a gun in the other but you can easily slash at someone before backflipping away and running off to shoot them next turn!

(Artwork by @Aruneeko on Twitter)

LEVEL 4 - BARD 1

You didn’t think we’d be settling for just one class, did you? It’s time to go Bard; the masters of style! Bards get another skill proficiency at level 1 because why not be good at everything? Grab Medicine proficiency because it’s good to know how to bandage yourself up when living a dangerous lifestyle. “On my worst behavior." You also get a musical instrument and you know that I’ll always opt for good ol’ Noxian War Drums.

Bards get Bardic Inspiration, letting them show off their awesomeness so that awesomeness radiates onto their allies to give them a d6 to attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. You’ve got a number of these equal to your Charisma modifier, and regain them at the end of a Long Rest. For now, at least.

And of course while you may be all guns your style makes it look like Spellcasting... because it is. Bards get 2 cantrips and 4 spells at level 1:

CANTRIPS

Prestidigitation will let you put all the visual flair you could want on your moves, and more!

If you wanna walk the walk you’ve gotta talk the talk, and Vicious Mockery will let you talk smack so hard they can’t hit back! "Keep the change; you're gonna need it."

SPELLS

Magic is usually dangerous, and danger is usually fun! Take Detect Magic to see where that danger may be!

If you need some space in a pinch Thunderwave will give yourself some peel.

Steel yourself to do something crazy with Heroism, which will also give you a bit of a shield to do so!

You are still technically working for Noxus so it would be good to Identify anything important... or valuable... For safe keeping of course!

LEVEL 5 - BARD 2

Second level Bards truly are good at everything thanks to Jack of All Trades, letting you add half your proficiency bonus to any skill you don’t have proficiency in. You probably noticed that we already have proficiency in a silly amount of skills but I’m not going to say no to MORE!

After dangerous stunts it’s good to cool off with a Song of Rest, letting you help your crew with a d6 of healing during short rests to bandage up those wounds.

And of course: more spells! Faerie Fire will let you light ‘em up to get advantage, which will make it easier to sneak attack!

LEVEL 6 - BARD 3

Third level Bards get Expertise in two more skills: Perception will help you spot danger and Medicine will help you after dealing with danger.

But of course what we’re mainly here for is your Bardic College and in order to be too cool for school go for the College of Swords. You get some Bonus Proficiencies that don’t really matter but what does matter is you can use your sword to cast spells instead of a drum! Additionally you get a choice of Fighting Style and Dueling will make your sword swings do more damage if you swing it with one hand. I guess it’s worth mentioning that while a rapier would do the most damage a scimitar is the only finesse weapon that does slashing? (Excluding whips.)

But the main feature we’re here for is Blade Flourish which despite the name does also work with your hand crossbows. When you attack your movement speed increases by 10 feet as you charge up that Daredevil Impulse. If you hit with your shot however you can make a Blade Flourish (which again works with your hand crossbows?) of your choice from the following list:

Defensive Flourish does extra damage and also increases your AC as you dodge incoming projectiles.

Slashing Flourish will let you cleave with your sword (and just your sword because it only works on nearby enemies.)

Mobile Flourish will let you chase after a fleeing foe... after pushing them. But after shoving them into danger you can use your reaction to dive right in!

You can only use one Blade Flourish per turn which will matter later. As for what will matter now? Second level spells! Enhance Ability will help you give 110%!

LEVEL 7 - BARD 4

Heeey it’s about time we got an Ability Score Improvement! Our Dexterity has been lacking and you need that to fire straight!

Word of advice: if you know you aren’t going to level 20 feel free to get 4 levels in Rogue for the sake of the ASI.

You also get another spell, and another cantrip! For your cantrip Message is always good for keeping in team chat. For leveled spells Warding Wind does let you deflect nearby projectiles so... 

LEVEL 8 - BARD 5

5th level Bards get Font of Inspiration so their Bardic Inspiration die come back on a Short Rest, which is good because said Bardic Inspiration die also increases to a d8! Oh and when I say “Bardic Inspiration” I actually mean your Blade Flourish die. "If you can't keep up don't step up. I don't have time for fools."

And now third level spells are up on the table, but they all suck so take Mirror Image from the second level instead, which was added to the Bard spell list thanks to Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything!

(Artwork by GaMu-ChAn on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 9 - RANGER 1

Three way multiclass? Don’t mind if I do! You get an extra skill proficiency by multiclassing into Ranger, because why not. Take Survival because you’re clearly damn good at it since you’re still alive.

Rangers get Deft Explorer at level 1 because Natural Explorer sucks and Tasha’s made Ranger a good class! Canny lets you learn two languages (honestly just pick your poison) and get Expertise in another skill, because lord knows we don’t have enough of those. I know we just got Survival proficiency, but it’s good to be good at not dying! (As well as finding food.)

You also get Favored Foe at first level, because Favored Enemy smells. If you shoot someone you can legally-not-Hunter’s Mark them so they take a d4 of extra damage once per turn when you shoot them. You concentrate on it like a spell and it works a lot like the Hunter’s Mark spell but you have a limited number of uses equal to your proficiency bonus, instead of using your spell slots.

LEVEL 10 - RANGER 2

Heeey more Fighting Styles! You already improved your sword swings so take Archery for +2 to ranged attack rolls to ensure that you hit your shots.

Rangers also get Spellcasting, only this spellcasting works with your Wisdom instead of your Charisma! You learn two spells from the Ranger list: Jump will let you do some hardcore parkour because the Ranger spell list sucks and I’ve got nothing else to give you, and Cure Wounds will allow Samira to have some healing... as a treat.

LEVEL 11 - RANGER 3

Third level Rangers can choose their archetype and Hunters are masters at taking down their foes. You can choose a way to take down your Hunter’s Prey. Colossus Slayer is a fairly simple affair: if you shoot (or stab) someone who’s already hurt they take an extra d8 of damage. Though you can only apply that extra d8 once per turn.

You also learn another spell: Longstrider will help you move thanks to that Daredevil Impulse. 10 feet may not seem like much but remember that you get an extra 10 feet thanks to Blade Flourish and can dash to turn 50 feet into 100 feet of movement!

Oh and I also completely forgot about Primal Awareness, which replaces Primeval Awareness. You can Speak with Animals once per day! Maybe not in character, but it helps if you have a Yuumi!

LEVEL 12 - RANGER 4

4th level Rangers get an Ability Score Improvement: time to finally cap that Dexterity score for the most precise shots and deadly cuts possible!

(Artwork by Jennifer Wuestling. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 13 - RANGER 5

Total level 13 isn’t too late to get an Extra Attack, right? Well you can shoot twice now and mix some more Flair into your combos.

You can also learn second level spells now like Aid (ty Tasha’s) to let that adrenaline kick in so you feel no pain. Primal Awareness also gives you Beast Sense for a bit of covert Psy Ops.

LEVEL 14 - RANGER 6

6th level Rangers get Roving from Deft Explorer for 5 extra feet of movement along with a climbing speed and a swimming speed! Reminder that in combination with both Longstrider and Blade Flourish that increases to a whopping 55 movement speed, which means that you can Dash as a Bonus Action to move 110 feet in a turn! "Danger runs from me." Your Favored Foe mark also increases to a d6 of damage.

LEVEL 15 - RANGER 7

7th level Hunters learn some Defensive Tactics: while perhaps not the most useful since you have Heroism and all you’ve certainly got a Steel Will, giving you advantage against being frightened. “Death isn't the scariest thing; it's a mother's rage."

You can also learn another spell: Lesser Restoration can be helpful in a pinch if someone’s trying to slow you down. Or at least if they’re trying to blind, deafen, poison, or paralyze you.

LEVEL 16 - RANGER 8

8th level of Ranger means another Ability Score Improvement: Charisma means higher initiative rolls as well as more Blade Flourishes. Simply put Wisdom can’t beat style!

Oh yeah and you also get Land’s Stride to move through non-magical difficult terrain and plants without slowing down, and for advantage against magic plants. I legit forgot this was even a thing before seeing it on the character sheet.

(Artwork by dominaART on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 17 - RANGER 9

9th level Rangers get 3rd level spells like Conjure Barrage for some bullet rain; "My kind of rain!" Basically you shoot a bunch of bullets in a big cone, because Rangers get this instead of Fireball. Honestly something like Elemental Weapon (ty Tasha’s) would probably be better but we’re still sticking to flavor.

Oh and you can Speak with Plants thanks to Primal Awareness? Honestly these extra spells don’t fit at all but Primeval Awareness sucks. I’m literally adding these extra spells to the build last second.

LEVEL 18 - RANGER 10

10th level Rangers get Tireless from Deft Explorer. As an action, you can give yourself a Shieldbow shield for 1d8 + your Wisdom modifier in Temporary Hitpoints. You can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Additionally: whenever you finish a short rest, your exhaustion level is decreased by 1. Because danger doesn’t wait!

You also get Nature’s Veil because even if Vanish fits Samira better it still freaking sucks. Basically you can play around with Duskblade to turn invisible as a Bonus Action until the end of your next turn. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

LEVEL 19 - RANGER 11

11th level Hunters can finally spin around and hit everyone around them. Whirlwind Attack will let you make a melee attack against any enemy within 5 feet of you (with a separate attack roll for each target.) This is best used when surrounded (obviously) because unlike Samira’s ultimate in League it doesn’t do much extra damage, and you’re better off just stabbing them twice if you want DPS in a 1v1.

You also get your final spell known: take Wind Wall because you have an AoE Wind Wall and I thought it would be funny to steal directly from mister 0/10 powerspike himself. But really get whatever spell you think will be useful.

LEVEL 20 - RANGER 12

Full disclosure: feel free to go for 4 levels in Rogue if you know you aren’t going to hit level 20. I only went for Ranger level 12 because the hit die is bigger.

One last ability score improvement to top the build off: Charisma is still used for a lot of abilities, so increase that because who needs common sense when you’ve got blade flourishes!

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Came all this way to die? - You have many a way to bump up the damage. With 2d6 on a sneak attack, an extra d6 from Favored Foe, a d8 from Blade Flourishes, and a d8 from Colossus Slayer that means that on average you can do about 20 extra damage every turn. That’s definitely nothing to sneeze at!

Finally some action! - Have you ever had +12 to initiative? Would you like to? You are incredibly mobile for a girl who didn’t bring Flash (IE Misty Step) with tons of ways to increase your movement speed and the ability to Dash every turn as a Bonus Action.

