An account I made to look at NSFW stuff, an account I use to post D&D builds. - FULL LIST OF BUILDS CAN BE FOUND AT https://tigerkirby215.tumblr.com/buildlist
Maybe I'll get active back on this website again, but I've been busy with a mix of studies and running my own campaign. Not to mention that given... everything that's been happening in League I'm not too keen on doing more LoL stuff and I don't have much else I want to build really. I like build crafting but without a real theme it's kinda dull and despite what some people may say I'm no min-maxer.
Anywho that UA https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/ua/forgotten-realms-subclasses Just here to give my quick thoughts:
Bard is very cool conceptually. Feel like it needs refinement though.
Knowledge Domain is certainly much better. Not a fan of "Channel Divinity: just cast a spell fuckwit lmao." I preferred my Channel Divinity rework for Knowledge Domain that marked a target to give your allies advantage. Also not a fan of the capstone being "lmao free advantage for a minute fuck-ass."
Wow Purple Dragon Knight is actually a subclass… why is it Intelligence based? I'm genuinely confused why this subclass requires INT, especially when OG PDK was Charisma based.
Paladin totally isn't going to be multiclassed with Hexblade 🤪 Waaaay too much focus on the Charisma: the AC boosting ability honestly just shouldn't exist. It feels like WoTC thinks people are going to go armorless as a Paladin but the reality is people are just going to min-max with Hexblade.
Ranger is boring as shit I'm sorry.
Rogue feels like it wants to be a frontline fighter. Cool conceptually, just doesn't feel like a Rogue.
Sorcerer feels weird and unfocused. Why does the Spellfire damage increase to 3d6 but the temp healing only increases from a d4 to a d6?
Why are we buffing Bladesinger? Just… why are we buffing Bladesinger?
Anyways other than that https://www.enworld.org/threads/d-d-adds-two-new-books-to-2025-slate-including-new-eberron-book.710194/
Dragon Prewritten Adventures
Eberron Xanathar's Guide
and other stuff. Damn I wanna care but I also hate WoTC.
Anywho: if you want to find me I made a BlueSky account where I repost pictures of foxes and complain about Dead by Daylight https://bsky.app/profile/tigerkirby215.bsky.social
I have been meaning to post an update about this blog but I have nothing particular to say at the current moment. It’s super late while I write this and I just want to get this scheduled, so I’ll maybe post a proper update later.
Also like a lot more porn blogs have been following me, which is lame zzzzzz
So the Open GL 1.1 situation got worse. Yeah it’s fairly safe to say I won’t be buying any new Wizards of the Coast D&D products, at least outside of official books. But oh no how will I ever supplement myself with officially licensed D&D material if I do not buy every $30 book on release?
For legal reasons I do not advocate for piracy but like lowkey I have a friend who owns all the content on D&D Beyond and shares it via content sharing. That, and WikiDot is free? (Among other things.)
In a Big Fat Nutshell Open GL 1.1 and Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro’s treatment of the D&D Community means 2 things for this blog
1. I am not officially supporting any new “official” Wizards of the Coast-branded Dungeons & Dragons supplements that are sold for real cash
In other words “ha ha fuck you Unearthed Arcana is canon” and “ha ha fuck you a pirate’s life is free.” I will reference Unearthed Arcana as the “canon” version of any WoTC product unless I am unable to do so. The hope is that Unearthed Arcana will still remain a semi-accurate “free” reflection of products to-be-added to WoTC’s catalogue, and therefor serves as a “good enough” “beta” version of the requested feature.
If I find myself unable Unearthed Arcana for any reason... WikiDot is free, and I consider it morally correct to steal from corporations that attempt to make content theft legal.
2. There will be an increase in the use of Homebrew on this blog
I still pride myself on making content using primarily “official” supplements (since I think it’s far too easy to simply make a homebrew subclass and call it a day), but chances are I will be far more willing to talk about free / inexpensive homebrew options made by talented creators when making builds on this blog, as opposed to the strict “no Homebrew not even stuff from D&D Beyond (like Blood Hunter and Gunslinger)” rule I had before.
Chances are any build I make will have an “official” version as well as a version where I promote a handful of homebrew products in combination with stuff from the PHB / Xanathar’s / Tasha’s (and the other smaller books.) I don’t think I’ll start publishing “Homebrew Reviews” or anything of that sort anytime soon, but I do think I may write more of my own homebrew for 5e. Likely based on other IPs I enjoy and made for non-profit, so fuck you WoTC if you want to steal my crap you’d better be ready to fight Riot Games when they see you selling my Zeri League of Legends subclass.
The other points I made in my last point are still accurate, being “I don’t know if I will migrate to Pathfinder or other similar systems anytime soon”, and “I don’t know if I will make more League of Legends content since it seems Riot doesn’t give a shit about their IP.”
Oh and #3 - any build I make will now likely have “WoTC Bad” and “Hasbro bad” in the tags.
And if you’re wondering about my subscription to D&D Beyond: I was never subscribed in the first place? Like I previously said I have a friend who does most content sharing so I only use D&D Beyond to get my own books if / when I want them and to make character sheets because “me too stupid to make pen-and-paper sheets” (or use G-Sheets) lol.
The only times I ever subscribe to D&D Beyond are for subscriber perks (mainly digital dice or digital character sheet customization) but rest assured that the website mainly serves as my digital book collection basically and I won’t be spending any more money on official WoTC products for a long time.
It's been a bit since I've announced I'm basically quitting League and well... a lot has happened huhn? Between Riot not caring about the start of Season 13 and the OpenGL 1.1 shitshow I feel like I need to talk about the future of this blog.
1. WILL YOU KEEP MAKING D&D 5E CONTENT?
Yes. This is still the main TTRPG system I play and until the open gaming license completely forbids this blog I'll likely keep posting builds here. If OpenGL 1.1 comes out I'll likely be labeling all my builds with #WoTCBad & #OpenDnD for the foreseeable future but this won't impact what I post on this blog. Me boycotting WoTC's D&D branch won't stop me from posting builds with the content I have.
I might transition more into homebrew promotion if 5e's official content proves lazy and shady, but I am hesitant to turn this blog into primarily a homebrew blog if OpenGL 1.1 takes control.
2. WHAT ABOUT OTHER TTRPGS?
I don't know. I don't play other TTRPGs much: I have no interest in Pathfinder which would be the most obvious transition, and other systems would be... odd to move to, especially given the usual IPs I make D&D builds for.
Speaking of which...
3. WILL THERE BE MORE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS CONTENT?
Yes, but I don't see myself having any significant hype for new champions given the state of League after season 12 / moving into season 13. The game is moving in a direction I don't particularly enjoy or have interest in, and it's hard for me to find motivation to make content when I don't like the game. I still love League's characters which is why builds for at least K'Sante are coming but beyond that is up in the air.
3.1. WHAT ABOUT OTHER RIOT GAMES CONTENT?
Oh absolutely! If other games from Riot Games or Riot Forge provide compelling kits for TTRPG characters I may build them. The problem obviously lies both in the games I'm adapting (it's not like I can make much out of Legends of Runeterra) as well as how recognizable the characters are.
I have no interest in Valorant (though I'm not against trying?) so don't expect any Valorant builds. I'd like to stick to the Runeterra IP basically.
4. SO WHAT'S COMING THEN?
Not too sure. Not only did both Riot and WoTC do a fucky wucky, but I'm very busy with my own D&D campaign, a new semester of schooling and just... life? I have a lot less time in a psychology major than I do in my old business major is all I'll say.
I don't hate the current state of Dead by Daylight so I'm willing to provide promotion for that particular skinner box. Beyond that I'm not invested in many other games with the exception of... some...
Maybe I'll try to snag the Cult of the Lamb build before Tulok makes one. Maybe I'll finally go through my back catalogue of one-off builds. Maybe I'll become a filthy DOTA 2 player once again.
5. ANYWHERE ELSE TO FOLLOW YOU?
Linked above is one of my tweets: I'm active on Twitter (perhaps too active) but I primarily just shitpost about Dead by Daylight there. I do other things... but yeah it's mostly DbD shitposting.
If I go MIA on Tumblr again you can find me on Twitter, basically. And if I go MIA on Twitter then I'm probably going to be here lol.
So: I’ve basically decided to quit League of Legends. At least until matches stop getting decided by coin flips. There’s a lot of reasons why that I really don’t want to go into here but I did ramble a bit about it on Twitter. This is less a “I’m quitting League for good” move and more a “I hate the current state of League of Legends the game please provide any other product in this world Riot.”
This does present an issue for this blog however as I founded it upon the concept of “gameplay first” as opposed to rough lore concepts. Put simply making Akali “conceptually” boils down to making a Monk / Rogue multiclass, making Swain “conceptually” boils down to making a Warlock, and making half the ADCs in the game “conceptually” boils down to making a Fighter. I don’t want to make characters that basically just mimic League characters conceptually because the vast majority of them embody character archetypes with the select few original characters like “ghost lady with gun”, “teenage girl riding metal horse that turns into armor”, and “CEO who drugs people to fight for her” are largely buried under “fighter man who fights”, “girl with gun shoots gun”, and “fighter woman who fights.” (See what I did there? I described the last 3 champions that aren’t Bel’veth or Renata Glasc without incorporating any parts of their backstory. Can you tell why I’m getting really fucking bored with League?)
