Making Richard Rahl from sword of truth in 5e?

[Spacehamster]

Curious how you would make him, good at tracking and wilderness issues, has instinct based magical powers and is never mentioned to be wearing any armor while fighting with his sword of truth so some form of unarmored AC boost would be needed, probably draconic sorcerer? Outlander background to fit his wilderness guide background without having to take ranger, hexblade lock at least until 2nd attack? What ya think? Even tho he is Mentioned to be strong and well built I think going for DEX, CHA and CON mainly would be best gameplay wise?

[carrdrivesyou]

Curious how you would make him, good at tracking and wilderness issues, has instinct based magical powers and is never mentioned to be wearing any armor while fighting with his sword of truth so some form of unarmored AC boost would be needed, probably draconic sorcerer? Outlander background to fit his wilderness guide background without having to take ranger, hexblade lock at least until 2nd attack? What ya think? Even tho he is Mentioned to be strong and well built I think going for DEX, CHA and CON mainly would be best gameplay wise?

This is quite honestly my favorite book series! Love it! Now for the build....

To make Richard, you would definitely have to multiclass. I would say a single level of Barbarian for unarmored defense, 3 levels of fighter (champion) for sword swinging awesomeness, and probably the rest in hexblade.

This will give you an unarmored character (possibly with armor of shadows), that can swing a sword like a boss, and can throw out magic a few times a day. I would put most of your spells towards buffs or towards "oh shi*" spells. Richard really didn't throw around flashy magic other than making his sword glow white (Refluffed as GFB or Booming blade?). I remember that in Pillars of Creation, he basically levelled an army with Subtractive magic while chasing Oba into the desert trying to get Kahlan back. Might want to figure something out for that.

[Captain Panda]

If you want to make Richard Rahl truly accurate, you need to give him a few unique abilities that you will not find in any class, race, spell or feat in D&D.

First, he has the ability to, as a reaction, overpower implausible numbers of extremely powerful, competent foes; but he may only do so if this action is immediately preceded by or followed by him using his action to monologue about the virtues of objectivism.

Second, he has the ability to gain sudden, inexplicable protection at times when he would realistically die horribly.

Third, he must never be given a plausible counterargument from NPCs when he espouses his philosophy. The NPCs must make wisdom saves not to see the wisdom and sense in all of the character's words.

Fourth, and most importantly, when the character finds himself out of his depth and would need to retreat from a problem, instead they gain 1d4 levels.

[Innocent_bystan]

If you want to make Richard Rahl truly accurate, you need to give him a few unique abilities that you will not find in any class, race, spell or feat in D&D.

First, he has the ability to, as a reaction, overpower implausible numbers of extremely powerful, competent foes; but he may only do so if this action is immediately preceded by or followed by him using his action to monologue about the virtues of objectivism.

Second, he has the ability to gain sudden, inexplicable protection at times when he would realistically die horribly.

Third, he must never be given a plausible counterargument from NPCs when he espouses his philosophy. The NPCs must make wisdom saves not to see the wisdom and sense in all of the character's words.

Fourth, and most importantly, when the character finds himself out of his depth and would need to retreat from a problem, instead they gain 1d4 levels.

So 20 levels of Mary Sue should cover the basics?

[KorvinStarmast]

So 20 levels of Mary Sue should cover the basics? You stole my thunder ... that was going to be my answer, except I was going to use Marty Stu. *tips cap*

[Ignimortis]

So 20 levels of Mary Sue should cover the basics?

Pretty much. I've read the first two books, I think (the ones where he beat his evil dad and the one with evil monks who hate magic or smth), and it was pretty obvious Richard wasn't ever in significant danger and instead seemed like a bad harem anime hero put into medieval fantasy.

[Spacehamster]

Pretty much. I've read the first two books, I think (the ones where he beat his evil dad and the one with evil monks who hate magic or smth), and it was pretty obvious Richard wasn't ever in significant danger and instead seemed like a bad harem anime hero put into medieval fantasy.

