And the peculiar thing my friends is the build I made on that fateful night, it didn't look anything like this build! This is a tribute, I wish you were there...
Treantmonk in 2022: "Maybe a healer build video based on a meme that predates my gen Z audience wasn't the best choice" Treantmonk in 2023: "Ima multiclass Tenacious D and Mr. T for my next vid" You go Chris. Don't you apologize!
The Loose Cannon Cop: He was once a straight-laced paladin, who did things by the book. But that all changed when acting lawful good got his partner killed. Now he doesn't play by the rules -- he's gone...rogue.
I remember when back in the PHB days and even now some people are completely convinced this shit is good, and wait for it, the reason is both classes like crits... the 1in 20 chance crits... really... Still, great idea!
Cool series! Do a Paladin/Druid. The theme is "The Holy Cow". Be a Moon Druid at least until level 6 for Giant Elk. Be a Paladin level 6 for Extra Attack (and Aura). Charge in, knock your enemy prone with one attack, trample them with the other attack. Both attacks with Smite for (likely) good nova damage. After you've been beaten out of the Wild Shape, cast good Druid spells. Obviously, this is more a meme than anything else but could fit your series 🙂
Paladruid actually kind of not-a-meme works with a stars druid if you can get either a higher than normal base AC (I like autognome for this rn just for the flavor) or access to Mage Armor -- even carrying a shield you're still going to be getting hit a *lot,* but chalice form will let you autoheal yourself whenever you Healing Word a party member, and your spell slot budget actually won't be the worst thing ever if you pick up Eldritch Adept early to get advantage on concentration checks from the Eldritch Mind invocation. (Your charisma will almost definitely blow until midgame, but paladins have utility and this is basically a Swiss Army build with smites. Take conquest pally, it's free Armor of Agathys and their channel divinity slaps.)
This one was a laugh riot, my favorite moment was Mr. T saving that kid from the water by hurling them into space. Absolutely hilarious. Thank you sir!
Was about to post something so similar to this comment. I’ll just 2nd what you said! 😂 love this build. Especially since it uses one of the worst subclasses in the whole game and seems to make it somehow workable
Chris I really appreciate the commitment to the concept! Optimization is fun, but this sounds like it was a good exercise for you, I can hear the pain in your voice describing the ability scores, there there treantmonk, it's gonna be ok
Hot Take: Mr. T is actually an Oath of Glory Paladin (those chains are definitely heavy armor), and Tenacious D is a Fiend Warlock with either the Skill Expert or Prodigy feat for Performance Expertise.
Seeing this I realize what a missed opportunity it is that there’s no invocation that gives you proficiency + expertise in a skill you don’t have proficiency in. Becoming amazing at a skill you suck at is a classic pact trope.
I have always been interested in a Barbarian/Monk (aka Bonk) multiclass. My personal idea for how the character would look would be a fellow that's always had a bit of an anger problem, probably a bit of bully when he was younger. He learned to channel this anger into a zen-like rage he focuses on his enemies. Rage is not the enemy; it a weapon to be honed.
Use point buy 15/13/14/9/13/8 with the Tasha's and beyond rule of +1 to three different ability scores of you choice to have 16 Str and 14 in Dex, Con, and Wis. Best part is you have total racial choice freedom, only barring Variant Human and Custom Lineage. Choose either Con or Wis to put ASIs toward after maxing Str based on which Unarmored Defense and other class features you're focusing on. Personally, while powering Monk features is tempting, there's several Con based features on races that might be fun to combo to make up for not going for a feat if you stick to ASIs only to max it, and the character concept does seem to lean starting Barb first maybe.
I had a very vivid dream once long ago of the legendary figure known as the Sixth Cat. It was a humanoid feline carved entirely of cunningly fitted wooden pieces. I'd like to suggest this be used as the basis for the artificer/druid Frankenbuild based on a tabaxi battlesmith that carves and animates a wooden copy of themselves.
One build I started but didn't get far with because she got insta-killed by a spectre is a whip-using rogue/paladin, inspired by Simon Belmont of Castlevania. The main mechanical concept was using the whip to deliver sneak attacks and smites.
I played in a pathfinder game where my brother played a Simon Belmont inspired character, as a inquisitor with a whip. Everyone loves playing a whip wielding warrior of light
So looking forward to this video, just for the pun of it…. I had to try. Video idea #1 I’d really like to hear your personal experience of the 3rd edition to 4th edition (and then 5th edition) transitions. There are many of us who’ve never gone through an edition change and it seems like there may be many parallels. Video idea #2 theory and strategy behind spell preparation (or spell selection) what you’re thinking about primarily when making decisions to create a list that has a particular effect, perhaps by class.
Great video, Chris! I had so much fun! Using Mounted Combatant on a Creation bard is something I’d never considered, but it makes so much sense! In your Disney Princess Creation Bard video it wasn’t featured, but it’s definitely something that works really well with this character!
Monk/ divination wizard - Bruce Foresee! An absolute MAD mess of dex, con, int and wis. A martial artist so skillful he can see a punch before it’s thrown! Hope you make more content like this Chris very fun!
Still watching the ads (gotta get you that cash!) but wanted to say thank you for still releasing your standard content on top of giving your response to the OGL.
My plan is to continue releasing D&D content and builds for as long as viewers are willing to watch them. I've made my feelings about the OGL known and I really don't have more to say until WotC breaks their silence.
@@TreantmonksTemple shouldn't be a good moment to talk and make builds for other systems too? Note stopping 5e now, but starting a new series to diverse business.
@@rafaelbacelar1757 unfortunately I’ve seen other creators mention they’ve tried to make non DnD content and the videos do extremely poorly compared to their normal average
That Eddie Riggs from Brutal Legend! I'd love that build. That work great as a glamour bard, battle smith. Lol That would give you the hotrod and the battle field control you get half way through the game when it turned into a military strategy game.
I recommend a bugbear beast barbarian monk multi class as another franken-build. The theme is a werewolf that’s turned to meditation and discipline to control its powers. Mechanically it works okay. With your five feet of of extra reach and extra movement speed you can run in, make 4 attacks at advantage, and then run back out without triggering opportunity attacks.
Always wanted to build barbarian-paladin, to rage smite those fiends/undead/dragons(built raging paladin in pathfinder, but i have no clue how to do it good in 5e)
For my bard-barian, I went earth genasi and absolutely adore it. The Bonus Action Blade Ward PBTPD allows myself to keep barbarian rage resistance benefits without actually raging, so the first few turns I can lock people down with my spellcasting action, BA blade ward, and charge in once I’m needed on the front line
End game for mine is: zealot Barb 14, eloquence bard 3, rune knight fighter 3. Can grapple any sized creature in a pinch with Giant’s Might and Enlarge/reduce!
Another Frankenbuild idea: The famous halfing (race optional, but that's how I envisioned him), Clappin Cheeks, fey wanderer and bard, lover of women, righter of wrongs, and singer of songs. Let his magic and music into your heart! 🤣💖🎶
I actually built a bardbarian relatively similar to this recently, though it's stronger defensively, weaker offensively, and is basically a swords bard with 2 levels of barbarian dip. The idea is that it's a piglin brute from Minecraft, an axe wielding boarfolk who led a rebellion in the magmatic depths of the underdark and was exiled to the surface world. Mechanically it's a dual wielding wildhunt shifter barbarian 2/swords bard x. My table gets a free feat at 1 which i used for dual wielder, so all 3 ASIs go to maxing my charisma (which started at 14 since i wanted a 15 ac with unarmored defense) Wildhunt shifter gets a few things, notably the ability to attack recklessly without giving opponents advantage on attacks against you, which makes your defenses way better. And since you're only 2 levels of barbarian you only have 2 rages, so when you inevitably run out, it doesn't interfere with your casting as a bard. This version does fall behind other martials much quicker though in terms of damage - only 118% of baseline at level 8 and a pitiful 85% at 11 (since you don't increase str at all), but since it plays much more as a full caster by that point, I'm okay with that trade.
