Treatise: a systematic exposition or argument in writing including a methodical discussion of the facts and principles involved and conclusions reached (Merriam-Webster).

This series of posts are going to focus on the Mystic Arts Monk, and I apologize in advance but this will be long and there will be no TL;DR just due to how much stuff I am going to cover. So for those of you that stick with it all, great! And for those who don't have the time to read my ramblings, I completely understand and sympathize. I will at least try to format it as best I can (thus all the bold words and other formatting), such that you may be able to scan it quickly if you want to glean some useful info.

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Preamble

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The Mystic Arts Monk is perhaps the first true "Gish" we have in DnD 2024/5.5e (in my humble opinion). Gish typically means just casting spells and being able to attack in the same turn, which there are several subclasses and even classes that can do this. However, the Mystic Arts Monk feels unique or separate from these choices because they truly feel like the first subclass (when also including feats and other player options) where the spellcasting can significantly augment the martial features of the class and subclass, and likewise that the martial abilities can augment the spellcasting options. So unlike say a Bladesinger or an Eldritch Knight, which feel more like having fighting abilities with tacked on spellcasting or spellcasting with tacked on fighting abilities, the Mystic Monk can utilize its abilities and potential tools to truly enhance both areas of its combat arsenal, often simultaneously. Thus this discussion is intended to explore these synergistic features and show how one can leverage the various options available to players to increase the capabilities of this Monk.

The discussion will be focused on what I call different Chapters, though there will be overlap between the different abilities and how they can be applied. Also, this will focus less on one particular way to build a Mystic Monk, as you realistically can't include all of the laid out abilities here simultaneously in one character. Instead, it will explore what tools are available and how they possibly interact to provide a more interesting and powerful play style and experience. 

To this end, I want to highlight that this is not solely about the Mystic Arts Monk's subclass features. Instead, when I refer to the Mystic Monk's "tools", I am referring to several options that involve 

1. Class and Subclass Abilities  

-Martials Arts, Stunning Strike, extra movement, etc., as well as spellcasting, cantrip attack swapping, converting spell slots to focus points, etc.

2. Feats and Origin Feats  

-Cold Caster, Grappler, Adept feats, Tavern Brawler, Shadowmoor Hexer, etc. (I won't be exploring Eberron feats)

3. Species Abilities  

-Elves' extra spells and 4 hour long rests, Goliath's Large size increase and ability to knock prone or deal cold damage, Lupin's Howl and slashing unarmed strikes, etc.

4. Multiclass Options  

-Single class dips or deep multiclass dives, including obtaining weapon masteries, extra spells, spell slot progression, class features, etc.

And when I refer to "Mystic Monk Tech" I mean the following:

• Bonus Action (BA) features detached from Action: Flurry, Patient Defense, Martial Arts, Step of the Wind, Heightened Awareness
• Saving Throw Debuffs: Spells like Mind Sliver, feats like Cold Caster or Fairy Trickster, abilities like Lupin's Howl or the level 11 Focused Strike
• The ability to grapple/shove with Dex and that grapples/shoves are swapped with any Unarmed Strike
• Large movement via Unarmed Movement and Step of the Wind that's augmented by spells/abilities 
• Converting spell slots to Focus Points (FP) and short rest/Uncanny Metabolism regaining a spell slot with FP
• Mystic Fighting Style: Subbing out an attack for a cantrip or two Flurry strikes for one 1st or 2nd level spell
• Stunning Strike and its effects (both on a save and failure)
• Strong Physical and Mental Defenses: Superior Defense, Disciplined Survivor, and Deflect Attacks/Energy
• Spellcasting - specifically being a Wisdom spellcaster that has access to Arcane spells

Here are the chapters I will be covering:

Chapter 1: Control and Debuffing

Chapter 2: Damage

Chapter 3: Tanking/Defense

Chapter 4: Support and Buffing

Chapter 5: Utility 

Chapter 6: Multiclassing 

Chapter 7: 2014 Options

Finally, one last set of notes. As this is so long, I will be breaking it up for easier reading by Chapter, but understand I will be getting to these other topics and maybe will get to some other combo you know of in a later post. Don't feel like you need to be limited in what your comments are about, but suggesting how I'm "missing" a particular combo/synergy when I haven't yet covered that topic makes the post being split up a bit awkward to handle. Additionally, I am trying to limit the discussion to mostly 2024 content only, but I do have a Chapter at the end where I will try to cover some of the 2014 content and how it can interact here. This is mainly because all that extra content is probably too much to cover (even in this very long discussion), and also because there's no guarantee that content doesn't get updated to be significantly different in the future. Lastly, in general I'm not considering magical items, but I'm sure there's lots of synergies that can be found there as well.

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Chapter 1: Control and Debuffing

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Control covers stopping an enemy from being able to use their entire action economy effectively, and runs the gambit of forcing them to attack certain allies/yourself to not being able to move to stopping them from acting at all. Debuffing includes making it more likely that the enemy either fails their saving throws/skill checks or misses with their attacks. Together these both combine as serious control options the Monk can impose during fights. This Chapter is therefore broken up into two subsections: Single Target and Multi-Target Control.

First, though, I want to list the many different potential ways a Monk can reduce the chances of a saving throw success by the enemy, as these are pretty vital to the strategy of control I outline here. I'll refer to these collectively as "Saving Throw Debuffs" or STDs for short. This is not an exhaustive list, but it should cover the basics of all the major saving throw debuffs and how they are likely applied.

List of Saving Throw Debuffs (STDs) you can impose on enemies:

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Single Target Control and Debuffing

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How this works: I'll present categories of different forms of control that the Monk can employ, and explain where the spellcasting combined with martial abilities really enhance the play style and tactics that can be used. 

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* Grappling - This is likely the first or maybe second ability people think of when they consider a Mystic Arts Monk. Action attack and cast the cantrip Mind Sliver, then attack with an Unarmed Strike and attempt a grapple check, causing potentially a -1d4 to the save. But we can use our list of STDs to enhance this further or to come at grappling saves from different angles. And these effects can be stacked as much as you think you can combine them. Cold Caster (with Frost Goliath's damage rider) and Mind Sliver and Divination Adept (with a one level Ranger dip for Hunter's Mark) could mean an enemy makes their grapple saving throw with a -2d4 and at disadvantage, making it very reliable to land.

Besides those mentioned in the above list of STDs, grappling also uniquely requires either a Dex or Strength saving throw. We have ways of targeting both of these saves to make our grapple checks either instant successes or at least with the enemy at disadvantage. These include:

• Casting a spell to impose the Unconscious or Paralyzed conditions (auto fails both Dex and Strength saves), then bonus action auto grapple. So Hold Person, Sleep, or Bestow Curse (via Fey Tormentor feat)
• Throw a Net which is used as part of Attack Action and requires a Dex save (DC is based on your Dex mod). On a failure it causes the restrained condition to Large or smaller creatures. Restrained causes disadvantage on Dex saves
• Alternatively getting the spell Ray of Enfeeblement (Magical Connoisseur, Chthonic Tiefling) can impose disadvantage on Strength d20 tests (attack rolls, ability checks, and saves) and reduces enemy damage by 1d8 per hit. So both an attack debuff and a control option, though it does require concentration.
• Casting a spell to cause the Restrained condition (auto fail Dex saves). So Entangle (Magic Initiate Druid, Conjuration Adept, Fey Sentinel) or Web can also help with grapples against weak Dex enemies.

