#character builds

[nickmarini]

Hi there!

First of all, I just wanted to say thanks for being an amazing D&D players and a very kind and open person t the many fans like myself who saw you for the first time in Downfall and were amazed. I wish I got to play with people like you when I play and DM.

I was wondering about something. Ayden is a multi classing masterpiece and I wanted to know if you have any tricks for building a solid multi class that is both interesting and has a fair amount of powerful abilities. Every time I have tried my characters end up not good at anything or really good at a single thing thats not relevant.

Okay! That’s all! Thanks for being really cool and I hope you have a great day!

Well firstly thank you. I’m def gonna deep dive Ayden, but for multi-classing in general I will sort of talk my philosophy. When multi classing it is important to start with what you are hoping to achieve. I personally like multiclasses because I think it tells the story of a character. Mechanically though there’s a few things to think about. Is the character strictly martial a mix or a primary spell caster? If you’re a primary spell caster then if you’re heavily multiclassing you are likely trading away access to 9th level spells at minimum or simply grabbing something like spell points or a warlock pact. With Ayden being alongside the Archheart and Matron I felt like we had pretty decent 9th level spell access so I wasn’t too worried on that front and instead could focus on being as good of a support character as I could manage. A full caster multiclass will still get 9th level spells slots so your spells that scale based on level are still going to be powerful.

Martial or mixed spell casters multiclass builds are not as limited by the spell access issues full casters encounter but do encounter the same feat/ability score issues.

In terms of overall philosophy, first level dips can give a character an unusual saving throw proficiency or skills that might compliment a build. I look for abilities that compliment each other so for Ayden having guiding bolt (proficiency times a day from druid) and commanding rally (proficiency times a day from knight of the crows feat) let him shoot a bolt and then have someone follow up with a free attack with advantage 6 times a day. Look for combos that might take 2 separate 1 class builds working together to achieve, that you might be able to do pull off as a single character. Also coming from 3.5 I am a firm believer in feats. Feats allow you to customize your character in unique ways that can really shine when multiclassing.

And finally have fun! I am a huge nerd and enjoy pouring over books trying to find interesting combos or figure out how to make an idea I have work better, but to be honest few campaigns go from 1-20 so if you wanna play around with multi classes just do it!

[astarion-appreciation-station]

So I've played D&D in some form for 20 years. Started in college, met my husband over it, still play it today. I've seen a lot of tips and tricks over the years.

One trick I like while playing a necromancer is Summon Undead.

This is different than the usual animate dead because you can choose a specific type of undead to summon. So here's what you can do!

1) Summon a Putrid Undead. Among the other usual undead traits it has this:

Okay great, it poisons enemies that's good

*BUT WAIT THERES MORE!*

2) Poison an enemy round one. On the undead's turn attack with this:

3) So now you have a chance to paralyze a target and keep it paralysed as long as it fails saves. Combine this with ways to lower the chance of a failure (I personally used this with an eloquence bard / Unsettling Words - basically a use of Bardic Inspiration that subtracts the roll from a creatures next save) and you have an almost permenantly stunned enemy.

That's great!

...

So how does this relate to BG3?

Well, imagine my surprise when I first played to see that Cazador had Putrid Zombies with a poison aura that paralyzed on hit. I almost wiped because of that.

But you know what? I wasn't even mad, because I recognized the same trick I had used in a past game!

... Reluctantly, I had to give Caz mad props for that. He still died horribly for hurting my vampire boyfriend but for a moment, I respected his game.

From one necromancer to another.

[dicebound]

Striker D&D 5e Build

My Stolas post is making the rounds again, so I thought I'd build Striker for funsies. 1. Lineage - Tiefling (Fierna) Being an imp, Tiefling is an obvious choice for Striker. What sub-lineage you choose varies on what class you end up picking for him. Zariel or Standard Tiefling is the most fitting in my eyes, followed by Fierna Tiefling for the charm and suggestion angles. If you wanted to play up the rattlesnake aspect of Striker's character, you could also go with Yuan-ti.

2. Background - Urban Bounty Hunter So here's the thing, we don't know much about where Striker comes from and why he's the way he is. He seems to be from the Wrath Ring, given his cowboy theming, and has a strong dislike of Nobles. He also takes jobs from just about anyone to do just about anything. I'd say Criminal/Spy, Urban Bounty Hunter or Outlander are your primary thematic options for him given what information we have at this time. I could also see Faction Agent with a specific tie to the Zhentarim in a Forgotten Realms game.