I love this build and that you are doing these! I think it'll be really helpful for players that want to build these sorts of characters but are scared that they will be useless
The skald would be an apt analogy for a character built this way. Well done. Very entertaining. I love these kinds of builds so much. Edit: Also, I forgot to say that Tenacious T looks strikingly similar to Michael Shannon, lol. Ooh, professional wrestler or gladiator fits the theme as well.
Mr. Monk, I love the idea of a Ranger Paladin. They're on the edge of society. Like the Rural community Paladin, smiting slavers and hunting monstrosities. Maybe they are the first and last line of defense against evil Fae. Alternatively maybe they are the first in a new order of paladins, a ranger that later in life developed and swore an Oath deep in the wilds. Maybe they're lawful evil and extend the power of the crown into the wilderness. I think there is a huge amount of flavor to be developed in this combination and many subclasses that would be sweet. I don't have a pun unfortunately but I hope you like the idea. Best luck and I hope this series continues.
I got an idea for a Frankenbuild...maybe? I'm not sure about it, but here it is. Ambyu Lance: A Centaur Mercy Monk/Life Cleric with the Healer and Mobile feats with a focus on supporting the team by applying first-aid and other aiding abilities to keep them alive and out of danger (not an armored fighting horse). They could fight, but then that would go against their hypocritic oath to save lives.
The “WARTIFICER” aka the “ARTLOCK”. This character has made a pact with an otherworldly being to unlock the secrets of artifice. Combining complex contraptions with deviously dark destructive magic they seek to push their creations to the limit in order to make their mark on the world… at any cost.
I would love to see what you could do with a cleric/warlock (not celestial). The character is a worshiper of their god and very devout but not too smart and accidentally made a deal with a devil.
I am currently playing in a campaign in the Netherdeeps. My character is Oozy Oozebourne, a plasmoid bard/barbarian (Path of the Beast) who is currently levels 1/5.Is regular form is a 5-foot cube of slime green ooze. :) I plan to continue as a barbarian until level 8, then switch back to bard . . . who knows for how long. He is a grappler.
Awesome! Love the concept of both the Bardbarian you made, and the video formula. Makes me wanna fly around on all kinds of things as a glorious bardbarian. Great that you bring up how you think it works in different types of groups as well. My main group likes tactics, but is not very optimized. So these types of fun but "mediocre" builds are almost more useful to me than the ones that overperform.
At 22:45 you wrote that the DPR while frenzy is 35.17, and 22% over baseline (26.55), when it's ~33% over baseline. It becomes more noticable with the level 14 DPR being lower, yet being a higher % more than baseline. Loved the video and the build btw!
I’m totally imagining this type of character rushing into the enemy camp screaming “*I am the distraction!”*😂 For other Franken-build ideas, I’ve had the idea for a long time of a Hymnist: a cleric/bard that cast spells by singing from a magic hymnal. If you were optimizing, you could do the build as bard-Paladin and still get mostly the same feel, but a youth preacher singing songs with a guitar doesn’t feel too Paladin for me.
Not sure if this qualifies as a Frankenbuild, but I would really like to see a Cyber Lin Kuei build from Mortal Kombat. Short summary: The Lin Kuei are a clan of martial artists that are also ninjas/assasins. For lore reasons some Lin Kuei got their Brains removed and put into mechanical bodies, making them now martial artist ninja/assasin cyborgs. Notable members include Sub-Zero which specializes in manipulating cold and ice, Sektor using flame based attacks, Cyrax using nets and Smoke using smoke. For the build: Way of Shadows Monk and Armorer Artificer are probably the way to go, with Warforged as race or variant human thats fused with his armor.
Fun Video! Watched your "Mercy Beaucoup" the other night and started thinking about that movie "Six String Samurai" from the 90's and whether you could crossover a Samurai and a Bard, that is obviously is a little too similar to Tenacious T. So instead I would like to propose the Pun, Chicken Finger (that's a Kenku FIghter/RaNGER)! Kenku, because who is using flying bird folk at tables? Sure Fighter and Ranger may go together fairly well, but I'm here for the pun and if we are talking Chicken Fingers we need a variety of dipping sauces, so maybe take Eldritch Knight for firebolt for a spicy option, Swarmkeeper for Honey BBQ, or Drakewarden for an alternative meat option, or even Purple Dragon Knight if maybe you feel this Kenku is mimicking a certain Colonel of the fried chicken world! Thanks for all you do!
I want to mash up what I consider the best martial class (Paladin -- at least 6 lvls--) , and what you consider the best class period...Wizard (hoping for at least 10 levels)...The ultimate Gish ...if it can come together... -- the character can transition also, start off sword and board or using a staff or spear or whatever, and eventually rely more on spells, but with a decent Pally aura and lay on hands and armor etc...Thanks! -- I have no idea why youtube is putting lines through my comments
I have a great Frankenbuild for you, Artificer/Bard (Electric Guitarist). Think of the movie "Young Einstein", genius inventor goes on a journey and saves the land with the power of ROCK!
@@TreantmonksTemple My whole concept behind it was to create a true rock and roll concert. Use of illusion spells like minor illusion and silent image, as well as magical tinkering to create the spectacle of a show. Then we implement a homunculus, steel defender and unseen servant, as the band. My issue is making it work for adventuring, hopefully you might be able to spot a way to make this work.
Hey man i jammed with those kats once. The bassist's name was leomund. He had this gnarly tiny hut he'd pull out between sets. There was always this fog cloud inside and everyone was really lit inside the hut. Far out!
Hey Chris. I know it's not related to the video here but I wanted to let you know something. Your video about how you use dnd beyond was a better commercial for their product then anything I've ever seen from them directly. In that video I posted saying you had sold me on it. I was gonna give the encounter planner a try. And I did. And it was awesome. Everything you showed me it could be. I had actually started work and planning on which pieces of monster content I wanted to buy, and was going to start a sub so I could take advatahe of the full features. I'm holding off on that for now due to recent events. But I feel this is a perfect example of shooting themselves in the foot. You, a 3rd party fan content creator had sold me on the idea of using their products, and spending money with them. Now all of my 3rd pty creators are talking about the o.g.l. and their concerns and worries have convinced me to stay my hand. I wish there was a better way to communicate this to them. I've sent an email. Posted on forums. I'm gonna enjoy the rest of your video now. Always love your work.
I made a Barbarian/Cleric multiclass, similar to what you've done here - based on the fact that spiritual weapon doesn't require concentration. I didn't get very high level in it, as I had to leave that campaign, but I would wade into combat with the action on the first round, use the bonus action to set up spiritual weapon, and next turn rage. This was also using GWM, for the same reasons you did here.
Deep in the tombs, skittering in the catacombs, the piercing sounds of late 90's EDM blasting through the lands. The horrors unleashed on the night of the living dead, the Necrodancer stirs the undead to life with a rousing tune. This would be a Bard/Cleric multiclass, maybe a touch of paladin? Definitely yoinked the idea from the game of similar moniker, but still sounds like a fun idea.