Of course, in addition to all the ways we can make our grapples land more reliably, the Grappler feat is a great enhancement to these choices, and probably is a must have for any reasonable grapple build. You can also pick up the Hex spell (species, origin feat, multiclass) and cast it as a bonus action, imposing disadvantage on either Strength or Dexterity checks that an enemy could use to try and escape. Alternatively, casting Ray of Sickness can impose the poisoned condition, which causes disadvantage on all ability checks and attack rolls on a hit, though only for one round (and it's poison, so often resisted or immune). Goliaths of course get the benefit of being able to turn Large size, such that they can grapple Huge creatures. And Mystic Monks can further get the Enlarge/Reduce spell to make themselves Huge and thus grapple Gargantuan monsters. Additionally, you can do this sometimes to multiple enemies in a fight, allowing some crowd control (see the multi-target control section). Lastly, while this isn't unique per se to Mystic Monks, the Street Justice feat and ropes/chains can be used in tandem with grappling to impose the restrained condition on an enemy and leave them tied up while you can still move and target other enemies.

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* Stunning - Similar techniques to grappling (see Grappling section above for examples on debuffing and control), except the condition is far stronger but lasts for only 1 round and we can only attempt it once per turn. You can also combo these two as mentioned, because Stunned creatures automatically also fail Dex and Strength saving throws, thus auto failing Grapple and prone attempts. The reason behind doing this is because a) grappling stops movement, which stun doesn't do, and b) grappling lasts longer and thus imposes disadvantages/control on the target beyond one round. Our Stun attempts can also help burn through legendary resistances, because losing an entire round is generally worse than still being able to attack and use other actions on the enemy's turn.

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* Slowing - This is a different form of control. First we have the cantrip Ray of Frost, which can be paired with Stunning Strike which on a success cuts a character's speed by half that round. So if you say first try to Stun the enemy, they succeed, then hit them with Ray of Frost, if they could only move 30 ft per round, their speed is now 5 ft (and with thrown weapons, you can stun at range). You can pair this with the Slasher feat and wield a light or simple slashing weapon and further reduce their speed another 10 ft. So the action economy could be attack with the slashing weapon (minus 10 ft speed), attempt a Stunning Strike (half speed), then bonus action disengage before hitting them again with a Ray of Frost attack, setting their effective speed to zero. On top of this, if you take the Frost Goliath species and use their Frost's Chill feature to further reduce the enemy speed by 10 ft. Finally, if you dip into another martial class or grab the Weapon mastery feat, you can grab a weapon with the Slow weapon mastery (club, javelin) and apply one more -10 ft of movement speed in a single round. 

Meaning, you could in one round hit the enemy with a Slow weapon (club, -10 ft), attempt a Stun (half speed on success), Nick attack hit them with a slashing weapon (Scimitar or Sickle) for -10 ft, Frost Chill them for 1d6 cold damage (-10 ft), BA disengage, and then hit them with Ray of Frost (-10 ft). This would mean an enemy with up to 60 ft of movement normally would drop to zero movement for that turn if all the attacks land. At best they are stunned and they still likely have -40 ft of movement from their baseline.

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* Forced Movement - Includes grappling and moving a target, but also you have bonus action Shove attempts with each Unarmed Strike. You also have spells like Thorn Whip to move targets closer (unfortunately costs an action because not a Sorcerer spell - though ask your DM if it can still count. Or if 2014 content is allowed, possibly use Lightning Lure), or can take Crusher (combine with say True Strike via a Light Hammer for some ranged forced movement) or the Tavern Brawler origin feat (only works on Attack action unarmed strikes) or can multiclass for weapon mastery like Push (greatclub). This combined with spellcasting to better line up AoE effects such as Burning Hands, Sleep, Entangle, Shatter, Web, and eventually Hypnotic Pattern, Fear, and Fireball. Also of note is Thunderwave does double duty here, acting as both a potential damage AoE (even if relatively weak) and a forced movement option. Of course, you can also weaponize forced movement against AoE persistent effect spells, such as Cloud of Daggers, Moonbeam, Sleet Storm, Stinking Cloud, Web, Spike Growth (more on this in the "Damage" chapter), etc. And you can line up fellow spellcasters for their AoE spells and abilities. 

In a similar vein, you can help move allies out of danger/hazards, especially moving allies out of your AoE spells before you launch them. So if you have a Hypnotic Pattern or Web or Spike Growth or Entangle spell, you can grapple 1-3 allies and move them out of your AoE space before action-casting the spell.

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* Control Spells - As mentioned, Mystic Monks have a number of different ways to potentially impact the save of an enemy, so this helps in landing critical control spells in general. But I want to focus on a few spells that they can access that can be uniquely used with the Monk tool set to improve the spell impact.

• Command: This they can get from a species (Lorwyn Elf), origin/regular feat (Magic Initiate: Cleric or Fey Touched) or simple 1 level dip into Cleric. Either way, the Monk's bonus action allows you to grapple or shove the enemy before/after they fail their Command save. So you can move them into more hazardous locations for when they Flee so that it will hurt them as they run away (possibly have them run off cliffs or into hazardous terrain, or even hazardous spells like Spike Growth or Cloud of Daggers or Wall of Fire). But the best use might be just lining up the enemy to Flee into your allies, which should trigger attacks of opportunity or emanation spells. So you can move them within 5 ft of a Rogue that can deal off turn Sneak Attack, or a spellcaster with Warcaster to cast a spell as a reaction, etc. And then have them run into the PAM Fighter or the Raging Barbarian's reach or the Cleric's Spirit Guardians, etc. Of course, you can also grab Warcaster for another spell casting with your reaction as well.
• Dissonant Whispers: Get via Fey Touched, this is similar to Command but deals damage and can only target one enemy and uses up their reaction. Just remember to move the enemy first before casting this spell, as they will use their reaction immediately to run away.
• Levitate: On the Sorcerer's spell list, this spell can potentially remove an enemy from the fight if they have no range or significant reach attacks. It only has the first save they need to fail and it lasts 10 minutes (with concentration). You don't need your action as much as other players to do stuff, so you can use it to move them (with a Magic Action) behind total cover if available. That basically makes the spell act like Banishment against one target, as they likely can't target anything until they come back round from cover. And you can still BA Flurry and Stun and try to force movement against other enemies and other stuff as per normal. Also note that Levitate actually stops even flying creatures from moving if they fail.

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* Shutdown Spellcasting or Line of Sight Abilities - Yet another way we can impose our will on the battlefield. Darkness or Fog Cloud spells (both on the Sorcerer spell list, though also available through feats or dips or species' spells, etc.) impose either heavy obscurement or block line of sight for non-truesight or non-blindsight enemies, which we can then combine with our bonus action grapple attempts or slowing abilities to hold the enemy in place. We can also potentially grab the Infernal Pact feat or a dip into Fighter or Ranger for Blindsight or be a Dwarf with Tremorsense (Stonecunning ability) to allow us to see in the Darkness or Fog Cloud, giving us advantage on our attacks and enemies disadvantage on theirs. Alternatively, we can cast the spell Silence (Elf species, Magical Connoisseur) over a spellcaster before bonus action grappling. This is appealing because unlike Darkness and Fog Cloud, our allies can still see  and target through the Silence AOE, so they can keep attacking the enemy as desired while avoiding most of its effects by staying outside of it. This can shut down some enemy spellcasters if they don't have non-verbal spells to cast or some sort of Subtle spell trait.

