Horror Month 2021 has finally come! Get your dice and get ready to roll, because it's time to get spoopy! As is fitting with our tradition at this point, we're going to make a character build based off of a fictional character and work them all the way up to Level 20! This month, we've got some horror builds! Let's see what we can make of it starting with...
. . .The Creature from the Black Lagoon! (Yeah, I know the picture is up top. It's being theatrical!)
Yep, starting off with a classic courtesy of my friend TwitchHollywood. This one's for you, buddy!
The Creature from the Black Lagoon, otherwise known as 'the Creature' or 'Gill-Man', is the titular creature from the movie The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and it's sequels, Revenge of the Creature (1955) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956). Although it's a pretty late entry to the genre compared to other titans like Dracula or Frankenstein, the Gill-Man is considered to be one of the Classic Universal Monsters.
So, today, we're going to roll us up a Creature from the Black Lagoon! But what is it that makes a Creature?
We will need:
- Amphibious. The Creature seems pretty able to live on water just as easily as it does land. Being amphibious is not actually gonna be that difficult to pull off.
- Durability. Gill-Man is a beefy boi and it shows in the films. He's got an accelerated healing factor, and he's survived being shot in ways that would easily kill a human as well as immolation!
- Superhuman strength. You don't really see it until the second and third films, but the Gill-Man definitely does not skip arm day.
Alright, let's see if we can hit all three of those criteria! As usually, we're going to use the stat spread from the Player's Handbook. Roll for stats if you want, just make sure that your Strength and Constitution are high!
Constitution: 15
As I stated above, the Gill-Man is a beefy boi. He tanks hits like nobody's business. It seems the only thing that can put this guy down for any length of time is pesticides. It's also notable in that the Creature is never actually killed in any of the three original films that it appears in.
Strength: 14
The only feat of the Creature as impressive as its durability is its strength.
Dexterity: 13
While the Creature isn't clumsy or uncoordinated per se (any more than the stuntmen in the 50's were in giant rubber suits - see also Godzilla), it isn't exactly performing any aerial acrobatics. Still, the Gill-Man is pretty spry.
Wisdom: 12
The Creature isn't dumb, but it also isn't particular observant. . .not that you need to be when you're able to tank hits from anything above, on, or under the waves of God's green Earth.
Intelligence: 10
The Creature does actually display some intelligence, particular in the third film when it begins displaying more human-like traits.
Charisma: 8
We're dumping Charisma. Despite the longevity of the Gill-Man in popular culture, he is not pretty to look at.
For race, well, this one was actually a hard call. In order to make the amphibious requirement, I originally wanted to knock it out early on through the race. So the first instinct was a Water Genasi. However, no Genasi really meets the description of 'creature'. Next thoughts came down to two different creatures - a Tortle and a Lizardfolk.
Needless to say, I went with the more terrifying one.
So, as a Tortle...I'm kidding, I went with Lizardfolk. As a Lizardfolk, you increase your Constitution score by 2 and your Wisdom by 1.
You get a Bite attack where you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier on a successful hit. No, it's not exactly the webbed claws of the creature, but we'll get there.
You also gain Cunning Artisan, where you can harvest the bones of a fallen creature that is Small size or larger to creature a shield, club, javelin, or 1d4 darts. Of course, you'll also need the appropriate artisan's tools for what you're making as well or at the very least a sword or dagger. Not that this will come up, but you never know.
Hold Breath allows a Lizardfolk to hold their breath up to 15 minutes at a time. Yes, I know it's not full amphibiousness, but we'll get there. Promise.
Hunter's Lore gives you proficiency in two skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival. Go ahead and pick up Stealth and Perception.
Natural Armor means that your AC is going to be 10 + your Dexterity modifier unless you're wearing armor that has a higher rating.
Hungry Jaws sees your lizardfolk able to make a special attack that, if it hits, grants you a number of temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier once per long or short rest.
