I need help creating a wild-eyed mystic type.

[inexorabletruth]

Step 1: Choosing your Class
Any class from an official Wizards of the Coast book is fine. UA by approval.

Step 2: Choosing your Race
Any race from an official Wizards of the Coast book is fine. UA by approval.

Step 3: Choosing a Background
Any of the backgrounds in the players are fine to use, if you have found another somewhere else, I will need to read through it to see if it fits the setting.

Step 4: Assigning your Ability Scores
This is standard 27 point buy and standard arrays.

Step 5: Choosing Skills
Gain an extra skill from your class skill list.

Step 6: Choosing Feats or taking Ability Points
This campaign will be starting at level 3. Also, take two feats that fit your character thematically.

Step 7: Choosing Equipment
Characters will be starting at level 3 and with 100gp to spend on extra equipment. If there is something you can not get from that but would fit your character to have, let me know and we'll talk about it and see if we can not agree on it.

The setting is homebrewed and delightfully odd. My character is inspired by a singular concept in the setting that really captivated my interest.

The entire planet is actually the severed head of a god, whose flaming beheaded body orbits around it creating the effect of day and night. Most people have no idea that this is the case.

I want to build a crazy mystic, who is weirdly in tune with this knowledge, but his twitchy eyes, wild hair, and intermittent chortling giggles make him a bit hard to believe, even though he's trying his best to communicate by shouting it at passers by in local cities/towns/settlements. He knows it's true.


All life, all power, everything comes from the god head. The god head is all. Is the god head still alive? Is it dying? Can we save it? Should we save it? Is the god good or evil? If it's good, does that mean something evil lopped off its head? Is that evil aware of our presence? Is it coming to lop off our heads to?!?!

If only he could quiet the whispers in his head long enough to communicate in a way that doesn't scare everyone off...

I'm leaning toward Blood Hunter, maybe pump DEX, WIS, and INT. I'm wanting the crunch and the fluff to work in concert if possible.

I'm torn between Order of the Mutant or Order of the Profane Soul.

Mutant can play into the idea that he views the god head as his own personal deity and takes in powers from the god head into his body to channel supernatural abilities. I kind of like the idea of him giggling maniacally as he plays with the innards of his prey.


"Ooh yes, the spleen works great for a Conversant extract, hrng hrng hee hee. Nice and juicy... that'll really get the blood pumping to the brain."

Profane Soul works more directly in the 'tweaked in the head' vibe I want to give this character.


"Stop it stop it stop it! Shut UP! They know. No I know you can. I'm not going to tell them that. Why would-? Hrng hrng mhmhmhmmaaaa! NO. Certainly not! Could you even imagine the looks I'd get? We must bide our...*mutter, mutter*"

And I know absolutely nothing about 5E feats. I should clarify... I'm quite new to 5E. I've only made two characters before this, and both were essentially ripped right out of DnDBeyond, level 1, and kept intentionally vanilla so I can explore the system rules without having to overcome a bad build. This will be my first attempt a personalized character concept. So I'm open-minded and ready for some advice.

[inexorabletruth]

Here's what I've build so far:
Archibald Thwipp (https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/Inexorabletruth/characters/1803635)

I've been given this link (http://www.5esrd.com/feats/feats-3rd-party-publisher-feats) to choose feats. And I just went with the starting gear for my background so far.

I'm trying to figure out some thematically appropriate weapons and feat selections that wouldn't stunt his functionality. My character is going to be filthy and weird... living in squalor in the cities, and caves or burrows in the wilderness. I thought about hunting weapons, like spears and bows, but he eats mostly insects, roots, and berries. So that doesn't pan out. He gets re-rolls for damage with 2-Handed or Versatile weapons, so I figured maybe a greatsword would be cool, but with the low STR score, he'll rarely hit, plus I just don't see how his them would be interested in a greatsword.

Honestly, I think the crossbow makes sense. His only good combat stat is DEX, and it stands to reason he would prefer to remove threats from afar. But I want to make use of that Great Weapon fighting style. Or do you think I should get something else?

I really don't know what I'm doing here.

[Quoz]

I love the concept of the world; I may steal it.

