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It’s an aura that gives and extra d4 to any saving throw or ability check as long as you can see or hear him within 30 feet as his calming demeanor and extensive wisdom guide you to success.
He isn’t fooling me. So many of Colby’s builds have disclaimers to check with your DM if they will let you use non-standard options or his interpretation (non RAW) of the rules.
As a Kender (small), this build can fly on a Peryton (medium Find Greater Steed). The Peryton comes with 60' flight, damage resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing nonmagical attacks; dive attack, multi-attack, flyby, Keen sight and smell. Don't forget that any spell that targets "self" gets passed onto the steed.
Won't lie, today's "welcome home" nearly made me tear up, which says a lot since I don't know the last time I've cried of joy (don't worry, I'm doing just fine). Thanks for your unending hospitality, Colby.
@@DnDDeepDiveMe three! Also, did you account for sorcerer being able to use absorb elements for help with the fireballs? I didn't see it mentioned in the build, though I may have missed it. EDIT: NVM, found it, next time I should probably listen while doing chores instead of while playing world of tanks so I can pay attention 😂
Worst disease a character of mine ever got was a custom disease made for the campaign our DM was running. It was called "Grave Tendrils". It was similar to that fungus which eats and kills the host and makes the corpse animate so it can spread itself. The character had to make a con save every day when they woke up at DC 15. If they failed, the lost 1d4-1 Constitution and Strength. When it spread (when failed the save) small tendrils of black ichor showed through the veins and arteries of the character, making them look more ghoulish. The black ichor looked like tendrils of ink spreading across the skin. Once a character was knocked out or killed, the body would act as an uncontrolled zombie and bite people. A person bit would need to make an immediate Con save at DC15 else contract the disease themselves. Natural remedies only slowed the spread or lowered the DC by 1 if common antidote used, 2 if uncommon, or 4 if a difficult to procure antidote/healing was used. And the save discount only applied to that day or next days save. The only cure was to use a greater restoration spell 5 days in a row. ~Insert "That's rough buddy" from ATLA~
I'd be SUPER interested in a Bladesinger "Lockdown" Tank that focuses on reducing movement speed. Slasher Feat (-10) + Spirit Shroud (-10) + Ray of Frost (-10) [or Booming Blade when a 20ft reduction is enough to protect your back line]. Having Mobile might be helpful so you can step back 5 feet with no opportunity. Probably super niche, but might be kinda fun! Pair with a Fathomless Warlock with Mire the Mind to really up the shenanigan factor!
Speaking of dnd parenting 😄 my friend built a Circle of Dream Druid / Celestial Warlock around "Chef". We had never felt safer during long and short rests than playing with her yesterday 😄
Radagon from elden ring has an interesting piece of lore about him where he leanred both sorceries (let's say arcane magic) and incantations (clerical divine magic) so that he could be complete. I was interested if this concept could be made serviceable or even good in dnd
In previous editions of DnD this was a thing. You progressed in both arcane and divine casting at the same time. Down side was you got zero other features or abilities, so you just had spellcasting and one pool of spell slots.
@@abdallahatia7209 I did think of that obviously but it doesn't really fit the flavour, a divine soul has his powers innately whereas there's a accent her on learning his stuff. And yes I know flavour is free but it's cool when you get a character concept down without having to rely only on it
@@milanmilacic9311 Lore Bard. Their flavor is literally ransacking the world for old knowledge. You get a nice spell list and get magical secrets to round out your spell list. Go forth and quest through forgotten temples and old wizard towers.
You fuel my endless pursuit of character creation. A blessing and a curse, truly. Wonder if I'll ever play even half of these 😅 thanks Colby, your channel makes my Tuesdays awesome
Thank you for this channel and all the work you put into it. Been following for 2 years now, and having an hour of content every week, that is perfect to just put in background while worldbuilding for fun is a godscend. Dozens of more important npc were born from many different ideas, sparked by your builds. One of the things I always intented to create in this project of mine was to make few npc's (and few demigods), that are based on characters from different media or people from the real world. To mention few I have as of now: Mollymauk Tealeaf (Critical Role), Seth Sorenson (Fablehaven), Cirilla (Witcher), Technoblade (You Tube), Zannah (SW, Bane trilogy), german teacher from my middle school. And I'm sure as hell I wanna make one in your name and in the name of your content, that was so much present in all my work surrounding that little hobby. RN I was thinking about insanely unorthodox tactician, battleworn veteran, that trains amateurs in the art of war (there is a sun tzu joke in there, Im just too lazy to think of one), probably a martial artist. If you do have a better idea I'd be very happy to know it and alter my design.
Could you imagine Commanding: "defenestrate!" and they don't throw themselves out a window but choose to throw one of your allies out a window instead?
Well, apparently there's no need for a pre-Video guess from me today. XD Still, I will say this: As nice as it is to have Shield for the as-needed defense bonus, Silvery Barbs can work as a pseudo-taunt on a reaction, especially once you've already cast it in a fight. It's a little bit like have Counterspell prepared: Sometimes, the threat of getting countered is enough to change tactics. Sometimes the threat of Silvery Barbs is enough to get DM aggro. Plus, you very rarely see the spell on a Paladin, and I actually quite like the thought of it. Hm...
If your DM allows feats from UA, the half-feat Menacing might fit with this Character. Increase CHR and you can replace one attack to "demoralize" a humanoid and they gain the fear condition. Doesn't say to you just in general. I thought the demoralizing fits well with the Kender ability
(talking about 24:00) once my character was affected by a ritual and he got a kind of "absolute insomnia", it was a death sentence, i died in a week (because of exhaustion), but during this week I had horrible hallucinations, it was a pretty tough week, my party trying to discover a cure and protect my char while having a LOT of fights per day
Something that’d be great to add for Paladins would be a smite spell that had the “soft taunt” effect. Compel Duel doesn’t always get there for a bunch of reasons and restrictions. A Smite which worked until an enemy could hit you hard enough to make you lose concentration would be kinda sweet, and really thematically appropriate.
Highly in favor of the "five deathwards in a trenchcoat" build! Before any research I know we have the spell itself, Undying Sentinel, the half-orc ability, the Shadow Sorcerer 1st level ability (I think it's first level), and Zealot Barbarian's rage thing (which miiight be too high in level to get with the others, but I don't remember). Of course, there could be more I'm unaware of or don't remember. I go through a lot of characters and it's kind of a meme in our group, so a character who always has another "I don't go unconscious, actually" card up their sleeve would be a hoot at that table. Right, I gotta look into building this.
Oof, the Barbarian thing is at 14th level :P Soo, Paladin might be the thing to go for with that one, unless you wanna do the Yasha and go Aasimar Zealot and just heal yourself with the aasimar ability after the fight ends, before the rage ends. Or 14 Barb 6 Paladin, to get as much Lay on Hands as possible so you can do it more than once a day. But I think that would stray a bit far from the Deck of Many Death Wards.
A great way of doing this I sketched out is to have a pair of Halforcs. (I like to imagine they are siblings) Each takes a single level in Shadow Sorcerer, then one goes all in on Ancestral Guardian while the other goes Oath of the Ancients. Paladin takes interception fighting style. While they remain within five feet of each other, they are nigh unkillable. I think it could be a blast to team up with another player.
Tomelock gets an invocation at i think 9? that adds another one and technically, you can stack the spell with itself as long as you have slots to spend
@@derimperator3847 Ooh they do! But it goes over 20 so you'll have to pick that or Paladin. Looked into it, and the Undead Warlock in Van Richten's also gets Death Ward so that makes Warlock the better choice. Same amount of death wards at a lower level, and they get a feature at 10th level that also does this. As for stacking the spell itself, I don't know how many dms would let you do it, but I think anyone would allow you to refresh it when it's spent :P
@@storyspren :p step 1: ask about overlapping two bless spells (as per raw, only the stronger/more recent one actively applies during their overlap) step 2: attempt to short rest stack multiple death wards step 3: agree that that's ridiculous and settle for regular stacking (if used in a normal way rather than consecutive short rests casting, it's actually quite an investment - after all, once you drop to 1, any kind of damage will pop the next ward. magic missile can be your worst enemy)
I've been following you for a year now, but have been kinda binchwatching your video's especially the last couple of weeks and it has been awesome! I've used the Swarmkeeper Slingshot and Bloodhunter-Artificer now, and cannot wait to use the Open Spores Druid-Monk. Have also become a member today, just to show my support for your fantastic channel, it makes me so happy and relaxed, and I feel actually so welcome when you say that. Thanks Colby!!
My favourite example of tanking was on a grapple barbarian build. My character was standing in the entrance to the bottom deck of a flooding ship full of sahuagin. The Druid enlarged my Barbarian who grappled an enemy and used both our bodies to block the entrance and let the party escape. A Bard with a readied Dimension Door was waiting for me when I fled back to the deck. The whole thing was very cinematic and earned me the nickname “Wall of Stone”. 4:56 That could be an interesting build, a Simic Hybrid or Thri-kreen Grappler tank that just takes up as much space on the field as possible.
