Tortle Builds

[PeteNutButter]

With the tortle race you can dump dex on characters that previously needed it for survival, enabling different multiclass combinations and reducing MADness of various builds. Below are my first few builds using the race.

Barbarian 1/Paladin 6/barb 4/finish paladin making final Barb 4/Paladin 16
stats: 17, 10, 14, 8, 9, 15
ASIs:
str + cha, +2 str , resilient wisdom, + 2 cha, +2 cha

This raging tortladin uses his built in armor class to dump dex, and enable what was previously a rather MAD MC.

Rocking a 17 AC or 19 with a shield, +5 or more to every save, and a slew of paladin auras. This tanky damage dealer can rage 3 times a day, and smite all the while doing it. He could mix in a full casting class for more frequent smites as needed, and possibly take a combat feat in there for desired fighting style.

Bear totem is the obvious choice for the barbarian levels, paladin subclass is to taste, although vengeance fits the flavor rather well. He's got a personality, a shell, and a temper.
Barbarian 1-4/Monk x Final Barb 4/Monk 16
stats:17, 13, 12, 16, 8 FINAL 20, 13, 12, 16, 8
ASIs: str + con, +2 str, feat, feat, feat

Another rager here. A monk that is resistant to all damage 3 times a day and gets to add 2 damage to all his attacks is a tankier monk for sure. Proficient in every save by late game, and built in with plenty of tricks. Make it a long death monk and they'll never break through those temporary hit points while raging.

The real strength here, is the freeing of the ASIs to spend on precious feats. A 16 wisdom is enough to keep the stunning strike viable all game, and once the str is 20, you have 3 more ASIs to spend on whatever. Mobile? I don't like OAs against me. Dual Wielder? 18 AC without items is solid. Defensive duelist? Look Mah, more AC. Feeling Lucky? Ritual Caster? The party could always use more utility. Tough? I definitely use more hps.

Druid 1/Hunter Ranger 5/Druid x
stats: 17, 13, 12, 8, 16, 8 FINAL 20, 13, 14, 8, 18, 8
ASIs: str + con, GWM, +2 str, resilient con, sentinel/+2 wisdom

What makes 2-5 attacks a round with GWM, by level 10? This evil tortle wields a maul to help smash the shells of his kin. Using Horde Breaker and haste from grassland druid, by level 10 he can potentially make 5 attacks a round (2 from attack action, 1 from haste, 1 Horde Breaker, and 1 potential bonus action from GWM). If they all connect that's an average of 105 damage at level 10. Yeah, the BM fighter might hit more often with his precision attacks, but this wild warden makes up for that with pure quantity of attacks.

He does this all while rocking that base 17 AC (19 while hasted). No issue with metal armor here. He'll have 8th level spells by end game and a 9th level slot. That's plenty of druidic spell power to make it get all biblical.
Bladelock 1-20
stats: 17, 9, 14, 8, 10, 15 FINAL 20, 9, 14, 8, 10, 18
ASIs, str + cha, PAM, GWM, +2 str, +2 cha

Nothing too fancy here, just a typical str-based blade lock, with the perk of not needing that dip in fighter or a massive dex to keep his AC respectable. Starting with the odd str and cha makes up for the lack of cha boost on our shy little tortle.
Overall, I really like the options opened up here with the ability to have a decent AC without str or dex dependence. There are plenty of possibilities for characters of any class to get a good AC. Tortle str grapple rogue anyone? Take them to the bottom of the water!

[Nifft]

Isn't there already a thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?536410-Tortle-POWA-is-here) advertising your $10 product on the front page of this forum?

Since both threads were created by you, I'm really not sure what you're trying to do with this one. You could just post this in your other thread, which is also advertising this same product.

Ciao.

[PeteNutButter]

Isn't there already a thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?536410-Tortle-POWA-is-here) advertising your $10 product on the front page of this forum?

Since both threads were created by you, I'm really not sure what you're trying to do with this one. You could just post this in your other thread, which is also advertising this same product.