The first thing thematically that popped into my head with the concept of burdened by secret knowledge was warlock. Specifically, a warlock that draws it's power directly from the dead god in some fashion. Hermit background is obvious, you found your wisdom while living in a cave that was once a cavity in a god-sized tooth.

If you want to be in melee go hexblade. For the theme though I think great old one is the ideal patron. You can make other people hear voices. Pact boon is up to you, but tome is probably the most versatile. If you want to really mess with people, take the actor feat and the invocation that gives disguise self at will. It's not super optimized for combat, but you can probably talk your way in or out of anything.

[LeonBH]

I have to agree here that Warlock is the best PHB class that fits this theme. I would say take Great Old One for the creepy factor. Never have your PC speak, always have him telepathically tell people his intents like a Mindflayer. So he's always laughing hysterically, while sending rational thoughts into people's heads.

Pact of the Chain seems the best suited as well. Take an Imp familiar and have it chortle with the Warlock, as if they just exchanged some kind of funny joke with each other.

As for the two (!!) free feats, you have a lot of options. Alert can represent how jumpy he is. Ritual Caster could give him a weaker Pact of the Book effect to double down on the Warlock flavor even more. I think any feat could be useful here as flavor.

For combat though, take Lucky and Resilient (Con).

[inexorabletruth]

I hesitate to change the class again...

I started with a Druid, because the fluff feels right, Nature is god, because they are living on god and living off of its bounty, and it doesn't hurt that the class is SAD WIS, which is perfect for being keenly aware of something no one else seems to know (the fact that they live on the head of a god).

But the group needed something a little more strikey or tankey, so I built a Paladin, but got frustrated with the fact that CHA is a huge part of the Pally build, and I don't want my character to be charismatic. I want him to be stand-offish, weird, and a little frightening... like a laughing lunatic. It's important to the DM and the game construct that it not be easy to convince people what the world is the severed head of a god, so if I went with CHA builds, it would be all too easy to play the character true to spirit while undermining the DMs vision for the story arc, which is something I don't want to do. Or worse, DM could simply nerf my CHA abilities gut half the purpose of my character build. I'm playing this over PbP, and I don't really know the DMs play style yet, so I'd rather play nice than rattle cages.

The lore of the Blood Hunter smacks of crazy, and the spell selection comes right out of the Warlock's book, but without all the pesky CHA dependant stuff getting in the way. I can dump in CHA, be creepy, and still fit the bill for a strikey type for the group.

Don't get me wrong, I totally want to play a Warlock in a future campaign, but I worry that I've already cashed in my rebuild chips. The rest of the group is waiting on me to quit humming and hawing over build crunch.

[Ventruenox]

So multiclass Druid with Blood Hunter (Profane Soul). Profane Soul has enough Warlock feel to it to thematically fit, and if you can use UA, you have an opportunity to do silly amounts of damage as a striker.

The Circle of Spores Druids focus on fungal growths, death, and decay. Hermit covers the RP for this character perfectly. Through his Druid powers, he learns the terrible truth as his Discovery feature. Madness drives him to bouts of violence, shifting his class to the martial Blood Hunter.

Take Polearm Master as one of your feats. At Blood Hunter 5, you will be making 3 attacks a round. Choose Circle of Spores as your 2nd Druid level. You use your wildshape to do 1d6 extra poison damage per attack. That stacks with Hex from Profane Soul for 1d6 more neurotic per attack. Then you have your Blood Rites for a third buff on each attack. By character level 7, you end up throwing down up to 12d6 plus modifiers each round. If you choose Shillelagh as one of the Druid cantrips, you can base all those attacks off your Wisdom stat.

I'll second Ritual Caster for the 2nd feat. You can ritually prepare level 1 Druid spells already, and the collectible utility of the Wizard list will make you a boon to your party. It works great for the theme of your character, and DMs can give rituals as quest rewards throughout the campaign.

If you want the crunchy feat as your free 2nd instead, go with mobile. You get in, hit like a mother#@€£=ฯ, get back out. Make the monk cry for showing him up at his own playstyle.

It sounds like you have a character in mind, and not just a build. Good for you. I'll be curious to know what you decide upon. Madness and powerful builds are fun to play, just be careful not to steal the spotlight.