This took years of practice... for everyone else - It was not my intention but wow you’re quite the little skill monkey. Two expertise skills from Rogue, another 2 from Bard, and one more from Deft Explorer. Not to mention Jack of All Trades in what few skills you aren’t proficient in to make sure you can do just about anything.

CONS

Oh... I really gotta check these more often - Your spellcasting really isn’t fantastic. We invested almost everything into Charisma but we have very few Bard spells. While I did my best to avoid Ranger spells that forced saving throws there are still some that suffer due to your relatively low Wisdom score... Oh yeah you also have 6th level spell slots but your known spells don’t go past level 3. At least that means you can buff the party with Aid!

I feel most alive when I'm walking the line - As great as your skill checks are your saving throws are quite lacking. Your Dexterity is nice but that’s about it; all your other saves range from average (+5) to bad (+0) Notably your Constitution saves are a mere +1, which means you won’t keep concentration up for long if you play recklessly.

Well-behaved women don't make it - There are a lot of features I took more for flavor then actual utility. For a start Hunter is a rather meh multiclass. This might be one of the times “just play a Fighter with a bow” applies as a subclass like Battlemaster would’ve likely been a better choice, and honestly going down full Swords Bard would’ve given you far more utility overall. There were benefits from Ranger levels but they were lost in the multiclassing MADness.

But you prove that modern-day killers really must hate fun; more often people can’t get style rockin' knives and guns. You don’t need no fancy magic or divine ascension to be a badass: gun ‘em down and cut through whatever remains to show that S stands for Samira and Samira alone... As long as she isn’t permabanned.

(Artwork by @Yangyexin on Twitter)

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #117: Fuuma “Evil Wind” Kotarou

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re bringing you the younger of the Fuuma Clan ninjas, Fuuma Kotarou! Fuuma is, well, a ninja. Strike from the shadows, weaken and confuse your enemies, and hide in plain sight with this build!

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: Here comes the sun!

Race and Background

We need feats more than anything else in this build, so we’re making Kotarou a Variant Human, giving him +1 to Dexterity and Intelligence. He also gets proficiency with Performance to take on the guise of people who aren’t ninjas, and the Actor feat for a boost in Charisma and to make his disguises even more effective.

Much like “being an oni”, there isn’t an explicit “ninja” background. That being said, the Criminal background is a pretty good substitute, giving you Deception and Stealth proficiencies. Surprisingly, ninja aren’t fans of the legal system.

Ability Scores

To no one’s surprise, your Dexterity is pretty high. Your sneaking and stabbing are both tied to it, after all. Your Charisma is also up there, ninjas gonna disguise. After that is your Intelligence- ninja plans are complicated, your brains have to be up to snuff. Your Constitution isn’t that high, but you don’t plan on getting hit anyway. Your clan spent a lot of time creating the perfect food and completely ignored the flavor, so your Wisdom isn’t particularly high, but we’re dumping Strength. We just don’t need it for this build.

Class Levels

1. Rogue 1: I don’t feel I like need to justify this class. Starting as a rogue gives you proficiency in Dexterity and Intelligence saves, as well as four rogue skills- Acrobatics, Intimidation, Persuasion, and Perception. Avoiding people, influencing people, influencing people, and avoiding people, respectively.

You also gain Expertise in two skills, doubling your proficiency bonus in Stealth and Performance. 

If you’re using a finesse or ranged weapon (you should be) and attacking with advantage or against a creature distracted by an ally within 5′ of them you can add your Sneak Attack damage to that attack once per turn. Finally, you learn Thieves’ Cant. It’s a language.

2. Rogue 2: Second level rogues can make Cunning Actions as their bonus actions. This allows you to Dash, Disengage, or Hide, all very important skills for a ninja.

3. Rogue 3: As you could probably guess, you’re an Assassin. This means that at level three, you learn how to Assassinate your targets. Your attacks against creatures that haven’t taken a turn this combat is made with advantage, and attacks that hit surprised creatures are automatically counted as critical hits. To further this advantage, your sneak attack grows to 2d6 bonus damage.

4. Bard 1: A good ninja can use the threat of attack just as effectively as any weapon- You know that better than anyone, and put it to good use with your Suspicious Shadow skill. As a first level bard, you gain proficiency with Sleight of Hand for some Genjutsu skill, and you can give Bardic Inspiration to your party members to sharpen their skills. You get a number of dice equal to your charisma modifier, and you regain uses on long rests.

You can also cast Spells using your Charisma to cast them. Friends allows you to frighten and deceive opponents more readily, and Message lets you send information without being overheard to party members who aren’t also rogues. For first level spells, Disguise Self helps you perfect your “totally innocent monk” disguise, Illusory Script lets you write almost indecipherable code, Color Spray can blind your enemies, and Bane further weakens their resolve. If the targets fail a charisma save (dc eight plus your proficiency bonus plus your charisma modifier), they subtract 1d4 from their attacks and subsequent saving throws for the duration of the spell.

5. Bard 2: Second level bards are Jacks of All Trades, giving you half your proficiency bonus for any skill check you’re not proficient in. You also learn a Song of Rest for more healing during short rests, and the Longstrider spell for just a bit more mobility.

6. Bard 3: If we want to put pressure on our enemies’ fighting spirit, there’s no bard better at sowing paranoia than the College of Whispers. You get Psychic Blades to turn your inspiration dice into psychic damage that you can add to your attacks once per round to make up for lost time in regards to your sneak attack. You also learn to instill Words of Terror into anyone you talk to alone for a minute or longer, forcing a wisdom save and becoming frightened of you or another creature for up to an hour if they fail. If they succeed, there’s not indication that you tried to do anything, but you can only use this feature once per short rest.

For non-magical influencing, you also get Expertise in Persuasion and Deception this level.

You also get second level spells this level, so grab Invisibility for the perfect escape/ambush.

7. Bard 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to become a Piercer, making your daggers slightly more consistent and giving you even deadlier critical hits.

You also learn True Strike, which might actually have a purpose if you need to assassinate someone in one blow, and Cloud of Daggers to set up traps for any guards following you after that assassination you just did.

8. Bard 5: At fifth level, your Inspiration dice grow to d8s, and you become a Font of Inspiration, giving you new inspiration to use every short rest instead of every long rest. The pressure you put on your enemies can now cause them to completely lose track of who is friend and who is foe. Enemies Abound forces a creature to select its targets at random for up to a minute after failing an intelligence save, with a chance to re-roll every time it takes damage.

9. Rogue 4: Use this ASI to round up your Dexterity and Charisma for more inspiration, more AC, stronger stabbings, and better spells. A really good level for you overall.

10. Rogue 5: As a fifth level rogue, you can use your reaction to make an Uncanny Dodge, taking half the damage from an attack. I’m not sure if you’ve looked at your health total recently, but you’ll probably want to use this one a lot.

11. Rogue 6: Use your third round of Expertise to become really really good at Acrobatics and Intimidation.

12. Rogue 7: Seventh level rogues get the coveted Evasion, letting you completely ignore damage when you pass a dexterity check and take half damage if you fail. Given the number of casters you hang around with that know fireball, this is a good pick.

13. Rogue 8: Eighth level rogues get another ASI, which will let you pick up the Mobile feat for extra movement speed, the ability to ignore difficult terrain while dashing, and an effective disengage on whatever you try to hit. The most ninja of feats.

14. Rogue 9: Ninth level assassins gain Infiltration Expertise which... isn’t really that good, even if it is flavorful. If you spend a week, you can create a new identity, as long as they aren’t already an existing person. This includes clothing, letters of introduction, and any certificates you might need for the disguise. This lasts until you give creatures an obvious reason to suspect you aren’t who you say you are.

15. Rogue 10: Use this ASI to become a Skulker, which will help you hide while lightly obscured, stay hidden if you miss with a ranged attack, and see in dim light. You don’t have darkvision, and lights would give you away, so this is the best option you’ve got.

16. Rogue 11: You now have Reliable Talent, meaning you’re guaranteed to roll a 10 or higher on any skill checks that you’re proficient in. If you haven’t noticed from all your expertises, you’re pretty good at skilling things.

17. Rogue 12: Use your last ASI to bump that Charisma up again for stronger spells, stronger persuasions, and more inspirations/psychic blades.

18. Rogue 13: Your final Assassin feature turns you into the perfect Impostor, allowing you to copy a person’s speech, writing, and behavior after observing them for three hours, and giving you advantage on any deception check you make to keep up your disguise. You probably don’t even need that advantage by this point, but why not take it anyway.

19. Rogue 14: Fourteenth level rogues gain a Blindsense, allowing you to know the location of any hidden or invisible creature within 10 feet of you. It’s not quite dark vision, but if it gets the knife into someone’s throat it’s good enough.

20. Rogue 15: Your final level gives you a Slippery Mind, giving you proficiency with Wisdom saving throws. Falling for your own illusions would be silly.

Pros:

You can do a lot of damage in one go if a sneak attack connects, and thanks to your Psychic Blades, you can make all of that psychic damage, which is extremely difficult for most creatures to resist.

You are really, really good at influencing people. You have expertise in every charisma skill, reliable talent, and ways to gain advantage on those rolls (which, by the way, are at a minimum of 26 atm.) You can be anybody, anywhere, at any time.

The same thing applies to your stealth skills as well, with a minimum of 26 in every stealth check and ways to go completely invisible, you’re only going to be seen when you want to be.

Cons:

You were only in bard for a couple levels, so you don’t have a lot of spell slots. Fortunately, most of your spells are there to complement things you can already do normally, but you’ll still have to keep the long term mission in mind at all times.

The later assassin features aren’t that good. You’re almost never going to have a spare week outside of your normal between-mission downtime, and it’s likely you won’t have three hours to burn watching some guy either. Of course this is entirely dependent on your DM, but don’t expect these to do anything in a pickup game.

You don’t have a lot of Concentration spells, but the ones you do have are a big deal, and your ability to hold onto them isn’t amazing. That being said it’s not like you’re planning on getting hit in the first place.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #130: Marie Antoinette (Caster)

The encores keep coming on Fate and Phantasms with today’s build, Marie Antoinette! A volleyball player in D&D is probably one of the weirder things we’ve done so far, but I’m sure we can set up something good for y’all. Charm everyone you can, and smash those you can’t in the face with your beachballs!