5e does a very poor job of meaningfully incorporating backstory into gameplay and trust me I would love to write a build for Nilah that incorporates more of her fabulous demonic powers but I feel like I’d be doing a disservice to the character at that point. People don’t know Nilah the girl who sold her soul to be a hero they know Nilah the dumbfuck piece of shit champ who gets free armor pen for building damage, which again is yet another reason why I’m sick of League of Legends the game when talking about League of Legends the universe. This is why I strive to mimic gameplay abilities as much as possible on a mechanical standpoint as opposed to a conceptual one: I don’t want to give Lux light magic because “she’s the light mage” I want to give her a giant goddamn laser and it turns out I have to venture outside of Light Domain Cleric to do something like that.
But you know: it’s kinda hard for me to write about in-game abilities when I’m not going to be playing the fucking game anymore. I could just read off the wiki or watch gameplay videos yeah but I feel that’s somewhat disingenuous. So this puts me in an awkward spot where basically I don’t want to do “research” for this blog because League of Legends the game makes me want to bash my head against a brick wall, even if I still love League of Legends the universe. But ya know: sure as shit ain’t gonna be basing these D&D builds off the card game lmfao.
My last exam is today (and I’m writing this shit out at 6:40 AM because I’ve been depressed for the past 8 hours good job me) but I do have prepping to do for the D&D campaign I’m DMing as well as... ya know, the holiday season? With that in mind I’ll probably have some time to write out more builds for this blog at some point. K’Sante is still coming soon™ as despite everything I do still think that champion is cool and fun. (Just... ya know, shame Riot can’t balance their game him for shit.) Shyvana and Vayne are also high on my to-do list as characters who I really like in the lore (but holy shit fuck their gameplay lmfao.) I will tell you right now that while Shyvana is likely to imitate League to the best of my abilities Vayne will probably be based on her Legends of Runeterra incarnation (based more upon swapping between weapons and hunting monsters, both because I think that would be a cool build to make and because Jesus Christ fuck Vayne’s gameplay yes I am bitter.)
Beyond that uhhhhh... Well if anyone who’s peeked at my Twitter at all can tell you Dead by Daylight has perpetually been my brainrot game over the past few years but I’ve kinda kept away from making DbD D&D builds because “DbD bad game” among other reasons. But even though the Dead by Daylight meta right now is ass I feel a lot better about the development team and the general direction the game is headed, so I am willing to give it free publicity for lack of a better term. If you can’t tell I really can’t bring myself to create essentially “fan content” for any product I either don’t enjoy or don’t agree with morally, which is why I still refuse to ever make Overwatch builds on this blog.
Short ramble about Dead by Daylight and Overwatch: the reason I refused to make Dead by Daylight builds last year is because the game was arguably going through its most controversial state in some time. Between the release of one of the most overpowered perks in the game (Circle of Healing), a tone-deaf depiction of a victim of real-world government oppression, and of course the entire Pinhead NFT fiasco (which by the way if you’re wondering what my thoughts on NFTs are: fuck NFTs to hell) I did not feel comfortable supporting a company that was going in a direction that I felt was very morally dubious. But the recent years have brought the game into a considerably better state with higher quality products (mostly cough Knight cough) with their more recent work (minus one) showing improvements in the company.
As for Overwatch? I still genuinely love the characters. Also (from what I’ve seen online of basically just Junker Queen and Ramrata) the new characters are pretty cool too. But holy shit I refuse to support Activision Blizzard as a matter of principle. Their dubious business practices is only the surface of the moral bankruptcy that the company exhibited over the course of several years. This is why I refuse to play Overwatch, Hearthstone, or Heroes of the Storm despite enjoying all of those games tremendously. Vote with your wallets people and don’t show support for bad people in power.
The thing about Dead by Daylight is that for every Wesker (which Tulok has already done lol) or Blight there’s just as many Killers like Huntress (throws axes and nothing else), Trapper (has traps and nothing else), Wraith (turns invisible and nothing else), Trickster (throws knives and nothing else), Deathslinger (shoots a gun and nothing else), etc. etc. etc. Add in the fact that there are lot of characters that I don’t really see working in a D&D party (I’ve seen builds for Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers and I’ve made a build for Fiddlesticks and Nocturne, but even then putting a slasher Killer into a D&D party is weird) and it leaves me a little high-and-dry as far as D&D goes. Oh and I sure as shit ain’t doing any of the Survivors lmao they’re defined by being largely powerless.
So what does that leave me with? DOTA 2, Skullgirls, and Them’s Fightin Herds exist I suppose. Awesomenauts too if that game wasn’t fucking dead. I don’t really want to branch out into making builds based on TV and Movies because put simply I don’t watch that much Netflix and I feel like Tulok already has that covered. I am willing to branch out on this blog to make magic items and potentially subclasses. One thing I know I won’t do though is make any homebrew monsters as I am not nearly experienced enough to even attempt something like that.
I don’t know why I’m going so in-depth like I’m even going to try to maintain a consistent schedule anymore between university and running a D&D campaign. I guess just let it be known that if you followed me for League of Legends content that will likely be slowing down quite considerably and probably won’t pick up unless Riot gets their head out of their ass and stops letting people who go 4/0 in lane automatically win the game.
Suppose this is part update, part me venting, and part me just trying to give myself some closure after a long, upsetting day. If you read this ramble thanks I suppose? I think I’ll try to make a build soon but I do need to prep for the holidays among many other things. But I’ll tell you now: the next build won’t be for League, and (with the exception of K’Sante) I’m probably not going to be talking about that IP again for awhile.
Side note: noticed we got a lot of new followers! Hi sorry this account is dead this is my exam week + I’m still suffering from hardcore burnout and have no idea who the hell to make.
On the one hand exams are soon to be finished. On the other hand I rage quit and uninstalled League. 🙃
I still want to make K'Sante and maybe Shyvana (because that build is basically done) but beyond that I would still like to do some of the DOTA 2 builds I had in mind (mainly the characters from Dragon Blood Marcy) but beyond that I'm not sure what to do.
Really pissed at League right now. Love the characters and world hate the game, and since most of my builds are gameplay first... yeah.
(Artwork from Legends of Runeterra. Made by SixMoreVodka for Riot Games.)
A post in which TigerKirby215 justifies another extended hiatus from making builds.
Jokes aside: this recent bout of Halloween character building has made me realize how exhausting the weekly builds are, especially with my new university schedule (swapping majors is very hard) and especially especially with my finals coming up very soon in December. Not only that but I am looking to start DMing my own D&D campaign which will further take up my time.
The other big issue with character building is I’ve lost a lot of the passion I had for it. It’s not that I don’t find making characters fun, although I will admit that limiting myself to official content has resulted in a “nothing new under the sun” problem where I feel like a lot of my characters feel the same. No the honest truth is that there are no particular characters I really want to build, as a lot of the characters I have left are either too weird or too boring or one that I simply don’t have enough experience in for whatever reason. There’s a reason builds have been branching out from League as of late but even then I don’t have enough in my niche interests to really share: I’m not very into mainstream media and even if I was I feel like Tulok does most of the “popular” builds. (Hell he even did both Josuke and Giorno I’m fairly sure.)
There are still definitely builds I want to make and actually for transparency's sake I’ll copy-paste my really scrappy build ideas notepad document here with only a few minor formatting edits:
But ultimately I do this mostly for fun. I don’t have a Patreon or even a KoFi, nor do I have a particular interest in making one for a variety of reasons. I guess this blog is meant to say that next build will be out “when it is done”, likely some time during December during my winter break (assuming I don’t get a part time job.) Sorry to any recent followers who were expecting more but hey: now’s a great a time as any to keep following to see if / when I post again. I hope you still stick around to see what else I make when I give myself the time.
5e Ashley J. Williams, The Hero from The Sky / El Jefe build
(Artwork from Evil Dead: The Game.)
(So I found this track by accident when trying to search for the Evil Dead Movies main themes, but it turns out the original movies have kinda boring music so you can have this instead.)
Of course I’m rounding out my Evil Dead characters with the main main himself! Ashley Joanna “Ash” Williams played by the one and only Bruce Campbell. Even if you haven’t watched an Evil Dead movie the imagery of chainsaw arms and double-barrel shotguns have been solidified in horror media thanks to Campbell and Rami’s genre-defying work.
It also helps that Ash is probably the textbook horror movie protagonist, helped even more by the fact that he’s gone through every horror movie trope available. From terrified fish-out-of-water to expert man-of-action to grizzled disgruntled veteran of evil. Oh and we can’t forget his brief stunt as more of a walking punchline in the body of Duke Nukem than a proper protagonist.
But regardless of your opinions on Ash one thing’s for sure: he’s a very compelling character and character archetype to play in D&D. The grizzled, charming hero with a blade (attached to) one hand and a gun in the other. Up to you if you’ll run from evil or face it head on.