3. Class - Vengeance Paladin So Class is fun, as Striker can do a little bit of everything. He's a highly capable contract killer with a charismatic flair. He fights with guns and whips, rides hell steeds with ease, and even plays the guitar. He also seems to struggle to keep his cool under pressure as of his second and third outings. Because Striker has such a wide array of talents, he could realistically be many classes. Bard, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Paladin or Warlock all fit him to one degree or another. I feel stronger about the Martial Classes than I do the spellcasting ones, given we haven't really seen Striker use magic. SO let's break it down. A) Bard Striker is sexy and charming and Bard is the class most known for it's Charisma shenanigans. Their skill monkey nature fits Striker's wide range of capabilities. However, Striker isn't much of a spellcaster and no Bard subclass currently enhances ranged combat. If you want to go this route, go College of Whispers or College of Valor. B) Fighter If your DM allows Guns and Critical Role content from DDB, then Gunslinger Fighter is an easy answer. You really couldn't go wrong with it. If not, Arcane Archer or Battle Master Fighter could also do the trick. Arcane Archer more for it's focus on flashy ranged attacks and Battle Master for being just fucking good. Also Chevalier may be good to represent his ropin' and riding.

C) Ranger So Cowboys just *are* Rangers. They spend time out in nature alongside trusty steeds and stocks of steer. That being said, it's not a popular class in 5e and only Hunter really fits Striker as a character. I also don't know if I'd represent Striker as especially Wise, given his demeanor. D) Rogue He's a criminal who takes jobs with the mafia and assassination contracts against nobles, he's got Rogue energy for sure. Skill monkey also fits well with his wide range of talents. Assassin is a given but also consider Swashbuckler and Scout as subclass options. Swashbuckler for it's Charisma focus and stylin' on the enemy and Scout for it's ranger, outdoorsy flavor. You really can't go wrong with Rogue. E) Paladin This might seem way off base, but I think Paladin has some great potential to represent Striker really well. Charisma based martial class with limited holy power (angelic weapons anyone?). While we don't know the full scope of it, Striker seems to have an ideology that he's intent on carrying out and holds against others. Oath of Conquest, Oath of Vengeance, or Oathbreaker are the stand-outs to me. My only grip is Smite doesn't work on Ranged attacks (though One D&D may fix that) Conquest's battlefield control really fits the fantasy of fighting and winning against multiple people at once, while Vengeance seems to fit his anti-noble ideology.

F) Warlock Finally, we need to pay some lip service to Warlock. Striker is a demon, he usually works for a greater evil (Crimson or Stella for example), and Hexblade may be too good to pass up. Also hey, Eldritch Smite is a thing. I don't see Striker being anything other than Pact of the Blade for this though and He hasn't been shown doing any real spellcasting. It's one of the weaker options in terms of accuracy to the character.

For my purposes, I'm gonna go with Vengeance Paladin but really Assassin Rogue, Hunter Ranger, and Gunslinger Fighter are all excellent options.

4. Stats With +2 Dexterity and +1 Charisma from Tiefling (Origins) and using point buy I would distribute his stats as follows: Str - 14 Dex - 16 Con - 12 Int - 10 Wis - 10 Cha - 14 If not for the Strength requirement of Paladin (minimum 13) I may not have it so high. You could variably give him higher Intelligence or Wisdom but Striker has some butt monkey tendencies after his first outing that make me happy with how I've spread his stats. Alternatively, you swap his Dex and Charisma scores around as well.

5. Skills Skills that make sense for Striker are Athletics, Deception, Intimidation, Persuasion, Stealth, Animal Handling, Survival and Perception. You could also grab Performance for funsies. For my build, I grabbed Athletics and Intimidation from Paladin and Persuasion and Deception from Urban Bounty Hunter.

He also gets some tool proficencies from his background so I grabbed Thieves Tools and a Lute (sweet victory!).

6. Spells In my build, he's still a partial spellcaster. Most of his spell slots will go to Smite, but let's take a look anyway. Can't go wrong with the Smite Spells, Bane or Bless, and Heroism or Divine Favor could all be great. He debuffs his enemies or buffs himself and hits you where it hurts. Find Steed/Find Greater Steed seems like a must once you reach high enough level to take it.

7. Feats (Optional) - Skilled (Survival, Animal Handling, Perception) Most people use feats and feats at first level, but they're technically optional. That being said you have a lot of good options. Infernal Constitution from Tiefling could be nice to make Striker just hardier (he takes a lot of punishment in the show). Dual Wielder, Crossbow Expert/Gunner and Sharpshooter/Firearms Specialist are no brainers for a ranged focus character like Striker (varies if you use guns or not). Skilled / Skill Expert to show just how much more talented he is than you. Alert, Mobile, Tough, and War Caster are all easy choices with no real downsides. Mounted Combatant could be fun if you want to focus more on the ropin' and ridin' aspect of Striker's character.

[silvernyxchariot]

I'm Glad You Exclaimed, Dear Netizen.

Builds and Thoughts Below

¹ Kaveh

Kaveh is my DPS for the team. Yes, I play favorites. You can tell Alhaitham; I'm sure he wouldn't care. I'm kidding, I love you too, Alhaitham.

He's always a WIP.

Bloom damage leaning, but I'm collecting a myriad of artifacts and weapons just for the sake of giving him a versatile wardrobe. Flower of Paradise Lost, Gladiator's Finale, Deepwood, and Guilded artifact sets all work for him. Depends on what you need. Some people on HoyoLab have used a Vermillion Hereafter and Nobelesse sets, too.

