How would you build Scrooge McDuck? [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Rfkannen

2017-06-17, 07:14 PM

I have been thinking about this all day but can't come up with a good enough build. How would you do it?

The first thing that came to mind was either barbarian (the time he ripped a boat in half) or wild sorcerer (lucky coin) but neither really captures the character.

Class? Attributes? Proficiencies? Feats?

edit:the only thing for certain is that he is tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties!

Millstone85

2017-06-17, 07:23 PM

Clearly, he has draconic blood in his veins.

Have you seen his hoard?

Potato_Priest

2017-06-17, 07:28 PM

Well the cop-out answer to this question is to say that he's not built like a player character, but that's boring.

In combat, Scrooge tends to rely on a shotgun, which to me indicates he's some sort of martial-ish character.

He doesn't really use much magic, but is quite good at battlefield control (shouting orders to donald)

He's also not really a master of combat, being an expert at business (persuasion), and traveling/living for cheap (survival) more than anything else.

If I remember correctly, Scrooge McDuck also often relies on surprise tactics in fights, and that combined with everything else makes me inclined to think of him as a rogue. Rogues are nonmagical but very skilled and versatile characters, and I think that describes Scrooge Mcduck perfectly.

I'd go expertise survival and persuasion, and put his highest scores into con, cha, and wis, with dex/str being secondary. (please note that I'm not trying to optimize this, just build an acurate scrooge McDuck)

I don't have the SCAG on me, but I'm inclined to say Mastermind for subclass, due to his position as a leader and a boss.

Unoriginal

2017-06-18, 04:02 AM

wild sorcerer (lucky coin)

Stop right here.

It is NOT a lucky coin.

He's also not really a master of combat

Oh boy.

Yes, yes he is. He doesn't shows it much in the present days, because, well, age caught up with him, but Scrooge was the toughest combatant in all of the Klondike, as well as one of the best shots of the US.

He also know how to use plate armor and is a pretty good swordsman.

As for relying on surprise, no, not really. It certainly happened, but generally when Scrooge's coming for you, you KNOW about it.

I would say he qualifies as a Fighter, with maybe some Lore Bard

Quoxis

2017-06-18, 05:35 AM

Stop right here.

It is NOT a lucky coin.

Someone's gonna be disappointed...
http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/9/99/AMELIA.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20091223024521

Millstone85

2017-06-18, 05:44 AM

Findulidas

2017-06-18, 07:28 AM

I love this thread. Please continue.

If you count the old comics he certainly was a barbarian back in his youth. Although not a stupid one. Athletics, survival, deception, insight, investigation probably history. In some comics he def had nature in others not so much.

I could also buy him being a rogue with expertise in insight, athletics and deception.

Unoriginal

2017-06-18, 12:04 PM

Someone's gonna be disappointed...

Not necessarily.

I don't remember how it was in the DuckTales cartoon (the first series; very excited for the reboot :smallsmile:) but in the comics Magica De Spell had a formula to turn the first coin of the richest man into a philosopher's stone or somesuch. In D&D terms, she wasn't after a magic item but a rare material component.

She wants the coin because, as the coin that's belonged to the world's richest man for the longest time, it has strong sympathetic magic tied to it. And so, she wants to use the coin to make a magic item that'll make her rich.

When she first appeared she just wanted coins that once belonged to rich people.

Potato_Priest

2017-06-18, 12:49 PM

Yes, yes he is. He doesn't shows it much in the present days, because, well, age caught up with him, but Scrooge was the toughest combatant in all of the Klondike, as well as one of the best shots of the US.

He also know how to use plate armor and is a pretty good swordsman.

I would say he qualifies as a Fighter, with maybe some Lore Bard

Ok, fair enough, he is a good fighter, but he's also extraordinarily proficient at things other than fighting, which suggests rogue. Aside from the heavy armor, most of his abilities could easily be attributed to the rogue class, as they make more than adequate sharpshooters and fencers. Thus, I might suggest some sort of fighter/rogue multiclass build. Perhaps battlemaster fighter 3/rogue X.

I don't know that he has much aptitude for music or magic, and I don't think he typically carries an instrument, so I'd rule out bards on that basis.

Unoriginal

2017-06-18, 01:20 PM

Spell-less Ranger, maybe?

Arkhios

2017-06-18, 02:26 PM

Funny that nobody haven't suggested a race yet. I'd say Stout halfling or Hill dwarf given his small stature and toughness.

Zonugal

2017-06-18, 02:31 PM

Arkhios

2017-06-18, 02:36 PM

How about...

Hill Dwarf 'Mastermind' Rogue 1/'Battlemaster' Fighter 5/'Mastermind' Rogue 3?

