Van Richten / Monster Hunter Gothic specialist - How to 5e him?

[LucianoAr]

Im looking forward to play a monster/demon hunter specialist type and im wondering how to build him up with the 5e rules.

im sure a few levels of rogue must be in the mix for added mobility and options, as i feel hes more of a tactical, smart fighter, that knows when to pick his fights.


but what else? what classes do you feel would represent him more?

[Ralanr]

Favored enemy from ranger? Though I doubt you can just pick monster.

[Joe the Rat]

One of the nice things about Rogues this time around is that you can sneak attack any creature. No more of that undead immune to crits and sneaks stuff.

If you're not adverse to magic, Bards can capture a fair amount of the "Know stuff about monsters and beat them up" aspect: Lore Bard flavors more towards "know stuff about monsters," Valor Bard for the more "...and beat them up" part.

Ranger can also get to this via Favored Enemy. The emphasis here is on information and tracking; the "beat them up" benefits are universal. I'd look at the Hunter Archetype for this one.

Backgrounds can shore up holes in your skills. Arcana, Religion, and Nature would pretty much cover any "know about monsters" ability checks your DM could ask for. Sticking to the martial types, Sage gives you good coverage, though I could see Acolyte as well.

[Ardantis]

I'd go straight assassin rogue or straight hunter ranger. Pick survival and a background with knowledges.

[Person_Man]

If I were building this character, I would most definitely want access to the Banishment spell(Cleric, Paladin, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard 4, or Bard if you want to cherry pick it). Charisma Save, one (or more, if cast out of higher level slot) creature is removed to a harmless demiplane for up to 1 minute (with Concentration), and Extraplanar creatures can be permanently removed.

It's useful not only because its a Save or Lose against demons, but also because it can be used to removing the toughest enemy from combat using this spell, kill all of his friends, then have your party stand in a circle with Readied Actions to kill the Banished enemy when he returns.

I personally would go with Cleric. They're Wisdom based and thus have high Perception, they get plenty of Divination magic to alert them to or track down enemies, they have Enhance Ability and Guidance to buff Skill checks, their damage is just as good as anyone else once you factor in Spiritual Weapon (and they have a few blasty spell options for nova damage as well), they get access to Banishment a lot sooner then a Paladin, and they're tankier then a Sorcerer, Wizard, or Bard. Trickery Domain would add Pass Without Trace, Counterspell, Mirror Image, and other very useful scout/hunter spells, and you'd get a lot more uses of them then a Ranger would.

But honestly lots of different builds would work.

[Draken]

Favored enemy from ranger? Though I doubt you can just pick monster.

Monstrosity is the most common creature type in the MM, so not only you can, but it is a decent option to boot.

Also, Van Richten himself is a rogue, so that much is a given for a class.

[ad_hoc]

If I remember correctly Van Richten was a 2nd level Rogue. He didn't have much personal power so he bested the monsters by learning about them and enlisting the aid of great heroes.

I would go Arcane Trickster with expertise in Arcana and Investigation.

[Ralanr]

Monstrosity is the most common creature type in the MM, so not only you can, but it is a decent option to boot.

Also, Van Richten himself is a rogue, so that much is a given for a class.

Ahh. I haven't looked much into ranger, I assumed it was like how you chose humanoid

[MrStabby]

I don't know the character but it may depend what type of monster you are hunting.

If you are demons or undead then Paladin with their ability to detect them may be very useful. Paladin Rogue is not a bad combination to use for this. Vengance with a vendetta against monsters would fit the theme.