Still needs to be triple crowned because... ✨️resources.✨️ #/ResinlessBehavior #/MoralessBehavior

² Xingqiu

I thought I was insane for giving Xingqiu the Deepwood Forest set. But the Vermillion Hereafter set player proved me wrong.

He is now dedicated to Dendro.

Originally, he was going to have his standard set, Emblem of Severed Fate, but it dawned on me that "Deepwood needs to be in the team, but it doesn't need to be on a Dendro character.

He wields Sapwood Blade for the ER and EM boost.

³ Kuki, Shinobu

Shinobu. My beloved. The reason this team doesn't get SLAPPED or blow itself up from Dendro cores.

As I've said before, Shinobu's artifacts still need to be leveled up.

Before Xingqiu, Shinobu was going to wield the Deepwood set because, you know, "hyperbloom" means "Electro MUST be on the team." But then I wanted to build Thoma for burgeon, so Shinobu would be kicked from the team, and I would lose my Deepwood set.

This format makes her more flexible for other team comps.

FoPL also works... So says game8.

⁴ Al Haitham

There's nothing special about Alhaitham's build... Maybe replacing an ATK% sands for an ER sands, but he still has a Dendro dmg goblet and Crit dmg circlet.

I chose an ER sands because I wanted him to be the subDPS. He's a burst bot. He uses his skill and burst to spread Dendro, via running around, dodging, and attacking. Something the Zhongli shielders seem to not know how to do apparently./j

I also have LoFI but I gave it to my Ayato.

Disclaimer: As of Aug. In 2023, there are 66 million Genshin players with active accounts. Someone out there probably has the ultimate team for Kavetham/Haikaveh (whichever you prefer), and character builds, but I am sadly not the one. 😔 With that being said, I don't gatekeep. 😤 I encourage all my fellows to continue building characters and devising stratagems that fit their wants and needs, irregardless of the backlash they may get from meta-players.

[17kay83]

I loved this event!!

I love Kirara’s outfit, that outfit is the reason I’ve decided to build her. My builds are probably absolute shit. Idk what I’m doin’. Send help. Seriously, send help.

I like how they added other characters at the end, like Jean, Collei, and Klee!! Seeing all of the characters we don’t often get to see is great! I think they should have brought Yoimiya into the event tho. She’d be great! Think about her with the aranara!

[gorbalsvampire]

On Building Characters

I generally hold two things in my mind when I'm putting a character together at the dots-on-sheets level. Neither is the "quick and dirty" work-your-way-around-the-sheet process in the Player's Guide, where you decide if you're a Specialist or a generalist or a Jack of All Trades and just put dots in skills. I think that's really helpful for explaining and introducing how character creation works, but it doesn't go all in on the build to the extent that I like.

I try to walk the line between having a tuned, capable character with healthy dice pools in things that will be useful (key Discipline powers and hunting rolls for their Predator Type as a priority, survivability pools like social awareness, difficulty to surprise, and at least one decent combat roll as secondary concerns), and having a concept that makes sense as someone who was a person before they were a vampire and isn't just dots in the optimal places.

To understand my approach it helps to be familiar with the Stormwind Fallacy - the claim that "good roleplaying" is antithetical to "optimising character". It's nonsense, as Tempest Stormwind elegantly proved. Roleplaying is entirely a soft skill: one can play a finely tuned and powerful character to the hilt and still make in-character decisions that have entertaining, dramatic, difficult consequences.

There is a tension between optimisation and verisimilitude, though: a character who's been built entirely to be a good vampire often doesn't feel "right" or "good" because they're artificial: they weren't engineered as someone who existed before their Embrace. That's what the full process in the V5 corebook - not the two page summary spread but the chapter that follows, the full method for building a character - strives to avoid. As ever, slow and close reading of the book reveals deep truths.

In particular, the full method encourages you to break your skills down into Professional (two at three dots, two at two dots, one with a Specialty, derived from what your character's "day job" was), Life Event (one at three dots, one at two, derived from the most important thing that happened to your character) and Hobby (three at one dot, representing things your character has dabbled in).

Then you pick either one Skill to really overspecialise in (four dots, and you can move your Specialty in here too) or six more to pick up (two at two dots, four at one), and this is where you pick the "good at being a vampire" stuff that your character has learned to do post-Embrace. These are the ones that I like to keep plastic, fantastic, and somewhat elastic, selecting them to make sure the hunting, combat and survival stuff is taken care of. If you want to focus on combat, you'll need to pick a profession package that leans into it, and give yourself a reason for that focus. I'm looking ahead towards the stuff I'll pick next: Predator Type, clan Disciplines, and Coterie Type, so I know what to leave space for in my Background spend and contribute to the group fund.