GOALS
What? Never saw a guy with a chainsaw hand before? - Chainsaws are a bit hard to come by in D&D, but you’re certainly talented with various cutting implements.
And this is my BOOMSTICK - Ranged backup is always nice to have, and a sawn-off shotgun pulls double duty of being quick to grab while also scaring any primitive screwheads who might want to lock you in a pit.
Hail to the King, baby - If you were just some cripple with good aim you wouldn’t be the Chosen One, now would you? No we need fate itself to keep you fighting Deadites. Yeah building a D&D character with literal protagonist powers will be hard.
RACE
Ashley J. Williams is just a man, but he’s also the Chosen One as written in the Book of the Dead, so I think making him a Variant Human is justified. Increase both your Charisma and your Strength by 1, the Deception skill (I guess since you can get Persuasion from elsewhere) to make a convincing argument why you’re covered in blood, and the Infernal language to recite ancient arcane texts... as long as you remember the words.
5e has a particular way of making ranged weapons needlessly unwieldy but the Crossbow Expert feat helps alleviate some of that. You can ignore the loading property of any weapon with that property, and you can also shoot enemies within 5 feet to make sure they “Swallow this.” But most importantly if you make an attack with a one-handed weapon on your turn you can shoot a Hand Crossbow with your Bonus Action: this not only includes shooting your Hand Crossbow but also includes any one-handed melee weapon you may be using.
Even if your DM allows firearms in their setting Crossbow Expert might be more useful than Gunner due to the Bonus Action attack. Depending on the types of firearms the DM allows and the rules your DM has for dual-wielding a melee weapon and a gun take either Gunner, Dual-Wielder, or possibly just bump up your Constitution with Resilient Constitution if you don’t need any feats to get around 5e’s arbitrary rulings.
ABILITY SCORES
You need to be particularly suited to take on the forces of darkness, which is my way of saying that if I built Ash with Standard Array this build would be incredibly lacking in stats. So for the first time in (awhile? ever? I actually don’t know if I’ve ever used Point Buy before) we’re going to make our character with Point Buy instead of Standard Array!
15; STRENGTH - Ash is a fairly lithe fellow but you need Strength to operate heavy machinery, which is my way of saying “we need Strength for the chainsaw”, which is my way of saying “5e makes melee Finesse characters needlessly weak unless you’re playing a Rogue and if you were to opt for full Dexterity instead of Strength it would make some aspects of the build better but the main classes flat-out wouldn’t function.”
12; DEXTERITY - Ash is no acrobat but he’s fit enough to dodge some hits.
13; CONSTITUTION - Ash has been through three movies and a TV show’s worth of battering; it’s safe to assume he can take a few hits.
8; WISDOM - Ash is easy to fool, especially by demons who dedicated their lives to manipulating the living. I mean really how many times can you fall for the same “pretend not to be possessed” trick?
8; INTELLIGENCE - Ash is also quite forgetful and prone to dumb ideas. But hey: “dumb” is the first half of “dumb luck!”
15; CHARISMA - Ash is played by Bruce Campbell, a man who has an IRL 20 in Charisma.
BACKGROUND
If there’s any background for Ashey Slashy, Elk Grove’s boogeyman who went up to a cabin and murdered all his friends with a chainsaw, Haunted One is probably the way to go. You get proficiency with a handful of skills but I personally opted for Survival and Arcana. You can also learn one regular language (Elvish, I guess? Look just take whatever you think fits) and an exotic language (Abyssal, in case the magic words aren’t actually in Infernal.)
Your feature Heart of Darkness will ensure people listen to you instead of throwing you into the cellar. “Though they might fear you” (and trust me: they probably will) most folk will try to help you, unless you're swinging a chainsaw and boomstick around in their face. They will even fight alongside you if you’re facing an enemy alone.
(Artwork from Evil Dead: The Game)
THE BUILD
LEVEL 1 - PALADIN 1
Weird choice to make Ash a holy man perhaps, but I’m sure as shit not going to make him a Champion Fighter. I’m not that boring. Regardless I’m starting with Paladin levels primarily for saving throws, but proficiency with Athletics and Persuasion is also nice.
As a Paladin you get Divine Sense to know if any demons, deadites, zombies, or monsters are around. (Well, celestial, fiend, or undead.) The ability extends to 60 feet but doesn’t go through walls, and while you know where they are you don’t know who they are. You also get Lay on Hands, because I hope you learnt some basic first aid before heading out for a night in the woods.
LEVEL 2 - BARBARIAN 1
Grabbing Barbarian levels to be indestructible, much like that bright blue shirt. Speaking of that shirt: Unarmored Defense will let you wear that shirt with pride with AC equal to 10 + your Dexterity and your Constitution, with your poster-ready muscles protecting you perfectly from the rips in your shirt.
Additionally if you’re in the thick of things Rage will let you go a bit insane with that chainsaw. You can enter Rage as a Bonus Action for advantage on Strength checks and saving throws, a bonus to melee damage, and resistant to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage. Most Deadites aren’t going to be doing Fire damage anytime soon so this will give you resistance to most damage you’ll be taking! You can only Rage a limited number of times though, so be sure to use them when you need them.
LEVEL 3 - PALADIN 2
Now that your AC has gone from mediocre to... still mediocre (look you’re still allowed to wear Medium armor) it’s time to grab a Fighting Style from the second level of Paladin. Because WoTC hates the idea of ranged Paladins the only option that’s really available for you is Dueling: it’s still an incredibly good option though, giving you a flat +2 to all damage rolls with your “chainsaw.”
I may as well mention this now: the weapon that best fits a “chainsaw arm” would probably be a longsword, as it does slashing damage and can be wielded in one hand.
Depending on if your DM is cool though there’s a Common Magic Item from Eberron known as the Armblade, which is meant to be exclusive to Warforged but you could probably justify it as an arm attachment of sorts for your weapon. Basically if your DM knows you’re playing Ash and are okay with it then hopefully they will buy into the fantasy.
You also get access to Spellcasting, which is admittedly a bit weird for Ash but you can probably justify it with enhanced Chosen One abilities. You can prepare a number of spells equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level (rounded down), so 4 for now. Grab spells that don’t rely too much on your spellcasting modifier to be good, like Bless, Cure Wounds, Heroism, and Shield of Faith. Okay some of those spells do still need a good casting modifier, and it’s also important to mention that you can’t cast spells or concentrate on spells while Raging as a Barbarian.
Of course you could ignore all that for Divine Smite, which is what I’d do if I was playing Ash. Instead of going through all that “spellcasting” jazz turn your spell slot into extra Radiant damage on melee hit. A 1st level spell slot will do 2d8 Radiant damage and every spell slot above that will do an extra d8 of damage. Additionally if you hit a fiend or undead (so what Ash is likely fighting) you’ll get another d8, for 3d8 baseline! Flavor it as revving your chainsaw real hard before digging into whatever respective Deadite you’re fighting and letting blood fly!
LEVEL 4 - PALADIN 3
3rd level Paladins get to choose their Sacred Oath, and while Ash isn’t really one to make an oath to anyone Oath of Devotion actually has some good abilities for us. For a start you get Protection from Evil and Good added to your spell list, as well as Sanctuary. (One of these spells is likely going to be far more useful than the other.) But more notably you gain access to Channel Divinity with a few options:
Turn the Unholy is a good way to keep the evil dead off you for a scene or two, working much like the Cleric’s Turn Undead feature but... well actually it basically works exactly like a Cleric’s Turn Undead, except it also works on Fiends. Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything also gives you access to Harness Divine Power once per Long Rest to exchange your Channel Divinity for a spell slot equal to half your proficiency bonus. So for now that’s only a 1st level slot, but hey more chainsaw fuel never hurt!
Most notably however as an action you can turn one of your weapons into a Sacred Weapon. Along with making the weapon glow in the dark (which may or may not be helpful) you get a bonus to attack rolls equal to your Charisma modifier, allowing you to hit a deadite right between the eyes when this counts! Since this scales off your Charisma and can be applied to any weapon it can be a good boost to both your boomstick or your chainsaw; you probably aren’t going to hit any ranged shots without this boost (what with your measly +1 to DEX) but going all-in with the melee weapon is probably a good idea too, especially this early on.
Regardless of what you choose remember that your Channel Divinity is only available once per Short Rest, so use it wisely! And to top it off you get Divine Health, because it sure would suck if the Hero from the Sky died to the plague.
(Image from Entertainment Earth.)
LEVEL 5 - PALADIN 4
4th level Paladins get our first Ability Score Improvement and you probably noticed our uneven Constitution score. Let’s nip that in the bud right away and grab Resilient Constitution to round out some scores and also ensure no deadite puke gets us feeling funky.
You can also prepare another spell but I’m going to wait for...
LEVEL 6 - PALADIN 5
5th level Paladins get a bunch of fun stuff! For one you can swing your chainsaw twice thanks to Extra Attack! Secondly you get, well, 2nd level spells. As a Devotion Paladin you gain access to both Lesser Restoration (which can be good) and Zone of Truth (which is less immediately useful for the character.)
