Optimal Barbarian/Wizard: The Warrior Philosopher

The Warrior Philosopher

Barbarian/Wizard Multiclass Build

The Character:

The talons' grip released high above the ground, letting a stick it was clutching plummet and twist with the wind. Kane watched as another young eagle stooped after it, rocketing faster than the branch could fall and catching it safe between its jaws. Kane loved to watch the eagles play. It reminded him of soldiers sparring -- a game by all definitions, but one that prepared for war. If the eagles could not dive, they could not eat, and if a general could not think, he could not lead his men. . .

Kane looked down at his body, growing soft in the wooden armchair. Steam from the tea his wife had left him still roiled out of the cup and over the tops of his scrolls piled high on the end table. He had to return those soon, though he did not look forward to the trek down the mountain. The journey was becoming harder and harder on his aging body, but the real terror lay in the others seeing him and sneering. The Two-Headed Eagle, wings clipped, a glorified pet.

If only he had taken his own advice. If only he had been watching.

The Concept: Build, Character, Backgrounds

Let's face it: the Barbarian & the Wizard are diametrically opposed in terms of role, stats, abilities, and just about anything else one can think of. Therefore, I can think of no better multiclass than Barbarian/Wizard to kick off the Optimum Suboptimum Opusculum, a series where I'll be showcasing atypical multiclass builds! Barbarian/Wizard is . . . challenging, for to use the primary feature of one class, you are locked out of the other: one cannot cast spells while they are raging, and vice versa. This little hiccup can be overcome, though, by utilizing non-concentration spells. However, the real challenge came when trying to find a role for this multiclass to fill. So, I asked myself, what party roles can both a Barbarian and a Wizard fulfill? Since the obvious answer of DPS is off the table due to our conflicting class abilities, damage reduction was the only remaining answer. While the Barbarian and Wizard go about this role in different ways, the former taking hits on the chin and grinning through it and the latter preventing hits altogether via abjuration magic, the two can come together to create a surprisingly effective support/tank with a melee DPS that is not to be scoffed at. 

Inspired by the majestic birds of his home mountains to rise above what he thought himself capable of, Kane rose from peasantry to the rank of renowned military strategist and author of war philosophy. Detailed in his published meditations, Above the Battlefield, Kane's primary stratagems were based on his observations of eagles: how they work in pairs while hunting--one eagle driving the prey to its waiting partner. The bird became the symbol of his company, and eventually the army itself when he rose to the rank of general. His soldiers and enemies referred to him as the Two-Headed Eagle for he was twice as deadly, and it seemed he could never be surprised. This, of course, proved false when he was outmaneuvered by a rebellious upstart, leaving his forces crippled. His underestimation cost the army greatly, and while the rebel and their men were eventually destroyed, he was not there to oversee it. Instead, he was advised by the ruler he served to retire and serve as war counselor. The soldiers had lost their reverence for him, though his strategic mind was not to be discarded for just one failure. Kane returned to his family, and mountain home, to watch the eagles once more and reflect upon the choices that brought him there. 

It was there Kane lived out his days in relative seclusion, devoting his time to tomes on ornithology and scrolls of wizardry loaned from the royal library. He would descend from the mountain only to fulfill his obligations as advisor and to exchange his books. Suffice it to say, it is no wonder that when the opportunity for adventure presented itself to Kane on one of these excursions, he eagerly took the chance to redeem himself on the fields of combat, and restore himself in the eyes of those he failed.

Kane is a Lawful Neutral retired general, which is why I've chosen the Soldier background for him. Perhaps, though, over the course of his travels, he learns to fight for good rather than reputation.

The Race: Human (Variant)

Though there are a plethora of options, the classic choice of Variant Human works best for this build for the sole reason of its starting feat. As this build is no-doubt multiple attribute dependent (MAD), all of our ability score increases (ABI) will be spent on getting our stats to where they need to be rather than taking optional feats. However, if you plan to play Kane in a campaign where you can roll for his stats rather than taking the standard array or point-buy, just about any race fits the story of this build, and that's intentional! If you're looking for the most optimal choice, though, and if so I'm surprised you've read this far into a Barbarian/Wizard multiclass build, the Half-Orc for its Relentless Endurance trait fits the role this character should fill quite nicely.

As a Variant Human, Kane should start with a +1 to STR & CON, and should start with the Mobile feat.

The Stat Spread (Point-Buy):

STR 16 (+3), CON 14 (+2), DEX 14 (+2), INT 13 (+1), CHA 9 (-1), WIS 8 (-1)
   15 (9pts)        13 (5pts)         14 (7pts)         13 (5pts)        9 (1pt)         8 (0pts)

This build is heavily MAD so point-buy works best. STR is our primary source of damage and accuracy, so it should be highest. CON is representative of HP, and paired with DEX is representative of AC, so these should be second-highest. INT needs to be 13 to multiclass to Wizard, and will be responsible for our Arcane Ward temporary HP, so it will be leveled higher alongside our STR score with ABIs. Our points are expended, so CHA & WIS are our dump stats. Our 4 ABIs will be used to boost INT & CHA by +1 for the first, INT by +2 for the second, and then STR by +2 for the third and fourth -- leaving us with STR 20, INT 16, and CHA 10.

Note: This character's low Wisdom score may appear to present a discrepancy between game mechanics and backstory; however, in Dungeons & Dragons, the Intelligence stat represents how well your character learns and reasons whereas Wisdom represents your character's perception, and intuition. Therefore, having low Wisdom does not contradict this character's role as a philosopher and strategist despite real-world connotations of the word. 

The Classes: Notable Features & Synergies

Totem (Eagle) Barbarian (14)

School of Abjuration Wizard (6)

This build will adopt a swooping playstyle, reminiscent of Kane's muse: the eagle. Our goal is to take as little damage as possible while rapidly dealing out chip damage to rotating targets. Ideally, we can be anywhere on the battlefield at any time.

The Mobile feat we began with boosts our speed to 40, and the Barbarian's 5th-level Fast Movement feature boosts it to 50, which makes our Dash 100. With the Barbarian's 3rd-level Eagle Totem Spirit, we can Dash as a bonus action (which makes our total potential movement in a round 150) and force opportunity attacks made against us to be made with disadvantage. Additionally, Mobile forces attacks of opportunity made against us by a creature we've attacked during the same turn to automatically fail. Pair this with a reach weapon, like the Halberd, and the temporary HP of the Abjuration Wizard's Arcane Ward feature, and we should be able to move anywhere on the battlefield without punishment, making attacks as we go, and ending our turn out of reach from any combatant. The idea here is to present ourselves as a threat to as many enemies as possible, corralling them toward our other DPS party members, or otherwise forcing them to waste their turn dashing to be within range of attacking us.

Primary Weapon: Halberd (Two-handed) -- For when keeping a distance from the foe is tactically viable, which is always unless in tight corridors. AC while wielding is 14 (15 w/ Mage Armor).

Secondary Weapon: Longsword (One-handed: Sword & Board) -- one-hand w/ shield if 16 AC (17 w/ Mage Armor) is priority & damage is secondary, for example when facing a powerful boss.

Tertiary Weapon: Net (Ranged Utility) -- Pair w/ Reckless Attack to grapple w/out disadvantage when within 5 feet*; useful for subduing an enemy when there are two equal threats spread out on the board. 

  

   *Controversy: Mike Mearls, co-lead designer for D&D 5E, says that attacks with the net are always made with disadvantage, even within the 5ft normal range, as nets are classified as ranged weapons and, thus, a melee attack cannot be made with them. If your DM is a rules-as-written (RAW) kinda person, this is damning for the net, rendering it effectively useless -- you might as well just attempt a contested grapple with advantage while raging. However, personally, I would home-rule that if the net is being held and used to attack when within 5 feet of a target, it should count as a melee attack. This would mean Reckless Attack could apply to it, offering a grapple attempt with advantage, though the big distinction here between the net and just a standard grapple while raging is you can leave your target grappled on the ground while moving to fight elsewhere after they're ensnared.

Spells: As we'll be raging for the majority of battle, its best for us to focus on non-concentration spells that we cast before jumping into the fray. However, there will be some options for spells meant for casting mid-battle. Since our levels are primarily in Barbarian, we'll have plenty of uses of Rage to afford prematurely ending one in order to cast a spell. 

Our specialty in the Abjuration school provides us with an Arcane Ward, which powers up and recharges upon the casting of Abjuration spells, and two great 1st level spells of that school are Mage Armor and Absorb Elements. The former is something we should cast before every battle, as with Unarmored Defense we shouldn't be wearing armor anyway, and a free +1 bump to AC and a fully charged 18 HP Ward (effectively 36 HP while raging) is nothing to scoff at. The latter will require some more complex maneuvers to pull off, but if done correctly effectively grants us the Bear Barbarian Totem on top of our Eagle. For example, say we're fighting a dragon. We know that it just rolled to regain its breath weapon and succeeded. On our turn, we drop our rage, but proceed normally with the rest of our turn. When the breath weapon comes on its next turn, we utilize our reaction to cast Absorb Elements and halve the elemental damage since we are no longer raging. On our next turn, the rage resumes, and now we have a Halberd infused with the dragon's breath weapon damage boosted by Rage! As I said, a complex maneuver, but when it works it works.