The other thing that's always circulating in my mind is Flaws. In my experience veteran players kind of miss the point of Flaws in V5, expecting them to be customisation options like they were in the older game. They're more... story signals. You're telling the Storyteller this is the problem you'd like your character to have, a thing that's going to come up often during play. That means, from a "keeping the game functional and playful" perspective, you need to put some thought into what kind of obstacles, challenges, difficulties, barriers you enjoy overcoming, or don't mind being thwarted by. It's easy to pick something that ends up backfiring on you.

For example: I am really touchy about loss of agency and control. I won't touch the Weak Willed Flaw with a goddamn barge pole, because being able to throw some dice in active resistance to Dominate or Presence is important to me. I need to feel like I had a chance, however long of a shot it was. Now, one of my OCs should have this Flaw, it fits with the character and her relationships with authority, but if I'm going to play her in a chronicle I as player am going to repeatedly encounter something that discourages me from playing. It crosses a line, and setting myself up to cross that line repeatedly in play is a surefire way to make the play not playful any more.

That's what this optimisation stuff comes down to, really. Making sure your character is fun to play - that you can get stuff done in the game, and that you don't have to keep on doing things that spoil the experience for you.

[lordascapelion]

Pfft, all these people giving their DnD characters disabilities for “representation.”

Back in my day, we gave our characters disabilities to get more build points in order to break our minmaxed munchkins clean in half.

[tsuki-in-faerun]

so, i've respecced wyll once or twice because i just... could not deal with the warlock spell slots. i like to treat it like a plot detail: he saves karlach, gets turned, changes class. the times that i did it were pure paladin builds. but! i have a new save where i enabled multiclassing and i gave wyll two levels of warlock with all further levels being bard class.

y'all.

i gotta say, i think this is the way forward. it does allow me to keep him as a pure spellcaster, both spell modifiers use charisma, and in bg3, i get the warlock slots that refresh each short rest in addition to the leveled spell slots and bard spells can also use the warlock slots! with the song of rest, i can replenish the warlock spell slots three times before a long rest.

no joke, this makes wyll one of the longest lasting casters in my party. he's only got two levels of each right now because we just got done with the goblin camp raid but HOLY SHIT this might be one of my favorite builds for him.

[femme-tank]

1st Game - Fabula Ultima: Non-Binary Damage

So, here we are again. Masc Support, Femme Tank, so why not do a non-binary damage dealer.

As with the other two entries, I'll post the cover and steps again.

Step One - Identity

Okay, let's see about this "A dancer with a masking smile."

Step Two - Theme

For the Theme I'm going with Vengeance. Kinda channeling Primrose from Octopath a bit here.

Step Three - Origin

For the origin, I'm going with "The Mist-Veiled Forests". This person came out of a mysterious forest. Maybe they're a bit fae?

Step Four - Classes

As with the other classes, I'm going to have this character start with three classes. In this case, (and I did end up grabbing High Fantasy) I'm going to choose the following:

Fury 1 - A class focused on damage.

Rogue 2 - A class focused on trickery and speed.

Dancer 2 - A High Forest class focused on dancing for buffs.

For the skills, I'm going with the following:

Fury: Frenzy - Easier to get criticals with certain weapons.

Rogue: High Speed 1 - Ability to do some effect at the start of a fight.

Rogue: Dodge 1 - Bonus Defense if not wearing martial armor or shields.

Dancer: Dance 1 - One buffing dance.

Dancer: Wardancer 1 - Bonus damage after dancing

For the one Dance they have: Bat Dance, so they can gain either dark resistance or have their attacks deal Dark damage.

Step Five - Attributes

And now for the Attributes, I'm going to go with a Jack of All Trades here and just giving all four a d8.

Dexterity - d8

Insight - d8

Might - d8

Willpower - d8

Step Six - Figured Characteristics

Let's start with Hit Points...

Start with the character level. (5)

The maximum value of Might die times 5. (40)

Having any levels of Fury adds 5 HP. (5)

Total is 50.

For Mind Points...

Start with the character level. (5)

The maximum value of Willpower die times 5. (40)

Having any levels of Dancer gives you either Mind or Hit Points, I chose Mind Points. (5)

Total is 50.

And for the first time, we're going to have something more than the base Inventory Points.

Base Inventory points. (6)

Having any levels of Rogue adds two. (2)

Total is 8.

Defense before armor also has some changes:

Maximum value of the Dexterity die. (8)

Value of the Dodge skill. (1)

Total is 9.

Magic Defense is direct however, no modifiers before armor. So Maximum of the Insight die for a Magic Defense of 8.

Initiative bonus is the base 0.

Step Seven - Starting Gear

We're going to avoid shields and martial armor because it doesn't work well with the Dodge skill. So we're going to go with this set.

Shuriken - Dex+Ins, High Roll +4 physical damage, one-handed ranged.

Chain Whip - Dex+Dex, High Roll +8 physical damage, two-handed melee.

Combat Tunic - Defense: Dex+1, Magic Defense: Ins+1, no initiative modifier.

The shuriken is useful for things that fly or otherwise stay out of range of melee.