You can skip the sorcerer dip by taking Aberrant Dragonmark as your feat at Paladin 4. It allows for repeated casting of the Shield spell instead of just once per day and it's a half feat that bumps Con
@@DnDDeepDive Haha I guess I'm a bit old fashioned, I like sticking to one class as much as possible. To be fair, in this case I don't think you lose too much by taking Aberrant Dragonmark over Chef- a few sorcerer spells and cantrips and slightly faster spell slot progression versus getting your paladin features one level earlier, both are about even in power. Edit: To be clear, I still love your builds, probably the sole exception to my dislike for multiclassing xD
I'm playing this build, as a Kender in the Shadow of the Dragon Queen campaign dedicated the Habakuk, the Good aligned Deity of Nature. Currently level 3 with a Hoopak and +1 Shield, tanking for the group of rangers and sorcerers. It's actually really fun to RP as a kleptomaniac Kender who is also a Paladin. My group is so confused about it... Also, the Dragonlance campaign allows you take take Tough as a level 1 feat, so that adds a bit to the tanky-ness. Thanks for the inspiration!!
I played an 11th level protector aasimar Ancients Paladin, and it was a blast! The setting was a zombie apocalypse, and the zombies were being, like... worked on, I guess, and having things added to them? So there were zombies with massive spikes growing out of them, and I was our tank/protector. One managed to grab me and try to impale me against it. That Misty Step spell came in handy on my turn to yeet myself, then go smite it to death. Loved this subclass, highly recommend. I definitely felt like the defender of the party.
Bless vs Shield of Faith - I would use Bless because +2.5 to saves is nearly as good as a +2 to AC plus you assist your friends. At least until Paladin 6 when you get the auras. Lasting 20+ rounds vs melee but only 11 vs fireball shows there's a 'saves' problem at early game. Also, this is the closest you've come to creating a Dragonlance Campaign character, so thank you!
Supposedly, 'are we human...' is a nod to Hunter S Thompson's quote 'America is raising a generation of dancers, afraid to step out of line.' And the song is mostly asking questions about whether our life/choices is our own or what we're supposed to be (pay my respects to grace and virtue verse especially).
Had a few moments like your CoS stand with a Triton Ancients Paladin, called Vas, in a Chult campaign. We had an underwater quest to rescue my character's sister and figure what was disrupting the sealife. Turns out it was an aboleth and Vas charged ahead to solo the aberration (and two Merrows), as the rest of the party got tangled up with Merrows and giants sharks. While he was downed by the three attacking him, he was briefly imbued with the power of his god via a sudo divine intervention and in one swing final swing against the aboleth, landed the critical (without advantage or reduce crit limit) and blew the aboleth apart with a third level divine smite (and then he rescued his sister) before his soul was taken by his ancestors to his eternal rest. While it sucked hard to lose Vas as he was the party's leader and only original character remaining, it was an amazing and appropriate send off for him.
Man this build brings back memories of one of my Strahd playthroughs where I went with a pure Oath of Ancients paladin and played them as a wandering samurai. Was very fun. Colby, every Tuesday, your videos are a wonderful edition to my work day. Your voice makes me feel like I have a friend riding along with me in delivery truck and it makes my day so much easier and calming for the time you're along for. Thank you for all you do
I took part in a uni philosophy course recently that was on the topic of immersion empathy and the philosophy of games as art, and it was taught via the medium of dnd We broke up into groups and ran an adventure of 5 sessions each time changing the dm. The module threw a ton of defensive magic items at us, and we ended up having a paladin with 23 AC AND immunity to acid damage and minute long resistance to all damage. It’s not much of a build besides the paladin chasis with god like AC, but it was pretty fun. I played a valor bard and could give that character a d8 bardic inspiration that because I’m a valor bard could be used as a reaction to boost own AC. At some point he had 31 AC and black dragon missed a nat 20 (by dm ruling) and broke several of its teeth trying to chomp him.
Sometimes, just yelling insults in Draconic is enough to get the enemy to target you! During our last session, my (level 11) party was attacked by a Ghost Dragon that hit most of the party with its breath weapon. My Paladin was the only one to save against the fear attack, but 2 other party members were in his Aura of Courage. (Our DM's ruling on Aura of Courage is that it suppresses the fear effect while the character is in the aura but doesn't completely end it, meaning anyone who failed would have to continue rolling saved to end it). Over the next round, our Bard started Countercharm (the first or second time he's actually used that ability) to give everyone advantage and I moved my Paladin to get everyone into my aura so they could move and would get the +4 bonus to their save, on top of casting bless on the 4 PCs who failed the save. The dragon was still next to the Druid (and there was no way for me to position myself near the dragon while keeping everyone in my Aura), so I just started taunting and threatening him to get him to attack me. And somehow, that worked.
I'm playing a Swashbuckler Rogue at the moment with a 1 level dip into Lunar Sorcerer. It's frankly embarrassing how much stuff it gives you. I got Booming & Green-flame blade to beef up my single attack per turn, along with Light and Message for utility and scouting. Then I only wanted to choose reaction spells to keep my action/bonus action free for "Rogue Stuff" so I went with Absorb Elements and Silvery Barbs, along with the Full Moon Lunar Phase for a free cast of Shield. So much good stuff for a Rogue to enjoy 😀
You already had me at Oath of Ancients, but then you had to go ahead and say the paladin could be a devotee of Eilistraee? Absolutely love the concept and the build!
I'd love to see the "everyone's best friend build" bringing the kind energy we all need. A build who helps out most after a long rest: chef, inspiring leader, song of rest. Serious mum energy sending the party off for the day with the best start.
Played an Ancient Paladin full on antimage tank. I specifically built the character against the BBEG. In our last fight against the big bad right at the start of the fight I had to save against banishment. Had a +14 and adv on saves against spells. Rolled 2 nat 1s and died inside the banishment (was homebrewed and dealt dmg). Good times... 😂
Sometimes the dice they love you. Sometimes... they do not. I feel for you brother. I feel.... All I can say is... this is why you should ALWAYS take the Lucky feat! Rolling a nat1 twice is 1 in 400. Rolling it 3x is 1 in 6000. The dice gods would REALLY have to hate you for that to happen! My DM's by now simply refuse to let me take it any more. Anyone else can take Lucky... but not me. Apparently I abuse it.
Best campaign I ever played I played an OOTA Pally with 3 levels of College of Swords Bard. Not quite Colby's pally, but boy it was fun. Bardic Inspiration d6's to either buff my attacks and AC or to buff party members. Totally unkillable. To go to Colby's last point about making a special fight to be fun and memorable for a player... I got to go 1v1 against an adult Red Dragon. Unarmed. I was allowed to use smites with my fists and killed an adult Red Dragon. By myself. In game, there was an entire arena of spectators betting against me..., but definitely one of the best fights I ever played.
Was 100% expecting a hexblade dip, but lunar sorcery works too. I like the idea of paladin auras increasing at incremental levels. I agree that it should be 10, 20, and then 30 feet. The 10 foot auras are a carry over from earlier editions. Pathfinder 1e's paladin auras are also only 10 feet until 20th level when it jumps to 30 feet. That said, there were also feats and spells that doubled your aura. The spell, Widen Auras, is a 2nd level paladin spell that lasted 1 minute/paladin level. Fearless Aura made your aura 20 feet and all allies within the radius were immune to fear. EDIT: I also look forward to you doing a build where you stack "until you drop to 1 hp" abilities, spells, features, etc.
Colby I’d love to see you do a build that optimizes this concept… A chromatic dragonborn forge cleric grappler. At level 5 chromatic dragonborn can use an action to become immune to their ancestry damage type. Become immune to fire and then cast heat metal on your heavy armor. Then when you grapple you can use your bonus action to damage enemies and hinder their attacks since they can’t “drop” the metal they’re touching. The character is a walking furnace, an Iron Maiden of fire
I would LOVE to see the build where you see how far you can push stacking "drop to 1 HP instead of 0" features. (Make sure to include longdeath monk, it's the most repeatable)
Loved the video this week! This is for sure one of my favorite of your tank builds. I really want to play it now! Thank you so much for all the amazing content you continue to put out and I am incredibly excited for next episode, but until then, take care!