If our aim to is to take even less damage (and believe me, it is), we can utilize both Mirror Image and Blink simultaneously, as neither are concentration, and become what is effectively a mirage. Does our character even exist, or did the wind just disembowel that ogre? We may never know. 

Do we need more temporary HP? What tank doesn't? A max level (which is in our case, 3rd level) False Life can grant us a minimum of 15 or maximum of 18 additional temporary HP, which while raging becomes either an effective 30 or 36 HP respectively. So, with a 3rd level False Life & Arcane Ward we can begin battle with an extra 72 HP while raging! But it doesn't stop there -- we don't have just one 3rd level slot. If our bank of temporary HP depletes, end Rage early and cast 3rd level False Life again. Don't worry about recharging the ward, we don't have high enough level abjuration spells to make a difference. So, with Rage, three casts of 3rd level False Life, and our original Arcane Ward, we have a whopping 144 extra HP! Technically. 

Are we not satisfied with our ungodly 150 movement per round? Why not make it 180? With Longstrider, a 10 foot boost to our speed makes our speed 60 and our bonus action dash 120! How about vertical speed? Well, our running high jump is 8 feet, but with the Jump spell, its 24. Pair this with our Eagle Totemic Attunement, and we can jump and then fly another 50 feet (or 60 with Longstrider), totaling at around 70-80 foot hops. 

Some Eagle themed non-concentration spells include Darkvision, to make up for our humanity, and See Invisibility! There's also nothing stopping us from just taking Fly and only using it outside of battle.

Unique Multiclass Synergies:

-Rage + Arcane Ward = Our rage makes us resistant to bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage. If we are resistant, so is our ward, thus doubling the amount of temporary HP it provides! 

-Rage + Absorb Elements (spell) = With this feature and spell combined, our character resists most damage types, making up for not choosing the Bear totem!

The Feats: Hit Me, Damnit!

Mobile, which we begin our build with as a Variant Human, grants us a longer Totemic Attunement flight speed at later levels and benefits our darting playstyle, especially when taking Dash as a bonus action thanks to our Totem Spirit. No other feats are really worth taking over just a standard stat increase, but if you roll for Kane's stats rather than using Point-Buy, some options include Alert (for roleplaying purposes and a quick initiative to pair with our quick movement speed), Great Weapon Master (for Halberd damage buffing), Savage Attacker (for a potential of higher damage), Sharpshooter (for non-disadvantage net throws out to 15 feet), and Tough (for extra HP). 

Leveling: When to Take What

(1-5) Barbarian -- The Barbarian is the superior class to begin this multiclass build with for a multitude of reasons. For one, it gives proficiency in Constitution saving throws. We won't be concentrating on spells much, but when we are, this will come in handy. The rest of our reasons include but aren't limited to our starting equipment, HP, and proficiencies. We'll level to 5 in order to gain our first ABI and Extra Attack as quickly as possible.

(6-10/11) Wizard -- The next 5/6 levels will be all Wizard. We do this so our second ABI is only delayed by one level and to gain access to 3rd level spells as quickly as possible. There is a bit of controversy here, though, and where Kane may begin to differ from player to player. We can opt to stop at 5th level Wizard, as we have access to 3rd level spells then, in order to ensure we get the 15th level Barbarian feature Persistent Rage at character level 20 and get Totemic Attunement, flying speed, one level early. However, doing so sacrifices an additional 2 HP (4 while raging) for our Arcane Ward, an extra 3rd level spell slot, two extra spells, and the Projected Ward ability that allows us to help reduce damage to our party. Personally, I believe the extra 6th level in Wizard is worth it, but for those playing Kane with more rage and less wizardry in mind, the extra Barbarian level is likely preferable.

(11/12-20) Barbarian -- We gain the rest of our ABIs and class features, capstoning either with the Eagle Totemic Attunement, which grants us a flight speed, or with Persistent Rage. 

Play Style: Raptor's Stoop

Pre-Battle: We begin all combat with our choice of buffing spell. If AC is more important, Mage Armor is a solid option. If perhaps you are weakened from earlier fights and have less HP, Blink, False Life, or Mirror Image are the ideal step. If movement is a factor, Longstrider or Jump will do. If your foe is a mage, maybe See Invisibility. If multiple of these are needed, and it certainly can't hurt to double or even triple up, make sure you have the time to cast as many of these spells as possible before entering combat, else you waste all your turns prepping. Don't just blunder into a fight! You're a once-renowned military strategist. When you can, take your enemies by surprise.

Early Battle: The first step is a simple one: establish a territory. Like a bird of prey, lay claim to a piece of the battlefield by swooping back and forth near it, making it inhospitable for any number of foes to stand there. Hit one creature, move, hit another, and then swoop back to safety, only to rinse and repeat. The goal here is to shepherd foes into the waiting arms of your DPS party members -- they'd rather deal with them then you. If fighting a singular monster, like a boss, employ similar tactics, the only change being to unleash your full turn of attacks on the one creature before retreating. When our enemies flee, be sure to snare one up in a net and finish them off with attacks made at advantage, or leave them there for your party to deal with.

Mid-Late Battle: Once the main mass of opposing creatures have been rounded up, abandon your line and dive straight into the fray, sewing chaos. Choose a different set of creatures to attack each round and deal as much chip-damage as possible to make it easier for your teammates to finish them off. If you weaken a big herd, a single fireball from the spellcaster may take them all out at once.

Roleplay: The Two-Headed Eagle

Quotes from Kane's philosophical text on war and diplomacy, Above the Battlefield:

"Eagles do not screech unless they seek a mate, their life's purpose. Their sharp beak and strong jaw demonstrate the importance of knowing when to speak, how much, and how strongly."

"Eagles are predators with a powerful sense of energy conservation. They use their great vision to know when to take flight and capture their prey. To align oneself with the eagle is to take on the responsibility and power of inaction." 

Kane is a warrior-philosopher, a rich concept to mine for roleplay! Perhaps he has a list of quotes from
his book that he can apply to a multitude of different situations. First and foremost, however, he is a strategist. He will approach each opportunity for combat with great caution, especially now, after his great defeat resulting from his failure to prepare. Kane seeks to redeem himself and restore his credibility as a respected war-mind, so he will not be eager to lose. His rage can be themed to this desperate need to win -- its not anger so much as it is raw determination to succeed. Additionally, Kane has a wife, and potentially grown children, that live in his mountain home. He's likely not eager to leave them behind, and yet destiny calls to him. Perhaps he writes them letters while out on adventures, or seeks souvenirs when in exotic places to bring home to them. Does Kane have old war buddies from his days as general? It's likely! Who were his friends in the line-of-duty, and who were his foes? Discuss with your DM who the royal was that Kane served as general, and perhaps have a roleplay moment where Kane hands in his resignation as advisor in order to travel with the adventuring party! Kane would also likely struggle with that decision. Is he dishonoring himself further by abandoning the royal and not being there to advise, only to what, travel around with a bunch of ragtag mercenaries? He's an old man, this is the choice of an adolescent! Of course, it is the right decision, though Kane could not know this -- a testament to his bravery.

Conclusion:

The Barbarian/Wizard is extremely niche, and to be honest, a majority of the Wizard subclasses do not pair really at all with any form of the Barbarian. However, utilizing the unique synergy of Rage and the Abjuration Wizard's Arcane Ward feature can take the Barbarian's tanking abilities to the next level. Pair this with buffing spells and suddenly the enemy must face a type of Barbarian they had never before considered. 

Character Sheet:

LVL 20 Character Sheet

Ultimate Long Death Monk: Temporary HP Tank Build

Monk: Way of the Long Death

Control Tank & Temporary HP Build

The Character:

"The lurking lion stalks his prey like death stalks mortals." Shodosk meditated with his legs crossed, mantra echoing between the cold stone walls of his den. The sour smell of death filled his nostrils and he basked in its presence. Those were his deaths. The snakeskins coiled around the candles: his deaths. The untreated zebra hide he sat upon: his deaths. The horns of gazelles and antelopes tacked to the walls: his deaths. The rotting corpses piled in the corners ...

Buzzing flies clipped at his ears though he did not shoo them. Their presence annoyed others, or so Shodosk had been told, but to him they were the reward for a job well done. Flies did not come unless there was death: the death of a fruit, the death of a meal, the death of an animal, the death of a man. The flies knew him as their master, like a dog knows a man. Their relationship was symbiotic. His killings brought them sustenance, and their buzzing brought him concentration, white noise to fill his ears with peace. In their noisy silence he could recite his mantra and truly focus upon it. "The lurking lion stalks his prey like death stalks mortals."