Ciao.

lol not my product... It's published by wizards.

It's adventure league legal, so I'm making builds for it.

[PunyPaladin]

Hey Pete,

I'm looking to make an AL legal Tortle character. Xanathar's and PHB would be my source books.

I have Insignia of the Claws from DM Rewards. (Unarmed strikes and wildshape attacks count as magical damage.)

Monk/Druid or Druid/Monk are appealing. I read your Barb/Monk above and that's pretty compelling too.

Your thoughts?

[mgshamster]

I'm playing an ancestor barbarian Tortle with the noble background. Having ancestors helps take away from the Rage idea and turn it into a concept of boosts and detriments from spirits. It's a lot of fun to play.

[Naanomi]

The last AL game I played in had a Tortle College of Swords Bard that seemed to work pretty well

[Alatar]

Expect advice on the optimization rules you are breaking: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...r-Optimization

Should that read, "Expert advice"?

I just read you short treatise on optimization, by the way. Excellent. And by "excellent", of course, I mean I found myself in strong agreement with every one of you points. I wanted to object to "Don't be MAD", but the text under the pithy heading was more nuanced than the stark admonition, and again I found myself nodding my head in agreement. So I've bookmarked that thread and I'm sure I will pass the link along in the future.

Sorry for the off topic post. I was tempted to post a response in the original thread, but the forum rules frown upon the reanimation of somnolent threads. I checked. I suppose I could have sent a private message, but what good is a shout out that no one hears?

[MxKit]

I kinda like a sneaky underhanded build I just came up with:

Eldritch Knight 15/Rogue 5
I'd personally go Rogue 1/Fighter 8/Rogue 2/Fighter 12/Rogue 5/finish up with Fighter, but season that to taste
Stats at start: 17, 10, 14, 13, 13, 8
Final Stats: 20, 10, 16, 13, 14, 8
ASIs (in no particular order):
+1 Str and Wis, +2 Str, +2 Con, Alert, War Caster, either Lucky or Mobile

Pretty straightforward, but with a few judicious selections this character can make an amazing grappler while also being great at other things. You have Athletics proficiency as well as 3 more skills from the Rogue skills list, plus two more from your background (as a Tortle you have a reasonable excuse to pick Sailor or Pirate and grab Perception!), plus Survival from the Tortle package, and you'll get to get Expertise in Athletics and one other skill of your choice. You have 17 AC despite having low Dex, and you can have a shield at least some of the time bringing that up to 19 AC, and if you snag the Shield spell you can sometimes have up to 24 AC. You have around 158 HP by the end of your career. You can take the longstrider and enlarge/reduce person and eventually find familiar spells, on top of various other battle and utility options.

You want to be able to cast spells, so you only need that rapier, and don't have to use Dex with it to proc Sneak Attack; you can grab the Dueling fighting style to get +2 damage. You have three attacks per attack action, and when you action surge once per short rest you suddenly have six attacks on one of your turns, plus your bonus action and reaction. If you want to play with SCAG cantrips, you can still get three or four attacks in one round with your action surge, and two attacks without. You can use a bonus action to Dash or Disengage, you have Uncanny Dodge, and your "capstone" in this case is actually the ability to teleport 30 feet when you action surge. You can also grapple someone, shove them prone, hit them with your rapier with advantage, then action surge and hit them with your rapier with advantage three more times, then they're still both grappled and prone, and can't get up until/unless they escape the grapple on their next turn, and anyone else with melee in your party can also whale on them with advantage.

And with Scout Rogue? Survivalist gives you an extra proficiency in the Nature skill and basically free Expertise in both Nature and Survival, which is nice. The Skirmisher ability is just hilariously good if you're grappling someone ("You can move up to half your speed as a reaction when an enemy ends its turn within 5 feet of you. This movement doesn't provoke opportunity attacks." If they don't escape the grapple on their turn you can just drag them 15-25 feet as a reaction and still have all of your movement speed for the movement part of your turn!) Have someone toss down a spike growth for you, Dash as your bonus action, and drag them over the spikes basically forever.