I’ve got one for you: a grappling cheesegrater build. My group lets us pick magic items so it works for me with less investment than the below which is without any, but I’m sure you can massage this to get a version that works for you. Concept, inescapable grapples, high movement plus spike growth to shred enemies without needing to roll any hit rolls. Race: centaur for 40ft movement and large build so you can drag more easily. Classes: Rune Knight Fighter - for giants might size and advantage on strength checks Stars Druid - for Longstrider, Spike Growth and Concentration protection Astral Self Monk - for 10ft bonus movement and to use Wis for Strength checks and saves. Finally can add some Rogue for expertise, bonus action dash, and maybe Scout reaction Feats: Mobile (obviously) Resilient Wisdom Skill Expert (if no expertise from Rogue) By the end you should have base movement of 60ft, with +10 from Longstrider to get to 70. What you do: Before the fight cast Longstrider Turn 1 grow large with Run knight and grapple 1-2 enemies with advantage and expertise in althletics. Turn 2 enter wild shape dragon constellation to protect concentration and drop the spike growth. Then begin dragging your enemies around the spike growth with your 70ft of movement. Just run circuits, or shake them back in forth as you stay outside. From turn 3 you can move, dash, bonus action dash for 210 feet. You could even action surge dash for 280ft. Every 5ft of spike growth does 2D4 damage - average of 5. Therefore 5ft = 5 damage - 1:1 ratio of movement to damage. When dragging your speed is halved unless you are at least 2 sizes bigger, but you are large from giants’ might, and the centaurs equine build makes you count as one larger, so you count as huge for dragging enemies. So against each medium enemy you start the turn grappling you could deal 210 damage. 280 damage with action surge. 700 damage if someone casts haste on you!! Or you can just grapple 2 creatures and use your hooves to kick them… 😂 I’m sure you can improve this, so I’m hoping you can have a shot at it! Thanks for the videos!
53:15 about that Killers song. When you look at that line in the context of the rest of the song I think what it is asking is whether or not we will be in the sense that we will take chances, make mistakes and step out of line rather than being a dancer meaning someone who follows the choreography that is the expectations of those around and society as a whole. The simple and grammatically incorrect line "Are we human or are we dancer?" is actually posing what I see as a deep question about how you will choose to live your life" Another line that always sticks out to me is "Sometimes I get nervous when I see an open door" this being an opportunity that is presenting itself which goes against the expectations someone else may have for you or what society may expect you have to choose to go through the door or retreat to the familiar and what is expected of you. Diving into possible meaning of song lyrics is something I blog about in my free time so there was no way I wasn't going to address this. Sorry it's a bit of text wall, this is the edited down version.
Proposed build: The Weebly Wobbly Wacky Warlock. Half-Orc Level 9 Undying Tome Lock and Level 1 Shadow Sorcerer. Gives you a build online at level 10 able to cast Death Ward on a short rest, a shareable Death Ward for you party through Gift of Protectors invocation, relentless endurance from your racial bonus, Defy Death from Lvl 1 Undying Warlock, and Strength of the Grave from Shadow Sorc. You also have 10 more levels to play with :)
The algorithm will not let me be free of your Supernova Moon video, so I finally watched it and that sent me down a multi-weeklong binge of your content (some of which I've already seen)... I am noting right now that I am going to take a break in the form of running my D&D game today, but I will probably be back because it's hard not to just keep going and watching all 150(+) of these.
@@DnDDeepDive I actually blame the Dungeon Dudes (for inspiring the algorithm) because I was watching their stuff (I was binging because they'd made a comment in one of their videos about how it's nice to give the Sorcerer subclasses who don't have one, homebrewed expanded spell lists and I agreed)... and I think the second video of their was the first time I noticed the Supernova Moon video... and I was like "Hmm... I do like Colby's stuff... but do I have the time for 40-50-minute videos?" Apparently, the answer is yes. I am now episode 80 of your D&D Build videos. Very good stuff.
(talking about 22:00) you could also chage your weapon to a quartestaff, it's considered to be a staff so it could be used as an arcane focus , it will reduce a little bit of your damage, but a i think it's a good idea (you could also try to get a Ruby of the War Mage, but this is more uncertain) Great build bro, i'm always impressed how do you have so many ideas for these builds!! :D
A concept I would love to see you try, something I've been mulling over but I have nowhere near the understanding of the system that you do. (Which is legitimately wild, I've been trying out Pathfinder and the character options there are so crazy, glad you're making builds for that system as well.) Anyhow the idea is, a multiclass character who takes as many classes as they can BUT is optimized. So no dead levels or taking class levels that are dead or actively detrimental. Essentially a Master of Arms, or a Savant. An Onion Knight or a not crappy Abserb lol. 54:15
I was going to write about Champion Challenge from Oath of the Crown until you mentioned it. But I do want to say that I think it's a great tank feature, especially if the DM goes with the flavor and not just the mechanical effects. I agree on the 7th level feature, the inability to mitigate damage and the radius are not great. I would suggest it for a tank especially if you are only going 3-6 levels of paladin. As a fellow subject of the spreadsheets, I did some data analysis of the monsters from the core and supplemental rulebooks. I would love to share what I found if you are interested, like saving throw modifiers, resistances, and ACs. My current results are organized by the CR of the creature, and I think it would provide a more accurate analysis of the output of a character, especially if I were to group it into tiers similar to the tiers of play (maybe 0-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-30)
Just wanted to toss out that MOM githzerai is an option for the Shield spell and better RAW than Mark of the Sentinel because it lets you spend spell slots to recast it. Githzerai kind of waste unless you're a wisdom caster (or maybe some artificers) but it's super nice if you can't just hexblade. Not at all useful for this build concept, of course.
Hi Colby! Do you think that Oath of Conquest Paladin would also work? Their level 7 aura says that any creature who is Frightened of the Paladin has a 0 for movement speed, which could be extremely valuable as a tank, being that: 1. They can't move, obviously 2. They wouldn't be able to stand up if knocked prone I would recommend the rarely-used Leonin here, as it gives the Paladin an extra way to try and inflict Frightened in an area of effect around them (once with their channel divinity, and another with their Leonin roar, bonus points for Action Surge Bane on the first turn to have the enemies take 2 Wisdom saves for Frightened with a -1d4). Oath of Conquest also naturally gets the Fear spell at level 9, adding another way to inflict Frightened. The multiclass options abound here, but my favorite is Undead Warlock for the Frightened saving throw every turn on a melee attack. Cheers boss, love your content!
Insane. My swatch buckler rogue just leveled up last week and I also took a lunar sorcerer dip for the defense buffs. Shield, absorb elements, silvery barbs. We are in Theros so we flavored the lunar theme as being from Nix.
I feel like this build *could* benefit some from shield master, Limited evasion and bonus to dex saves help make up for the minus Though the bonus action is probably the lowest priority use
So I was re watching your tankadin video.... And I remember that tasha didn't come out yet when you made that video. What about remaking the tankadin but with the kender and a dip in a few levels in rune knight. That fighter subclass has a lot of defensive stuff that makes it very difficult for an enemy to hit an ally. Idk the numbers but I think it could work very well for tanking and protecting the party.
I know it's not really an "Optimization" request... but i would love it if you could create a D&D character based around the Valheru from Raymond E. Feist's books (Specifically Tomas turning into a Valheru after donning some ancient armor, to justify going from lvl 1). Would it be based on an Eldritch Knight or Paladin...? I would love to see your interpretation for this type of character.
Tomas is definitely a Warlock, due to the spirit trapped in the armour. Bonus points if you can score a dragon as your mount, I'd love to hear back about this character
I was going to say (assuming you were going Twilight) that Chislev (neutral goddess of nature) with lip-service to Lunitari, then I realized what you were doing I understood why you said Solinari. Though I'm sad you didn't mention Habbakuk (the NG god of natural balance). LOVE DRAGONLANCE! I'm glad you mentioned the backgrounds though, because I immediately though, "Oh gods, a Kender paladin/sorcerer knight of solamnia XD"
way ahead of you on that death ward effect build motm orc/phb half-orc undead pact of the tome warlock 10/shadow sorcerer 1 orc gets relentless endurance where when you drop to 0, you drop to 1 instead undead warlock at level 10 gets necrotic husk where you detonate, restore up to 1 hp and take a point of exhaustion tome warlock can pick up gift of the protectors at level 9 which gives pseudo death ward to the whole party undead warlock at 7 gets twice per short rest death ward so you can spam multiple of it throughout the day shadow sorc gets strength of the grave where you get to make a charisma save when you are dropped to 0 (dc 5+dmg) use strength of the grave first and if you dont make the save, use a death ward you are dropped again to 0, strength of the grave can be rolled again and you can use relentless endurance instead continue like this for multiple rounds and the enemies just cant kill you
Re: your disease question: I am currently playing an 8th level halfling rogue/warlock/bard (she’s a little…flighty) and she’s super cute! It’s in her name, Kel Cherie! Anyway, my DM has given her a horribly scarring, flesh-eating disease of his own devising. If she can’t find _______, she starts losing Charisma points! Yikes! We can’t even find anyone with a Greater Restoration spell!
Our homebrew-setting campaign ran a session last week where my fighter contracted a disease from an enemy, which caused a potent and aggressive sort of burning rash. He took d4 damage per round. Forever. No repeat on the save until cured. Good thing the cleric had saved some slots.
So, after playing whole campaign as an Oath of the Ancients paladin and didn't use it's Nature's Wrath channel divinity even once, I had this idea to tweak a bit, not to make it necessarily overpowered but more useful in certain niche situations and possibly against certain creatures. The idea in it's simplicity is if the vines you summon are not just spectral but ethereal instead, them being something eldritch or 'ancient', to capable of restraining creatures that would otherwise be immune being restrained.
I don’t know if you’ve heard about CMCC’s Builds, but they’re doing an optimization gauntlet series. Treantmonk ran it. Seems like the kind of thing that’d be right up your ally.
