CaptainRedbeard
2018-10-18, 12:05 PM
So, the other day, I was a bit tipsy and said to myself, "I'm drunk as a skunk, like the drunk skunk monk, Friar Dunk! I mean Tuck ... ooooh, Friar Duck!" This sentence has been cleaned up for comprehension's sake. I then decided in my inebriated state to make a D&D character, and got as far, "Friar Duck, Drunk Monk," before getting distracted by youtube or something.
Now that I am quite sober, I still find this concept pretty funny, but have the actual wherewithal to look up what build would work for a character based on Friar Tuck. So after some research, here is some basic rundown of traits and facts about the character that easily translate into classes/abilities.
1. As a Friar, the Monk or Cleric classes is clearly the go to here. I'll go with Monk because of #2.
2. Typically, the character is portrayed as a drunk, or as a brewer, or both. So Drunken Master archetype it is.
3. He's part of Robin Hood's band of Merry Men. Robin Hood was one of the original inspirations of the Ranger class, and all of his men, including Tuck, have the same skill set, more or less. So lets multiclass into Ranger. I'd also argue that the main inspiration of the Ranger class, Aragorn from Lord of the Rings, was likely inspired in turn, at least somewhat, by Robin Hood as well. This also fits with the versions of Tuck that portray him as a hermit.
4. In the original story that the Friar shows up, the Curtal Friar, Robin Hood makes the claim Little John is the best archer and hunter, and one of his men says that no, Friar Tuck is. In the same story, Tuck at one point calls a large pack of dogs to his aid. So either a Hunter or Beastmaster archetype works here.
5. In various iterations of the character, Tuck is proficient in one or more of the following; Longsword, Broadsword (Shortsword for D&D purposes) with Buckler/Shield, Longbow, and Quarterstaff.
TL:DR, we have a Drunken Master Monk multiclassed with either a Beastmaster or Hunter Ranger proficient with a Longbow somehow. Also, because it's funny, his name is Friar Duck, and he's an Aarakocra that's too fat to fly. Or a Kenku.
Aspects of the character that don't fit this build:
1. Strength. In that first story, Robin Hood and Friar Tuck supposedly fought for 6 HOURS. This was after Tuck carried Hood across a deep stream 2.5 times. Man, these legends are more epic than I remember. Whatever the version, Tuck is portrayed as very physically strong, but this build is really too MAD to support making him particularly strong.
2. Longsword expertise. The Longsword can't be used as a monk weapon for the Martial Arts feature to work.
3. Buckler/Shield expertise. Same as above.
What do you all think? How should this character level up? What about stat breakdown and feats? What about other versions of this build that focus less on comedy of a drunk duck and use Cleric as the base class? Or incorporates his strength? This is all theorycrafting, maybe one day I'll play the character. I think it would be pretty fun.
Now that I am quite sober, I still find this concept pretty funny, but have the actual wherewithal to look up what build would work for a character based on Friar Tuck. So after some research, here is some basic rundown of traits and facts about the character that easily translate into classes/abilities.
1. As a Friar, the Monk or Cleric classes is clearly the go to here. I'll go with Monk because of #2.
2. Typically, the character is portrayed as a drunk, or as a brewer, or both. So Drunken Master archetype it is.
3. He's part of Robin Hood's band of Merry Men. Robin Hood was one of the original inspirations of the Ranger class, and all of his men, including Tuck, have the same skill set, more or less. So lets multiclass into Ranger. I'd also argue that the main inspiration of the Ranger class, Aragorn from Lord of the Rings, was likely inspired in turn, at least somewhat, by Robin Hood as well. This also fits with the versions of Tuck that portray him as a hermit.
4. In the original story that the Friar shows up, the Curtal Friar, Robin Hood makes the claim Little John is the best archer and hunter, and one of his men says that no, Friar Tuck is. In the same story, Tuck at one point calls a large pack of dogs to his aid. So either a Hunter or Beastmaster archetype works here.
5. In various iterations of the character, Tuck is proficient in one or more of the following; Longsword, Broadsword (Shortsword for D&D purposes) with Buckler/Shield, Longbow, and Quarterstaff.
TL:DR, we have a Drunken Master Monk multiclassed with either a Beastmaster or Hunter Ranger proficient with a Longbow somehow. Also, because it's funny, his name is Friar Duck, and he's an Aarakocra that's too fat to fly. Or a Kenku.
Aspects of the character that don't fit this build:
1. Strength. In that first story, Robin Hood and Friar Tuck supposedly fought for 6 HOURS. This was after Tuck carried Hood across a deep stream 2.5 times. Man, these legends are more epic than I remember. Whatever the version, Tuck is portrayed as very physically strong, but this build is really too MAD to support making him particularly strong.
2. Longsword expertise. The Longsword can't be used as a monk weapon for the Martial Arts feature to work.
3. Buckler/Shield expertise. Same as above.
What do you all think? How should this character level up? What about stat breakdown and feats? What about other versions of this build that focus less on comedy of a drunk duck and use Cleric as the base class? Or incorporates his strength? This is all theorycrafting, maybe one day I'll play the character. I think it would be pretty fun.