An Eclectic Collection of Fun and Effective Builds

[Amnestic]

Relevant text: "Once the spell ends, the tattoo vanishes from your skin." If the tattoo vanishes, you wouldn't be able to use it again. Seems pretty clear its a one time use thing.

The argument is that long duration spells (such as Gift of Alacrity or Mage Armour - 8 hour duration non-concentration) means that you can cast it repeatedly during the 8 hour duration on other people as well as yourself.

Personally I find that interpretation disingenuous. I understand how it was reached, but I cannot imagine a DM actually letting it fly at their table.

[Dalinar]

Huh, never noticed that about Spellwrought Tattoo. Probably wasn't intended to be used that way, if I had to guess, but it would hardly be the first time something was accidentally written exploitably, right?

[Kuulvheysoon]

The text description says the armor portion is made out of leather. The spikes are "usually" made of metal, but there's no reason they have to be, and even if they are, that's still no different from studded leather, or like a pair of jeans with one metal button. Most jeans do have that, would you call jeans metal pants?

No no no, I wasn't criticizing, just curious. You had some other RAW issues, and I wondering if you intended to use the Spiked Armor as a weapon as well as armor. If it's only the latter, it's a neat work around, assuming that your DM will allow you to find a set.

the text says "Once the tattoo is there, you can cast its spell, requiring no material components." It does not specify only once. RAW the functionality is pretty clear, whether a DM choses to nerf it is up to them

I'm with @Mitchellnotes here. The last sentence pretty clearly indicates to me that it's a single-use effect. Honestly, I wouldn't allow spellwrought tattoos to be used with Replicate Magic Item at all; imho the fact that they don't allow you to make scrolls or potions means that allowing spellwrought tattoos is an oversight. Would you allow ad naseaum use tattoos of armor of agathys as well? It's a Common magic item; I'm aware that WotC isn't great at balancing, especially magic items, but they're not that bad.

When I first heard about this exploit I was in the same camp as you. it wasn't until I saw this comparison that I understood RAI

Replicate magic items went through two revisions after the UA. The duplication clause was removed but nothing around it was touched. If this was an accidental deletion, one would expect they would have rewritten the entire sentence, which they didn't, they just deleted a single word. Even if it still was a mistake, they would have fixed it when revising it for TCE, which they didn't.

I suppose you could argue that this was sheer incompetence – I wouldn't put it past WotC to copy the entire section of text over by hand instead of copying in pasting – but even in cases like that Jeremy Crawford tends to dig his heels in. Just look at the whole issue with paladin fist smites. As far as I'm concerned this how the rules are intended

See, when I read that, it looks like they just want you to be able to make 2 Bags of Holding by picking Replicate Magic Item (Bag of Holding) twice. How you can interpret any reading of that which allows such a massive abuse of the system as the "intended" reading is beyond me.

I still honestly don't understand how you think that your alternate interpretation allows you to break the limit of infused items per day that the artificer can have. That's a hard limit, and the other big reason why I think that your interpretation of the RAI is incorrect.

[Dalinar]

Hm, I wonder if there's anything neat we can do with UA Dragonborn?

FAE DRAGON'S WRATH

Spoiler: image spoilered for size

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tl;dr UA Dragonborn + Dragon Fear feat + Fey Wanderer = loads of crowd control. A similar build can be done with Conquest Paladin, which is less MAD as well, but figured I'd demonstrate the Fey Wanderer version. Note that this build will possibly be obsolete in a couple months when Fizban's Treasury of Dragons comes out, depending on what if any changes are made.

Race: UA Metallic or Gem Dragonborn. You gain one resistance out of quite a few options (including stuff like force and psychic that are hard to come by), PB/long rest uses of a breath weapon, and a level 3 feature which is either a secondary breath weapon for Metallic or temporary flight for Gem. Personally, I'm leaning Metallic as the metallic breath weapon is more CC rather than damage, which fits with the nature of this build.

Statline: Dump STR+INT. We want a high WIS and CHA for our save DCs on fear, especially WIS since the CHA-based ones will trigger a WIS-based reroll at Fey Wanderer 7. We want a high CON because everyone wants a high CON, and we need DEX for dealing damage and improving our AC and initiative. So we're pretty MAD. The best array I can figure is 16/16/14/12/8/8. I'd go 8 STR, 16 DEX, 14 CON, 8 INT, 16 WIS, 12 CHA. Switch the CHA and CON if you like to live dangerously.

Class loadout: Fey Wanderer, with an optional dip into Undead Warlock after at least 4, but realistically I'd wait until later.

Equipment loadout: medium armor, shield, quarterstaff. Carry a ranged weapon as a backup option.

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At level 1, you'll want to use a ranged weapon and do standard Ranger things with it. At 2, you can grab Shillelagh through Druidic Warrior, allowing you to be a WIS attacker in melee. Do so as the situation calls for it. You have two breath weapon uses per long rest, although the AOE size on them isn't great.

At level 3, you're grabbing your subclass. Otherworldly Glamour makes you an excellent party face, as does Charm Person. Dreadful Strikes is a mild damage bump, which is welcome if not amazing. You're also getting your Metallic Breath Weapon or Gem Flight feature at this level. If you went Metallic (my preference), you can force a Strength or Constitution save on a 15-foot cone. The former knocks back 20 feet and knocks prone, while the latter incapacitates until the start of your next turn.

At level 4, we are taking the Dragon Fear feat. (Note that the way I'm reading it, you can't substitute the Metallic Breath Weapon to get another charge of this, but that's okay.) It's a half-feat; bump Charisma if you're interested in the Undead Warlock dip later, as you'll need to hit 13 CHA to fulfill the multiclassing requirements. Otherwise, Charisma still isn't a bad choice, but Constitution competes with it so that you can take Resilient and bump it later (because who takes Resilient and bumps Charisma with it?). As for the active ability, it allows you to substitute your two breath weapons per long rest with a 30-foot mass frighten (one per short rest if you are playing PHB Dragonborn), and the DC on it will be 11. Not great, but on a pack of creatures there's still a good chance you'll get a couple with it.

