Let's make Guts!!!

[zinycor]

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/berserk/images/0/09/Blackswordsman_2nd_armour.png/revision/latest?cb=20120517155750

Hi guys!! I am Gming a 5e game and one of my players wants to play Guts from Berserk.

If you hadn't read Berserk or watched the anime...


DO IT (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11hauEzyQC8) NOW!!! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGNWRaM3zX4)

having said that, on my game he would be a 5 level character, with the standard set of attributes to start (8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15)

what are your ideas? should he be more of a fghter or a barbarian?, what feats would be better?, race?, background (I'm Guessing soldier, he was a mercenary afterall)

[squab]

Ok first off, I've seen what Guts can do, he's got 20 str and con. He does not have a standard set of attributes. He starts off wielding a sword that, from what I recall from, uh, a youtube video describing guts fighting the soul edge, he's wielding a sword that's basically designed for giants. (It was made to kill dragons but no one ever used it before guts because it was too big and heavy for a human to use.)

I'd say fighter makes more sense then barbarian; he fights like a berserker, but I don't recall him ever having hulk-like rages in battle, which is a barbarians main schtick.

[Ralanr]

Because rage can't be used in heavy armor, I would vote mainly fighter levels. But I suspect an allowance of rage damage while in heavy armor. More fighter levels than barb (I know it sounds mad. But he'd be a battlemaster). If you went barb, berserker frenzy is perfect.

Menacing attack, push attack, and sweeping attack.

[squab]

Me and a friend think he's a level 20 fighter. Personally I'd say for 5th ed, Guts is a level 20 barbarian who too the path of the berserker, is always considered to be to be raging and benefiting from rage bonuses despite wearing heavy armor. (I originally didn't want barbarian just because I'm used to 3.5/pathfinder where the rage mechanic included mechanical downsides to match the flavor of a raging berserker whose rage clouds his mind. Good on 5th ed for not having that.)

[Zejety]

Disclaimer: I have only read the mange up to a certain point so I don't know how much the character changes afterwards.

At one point in the story he is given a suit of armor that gives him very obvious rage abilities (frenzy to a point where he comes close to attacking his allies/friends, heightened combat prowess, supressing the effects of damage, inlcuding the supporting broken bones). If this does not end up being designed as a magic item, I would be hard-pressed not to make him a barbarian if this is supposed to be reflected in the (N)PC.

[Tehnar]

I don't think you can make Guts, at least not without changing everything about 5e.

Probably the best you could do is a level 20 Champion Fighter to represent Guts at the time of the 100 man slayer part, but anything after that doesn't work with 5e.

[meltodowno]

Original anime series ? Level 20 battlemaster, with as much 2 handed boosts as you can fit in. He's a trained fighter, skilled in oversized weaponry.

Manga? Level 20 berzerker. His strength and constitution are higher than the normal human maximum, and in battle he goes into a berzerk frenzy (hence the actual title of the series) where he can't tell friend from foes, and gets so angry mental effects barely phase him.

Granted, he wears fullplate in the manga too, but short of going gestalt, that's the closest to showing his suite of powers.

[Gnomes2169]

Definitely gestalt Fighter (battlemaster)/ Barbar (berzerker) level 14.

Yeah, 14.

He's not actually super-human like a level 20 character would be, but he is quite obviously the single most skilled humany human badass in the series, specialized in the art of war and able to rip apart foes beyond him in through through sheer skill and strength. Perhaps that armor of his gives him the effect of a belt of frost giant strength, while also making him go into a blood frenzy whenever he frenzies, and making the frenzy last until almost everything around him is dead, but the rage resistances and damage give him the vastly increased durability.

He does have a base 20 str and con, though. He has reached the human limit in those for sure, and has all the feats related to swinging that godly OP sword that he can get his hands on.

[meltodowno]

The easiest way to make Guts as a general concept, however, is probably an Oath of Vengeance paladin. Full armor, capable in mounted combat, driven by an oath of vengeance. Just re-flavor smites as him channeling his inner rage. Done.

[zinycor]

Thanks to everyone!!

Btw, we know that the real Guts would be way higher than a level 5 character and he would have better stats than the standard set gives. But this is for the game we are playing and all the other characters on the game have those conditions.

What about feats? I guess that Great Weapon Master is a must, but what other feats would be nice? maybe crossbow expert?

[meltodowno]

Paladin of vengeance.