The sign off isn't as snappy as Jerry Springer's, but it's so heartfelt and lovely! They may not realise it yet, but one day your kids will realise how lucky they've been, just like your D&D kids do!
I'm only a little bit into this video, but you've already mentioned several times that you would build the character differently if you weren't trying to max out the numbers for how much damage you could take. Have you thought about creating a new spreadsheet for a character type that tracks how much damage you'd prevent OTHERS from taking? That would give you a scoring system for tanks and healers (my personal favorite type of character) that would allow you to maximize the build for those roles!
I would definitely want to do the hexblade warlock level over sorcerer and bump charisma a few times where you chose hit points but i love this character design
Funny that i find this vid while im preparing to play an Ancients paladin in CoS. Granted, im playing an eladrin and probably wont multiclass. My plan is to be painfully optimistic in Barovia's gloom and use Fey Step to get my allies out of trouble before stepping into it myself.
Small tank! 😍 Playing Tanks is super rewarding! However, I don't realy like playing paladins! But I love the Idea of a small type character as the tank of a party, even before the "Rune knight" arrived! I been wanting to play a Gnome with Barbarian multiclassed with a Rune knight! "Tashas" has the "Unarmed fighting style"! But then... "Motm" came with the possibility for a character choosing as a "Small" creature type for the Tabaxi, so I got realy excited to play Tabaxi's slashing "Claws" with the "Slasher" feat and "Tavern brawler" feat as a "Rune Knight" "Grapple Kitty" aka "Kitty love Hugs"(WWE type Wrestler)! So now I think my next character will be a Tabaxi, Gladiator! Our group usually starts at level 3 with Point buy! Starting with 1level fighter(for the Unarmed fighting style) then go 5levels Barbarian (for Fast Movment) Ancestral Guardians, then take Fighter Rune Knight the rest of the way and/or add rogue levels to get some expertices in Athletics and more(or just add "Skill Expert" for Athletics expertice)! Feats that I will take is when I level up: 1"Tavern brawler", 2"Slasher", 3"Mobile" then PYF! (maybe add "Crusher" in addition to "Slasher") Magic Resistance might become a problem later, but I would still get my "hugs" in! I will welcome any suggestions to improve the Tanking and also any thoughts on this build!
Full agree with the note about the 8-hour duration spells. Baldur's Gate 3 has changed some spell durations and by far the best change is Mage Armor lasting until the long rest. You just pop it and never think about it again.
With your mention of making of build that can get all of the abilities to drop to one hit point instead of dying, I think you should make a bill that uses all the features you use for the soft taunt
Worst disease at my table was when my Kobold Druid got a custom version of Mummy Rot, and was subsequently raised as a zombie. He ended himself with Sunbeam and reincarnated himself with a backup spell in his staff
Somebody better make sure Colby isn’t sick! He just put up a build that only did a one level dip! Can we verify he’s not being put under duress?! Ps. Love the concept and the build! ❤
Marrashi fever, from the taklif arrows of the Marrashi. Which, if you fail the initial save inflicts 1 level of exhaustion pr hour until you die. If you do, then you cant be raised without a wish and after 1d6 days you rise as a Marrashi
Playing this character in an actual Dragonlance campaign would kick it up a notch: take level one bonus feat Tough and either Sentinel or War Caster as your 4th level freebie!
I’ve been trying to make a samurai/hexblade that utilizes the elven accuracy feat, along with fighting spirit and darkness/devil sight. I’m trying to make this work so I don’t hinder my party as often with darkness. I’d love to see you tackle the logistics of this build even though I believe this build idea may just be worse than your Pamlock build.
If you ever get to play up to a level 20+ toon I'd suggest my Paladin/Monk build I call him/her the "Untouchable" 6 Paladin to your taste and 14 Monk to your taste. Level's 1-6 Paladin so you can dump Str. Then 7-20 Monk. Your saves make you untouchable with spells and if you build it right you can have an ok AC but that's not what monks are for anyway.
Colby's first job was as a yoga instructor teaching mindfulness and poise. Every episode starts like he's trying to clear the room of bad energy and welcome us into a sacred space for DnD.
@@Venjax420 honestly something just like the kender ability. The taunt or challenge feat would give the PC probably proficiency bonus uses, possibly even short rest recovery depending on how much it needs tuning up. I'd probably make it a bonus action and the save depending on if the user is taunting (wisodm) or challenging(charisma)
That's one thing I really liked about Pathfinder 1e. So many ways to taunt. There's the Taunt feat (small races only), Caustic Slur (ranger gnome only; insult favored enemy, that understands you, to become angered and target you with additional rage damage), the Antagonize feat (Intimidate or Persuasion to get them to fight you), the tiefling Suicidal trait (half feat Reaction ability that makes all creatures within 5 feet target only you), and spells like Knight's Calling, Compel Hostility, Paladin's Sacrifice, and Shield Other. There's also the Pin Down fighter-only feat that didn't do damage, but you made opportunity attacks to keep opponents from moving.
@richardboyd1790 I'm trying Guardian Armorer (for the second time) and was looking for more ideas for tanking. I'm gonna see if DM will consider a magical item that let's me cast some version of "compelled duel".
@KevinVideo when Colby was doing his Pathfinder builds I asked about him doing a tank build....quite a few comments said tanking sucks, but of course that's 2e, so maybe different.
Oath of Conquest is a good tank build, causing creatures within 30 ft to be Frightened if failing. Pairing that with the Kender or Leonin Taunt is pretty nasty
Lol I'm a bit late here, but I'd love to see your take on the echo knight fighter/monk pairing. I went for a "ranged melee" build with elemental monk and man is it fun to be able to output up to 9 attacks in one turn from 45 feet away (with the eldritch claw tattoo and one of the dark gifts), but I bet you could optimize it even more...
Love your videos! When One D&D comes out you'll probably have to reset your tiers etc. Have you considered doing 2 metrics per character? Like measure a character for both nova and sustained? What about measuring for battlefield control as a comparison? Or utility?
I love all your videos, and my friends are constantly using your builds. When do you think you could do a creation bard video? I want to use one in my next campaign. I will actually get to be a player #foreverDM
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If Colby were a character class, one of his features would definitely be Channel Dad Energy.
BIG Dad energy 😛
Cool Dad energy 👍🏻
His catchphrase would be a Dad joke ab channel divinity and subscribing
He also got to be custom lineage as a race
It’s an aura that gives and extra d4 to any saving throw or ability check as long as you can see or hear him within 30 feet as his calming demeanor and extensive wisdom guide you to success.
Colby: Paladin is hard to multiclass out of. Also Colby: Paladin is hard to single class because multiclassing makes them even better.
Colby: I don't like to take table restricted stuff
Also Colby: lets make a Kender
My HERESY meter is twitching hard
He isn’t fooling me. So many of Colby’s builds have disclaimers to check with your DM if they will let you use non-standard options or his interpretation (non RAW) of the rules.
@andrewhazlewood4569 well, at least it ain't a gnome...I have ptsd from "lolsorandomlol" gnome players
@@andrewhazlewood4569 which is fine... right?
As a Kender (small), this build can fly on a Peryton (medium Find Greater Steed). The Peryton comes with 60' flight, damage resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing nonmagical attacks; dive attack, multi-attack, flyby, Keen sight and smell. Don't forget that any spell that targets "self" gets passed onto the steed.
Won't lie, today's "welcome home" nearly made me tear up, which says a lot since I don't know the last time I've cried of joy (don't worry, I'm doing just fine). Thanks for your unending hospitality, Colby.
It warms my heart every time he says it even though I know it's coming.
IMO the Oath of Redemption aura is a pretty good Tank ability. It doesn't matter if they don't attack you, if you take the dmg anyway :)
This is quickly becoming one of my favorite channels.
Me too! 🥸
@@DnDDeepDiveMe three! Also, did you account for sorcerer being able to use absorb elements for help with the fireballs? I didn't see it mentioned in the build, though I may have missed it.
EDIT: NVM, found it, next time I should probably listen while doing chores instead of while playing world of tanks so I can pay attention 😂
Very true!❤
This and dungeon dudes best channels
Did you ever see tales of aneria Colby has a badass build there is 50 or 60 episodes
Worst disease a character of mine ever got was a custom disease made for the campaign our DM was running. It was called "Grave Tendrils". It was similar to that fungus which eats and kills the host and makes the corpse animate so it can spread itself.
The character had to make a con save every day when they woke up at DC 15. If they failed, the lost 1d4-1 Constitution and Strength.
When it spread (when failed the save) small tendrils of black ichor showed through the veins and arteries of the character, making them look more ghoulish. The black ichor looked like tendrils of ink spreading across the skin.
Once a character was knocked out or killed, the body would act as an uncontrolled zombie and bite people. A person bit would need to make an immediate Con save at DC15 else contract the disease themselves.
Natural remedies only slowed the spread or lowered the DC by 1 if common antidote used, 2 if uncommon, or 4 if a difficult to procure antidote/healing was used. And the save discount only applied to that day or next days save.
The only cure was to use a greater restoration spell 5 days in a row.