Spoiler: Undead Warlock Dip

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As you've now hit 13 CHA, you can dip Undead Warlock if you'd like another spammable source of the frightened condition. Two-hit Eldritch Blast will hold you over until you get Extra Attack next level. Personally, I'd wait until later, though. You have to actually hit with an attack to get the fear off from Form of Dread, and your DEX-based attacks are going to be way more reliable. Delaying further is also an option.

At level 5, Extra Attack comes online; our save DCs go up by 1; and we get another use of our breath weapon and therefore Dragon Fear. Misty Step is a welcome addition to our toolkit, allowing us to get in and out of the fray with ease. Further mobility comes to us at 6.

Level 7 is where things get interesting. We get advantage on saves against being charmed and frightened. However, more than that, Beguiling Twist is also a reaction that lets us respond to a successful save against charm or frighten by forcing another one--whether the success was an ally or an enemy. And since things are still fairly likely to make their saves against Dragon Fear, AND they can repeat that save when they take damage, this will come up a lot for us. You can also cast Charm Person in a pinch, giving you another way of triggering BT.

Level 8 I'd start bumping our WIS. Polearm Master is also an option for increasing your damage output, too.

Level 9 gives us lots of goodies as level 3 spells. Conjure Animals, Plant Growth, Summon Fey, Revivify; also Dispel Magic from our subclass. It also pumps up our proficiency bonus, making us better at nearly everything. Level 10 lets us use an action to gain temp HP and helps guard against exhaustion.

Level 11 is potentially really busted. Concentrationless Summon Fey is a big deal, especially if you have a round to spend before the combat proper starts. Getting a free one is icing on the cake. I'd cap WIS at 12, which may be a good point to get out of Ranger as the 4th-level spell selection leaves something to be desired (aside from Dimension Door from the subclass). You can take the Undead Warlock dip I mentioned here, grab a Sorcerer level for some cantrips and Shield, take Cleric or Druid levels to give yourself more spell slots to work with, or pick up Fighter levels to improve your burst with Action Surge and more.

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A typical combat might look something like this: run into a group of 3-4 moderately powerful enemies. Use Dragon Fear. 1-2 of them will probably fail the save, despite your +1 Charisma. Use your reaction to force one to roll another save, this one against your significantly tougher Ranger DC. Misty Step back to the party if need be. Let the unfrightened ones come to you and the party while the frightened ones have to sit back and, at best, attack from range with disadvantage. Shillelagh and attack, or use something like Summon Beast, Summon Fey, or Spike Growth as the situation calls for it. Use Metallic Breath Weapon if you see a good opportunity to set it up.

For single-target fights, Dragon Fear may still be worth popping. Select a caster with a good WIS save in the party as a second target; if they succeed, you can Beguiling Twist the boss to force a second saving throw. If they fail, well, most casters don't mind the frightened condition too much, and you'll get a chance to BT when they succeed on the save reroll on their turn. Otherwise, rely on your minionmancy a little more.

Remember also that you're still rocking a pretty reasonable DEX score. If it's too dangerous to hop into the fray, standing back and shooting is a valid alternative. (Just remember that it's hard to do that and hold a shield at the same time.)

You're also a pretty solid face thanks to Fey Wanderer 3. This means that if your BBEG is humanoid, you can use Charm Person to have advantage on social checks versus them, along with a bonus that outstrips probably everyone but the Bard, who likely has multiple expertises where you only have one. Try convincing them to follow you down a dark abandoned alley or something.

[Ganryu]

The Blood Drinker

Race: Dhampire

Starting Stats:
Str: 8, Dex: 15, Con 15 (+2), Int: 8, Wis: 15 (+1), Cha: 8

Class: Kensei Monk 11, Fighter 3, Kensei Monk X
Feats: Piercer
Skills: Athletics... whatever you want!

Outline:
The bite attack from dhampires is a 1d4 con attack that heals you. It's really tempting to build around. So we will!
Unfortunately, due to Vampire's Bite being a con based attack, Martial arts can't change it to dex based. However, it is considered a simple melee weapon... meaning our martial arts die DOES apply!

This is a crit fishing build, meaning we generally wait until a crit to dump resources into it. Flurry of blows is less useful for us, it's something we can do, but Dex isn't needed above 16 ever.

AC is a bit lower, but you have health out the wazoo, and lvl 17, you're healing 5d10+8 at once, out of nowhere, and at little cost. So you can take a hit, despite being a monk.

Lvl 4, grab piercer. We mainly want the added crit die, but the rerolling damage can be nice. Honestly, our fangs aren't too useful til lvl 6, use a rapier til here.

Lvl 6, this is when the build really comes online. Beforehand, we were a decent monk, but Kensei's Deft Strike is why we're here! This means we're doing 5d6+ 3 at this point on a crit, which we heal from, which it really just decent, but that's alright! Ditch the rapier, we're online.

Lvl 8, Con + 2 is great, more chance to hit.

Lvl 11 is nice for Sharpen the blade, +3 on your bite attacks is great. However, main reason to split here (if we want), is the martial arts die becoming a d8 makes this the best place.

Now, we have a few choices we can make here. The problem with this build is we thrive on crits. Due to this, champion 3 is tempting to get the expanded crit range. Action surge is never bad.


Option #1 - Take 3 level fighter dip
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As far as fighting style, there's not a lot we get from this honestly. Interception is hilarious as by raw with our teeth we can catch blades flying at fellow party members. Dueling sadly doesn't work. Probably the best one, however, is superior technique. Pick up trip attack.

This brings up a nice combo if you do go fighter here. Bite an opponent, and do the trip maneuver. Throw in a stunning strike for the helluva it. Use the vampire's bite ability of adding your damage to your next ability check. If they are either tripped or stunned, grapple them, with +2d8+1d6+4 added to the roll. Your 8 strength really isn't in the way here too much... IF you could grapple a tarrasque despite size difference, you'd be able to here.