I've got you covered. Here is a FRANKENBUILD inspiration: Kakarot Du Lac Monk/Paladin "The strangest knight at King Arthur's round table, some suspect that he was dropped on his head as a baby. But he fights with the strength of many men. And the dexterity. And the wisdom. And the charisma. But probably not the constitution if we're being honest." This multiclass is a huge challenge, because in theory it absolutely shouldn't work under any circumstances. But I know that if anyone can make it work, it's you! All the best class features directly conflict with each other (except maybe Aura of Protection), not to mention you need 4 different ability scores of at least 13 to even get of the mark, and none of them are constitution, even though the only thing all your best features agree on is that they are melee based! Oh, and you're doubling up on Extra Attack. Truly insane! Barbarian/caster is small fry compared to this challenge. At least with that multiclass you get decent con saves, good damage, and something interesting to do with your concentration when you've run out of rages. PS, please try to finish the build with Monk 14 / Paladin 6, so that you can get the Diamond Soul + Aura of Protection combo as a cool little capstone, giving you crazy high saves across the board.
I made BardBarian a long time ago who was a who was a half giant (goliath). He was AWESOME. He also had a KegHammer with magical liquor fish that ate anything and produced flavor Crystal's that made liquor out of anything I threw in there.
One of my players has recently embraced his inner tank and made not one, but two Barbaradins to bring into Curse of Strahd and my homebrew game respectively. For one he's a Vengeful Bear, the other he's a Conquest Zealot, and I would just love to see what kind of build you can create to optimize on the synergy.
A Frankenbuild I am actually playing: Ranger 5, going to Sorcerer 7! (Presently level 4, campaign ending at level 12.) He's a Swarmkeeper Ranger with the Druidic Warrior fighting style; uses Shillelagh with a staff and a shield (need warcaster to make it work, obviously.) His swarm is a group of living motes of shadow picked up in the Shadowfel. After level 5 of ranger, he's going Shadow Sorcerer, and picking up spells that are buffs, or don't use attacks or saves, like booming blade, misty step, Ashardalon's Stride, etc.
I’m not sure if this is gonzo enough to count as a Frankenbuild but my favorite meme build is “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Monk,” build that revolves around moving fast and fighting bare handed with 0 levels in Monk. It was born from a long night of me trying to make an optimized Monk before giving up and trying to see if you can make something better without resorting to homebrew. The character starts as a Vuman Rogue with the Mobile feat. Then you take a level of Barbarian for unarmored defense, medium armor, and Rage which we’ll be reflavoring as a battle trance. Then you take another 2 levels in Rogue for the Soulknife subclass, reflavor your psychic knives as unarmed strikes and boom you’re a Monk with no levels in the class. Beyond level 4 I’d take Barbarian to 5 for Reckless Attack, Danger Sense, an extra rage, a subclass (player’s choice), Fast Movement, and Extra Attack. After this you’re pretty safe spending the rest of your career as a Rogue. Why play this over a regular Monk? Simple, unlike the base Monk you have a role in the party. This build deals respectable damage while being one of the best grapplers in the game and having the Soulknife’s Psy-Bolstered Knack to boost skill checks. In addition to that you’re proficient on all weapons, most armor, and shields, meaning you can make use of almost any magic items you happen upon without the game punishing you by deactivating major class features. Finally, it just feels good playing a “Monk” who can take a punch.
Soundsmith had a video with a character that used science to exploit a loophole in a holy text to gain divine power. Super excited to see how you might mix artificer and cleric. Maybe peace domain+artillerist for super strong support?
My puns for you are. The Moonk, A monk/moon druid, the attack action still would allow for martial attacks and fury of blows, and the rest of monk features all work as a wild shape. The Rage Mage: I really like this one for any build that can abuse Rage and Armor of Amothis The man of two minds: A psionic fighter/Soul Knife build with Kalashtar as the race where you're the fighter half, and the spirit who possesses you is the rogue.
The Hand of God: Raised as a monk at a religious monastery, our brave hero has sworn to undertake a holy quest for his order. This unique background is reflected in the most cursed multiclass I could think of: A Monkadin. This also made me think of the Kung Pow meme, "we have purposely trained him wrong as a joke!". Up to you if that little twist factors into the character's story or not. Love the video and the concept, and I'm super interested to see what you do with a combo like this!
I'm running a Bardbarian minotaur in a campaign right now. Ridiculous rolled stats offset a lot of the negatives, but that's what happens with 4d6 best 2 dice + 6. I went Barb 2/Swords Bard X. You nailed spells with Mirror Image. It's my go to defensive option.
I think a franken build I'd love to see would be an homage to the 3.5 Fochlucan lyrist which was also an homage to the 1st edition bard. Your choice in which edition you want the build inspired by.
one combination you can do is to use cloud of daggers and go for a grappling build. I'm pretty sure the damage is better than what you've got here (assuming you can grapple the enemy at all), especially if you've got a friend who can cast cloud of daggers, or even better, spike growth, for you.
Not too huge on anything bigger than a dip so far. Something that has caught my eye is a Barbarian Sorcererer. A character of strong emotions that clearly could be channeled into a barbarian, until the magic started manifesting. A first level in barbarian is a nice bump in survivability for a D6 class, a D12 during a short rest is also nice. Admittedly rage isn’t going to do much unless you are in a scenario where you need a strength check or you are in enough danger that the damage resistance is necessary. In theory, you need less survivability centric spells, which may limit things to just the dip.
Holy Diver! Either Triton or Aaracocra for “Diving” Paladin for the holiness and burst and monk to give it that genuine franken feel Overall burst damage build that dives in, hits with a flurry of attacks and as the song says, “Gotta get away!”
The Bard being my favorite class, I have always had a soft spot for the Bardbarian. I usually focus on the greataxe or battleaxe though, since Axe is another name for a guitar, and some times I want the viking Axe and Shield ethstetic.
The Funk, blade singer monk. A master of kung fu they feel the song of their ancestors flowing through their body combining their funky dance moves and martial arts to almost magical levels.
Okay, hilarious concept. Classes would be Wild Magic Barbarian and Fey Wanderer Ranger. Race can be either Tabaxi or Shifter. Concept name? "Freak on a Leash". The thought just makes me laugh.
I came up with a name, but don’t see much of a way to optimize it. The Order of Subscribe and Notify. A multiclass of Scribe Wizard, Eloquence Bard, and The Oath of the Watcher Paladin. The Scribe Wizard has a quill that doesn’t require ink, can copy other spells, and erase what has been written by it.😂 Wizards also get access to Toll of the Dead cantrip. 🔔 The Eloquence Bard can treat any persuasion or deception check as at least a 10 can. Bards can also cast Vicious Mockery, Tasha’s Hideous, Laughter, and Sleep. The Watcher gives a number of creatures advantage of Int Wis and Chr saving throws based on your Charisma, as well as the Alarm spell. Paladins can also cast Compelling Duel.
A build I've tried and failed with is the circle of spores druid monk, maybe with swarmkeeper added in somewhere. Effectively, how many extra dice can you add to your unarmed strikes without using spells.
I love this idea for a new series! My suggestion is the Bonk Strength based Barbarian/Monk I had an idea for a Miguel O'Hara type of character and came up with a Dhampir Kensei Monk 14 Beast Barbarian 6 The webs were whips and the natural weapons from Beast were kensei weapons as well Basically, it was about crazy mobility and throwing people from really high up
I made a bardbarian once for NPC. He was the friendly drunk at the bar that everyone loved, but if you got him angry he would revel in a bar fight. He used the Friends cantrip to mess with people.