You can also prepare Find Steed to always have a getaway at the ready. But what might steed would Ash Williams ride into battle? Why the Delta of course! A good ol’ Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale. Which is my way of saying “just grab a damn warhorse.”
LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 1
You probably noticed your godawful Dexterity modifier and were wondering “how the hell am I going to hit with this Hand Crossbow?” Well here comes my favorite part of D&D character building: “um akchually” time, otherwise known as “scouring through classes to find a way to make this build works”, or “multiclassing madness for short.”
Anyways funny Warlock levels! Even if you’re against the Book of the Dead you did still read it, and it eternally changed you for the better. For convenience’s sake we’ll say it made you a good shot! The Hexblade patron is the best martial class thanks to Hex Warrior which does a bunch of stuff that doesn’t matter, but more importantly allows you to “touch one weapon that you are proficient with and that lacks the two-handed property“ to allow you to shoot it with Charisma.
Notice that wording? Hex Warrior says nothing about ranged weapons. And you know what’s a one-handed ranged weapon? The Hand Crossbow! So thanks to Hex Warrior you can now shoot your Hand Crossbow with your Charisma!
Other than that Hexblade’s Curse will let you mark a target with your Bonus Action. During that time you do extra damage to the target on-hit equal to your proficiency bonus, you crit on a 19 or 20 against them, and if they die you regain health equal to your Charisma modifier plus your Warlock level (so... not much.) It’s a nice trick to have in your back pocket, and much like your Channel Divinity it comes back on a Short Rest, meaning that you need only settle down with a beer for a minute before you can come back swinging!
Is there something I’m missing? Oh yeah Warlocks have Pact Magic which means you’ll have a 1st level spell slot that comes back on a Short Rest due to multiclassing madness. It does also mean you can grab 2 cantrips and 2 spells from the Warlock list: for cantrips take Mind Sliver to borrow some tricks from Eligos, and Mage Hand because you have a particular knack for dropping your weapons mid-fight. For leveled spells meanwhile Shield is universally useful even with your limited spell slots, and Hex can be good if you want to lay in even harder onto a particular Deadite.
LEVEL 8 - PALADIN 6
Hey look at that: the main reason we went for Paladin. Aura of Protection makes you so awesome you just don’t get hit by things, adding your Charisma to your saving throws and the saving throws of allies within 10 feet of you. The stuff that would scare the pants off a regular Joe Shmo? It don’t bug you as much anymore!
Additionally you can prepare another spell and oh boy you sure do have real spell slots. Take Thunderous Smite I guess for more burst damage in a pinch as you saw into your foe before blasting them away with your boomstick.
(Artwork from Evil Dead: The Game)
LEVEL 9 - BARBARIAN 2
Now that fate wants you to die slightly less it’s time to abuse that privilege as much as possible. Reckless Attack will let you swing your chainsaw around like an idiot with advantage, all for the low low price of making it easier for a deadite to grab you. Buuuut if you’re only rocking a blue dress shirt maybe it’s better to go all-out.
Additionally Danger Sense is like having proficiency with Dexterity saving throws, except only when you can see them coming. If you know an attack is coming your way you’ll have advantage on the DEX save, which combined with your Aura of Protection will keep you safe from a lot of fireballs. Relatively.
LEVEL 10 - BARBARIAN 3
3rd level Barbarians get to choose their subclass, and Path of the Zealot is funny because you get literal protagonist powers. Warrior of the Gods will let anyone with the power to revive you do so easily, not having to spend expensive diamonds to do so. It won’t let you leave!
Well at least it also gives you Divine Fury, letting you deal extra Radiant or Necrotic damage (trust me: take Radiant damage) the first time you hit someone with your chainsaw (not your boomstick) equal to a d6 plus half your Barbarian level. More fuel for more bloody kills, especially with one more daily Rage in case of those dire circumstances!
And to top it off Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything gives you Primal Knowledge for more skill proficiencies. Intimidation is the only thing you’re going to truly make an impact with currently, so proficiency with more Charisma skills can help to get control over a room.
LEVEL 11 - BARBARIAN 4
4th level Barbarians get another Ability Score Improvement and what’s fun about this build is that you can actually spec around what you want to do with your Ash. Want a more deadly chainsaw? Take more Strength. Want to be able to take more hits? Well Constitution can help with that. Want a prettier face that doesn’t get scratched up by saving throws? Charisma will help with that and also make your Channel Divinity better.
I’d personally recommend more Strength but the choice is entirely up to you as to the Chosen One you want to be.
(Image from CBR.com)
LEVEL 12 - BARBARIAN 5
5th level Barbarians get an Extra Attack... that doesn’t stack with your other Extra Attack. Oops. Well at least you get Fast Movement for 10 extra feet of movement while not wearing heavy armor.
LEVEL 13 - BARBARIAN 6
Were you failing saving throws? I sure hope not, because Fanatical Focus will let you reroll a failed Saving Throw once per Rage. More life insurance for the Chosen One to accommodate more uses of Rage!
LEVEL 14 - BARBARIAN 7
7th level Barbarians have been hunted by evil for so long fighting it has become a Feral Instinct. You have advantage on initiative rolls, and if you are surprised at the beginning of combat (and aren’t incapacitated) you can act normally on your first turn as long as you enter Rage before doing anything else.
Speaking of Rage: Tasha’s Cauldron gives you an Instinctive Pounce to move up to half your movement speed when you take the Bonus Action to Rage, letting you jump up for that decapitation!
LEVEL 15 - PALADIN 7
Quickly taking a value level in Devotion Paladin for Aura of Devotion. Possession sucks, and while charms aren’t quite possession this aura will keep your mind from being tampered with. Also you can now use Harness Divine Power twice per Long Rest, giving you a few more 2nd level spell slots to play with!
LEVEL 16 - BARBARIAN 8
8th level Barbarians get another Ability Score Improvement. Again: Strength, Constitution, or Charisma. Take whatever you think will help you the most. Probably Strength really but it’s up to you.
(Artwork from Evil Dead: The Game)
LEVEL 17 - BARBARIAN 9
9th level Barbarians can get even more blood! Brutal Critical lets you roll 3 damage die when you crit instead of just two. And if you don’t happen to crit? Well your Rage now deals 1 more damage per hit, I suppose.
LEVEL 18 - BARBARIAN 10
10th level Zealot Barbarians can be a source of inspiration without being a Bard. With the use of a Bonus Action your Zealous Presence will give up to ten(?!) other Survivors you choose that can hear you in 60 feet advantage on attack rolls and saving throws until the start of your next turn. You can only use this feature once per Long Rest, but in the face of hell you can show the demons the mettle of man.
Additionally you gain another skill proficiency from Primal Knowledge: take Perception I guess? By this point your proficiency bonus is probably enough to make this meaningful. Your low Wisdom won’t make you the main source of insight in the party, but I won’t look a skill proficiency horse in the mouth.
LEVEL 19 - BARBARIAN 11
11th level Barbarians get knocked down, but they get back up. Relentless Rage will let you roll a Constitution save when you hit 0 HP (while raging, as long as you don’t immediately die) to instead drop to 1 hitpoint. The first time you do this the DC is only 10 but it increases by 5 every time you have to use it until you take a Long Rest (when it resets to a 10 again.)
Aura of Protection does help you with this, along with your proficiency thanks to Resilient Constitution. You actually have a fairly good chance to survive being knocked dead quite a few times thanks to this ability!
LEVEL 20 - BARBARIAN 12
Our final level is the 12th level of Barbarian for one last Ability Score Improvement: again Strength, Constitution, or Charisma.
But the real capstone is having 5 total uses of Rage! Maybe.
FINAL BUILD
PROS
Shop Smart, Shop S-Mart - Despite not having maxed out combat stats you can both swing a chainsaw and shoot a shotgun (crossbow) pretty well, as long as you have some time to rev up the chainsaw first and give it a Charisma boost to hit. Having the flexibility to shoot and swing in the same round is also an obvious boon, giving you more combat pressure at all ranges. And of course being able to put full-gas in your chainsaw swings will really let you get to the blood and guts.
Hey granny! I hope you took your Geritol, 'cause it's time to dance! - The tricks you have up your sleeve can really augment your standard combat. While your Channel Divinity is likely going to be your bread-and-butter for tougher foes the few spells you can cast while not raging can really come in handy. Not to mention your Smites.
Who's laughing now? Who's laughing now?! - It wasn’t really my intention but it turns out when you built towards “fate literally not allowing you to die” you get some really good saving throw protection, which also translates nicely onto your party! If you fight against witches or magical deadites you’ll have plenty of confidence knowing you can shrug off most dangerous magical effects, and dodging any thrown chairs or bodies helps as well.
CONS
Klaatu, Barada, Nikto! - You have spell slots, yes. But they are extremely hard to use since you can’t cast or concentrate while Raging. And if you instead want to use them for Divine Smites you’ll also find yourself lacking over a long day as your chainsaw runs low on fuel.
