Champion Gundyr
Starting Ability Scores
Using the premade stat block from the PHB as a guide, stats flow as follows:
STR 16 (+3) | INT 8 (-1)
DEX 13 (+1) | WIS 10 (+0)
CON 15 (+2) | CHA 12 (+1)
Race: Variant Human
Allot the stats from the race into Strength and Constitution for maximum output to input balance. For skills, pick up History proficiency because a fledgling Chosen One should know the whole story and drill. For the Feat from the racial bonus go for...
Polearm Master
You can keep your enemies at bay with reach weapons. You gain the following benefits:
• When you take the Attack action and attack with only a glaive, halberd, or quarterstaff, you can use a bonus action to make a melee attack with the opposite end of the weapon. The weapon’s damage die for this attack is a d4, and the attack deals bludgeoning damage.
• While you are wielding a glaive, halberd, pike, or quarterstaff, other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they enter your reach.
Background
Gundyr was a lonely wanderer out in a malicious world looking to set things right and that really just says one thing to me. Folk Hero. The quests to restore the First Flame are really classic renditions of the Heroes Tale in a lot of ways, this one just twists off a cliff in the last act.
Folk Hero
Proficiencies in Survival and Animal Handling don't really jive the build for established lore but your Gundyr can be a masterful tracker and have a tame boar friend, live a better life. We also get a set of Artisans Tools to be great with, pick whatever you like but I suggest Smith's Tools to craft your own bodybuilder themed armor, and we get to be a good driver with Land Vehicle proficiencies. Lastly, the people LOVE them some Gundyr, and they'll shelter and feed him as long as it's not actively dangerous to them; he's a hometown hero and that goes a long way. The background gives us a good chunk of equipment but I'm not detailing the non-essential equips here, so peruse at your leisure and have fun with it.
Class and Equipment
This build is 100% homegrown fighter and we're going to, you guessed it, hit people with a halberd. Glaives also fine here, they both get everything from the feat and work thematically, but halberd's a more fun word to write, so I'm going with that.
| Item | Damage | Type | Weight | Properties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halberd | 1d10 | Slashing | 6lbs | Heavy, Reach, Two-Handed |
You're also going to want the heaviest armor you can get and that means stepping into the fog door in Chain Mail, until you can cast some iron in the visage of a dead king and his absolutely shredded abs.
| Item | AC | Req. | Stealth | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chainmail | 16 | STR 13 | Disadvantage | 55lbs |
And lastly you get two skills off the fighter list and we're gonna keep it simple and effective. Athletic and Acrobatics will serve our jump attacks and bull rushes well.
Level 1
Since Fighter is going to give us everything we need for this build, so you're going out of the gate with 12 HP and a fighting style. We're here to hit folks and be angry about it so let's just be Great at that, with Great Weapon Fighting. And while we're at it, we can learn how to take a breather nice and early so we can hit that Estus like a champ, which is to say once.
Great Weapon Fighting
When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.
Second Wind
You have a limited well of stamina that you can draw on to protect yourself from harm. On your turn, you can use a bonus action to regain hit points equal to 1d 10 + your fighter level.
Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.
Level 2
This level brings us the Fighter's mainstay ability, aside from just whacking things, and that's the ability to whack things faster than normal every once in a while.
Action Surge
Starting at 2nd level, you can push yourself beyond your normal limits for a moment. On your turn, you can take one additional action on top o f your regular action and a possible bonus action.
Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again. Starting at 17th level, you can use it twice before a rest, but only once on the same turn.
Level 3
Here's where things get real, folks. Subclasses kick in for Fighters at this level and Gundyr is a very large man that trained for a long time to do a tough job that he utterly failed at. Technically the running theory is that he's some kind of giant or partial giant, and to me that comes down to one subclass in particular.
Martial Archetype: Rune Knight
Bonus Profencies
You gain proficiency with smith’s tools, and you learn to speak, read, and write Giant
Rune Magic
You learn how to use runes to enhance your gear. When you gain this feature, you learn how to inscribe two runes of your choice on weapons, armor, or shields (see “Rune Options”). Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch a number of objects equal to the number of runes you know, and you inscribe a different rune onto each of the objects. To be eligible, an object must be a weapon, a suit of armor, or a shield. Your rune remains on an object until you finish a long rest, and an object can bear only one of your runes.
Each time you gain a level in this class, you can replace one rune you know with a different one.
Haug (Hill Rune)
This rune’s magic bestows a resilience reminiscent of a hill giant. While wearing or carrying an object inscribed with this rune, you have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, and you have resistance against poison damage.