Nope he were not.

[ToastyTobasco]

Yeah, this could but a fun concept but Richard was a bit of a Mary Sue.

I love the first two books to death, they are some of the most fun reading I've had and I love the magic system. Third book had a couple speed bumps the Fourth had more speedbumps and then Goodkind's torture fetish but had some good moments. (but the f*cking illustration on the cover! Richard looks like a badass Ranger type. Not a gay Heracles)

Book five physically pained me to read. Richard got stupidly preachy and then there was the evil chicken. Took a badass female character like Kahlen and made her cower before a chicken.

It killed my interest in the rest of the books but according to my friend who I borrowed the books from, things pick back up in book 8 >.>


Anyway. I would think a mix of Battlemaster, Hexblade and Barbar sound good.

[Vogie]

For a Dex build, if the Sword of Truth happens to be a finesse weapon, maybe a Monk 1 / Hunter Ranger 7 / Knowledge Cleric X ?

That way he's not MAD, has unarmored defense, Horde breaker to give additional attacks, can stay alive via Multiattack defense & healing spells, and uses Bane/Bestow Curse to impose his superiority... and Knowledge Cleric to feel like he knows everything

[Trask]

In all seriousness, just straight Eldritch Knight should be fine. Richard just has really good stats, seriously incredible ones. Whenever I try to create a character inspired by fiction I always go for the underlying theme behind them, rather than copying every little feat of theirs. Richard's incredible knowledge about stuff is just a high int and proficiency in history or something. And he was too skilled of a warrior to not either be full fighter, or mostly fighter.

Even something like his ability to fight unarmored is more due to having a very good dexterity combined with the fact that in the series it was not always convenient, practical, or possible for him to wear armor. His sudden ability to turn the tables could easily be a combination of second wind and action surge, and perhaps indomitable as well. No need for excessive multiclassing on this one.

[Jama7301]

In all seriousness, just straight Eldritch Knight should be fine. Richard just has really good stats, seriously incredible ones. Whenever I try to create a character inspired by fiction I always go for the underlying theme behind them, rather than copying every little feat of theirs. Richard's incredible knowledge about stuff is just a high int and proficiency in history or something. And he was too skilled of a warrior to not either full fighter, or mostly fighter.

This was my thought too, with either a splash of Cleric, or maybe even using a feat on Magic Initiate (Cleric)

[urandom]

This is a bit tough because 5e doesn't really have the tools to match him. 3.5 would be more interesting. I would consider 1-3 levels of revised ranger, and then go bladesinger. You get the nature lore, wilderness expertise, minimal armor fighting ability, and get higher level spells. Ennervation and disintegrate for negative magic, and fireball/ lightning bolt/ chain lightning for positive. Bladesong is also kinda similar to his sword of truth rage state (btw what genius named the 'Sword of Truth?'). Could also take barbarian to match it, but the rest of the build doesn't make sense.

[Spacehamster]

Thinking Kensai monk with couple levels of some cleric would be a good fit too, unarmored defence, good melee and good archery and a dash of magic from cleric(arcane cleric perhaps?).

[Mikal]

I’d probably go with a mix of lore wizard, spellless revised ranger, and warlock, probably NE due to his sociopathic tendencies.

[DnDegenerates]

Eldritch knight with one proficiency in survival. Don't dump charisma either, the ladies couldn't help but want him.

[Spacehamster]

I’d probably go with a mix of lore wizard, spellless revised ranger, and warlock, probably NE due to his sociopathic tendencies.

How is fighting against the communistic evil ultra brutal imperial order NE? :O

[Mikal]

How is fighting against the communistic evil ultra brutal imperial order NE? :O

Killing peace protesters because they're in his way, brutally kicking a young child in the jaw, shattering it and maiming her? Condemning millions of people from the cycle of life and death just because they don't believe the same way he does, regardless of whether they actively oppose him or just disagree with him?