And I don’t pay my taxes, so all I know is death - I can not stress enough how genuinely bad Unarmored Defense is. Like, you’d get so much more mileage out of just putting on a breastplate. But then you wouldn’t get to show off that lovely blue shirt now would you? Honestly unless you can get a decent CON from somewhere I’d just go for 14 DEX and accept the flavor confusion of putting on some proper armor.
Your shoelace’s undone - This build has to go through a lot of contrivance to work: you need high stats in multiple abilities to use both melee and ranged weapons, you can’t cast spells while Raging which limits your options for backup ranged attacks, weapon swapping rules are archaic meaning you can’t easily swap to two-handed ranged weapons, and the loading property gives you even more to dance around if you want to fire both barrels of your boomstick...
Look there’s a lot of simpler ways to get the theme of Ash (chainsaw in one hand and boomstick in the other.) My recommendation if you’re playing a low level character (which you probably are) is to take a level (or three to get Pact of the Blade) into Hexblade Warlock and invest the rest into some form of Paladin. This would let you concentrate on just Charisma (which best fits Ash) while rocking Medium armor and Agonizing Blast to take place of your boomstick (dealing as much damage as a Heavy Crossbow per shot.) (Heck you could even take a Greatsword for the chainsaw.) But on this blog I strive for A. level 20 builds and B. as much character accuracy as possible, meaning a lot of sacrifices have to be made for flavor. I can’t just make it easy for myself by picking Warlock all the time (despite what the general trend of this blog may indicate) and for Ash in particular it felt all types of wrong to say “oh yeah invest in Warlock use Shadow Blade as your chainsaw to rip and tear until it is done!”
tl;dr this build is meant to make a level 20 Ash Williams, not exactly a good build I’d play at a real table. If you want to play Ash in a campaign that doesn’t go to level 20 I’d probably make a Hexblade / Paladin multiclass and flavor Eldritch Blast as your boomstick.
But hey: just because you were the Chosen One doesn’t mean you were built to be a hero. You built yourself through all the highs and lows, and now are a one-man force against evil. But one man doesn’t have to do it alone: Ghost Beaters never leave a man behind and an alone wolf winds up dead by dawn. Be the face everyone can look up to when faced with any demon, deadite, or she-b#!% evil may throw at you. “Groovy.”
5e Annie Knowby, the Professor’s Daughter build (Evil Dead 2)
(Image from Evil Dead 2. Obtained from the Absolute Horror Wiki.)
Okay I’ll be honest: one of the main reasons I’m making a build for Annie was to have an excuse to share “All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons.” I watched the Evil Dead musical (live!) back in like... 2018 or something lol? But ever since then I’ve had this song somewhat stuck in my head for awhile. Honestly Evil Dead The Musical is great and I’m super glad to have seen it.
With that being said Annie Knowby is probably one of the most important characters in Evil Dead canon, or at least before the TV show came out. Being the daughter of the guy who indirectly caused this whole mess she ended up being one of the biggest sources of knowledge in the second movie, especially with her mom being Ash’s first big bad.
Shame old man Ash has pretty much surpassed her in Evil Dead: The Game for a good Leader. I don’t have any official stats to cite but from my personal experience Annie is probably one of the least popular characters in the game. Maybe I can give her some more to work with in D&D.
GOALS
Howitzer - Annie’s specialization is guns, which is why no one plays her in a game based mostly around melee weapons.
Haymaker - At least Annie is good at knocking enemies off their feet to open them up for her friends to finish them off.
Hellish Knowledge - Annie casts... a spell, in Evil Dead 2? It is the most important spell in the series though, and that’s enough justification for me to make her a spellcaster! But jokes aside Annie is also a smart cookie in her own right with plenty of wit to pass around.
RACE
Hey guess what; Annie is a human! And seeing as she doesn’t have any innate magic we’ll be going for good ol’ Variant Human. Increase your Dexterity and Intelligence by 1 for all sorts of expeditions into unknown ruins, Medicine proficiency to treat any cuts and scrapes you may get during your expeditions, and Abyssal which may work as Ancient Sumerian.
You also get a feat at level 1 and if you’re going to be shooting often you’d best shoot well. Crossbow Expert is good for close-ranged skirmishes since it’ll let you shoot in melee range and ignore the loading property of crossbows, but most importantly it will let you fire off one more round as a Bonus Action before letting the deadites try to swing at you!
ABILITY SCORES
15; DEXTERITY - You need to be dexterous to climb around old ruins... and shoot a gun.
14; WISDOM - Wisdom is good to know your way around the world, and know if someone’s possessed by a Kandarian Demon.
13; INTELLIGENCE - History takes a lot of intellect to understand. Good thing you picked up on your dad’s research!
12; CONSTITUTION - It’s a little lower than I’d like but I wanted roleplay stats more. You’re no Warrior, is the point.
10; CHARISMA - It’s not that you aren’t charismatic, but when you’re losing personality contests to the crazy guy covered in blood you found in your parents’ old cabin that’s really saying something.
8; STRENGTH - Sure Strength would help you climb up to high places, but that’s on Ed. Daddy wouldn’t want his darling daughter getting into danger.
BACKGROUND
Your dad might’ve been the head Archaeologist but that doesn’t mean you weren’t one yourself. You gain proficiency with History and Survival for your expeditions as well as your choice of either Cartographer’s Tools or Navigator’s Tools: I opted for the former but you can take the latter if you’d like. You can also grab a language of your choice and if Abyssal didn’t work for Ancient Sumerian I hope Infernal does.
Your background feature Historical Knowledge will let you identify any strange castles you may go to investigate, what purpose the English may have had for the strange pit in the middle of their courtyard, and most importantly: how valuable that book with a cover that looks like a human face is.
(Artwork from Evil Dead: The Game)
THE BUILD
LEVEL 1 - FIGHTER 1
Starting Annie off as a Fighter perhaps isn’t lore-accurate, but it’s the best way to depict her abilities in Evil Dead: The Game (which is what I’m basing most of this build on since Annie in Evil Dead 2 mostly just swings and axe and knife around) and is also the best way to get Constitution saving throw proficiency.
It’s also a good way to get the Archery Fighting Style for +2 to your ranged attacks, and Second Wind to heal for a d10 plus your Fighter level as a Bonus Action.
LEVEL 2 - FIGHTER 2
Second level Fighters have a bit more stamina when they need it thanks to Action Surge, allowing you to take two actions in a round instead of one! For now this mostly just means one more shot with whatever weapon you may be using but further down the line this will go a long way!
LEVEL 3 - FIGHTER 3
Third level Fighters get to choose their Martial Archetype, and if you want weapons that can knock a deadite over look no further than the Battle Master. You get four Combat Superiority die (which are currently d8s) to use on a variety of Maneuvers, the main one to target balance bars of course being Trip Attack to stumble a foe and potentially make them trip so the nutjobs armed with axes and chainsaws have an easier time mutilating your former boyfriend.
Other than that Precision Attack won’t increase your damage but it will help you aim better (which will help you do more damage if you opt for Sharpshooter), and Distracting Strike will let you sing a familiar song to distract a deadite long enough to saw its limbs off.
And to top it off Student of War gives you proficiency with an Artisan’s Tool of your choice, and in order to understand ancient texts Calligrapher’s Supplies would let you understand the exact meaning behind eldritch penmanship.
LEVEL 4 - FIGHTER 4
4th level Fighters get their first Ability Score Improvement and seeing as we’re mostly just shooting currently I say increase your Dexterity by 2 for more precise shots and a better chance at ducking away from anyone who might try to grab you from behind a wooden door.
LEVEL 5 - FIGHTER 5
5th level Fighters get Extra Attack to shoot with both barrels. Along with your Bonus Action that includes three whole barrels of fun! ...Well maybe you’re actually wielding a hunting rifle.
(In-game render from Evil Dead: The Game.)
LEVEL 6 - CLERIC 1
1st level Clerics get to choose their subclass at level 1, and you know what’s a bad subclass that’s thematically appropriate for Annie? Knowledge domain, of course! You’ve been to enough exciting places with your dad to learn two languages (which you can pick as you fancy) and you get expertise with two skills related to general knowledge: seeing as you already have History proficiency take expertise in Arcana and Religion.
You also get access to Spellcasting as a Cleric, obviously. As a Knowledge Cleric you get Command and Identify added to your spell list, both of which are good spells to have. Other than that you can learn 3 cantrips such as Guidance to help out where you can, Light to see with your dumb human eyes, and Mending to fix any holes in the cabin walls.
You can also prepare three spells from the Cleric list such as Bless to lead the party with stat boosts, Cure Wounds for some basic medical triage, and Detect Magic to... detect magic. But it is important to mention that as a Cleric you can swap your spells out after a Long Rest, and there’s plenty of good options on the Cleric spell list that would be useful to take to a cabin in the woods.
LEVEL 7 - CLERIC 2
Second level Clerics get their Channel Divinity which they can use in three different ways. All Clerics get Turn Undead to force a Wisdom saving throw as you shout at evil to let you leave. If the evil dead fail their save, they’ll leave you alone! At least for a minute or until they take damage, anyways.