You now have advantage on attacking the downed and grappled creature. Also, you know, anytime you're below half health.

You're losing out on both an ASI and Empty Body to do this.

Option #2 - Pure Monk
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Continue on as monk. By doing fighter, we eventually miss out on Empty Body, and empty body is incredible. Advantage on everything and resistance to everyone is amazing. And you get to final martial arts die upgrade faster. HOWEVER!

Your AC is never going to be 'good', so disadvantage against you isn't the best. Fighter does get advantage and crit on 19, which is nice. Not going to lie though, the resistance basically upgrades you from 'tough' to 'making the barbarian feeling insecure about his measurements.'

Option #3 - Either/or, but eating feats instead of ASI
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At some point, grab Fey touched to grab hunter's mark. It's only a tiny bit of damage increase, and likely won't last long, but hey, the way this build works, every sliver of damage counts.

Alternatively, tougness is never bad.Pure monk with it, empty body, 223 HP, resistance to everything, and healing is ridiculous. Might as well solo the tarrasque, and hand him an eviction notice as far as toughest monster.
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Now, after lvl 11, when you return to monk, max out con ASAP.

After this, go for wisdom. Stunning strike is amazing, and still is a core part of your build. Because flurry of blows isn't a priority on this build, you'll have more ki points in general to use.


Good:

• Amazingly tanky. 203 HP as a monk is pretty bloody respectable. You have all the tricks of a monk, such as evasion on top of this, aaand you can spontaneously heal 5d10+8 up to six times. Your damage is decent with your attacks, if you go fighter, the grappling gives you some interesting control.
• You're a monk. Everything a monk can do, you're free to do as well! Good for skirmishing and control
• You can get the highest checks in the game in a hilarious way. Have a crucial check? Ask a party member for a little bit of blood. Add 2d10-5d10+8 to an ability check. Any ability check. Watch the expression on the DM's face as you do so.
• You get advantage pretty damn easily. Everytime you're below half health, you have advantage. Small note, you can keep doing this, even when you're out of bloody drinking (ie. use all the proficiency bonuses of this attack)
• Potentially 89 on a perception check.

How on that last one? Read for yourself!!!

Vampiric Bite. Your fanged bite is a natural weapon, which counts as a simple melee weapon with which you are proficient. You add your Constitution modifier, instead of your Strength modifier, to the attack and damage rolls when you attack with this bite. It deals 1d4 piercing damage on a hit. While you are missing half or more of your hit points, you have advantage on attack rolls you make with this bite.

• When you attack with this bite and hit a creature that isn’t a Construct or an Undead, you can empower yourself in one of the following ways of your choice:
  
  • You regain hit points equal to the piercing damage dealt by the bite.
  • You gain a bonus to the next ability check or attack roll you make; the bonus equals the piercing damage dealt by the bite.
  
  
• You can empower yourself with this bite a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Bad:

• Ac is going to be perpetually between 16-18. It's going to feel like every single attack roll against you hit.
• Your damage, while respectable, is on the lower end.
• Crit fishing builds always look at your dice and ask 'do you feel lucky, do you?'

[ftafp]

The Aurabot

Twilight Santuary, Aura of Protection, Pass Without Trace, Spirit Guardians. Some of the strongest spells and abilities in 5e, any one of these abilities can double a party's effectiveness. Combine all of them and what you have a recipe for an unstoppable force made of immovable objects

Race: Elf, Mark of Shadow
Class: Hexblade 2/Watchers Paladin 7/Twilight Cleric 11
Progression: Paladin 1, Hexblade 1 -> 2, Paladin 2 -> Watchers 7, Twilight Cleric 1 -> 11
Base Stats: 14 Str, 10 Dex, 14 Con, 8 Int, 13 Wis, 17 Cha
ASI: Fey Touched (+1 Cha, Gift of Alacrity)@6, +2 Cha@13, Warcaster@17
Invocations: Agonizing Blast, Grasp of Hadar
Fighting Style: Defense
Spells of Note: Booming Blade, Eldritch Blast, Aid, Darkness, Find Steed, Pass Without Trace, Continual Flame, Spirit Guardians
Equipment: A mount, a bull's eye lantern

Tier 1 (1-4):
Let's see if we can get through this fast for once. We start off on Paladin for heavy armor proficiency then switch into hexblade for SADness and ranged attacks. Grasp of Hadar might sound like a weird pick compared to Repelling Blast and I won't hold it against you if you chose otherwise but here it's a surprise tool that will help us later. After that we switch back into paladin grab the defense fighting style since our AC isn't great. two levels of paladin will give you some decent spells like command, bless and shield of faith. I would advise a mount at this level, as paladins are generally made for melee, but in general being far away is better and a horse not only has a higher speed it can disengage on its own allowing you to zoom in and out.

Tier 2 (5-10):
At 5 we take our paladin subclass and our cantrips like EB and Booming Blade get a boost. At 6 Gift of Alacrity comes online which will help with our poor initiative, and our warlock slots will ensure we can hit the whole party with it at the start of the day. Level 6 is when we get extra attack, always classy, as well as some of our best spells. Pass Without Trace is our first big aura, a radius of stealth that can easily buy your party a surprise round giving them a full turn to act before the enemy. Aid is another banger, which will make your mount tankier as it will for your party You're going to want to cast this at the highest level at the start of every day. Find Steed will let you bring back the horse if it dies which is good news because we don't have ASIs to spare for Mounted Combatant. It also means that when you cast Shield your horse is protected too. We also get Darkness at this level, but ignore it for now. What we're here for is Aura of Protection at 8 and Aura of Sentinel at 9. The former is big enough that nothing needs to be said but the latter is particularly good as that surprise round advantage you had will be doubled when your allies reliably win every initiative roll. just to top things off, at level 10 we swap into cleric, gaining advantage on initiative rolls to counteract our own poor Dex modifier.