Shodosk's nostrils flared at a bright smell that suddenly tickled the back of his skull: yellow life invading his dark corridors. All the monks were supposed to be at meditation during this hour. Either the intruder was one that sought his death, an honorable goal, or one that sought someone else's. Shodosk had caught the man's scent before the sound of footsteps reached his ears and knew him as a monastery monk, though that meant nothing. Should he wish to fight him, Shodosk did not mind. He did not fear death, and should his demise serve to further the monastery's research he would go gladly to the dark, as would his opponent. The gait grew closer and louder before finally culminating in a final slap of sandal on stone. The figure halted in the doorway, blocking the light that filtered in, casting a shadow over Shodosk.

"Lurk? The Cold One requires you to hunt once more. Will you abide?" the monk called.

Shodosk cracked one eye, its golden light piercing the darkness. "The lurking lion stalks his prey like death stalks mortals. Yes, I will abide."

The Concept: Build, Character, Backgrounds

Like the Oath of the Crown Paladin and the Undying Patron Warlock, the Order of the Long Death Monk is not unpopular for being underpowered but for being under-read. So, with my blog that boasts a whole fifty readers I hope to change that. I find that this monk provides fantastic story and character opportunities alike with a unique focus on death without it being through the lens of a god or magic like a Death Cleric or Necromancer. This subclass views death as a singular entity, and does not concern itself with the afterlife or religion. It is for that reason that they do not fear death, and their abilities mimic this allowing for a battlefield control tank build which, when combined with the right race and feats, rivals the Path of the Zealot Barbarian in how difficult it is to be knocked unconscious.

A monk from the Order of the Long Death

The character is a shifter monk belonging to the Order of the Long Death. The monks of the Long Death intensely study the effect of the process of death on living tissue. The ultimate objective is to discover the 'perfect death' - an objective that no member of the group really understands, let alone has been able to achieve. It is rumored that outside of the monasteries they wander relatively aimlessly, often disguised as beggars, attacking humanoids that they come across in an effort to inflict as painful a death as they can using only their bare hands. This may be true for some rogue members of the order, but this is not their usual behavior, though their usual behavior is far from normal. Their laboratories are full of decaying, dying, and dead animal and plant specimens that they study with detached interest; they frequently purchase rare specimens that they cannot obtain easily themselves from adventurers and merchants. But such studies are only part of the monks' daily life: they seek to understand death as it pertains especially to intelligent living beings. To this end, they exhume corpses from crypts and graveyards, and then they transport the corpses to their monastery. There they examine the cadavers in their well-stocked laboratories and observe them as they decompose. They also - and it is for this that they are most reviled and feared - purchase living slaves and put them to death, slowly, recording their observations and asking the perishing slaves questions about their fatal experience. In some of the civilized countries they dwell in, though, slaves are hard to come by, so the order has been obliged to obtain its living specimens by other means such as abducting them from outlying farmsteads and poorly-defended hamlets in the dead of night. This is the role of our character.

Shodosk Hadavu, or "Lurk" if going by his wandering name, serves as an abductor for the Order of the Long Death. Like most monks he is an orphan donated to the monastery as an infant and raised amongst its hermitage. His heritage is an odd one though his time spent in years of meditation have helped him to access the beast within, a mark of his faerianthropic heritage. He still struggles against his lionlike pride, but over all he is an honorable man who works willingly for the monastery that raised him, feeling he owes them a life debt for their generosity. It is for this reason that I've chosen the Criminal background as abducting innocents from their homes isn't necessarily legal, though the Hermit background works thematically as well. His alignment is Lawful Neutral. He abides by the rules of the order and does not question their commands of him but he also does not follow them out of malice or to see people hurt. He only kills when asked, by victim or by patron, and does not view death as an evil, but as a gift. Perhaps his character arc can involve coming to the realization that the taking of a life, even with permission, may lie more in the realm of evil than that of good.

The Race: Beasthide Shifter 

Originally, the decision came down between the Ghostwise Halfling and the Wildhunt Shifter for the race of this build. As the reader might notice, I wound up choosing the Shifter, just not the same subrace of Wildhunt. Both make for fantastic monks, but I ultimately settled on the Shifter for their Shifting trait which grants temporary HP, a theme present in the Order of the Long Death subclass as well. This recurring features gave me something to construct the build around. I made the story for this character wholly intending for them to be a Wildhunt Shifter. The + to Wisdom and Dexterity seemed the perfect fit, and the whole "predator tracks their prey thing" really vibed with me and aligned with the Way of the Long Death's modus operandi, but upon further consideration I realized that the Beasthide Shifter provided far better subracial traits than the Wildhunt Shifter, even though they miss out on a boost to Wisdom in favor of Constitution. 

A pack of werecats, our Shifter's heritage

The Shifter's Shifting trait grants temporary HP equal to the character's level and their Constitution modifier (which encourages us to increase that number) as a bonus action, and the transformation lasts for 1 minute, or 10 rounds of combat. Each subrace adds an additional bonus to this transformation, and the Beasthide Shifter adds 1d6 additional temporary HP as well as a +1 bump to AC. Since we plan on constructing a tank, all of these passives are fantastic and perfectly serve the function of the build.

The Stat Spread (Standard Array):

DEX 16 (+3), CON 15 (+2), WIS 14 (+2), STR 12 (+1), CHA 10 (+0), INT 8 (-1)

Dexterity has been prioritized for damage and AC, as it is the primary stat of the monk. Constitution is second in terms of importance for both HP purposes, due to our intended tanking role, and the temporary HP boost granted by the Shifter race, but it will not receive any stat boosts. Wisdom follows for AC and the temporary HP boost granted by the Touch of Death feature, what will be providing a majority of the build's temporary HP. Wisdom will receive stat boosts secondary to Dexterity. The rest are dump stats ordered for flavor, though their assigned statistics can be interchanged as they will not come up much for this build.

The Class: Notable Features

Touch of Death: as will be discussed in the Play Style section of the post, this build will have two primary play styles: missile throwing and melee. This feature serves the latter, and more frequent of the play styles, and creates the framework for the temporary HP side of this build. Gaining temporary HP equal to the player's Wisdom modifier + their character level every time they down an opponent within 5ft. is extremely valuable for the tank. Assuming the Monk use their Shifting trait before combat, which they should, they will begin combat with temporary hit points equal to their level + their Constitution modifier + 1d6 thanks to their racial trait. This should be plenty to cushion them for the two to three blows they're going to take before killing an enemy (unless it's a mini-boss or boss). Once the foe is down, the Monk's temporary HP replenishes thanks to Touch of Death. Ideally, enemies will have to consistently push through layers and layers of renewed temporary HP before even being able to put a dent in our Monk. Pair this feature with Mastery of Death and it'd be a wonder if our Monk ever fell unconscious.

Hour of Reaping: the other play style of the build, missile throwing, is centered around this feature which grants our Monk a great degree of battlefield control. Spending an action to frighten all enemies out to 30 feet around the group where the only attacks they can make are ranged ones with disadvantage (due to the fright) allows the Monk to clear the battlefield and use their Deflect Missiles feature to catch all in-coming arrows and then activate return-to-sender mode. Using this play style interspersed with melee allows the monk to periodically thin the herd should the party become too overwhelmed: fight in melee, frighten away foes when it gets to be too much, watch the foes run back into the fray once their fear subsides, fight in melee, rinse and repeat. Those enemies that don't run mindlessly back in are stuck firing at range which our Monk can take care of via their large temporary HP pools and Deflect Missiles feature.

Mastery of Death: this feature is the Half-Orc's Relentless Endurance feature on steroids and why I considered just for half-a-moment using the Half-Orc race for the build, though I ultimately decided against it due to its non-optimized stat boosts, etc. Via this feature, the Monk can spend a Ki point as a free action to drop to 1 HP instead of being knocked unconscious whenever they take damage. Since its a free action, and not a reaction, that means even if the Monk is surrounded by five foes and takes strikes from all of them in a single round they'll still likely remain standing, making the Cleric's job a little easier, and cementing their role as tank. This ability paired with Touch of Death is what makes this subclass rival the Zealot Barbarian's survivability in combat.

Feats: King of the Jungle

The Tough feat should be taken as soon as possible, while the Savage Attacker feat is up to the player's discretion. Prioritizing maximizing Dexterity and boosting Wisdom can come before taking the feat, or after.

Tough: the longevity of this character is an integral part of it's strength. Never having to use Ki points on the Mastery of Death feature is the ideal state of our Monk, as they're best saved for Deflect Missiles, and so to best prevent that we will take the Tough feat which grants an enormous boost to HP. The enemy should have to pound away through layers and layers of temporary HP as well as regular HP before pushing the Monk to rely on Mastery of Death, and this feat accomplishes that. Also, what kind of tank would our character be without stores and stores of health?