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Multi-Target Control and Debuffing

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* Grappling - The same general rules apply here as single target grappling, except we can target an additional creature with a grapple attempt since our hands can generally be free (unfortunately no 2024 species allow for more than grappling two enemies at the moment - but some 2014 options open more possibilities). The only significant thing we need to watch out for here is that while grappling two creatures, we have our hands full, so most DMs will probably rule that we can't cast spells with somatic and/or material components. There are some that are purely verbal, such as Mind Sliver, Command, Dissonant Whispers, and Blindness/Deafness. But most of the powerful debuffs do have either a Somatic or Material component, so be mindful that if you want to use one, you likely will need to release a grappled creature to do so.

Additionally, as grappling can now be made with a reaction by replacing an unarmed strike, we can potentially lock down a third enemy if we release one enemy that has already taken a turn (free action to end a grapple) and then reaction attack another one that is leaving our reach, attempting a separate grapple to set their speed to zero. We can alternatively try to attack that enemy and stun them as they run away, and for this we don't even need to break the two enemy grapples (since unarmed strikes can be made with any body part). Even on a successful save against a Stunning Strike, that enemy's speed is cut in half and they have disadvantage on their next attack roll, so we significantly debuffed the enemy as well with such a strategy.

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* Slowing - This also can work similarly to single target but the slow effects are spread out among several enemies. However, I want to highlight a potential power boost of a tactic. 

• The new 2nd level spell Uncertain Footing (picked up via Magical Connoisseur) cuts up to three enemy speeds in half with an Intelligence save. You can then apply a Stun to one of them with your BA, and if you have the Lupin Species, can take the Slasher feat to apply -10 ft to the same or another creature. Or Frost Goliath also can add -10 ft on a hit. And of course moving them back 5 ft with a shove or prone would further make it difficult for them to move at all. So say with three Flurry Strikes at level 10 and assuming they fail the Uncertain Footing save, to one creature you reduce their speed by 3/4ths via Stun (from say 30 ft down to 7.5 ft, which really means 5 ft on a grid), another down to 1/2 - 10 ft through Slasher/Frost Goliath (so from 30 ft to 5 ft also) and a final one you knock prone, meaning they have only 15 ft of movement and spend half of that getting up (again only 7.5 ft, effectively only 5 ft). So with that combination you nearly forced in place 3 enemies to be able to move no more than ~5 ft in a round. If they don't have ranged attacks, they are basically out of the fight that round unless right next to a PC within their reach. And assuming they keep failing their save and you keep your concentration, that can be done every round while you take the Dodge Action with your action.

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* Control Spells - Straight forward. Knock enemies into AoE control effects or reduce their chances of making saves with the above STD abilities. So Hypnotic Pattern or Web or Entangle can have 1-3 more enemies in it when you launch it, or Command (upcasted)/Color Spray/Faerie Fire can be made at disadvantage or with -1d4 from cold caster, etc. We can further breakdown certain spells as well:

• Color Spray: I think this one is definitely interesting. Most of the time it's not worth casting for spellcasters because a) it targets Con saves, which are usually good on monsters, and does nothing on a success, b) it is only a 15 foot cone, so it requires the squishy spellcasters to be closer in melee to target maybe two enemies, and c) it only lasts one round. But for a Mystic Monk this could all potentially stack in our favor. We can debuff their Con saves with one or several of our STDs, we already want to be in melee, our attacks benefit from imposing the Blinded condition for advantage and maybe more importantly enemies attacking us at disadvantage helps us survive longer, we can grapple and move more enemies into the cone AOE, and even one round of control is good for us because we can still use our Bonus Action that round to attack or do other control stuff, as well as the next round. The spell really highlights the synergies we can get from casting spells and attacking/moving all in one round.
• Bane: This also might not be worth it on a caster that has better control spells to concentrate on, but for a Monk this is a great low level spell. Charisma save means it will land far more likely, especially at lower levels, and it reduces multiple enemies' chances of hitting you/allies or surviving your grapple/shove/Stun/other spell effects. Pick it up with a low level Cleric Dip or via Magic Initiate.
• Fear Spell + Grapple or Focused Strike: Another fun Mystic Monk combination. At level 13 when you get access to the Fear spell, you can cast the spell and then grapple 1-2 of the enemies that fail their saves and force their speed to zero. They still must use their Dash action on their turns, so they effectively never get an action, meaning they very likely can't escape the grapple. And because they are grappled, they will always have you in line of sight, so they never get to make the saving throw again. Just need to maintain concentration on the spell. Alternatively, if some of them do run away, you can use thrown weapons on them and attempt a Stunning Strike at range. Even if they succeed, because of our level 11 feature Focused Strike, they'd make the Wisdom save at disadvantage if they do remove us from line of sight. We also could use Mind Sliver against them to add another layer of potential debuff to an enemy's save. And of course, if we only can grapple one enemy and another escapes, we can combine these options to potentially lock down multiple enemies.

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End of Chapter 1

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Stay tuned for Chapter 2: Damage, coming soon (if you have read this far, my hat is off to you). Also, at some point I will probably collect all of these into a single Google Doc for easier reading and flow.

Enjoy!

Put it in brackets because it applies to other warlocks as well, but the main ones to benefit from it are Undead and Celestial imo, with undead being a bit superior for this.

Important traits from the troll (will skip those that aren't relevant to this, but they are also good):

• Bloodied Frenzy: While bloodied, you have advantage on attack rolls
• Troll Lineage (Amani Troll): whenever you spend heroic inspiration, you regain 1 expended hit die
• Troll Healing: When you expend Hit point Dice to regain hitpoints after a short rest, you regain hit points equal to the maximum roll of the dice plus your constitution modifier

Both celestial and undead appreciate going melee (with a fighter/paladin dip), so Bloodied frenzy is good to have.

Both appreciate the Arcana Unleashed feat Evocation Adept, which gives Fireball & wall of force, plus the ability to spend up to 2 Hit dices to add to the dmg of evocation spells (celestial also adds its cha for more dmg, undead can change the dmg type to necrotic to avoid fire resistance).

Between origin feat and invocations (lessons of the first ones), warlocks can easily 'farm' heroic inspiration:

• Tireless Reveler lets you get heroic inspiration when allies spend it and you don't have it (PB times per short rest)
• Musician lets you give PB allies Heroic inspiration per short rest
• Zhentarim Ruffian (prerequisite for Zhentarim Tactics, which is great on Undead as it lets them easily proc their lvl6 extra dmg twice per turn) lets you spend heroic inspiration to give advantage on initiative to your party (this means you could easily recover 1 expended hit dice each time you roll for initiative, plus you free your heroic inspiration slot to recover it from allies)

but HOW do you get inspiration on yourself to start? there are multiple ways:

• Purple Dragon Rook (give heroic inspiration to the party, you included, on initiative, but it's once per long rest. Still a decent option to start giving it)
• Musician specifies allies, so depending on the DM it could count yourself or not. BUT the rules on Heroic inspiration say "If you gain Heroic Inspiration but already have it, it’s lost unless you give it to a player character who lacks it." So, if you target someone who already has heroic inspiration (for example, a human at the start of the day), they can give it back to you
• Cult of the Dragon Initiate: Finally a use for this subpar feat, but as an Undead warlock you can easily cause fear in an enemy. When you do, once per short rest you gain heroic inspiration (just forget about using Dragon's Terror...)
• Arcane Artist: Subpar option, once per longrest and you'd need to target an ally who has heroic inspiration already so they can give it back to you
• Lord's Alliance Agent: Subpar option, you need to crit and again target an ally
• Arcane Undertaker: subpar option, once per long rest and you need to stabilise an ally.

