# Sidekicks: Diablo II Mercenary Conversion Regretably, I've had my version of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything for approximately 5 months and still have yet to actually take the time to look it over to it's fullest extent. The talk of "Sidekicks" has recently had me deep in contemplation. Diablo II has a relatively entertaining system for Mercenaries, and despite a few glaring issues (namely the complete dominance of the Act II Mercenaries), I've always felt the concept was very fun. Sidekicks are a new system within Tasha's that allows you to build characters who aren't weaker perse, but they're intended to be less versatile and/or easier to play. They're meant to be streamlined, because it makes it easier for your players to switch back and forth (if they were playing the character) or for you to not have to do mental gymnastics when creating or playing them. ..and after finding a secondhand Diablo II 3e D&D Crossover book at my local game store that had similar undertakings, I figured this would be a great experiment. ### Job Postings Within Diablo II, there are 4 categories of Mercenary, and some of them also offer a number of variations. - The first you encounter are the Act I ***Rogue Scouts*** who can be hired shortly after starting the game, and are Archers almost exclusively. - Next you have the Act II **Desert Mercenaries** who use large polearms and traditionally provide an aura buff to you and your party members. - In the jungles of Act III you can hire an **Iron Wolf** which is a type of sword and board mage, who uses one type of elemental spells. - And last but not least, are the Act V **Barbarians** who use two-handed swords primarily. Within the world of Sanctuary, these characters are typically hired through recruiters, who offer their services to you (occasionally only after you do them a favor though.) You are awarded a free Rogue Scout after defeated one of their fallen members (spoiler) by **Kashya**, the harsh and defiant commander of their sisterhood. The Captain of the Desert Mercenaries is the arrogant **Greiz**, who was hired by the Lord of the desert city of Lut Gholein to protect the town while his guards were absent. **Asheara** is tough and proud, and she would have to be, as the leader of the band of Mercenaries who have been scouting the demon-infested jungles of Kurast. The man-at-arms for the mountain city of Harrogath is **Qual-Kehk**, an aged commander who was humbled by the death or imprisonment of his barbarians in recent times; after rescuing a number of his men from the demon army, he'll let you hire one. This should offer you an idea of how to place the following into your player's line of sight. While the Mercenaries in Diablo are a 1 time fee (aside from resurrecting them when they die.) you could certainly require your players to pay a small amount as "wages" for the sidekicks, unless they are explicitly working with you as either a friend, or to repay a debt they owe to the party for whatever reason. The DMG suggests that a skilled hireling can be purchased for 2 gp per day, but expect that the cost of these Mercenaries would rise as they increase in level. ### Level One The sidekicks rules are supremely easy to bend, but I'll stick to their intentions to the best of my ability. This means that, as much as I may dislike it, we'll try to stick within the boundaries of "CR 1/2 or Lower." On the other hand, these Mercenaries are not exactly intended to be "played" by your players, so I'm more concerned about them being balanced in comparison to one another, while staying true to their depictions. ### Beyond Level One Many of the Mercenaries have what could in previous editions be called "spell-like abilities" which is a feature that didn't exactly carry over to 5th edition. It also didn't typically have to, because most monsters aren't expected to progress their individual abilities over time, their statblocks are static. This is not the case with our Sidekicks. In the same way that a Dragonborn's breath weapon scales up in damage (albeit poorly), their spell-like abilities should also likely do the same. These sidekicks are intended to stick with the party for a number of levels, and if their main "useful" features become worse and worse over time, choosing them over another (such as the Barbarian who doesn't really need scaling beyond what their Sidekick Class gives them) feels bad. I heavily encourage you to increase the damage of their abilities at the standard 5/11/17 