Ultimate Swordsman Guts

[FabulousFizban]

The man came back from the dead to get even. Only he knows how or at what cost. My first D&D character, left for dead by his friends at the feet of the Goblin King, reborn into fifth edition as the Ultimate Swordsman: a Bounty Hunter tracking down the members of his old party. He will not be stopped, and his is the strongest.

Guts Brohard
Level 6
HP 40
Initiative +5

Class: fighter 2/war mage 2/light cleric 2
Race: Variant Human
Background: Urban Bountry Hunter
Skills: Perception, Insight, Handle Animal, Stealth, Athletics, Thieves Tools, Flute

Feat: Mobile
Equipmeant: 2 scimatars, a rapier, a shield, a flute

str: 10
Dex: 16
Con: 12
Int: 14
Wis: 14
Cha: 8

Abilities

Action Surge: 1
2nd Wind: 1d10+2
Fighting Style: Two-Weapon Fighting
Ritual Casting
Spellcasting Focus: Sword
Arcane Recovery: Absorb Elements
Arcane Deflection
Tactical Wit
Warding Flare: 2
Radiance of the Dawn:1

Spells

Cantrips
Cleric Cantrips: Guidance, Bladeward, Frostbite, Light
Wizard Cantrips: Green-Flame Blade, Booming Blade, Swordburst

Prepared Spells
Cleric: Bless, Bane, Shield of Faith, Sanctuary, Burning Hands, Faerie Fire
Wizard: Mage Armor, Shield, Sleep, Expiditious Retreat

[djreynolds]

Looks good, you may need war caster at some point if TWF or S&B conflict with casting wizard spells.

Now where are going this build?

EK, more wizard?

[Unoriginal]

Sorry, but there is a couple issues there.

A sword can't be an Arcane spell focus (unless you have a Ruby of the War Mage) and only arguably a divine one. And you haven't precised which sword is the focus.

Also, what in particular makes him the "Ultimate Swordsman"? Or unstoppable/the strongest?

That's the kind of boasts that generally makes people eager to test them.

I don't think Guts Brohard could beat a Veteran NPC in a sword fight, seeing those stats.

[Contrast]

I would think very carefully before doing this. You have one attack and level one spells. At that level everyone else is going to have two attacks and level 3 spells. You won't get your first ASI until level 8 at best by which point everyone else will be getting their second.

If you're planning on being a swordsman I would encourage just going fighter. If you want the motif of swordsman with magic, consider paladin or eldritch knight. Edit - I guess ranger might work as well actually depending how much you want to emphasise the actual tracking element /edit

That said, I'm not really sure what you were hoping to get out of posting this thread. Were you look for build critique or...?

Edit - its also worth saying Mage Armour offers no benefit over breastplate and only 1 over studded (and is worse than the heavier armours assuming you started fighter) as it stands so I'm not sure its worth spending one of your slots on it.

[FabulousFizban]

So a few things: The ultimate swordsman thing is just a wild boast on the character's part and his goal, but the character is not a pushover. Also, I have a stronger build of Guts but it is one that didn't really fit the unarmared swordsman feel i wanted. Lastly I made a few errors in the spell choices.

So what makes Guts strong? Versatility! The basic tactic for the character is to cast expiditious retreat, then swing by with mobile making booming blade attacks. If the target stays still, you just get endless drive by attacks they can't retaliate against. If they do move, they take extra damage, and can't catch up without a double move, preventing them from attacking. If there are multiple enemies, blade burst to attack all of them, then move out of reach with mobile. If you know you are goind to take a hit, blade ward. Or sit back and let you 18-25AC take care of it. Having trouble hitting attacks or making saves? Slow down and cast bless. War Mage boosts your saves by +4. The point is the character has a lot it can do. Different tools for different situations.

A better build of Guts has him swap dex and str scores and wear fullplate, leveling Battlemaster Fighter 3, War Mage 2, Life Cleric 1, taking defense fighting style, and weilding a greatsword. The character still relies on the expiditious retreat/booming blade technique. The lack of Mage Armor means you can prepare Absorb Elements outright, or maybe Longstrider if you need more movement.

