Building Black Panther

[Easy_Lee]

Can we build Black Panther in D&D 5e?

I did a little research and came up with the following list of features we'd have to replicate:

Enhanced senses
Enhanced strength
Enhanced speed
Enhanced agility (dexterity, reflexes, acrobatics)
Enhanced stamina / durability
Stealth / nondetection
Damage resistance (from his suit, though perhaps we can replicate this some other way)
Damage reflection (optional as I don't think we can adequately replicate this)
Resistance to magic (optional)
Knowledge of all the past black panthers (optional)
Control over undead (optional)

One way to produce something like Black Panther is with a human druid. Prodigy (acrobatics), Observant, Enhance Ability, Stoneskin, Pass Without Trace, proficiency in Arcana, Perception, Stealth, and History, and the cantrip Primal Savagery (claw attack) cover most of the above, and it doesn't hurt that we can wildshape into an actual black panther.

What other ways can we recreate this character?

[Ventruenox]

You may be able to translate the damage resistance and reflection with Absorb Elements.

[Willie the Duck]

Re-fluffed fire shield as well.

Generally when trying to the replicate superhero genre, some pretty liberal refluffing is needed.

[Xihirli]

Can we build Black Panther in D&D 5e?

I did a little research and came up with the following list of features we'd have to replicate:

Enhanced senses
Observant Feat
Enhanced strength
High STR, possibly belt of giant strength
Enhanced speed
Mobile, or Panther Tabaxi
Enhanced agility (dexterity, reflexes, acrobatics)
Acrobatics Proficiency, 5 Rogue dip for Uncanny Dodge
Enhanced stamina / durability
High CON
Stealth / nondetection
Stealth proficiency, Mithril Armor
Damage resistance (from his suit, though perhaps we can replicate this some other way)
Heavy Armor Mastery, or possibly just really high AC.
Damage reflection (optional as I don't think we can adequately replicate this)
Yeah I got nothing.
Resistance to magic (optional)
Yuan-Ti or a certain type of paladin I forget what kind.
Knowledge of all the past black panthers (optional)
Ancestral Guardian Barbarian dip? Doesn't really fit. You could refluff your Paladin oaths so that they're ancestral based instead of deity based.
Control over undead (optional)
You can get Command as a Paladin.

One way to produce something like Black Panther is with a human druid. Prodigy (acrobatics), Observant, Enhance Ability, Stoneskin, Pass Without Trace, proficiency in Arcana, Perception, Stealth, and History, and the cantrip Primal Savagery (claw attack) cover most of the above, and it doesn't hurt that we can wildshape into an actual black panther.

What other ways can we recreate this character?

So I'm thinking we can start Rogue 5 (maybe 7 for Evasion) for a bunch of skills, proficiency in DEX saves, and Expertise, then Paladin 15. Oath of Ancients for spell resistance and also it really works for the whole "ancestry" thing.
I'm not sure what type of Rogue. None seem to fit that well except maybe Assassin.

[Easy_Lee]

So I'm thinking we can start Rogue 5 (maybe 7 for Evasion) for a bunch of skills, proficiency in DEX saves, and Expertise, then Paladin 15. Oath of Ancients for spell resistance and also it really works for the whole "ancestry" thing.
I'm not sure what type of Rogue. None seem to fit that well except maybe Assassin.

Thief gets some climbing and easy item use, which would fit. And I suppose we could fluff daggers or shortswords as claws, or ask for a homebrew version. Just occurred to me that the old rogue / barbarian build would work fine for this.

[Zonugal]

I did a Black Panther build a while back (I had him as a ‘Variant’ Human ‘Way of the Shadow’ Monk 6/‘Circle of the Shepherd’ Druid 4 with the Noble background), but since viewing the film I have to wonder if a Bladesinger might not be a good choice...

[Cynthaer]

So, for many superheroes, the basic suite of abilities is actually pretty generic: strength, speed, agility, and endurance beyond that of normal people. It's such a fundamental trope that basically every martial D&D character shares it—remember that Black Panther is much more physically powerful than any non-superhero, but more or less on par with the other Avengers (i.e., the rest of the party).

If we're being completely literal, the Black Panther is probably just a Strength Fighter with Boots of Elvenkind and a set of magic (light?) armor that (A) can be concealed/revealed as an Action and (B) lets the wearer cast Armor of Agathys at-will as a Bonus Action. Also he has , but reskinned as a claw weapon. Not exactly [I]balanced, but a pretty direct translation.

[Protato]

Middle Finger of Vecna did a homebrew Monk Tradition if homebrew is allowed.

[Mortis_Elrod]

Haven't seen the film yet, sadly but just going off of the list here...

Tabaxi Scout Rogue? Thief Rogue? X/Barbarian Totem Elk/Wolf/Tiger? 14?


Sigh, i don't know enough.

[Naanomi]

Tabaxi Monk covers basically all of that... all the combat tricks, proficiency in perception+high wisdom+darkvision

[Errata]

Monk gets you most of the way there, but unfortunately it also precludes using armor. Magic armor is the most direct way to interpret his suit, which is an important element of the character.

