How Do You Make Scooby-Doo?

[A_Gray_Phantom]

So my friend Abel is doing running one-shot this Friday that features a haunted house, and I convinced all the other player behind his back to make Scooby-Doo characters behind his back :smallbiggrin:

My mother-in-law (who is new to D&D) is going to be Shaggy. I think we're gonna make Shaggy a human monk. Either that, or maybe a barbarian.

Our friend Ryan is gonna be Fred. We think Fred is a rogue, with skills related to making traps.

I'm thinking my fiancee is gonna wanna play Velma. This can be tricky. Maybe make her an investigator rogue.

That leaves me to play Scooby. Not sure what to do with this one. I'm thinking some kind of ranger (because Scooby is good at tracking things), and play some kind of dog race. Maybe take the stats of a tabaxi (cat person) and tweak them a little to make a dog.

Kandi (my in-law), Ayla (my fiancee), and I are all new to 5e, so any input y'all can give would be much appreciated!

Reminder: this is a surprise we're throwing the DM, so we can't give let him know all the details :smallwink::smalltongue:

[Nikushimi]

Well, interesting, and I hope your friend doesn't get upset.

My only question is...what about Daphne?

But, I would say Shaggy is either a Sorcerer or Monk (depending on if you're using actual shaggy or meme shaggy). Could even do Warlock since meme Shaggy started with him being under hypnosis, so you could do something where he's under the influence of one of the Patrons, but I imagine since it's your mother in-law they're probably sticking with original Shaggy, but I'd suggest Sorcerer or Monk in that case.

Instead of having them make Fred a Rogue, he'd be a Bard. After all, that horny man who always separates the group with him having all the women with him. Definitely a Bard. They also have skills just as much, if not more so than the Rogue. So they can still set up traps. P.s. The part about them definitely being a Bard because he's horny is just a joke. Not all Bards are horny, but they are portrayed as such.

Velma, yeah. Investigator Rogue, but I'd suggest possibly even a Wizard (Divination) or Cleric of the Knowledge Domain.

As for Scoob....well, race I suggest Gnoll if you can find somewhere that might have stats for them since they never gave stats for Gnolls in 5e. Since you seem to not mind tweaking already established races then I don't think finding something online would be outside your wheelhouse.

You could ALSO do a Bugbear and reskin their appearance to be more dog-like and limber. Or, like you were thinking use Tabaxi, but just make their appearance more doglike. I wouldn't change anything too much when it comes to abilities and stats because that might annoy your friend.

But, for race I could see him definitely being a Ranger. Maybe the Monster Hunter Archetype from Xanathar's, but your choice.

Another good choice for Scoob could be Rogue since they're always sneaking off with Shaggy to find food, or getting into places they shouldn't, albeit on accident.

[A_Gray_Phantom]

Dude! I'm loving all of your suggestions!

The reason I didn't list Daphne was because the girl I invited over to play Daphne decided quarantine is the best policy, and I agree. We've ended up canceling the game due to quarantine.

But I still like playing with this idea! So yeah, we're definitely going to do this once this whole thing blows over.

And don't worry about upsetting my friend. He has a great sense of humor. We all do <3

Yeah, I was going with Meme-Shaggy, and since Kandi (my in-law) is new to D&D I'd make her a monk. If we do end up playing after she heads home, and we do this, then I might make Shaggy a ranger with a specialized enemy: Scooby Snacks, and have a dire wolf as an animal companion.

But I love the idea of making Scoob a gnoll! I wish I'd thought of that!

Fred being a bard makes a lot of sense, and if bards can still make traps, then that works even better!

Velma being a cleric of divination sounds fun, too. Good stuff!

[LibraryOgre]

Scooby is definitely at least 2 levels of rogue... tell me he doesn't Disengage or Dash as a bonus action, I dare you. :smallbiggrin:

[DeadMech]

See i would have just went with like circle of the moon druid and kept turning into wolves and the like...

[Tanarii]

Moon Druid who goes into dog form all the time.

[Nidgit]

Moon Druid who goes into dog form all the time.
This isn't bad. My personal pick would be Archfey Chainlock, with the vanishing abilities being a version of his afterimage escape and Scrappy Doo as an annoying quasit familiar.