This brings their starting Defenses to:

Defense: 10 (Dex+1, Dodge 1)

Magic Defense 9 (Ins+1)

Step Eight - Name and Pronouns

I'm going to name this person... Ainsley and of course their pronouns are They/Them.

Ainsley

Identity: A dancer with a masking smile.

Theme: Vengeance

Origin: The Mist-Veiled Forests

Attributes

Dexterity: d8

Insight: d8

Willpower: d8

Might: d8

Skills

Fury: Frenzy

Rogue: High Speed 1

Rogue: Dodge 1

Dancer: Dance 1

Dancer: Wardancer 1

Dances

Bat Dance

Figured Stats and Gear

Hit Points: 50

Mind Points: 50

Inventory Points: 8

Defense: 10 (Combat Tunic)

Magic Defense: 9 (Combat Tunic)

Shuriken: d8+d8, HR+4

Chain Whip: d8+d8, HR+6

Initiative: +0

And with that, it's time to move...

Onward!

For Attributes, I'm increasing Dexterity twice to d12 coming to a total of this:

Dexterity - d12

Insight - d8

Might - d8

Willpower - d8

For classes, I'm doing the following.

Dancer - Buffs and acrobatics (Mastered)

Darkblade - Focus on fear and pain (Mastered)

Fury - Focus on damage and adrenaline (Mastered)

Rogue - Speed and trikcery (Mastered)

Sharpshooter - Ranged comabt (Mastered)

Dancer has seventeen different dances and thus it would be impossible to get them all even if you didn't pick up other Dancer skills. Some Dancer skills include "Follow my Lead" which allows you to share the effect of a dance with an ally you have a bond of affection with. "Frenetic Footwork" gives bonuses to opposed checks that rely on acrobatics, coordination, or speed when using some dances. "Quick-change" allows you to use a piece of equipment (potions et al) in the same turn that you start a Dance, and "Wardancer" means you do more damage after using a dance.

Ainsley already has Wardancer and a single Dance and I'm also going to give them some other things.

Quick-Change - On the same round you perform a Dance you can take the Equipment action.

Frenetic Footwork 2 - For the round after performing a Dance gain +4 to Opposed checks related to speed, acrobatics, or coordination.

War Dancer 5 - Deal extra 5 points damage the round after performing a dance.

Dance 2 - Bat Dance and Banshee Dance

This means that she's not doing too much with the actual dances, but then the primary thing she's doing is dealing damage so I focused on that over the other things. For the second Dance I'm going with the following:

Banshee Dance - Choose another creature that is able to see you. If that creature is already slow, they immediately become shaken.

Darkblade has two non-ranked skills, both related when the character goes to below half Hit Points. "Dark Blood" gives you resistance to Dark and Poison and "Heart of Darkness" allows you to form a bond hatred toward an enemy so you can now trigger other benefits against them. I'm actually taking both of these.

For ranked skills we have "Agony" allows you to recover HP and MP when you hit creatures you have a Bond with. "Painful Lesson" lets you reflexively study a creature that damaged you. And "Shadow Strike" lets you sacrifice health in order to make a dark attack.

I'm actually going to skip "Shadow Strike" it's good, but we're getting a similar benefit from the combination of Wardancer and Bat Dance. So unlike Chase having three different methods of healing, this feels like it's counterproductive. This is convenient, because the other two max out at 5 and 3 respectively, so I can just max them out and that's all 10 levels.

Agony 5 - recover 10 HP and 10 MP whenever you hit an enemy you have a Bond with.

Dark Blood - Gain resistance to dark and poison when your HP drops below half.

Heart of Darkness - Choose an creature to gain a Bond of hatred with the first time in a scene your HP drops below half.

Painful Lesson 3 - When you take damage you can study the creature that caused the damage for free with a bonus of +3.

We talked a bit about Fury on Althea's build. This is going to be a little different. Damage is her job, so we're not grabbing much of Withstand or Provoke. I think I'll grab one rank of each in case of emergencies, not bad to have an off-tank. Then we'll pick up Frenzy and max out Adrenaline, and the last levels will go into Indomitable Spirit.

Adrenaline 5 - When HP drops below half attacks deal +10 damage.

Frenzy - Critical hits with brawling, dagger, fly, and thrown weapons happen on any doubles as long as the check is not a fumble.

Indomitable Spirit 2 - When spending a Fabula point may also choose one of the following benefits on top of the normal ones: heal 10 HP, heal 10 MP, or recover from one status effect.

Provoke 1 - Taunt an enemy, making them enraged.

Withstand 1 - When taking the Guard action and not covering others heal HP based on strength of bonds with allies and temporarily boost Might or Willpower one die size.

There is one non-ranked skill "See You Later" which lets you spend a Fabula point to flee the scene. I might get that.

For the other skills, "Cheap Shot" allows you to do more damage on enemies suffering from a status effect. "High Speed" lets you get a free action at the start of a fight. "Soul Steal" lets you recover IP from minions during combat or gain special items from powerful enemies. "Dodge" increases Defense.

