Voodoo Master build help

[Rallek25]

Hello all,

I come to you in need of help. I have a lvl 5 character build idea, but I need help with some decisions. The build I have in mind is a Voodoo Master. Essentially, the character would be a Hexblade Warlock that is Pact of the Tome. This character will have made a pact with a Voodoo God called Papa U'tay (Oo-tay), who has bestowed certain abilities upon this character. The main gist of this character is to Curse his enemies and send their souls to the Papa U'tay. I figure this makes him more of a debuffer/controller. This build won't be using UA. The part I need help with though is with deciding Race and spells.

For Race I'm stuck between the following:

Variant Human, Half-Elf, and Tiefling.

For spells Hex is must, and I will have Bestow Curse from Sign of I'll Omen, but from there I'm a bit lost.
Some spell ideas are as follows: Ray of Enfeeblement, Hypnotic Pattern, Misty Step, Invisibility, Counterspell, Suggestion, Hold Person, Enemies Abound.

So, if you guys can help me decide what race and spells would work best for this character I would greatly appreciate it.Thank you very much.

[Kefvin]

Just want to say that this is an amazing idea and I wish I had seen this before we started playing our current campaign!

[nickl_2000]

You will have a hard time going wrong with any of those races for your build. Variant Human is likely the most optimal, however I think that Tiefling would be the most fun from a flavour perspective. Having someone who is descendant from a devil seems incredibly fitting.

I would also consider one of these two Tiefling subraces that would be fitting to your theme
Baalzebul - thaumaturgy, Ray of Sickness, and Crown of Madness (super fitting to the theme).
Fierna - Friends, Charm Person, and Suggestion (not quite as close, but controlling people seems pretty decent)


Really, the Baalzebul would be flat out awesome to this build, and would boost your total spells that you can cast as a Warlock per day (always a good thing)

[Rallek25]

You will have a hard time going wrong with any of those races for your build. Variant Human is likely the most optimal, however I think that Tiefling would be the most fun from a flavour perspective. Having someone who is descendant from a devil seems incredibly fitting.


I do like Variant human as it allows me to grab war caster or resilient for Con saves. My only issue is that I'd have to spend an invocation to get darkvision while the other races have it. Tiefling does seem to fit this build a bit more though.

What about spells? Are the spells I mentioned above okay for this build? Should I not grab certain spells? Are there those I should grab that I did not mention?

[Goggalor]

May I make a racial recommendation of half-orc (fluffed as full orc; full orc from Volo's is the sticky cousin no one likes) so that you can be the greatest prophet? :smallcool: Wurrzag, Prophet of Gork and Mork (the singular ork "god" from Warhammer fantasy; the orkz never decide which is side of their "god" is greater) https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/totalwarhammer_gamepedia/thumb/b/ba/Greenskin_wurrzag.png/178px-Greenskin_wurrzag.png

[Ventruenox]

My last character was a Voodoo Bardlock, Lore & Tome who went by Papa Mambo, serving Baron Samedi (refluffed Raven Queen). I created him to be a pure support character who maximized the action economy each round. Lots of fun, and made the rest of the table feel great about their own successes.

Seeing that you are going Hexblade, I presume you'll be more of a martial bent. Your spell choices are pretty solid, and will likely get a fair amount of use. You may be wanting of spell slots, but that's the trade off. A good level 5 spell will be Danse Macabre, and Create Undead for your level 6 Mystic Arcanum. Book of Ancient Secrets will provide excellent ritual utility. (Made an albino snake familiar named Daveed Coverdale)

As for Tome cantrip suggestions: Guidance (may the Loa be with you), Vicious Mockery (curse your opponents every round without using spell slots), and Mold Earth (cause digging up graves yourself takes too long).

If you go vHuman, what would your feat choices be? Warcaster or Shield Master would be prime picks.

[nickl_2000]

What about spells? Are the spells I mentioned above okay for this build? Should I not grab certain spells? Are there those I should grab that I did not mention?

I don't see anything that jumps out as awful. Misty Step is good, but may feel like a waste as you get higher in levels. Other may have stronger opinions here and be able to help more, but this is what I see.


Level 1 options:
Cause Fear from XGTE - Fitting for a voodoo person, and fear is really powerful effect (plus you can upcast it)


Level 2:
Crown of Madness - A good spell, fitting for your character, although it doesn't upcast. So, will be dropped later (also if you take the Tiefling with it don't bother).
Suggestion - Absolutely take this. It's powerful and very fitting. Although, again it doesn't upcast


Level 3:
Fear - Like Cause Fear, but it's a cone effect.
Tongues - This may be thematic, and useful for those non-combat days.

[Rallek25]

My last character was a Voodoo Bardlock, Lore & Tome who went by Papa Mambo, serving Baron Samedi (refluffed Raven Queen). I created him to be a pure support character who maximized the action economy each round. Lots of fun, and made the rest of the table feel great about their own successes.

Seeing that you are going Hexblade, I presume you'll be more of a martial bent. Your spell choices are pretty solid, and will likely get a fair amount of use. You may be wanting of spell slots, but that's the trade off. A good level 5 spell will be Danse Macabre, and Create Undead for your level 6 Mystic Arcanum. Book of Ancient Secrets will provide excellent ritual utility. (Made an albino snake familiar named Daveed Coverdale)

As for Tome cantrip suggestions: Guidance (may the Loa be with you), Vicious Mockery (curse your opponents every round without using spell slots), and Mold Earth (cause digging up graves yourself takes too long).

If you go vHuman, what would your feat choices be? Warcaster or Shield Master would be prime picks.

If I went Variant Human I would go either Warcaster or Resilient for the Con Saves. I plan on fighting at range, so I don't think shield master would be a necessity.
I do like your suggestion of mold earth. Hadn't thought about that cantrip and using it for that purpose. I was thinking fire bolt to burn the corpses and to give me a different damage type in case of force resistance/immunity or vulnerability to fire.

[Rallek25]

Anyone have suggestions on invocations? For the lvl 5 build, I was considering:
Sign of Ill Omen
Agonizing Blast
Maddening Hex

Also, I've narrowed my decision for Races down to the following:
Variant Human
Feat: Resilient (Con)
Str-8
Dex-14
Con-16
Int-10
Wis-10
Cha-16

Or Warcaster
Str-8
Dex-14
Con-14
Int-10
Wis-12
Cha-16

Half-Elf:
Str-8
Dex-14
Con-16
Int- 10
Wis- 12
Cha-16

Any further help on this build would he greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Ventruenox]

vHuman Warcaster. Advantage on CON saves is superior than Resiliant at this stage, plus the reaction ability and shield wielding casting will be invaluable.

Maddening Hex is not all that useful. I've seen it in play, and even at higher levels it ends up being "Meh." Good if you have invocations to spare, but at level 5, that is prime opportunity cost. Book of Ancient Secrets will give you far more mileage for this character. Find Familiar, Alarm, Detect Magic, & Identify are far more useful than the 3 psychic damage you might inflict on mooks. Ritual Casting is more thematic to your character concept, and if your DM allows 3rd party material, this invocation can be pure gold. (Thank you Frog God/Necromancer Games for your Book of Lost Spells. Middle Finger of Vecna also has some wonderful material.)

Edit: Phantasmal Steed and Leomund's Tiny Hut become available at level 6. In a previous campaign, the hut has been used as a fallout shelter when our party set off really big booms.