Other picks:
Shaggy the Drunken Master Monk
Fred the Eldritch Knight or Devotion Paladin
Daphne the Glamour Bard
Velma the Inquisitive Rogue

Daphne will help with disguises from time to time via makeup tutorial, and she's great and charming NPCs to gain access to places. Velma is obvious and Shaggy is pretty self-explanatory. Fred's gotta be the muscle but he's relatively smart; alternatively, he's Devoted to the truth.

[gloryblaze]

It’s suboptimal, of course, but shaggy and scooby together as a beast master ranger would work well. Fred might be a battle master fighter (take commanding strike and rally to represent his leadership) or a thief rogue (fast hands to set up caltrops and ball bearings as a bonus action—the trap man). Velma works well as an inquisitive rogue, mastermind rogue, divination wizard, or knowledge cleric. Daphne might be a glamour bard or even maybe a swashbuckler rogue or some other martial that leans on charisma

[Democratus]

This is the perfect time to be asking this question!

If Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh isn't a Scooby adventure - then nothing is! :D

[Joe the Rat]

This isn't bad. My personal pick would be Archfey Chainlock, with the vanishing abilities being a version of his afterimage escape and Scrappy Doo as an annoying quasit familiar.Another advantage to Warlock: Mask of Many Faces and Friends. Consider all of the times Shag and Scoob get away from the MotW by creating an improbable encounter which the villain is incapable of resisting, then skedaddling once the friends effect wears off, the "monster" realizing he did not need a hair cut and manicure, and become enraged at the pair.

Also, expeditious retreat.


This is the perfect time to be asking this question!

If Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh isn't a Scooby adventure - then nothing is! :DIt really is, isn't it. Just tweak it so the ringleader is wandering about with a way-over-CR monster costume, and go to it.

[nickl_2000]

I feel like Scooby needs the lucky feat. That dog avoids more situations by dumb luck than anyone in the world.

[Falconcry]

Awakened mastiff. (Skin as great dane). Any class you like with lucky feat.

[Lavaeolus]

I weirdly see Scooby-Doo requests a lot. As I should! Scooby-Doo is the ultimate media franchise, and will outlive us all. Anyway, point is that I've seen a lot of suggestions over the years, so here are a few of them mixed with my own thoughts. For the sake of variety, I'm going to try to keep most characters separate classes, albeit maybe not successfully.

Of the lot, Shaggy and Scooby are probably the most similar and consistent in characteristics and traits. They are also almost never seen without each other; in all the spin-offs where the rest of Mystery Inc. may or may not exist, Shaggy will still be with Scoob, and Scoob will always be paired with Shaggy when the gang splits up. Given that D&D doesn't have much rules for non-humanoid player races, then, it's pretty easy to envision Scoob as Shaggy's animal companion. So maybe Shaggy's a Beast Master Ranger, or at least has taken a dip in it.

Otherwise when I think of Shaggy and Scoob, I think... well, speedy movement and athleticism. Those guys are always getting into chase scenes! This could be represented by either taking levels in Monk (benefits: unarmoured defense, without fear Shaggy is apparently an unarmed master (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epXxDaP1o9E)), or Thief/Scout Rogue. Multiclassing Beast Master with either isn't particularly optimal, but hey. Alternatively, go one track with Shaggy and the other track with Scooby. As far as Scooby on his own goes, Ranger could be a fun way to represent his more dog-like abilities, tracking things, etc.

Velma is probably an Inquisitive Rogue with, from a game perspective, an overly high Intelligence. Still, that feels a little dull, and we're being a little fantastical with these guys anyway, so given her tendencies towards book-learning perhaps D&D Velma has realised her natural skill with Wizardry. Divination Wizard might be a fun fit, for an investigative team. Artificer is also an option, but hold on, I'm about to get to Fred.

Fred is actually quite generic in the original series, and so the later shows have played with character in odd but somewhat inconsistent ways. Sometimes Fred's the generic guy, and you could represent that with Fighter. (Also, we could probably use an additional melee meat-shield, if you catch my drift.) Alternatively, sometimes Fred shows leadership qualities, which I guess we could represent with Paladin instead. Other times, Fred is the guy obsessed with traps, and is a little bizarre about it -- so Artificer, obviously. Paladin/Artificer is probably a terrible multiclass without too much synergy, but hey, we could do it anyway.

Let me wrap things up by suggesting Daphne as a Bard. From a young age (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt8d8VJ8dqo), Daphne wanted to be both a supermodel and a detective. Well, if any one class can do both, it's Bard.