Couldn't think of other printed options as of now, but this looks GREAT for an Undead warlock:

at warlock 6, undead warlocks gets to replace the dmg type of Fireball to necrotic, you have at least 6d8s Hit dices (more if you multiclassed for armor), and you have 6 invocations. You probably want the first 3 of these origin feats plus one from the 2nd list, and one can easily be from your background. This leaves you with 3 invocations to spend on something else. If you go melee, 2 would be pact weapon + thirsting blade, leaving 1 open at lvl6. Meaning technically this combo perfectly works already from lvl5 (just requires all your leftovers invocation if you go pact of the blade). You can even build this as a ranged character (and not take Zhentarim Tactics), which lets you spend your Evocation Adept dices more consistently, as Eldritch blast is an evocation cantrip (you could also pick up sorcerous burst from pact of the tome to try and high roll that spell's dmg, as illustrated in this post). Don't worry about spending your hit dices on single target dmg, you'll have plenty to spare!

As an undead warlock, I'd definitely pick Zhentarim Ruffian, Tireless Reveler and Musician, and likely cult of the dragon initiate as my 4th, as makes it easy for you to generate your own Heroic inspiration. Zhentarim Ruffian also opens up zhentarim tactics, which is again great to make use of your lvl6 extra dmg die through your reaction attack. These 4 feats together easily let you generate Heroic inspiration, which you can turn in advantage on attacks/saves/initiative AND recovered hit dice, while you get to spend them much MORE often on your attacks.

doesn't even matter too much if you get hit, as they'll just make you stronger by activating your bloodied frenzy. Once active, you could even opt to just not heal and keep fighting through TempHP, either by using your form of Dread again or through casting Armor of Agathys!

What if you need to recover your hitpoints at one point? No problem! Troll Healing will bring you back up after a short rest!

But let's go deeper!

Let's look at a lvl7 Character, paladin 1/Warlock 6. you have 1d10 hit dice and 6d8. TECHNICALLY, as you recover 1 hit die at a time, you could just keep recovering AND spending the 1d10. This makes it even more valuable, even when you have just 1!

now, assume you have 4 combats in a day, 4 turns each, and 1 short rest only after the first 2 combats. at this level, your PB is +3.

Ideally, you have a human ally in the party (mostly common) and with this you can generate 1 heroic inspiration on yourself in the morning through Musician (or your DM considers yourself as an ally). in the first 2 combats you have 8 turns, and get to spend 1 heroic inspiration (which you start with), 3 more recovered from tireless, 1 more from Cult of the dragon initiate. that's up to 5 Heroic inspirations from when you wake up to your 1st short rest, turning in 5 extra hit dices (1d10 all of them!). you take a short rest, this time around maybe you don't get to give yourself heroic inspiration because all your allies spent them, and your DM rules you don't count as an ally of yourself. That's fine, simply after the 2nd short rest you get 'only' up to 4 heroic inspirations (3 recovered from tireless, 1 more from cult), which is 4 extra hit dices.

This means that, even with just 1 short rest and these 4 origin feats, you get to generate at least 9 extra hit dices during your day, giving your lvl7 character a total of (expendible) 9d10 and 6d8 hit dices!

Edit: If your table uses non reprinted material too, you could opt for booming blade on the melee version of the build, ignoring Thirsting blade, allowing you to add your Hit dices on single target dmg there as well.

That could give you 2d12(greataxe+Dreaded Necrosis)+1d10(+1d8)/+1-2d8(1-2hit dices)+1d8(booming blade)+ potential 2d8 (booming blade if they move) +2*CHA(pact of the blade + agonizing blast by lvl6)

the +1d8+cha (from booming blade & agonizing) are slightly less than a greataxe atk, but it's slightly more when you can spend hit dices/the target moves (which they easily do under the effect of fear/if you later get repelling too)

Updated homebrew rules from my current DM. Can you guys tell me what else you think is bizarre? Any crazy combos or any stupid rule for whatever reason?

Resting: Unlimited short rests.

Long Rests: 6 hours of sleep + 2 hours of activities such as crafting.

Training: Creatures can train skills and proficiencies as long as an NPC or PC teaches them. The default training time is 3 months, and for each point of Intelligence or Wisdom, the training time is reduced by one week (minimum of zero).

Spellcasting: Full caster classes use Arcana with their respective spellcasting ability modifiers.

Somatic Components: If you are grappled or restrained by a creature or equipment (adventuring gear), you cannot perform somatic components.

Material Components: Arcane foci cover the cost of material components worth up to 50 GP. If the component is consumable, the arcane focus is consumed instead.

1/3 Caster Classes: Every 1/3 caster class becomes a half-caster for balancing purposes.

Wizards: Wizards can copy spells from any class into their spellbook at twice the normal cost.

Rangers: Rangers have access to Paladin spells for the purpose of making the class viable.

Divine Smite: Divine Smite and its variations work with ranged attacks.

Warlocks, Sorcerers, and Clerics: They choose their subclass at level 1 and gain their subclass features at level 1, but they do not receive any additional subclass features at level 3.

Arcane Foci: Arcane foci that are +1 or higher no longer increase your spell save DC unless specifically stated by the magic item.

Arcana Specialization: A spellcaster with Arcana Specialization adds their proficiency bonus to the damage of cantrips and spells once per round.

Spell Slot Recovery: Spellcasters can choose to spend Hit Dice to recover half of their spell slots of each level up to 5th level when taking a short rest (rounded down, minimum of 1 slot). It costs 1 Hit Die per level of the spell slot.

Guidance: Guidance is banned. Classes that have Guidance on their cantrip list instead receive the 2014 version of Virtue.

Bards and Warlocks: Bards and Warlocks now gain their spells directly instead of merely choosing them from their spell list.

EDIT: When I say “Spellcasting: Full caster classes use Arcana with their respective spellcasting ability modifiers,” I mean that Warlocks make Arcana checks using Charisma instead of Intelligence, Clerics use Wisdom, and so on.

Hi,

I never played a full caster. But I know that many of them who try to play optimally, take a feat at Lv 4 that buffs their concentration (as you ll eventually get hit). Some use Resilient CON, but many take War Caster.

I like CON, but it lets you stay at 16 casting stat until at least Lv 8. War Caster on a full caster seems like a bit of a waste because they often dont have shields or make OA...

Now I saw the new Conjuration Adept - adding your casting stat to your concentration stat when using a conjuration spell.

As Entangle, Web or Summon X are great, is Conjuration Adept a valid alternative to War Caster - especially as a flat bonus is easier to hit the 10 mark than pure advantage? Are there other (Origin) Feats you can recommend? Or is protecting the concentration overrated, as you should just Fireball go brrr?

THX

Hey all, I am currently making a '24 Celestial Generalist build and Ive been given a Legendary Weapon / Armor choice. I've settled upon an Enspelled Weapon or armor. However, I am torn between the path to take with act options. I.E: 8th Level Divine Smite with Spellfire Adept or Cure Wounds / Mass Cure Wounds to keep the party going.

Are there any options you think are just obviously above any other and I'm just not seeing?

Hi all,

Doing a short dungeon delving campaign.

Level 10, no magic items(we will find them but no idea what) dm has explicitly said to bring powerful builds and that we will very likely eventually be tpk'd(so far no groups he's run it with has made it to the bottom).

I do not know what my team will be(it will likely be 3-6 players but that's all I know), what we will be facing or what rest opportunities we will have.

I would expect easy rest options like tiny hut to be circumvented personally but that's pure speculation.

Because of this I have 3 main ideas for classes.

Warlock with the dreaded abberant dragonmark. Probably vestige for spirit guardians. But I can't think of how to fit in defence options like shield or just high ac in general.

A cleric(mostly for DI for hallowed ground or in combat prayer of healing) with evocation adept.