breakpoints of most cantrips. ### When to give Sidekicks Theoretically, a party could start a game with a number of sidekicks in toe, but the rules for this are a little wonky. The primary issue comes from Hit Dice. 3/4 of the Sidekick Statblocks start the game with 4d8 for hit dice. The lowest HP a sidekick has is 20. The Sidekick rules only mention that "A sidekick gains another hit dice whenever they level up" but this would mean that technically, our statblocks are representing 3rd or 4th level characters, in terms of HP. In essence, always make sure that your Mercenary has the same number of hit die as their "level" so as to not give them significantly more hp than the heroes they are supposed to be helping. \pagebreak ### Act I: Rogue Scouts Kashya's Rogue Scouts have two variations. One of them sporadically shoots Cold Arrows, while the other shoots Fire Arrows. Simple enough. We don't even need to give them separate statblocks. I'll start with a Gnoll Hunter from VGtM pg. 154 and make a few minor adjustments. #### Adjustments So you can see here, we've pulled out all of their melee attacks, made a few numerical tweaks (swapped Int and Str, Longbow > Shortbow) and reworked the "Rampage" feature into one that allows them to add an extra casting of their elemental shot to their turn. Take note of the fact that the elemental shots are, quite literally, just the *Firebolt* and *Ray of Frost* cantrips, except they don't scale with level in damage. They also cannot be used in the multiattack action, which is intentional, it places a limit on how frequently they'll be using their elemental shots, because they either need to reduce a creature to 0 or the situation has to call for it. The pseudo-cantrip level scaling is up to DM preference, it likely won't be game breaking to include it, but it will likely begin to outpace their normal attacks. The Rogues are missing one ability now however, which is called "Inner Sight" which reduces the defense of enemies when cast. We'll get something for this upon reaching their Sidekick class. #### Names For the sake of nostalgia, here is a table for some of the names that the Rogue Scouts use in Diablo II, in no particular order. | d20 | Rogue Scout Names | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | Aliza | | 2 | Floria | | 3 | Basanti | | 4 | Iantha | | 5 | Mahala | | 6 | Olena | | 7 | Liaza | | 8 | Rozene | | 9 | Gwinni | | 10 | Elexa | | 11 | Abhaya | | 12 | Kyoko | | 13 | Divo | | 14 | Isolde | | 15 | Raissa | | 16 | Shikha | | 17 | Tylena | | 18 | Visala | | 19 | Annor | | 20 | Gaile | \columnbreak ___ > ## Rogue Scout >*Medium humanoid, Neutral Good* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 13 (Leather Armor) > - **Hit Points** 22 (4d8 + 4) > - **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|8 (-1)|14 (+2)|12 (+1)|14 (+2)|12 (+1)|8 (-1)| >___ > - **Skills** Perception +3, Stealth +4 > - **Senses** passive Perception 13 > - **Languages** Common > - **Challenge** 1/2 (100 XP) > ___ > > ***Elemental Volley.*** When the Rogue Scout reduces a creature to 0 hit points with a *ranged* attack on their turn, they may use their bonus action to make an elemental shot attack. > > ### Actions > ***Multiattack.*** The Rogue Scout makes two attacks with it's shortbow. > > ***Shortbow.*** *Ranged Weapon Attack:* +4 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage. > > ***Elemental Shot: Fire. (Fire Rogues only)*** *Ranged Spell Attack:* +4 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d10) fire damage. > > ***Elemental Shot: Cold. (Cold Rogues only)*** *Ranged Spell Attack:* +4 to hit, range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8) cold damage and the target's speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of its next turn. ### Sidekick Class: Expert Expert provides our Rogue with.. rogue-like features. - We get **Dexterity** Saving Throws - Five more skills: **Religion, Survival, Medicine, Acrobatics, Athletics** are my choices, but each Merc could be different. You get Expertise in 2 of them, which should be Acrobatics and Perception. - Bonus Actions: Dash, Disengage, Hide, Help This Mercenary is great for someone who likes tactics and strategy. Being able to place them on high ground to rain down on enemies from afar is a strong tactic. Level 6 and 11 give us our "Inner Sight" ability, as our ranged help action is effectively (or literally, at level 11) reducing the enemy's defense. I would personally change Coordinated Strike's bonus damage to Fire