Dhampir rune knight ideas

[Mitchellnotes]

I have an idea for a dhampir rune knight, but am hoping for some help with mechanics and some overall ideas. The general idea would be that my character hungers for magic, and that the magic then powers the rune knight features and (hopefully) surfaces in the form of magic tattoos later on.

The thought would be to go unarmed taking the unarmed fighting style. I'd plan to start with 16 str, 17 con, and 14 dex? My initial thought would be to go medium armor, but as i think about it, i dont know that there is a good reason to not go heavy armor. Feats i would aim for would be tavern brawler, skill expert, maxing str and con to 20 (prob con first), heavy armor master? I'd be open to ideas here though.

Runewise, id do fire and stone (to mimic vampiric charm), getting hill as soon as possible, storm and cloud (id prob drop fire to get hill and storm at 7). The 2d6 fire damage seems very nice early on, but may be less compelling later as the no save cloud usage would be nice.

For magic items, i would try to focus on tattoos. Eldritch claws first, then the armor tattoo at some point maybe.

The goal would be to grapple and then bite. Both of the bites enhanced effects are useful. Regaining hp with hill rune is great, and adding to skills can help keep an enemy grappled.

I know with shield master you can't use bonus action prior to taking the attack action (so assuming the same with tavern brawler the same is true), but can one attack, bonus action, attack?

Biggest issue is going to be hitting magic resistance. The eldritch claw tattoo would work for that (sadly not for the bite though), and i know this is hugely dm dependent, but my thought with runes would be to craft rings to place them on, which could arguably serve as a magic cestus (no bonus to attack or damage though)

Am i missing any large synergies or missing opportunities here? Also, i'd hope to Not play this character as an "edge-lord." what may be some lighter takes on a vampiresque character?

[BerzerkerUnit]

This is the Death Giant. A giant heritage from one of them could explain Dhampir attributes.

IME, Grapple Builds are neat, but require a significant amount of investment that begins to fail as you face more big monsters. I note that Rune Knight expands viability due to Giant's Might.


Rune Knight 18, Bard 2 for Expertise in athletics and some charm spells could be a thing. Friends is an excellent cantrip for "Pls invite me in." Them getting hostile after a minute is irrelevant if you're going to eat them.

Good luck!

[P. G. Macer]

This is the Death Giant. A giant heritage from one of them could explain Dhampir attributes.

IME, Grapple Builds are neat, but require a significant amount of investment that begins to fail as you face more big monsters. I note that Rune Knight expands viability due to Giant's Might.


Rune Knight 18, Bard 2 for Expertise in athletics and some charm spells could be a thing. Friends is an excellent cantrip for "Pls invite me in." Them getting hostile after a minute is irrelevant if you're going to eat them.

Good luck!

Bards get Expertise at 3rd level, not 2nd.

[Mitchellnotes]

I'm going to avoid dipping. I think I would grab expertise through the skill expertise feat. I hate the idea of dipping with rune knight given how good staying in the class is.

Alright, with a point buy spread of 15, 10, 15, 10, 11, 10 with +1 str and +2 con to start with stats of: 16, 10, 17, 10, 11, 10. Grab tavern brawler at 4, heavy armor master at 6, skill expert at 8 for 18, 10, 18, 10, 11, 10. At 12 and 14 get asis to max str and con, which leaves room for res wis, at 16, and whatever else at 19.