#might be a divine soul sorcerer multiclass later on too

[owl-o]

glowy boy

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #142: Ishtar

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making Best Goddess and, according to @hasishtardoneanythingwrong, a servant who has done absolutely nothing very little wrong, Ishtar! 

In this build, Ishtar is a Divine Soul Sorcerer to balance her blasting abilities with her divine nature and a Zeal Cleric to push her explosive capabilities and godhood to the max.

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

Next up: The second part of the oldest bromance in human history.

Race and Background

Unfortunately WotC hasn’t figured out how to balance literal god PCs yet, but since Ishtar is a demiservant we can still technically call her a Protector Aasimar, giving her +1 Wisdom, +2 Charisma, Darkvision, Celestial Resistance to radiant and necrotic damage, Healing Hands to heal some hands, and the Light cantrip.

Since she protects Uruk in her own special way, we’ll call her a Goddess Alliance Anarch. This gives you Animal Handling and Religion proficiencies, as well as some bonus spells as you level up!

Ability Scores

As the goddess of love and also blowing up mountains, your Charisma needs to be as high as possible. Follow that up with Dexterity, you can literally fly, that’s pretty fast. After that will be Constitution, you can take a lot of abuse, especially if it’s coming from the writers. Your Wisdom has to be next so we can multiclass, keep that in mind if you’re rolling. Your Strength isn’t amazing, but it’s not like you’re using it anyway. Finally, dump Intelligence. Not gonna dwell on that one, let’s just move on.

Class Levels

1. Sorcerer 1: Honestly I think “Divine Soul” is kinda selling yourself short, but we’ll work in the framework we’re given. You can cast Spells now, including your Divine Magic from the cleric spell list, using your Charisma. You’re also Favored by the Gods, giving you the option of adding 2d4 to a failed save or attack roll once per short rest.

For cantrips you get Thunderclap and True Strike for offensive options (I mean you do aim. Even if your target’s a mountain, aiming is important.) You also get Minor Illusion and Friends to manipulate people into doing what you want.  Finally, your stand against the Three Goddess Alliance grants you the cantrips Fire Bolt and Produce Flame to make the battlefield a little bit spicier.

For first level spells, you get Bless from being a divine soul, as well as Compelled Duel, Speak with Animals, and Thunderwave from being an Anarch. For your actually chosen spells, Mage Armor makes your outfit feasible, and Feather Fall will be very helpful once you start flying.

2. Sorcerer 2: Second level sorcerers become a Font of Magic, giving you sorcerer points equal to your sorcerer level. Right now you can turn points into spell slots or vice versa, but it’ll get more interesting later. 

You can also cast Disguise Self, in case you have to, I don’t know, organize a servant-based wacky races kind of event? Idk, whatever.

3. Sorcerer 3: Third level sorcerers get Metamagic, letting you alter your spells to suit your mood by using sorcery points. A Transmuted spell lets you swap out its acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder damage for another option on that list. Meanwhile, you can use a Distant spell to double a spell’s range, making your archery much more effective.

You also become a Radiant Soul, spending an action to transform yourself and gaining a flying speed for up to a minute. You can also deal extra radiant damage to a creature you hit with an attack or spell once per turn. You can do this once per long rest. It’s not a long trip, but it’s free.

On top of that, you get second level spells this turn. Distort Value lets you halve or double an object’s apparent value for the duration, perfect for haggling with a certain someone. You also get Beast Sense and Shatter from your Anarch spell list. The former isn’t that in-character, but the latter is a good start to taking down that mountain.

4. Sorcerer 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to round up your Constitution and Charisma, giving you more health, better concentration, and stronger spells. What a glow up!

You can also cast the cantrip Resistance to add 1d4 to a creature’s next save, or use Find Traps to make sneaking into Gilgamesh’s many treasure vaults slightly easier. If it works.

5. Sorcerer 5: You’re a god, so you probably shouldn’t be messing up that often. To help with that, Magical Guidance lets you spend a sorcery point to re-roll a failed skill check. Maybe it’ll help.

You can also cast Fly this level, giving you more frequent flying miles at the cost of your concentration. You can also Conjure Animals if you want to show up that gazelle-loving sister of yours. More on-target, however, is your other Anarch spell, Conjure Barrage. Gosh, it’s almost like you’re an archer or something.

6. Cleric 1: This whole flying around exploding things is great, but I think we can put more pizazz on it. Or, as they say down in Amonkhet, let’s add some Zeal. That’s right, we’re stealing from two MTG planes this build! As a Priest of Zeal, you can attack as a bonus action if you attack as an action a number of times per long rest equal to your wisdom modifier. That sounds kind of useless, but as a Zeal Cleric you also get proficiency with martial weapons, meaning that yes, you can use a bow and arrow. The archer class really is made up of archers!

You can also cast and prepare Spells using your Wisdom, but we got the really good ones in your sorcerer list, so don’t worry too much here. You do get some more cantrips, though! Thaumaturgy lets you throw your godly weight around, Light lets you cast light again using a worse casting modifier, and Guidance gives a creature some helpful advice from their favorite goddess, adding 1d4 to their next check.

You also get some domain spells, but they’re both smites and you’re an archer, so...

7. Cleric 2: The real reason we’re dipping is for your Channel Divinity option, which you can use once per short rest. You could  use it for Turn Undead, forcing a wisdom save against all undead near you (with a dc of 8 + proficiency + wisdom modifier), but the much more fun option is Consuming Fervor. This turns one fire or thunder damage roll into its maximum instead of rolling. That will be very scary later.

8. Sorcerer 6: Sixth level divine souls get Empowered Healing. You might not have any healing spells, but just being around people makes them feel a bit better. This lets you spend a sorcery point to re-roll any dice being used in a healing roll near you once per turn.

Speaking of healing, we’re still not doing that! You can now Bestow Curses onto people. Serves them right, calling you a “useless goddess”. This is one of those creative spells, so have fun with it!

9. Sorcerer 7: Seventh level sorcerers get fourth level spells! Anarchs get Dominate Beast and Stoneskin, and while neither are technically in character the latter could be very useful given your less than stellar AC. Also, literally turning yourself into gemstones is a real power move.

Your spell of choice this level is Ice Storm, letting you pummel a 20′ radius area with plenty of hail (or fiery debris, or just pure force), enough to turn the area into difficult terrain for a round.

10. Sorcerer 8: Use this ASI to grab the Spell Sniper feat, letting your spells ignore most cover, and spells you cast that require an attack roll have two times their normal range. You also learn Eldritch Blast to further flex on those dumb warlocks. They have to sell their soul and waste an invocation to get 300′ range blasts, and here you are with 480′ range and your soul’s intact! Hah!

You can also exude an Aura of Purity now, preventing disease, weakening poison damage, and granting advantage on a ton of status effect saves. 

11. Sorcerer 9: Ninth level sorcerers get fifth level spells, including your final Anarch spell, Destructive Wave. It’s only got a range of thirty feet, but it never hurts to prepare for an ambush. For longer range attacks, Flame Strike will do nicely. We’re still not quite at “blasting a mountain to smithereens” level power, but we’re getting there.

12. Sorcerer 10: Tenth level sorcerers can get the most out of their spells by making them Empowered, letting them re-roll a number of dice on their damage roll, up to their charisma modifier.

You can also cast Dancing Lights for a bit of a dramatic flair, or Creation to make gemstones out of thin air. Heck, you could even make a proper Boat of Heaven with this!

13. Sorcerer 11: Another two levels have passed, that means you get another spell level. Sunbeam gives you a reusable sunlight blast, dealing radiant damage and blinding creatures that fail their constitution save. You can use this attack again as your action each turn for up to a minute. Sadly this isn’t affected by either of your range enhancements, but you’ve still got plenty of airspace to work with.

14. Sorcerer 12: If we’re going to blast a mountain apart we’ve got to get serious. Use this ASI to get the Elemental Adept feat, focusing on Thunder damage. Once you take this feat, all dice on thunder damage rolls coming from spells always count as at least a 2, and they ignore thunder resistances.