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet here!

Next up: Met a girl(s), crazy for me!

Race and Background

As a variant of Marie, you’re also a variant human, giving you +1 wisdom and charisma. You’re a bit more active than your rider counterpart, so you also get Athletics proficiency and the Fighting Initiate feat, which nets you the Thrown Weapon Fighting fighting style. Now you can grab and throw weapons in the same move, and you deal +2 damage with thrown weapons! Sadly, WoTC forgot to weaponize balls in D&D, but light hammers are the closest thing we have to work with. Yes, that does mean Tortle Antoinette is dangerously close to being a Hammer Bro.

Like always, you’re a Noble, giving you History and Persuasion proficiencies.

Ability Scores

If you know anything about Marie, you know her Charisma is pretty high. If we want to be good a sports we’ll need some Dexterity though, make that second. Your Wisdom isn’t half bad, you were a queen once. Your Constitution isn’t amazing, but hey that just gives you an excuse to order one of those umbrella drinks and relax. Your Intelligence is rather low by elimination, (again, no one wants to think in the summer,) but you’re not stupid so we’re still dumping your Strength. Surprisingly, beach balls aren’t heavy lifting.

Class Levels

1. Monk 1: Remember when I said not all of the summer servants were going to be beach ready? I’m starting to think that might not be true. As a monk, you get proficiency with Strength and Dexterity saves, as well as two monk skills. I’d grab Acrobatics for more volleyball skills and Insight for better rulings.

You also get Unarmored Defense, making your AC based on your wisdom as well as your dexterity, and Martial Arts. Now you can use dexterity instead of strength when attacking with monk weapons (light hammers are simple, so they count), and you can make an unarmed strike as a bonus action after attacking. Also, all your monk attacks do a minimum of 1d4 damage, which scales as you level up. The good news is it only gets better from here.

2. Monk 2: Second level monks get a number of Ki points each short rest equal to their monk level. They can use these to make two attacks, dodge, disengage, or dash as a bonus action. You also get Unarmored Movement, helping you get across the court thanks to an extra 10′ of movement speed that also increases as you level up.

3. Monk 3: They probably wouldn’t tell you this, but it turns out Way of the Kensei monks are super into beach volleyball. That’s why at third level you learn the Path of the Kensei, a totally not confusingly named feature that’s really four features in one. You get Kensei Weapons, a melee (Light Hammer) and ranged (Darts? It doesn’t really matter much) weapon that will be used by later features. One of those is an Agile Parry, giving you a bonus to your AC for a round when you make an unarmed attack with a kensei weapon in hand. Use the volleyballs for ranged attacks, hands for melee attacks, they’re pretty mutually exclusive. Another way to use your deadly weapons is a Kensei’s Shot, which normally doesn’t come up in these builds. Using your bonus action you can deal an extra 1d4 of damage each time you make a ranged attack that turn, effectively doubling your output. You also learn the Way of the Brush, which will be super useful when you’re stuck making manga over and over again in summer 3.

Finally, you volleyball skills come in handy by teaching you how to Deflect Missiles. Using your reaction you can set a ranged attack to deal less damage to you, and if you mitigate it entirely you can spike it back at the attacker.

4. Monk 4: Your very first Ability Score Improvement will go towards Dexterity. Being able to aim your shots helps. You can Slow Fall to reduce sandburn from those dives, and you get some Quickened Healing for a bit of that sunflower power, spending ki and an action to heal yourself.

5. Bard 1: Despite everything, you’re still you. And You is still a bard! This means you get Performance proficiency to get the crowd on your side, as well as some Spells you can cast using your Charisma. You can also give Bardic Inspiration to your allies a number of times per long rest equal to your charisma modifier. This lets them add a d6 to one of their attack rolls, saving throws, or ability checks.

Speaking of spells, Light will make you the center of attention, either creating a light source out of thin air of turning an object into a free torch. You also get Friends, Charm Person, and Animal Friendship to wrap the world around your finger, because some things never change. If you have to get a bit forceful, you can also use Command, or Cure Wounds if you’re in a more merciful mood.

6. Bard 2: Second level bards are Jacks of All Trades, adding half your proficiency bonus to checks that don’t already use it. As a queen, you have to be well-versed in just about everything. You also get a Song of Rest, adding 1d6 to healing done over short rests. Finally, your Magical Inspiration augments your bardic inspiration. It can now be added to spell damage and healing. 

Speaking of spell damage and healing, Bane does neither of those things. However, it does force a charisma save (DC 8 + proficiency + charisma modifier) on a couple creatures, and the ones that fail subtract 1d4 from all attacks and saves they make for the duration. You’re pretty distracting.

7. Bard 3: Your bard levels aren’t changing things up much from your original setup- yes, you’re still going to the College of Glamour. As a glamour bard, your Mantle of Inspiration can be built using just a use of Inspiration and your bonus action, giving a couple of friendly creatures 5 temporary hp, and the ability to react to move without causing opportunity attacks. 

You can also put on an Enthralling Performance. After you play for at least a minute, you can try to charm a couple people who saw the entire thing, basically turning them into your groupies if they fail a wisdom save. You can use this once per short rest.

Finally, you get Expertise in two skills, doubling your proficiency bonus in Acrobatics and Performance. You’re good at what you do, and even better at making it look good while you do it.

You can also cast Calm Emotions to soothe enemies or friends alike. Like Guda always says, “An enemy is just a friend that’s still trying to kill you.”

8. Bard 4: Use this ASI to bump up your Charisma for stronger spells and more inspiration.

You can also cast True Strike this level for more accurate strikes, or Enhance Ability to inspire greatness in an ally, giving them advantage on one kind of skill check for the duration.

9. Bard 5: At fifth level your bardic inspiration grows to a d8, and you become a Font of Inspiration. That means your inspiration pops back up on short rests and long ones!

Being a queen isn’t easy. Even if you’re nice you still gotta punish people sometimes. Sometimes that punishment is curses. Bestow Curse can help with that. This is one of those open-ended spells- if your DM’s cool with creativity, you can probably do some nasty stuff with this spell.

10. Bard 6: Sixth level bards can waste an action on Countercharm, giving allies advantage against being charmed or frightened for the round. Alternatively, you can use your Mantle of Majesty as a bonus action, allowing you to cast command for free each bonus action and upon use. Any creature charmed by you automatically fails the save, but this feature uses your concentration, so it’s only really useful with teamwork or your Enthralling Performance. You can use this once per long rest.

We can duplicate the effects of your noble phantasm easy, but none of these really make you a giant glass jellyfish, do they? Major Image can help with that. This creates an illusion that fits within a 20′ square, and you can move it with you too!

11. Monk 5: Bouncing back to monk for an Extra Attack each attack action. You can also make a Stunning Strike, forcing a constitution save (DC 8+proficiency+wisdom modifier) or they’re stunned for the round. (This only works on melee attacks tho, boo hiss.) 

For something more useful, Focused Aim lets you spend 1-3 ki points to add 2-6 to an attack roll. Volleyball is all about that aim.

12. Monk 6: Sixth level monks get Ki Empowered Strikes, making your unarmed attacks magical against resistances. You also become One with the Blade, which makes your kensei weapons magical against resistances, and you can use a Deft Strike to add your martial arts die to your damage once per turn.

You also get another kensei weapon, but it doesn’t really matter what you pick bc we’re still volleyballing here.

13. Monk 7: Once again, you get the super useful Evasion, halving damage from failed dex saves and removing damage from successes. You also get a Stillness of Mind, letting you spend an action to shut down frightening and charming effects.

14. Bard 7: Bouncing back to bard again for some fourth level spells, like Charm Monster. Fish love you, women love you, basically everyone loves you.

15. Bard 8: Use this ASI to bump up your Dexterity for more AC and better attacks. Turns out, monks like dexterity! Who’da thunk it. Your glass dress also gets a bit scarier at this level, turning it into a Phantasmal Killer. If your target fails a Wisdom save, they become frightened, and at the end of each turn they have to make another save or take psychic damage. Technically this makes one of their worst fears, but I bet glass chafes something awful, so I’d count it.

16. Bard 9: Ninth level bards get a stronger song of rest, and you can cast fifth level spells! Dominate Person forces a wisdom save on a creature or they get charmed. While charmed, you can issue commands to the target or take total control of them. You’re a celebrity, you do what you want. And other people do what you want too.

17. Bard 10: Tenth level bards get a d10 for their inspiration, and they get Magical Secrets, two spells from any spell list. Also a cantrip, which makes introducing the spells succinctly a pain in the ass. You get a Thunderclap if you spike the ball hard enough, but the stars of the show are Conjure Volley (yes we got it entirely for the pun) and Find Greater Steed. Horses aren’t practical on a beach, but glass horses aren’t about practicality.

You also get Expertise in athletics and persuasion to truly master volleyball and the popularity that comes with it.

18. Monk 8: Use your last ASI to bump up your Constitution for 18 free hit points.

19. Monk 9: Your unarmored movement improvement lets you literally walk on water, for those dramatic Baywatch-style shots.

20. Monk 10: Your final level gives you a Purity of Body, making you immune to disease and poison. Not the flashiest way to end a build, but I def wouldn’t complain about that right now.

Pros:

Throwing hammers around gives you a range advantage on most melee enemies, and your monk mobility gives you plenty of speed to abuse it with.

Your high dex and kensei features make your shots accurate, and your damage consistent. 

Despite trading half your bard levels for monk, you’re still charming as all hell- literally. Fighting still isn’t your strong suit, but you’ve got plenty of ways to avoid them where possible.

Cons:

YOU ARE USING LIGHT HAMMERS. There isn’t even a stereotype about them in those “what does you favorite weapon say about you” videos because NO ONE USES THEM. Even with being a monk, you still won’t be doing much damage with them. Pulling out all the stops nets you 2d6+1d4+6 Bludgeoning damage at level 20. Let the fighters take care of the fighting, you’ll be a lot happier for it.

A lot of your abilities are tied to inspiration and ki, both of which are limited resources. 

Unless you’ve got an artificer in your group or a generous dm, throwing weapons are a pain to use. You’ve either got to carry around a lot of them (which might be an issue with your dumped strength) or get used to picking them up between attacks.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #45: Mata Hari

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re building the living embodiment of clickbait, Mata Hari! If this post ends up getting five times as many notes as normal, it’s okay, I understand. Mata Hari is another bard/rogue combination, this time mixing the college of glamour with a mastermind. She can help out in combat, but her strongest points are going deep undercover to learn an enemy’s secrets.