Feats:
Great weapon Master
Mage Slayer
- other ASI's into stats

Background:
Soldier.

[Joe the Rat]

Which era? Band of the Hawk? Post-Eclipse? Berserker armor / awakened world? Each one brings a different set of needs. I suppose you could also work towards class progression to transition these changes as well.

At the core of it, you have a Greatsword Soldier with Athletics, Intimidation, and Perception at least. Strength, Constitution, and (eventually) Charisma are key attributes, though you could also switch to Wisdom (willpower) and bolster the social skill proficiencies (becoming "likeable").

Races. Human (Vuman) is the obvious choice, but thematically I'd also consider Half-Orc. Goliath is a stretch, but is fairly appropriate crunchwise.

Great Weapon Master and Resilient (Wisdom) are pretty core across the board. Post-Eclipse you want to look at Mage Slayer. Crossbow Expert will let you do the repeater without actually having to create a repeater. Guts seems twitchy enough to justify Alert. Starting at 5, you really ought to take an ASI (so at least 4 in one class) to boost Strength (or get GWM if you went nonhuman).

Classes. My take on the Pre-Eclipse character (albeit in halfling form) was to go Battlemaster Fighter. If you are looking at MCing into Vengeance Paladin to cover some of his post-eclipse tricks, Champion might not be a bad choice (pushing Smites for damage rather than using superiority dice). I'd steer away from Barbarian (and third classes in general), unless you want to go late story, and can't persuade the DM to give you cursed berserker armor. If you opt for high strung, high willpower and bad people skills (wisdom over charisma), Hunter Ranger might work in lieu of Paladin, though you'll be MAD as hell with the dex req.

If you want to avoid spellcasting altogether, Champ+Barb or BM+Barb would be a reasonable alternate for the crazy damage. I'd look at the totem tricks to see if any of them fit your needs (hello Bear!) before settling on Totem or Frenzy. Getting outside the standard rules (i.e. Unearthed Arcana crap) you could do some interesting things with Spell-less Ranger (Maneuvers without taking BM Fighter, leaving you open for Champion shenanigans), plus the ability to shake down a fairy for dust make healing poultices.

[squab]

Definitely gestalt Fighter (battlemaster)/ Barbar (berzerker) level 14.

Yeah, 14.

He's not actually super-human like a level 20 character would be, but he is quite obviously the single most skilled humany human badass in the series, specialized in the art of war and able to rip apart foes beyond him in through through sheer skill and strength. Perhaps that armor of his gives him the effect of a belt of frost giant strength, while also making him go into a blood frenzy whenever he frenzies, and making the frenzy last until almost everything around him is dead, but the rage resistances and damage give him the vastly increased durability.

He does have a base 20 str and con, though. He has reached the human limit in those for sure, and has all the feats related to swinging that godly OP sword that he can get his hands on.

He wields a sword that, prior to him wielding it, was considered useless because it was too big and heavy for a man to use. He fought and killed a hundred men in a single battle without, form what I recall, taking any major wounds. You'd be hard pressed to find a single man in history (ok I'd be surprised if there weren'tany) who killed a hundred men in a single battle, even with guns. (Easy with explosives tho.) If real people have ever done that, we're probably looking at a sniper (including archers) or someone who went into a berserk adrenaline fueled rage and died from the wounds/bloodloss after the battle.

And that's not even the height of his power. He doesn't have the reality warping power of a 20th level caster, but he does have the power of a 20th level martial imo. (Especially in 5th ed where the power difference between levels is smaller then most editions, or at least 3.5)

[CarsonMcKellyn]

I saw this and thought I'd post my take on Guts! I'm a HUGE fan of Berserk, and have been playing D&D for many years!

In this build, I tried to keep simplicity in mind, since that seems to be the primary objective of 5e character design. however, I also wanted this build to feel as true to the Manga as possible while staying within the albeit loose guidelines in the Core Rulebooks and use as little "homebrewing" as possible.

I believe that this is a great build for him, but let me know what you think, I'm always happy to get feedback!

BTW, this build features Guts as of issue 348 as he's chillin' out in Elfhelm. There also may be a few "of-by-one" errors.

Thanks!