I'm going to go with the following. I'm leaning into the damage. I considered the soul-steal to fuel her IP, but I think the damage is the bigger thing here. High Speed is important because it's a chance to start the fight off with an enemy having a status effect already, thus allowing Cheap Shot to work.

Cheap Shot 5 - Deal bonus damage equal to 5+the number of statuses on the target.

Dodge 3 - Increase Defense by 3.

High Speed 2 - Can Attack, Hinder, or perform an objective just before combat starts with 10 Mind Points.

The Sharpshooter is basically the ranged combat version of the Weaponmaster and it has some similar skills. There are two non-ranked skills: "Barrage" which allows them to target one extra enemy. "Crossfire" allows you to interfere with an enemy's ranged attacks, causing it to fail.

The ranked skills include: "Hawkeye" which allows for using the Guard option to take aim or Guard and take a free small attack. "Ranged Weapon Mastery" increases accuracy. "Warning Shot" allows for doing no damage with an attack but inflicting either one of two status effects or loss of Mind Points.

I'm taking "Barrage" and "Crossfire" as well as maxing out "Ranged Weapon Mastery", that's 6 levels. I'm going to split the last four levels between the remaining levels.

Barrage

Crossfire

Hawkeye 3 - Guard to add +6 damage to next ranged attack or Guard + one free attack that does less damage.

Ranged Weapon Mastery 4 - Accuracy +4 to ranged weapons.

Warning Shot 1 - Instead of dealing damage, inflict shaken, slow, or the loss of 10 Mind Points.

Okay, for Heroic Skills... let's see what we've got available.

Adversity - Status effects make them stronger.

Heartbreaker - Sacrifice lots of HP to deal massive damage.

Powerful Shot - Ranged attacks deal more damage.

Swirling Swarm - Consecutive attacks with thrown weapons get more powerful.

Vanish - After a successful attack, enemies can't target them.

And for gear I'm going with the following, and this character is going for a dual-wield. Which does less damage, but given all the other ways they have to add damage on top, it's been compensated for:

Chakram - Dex+Mig+1, High Roll +4 physical, Multi (2), One-handed

Chakram - Dex+Mig+1, High Roll +4, physical, Multi (2), One-handed

Desperado Coat - Defense Dex+1, Magic Defense Ins+1, -1 Initiative, Barrage has half cost.

Explorer's Belt - +4 Initiative

Level 50 Ainsley

Identity: A dancer with a masking smile.

Theme: Vengeance

Origin: The Mist-Veiled Forests

Attributes

Dexterity: d12

Insight: d8

Willpower: d8

Might: d8

Skills

Dancer: Dance 2

Dancer: Frenetic Footwork 2

Dancer: Quick-Change

Dancer: Wardancer 5

Darkblade: Agony 5

Darkblade: Dark Blood

Darkblade: Heart of Darknes

Darkblade: Painful Lesson 3

Fury: Adrenaline 5

Fury: Frenzy

Fury: Indomitable Spirit 2

Fury: Provoke 1

Fury: Withstand 1

Rogue: Cheap Shot 5

Rogue: Dodge 3

Rogue: High Speed 2

Sharpshooter: Barrage

Sharpshooter: Crossfire

Sharpshooter: Hawkeye 3

Sharpshooter: Ranged Weapon Mastery 4

Sharpshooter: Warning Shot 1

Darkblade Heroic Skill: Adversity

Darkblade Heroic Skill: Heartbreaker

Sharpshooter Heroic Skill: Powerful Shot

Dancer/Fury/Sharpshooter Heroic Skill: Swirling Swarm

Rogue Heroic Skill: Vanish

Dances

Banshee Dance

Bat Dance

Figured Stats and Gear

Hit Points: 105 (Darkblade, Fury, Sharpshooter)

Mind Points: 95 (Dancer)

Inventory Points: 8 (Rogue)

Defense: 16 (Desperado Coat, Dodge)

Magic Defense: 9 (Desperado Coat)

Chakram: d8+d12+5 (Weapon Mastery), HR+4, Multi 2

Chakram: d8+d12+5 (Weapon Mastery), HR+4, Multi 2

Initiative: +3 (Desperado Coat, Explorer's Belt)

Desperado Belt Bonus: Barrage is half cost

[undying-winds-and-ballads]

very unserious mod post!

// I just got furina!!! Yay!! But how should i build her? I have her at lvl 40 but i dont have the materials to ascend her to level her up more and i cant rlly get the materials either. What arifacts should i use for her? What weapons are good for her? (Not including her signature one) would she be a main dps, sub dps, healer or support? i just got to inazuma and im only at AR 33 so keep that in mind please!!!