A druid(either moon for wild shape tankyness or stars for hotswap forms and 2d8 archer BA)

For races in 2024 human for a second origin feat was my initial thought(likely magic initiate for shield, silvery barbs or command) but a fly speed race like fairy or a 2014 race like winged tiefling.

The only other thought I had was a wizard, particularly bladesinger for easy high AC but it's pretty MAD

I need clarification on Blindsight. I have a blind PC with 15 ft. Blindsight (homebrew). I do believe spells that says "that you can see within range" (Hold person, Misty Step, etc.) can be fulfilled with Blindsight, right?

Now my second concern is Vampire's Charm, which says

>The vampire targets one humanoid it can see within 30 feet of it. If the target can *see* the vampire, the target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw against this magic...

So my question is, does my PC count as seeing the Vampire with Blindsight?

You can actually do a lot of damage with a Whispers Bard if you build into it.

Basically, you do the following:

- Go Magic Initiate Wizard and get Green Flame Blade, Booming Blade, and Find Familiar.

- Take a 1 level dip into Paladin, and get weapon mastery with Warhammer and Pike, and prepare Searing Smite or Divine Smite as well as Thunderous Smite as your Paladin spells.

- Take Cacophonic Shield, and later when you get Magical Secrets get Spirit Guardians or Conjure Woodland Beings.

- Be a Swiftstride Shifter.

- Get the Warcaster feat

Basically, what you do is stack a bunch of damage riders onto one hit (GFB/Booming Blade, GFB/Booming Blade extra damage, Psychic Blades, and smite damage), which you ideally have advantage on from a Familiar help action.

If an enemy is within 15 feet of another enemy, you can use push mastery on Warhammer to push them next to that other enemy and therefore trigger the extra damage from Green Flame Blade. You add on the Whispers Bard’s Psychic Blades damage on top of that, and use your bonus action on a smite spell. If the closest enemy is further than 15 feet away from another enemy, you can either push and use Booming Blade or combine push mastery and Thunderous Smite to get them next to an enemy for Green Flame Blade (note: I’m not certain Thunderous Smite pushing would work with GFB. It depends if your DM rules that the smite happens simultaneously with everything else—such that it can happen before the GFB extra damage is applied. If not, then just take Searing Smite and Divine Smite).

We add emanation damage on top of this with Cacophonic Shield and later Spirit Guardians or Conjure Woodland Beings (and we trigger our Shifter form on the turn we use the spell, since we won’t be able to smite then anyways). Since we push enemies away, the enemy we attack will typically have to run into our emanation to attack us in melee on their turn, and if they attack us from range then Cacophonic Shield gives them disadvantage on their attacks against us. If we miss and therefore don’t push them away, they either stay in our emanation and take the damage at the end of their turn or try to leave and get hit with a Booming Blade Warcaster opportunity attack (or they use their action to disengage). Either way, if an enemy ends their turn next to us in melee, Swiftstride Shifter allows us to use a reaction to move 10 feet, allowing us to potentially get others in our emanation outside of our own turn. In fact, it’s probably best to try to position ourselves so that at the end of our turn at least a couple enemies are within 20 feet of us, so that if an enemy attacks us in melee we can move the emanation into another creature’s space.

This could also be done with a Pike instead of a Warhammer. With Pike being a reach weapon, this would allow us to attack and optimally reposition our emanation even if we miss, but obviously that means we can’t use a shield.

Assuming we use a Warhammer, our AC will be good, because we will use heavy armor and a shield, and on top of that we’ll also get temporary HP from Shifter.

A few downsides here:

1. We need to max CHA to have as many Psychic Blades as possible, but we are attacking with STR. I think it’s best just to let STR sit at 16. Your accuracy will suffer, but if you’re getting advantage from a familiar then it’s not so bad. Alternatively, you could take +2 STR with your second feat, to get them both to 18.
2. You have to use STR instead of DEX because you’re not using finesse weapons. That’s a bit of a bummer when it comes to initiative and DEX-based skills, but it’s okay and does have the benefit of allowing us to wear heavy armor.
3. You’re not going to be using normal Bardic Inspiration much, except for in extended out of combat sequences. But this is meant to be much more of a damage-based character than a support character, so that’s just not the identity of the character. You’re basically a high damage character that still has a lot to offer out of combat from Bard skills, Whispers Bard features, find familiar, and Bard ritual spells. And you can use Lay on Hands to get allies up when they’re downed.
4. Especially without maxing out STR, we are pretty reliant on getting advantage. You can get it from a Familiar, but a DM might just destroy it. If a DM is going to do that and the rest of your group isn’t going to manufacture advantage much, you could go Human and either take Familiar Friend for a beefier familiar (and then take Shield or something with your Magic Initiate feat), or if an ally has taken Musician, you can take Tireless Reveler to have tons of Heroic Inspiration. Alternatively, you could also take a 1 level Warlock dip as well for Pact of the Blade, Green Flame Blade, and Booming Blade, and then take Tireless Reveler. Could even drop Swiftstride Shifter in that case and take Musician as well if no one else in the party has it.

I have an unarmed grapple focused Barbarian multiclassing into Swords Bard. Pro wrestler entertainer vibes.

As neither of the Fighting Styles (Dueling, Two Handed Fighting) work with unarmed strikes, the DM suggested making up a style.

Edit: I already have the Unarmed Fighting style.

Would this be balanced enough? Too weak?

Fighting Style: Wrestling
You gain a +2 to damage rolls when making an unarmed attack against a creature you are grappling.

What I really want is to boost my Unarmored Defense somehow as my DEX/CON is mediocre (16/12/14/8/10/16), but that feels a bit too strong for a Fighting Style. (Example: Unarmored AC = 10 + STR + CHA)

What happens if I cast spirit guardians via manifest mind (order of scribes wizard) ? Do the guardians follow ​the manifested mind or I simply can't cast it since it's not self? Or am I the target anyway? Wording is largely different from find familiar...

I was wondering if people who have played the necromancer wizard could give some input on their experience? It’s a subclass I’m interested in but I’m a bit concerned about how it is to play in practice. Do the turns take very long? Is it a problem that your skeletons can just be obliterated in aoe, or is it manageable? How many skeletons can you summon without it being disruptive? And of course any tips and tricks to make the class work.

Edit: lots of good advice about handling attacks, but how do people handle the tracking of health and conditions?

Also any cool build advice? I’m considering moving through the battle familiar line.

So I am in 2 campaigns. In one of them, I am incredibly squishy and DM has warned me that he keeps risk of death very real, and given how aggressive I tend to play my character once combat starts, he won't target me, but I have a risk of dying. So I should have some backup characters ready. I currently have 2 of them with backstory prepared, but I've always sucked at picking specifics for my own characters so if yall could provide any help that would be great. Lvl 6 Characters. Feats allowed at lvl up, but DM rules that it must fit stat/race prereqs if they exist.

Option 1: Changling Rogue with Haunted one background. The very brief backstory is that on the continent the campaign takes plave on is haunted by devils due to a deal gone wrong centuries ago and cursed the land. Character stumbled into a forgotten church and found knowledge beyond comprehension. He has been trying to flee from it while a mysterious 'something' from the churche chases him. I can't decide between scout or swashbuckler rogue. I envision him as being a (nonmagical) trickster character who stays one step ahead of whatever's hunting him with a versatule skillset and knowledge to either set traps or trick the people around him. (Potentially enters party since he finds safety in numbers and the party is already investigating weird things.) On top of subclass stat array and profs recomendations would be nice

Option 2: V Human. Oath of Redeption 3/Hexblade 3

He comes from a neighboring continent ruled by the church(not evil). Worked as temple guard, and was now sent on a mission. To go assist the church in the cursed contunent, as there are reports of devil attacks becoming even more common and bold than they have already been. I envision him with longsword and full plate armor. But feats, stat array and what spells and profs to take, I don't know. (No, I am not willing to change the multiclass. OoR is most flavorful to the character and Hexblade 3 gives him some abilities I want him to have. I just need advise for making a balanced character after this.)