The Trickard: A Chaotic Good Trickery Domain Cleric/Bard who's goes all in on tricking and beguiling foes in the most creatively outlandish ways, while having a smooth snakeoil sellsman persona. Essentually, think a benevolent version of Dr. Facilier/the Shadow Man from the Princess and the Frog merged with Starlord from Guardians of the Galaxy with a sprinkle of Bugs Bunny. A charismatic snake who is willing to use any dirty trick possible, even ones that make him look like a fool, to beguile and trick the foes of his party and enjoy every second of it. The guy who one minute is tricking the enemy into accepting a Haste spell only to cancle it when they need it most, but the next is using Invoke Duplicity to distract the guards with a dance off Starlord style. Not sure what subclass, but basic idea is the ultimate chaotic good trickster.
Hey Chris, so the Frankenbuilds I'd like to request is a combination of ranger and bard (you can add in some rogue to round out the levels) with the Wildhunt shifter for race (tip give him the athlete feat) that goes prone at the end of their turn and at the beginning of their turn gets up runs and shoots and goes prone again. I've decided to call her Iffy (middle name Precariously placed) Tankert that likes to look at things from a different perspective/angle because inspiration can come from anywhere. She inspires her allies with slapstick/falling in a funny clumsy manner and/or being weird. A 2 lvl stars druid (chalice), 1 lvl order cleric and the rest in bladesinger with Tortle for race.
Not that the stat distributions are bad, but I can see this getting some Frankenbuild-reactions off this concept. It is inspired by Colby's four elements build and mixes in a few ranger levels, useing water whip/fist of unbroken air and horde breaker to get two attacks off with ki-empowered strike as consistently as possible.
Collector. A rogue obsessed with collecting lot. He/ she/ it will throw away it’s armour, weapons, and equipment to free up encumbrance to carry more loot. My first attempt was a rogue (soul knife) x, Druid 1, Wizard (conjurer) 2. Druid took goodberry and create water to make food and water each day. Conjurer 2 allowed character to make any equipment he needed. Also provided mage armour for armour and tensor’s floating disk to carry more loot. Soul knife can make a weapon at will.
I've had a character concept for an angry dwarf wizard. He became angry after the death of his family, tried to learn spells from a god to bring them back, when he found out that it had been too long he delved into studies of necromancy. I'm thinking either death domain cleric or possibly grave domain, barbarian, and then of course necromancer wizard. I have no idea what this would end up looking like. I just envisioned him getting super pissed off when someone spoils his concentration. Maybe the gravy barbarian, or the Emo dwarf. Gravymancer, the divine necrobariran....
My favorite character as of late is the dhampir beast barbarian 6 / soul knife 3+ It's a bit of a Frankenstein but it gives you four attacks in most fights, two of which can sneak attack. Furthermore, with expertise in athletics and the beast barb's 6th level ability, you might as well have a flying speed. And on top of that you can move on walls and ceilings like a spider - on multiple occasions my dhampir, surrounded by hostiles, disengaged to the ceiling and skittered off into the shadows. From my experience it holds up reasonably well, though I wouldn't bring it to an optimised table. Seems perfect for this series.
The entmodrake. A Dragonborn chronurgist/druid who rides in to battle on a giant cricket they enlarge with the giant insect spell, which has also had dragons breath cast on it by the dragonborns familiar through the arcane abeyance feature. Loads of fire breaths going everywhere. Inspired by a creature devised by the runesmith.
I cheered at the saxaboom proficiency... and I've been fighting laryngitis for 2 weeks, I'm supposed to be saving what voice I have. :p I don't have a perfect pun for it or anything, and it's probably at least a half-step closer to a reasonable build, but I've always wanted to do something with Bard/Beastmaster Ranger(/Druid?) playing around with the whole "music soothes the savage beast" trope. Oh, and then there's what I call the Johnny Bravo: Champion Fighter 10/Paladin 2/Ranger 2/Swords Bard 3 (be sure to pick up Fighting Initiate somewhere in there). Why Johnny Bravo? Cause of that line in the very first cartoon about him allegedly knowing every martial art. This build may not have every fighting style, but 6 is the most I've been able to manage.
A barbarian monk would be pretty cool. A kratos-like figure who channels their native rage to punch enemies. It feels like the most frankeny of Frankenstein builds
Pun: Hydra Chloric Acid Concept: a draconic bloodline sorcerer paired with an alchemist artificer focusing on acid damage. I tried to come up with some other good acid puns. But the others were all too basic. I don't expect a lot of people to like this build. But I also don't think people will hate it. I expect most will be neutral.
Barbtillerist: Caveman with a gun. They've been blasted through time after stumbling across a bizarre relic (ideally a Headband of Intellect, if your DM shows mercy and/or pity). Now they've traded their spear for a sidearm to hunt a new game: bounties.
Cool build! Moderate damage, great roleplay potential. It looks like you optimized all the way back to a normal, fun to play, concept based character 😅
The paladinger: to an elven king he swoar an oath to be the guardian of a sacred forest. Paladin wants str, con and cha, ranger wants dex and wis. Both give you half caster progression so it'll be nasty in each regard. There is a 13 prereq in 4 stats, with con and int being the only free ones.
Not “quite” a Frankenbuild. But I’ve been drumming up a “Nightatalker” moon-priest build for a while now. Twilight Cleric / Gloomstalker. Idea being you create your own dim light and use the Skulker feat to hide in your own bubble of dim light and fly around shooting people with arrows.
Great video! A build I would love to see is the Paladin + Wizard! AKA Holy Smokes! A buff folk that was always sexpected to be a mindless puppet leader but always wanted to study devastating fire magic.
The Enlightened Wizard: long death or astral self Monk + 2/6 bladesinger wizard. 3 levels of barbarian is also just funny for it, but it's very scary if you have the stats for it all
And the peculiar thing my friends is the build I made on that fateful night, it didn't look anything like this build! This is a tribute, I wish you were there...
You’ve made my day with the tenacious D references
OMG! That's a True Tenacious D Fan. I'll just say, this build is made "To be the best".
Hahajaha
So… this isn’t the greatest build in the world? I call shenanigans.
Got cracked right from the start reading this. LOL
Treantmonk in 2022: "Maybe a healer build video based on a meme that predates my gen Z audience wasn't the best choice"
Treantmonk in 2023: "Ima multiclass Tenacious D and Mr. T for my next vid"
You go Chris. Don't you apologize!
😀
The Loose Cannon Cop: He was once a straight-laced paladin, who did things by the book. But that all changed when acting lawful good got his partner killed. Now he doesn't play by the rules -- he's gone...rogue.
lol that's great
Paladin-Rogue is my favorite multiclass.
Ha, with "loose cannon", I thought they'd be going Artillerist Artificer.
I remember when back in the PHB days and even now some people are completely convinced this shit is good, and wait for it, the reason is both classes like crits... the 1in 20 chance crits... really...
Still, great idea!
I'm too old for this ...
Cool series! Do a Paladin/Druid. The theme is "The Holy Cow". Be a Moon Druid at least until level 6 for Giant Elk. Be a Paladin level 6 for Extra Attack (and Aura). Charge in, knock your enemy prone with one attack, trample them with the other attack. Both attacks with Smite for (likely) good nova damage. After you've been beaten out of the Wild Shape, cast good Druid spells. Obviously, this is more a meme than anything else but could fit your series 🙂
THIS! I vote for this!
There is no cow level.
Paladruid actually kind of not-a-meme works with a stars druid if you can get either a higher than normal base AC (I like autognome for this rn just for the flavor) or access to Mage Armor -- even carrying a shield you're still going to be getting hit a *lot,* but chalice form will let you autoheal yourself whenever you Healing Word a party member, and your spell slot budget actually won't be the worst thing ever if you pick up Eldritch Adept early to get advantage on concentration checks from the Eldritch Mind invocation. (Your charisma will almost definitely blow until midgame, but paladins have utility and this is basically a Swiss Army build with smites. Take conquest pally, it's free Armor of Agathys and their channel divinity slaps.)
you cant smite with natural weapons so you lose out on a lot of damage
@@finalfantasy50 You can. They count as melee weapon attacks and thus qualify.