Since you're a Tortle, you can also drag someone underwater and hold them there, but it takes forever for even a squishy wizard to start drowning according to the RAW; even an 8 in Constitution means they'd be fine for 30 seconds, ie 5 full rounds of combat. Still, under the right circumstances, or if the DM for your game plans on houseruling drowning differently, this could also be a fun option.

You could also, of course, make really good Clerics, Druids, or Rangers using the Tortle. A Nature Domain Cleric who casts shillelagh but can still whack hard with Strength if unable to for some reason is fun, and a Forge Cleric who doesn't wear armor themself but is happy to make and bless armor for other people could be interesting and flavorful. A tricky Coastal Druid who can melee with the rest of 'em is also possible, or a Circle of the Shepherd Druid from the coast or swamp with a fair amount of survivability and fairly survivable summons as well. A Gloom Stalker Ranger could also be fun (grab the darkvision you don't naturally have, and add your Wisdom to your initiative/snag Wisdom saving throws!), and Horizon Walker Rangers seem made for melee and therefore ripe for a good Strength-based build; any Ranger except for Beast Master would work well for a Tortle, though.

[PeteNutButter]

Should that read, "Expert advice"?

I just read you short treatise on optimization, by the way. Excellent. And by "excellent", of course, I mean I found myself in strong agreement with every one of you points. I wanted to object to "Don't be MAD", but the text under the pithy heading was more nuanced than the stark admonition, and again I found myself nodding my head in agreement. So I've bookmarked that thread and I'm sure I will pass the link along in the future.

Sorry for the off topic post. I was tempted to post a response in the original thread, but the forum rules frown upon the reanimation of somnolent threads. I checked. I suppose I could have sent a private message, but what good is a shout out that no one hears?

Cheers!


I kinda like a sneaky underhanded build I just came up with:

Eldritch Knight 15/Rogue 5
I'd personally go Rogue 1/Fighter 8/Rogue 2/Fighter 12/Rogue 5/finish up with Fighter, but season that to taste
Stats at start: 17, 10, 14, 13, 13, 8
Final Stats: 20, 10, 16, 13, 14, 8
ASIs (in no particular order):
+1 Str and Wis, +2 Str, +2 Con, Alert, War Caster, either Lucky or Mobile

Pretty straightforward, but with a few judicious selections this character can make an amazing grappler while also being great at other things. You have Athletics proficiency as well as 3 more skills from the Rogue skills list, plus two more from your background (as a Tortle you have a reasonable excuse to pick Sailor or Pirate and grab Perception!), plus Survival from the Tortle package, and you'll get to get Expertise in Athletics and one other skill of your choice. You have 17 AC despite having low Dex, and you can have a shield at least some of the time bringing that up to 19 AC, and if you snag the Shield spell you can sometimes have up to 24 AC. You have around 158 HP by the end of your career. You can take the longstrider and enlarge/reduce person and eventually find familiar spells, on top of various other battle and utility options.

You want to be able to cast spells, so you only need that rapier, and don't have to use Dex with it to proc Sneak Attack; you can grab the Dueling fighting style to get +2 damage. You have three attacks per attack action, and when you action surge once per short rest you suddenly have six attacks on one of your turns, plus your bonus action and reaction. If you want to play with SCAG cantrips, you can still get three or four attacks in one round with your action surge, and two attacks without. You can use a bonus action to Dash or Disengage, you have Uncanny Dodge, and your "capstone" in this case is actually the ability to teleport 30 feet when you action surge. You can also grapple someone, shove them prone, hit them with your rapier with advantage, then action surge and hit them with your rapier with advantage three more times, then they're still both grappled and prone, and can't get up until/unless they escape the grapple on their next turn, and anyone else with melee in your party can also whale on them with advantage.