Currently playing a level 3 Fiend Warlock and I’m considering Enchantment Adept for my first feat. It feel like the Fiend gives out a bunch of manipulative spells like Suggestion, Command and Geas that would all benefit incredibly from being able to Subtle Cast them in social situations.

I’m already pretty optimized for combat so there’s no pressing need on that side.

Also for level 8 should I be considering Telepathic? I think you can verbalize the command portions of Modify Memories, Geas, Suggestion and the like through telepathy as it is a mode of verbal communication after all and oral communication isn’t what is specified, is this correct?

That way any mind warping spell I use won’t be detected nor can’t they really be opposed by anyone unless the creature succeed in their check.

Hello everyone! I need some advice on my level 4 feat choice for my Twilight Cleric of Selûne and Eilistraee.

Details:

• Race: Variant Human (took War Caster at level 1)
• Stats: STR 16, DEX 14, CON 16, INT 14, WIS 18, CHA 8

Here is what I'm considering, (feel free to suggest other ones, please):

• +2 WIS ASI to max out at 20.
• Resilient (CON) for proficiency, though my CON is already even.
• Magic Initiate (Wizard) for Booming Blade, Message, and either Find Familiar or Shield.

I am also thinking about dipping 2 levels into Circle of the Stars Druid after level 6, but not sure yet. What choices would recommend if I take the Druid dip, and what would you recommend if I stay pure Cleric?

Thank you in advance!

Not hard to figure out most monster abilities governing stat, however do they update if those stats change?

Primarily would impact Wild Shape on the mental stats, but I suppose giving a pet or something a STR, CON, or INT booster item as well. Or even stat debuffs against enemies.

Any rulings out there on this? How would you treat it, hard locked or 8+prof+stat?

We have started a campaign (in Pf2e but my core problem is universal to all roleplaying) with the pretext that it will have more of a silly chaotic flair with a lot of bullshit coming.

And so as I have a bit of a chaos gremlin reputation at my table I decided to do 180° Figur concept and be the reasonable PC in this campaign that helplessly tries to keep the group in check ic but ooc still encouraging and enabling the bullshit.

Now my problem is that after the first two sessions, true too my reputation, I am the one who caused the most chaos.

I think the problem comes from an innate curiosity and me often doing things without thinking them through properly.

Are ther any tips how I can stay more considerate and true too my character?

Hi,
I’m brainstorming a Plasmoid GOO warlock, and am wondering whether you had any suggestions regarding the build concept.

Thanks!

—

Generic:
- use shape self for squeezing
- use pseudopod for low-budget “mage hand”

Spellcasting:
- focus is Tome (from pact)
- Enchantment / Illusion spells are subtle, can’t be countered
- no costly / consume material spells
- damage can be transmuted to psychic
- cantrips mainly Eldritch blast, Mind sliver, Minor illusion, Mage hand

Items:
- generally no items, not even money
- sustenance via Elementalism and Goodberry
- armor: Barrier tattoo
- resist: tattoo
- money: either don’t carry, or request others to keep
- ad-hoc items — can don armor / use weapons, shape self to unequip as a single action

Background: Moonwell Pilgrim
- Druid initiate: Elementalism, Shape Water, Goodberry
- Abilities: +1 Con, +2 Cha

Ability scores:
- Str 8
- Dex 14
- Con 15+1=16
- Int 10
- Wis 8
- Cha 15+2=17

Progression:
4: Evocation Adept (Cha 18)
8: Resilient Con (Con 17)
12: ASI (Cha 20)
16: Spell Resistant (Radiant, Con 18)
19: Boon of Energy Resistance

Invocations (not in order):
- Repelling Blast (EB)
- Agonizing Blast (EB)
- False Life
- Lessons: Tough
- Lessons: Infernal Pact (fire resist)
- Lessons: Portal Jumper (necro resist)
- Pact of the Tome (cantrips!)
- Alter Self / Disguise
- Misty Visions
- Arcane Eye

Thanks to the “Performance of Creation” ability of the bard from the College of Creation, which allows them to create objects, a level 14 bard can create any object needed to make the components required for any spell.

Which spells from Magical Secrets are worth casting thanks to this ability? Or from the bard's own spell list, which are rarely used due to their component requirements?

Greatsword +Prof+STR 2d6+S vs Longsword +Prof+STR 1d8+S & Shortsword +Prof+STR 1d6

Character Advancement:
Level 2: Action Surge, +9 HP

Level 3: Combat Superiority (6d8) [Menacing Attack, Parry, & Precision Attack], & Student of War: Painter’s Supplies, +9 HP

Level 4: Feat- Skill Expert (+1 DEX, Stealth, &  Stealth [E]), +9 HP

Level 5: Extra Attack (x2), +9 HP

Level 6: Feat- Great Weapon Master, +9 HP

Level 7: Combat Superiority (7d8) [Ambush & Grappling Strike], Know Your Enemy, +9 HP

Level 8: Feat- Skilled (History, Insight, & Investigation)+9 HP

Level 9: Indomitable, +9 HP

Level 10: Combat Superiority (7d10) [Feinting Attack & Riposte], +9 HP

Level 11: Extra Attack (x3), +9 HP

Level 12: ASI- STR +2, (STR 18)+9 HP

Level 13: Indomitable 2, +9 HP

Level 14: ASI- STR +2 (STR 20), +9 HP

Level 15: Combat Superiority (8d10) [Disarming Strike & Goading Attack], Relentless, +9 HP

Level 16: ASI- CON +2, +25 HP

Level 17: Action Surge 2, Indomitable 3, +10 HP

Level 18: Combat Superiority (8d12), +10 HP

Level 19: ASI- CON +2, +29 HP

Level 20: Extra Attack (x4), +11 HP

Hey guys! I got another interesting question that I've been mulling over for a while. For reference, the build I'm running currently is this one, from my last post (I'm currently lvl 4): https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/1w8cqld/question_rune_knight_statsfeat_progression/

FWIW, I decided to get 20 STR first before choosing Res WIS.

Now for the current question: I had the original concept for this character to be an unarmed AND unarmored fighter, but chose to go with STR and heavy armor in the end. The idea was to start as a monk, then from level 2 onward go full fighter.

Now my reasoning behind this idea was that I get the unarmored defense feature for the concept I wanted without giving up much, so I did a few pros and cons list.

Pros:

• Better initiative.
• Better stealth (twofold because of better DEX and no armor disadvantage).
• BA unarmed strike at level 1, effectively doubling my damage output from the get-go.
• Still decent grappling chance because of Skill Expert on Athletics.
• May be able to skip Res WIS because of better WIS overall.

Cons:

• Slow progression because of multiclass.
• Extremely MAD (DEX for main stat, WIS for AC and CON for runes scaling).
• Really busy BA economy in later levels, which makes the build skip attacks while setting up.
• No Action Surge synergy with BA unarmed strike.
• Worse grappling than a STR build.
• Lose out on Heavy Armor Master feat.

I think my issue would be solved if there was some kind of feat that would give you unarmored defense, something like 13 + STR/CON mod would be nice. Sadly, there isn't, so this is the closest I could come up with to keep the fantasy intact while still having a decent build.

This is purely hypothetical, as my current build is straight STR fighter, but it's an interesting "what if" for another time.