This one was a laugh riot, my favorite moment was Mr. T saving that kid from the water by hurling them into space. Absolutely hilarious. Thank you sir!
Glad you enjoyed it
Was about to post something so similar to this comment. I’ll just 2nd what you said! 😂 love this build. Especially since it uses one of the worst subclasses in the whole game and seems to make it somehow workable
Chris I really appreciate the commitment to the concept! Optimization is fun, but this sounds like it was a good exercise for you, I can hear the pain in your voice describing the ability scores, there there treantmonk, it's gonna be ok
He was almost falling his wisdom Saving throws against the Madness of This build
Hot Take: Mr. T is actually an Oath of Glory Paladin (those chains are definitely heavy armor), and Tenacious D is a Fiend Warlock with either the Skill Expert or Prodigy feat for Performance Expertise.
Seeing this I realize what a missed opportunity it is that there’s no invocation that gives you proficiency + expertise in a skill you don’t have proficiency in. Becoming amazing at a skill you suck at is a classic pact trope.
I have always been interested in a Barbarian/Monk (aka Bonk) multiclass. My personal idea for how the character would look would be a fellow that's always had a bit of an anger problem, probably a bit of bully when he was younger. He learned to channel this anger into a zen-like rage he focuses on his enemies. Rage is not the enemy; it a weapon to be honed.
Literally kratos
Use point buy 15/13/14/9/13/8 with the Tasha's and beyond rule of +1 to three different ability scores of you choice to have 16 Str and 14 in Dex, Con, and Wis. Best part is you have total racial choice freedom, only barring Variant Human and Custom Lineage. Choose either Con or Wis to put ASIs toward after maxing Str based on which Unarmored Defense and other class features you're focusing on.
Personally, while powering Monk features is tempting, there's several Con based features on races that might be fun to combo to make up for not going for a feat if you stick to ASIs only to max it, and the character concept does seem to lean starting Barb first maybe.
Possible Frankenbuild: Artificer & Druid seems like it would be very weird. Mashing technology with the natural world, could be neat.
Bioteck
Make him a Warforged for added transformer vibe.
Damn I like this one... I got to go make this myself.
I had a very vivid dream once long ago of the legendary figure known as the Sixth Cat. It was a humanoid feline carved entirely of cunningly fitted wooden pieces. I'd like to suggest this be used as the basis for the artificer/druid Frankenbuild based on a tabaxi battlesmith that carves and animates a wooden copy of themselves.
@@WexMajor82 Android 16?
One build I started but didn't get far with because she got insta-killed by a spectre is a whip-using rogue/paladin, inspired by Simon Belmont of Castlevania. The main mechanical concept was using the whip to deliver sneak attacks and smites.
I played in a pathfinder game where my brother played a Simon Belmont inspired character, as a inquisitor with a whip. Everyone loves playing a whip wielding warrior of light
So looking forward to this video, just for the pun of it….
I had to try.
Video idea #1
I’d really like to hear your personal experience of the 3rd edition to 4th edition (and then 5th edition) transitions. There are many of us who’ve never gone through an edition change and it seems like there may be many parallels.
Video idea #2
theory and strategy behind spell preparation (or spell selection) what you’re thinking about primarily when making decisions to create a list that has a particular effect, perhaps by class.
Jekyll and Hyde, nerdy wizard and uncontrollable barbarian in one neat package.
Great video, Chris! I had so much fun! Using Mounted Combatant on a Creation bard is something I’d never considered, but it makes so much sense! In your Disney Princess Creation Bard video it wasn’t featured, but it’s definitely something that works really well with this character!
Monk/ divination wizard - Bruce Foresee! An absolute MAD mess of dex, con, int and wis. A martial artist so skillful he can see a punch before it’s thrown! Hope you make more content like this Chris very fun!
Still watching the ads (gotta get you that cash!) but wanted to say thank you for still releasing your standard content on top of giving your response to the OGL.
My plan is to continue releasing D&D content and builds for as long as viewers are willing to watch them. I've made my feelings about the OGL known and I really don't have more to say until WotC breaks their silence.
@@TreantmonksTemple shouldn't be a good moment to talk and make builds for other systems too?
Note stopping 5e now, but starting a new series to diverse business.
@@rafaelbacelar1757 unfortunately I’ve seen other creators mention they’ve tried to make non DnD content and the videos do extremely poorly compared to their normal average
@@bradleyschoenecker2930 did they say it after the ogl 1.1 leaks?
Because maybe the tides are changing.
@@bradleyschoenecker2930 Using #d&dbegone and other related hashtags in the description should clear that problem right up.
The Bardificer! The roadie to Tenacious T . He is the loyal supporter always finding ways to make Tenacious T’s performances be the best they can be!
That Eddie Riggs from Brutal Legend! I'd love that build. That work great as a glamour bard, battle smith. Lol
That would give you the hotrod and the battle field control you get half way through the game when it turned into a military strategy game.
I love this, I'm such a fan of creative builds that still actually work. I can tell you had fun making the video too! Can't wait for the next one
This build missed the greatest pun ever: wielding a Great Axe (Greataxe+Guitar)! Either that, or a Hunting Horn from Monster Hunter (Maul+Sax)
I recommend a bugbear beast barbarian monk multi class as another franken-build. The theme is a werewolf that’s turned to meditation and discipline to control its powers.
Mechanically it works okay. With your five feet of of extra reach and extra movement speed you can run in, make 4 attacks at advantage, and then run back out without triggering opportunity attacks.
John Talbain?
Really flexing those editing muscles on this one 😊
Always wanted to build barbarian-paladin, to rage smite those fiends/undead/dragons(built raging paladin in pathfinder, but i have no clue how to do it good in 5e)
For my bard-barian, I went earth genasi and absolutely adore it. The Bonus Action Blade Ward PBTPD allows myself to keep barbarian rage resistance benefits without actually raging, so the first few turns I can lock people down with my spellcasting action, BA blade ward, and charge in once I’m needed on the front line
End game for mine is: zealot Barb 14, eloquence bard 3, rune knight fighter 3. Can grapple any sized creature in a pinch with Giant’s Might and Enlarge/reduce!
Another Frankenbuild idea: The famous halfing (race optional, but that's how I envisioned him), Clappin Cheeks, fey wanderer and bard, lover of women, righter of wrongs, and singer of songs. Let his magic and music into your heart! 🤣💖🎶
I actually built a bardbarian relatively similar to this recently, though it's stronger defensively, weaker offensively, and is basically a swords bard with 2 levels of barbarian dip. The idea is that it's a piglin brute from Minecraft, an axe wielding boarfolk who led a rebellion in the magmatic depths of the underdark and was exiled to the surface world. Mechanically it's a dual wielding wildhunt shifter barbarian 2/swords bard x. My table gets a free feat at 1 which i used for dual wielder, so all 3 ASIs go to maxing my charisma (which started at 14 since i wanted a 15 ac with unarmored defense)
Wildhunt shifter gets a few things, notably the ability to attack recklessly without giving opponents advantage on attacks against you, which makes your defenses way better. And since you're only 2 levels of barbarian you only have 2 rages, so when you inevitably run out, it doesn't interfere with your casting as a bard. This version does fall behind other martials much quicker though in terms of damage - only 118% of baseline at level 8 and a pitiful 85% at 11 (since you don't increase str at all), but since it plays much more as a full caster by that point, I'm okay with that trade.
