Howdy! I'm feeling kind of emotional as I write this. The final installment of my Villainous Cookbook. I'm kind of afraid, truth to be told. Can I ever start writing these articles again? Will they ever be of such high quality? What if my well of creativity has run dry completely?
Well, while I'll search for these answers, it's time to do this. While I was working out this one, I've come to realize that it's... actually resembling a boss fight from a videogame I really enjoy, Crypt of the Necrodancer. In order to honor this game, I decided to name this villain after its boss, the Necrodancer. The series has gone full circle, beginning just the way it ended... with a necromancer.
Preface
- My goal is to make an interesting villain using the player options found in the official and homebrew rules of D&D 5th edition.
- The goal is not to make a villain who deals the highest amount of damage. This is not the right place for that discussion.
- I will leave some details out to let the DMs adjust the villain to their preferences. Ability scores are one of them.
- To emulate character development, I will only make character builds at levels 4, 10, 16, and 20. Players should be at best equal to the villain's tier, optimally at a lower tier.
- Limitations breed creativity. But I will bend the rules if it makes the villain more interesting.
- If it seems overpowered, it could be because of rulebending (see the point above), or because I'm mixing homebrews that were not balanced with each other in mind.
The Necrodancer
"My pulse is beating like a drum, but my blood is running cold. I came here with a question and I'm going to find the answer."
Ingredients List
- Magnis race (Travelers' Homebrew Original)
- Bard 15: College of Whispers (Xanathar's Guide to Everything)
- Cleric 1: Civilization Domain (CaelReader Homebrew)
- Sorcerer 1: Imperial Birthright (CaelReader Homebrew)
- Warlock 3: Perfect Chord (CoFS:A)
Race
Since I haven't had the time to write out lore for this race in order to publish it properly, I'll write out the racial traits as part of this article. Consider it a sneak-peek into one of my possible future projects. The concept for this race is that it's an Alfallen race one could become during their life, based on idolizing another person for a long time. You are now an echo of what you used to be. When it comes to the original race, you can choose to go with anything. My personal bias says elf because then this could be a possible elvish impersonator.
Magnis Traits
Each magnis is unique, but they generally share these traits.
Ability Score Increase. Choose either Dexterity or Charisma. That ability score increases by two, while the other score increases by one.
Age. Magnis can live as long as others of their origin race.
Size. Your size is determined by your origin race.
Speed. Your speed is determined by your origin race.
Languages. Magnis are fluent in Common and in the language of their racial origin.
Booming Voice. You have a great amount of control over your voice. You can choose to make your voice up to three times as loud as normal requiring no action. Additionally, you can use your action or bonus action to throw your voice, making it seem like it originates from a point of your choice within 30 feet of you that you can see.
Thunder Adapted. You are immune to the deafened condition, and you gain resistance to thunder damage. If you would also gain this resistance from a class feature, your inner power awakens, granting you the ability to cast the thunderclap cantrip. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this cantrip.
Yestermuse. You can use your bonus action to create an illusion of yourself. This illusion moves and produces the same sounds as you did last turn. Doing this will also recreate all of the illusions of yourself you've created using this feature in your previous turn.
Tier 1
First, we need to make them loud and annoying fast. We begin by investing three levels into warlock, and one level into the cleric. The warlock might seem fitting, considering it's a perfect chord, the most musically-themed warlock I know of, but you might wonder why do we need the civilization cleric. Let me resolve that first.
Bonus Proficiencies
(1st-level Civilization Domain feature)
At 1st level, you gain proficiency with martial weapons, as well as two tools of your choice. You also gain proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: History, Investigation, or Persuasion.
Divine Consul
(1st-level Civilization Domain feature)
Starting at 1st level, you are able to sense the presence of civilization itself. By spending 1 minute in meditation, you can discern the direction, distance, and name of the nearest settlement within 100 miles. You also learn the name and title of the ruler of that settlement, as well as the name and title of their liege, if they have one. Additionally, you learn the majority race and culture, as well as the general size and description of the settlement, such as "port city" or "farming town".
Now, martial weapons are just a neat thing to have, and the tool proficiencies could be used for literally anything that's not a musical instrument. Extra skill is a nice thing that we could use, but the most important part is Divine Consul. If our Necrodancer ever gets lost in the wilderness, they can focus for one minute to find where the biggest nearby cities are. That means audience, and audience means potential undead servants.
Now then, from the warlock we'll want multiple things, so let's have a look at those. We're assuming Pact of the Tome here, by the way, but I won't talk much about spell choices in this article since I believe you guys can figure them out yourselves. For now, what we need a lot is thaumaturgy.
Seeker of the Sound
(1st-level Perfect Chord feature)
At 1st level, your heartbeat is tuned to the Perfect Chord. You gain proficiency in the Performance skill and with all musical instruments. You can use a musical instrument as a spellcasting focus for your warlock spells, and can play it in place of using a verbal spellcasting component.
When you cast a spell that has only a verbal and somatic component, you can choose to cast it as though it only had a verbal component.