~Insert "That's rough buddy" from ATLA~
Daaaang
I'd be SUPER interested in a Bladesinger "Lockdown" Tank that focuses on reducing movement speed.
Slasher Feat (-10) + Spirit Shroud (-10) + Ray of Frost (-10) [or Booming Blade when a 20ft reduction is enough to protect your back line].
Having Mobile might be helpful so you can step back 5 feet with no opportunity.
Probably super niche, but might be kinda fun! Pair with a Fathomless Warlock with Mire the Mind to really up the shenanigan factor!
I literally just finished a script for this two days ago 😱
@@DnDDeepDive Woooo! Can't wait to see it!
Speaking of dnd parenting 😄 my friend built a Circle of Dream Druid / Celestial Warlock around "Chef". We had never felt safer during long and short rests than playing with her yesterday 😄
Nature's Guardian: D&D Build #138
Level 1:(see above) [paladin 1 & race]
Level 2:(see above) [paladin 2 & fighting-style]
Level 3:(@19:13) [sorcerer 1 & sub-class]
Level 4:(@23:40) [paladin 3 & sub-class]
Level 5:(@27:53) [paladin 4 & ASI]
Level 6:(@29:41) [paladin 5]
Level 7:(see above) [paladin 6]
Level 8:(@35:28) [paladin 7]
Level 9:(@36:09) [paladin 8 & ASI]
Level 10:(see above) [paladin 9]
Level 11:(@40:20) [paladin 10]
Level 12:(@41:05) [paladin 11]
Level 13:(@41:46) [paladin 12 & ASI]
Level 14:(see above) [paladin 13]
Level 15:(@45:32) [paladin 14]
Level 16:(@45:50) [paladin 15]
Level 17:(@46:22) [paladin 16 & ASI]
Radagon from elden ring has an interesting piece of lore about him where he leanred both sorceries (let's say arcane magic) and incantations (clerical divine magic) so that he could be complete. I was interested if this concept could be made serviceable or even good in dnd
In previous editions of DnD this was a thing. You progressed in both arcane and divine casting at the same time. Down side was you got zero other features or abilities, so you just had spellcasting and one pool of spell slots.
Divine Soul Sorcerer
3.5/p1e mystic theurge type stuff
@@abdallahatia7209 I did think of that obviously but it doesn't really fit the flavour, a divine soul has his powers innately whereas there's a accent her on learning his stuff. And yes I know flavour is free but it's cool when you get a character concept down without having to rely only on it
@@milanmilacic9311 Lore Bard. Their flavor is literally ransacking the world for old knowledge. You get a nice spell list and get magical secrets to round out your spell list. Go forth and quest through forgotten temples and old wizard towers.
You fuel my endless pursuit of character creation. A blessing and a curse, truly. Wonder if I'll ever play even half of these 😅 thanks Colby, your channel makes my Tuesdays awesome
Thank you for this channel and all the work you put into it.
Been following for 2 years now, and having an hour of content every week, that is perfect to just put in background while worldbuilding for fun is a godscend. Dozens of more important npc were born from many different ideas, sparked by your builds.
One of the things I always intented to create in this project of mine was to make few npc's (and few demigods), that are based on characters from different media or people from the real world. To mention few I have as of now: Mollymauk Tealeaf (Critical Role), Seth Sorenson (Fablehaven), Cirilla (Witcher), Technoblade (You Tube), Zannah (SW, Bane trilogy), german teacher from my middle school.
And I'm sure as hell I wanna make one in your name and in the name of your content, that was so much present in all my work surrounding that little hobby. RN I was thinking about insanely unorthodox tactician, battleworn veteran, that trains amateurs in the art of war (there is a sun tzu joke in there, Im just too lazy to think of one), probably a martial artist. If you do have a better idea I'd be very happy to know it and alter my design.
Could you imagine Commanding: "defenestrate!" and they don't throw themselves out a window but choose to throw one of your allies out a window instead?
Autodefenestrate!
@@nicholass5621 Good one!
Well, apparently there's no need for a pre-Video guess from me today. XD Still, I will say this: As nice as it is to have Shield for the as-needed defense bonus, Silvery Barbs can work as a pseudo-taunt on a reaction, especially once you've already cast it in a fight. It's a little bit like have Counterspell prepared: Sometimes, the threat of getting countered is enough to change tactics. Sometimes the threat of Silvery Barbs is enough to get DM aggro. Plus, you very rarely see the spell on a Paladin, and I actually quite like the thought of it. Hm...
If your DM allows feats from UA, the half-feat Menacing might fit with this Character. Increase CHR and you can replace one attack to "demoralize" a humanoid and they gain the fear condition. Doesn't say to you just in general. I thought the demoralizing fits well with the Kender ability
(talking about 24:00) once my character was affected by a ritual and he got a kind of "absolute insomnia", it was a death sentence, i died in a week (because of exhaustion), but during this week I had horrible hallucinations, it was a pretty tough week, my party trying to discover a cure and protect my char while having a LOT of fights per day
Something that’d be great to add for Paladins would be a smite spell that had the “soft taunt” effect. Compel Duel doesn’t always get there for a bunch of reasons and restrictions. A Smite which worked until an enemy could hit you hard enough to make you lose concentration would be kinda sweet, and really thematically appropriate.
Highly in favor of the "five deathwards in a trenchcoat" build!
Before any research I know we have the spell itself, Undying Sentinel, the half-orc ability, the Shadow Sorcerer 1st level ability (I think it's first level), and Zealot Barbarian's rage thing (which miiight be too high in level to get with the others, but I don't remember). Of course, there could be more I'm unaware of or don't remember. I go through a lot of characters and it's kind of a meme in our group, so a character who always has another "I don't go unconscious, actually" card up their sleeve would be a hoot at that table.
Right, I gotta look into building this.
Oof, the Barbarian thing is at 14th level :P
Soo, Paladin might be the thing to go for with that one, unless you wanna do the Yasha and go Aasimar Zealot and just heal yourself with the aasimar ability after the fight ends, before the rage ends. Or 14 Barb 6 Paladin, to get as much Lay on Hands as possible so you can do it more than once a day.
But I think that would stray a bit far from the Deck of Many Death Wards.
A great way of doing this I sketched out is to have a pair of Halforcs. (I like to imagine they are siblings) Each takes a single level in Shadow Sorcerer, then one goes all in on Ancestral Guardian while the other goes Oath of the Ancients. Paladin takes interception fighting style. While they remain within five feet of each other, they are nigh unkillable.
I think it could be a blast to team up with another player.
Tomelock gets an invocation at i think 9? that adds another one
and technically, you can stack the spell with itself as long as you have slots to spend
@@derimperator3847 Ooh they do! But it goes over 20 so you'll have to pick that or Paladin. Looked into it, and the Undead Warlock in Van Richten's also gets Death Ward so that makes Warlock the better choice. Same amount of death wards at a lower level, and they get a feature at 10th level that also does this.
As for stacking the spell itself, I don't know how many dms would let you do it, but I think anyone would allow you to refresh it when it's spent :P
@@storyspren :p
step 1: ask about overlapping two bless spells (as per raw, only the stronger/more recent one actively applies during their overlap)
step 2: attempt to short rest stack multiple death wards
step 3: agree that that's ridiculous and settle for regular stacking
(if used in a normal way rather than consecutive short rests casting, it's actually quite an investment - after all, once you drop to 1, any kind of damage will pop the next ward. magic missile can be your worst enemy)
I've been following you for a year now, but have been kinda binchwatching your video's especially the last couple of weeks and it has been awesome! I've used the Swarmkeeper Slingshot and Bloodhunter-Artificer now, and cannot wait to use the Open Spores Druid-Monk. Have also become a member today, just to show my support for your fantastic channel, it makes me so happy and relaxed, and I feel actually so welcome when you say that. Thanks Colby!!
My favourite example of tanking was on a grapple barbarian build. My character was standing in the entrance to the bottom deck of a flooding ship full of sahuagin.
The Druid enlarged my Barbarian who grappled an enemy and used both our bodies to block the entrance and let the party escape. A Bard with a readied Dimension Door was waiting for me when I fled back to the deck. The whole thing was very cinematic and earned me the nickname “Wall of Stone”. 4:56
That could be an interesting build, a Simic Hybrid or Thri-kreen Grappler tank that just takes up as much space on the field as possible.
You can skip the sorcerer dip by taking Aberrant Dragonmark as your feat at Paladin 4. It allows for repeated casting of the Shield spell instead of just once per day and it's a half feat that bumps Con
I tend to think that feats are more valuable than levels, personally, if you can get something with a one level dip, but that’s me!
@@DnDDeepDive Haha I guess I'm a bit old fashioned, I like sticking to one class as much as possible. To be fair, in this case I don't think you lose too much by taking Aberrant Dragonmark over Chef- a few sorcerer spells and cantrips and slightly faster spell slot progression versus getting your paladin features one level earlier, both are about even in power.
Edit: To be clear, I still love your builds, probably the sole exception to my dislike for multiclassing xD
Most tables don't allow the Eberron feats. If the table does allow those feats, races, etc, then this is a neat alternative.