15. Sorcerer 13: The first step to launching the literal planet Venus at somebody is actually getting the damn thing, and that means we need to leave the atmosphere at a moment’s notice. The closest we can come to that here is Plane Shift. You can also use this on enemy creatures as a melee attack

16. Sorcerer 14: Fourteenth level Divine Souls get an Angelic Form you can transform into as a bonus action. This gives you a flying speed of 30′ that is basically permanent until you’re incapacitated or you just get rid of them on your own. Have fun with those orbital bombardments!

17. Sorcerer 15: Sunburst sounds like a good pick for your eighth level spell. This one actually does get a range boost, which is good because it deals damage in a 60′ radius. Creatures within that radius get a constitution save, and failing that means a lot of radiant damage and being blind until it makes the save on the end of its turn. Sadly, it’s stuck on radiant damage, but it’s still an effective blasting spell.

18. Sorcerer 16: Use your last ASI to max out your Charisma so that whole “making the save” thing from last level never happens.

19. Sorcerer 17: To make those saves even less likely, our final metamagic option is Heightened Spell, causing one creature’s first save of the spell in question to be made at disadvantage. Basically you’re saying “like you had a choice in the matter”.

Speaking of spells though, we can finally pull Venus through for a charged shot, thanks to the ninth level spell Meteor Swarm. With a max range of 1-2 miles this truly is nuking the planet from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.

Here’s a step by step guide for removing a mountain. 1. Hang out in the Troposphere. 2. Cast Meteor Swarm, swapping out Fire for Thunder damage. 3. Channel Divinity, maxing out the thunder damage for extra fun. 4. Deal 120 Thunder damage that ignores resistances, on top of 20d6 bludgeoning damage. 5. Enjoy your new crater.

20. Sorcerer 18: Your capstone level of sorcerer gives you an Unearthly Recovery. When you’re bloodied, you can spend a bonus action to heal yourself for half your HP, once per long rest. You had enough trouble in the underworld as it is, no point in going back again.

Pros:

As I just mentioned in level 19, you can deal a lot of damage. Like, Sanson level damage, without all the nonsense attached to it. You’ve got big booms, and multiple ways to make those booms hurt even more than they should.

Flying on a spellcaster is just. Really, really good. Especially on one built for range. There’s almost literally nothing they can do to you up here. Like, arrows, maybe, but you can just retaliate with the literal wrath of god. Plus, you’re probably out of counterspell range, so there’s nothing the DM can do to you!

A lot of your spells are focused on damage, but you do still have plenty of variety in your spell list, just in case. And on the off chance you’re fighting someone in a silence bubble, you can just change your thunder spells to acid or something.

Cons:

For most of this build we’re relying on the Flight spell to get off the ground, which eats up your Concentration and has a chance of failure when you take damage. It’s not ideal.

Those Cleric Levels are very useful, but they still push back your spell progression by 2 levels, which means you’ll have even less time with your An Gal Ta Ki Gal Se than you would normally.

You can’t fly everywhere. Caves exist. Buildings exist. I mean you totally can blast holes to get where you need to, just don’t expect to be that popular with whoever owns the building. Also, fighting in cramped areas plays to your biggest weakness: squishiness. Your AC is only 15, and you’ve got barely over 120 HP, which as we just discussed, someone built like you can take out very easily.

[tigerkirby215]

5e Ahri, the Nine-Tailed Fox build (League of Legends)

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

Happy new year! For the start of 2021 we’ll be making a build that I spent all of the later half of 2020 thinking up. Yeah of all the characters I couldn’t figure out Ahri was the one who truly stumped me. Regardless we’re finally going to be rounding out the K/DA crew with yet another character that pushes that T for Teen rating.

GOALS

Find me; find yourself - Along with traditional damaging abilities we need to be able to put on a pretty face and lead out prey in. And Evelynn calls you a skank?

They've exhausted their use - Ahri’s lore has changed like 16 times but her abilities have remained constant: drain the life from your foes for some lane sustain.

Spirits follow wherever I go - Of course the most important part of playing Ahri is her Spirit Rush. Three dashes to use in a teamfight... or are they blinks? Gah translating LoL abilities to D&D is hard; can you believe there was a point that I was originally going to make this a Rogue build?

RACE

This is the part where I call a Vastayan a furry! You’re a Shifter because that’s the “half beast” race in 5e. All Shifters get Darkvision and their Shifting ability that lasts a minute and grants some Temporary Hitpoints along with an additional feature based on their subrace. Speaking of subrace we’ll be going for Swiftstride for some foxy agility!

NOTE: Wildhunt works too if you want more utility, and are willing to swap starting ASIs around with Tasha’s rules.

You get a +2 to Dexterity and a +1 to Charisma, and are Graceful to get proficiency in the Acrobatics skill. Finally your Shifting Feature gives you an additional 10 feet of movement when you activate it and the ability to move 10 feet away from an enemy that ends their turn near you as a reaction, just to make sure you don’t get caught by any melee-range stuns.

ABILITY SCORES

15; CHARISMA - Ahri’s main ability is to charm people so much that they fall right into her murderous arms. She was essentially the founder of K/DA as well.

14; DEXTERITY - Ahri’s other main trait is her swiftness which means I can properly justify some DEX for her, especially with the +2 from our race.

13; CONSTITUTION - Sapping the life out of people means that you are pretty sturdy yourself.

12; WISDOM - Call it Vastayan magic or common sense but you need to know your way around both animals and people.

10; INTELLIGENCE - Riot finally decided to just give you amnesia, meaning that you don’t remember your math class.

8; STRENGTH - It’s on your bodyguard to do the heavy lifting, as well as any other buff allies you may meet.

BACKGROUND

Ahri’s lore has been through the wringer so many times I don’t even know what it is anymore, especially since they copped out and wrote “amnesia lol” as her lore. But she’s certainly the odd one out so Far Traveler works well enough. You get proficiency in Insight and Perception along with a Musical Instrument or Gaming Set (Music Instrument makes more sense but you can pick whatever you like.) You also get proficiency in a language of your choice: Sylvan seems natural for a lost girl on the Ionian countryside.

Your background feature All Eyes on You will make sure that everyone watches the fox. Basically: people are interested in the Vastaya, and if you chat with them you might be able to get somewhere special, seeing how special you are~

(Artwork by Alvin Lee, Pan Chengwei, and Bo “chenbowow” Chen. Made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - SORCERER 1

Starting off as a Sorcerer because your magic is innate, after all. Also because Constitution saving throws are nice! Regardless you get proficiency in two skills from the Sorcerer list: how about the Charisma classics? Persuasion and Deception to be a master of honied words.

Sorcerers get to choose their subclass at level 1 and hey: wouldn’t it be funny if they made a Sorcerer that’s heavily based on Enchantment magic? Well the Aberrant Mind is exactly that, having Psionic Spells that can be from the Divination or Enchantment schools. Spells like Mind Sliver to get around heavily armored foes, and Dissonant Whispers which is good to freak out your foes. But we’ll be replacing Arms of Hadar with Charm Person because... hey! It’s a Charm!

You’re also capable of Telepathic Speech to coordinate ganks in team chat, or to tell Seraphine that her dress zipper is undone. You can make a telepathic bond as a Bonus Action with a creature within 30 feet of you. You can speak telepathically with the creature up to a number of miles equal to your Charisma modifier, though you must both share a language for this to work. The telepathic connection lasts for a number of minutes equal to your sorcerer level but it ends early if you are incapacitated or die, or if you use this ability on a different creature.

Oh but of course if you’re a Sorcerer that means you have Spellcasting! You can learn 4 cantrips as a first level Sorcerer:

For some harmless Fox-Fire take Dancing Lights to light up the night. For some more potent Fox-Fire Control Flames will let you make the fire grow!

If you need a quick charm and don’t care about the aftermath Friends will get you what you need.

To keep both traveling clothes and dancing clothes looking prim and proper take Mending. Those outfits are expensive you know!