Savage Attacker: this is an odd one but ultimately beneficial to maximizing our temporary HP generation. Why? The faster we kill enemies, the quicker we generate temporary HP. So, what happens if we roll all 1s for damage? No problem. With the Savage Attacker feat we can choose to reroll any damage rolls we like, and if the reroll just so happens to be worse, we can use either total. There's no reason to not use this feature every time the Monk rolls for damage seeing as either rolled total can be used. This allows us to completely maximize our damage output which in turn maximizes our temporary HP generation which boosts our survivability. Tanks aren't just about how many hits they can take, but how many hits they can prevent the party from taking, so killing enemies quickly also serves toward that goal. If the enemies are dead, they can't hit the party.

While the feats listed above are idealized for this build, should the player wish for more options the following may also serve them well: Martial Adept (for the Disarming Attack and Parry maneuvers; being able to remove an enemy's method of dealing damage or at least making them waste an action to rearm themselves can be quite useful and the ability to reduce damage to oneself also serves the roll of preserving our temporary HP stores), Sentinel (while keeping enemies within 5ft. of the tank is counter intuitive to the Hour of Reaping feature's fear effect paired with the Deflect Missiles feature, keeping foes within melee-range before the strategy is employed can be quite useful), and Tavern Brawler (the +1 to Constitution using the standard array puts our character at an even number, bumping the modifier up, and gaining the ability to use a bonus action for a grapple attack has so many implications for a tank -- keeping enemies away from allies is the tank's primary role, after all).

Play Style: Defender of the Pride

Pre-Battle: the Monk is certainly a combat-oriented class, and as a non-spellcaster there is very little if any for this class to do in preparation for a fight save for taking a quick nap to regain spent Ki points and delivering some classic one-liners. Our Monk does have a high perception skill as a result of their Keen Senses racial trait and high Wisdom, so as a tank build it may serve them well to scout the field of play if at all possible and strategize ways for them to stay at the center of the fray. Other than that, prepare for some punching.

Early Battle: establish the tank's territory, otherwise known as the splash zone but for blood and guts and stuff, early on. Unless there's a very specific reason not to, the Monk should have a field of play all their own that their fellow adventurer's steer clear of. The tank can'd do its job if the party members wander into the way of danger. Start racking up that temporary HP early via Touch of Death and take out the little guys. By the time the lackeys are down the Monk should have taken very little actual damage, though they may have gone through a lot of temporary HP. 

Mid-Late Battle: unfortunately, the enemies will eventually catch-on to the tank's strategy of "don't look at them, look at me!" and avoid them as a target, singling out the other members of the party. This is when the Monk jumps in as quote-unquote "Defender of the Pride." Gather the group together, or jump into their midst, and switch to full defensive mode via Hour of Reaping. Spend all the Monk's full actions keeping enemies terrified and therefore away from their nearby allies and should the enemies attempt a disadvantaged ranged attack rely on Deflect Missiles to punish them for even considering an attack.

Roleplay: "A lion's work hours are only when he's hungry; once he's satisfied, the predator and prey live peacefully together."

Shodosk is a man touched with the heritage of lions. Well, werelions (reflavored weretigers). As such, he struggles against an inner beast -- the perfect challenge for a monk to overcome and a great metaphor for the player to use as a storytelling device. This can serve as a literal interpretation of a man struggling against violent impulses, or the quote-unquote inner beast.

As a bearer of lion's blood, Shodosk is prideful. He is a monk but he has not yet mastered his mantras and what they mean. He may blow up at the slightest insult, or find himself backed into a corner when issued a challenge: he must abide or take a hit to his pride. His lionlike qualities are not all detriments, though. He is not bloodthirsty, just as lions are not. The Way of the Long Death does not demand pointless death, and he only kills when asked by his prey, when forwarding the will of his organization, or when absolutely necessary.

He is fiercely loyal, and defensive of his allies. He will protect his friends like the king of the jungle protects his pride. He is bestially strong and intimidating, capable of handling himself in a fight. Lastly, he is brave. Being raised in a sequestered monastery was likely a childhood devoid of judgement seeing as many of his fellow monks were in the same camp as he: abandoned orphans, unwanted misfits or donated children. So, it's a safe bet he was never made to feel bad about his ancestry. Perhaps his bloodline was even encouraged as a personal strength. So, his bravery is one born of confidence as well as dogma. He has many advantages over his prey, and his training since youth has instilled in him a non-fear of death -- something many men feign but very few actually possess.

In terms of flavor for class abilities I like to imagine that his temporary HP comes from his protective instincts. Much like a mother who gains the ability to lift a car off of their infant, people are capable of things far greater than their bodies usually allow when fueled by adrenaline. The Mastery of Death feature would fall into the same vein, resisting death in order to remain present to protect his fellows. For Hour of Reaping, I like to imagine Shodosk unleashing a terrifying lion roar, or perhaps just exuding the energy of a predator. Even the bravest zebra might try to charge and trample a lion, but should that lion call their bluff, the prey will often fall short and accept their end. This is no different.

Conclusion:

Temporary HP is a mechanic that is often an afterthought, let alone the centerpiece of a build. This is a shame as there are a plethora of spells, class features and racial traits that take advantage of and maximize the mechanic's efficiency. Seeing an opportunity to showcase an underused buff and an underappreciated subclass at the same time was just too good an opportunity to pass up. The Long Death Monk's ability to combine DPS, tanking and battlefield control make it a uniquely powerful ally to have in a party and one that can fill the role of a combat jack-of-all-trades with the added benefit of almost never being knocked unconscious. As always, I wish those future Way of the Long Death Monks luck in their adventuring and that they have as much fun playing Shodosk as I had building him, or whatever character they choose to make with the race, stats and abilities of the build!

Character Sheets:

LVL 1 Character Sheet

LVL 20 Character Sheet

Ultimate Knowledge Cleric: Skill Monkey Build

Cleric: Knowledge Domain

Skill Monkey Support Build

The Character:

Vankåb Thîkutizeg marched through the streets of Illul toward the towering High Holy Crafthouse of Inspiration. The client was set to meet him on the front steps, a cleric of Gond, though that was no surprise. Just about everyone on Lantan worshiped the Wonderbringer. Just recently, the cleric had commissioned him for a hammer, but not just any hammer: one engraved with runic symbols capable of channeling the holy magic of inspiration itself, the magic of Gond. It was a long and rigorous process, one that required many resources and more than one sleepless night bent over the forge, but in his hands Vankåb held a work even the high-chinned brown-nosing Sonnlinor, those purist worshipers of Moradin, would envy. "Not of the right clan. The wrong blood to join the order." He spit in protest at even the memory of their words. He'd show them. He rounded the corner and before him on those great stairs sat a thinly built human man in scarlet robes, face shadowed by one of those ridiculous golden sunhats Gond's clerics wore everywhere they went. 

The man jumped and fished out a small sack of coin from his robe pockets upon seeing Vankåb and handed it to him. The two swapped burdens and the client bleated a boisterous spiel of thanks though Vankåb could not focus on his words. All the usual thoughts of accomplishment accompanied by the relief of a conversation ending were drowned out by the thought of his finest work in the soft, fragile hands of that bumbling clergyman. Now that Vankåb thought about it, not a single rough patch was visible on the preacher's fingers, and what craftsmen worth their salt didn't have roughened hands? No no no, this was all wrong! This was a treasure to rival the creations of the Dwarffather's chief smiths, it couldn't just go to some . . . anybody!

"Actually," Vankåb plucked the hammer back out of the man's grip,"I've changed my mind. It's not for sale." He dropped the coin pouch back into the hands of the cleric, who moments before had been ogling his new toy. The hammer couldn't just sit on display in his smithy either. It demanded the perfect wielder, a champion of craft, someone that would use it to forge new wonders of the mortal realm. He couldn't seek out that wielder sequestered in his tiny shop. No, for such a champion he'd have to search. Though, as the hammer's creator, perhaps he might wield it in the meantime.

The Concept: Build, Character, Backgrounds

Simply put, Knowledge Clerics fall to the side because a majority of their class features do not add combat benefit. These clerics are not damage-oriented or heal-oriented, they are skill-oriented. Most players when they wish to make a skill-based build will of course look to the Bard or Rogue for their Expertise class feature and excessive skill and tool proficiencies; however, I'm here to say that the Knowledge Cleric actually bests both of those classes with one overlooked class feature, a Channel Divinity option known as Knowledge of the Ages (which will be discussed later in the post). This singular feature allows the Knowledge Cleric to be a skill based-build that is not a jack of all trades, master of none, but instead a jack of all trades, master of all.