In addition, you can invoke the rune as a bonus action, gaining resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage for 1 minute. Once you invoke the rune, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Ise (Frost Rune)
This rune’s magic evokes a frost giant’s stoic calm. While wearing or carrying an object inscribed with this rune, you have advantage on Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks and Charisma (Intimidation) checks.
In addition, you can invoke the rune as a bonus action to increase your Strength score by 2 for 10 minutes. This increase can cause your score to exceed 20, but not 30. Once you invoke the rune, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Giant Might
You can imbue yourself with the might of giants. As a bonus action, you magically gain the following benefits, which last for 1 minute:
• If you are smaller than Large, you become Large, along with anything you are wearing. If you lack the room to become Large, your size doesn’t change.
• You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
• Your weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 damage.
You can use this feature twice, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.
Level 4
Fighters are a group based around the idea of constant self improvement. No magic, no tricks, just a weapon and skill. To reflect this, they get so many Ability Score Improvements that they're capable of maxing all six Ability Scores out with particularly lucky rolls during character creation and still having slots left over for feats. Speaking on feats, we're gonna get another one right here to reflect Gundyr's beloved "tackle you into another timezone" tactic.
Feat: Charger
When you use your action to Dash, you can use a bonus action to make one melee weapon attack or to shove a creature.
If you move at least 10 feet in a straight line immediately before taking this bonus action, you either gain a +5 bonus to the attack’s damage roll (if you chose to make a melee attack and hit) or push the target up to 10 feet away from you (if you chose to shove and you succeed).
Level 5
Remember way back at level 2 when we learned how to Action Surge so we could get more attacks? How'd you like to compound that? That's what I thought.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
The number of attacks increases to three when you reach 11th level in this class and to four when you reach 20th level in this class.
Level 6
Ability score time again, and for now that means feats. I know most people only have two but Gundyr isn't most people; he was chosen to be an Heir to the Embers of the First Flame and then flubbed it so utterly that his firekeeper died and some jerk stole her eyeballs. But you know what helps make NOT that happen?
Feat: Great Weapon Master
You’ve learned to put the weight of a weapon to your advantage, letting its momentum empower your strikes. You gain the following benefits:
• On your turn, when you score a critical hit with a melee weapon or reduce a creature to 0 hit points with one, you can make one melee weapon attack as a bonus action.
• Before you make a melee attack with a heavy weapon that you are proficient with, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll.
Level 7
Time to do more tricks with Giant Magic so bust out the crayons to make your stuff cooler.
Defensive Runes
You learn to invoke your rune magic to protect your allies. When another creature you can see within 60 feet of you is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to grant a bonus to the creature’s AC against that attack. The bonus equals 1 + your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +2).
In addition, you learn one new rune of your choice from the Rune Magic feature (for a total of three).
Ild (Fire Rune)
This rune’s magic channels the masterful craftsmanship of fire giant smiths. While wearing or carrying an object inscribed with this rune, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses your proficiency with a tool.
In addition, when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can invoke the rune to summon fiery shackles: the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be restrained for 1 minute. While restrained by the shackles, the target takes 2d6 fire damage at the start of each of its turns. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, banishing the shackles on a success. Once you invoke the rune, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Level 8
Gundyr Strong. Gundyr Hit hard. Gundyr dedicate this level to improving those aspects of his personality in meaningful ways now that goals relating to feats have been met.
Ability Score Improvement
Add 2 to your Strength Score for a sum total of 18 and a modifier of +4, making your attacks more accurate and more capable of just decimating someone trying to do your job better than you.
Level 9
All that gym time and relentlessly whomping random travelers that may or may not be after the eyeballs of a woman he failed has made Gundyr really good at recovering from losses and outright preventing some before they happen, and in Fighter terms that makes him...
Indomitable
Beginning at 9th level, you can reroll a saving throw that you fail. If you do so, you must use the new roll, and you can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
You can use this feature twice between long rests starting at 13th level and three times between long rests starting at 17th level.
Level 10
So it's time to address that I didn't make Gundyr a Goliath. They're technically not Giants even though they're just so tall, and we don't actually know if Gundyr himself is some kin of Giants or just Dark Souls Shaq, so I figured that the best bet here was to go for something that replicated his feel in a meaningful way and still kept things kinda nebulous. That said, we're gonna get Tall.
Great Stature
The magic of your runes permanently alters you. When you gain this feature, roll 3d4. You grow a number of inches in height equal to the roll. Moreover, the extra damage you deal with your Giant Might feature increases to 1d8.
In addition, you learn one new rune of your choice from your Rune Magic feature (for a total of four).