You can also learn two spells of first level: full disclosure pretty much 95% of the reason this build has Sorcerer levels is so we can take Magic Missile to recreate Fox-Fire and Chromatic Orb for Orb of Deception. That’s pretty much three out of four (*five if we include her passive) of Ahri’s abilities at level 1!

LEVEL 2 - SORCERER 2

Second level Sorcerers have a Font of Magic, giving them Sorcery Points that for now don’t serve much purpose other than being able to convert 2 of them into a 1st level spell slot. Basically you have an extra spell slot for now. But you can also convert spell slots into Sorcery points at a 1:1 ration (3rd level slot = 3 Sorcery points, as an example), which will be important later.

You do get another spell though: basically I just wanted Mage Armor because a +3 to AC would be nice.

LEVEL 3 - WARLOCK 1

Hey what if we multiclassed after 2 levels because we got 95% of what we wanted from those 2 levels? Hey guys it’s time for good ol’ Warlock! Warlocks get to choose their subclass at level 1 and Pact of the Fiend Warlocks get Dark One’s Blessing for Temporary Hitpoints equal to your Charisma plus your Warlock level when you knock an enemy to zero.

You also get Pact Magic which is like regular spellcasting except instead of actual spell slots you just get Pact Slots that come back on a Short Rest. You do get two cantrips though so I’m going to recommend Eldritch Blast because it’s Eldritch Blast as well as Prestidigitation for all the special effects you want and MORE.

You can also pick up some first level spells like Command from the Fiend list for some more enchantment, but there isn’t really much else I want from the first level of Warlock. I dunno grab Hex maybe? But we’re going to swap it out come level 3.

(Artwork by Kienan “Knockwurst” Lafferty. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 4 - WARLOCK 2

But firstly it’s time for Eldritch Invocations to keep 닿을 수 없는 level. Agonizing Blast lets you agonize your Eldritch Blast, and Eldritch Mind from good ol’ TCoE is great to keep the magic flowing thanks to advantage on Concentration checks.

Oh and something something can learn another spell but like I said I want to wait for MORE spells from second level.

LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 3

Third level Warlocks get to choose their Pact Boon and you know: I don’t think we have enough cantrips! Pact of the Tome gives you three sparkly new cantrips to play with, and they can be from any class’ spell list! So you can take cantrips like Guidance for some help with your dances, Sacred Flame for some more Fox-Fire, and Thaumaturgy to be a spooky magic soul-sucking fox.

Honestly there isn’t much I want from Pact of the Tome but it’s the most in-flavor for Ahri. If you want to be a Star Guardian take Pact of the Chain and grab Keiko!

But you can also learn second level spells at this level like Enthrall and Suggestion for more charms, and Misty Step! For good ol’ Flash.

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 4

4th level Warlocks get another Ability Score Improvement and what if we got roleplay abilities before combat abilities? Well the Skilled Expert Feat will give you +1 to any stat (hey look at that our Constitution is uneven!), proficiency in a skill of your choice (which will obviously be Performance), and Expertise in a skill that you already have proficiency in. (Choose between Persuasion or Deception depending on if you want to be the good fox or the bad fox.)

You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip! For your cantrip Mage Hand will let you dash something small from the high shelf into your hand, and for your leveled spell Mirror Image will make it all the harder to hit you instead of missing a skill shot where you just were.

LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 5

5th level means more Eldritch Invocations! In case of emergency be sure to bring Zhonya's, or rather Tomb of Levistus to negate burst.

And it’s third level spells time! You’re a Fiend Warlock so you know what that means? Cast Fireball and nothing but Fireball! Throw a Spirit Bomb like it’s Teamfight Tactics to level the playing field!

(Artwork by Kienan “Knockwurst” Lafferty. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 6

6th level Fiend Warlocks get 9 tails for 9 lives. Dark One’s Own Luck lets you add a d10 to an ability check or saving throw once per Short or Long Rest, so you can push your spirit for a bit more confidence in your plays.

You can also learn another spell but truthfully there isn’t much else I want from third level. There’s some that I like at second level but I’d recommend waiting for...

LEVEL 9 - WARLOCK 7

More Eldritch Invocations? Don’t mind if I do! Ahri has a lot of skins so Mask of Many Faces is great to play dress up. Are there better invocations? Yeah probably.

But you can also pick up 4th level spells like Charm Monster for a Charm+, or Dimension Door to pop your Teleport summoner spell.

LEVEL 10 - WARLOCK 8

Level 8 means more Ability Score Increases: we haven’t increased Charisma yet so we should probably do that.

You can also learn another spell, and while there are plenty of nice ones at this level if we wait just a little bit we can get...

LEVEL 11 - WARLOCK 9

9th level Warlocks get our last Eldritch Invocation: Ahri is shown floating in a lot of her promotional artwork and stuff so Ascendant Step is good to let you fly up with some fox magic! I mean, you could take Otherworldly Leap instead, I guess?

But you can finally learn 5th level spells, which means we can grab your ultimate! Far Step lets you teleport 60 feet, and spend your Bonus Action on subsequent turns to do it again! Definitely a step up from a regular old dash! But if you want a bit more damage along with some more essence theft then Enervation will let you do necrotic damage and also heal yourself by hurting others.

LEVEL 12 - WARLOCK 10

10th level Fiend Warlocks can get some Magic Resistance thanks to Fiendish Resilience. You can pick a damage type to resist, though this won’t work against magic or silvered weapons which most people probably have by level 12. So you won’t be able to resist swords and clubs but if a fire mage is trying to burn your tails just resist that! You can swap your resistance during a short (or long) rest if you need to deal with a different enemy.

Oh and did you expect to get another spell known? Nah screw you. You do get another cantrip though: I mean I dunno Toll the Dead can be good to kill secure?

(Artwork by Ryan Ribot. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 13 - SORCERER 3

Finally done with Warlock. That’s good: I could use some coffee. Third level Sorcerers get Metamagic to alter their spells with Sorcery points. Quickened Spell lets you turn a spell with an action casting time to a bonus action, so you can have a cup of coffee and still cast Eldritch Blast. Or, you know: cast two Eldritch Blasts in a turn? If you’re sick of enemies dodging your skill shots Heightened Spell will give them disadvantage on their first saving throw, which is good to combo with spells like Enervation.

Oh and speaking of spells you can learn second level Sorcerer spells! Psionic Spells gives you Detect Thoughts which is pretty good but I’d suggest taking Tasha’s Mind Whip as your other Psionic Spell for some Hextech in your step.

Additionally Flaming Sphere was added to the Sorcerer list thanks to Tasha, and it’s a good spell to take for a little more control over your Orb of Deception.

LEVEL 14 - SORCERER 4

Level 4 means another Ability Score! Time to finally cap off that Charisma for the best casting we can get.

You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip, because we definitely don’t have enough cantrips. Sword Burst will give you some much-needed melee defense to cut through minions if you’re surrounded. As for leveled spells there honestly isn’t much I want from second level. We got most of what we needed from Warlock.

LEVEL 15 - SORCERER 5

Tasha decided that Sorcerers were weak so she gave them a 5th level feature called Magical Guidance. If you fail a skill check you can spend a sorcery point to reroll the d20. You must use the new roll, but along with Dark One’s Own Luck this gives you quite a bit of reliability when it comes to ability checks.

You can also now learn third level spells. Psionic Spells grants you Sending which is nice to communicate in team chat, but I’d replace Hunger of Hadar with  Incite Greed from good ol’ Acquisitions Incorporated to charm a whole group and make them slowly approach you with lovey-eyes like they do in LoL.

You can also learn spells like Melf's Minute Meteors for some less accurate but more deadly Fox-Fire, and Haste for some nine-tailed agility.

LEVEL 16 - SORCERER 6

6th level Psionic Soul Sorcerers get Psychic Defenses for resistance to Psychic damage and advantage against being Charmed or Frightened. You’ve seen it all and they’re not going to stop us! (They’ll try but they won’t.) But more importantly you get Psionic Sorcery: when you cast a spell (that isn’t a cantrip) from your Psionic Spells list, you can cast it with a number of sorcery points equal to the spell’s level. If you cast the spell using sorcery points, it requires no verbal or somatic components, and it requires no material components unless they are consumed by the spell.