I love this build and that you are doing these! I think it'll be really helpful for players that want to build these sorts of characters but are scared that they will be useless
This is genius, now I will rap my enemies to death
Suggestion: Kung Fu Panda
Monk + Moon Druid
"BardPalBarian just doesn't sound good"
Yeah, OK, but Bardbearadin is right there...
Hmmmm....yeah, that's good
Dunno man, sounds unbearable or at least MAD.
Love this format. Really fun and interesting to see the reasoning behind the choices regarding the limitations etc.
The skald would be an apt analogy for a character built this way. Well done. Very entertaining. I love these kinds of builds so much.
Edit: Also, I forgot to say that Tenacious T looks strikingly similar to Michael Shannon, lol. Ooh, professional wrestler or gladiator fits the theme as well.
I like the build, but I LOVE the concept of Frankenbuilds. Infinite potential to surprise me!
Mr. Monk, I love the idea of a Ranger Paladin. They're on the edge of society. Like the Rural community Paladin, smiting slavers and hunting monstrosities. Maybe they are the first and last line of defense against evil Fae.
Alternatively maybe they are the first in a new order of paladins, a ranger that later in life developed and swore an Oath deep in the wilds.
Maybe they're lawful evil and extend the power of the crown into the wilderness. I think there is a huge amount of flavor to be developed in this combination and many subclasses that would be sweet. I don't have a pun unfortunately but I hope you like the idea. Best luck and I hope this series continues.
I got an idea for a Frankenbuild...maybe? I'm not sure about it, but here it is.
Ambyu Lance: A Centaur Mercy Monk/Life Cleric with the Healer and Mobile feats with a focus on supporting the team by applying first-aid and other aiding abilities to keep them alive and out of danger (not an armored fighting horse). They could fight, but then that would go against their hypocritic oath to save lives.
The “WARTIFICER” aka the “ARTLOCK”. This character has made a pact with an otherworldly being to unlock the secrets of artifice. Combining complex contraptions with deviously dark destructive magic they seek to push their creations to the limit in order to make their mark on the world… at any cost.
I would love to see what you could do with a cleric/warlock (not celestial). The character is a worshiper of their god and very devout but not too smart and accidentally made a deal with a devil.
I am currently playing in a campaign in the Netherdeeps. My character is Oozy Oozebourne, a plasmoid bard/barbarian (Path of the Beast) who is currently levels 1/5.Is regular form is a 5-foot cube of slime green ooze. :)
I plan to continue as a barbarian until level 8, then switch back to bard . . . who knows for how long. He is a grappler.
The dancing smite: a paladin-bladesinger multiclass that uses smites and the 6th level feature of the bladesinger for big damage
Awesome!
Love the concept of both the Bardbarian you made, and the video formula. Makes me wanna fly around on all kinds of things as a glorious bardbarian.
Great that you bring up how you think it works in different types of groups as well. My main group likes tactics, but is not very optimized. So these types of fun but "mediocre" builds are almost more useful to me than the ones that overperform.
You had me at Tenacious T!! Great name!!
This build is just a tribute, ha! Your references are on point, sir.
Witch-Doctor: Alchemist Artificer with a Warlock dip. Pact slots come back on a short rest, which you can use to make more elixirs.
At 22:45 you wrote that the DPR while frenzy is 35.17, and 22% over baseline (26.55), when it's ~33% over baseline. It becomes more noticable with the level 14 DPR being lower, yet being a higher % more than baseline.
Loved the video and the build btw!
TM when doing an optimised build: 6-8 combats per day.
TM for Frankenbuilds: 4 Rages is enough for the day, right guys??
I’m totally imagining this type of character rushing into the enemy camp screaming “*I am the distraction!”*😂
For other Franken-build ideas, I’ve had the idea for a long time of a Hymnist: a cleric/bard that cast spells by singing from a magic hymnal. If you were optimizing, you could do the build as bard-Paladin and still get mostly the same feel, but a youth preacher singing songs with a guitar doesn’t feel too Paladin for me.
Not sure if this qualifies as a Frankenbuild, but I would really like to see a Cyber Lin Kuei build from Mortal Kombat. Short summary: The Lin Kuei are a clan of martial artists that are also ninjas/assasins. For lore reasons some Lin Kuei got their Brains removed and put into mechanical bodies, making them now martial artist ninja/assasin cyborgs. Notable members include Sub-Zero which specializes in manipulating cold and ice, Sektor using flame based attacks, Cyrax using nets and Smoke using smoke.
For the build: Way of Shadows Monk and Armorer Artificer are probably the way to go, with Warforged as race or variant human thats fused with his armor.
Fun Video! Watched your "Mercy Beaucoup" the other night and started thinking about that movie "Six String Samurai" from the 90's and whether you could crossover a Samurai and a Bard, that is obviously is a little too similar to Tenacious T. So instead I would like to propose the Pun, Chicken Finger (that's a Kenku FIghter/RaNGER)! Kenku, because who is using flying bird folk at tables? Sure Fighter and Ranger may go together fairly well, but I'm here for the pun and if we are talking Chicken Fingers we need a variety of dipping sauces, so maybe take Eldritch Knight for firebolt for a spicy option, Swarmkeeper for Honey BBQ, or Drakewarden for an alternative meat option, or even Purple Dragon Knight if maybe you feel this Kenku is mimicking a certain Colonel of the fried chicken world! Thanks for all you do!
I want to mash up what I consider the best martial class (Paladin -- at least 6 lvls--) , and what you consider the best class period...Wizard (hoping for at least 10 levels)...The ultimate Gish ...if it can come together... -- the character can transition also, start off sword and board or using a staff or spear or whatever, and eventually rely more on spells, but with a decent Pally aura and lay on hands and armor etc...Thanks! -- I have no idea why youtube is putting lines through my comments
I have a great Frankenbuild for you, Artificer/Bard (Electric Guitarist). Think of the movie "Young Einstein", genius inventor goes on a journey and saves the land with the power of ROCK!
That sounds cool. I remember seeing that one in the theatre.
@@TreantmonksTemple My whole concept behind it was to create a true rock and roll concert. Use of illusion spells like minor illusion and silent image, as well as magical tinkering to create the spectacle of a show. Then we implement a homunculus, steel defender and unseen servant, as the band. My issue is making it work for adventuring, hopefully you might be able to spot a way to make this work.
Hey man i jammed with those kats once. The bassist's name was leomund. He had this gnarly tiny hut he'd pull out between sets. There was always this fog cloud inside and everyone was really lit inside the hut. Far out!
So you're definitely going to need Brewers Supplies, how else will you get bubbles in your beer?
Hey Chris.
I know it's not related to the video here but I wanted to let you know something.
Your video about how you use dnd beyond was a better commercial for their product then anything I've ever seen from them directly.
In that video I posted saying you had sold me on it. I was gonna give the encounter planner a try. And I did. And it was awesome. Everything you showed me it could be.
I had actually started work and planning on which pieces of monster content I wanted to buy, and was going to start a sub so I could take advatahe of the full features.
I'm holding off on that for now due to recent events. But I feel this is a perfect example of shooting themselves in the foot.
You, a 3rd party fan content creator had sold me on the idea of using their products, and spending money with them. Now all of my 3rd pty creators are talking about the o.g.l. and their concerns and worries have convinced me to stay my hand.
I wish there was a better way to communicate this to them. I've sent an email. Posted on forums.
I'm gonna enjoy the rest of your video now. Always love your work.
The Shocklock: Tempest Cleric Warlock. Could be cool to see if you could optimize the Elemental Bane spell.