Guts (Elfhelm)
Medium, humanoid (human, chaotic good), Barbarian 20
AC 19 (Berserker Armor), (19 Unarmored), 21 (while berserk)
HP 325 (20d12 + 180)
Speed 30 (40 when not wearing heavy armor)

STR 24 (+7) DEX 14 (+2) CON 24 (+7) INT10 (+0) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 8 (-1)

Saving Throws STR +13, DEX +2, CON +13, INT +0, WiIS +0, CHA -1
Skills Athletics +13, Stealth +8D, Animal Handling +6, Survival +6, Intimidation +5
Vulnerabilities None
Resistances Bludgeoning, Piercing and Slashing while raging.
Immunities None
Senses Normal Senses. Disadvantage on Perception Checks that rely on sight or taste.
Languages Common
Challenge 19 (22,000 XP)
Durable. When Guts spends Hit Dice to regain Hit Points, the minimum number he regains from the roll is 14 (for a total of 21).
Reckless Attack. When making his first attack on his turn, Guts may gain advantage on all attacks he makes on his turn. However, doing so grants advantage on any attack rolls made against him until the start of his next turn.
Danger Sense. Guts has advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects that he can see.
Frenzy. When Guts rages, he may choose to frenzy. If he does so, he may make an additional melee attack on each of his turns as a bonus action. However, doing so causes him to suffer one level of fatigue when his rage ends.
Unarmored Movement. When not wearing heavy armor, Guts’ base land speed increases by 10ft.
Mindless Rage. Guts cannot be charmed or frightened while raging. If he is charmed or frightened, when he enters a rage, the effect is suspended for the duration of the rage.
Feral Instincts. Guts has advantage on Initiative rolls. Additionally, if he is surprised at the beginning of combat and aren’t incapacitated, he can act normally on his first turn if he enters a rage before doing anything else on that turn.
Brutal Critical. Guts rolls 3 additional damage dice with his weapon when he scores a critical hit.
Relentless Rage. If Guts drops to 0 Hit Points while he’s raging and doesn’t die outright, he may make a DC 10 Constitution Saving Throw. If he succeeds, he drops to 1 Hit Point instead. Each time he uses this feature after the first. The DC increases by 5. When he finishes a short or long rest, the DC resets to 10.
Persistent Rage. Guts rage only ends early if he falls unconscious or if he chooses to end it.
Indomitable Might. If Guts makes a Strength Check whose result is less than 24, he may choose to make it 24 instead.
Primal Champion. Guts is a paragon of physical might and fortitude, his Strength and Constitution Scores are increases by 4 to a maximum of 24.
Branded Swordsman. Any Evil creatures within 120ft of Guts can sense his presence (Guts can feel their presence as well) and are immediately hostile against him. They are compelled to attack him, and will prioritize him above all other creatures. Additionally, any fiend whose challenge rating is 1 or greater, can use a bonus action to deal necrotic damage to Guts equal to their Challenge Rating.
Iron Prosthetic. While his prosthetic is installed, Guts can wield his sword and crossbow normally. He is, in all other ways, considered only to have one arm.
Scarred Right Eye. Guts lost his eye during the Eclipse and therefore has disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
Battle-Ravaged. Due to his extensive use of the Berserker Armor, many of Guts senses have begun to fade, rendering him mildly colorblind, slightly hard of hearing and lacking some sense of taste.

ACTIONS
Multiattack. Guts makes two attacks when taking the Attack action.
Dragonslayer. Melee Weapon Attack. +15 to hit. Hit: 23 (4d6 + 9) slashing damage or 27 (4d6 + 13) while raging. 65 (16d6 + 9) on crit or 69 (16d6 + 13) on crit while raging.
Intimidating Presence. One creature within 30ft must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving Throw or be frightened until the end of Guts’ next turn. On subsequent turns, he may use his Action to extend the effect or an additional round. This effect ends if a creature ends its turn out of line of sight or more than 60ft away from Guts.
BONUS ACTIONS
Rage. While raging Guts gains the following traits:
• Advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
• When making a melee attack using Strength, gain a +4 bonus to damage rolls.
• Resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage.
Frenzy Attack (While Frenzying). Melee Weapon Attack. +15 to hit. Hit: 23 (4d6 + 9) slashing damage or 27 (4d6 + 13) while raging.

REACTIONS
Retaliation. When Guts takes damage from a creature within 5ft of him, he may make a melee attack against that creature.