"Stop the hate! Stop the hate!" the people chanted as they locked arms.

They had no idea how much hate was raging through Richard. He drew the Sword of Truth. The wrath of its magic didn't come out with it, but he had enough of his own. He slowed to a trot.

"Move!" Richard called as he bore down on the people.

A plump, curly-haired woman took a step out from the others. Her round face was red with anger as she screamed. "Stop the hate! No war! Stop the hate! No war!"

"Move or die!" Richard yelled as he picked up speed.

The red-faced woman shook her fleshy fist at Richard and his men, leading an angry chant. "Murderers! Murderers! Murderers!"

On his way past her, gritting his teeth as he screamed with the fury of the attack begun, Richard took a powerful swing, lopping off the woman's head and upraised arm. Strings of blood and gore splashed across the faces behind her even as some still chanted their empty words. The head and loose arm tumbled through the crowd. A man made the mistake of reaching for Richard's weapon, and took the full weight of a charging thrust.

Men behind Richard hit the line of evil's guardians with unrestrained violence. People armed only with their hatred for moral clarity fell bloodied, terribly injured, and dead. The line of people collapsed before the merciless charge. Some of the people, screaming their contempt, used their fists to attack Richard's men. They were met with swift and deadly steel.

At the realization that their defense of the Imperial Order's brutality would actually result in consequences to themselves, the crowd began scattering in fright, screaming curses back at Richard and his men.

Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.

Personally, I'd rather stat out the Legend of the Seeker TV show version, who isn't a fricken monster.

[Spacehamster]

Killing peace protesters because they're in his way, brutally kicking a young child in the jaw, shattering it and maiming her? Condemning millions of people from the cycle of life and death just because they don't believe the same way he does, regardless of whether they actively oppose him or just disagree with him?



Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.

Personally, I'd rather stat out the Legend of the Seeker TV show version, who isn't a fricken monster.

When did he kill peace protesters? V late in the book series? have not read the last 2 or so books yet as I have not got my hands on them but have read all of them before that several times and don´t remember him doing that, and for kicking Violet(the evil psycotic child that
would become a tyrant if left to live) that would be a good act of justice + it were done in self defence as he were being tortured by her and Denna? The condemn part is from the chimes part when he were betrayed by the Anders right? They picked their side and he left them to the commies as that is what they had chosen to do, if he had stayed and fought it would have been for naught so not evil but more of a common sense and ignore your feelings on the matter for the greater good kind of action.

[hamishspence]

When did he kill peace protesters? V late in the book series?

The above quote came from Naked Empire, which was book 9 in the main series - which was of 12 books - so 3 more after that.

[Spacehamster]

The above quote came from Naked Empire, which was book 9 in the main series - which was of 12 books - so 3 more after that.
Ah I have read the swedish translated versions do not sure which book that would be, last one here is book 24(they split them into more books)

[Mikal]

and for kicking Violet(the evil psycotic child that
would become a tyrant if left to live) that would be a good act of justice + it were done in self defence as he were being tortured by her and Denna? The condemn part is from the chimes part when he were betrayed by the Anders right? They picked their side and he left them to the commies as that is what they had chosen to do, if he had stayed and fought it would have been for naught so not evil but more of a common sense and ignore your feelings on the matter for the greater good kind of action.

So in other words, if a child has been raised to believe a certain thing, and she acts that way, if she's your enemy it's ok to try and kill her, rather than realizing she's a child and likely brainwashed? Such a hero, ol' Richard. Totally not an evil aligned thing to do.

And actually I was talking about when he got the Boxes of Orden and sent everyone who didn't agree with him to Earth where when they die they don't go to the underworld, they just become nothing.

But the Ander thing is also pretty crappy, now that you mention it.

So yeah, his actions are pretty evil, IMO.