Gond the Wonderbringer

The character is a hill dwarf cleric of Gond, the Wonderbringer. Originally from the Hill Dwarf city of Great Rift, Vankåb wished to be a cleric of Moradin, the Dwarffather, patron of dwarvish craftsmen and protector of their strongholds. The Sonnlinor, clerics of Moradin, rejected his wish to join their ranks. It was not out of spite, merely stubborn dwarvish tradition. Most occupations are drawn from family lines in dwarvish culture, the Sonnlinor included. As a descendant of the Thîkutizeg, or Bookape, clan, Vankåb was destined for life as a runesmith, an inscriber of arcane symbols into smithed weapons and armors, not a holy warrior. Crestfallen, shamed and not a little bit hurt, Vankåb finished his apprenticeship under an elder of his clan and left Great Rift. He found himself on the island nation of Lantan, in the Trackless Sea above the Chultan penninsula: a society of humans and gnomes known for its advanced technology and the population's devout worship of Gond. Here, he grew locally famous for his foreign craftsmanship and was commissioned by a cleric of the Wonderbringer to craft a warhammer that would also function as a holy symbol. Inscribing the four faces of the hammer with the dwarvish runes for eshon (weal), asdos (woe), itnet (weal & woe both) and kisat (nothing) per the cleric's request, Vankåb crafted a weapon whose quality was beyond anything he could imagine. The hammer was so good, in fact, that he found he could not part with it when it came time to deliver the cleric his commission. Taking the abnormally excellent quality of the hammer as a sign, Vankåb used his possession of the holy symbol as an opportunity to live out his original dreams as a divine champion of a god of craftsmen. He joined the church of the Wonderbringer in hopes that he might prove wrong the words of his kin, and that he was not destined for the simple life of a smith. He was special, a conduit for divine will, and Moradin would be sorry he had not chosen him.

Dwarves are typically Lawful due to their conservative traditional culture, but Vankåb's rebellion against his society's norms places him more closely to the horizontal Neutral. His dedication to craft and self-improvement over the good of society orient him closer to the vertical Neutral as well. For this reason, Vankåb's alignment is True Neutral. The background I've chosen for this build is Clan Craftsmen for the extra language, skills and tool proficiencies, though as always backgrounds are more-so related to player preference than optimization.

The Race: Hill Dwarf

The choice came down between Human (Variant) and Hill Dwarf for one reason -- feats. I was intent on going Human at first for the ability to start with a feat, but the further I delved into the build the more I realized that the feats were not so urgent as to forgo the additional weapon proficiencies, extra HP, and tool proficiencies that the Hill Dwarf grants. This is a skill oriented build after all, so the more tools and skills we begin the game with the better.

The Stat Spread (Standard Array):

WIS 16 (+3), CON 16 (+3), DEX 13 (+1), INT 12 (+1), STR (+0), CHA 8 (-1)

Despite the typical dwarven archetype of an up-close fighter, the Knowledge Cleric lends itself to being more of a backline support caster, so we've prioritized Wisdom as a result. Constitution is high for HP reasons, of course, and Dexterity takes second priority for our AC with medium armor. Intelligence and Strength are average for skill/flavor purposes and Charisma is our dump stat seeing as the skills and tools we will start the game with rely on every stat except for Charisma. If a player wished, they could choose Strength as the dump stat instead, as the only checks required for it are smith's tools and athletics.

The Class: Notable Features

Knowledge Domain Spells: most of the spells provided through the Knowledge Domain are utility, not battle, oriented. This is good as there are some great options that the Cleric doesn't normally gain access to which will assist in playing the support role. Identify frees up a slot for the party wizard, seeing as now the Cleric can handle the ritual identifying of magic loot. Side note: always check magic items, one never knows when an errant curse can throw an entire campaign into disarray.

Augury is a spell I've chosen to build the Knowledge Cleric's holy symbol around. This isn't mandatory, of course, but this spell in particular completely bypasses a Rogue's Expertise in the Insight skill, or a Bard's Expertise with Investigation. With one ritual spell, the Knowledge cleric can learn if that terrified emissary from the far off kingdom should be trusted. Does the treasure chest in front of them sit riddled with traps? Should the group have ten minutes to spare, the answer is but a spin of the hammer away. People find annoyance with the Augury spell but that is because they use it incorrectly. They try to determine if their plan to assuault the castle will fail, or if they'll succeed in love. The DM can never tell this for certain, as the outcomes will greatly rely on dice rolls, so the best response a player can expect is "Nothing." However, should the player use Augury for things they know the DM has an answer to, they will find the spell suddenly holding its weight a lot better, and providing much more utility.

Speak with Dead is a great spell to always have prepared, especially considering our cleric will be fluent in several languages. Almost any corpse the group encounters will be able to speak to the Cleric and spill its morbid secrets. Confusion is a fantastic battle-effect the Cleric doesn't normally have access to with a devastating debuff to boot, potentially ruining several creatures' turns in a round. Legend Lore and Scrying both fit the Knowledge theme and nullify even the highest History skill modifier -- the Knowledge Cleric can watch the history happen right before their eyes.

Blessings of Knowledge: an additional two languages is great, but a form of Expertise for a limited pool of skills is extremely great. Not only do the Knowledge Cleric's abilities beat those of the Expertise feature, it gets the Expertise feature as well, almost as if to rub it in the Bard's and Rogue's faces. I've chosen the Arcana and Nature skills to double proficiency checks in, as our background and class already covered the other options, but any of the skills offered are excellent choices to consider.

Channel Divinity (Knowledge of the Ages): this feature right here is the reason why neither Bards nor Rogues are the "jack of all trades." Without taking the Skilled feat several times, no class can be proficient in every skill and tool . . . except the Knowledge Cleric. As many as 3 times per short/long rest at higher levels the Knowledge Cleric can choose to be proficient in any skill/tool of their choice. No matter how diverse an adventuring party, there will never be a combination that represents proficiency in every skill/tool across all characters, so this option is invaluable for a skill monkey build.

Channel Divinity (Read Thoughts): one of the few clerics to receive a third Channel Divinity option, this option makes the Great Old One Patron Warlocks wish they weren't in the service of some great unknown eldritch horror . . . not that they don't already wish that. Once again putting the Bard to shame, this feature not only allows this Cleric to cast Detect Thoughts, a spell not normally of their pool, but allows them to do so without a spell slot. On top of that, if the spell succeeds it comes with a free use of the Suggestion spell on the target, another non-Cleric spell, without expending a spell slot. That's two spells for the price of none. Don't know how to get into the castle? Read the guard's thoughts, learn what can be learned, then very politely. . . and magically. . . suggest he go bring the Cleric his keys. No persuasion check needed.

Potent Spellcasting: as the Knowledge Cleric will be manning the back lines, a bonus to cantrip damage equal to our Wisdom modifier, our highest stat, is very good and makes Sacred Flame, Toll the Dead and Word of Radiance that much more potent, and allows our skill monkey to save spell slots for those utility/buff spells the play style lends itself toward using.

Spells: the Cleric class is a caster-class: it revolves around spells, both in and out of combat. Yes, our character plays the role of healer -- this is obvious -- so I will be excluding the discussion of healing spells in order to focus more heavily on the strategies for damaging and debuffing foes which is our job as backline support.

Both Sacred Flame and Toll the Dead are great distance damaging cantrips for the Cleric, and they get even better with Potent Spellcasting; however, the player should only choose one. Technically, Toll the Dead does more damage, but it also relies on foes failing a Constitution saving throw rather than a Dexterity saving throw. Most monsters have fantastic Constitution scores, and many have abysmal Dexterity. So, each cantrip comes with its own strengths and weaknesses that the player must decide between for themselves: do they prefer accuracy over potential damage? Sacred Flame. Vice Versa? Toll the Dead. The reason they should only choose one is that every Cleric should have Word of Radiance as their backup damaging cantrip. While it only has a range of 5ft., it hits every creature within 5ft. As a bit of a squishy backliner, getting surrounded is a real problem, but with Word of Radiance the Cleric can handle several flankers at once.

Every caster class needs its bread-and-butter low-level attacking spell, and while the Knowledge Cleric should be relying more-so on their Potent Spellcasting boosted cantrips for damage, as a support caster its important to debuff enemies/buff allies. Guiding Bolt is a fantastic attack not from a damaging sense so much as from a utility sense. Does the boss have a ridiculously high AC? Guiding Bolt. Does the Rogue need to land a Sneak Attack but there are no allies within range to grant advantage? Guiding Bolt. This spell is essentially a Faerie Fire on steroids. It helps accentuate party damage, overcome tanky bosses and synergise with ally abilities.

Two fantastic concentration options include Bless/Bane and Spiritual Weapon. Depending on the situation, whether more raw damage is needed versus party buffs/enemy debuffs or vice versa, both of these spells can give the Cleric something to do between cantrips and Guiding Bolts. Silence is also a great option to maintain concentration on should the party be facing spell casters or even a spellcasting boss like a Lich.  