Aberrant dragonmark would only allow one casting of Shield per short/long rest.
I'm playing this build, as a Kender in the Shadow of the Dragon Queen campaign dedicated the Habakuk, the Good aligned Deity of Nature. Currently level 3 with a Hoopak and +1 Shield, tanking for the group of rangers and sorcerers. It's actually really fun to RP as a kleptomaniac Kender who is also a Paladin. My group is so confused about it... Also, the Dragonlance campaign allows you take take Tough as a level 1 feat, so that adds a bit to the tanky-ness.
Thanks for the inspiration!!
I played an 11th level protector aasimar Ancients Paladin, and it was a blast! The setting was a zombie apocalypse, and the zombies were being, like... worked on, I guess, and having things added to them? So there were zombies with massive spikes growing out of them, and I was our tank/protector. One managed to grab me and try to impale me against it. That Misty Step spell came in handy on my turn to yeet myself, then go smite it to death. Loved this subclass, highly recommend. I definitely felt like the defender of the party.
Bless vs Shield of Faith - I would use Bless because +2.5 to saves is nearly as good as a +2 to AC plus you assist your friends. At least until Paladin 6 when you get the auras.
Lasting 20+ rounds vs melee but only 11 vs fireball shows there's a 'saves' problem at early game.
Also, this is the closest you've come to creating a Dragonlance Campaign character, so thank you!
28:19 Treats!
45:30 I love this idea. Half-Orc Barb with 15 Pally and a Death Ward. Woohoo!
Supposedly, 'are we human...' is a nod to Hunter S Thompson's quote 'America is raising a generation of dancers, afraid to step out of line.'
And the song is mostly asking questions about whether our life/choices is our own or what we're supposed to be (pay my respects to grace and virtue verse especially).
I love using your builds and putting a huge bounty on their head for my players to take down the worlds most wanted. Good stuff : j keep it up!
Had a few moments like your CoS stand with a Triton Ancients Paladin, called Vas, in a Chult campaign. We had an underwater quest to rescue my character's sister and figure what was disrupting the sealife. Turns out it was an aboleth and Vas charged ahead to solo the aberration (and two Merrows), as the rest of the party got tangled up with Merrows and giants sharks. While he was downed by the three attacking him, he was briefly imbued with the power of his god via a sudo divine intervention and in one swing final swing against the aboleth, landed the critical (without advantage or reduce crit limit) and blew the aboleth apart with a third level divine smite (and then he rescued his sister) before his soul was taken by his ancestors to his eternal rest. While it sucked hard to lose Vas as he was the party's leader and only original character remaining, it was an amazing and appropriate send off for him.
Love it. Sometimes a good death is just as good as a good win. I'll bet the player who was running Vas will tell that story for years!
Man this build brings back memories of one of my Strahd playthroughs where I went with a pure Oath of Ancients paladin and played them as a wandering samurai. Was very fun.
Colby, every Tuesday, your videos are a wonderful edition to my work day. Your voice makes me feel like I have a friend riding along with me in delivery truck and it makes my day so much easier and calming for the time you're along for. Thank you for all you do
So a couple levels of fighter for samurai
I took part in a uni philosophy course recently that was on the topic of immersion empathy and the philosophy of games as art, and it was taught via the medium of dnd
We broke up into groups and ran an adventure of 5 sessions each time changing the dm. The module threw a ton of defensive magic items at us, and we ended up having a paladin with 23 AC AND immunity to acid damage and minute long resistance to all damage.
It’s not much of a build besides the paladin chasis with god like AC, but it was pretty fun.
I played a valor bard and could give that character a d8 bardic inspiration that because I’m a valor bard could be used as a reaction to boost own AC. At some point he had 31 AC and black dragon missed a nat 20 (by dm ruling) and broke several of its teeth trying to chomp him.
Sometimes, just yelling insults in Draconic is enough to get the enemy to target you!
During our last session, my (level 11) party was attacked by a Ghost Dragon that hit most of the party with its breath weapon. My Paladin was the only one to save against the fear attack, but 2 other party members were in his Aura of Courage. (Our DM's ruling on Aura of Courage is that it suppresses the fear effect while the character is in the aura but doesn't completely end it, meaning anyone who failed would have to continue rolling saved to end it). Over the next round, our Bard started Countercharm (the first or second time he's actually used that ability) to give everyone advantage and I moved my Paladin to get everyone into my aura so they could move and would get the +4 bonus to their save, on top of casting bless on the 4 PCs who failed the save. The dragon was still next to the Druid (and there was no way for me to position myself near the dragon while keeping everyone in my Aura), so I just started taunting and threatening him to get him to attack me. And somehow, that worked.
I'm playing a Swashbuckler Rogue at the moment with a 1 level dip into Lunar Sorcerer. It's frankly embarrassing how much stuff it gives you. I got Booming & Green-flame blade to beef up my single attack per turn, along with Light and Message for utility and scouting.
Then I only wanted to choose reaction spells to keep my action/bonus action free for "Rogue Stuff" so I went with Absorb Elements and Silvery Barbs, along with the Full Moon Lunar Phase for a free cast of Shield. So much good stuff for a Rogue to enjoy 😀
Yet another calming and enjoyable listen for my work day. Thank you again.
Colby - Common item "Ruby of the Warmage" placed on a weapon it turns it into an Arcane Focus for spell casting.
I took the Inspiring Leader feat for a similar build. And the good thing is it stacks with Aid. Just wanted to share, thanks.
For me it’s one of the first feats a Paladin should take
SO glad I am a member now. I love the library of builds!
Thanks and welcome!
You already had me at Oath of Ancients, but then you had to go ahead and say the paladin could be a devotee of Eilistraee? Absolutely love the concept and the build!
Love a good paladin build. Despite having so many features I like, it's actually the one class I've never played!
I'd love to see the "everyone's best friend build" bringing the kind energy we all need. A build who helps out most after a long rest: chef, inspiring leader, song of rest.
Serious mum energy sending the party off for the day with the best start.
Did you see “The Martyr”? Not quite the same thing but a similar vibe :)
@@DnDDeepDive I'll have to give it a watch :)
Played an Ancient Paladin full on antimage tank.
I specifically built the character against the BBEG. In our last fight against the big bad right at the start of the fight I had to save against banishment. Had a +14 and adv on saves against spells. Rolled 2 nat 1s and died inside the banishment (was homebrewed and dealt dmg).
Good times... 😂
Sometimes the dice they love you. Sometimes... they do not. I feel for you brother. I feel....
All I can say is... this is why you should ALWAYS take the Lucky feat! Rolling a nat1 twice is 1 in 400. Rolling it 3x is 1 in 6000. The dice gods would REALLY have to hate you for that to happen! My DM's by now simply refuse to let me take it any more. Anyone else can take Lucky... but not me. Apparently I abuse it.
Best campaign I ever played I played an OOTA Pally with 3 levels of College of Swords Bard. Not quite Colby's pally, but boy it was fun. Bardic Inspiration d6's to either buff my attacks and AC or to buff party members. Totally unkillable.
To go to Colby's last point about making a special fight to be fun and memorable for a player... I got to go 1v1 against an adult Red Dragon. Unarmed. I was allowed to use smites with my fists and killed an adult Red Dragon. By myself. In game, there was an entire arena of spectators betting against me..., but definitely one of the best fights I ever played.
Was 100% expecting a hexblade dip, but lunar sorcery works too.
I like the idea of paladin auras increasing at incremental levels. I agree that it should be 10, 20, and then 30 feet. The 10 foot auras are a carry over from earlier editions. Pathfinder 1e's paladin auras are also only 10 feet until 20th level when it jumps to 30 feet. That said, there were also feats and spells that doubled your aura. The spell, Widen Auras, is a 2nd level paladin spell that lasted 1 minute/paladin level. Fearless Aura made your aura 20 feet and all allies within the radius were immune to fear.
EDIT: I also look forward to you doing a build where you stack "until you drop to 1 hp" abilities, spells, features, etc.
Colby I’d love to see you do a build that optimizes this concept…
A chromatic dragonborn forge cleric grappler.
At level 5 chromatic dragonborn can use an action to become immune to their ancestry damage type. Become immune to fire and then cast heat metal on your heavy armor. Then when you grapple you can use your bonus action to damage enemies and hinder their attacks since they can’t “drop” the metal they’re touching. The character is a walking furnace, an Iron Maiden of fire
That’s actually on my to do list! 😉
I would LOVE to see the build where you see how far you can push stacking "drop to 1 HP instead of 0" features. (Make sure to include longdeath monk, it's the most repeatable)
I can smell that new pathfinder build you cooking for next week
... right?
It’s so hard to do more PF content when each video performs worse than the last one 😫
Loved the video this week! This is for sure one of my favorite of your tank builds. I really want to play it now! Thank you so much for all the amazing content you continue to put out and I am incredibly excited for next episode, but until then, take care!
I’ve got one for you: a grappling cheesegrater build.
My group lets us pick magic items so it works for me with less investment than the below which is without any, but I’m sure you can massage this to get a version that works for you.