And with Scout Rogue? Survivalist gives you an extra proficiency in the Nature skill and basically free Expertise in both Nature and Survival, which is nice. The Skirmisher ability is just hilariously good if you're grappling someone ("You can move up to half your speed as a reaction when an enemy ends its turn within 5 feet of you. This movement doesn't provoke opportunity attacks." If they don't escape the grapple on their turn you can just drag them 15-25 feet as a reaction and still have all of your movement speed for the movement part of your turn!) Have someone toss down a spike growth for you, Dash as your bonus action, and drag them over the spikes basically forever.

Since you're a Tortle, you can also drag someone underwater and hold them there, but it takes forever for even a squishy wizard to start drowning according to the RAW; even an 8 in Constitution means they'd be fine for 30 seconds, ie 5 full rounds of combat. Still, under the right circumstances, or if the DM for your game plans on houseruling drowning differently, this could also be a fun option.

You could also, of course, make really good Clerics, Druids, or Rangers using the Tortle. A Nature Domain Cleric who casts shillelagh but can still whack hard with Strength if unable to for some reason is fun, and a Forge Cleric who doesn't wear armor themself but is happy to make and bless armor for other people could be interesting and flavorful. A tricky Coastal Druid who can melee with the rest of 'em is also possible, or a Circle of the Shepherd Druid from the coast or swamp with a fair amount of survivability and fairly survivable summons as well. A Gloom Stalker Ranger could also be fun (grab the darkvision you don't naturally have, and add your Wisdom to your initiative/snag Wisdom saving throws!), and Horizon Walker Rangers seem made for melee and therefore ripe for a good Strength-based build; any Ranger except for Beast Master would work well for a Tortle, though.

You need a 13 dex for rogue...

[MxKit]

You need a 13 dex for rogue...

Oh, darn it, and I knew that, too. I'm usually so careful about attributes when figuring out multiclassing. :smallyuk:

Well, it shouldn't really be a disaster to switch around Dex and Int. Eldritch Knights don't really need to depend on their Intelligence scores, with judicious spell choices. So, instead:

Stats at start: 17, 13, 14, 10, 13, 8
Final Stats: 20, 13, 16, 10, 14, 8

[holywhippet]

I'm thinking of using a tortle for a war cleric/fighter build. I am thinking of firbolg as my first choice though.

[Shatterphim]

Has anyone discovered any Meta Tortle builds? maybe using the new Class options in Xanathar's Guide to Everything? Something with max damage. :D

[Ventruenox]

Okay, how about a Spore Druid 2/Hunter Ranger 5(6)/Brute X? The active spore damage scales with character level, but needs to be within 10'. Ranger gets you an extra attack, Hunter's Mark, and an ASI used for GWF/PaM. It is still pretty MAD, but you can leave DEX & WIS at 13.

Each attack gets the 1d6 from Hunter's Mark + 1d6 from Symbiotic Entity + 1d4-8 from Brute Force + weapon damage and ability score modifier. Then you add on 1d8 for Collossus Slayer and the doubled Halo of Spores damage.

If you allow Matt Mercer's Blood Hunter, a Spore Druid 2/Profane Soul X can do this as a WIS SAD build with Hex and Blood Rites on a Shillelagh PaM. Staff of Striking is the ideal weapon.

[PeteNutButter]

Has anyone discovered any Meta Tortle builds? maybe using the new Class options in Xanathar's Guide to Everything? Something with max damage. :D


Okay, how about a Spore Druid 2/Hunter Ranger 5(6)/Brute X? The active spore damage scales with character level, but needs to be within 10'. Ranger gets you an extra attack, Hunter's Mark, and an ASI used for GWF/PaM. It is still pretty MAD, but you can leave DEX & WIS at 13.

Each attack gets the 1d6 from Hunter's Mark + 1d6 from Symbiotic Entity + 1d4-8 from Brute Force + weapon damage and ability score modifier. Then you add on 1d8 for Collossus Slayer and the doubled Halo of Spores damage.

