Breath technique? One sword style? Anime Attack? My attempt at a named attacker.
Howdy everyone!
I got on some really cool anime edits on TikTok, and it has inspired me to create a character that uses “Anime-style attacks” against their enemies. I’m specifically thinking swordsman, when they call out their attack and charge from a distance to deliver a super powerful, all in type of attack. Think Zoro vs. King or Zenitsu’s Thunderclap and Flash. While there are probably more optimal ways to go about this, this was the most fun concept I could think of, while still retaining great utility outside of combat. Here’s the build!
Race: Human for extra origin feat, but also could go High Elf. We really want Booming Blade or True Strike from MI: Wizard or racial bonus, and Sage background doesn’t give us the right ASIs
Background: Zhentarim Mercenary. Perfect for this build, as it lets us take our level 4 feat. Wayfarer is another decent option, although it won’t be as effective for the overall build.
Level split: 8 Swashbuckler / 4 Battle Master
Level 1-5: Swashbuckler Rogue. This subclass has the perfect features to capture the idea of the build. Cunning Actions, Rakish Audacity, first feat, and Cunning Strikes make this build very workable through level 5, although we don’t quite get the damage increase from our mega attack yet.
First feat, Zhentarim Tactics is the desired choice. This will let our rogue do Opportunity Attacks when we get hit by an attack, giving us a chance to do Sneak attack damage if conditions are met. This will happen more often for our Swashbuckler due to Rakish Audacity. If you went Wayfarer, you can pick your choice of Charger, Speedy, or Sentinel. On this build, I dropped Sentinel for Zhentarim Tactics.
At level 6, go 6-9 Battle Master Fighter. I like Dueling Fighting Style, but admittedly the 2 damage is lackluster on the one attack. Could be PYF. ACTION SURGE. Battle Master subclass, and we get another piece to our puzzle. First is Lunging Attack. This pairs well with Speedy, which we will take later on. NeXT maneuver we want is Riposte. We can now do an OA any time someone attacks us. This is a solid way to get another Sneak Attack in the round that isn’t on your turn. The final and best maneuver for us would be Brace. However, since it was not reintroduced in 2024, DnD Beyond won’t let me pick it as a maneuver, so I will not be using it. I chose Disarming Attack for the utility instead. I chose Charger at Level 9.
Level 10+ we finish in Rogue. More expertise, more sneak attack die, evasion, and now Reliable Talent. For this build, i decided to stop at Level 12, but hopefully there is enough context for my choices that you can decide where to go if leveling further.
At level 12, combat would look something like this:
Cunning Action Dash for 80ft of Movement speed. Attack from at least 10 ft in a straight line and damage (under ideal conditions) would go as follows: 1d8 (Rapier) + 1d8 (Lunging attack) + 1d8 (Charger) + 2d8 (Booming Blade) + 4d6 (Sneak Attack) - 1d6 (Cunning Strike: Trip) + 7 (Dex/Dueling) = 5d8 + 3d6 +7 damage on a hit. If the enemy fails their save on the Trip, they will be prone for your melee friends to get advantage on attacks, and standing up should cause the delayed damage from Booming blade to activate, meaning another 3d8 damage to the target. If you are getting OAs on your turn, you can also deal 1d8 + 4d6 + 7 damage on those, and you can roll damage twice thanks to the Background. All of that wrapped up is 9d8 + 7d6 + 14 damages per round. Again, this is making pretty big assumptions, but that can be some pretty high damage numbers for a melee rogue.
Overall, this is not really an optimal build. Sentinel and Brace would raise OA chances even higher, making the overall DPR more consistent. Additionally, you are still a 1 on 1 melee rogue. Sure, you have uncanny dodge, but your reaction will mostly be spent on attacks. This could really limit you to a skirmisher-type play style for survivability, which could mean you rarely trigger the OA requirements. I’ve also never brought this build to the table, just an idea I cooked up in my free time. However, in my head, this does create a very serviceable Rogue/Party face that can still pack quite a punch in combat.
Please let me know your thoughts, any questions, or any improvements you would make to better fit the goal of this build. Thanks!