You can read the level-by-level breakdown below the cut, or check out the summary spreadsheet here.

Race and Background

Mata Hari is a Human(though like the Phantom, if you want to spice it up Siren is a good place to start), giving her +1 to all stats. Mata Hari is the textbook example of a Charlatan, giving her proficiency in Deception and Sleight of Hand, as well as the Disguise and Forgery kits. She also has a False Identity she can assume, complete with disguises and documentation. Furthermore, she can forge documents she has seen before.

Stats

Your highest stat is Charisma: you’re so good at charming people they literally can’t tell you’re an enemy unless they’re told so, that’s pretty charming. You’re also a dancer, which requires a lot of Dexterity (or it would if dnd stats made sense). Next is your Wisdom, a good spy needs to know when they’re being watched. Follow this with Intelligence, you’re not unusually smart, but we need to keep your physical scores as low as possible. Constitution is next, because we’re never going to dump that if at all possible. Finally, we’re dumping strength, because dex builds don’t need it.

Class Levels

1. Rogue 1: We’re starting the build as a rogue because they have the most proficiencies, and they’re ones you want. At first level, you become proficient in Dexterity and Intelligence saves, as well as Persuasion and Performance for obvious reasons, Stealth for even more obvious reasons, and Insight. You can’t string people along if you don’t know what they want.

First level rogues get Expertise in two skills, doubling their proficiency. Your Deception and Persuasion should be as strong as possible, so let’s start there. You probably won’t use your Sneak Attack that often, but it’s always there if you need some extra damage on a creature you have advantage over or an ally within 5′ of. Finally, your Thieves’ Cant lets you talk to other rogues without people catching on, assuming there are other rogues. Maybe you should coordinate with another party member.

2. Rogue 2: At second level you get your Cunning Action, letting you disengage, dash, or hide as a bonus action. Ideally the enemy won’t know you’re working against them, but a way to get out of danger without being turned into a shishkebab is always a good idea.

3. Rogue 3: At third level you become an official Mastermind, becoming a Master of Intrigue and a Master of Tactics. Master of Intrigue gives you proficiencies you already have, two languages, and the ability to mimic speech patterns and accents that you’ve heard for more than a minute. There isn’t a limit on how long you can copy an accent for, so that’s why Mata Hari started the game with a thick scottish accent, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it’s the only accent I know, shut up. As a Master of Tactics, you can Help as a bonus action, and it has a range of 30′.

4. Rogue 4: 30′ is some rookie numbers, and we can improve that by using our first ASI on the Tandem Tactician feat. This increases your helping range by 10′, and you can help two people at once if they’re targeting the same enemy. Toss in some thieves’ cant or a foreign language and you’ll be useful for your party no matter which side you appear to be on.

5. Bard 1: When you multiclass into bard, you  get one skill proficiency of your choice. Perception is a good choice-again, you need to know if anyone’s watching you before you do the whole “stealing state secrets” thing. You’re not making that mistake again.

First level bards have Spellcasting based on their charisma as well as Bardic Inspiration, a bunch of d6 you can throw at people to help them.

For spells, grab Friends, Unearthly Chorus, and Charm Person for extra charming action, Message because learning an enemy’s secrets doesn’t mean much if you can’t pass them off to your friends, Disguise Self to help you infiltrate no-humans-allowed areas, and Sleep for ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

6. Rogue 5: Your Uncanny Dodge lets you react to avoid half the damage of an attack. Getting hurt is bad, stop doing it.

7. Rogue 6: Your second round of Expertise boosts your Performance and Insight. You’re good at dancing, and stealing things from the saps watching you dance. Now you’re even better at doing both of those.

8. Rogue 7: Seventh level rogues gain Evasion, severely reducing the amount of damage you take from dexterity saving throw attacks. If you’re consorting with the enemy, some splash damage is going to hit you. Now it’ll hit you less!

9. Bard 2: You’re now a Jack of All Trades, adding half your proficiency to all nonproficient checks. You also learn how to sing a Song of Rest, adding a d6 to any healing your party does on short rests.

For your spell this level, grab Animal Friendship. Your charm might not hit most creatures, but it does work on Orion, so I’m counting it.

10. Rogue 8: Your next ASI is going to improve your Charisma for more charming and more Bard fun.

11. Bard 3: Speaking of Bard, here’s your last level in it. At third level you get Expertise in two more skills, pick Stealth and Sleight of Hand- you’re a spy, and those tend to help.

You also graduate from the College of Glamour at this level, giving you two more features. The Mantle of Inspiration lets you burn a bardic inspiration die as a bonus action to heal a couple people and let them move without causing attacks of opportunity. Is your wizard facing down a raging barbarian? Now they’re not.

You also learn to put on an Enthralling Performance, letting you charm a number of creatures once per short rest after you perform for a minute or more. They won’t fight for you unless they would anyway, but they’ll be good to you while they’re charmed.

Speaking of enthralling, Enthrall is your final bard spell. It causes any number of creatures within 60′ of you to make a wisdom save, and on a failure they have disadvantage against perceiving creatures who aren’t you. If you’re at the bar with your friends and your real friends show up, that could be a problem. This spell will keep everybody groovy for a while.

12. Rogue 9: You’re now an Insightful Manipulator, meaning if you chat up a creature for 1 minute outside of combat, you can learn two of the following characteristics: its Intelligence score, its Wisdom score, its Charisma score, or its class levels. You might also learn some of its history, and that last bit is the real goldmine here. You can’t be a fake manic pixie dream girl if you don’t know what hole in someone’s life you can pretend to fill.

13. Rogue 10: For this level’s ASI, you become a Linguist. This gives you a couple extra languages to pad out the number of countries you can pretend to be from, and more importantly lets you write down codes. Sometimes you need to talk to your party and you can’t get an opening for Message or Thieves’ Cant; this will help out.

14. Rogue 11: You now have Reliable Talent: any skill you’re proficient in will always have a roll of 10 or higher. This means your deception and persuasion rolls have a baseline of 24 that they’ll always be at or above, so your cover story is pretty much unbreakable.

15. Rogue 12: Max out your Charisma with this ASI for better lying, spells, and more inspiration.

16. Rogue 13: Thirteenth level masterminds learn Misdirection. If there’s an attack heading your way, and there’s a creature within 5′ of you between you and the attacker, you can react to make the attack hit them instead. This means if you play your cards right, your terrible AC is secretly someone else’s. Hang out around that guy in plate mail an get your party to send one attack your way each round, and he’ll be a pincushion in no time.

17. Rogue 14: You get Blindsense this level, letting you know the location of any creature within 10′ of you as long as you can hear. This isn’t particularly useful for this build, but you’re not one to turn down free things.

18. Rogue 15: You now have a Slippery Mind, giving you proficiency in Wisdom saves. Most of your stats aside from charisma aren’t great, so take what you can get.

19. Rogue 16: Use your last ASI to improve your Dexterity and Constitution. You aren’t using these that often, but if you go to stab the big bad in the back an miss, it would be really awkward.

20. Rogue 17: For your capstone level, you gain a Soul of Deceit. Your mind can’t be read unless you will it, and you can’t be magically compelled to tell the truth either. Falling into a zone of truth mid-job is a rookie mistake, one you won’t be making.

Pros: You’re an expert manipulator, knowing exactly what buttons to push to trick people into doing what you want. Moreover, you don’t have to worry about a fight breaking out, because your entire fighting style is letting someone else take care of it. Some advice here, a shove there, and soon enough you’re the only one still standing.

Cons: Your entire not-fighting style means you won’t get to use your sneak attack, and 9d6 damage per turn is a lot to just ignore. Skimping on bard levels leaves you with very little magic each day, and not getting the Font of Inspiration especially hurts. Finally, some games simply won’t work for you. Being a master of seduction doesn’t help when you’re fighting automatons. Also, like 90% of the evil groups in D&D are slavers; you probably don’t want to try and cozy up to them. Even when there’s an enemy army you can worm your way into, you might be forcing your DM to run two games at once, which they won’t appreciate. 

Next up: We’re finishing off the assassins with someone we’ve already built twice. Kind of.

[tigerkirby215]

5e Karthus, the Deathsinger build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Alex “alexplank” Flores. Made for Riot Games.)

Finally getting done with the Pentakill crew after so long; about time we do the main vocalist! Honestly Karthus was one of the more difficult characters for me to make a build for before I stopped overthinking it and just decided to do it. Of course there will always be a bit of a disconnect between the League character and their D&D counterpart but I think I’ve accomplished making Karthus well.

No he’s not a Bard.

GOALS

I sing the word of death - Karthus is one of the original magic damage carries. We’ll need damage and a lot of it.

The shell means nothing! - Defying death is hard, even if only for a moment.

Sing with your final breath! - We need to be able to hit EVERYONE that we can! Oh and we need to be able to make a magic wall too I guess.

RACE

Karthus would be a Reborn after going to the Shadow Isles... But god fucking dammit I’m so fucking sick of the Reborn race. Like sorry for this tangent but the Reborn is the single most boring race lineage in the entirety of 5e. Having a race whose entire identity is boiled down to “you get to add a d6 to Ability Checks sometimes” bores me without end and every time I make someone a Reborn I die a little inside. (Also helps that I don’t own Reborn on D&D Beyond so making a Reborn is annoying.)

With that little rant out of the way I’m making Karthus a Gith instead because Gith are cooler, which isn’t saying a lot because Gith aren’t that great either. Also Karthus kinda looks like a Gith I guess. (Feel free to make him a Reborn if you really must.) More specifically Karthus will be a Githzerai for +2 to Wisdom and +1 to Intelligence. You also have Mental Discipline for advantage against the charmed and frightened conditions, as death has already charmed you. (See? Told you Gith were cooler than Reborn.) And finally you get Githzerai Psionics for the Mage Hand cantrip and some more spells at specific levels.

ABILITY SCORES

15; WISDOM - You saw the true beauty in death, unlocking more Wisdom than most could dream of.

14; CHARISMA - You are a singer and Charisma dictates Performance. That, and we will be needing it for something that isn’t Warlock levels I swear.