[Zonugal]

T'Challa is also incredibly smart, so we should try to get that element of the character in here as well.

Quoted from the Marvel Wiki page on him:



Genius Intelligence
T'Challa is also a polymath genius and has an eidetic (aka photographic) memory. His genius is as such that he is one of the eight smartest people on Earth. He possesses accomplishments such as a PhD in physics from Oxford University. He also combined alchemy with science to create a new scientific field called Shadow Physics, a dangerous discipline which allowed him to track Vibranium on a quantum level, craft weapons which would be particularly effective against Vibranium, and create an unstable teleportation device which at the time ripped apart anyone using it with great healing ability.

Master Tactician and Strategist
T'Challa is a genius tactician, strategist, and leader who is practically peerless. He was taught tactics and strategies in his youth by his father who encouraged him to always think two steps ahead of his enemies and three steps ahead of his friends. His prowess is such that he is able to out think and out maneuver individuals such as Tony Stark, and other geniuses.

Master Inventor
He can invent various devices with special properties when needed. He possesses engineering abilities and intellect that makes him a peer and has proven to be able to invent and create weaponry that rivals their engineering capabilities. T'Challa can also duplicate practically any other technologies after learning how they work or by glancing at the designs.

[Easy_Lee]

T'Challa is also incredibly smart, so we should try to get that element of the character in here as well.

Quoted from the Marvel Wiki page on him:

That was the purpose of Arcana + History, the former representing technology.

[Naanomi]

Monk gets you most of the way there, but unfortunately it also precludes using armor. Magic armor is the most direct way to interpret his suit, which is an important element of the character.
His armor is a skin tight something or other, I would be hesitant to even classify it as Light Armor. A fashionable magic ‘robe’ at best

[Easy_Lee]

His armor is a skin tight something or other, I would be hesitant to even classify it as Light Armor. A fashionable magic ‘robe’ at best

Armor it is, nonetheless, probably best represented by mithril or adamantine.

[Naanomi]

Armor it is, nonetheless, probably best represented by mithril or adamantine.
Perhaps right now yeah. Reminds me a lot of the psychogenic skin 3.5 psionic ‘magic’ item. In that vein, he’d probably make a reasonable Immortal Mystic

[Easy_Lee]

Perhaps right now yeah. Reminds me a lot of the psychogenic skin 3.5 psionic ‘magic’ item. In that vein, he’d probably make a reasonable Immortal Mystic

Perhaps it could be represented as a necklace of armor that, when activated, covers the wearer's skin with a black coating. That would work on a monk; items of armor are some of the most useful items on them. But then we're getting into homebrew again.

[Akolyte01]

Totem Spirit Barbarian/Monk

Get a bunch of unarmed strikes and fluff "raging" as your suit coming out. Gives you the damage reduction you want.

Pretty sure that would give you the main feel of the character

[Naanomi]

Immortal Disciple: Beastial form covers almost everything just by itself

Adaptive Body, Celerity, Iron Durability, Precognition, Third Eye, Aurasight?

[Ganymede]

Just give him all of the features you list (or close approximations), around 16 hit dice, assign a CR around that same 16, and send him after your players.

It really isn't all that hard to make a cool monster, just make sure that your players actually have the tools to deal with them in some manner.

[Saggo]

Mystic could be renamed Marvel Superhero, you can make just about any hero with the right disciplines.

[Angelalex242]

T'Challa doesn't use weapons, really, so Monk is the baseline. Add other stuff as needed. ...and maybe give him rolled stats so he can have an 18 int which does him as a monk practically no good :P

[Specter]

Whenever you're recreating superheroes, you gotta focus on what's really important, and hope to get the rest of the fluff on magic items. I'dsay Monk as well.

[Errata]

Assuming a high level character, the suit could be a custom magic item designed specifically to allow it to work with Monk:
Black Panther Armor:
Mithral Chain Mail (16 AC, no stealth penalty). Allows dexterity bonus up to +4. Compatible with use of Unarmored Movement and Martial Arts (but not Unarmored Defense).

The character would still need to actually have Heavy Armor proficiency, probably via a multiclass. They should also take the Heavy Armor Master feat to simulate some damage reduction.

Way of the Open Hand could work, it has a strong knockback effect like the film version.
Tabaxi is a good choice as all of its racial abilities fit the character very well, and the cat aspect is justifiable because of the panther theme.


His armor is a skin tight something or other, I would be hesitant to even classify it as Light Armor. A fashionable magic ‘robe’ at best

Leather armor is also often skin tight and flexible, but it's not made of metal and bullet proof like his armor is.

[GreyhawkRaven]

So I'm thinking we can start Rogue 5 (maybe 7 for Evasion) for a bunch of skills, proficiency in DEX saves, and Expertise, then Paladin 15. Oath of Ancients for spell resistance and also it really works for the whole "ancestry" thing.
I'm not sure what type of Rogue. None seem to fit that well except maybe Assassin.

Inquisitive works well imo. Boosts Insight and Perception which can represent the enhanced senses shtick and being a wise ruler and all that.

[flat_footed]

The Fullmetal Mod: Thread necromancy is a forbidden art.