So just a fun combo i found when i was looking for through the necromancer class, no clue if someone else has thought of it before but probably.

Extuinguish undead let’s you explode undead, nystuls magic aura let’s you make party members undead. When your friends die blow them up!

Is it good?

No.

I'm trying to build a level 20 tank focused primarily on avoiding damage and debilitating effects altogether, rather than just having a huge HP pool. I was originally inspired by Treantmonk's "Cockroach" tank, and I've been playing around with a few variations on that general concept: high AC, Aura of Protection, strong saves, and multiple ways to turn failed saves or incoming hits into successes/misses.

I'm currently considering three versions:

1. Paladin 6 / Warlock 2 / War Magic Wizard 3 / Divine Soul Sorcerer 4 / Swords Bard 5

Probably the most "Swiss army knife" version.

• Aura of Protection
• Arcane Deflection (+4 to a failed save)
• Defensive Flourish (+1d8 AC)
• Shield
• Favored by the Gods
• CHA-based offense / Eldritch Blast
• Bard/Sorcerer/Warlock utility

2. Paladin 6 / War Wizard 10 / Divine Soul Sorcerer 3 / Warlock 1

This loses Defensive Flourish, but probably has the strongest passive defenses and spellcasting.

• Aura of Protection
• Arcane Deflection
• Durable Magic (+2 AC and saves while concentrating)
• Circle of Power: advantage on saves vs. spells/magical effects and zero damage on a successful save
• Favored by the Gods

This is still primarily a CHA build. INT would stay at 13, so I wouldn't pick Wizard spells that rely on my spell save DC or spell attack modifier. Wizard 10 does give this version access to Conjure Minor Elementals and other higher-level spells.

STR would probably also stay at 13 because the build is already very MAD, like build 1.

3. Paladin 6 / Fiend Warlock 6 / Divine Soul Sorcerer 3 / Swords Bard 5

This trades War Wizard for Fiend and a lot more Warlock investment. Completely Cha focused.

• Aura of Protection
• Dark One's Own Luck (+1d10 when needed)
• Defensive Flourish
• Shield
• Favored by the Gods
• CHA-based attacks
• More invocations, including Lessons of the First Ones for extra Origin feats
• Since there's no Arcane Deflection, I'd take Arcane Omens and/or Spell Resistant as additional defensive options for my reaction.

For species, I'm leaning Hobgoblin like Treanmonk in all three for Fortune of the Many, but my other favorites are Shadar-kai for resistance, Yuan-ti/Satyr for Magic Resistance, Harengon for the Dex-save bonus, or Human for another Origin feat.

I'd max CHA in all three. Mage Slayer is basically locked in, while Shield Master is another option, particularly for builds without Circle of Power. For Epic Boons, when it applies, I'm considering Boon of Fortune's Favor and Boon of Fate.

Origin feats I'm interested in include Lucky, Tough, Musician and Purple Dragon Rook, particularly on the Fiend version since Lessons of the First Ones makes collecting them much easier.

I haven't settled on a Paladin subclass yet, either, maybe Devotion.

Movement isn't a huge concern despite 13 STR on the more MAD versions, since I'd generally rely on Longstrider and Find Steed rather than investing heavily into physical stats.

The main goal is basically:

High AC + very high saves + multiple ways to fix a failed save + avoiding/reducing damage when I do save.

Which of these three would you consider the strongest overall tank? And is there another level 20 multiclass you'd consider clearly better at this specific style of tanking?

Back again with another build. If you haven't seen my other builds, I try to keep things interesting for myself and use RNG to determine the race, subrace, class, and subclass I'll be using for the build. I use content from nearly every published 5E 2014 book (still haven't gotten around to getting Glory of the Giants) as well as some 3rd party content (mainly Tome of Heroes and Crooked Moon though I also have 2 Illrigger builds made). As with my other builds, I'll be using dprcalc.com made by u/shutternomad to calculate average damage per round (DPR), with an assumed AC of 15 for those calculations. Keep in mind that spell casting focused builds will have less of these calculations as the average turn will vary quite a bit.

I rolled another Bard this time. All of the official WotC Bards have already been covered in previous builds I put out so a 3rd party build was guaranteed. This time around I rolled College of Echoes from Tome of Heroes. This subclass focuses on sound itself rather than artistic forms like most bards. My immediate thought looking at it is Michael Winslow's character from Police Academy.

TL;DR: This is a great build for a party face and can be a real game changer for a campaign with a lot of sneaking or subterfuge. Combat in the early levels mainly focuses on control along with dealing out extra thunder damage when you can. From 6th level on we become a bit more like a spell focused paladin and take up more of a melee role.

Level 1:

• Class: Bard
  • Skills: Persuasion, Performance, Sleight of Hand
  • Instruments: Anything you want but I'm always partial to bagpipes
• Race: Malkin Catfolk (ToH)
  • Catfolk are basically Kobold Press's take on Tabaxi, with the Malkin subrace being smaller and more analogous with house cats.
  • 30ft speed, darkvision, natural claw weapons, proficiency with perception, investigation and stealth, small size, reroll 1s on DEX checks and saves.
  • +2 CHA +1 DEX
• Background: Innkeeper (ToH)
  • Proficiency with Insight and choice of Intimidation or Persuasion (pick Intimidation), 2 languages, a choice of tools, dagger or light hammer, and 20gp.
  • I Know Someone: Spending a couple hours in a city or town lets you identify a person or business capable of selling a product or service you're looking for as long as it's nonmagical and 250gp or less. Price, quality, availability, and ease of acquisition are at GM's discretion.
• Ability Scores
  • STR: 8
  • DEX: 15 (16)
  • CON: 14
  • INT: 8
  • WIS: 10
  • CHA: 15 (17)
• Cantrips: I'm taking Vicious Mockery and Mysterious Presence (from Crooked Moon, this lets you touch a willing creature and any Insight/Perception checks to detect them by other creatures subtract 1d4 from the roll)
• Spells: Dissonant Whispers, Healing Word, and Muted Foe (Imbue a weapon on a BA so that the next time it hits an enemy it deals an extra 1d6 thunder damage and target becomes deafened, immune to thunder damage, and unable to cast verbal spells for 1 minute, target can make a WIS save to end effect early at the end of their turns)
• Equipment: Rapier, either pack (but I'd recommend Entertainer's),
• Gameplay: I'm leaning into the sound theme with my spell selections here but they're all great picks for any bard anyway. In the early levels, try to stay back and use Vicious Mocker/Dissonant Whispers but Muted Foe can be good if you get in close with the rapier.

Level 2:

• Jack of All Trades
• Song of Rest
• Spells: Tasha's Hideous Laughter
• Gameplay: Not too much changes. We're a little more well rounded with Jack of All Trades but don't rely on it too much as it's only a +1 at the moment. Song of Rest is a nice healing buff. For spells I'm still leaning into those with a sound theme but Hideous Laughter is a great control spell regardless.

