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D&D 5E Build: The Blade of Tamara

Tags: #Character Build Crusader  #Character Build Juggernaut  #Dragonborn1721  #character build paladin  #D&D 5E  #Race:Dragonborn  #Character Build Level 1 
  • February 17, 2018

    Before I continue any further, I just wanted to mention a few things. First, I have never successfully started a game of D&D (5th Edition) and haven't really played since 3rd Edition, so this isn't actually a fully playtested build, nor is it something that's come about due to an in-depth understanding of D&D Lore, Gameplay or anything along those lines. All of it has been formed based on some basic information I've found online and is more of a...I suppose an experiment more than an actual build. That said, it should (theoretically) be rather easy to play this character, since it is pretty basic (hit things with a lance, try not to get hit) but thought I'd mention it on the off-chance that you're looking for a build to actually play.

    The other thing is that I'd like to give huge props to Valric for starting this whole D&D thing off, a conversation with him in the forums led to a bit of brainstorming about how building for D&D would be accomplished here, then he posted The Grappler as a WiP build over in the Workshop before posting it over here. Along with his build, he's also posted a nifty little Character Creation GuideSo yeah, it's unlikely that either this build or anything else that's posted going forward is more or less inspired directly by his work. So go check it out, his stuff is actually playtested and formed from a good understanding of the game rather than just a guy who knows how to build trying to bring that into a game he doesn't play :P

    Justice and Good above all.

    Honor and Fealty to the King.

    Honor and Respect to Righteous Innocence.

    Honor and Duty to the Balancer (Lendys), to Her Mercy (Tamara), and to the Justicemaker (Bahamut).

    Honor and Protection to the Lesser Races.

    Honor and Correction to the Enemies of Justice and Good.

    Honor and Forbearance for oneself.

    (The Ptarian Code)

     

    Race: Dragonborn (Gold)

    Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength and +1 Charisma

    Draconic Ancestry (Gold): Allows the Dragonborn to use Fire Breath and resist Fire Damage. 

    Fire Breath: 2d6 Fire Damage within a 15-foot cone once per rest.

    Damage Resistance (Fire): Resists Fire Damage

    Class: Paladin 

    Lay on Hands: Has a healing pool equal to (Character Level x 5) which can be used to heal allies (1 point per Healing Point) or use 5 Healing Points to cure any disease or poison. 

    Divine Sense: Can sense the location of any Celestial, Fiend, or Undead within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. Can also detect the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated. Divine Sense can be used up to (1 + Charisma Modifier) times per day.

    Deity: Tamara - The neutral good dragon goddess of life, light, mercy, and forgiveness. Tamara preaches mercy above all else, to the point where she would go out of her way to kill sick dragons that were near death. Most of her followers were Clerics, primarily dedicated to healing the sick though naturally many were also skilled at killing the undead, some specifically trained to kill undead dragons. 

    Level:

    Alignment: Lawful Good - The idea of being 'Lawful' is simply (to me at least) that one must follow a system of 'laws'. A Lawful Good character craves structure and this is almost perfect for any Religious Character, particularly one who's as dedicated to their path as the Blade. While there are aspects of his path that many would argue are 'not-good' he considers himself good purely because his main motivation is helping others. He may kill, sometimes without caring for motive depending on his foe (a Necromancer must always die, even if they're motives are pure, they are still dabbling in what The Blade considers an 'evil art') rather than being merciful to all, and will generally put the good of the many over the good of the few. In this sense, he considers his goal to be 'killing all who would do evil' rather than 'protecting all that is good' meaning he will (often) choose to pursue an enemy rather than saving the lives of the innocent. That said, he will also go out of his way to heal the sick and wounded no matter what other circumstances there may be (except things like 'healing them instead of killing someone who will kill them in 5 seconds) and is genuinely a morally good person.

    Equipment: Lance, Chain Mail, Clothing, Other Important Stuff.

    Name: Bzaz

    Age: 27

    Background: Acolyte - As an Acolyte of a nearly forgotten god, and considering she doesn't exist in the same world as him, Bzaz understands that he will never receive an answer to his prayers in the same way that  Priest of Tyr, could (in theory). However, his devotion to the Dragon Goddess of Mercy is as strong as any other Paladin's faith and is cemented in years of prayer, offerings and worship. Bzaz has no desire to convert any to follow Tamara, though he will quite happily profess her virtues for any that would listen (particularly other Dragonic individuals) and attempts to at least preserve her ideals of Mercy, Healing and Life. 

    Note: Because Tamara technically does not exist outside of Abeir (and the higher planes) Bzaz has no real connection with her and she has no way to empower him. This results in him being incapable of casting Divine Spells despite technically knowing some, and having the appropriate Wisdom score. This (for reasons) does not impact any of his class skills, only his Spellcasting for the Paladin and Cleric classes.