Tier 3 (11-16):
Tier 3 starts off with a whammy. Twilight sanctuary is going increase your whole party's tankiness by a ton, and then at 12 we get our 2nd level cleric spells, among them is Continual Flame, which most people dismiss as a piss-poor spell but we know better. When cast at 3rd level Continual Flame counts as a 3rd level spell and thus it's won't be dispelled by Darkness, so placing one inside a bull's eye lantern ensures that you can stay hidden while still seeing enemies illuminated by a cone of magical light. Mount this on your horse if you need to go on defense. your allies will be thrilled to have a darkness build that doesn't screw them over in the process. At 14 we get Spirit Guardians. As any cleric player can tell you, this is a big one. You might think that 13 Wis would render this useless, but the math disagrees. we're only missing 50% of the damage 20% of the time. That's only a loss of 1.35 damage per round per creature. Grasp of Hadar will more than make up for this, as enemies forcibly moved into your guardians immediately take damage, and then take damage again when they start their turn in your aura. At level 5 we get a second use of twilight sanctuary per short rest and a fly speed which can keep you 10 feet up and out of range of attacks. Grasp of hadar will do double duty here by dealing enemies an extra 1d6 fall damage and knocking them prone, which is great control. Then finally we get our 4th level spells

From here on out, all the cool stuff is now available, so I'm going to stop talking and post my favorite variant

Spoiler: Variant: The Charioteer, AKA the Knight Bus

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The Charioteer, AKA the Knight Bus
Extra Equipment: A chariot

This is something I originally made the whole build around, but I separated it out because I realized it could stand on its own. Mystic Odyssey of Theros added rules for chariots, and with them this build only gets nastier. See, one of the problems with being an aurabot is that most of the time the party is split in half. The melee folks charge into battle while the ranged combatants hang back out of range of attacks. Sadly, you can't be in two places at once. What would be better was if the whole party had a way to zoom for the meleefolk to attack and then zoom back out for the ranged party members to defend. One mount normally couldn't do all that, but the Chariot makes this easy, as according to the PHB section on vehicles, a chariot multiplies a mount's carrying capacity by 5. You might be thinking "wait, if they're all clustered together what's to stop the party being fireballed," and to that we have two answers: your aura of protection and the fact that the chariot provides half cover. isn't that nifty?

[Ganryu]

Short, but fun build:

MEDIC! A non magical healer


Race: Protector Aasimar (Honestly, doesn't matter as much, but you get an extra helping of healing equal to your level once per long rest. Halflings also work REALLY well for this. Variant human gets this build off the ground 1 level earlier. )
Class: Thief Rogue 20
Goal: To keep everyone doing well, and to have never cast a spell the entire time. Why call upon a diety when we have bandages at home?
Feats: Healer, Inspiring Leader
Base stats:
Str: 8, Dex: 15, Con: 14, Int: 8, Wis: 10, Charisma: 15
As there's a racial choice, I won't list added racial boosts.



This is a fairly simple build, but works off two interaction:

Healer Feat:
You are an able physician, allowing you to mend wounds quickly and get your allies back in the fight. You gain the following benefits:

• When you use a healer's kit to stabilize a dying creature, that creature also regains 1 hit point.
• As an action. you can spend one use of a healer's kit to tend to a creature and restore 1d6 + 4 hit points to it, plus additional hit points equal to the creature's maximum number of Hit Dice. The creature can't regain hit points from this feat again until it finishes a short or long rest.

Thief:
Fast Hands
Starting at 3rd level, you can use the bonus action granted by your Cunning Action to make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, use your thieves' tools to disarm a trap or open a lock, or take the Use an Object action.


'Use an Object' covers healers kit, and it's the using the object action that's part of the healer feat. This means you can pop someone back up as a bonus action. It's a fairly decent amount, 1d6+4+char level. They only get that healing once, however, you can pop them back up to 1 HP as many timess you like, as long as you have med kits. Expensive, but no spell slots required.

Now, not only can you heal people, you can use items in the meanwhile to keep people away. I think caltrops are one of the most slept on items in the game. Long as someone steps on it, and they fail a DC 15 dex check (most monsters are bad at dex), their movement is stopped. Hilariously, this works no matter what size category.

Before battle, pop inspiring leader, and it buffs everyone a fairly significant amount with temp HP.

All this together means you will be a pretty good support class ontop of being a rogue. You honestly only need the first three levels of Rogue to get thief to make this work. Fast hands is amazing, even if it can't be used on most magic items. After those 3 levels, you can do what you want, switching to either calvalier fighter, or bannerette for extra healing/damage reduction. Grab Interception fighting style if you do, knocking down damage is always helpful.

Only goal of this build is to be a healer with no magic!

[8wGremlin]

This is an alternative start to a Nuclear Wizard Build

Nuclear-Alchemist 5 /Wizard(Scribe) 2

The Alchemist Artificer's 5th level ability has an odd wording:

You've developed masterful command of magical chemicals, enhancing the healing and damage you create through them. Whenever you cast a spell using your alchemist’s supplies as the spellcasting focus, you gain a bonus to one roll of the spell. That roll must restore hit points or be a damage roll that deals acid, fire, necrotic, or poison damage, and the bonus equals your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).

Coupled this with the Scribe wizards Awaken Spellbook to change magic missile to necrotic, or acidic for example

When you cast a wizard spell with a spell slot, you can temporarily replace its damage type with a type that appears in another spell in your spellbook, which magically alters the spell’s formula for this casting only. The latter spell must be of the same level as the spell slot you expend.

If your a Custom Linage, or equivalent, you could have 20 Int, by level 7 so each missile would do 1d4+1+5
All using INT as the casting stat.

[stoutstien]

This is an alternative start to a Nuclear Wizard Build

Nuclear-Alchemist 5 /Wizard(Scribe) 2

The Alchemist Artificer's 5th level ability has an odd wording:


Coupled this with the Scribe wizards Awaken Spellbook to change magic missile to necrotic, or acidic for example



If your a Custom Linage, or equivalent, you could have 20 Int, by level 7 so each missile would do 1d4+1+5
All using INT as the casting stat.