I made a Barbarian/Cleric multiclass, similar to what you've done here - based on the fact that spiritual weapon doesn't require concentration. I didn't get very high level in it, as I had to leave that campaign, but I would wade into combat with the action on the first round, use the bonus action to set up spiritual weapon, and next turn rage. This was also using GWM, for the same reasons you did here.
Deep in the tombs, skittering in the catacombs, the piercing sounds of late 90's EDM blasting through the lands. The horrors unleashed on the night of the living dead, the Necrodancer stirs the undead to life with a rousing tune.
This would be a Bard/Cleric multiclass, maybe a touch of paladin? Definitely yoinked the idea from the game of similar moniker, but still sounds like a fun idea.
I've got you covered. Here is a FRANKENBUILD inspiration:
Kakarot Du Lac
Monk/Paladin
"The strangest knight at King Arthur's round table, some suspect that he was dropped on his head as a baby. But he fights with the strength of many men. And the dexterity. And the wisdom. And the charisma. But probably not the constitution if we're being honest."
This multiclass is a huge challenge, because in theory it absolutely shouldn't work under any circumstances. But I know that if anyone can make it work, it's you!
All the best class features directly conflict with each other (except maybe Aura of Protection), not to mention you need 4 different ability scores of at least 13 to even get of the mark, and none of them are constitution, even though the only thing all your best features agree on is that they are melee based! Oh, and you're doubling up on Extra Attack. Truly insane!
Barbarian/caster is small fry compared to this challenge. At least with that multiclass you get decent con saves, good damage, and something interesting to do with your concentration when you've run out of rages.
PS, please try to finish the build with Monk 14 / Paladin 6, so that you can get the Diamond Soul + Aura of Protection combo as a cool little capstone, giving you crazy high saves across the board.
I made BardBarian a long time ago who was a who was a half giant (goliath). He was AWESOME. He also had a KegHammer with magical liquor fish that ate anything and produced flavor Crystal's that made liquor out of anything I threw in there.
Can really tell you had a lot of fun making this one! Loved every moment of it, excited to see more
Thank you for the breath of fresh air away from the mass OGL backlash videos.
One of my players has recently embraced his inner tank and made not one, but two Barbaradins to bring into Curse of Strahd and my homebrew game respectively. For one he's a Vengeful Bear, the other he's a Conquest Zealot, and I would just love to see what kind of build you can create to optimize on the synergy.
A Frankenbuild I am actually playing: Ranger 5, going to Sorcerer 7! (Presently level 4, campaign ending at level 12.) He's a Swarmkeeper Ranger with the Druidic Warrior fighting style; uses Shillelagh with a staff and a shield (need warcaster to make it work, obviously.) His swarm is a group of living motes of shadow picked up in the Shadowfel. After level 5 of ranger, he's going Shadow Sorcerer, and picking up spells that are buffs, or don't use attacks or saves, like booming blade, misty step, Ashardalon's Stride, etc.
I’m not sure if this is gonzo enough to count as a Frankenbuild but my favorite meme build is “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Monk,” build that revolves around moving fast and fighting bare handed with 0 levels in Monk. It was born from a long night of me trying to make an optimized Monk before giving up and trying to see if you can make something better without resorting to homebrew.
The character starts as a Vuman Rogue with the Mobile feat. Then you take a level of Barbarian for unarmored defense, medium armor, and Rage which we’ll be reflavoring as a battle trance. Then you take another 2 levels in Rogue for the Soulknife subclass, reflavor your psychic knives as unarmed strikes and boom you’re a Monk with no levels in the class. Beyond level 4 I’d take Barbarian to 5 for Reckless Attack, Danger Sense, an extra rage, a subclass (player’s choice), Fast Movement, and Extra Attack. After this you’re pretty safe spending the rest of your career as a Rogue.
Why play this over a regular Monk? Simple, unlike the base Monk you have a role in the party. This build deals respectable damage while being one of the best grapplers in the game and having the Soulknife’s Psy-Bolstered Knack to boost skill checks. In addition to that you’re proficient on all weapons, most armor, and shields, meaning you can make use of almost any magic items you happen upon without the game punishing you by deactivating major class features. Finally, it just feels good playing a “Monk” who can take a punch.
I really needed this goofy video after this week of serious D&D news. Thank you! Give me all of your silly builds!
Soundsmith had a video with a character that used science to exploit a loophole in a holy text to gain divine power. Super excited to see how you might mix artificer and cleric. Maybe peace domain+artillerist for super strong support?
My puns for you are.
The Moonk, A monk/moon druid, the attack action still would allow for martial attacks and fury of blows, and the rest of monk features all work as a wild shape.
The Rage Mage:
I really like this one for any build that can abuse Rage and Armor of Amothis
The man of two minds: A psionic fighter/Soul Knife build with Kalashtar as the race where you're the fighter half, and the spirit who possesses you is the rogue.
The Hand of God: Raised as a monk at a religious monastery, our brave hero has sworn to undertake a holy quest for his order. This unique background is reflected in the most cursed multiclass I could think of: A Monkadin. This also made me think of the Kung Pow meme, "we have purposely trained him wrong as a joke!". Up to you if that little twist factors into the character's story or not.
Love the video and the concept, and I'm super interested to see what you do with a combo like this!
I'm running a Bardbarian minotaur in a campaign right now. Ridiculous rolled stats offset a lot of the negatives, but that's what happens with 4d6 best 2 dice + 6. I went Barb 2/Swords Bard X. You nailed spells with Mirror Image. It's my go to defensive option.
I LIVE for builds like this! Thank you! 😁
this is freaking great, and i love everything about it... thank you Chris, thank you!
Elite video. Gonna link this the next time somebody says optimizing prevents good character concepts.
I think a franken build I'd love to see would be an homage to the 3.5 Fochlucan lyrist which was also an homage to the 1st edition bard. Your choice in which edition you want the build inspired by.
one combination you can do is to use cloud of daggers and go for a grappling build. I'm pretty sure the damage is better than what you've got here (assuming you can grapple the enemy at all), especially if you've got a friend who can cast cloud of daggers, or even better, spike growth, for you.
Not too huge on anything bigger than a dip so far.
Something that has caught my eye is a Barbarian Sorcererer. A character of strong emotions that clearly could be channeled into a barbarian, until the magic started manifesting.
A first level in barbarian is a nice bump in survivability for a D6 class, a D12 during a short rest is also nice. Admittedly rage isn’t going to do much unless you are in a scenario where you need a strength check or you are in enough danger that the damage resistance is necessary. In theory, you need less survivability centric spells, which may limit things to just the dip.
Holy Diver!
Either Triton or Aaracocra for “Diving”
Paladin for the holiness and burst and monk to give it that genuine franken feel
Overall burst damage build that dives in, hits with a flurry of attacks and as the song says, “Gotta get away!”
Follow up, you could just do Druid instead of monk for a little extra ease on the ability scores, plus turning into a tiger. “Ride the tiger 🤘🏽”
The Bard being my favorite class, I have always had a soft spot for the Bardbarian. I usually focus on the greataxe or battleaxe though, since Axe is another name for a guitar, and some times I want the viking Axe and Shield ethstetic.
The Funk, blade singer monk. A master of kung fu they feel the song of their ancestors flowing through their body combining their funky dance moves and martial arts to almost magical levels.
Okay, hilarious concept. Classes would be Wild Magic Barbarian and Fey Wanderer Ranger. Race can be either Tabaxi or Shifter.
Concept name? "Freak on a Leash". The thought just makes me laugh.
This is the most funny build I've watch you doing so far.
You're having so much fun with this video and I'm 100% here for it!
I came up with a name, but don’t see much of a way to optimize it. The Order of Subscribe and Notify. A multiclass of Scribe Wizard, Eloquence Bard, and The Oath of the Watcher Paladin.