[kayzig]

anyway, based on several prior discussions, Vegeta is the perfect model to base your character expectations on in D&D/a tabletop game/group RP situations/etc

I WILL be elaborating on this so:

there are some people who want their character to be kind of initially pathetic and jokey and you know, that's fine, you can go be Krillin or w/e, this isn't about that

but if you set out with the expectation to be a Vegeta, you are actually setting yourself up for the best expectation because for every moment where you do something really badass

you just also know you are going to have a moment where you absolutely hilariously deal with embarrassment

and that is okay because people still ABSOLUTELY love Vegeta (and on a lesser note we also all love Gohan in spite of his haircut for the arc where we go to Namek, but anyways not the point)

it is different from setting out to make a character "badass like Goku" and wanting that personality, because Goku has enough inherent gaffs and authentic funny moments from being a low intellect but fairly high-charisma character, and he is easy to have go along with a party, because he WANTS to help people.

Vegeta (and actually, a lot of other characters who began as "villains" as Z Fighters) is a great example of also choosing someone who is a VERY different alignment/goalpost from the rest of the group, but understanding a shared goal at the rest of your party's table is what's holding the story together.

Did your starter goals of becoming immortal and destroying Frieza not come together? Talk with your DM about how maybe you need to have a focus that grounds you to the setting more (like having a wife and kid, just...saiyan....) and how you can make your character work into the story, and not how you can force the story to be all about your character.

there are lots of other subtleties/etc about ttrpg and character creation that could also affect this but this is the specific one that was on my mind irt our space prince, please enjoy your day

[dourpeep]

I also Want more constellations of his sister when I build her. And Freminent when he can be gotten. They are all so precious!! What do you think is a good team comp for him?

Cryo

yesyes same!! I only got one Lynette through all those rolls OTL so I have her at c1 with the free Lynette for being ar25- And yes!! I'll only be doing one ten roll for Freminent though sobsob I shouldn't really, but (': he's too cute! I require the penguin diver

Ahhh for Lyney? Right now I have him with Bennett, Xiangling, and Kazuha, though it's possible that I may swap Xiangling for Thoma because of his shield. But we'll see. Anyway, mainly pyro for my team with Lyney because of the buffs he gets from multiple pyro and then EM Kazuha for his buff! iirc, this is the most ideal team for him right now, so the main thing is getting Kazuha if you don't already have him, however, I think Sucrose is a good sub as well! Lynette is not ideal because both her and Lyney would take up the slot of dps and they both require being on the field-

Buuut it's definitely fine to use her as well, if you really want to have them on the same team. There's nothing wrong with having characters on it for enjoyment!

Anyway, the idea is to buff Lyney as much as possible, so you have pyro resonance which gives the 25% attack, Bennett's Q which buffs attack (note: you want to give Bennett a weapon that has the highest base attack possible since his attack buff depends on his base attack, the best ones for f2p are prototype rancour and sapwood blade since you don't need to roll for them), and 4th ascension Xiangling (so level 60/70, because this gives guoba the extra benefit where he'll drop a pepper that gives you a 10% attack boost)

This goes along with Lyney's 4th ascension passive where he gains 20% dmg increase for every other pyro character in your team on top of the original 60%, so you don't need four pyro characters, just two on top of him and you'll get the 100% total dmg increase!

Also if you have his weapon, he gets an attack buff based off how many other pyro characters you have on the team and a speed buff based off characters with other elements on the team, so there's benefit for both :DD But personally, it's best to have a triple pyro with anemo support mmhm mmhm. Don't worry about healing too much either because Lyney has a built in mechanic to heal himself based off his max HP

[kimabutch]

One of my favourite questions for figuring out a character’s motivations is which qualities they most fear being assigned to them. Are they afraid (consciously or unconsciously) of being seen as stupid? Ungrateful? Weak? Incompetent? Lazy? Cowardly? Intimidating? Like they actually care? etc.

It’s such a fun way to explore into who they are, why they do what they do, what they don’t do out of fear, and how they might be affected by the events of the story. And I love when characters have negative motivations—trying to avoid something (in this case, being seen a particular way) as much as they’re trying to achieve a goal.

[ollamhproductions]

What are some of the most bizarre builds that would probably drive a game master crazy? Today we're breaking out some of our favorites for breaking a DM.

Going live now!

[crumplstiltskin]

[gorbalsvampire]

Building Koldun in V5

So a while back I was in the 'tism hole over Tzimisce koldun, and talking a big game about rebuilding Koldunism as a series of Rituals for non-Sorcery Disciplines. I pulled a bunch of names from the WW Wiki, assigned them to parent powers and started writing situational modifiers. But I also looked at the Paradox Wiki to see what had made the jump to V5, and... there's a lot more of the old Tzim-Tzim flavour in Blood Sorcery than I'd initially realised.

The thing is, Blood Sorcery is a messy Discipline, with its powers representing (at least) three magical traditions and spread out across (at least) five rulebooks. So... I went through everything I could access and picked out the Rituals with the right vibes, plus powers at each level to serve as the baseline. And then I started making full character builds because, er. I have brain problems?