You'll need to take the artificer initiate feat to cast wizard spells with your alchemist tools. you also have to have both the tools and book in hand for it to work which isn't impossible, very thematic actually, but it's a consideration.

[Quietus]

You'll need to take the artificer initiate feat to cast wizard spells with your alchemist tools. you also have to have both the tools and book in hand for it to work which isn't impossible, very thematic actually, but it's a consideration.

Now I'm picturing an arcane engineer, spellbook in one hand, drafting tools in the other, forming their magic out of the physical intersection of lines and the raw perfection of geometry, but with a more physical bent than your classic geometer...

[Asura2468]

The Blood Drinker

That build is really cool, but i wonder if the bite healing would also work with Way of Mercy Monks Hand of Harm cause i feel like the subclass is overall better then the Kensei and also more fitting cause you can reflavor most of its abilities to fit a vampire

[Amechra]

That build is really cool, but i wonder if the bite healing would also work with Way of Mercy Monks Hand of Harm cause i feel like the subclass is overall better then the Kensei and also more fitting cause you can reflavor most of its abilities to fit a vampire

Nope! The Dhampyr's bite's riders are specifically tied to the piercing damage you deal with the attack. The bite also isn't an unarmed strike, so you can't use Hands of Harm on it anyway.

[Ganryu]

That build is really cool, but i wonder if the bite healing would also work with Way of Mercy Monks Hand of Harm cause i feel like the subclass is overall better then the Kensei and also more fitting cause you can reflavor most of its abilities to fit a vampire

Yeah, sadly the build is limited in what it can be. The Vampire's Bite, which is what this entire build is centered off of is specifically a melee weapon attack, and a con based weapon melee attack that must deal piercing for this to wwork. This limitss us to two classes that can take advantage of it. What doesn't work real quick:


Barbarian: Con based attack, not strength based, no rage bonus. 1d4 is pitiful


Rogue: Fangs aren't finesse, so no sneak attack.


Fighter: Can work, but it's a 1d4 weapon. It's not the best option, and you can't make it better for the most part. Sadly, Dueling does not work with this as RAW as you don't hold your fangs in one hand.


Paladin: You CAN smite with it, which is hilarious. But radiant damage doesn't add to your healing. That said, the advantage when under half health can definitely be a build in and of itself! It's actually not bad, but you won't heal for much, and will be low health for this to be effective. But crit fishing as a paladin can be fun!


Now, what builds does increasing piercing damage on a con attack work on?


Ranger and Monk. (And war cleric, but that's, uh, bit different)


You can scale it with a monks martial arts die, but most monks aren't good with weapons. Kensei's the choice I picked because you can throw an extra martial arts die on when you crit for one ki point, so additional damage. Most monks subclasses have no way to increase damage on a weapon though.


Ranger, it's the weaker of the two options, but actually could work quite well, especially hunter. Hunter's mark, Colossal slayer, favored foe, and Slayer's mark will both increase the piercing damage you deal. None quite get as good as the Kensei's potential output, but one could argue it's more consistent and ranger is the better class to have it on in the first place.

Far as flavor goes, flavor is flavor, most DM's will let you flavor something however you like.

If you want, I can build the ranger version of it.

[Mitchellnotes]

Yeah, sadly the build is limited in what it can be. The Vampire's Bite, which is what this entire build is centered off of is specifically a melee weapon attack, and a con based weapon melee attack that must deal piercing for this to wwork. This limitss us to two classes that can take advantage of it. What doesn't work real quick:


Barbarian: Con based attack, not strength based, no rage bonus. 1d4 is pitiful


Rogue: Fangs aren't finesse, so no sneak attack.


Fighter: Can work, but it's a 1d4 weapon. It's not the best option, and you can't make it better for the most part. Sadly, Dueling does not work with this as RAW as you don't hold your fangs in one hand.


Paladin: You CAN smite with it, which is hilarious. But radiant damage doesn't add to your healing. That said, the advantage when under half health can definitely be a build in and of itself! It's actually not bad, but you won't heal for much, and will be low health for this to be effective. But crit fishing as a paladin can be fun!


Now, what builds does increasing piercing damage on a con attack work on?


Ranger and Monk. (And war cleric, but that's, uh, bit different)


You can scale it with a monks martial arts die, but most monks aren't good with weapons. Kensei's the choice I picked because you can throw an extra martial arts die on when you crit for one ki point, so additional damage. Most monks subclasses have no way to increase damage on a weapon though.


Ranger, it's the weaker of the two options, but actually could work quite well, especially hunter. Hunter's mark, Colossal slayer, favored foe, and Slayer's mark will both increase the piercing damage you deal. None quite get as good as the Kensei's potential output, but one could argue it's more consistent and ranger is the better class to have it on in the first place.

Far as flavor goes, flavor is flavor, most DM's will let you flavor something however you like.

If you want, I can build the ranger version of it.

I like rune knight for dhampir. The runes are con based, the bite damage to prof save works nicely with grappling (which rune knight is good at), and returning life is good with damage resists (also which the rune knight gets). The only downside is the d4 doesn't change (and lack of magical attack)

[Maan]

Barbarian: Con based attack, not strength based, no rage bonus. 1d4 is pitiful

Actually I think that Beast Barbarian is very thematic coupled with Dhampyr, and might have some interesting synergy, like, you gain some added bonus raising Con. It's true you can't add the Rage bonus to the Dhampyr bite, but you do get Advantage for grappling.
Now, I'm not sure if the bite from Form of the Beast would stack with the Dhampyr's... GM's call, I guess.

[Amechra]

An alternate, beautifully stupid idea would be to build a Dhampir Swords Bard. Cha/Con as a melee fighter is more synergistic than Cha/Dex/Con, you have a built-in way of pumping up your damage, and Slashing Flourish is dumb nonsense when combined with the Dhampir's bite, since as-worded the AoE damage from Slashing Flourish counts as bonus damage dealt by the weapon.