The Scribe Wizard has a quill that doesn’t require ink, can copy other spells, and erase what has been written by it.😂 Wizards also get access to Toll of the Dead cantrip. 🔔
The Eloquence Bard can treat any persuasion or deception check as at least a 10 can. Bards can also cast Vicious Mockery, Tasha’s Hideous, Laughter, and Sleep.
The Watcher gives a number of creatures advantage of Int Wis and Chr saving throws based on your Charisma, as well as the Alarm spell. Paladins can also cast Compelling Duel.
A build I've tried and failed with is the circle of spores druid monk, maybe with swarmkeeper added in somewhere. Effectively, how many extra dice can you add to your unarmed strikes without using spells.
Oh hell yeah, I've been waiting for a Skald type build to pop up!
I love this idea for a new series!
My suggestion is the Bonk
Strength based Barbarian/Monk
I had an idea for a Miguel O'Hara type of character and came up with a Dhampir Kensei Monk 14 Beast Barbarian 6
The webs were whips and the natural weapons from Beast were kensei weapons as well
Basically, it was about crazy mobility and throwing people from really high up
I made a bardbarian once for NPC. He was the friendly drunk at the bar that everyone loved, but if you got him angry he would revel in a bar fight. He used the Friends cantrip to mess with people.
Just so happened to be
The best build in the world,
It was the best build in the world!
Couldn't remember the best build in the world. This build is a tribute.
Crazy times right now, glad to zone out and not think about it for a minute. Hope you are doing well, Chris
The Trickard: A Chaotic Good Trickery Domain Cleric/Bard who's goes all in on tricking and beguiling foes in the most creatively outlandish ways, while having a smooth snakeoil sellsman persona.
Essentually, think a benevolent version of Dr. Facilier/the Shadow Man from the Princess and the Frog merged with Starlord from Guardians of the Galaxy with a sprinkle of Bugs Bunny. A charismatic snake who is willing to use any dirty trick possible, even ones that make him look like a fool, to beguile and trick the foes of his party and enjoy every second of it. The guy who one minute is tricking the enemy into accepting a Haste spell only to cancle it when they need it most, but the next is using Invoke Duplicity to distract the guards with a dance off Starlord style.
Not sure what subclass, but basic idea is the ultimate chaotic good trickster.
Hey Chris, so the Frankenbuilds I'd like to request is a combination of ranger and bard (you can add in some rogue to round out the levels) with the Wildhunt shifter for race (tip give him the athlete feat) that goes prone at the end of their turn and at the beginning of their turn gets up runs and shoots and goes prone again.
I've decided to call her Iffy (middle name Precariously placed) Tankert that likes to look at things from a different perspective/angle because inspiration can come from anywhere. She inspires her allies with slapstick/falling in a funny clumsy manner and/or being weird.
A 2 lvl stars druid (chalice), 1 lvl order cleric and the rest in bladesinger with Tortle for race.
Not that the stat distributions are bad, but I can see this getting some Frankenbuild-reactions off this concept.
It is inspired by Colby's four elements build and mixes in a few ranger levels, useing water whip/fist of unbroken air and horde breaker to get two attacks off with ki-empowered strike as consistently as possible.
Collector. A rogue obsessed with collecting lot. He/ she/ it will throw away it’s armour, weapons, and equipment to free up encumbrance to carry more loot. My first attempt was a rogue (soul knife) x, Druid 1, Wizard (conjurer) 2. Druid took goodberry and create water to make food and water each day. Conjurer 2 allowed character to make any equipment he needed. Also provided mage armour for armour and tensor’s floating disk to carry more loot. Soul knife can make a weapon at will.
I've had a character concept for an angry dwarf wizard. He became angry after the death of his family, tried to learn spells from a god to bring them back, when he found out that it had been too long he delved into studies of necromancy. I'm thinking either death domain cleric or possibly grave domain, barbarian, and then of course necromancer wizard. I have no idea what this would end up looking like. I just envisioned him getting super pissed off when someone spoils his concentration.
Maybe the gravy barbarian, or the Emo dwarf. Gravymancer, the divine necrobariran....
My favorite character as of late is the dhampir beast barbarian 6 / soul knife 3+
It's a bit of a Frankenstein but it gives you four attacks in most fights, two of which can sneak attack. Furthermore, with expertise in athletics and the beast barb's 6th level ability, you might as well have a flying speed. And on top of that you can move on walls and ceilings like a spider - on multiple occasions my dhampir, surrounded by hostiles, disengaged to the ceiling and skittered off into the shadows.
From my experience it holds up reasonably well, though I wouldn't bring it to an optimised table. Seems perfect for this series.
The entmodrake.
A Dragonborn chronurgist/druid who rides in to battle on a giant cricket they enlarge with the giant insect spell, which has also had dragons breath cast on it by the dragonborns familiar through the arcane abeyance feature.
Loads of fire breaths going everywhere. Inspired by a creature devised by the runesmith.
I cheered at the saxaboom proficiency... and I've been fighting laryngitis for 2 weeks, I'm supposed to be saving what voice I have. :p
I don't have a perfect pun for it or anything, and it's probably at least a half-step closer to a reasonable build, but I've always wanted to do something with Bard/Beastmaster Ranger(/Druid?) playing around with the whole "music soothes the savage beast" trope.
Oh, and then there's what I call the Johnny Bravo: Champion Fighter 10/Paladin 2/Ranger 2/Swords Bard 3 (be sure to pick up Fighting Initiate somewhere in there). Why
Johnny Bravo? Cause of that line in the very first cartoon about him allegedly knowing every martial art. This build may not have every fighting style, but 6 is the most I've been able to manage.
A barbarian monk would be pretty cool. A kratos-like figure who channels their native rage to punch enemies. It feels like the most frankeny of Frankenstein builds
Pun: Hydra Chloric Acid
Concept: a draconic bloodline sorcerer paired with an alchemist artificer focusing on acid damage.
I tried to come up with some other good acid puns. But the others were all too basic.
I don't expect a lot of people to like this build. But I also don't think people will hate it. I expect most will be neutral.
The Necrodancer Wizard+bard+anything else that fits the pun. I'm thinking Michael Jackson thriller video as inspiration.
Barbtillerist: Caveman with a gun. They've been blasted through time after stumbling across a bizarre relic (ideally a Headband of Intellect, if your DM shows mercy and/or pity). Now they've traded their spear for a sidearm to hunt a new game: bounties.
Cool build! Moderate damage, great roleplay potential. It looks like you optimized all the way back to a normal, fun to play, concept based character 😅
The paladinger: to an elven king he swoar an oath to be the guardian of a sacred forest.
Paladin wants str, con and cha, ranger wants dex and wis. Both give you half caster progression so it'll be nasty in each regard.
There is a 13 prereq in 4 stats, with con and int being the only free ones.
Not “quite” a Frankenbuild. But I’ve been drumming up a “Nightatalker” moon-priest build for a while now. Twilight Cleric / Gloomstalker. Idea being you create your own dim light and use the Skulker feat to hide in your own bubble of dim light and fly around shooting people with arrows.
Great video! A build I would love to see is the Paladin + Wizard! AKA Holy Smokes! A buff folk that was always sexpected to be a mindless puppet leader but always wanted to study devastating fire magic.
Great Axe Guitar - many musicians (the Tenacious T kind) sometimes call their guitars an “axe” so it just fits better for the sake of the pun.
The Enlightened Wizard: long death or astral self Monk + 2/6 bladesinger wizard. 3 levels of barbarian is also just funny for it, but it's very scary if you have the stats for it all