[inexorabletruth]

So multiclass Druid with Blood Hunter (Profane Soul). Profane Soul has enough Warlock feel to it to thematically fit, and if you can use UA, you have an opportunity to do silly amounts of damage as a striker.

The Circle of Spores Druids focus on fungal growths, death, and decay. Hermit covers the RP for this character perfectly. Through his Druid powers, he learns the terrible truth as his Discovery feature. Madness drives him to bouts of violence, shifting his class to the martial Blood Hunter.

Take Polearm Master as one of your feats. At Blood Hunter 5, you will be making 3 attacks a round. Choose Circle of Spores as your 2nd Druid level. You use your wildshape to do 1d6 extra poison damage per attack. That stacks with Hex from Profane Soul for 1d6 more neurotic per attack. Then you have your Blood Rites for a third buff on each attack. By character level 7, you end up throwing down up to 12d6 plus modifiers each round. If you choose Shillelagh as one of the Druid cantrips, you can base all those attacks off your Wisdom stat.

I'll second Ritual Caster for the 2nd feat. You can ritually prepare level 1 Druid spells already, and the collectible utility of the Wizard list will make you a boon to your party. It works great for the theme of your character, and DMs can give rituals as quest rewards throughout the campaign.

If you want the crunchy feat as your free 2nd instead, go with mobile. You get in, hit like a mother#@€£=ฯ, get back out. Make the monk cry for showing him up at his own playstyle.

It sounds like you have a character in mind, and not just a build. Good for you. I'll be curious to know what you decide upon. Madness and powerful builds are fun to play, just be careful not to steal the spotlight.

This is beautiful and I love it.

So you're talking about:

L2 Druid/L1 Blood Hunter/Stack Blood Hunter for future levels
Abiilty Stats (High to Low): WIS, DEX, INT, CON, STR, CHA)
Feats: Polearm Master, Ritual Caster
Skills: Knowledge for fluffiness?
Gear: From BG, Polearm, Best armor I can get, fluffy stuff


*scampers off to restructure*

[Ventruenox]

That's pretty much it. The beauty of the Druid 2/Blood Hunter X split is that you get significant power boosts at the same character levels as the rest of your party. Your primary resources recharge on a short rest. (Wildshape, Pact Magic slots, Blood Rites)

My suggestions as you build:

Race: Wood Elf. Additional movement, WIS boost, Darkvision, resist sleep/charm, Perception, & Mask of the Wild. Otherwise take variant Human and Mobile feat.
Stats: WIS > DEX > CON > INT > STR > CHA
Proficiencies: Perception (Elf), Medicine (Hermit), Religion (Hermit), Insight (Druid), Survival (Druid), Herbalism Kit (Druid), Poisoners Kit (swap for duplicate tool from Hermit), Languages (5: Common, Elvish, Druid, +2 campaign appropriate)
Feats: Polearm Master, Ritual Caster (Find Familiar & Identify/Alarm).
Druid Cantrips: Shillelagh & Guidance. Chill Touch is free at Druid 2 for your ranged option.
Profane Soul Patron: Great Old One. Save vs fear on a crit is great when you have multiple attacks, Detect Thoughts at higher levels for a fun niche ability. Also thematic. Celestial could work and is also a great option if you want to do Healing Word with your Blood Maledicts instead of curses.
Primal Rite: Cold, but only to keep with the same theme as Chill Touch. Pick whatever.
Blood Maledicts: How much do you hate mages? Spell Sunder & Fending Rite if you know that you will be up against casters a lot. Eyeless & Mutual Suffering if you expect more melee. If you have no cleric in your party, Purgation to improvise a Lesser Restoration spell.
Fighting Style: Great Weapon Master (side note- munchkin interpretation of the wording would allow rerolls for the Spore & Hex damage as well as for your Quarterstaff)
Profane Soul Cantrips: Minor Illusion/Prestidigitation & Mage Hand

[Personification]

Race has to be gnome, but any of the subraces work:
Forest: random weird illusions, talks to animals
Rock: blows himself up 17.3564768 more times on average per year than his doctors recommend
Deep: creepy, doesn't speak common well, has met WAY too many mindflayers, having survived meeting them just makes it worse