If you read Tasha’s Book of Vile Darkness then you should also know about Harness Divine Power, letting you recover a spell slot equal to half your proficiency bonus (rounded up) once per long rest. And finally as a Knowledge Domain Cleric you can use Knowledge of the Ages to gain proficiency with one skill or tool for 10 minutes!
Yeah Knowledge domain is infamously outdated, but hey this lets you shape up in any areas those two random hillbillies you had lead you to the cabin were lacking in. I’d say use this information to translate ancient texts but... you already have expertise in Arcana.
At least you can prepare another spell like Healing Word, for an emergency pick-me-up.
LEVEL 8 - CLERIC 3
3rd level Clerics can prepare 2nd level spells like Lesser Restoration to help any shell-shocked allies. You also get both Augury and Suggestion automatically as a Knowledge domain Cleric, which are actually good spells that unfortunately probably won’t shape up with your middling Wisdom.
LEVEL 9 - CLERIC 4
4th level Clerics get an Ability Score Improvement and seeing as we’re still mostly shooting I’d recommend the Sharpshooter feat for more of a hand shooting past walls. Alternatively if you have a head to shoot at you can take an aim penalty to shoot at the head for massive damage!
You also learn another cantrip like Toll the Dead for some magical offense straight from the pages of a book, and you can prepare another spell like Aid, which might not boost health by much but compared to Cure Wounds will probably be more consistent as far as “healing” goes since it doesn’t rely on your Wisdom.
LEVEL 10 - FIGHTER 6
Fighter is a funny class that gets a lot of Ability Score Improvements, so how about we increase damage output some more with the Piercer feat. Along with a +1 to Dexterity you can reroll the damage die of an attack once as long as it does Piercing damage, and if you crit with Piercing damage you do x3 damage instead of x2! Most ranged weapons deal Piercing damage so this is a good way to get more consistent ranged damage overall.
LEVEL 11 - FIGHTER 7
7th level Fighters have studied enough to study their foes too! Know Your Enemy will let you learn two traits of an enemy as long as you spend a minute studying them. I won’t tell you everything this trait can do (read the ability yourself) but judging Dexterity, Constitution, Armor Class, and current hit points might be useful for the other guy with the gun.
You also get more Maneuvers because Battle Masters are cool like that. Take Maneuvering Attack for covering fire that will let your friends get into cover, and Disarming Attack can be helpful if you think someone’s got something that will force you into the woods.
LEVEL 12 - FIGHTER 8
Hey look at that more Ability Score Improvements: I think it’s about time to cap off your Dexterity modifier with the Skill Expert feat, while also grabbing proficiency with Investigation and Expertise with History, so you can be the group’s well of knowledge when it comes to portals to other worlds.
Skill Expert is more in-flavor than Piercer, but I took both because with Standard Array you’d have an even DEX score (meaning you may as well take two half feats.) If you rolled for stats and have an uneven DEX score take Skill Expert and skip out on Piercer.
(Artwork from the cover of “Annie Knowby Battles the Evil Dead in Beyond Dead by Dawn” Evil Dead comic book, where apparently Annie is way more badass. Yeah I haven’t read the comics.)
LEVEL 13 - FIGHTER 9
9th level Fighters get Indomitable, letting them reroll a saving throw against possession or something similar once per Long Rest. Yeah perhaps not the most impressive ability, but it can be good in a pinch if something is holding you back from saving the Hero from the Sky.
LEVEL 14 - FIGHTER 10
10th level Battle Masters see some Improved Combat Superiority, turning their d8 Superiority die into d10s. This will empower your average damage nicely, as well as your aim if you opt for Precision Attack.
Speaking of which you can also learn more Maneuvers: Evasive Footwork can help you dodge if evil decides to focus on you, as is Parry!
LEVEL 15 - FIGHTER 11
11th level Fighters can fan the hammer with one more Extra Attack. In total you’ll have three attacks, one extra Bonus Action Crossbow Expert attack, and if you Action Surge you can shoot three more times. You can do a lot of damage, especially if you use Sharpshooter and your maneuvers to make it easy to take down whatever may come for you in the woods.
LEVEL 16 - CLERIC 5
You know, Destroy Undead might’ve been a good feature to have while fighting the evil dead. But now it only works on enemies of CR 1/2 or lower which I doubt you’re going to be facing by this point.
But really what we’re here for is 3rd level spells. As a Knowledge domain Cleric you can use Speak with Dead for some family time, and Nondetection... certainly is a spell! And seeing as most spells are written in Ancient Sumerian
Tongues will make translating them easier. But again I do have to remind you that Clerics are prepared casters, and by this point perhaps carrying a quick revive (with Revivify) might be more useful when fighting the Dark Ones.
LEVEL 17 - CLERIC 6
Hey remember how Knowledge Domain is a bad subclass? Well part of the reason I didn’t bother to level it up until now is because Channel Divinity: Read Thoughts is rather underwhelming. You use your Channel Divinity (obviously) to force a Wisdom saving throw as you try to... read the target’s surface thoughts for a minute. You can also end the effect to cast Suggestion, but seeing as your Wisdom is so low you’re likely not going to succeed with this ability very often, and likely aren’t dealing with any humanoids who’d realistically be affected by this.
At least you get two uses of your Channel Divinity now, and can use Harness Divine Power twice per Long Rest. That’s about all you’re going to be getting out of your Channel Divinity really, unless you really need emergency skill checks by this point. At least you can prepare a spell for the more immediate emergency of a Kandarian Dagger-shaped hole in the chest of a local trucker. If you find yourself on the wrong end of a dagger (or I guess the right end?) you can cut yourself with the wrong end to heal your ally with Life Transference. Seeing as you’ll likely be in the backline for most fights sacrificing some of your health to quickly pick up an ally is certainly worth it, but do be careful obviously.
LEVEL 18 - CLERIC 7
7th level Clerics can cast 4th level spells like Arcane Eye to scout out the woods before heading down any trails you may find, and Confusion which is a good debuff when your Wisdom isn’t poop.
Thankfully there’s a lot of good spells at this level which don’t rely as much on your Wisdom: Aura of Life is pretty much made to fight the evil dead, but again maybe you are dealing with less deadites and more skeletons by this point. Well skeletons are still undead but maybe they aren’t doing Necrotic damage is my point. Just read your spell descriptions is all.
LEVEL 19 - CLERIC 8
8th level Clerics get an Ability Score Improvement, for a start. By this point investing in Wisdom might be worth it but... it also might not be? +3 WIS isn’t much better than a +2 so if you think there’s something more practical for you to be spending this last boost on spend your Pink F on that instead. Of course more Wisdom does mean more spells but by this point you honestly have all the spellcasting you could ever need and are more than free to prepare whatever you want. (Although I’d probably opt for the lower level abilities.)
You’d also normally get Potent Spellcasting but seeing as you’re shooting guns mostly Blessed Strikes from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything will let you augment your gun crossbow instead of your magic with an extra d8 of radiant damage once per turn. And to top it off Destroy Undead affects CR 1 creatures now, which I’m sure will make all the difference.
LEVEL 20 - CLERIC 9
Our final level is the 9th level of Cleric for 5th level spell slots! This means you can finally finish your father’s work and understand all the Legend Lore behind the Necronomicon Ex Mortis, and can also potentially do Scrying so you know what the Hero from the Sky is up to after leaving your cabin.
And of course you can prepare some 5th level spells too: there’s some really good ones (Holy Weapon can give you even more damage along with a burst to defend yourself in a panic) but the obvious choice would be Dispel Evil and Good, to maybe save sweet Henrietta and see if that thing is the basement really was your mother at one point.
FINAL BUILD
PROS
Hollow Points - So it turns out that a Battle Master Crossbow Expert Sharpshooter Fighter is one of the highest DPR Fighter builds out there. You can contribute tons of damage while also hindering foes and aiding allies with your maneuvers as necessary.
Echoes of the Aura - You can also provide plenty of assistance to your team with both your spells and your maneuvers. Having easy access to healing and defense in a pinch can really save you when your party’s back is against the wall.
Master of Influence - It’s not often that players can turn to the Fighter to be a source of knowledge-based skill checks, but with Expertise in most Intelligence-based skills and your Channel Divinity to provide you with proficiency in any skill you may be lacking you actually manage to fill a good skill monkey role without investing in either Bard or Rogue.
CONS
Toil and Trouble - I know I’ve said it at least 4 times in this post, but Knowledge Domain Cleric is bad. Sure the swapping skill proficiencies help earlier on but most parties will have enough characters to fill out any skill checks that might be done, and while your spells as Knowledge Domain are nice your Wisdom really isn’t high enough to make use of them. Not to mention that if you are actually fighting the Evil Dead book smarts won’t help you much outside of one particular book. There’s plenty of Clerics that are less thematically appropriate but have more powerful class abilities and spells.
Vicious Circle - The only stat we’ve invested in is Dexterity, and opting for feats instead of ASIs hurts. Not only is your spellcasting not the greatest, you also lack in mental saves which are often some of the most dangerous. While proficiency will protect your Strength and Constitution you won’t be able to do anything if a parallax camera chases you.