If you allow Matt Mercer's Blood Hunter, a Spore Druid 2/Profane Soul X can do this as a WIS SAD build with Hex and Blood Rites on a Shillelagh PaM. Staff of Striking is the ideal weapon.

Really you can do a lot with it. Combine Tortle with any class that normally needs some dex for AC such as barbarian or druid, or even a class that focuses on dex such as a rogue. Then take a MC combination that normally isn't feasible (or hard to pull off) due to MADness.

EDIT: What not to do with it is to play something like a straight sorcerer or wizard and think you're optimized. Having a 17 AC on these classes is not all that helpful, since you'll still be fairly squishy, and doing so you give up on having a 16+ in your core stat.

[Chugger]

Am wondering if a Wis Gish build would work off tortle.

You get shillelagh somehow and also extra attack - and you asi up your wis scores - so you can attack twice w/ your shillelagh using wis stats - and you got high wis for casting. The sad thing is that without a DS option, like the cha-mc's get by adding 2 or more lvls of pal - I'm not sure that a wis gish is really worth pursuing. It could work, but you'd probably end up wishing you'd gone cha-gish. Especially with what even as little as a 1-dip does for that w/ hexblade.

[Seekergeek]

I’ve just finished my first session as a Tortle spore Druid/barbarian multiclass and while not optimal by a country mile it was extremely fun in a combat and puzzle heavy session. Played at level 3, had good survivability and damage while raging along with the symbiotic entity and dual wielding and had fun out of combat shenanigans with fog cloud and some other spell slinging. Obviously one session at level three isn’t a great litmus test but it was a really really fun and dynamic feeling build.

[Sariel Vailo]

4 elememnts tortle monk named bowser than mc to try to get the dragons breath spell

[Spamotron]

I haven't played it myself but word on the net is the Barbarian/Rogue has excellent class feature synergy and is really hard to kill. Its weakness is that it's difficult to get decent AC without being MAD. It occurs to me that Tortle solves that problem nicely.

[PeteNutButter]

I haven't played it myself but word on the net is the Barbarian/Rogue has excellent class feature synergy and is really hard to kill. Its weakness is that it's difficult to get decent AC without being MAD. It occurs to me that Tortle solves that problem nicely.

It's only 17 AC. Same as half plate with a 14 dex. Since you need a 13 for rogue MC it's not much further. Downside on the tortle, you can never get +1 armor. I'd stick with human for a barb/rogue. Even if you are really set on being stealthy, you can use your feat to fix that.

[ZorroGames]

With the tortle race you can dump dex on characters that previously needed it for survival, enabling different multiclass combinations and reducing MADness of various builds. Below are my first few builds using the race.

Barbarian 1/Paladin 6/barb 4/finish paladin making final Barb 4/Paladin 16
stats: 17, 10, 14, 8, 9, 15
ASIs:
str + cha, +2 str , resilient wisdom, + 2 cha, +2 cha

This raging tortladin uses his built in armor class to dump dex, and enable what was previously a rather MAD MC.

Rocking a 17 AC or 19 with a shield, +5 or more to every save, and a slew of paladin auras. This tanky damage dealer can rage 3 times a day, and smite all the while doing it. He could mix in a full casting class for more frequent smites as needed, and possibly take a combat feat in there for desired fighting style.

Bear totem is the obvious choice for the barbarian levels, paladin subclass is to taste, although vengeance fits the flavor rather well. He's got a personality, a shell, and a temper.
Barbarian 1-4/Monk x Final Barb 4/Monk 16
stats:17, 13, 12, 16, 8 FINAL 20, 13, 12, 16, 8
ASIs: str + con, +2 str, feat, feat, feat

Another rager here. A monk that is resistant to all damage 3 times a day and gets to add 2 damage to all his attacks is a tankier monk for sure. Proficient in every save by late game, and built in with plenty of tricks. Make it a long death monk and they'll never break through those temporary hit points while raging.