With the teamwork features from the Mastermind sub-class and by focusing on maneuvers that boost your teammates you can have a pure leader within the party.

I'd add a level or two in barbarian as well, because Scrooge is known to lose his temper sometimes, and when he did while younger, everyone knew to fear and avoid him.

Unoriginal

2017-06-18, 03:00 PM

How about...

Hill Dwarf 'Mastermind' Rogue 1/'Battlemaster' Fighter 5/'Mastermind' Rogue 3?

With the teamwork features from the Mastermind sub-class and by focusing on maneuvers that boost your teammates you can have a pure leader within the party.

Scrooge isn't a leader like that.

At most he'd have 3 levels in Rogue and would take the manoeuvres that allows him to beat up people

Millstone85

2017-06-18, 03:54 PM

She wants the coin because, as the coin that's belonged to the world's richest man for the longest time, it has strong sympathetic magic tied to it. And so, she wants to use the coin to make a magic item that'll make her rich.

When she first appeared she just wanted coins that once belonged to rich people.I remember a comic where Scrooge found the mythical vault of Croesus, so much like his own that it even had a single coin with a room all to itself. Scrooge gave that coin to Magica in the hope that she could use it in place of his first dime and leave him be. She tried this substitute, to no result.

And I will stop there, because that's off-topic.

mephnick

2017-06-18, 07:08 PM

How do we factor the cane pogo from the video games into this?

furby076

2017-06-18, 10:15 PM

Not necessarily.

I don't remember how it was in the DuckTales cartoon (the first series; very excited for the reboot :smallsmile:) but in the comics Magica De Spell had a formula to turn the first coin of the richest man into a philosopher's stone or somesuch. In D&D terms, she wasn't after a magic item but a rare material component.
Did you say reboot? Yes please! I loved that show.

Scrooge is an artificer (3)/rogue (4 to 6)/fighter (1 or 2 levels).
Artificer for his shotgun. Plus he had tons of gadgets
Rogue for all of his adventures and skulking. Heck, in 3.5 he would be dungeon delver
Fighter cause he did know how to fight. Was he the best at it, no, but he could dish it out

He had leadership feat (his butler, maid and duckwing)
He had lucky feat, and his coin would enhance that ability
Urchin background
Clearly he has some draconic blood in him.
Alignment is LG. He followed the laws, and would sacrifice treasure for a good cause (though it would pain him)

Yea he had a temper, but i dont recall him going mindless rage. He would get steamy red, then calm down and figure things out. So i dont see barbarian. He had no magic abilities so none of those classes.

furby076

2017-06-18, 10:16 PM

How do we factor the cane pogo from the video games into this?

Artificer would solve the gadget issue

Quoxis

2017-06-19, 07:31 AM

How do we factor the cane pogo from the video games into this?

Refluffed finesse quarterstaff?

xroads

2017-06-19, 09:02 AM

Funny that nobody haven't suggested a race yet. I'd say Stout halfling or Hill dwarf given his small stature and toughness.

How about an aarakocra? Scrooge is an anthropomorphized duck. Aarakocra are essentially anthropomorphized birds.

Another option might be a kenku.

Zaq

2017-06-19, 09:04 AM

How do we factor the cane pogo from the video games into this?

Yeah, this. I was about to say that if there isn't a cane pogo mechanic, we may as well just give up.

Arkhios

2017-06-19, 12:35 PM

How about an aarakocra? Scrooge is an anthropomorphized duck. Aarakocra are essentially anthropomorphized birds.

Another option might be a kenku.

I suppose you could...... But to me both feel a bit off.

Unoriginal

2017-06-19, 12:43 PM

He had lucky feat, and his coin would enhance that ability

He had not and it would not.

woweedd

2017-06-19, 01:18 PM

Did you say reboot? Yes please! I loved that show.

Scrooge is an artificer (3)/rogue (4 to 6)/fighter (1 or 2 levels).
Artificer for his shotgun. Plus he had tons of gadgets
Rogue for all of his adventures and skulking. Heck, in 3.5 he would be dungeon delver
Fighter cause he did know how to fight. Was he the best at it, no, but he could dish it out

He had leadership feat (his butler, maid and duckwing)
He had lucky feat, and his coin would enhance that ability
Urchin background
Clearly he has some draconic blood in him.
Alignment is LG. He followed the laws, and would sacrifice treasure for a good cause (though it would pain him)

Yea he had a temper, but i dont recall him going mindless rage. He would get steamy red, then calm down and figure things out. So i dont see barbarian. He had no magic abilities so none of those classes.
First, the coin still isn't lucky. In the cartoon, it was, but in the comics, it's purely sentimental. Secondly, aren't most of those gadgets built by Gyro Gearloose, not Scourge himself? Thirdly, I agree on the alignment, though early/Pre-Huey, Duey, and Louie Scrooge might be LN or even LE.

woweedd

2017-06-19, 01:23 PM

He had not and it would not.
Agreed. Scrooge doesn't need luck and puts little stock by it. That's Gladstone's thing, and Scrooge hates him for it.