For background we're going with Outlander, as it is the closest build possible. Pick up Athletics and Survival as your two free skills and a Language of your choice. You can also pick up a musical instrument but like...why?
Our first level as the Gill-Man is going to get us Barbarian (1). It doesn't seem like too much at the start, only giving Rage and Unarmored Defense, but 15 hit points (if you're following this build exactly) and an AC of 14 (again, if you're following this build exactly) at first level is pretty good. And, believe you me, it's going to get better!
You also get two skills, we're going to go with Intimidation (even though your Charisma is bad) and Nature.
Second level Gill-Man gives us Barbarian (2) once again! Pick up Reckless Attack and Danger Sense. The Gill-Man is nothing if not a bit reckless in combat given that he has the beef to afford more than a few hits and he knows well enough to get out of the way when the heat gets too hot even for him.
Third level Gill-Man brings us Barbarian (3). In addition to an extra rage, you pick a Primal Path. For this build, I've chosen Path of the Beast from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, for indeed the Creature is a Beast in almost every sense of the word. Starting on the Path of the Beast gets you Form of the Beast. When you rage, the Creature can manifest a Bite, Claws, or Tail attack that count as simple melee weapons, but cannot be changed between rages. Obviously, to fit the theme, you'll most often use Claws for slashing damage. Check out Tasha's for more particulars on each type of attack.
Fourth level Gill-Man goes Barbarian (4) and gives us our first Ability Score Improvement or Feat. As Barbarians do have proficiency with Martial weapons, we're going to take the Fighting Initiate feat from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything and choose the Unarmed fighting style from the Fighter Class. Instead of a measly 1d4, your unarmed strikes will deal 1d6 + your Strength modifier. If you aren't wielding a shield or any weapons when you make the roll, that d6 becomes a d8. You can also deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage to one creature grappled by you at the start of each of your turns.
Between the Form of the Beast and this, you now have all the basic damage types covered in one form or another. Well done! Plus, your attacks now will be almost as deadly as when you are raging!
Fifth level will see us stick around in Barbarian (5). We get our Extra Attack (does exactly what it says on the tin) and Fast Movement, bumping up your speed when you aren't wearing Heavy Armor. Since the Creature doesn't wear armor, that's pretty good!
Sixth level Barbarian (6) gives us the Bestial Soul, which makes your Form of the Beast attacks magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunity to non-magical damage. This also lets you alter your form to better adapt to your surroundings. These include a swimming speed equal to your walking speed as well as breathing underwater, a climbing speed and the ability to basically become Spider-Man with it (which is a different build altogether), and jumping with the ability to extend your jump by a number of feet equal to a Strength check.
Obviously, you're going with the jump ability. This is a Mario build, right?
This is basically where we could end the build if not for one minor problem - ya boi isn't quite beefy enough! So let's keep going!
Seventh level Barbarian (7) gives the power of Feral Instinct. Gill-Man now gets advantage on all Initiative rolls! In addition, if he's ever surprised in combat and isn't incapacitated, he can act normally on his first turn, but only if he enters his rage immediately before doing anything else.
Eighth level Barbarian (8) grants another Ability Score Improvement or Feat. This time, we'll take the Tough feat, which gives you an increase to your Hit Point Maximum of twice your level when you pick it up. After that, whenever you gain a level, you get 2 additional points for every level you get thereafter. Beefier beefy boi!
Ninth level Barbarian (9) gives us the first Brutal Critical die, giving you an additional damage die when determining the extra damage when making a critical hit against a target. You will get two dice at 13th level and then three dice at 17th, just in case I don't mention them later.
Tenth level Path of the Beast Barbarian (10) gets Infectious Fury. When the Creature hits a creature with its natural weapons, they must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC is 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus) or they must use their reaction to attack a creature in melee range of your choice that they can see or target 2d12 psychic damage.
You can use this ability a number of times equal to proficiency bonus and you regain the uses upon a long rest.