The real strength here, is the freeing of the ASIs to spend on precious feats. A 16 wisdom is enough to keep the stunning strike viable all game, and once the str is 20, you have 3 more ASIs to spend on whatever. Mobile? I don't like OAs against me. Dual Wielder? 18 AC without items is solid. Defensive duelist? Look Mah, more AC. Feeling Lucky? Ritual Caster? The party could always use more utility. Tough? I definitely use more hps.

Druid 1/Hunter Ranger 5/Druid x
stats: 17, 13, 12, 8, 16, 8 FINAL 20, 13, 14, 8, 18, 8
ASIs: str + con, GWM, +2 str, resilient con, sentinel/+2 wisdom

What makes 2-5 attacks a round with GWM, by level 10? This evil tortle wields a maul to help smash the shells of his kin. Using Horde Breaker and haste from grassland druid, by level 10 he can potentially make 5 attacks a round (2 from attack action, 1 from haste, 1 Horde Breaker, and 1 potential bonus action from GWM). If they all connect that's an average of 105 damage at level 10. Yeah, the BM fighter might hit more often with his precision attacks, but this wild warden makes up for that with pure quantity of attacks.

He does this all while rocking that base 17 AC (19 while hasted). No issue with metal armor here. He'll have 8th level spells by end game and a 9th level slot. That's plenty of druidic spell power to make it get all biblical.
Bladelock 1-20
stats: 17, 9, 14, 8, 10, 15 FINAL 20, 9, 14, 8, 10, 18
ASIs, str + cha, PAM, GWM, +2 str, +2 cha

Nothing too fancy here, just a typical str-based blade lock, with the perk of not needing that dip in fighter or a massive dex to keep his AC respectable. Starting with the odd str and cha makes up for the lack of cha boost on our shy little tortle.
Overall, I really like the options opened up here with the ability to have a decent AC without str or dex dependence. There are plenty of possibilities for characters of any class to get a good AC. Tortle str grapple rogue anyone? Take them to the bottom of the water!

Let me unoptimize 😉 and ask a question What about a Tortle Wizard.? Thinking about an old character in a very old book. Not really familiar with the race myself.

[PeteNutButter]

Let me unoptimize 😉 and ask a question What about a Tortle Wizard.? Thinking about an old character in a very old book. Not really familiar with the race myself.

You get a free 17 AC which is cool, but you are still squishy and lack any real benefit from your race beyond tier 1. By level 5 or so monsters don't have much trouble hitting AC 17, but your int is permanently lower than that of an int boosted race. Not the worst race for a wizard, but squarely below any race that boosts int.

[Seekergeek]

I think Tortle could make a good strength based blade singer if you were to have a DM willing to waive the racial requirement. Optimal? No. Playable? Sure. If I were to go that route, I'd really lean in to the gish element of the class - take buffs and spells that generally don't require a save, or at least minimize those choices. Could be fun. The spore druid-barbarian combo I've been lucky enough to play twice now, and that has been a hoot. I'd imagine a blade singer would hold a similar appeal.

[PeteNutButter]

I think Tortle could make a good strength based blade singer if you were to have a DM willing to waive the racial requirement. Optimal? No. Playable? Sure. If I were to go that route, I'd really lean in to the gish element of the class - take buffs and spells that generally don't require a save, or at least minimize those choices. Could be fun. The spore druid-barbarian combo I've been lucky enough to play twice now, and that has been a hoot. I'd imagine a blade singer would hold a similar appeal.

I didn't bring that up, due to the typical racial requirement, but it could be very potent if allowed. A big benefit to it is wizard staves are str weapons, which often are +2 weapons or so on top of wizard things. Throw PAM on top of that extra attack and you've got some serious martial offense.

[nickl_2000]

I can't find it completely in here. However, I feel like there is some sort of really effective Grappler build that you could make with the Tortle. Something like a Fighter/Barbarian who utilizes the claws for attack and the fact that he can hold water to grapple someone and pull them under water the drown.

[Xihirli]

I made the Tortle Barbarian/Paladin and had a PvP match with a Pact of the Blade Warlock.
It went well.