Concept, inescapable grapples, high movement plus spike growth to shred enemies without needing to roll any hit rolls.
Race: centaur for 40ft movement and large build so you can drag more easily.
Classes:
Rune Knight Fighter - for giants might size and advantage on strength checks
Stars Druid - for Longstrider, Spike Growth and Concentration protection
Astral Self Monk - for 10ft bonus movement and to use Wis for Strength checks and saves.
Finally can add some Rogue for expertise, bonus action dash, and maybe Scout reaction
Feats:
Mobile (obviously)
Resilient Wisdom
Skill Expert (if no expertise from Rogue)
By the end you should have base movement of 60ft, with +10 from Longstrider to get to 70.
What you do:
Before the fight cast Longstrider
Turn 1 grow large with Run knight and grapple 1-2 enemies with advantage and expertise in althletics.
Turn 2 enter wild shape dragon constellation to protect concentration and drop the spike growth.
Then begin dragging your enemies around the spike growth with your 70ft of movement. Just run circuits, or shake them back in forth as you stay outside.
From turn 3 you can move, dash, bonus action dash for 210 feet. You could even action surge dash for 280ft.
Every 5ft of spike growth does 2D4 damage - average of 5.
Therefore 5ft = 5 damage - 1:1 ratio of movement to damage.
When dragging your speed is halved unless you are at least 2 sizes bigger, but you are large from giants’ might, and the centaurs equine build makes you count as one larger, so you count as huge for dragging enemies.
So against each medium enemy you start the turn grappling you could deal 210 damage.
280 damage with action surge.
700 damage if someone casts haste on you!!
Or you can just grapple 2 creatures and use your hooves to kick them… 😂
I’m sure you can improve this, so I’m hoping you can have a shot at it!
Thanks for the videos!
It's weird how the cheese grater thing has become this edition's meta, feels overplayed
46:09 Very glad to see you're warming up to build proposal I made some time ago: the unkillable character/the I can do this all day 😁
53:15 about that Killers song. When you look at that line in the context of the rest of the song I think what it is asking is whether or not we will be in the sense that we will take chances, make mistakes and step out of line rather than being a dancer meaning someone who follows the choreography that is the expectations of those around and society as a whole. The simple and grammatically incorrect line "Are we human or are we dancer?" is actually posing what I see as a deep question about how you will choose to live your life" Another line that always sticks out to me is "Sometimes I get nervous when I see an open door" this being an opportunity that is presenting itself which goes against the expectations someone else may have for you or what society may expect you have to choose to go through the door or retreat to the familiar and what is expected of you. Diving into possible meaning of song lyrics is something I blog about in my free time so there was no way I wasn't going to address this. Sorry it's a bit of text wall, this is the edited down version.
STAND BEHIND BRAUM!!
No lie I always love the fantasy of the big guy with a heart of gold jumping in front of big attacks with a big F off shield.
Proposed build: The Weebly Wobbly Wacky Warlock. Half-Orc Level 9 Undying Tome Lock and Level 1 Shadow Sorcerer. Gives you a build online at level 10 able to cast Death Ward on a short rest, a shareable Death Ward for you party through Gift of Protectors invocation, relentless endurance from your racial bonus, Defy Death from Lvl 1 Undying Warlock, and Strength of the Grave from Shadow Sorc. You also have 10 more levels to play with :)
Thank you Colby!
The algorithm will not let me be free of your Supernova Moon video, so I finally watched it and that sent me down a multi-weeklong binge of your content (some of which I've already seen)... I am noting right now that I am going to take a break in the form of running my D&D game today, but I will probably be back because it's hard not to just keep going and watching all 150(+) of these.
Nice work, algorithm!
@@DnDDeepDive I actually blame the Dungeon Dudes (for inspiring the algorithm) because I was watching their stuff (I was binging because they'd made a comment in one of their videos about how it's nice to give the Sorcerer subclasses who don't have one, homebrewed expanded spell lists and I agreed)... and I think the second video of their was the first time I noticed the Supernova Moon video... and I was like "Hmm... I do like Colby's stuff... but do I have the time for 40-50-minute videos?"
Apparently, the answer is yes. I am now episode 80 of your D&D Build videos. Very good stuff.
@@ethanhorn6093
(talking about 22:00) you could also chage your weapon to a quartestaff, it's considered to be a staff so it could be used as an arcane focus , it will reduce a little bit of your damage, but a i think it's a good idea
(you could also try to get a Ruby of the War Mage, but this is more uncertain)
Great build bro, i'm always impressed how do you have so many ideas for these builds!! :D
A concept I would love to see you try, something I've been mulling over but I have nowhere near the understanding of the system that you do. (Which is legitimately wild, I've been trying out Pathfinder and the character options there are so crazy, glad you're making builds for that system as well.)
Anyhow the idea is, a multiclass character who takes as many classes as they can BUT is optimized. So no dead levels or taking class levels that are dead or actively detrimental.
Essentially a Master of Arms, or a Savant. An Onion Knight or a not crappy Abserb lol. 54:15
I was going to write about Champion Challenge from Oath of the Crown until you mentioned it. But I do want to say that I think it's a great tank feature, especially if the DM goes with the flavor and not just the mechanical effects. I agree on the 7th level feature, the inability to mitigate damage and the radius are not great. I would suggest it for a tank especially if you are only going 3-6 levels of paladin.
As a fellow subject of the spreadsheets, I did some data analysis of the monsters from the core and supplemental rulebooks. I would love to share what I found if you are interested, like saving throw modifiers, resistances, and ACs. My current results are organized by the CR of the creature, and I think it would provide a more accurate analysis of the output of a character, especially if I were to group it into tiers similar to the tiers of play (maybe 0-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-30)
Just wanted to toss out that MOM githzerai is an option for the Shield spell and better RAW than Mark of the Sentinel because it lets you spend spell slots to recast it. Githzerai kind of waste unless you're a wisdom caster (or maybe some artificers) but it's super nice if you can't just hexblade. Not at all useful for this build concept, of course.
Hi Colby! Do you think that Oath of Conquest Paladin would also work? Their level 7 aura says that any creature who is Frightened of the Paladin has a 0 for movement speed, which could be extremely valuable as a tank, being that:
1. They can't move, obviously
2. They wouldn't be able to stand up if knocked prone
I would recommend the rarely-used Leonin here, as it gives the Paladin an extra way to try and inflict Frightened in an area of effect around them (once with their channel divinity, and another with their Leonin roar, bonus points for Action Surge Bane on the first turn to have the enemies take 2 Wisdom saves for Frightened with a -1d4). Oath of Conquest also naturally gets the Fear spell at level 9, adding another way to inflict Frightened. The multiclass options abound here, but my favorite is Undead Warlock for the Frightened saving throw every turn on a melee attack. Cheers boss, love your content!
Insane. My swatch buckler rogue just leveled up last week and I also took a lunar sorcerer dip for the defense buffs. Shield, absorb elements, silvery barbs. We are in Theros so we flavored the lunar theme as being from Nix.
And you ended with Killers?!? This video was made for me.
tasslehoff was wonderful in all the books... got them all
I feel like this build *could* benefit some from shield master,
Limited evasion and bonus to dex saves help make up for the minus
Though the bonus action is probably the lowest priority use
You need a spreadsheet of what subclasses you've used in builds!
So I was re watching your tankadin video.... And I remember that tasha didn't come out yet when you made that video. What about remaking the tankadin but with the kender and a dip in a few levels in rune knight. That fighter subclass has a lot of defensive stuff that makes it very difficult for an enemy to hit an ally. Idk the numbers but I think it could work very well for tanking and protecting the party.
I know it's not really an "Optimization" request... but i would love it if you could create a D&D character based around the Valheru from Raymond E. Feist's books (Specifically Tomas turning into a Valheru after donning some ancient armor, to justify going from lvl 1). Would it be based on an Eldritch Knight or Paladin...? I would love to see your interpretation for this type of character.
Tomas is definitely a Warlock, due to the spirit trapped in the armour. Bonus points if you can score a dragon as your mount, I'd love to hear back about this character
Ditto
Tomas-Ashenshugar(sp?) Was awesome.
I was going to say (assuming you were going Twilight) that Chislev (neutral goddess of nature) with lip-service to Lunitari, then I realized what you were doing I understood why you said Solinari. Though I'm sad you didn't mention Habbakuk (the NG god of natural balance). LOVE DRAGONLANCE!
I'm glad you mentioned the backgrounds though, because I immediately though, "Oh gods, a Kender paladin/sorcerer knight of solamnia XD"
Paladin and Moon Druid works well as you can smite in animal forms. As such you have more uses for spell slots... Self heal or smite smacks
You’re going to enjoy Tuesday’s video… 😉
@@DnDDeepDive I enjoy every video you make my friend
Eyy I remember commenting something about this subclass being a good idea for a tank. Excited to see how it works in practice!