[8wGremlin]

An alternate, beautifully stupid idea would be to build a Dhampir Swords Bard. Cha/Con as a melee fighter is more synergistic than Cha/Dex/Con, you have a built-in way of pumping up your damage, and Slashing Flourish is dumb nonsense when combined with the Dhampir's bite, since as-worded the AoE damage from Slashing Flourish counts as bonus damage dealt by the weapon.

You got to be singing "NOM, NOM, NOM" as you do it though

[ftafp]

Swords bard is a good one. I've debated making a build around that but finding a way to supply the mandatory "Bag of Rats" can be a bit tricky.

the fact is, the dhampir's bite may be the best natural weapon available, but that doesn't make it a good weapon. It makes more sense for a dhampir to use ranged weapons, heavy weapons or a quarterstaff for fighting and use the bite primarily for a pre-battle gnash to get a bonus to initiative rolls

[Amechra]

That's fair... I think Dhampyr Hexblade¹ 1/Swords Bard X might be a solid build. Go shield-and-spear PAM, pick up Piercer at some point (maybe to get your Dex to 14?), and call yourself Chad the Impaler.

¹ Boo! Hiss! Boring optimizer uses the boring option.

[ftafp]

That's fair... I think Dhampyr Hexblade¹ 1/Swords Bard X might be a solid build. Go shield-and-spear PAM, pick up Piercer at some point (maybe to get your Dex to 14?), and call yourself Chad the Impaler.

¹ Boo! Hiss! Boring optimizer uses the boring option.

Or you could go Rune Knight 3/Swords Bard X. As a large creature you could approximately double the amount of space that's considered within 5 feet of you. Chickens are only 2 copper pieces each, so make yourself absolutely chicken-infested and when you want to heal up or auto-pass an attack/check/save, all you have to do chow down and put up with the salmonella

[Amechra]

That's one of those things that would work once before the DM uses the power of nope.

[OBoyd]

Swords bard is a good one. I've debated making a build around that but finding a way to supply the mandatory "Bag of Rats" can be a bit tricky.

the fact is, the dhampir's bite may be the best natural weapon available, but that doesn't make it a good weapon. It makes more sense for a dhampir to use ranged weapons, heavy weapons or a quarterstaff for fighting and use the bite primarily for a pre-battle gnash to get a bonus to initiative rolls

It's a late game solution, but grabbing Phantom Steed with Bardic Knowledge would give you an easily replenishable source of snacks as well as a nice mobility bump.

[Specter]

Ok, I'll try:
The Unsung Divine Scholar
"I do what my god wants, and what my knowledge allows me to: uphold this civilization and protect those in it."

Spoiler: Build at level 3

Show

Human Order Cleric 1/Enchanter Wizard 2

Variant Human feat: Resilient (CON)

Attributes (point buy and +1 in CO, IN and WI):
ST8, DX14, CO14, IN16, WI14, CH8

Skills: Arcana, History, Insight, Intimidation (Order Domain), Perception, Religion

Future ASIs: +4 INT - Lucky - Alert - Tough

AC: 18 (scale mail + shield) | HP: 22

SPELLS
C: guidance, light, thaumaturgy
1: |command, heroism|, bless, healing word, shield of faith

W: mind sliver, frostbite, message
1: fog cloud*, magic missile*, shield*, sleep*, tasha's hideous laughter*

Why is he unsung? Because he doesn't have any Charisma, and would prefer others to take the spotlight in his place!

At level 3, you have all your basic needs for this build: Hypnotic Gaze and bonus action spells. The basic strategy is to try to isolate the dumbest enemy with HG, but still help your allies with Healing Word and Shield of Faith, among other things.

Order Cleric helps in this regard, because it has possibly the best level 1 cleric feature: cast a spell on an ally, and they get a reaction attack. That is a massive buff, and party members will love it. With a familiar, that attack can even come with advantage, and rogue allies in particular become twice as deadly. Basically, Order Cleric allows us to still be very relevant in combat, even after locking down one of the enemies.

Armor Class would be a problem going pure Wizard, but with the cleric dip we have 18AC, with a potential for 25 (Shield + Shield of Faith). Crucial to get closer to enemies like we want to.

If you can't get close to enemies, or don't think they would fail their HG save, no problem: buff allies with Bless/etc. and deal damage with cantrips/heal when needed.

Spoiler: Build at level 7

Show

Human Order Cleric 1/Enchanter Wizard 6
ST8, DX14, CO14, IN18, WI14, CH8

SPELLS
C: guidance, light, thaumaturgy
1: |command, heroism|, bless, healing word, shield of faith

W: mind sliver, frostbite, message, prestidigitation
1: absorb elements, magic missile, shield, tasha's hideous laughter
2: dragon's breath, enlarge/reduce, misty step
3: dispel magic, haste, hypnotic pattern

With 3rd-level spells onwards, modus operandi should change to: 1) cast a high-value concentration spell; 2) use Hypnotic Gaze; 3) use bonus action spells.

Instinctive Charm gives us a few other ways to play: you can use HG more comfortably, knowing you can direct the enemy to attack your charmed one, or even deliberately provoke opportunity attacks with Shield to get them to attack their allies.

In terms of spell selection, you should focus on these categories: 1) Misty Step and other useful bonus action spells, 2) buffs, and 3) the rest.

Needless to say, spells like Dispel Magic, Fly, Haste, Protection From Energy and Remove Curse significantly increase in value if they grant an ally an attack as well.