    Skills: Insight, Religion, Medicine and Persuasion - While technically he's a more militant Paladin, Bzaz has made a serious effort to learn skills that may compensate for his complete lack of magical ability. Being able to conduct basic field aid and identify illnesses has made healing a lot easier, allowing him to identify if anyone actually requires his limited magical healing (Lay on Hands) or can survive long enough for him to find other methods of healing them. His ability to Persuade is something he's practised, despite that sounding strange, Bzaz has spent a lifetime (well around 10 years) learning how to convince people that 'Yes, the heavily armoured lizard-man is here to help you' and 'No, I'm not going to eat you, I'm a Dragonborn, not a Kobold'...Apparently, that's a useful skill for him. 

    Languages: Common, Draconic and Elvish - Bzaz also has a decent understanding of multiple other languages, though not enough to ever call himself proficient in their use. He can pronounce the words 'Heal, Help, Undead Abomination and Smite' in Dwarven, Orcish, Goblin, Halfling and Giant...though to be honest his knowledge of Goblin and Giant tongues has never once proven useful.


    Strength - 16 (Primary Focus)

    Dexterirty - 10

    Constitution - 14 (Third Focus?)

    Intelligence - 10

    Wisdom - 12

    Charisma - 14 (Secondary Focus)

    It's interesting to consider how anyone would come to worship a God that has never existed in the world he's currently living in. I've never been to a place that Tamara has any power, I've never seen her create any miracles, and really I have no idea whether or not she actually exists. Afterall, unlike a Cleric of Helm, I have absolutely no idea whether or not she exists, have no miracles or divine power to call upon and honestly can barely be called a Paladin because I lack the ability to learn spells. But still, I believe...perhaps not in Tamara herself, but in what she represents. 

    Picture a young Dragonborn, barely 20 years of age (obviously thinking he can become the greatest hero ever) and just starting to travel the world. At this point in time, I had no idea what I wanted to be, a Hero obviously, I was born to fight, and fighting is what I would do, but I didn't have the moral righteousness or religious 'fervour' that I do know. In fact, I could be considered little more than a boy going out on his father's adventure. I did what any good Adventurer did, met together with a few other (more experienced) Adventurers and started my journey in a party of three like-minded individuals. There was Morgin, a Halfing Barbarian and Dvorv the Dwarven Wizard...Neither of them were what you'd call 'traditional' members of their race, preferring to fight and study respectively but they were most certainly entertaining people. 

    Naturally, they're dead. I don't believe you can tell a good tale without starting out with either dead parents or dead friends (and my parents are very much alive). And it wasn't anything ridiculous, we didn't fall to a Mighty Dragon who cooked my friends alive, and their final breaths being used to push me down a hole the Dragon couldn't follow. No, it was a simple trap in an old ruin atop a mountain (now to be fair...that's an excellent place to find Dragons), I was heavier than them, slower so they simply stumbled upon the trap first. Nothing exciting as I said. You might be thinking 'What treasure did the ruin contain that made this worthwhile'. Well, many would argue nothing for all I found was a scrap of paper with the words 'The Ptarian Code, Path of the Clerics of Tamara' written in barely legible writing. 

    And that was that. I'm sure there's a bit of an argument that I needed to devote myself to something, but I felt a calling in the words on that paper. And to date I've never gone back on the ideals, never betrayed my word and never strayed from the Path of Tamara. 


    Yeah, so since I haven't played this character I can't really comment on how combat works. I can say that I would expect Bzaz to work as a combination of a Tank and DPS Fighter, dishing out decently powerful blows (base 4-15 damage with Lance, 2-12 damage with Fire Breath) and he's got a pretty decent ability to fight in mid-range thanks to the Fire Breath ability. Naturally, that isn't always going to be useful, but just the option to do a decent chunk of fire damage is something that shouldn't be overlooked. Other then that, having a pretty good set of stats across the offensive and defensive range just makes it fairly easy for Bzaz to fit in with just about any party, since he can fill a few roles and is always available as a back-up healer (which is more useful with lower HP companions like a Wizard). 

    The ideal party set-upp that I could see Bzaz fitting into, would probably be fighting alongside a Fighter (Tank), either a Druid or a Cleric for more buffing/debuffing related spells that could add a bit more support to Bzaz (and with the Cleric work as a secondary tank or the Druid working as a secondary DPS 'mage') and finally any Magic Oriented Class that uses Arcane Spellcasting, most notably a Wizard who's wider range of spells would be a little more useful, and generally they'd be best in either a summoning or offensive role. In this set-up, Bzaz would essentially function as a secondary tank/primary melee damage dealer, though the party does lack a Rogue which is a pretty useful class to bring with you.

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    So yeah, this is what I've got so far. All of this is self-researched based on what I could grab offline so there could be some details that aren't correct. I think this is pretty much the sort of character I'd play in an actual game of D&D, because...well Clerics and (modern) Paladins are my favourite classes so playing a character that's kind of designed to be a Lawful Good Paladin, but without the 'stick up the ass' attitude that most have is kind of a really fun idea. Basically he's designed to fit into the idea of the 3rd Edition Paladin, but without being the stereotype.

    And Dragonborn...well the only characters I've ever built in D&D were Dragonborn. Don't know about those other Races, but I'm pretty sure they aren't playable, NPC only Races like Elders in Skyrim.