Feats: Know-It-All

As a skill monkey build whose usefulness peaks outside of battle, it makes sense that we would prioritize non-battle related feats. The player should take the following feats and then focus on boosting the Wisdom stat to maximum. 

Lucky: the Knowledge of the Ages Channel Divinity options overcomes the lack of proficiency in a skill, but not an unlucky roll of the die. Now, not only does the Knowledge Cleric have proficiency in any skill/tool they desire, they effectively have advantage on the roll via this feat. 

Linguist: this is a very niche feat, and so it would be understandable to ask why it is listed as a must-take. Well, for one, it bumps Intelligence up by 1. Using the Standard Array, this doesn't mean much, but for rolled stats (what most people play with) it can grant a +1 to all Intelligence based skill checks. Additionally, learning 3 additional languages on top of the 5 our Knowledge Cleric already speaks grants us proficiency in every single standard language in the PHB, which means Speak with Dead will almost always yield results (unless the party is talking to the ghost of an elemental, or demon, which is . . . unlikely).

Lastly, the character gains the ability to create a cipher, or secret language, that they can teach the party to communicate with. Considering the standard array used in this build, the +1 this feat grants to Intelligence, and the proficiency bonus at level 8 (when this feat would ideally be taken), the cipher the character can now create would require a DC 16 Intelligence check to decipher, and that's just at the lowest level. By level 20, with a +6 proficiency bonus, the cipher created would require a DC 19 Intelligence check. As a utility-oriented build, the uses for a secret language are endless. Calling out commands in battle? Now the enemy has no idea what's being said/planned even though it's being said right to their face. Things going awry during a subterfuge mission? Give the secret code to call off the grift without arousing any suspicion. This single feat opens the door for so many more possibilities when it comes to out-of-combat plans/actions, which is where this build excels.

Warcaster: an almost necessary feat for every spellcasting build, this feat allows our Knowledge Cleric the benefit of gaining advantage on their concentration checks to maintain their buffs/debuffs. As a support build, having the character's one good function in combat go down after one hit simply won't do, and this feat serves to prevent that outcome. 

The choices previously listed are the ideal ones for this build but should the player have rolled well enough for stats and wish to take more feats, or should they wish to forgo stat increases for more feats, these are also suitable options: Observant (when paired with the Linguist feat and the absurd amount of languages our Cleric knows it is likely they'll be able to lip read any conversation from afar), Resilient (both the Dexterity Variant and the Constitution Variant of this feat have their place among this build with the +1 to Dexterity making the most of our medium armor proficiency and allowing us to escape from spells like Fireball cast at the backline, and the proficiency in Constitution saving throws adding an additional layer of protection to our concentration checks), and Skilled (should the player wish to save uses of Knowledge of the Ages for more niche skills, this feat grants permanent proficiency in three more skills/tools of their choice).

Play Style: Out-of-Combat Savant

Pre-Battle: this is where the Knowledge Cleric will be spending most of their time as a useful member of the party. This is when Augury is cast as a ritual spell to determine if a chest is trapped, or a new ally should be trusted. This is when Speak with the Dead tells the party what they might be facing before heading deep into a dungeon. This is when Identify is used to determine if a new magic item is cursed before running into the boss fight with it equipped. Almost all of the Knowledge Cleric's skills are relevant before battles/dungeons.

Early Battle: this is the time for buffs/debuffs. This is when Bless is cast on allies, or Bane, alternatively, on foes. Should the fight be less high stakes, a Spiritual Weapon might be more appropriate to spread out damage. Silence enemy spellcasters with ... well ... Silence. Set up a  Confusion spell if there are several dangerous foes that the party could benefit from them losing a turn in combat. Establish the spells that the Cleric would like to last for the rest of the fight.

Mid-Late Battle: standard Cleric play is to set-up buffs/debuffs, keep the party at around half-HP via healing spells and to send out cantrips/Guiding Bolts for damage when nothing else need be done. Come the end of the battle, the Knowledge Cleric should follow these textbook plays. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The Knowledge Cleric's abilities are truly out-of-combat oriented, so when it comes to in-combat plays, the player should stick to the tried-and-true methods of the basic Cleric.

Roleplay: Ye Are Not Worthy!

Rejected by the traditional rigidity of his people, Vankåb has sought out living in a society far less restrictive in their assigned roles. It can be said that he does not enjoy being told what to do or how to do it and will go to whatever lengths necessary to ensure that he may live the life he chooses, though that life is not one of utter chaos -- merely one free of assumptions and, ideally, conversation.

Vankåb truly believes that he is searching for someone worthy of wielding his masterwork, but it is likely that he'll reject every candidate he considers for some contrived reason or another. He is who he's looking for, at least at first. He believes the hammer is his ticket into living his dream as a holy warrior of a god of craftsmanship, and without it he'd truly be as he was told: a simple rune smith. Vankåb's character arc would be one of self-discovery and self-worth, and eventually he would realize that he doesn't need the hammer to be what he wants to be. He's not a Cleric of Gond because of the hammer. Gods don't just let any old person wield their holy will. Vankåb was chosen because of his ingenuity, creativity and ambition. Should he grow close to a specific member of the adventuring party, or should he find someone of true smithing potential, Vankåb would finally part with the hammer. The party member could turn it down, the notion of him even being willing to part with the holy symbol being all the growth needed, or he could truly part with it, and the skilled prodigy he gifts it to could go on to become a master smith, the hammer gaining a legend surrounding it. Perhaps Gond blesses it and it becomes a magical item with unique properties (at the DM's discretion). Regardless, the hammer is Vankåb's character arc, and most growths or setbacks for him should fall back on something regarding it.

As a dwarvish master craftsman, and an arcane smith by practice, Vankåb's spells would take on the flavor of a classic hammer and anvil. Perhaps his Mending cantrip is the result of him striking his holy hammer against the broken object, magically smithing it whole. His Guiding Bolt could be reflavored to be a Guiding Blow: he swings his hammer in the air and the weight of the strike is transferred 60ft. away to the opponent's weak spot, causing it to glow brightly with the embers of a smith's fire (to explain the advantage the spell grants allies). His Spiritual Weapon could be Transformers inspired, as Gond's favored monsters are golems and animated furniture. For instance, the nearest table lifts into the air and folds itself into an enormous wooden mallet, the sign of a god of crafting. Or, if nothing is around, the spell could rip an enormous hammer made of stone from the earth, dripping dirt and grass, ready to pummel the foes of invention. Lastly, Augury is a spell I've built directly into his holy symbol. With a rune engraved on each side of the weapon, Vankåb would set up the ritual, place the hammer on its head, and then spin it. The magic of the spell would cause the hammer to land with the appropriate rune (weal, woe, weal and woe, or nothing) facing up, a sign from Gond's vast stores of knowledge regarding the appropriate actions to be taken.

Conclusion:

Just because the Knowledge Cleric doesn't gain many abilities that increase damage output that does not make them useless. In fact, they become one of the most, if not the most, invaluable characters for all activities outside of battle in the entire party, beating even Bards and Rogues. Additionally, their abilities provide fantastic methods of advancing the story whether that be through Augury or their Visions of the Past feature which can show them exact moments in time should they require it. Entire mini-adventures could be based around that ability. Think of it: the party needs to know exactly where the BBEG has gone and through this ability the Knowledge Cleric can find out, but the party is being chased by the antagonist's cultists/minions! Now, the party has to buy time every round in combat for the Knowledge Cleric to maintain concentration on the feature and every time it's their turn they unlock another few seconds of the past and get closer to learning the truth. If the battle gets worse, do they cut their losses, take what they've learned and flee, or do they stick it out to hear the full vision? The possibilities are endless. As always, I wish those future Knowledge Clerics luck in their adventuring and that they have as much fun playing Vankåb as I had building him, or whatever character they choose to make with the race, stats, and abilities of the build!

Character Sheets:

LVL 1 Character Sheet

LVL 20 Character Sheet

Ultimate Storm Sorcerer: Close-Quarters Caster Build

Sorcerer: Storm Sorcery

Crowd Control Close-Quarters Caster Build

The Character:

The rain hammered at Tenkarn's shoulders as he clung to the topmast for dear life -- one arm wrapped around the great wooden pole, the other straining to pull a rope taught. The Sea-Scorpion cut through choppy waters, the sea's surface thrashing like a man at his sheets in the heat of a nightmare.

"Stow the sails!" Tenkarn called over the gale to his crewmen. They held desperately to the wooden yards next to him some seventy feet above the deck of the ship. Useless cowards. The worst time to be bosun was no doubt during a storm, but this was no average hurricane. A normal storm's wind might whip and thrash the sails, carving them through, and leaving the ship stranded at sea, but this terror's rain drops pierced the sailcloth like arrows. They were already heavily damaged, but whatever he and his men could salvage might save their lives. Even if they crawled into dock, they'd at least reach land. Sweet, sweet land.