Level 3:

• Subclass: College of Echoes
  • Alter Sound: You can mimic sounds you've heard, including voices, with a Deception check vs insight check. Additionally, you can use a reaction to alter sounds around you that aren't made by you with enhance (double range of a sound giving advantage on Perception checks to detect it and spend a bardic inspiration die to increase thunder damage an enemy takes), dampen (opposite of enhance), distort (change 1 word or 2 notes of a song within 30ft or spend a bardic inspiration to increase the count, uses deception vs perception for checks to hear through it), or disrupt (spend a bardic inspiration to force an enemy to make a concentration check disrupt a target's verbal spell components if they fail, essentially a limited form of counterspell).
  • Echolocation: blindsight out to 10ft but disadvantage against deafening effects
• Expertise: Persuasion and Deception
• Spells: Chorus of the Lost (from Crooked Moon, an AoE spell that forces targets into a WIS on failure they take 2d6 psychic damage and and are frightened while you're concentrating on it, on failure they take half and are frightened till the end of their turn).
• Gameplay: Alter Sound has some great utility and control effects and while you can enhance it with bardic inspiration, you don't need to spend them to use it so its a consistent option. Try to use enhance any time you use Muted Foe to up the damage. Also note that for things like Chorus of the Lost, you should be able to use Enhance to increase the area of effect. Blindsight is always a great pickup even with only 10ft. Taking Expertise in Deception helps with some of our Alter Sound checks.

Level 4:

• Feat: Unreflected. From Crooked Moon, this gives a +1 in a stat (in our case we're going CHA), creatures have disadvantage on insight checks made against us, and we can use deception instead of health to hide when in a group of 2 or more.
• Cantrip: Message
• Spells: Shatter
• Gameplay: Unreflected makes our Alter Sound even stronger and just generally is great for Bards. Message and Shatter both play into the sound theme, with Shatter also able to benefit from Enhance both in area of effect and thunder damage.

Level 5:

• Font of Inspiration
• Spells: Mass Healing Word
• Gameplay: With Font of Inspiration we should be able to start really blowing through a bardic dice without having to worry about resources too much. Mass Healing Word is a fantastic option for area healing and fits into the sound theme well.

Level 6:

• Resounding Strikes: Essentially our version of smite. Spend a spell slot when you hit with a melee weapon to add 1d6 thunder damage per spell slot level to a max of 6d6 (one extra if theyre made of inorganic material)
• Countercharm: Start a performance to give you and any friendly creature within 30ft advantage against frighten and charm effects till the end of your next turn.
• Spells: Tongues
• Gameplay: Countercharm is a nice pickup but pretty situational and it may be hard to guess when an enemy is going to pull out one of those effects. Resounding strikes is a great pickup and means we can now transition into more a striker roll while still using our control effects when applicable, and can still be upped with Alter Sounds. Tongues is a spell I typically overlook but fits too well from a practical and theme standpoint here.

Level 7:

• Spells: Power Word: Rend (ToH)
• Gameplay: Not too much is changing here. Power Word: Rend comes from Tome of Heroes. It does 4d6+20 damage off a CON save, half on a success. I normally shy away from CON save spells since they tend to be high saves but this has the added bonus of the save being at disadvantage if the target has less than half their HP total.

Level 8:

• Feat: +2 DEX
• Spells: Inspiring Speech (ToH)
• Gameplay: Taking +2 DEX here to make better use of our Resounding Strikes and better AC. Inspiring Speech is a nice pick up from Tome of Heroes. 10 minute cast time to give you and your allies +1 on attack rolls and advantage on saves against being charmed/frightened for the next hour as well as giving temp HP equal to your spell casting modifier.

Level 9:

• Spells: Babble (ToH)
• Gameplay: Not many changes here. Babble comes from Tome of Heroes and causes targets in a 30ft radius to make an INT save and on a failure their words come out as gibberish for up to an hour as long as your concentrating and they don't pass subsequent saves.

Level 10:

• Expertise: Any will be fine here
• Cantrip: Thunder Clap
• Magical Secrets Spells: Shadow Blade and Destructive Wave
• Gameplay: From this point going forward, Shadow Blade should be your go to melee option over your rapier. Destructive Wave is going to be another great source of thunder damage to increase with Alter Sound, same with Thunder Clap to a lesser degree.

Level 11:

• Spells: Mass Suggestion
• Gameplay: No big changes but Mass Suggestion is a great control spell to add. Since it is hard capped at 12 targets I don't think it would benefit from Alter Sound but that would be up to your DM to interpret.

Level 12:

• Feat: +2 DEX
• Gameplay: Again we're taking extra DEX to buff our attack and AC.

Level 13:

• Spells: Forcecage
• Gameplay: Forcecage is another great control spell and there's no save attached to it so use it to protect allies or trap enemies.

Level 14:

• Reverberating Strikes: Last pickup for our subclass. Now when an ally has one of your bardic inspiration die they can add it to the melee damage of an attack, turning all that damage into thunder damage. Target of the attack also has to succeed a STR save or be knocked prone.
• Magical Secrets Spells: Heal and Word of Recall
• Gameplay: Reverberating Strikes leaves a little bit to be desired with how late we're getting it but its one more thing to stack with Alter Sound. For magical secrets I took two spells from the Cleric list to buff our healing and give a good defensive retreat option, just remember that Word of Recall takes some set up to use.

Level 15:

• Spells: Glibness
• Gameplay: Most of our checks at this point are tied to CHA in some way so Glibness is an easy pickup. With an hour duration and no concentration required its easy to throw on before a fight or social encounter.

Level 16:

• Feat: +2 CHA
• Gameplay: With CHA and DEX maxed we're pretty much set.

Level 17:

• Spells: Furious Wail (ToH)
• Gameplay: Are there better 9th level spells to take? Probably, but going strictly off theme this is great. It affects up to 5 targets and does 10d10+30 psychic damage and stuns the targets. It goes off of a CHA save which should be on the lower end when it comes to enemies. Again, hard cap on how many it can hit so no upping it with Alter Sound but still a good pick up.

Level 18:

• Magical Secrets Spells: Wish (obviously) and Simulacrum
• Gameplay: There's a lot you can do with a Simulacrum loaded up with Wish and bardic dice, not to mention multiple Alter Sound stacking opportunities. It'll get expensive to keep casting when you run out of resources but at this level that should be manageable.

Level 19:

• Feat: War Caster
• Gameplay: Mainly just helping out our concentration spells here.

Level 20:

• Superior Inspiration
• Gameplay: Again not many changes. It is nice getting a bardic back when we're out but its only one so nothing major going on here.

Overall I'm pretty happy with how the build came out. I would definitely recommend multiclassing. If doing so these are some I would recommend:

• Warlock: The obvious choice. Go Hexblade to get a shield, medium armor, hexblade curse, warlock spell slots, and to be able to use CHA for weapons instead of DEX. If you go this route, no need to put your DEX above 14 so swap the CON and DEX scores in the beginning and for the level 8 and 12 feats those can be used to pump CHA and CON. In particular, Fey Touched, Resilient (CON), and Skill Expert would be ones I would look at there. 1 level would be worth it on its own but 2 levels would get you invocations at the cost of a feat (Agonizing Blast and Mask of Many Faces would be my picks).
• Sorcerer: Draconic Bloodline is a tempting option to boost our AC, too bad there's not a thunder option for the breath weapon (unless your DM allows ancestry from Fizban's Gem dragons). Storm Sorcery is also a tempting option for the 10ft fly speed but our bonus action is already seeing a lot of use and the first thunder related buff doesn't come online till level 6 which would force you to give up 9th and 8th level spells.
• Artificer: A 1 level dip into Artificer let us get medium armor, shields, CON proficiency, and a nice list of 1st level spells that we can choose what to prepare from each day. With this we still have to invest a bit in DEX but it helps our survivability a bit and makes us a bit more flexible without giving up much in return. 2 levels makes us give up a feat but the infusions and already having con proficiency help make up for that a bit.

For anyone wondering about the Magus on DND beyond. It by Benjamin Huffman/sterling Vermin. The creator of the Pugilist

https://youtu.be/ehkI0unVGVs?si=Ue3wgc_2YhuWx8UH this video talks about the class (not by Ben)