EQUIPMENT
Dragonslayer, Berserker Armor, Repeating Crossbow (3 bolt cases (20 bolts each)), Six Throwing Knives (Darts), belt pouch of mini bombs (DC 15 Dex save vs 2d6 Fire Damage, single creature within 20ft.)

DRAGONSLAYER
Weapon (oversized-greatsword), Legendary
The smith who created this weapon was instructed by the king to create a weapon capable of killing a dragon. And he did exactly that. However, when the smith presented this gigantic sword, the king thought that the smith was mocking him and ordered his death. The smith took the sword and spend the rest of his days living in an isolated cottage where he eventually met Guts.
After slaying 1,000 otherworldly beings, the Dragonslayer is considered magical and anyone wielding it gains a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls.
Due to this weapon’s tremendous size, it deals twice the damage of a normal greatsword (4d6). Any creature attempting to use it must have a 20 Strength or be of Large size or larger. Due to Guts’ superhuman strength, he may wield the Dragonslayer with only one hand, but he has Disadvantage on all attack rolls made in this way.

BERSERKER ARMOR
Armor (plate), artifact (requires attunement)
Guts gains a +1 bonus to AC while wearing the Berserker Armor. Additionally, a creature who is attuned gains proficiency in heavy armor so long as they remain attuned.
Curse. This armor is cursed, and becoming attuned to it extends the curse to you. As long as you remain cursed, you are unwilling to part with the armor, keeping it within reach at all times.
Whenever a hostile creature damages you while wearing the armor, you must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or go berserk. While berserk, you are under the effect of the haste spell and you must use your action each round to attack the creature nearest to you. If you can make extra attacks as part of the Attack action, you use those extra attacks, moving to attack the next nearest creature after you fell your current target. If you have multiple possible targets, you attack one at random. You are berserk until you start your turn with no creatures within 60 feet of you that you can see or hear. A Barbarian who is attuned to the armor automatically fails this saving throw if they are Raging, and the heavy armor restriction on raging does not apply.
And finally, when an attuned creature that is wearing the armor takes damage, and their current Hit Points are below half of their Maximum, they gain a number of temporary Hit Points equal to the damage dealt. These Temporary Hit Points are not cumulative, and disappear if the creature’s current Hit Points are above half of its Maximum or the creature dies. A creature whose current Hit Points are 0 does not go unconscious and may continue fighting as long as they have temporary hit points. However, they are still dying and must make death saving throws as normal.
Casting remove curse allows the wearer to remove the armor, and breaks the attunement.

[GlenSmash!]

As seen by the other replies there are a lot of ways to build Guts especially considering what part of his timeline you re trying to emulate. There's good cases for Champion or Battlemaster fighter or even the Monster hunter Fighter from Unearthed Arcana. Vengence Paladin fit's too if you ignore stuff like Lay on Hands.

In all cases I'd start as a Variant Human with the Great Weapon Master Feat. Soldier background works great, but I think Mercenary Veteran form SCAG is even better.

I personally like Guts as a Barbarian. Advantage on initiative seems to fit really well. Resistance to Damage from Rage accounts for his superhuman durability. Reckless Attack not only seems to fit, but it just flat out works well with GWM, and Guts is above all a guy with a REALLY big sword.

For subclass, Berserker fits really well (I'll expound on this a littler further down) if UA is allowed the Zealot Barbarian would make a great fit too, maybe the even best fit for a Barbarian.

For something a little out of left field, If you can get your hands on the Adventures in Middle-Earth Players guide, it has a Barbarian subclass called the Foehammer. Even though it's for a Middle Earth campaign, it has a lot of stuff that would be great for a Guts type character including Heavy Armor Proficiency, the ability to rage in Heavy Armor, later the ability to add Dex mod to AC while in Heavy Armor, and the ability to get an automatic Crit at the cost of damaging the weapon being wielded (Guts had to get his previous sword repaired multiple times)

Regardless of subclass I would put my highest stat in Strength and Second highest in Con. I'd aim for about a 14 in Dex to Max his AC in Medium Armor. I'd try to get Half-Plate as soon as possible. Next highest stat goes into Wisdom, then Charisma, and lastly Int. Guts isn't dumb, he just hasn't had the chance to read a lot of books given his life of combat.

16 Str, 14 Dex, 14 Con, 8 Int, 12 Wis, 10 Cha is how I would do it using the Standard Array and Variant Human. I would Max strength as soon as possible.

For skills, Athletics, and Perception Proficiencies are the best. Intimidation, Insight, and even Stealth all pretty good options too.