Damn that captain, earning them a banishment from Alphar right before the worst storm they'd ever seen washed in over the Sea of Fallen Stars. Wavecrest was still several days' travel away, and that was with in-tact sails. When they got through this Tenkarn knew exactly what he'd be doing with the dagger he kept sheathed at his side. A sickening crack of wood singed his ears and interrupted those mutinous thoughts as an enormous wave washed over the deck, breaking the railing and flooding the stern. That surge must've been a hundred feet tall, at least! Gods. The rush of water carried several screaming men overboard, including the captain that had been steering, flooding the stairs and prow. 

Another wave abused the same spot, and the ship began to broach, tilting hazardously out over the angered sea. The topmast Tenkarn had been clinging to leaned over those gnashing waters, dangling him above their surface, an offering to that hungry mouth. That was when the sound of thunder deafened him, and his only vision was of blue lightning rending the ship in twain. So much for sailing into dock.

The Concept: Build, Character, Backgrounds

The Storm Sorcerer is unpopular because it requires being within melee range to truly thrive -- this does not surprise me. When a class offers a benefit that is difficult to make function in an optimal way, people tend to shy away from it in favor of the more cut-and-dry cookie cutter formulas of the other subclasses. They're playing a sorcerer, a caster, so they want to stand at a distance and fire spells into the midst of the enemy. I understand that, but there is something so appealing about being the spell fired into the midst of the enemy, and that is exactly what the Storm Sorcerer provides. This build will be focusing on close-quarters casting that manages enemy crowds with an emphasis on lightning and thunder damage.

The character is a pirate (or sailor if the player prefers) caught in the legendary storm known as the Great Rain. As if to offset the drought in the south of Faerûn, in the autumn of 1485 the Great Rain began to fall around the Sea of Fallen Stars and continued unceasingly. It revitalized port cities, but was also the source of several hundred or even thousand deaths. Tenkarn was aboard the vessel the Sea-Scorpion, and his crew had been taking shelter from the approaching storm clouds amongst the Pirate Isles, specifically the ports of Alphar. Their captain caused a ruckus -- he killed a man, stole from another pirate, or some other crime -- and earned he and his crew a banishment into the oncoming storm. The society of sea marauders is a chaotic one, but even chaotic governments have laws. So, forced back out of port and into the sea, the ship was caught in the approaching storm and sunk as a result; however, this was no average storm. It carried with it a natural magic, and Tenkarn was exposed to that raw power at the top of his ship's mast. He awoke, washed up impossibly on the shores of Wavecrest, alive. Now, the power of the storm running through his veins, he seeks to use his newfound powers for what he does best: pirating (or sailing). The wind is his and will fill his sails. The storms are his and will never touch his ship. The sky is his and its stars will never lead him astray.

Both the sea and its sailors are chaotic, and those that would kill and steal from others who share the waves are often evil. For that reason, I've settled on a Chaotic Evil alignment for Tenkarn, though Chaotic Neutral would also be appropriate. The obvious background choice is Pirate, though I would choose the Sailor variant for a Neutral or even Good aligned Tenkarn. Of course, character background is more up to preference than optimization, so this choice lies in the hands of the player.

The Race: Human (Variant)

I did heavily consider the Half-Elf for this build, as its stat boosts fit just perfectly for what this build seeks to accomplish, but without beginning the game with a feat like the Human (Variant) does we wouldn't be able to maximize our Charisma stat. This build requires a total of four feats to function at its best, but once acquired, this Sorcerer will be a force to reckon with. The Human (Variant)'s stat boosts will go toward Charisma and Constitution. The starting feat the player should choose is Lightly Armored for the proficiency in light armor, and the +1 should be placed in Dexterity. The Mage Armor spell will be better than wearing light armor at first, but this feat is only a stepping stone, a prerequisite, for a feat we plan on taking later.

The Stat Spread (Standard Array):

CHA 16 (+3), DEX 15 (+2), CON 14 (+2), WIS 12 (+1), STR 10 (+0), INT 8 (-1)

Our prioritized stat, of course, is Charisma. This handles our Sorcerer's Spell Save DC and our Spell Attack Bonus - both crucial. Dexterity will be our secondary stat and will be handling our AC and melee damage, though we shouldn't be doing much of that. Constitution is of course up high for HP purposes, and the rest are dump stats.

The Class: Notable Features

Tempestuous Magic: this is the start of our Sorcerer's crowd control abilities. Our caster is going to be in the middle of the fray for most standard enemies/medium-difficulty encounters (no need to be in melee with a Tarrasque). As we won't be using our bonus action for much anyway, the ability to jettison 10ft. in any direction w/out provoking opportunity attacks allows the Sorcerer to target whatever threat is most dangerous at the moment, effectively spreading their damage out across all enemies throughout the encounter.

Heart of the Storm: this feature right here is really why we're in melee,and serves as the foundation for the build. Before even casting a spell, our sorcerer is dealing damage to enemies. This feature is also why we're prioritizing lightning and thunder damage spells, its not just for flavor. Whenever we begin to cast a spell that deals one of those damage types, every creature of the Sorcerer's choice within 10ft. take lightning or thunder damage equal to half the sorcerer's level thanks to this feature. Damage that comes before the damage is very good, and it doesn't even require an attack roll or saving throw. It just happens. The resistance to lightning and thunder damage is nice, too.

Storm's Fury: yet another reason to stay in the main fray with enemies. Free lightning damage equal to the character's Sorcerer level every time they're stricken with a melee attack is extremely good, and it encourages enemies not to approach or hit the Sorcerer. So, now we have a squishy caster that can stand right in the middle of a swarm of enemies and no one is willing to get close. Also, the additional option to launch an opponent 20 feet away after striking the Sorcerer is great if the area is getting too crowded.

Wind Soul: flight speed without the aid of a magic item or spell sure is excellent, and the ability to stretch it to the entire party is beyond good. With this feature active, now our caster can stay in the fray . . . 10ft above it. Out of the range of melee attacks, but still within range to punish opponents with Heart of the Storm every time they cast a spell.

Spells: as a pure caster, class features are just icing on the cake and spells are the cake itself.

In order to maximize how often we're utilizing Heart of the Storm, we'll be prioritizing spells that deal lightning or thunder damage.

While cantrips do not count toward the feature activating, Lightning Lure and Shocking Grasp are both thematically appropriate and function in cooperation with the build's playstyle: crowd control. We want as many enemies to be near our Sorcerer, and away from our party members, as possible when they're casting a spell, and Lightning Lure does just that. It draws foes in and shocks them once they're close. Shocking Grasp ruins a foes opportunity attacks, so if allies need to pass by unscathed, this is a great cantrip to whip out.

The bread-and-butter spell of this build is going to be Chromatic Orb, which can deal either 3d8 lightning or thunder damage, caster's choice, at first level. It's low-level so our Sorcerer can cast it many times, it activates Heart of the Storm and it plays into one of our feats, Warcaster, which will be discussed under the Feats section of the post -- it's perfect. Thunderwave is good for knocking things prone around the Sorcerer, granting advantage to the melee-using party members, but its very loud so if stealth is a necessity, leave this one at home. The Shatter spell falls into the same camp. Useful higher level damaging spells include Lightning Bolt, Thunder Step and Chain Lightning. Wall of Water is also both thematically appropriate and a great means of crowd control, keeping enemies within 10 feet of our sorcerer and forcing as many of them as possible to take damage from our Heart of the Storm feature.

Metamagic: what would a Sorcerer build be without discussing the strategy behind their Metamagic feature, the things that can make them, arguably, the strongest caster in the game. There are some specifically potent Metamagic spell combos that make our crowd control build even more deadly, and these are the four options the build should choose:

-Empowered Spell: there's not much to discuss with this option other than that the ability to reroll damage dice equivalent to the Sorcerer's charisma modifier is insanely good. It's best used when paired with one of the other Metamagic options -- a Lightning Bolt that makes enemies save at disadvantage via Heightened Spell with nitpicked damage from Empowered Spell is potent.

-Distant Spell: Shocking Grasp is low damage, it is a cantrip after all, but its unique ability to eat the target's reaction becomes much more versatile when the spell has a range of 30 feet. It can ensure a safe getaway for party members, or prevent a shield spell from an enemy abjurer, etc.! Unfortunately, Lightning Bolt has a range of self, so Distant Spell cannot be applied to it, but Chain Lightning has a range: 150ft. Well, with Distant Spell, now that's 300ft. And, while its not RAW, personally, as a DM, I would allow for the additional range function of chain lightning to be doubled as well. Typically, it can only strike additional targets within 30ft of the original. With Distant Spell, and a flexible DM, now its 60ft. While we are a melee caster with this build, that doesn't mean things aren't happening outside our reach, and Distant Spell is here to ensure that's close to nothing.