Lets look at what this version gets you:

Initiative: +5 (tactical wit)
AC 19-26 (fullplate/defense style/shield of faith/shield spell)
Saves: 1d4+4 (War Mage+Bless)
To Hit: +6
Damage: 4d8+2d6+3+Status (booming blade/greatsword/combat manevuer)
Can't be caught to attack against

Equipment Change: Fullplate, Shield, Greatsword, Longsword

Corrected Spell List
Cantrips: Booming Blade, Blade Burst, Blade Ward, Guidance, Sacred Flame, Light
Prepared spells: Shield, Sleep, Absorb Elements, Expiditious Retreat, Bless, CLW, Shield of Faith, Protection from G/E, Sanctuary

Are we still saying this character is weak?

[JNAProductions]

Except, you know, Attacks of Opportunity. Which is less than all attacks, usually, but still. Or they could ready an action to grapple you, and with your paltry +3 to Athletics or Acrobatics, you're gonna get grappled.

How would you, for instance, handle a level 6 Fighter with the Archery style? They're a Battlemaster, with a 20 in Dex and a 16 in Con, rocking 58 HP and an AC of 17.

[Contrast]

If there are multiple enemies, blade burst to attack all of them, then move out of reach with mobile.

FYI this won't work. You need to make a melee attack to get the benefit of mobile and Sword Burst is not a melee attack.

I'd also keep in mind that many enemies have ranged attacks and you allies likely won't be quite so mobile so you can't necessarily count on always getting the BB trigger. Having played a rogue with BB I would go so far as to say I very rarely got the extra damage trigger. Being able to run away is all very well but it often just means leaving the rest of the party standing around to take damage in your place unfortunately. Its also very swingy as well as you can't dual wield if you're using BB.


Are we still saying this character is weak?

I mean...yeah. Jack of all trades, master of none springs to mind. That said, the point of the game isn't to beat enemies in the most optimal fashion possible. It's to have fun. If this guy sounds fun to you, you crack on and don't let me stop you :smallbiggrin:

[Unoriginal]

If you swap Dex and Str, you have +2 to Initiative, not +5. You only have 14 in Int.

[SaurOps]

So a few things: The ultimate swordsman thing is just a wild boast on the character's part and his goal, but the character is not a pushover. Also, I have a stronger build of Guts but it is one that didn't really fit the unarmared swordsman feel i wanted. Lastly I made a few errors in the spell choices.

So what makes Guts strong?

"798,333! 798,334!" (https://youtu.be/2YzHTt2Pns4?t=89)



Are we still saying this character is weak?

He may not be weak, but he's certainly not Guts if he's using magic.

[Contrast]

He may not be weak, but he's certainly not Guts if he's using magic.

I definitely clicked into the thread expecting to see some sort of fighter/barbarian multi-class and was somewhat bemused to find a dex based spellcaster :smalltongue:

[Gastronomie]

I definitely clicked into the thread expecting to see some sort of fighter/barbarian multi-class and was somewhat bemused to find a dex based spellcaster :smalltongue:It is undeniable that most people would imagine that big badass guy with a big badass sword upon hearing "Ultimate Swordsman Guts".

Then again, feel free to use whatever you want. Not that I really understand the purpose of this thread, since it doesn't look like the topic creator is actually asking for advice though.

[Blood of Gaea]

I would build Guts as a Hexblade.

He gains strength through force of will. (Cha to attack)

He uses medium armor for a large part of his story until he gets a set of "magic" armor.

He has a massive damage ranged attack with his offhand. (Agonizing Blast)

His main sword (Dragonslayer) is most definitely magical in nature. (Pact of the Blade, Improved Pact Weapon)

His sword hits for massive amounts of damage. (Eldritch Smite, Lifedrinker, Improved Pact Weapon, and grab Great Weapon Master)

Things like Otherworldy leap come in hand for when you get to the berserker armor stage of Guts.