Willie the Duck

2017-06-19, 01:25 PM

Thirdly, I agree on the alignment, though early/Pre-Huey, Duey, and Louie Scrooge might be LN or even LE.

So, pretty much that character arc of Dicken's Scrooge, right?:biggrin:

Unoriginal

2017-06-19, 01:33 PM

Scrooge was a good person for most of his early decades, then he lost sight of his ideals when he was around 60. He did some pretty evil and loath-worthy stuff for about a few days before his family leaving him made him realize how far he had sunk.

woweedd

2017-06-19, 01:42 PM

So, pretty much that character arc of Dicken's Scrooge, right?:biggrin:
That is the idea. Scrooge started out as a good young man, devoted to making money square. Unfortunately, in the late 1800s, he made some immoral dealings in Africa in the name of making more cash. He got estranged from his family and spent the next few decades as a bitter old man holded upin his home, cursing the world. It would be years before he got to see his nephew Donald again, or DONALD"s nephews, who had been born in the intervening time. In 1947*, he finally met them and being with his family again awakened something in Scrooge that got him back to the good man he used to be. By the time of his death in 1962* he was thoroughly redeemed. Read "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" for more details.
*The year the first comic featuring Scrooge was published.

*Seriously, in Don Rosa's continuity, that is when Scrooge will die. All of Rosa's work is set in-between 1948 and 1962.

woweedd

2017-06-19, 01:51 PM

I gotta say, I feel like the Rogue/Barbarian diagnosis fits Scrooge well. Possibly both. His rage is a signature component of him, but he's also quite the Skillmonkey, thanks to his almost-a-century of experience. Also, I should note, anyone trying to build him should probably put something in there about improvised weapons (https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/5e_SRD:Improvised_Weapons). Scrooge uses them quite a lot

Unoriginal

2017-06-19, 02:01 PM

That is the idea. Scrooge started out as a good young man, devoted to making money square. Unfortunately, in the late 1800s, he made some immoral dealings in Africa in the name of making more cash. He got estranged from his family and spent the next few decades as a bitter old man holded upin his home, cursing the world.

Well, he spent a few decades adventuring on his own between the estrangement and him being a bitter hold man holed up in his home

woweedd

2017-06-19, 02:23 PM

Well, he spent a few decades adventuring on his own between the estrangement and him being a bitter hold man holed up in his home
Point made.

Tygros

2017-06-19, 02:28 PM

How do we factor the cane pogo from the video games into this?

Refluff boots of striding and springing as a cane?

furby076

2017-06-19, 10:53 PM

He had not and it would not.

First, the coin still isn't lucky. In the cartoon, it was, but in the comics, it's purely sentimental. Secondly, aren't most of those gadgets built by Gyro Gearloose, not Scourge himself? Thirdly, I agree on the alignment, though early/Pre-Huey, Duey, and Louie Scrooge might be LN or even LE.
I only saw the cartoon, so basing my knowledge on that.

I totally forgot about gyro. Still, in the field he was pretty creative with what was lying around....plus shotgun

You think the kids were le or ln? They always broke the rules. CG, maybe CN. They tried to help, but as kids they fumbled a lot

woweedd

2017-06-19, 11:31 PM

I only saw the cartoon, so basing my knowledge on that.

I totally forgot about gyro. Still, in the field he was pretty creative with what was lying around....plus shotgun

You think the kids were le or ln? They always broke the rules. CG, maybe CN. They tried to help, but as kids they fumbled a lot
THAT explains it. Yeah, if you can find it, read ANY of the comics made by Carl Barks and Don Rosa. The two men are geniuses and their work is some of the best stuff Disney has ever produced, with one of the richest supporting cast and mythology in all comics. At least try and get your hands on The Life And Times of Scrooge McDuck, the capstone and magnum opus of Carl's work on the character and, with its many homages to his predecessor, also a capstone to Don's work, in a way.

Yeah, as said earlier, I have a feeling Scrooge would have something relating to improvised weaponry, as he uses it a lot.

No, I have a feeling that Scrooge, prior to meeting the kids, was LN or LE. He did some pretty shady things in pursuit of his wealth, as said earlier.* The kids helped reddem him. Their alignment is, as you said, Chaotic Neutral, maybe Chaotic Good. They're just kids. They'll develop firmer morals over time.
*Specifically, hiring a group of thugs to chase an African tribe off their land so he could use it for a rubber plantation.