13; INTELLIGENCE - Mostly to balance out the +1 we got from our race. Feel free to swap Intelligence with either Dexterity or Constitution if you want better stats but worse roleplay.

12; DEXTERITY - Something something Medium Armor. Almost anyways.

10; CONSTITUTION - Karthus may be squishy in League but no reason to dump CON.

8; STRENGTH - That’s because Strength is so much better to dump. You are much more than half dead and don’t spend much time lifting.

BACKGROUND

You may be devoted to death but an Acolyte cares not for what it praises. You gain proficiency with Religion but I’d suggest replacing Insight with Performance for very obvious reasons, and also because I don’t like having useful skills I guess. You also get proficiency with two languages of your choice.

Your background feature Shelter of the Faithful will let you sing dirges of death for those who will listen. You can perform sermons in churches for your god in exchange for lodging. "Revel in the undoing."

(Artwork by David Villegas and West Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - SORCERER 1

Starting off as a Sorcerer mostly for the Constitution saving throw proficiency more than anything. Also for proficiency in Arcana and Persuasion.

Sorcerers can choose their subclass at level 1 and you’re probably expecting something like Shadow Magic, right? Nah we go for Storm Sorcery for one simple reason: you can now float thanks to Tempestuous Magic, allowing you to fly 10 feet as a Bonus Action whenever you cast a spell of 1st level or higher. You also get Wind Speaker I guess; not going to say no to free Primordial language lessons.

But of course as a Sorcerer you get Spellcasting, and ima be real with you chief the Sorcerer side of things isn’t going to be our main focus. So we’ll mostly be grabbing utility spells like Shield and Feather Fall. As for your cantrips take Mending, Message, Mold Earth, and Prestidigitation for more general magical utility.

LEVEL 2 - CLERIC 1

Congratulations! You survived level 1 with basically no combat ability! Maybe don’t play this build starting from level 1 lol. Anyways along with getting proficiency with Medium armor you also get to choose your subclass at level 1 as a Cleric too! I would suggest the Death domain but that subclass is a melee subclass and also not that good so the Grave domain will have to do!

While bringing people to death is usually your thing Circle of Mortality lets you cast Spare the Dying as a Bonus Action with a range of 30 feet, to keep people around if you need them. You can also easily find your undead kin thanks to Eyes of the Grave, letting you sense any undead within 60 feet that isn’t behind cover or protected from divination. You can use this feature a number of times equal your Wisdom modifier, so be sure to pop it whenever you want to start a chorus!

Of course as a Cleric you get Spellcasting as well! For cantrips Toll the Dead literally lets you sing your foes to their end, so that’s an obvious must. Other than that Guidance will let you be an advisor of fate, and Thaumaturgy lets you do all sorts of spooky wraith things.

As a Grave Cleric you have Bane and False Life innately prepared, to bolster yourself or weaken your foes. You can also prepare spells like Bless to improve your allies instead of yourself, Shield of Faith if you want to be more specific, Inflict Wounds to punish those who get too close to you, and Detect Magic because... well someone needs it. I know I took mostly utility things so if you can swallow some Radiant damage feel free to take Guiding Bolt as a DPS option!

LEVEL 3 - CLERIC 2

Second level Clerics get their Channel Divinity which can be used on a number of things. Firstly while it may not be in character if you don’t want to spend time with your brethren then Turn Undead will force them to leave you alone, making them run away if they fail a Wisdom save. Your second option (thanks to Tasha’s) is to Harness Divine Power instead for a spell slot equal to half your Proficiency bonus, although this ability is limited in use unlike your other Channel Divinity options.

Your final option is Path to the Grave, which will make sealing your enemies’ fates effortless. As an action you can choose one creature within 30 feet of you, cursing it until the end of your next turn. They will be vulnerable to the next instance of damage that hits them, which in other words means they’ll take double damage! It does only last until the end of your next turn however, and does go away if no one activates it. It also goes away after someone hits them and expends the mark, so be mindful of that. Regardless of your choice you currently only have one use of your Channel Divinity, which comes back after a Short Rest.

Oh and you can also prepare another spell like Detect Evil and Good to... do exactly that. But remember that Clerics are prepared spellcasters who can swap out their spell selection after a long rest, which will be important soon. And speaking of spellcasting you can cast the Shield spell once per Long Rest without using a spell slot thanks to Githzerai Psionics.

LEVEL 4 - CLERIC 3

Third level Clerics can cast second level spells! Ditch Bless and Detect Evil and Good to instead grab Aid (you may not be a tank but even the dead appreciate more health), Blindness / Deafness, and Hold Person (you may not have a stun in your kit but Everfrost is an option!) (We’ll honestly be ditching a lot of spells between levels so feel free to take spells you prefer over what I suggest.)

You also get Gentle Repose innately as a Grave Cleric, as well as Ray of Enfeeblement. Usually I try to grab Misty Step for Flash, but Karthus usually takes Exhaust which Ray of Enfeeblement replicates quite nicely!

LEVEL 5 - CLERIC 4

Finally the first of many Ability Score Improvements. It’s not the most impressive but grab Resilient (Wisdom), because proficiency in Wisdom saving throws never hurt when you need a +1.

You can also prepare more spells but I was already picking up dud spells last level, so just enjoy your new Sacred Flame cantrip (yes it does Radiant damage but it’s a better representation of Karthus’ Q and is also arguably easier to hit than Toll the Dead), and the fact that you can cast Detect Thoughts once per Long Rest because of Githzerai Psionics.

(Artist unknown. Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 6 - CLERIC 5

5th level Clerics can Destroy Undead when they force them to turn, as long as they are of CR 1/2 or lower. Death claims both the weak and the strong, but you don’t have time to spend on the weak.

You also get third level spells, which where most of the fun damaging options are! Get rid of Hold Person for Spirit Guardians to recreate Karthus’ E, Life Transference to sacrifice your own life for others, Animate Dead to have the spirits of the isles join you in chorus, and Speak with Dead to... do exactly that.

You also get Revivify and Vampiric Touch as a Grave domain Cleric. Just because you praise death doesn’t mean you should let yourself or your allies die.

LEVEL 7 - CLERIC 6

Grave Cleric has a lot of abilities focused on making people not die, but it was kinda the only option I had to make Karthus. So take Sentinel at Death’s Door and be happy that you can negate critical hits within 30 feet of you, although you can only use this a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier.

You can also prepare another spell like Bestow Curse to ensure that those you deem worthy will meet death quickly. And you can now use your Channel Divinity twice per Short Rest! And you can use Harness Divine Power twice per Long Rest!

LEVEL 8 - CLERIC 7

7th level Clerics can prepare 4th level spells like Divination to see the true fate of everyone. You also learn Blight and Death Ward as a Grave Cleric, which means yes this subclass is finally paying off both with damage and with your passive!

LEVEL 9 - CLERIC 8

8th level Clerics get a lot more abilities than the average class: for a start your Turn Undead feature now destroys undead of CR 1 or lower. Secondly you can prepare another spell like Aura of Purity (ty Tasha’s) to protect you and your followers. (Don’t worry we’ll be replacing it soon.)

Thirdly Potent Spellcasting lets you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage of all your cantrips for a bit more AP. Speaking of which you also finally get an Ability Score Improvement to cap off said Wisdom modifier.

(Artist unknown. Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 10 - SORCERER 2

Back to Sorcerer now to finally get Karthus’ W, and if you’re wondering why I don’t call them by their ability names it’s because “Lay Waste”, “Wall of Pain”, “Defile”, and “Requiem” are some of the most generic ability names in all of League of Legends. Anyways second level Sorcerers get Font of Magic for Sorcery points equal to their Sorcerer level. Currently you can only use your Sorcery points to get more spell slots but they’ll be more useful very soon.

Speaking of useful: none of the spells at this level are! So we’re going to wait for...

LEVEL 11 - SORCERER 3

Third level Sorcerers get to choose their Metamagic options, becoming a true AP Carry by manipulating spells in ways no one else can. One of the key Metamagics we will be using in this build is Quickened Spell: normally this doesn’t provide you too much of a boost but thanks to your Grave domain Channel Divinity you can mark someone for death before delivering them onto death while their magic resistance is down! Other than that uhhh Heightened Spell will make it more likely for foes to fail against your more powerful Cleric spells.

Anyways second level spells! Like Warding Wind which is more protective, and... once again there isn’t much more we need.

LEVEL 12 - SORCERER 4

4th level Sorcerers get another Ability Score Increase and since we’re going to be lacking in Sorcery points take Metamagic Adept for 2 more Sorcery points, as well as the Empowered Spell metamagic (for more AP) and... I guess Careful Spell will be helpful when you call in a Requiem.

Not going to take a spell but let’s take a cantrip instead: take Control Flames I guess because we still dumped Charisma lmao.

LEVEL 13 - SORCERER 5

You tend to level your W last as Karthus, so grab Wall of Water which yes: is the entire reason we took Sorcerer levels. It slows people down and has the added benefit of making it harder for foes to attack you! But you can also take spells like Blink to phase between death, and Fly; to fly!

And to top it off if you have Tasha’s on your side you can use Magical Guidance to turn your Sorcery points into ability check rerolls!

(Artist unknown. Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 14 - CLERIC 9

9th level Clerics get 5th level spells like Insect Plague, if you wish a more slow and agonizing death on your foes, and Commune to speak with the spirits some more.

Additionally as a Grave Cleric you learn Antilife Shell to keep the living away from you, and Raise Dead to keep the dead living. (But not as undead.)

LEVEL 15 - CLERIC 10

10th level Clerics have devoted so much time to death that they are able to invoke it at a moment’s notice... Well, as long as they’re lucky. Divine Intervention gives you a random chance to call upon the gods to do whatever it was you asked. You have to roll a d100 and either roll equal to your Cleric level or lower, so it’s fairly unreliable but still powerful if it does activate!

You can also prepare another spell but I don’t want much from this level anymore, so instead we’ll talk about your new cantrip: I mean you may as well take Mending I guess because there’s not much else for you to take at this point.

LEVEL 16 - CLERIC 11

11th level Clerics get 6th level spells like Sunbeam (ty Tasha’s) to devastate entire rows of a choir, and Harm to bring them much, much closer to death. (It unfortunately can’t ever kill however.)

Additionally your Turn Undead Channel Divinity can now Destroy Undead of CR 2 or lower. "Silence, groundwalker."