How does this interact with Incite Greed which requires a 50 gp gem? My bet is that they just focus on you instead. But yeah this is obviously incredibly useful as you can cast spells like Detect Thoughts, Tasha’s Mind Whip, Dissonant Whispers, and Charm Person without any signal that you’re doing it. And there’s only more to come! To top it off: RAW if you don’t show any signs of casting you can’t be counterspelled!

Speaking of more spells as well as Counterspell I took Counterspell as a Sorcerer spell, because Banshee’s Veil is never not useful.

(Artwork by Jeremy Anninos. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 17 - SORCERER 7

Eyyy 4th level spells! Both the spells you would’ve gotten from Psionic Spells kinda... don’t make sense? So grab Confusion to make a mess in a teamfight and I’m actually going to suggest Arcane Eye as your other Psionic Spell for some wards.

You can also learn 4th level spells like Polymorph to turn into a fox in the spirit realm. Just in time for the Spirit Blossom festival!

LEVEL 18 - SORCERER 8

8th level Sorcerers get another Ability Score Improvement and honestly there are a lot of options now that your Charisma is maxed out: plenty of good feats like Tough, Lucky, Inspiring Leader, Mobile, Metamagic Adept, Warcaster, Spell Sniper, Elemental Adept, or an increase to Dexterity. (Those were listed in no particular order.) Honestly if you’ve reached level 18 you should be more than capable of making your own choices by now. Make your own character and be your own person.

Though I suppose I can still recommend spells: for a more potent and deadly Orb of Deception Storm Sphere will hit your foes with harsh winds and lightning!

LEVEL 19 - SORCERER 9

9th level? That means you can get your 5th level Psionic Spells! Honestly there’s a lot I like from both the Enchantment and Divination schools but both  Rary’s Telepathic Bond and Telekinesis are great in their own right, and I’m fine with keeping them.

That doesn’t mean I’m not going to take Synaptic Static because... well it’s Synaptic Static! I love this spell and you can’t stop me from taking it. It’s got all the power of a Fireball along with a great negative effective that makes it harder for the enemy to kill you.

LEVEL 20 - SORCERER 10

At long last our capstone is... another metamagic option. By this point your spells pack plenty a punch so if you want to make sure not to hit your allies Careful Spell will disable friendly fire... Though alternatively if they’re keeping their distance Empowered Spell will let you make sure you get the maximum kick out of your spirit.

You can also learn one more spell, and one more cantrip to round out the absolute slew of cantrips you have. After a long match you can make a Teleportation Circle to go back to base, and for your cantrip? Wouldn’t it be funny if I suggested True Strike? Okay but memes aside take something else other than True Strike the world is your oyster and True Strike is bad just attack twice.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Indulge me - Ahri is arguably the most flexible caster I’ve made so far. A pure 50 / 50 split between Sorcerer and Warlock means that you’ve got a huge variety of spells, and two big spell slots that come back on a Short Rest which you can melt down into Sorcery points. Not to mention that Psionic Spells gives you an absolutely insane amount of spells known and the ability to cast several of them using Sorcery points instead of Spell Slots. And to top it off you have an absolutely ridiculous amount of cantrips, capping off at a whopping fourteen cantrips!

They're mine now - It also turns out that the coffeelock is really potent in its own right. Sorcery gives you a lot of options to make your spells even stronger, notably Quickened Spell letting you shoot out some Agonizing Eldritch Blasts after casting a regular spell.

Run faster! Ehehe! - You’re also no pushover for survival either. You have good health for a spellcaster, damn good mobility, and plenty of abilities to bolster yourself against danger... as long as you don’t mind a bit of Essence Theft.

CONS

Lingering spirits lose themselves - Even if your health is strong your defensive stats aren’t great. Poor saving throws (minus Charisma and Constitution) and bad AC (Shield is a good spell you should probably get it) means that while you can take a hit and lifesteal it back you’re still pretty easy to hit.

Don't you trust me? - You may be the queen of charms but you’re not that great outside of Charisma. Almost all your proficiencies are in Charisma skills which means you won’t be able to do anything like find hidden treasure or spot incoming danger.

Mortals have two choices; follow me, or don't - Ever heard of the concept of choice paralysis? Well with your absolutely bloated spell list it can be hard to choose what to do with your spell slots, and even harder to choose what spell to Concentrate on. Both your best moves and simplest tricks take your Concentration.

But with all your strengths what girl could want MORE? You’re a swift and dangerous mid lane mage with enough Vastayan magic to do whatever you desire. Dash in and show them what you’re made of! And be sure to be back at the studio in time to show the newbie the ropes. Don’t want that drum going dumb.

(Artwork by Horace Hsu and Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)

[the-big-nope]

While I’m certainly nowhere near ready for the story of the Mighty Nein to come to an end, I am also a D&D nerd and there’s a new sourcebook coming out soon with a bunch of new subclasses in it. By the time Campaign 3 of Critical Role gets underway, that book will be published, leaving a wealth of new options for the cast members to choose from, so why not entertain myself by making barely justified predictions of what the cast is most likely to pick for their next characters! (Disclaimer: Some of the new subclasses have been confirmed and some haven’t, so for a few of these picks I’m just going off of what I think is going to be in the book).

Travis

Cleric (Tempest Domain): Travis has been playing lowkey EMT since campaign one, and Laura’s already confirmed that Travis almost went cleric for campaign two. Between Grog with his barb-boosted movement speed to get around the battlefield so he could shove healing potions into his squishier teammates, and Fjord multiclassing into paladin and lovingly tapping his friends with single hit points to get them back up, it would be delightful to see him fully jump in and embrace the classical healer role. Of course, this is Travis, so I don’t see him picking a cleric domain that doesn’t allow for at least some whoop-ass, and Tempest Domain brings plenty of it. You get proficiency with all armor and weapons, Divine Strike at level 8 for boosted melee damage, you can use a reaction to inflict lightning or thunder damage against any enemy within melee range that’s hit you. And if you climb up high enough in levels, you gain a flying speed equal to your walking one whenever you’re outdoors. Pretty nifty, and makes for a fitting subclass for a guy that’s voiced Thor on multiple occasions.

Blood Hunter (Order of the Lycan): I mean, come on. The only reason it isn’t number one is that it was already widely assumed this would be Travis’s pick for campaign two, and I wouldn’t put it past him to surprise us again. But still, we saw him get a taste in Liam’s one shot and he was clearly having the time of his life. Besides, we lost Molly far too early to really see the blood hunter’s potential come to life; it would be damn cool to see someone else take a crack at it, and Travis is enough of a D&D gambler to not shy away from the class’s riskier features.

Artificer (Armorer): Speaking of Marvel connections, if Travis doesn’t lean toward fantasy Thor, then fantasy Iron Man might catch his attention instead. Artificer is an official class now, and since it’ll be reprinted in TCoE by the time campaign 3 gets underway, it’ll be a lot more visible as an option. The Armorer sits in almost a perfect middle ground of what Travis has done before: tanky and a frontliner, but also still has spells and tricks to help the party. Plus, you get a badass suit of power armor out of it. What’s not to like?

Marisha

Bard (College of Creation): After Hazel Copperpot, we all saw the pure magic that was Marisha Ray playing a bard. I know she implied that Hazel was supposed to be her campaign two backup character, but I hope this doesn’t discourage her from making another one. There are quite a few bard subclasses, a number of which I could see her being drawn to (Lore, Glamour, maybe even Swords), but I really vibe with the idea of Creation. I can’t exactly say why; maybe the idea of the ‘dancing object’ feature in Marisha’s hands is very funny to me (remember Keyleth’s adorable “Be Our Guest” moment? That, but this time it’s a walking wardrobe beating the shit out of the enemy).