[Spacehamster]

So in other words, if a child has been raised to believe a certain thing, and she acts that way, if she's your enemy it's ok to try and kill her, rather than realizing she's a child and likely brainwashed? Such a hero, ol' Richard. Totally not an evil aligned thing to do.

And actually I was talking about when he got the Boxes of Orden and sent everyone who didn't agree with him to Earth where when they die they don't go to the underworld, they just become nothing.

But the Ander thing is also pretty crappy, now that you mention it.

So yeah, his actions are pretty evil, IMO.

So you are not allowed to defend yourself against a psycotic child that tortures you half to death, mkay. xD

[Trippic]

So in other words, if a child has been raised to believe a certain thing, and she acts that way, if she's your enemy it's ok to try and kill her, rather than realizing she's a child and likely brainwashed? Such a hero, ol' Richard. Totally not an evil aligned thing to do.

And actually I was talking about when he got the Boxes of Orden and sent everyone who didn't agree with him to Earth where when they die they don't go to the underworld, they just become nothing.

But the Ander thing is also pretty crappy, now that you mention it.

So yeah, his actions are pretty evil, IMO.

-a psycho child with wealth and power to get what she wants
-they chose which world to be in, and seeing as the underworld was magic and they didnt want anything to do with magic...(though i still hate when books do the 'this is how our world came to be' thing, cant just let it stay its own thing)
-and refusing to side with a lost cause is evil?

though dont get me wrong...the books kept getting worse down the line and damn near unreadable at the end, so much padding
got to the point i hated when anyone used a confessor power because it always invoked the same tired old long winded explanation

-edit-
back to main point hexblade, outlander background, sword of truth is a luckblade with plot rechargeable wishes

[Mikal]

So you are not allowed to defend yourself against a psycotic child that tortures you half to death, mkay. xD

....It seems someone is misremembering the actual scenario.
Tricky Dicky wasn't in the little girls power. He was in the BDSM leather queen's (Mord Sith) power. Violet (the girl in question), literally could not do anything to Richard cause the Mord Sith would have stopped it. Violet was basically saying that if Kahlan was put into her power then she'd do bad things to her.

And then, horror of horrors, she stuck her tongue out at Richard, causing his anger to rise, allowing him to be a big man and kick the 10 year old girl in the face, shattering her jaw, severing her tongue, and almost killing her.

So... yeah. Less defending, and more anger and rage issues leading to assault on a minor.


-a psycho child with wealth and power to get what she wants
-they chose which world to be in, and seeing as the underworld was magic and they didnt want anything to do with magic...(though i still hate when books do the 'this is how our world came to be' thing, cant just let it stay its own thing)
-and refusing to side with a lost cause is evil?

A psycho child whose wealth and power had no effect on Richard, who knew that Kahlan wasn't in her power, and was literally mad because the 10 year old girl stuck her tongue out at him after emptily threatening him. If you can't see how that could be evil... wow.

And actually, the people didn't want magic in their day to day lives. They still believed in the Underworld, the Keeper, and whatever their god analogue was. They just didn't want to have wizards and whatnot messing with their lives. Richard was like 'lol sorry, welcome to nonexistence after death. And oh yeah, not just you, but all your descendants forever and ever!"

Such a moral paragon, that Richard.

[hamishspence]

....It seems someone is misremembering the actual scenario.
Tricky Dicky wasn't in the little girls power. He was in the BDSM leather queen's (Mord Sith) power. Violet (the girl in question), literally could not do anything to Richard cause the Mord Sith would have stopped it.

I thought the Mord Sith had given Violet the instrument of torture to use on Richard - and she'd done so - several times? It's been a while since I read it. About 8-10 years or so.

I think the author intended us to think of Violet as more like Hob from RoboCop 2, ruthless and cruel and with power, regardless of their age.