I'd consider taking a single level of Fighter to start to pick up Heavy Armor (for thematical reasons) and action surge.

[SaurOps]

I would build Guts as a Hexblade.

He gains strength through force of will. (Cha to attack)

No, he would likely have Strength 30, on account of almost certainly being a level 20 character with an epic boon that raises his superiority dice to d20s. Possibly, d100s.



He uses medium armor for a large part of his story until he gets a set of "magic" armor.

He has a massive damage ranged attack with his offhand. (Agonizing Blast)

It's a cannon. Use the firearms rules. They live in a low-magic world, it's a cannon.



His main sword (Dragonslayer) is most definitely magical in nature. (Pact of the Blade, Improved Pact Weapon)

Dragonslayer is probably a result of another of his epic boons; since he's killed so many things with it, it cuts through reality, no warlock multiclassing needed.



His sword hits for massive amounts of damage. (Eldritch Smite, Lifedrinker, Improved Pact Weapon, and grab Great Weapon Master)

It doesn't drink in life until after the enemy is already dead, and he would have had GWM as a level one fighter... when he was, like, 8.



Things like Otherworldy leap come in hand for when you get to the berserker armor stage of Guts.

Magic might come in handy but the only ones with it at that juncture are Shierke and The Skull Knight, and the latter is way more like Guts and also some kind of inherently magical monster.



I'd consider taking a single level of Fighter to start to pick up Heavy Armor (for thematical reasons) and action surge.

Hexblades don't go out into the woods and have people dump logjams on them to become more impressive warriors. Fighters, though, probably do this after they have no more levels to gain.

[Blood of Gaea]

-snip-
You described a whole lot of things someone designing a PC has no access to. Good job, I guess.

Also, a character getting ported into D&D as an expy does not need to function exactly the same way as their original universe, nor be as powerful. The concept is what matters.

[Contrast]

You described a whole lot of things someone designing a PC has no access to. Good job, I guess.

Also, a character getting ported into D&D as an expy does not need to function exactly the same way as their original universe, nor be as powerful. The concept is what matters.

I mean if you just want the basic feel of the character I feel a great weapon wielding fighter does that much more successfully than a hexblade. If you want to get more fancy, beg the DM for a magical suit of heavy armour that lets you rage while using it and multiclass a couple of levels of barbarian. Done.

[SaurOps]

You described a whole lot of things someone designing a PC has no access to. Good job, I guess.

Guts is pretty far from the feel of a D&D character.



Also, a character getting ported into D&D as an expy does not need to function exactly the same way as their original universe, nor be as powerful. The concept is what matters.

The concept of Guts is "guy with no powers or desire to have powers manages to beat up demons". So he's a fighter with an appropriately martial martial archetype. That's his concept; not a warlock, not a paladin, nothing but a fighter who's put on more levels than other people. Also, an epic boon to boost your superiority dice (to d20s, at least) doesn't seem like it would be anywhere near beyond the pale given that casters get extra 9th level spell slots in the same fashion. It's not my fault that D&D succumbs to the Guy in the Gym Fallacy with disturbingly predictable regularity, or that 5e hasn't gotten around to expanding martial stuff to where it would have to be in order to run anything like Berserk or other series.

In closing, CLANG. HAI-YO!

[TheBirba]

I would build Guts as a Hexblade.

He gains strength through force of will. (Cha to attack)

He uses medium armor for a large part of his story until he gets a set of "magic" armor.

He has a massive damage ranged attack with his offhand. (Agonizing Blast)

His main sword (Dragonslayer) is most definitely magical in nature. (Pact of the Blade, Improved Pact Weapon)

His sword hits for massive amounts of damage. (Eldritch Smite, Lifedrinker, Improved Pact Weapon, and grab Great Weapon Master)

Things like Otherworldy leap come in hand for when you get to the berserker armor stage of Guts.

I'd consider taking a single level of Fighter to start to pick up Heavy Armor (for thematical reasons) and action surge.

This is great! Original and thematic, I’m definitely going to steal it, thanks!