Rock Steady - Trip Attack is your main source of assistance to the party, but it forces a Strength saving throw which your opponents might be resistant to. Additionally firing through tough armor will prove a challenge. Overall you’re really good at handling more basic foes but if any elites or bosses show up you’ll struggle against their might.
But you don’t need to be a hero from the sky to still do good, kid. Give suppressing fire and recite the magic words to make sure you and your friends aren’t dead by dawn. Every good horror movie needs a final girl, even if you’re sharing the spotlight with the world’s grooviest psycho.
5e Ba’al, the Kandarian Demon of Manipulation build (Ash vs Evil Dead)
(Image from Villains Wiki)
I promise this isn’t just going to be the “Ash vs Evil Dead” month and I honestly feel bad doing another character from the TV show, but put simply I can’t give all the love to the living. Unfortunately most of the demons outside of the TV show are kinda... underexplored? An episodic TV show gives a lot more time for character development when compared to a 90 minute movie, and an episodic format has the added bonus of not requiring Ash to blast the Deadite in the face 10 minutes after their introduction.
It’s okay though because Baal being the main villain of Season 2 of Ash vs gives me plenty to work with. And he has the most demonic power of all: gaslighting.
GOALS
High Tension - The deadites in Evil Dead love their manipulation so it’s no surprise Bill feels the same, whispering sweet nothings to people to try and break them.
The Claw! - While Bal isn’t the type to fight head on he is still a demon, and he’s got very long fingernails. Or well, fingernail (singular.)
He could be in this very room! - It’s good to get into someone else’s skin sometimes, but don’t take it too literally.
RACE
Holy shit I get to use a Tiefling while writing builds for the demon book, and holy shit all the variant Tieflings are now considered Legacy content. Well I guess we can start by talking about what all Tieflings get, being Darkvision, Hellish Resistance to fire, and the Infernal language because... duh of course you know Sumerian.
Seeing as Ba’al is a master manipulator we’ll be going for... Baalzebul Tiefling? Well along with the fact that “Baalzebul” has “Baal” in the name put simply we’re going to be getting everything from the more-apt Fierna Tiefling later down the line, so grabbing Legacy of Maladomini for Thaumaturgy, Ray of Sickness (at level 3), and the very apt Crown of Madness (at level 5) is better for us. You can also increase your Charisma by 2 and Intelligence by 1 which fits a master manipulator well.
ABILITY SCORES
Ba’al is very interesting because I kinda need good stats in everything if I want to be accurate, because well... he’s a demon lord? But pulling out point buy just to make this character work is a bit redundant so we’ll be keeping to Standard Array and taking the most important stats:
15; CHARISMA - You are a lord of manipulation and most of your strength is devilish in nature.
14; CONSTITUTION - Say it with me now: “there’s nothing else we need and it’s good to have health.”
13; DEXTERITY - Something something not Medium Armor, but we do need good AC.
12; WISDOM - Be it for Insight or just general Wisdom you need to be able to tell things apart.
10; INTELLIGENCE - You are a demon lord but you do get outsmarted by Ash Williams. Yeah: that guy. So maybe you’re not as smart as you think you are.
8; STRENGTH - You need Strength to control The Claw but we’ll have other ways of doing things,
BACKGROUND
Is there a “Minor Lord of Hell” background? No? Well Faceless (from the funny hell book that isn’t the Necronomicon Ex Mortis) will let you keep your ruse up with the party that you aren’t playing an evil character. You get proficiency with Deception and Intimidation, a Disguise Kit (which you probably won’t use so you know maybe replace it with a language or something), and a language of your choice which... sure you know Infernal but Abyssal makes plenty of sense in case the Dark Ones have you work the customs office.
Your background trait Dual Personalities will let you keep a ruse up as a friendly psychologist to everyone who might doubt you, including your friends! As long as you don’t give them a reason to doubt that you’re trying to help Ash kill the book then nothing bad will happen to you. I’m sure of it.
(Image from Headhunter's Horror House Wiki. Jeeze that’s a mouthful.)
THE BUILD
LEVEL 1 - SORCERER 1
Starting off as a Sorcerer because Baal has strong innate power, is surprisingly squishy, and Constitution saving throw proficiency is good to have. You can also take proficiency with Arcana and Persuasion to keep that mastery over demonic magic and persuasion to yourself.
Sorcerers get to choose their subclass at level 1 and Baal has enough psychic powers for me to take the Aberrant Mind subclass. Along with getting Telepathic Speech to whisper sweet nothings into peoples’ ears without anyone hearing you (or potentially even seeing you) you get Psionic Spells to learn some extra divination / enchantment spells, or just keep to the spells the feature already gives you. Which by the way you also get Spellcasting as a Sorcerer if you didn’t know!
Anyways your Psionic Spells gives you access to Mind Sliver (which is a nice cantrip to invoke your inner Eligos) and Dissonant Whispers which fits you well enough and can’t realistically be obtained anywhere else, but I’d suggest replacing Arms of Hadar with good ol’ Charm Person, to do... exactly what the spell says. (Which is charm someone, not mind control them. That comes later!
You can also learn 4 cantrips and 2 leveled spells: for your cantrips take Mage Hand for an extra limb you can stick a puppet onto, Mending to fix any tears in your outfits or... tears in your outfits (remember that a corpse is an object), Prestidigitation to do general gaslighting things, and... I dunno Dancing Lights look funky I guess? Sorcerers get too many cantrips man...
Anyways for your leveled spells... well I mean, Mage Armor and Shield are unfortunately somewhat mandatory to keep your squishy self safe from a chainsaw while also rocking a nice suit.
LEVEL 2 - WARLOCK 1
I really hope you didn’t expect a literal demon to not have at least a little Eldritch power. Warlocks (much like Sorcerers) get to choose their benefactor at level 1 and we’ll obviously be going for the... Undead patron. Simply put Form of Dread is more useful to us than anything that the Fiend patron could realistically give. Along with a spookier true form you gain temporary hitpoints equal to a d10 plus your Warlock level, immunity to the Frightened condition, but most importantly when you strike your foes with any attack roll they have to listen to your whispers in their mind or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn! This transformation lasts for 1 minute and you can use it a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all expended uses at the end of a Long Rest.
Speaking of attack rolls you learn 2 cantrips from the Warlock list like Eldritch Blast to blast while you eldritch. You can also take Minor Illusion to create more images to manipulate your foes. You can also learn some 1st level Warlock spells like Hex and Hellish Rebuke, in case your ruse fails.
LEVEL 3 - WARLOCK 2
Speaking of ruses it’s about time you get a disguise, no? Second level Warlocks get to choose their Eldritch Invocations and Mask of Many Faces lets you cast Disguise Self at will, so you can be anyone you desire. Other than that? Well Agonizing Blast is good to agonize your blasts.
Additionally you can learn another 1st level spell, but why do that when 2nd level spells are so close by?
LEVEL 4 - WARLOCK 3
I hope you weren’t sick of your currently 7 cantrips because it’s time for your Pact Boon, and of course you should get your old girlfriend’s book back thanks to the Pact of the Tome. This gets you three more motherfucking cantrips, the most notable of which will be Primal Savagery for a claw that doesn’t take your Strength to use! Is Shocking Grasp probably a better cantrip? Yes, but that doesn’t have the aesthetic of The Claw!
Other than that? Well Guidance is universally useful and Vicious Mockery is kinda the go-to Enchantment / Manipulation damaging cantrip? Which is an elaborate way of saying “I don’t care who I’m building I’m not taking the Friends cantrip.”
Additionally you can learn more spells and at this point I’d get rid of Hellish Rebuke probably to instead grab Blindness / Deafness from the Undead list,
Enthrall (which is kinda the textbook Ba’al spell), and Misty Step. For... Flash...?
(Image source.)
LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 4
4th level Warlocks finally get an Ability Score Improvement which means we can finally bump your Charisma up to an acceptable level for a master of manipulation. But seeing as we only need +1 in Charisma you can also put +1 in Dexterity for more AC, initiative, and all that good stuff.
Additionally you can learn another spell like Suggestion for more powerful mental... suggestion... And you can grab the Toll the Dead cantrip for another way to get around resistances. Because holy hell you have too many cantrips.
LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 5
5th level Warlocks get another Eldritch Invocation and One with Shadows is universally good to whisper sweet nothings from the background. Or just to hide when Ashy Slashy is out of bed.
You can also learn 3rd level spells like Enemies Abound to make your enemies not know who their enemies are.
LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 6
6th level Undead Warlocks have spent enough time in hell to finally be considered a demon, or at least Grave Touched. Along with not needing to eat, drink, or breath (which is just a nice boon to have when you enjoy body-hopping) you can replace the damage you deal with Necrotic damage once per turn. This is any damage as long as it originated from an attack roll, including the attacks from your claw!
Additionally, while you are using your Form of Dread you can roll one additional damage die when determining the necrotic damage the target takes. This has very nice synergy with your claw, which uses a d10 as its damage die. But like... it works well with Eldritch Blast too?