Uvar (Storm Rune)
Using this rune, you can glimpse the future like a storm giant. While wearing or carrying an object inscribed with this rune, you have advantage on Intelligence (Arcana) checks, and you can’t be surprised as long as you are not incapacitated.
In addition, you can invoke the rune as a bonus action to enter a prophetic state for 1 minute or until you’re incapacitated. Until the state ends, when you or another creature you can see within 60 feet of you makes an attack roll, a saving throw, or an ability check, you can use your reaction to cause the roll to have advantage or disadvantage. Once you invoke the rune, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Level 11
More attacks, stacks of attacks, racks of stacks of attacks!
Extra Attack
You can attack thrice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
The number of attacks increases to four when you reach 20th level in this class.
Level 12
Time to cap that Strength score so we can realistically just rip a canary melon in half barehanded like the Heir we were meant to be but then weren't.
Ability Score Improvement
Add 2 to your Strength Score for a sum total of 20 and a modifier of +5 making your weapon attacks at this level 1d20+5+4 from your Proficiency Modifier, for an average of 19 on your attack roll and 11 on your damage without any buffs. Gundyr strong.
Level 13
When you fall off that bonfire that's probably a good thing don't sit in the fire kids, but sometimes you just gotta get back up and try again.
Indomitable
You can reroll a saving throw that you fail. If you do so, you must use the new roll, and you can now use this feature twice between long rests.
Level 14
Gundyr has come to the realization that REAL strength comes from within ones self, and not from pumping mad iron until the sun goes out. Which is to say odd numbers aren't great.
Ability Score Improvement
Add one to your Dexterity Score for a total of 14 and a modifier of +2, and one to your Constitution Score for a sum total of 16 and a modifier of +3.
Level 15
All that time practicing Giant Arts and Crafts is paying off in dividends so well we can afford more uses more often. As a treat!
Rune Magic Mastery
You can invoke each rune you know from your Rune Magic feature twice, rather than once, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.
In addition, you learn one new rune of your choice from the Rune Magic feature (for a total of five).
Skye (Cloud Rune)
This rune’s magic emulates the deceptiveness of a cloud giant. While wearing or carrying an object inscribed with this rune, you have advantage on Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks and Charisma (Deception) checks.
In addition, when you or a creature you can see within 30 feet of you is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to invoke the rune and cause that attack to target a different creature within 30 feet of you (other than the attacker), using the same roll. This magic can transfer the attack regardless of the attack’s range. Once you invoke the rune, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Level 16
Remember fighting Gundyr and realizing the armor had abs? Imagine how absolutely cut you'd have to be to have armor with abs. We're gonna get there, kids.
Ability Score Improvement
Add 2 to your Constitution Score for a sum total of 18 and a modifier of +4.
Level 17
Gundyr found religion, and I don't mean we're taking Cleric levels, but we're studying with Pontiff Sulyvan in the fine old arts of Hitting People Quickly and Getting Back Up. This means upping our skill on some previous abilities we've seen here and the good father's got our backs on this one.
Action Surge
You can push yourself beyond your normal limits for a moment. On your turn, you can take one additional action on top of your regular action and a possible bonus action.
You can use this twice between rests but only once per turn.
Indomitable
You can reroll a saving throw that you fail. If you do so, you must use the new roll, and you can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
You can use this three times between long rests.
Level 18
We're so good at Giant Magic we can share it around cause the real Magic is the friends we made along the way. Seriously buddy up to a wizard cause you're gonna have a hard time with anything that's not weak to getting crushed beneath the weight of your failures and halberd.
Blessing of the Allfather
You learn how to share your rune magic with your allies. When you use your Giant Might feature, you can choose one willing creature you can see within 60 feet of you. The chosen creature also gains the benefits of your Giant Might feature.
Level 19
Here we go, my friends, the last one for the build and the seventh overall, lets get there.
Ability Score Improvement
Add 2 to your Constitution Score for a sum total of 20 and a modifier of +5, also please recall that every buff to your Con Mod is retroactive so at this level that's +19 HP just from the score improvement.
Level 20
There it is. The pinnacle of fighting form. The finale of warfare on a one-to-one basis. The ultimate in weapons mastery...
Extra Attack
You can attack four times, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Summation
That's the build folks, thanks for coming along for the ride. To lay it all out flat for you, you're now looking at four attacks a round, each with an average 19 to hit and dealing 11 damage, and you should have around 220HP if you took average, but it could theoretically be 300 if you rolled perfectly ever time. Coupled with heavy armor making you hard to hit you're a great frontliner and the reach on that halberd coupled with the mastery feat makes you difficult to avoid. You're mobile with Charger online and can do a ton of non-canon things but if I was going for pure canon Gundyr I'd have stopped a good way back and given up.