LEVEL 17 - CLERIC 12

12th level Clerics get another Ability Score Improvement and you have a few options: more Dexterity means more AC and better Initiative, more Charisma means better Sorcerer abilities, the Tough feat will help you keep sturdy, and if you just want spirits to take the wheel take Lucky.

Regardless: take Word of Recall to recall back to base.

(Artwork by West Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 18 - CLERIC 13

13th level Clerics learn 7th level spells like Firestorm which will serve as your ultimate! You can’t hit everyone anywhere but you can certainly Lay Waste to the entire battlefield with your Requiem!

LEVEL 19 - CLERIC 14

14th level Clerics can prepare another spell like Divine Word, to distance yourself from the weak by slaying them for their weakness. You can also Destroy Undead of CR 3 or lower with your Channel Divinity.

LEVEL 20 - CLERIC 15

Our final level is the 15th level of Cleric for Sunburst, the best nuking spell you can get at this level thanks to Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything adding it to your spell list! "Listen and rejoice in death!"

FINAL BUILD

PROS

The Shadow Isles sing louder than any siren - Wow who would’ve guessed that a character designed to do a lot of spell damage would have powerful spells. You have many options at all levels to Lay Waste to your foes.

We are forever - Medium armor and a shield is still plenty enough to keep your squishy caster bits safe, and the Shield spell will keep them extra safe.

The faithful never fear the grave - Clerics inevitably become good support characters and Grave Domain puts a lot of focus on keeping allies from death as well as bringing enemies to it. Path to the Grave may be best used by yourself but that doesn’t mean your allies can’t find value in it, and Sentinel at Death’s Door is always useful to have in your back pocket to deal with a pesky Infinity Edge.

CONS

A tear of loss; a tear of joy - I mean let’s not beat around the bush: 5 levels in Sorcerer entirely for one fairly mediocre spell is... exactly that: mediocre. Metamagic has its uses (notably Quickened Spell) but when you only have 7 Sorcery points to throw around (5 + 2 from your Feat) they end up being a little redundant overall, especially in comparison to 9th level spells.

What trickery is life? - No Constitution plus 5 levels in a class with a d6 hit die means you have less than 100 health; oops. Sure Death Ward can keep you safe but nothing’s stopping the enemy from shooting you after casting Power Word Kill. There’s no real reason for you to go out of your way for 14 Intelligence so maybe Constitution would be better overall.

My pilgrimage begins - Your skill proficiencies are... how do you say... completely worthless? You won’t be beating the Wizard at Arcana nor will you be beating the Bard at Performance. Your high Wisdom makes your skills like Insight and Perception good but you’re still going to lose out to characters with proficiency.

But with enough time all will join the choir. Sing the song of the dead to keep your allies in the realm of the living; your enemies will accept the gifts you provide in due time. The eulogy of your party will be the undoing of all, as you herald an era of death. Or metal!

(Artwork by West Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #44: The Phantom of the Opera

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re starting with the Man in the Mirror, a.k.a. the Phantom of The Opera! The role of the phantom will tonight be played by a Phantom Rogue/Whispers Bard mix with some dramatic cantrips and plenty of psychic damage to keep him inside your mind.

You can check out the level-by-level breakdown below the cut, or the summary spreadsheet. Either way, enjoy the show.

Race and Background

He may be the Angel of Music, but he’s definitely not an Aasimar. I mean, probably? The DnD universe has a lot more sentient races than ours, you can get funky with it if you want; maybe a siren? But for canon’s sake, he’s clearly a Human, giving him +1 to all stats. He’s also a Hermit, but we’re going to change it up a bit from the usual. He lived alone, yes, but under and Opera House, so he’ll be proficient in Performance and Religion instead. He also might get a terrible secret of the multiverse if you want to talk to your DM about it. Why the multiverse always gives its secrets to dangerously unstable people, I don’t know. But maybe you do!

Stats

If you’re using the standard array like we are, put your highest score in Charisma; you’re a good enough singer to tutor professionals despite never being taught yourself, so that’s all raw talent. You were also able to build a concerning number of secret passages into an opera house without anyone noticing, so your Intelligence is probably pretty high as well. You’re clearly not powerfully build, but can handle yourself pretty well in a fight: all signs point to your Dexterity being next. Your Constitution and Strength are decent enough; I’d even consider them pretty high considering you’ve spent an indeterminable amount of time living in a sewer maze. Finally, dump Wisdom. The phrases “Mental Pollution” and “High Wisdom” do not go together.

Class Levels

1. Rogue 1: We’re starting off as a rogue, they get relevant proficiencies and lots of them, and you’ll need a lot to fuel all the expertise you’re getting. Specifically, you’re proficient in Dexterity and Intelligence saves and four rogue skills. Acrobatics and Stealth will help you worm your way through secret passages without getting caught. Your powers of Persuasion can convince people that you’re some kind of angel (though that might just be grooming), and when that falls through you always have Intimidation as well.

At first level, you double your proficiency in two skills thanks to your Expertise. We’ll start with your Performance and Stealth: you have the most beautiful voice in the world, and are weirdly good at creeping through old opera houses without creaking any floorboards. You can add more damage to your attacks with a Sneak Attack, and you know Thieves’ Cant, a secret language of rogues. Nobody understands what happens in operas anyway, so it’ll be easy to slip some hidden messages in.

As far as weapons go, dual-wielding daggers are probably your best bet as stand-ins for your claw hands. It will also use up your bonus action, but having a back-up attack is always useful.

2. Rogue 2: Vanishing from the scene becomes much easier with your Cunning Action, allowing you to dodge, disengage or hide as a bonus action. Disappearing in the nick of time is kind of your thing, and this will make it much easier.

3. Rogue 3: Third level rogues get a sneak attack boost as well as their archetype, and yours is the appropriately named Phantom archetype from Tasha’s Cauldron. When you take this archetype, you gain Wails from the Grave, meaning the dramatic music stings that accompany your attacks can actually do damage now. When you attack someone with your sneak attack, you can deal half your sneak attack dice in psychic damage to another creature nearby. You can use this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest. You also can hear Whispers of the Dead, giving you proficiency in one skill of your choice that you can swap out each short rest. Erik’s a multitalented man, but being proficient in every skill takes up way more ASIs than we have, so this is a happy medium.

4. Bard 1: Bard pull people under their sway with the power of music, and that’s literally your entire MO, so this is a no-brainer.  At first level, you get a free skill of your choice. Operas cover a lot of subjects, but I think History is the most consistent. Sure, it’s fictionalized history, but you’re fictional too, so it all works out.

First level bards gain Spellcasting using charisma as your casting stat, as well as some Bardic Inspiration dice, a couple D6 you can throw at people to encourage their best performances.

For spells, grab Prestidigitation and Minor Illusion for some stage magic, Charm Person and Unearthly Chorus to charm your way out of any situation, and Dissonant Whispers and Puppet to really worm your way into people’s minds.

5. Bard 2: You’re now a Jack of All Trades, adding half your proficiency to any check you’re not already proficient with. Seriously, Erik’s a stage magician, skilled architect, and a world class singer, all while being shunned by polite society. How does he do it?

You also learn a Song of Rest, letting you ease your party’s worries during short rests with your skillful performance. I’d think hearing the phantom sing would put someone even more on edge, but that’s why I’m not a dnd character.

For your spell, grab Feather Fall. It’s great for when you need to jump off a balcony to escape, or if you forget about the time limit on a late-game feature.

6. Bard 3: Being a bard also gives you some Expertise, this time enhance your Persuasion and Intimidation to perfect your “people skills”. You also graduate from the College of Whispers at this level, giving you a couple extra features as well. 

Psychic Blades lets you burn through inspiration dice to add 2d6 Psychic Damage to your attack once per round. You also learn Words of Terror, so if you talk to someone for a while you can try and make them afraid of you or someone else for up to an hour. That can be done once per short rest.

Grab Suggestion to politely remind people why they always do all you ask of them.

7. Rogue 4: Use your first ASI to increase your dexterity for more AC and more stabbage.

8. Rogue 5: Your sneak attack is boosted to 3d6, and you gain an Uncanny Dodge, letting you react to avoid half the damage from an attack. Sometimes your flair for the dramatic means escapes aren’t quite as easy as they should be. This will help you avoid dying while still being the center of attention.

9. Rogue 6: Your third round of expertise will help you remember more about the subjects of operas you’ve watched, doubling your proficiency in History and Religion. 

10. Rogue 7: Seventh level rogues get another sneak attack bonus, and they learn about Evasion, meaning dexterity based attacks deal a lot less damage to you. I don’t know exactly what kind of save a falling chandelier requires, but dexterity is a pretty safe bet.

11. Rogue 8: For your next ASI, we’re taking the Dual Wielder feat. This gives you a bit of extra AC and you can trade up for larger claws for some extra damage. If you really want to powergame though, you could switch this out for the mobile feat instead, as we’ll be getting a feature later on that makes ignoring difficult terrain very useful.

12. Rogue 9: Ninth level rogues get another sneak attack bonus, bringing you up to 5d6. Ninth level phantoms learn how to make Tokens of the Departed. You can react when a creature dies within 30′ of you to turn part of their soul into a random trinket from the trinket table. While you have at least one trinket on your person, you have advantage on death and constitution saves. You can only keep a small number on you, and can destroy a trinket to ask the dead one question. You can also destroy a trinket to use Wails from the Grave for free. Admittedly this has very little to do with being the phantom of the opera, but the advantage is really nice if you’re trying to keep someone charmed while in combat, and we’ll get a better use for the trinkets later.

13. Bard 4: Back in bardsville, you’ve got another ASI waiting for you. Boost your Charisma for more powerful spells and more uses of your Psychic Blades and inspiration.

For spells, pick up Vicious Mockery for even more psychic damage, and Blindness/Deafness to make tracking you down even harder via a quick blast of organ playing.

14. Bard 5: With our last level in bard, your inspiration dice increase to a d8, and your psychic blades now add 3d6 damage to attacks. You also become a Font of Inspiration, regaining inspiration uses on short rests rather than long ones.

For your last spell, grab Fear. This hardly should even count as magic for you, you just have that kind of effect on people.

15. Rogue 10: Switching back to rogue, you get one more ASI, which we’re putting into Dexterity. You hit harder and are harder to hit, what’s not to love?