With Guts as he is currently in the Manga I would say he has a few Magic Items.

Dragonslayer is a +X Greatsword that takes 20 Strength to attune. When attuned it does an additional 2d6 Slashing damage

Berserker Armor is a set of +X Full Plate. When attuned it allows the user to treat it as Medium Armor even though it is Heavy Armor. So the Wearer can rage, and gain a Dex Bonus to AC of +2 While wearing the Armor. While Raging the wearer ignores the effects of Exhaustion*. BUT it has the same curse as the Berserker Axe from the DMG. If they wearer fails the Wisdom save they move towards and attack the nearest creature.

*(The stacking effects of Exhaustion work really well to describe how he has to recuperate after fighting in the Berserker Armor, so this is why I'd consider going Berserker Barbarian)

Mechanical Arm, can be fired like the cannon described as in the DMG or as a Hand Crossbow that ignores the Loading property.

[Dudu]

Golden Age started he probably was closer to a lvl 10 Fighter. Maybe a lvl 8 Fighter with quite high stats. In the current manga he is closer to lvl 15.

I don't think he would be a battlemaster, though, more like a champion. Griffith would be a battlemaster.

[Lombra]

Having read the manga, I think that you should ask him which Guts he wants to play: in the golden age he's definately a champion fighter, then he becomes a barbarian berserker in my opinion, not multiclassed, entirely a new class, and he will get to that 24/24 STR/CON. But if the game won't last up until that level, a multiclass fighter/barbarian could work I guess. I'd go with barb 3 (berserker for obvious reasons) champ x, he's definately a greatsword crit-fisher. Alternatively, if you won't reach uber high levels, straight berserker or straight champion work anyways. The most of the work would be on his behalf for the roleplay and the flavour anyways.
In the UA (of gothic character I think) there's a monster hunter, which seems fitting for him after the golden age.

[Draco4472]

At least until he gets the Berserker armor, Guts mainly appear to wear half-plate into battle, so barbarian is still viable.

If not a barbarian, he would be pure fighter. Barbarian makes more sense to me with his fighting style.

[Shulk]

I mean, I'd personally say that a mid level adventurer, especially a fighter or barbarian, hell, even a level 5, when using a greatsword with proper stats, could probably kill 100 men alone if they're good enough, And the enemies are treated as normal humans without levels. However, class might be iffy. He could be a barbarian, sure, sure, but he could also be a fighter with serious ****ing anger issues. He could, theoretically, also be multiclass. Either works, honestly, It's a great question.

"Is guts a barbarian or a fighter?"

[sithlordnergal]

Hmmm, knowing what I do about Guts, I'd say he is a Berserker/Fighter/Paladin hybrid. Or maybe just Berserker/Paladin. And hear me out before you recoil in shock.

Guts fights, and kills, tons of demons on a daily basis, he is optimized to do that. Sure, he can take on waves and waves of humans, but at the same time I'd still peg him as someone who is optimized for fighting one on one battles. Given his abilities, I'd make him:

Human

Path of the Zealot Barbarian: 14

Oath of Vengeance Paladin: 6

Pump as much as you can into strength and con, using the paladin slots to smite the hell out of demons.Upon reaching level 14 Barbarian, you'll have Rage Beyond Death. Which will, of course, give you the opportunity to continue fighting after every bone is broken and every drop of blood has been lost, without making a new magic item to do it.

[GlenSmash!]

Oh hey, this thread got necro'd.

Since Xanathar's came out I do think a Zealot could be used to represent Guts' superhuman durability. Gestalt with a Champion would be awesome.

I think a Paladin, even vengeance doesn't quite fit. Things like Lay on hands for example.

Upon thinking about it I think the Dragonslayer sword should have reach. It's just that big. It could be a Magic great sword with the reach property, or I could see it as a Glaive that does 2d10 damage. The big benefit of that is being able to use the PAM feat. Getting an AoO when an enemy enters his reach is pretty Guts like to me.

[Eric Diaz]

I mean, I'd personally say that a mid level adventurer, especially a fighter or barbarian, hell, even a level 5, when using a greatsword with proper stats, could probably kill 100 men alone if they're good enough, And the enemies are treated as normal humans without levels.

I don't think one 5th level PC would be able to do that under 5e rules; not against guards (MM 347), but probably not even against commoners (MM 345).