Paladin (Oath of Vengeance/Conquest): As of yet, no one on Critical Role has ever played a paladin from the start, only multiclassed later down the line. I think this would be a cool departure for Marisha. Both campaigns she’s played characters that were either suspicious or at least indifferent to faith and the gods. Paladins are typically associated with deities, but they’re not tied quite so closely to them as clerics are. It would be fascinating to see what she did with it. As for the subclass, I just think Marisha’s earned her turn on the Goth Character Carousel, and while I know Conquest paladin is very unlikely given its moral grayness by default which might cause undue conflict and that Vengeance is a much more likely and acceptable pick, I just think it would be a sexy character choice. 

Wizard (Bladesinger/Graviturgist): This is a much more pie-in-the-sky, wishful thinking pick on my end, but not impossible imo. Marisha has experience with heavy spellcasting already, so she probably wouldn’t shy away from a wizard, but like Travis I suspect she likes a bit of oomph to her characters, and probably wouldn’t play as support heavy as Caleb does. To that end, Bladesingers get a bit more survivability and some modicum of physical prowess alongside their spells, while Graviturgists are definitely on the more aggressive side of the spectrum for wizard subclasses, with unique dunamancy spells to boot. I’m not sure how restrictive Matt would be about Xhorhassian characters in the next campaign if it takes place on another continent, but hey, you never know. Plus, she picked one of Matt’s homebrew subclasses for the current campaign; it would be cute if it happened again.

Liam

Druid (Circle of the Shepherd): At some point before Critical Role comes to end (hopefully far in the future), I know Liam’s gonna play a druid, I can feel it in my bones. He's too big of a Kiki fan not to. However, while Circle of the Moon might feel obvious given the potential for homage and how much he likes turning into animals, I feel like he might regard it as getting too close to old territory (also, I don’t know if Circle of the Moon is like an exclusive thing to the Ashari tribes, and if it is that would be rather restrictive for building a backstory). If that’s the case, Circle of the Shepherd feels like the next best bet. It has some great support options via the totems you can put down, and rather than becoming badass animals, you instead just get really good at summoning a fuck ton of them. It’s like Frumpkin, but ten of him. And they’re bears. (Honorable mention: If Circle of the Moon would feel like treading old territory then I’m certain Circle of Wildfire would too, but I’d bet my dice collection it would at least be tempting). 

Cleric (Unity Domain): Listen. The pure sap potential that would be at Mr. O’Brien’s fingertips with this subclass is incredible. The domain all about strengthening and protecting the bonds between friends and loved ones?? The domain with the Channel Divinity that can spread damage taken by one creature across the party however the cleric chooses to distribute it to lessen the blow to the individual??? The domain that used to be called the Love Domain???? I’m practically gagging on the soft moments and unspoken devotion conveyed through spellcasting already.

Fighter (Rune Knight/Psi Knight): Liam has yet to play a tank in a long-term campaign, and while I’m more enamored with the potential of the above classes, it would be novel to see him play a character with an actually respectable amount of hit points. However, I feel like if he was gonna commit to a straight frontliner, he’d probably want something a little more unique than a Champion or Battle Master (especially since he’s played those already for one-shots). Rune Knight has some fun options and built-in flavor, and with Psi Knight you can basically be a Jedi. Not bad options at all if you ask me.

Taliesin

Warlock (Fiend): Yeah, it might be expected, or Percy might have been too close to warlock anyway to feel like there’s new ground to cover, but hear me out. Both Percy (who, let’s face it, was a warlock multiclass in all but the actual mechanics) and Fjord were the classic reluctants. They got in over their heads without really knowing what was going on, and once they did they wanted out, cutting ties with their patrons and getting clear with only the scars remaining. I want to see Taliesin commit to a warlock in a way I imagine only he could manage to pull off. How fun would that balancing act be, to have a character that has no intentions of breaking their pact, who’s here for the powers, and is willing to work that delicate balancing act between keeping what he’s got and not letting his contract holder get the better of him? Give it to meeeeee.

Sorcerer (Psionic Soul): Psionic Soul has a bit of that eldritch flavor that vibes with Taliesin so much, with the added interest of introducing a brand new feature to 5E, the Psi Die (with this subclass, using them can do things like letting a sorcerer learn a spell they don’t already know for a few hours, allow you to cast spells without needing verbal, somatic, or material components, and can give you telepathy). Taking both Percy and Molly into account, it seems Tal likes to lean into those unique additional mechanics, and while Psi Die aren’t as risk-heavy as Gunslinger or Bloodhunter, they do add a layer of variability and unpredictability that seems to match his style.

Rogue (Swashbuckler): We only got a little bit of time with Molly, and so missed out on the opportunity to see Tal play a more cavalier character this time around. If he feels like leaning away from spells next time and back toward martial, I think a high-charisma, high-swinging swashbuckler from Tal would be a delight to watch.

Laura

Barbarian (Path of the Ancestral Guardian): Laura deserves to hit things, okay? Yes, spellcasting is great and comes in clutch frequently and Jester’s amazing, but you can tell Laura misses doing fat stacks of damage to the enemy in a single round. I personally think it would be amazing to watch her just cut loose and go full rage machine. As for the subclass, I’m not glued to the idea, but Ancestral Guardians are pretty kickass, have decent support capabilities for a barb without detracting from their DPS at all, and it doesn’t tread on any previous characters’ toes or their aesthetics.

Rogue (Scout/Soulknife): Laura deserves to play her favorite class at last, okay? She’s been class poached two campaigns in a row, and though that resulted in both Vex and Jester and I wouldn’t trade them for the world, Laura has earned first pick. Seeing as she already dipped into Assassin as Vex and Sam took Arcane Trickster, I could see Scout being a viable subclass choice. It’s in the classic sneaky vein, relatively simple in concept, but comes with features that grant easy-to-understand benefits that you can never turn your nose up at (boosts to movement, advantage on initiative, giving advantage against a target to everyone else in the party, etc.). If she’s looking for something a bit flashier, Soulknife has the benefit of retroactively dunking on Vax by taking the basic knife-rogue and making it better, with psionic knives that you can manifest with a thought, that can teleport you around Whisper style, and cranking up that stealth to ridiculous levels by just being able to turn invisible for ten minutes, no concentration or spell needed. The psionic die mechanics are a little funky of course, but I don’t imagine it’s any trickier than learning to manage all those cleric spells.

Monk (Way of the Open Hand): Between Beau just being super cool and her brief stint as Farriwen Breeze, monk wouldn’t be a surprising pick from Laura. An Open Hand monk might be the definitive version everyone knows, but you can’t deny it’s a solid subclass, and between previous overlap and the concepts of the other subclasses just not seeming to fit, I could see the classic being what she went with. But hey, it’s Laura Bailey. She could surprise us with Way of the Drunken Master or something.

Sam

Ranger (Monster Slayer): Let’s be real, I don’t think this would be his actual first pick for a Campaign 3 character, but the amount of shit-stirring he could achieve by making a character with the aim of pissing off Laura Bailey specifically would be hilarious (and since Matt isn’t completely opposed to UA and acknowledges that PHB ranger has a lot of issues, I wouldn’t be surprised if they went Revised Ranger this time).

Warlock (Genie): Actual first pick here, Pact of the Genie Warlock is confirmed by now, and the potential of a warlock in the hands of Sam Riegel is pretty vast (for some reason I’m imagining he would go the ‘spoiled sugar baby’ route). The subclass doesn’t matter as much, but the Genie one is nice in that, depending on the type of genie patron you pick, you can get a wide variety of extra spells, you get a container like a classic lamp or lantern that you can bamf into for short rests, and you get a limited Wish ability for your capstone, all features I feel like would especially appeal to Sam.

Barbarian (Path of the Wild Soul): I want to see Sam play a fairy barbarian. ‘Nough said.

Ashley

Fighter (Eldritch/Echo Knight): Ashley really seems to vibe with the crushing power of martial classes (she does love her brutal kill descriptions), so I could see her sticking with it rather than going back to full caster. However, I do see her picking one of the magical subclasses for some variety after Yasha. Eldritch Knight is a classic and reasonably easy to manage, but tbh I’d LOVE for it to be Echo Knight. And think, if my wishful thinking came true, with Ashley picking an Echo Knight and Marisha playing a Graviturgist wizard, they could link up their backstories and be a traveling Kryn battle duo that left their homeland behind to explore the world!