Blood Sorcery

L1 - Koldunic Sorcery Beelzebeatit, Clinging of the Insect, Coax the Garden, Craft Bloodstone, Douse the Fear, Enrich the Blood, Herd Ward, Letter Ward

L2 - Scour Secrets [Protean: Visceral Absorbtion] [Dominate: Ancestral Dominion] As Fog on Water, Calling the Aura’s Remnants, Depths of Nightmare, Elemental Grasp, Tiamat Glistens, Viscera Garden

L3 - Transitive Bond Communal Vigour, Elemental Shelter, Essence of Air, Eyes of the Past, Firewalkerm, Galvanic Ruination, Herd Ward (Major), One With The Blade, Seeing with the Sky’s Eyes, Seeking Tiamat, Soul of the Homunculus, The Unseen Change

L4 - Blood Aegis Compel the Inanimate, Defence of the Sacred Haven, Feast of Ashes, Guided Memory, Land’s Sustenance, Rending the Sweet Earth, Riding the Earth’s Veins

L5 - Reclamation of Vitae Dominion, Elemental Attack, Fisher King, Heart of Stone, Transferring the Soul

The parent powers I've selected are mostly concerned with acquiring knowledge (the scrying effect of Koldunic Sorcery and the speed-reading capacity of Scour Secrets), moving into management of Retainers and Herd at the higher levels.

Other Disciplines

Dominate: Compel, Cloud Memory, Domitor’s Favour, Ancestral Dominion Protean: Eyes of the Beast, Feral Weapons, Earth Meld, Visceral Absorption, One with the Land Animalism: Bond Famulus, Animal Messenger, Messenger’s Command, Animal Succulence Fortitude: Resilience, Enduring Beasts Auspex: Sense the Unseen, Unerring Pursuit [Reveal Temperament], Eyes of Beasts

You're not going to get all of these and Blood Sorcery, but I wanted to showcase a few potential pathways. Dominate is there for the Old Clan vibe, building up Retainers and Mawla once the utility powers are out of the way.

Protean powers are more in the vein of touching ground than meat crimes, but you can totally sub in Vicissitude for Feral Weapons and Horrid Form for Visceral Absorption if you want to be basic. ;)

With Animalism and Fortitude I've tried to build into another "retainer" concept with the Famulus powers, kind of a witch's familiar that evokes the Mephistophelean Minx ritual from before.

And finally, Auspex. For the old-fashioned true-Tzimisce stans out there, we have perceptions extended into the spiritual and bestial, tying into Animalism to observe as well as instruct through the Famulus. You could also take a swarm approach here, if you wanted (for example) a chattering rookery as spies for the Koldun.

Recommended Loresheet: Veins of the Earth.

Predator Type: If ancilla, Osiris will allow Blood Sorcery 3 at character creation (if you can twist your ST's arm into letting you take the first one despite Not Being A Tremere, which I think is reasonable: it's not like there were Tzimisce rules when the V5 core was written). If neonate, Osiris is still the most efficient from an XP standpoint, but the 10 XP for Koldunic Sorcery and a Ritual are within easy reach for any Predator Type.

The house considers Montero to be flavourful for an aloof scholar and scryer whose Retainers do the boring bits for them. I've been wanting to make that Predator Type work since I first saw it and it just hits right for a Tzimisce.

Complete Builds

First up, the Refugee. This neonate character has a lot of flexibility, isn't bad in a fight (six dice Brawl pool with a Rouse, and Aggravated damage - you could always shift the 4 dots into Strength if you wanted more combat focus, or chuck Feral Weapons for Vicissitude if you wanted some classic meat crimes in there).

I've built them as dependent on a sponsor, an elder of their chosen sect who's taken them in: perhaps they were a street kid with potential, or perhaps they're a recent defector from the Sabbat who left without much more than the clothes they stood up in.

And now, a playable ancilla, the Lady of the Scene! This concept eschews broad Disciplines in favour of deeper Koldunism and a more developed Famulus; they're a leader, not a fighter. They've been around for a while, building a community around themself and embedding themselves into the city at large. They're not exactly famous, but it's known that they can intercede on your behalf and get things done. If you have a problem nobody else can help with, the witch is there...

We've got some classic vampire weaknesses: the invitation thing works for an old-fashioned Tzimisce (this one's much more Old Clan in feeling, without even the potential for Vicissitude) and holy water ties nicely to selecting water as their Koldunic element (I see this character having a scrying pool in their basement). There's some post-Sabbat baggage in the form of the Shunned flaw, and Stigmata feels like an appropriate "hide in plain sight" choice for a character who could well be a cult leader. In fact, if we look closely at the sheet, I went more specific with this one without meaning to... I engineered this with the Santa Muerte cult in mind, and that's the concept I'd lean into if and when I personally got to play this one.

This is the first time I've shared something like this, but I really hope people like it, and it makes sense, because I love building premades and I could very easily do more of these. Maybe even by request? If you've got a concept you want me to put some numbers behind, get in my askbox. Otherwise I'm gonna start blurting about the Redemption coterie - unless people REALLY hate the focus on sheets and numbers and want me to go away and stop talking.