16. Rogue 11: Your sneak attack goes up again, and you now have Reliable Talent. This means any skill check you make that you’re proficient in will always have a roll of at least 10. Basically, whatever you’re good at, you’re really good. And you’re good at whatever you need to be, which is great for you.

17. Rogue 12: With your last ASI, we’re maxing your Charisma. Maximizing dexterity would be nice, but we only have so much space and the extra inspiration is too useful to pass up. Don’t worry though, we’ll get something to guarantee our attacks hit in two levels.

18. Rogue 13: You know the drill: sneak attack goes up to 7d6, and you get your last Phantom ability. Ghost Walk lets you turn into, let’s say a “specter”, for ten minutes as a bonus action. You gain 10′ of flying speed and can hover in midair, attacks against you are made with disadvantage, and you can move through objects as difficult terrain. If you stay inside an object at the end of your turn though, you take 1d10 force damage. Honestly though, that’s a lot less damage than anything else that’s happening at 18th level. Why would you stay outside? There’s fighters out there. You can use this feature once per long rest, or by burning a soul trinket for this feature. I know that all the ghostly things you do in the musical are thanks to secret passages in your opera house, but most adventures don’t take place in your opera house. This is a good way to still dramatically pop out of mirrors without needing several years of prep time and a zoning permit.

One important thing to note: There’s no rules regarding what happens if you become tangible inside a wall, so try not to find out.

19. Rogue 14: You now gain a Blindsense, making you aware of hidden creatures within 10′ of you as long as you can hear. This combined with Ghost Walk means you’re now the master of the ambush. Why bother being in a fight when you can just stick your hands out of the floorboards and remove someone’s ankles? This gives you advantage on your attack because your opponent can’t see you, and makes you immune to any counterattacks unless they feel like tearing up the entire dungeon around them.

20. Rogue 15: With your capstone level, your sneak attack becomes an extra 8d6, and your fraying sanity becomes so obtuse it goes right back around to being good. Your Slippery Mind gives you proficiency in wisdom saves, making you harder to charm and fool with illusions.

Pros: A majority of your saves are pretty good, with only strength really being a weakness thanks to your features covering your constitution and wisdom saves. The only thing with a wider range than your save proficiencies is your skill proficiencies: anything you’re good at, you’re really good at. Anything you’re not good at, you’re still pretty good at. And Whispers of the Grave can even give you tool proficiencies. Your party needs a boat captain? You’ve watched Riders to the Sea once, it’ll probably be fine. Finally, specializing in one type of damage is usually a bad idea. Unless it’s psychic damage, in which case it’s generally a great idea. Very few creatures resist or are immune to it, and it’s pretty easy to argue that it’s magical damage.

Cons: Outside of Wails from the Grave and one or two bard spells, you don’t have many ranged attacks. Also, the psychic damage effects from your Psychic Blades are a significant part of your damage early on, and they eat into your inspiration stores very quickly until you get Font of Inspiration. Finally, we weren’t able to pick up War Caster in this build, so trying to dual wield your claws and cast spells at the same time might be a bit cumbersome, depending on your DM.

Next up: ...Sorry, I got distracted. What were we talking about?

[tigerkirby215]

5e LeBlanc, the Deceiver build (League of Legends)

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

Fuck the Rose fuck the Rose fuck the Rose fuck the Rose fuck the Rose fuck the Rose fuck the Rose fuck the Rose fuck the Rose fuck the Rose...

My Rell main side is screaming “Fuck the Rose” on repeat but someone on r/WhatWouldYouBuild made a thread about LeBlanc and I’m actually pretty proud of the response I gave them. It was a fun build to theorycraft and I want to share my work, even if I have no real interest in LeBlanc as a champion. Though granted while I was writing this build LeBlanc was revealed in Legends of Runeterra, which is interesting in its own right.

But maybe I’m lying to you? Maybe I’m actually a Mastery 7 LeBlanc one-trick who’s going to min-max the shit out of this build? I mean probably not, as I have stated several times that I main both Kayn and Yuumi. But I might be?

GOALS

It's all smoke and mirrors - One midlaner is already one too many. Two midlaners? Now that’s just crazy talk!

Classic misdirection - How can you hit an enemy when you don’t even know where they are? If you’re everywhere at once you can be sure that no one will stop you.

Watch closely - If you pull back the curtain you can make all sorts of magic tricks. Sometimes you can even do them twice!

RACE

Want some innate magic to spy on people and be everywhere at once? Well a good man named Van Richten may have exactly what you need from the land of Ravenloft. There’s plenty of spooky UA going around and the Hexblood can do more than just parlor tricks! As a Hexblood you get a +2 to an ability score of your choice (increase your Charisma to manipulate people) and +1 to another ability score (Dexterity will help you dodge skill shots while wearing fine clothes.) You can also choose your size (you’re a Medium “human” duh) and learn a language of your choice. (Pick your fancy.)

As a Hexblood you get Darkvision of 60 feet and Fey Resilience so the charmer can’t be charmed. You also get both Hex and Disguise Self added to your spell list, and can cast each one of these spells once for free thanks to Hex Magic.

But of course what we’re really here for it the ability to give people a Magic Token to spy on them. As an action you can create a Magic Token (it says you have to take your teeth out but personally I’d reflavor it as giving them a black rose.) If another creature is holding the token you can use an action to send a telepathic message to the creature, as long as you’re on the same plane of existence and are within 10 miles of it. The message can contain up to twenty-five words. (So it’s basically Sending.)

In addition, while you are within 10 miles of the token, you can use an action to enter a trance for 1 minute, during which you can see and hear from the token as if you were located where it is. While you are using your senses at the token’s location, you are blinded and deafened in regard to your own surroundings. Afterward, the token is harmlessly destroyed. You can only make one token per long rest. It’s not clear if the old token disappears when you make a new one so discuss that with your DM.

IF HEXBLOOD ISN’T AN OPTION: A Changeling would also work well for LeBlanc, and give you more trickery and utility with the ability to Disguise Self at will. If all else fails a Variant Human with either the Eldritch Adept (take Mask of Many Faces as your Eldritch Invocation) or Fey Touched feat also works.

ABILITY SCORES

15; CHARISMA - To lie and deceive you need a face that anyone could trust. Perhaps many faces?

14; WISDOM - To know how to manipulate people you need to understand them first. Wouldn’t want anyone lying to you, now.

13; DEXTERITY - Your outfit isn’t exactly heavy armor. (But if you want you can wear Medium armor!)

12; INTELLIGENCE - You’re technically ancient. Knowing how to control a nation in secret takes some tactics.

10; CONSTITUTION - You’re a squishy mid-lane mage.

8; STRENGTH - You’re a squishy mid-lane mage.

Feel free to swap Wisdom and Constitution if you want more health but worse roleplay.

BACKGROUND

Always remember that no power is built without someone pulling the strings. The Courtier background from the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide gives you proficiency in Persuasion but since we can get Insight from elsehwere take Deception proficiency instead. You also get proficiency with two languages to deceive anyone you please.

Your background feature Court Functionary makes it easy for your way to weave yourself into the system. The background flat out says “You know who the movers and shakers are, whom to go to for the favors you seek, and what the current intrigues of interest in the group are.” Which is pretty much perfect for LeBlanc.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - FIGHTER 1

Here’s a shocker eh? Put simply Constitution saving throws are nice. So is proficiency in Insight (told you we’d be getting it elsewhere) and Acrobatics.

Fighters of course get a Fighting Style but believe it or not LeBlanc isn’t going to be swinging a sword around much, so grab Defense to be just a little sturdier. While your early levels may be weak you do at least have Second Wind for a bit of lane sustain.

LEVEL 2 - BARD 1

Time for the real meat and potatoes; masters of Charisma it’s time for Bard! Bards get proficiency in a skill of their choice at level 1 and you know what would probably be useful for a mage? Arcana proficiency.

You also get proficiency with a musical instrument to cast your spells: pick your fancy and see if your DM will let you use a staff instead.

You can also help those who are important to you with Bardic Inspiration, letting you give your allies a d6 to add to an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. Manipulate important people from the shadows.

But of course the main appeal of the Bard class is access to Spellcasting. For your cantrips Friends is good to make friends you don’t mind losing, and Vicious Mockery will let you whisper dark secrets to weaken your foes. For leveled spells Detect Magic will help you know if there’s any secrets others are keeping from you, Dissonant Whispers will let your enemies know that you know their deepest fears, Sleep will help you get away, and Illusionary Script is a fun non-combat spell I get to recommend since LeBlanc isn’t all about fighting.

LEVEL 3 - BARD 2

Second level Bards get Jack of All Trades, letting them do a little bit of everything. They also get Song of Rest to pretend to help during a Short Rest, giving allies an extra d6 to heal with.

You can also learn another spell from the Bard list like Identify to know what you’re getting into.

LEVEL 4 - BARD 3

Third level Bards get to choose their Bardic College, and there are whispers in Noxus about an organization that’s trying to overthrow the nation from the shadows. That organization forming their very own College of Whispers! As a Whispers Bard you can instill Words of Terror into someone. If you speak to a humanoid alone for at least 1 minute, you can force them to make a Wisdom saving throw at the end of the conversation. If they fail they’re frightened of you or another creature of your choice for 1 hour, unless it is attacked or damaged, or until it witnesses its allies being attacked or damaged. If the target succeeds on its saving throw, the target has no hint that you tried to frighten it, and you can only use this feature once per short or long rest.

You can also instead form your Bardic Inspiration into Psychic Blades. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack you can spend a Bardic Inspiration die to deal 2d6 extra Psychic Damage. I’d recommend carrying a Rapier around to spike anyone who gets close to you with Psychic Damage.

You also get Expertise in two of your skills, and naturally we’ll become masters of Persuasion and Deception. And to top it of you can learn a second level spell like Mirror Image, which was added to the Bard spell list thanks to Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything!

LEVEL 5 - BARD 4

4th level Bards get the first Ability Score Improvement of the build: Fey Touched will let you increase your Charisma by 1 and also gives you the Misty Step spell and a first level spell from the Enchantment or Divination school. Command will let you further force your foes to do as you please. You can cast each of these spells once for free per Long Rest, and they’re added to your spell list to cast with spell slots!

Speaking of spells you can one more leveled spell, and one more cantrip! Message will let you stick to team chat (and will also let you whisper to those who aren’t your teammates), and Suggestion will let you manipulate foes in the middle of battle!