Sorcerer (Draconic): If she does want to go back to full-time casting, Sorcerer doesn’t require near as much bookkeeping as a cleric, druid, or wizard while still having decent variety, and the Draconic subclass is a bit beefier than the other subclasses. Also, it would be the third campaign in a row where Ashley Johnson’s character eventually got wings, soooo...

And tbh I have no idea what a third pick might be for Ashley, so I’m just gonna throw a dart or two at the board and say either College of Whispers Bard or Way of Mercy Monk *Shrug* We can only wait and see!

[theworldbrewery]

multiclass your... BLOOD HUNTER!!

As per the request by @mstheoverflow, today we’re taking a look at the Wisdom-based “original flavor” Blood Hunter class. As of right now, this class is available on DnDBeyond, but in the coming weeks, the update to an Intelligence-based version of the class is expected to supersede this existing one, so if you’re attached to this version, save the details now.

A couple key things: to multiclass out of Blood Hunter, you must have a 13 in Wisdom as well as a 13 in either Strength or Dexterity--that or is really key because it makes your multiclassing really flexible. There are also special rules for multiclassing into warlock if you are of a certain subclass, which I’ll get into later.

Let’s dig in!

Blood Hunter + Barbarian

If you chose to be a strength-centric blood hunter, this multiclass is baller. No joke. Consider: while raging, you halve all normal weapon damage (you don’t halve crimson rite damage unless you take the correct totem in the barbarian Totem Warrior subclass at third level, but that could be arranged). Furthermore, your Crimson Rite damage to yourself can be used to sustain your rage if you’re at risk of dropping it. Reckless attacks at second level increase your potential for a critical hit, which would also double damage from your Crimson Rite, and your rage will have no effect on Blood Maledict curses. Since you probably have a high CON to compensate for the damage you deal to yourself, this is also great for your Unarmored Defense barbarian feature. An excellent option for a strength-oriented blood hunter! (note: if you’re raging and transformed per Order of the Lycan, you fail your bloodlust save automatically--yikes!)

Blood Hunter + Bard

Unfortunately, a low-level bard’s best perks are the bonus-action Bardic Inspirations, which take away from your potential offhand attack, Blood Maledicts, and Crimson Rite activation. On the plus side, you can gain Jack-of-All-Trades, Song of Rest, and use the light spellcasting from bard to cast a buff or debuff. It’s not going to hamper you too much, but it’s not outstanding, either. Definitely can be made to work well, especially if you are Order of the Profane Soul and want a couple new cantrips and spell slots to enhance your casting.

Blood Hunter + Cleric

This is what bard could be if it weren’t playin’, as the kids say. Cleric relies on Wisdom, which works for your existing blood hunter abilities, and you’ll get three cantrips instead of 2 (as well as the standard 2 spell slots). Use a cleric’s buff or debuff casting while you focus on melee attacks, and you’re golden--take War domain if you want to focus on volume of hits, or take Tempest to maximize Rite of the Storm (and potentially Rite of the Roar) damage with your channel divinity and add a damaging reaction. 

Blood Hunter + Druid

At first level, druid can’t offer you much, which is a shame since the wisdom ability works in your favor. But if you really want this and you go after the wild shape at second level, be prepared: whether or not you can apply Crimson Rite to your beast shape “weapons” (claws and bite attacks) is totally up to your DM, and you shouldn’t do this multiclass without consulting them first. If you get permission, this could be outstanding; if not, the druid isn’t really worth it.

Blood Hunter + Fighter

With the fighter multiclass, you stand to gain an extra fighting style and, more importantly, your Second Wind, which can be make-or-break for a blood hunter’s self-damaging oeuvre. At second level, your Action Surge can give you extra chances to hit your opponents, as well. It’s actually quite well-suited to you, if not the powerhouse that the barbarian can be under the right conditions.

Blood Hunter + Monk

Now this... this is beautiful. Your dex and wisdom are perfect for the monk skillset, and you can apply monk damage bonuses to weapons that are anointed with your Crimson Rite. You’ll also gain Unarmored Defense, which makes your AC 10+Dexterity mod+Wisdom mod. At second level you get Unarmored Movement and of course, the coveted Ki points. All this is excellent, but here’s the juiciest bit: if you’re a Lycanthrope blood hunter, your unarmed strikes also count as weapons for crimson rite while you’re transformed, further enhancing your attacks using Flurry of Blows, as well as increasing your AC and reducing damage.

Blood Hunter + Paladin

In contrast to the monk, this one is not as well-suited. Your Lay on Hands will force you to decide between taking 3 total attacks on a turn (two for your action and offhand for bonus action) and doing marginal healing. Divine Smite is great, as are the other spellcasting smites, but we must recall the paladin prereqs are Strength and Charisma, so you have just one of two of the needs met (assuming you’re using strength for blood hunter stuff). Smites are really the only perk to this multiclass at low levels.

Blood Hunter + Ranger

This is another option that perfectly blends with the blood hunter skillset. If you’re looking to go for something less combat-y and diversify your non-combat abilities, this is a great option! The fighting style and spellcasting at second level can keep you in the game for combat purposes, applying spells like Hunter’s Mark to increase damage, and you’ll gain a new skill proficiency, bonuses against your favored enemy, and bonuses on favored terrain. 

Blood Hunter + Rogue

A dextrous blood hunter can have a very fun time as a rogue! You’ll gain a skill proficiency, proficiency with thieves’ tools, and expertise as far as skills go, a new language in the form of thieves’ cant, and the ever-coveted Sneak Attack--you’ll only get 1d6 to start, but extra damage is excellent (given that you must have advantage to get sneak attack and thereby double your odds of a critical hit). If you go to second level, your Cunning Actions might help your hitpoint-insecure blood hunter from taking too many hits.

Blood Hunter + Sorcerer and Wizard

I’m lumping these two together because honestly, the answer’s roughly the same. It’s nice to get spells, sure, but neither of these casters have something special to offer the blood hunter. They’re so casting-focused, you’ll struggle to integrate them with your melee attacker. They don’t share your ability score prowesses, either; altogether, the sorcerer can offer you more than the wizard (but if your intelligence is higher, take wizard).

Blood Hunter + Warlock

So first off, the warlock can be a great addition because your casting is so limited. In your case, it’s an asset: you don’t need to waste time on spell slots. either up your AC or take up a concentration spell with Hex or Witch Bolt to deal damage in a passive way as you attack, and potentially employ cantrips to enhance your attacks or attack at range in a pinch. At second level, your eldritch invocations can make you even more badass, but we won’t get into those because there’s so much flexibility.

Now, if you’re Order of the Profane Soul, the rules here are a little different. From the page: “If multiclassing Order of the Profane Soul with Warlock levels, add a third of your blood hunter levels (rounded down) to your Warlock level and consult the Warlock progression table for total Spell Slots, and Spell Slot Level. To decide your spell casting ability for your warlock spells, choose that of the class with the higher level (choose between the two if levels are equal).”

That is to say, if you’re a 9th-level blood hunter and a first-level warlock, you’re considered a 4th-level warlock for the purposes of your total spell slots and spell level. So you’ll still have 2 second-level slots for the first level, but when you level up, blood hunter 9/warlock 2, you’ll count as a 5th level warlock, and immediately increase your spell slots to 3rd level--and because you have more levels in blood hunter, you can use your Wisdom to cast them.

And that’s everything! The old version of the blood hunter is tried-and-true, and if you want to hang on to it and even consider multiclassing from it, here are precisely the tools you need to do so!

If you enjoy our work here, please consider supporting us on our Ko-Fi page! 

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #141: Jeanne d’Arc Alter Santa Lily

That’s right, an unseasonably warm Christmas is upon us yet again, because it’s time for another Santa build! Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re making Jeanne d’Arc Alter Santa Lily yes that is her entire name. J Lils is a Divine Soul Sorcerer for some Christmas magic, but she’s also an Eloquence Bard, so she can deliver presents to good kids and stern lectures to bad ones. Plus, it makes all your spells Christmas carols!