Seems like homebrewing a half feat with the “taunt” effect like the cavalier would be pretty nice for build diversity at your table
way ahead of you on that death ward effect build
motm orc/phb half-orc undead pact of the tome warlock 10/shadow sorcerer 1
orc gets relentless endurance where when you drop to 0, you drop to 1 instead
undead warlock at level 10 gets necrotic husk where you detonate, restore up to 1 hp and take a point of exhaustion
tome warlock can pick up gift of the protectors at level 9 which gives pseudo death ward to the whole party
undead warlock at 7 gets twice per short rest death ward so you can spam multiple of it throughout the day
shadow sorc gets strength of the grave where you get to make a charisma save when you are dropped to 0 (dc 5+dmg)
use strength of the grave first and if you dont make the save, use a death ward
you are dropped again to 0, strength of the grave can be rolled again and you can use relentless endurance instead
continue like this for multiple rounds and the enemies just cant kill you
Re: your disease question: I am currently playing an 8th level halfling rogue/warlock/bard (she’s a little…flighty) and she’s super cute! It’s in her name, Kel Cherie! Anyway, my DM has given her a horribly scarring, flesh-eating disease of his own devising. If she can’t find _______, she starts losing Charisma points! Yikes! We can’t even find anyone with a Greater Restoration spell!
Our homebrew-setting campaign ran a session last week where my fighter contracted a disease from an enemy, which caused a potent and aggressive sort of burning rash.
He took d4 damage per round. Forever. No repeat on the save until cured.
Good thing the cleric had saved some slots.
So, after playing whole campaign as an Oath of the Ancients paladin and didn't use it's Nature's Wrath channel divinity even once, I had this idea to tweak a bit, not to make it necessarily overpowered but more useful in certain niche situations and possibly against certain creatures.
The idea in it's simplicity is if the vines you summon are not just spectral but ethereal instead, them being something eldritch or 'ancient', to capable of restraining creatures that would otherwise be immune being restrained.
I don’t know if you’ve heard about CMCC’s Builds, but they’re doing an optimization gauntlet series. Treantmonk ran it. Seems like the kind of thing that’d be right up your ally.
The sign off isn't as snappy as Jerry Springer's, but it's so heartfelt and lovely! They may not realise it yet, but one day your kids will realise how lucky they've been, just like your D&D kids do!
I'm only a little bit into this video, but you've already mentioned several times that you would build the character differently if you weren't trying to max out the numbers for how much damage you could take. Have you thought about creating a new spreadsheet for a character type that tracks how much damage you'd prevent OTHERS from taking? That would give you a scoring system for tanks and healers (my personal favorite type of character) that would allow you to maximize the build for those roles!
I would definitely want to do the hexblade warlock level over sorcerer and bump charisma a few times where you chose hit points but i love this character design
Randall outdid himself this week with that art.
Funny that i find this vid while im preparing to play an Ancients paladin in CoS. Granted, im playing an eladrin and probably wont multiclass. My plan is to be painfully optimistic in Barovia's gloom and use Fey Step to get my allies out of trouble before stepping into it myself.
Small tank! 😍
Playing Tanks is super rewarding!
However, I don't realy like playing paladins!
But I love the Idea of a small type character as the tank of a party, even before the "Rune knight" arrived!
I been wanting to play a Gnome with Barbarian multiclassed with a Rune knight! "Tashas" has the "Unarmed fighting style"!
But then... "Motm" came with the possibility for a character choosing as a "Small" creature type for the Tabaxi, so I got realy excited to play Tabaxi's slashing "Claws" with the "Slasher" feat and "Tavern brawler" feat as a "Rune Knight" "Grapple Kitty" aka "Kitty love Hugs"(WWE type Wrestler)!
So now I think my next character will be a Tabaxi, Gladiator!
Our group usually starts at level 3 with Point buy!
Starting with 1level fighter(for the Unarmed fighting style) then go 5levels Barbarian (for Fast Movment) Ancestral Guardians, then take Fighter Rune Knight the rest of the way and/or add rogue levels to get some expertices in Athletics and more(or just add "Skill Expert" for Athletics expertice)!
Feats that I will take is when I level up: 1"Tavern brawler", 2"Slasher", 3"Mobile" then PYF! (maybe add "Crusher" in addition to "Slasher")
Magic Resistance might become a problem later, but I would still get my "hugs" in!
I will welcome any suggestions to improve the Tanking and also any thoughts on this build!
Full agree with the note about the 8-hour duration spells. Baldur's Gate 3 has changed some spell durations and by far the best change is Mage Armor lasting until the long rest. You just pop it and never think about it again.
With your mention of making of build that can get all of the abilities to drop to one hit point instead of dying, I think you should make a bill that uses all the features you use for the soft taunt
When I saw you were doing a ranged tank, a few weeks back, I was certain you were going Kender. Glad to see you finally broke out one now.
Worst disease at my table was when my Kobold Druid got a custom version of Mummy Rot, and was subsequently raised as a zombie. He ended himself with Sunbeam and reincarnated himself with a backup spell in his staff
Ha!
Somebody better make sure Colby isn’t sick! He just put up a build that only did a one level dip! Can we verify he’s not being put under duress?!
Ps. Love the concept and the build! ❤
Marrashi fever, from the taklif arrows of the Marrashi. Which, if you fail the initial save inflicts 1 level of exhaustion pr hour until you die. If you do, then you cant be raised without a wish and after 1d6 days you rise as a Marrashi
Yikes!
Here’s hoping for a new PF2 build next week!
Playing this character in an actual Dragonlance campaign would kick it up a notch: take level one bonus feat Tough and either Sentinel or War Caster as your 4th level freebie!
I’ve been trying to make a samurai/hexblade that utilizes the elven accuracy feat, along with fighting spirit and darkness/devil sight. I’m trying to make this work so I don’t hinder my party as often with darkness. I’d love to see you tackle the logistics of this build even though I believe this build idea may just be worse than your Pamlock build.
If you ever get to play up to a level 20+ toon I'd suggest my Paladin/Monk build I call him/her the "Untouchable" 6 Paladin to your taste and 14 Monk to your taste. Level's 1-6 Paladin so you can dump Str. Then 7-20 Monk. Your saves make you untouchable with spells and if you build it right you can have an ok AC but that's not what monks are for anyway.
Colby's first job was as a yoga instructor teaching mindfulness and poise. Every episode starts like he's trying to clear the room of bad energy and welcome us into a sacred space for DnD.
Namaste.
Namaste.
I'm hoping for a taunt mechanic feat in the 2024 books. Until then, I think I'm going to homebrew an option.
What kind of mechanic were you thinking?
@@Venjax420 honestly something just like the kender ability. The taunt or challenge feat would give the PC probably proficiency bonus uses, possibly even short rest recovery depending on how much it needs tuning up. I'd probably make it a bonus action and the save depending on if the user is taunting (wisodm) or challenging(charisma)
That's one thing I really liked about Pathfinder 1e. So many ways to taunt. There's the Taunt feat (small races only), Caustic Slur (ranger gnome only; insult favored enemy, that understands you, to become angered and target you with additional rage damage), the Antagonize feat (Intimidate or Persuasion to get them to fight you), the tiefling Suicidal trait (half feat Reaction ability that makes all creatures within 5 feet target only you), and spells like Knight's Calling, Compel Hostility, Paladin's Sacrifice, and Shield Other. There's also the Pin Down fighter-only feat that didn't do damage, but you made opportunity attacks to keep opponents from moving.
@richardboyd1790 I'm trying Guardian Armorer (for the second time) and was looking for more ideas for tanking. I'm gonna see if DM will consider a magical item that let's me cast some version of "compelled duel".
@KevinVideo when Colby was doing his Pathfinder builds I asked about him doing a tank build....quite a few comments said tanking sucks, but of course that's 2e, so maybe different.
Oath of Conquest is a good tank build, causing creatures within 30 ft to be Frightened if failing. Pairing that with the Kender or Leonin Taunt is pretty nasty
35:58 "paladin smite smells" ahahaha that killed me 🤣👏
Lol I'm a bit late here, but I'd love to see your take on the echo knight fighter/monk pairing. I went for a "ranged melee" build with elemental monk and man is it fun to be able to output up to 9 attacks in one turn from 45 feet away (with the eldritch claw tattoo and one of the dark gifts), but I bet you could optimize it even more...
I'd like to see how long a party of all paladins can survive in a certain death wave after wave scenario like call of duty zombies.
Watching while lunch, perfect time. Brazil here.
Brasileiros do mundo unirvos
Love your videos! When One D&D comes out you'll probably have to reset your tiers etc.
Have you considered doing 2 metrics per character? Like measure a character for both nova and sustained?
What about measuring for battlefield control as a comparison? Or utility?
Do this because it's both fun and hilarious. Give your paladins the goat of terror for their find steed mount
I love all your videos, and my friends are constantly using your builds. When do you think you could do a creation bard video? I want to use one in my next campaign. I will actually get to be a player #foreverDM
I would also love this.
But I’m in the meantime, you should check out Treantmonk’s “Disney Princess” Creation Bard build. It’s a beast.
On the to do list!
@@logancuster8035 I am Justintimez from that video
@@stephensahl7669 oh cool!