Parkour!

[kellyda4]

So trying to think up a fun character for when I finally get to play (DM two groups right now) and was considering trying to make some sort of parkour/athletics/acrobatics based character. I'm not super focused on optimization, just need to consider being ok in all three game pillars so I'm not a detriment to any group.

Thinking between the classic criminal rogueish background and something more innocent like a good monk who refuses to kill his enemies, etc; either way the full character concept is something I'm still fleshing out; any thoughts on character types this fits with in your mind?

In terms of class/race combos i've been looking at these:

- Rogue, thief subclass for expertise, reliable talent (though not till 11),, bonus action dash/disengage, the ability to move full climbing speed, extra jumping ability/distance

- Rogue, swashbuckler archetype for expertise, reliable talent, bonus action dash/disengage, advantage on acrobatics and athletics (though not until 13 argh that's a long long time)

- Monk, for huge movement increases, dash/disengage as bonus action and jump distance doubled (yes it's 1 ki point but still), slowfall, flavour of having no weapon and running around unarmored, lol

- Fighter, Champion, half proficiency bonus to all str and dex checks (so when DM says my action isn't neccesarily a strictly acrobatics or athletics check it still has a bonus of some kind), weapon and armor proficiency, not my favorite option overall upon initial thought, could be good fit though depending on where the character concept goes

- Wizard, bladesong for acrobatics advantage, speed increase of 10 feet, littany of spells like jump, haste, etc though bladesong abilities or limited. Do like the gish like option and utility of spells though.

- Warlock, blacklock; mainly for the overall gish feel, at will jump spell (not until level 9 though!), the idea of walking around wearing nothing and then all of a sudden having my weapon and mage armor on sounds awesome. Plus this character fits the criminal archetype well with disguise self, perhaps actor feat, etc.

- Barbarian, mainly for some viking like flavour and the advantage on strength athletics checks while raging; this is obviously a slightly different character as to be a good parkour like character you'd need athletics and acrobatics ready; might be a good option though with multiclass rogue for expertise on acrobatics

Races: half-elf for extra skill prof., human variant for feat, wood elf for extra movement and dex bonus, half-elf variant for swimming speed so character can potentially have full speed in climbing and swimming times

Note about multi-classing: I'm open to it in general though only if it blends well with character concept overall

What do you think; any character ideas and other race/class combos you can think of that help with this? Overall, my impression upon looking at this is that the rogue swashbuckler and monk are great mechanically in their own different ways and the spells of the bladesong and warlock are interesting as well

[Grod_The_Giant]

I'd start with two to three levels of Rogue for skills, Expertise, and Cunning Action, and potentially also Second-Story Work. Then move into Monk for the rest of it. Especially Shadow Monk, perhaps, for added magic and sneakiness. You can drop a feat on Magic Initiate if you'd like a bit more castiness.

[Eriol]

I'm with Grod. Rogue(Thief) followed by Monk. Or Monk first, and then a bit of Thief, then back to pure Monk. Whatever optimizes best to do first/second, but the movement from Monk is just awesome, and combined with second-story-work from Thief, it "just works" for your character concept IMO.


Monk just has THE movement options. Maybe for real REAL cheese grab two levels of fighter for Action Surge, but I'd personally advocate against that. Better to just become a better Monk in general IMO. And for some reason I see the "Deflect Missiles" ability of monk to go really well with your type of character, as you described it.

So ya, Thief 3, Monk All.

[Specter]

You only need 3 levels of rogue, for free climbing. Reliable Talent comes in too late.

A raging Barbarian/Rogue jumping through rooftops to chase his victim, now that would be a cool sight.

[RickAllison]

I'll take that Rogue/Monk and raise it Bladesinger 2. While this becomes MAD as all get out, I like the concept of the runner turning on Bladesong as his "flow". It also gives a base for getting some wonderful spells.

[Coyote81]

I'll take that Rogue/Monk and raise it Bladesinger 2. While this becomes MAD as all get out, I like the concept of the runner turning on Bladesong as his "flow". It also gives a base for getting some wonderful spells.

I second this post. I picture a low int bladesinger grappling someone, running up the wall with them and flipping back, with an acrobatic suplex.

[N810]

You could add some Eagle totem Barbarian, for super high jumps.

[JeffreyGator]

What are you thinking for background?

Parkour seems pretty well built for the urchin City Secrets feature.

That doesn't have to require criminal ness.

If you think of parkour as a performance art, the jester bard becomes a pretty good option and has 1/2 proficiency on all checks that aren't athletics or acrobatics and could have expertise on both of those.

[Temperjoke]

Depending on what motivates your character, I think a combination of Monk/Rogue would fit what you are looking to be able to do. Start with 4 levels of Monk, then 3 levels Rogue Thief, then fill out the rest with whichever class appeals to your character; that gives you all the climbing, jumping, and dodging to your heart's content. You can focus primarily on Dex, which boosts your unarmored capability so you don't need to worry about your armor.

[RickAllison]

What are you thinking for background?

Parkour seems pretty well built for the urchin City Secrets feature.

That doesn't have to require criminal ness.

If you think of parkour as a performance art, the jester bard becomes a pretty good option and has 1/2 proficiency on all checks that aren't athletics or acrobatics and could have expertise on both of those.

Actually, the Pirate variant of the Sailor background seems like a really good base point. Athletics is what is used for running and jumping (kind of a big thing for free-runners), Perception spots new paths while running (think Runner Vision from Mirror's Edge, picking out what can be climbed or run across), and the immunity to minor crimes covers the crimes of trespassing and running across rooftops like a madman.

[Ditto]

The Jester (College of Satire) bard from UA (http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/04_UA_Classics_Revisited.pdf)is absolutely what you're looking for. At third level you gain the ability to tumble as a bonus action, which means:


You gain the benefits of taking the Dash and
Disengage actions.
• You gain a climbing speed equal to your current
speed.
• You take half damage from falling.

I'm playing a level three halfling bard with expertise in acrobatics and I can't help but shout "PARKOUR!" just to myself whenever I walk up the side of a building or run straight across the battlefield while doing a strafe attack and being untouchable. It's wicked.

[unwise]

I was just skimming, but has anybody mentioned the Mariner Fighting Style from Waterborne Adventures UA? It gives you both a climb speed and a swim speed if you are not in heavy armor. That is pretty damn amazing. My Pirate/Swashbuckler/Musketeer dex-based Fighter has that and it is unreal. Once I hit 5 Fighter I moved into Rogue and got to level 3 for the Thief's Interact with Object as a Bonus Action. That lets him pull out rugs from under people, cut chandeliers, swing ship booms etc. It is a lot of fun as the DM likes the concept and helps it work well.