-Heightened Spell: want to be very certain that Chain Lightning spell hits? The Sorcerer wouldn't want to waste such a high level spell slot. This is when Heightened Spell is at its best. Forcing disadvantage on the save of a spell is fantastic not just for damaging spells but for utility as well. A Blindness/Deafness with disadvantage on the save can be devastating. Same with a Banishment spell. Really any save-or-suck spell pairs excellently with this option and as a crowd-control build, higher likelihood of damage dealing or debuff granting is too good to pass up.

-Twinned Spell: this option is exclusively for the benefit of our Lightning Lure cantrip and bread-and-butter spell Chromatic Orb. Very few spells pair well with this Metamagic option, but since our basic attack is one that does, this is a must-take. Dealing 6d8 spread out amongst two enemies with just a first level spell is the definition of crowd control, and being able to pull two enemies in to then suffer damage from Heart of the Storm is equally valuable. Pairing the two spells together with this feature, one twinned spell after the other, would likely kill any two given enemies. Think about it -- 4d8 via Lightning Lure (at max level) to each enemy after pulling them in, damage equal to half the Sorcerer's level via Heart of the Storm (potentially 10 damage), and then an additional 3d8 via Chromatic Orb (and that's just as a first level spell) all within 2 actions.

 Feats: Close-Quarters Caster

The term "close-quarters caster" is definitely an oxymoron -- mages should generally not be on the front-lines; however, that is where the Storm Sorcerer excels, and so we must build into being near enemies. The following feats should be taken in the order presented, interspersed or followed by boosts to Charisma up to maximum based on player preference.

Lightly Armored: we took this feat as our racial trait for Variant Human, even though its solely worse than just using Mage Armor, specifically to set us up for taking Moderately Armored later, as it has a prerequisite of light armor proficiency which the sorcerer does not have. The +1 to DEX also helps us with the AC we'll gain from Moderately Armored. 

Moderately Armored: up until having this feat, Mage Armor is definitely the Sorcerer's best option for AC, but expending a precious spell slot for armor, and not even fantastic armor at that, is asinine. This feat allows us to maximize the efficiency of our Dexterity modifier with a set of half-plate, boosting AC to 16, and the additional proficiencies in shields puts us all the way at 18 -- not bad for a caster-class. The +1 to Dexterity sets us at a nice even 16 in our Dexterity stat (a +3 modifier) which will come in handy for saving throws or the rare instance where attacking with melee is necessary. Since we're going to be right up in enemies' faces, the higher our AC the better.

Warcaster: for once, we aren't taking Warcaster for its advantage on concentration checks. In fact, very few of our spells will utilize concentration. What we're really after is the ability to cast our spells and wear a shield at the same time -- finally taking full advantage of the Moderately Armored feat -- and the ability to cast spells as opportunity attacks. Once again: crowd control. We're gonna be up in the fray and we want enemies to swarm us, that way they take as much damage from Heart of the Storm as possible. So, should they try to flee, now they take Heart of the Storm damage plus a Chromatic Orb (3d8) opportunity attack! That's the equivalent of three opportunity attacks from a Fighter with a longsword. This really punishes foes for leaving the Sorcerer's space, and Heart of the Storm punishes them for staying close. Really, there's no win for them, which is what we want.

Elemental Adept (Lightning): no explanation needed for this one I would hope. There are 35 enemies that resist lightning damage in D&D, and this feat makes sure that our primary source of damage does not become null and void in fights against them. Also, the ability to negate 1s on damage rolls is pretty sweet. Should the player choose to take the Thunder damage variant of this feat instead it would be less useful as only 14 enemies resist thunder damage, but still a valid choice.

While these are, in my opinion, the optimized feats for this build, there are some other useful options should the player wish: Crossbow Expert (the removal of disadvantage on ranged attacks for foes within 5ft. allows the Sorcerer to catch potentially double the amount of foes in Heart of the Storm since he no longer has to stay 10ft. away from enemies), Inspiring Leader (some temporary HP to cushion blows while in the thick of battle sounds nice), Medium Armor Master (a +1 to AC due to our 16 Dexterity stat, making our Sorcerer sit at 19 AC, gets no complaints from me) and Sentinel (ultimately a bad choice as the Sorcerer would only benefit from 2/3 of the feat, but stopping enemies with those War Caster Chromatic Orbs, trapping them within range of Heart of the Storm, could be useful).

Play Style: Eye of the Storm

Pre-Battle: at earlier levels, before our Sorcerer has access to the Moderately Armored feat, throwing up a Mage Armor before heading straight into the heart of battle certainly wouldn't hurt. At the later levels, granting the party access to Wind Soul's flight is extremely important. This prevents enemies from getting out of melee reach of the fighters/barbarians that excel up close. Other than that, there isn't much for this build to accomplish before battle. They excel in the thick of it.

Early Battle: get in close. Sending the squishy caster right into the throng of orc barbarians really seems to go against all instinct, unless the player is a masochist, but I promise that close-up is where this build excels. With a high enough AC, and a decent Constitution, our Sorcerer should last long enough for his high damage AOE class features and spells to kill any opposition. Really, the motto of this build is "kill or be killed." It's a bit of a glass cannon, true, but an effective one with enough precautions taken to make them not so fragile. This is the time for Lightning Lures to draw as many foes in close as possible followed by Chromatic Orbs to catch all nearby in an activation of Heart of the Storm. Ideally, some lucky few will land a hit and receive a nice taste of Storm's Fury in retribution.

Mid-Late Battle: this is likely when our caster is running low on HP despite consistent attention from even the most dedicated of Clerics. We're high threat, squishy, and right in the enemies' faces -- the Sorcerer will be a big target. So, now's the time to pull-back. We've had our fun with our Heart of the Storms and Storm's Furies, but now's the time to sit in the back and Lightning Bolt the big bad, or Chain Lightning any remaining crowds. Now's also the time to pump our Sorcery Points into Metamagics. Go all out to finish the fight to make up for not utilizing Heart of the Storm. A Heightened, Empowered, Elemental-Adept-boosted Lightning Bolt will really really hurt a boss and maybe even bring them down depending on how late in the fight we're talking.

Roleplay: I of the Storm

Tenkarn is a character best saved for an aquatic/water-themed campaign as his motivation lies at sea, but should he move to land, well, every pirate has a treasure map with an "x marks the spot," no? Perhaps he returned to the wreckage of the Sea-Scorpion and retrieved his previous captain's plans for treasure hunting, or has been far more successful in captaining his own pirate ship and found a treasure map own amongst stolen loot. Maybe he seeks to further his powers by learning more about the Great Rain, and some scholars he could consult live inland. Maybe he wishes to use his newly acquired powers to earn gold through bounty hunting or adventure-contract-taking.

Should Tenkarn be Neutral or Good aligned, his motivation might switch to protecting ships from incoming storms, or even just the ship he now sails with. Perhaps another Great Rain is predicted and he, having lived through it once, must venture forth to find how to stop or best prepare for it. Why are these powerful magical storms pouring in all of a sudden? Only he, touched by the storms, may truly know.

The flavor for spells is built right into the class's features, incentivizing lightning and thunder damage based attacking spells; however, there are still plenty of non-storm themed spells that could use a little Chef Emeril Lagasse style "BAM!" spicing up. For instance, Chromatic Orb does not have to be a mirrored ball that takes on the caster's preference of element. Instead, the Sorcerer forms a miniature hurricane between his palms and launches it toward the enemy, its miniature gales and lightning strikes searing their flesh. The Shield spell could be a burst of thunder, akin to Thunderwave, that knocks the assailant off target. A Hold Person spell might be high level winds tightly encircling a foe, preventing them from escaping. Dominate Monster might call a lightning bolt from the sky that strikes the beast in the head; its eyes flash with the light of the storm and is now under the Sorcerer's control. There is limitless potential for flavoring the Storm Sorcerer's spells. As long as it doesn't change the mechanics, most DMs will allow for customization of spells. Having a unique character is half the fun of D&D!

Conclusion:

While the Storm Sorcerer excels in an environment antithetical to the typical caster, there are ways of circumventing this so-called disadvantageous style of fighting and turning the character into one that fights uniquely and powerfully. How many other caster classes are going to comfortably maintain in the heat of battle for at least a few rounds and dole out excessive damage because of it? Not many. I would like to note that while this series does not discuss multiclassing, a two-level dip into Tempest Cleric for this build not only has the potential for adding additional story-elements (deities are always fun) but it grants fantastic abilities that pair well with the Storm Sorcerer. It negates the need for both the Lightly Armored and Moderately Armored feats and grants access to maximizing lightning and thunder damage rolls. Pair that with a Heightened Chain Lightning and enemies would be sorry they ever crossed this character. But, that's a discussion for another day. As always, I wish those future Storm Sorcerers luck in their adventuring and that they have as much fun playing Tenkarn as I had building him, or whatever character they choose to make with the race, stats, and abilities of the build!

Character Sheets:

LVL 1 Character Sheet

LVL 20 Character Sheet