Eleventh level Barbarian (11) gets Relentless Rage. If you drop to 0 hit points while raging and don't outright die, you can make a Constitution saving throw to drop to 1 HP instead. It starts at DC 10 and it increases by 5 every time you do it until you take a short or long rest, upon which time it returns to DC 10.
Twelfth level Barbarian (12) gets another Ability Score Improvement or feat! We're pumping our Ability Score points into Strength and Constitution.
Thirteenth level Barbarian (13) gets your second Brutal Critical die. That's about it, really.
Fourteenth level Barbarian (14) gets you Call of the Hunt from the Path of the Beast. When the Creature enters rage, he can select a number of creatures equal to his Constitution modifier (min. 1) within 30 feet of him who aren't hostile. Every creature who accepts this feature grants the Creature 5 temporary hit points. Until the rage ends, the chosen creatures gain a benefit: when they hit a target with an attack roll and deal damage to it, they can roll a d6 and add it to the damage roll.
Like with Infectious Fury, this has a number of uses equal to the Creature's proficiency bonus, and come back after a long rest. Sure, the Creature isn't a team player like this so much, but it's a handy benefit to have.
Fifteenth level Barbarian (15) gets us Persistent Rage. The Barbarian's rage is so intense that it can only end early if he falls unconscious or elects to end it voluntarily. Basically giving new meaning to the Hulk's "I'm always angry".
. . .it's the wrong build, but still.
Sixthteenth level Barbarian (16) gets us another Ability Score Improvement. Again, Strength and Constitution are gonna be the way to go to keep your enemies down and you up.
Seventeenth level Barbarian (17) gets us our third Brutal Critical die.
Eighteenth level Barbarian (18) gets Indomitable Might. When your total for a Strength check is less than your Strength score, you can use your score in place of the total. Handy when you're flipping military vehicles like pancakes!
Nineteenth level Barbarian (19) gets use another Ability Score Improvement or Feat. I think you know what to do here.
The capstone of this build is the twentieth level of Barbarian (20), giving us Primal Champion. The Creature has indeed become empowered by the wilds. His Strength and Constitution scores are increased by 4 and the maximum for both those scores is 24. Which is handy, because your Strength and Constitution will be at 21 and 24, respectively.
With this all told, let's look at the pros and cons of this build.
Pros:
- I wasn't able to work regeneration into this, but you don't need it. You are BEEFY. Between the Tough feat and a d12 with an average of 7 (9 with said feat), you're at just shy of 200 hit points and that's before adding your Constitution modifier, well into the 230's after doing that and around 300 if you roll a 12 on a d12 every time. You won't have a hard time staying up in a fight.
- Even when you do get knocked down, as Chumbawumba once said, you're going to get back up again. With your Relentless Rage, you can stay in the fight for quite a while and, with your beefed up Constitution, they're never gonna keep you down.
- You do a lot of damage. At max level, with just your basic attack, you're dealing 1d8 + 5 damage with a single strike. You get two a round and they count as magical. Add in your rage, and you're dealing an extra +4 damage. Then add in your three Brutal Criticals and you're effectively dealing 3d8 + 9 damage. You also have a healthy variety of damage you can do. In addition to your attacks in rage being magical, you cover all the basic attacks (piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning) as well as psychic damage - the last of which very few things have a resistance against to begin with. Basically, you eat everything for breakfast, and it's time to go grocery shopping!
Cons:
- Doing damage and tanking hits is...really all that you do. You are a blunt instrument to be used to mow down your opponents. If you aren't playing a combat heavy campaign, you aren't going to get as much mileage out of this build as others.
- A lot of your abilities are tied to your rage. If you aren't raging, they're useless.
- You aren't going to be winning any beauty contests with a dumped Charisma. Spells that do call for that as a saving throw such as banishment aren't going to be your friend.
But hey, you're the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Scare the puny humans of the surface, steal their women, and be the only one of the Classic Universal Monsters to reign as undefeated through not one, but three movies. Just make sure you have friends who have a plan for when your luck runs out. Otherwise, you might get banished to a Hell that has nothing to do with development...
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