LEVEL 6 - BARD 5

5th level Bards see their Bardic Inspiration increase to a d8, which also increases your Psychic Blades to 3d6. That’s good because Font of Inspiration makes your Bardic Inspiration come back on a Short Rest, instead of a Long Rest!

You can also learn a third level spell but unfortunately we’re still chained to second level, taking Hold Person for LeBlanc’s like Ethereal Chains.

(Artwork made for Legends of Runeterra by Riot Games.)

LEVEL 7 - FIGHTER 2

Back to Fighterman to get the abilities we actually want: Action Surge will let you Mimic a spell and cast twice in a round. Be sure to talk to your DM if they will allow Action Surge to allow two leveled spells to be cast in a turn with Action Surge.

LEVEL 8 - FIGHTER 3

Third level Fighters get to choose their Martial Archetype and man wouldn’t it be cool if there was a Fighter that could create illusions of themselves and teleport to them? The Echo Knight from Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount enables a lot of weird builds, doesn’t it? Regardless there’s a bunch of bullet points to know about your illusions:

Your illusion has AC 14 + your proficiency bonus, 1 hit point, and immunity to all conditions. If it has to make a saving throw, it uses your saving throw bonus for the roll.

On your turn, you can command the illusion to move up to 30 feet in any direction (no action required). If your illusion is ever more than 30 feet from you at the end of your turn, it is destroyed.

As a bonus action, you can teleport, magically swapping places with your illusion at a cost of 15 feet of your movement, regardless of the distance between the two of you.

When you take the Attack action on your turn, any attack you make with that action can originate from your space or the illusion’s space. You make this choice for each attack.

When a creature that you can see within 5 feet of your illusion moves at least 5 feet away from it, you can use your reaction to make an opportunity attack against that creature as if you were in the illusion’s space.

Tl;dr you can swap places with your illusion, and you can use it to bonk but not to cast spells. You can also Unleash Incarnation for an extra attack from your illusion’s position a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier, but if you can’t tell we won’t be using that much.

LEVEL 9 - WARLOCK 1

What if I told you there was a secret organization forcing me to put Warlock levels in all my builds? It would be a lie, but I fooled you for a moment didn’t I? Regardless Warlocks are unique because they get to choose their patron at level 1, and man wouldn’t it be weird if the being of manipulation and darkness was influenced by a god? The Celestial patron gets two Bonus Cantrips at level 1: Sacred Flame and Light, just in case you need to pretend that you’re the good guy.

You also get a pool of Healing Light die equal to 1 plus your Warlock Level. You can use a Bonus Action to expend a number of those die equal to your Charisma modifier (which FYI basically means that you can use all the die however you please) on a creature you can see within 60 feet. (FYI: you can see yourself.) Each die is a d6, and the creature gets to heal for whatever you roll on said d6s.

But what we’re really here for is Pact Magic. You learn two cantrips from the Bard list: Booming Blade will let you put a little more thunder into your weapon if you choose to try to make use of Psychic Blades, and Eldritch Blast is Eldritch Blast which will let you blast while you eldritch.

The main reason for the Celestial Patron is Guiding Bolt, which will serve as Sigil of Malice. You can also grab Charm Person to make friends that you want to keep.

LEVEL 10 - WARLOCK 2

Second level Warlocks get Eldritch Invocations and Agonizing Blast will let you agonize your blasts to be extra agonizing. I mean seriously you should’ve expected this. Beyond that Eldritch Mind will help you keep up your rouse in the heat of battle, but feel free to pick any other invocation that you fancy.

You do learn another spell and I mean... Comprehend Languages might be helpful to manipulate Shurimans?

(Artwork by Choe HeonHwa. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 11 - BARD 6

Hey how about we get that ability to be whoever we want? When a humanoid dies within 30 feet of a Whispers Bard they can use Mantle of Whispers to capture their shadow and use it as a disguise. You can use your action to assume the disguise, which lasts for 1 hour. While you’re disguised, you know all information that the humanoid would freely share with a casual acquaintance. You also have a +5 to Deception checks while in the disguise. You can only capture one disguise per short rest, and all your disguises disappear after a long rest.

You can also learn another third level spell like Enemies Abound, instilling paranoia in a target so they can’t tell friend from foe. And when you think everyone’s an enemy, who do you fight?

Oh and you get Countercharm to help those around you against the fear of the Black Rose. Can’t have your puppets distracted.

LEVEL 12 - BARD 7

7th level Bards can learn 4th level spells like Dimension Door to be everywhere and nowhere at once.

LEVEL 13 - BARD 8

8th level Bards get another Ability Score Improvement and yeah we already got a half feat, but how about another one? The Actor feat will help you fool anyone who doubts you.

You can also learn another 4th level spell like Confusion, to leave a whole room guessing as to where you’re hiding.

(Artwork by Sangsoo Jeong. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 14 - BARD 9

9th level Bards see their Song of Rest increase to a d8 so they can keep young and beautiful. You can also now learn 5th level spells like Mislead for a double that acts while you’re nowhere to be seen.

LEVEL 15 - BARD 10

10th level Bards see their Bardic Inspiration increase to a d10, which also increases the damage of Psychic Blades to 5d6. They also get Expertise in two skills like Arcana and Insight, to know all about people and the magic they might posses.

But of course the main appeal of the Bard class is their Magical Secrets... shame there honestly aren’t that many I particularly want. Hold Monster will be a good way to chain up any monster champion that Riot might be planning to release, and Destructive Wave can cause quite the distortion in the area you’re at before you teleport away.

You can also learn another cantrip like Prestidigitation, for the more simple magics you’ve been lacking until now.

LEVEL 16 - BARD 11

11th level Bards can learn 6th level spells like Programmed Illusion for a clone that walks like you walk, talks like you talk, and may or may not disintegrate into chalk.

LEVEL 17 - BARD 12

12th level Bards get another Ability Score Improvement. Time to max out that Charisma and truly get into people’s heads. Telepathic lets you increase your Charisma by 1 and also speak telepathically, so you can keep in team chat at all times. But most importantly you learn the Detect Thoughts spell, and can cast it once without a spell slot.

You don’t get any Bard spells but feel free to replace Message with something like Mage Hand, seeing as you basically have Message permanently on.

(Artwork by Sperasoft Studios. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 18 - BARD 13

13th level Bards can keep the greatest illusion up: the one that Song of Rest being a d10 somehow makes the ability more useful.

You can at least learn 7th level spells, and to keep the Grand General off your tail Symbol is the perfect trap. The spell has a bunch of deadly effects that you can set up so I recommend reading the full spell over to see what it does.

LEVEL 19 - BARD 14

14th level Whispers Bards know all your secrets. As an action, you whisper a phrase of Shadow Lore that only one creature of your choice within 30 feet of you can hear. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw, though it automatically succeeds if it doesn’t share a language with you or if it can’t hear you. On a successful saving throw, your whisper sounds like unintelligible mumbling and has no effect.

On a failed saving throw however the target is “charmed” by you for the next 8 hours or until you or your allies perform an aggressive action against it. It interprets the whispers as a description of its most mortifying secret; while you gain no knowledge of this secret, the target is convinced you know it. The “charmed” creature obeys your commands for fear that you will reveal its secret. It won’t risk its life for you or fight for you, unless it was already inclined to do so. They will grant you favors and gifts as if you were a close friend.

When the effect ends, the creature has no understanding of why it held you in such fear. You can only use this feature once per Long Rest.

You also get two more Magical Secrets, but honestly I want spells from the Bard list more. So take Etherealness and Forcecage for tricks to keep anyone at bay and enter anywhere you please. But of course feel free to take spells you personally enjoy, as I don’t control you. Yet~

LEVEL 20 - BARD 15

15th level Bards see their Bardic Inspiration increase to their max of a d12, which also means that your Psychic Blades feature increases to 8d6.

You can also learn an 8th level spell, and there’s a lot of great 8th level spells on the Bard list. But Antipathy / Sympathy (thanks Tasha’s!) is a great way to get who you want where you want them. Pick a creature type: if you make them apathetic, they will feel an intense desire to leave if they get close. Alternatively if they’re sympathetic they’ll want to come stay. This effect lasts 10 days, so it can be a great way to get all the right people in the right place 

FINAL BUILD

PROS

For my next trick I'll make their life bar disappear - Even if a good majority of your spells are based off tricks and deception you’re still extremely deadly to face. You have nearly full caster levels which means many deadly tricks to cut through entire armies.

For a moment I thought I'd broken a sweat - So it turns out that a few levels in Fighter go a long way. Medium Armor is more than enough to keep yourself safe, and in combination with the Defense fighting style and a shield you’re actually surprisingly tough to hit. Add in all the mobility provided by both your magic and your echoes and you can be out of sight before they even have a chance to attack you.

Would I lie? - You are a master of getting people to do what you want. +17 to Persuasion and Deception, tons of spells to make lying easier, and of course your Whispers Bard and Hexblood features to turn anyone into a new set of eyes and ears

CONS

Lying is, like, ninety five percent of what I do - A few too many feats means you’ve got pretty much nothing in any stat other than Charisma. A pretty face and Jack of All Trades only gets you so far, and it would probably be good if you could actually back up some of the things that you’re saying.

Patience, summoner - Speaking of stats: dumping Constitution is never good, and while it’s not necessarily “dumped” it’s still rather low. You’ll likely have around 100 health by level 20 which isn’t much for Power Word Kill. Just saying a Zhonya's Hourglass (or preferably an Amulet of Health) would definitely be a good pickup.

Right where I want them - Whispers Bard has some great abilities but the level 3 ability expects you to hit people with a weapon, which you really aren’t good at. I could suggest alternatives like getting the Shillelagh cantrip (either as a Bard Magical Secret or from the Warlock class by taking an extra Warlock level and the Pact of the Tome) but truthfully I’d much rather play LeBlanc as either a Eloquence or Lore Bard. Hell possibly even a Glamour Bard if you swing that way. Whispers Bards are great at the political side of things but if you want a more combative midlaner a different Bard might be better.

But the one pulling the strings should ideally never be in the fight to begin with. Leave your enemies either guessing or dead. Manipulate a nation and prepare them all for the horrors that would destroy them if they knew the truth. At least two of which you caused in some way: look, nobody’s perfect.

(Artwork by Francis Tneh and West Studios. Made for Riot Games.)