Spoiler: Build at level 11

Show

Human Order Cleric 1/Enchanter Wizard 10
ST8, DX14, CO14, IN20, WI14, CH8

SPELLS
C: guidance, light, thaumaturgy
1: |command, heroism|, bless, healing word, shield of faith

W: mind sliver, frostbite, message, prestidigitation, toll the dead
1: absorb elements, shield, tasha's hideous laughter
2: enlarge/reduce, misty step, suggestion
3: counterspell, dispel magic, haste, hypnotic pattern
4: charm monster, fire shield, polymorph
5: dominate person, hold monster

Now we are more focused toward single-target enchantment spells, because we can twin them at will. It really makes a huge difference in how you play. Coincidentally, it also applies to Command and Heroism, for what it's worth.
Hypnotic Gaze DC is now 17, and with party coordination it shouldn't be too hard to nail down most monsters with it. And so on.
_______________________________________________

[Withershins]

Still checking this thread fairly regularly -

Hope that all are well.

I have discovered the amazing resource of Play by Post, currently via ROLEGATE


I wished that I had found this resource earlier - as I am now able to maintain several games at once - despite being very busy with work and family.

I have taken inspiration from several of the builds listed here and have been having a very good time searching the build database and then adjusting the core concepts proposed by the posters to my needs and then putting all of the personal RP backstory and flair onto them.

Thanks all for what you do and as always looking forward to reading the builds that you are all working on!

Also, LudicSavant - thanks for beginning this thread and following this format. Eagerly awaiting your next build as well.

Hope you all have a chance to check out Play by Post - wishing all health and safety and peace :D

Wither

[RogueJK]

At level 3, you have all your basic needs for this build: Hypnotic Gaze and bonus action spells. The basic strategy is to try to isolate the dumbest enemy with HG, but still help your allies with Healing Word and Shield of Faith, among other things.

Order Cleric helps in this regard, because it has possibly the best level 1 cleric feature: cast a spell on an ally, and they get a reaction attack. That is a massive buff, and party members will love it.

With 3rd-level spells onwards, modus operandi should change to: 1) cast a high-value concentration spell; 2) use Hypnotic Gaze; 3) use bonus action spells.

...

Basically, Order Cleric allows us to still be very relevant in combat, even after locking down one of the enemies.

What do you envision they're doing to be relevant in combat, after using their Action each round to apply/maintain Hypnotic Gaze?

Is it simply casting Healing Word or Shield of Faith every round to trigger Voice of Authority? That's going to quickly eat spell slots, and SoF in particular will run into Concentration conflicts with your higher level "high-value Concentration spells".

Seems like you'd want something else available to reliably utilize your Bonus Action, even if it meant not triggering Voice of Authority every single round. Going to 3 levels in Cleric for Spiritual Weapon could be useful, but that still eats spell slots (although it's 1 per combat versus 1 each round), and also puts you a full spell level behind in Wizard spells known.

And/or maybe consider the Telekinetic feat for BA repositioning? 5' shove isn't super great, but it's not nothing.


Perhaps an even better option for a build that relies on Hypnotic Gaze Action + Bonus Action Additional Attack would be something like Enchantment Wizard 2/Battle Smith Artificer X, for the Bonus Action Steel Defender attack. It takes a little while to come online (Character Level 5), and your Steel Defender would be 10 HP behind a straight classed Artificer, but you'd have a resourceless way to utilize your Bonus Action to trigger an attack that doesn't burn through spell slots each time. And besides its HP, the Steel Defender depends on Proficiency Bonus and Spell Attack modifier, not Artificer level, so you wouldn't be missing out on much there with your 2 level Enchanter dip. (You could even do Order Cleric 1/Enchantment Wizard 2/Battle Smith Artificer X, if you still wanted to maintain the option for also occasionally triggering Voice of Authority using BA spells in lieu of Steel Defender attacks.)

Call it the Hypnotic Smith. (Maybe he's crafted a set of 1950s-style "Hypno-Goggles" with those swirling spiral patterns in the lenses, with which to mesmerize his enemies. )

Rock Gnome Enchantment Wizard 2/Battle Smith Artificer 3, going Artificer 1 (or 3) > Enchantment Wizard 2 > Battle Smith Artificer 3. Starts Artificer for CON save proficiency, and Medium Armor/Shield right off the bat.
STR 8
DEX 14
CON 15+1
INT 15+2
WIS 10
CHA 8
Skills: Arcana, Perception, Investigation, Acrobatics
Spell Slots: 4/3
Artificer Cantrips: Guidance, Fire Bolt
Artificer 1st Level Spells: Faerie Fire, Cure Wounds, Sanctuary, Disguise Self
Wizard Cantrips: Mind Sliver, Mending, Mage Hand or Message
Wizard 1st Level Spells: Fog Cloud, Thunderwave, Absorb Elements, Magic Missile, Shield, Detect Magic, Find Familiar (R), Unseen Servant (R)

Wear medium armor and wield a shield. If your Hypnotic Gaze doesn't stick, or you're down to the last enemy in an encounter and drop the HG, then just revert back to the Battle Smith's INT-based melee attacks.

From W2/A3, go straight Artificer, picking up Fey Touched (+1 INT) at Artificer 4, +2 INT at Artificer 8, and then something like Lucky at Artificer 12.

[ClockALock]

I absolutely adore the Kyujutsu Master and Gun-Kata Master, but something I've been wondering is how Gun-Kata Master deals with the Loading property. The build doesn't take Gunner until level 8, so how do you deal with not having Extra Attack for three levels?

[LudicSavant]

I absolutely adore the Kyujutsu Master and Gun-Kata Master, but something I've been wondering is how Gun-Kata Master deals with the Loading property. The build doesn't take Gunner until level 8, so how do you deal with not having Extra Attack for three levels?

You can use a bow prior to taking the Gunner feat, and thus use Extra Attack freely.

I decided not to rush the feat because I regarded Sharpshooter as a higher priority, because guns are expensive (which can actually matter in early levels, depending on the table), and because I didn’t mind using a bow for a bit concept-wise (I mean, unless you’re starting with over 500 gold, you’re going to have to begin your life as an archer or crossbowman regardless).