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

Next up: Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! A plane! Its... Venus?

Race and Background

Normally we cheat a bit and call servants humans, but you’re on the losing end of Six Degrees of Separation with Mortality, so your Lineage is as Custom as it gets. (Seriously, you are the kid version of the evil version of the good version of Jeanne d’Arc.) This gives you +2 Charisma, a Small size, Performance proficiency for your next stage show, and the Lucky feat. This lets you re-roll your saves, checks, or attacks three times per long rest. You can also force attacks targeting you to be re-rolled using the same luck pool. 

Like your big sister you’re getting the custom Magic Doppelganger background, giving you proficiency in Arcana and Religion.

Ability Scores

Like your even bigger sister, we’re going with the standard array here. Feel free to roll if you really want to, but make sure your Charisma is your highest stat. You’re a cute kid, and you can also dish out a mean tongue lashing when you need to lay down the law. Second is Constitution, because that’s not just how beefy you are but how lucky you are too, and you’re lucky to be alive. Your Strength isn’t bad, you’re good with a spear but you’re still a kid. You are a bit clumsy when you get worked up, so your Dexterity isn’t great. Your Intelligence isn’t amazing, at least one version of you is illiterate and I don’t know how much that affects you, but we’re dumping Wisdom. Honestly a wiser servant probably would have logic-bombed themselves out of existence by now, so this might be a blessing in disguise.

Class Levels

1. Bard 1: Going into bard first gives you proficiency with Dexterity and Charisma saves, as well as three skills from the bard list. That is to say, the entire list of skills. Intimidation is probably the closest thing to lecturing people, but that might also be Persuasion, it depends on how you word it. You also get Deception proficiency, because you absolutely did not steal any cookies from the cookie jar.

You also learn Spells that you can cast using your Charisma Modifier, as well as some Bardic Inspiration. These are a number of d6 equal to your charisma modifier that you can give to allies to help with their checks, saves, and attack rolls. They recharge on long rests.

For cantrips, Friends and Vicious Mockery run you through D&D’s gamut of social interactions. Healing Word and Heroism make for nice gifts under the tree; Sleep and Comprehend Languages give you skills any santa will need to keep on top of their duties, and Identify will make sure you get the right gift to the right person!

2. Sorcerer 1: I was going to save the multiclassing for a bit, but you really don’t wear heavy armor and your dexterity isn’t great, so here we are.

As a Divine Soul sorcerer, your Spells are augmented with Divine Magic, letting you choose sorcerer or cleric spells when you level up, and you can cast them with your Charisma. You’re also Favored by the Gods, letting you add 2d4 to a failed save or attack roll once per short rest.

For your cantrips, Control Flames will make going down the chimney a bit less hazardous. Fire Bolt gives you a quick and dirty noel ball, otherwise use Light on an ornament and just throw that. You can also Spare the Dying for a last minute gift.

For spells, Mage Armor is almost mandatory for you, and Bless and Cure Wounds are both great gifts, just in time for the holidays. The former adds 1d4 to all attacks and saves three targets make for the duration, and the latter is healing! Everyone loves healing, it’s almost like money.

3. Bard 2: Second level bards are a Jack of All Trades, adding half of your proficiency bonus to all checks that aren’t already proficient. Santa-ing requires all sorts of skills. You also learn a Carol of Rest, adding 1d6 to the healing your party does over short rests. Your Magical Inspiration also lets your allies use your bardic inspiration to increase their spells’ healing and damage rolls. 

You can also cast Unseen Servant to deliver presents with the utmost secrecy!

4. Bard 3: Third level bards graduate from a college, and the college of Eloquence lets you lecture on par with the sternest of professors while also properly enunciating your Christmas carols. Your Silver Tongue lets you treat rolls of 9 or lower as 10 when you make a deception or persuasion check- naughty or nice, it’s up to you.

You can also use your Unsettling Words to point out all the naughty things a creature has done lately, spending a bonus action and an inspiration die to reduce the next save it makes based on the inspiration roll. 

You also get Expertise in two skills- Persuasion to rally your party members, and Deception to pointedly ignore how you refuse to let other people help you and bottle up all your problems due to a crippling lack of self-worth. 

By that I mean you also learn Knock. That’s exactly what I meant.

5. Bard 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to round up your Strength and Charisma scores for stronger spells, more inspiration, and a better time actually using your spear as a class named after a weapon.

You also get the cantrip Dancing Lights for more decorations, and Silence so that Knock from last level doesn’t wake up the house.

6. Sorcerer 2: Going back into sorcerer makes you a Font of Magic, giving you sorcery points equal to your sorcerer level. Right now you can turn those into more spell slots and vice versa, but better uses are coming.

You also learn the other half of Bless, Bane. Up to three creatures need to make a charisma save (DC 8 + proficiency + charisma modifier) or they subtract a d4 from their attacks and saves for the duration of the spell. By the way, yes, that does mean you can subtract 10 from an enemy’s save before blasting them. Life’s fun like that.

7. Sorcerer 3: At third level, sorcerers learn Metamagic, ways of altering their spells to suit their individual style by spending sorcery points.

Careful spells will let you protect your friends from the splashback of your choices in life. That’s not much of an issue right now, but we get scarier spells later. Otherwise, Twinned spells let you basically cast two spells at once, as long as the original could only target one thing. Now you can have red and green lights at the same time!

Speaking of spells that use neither of these options, Prayer of Healing will heal your entire party for a little bit! It has a casting time of 10 minutes though, so I’d save it for out of combat.

8. Bard 5: Heading back to bard for a bit improves your bardic inspiration, growing them to d8s. You also become a Font of Inspiration, meaning you regain inspiration dice on short rests instead of long ones.

You also learn Mass Healing Word. It’s Healing Word, but Mass.

9. Bard 6: At sixth level bards can waste their action on Countercharm, giving nearby allies advantage against being charmed or frightened. More usefully, you also get Unfailing Inspiration so your inspiration dice don’t go away until they’re used on a successful roll. 

You also learn Universal Speech, spending an action to make yourself understandable to any number of creatures within 60′ of you for an hour, regardless of the languages they speak. Now you can bring the joy of Christmas all over the world! You can use this once per long rest or by spending a spell slot.

If you’re still dealing with naughty children though, you can use Fear to put them in their place.

10. Bard 7: Seventh level bards get fourth level spells. There aren’t any here we really need for the build, but Hallucinatory Terrain will help you make sure it’s always a white Christmas.

11. Sorcerer 4: Use this ASI to bump up your Strength. Now your stabbing’s good. Yay!

You also learn Thaumaturgy for more of a stage presence and Magic Missile as a stand in for that green and red thing you do. You know the one.

12. Sorcerer 5: Fifth level sorcerers can use Magical Guidance to re-roll a failed skill check by using a sorcery point. They can also cast third level spells, like Gaseous Form, which makes your whole body a bit dreamlike to pass through solid objects.

13. Sorcerer 6: Sixth level divine souls get Empowered Healing, letting you re-roll any healing dice near you at the low cost of one sorcery point. You can only do this once per turn though.

In keeping with the tradition of “getting cool sorcery abilities and spells that 100% don’t use them”, you can now cast Sleet Storm to really let it snow.

14. Bard 8: Use this ASI to max out your Charisma. You also learn Greater Invisibility, so you can personally deliver presents to kids whether they’re sleeping or awake.

15. Bard 9: At ninth level, bards see their song of rest grow to a d8 as well. They also learn 5th level spells, like Mass Cure Wounds. It’s Cure Wounds, but Mass.

16. Bard 10: At this level your bardic inspiration grows again to d10s. 

I know we’ve been calling your healing spells “gifts”, but we also said they were like money- appreciated, but not really in the spirit of things. Thanks to Magical Secrets you learn two spells from any spell list. Grab the Mending cantrip for your normal cantrip this level, then grab Creation to make any sort of toy you could imagine out of thin air. Then use Conjure Volley for some mass production!