And to top it off you can learn a final Warlock spell, so take Tongues to gaslight anyone you please. (But ask your DM if it works with your telepathic speech.)
(Image from Evil Dead Archive.)
LEVEL 8 - SORCERER 2
We’ve gotten sufficient demonic powers from our non-demonic patron, so it’s time to increase our Charisma... well, increase our spells to manipulate people with our Charisma. For a start you get Font of Magic for Sorcery points which don’t really do much right now (but we’ll talk about them later.
You could also learn another spell and I’ve kinda been ignoring Charm Person for the most part, even though it fits you quite well. But honestly by total level 8 with your Charisma score you really don’t need to use magic for basic manipulation. So like, take Charm Person if you want? But I’m going to be pretending that you didn’t.
LEVEL 9 - SORCERER 3
Hey remember those Sorcery points I didn’t talk about? Well you can use them for Metamagic to empower your spells with the might of the Book of the Dead! I’m going to put it very simply: take Subtle Spell so passers-by don’t notice your manipulation, and take Quickened Spell because quickening Eldritch Blast (or your claw) is a very good way to get more damage output.
Additionally you get 2nd level spells now, meaning you get Detect Thoughts from your Psionic Spells. But instead of taking the Calm Emotions spell (since you’re more of a chaos type yourself) you can grab Crown of Madness, which is like Enemies Abound but bad if your DM plays smart enemies. I’m suggesting Crown of Madness because it fits the character, but honestly if you want a “more useful” spell Tasha's Mind Whip is a very good damaging option (even at this level) that also hinders your foes.
You can also grab spells like Phantasmal Force to make illusions that only the target of the spell can see such as their “old friends” actually being locked-up mental patients, and Alter Self for a proper claw and better disguises that can’t be seen through as easily!
LEVEL 10 - SORCERER 4
Finally by total level 10 we can cap off your Charisma modifier to not only have the best spellcasting you can get, but also so you can actually be a proper “master” of manipulation, instead of just being really good at it.
You can also learn more spells, but we’re going to wait until we can get higher level stuff. You can certainly learn more cantrips though! Seeing as you got most of the cantrips you could need from Warlock and I refuse to take Friends grab Control Flames I guess to exercise your hellish influence.
LEVEL 11 - SORCERER 5
5th level Sorcerers who have access to Tasha’s Necronomicon Ex Mortis can use Magical Guidance to reroll failed skill checks for 1 Sorcery point. More notably however you can now learn 3rd level spells: Psionic Spells provides you with Sending to manipulate your pawns from afar, but I’d replace Hunger of Hadar with Incite Greed to get a whole crowd of primitive screwheads to gawk and stare at you.
Weird logistical nonsense: an ability that you’ll be getting next level would benefit considerably from you having the spell Enemies Abound specifically from your Psionic Spells feature, but I wasn’t about to wait until total level 11 to get probably the best spell for Ba’al.
if your DM is cool ask if you can grab Incite Greed from the Warlock list and get Enemies Abound as a Psionic Spell, but if not then it’s not a big deal.
You can also learn additional spells like Hypnotic Pattern to keep a room dazed and reeling, and... well I mean Fireball is good to have in a pinch.
LEVEL 12 - SORCERER 6
Hope you read that little quote block last level because Psionic Sorcery is why. When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher from your Psionic Spells list, you can cast it with Sorcery points equal to the spell’s level instead of a spell slot. Additionally if you do so it requires no components, unless those components are consumed. Basically it’s like you get Subtle Spell for free on top of casting the spell for cheap.
Explaining weird logistical nonsense: Incite Greed states in the spell description that it requires people to stare at its material component, raising a weird question how it works with Subtle Spell / this feature. This is why having Enemies Abound would be better for you, especially since subtly casting Enemies Abound is probably a stronger power move for you. But again it’s not a bit deal: just something to figure out with your DM.
Additionally you gain Psychic Defenses for resistance to Psychic damage and advantage against charms and fears (in case you didn’t want to use your Form of Dread to just become immune to fears), and you can learn a spell like Gaseous Form which is good to get out of tough situations and into people’s noses. (Note: do not use Gaseous Form to go inside of peoples’ noses.)
(Image from The Christian Times)
LEVEL 13 - SORCERER 7
Hey look at that our Sorcerer slots are finally outpacing our Warlock slots. Neither of the Psionic Spells you have on offer fit so I’d suggest replacing them with Confusion and Raulothim's Psychic Lance (from Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons.)
You can also pick up another spell and while there’s plenty of great options at this level Dimension Door is universally good to have in your back pocket. Feel free to step out if your ruse is uncovered.
LEVEL 14 - SORCERER 8
8th level Sorcerers get another Ability Score Improvement, and you’ve probably noticed that uneven Intelligence score of yours. Up your understanding of mortal affairs with the Skill Expert feat. Along with a +1 to your Intelligence you gain proficiency with a skill of your choice (at this point pick whatever will help your party) and Expertise in a skill of your choice: depending on your campaign take Expertise in either Persuasion or Deception to be a master of manipulation.
Do remember to keep your mastery over the arcane too however: there’s a lot of good options but Polymorph is not only very in-character, it’s also kinda an overpowered spell, so that would be my suggestion on what to take. Even if I build for character I also do try to get a strong build.
LEVEL 15 - SORCERER 9
Sorcerers get spells. Spells like Rary’s Telepathic Bond and Telekinesis from Psionic Spells. Sure Telekinesis maybe doesn’t fit (and a spell like Dominate Person or Synaptic Static would perhaps fit better) but it’s still a good spell to have that makes enough sense.
So anyways if you don’t have Dominate Person you should take it. If you do then Animate Objects can help you put on a puppet show.
LEVEL 16 - SORCERER 10
10th level Sorcerers get another Metamagic option: Ash’s mind might be easy to break but if you’re dealing with someone more fear-immune take Heightened Spell to get through their senses.
You can also learn one more spell, and one cantrip too! For your cantrip you have too many, so take Gust I guess I dunno. For your leveled spell Seeming will help you get everyone in proper hospital attire.
(Source.)
LEVEL 17 - SORCERER 11
11th level Sorcerers get 6th level spells. No more Psionic Spells, but Mental Prison is kinda the go-to spell for Ba’al right? Mass Suggestion is alright too but by total level 17 that spell feels kinda redundant.
LEVEL 18 - SORCERER 12
12th level Sorcerers get one last Ability Score or Feat, so take the Tough feat because you mostly have Sorcerer levels and it would be nice if you could take a chainsaw hit or two.
What did you want more spells? What do you think you’re playing: a Wizard?
LEVEL 19 - SORCERER 13
Our final spell level is level 7, and there’s a lot of fun ones at this level but probably the most realistic for you would be Fire Storm. Sure other options might be better but ripping apart the heavens is something that usually only the Dark Ones can do, and now you can do it instead!
LEVEL 20 - SORCERER 14
Hope waiting 20 total levels to jump into someone else’s body wasn’t too long, but to be fair that isn’t something mortals normally do. (And even if you’re imitating Bill you’re still unfortunately mortal.) Regardless Revelation in Flesh is a funky little ability that lets you do a variety of things with your Bonus Action, all for the low low cost of 1 Sorcery point. You can see invisible creatures, fly, swim, and jump into peoples’ bodies! Overall it’s a pretty good capstone for a demon lord such as yourself.
FINAL BUILD
PROS
Darkness revealed - Hey so it turns out 20th level Casters are pretty strong. Warlock slots give you Pact spells to either cast with or turn into Sorcery points, and Eldritch Blast is universally good especially when you have Quickened Spell as backup.
Always waiting in the shadows - Enchantment spells become so much easier when people don’t know where they’re coming from. That’s why Subtle Spell is nice, and Psionic Sorcery is even nicer.
A cut above - Even with just a light dip into Warlock levels Form of Dread gives you a consistent option to both defend yourself and hamper your foes, instilling fear with every attack and giving yourself a bit of Temp HP to keep safe while you concentrate on a more debilitating spell. Helps that your claw is might dangerous up-close too.
CONS
Charmed I’m sure - So it turns out making a character based entirely around mental manipulation means that you’ll struggle against foes who can’t be manipulated. The reason Ba’al manipulates humans (and demons) is because elves are fairly resistant to charms.
Not as tough as Hell - Seeing as the vast majority of your levels are in Sorcerer your health will be subpar for most of the campaign, even with decent Constitution. Klaatu Barada Nikto might be the power words to send you back to hell, but Power Word Kill works well too.
Proud Peacock - Your only good stat is Charisma, leaving you lacking in any role other than a Charismatic leader. Sure you’ve got subordinates to handle the thinking, but your low stats will leave you vulnerable to being out-spelled by other casters and out-witted by a dimwit in a blue shirt.
But you only need to get out of the house if your ex-wife replaced the family cookbook anyways. Manipulate the masses and amass your own army to make sure the Chosen One can’t fight against any evil Hell may bring. Just remember that some dimwitted mortals may be more useful than others, and it’s good to keep those ones close. After all, you may end up being as good as mortal too when put under the claw.
(Artwork by @JasonVoorherios. Check out their Twitter I like their art a lot!)