[urandom]

Man I loved the first two books when I was younger, but the series was definitely on a rocky road after the second. I don't begrudge an author having a political opinion, but it got super annoying. Yeah, the commies are super evil, and 'too dumb to live' pacifists are too dumb to live. We get it. The 'I carve a statue so awesome it makes people cry and convert to objectivism' book (yes, that was pretty much the whole book) was really the pinnacle of face palm. That being said, accepting that his enemies were strawmen optimized to be wrong, those strawmen were still wrong, and he was in the right most of the time.

- IIRC Protesters were actively sabotaging efforts against the stalinist/maoist super evil country. Using his magic sword to decapitate protesters was still wrong and evil, but they weren't completely innocent.

- psycho girl deserved it. Plus he saved plenty of innocents terrible torture with that kick.

- Splitting the worlds was just giving the people who hated magic what they wanted.

- His real sin was long moralistic speeches.

Maybe take actor or silver tongue or dip rogue so you can make weird long speeches that people inexplicably love.

[Trippic]

A psycho child whose wealth and power had no effect on Richard, who knew that Kahlan wasn't in her power, and was literally mad because the 10 year old girl stuck her tongue out at him after emptily threatening him. If you can't see how that could be evil... wow.

And actually, the people didn't want magic in their day to day lives. They still believed in the Underworld, the Keeper, and whatever their god analogue was. They just didn't want to have wizards and whatnot messing with their lives. Richard was like 'lol sorry, welcome to nonexistence after death. And oh yeah, not just you, but all your descendants forever and ever!"

Such a moral paragon, that Richard.

so the psycho lil girl was never in a position to torture him? yeah his rage was totally just about her tongue and banter...nothing else - torture messes with yur head, PTSD in some cases...so are those who lash out while suffering from PTSD evil as well? calling all those unfortunate soldiers evil... wow

that woulda been the outcome for them regardless...the holes woulda ended magic and the afterlife for them either way - you can either see it as banishing them or taking half the population and escaping that threat...the worlds were exactly the same, all the magic people just decided not to live with the magic killing people - i dont see that as evil

[Spacehamster]

I thought the Mord Sith had given Violet the instrument of torture to use on Richard - and she'd done so - several times? It's been a while since I read it. About 8-10 years or so.

I think the author intended us to think of Violet as more like Hob from RoboCop 2, ruthless and cruel and with power, regardless of their age.

Aye she tortured the **** out of Richard while Denna watched.

[Mikal]

Aye she tortured the **** out of Richard while Denna watched.

And of course a 10 year old child is totally aware of her actions and culpable. That's why we try everyone as if they were an adult, because they're fully cognizant and aware of what they're doing, not just shaped by those around them.

Thus, when she stuck her tongue out at Richard, after being shaped by actual sociopaths, it was totally heroic for Richard to kick her in the face.

Wait. No. It wasn't.

[Spacehamster]

And of course a 10 year old child is totally aware of her actions and culpable. That's why we try everyone as if they were an adult, because they're fully cognizant and aware of what they're doing, not just shaped by those around them.

Thus, when she stuck her tongue out at Richard, after being shaped by actual sociopaths, it was totally heroic for Richard to kick her in the face.

Wait. No. It wasn't.

I thought it were hilarious when he kicked her in the face, if a child tortured you I think you would strike back to in self defense, he did not taunt her bleeding ass or pee on her or anything sick, he just kicked her gently in the face, he could not know she had such bad AC. ;)

[Trippic]

And of course a 10 year old child is totally aware of her actions and culpable. That's why we try everyone as if they were an adult, because they're fully cognizant and aware of what they're doing, not just shaped by those around them.

Thus, when she stuck her tongue out at Richard, after being shaped by actual sociopaths, it was totally heroic for Richard to kick her in the face.

Wait. No. It wasn't.

non heroic isnt the same as evil getting back the point

[Asmotherion]

For a Simple Build: Hexblade with Eldritch Blast (Agonising), Armor of Agathys and Booming Blade. For a more optimised build, either Pal-Lock or Sor-Lock (Divine Soul).