You also get Expertise in two more skills- Arcana and History are good picks here.

17. Bard 11: Eleventh level bards get sixth level spells, like Heroes’ Feast, for a great Christmas dinner.

18. Bard 12: Now that your magic’s stupid good, we should probably beef up your defenses. Normally we’d go with dexterity, but honestly your AC isn’t amazing anyway so we’ll go with Constitution. More health to burn through, and better concentration!

19. Bard 13: Your song of rest joins your inspiration in d10ville, and you get seventh level spells! Etherealness is next to ephemeralness, as the saying goes, so grab that spell and hop on the Ethereal Plane for the ultimate in home burglary skills. Now you can pass straight through objects and are completely undetectable to anything except ghosts. And blink spiders. Watch out for the blink spiders.

20. Bard 14: Our last eloquent goody is Infectious Inspiration, letting you spend a reaction to shuffle your inspiration to another person after it helps out the first person. You know how Christmas music is suddenly everywhere as soon as one radio station starts playing it? This is why. You can use this a number of times per long rest equal to your charisma modifier.

You also get one last round of Magical Secrets, and since we’ve covered most of our bases as far as presents and santa-ing goes, let’s spend these last two on Heal and Regeneration. Healing never goes out of style.

Pros:

Thanks to your maxed out charisma and unsettling words, your spells come with very difficult saves. Getting a 19 or higher on a d20-d10 is rough.

You also come packing a little bit of everything. You’re not terrible with a spear if you really need it, but you’ve also got some utility spells, healing, damage, social spells... you’ve got plenty of spread.

Speaking of being social, your guaranteed 10s on persuasion and deception, plus your expertise with both, means it’ll never be hard for you to sway crowds to your side of an argument.

Cons:

Despite having super tough saves you don’t really use them that much since you’re mostly a healer, or dealing with threats through indirect means.

We didn’t do much with your dexterity this time around, so your AC is honestly pretty terrible, especially for a caster class build. Your HP almost makes up for it, but it’s still not a great look for you.

Those levels in sorcerer we took might make your healing spells stronger and give you your only source of decent AC, but that also splits your spell list, keeping you from getting 9th level spells. Like every build, almost no benefit outweighs the wish spell.

[theworldbrewery]

multiclass your...  MONK!!

patient defense. stunning strike. stillness of mind. deflect missiles. Monks are pretty dang badass all on their own. but you’re here because you want to take your badassery to the Next Level, am I right?

Monks tend to put their highest ability scores in dexterity and wisdom, wear no armor to get their bonuses to AC and movement, and get two attacks when they take the Attack action. You don’t get spellcasting (except the Way of the Four Elements does, kind of, and so does Way of Shadow, kind of) but why would you if you can cast fist? Let’s actually find out.

Monk + Barbarian

Unfortunately, one of your two first-level perks from this multiclass is useless to you, because Unarmored Defense doesn’t double-up. However, you’d still get to Rage. If you have a high strength and a high dex, this can work really well! You can apply Rage Damage to your monk weapon attacks (including unarmed strikes) as long as you used your Strength ability score to attack, not Dexterity. If you put your heart and soul into maxing out Dex and let strength fall by the wayside, this won’t work great. Extra perks include advantage on Dex saves against effects you can see and the classic Reckless Attack feature.

Monk + Bard

Knowing your class, it makes the best sense to opt for several strikes, including your bonus action unarmed strike, instead of casting a spell. Now, there are certainly times when a spell wouldn’t go amiss, but the trade-off costs are higher because you can cast 1 spell as an action, or you can make two attacks. And when you get to your use of Flurry of Blows, a single bonus action cantrip or spell... it just doesn’t pack the same punch. Most of the bard’s coolest features at early levels pale in comparison to what you can use your turn for.

Monk + Cleric

Here’s a caster combo I could see working out, but it all relies on your Divine Domain. A trickery cleric/monk combo can gain advantage on attacks using their duplicate, while a tempest cleric/monk can deal damage as a reaction to getting hit, and a death cleric can deal extra damage. Now, of course you can take a domain like Arcana or Knowledge that offers more roleplay benefits than combat ones, saving your spells for utility only. 

Monk + Druid

This one is fine, but only fine. If your DM rules that your unarmed strikes aren’t possible while Wild-Shaped, it’s barely worth trying. Your spellcasting is utility at best, so you’d really rely on your wild shape. Now, two attacks while in wolf form is nothing to sneeze at--or three if it counts as a bonus action unarmed strike--but it’s starting to drift from the monk specialty, enough so that you’ll be trapped between two very different classes.

Monk + Fighter

*Chef’s kiss* perfect. A high level monk dipping into fighter is excellent, because you’ll snag a fighting style (I recommend archery if your monk does darts/throwing stars/etc. or dueling if you wield a single melee weapon) and Second Wind, which lets you regain HP. But at second level, things go wild. Because you’re a monk with 2 attacks per Attack Action plus Flurry of Blows to attack twice more, you can use the fighter’s Action Surge and make a total of six attacks on your turn. It’s a sweet deal.

Monk + Paladin

This could be almost as clutch as Monk + Fighter... if not for the tiny detail of monks having a 13 or higher in dex and wisdom, and a pally needs a 13 or higher in strength and charisma. If you miraculously pulled it off and had the stats you needed, congrats! You can use Lay on Hands as a last-ditch heal effort, adopt a fighting style (dueling is your only valid option here, unfortunately), and cast spells (and i’ll admit, the smites would be pretty cool as a monk). The problem here is actually that Monk and Paladin are two sides of a very cool coin, but their abilities overlap and diverge too much at the same time. A monk/paladin fusion would most likely get...confused.

Monk + Rogue

This is more like it! You’re dextrous, rogues are dextrous, it’s a win-win. And early-levels sneak attack might not be, like, insanely powerful, but imagine successfully Stunning an opponent on your first strike and dealing Sneak Attack on your second. The only shame is that if you pursue Cunning Actions, a few of your ki point options become redundant, but for you that’s sort of a perk? Because now you can save your ki points for more stunning strikes, more flurry of blows action, deflecting missiles, and using your monk order abilities. 

Monk + Ranger

This combination is really a shoutout to monks who want to be better at non-combat stuff. Rangers will get you extra proficiencies and languages, bonuses to things like tracking enemies, and spellcasting you can use as new bonus actions in combat or as utility spells plus a fighting style (see my tips on the fighter entry above). It’s not perfect--spellcasting takes focus away from your ki point methods--but if you were going for a nature vibe but druid won’t work for you, ranger is a great option!

Monk + Sorcerer

The sorcerous origins are going to do right by you, trust me. Draconic Resilience ups your AC by three (and since it’s not technically Unarmored Defense, it should stack with your existing AC bonus); Divine Soul lets you add a bonus when you miss with an attack to improve your roll; Storm Sorcery gives you the ability to fly ten feet without provoking opportunity attacks. Spells might help you out a bit, but I’ll level with you--they’re not as beneficial to you as your ki points, and the sorcery points you receive at 2nd level won’t help you do your monk thing.

Monk + Warlock

The nice thing about the warlock is that you’re not going to struggle with whether or not to use a spell slot. Blow it on a nice Hex right up front and start attacking as normal. Use a ranged cantrip to deal damage (eldritch blast or toll the dead) when you have an enemy out of melee range and/or don’t want to provoke an opportunity attack. If you pursue eldritch invocations, use them to either amp up that eldritch blast or employ them in non-combat scenarios.

Monk + Wizard

I’ve said it before, Wizard is the toughest one to multiclass. You likely won’t gain many benefits from this except to use Absorb Elements and Shield (both of which are reactions that will help you out in battle without detracting from your attacks). Still, if you’re committed to it, there’s nothing actively wrong with this multiclass--it’s just way, way outside the typical Monk skillset, and can lead to some issues keeping up with your powerhouse of a party later on.

That’s it for the Monk multiclass tips! Next up, we’ll be discussing Sorcerers, those most flexible of casters. 

If you enjoy our work, consider supporting us on Ko-Fi!