When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher that only has a verbal component, including those modified by this feature, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier that last for one minute.
Composition of the Masters
Prerequisites: Perfect Chord patron, Pact of the Tome feature
You can ignore the effects of the silence spell and of magical effects that would produce a similar area of magical silence, enabling you to speak and cast spells normally. You also become immune to the deafened condition.
Barred Mind
Whenever you make a Wisdom saving throw and succeed, your mind locks shut. If the same creature or effect forces you to make another Wisdom saving throw before the end of your next turn, that saving throw is made with advantage.
So what does this mean? We have an outspoken musician who can sing really loudly and play any instrument too. I think we could have them sing and play instruments instead of just playing an instrument, but whatever floats your boats. Onto the next Tier!
Tier 2
Six levels of bard. I mean, we did want them to be a necromancer too, right? May as well start getting to that. Now you might be thinking "what, are we gonna add animate dead to the bardic spell list? Of course not, silly! Bards get magical secrets. At... level 10. Well, be patient. We'll get there when the time is right. In the meantime, check out this neat feature!
Mantle of Whispers
(6th-level College of Whispers feature)
At 6th level, you gain the ability to adopt a humanoid's persona. When a humanoid dies within 30 feet of you, you can magically capture its shadow using your reaction. You retain this shadow until you use it or you finish a long rest.
You can use the shadow as an action. When you do so, it vanishes, magically transforming into a disguise that appears on you. You now look like the dead person, but healthy and alive. This disguise lasts for 1 hour or until you end it as a bonus action.
While you're in the disguise, you gain access to all information that the humanoid would freely share with a casual acquaintance. Such information includes general details on its background and personal life, but doesn't include secrets. The information is enough that you can pass yourself off as the person by drawing on its memories.
Another creature can see through this disguise by succeeding on a Wisdom (Insight) check contested by your Charisma (Deception) check. You gain a +5 bonus to your check.
Once you capture a shadow with this feature, you can't capture another one with it until you finish a short or long rest..
With this, our Necrodancer will be capable of impersonating people they get rid of, which is just absolutely lovely to have for infiltrating big cities and collecting bodies secretly. Let's get to Tier 3 right away!
Tier 3
Five levels of bard will get us the animate dead that we've wanted for so long. I'm pretty sure you've by now noticed what's been going on here. We get them expertise with Performance, which you should have picked up by now, they get proficiency in all musical instruments, they can make themselves three times as loud using thaumaturgy, and three times more thanks to Booming Voice from the Magnis race. We're making someone who's annoyingly loud. Who can always find themselves a place to perform. And who keeps gathering bodies while pretending to be this extraordinarily charming redheaded musician. Or was the hair brown? Who can tell.
Anyways, with that out of the way, let's add some juice to this with one level of sorcerer for this cool ability.
Commanding Voice
(1st-level Imperial Birthright feature)
Your bloodline has granted you a voice fit for a ruler, one that makes your enemies tremble and puts fire into the hearts of your allies. At 1st level, you gain proficiency in your choice of Intimidation, Performance, or Persuasion.
Additionally you learn the command spell, which counts as a sorcerer spell for you, and does not count against your number of spells known. You can cast command without expending a spell slot. Once you cast the spell in this way, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest, though you can still cast it normally using an available spell slot.
Also, whenever you cast a spell of 1st level or higher that has verbal components, you can grant temporary hitpoints equal to your Charisma modifier to a friendly creature within 30 feet of you, which last for 1 minute.
... what's that? Feats? Look, you can put there whatever you want, okay? Yes, I am taking this seriously, stop asking me silly questions and let me get to Tier 4 without looking like I'm rushing to some imaginary punchline.
Tier 4
Four levels of bard. Yep, it's that simple.Shadow Lore
(17th-level Soulknife feature)
At 14th level, you gain the ability to weave dark magic into your words and tap into a creature's deepest fears.
As an action, you magically whisper a phrase that only one creature of your choice within 30 feet of you can hear. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. It automatically succeeds if it doesn't share a language with you or if it can't hear you. On a successful saving throw, your whisper sounds like unintelligible mumbling and has no effect.
On a failed saving throw, the target is charmed by you for the next 8 hours or until you or your allies attack it, damage it, or force it to make a saving throw. It interprets the whispers as a description of its most mortifying secret. You gain no knowledge of this secret, but the target is convinced you know it.
The charmed creature obeys your commands for fear that you will reveal its secret. It won't risk its life for you or fight for you, unless it was already inclined to do so. It grants you favors and gifts it would offer to a close friend.
When the effect ends, the creature has no understanding of why it held you in such fear.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Oh wow, would you look at that! Now the bard can, uh... go into a city. And manipulate a person. To get them to lead people to the bard so that he could kill them secretly to convert them for his necromantic army or something.
Sigh.
Alright, no way to evade it anymore. It's time for... the Truth.
wasn't expecting that from tom scott but that was an onosecond alright
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