[Wraith]

EDIT: It's been pointed out that this build doesn't work as described - on my own misunderstanding, the extra actions provided by Haste and Action Surge only allow one attack each, rather than the 4 from a 'full attack' that I was expecting. It actually only manages 11 attacks per round which is still kind of interesting, but not the dizzy heights I had hoped for. I'll leave it in as I like the theme and it might be of interest to someone, but it's not as grandiose as advertised.

Thank you to Amechra for proof-reading and corrections, it's greatly appreciated.

The Chainsaw Warrior



One of my previous builds was the Oxymoronic Meat-Grinder, a character that - under extremely specific and mostly unlikely conditions - could swing for nearly 40 attacks per turn. This character is in a similar vein, begging the question; how many times can you attack in one round, but this time consistently? It’s not the most complicated build ever created, but it aims at an attainable goal and it’s a nice image to have in mind while you play, I think.

Race: Lizardfolk
Class: Fighter 20 (Eldritch Knight)

Starting Stats (Without TCoE): STR 15, DEX 14, CON 12 (+2), INT 10, WIS 13 (+1), CHA 8
ASI’s: Sentinel, Polearm Master, Dual Wielder, Great Weapon Master, Crusher (or Piercer) (+1 STR), +2 STR, +2 STR

The Build
Fighter 1 - 20. That’s it, really - you pick up Extra Attacks x3 and the Fighting style to support Two Weapon Fighting, and you’re already at 5 attacks per round, every round. Action Surge takes that up to 10 attacks in a single round, a couple of times today. Job’s done.

...Not really. We can go deeper.

The Sentinel/Polearm Master combination is a classic combination that gives you reach and flexibility, as well as a VERY good chance of getting a Reaction attack every round, for your 11th swing. The Dual Wielder feat helps with this, allowing you to use two Quarterstaffs (or Spears) at the same time and gain extra damage or battlefield control, depending on which you like best out of Crusher or Piercer (which, conveniently, rounds off STR to 20, too).

Stab something 11 times with a +3 Spear and adding +5 to STR, gives you a minimum damage output of 99 before rolling dice (which you can reroll with Piercer, for extra consistency), so SOMETHING is probably going to die. When it does…. Did you know that despite the name, the Great Weapon Master feat works with any melee weapon so you can almost certainly make a 12th attack of the round? Weird, that.

Now, that’s just raw Fighter - you can do that as the worst sub-class in the game, never bothering to use your Archetype features and you’re still a living chainsaw of damage. The next question is, what makes it even better?

I chose Eldritch Knight. There are a lot of secondary effects in this subclass that make it a strong choice, mostly for the utility of your spells giving you things to do when you’re out of combat. The key thing to remember is to take spells that don’t require an attack roll or a spell save - your stats aren’t really built for that sort of offence, so for or purposes Magic Missile is better than Fire Bolt, Shield is better than Earth Tremor, Fire Shield is a better choice over Sickening Radiance, and so on.
Similarly, try not to take spells that require concentration because your primary goal is to pick up Haste. This appears at level 14, which is a little on the late side, but as soon as you get it we shoot for the moon.

Your ‘nova’ turn goes like this:
+5 attacks, with Extra Attack x3 and Dual Wielding.
+5 Attacks from Action Surge (Full Attack action).
+5 Attacks from Haste (Full Attack action)
+1 Attack (very likely) from provoking a Reaction.
+1 Attack (very likely) from Great Weapon Master.

And, because you’re a Lizardfolk, you can spend your Bonus action to Bite someone into the bargain. 18 attacks in the first round, 18 in the second (having spent Bite we instead use the off-end of one weapon, thanks to Polearm Master), and 13 attacks in every round thereafter; and unlike the Oxymoronic Meat-Grinder you can focus everything on one target (who can be almost anyone you can see thanks to Arcane Charge) save for the single Great Weapon Master attack.

108 damage in one turn before rolling a dice or owning a magical weapon. If your battle-cry isn’t “BRRRRRR!!!!!” then you should be very disappointed.

EDIT: As mentioned above, I fouled up the rules for action economy and misread the spell. It's more like this:

+5 Attacks with Extra Attack and Dual Wielding (Which eats the bonus action)
+4 Attacks from Action Surge
+1 Attacks from Haste
+1 Attack from a Reaction

11 in total. Admittedly you have redundant ways to make extra attacks if you want variety - Dual Wield or a Bite attack or a Great Weapon Master attack, for example, and 2+ ways of provoking Reactions reliably. That's still (with 20STR) something like 66 minimum damage without rolling dice or adding bonuses for magical weapons or such, so it's not completely hopeless.

Alternative Build

With a bit of tweaking, the stats will work with Variant Human and you can start picking up key feats even earlier. Mage Slayer is thematic if you're absolutely determined to pick up your Reaction attack every round, or if you're taking a lot of hits then you may wish to exchange your second Quarterstaff for a finesse weapon and let Defensive Duellist take off some of the heat.
Between that and your protective spells you probably won't need Resilient or War Caster very often, but if you want to vary your play style a little for when you're not nova-ing then that can let you be a more traditional Eldritch Knight and use spells other than Haste.

[ClockALock]

You can use a bow prior to taking the Gunner feat, and thus use Extra Attack freely.

I decided not to rush the feat because I regarded Sharpshooter as a higher priority, because guns are expensive (which can actually matter in early levels, depending on the table), and because I didn’t mind using a bow for a bit concept-wise (I mean, unless you’re starting with over 500 gold, you’re going to have to begin your life as an archer or crossbowman regardless).

Yeah, I can imagine getting sharpshooter + elven accuracy going first is more important than 1d8 vs 1d12 damage. I'm starting a game at level 5 soon and was planning on using Gun-Kata Master. Never occurred to me that you could just...not use a gun for a few levels, lol. Thanks!

[Amechra]

There are a few problems with your build, Wraith:

1. Haste explicitly limits you to making a single attack if you use the action it gives you to take the Attack action.
2. Action Surge doesn't double up your bonus action attacks.
3. Great Weapon Master's bonus attack uses your bonus action.

Your build is capped at 11 attacks, sadly.