or Cold depending on the Rogue you chose, but that's just for fun. \pagebreak ### Act II: Desert Mercenaries The auras of the Desert Mercenaries vary greatly, leaving us with effectively 6 different iterations, due to the Mercenaries from the 2nd difficulty having different auras than the ones from the first. Using the game terminology, here's what we have: #### Normal Difficulty - Combat: **Prayer** (Allies heal periodically) - Offense: **Blessed Aim** (Allies have higher accuracy) - Defense: **Defiance** (Allies have higher defense) #### Nightmare Difficulty - Combat: **Thorns** (Enemies take damage when hitting allies) - Offense: **Might** (Allies deal more physical damage) - Defense: **Holy Freeze** (Enemies take cold damage periodically) ___ > ## Desert Mercenary (Combat) >*Medium humanoid, Lawful Neutral* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 14 (Hide Armor) > - **Hit Points** 20 (3d8 + 6) > - **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|16 (+3)|14 (+2)|14 (+2)|9 (-1)|11 (+0)|10 (+0)| >___ > - **Skills** Insight +2, Intimidation +2 > - **Senses** passive Perception 10 > - **Languages** Common > - **Challenge** 1/2 (100 XP) > ___ > > ***Protective.*** As a bonus action, the desert mercenary can move up to its speed towards an allied creature that it can see. > > > ### Actions > > ***Glaive.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. *Hit:* 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage. > > > ### Reactions > > ***Aura of Prayer.*** When an allied creature ends their turn within 10 feet of the desert mercenary, they can use their reaction to grant that ally 2d6 temporary hit points. > > ***Aura of Thorns.*** When an allied creature within 10 feet of the desert mercenary is hit with a melee weapon attack, the desert mercenary can use their reaction to cause the attacker to take 2d6 damage. This damage is the same type dealt as the attack that triggered it. \columnbreak #### Adjustments I chose to make the auras require a Reaction to activate, because I allowing them to be applied to the whole party simultaneously would definitely break them. (Much like it does in the source material.) I also combined the Normal/Nightmare Mercs into a single statblock to give them added versatility. If you wanted to remain faithful to the source material, you could easily nix one of the two auras without making them significantly worse. We used the stats for an Orc, from MM pg. 246, and made a few changes. I'm already not convinced that I remained within the CR 1/2 range, but it turns out that I don't care about that: - I gave them one extra hit die to bring them closer in line with the Rogue Scouts. - I've pulled their ranged attack to make them more melee-oriented, and swapped their greataxe for a polearm. - The "Aggressive" feature was maintained on Offense Mercs, but reworked slightly on defense and combat mercs. Combat Mercs are required to be next to their allies, so we've given them a feature to dash to their ally's side instead of the enemies. Defensive Mercs can move to allies OR enemies, but they can only move up to half of their speed instead. - To give the Mercs more of a niche, Combat Mercs have higher Dex but Lower Con, Defense Mercs have higher Con but lower Strength and Offense Mercs have higher Strength but lower Dex. I also gave them each an extra skill proficiency. ### Names Roll 1d20 or choose a name from the table below. | d20 | Desert Mercenary Names | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | Hazade | | 2 | Alhizeer | | 3 | Emilio | | 4 | Pratham | | 5 | Chalan | | 6 | Vikhyat | | 7 | Fazel | | 8 | Haseen | | 9 | Ilzan | | 10 | Jemali | | 11 | Neeraj | | 12 | Waheed | | 13 | Zanarhi | | 14 | Gulzar | | 15 | Ahsab | | 16 | Mizan | | 17 | Leharas | | 18 | Razan | | 19 | Durga | | 20 | Azrael | \pagebreak ### Progression Independant of our chosen Sidekick Class, it's probably worth talking about progression of their abilities. Sidekicks are supposed to level with you, and we tied many of the aura abilities to d6 dies, which will be progressively less effective as we grow in level. Heres what I would do, at Sidekick levels 5, 7 and 11: 1. Increase the Die Size (1d6 -> 1d8 -> 1d10 -> 1d12) for Defiance, Freezing and Accuracy. 2. Add an extra d6 for Might, Thorns and Prayer. The low HP and damage are easily solved by our class, but this change will keep our auras from becoming worthless over time. This is definitely optional though. ___ > ## Desert Mercenary (Defense) >*Medium humanoid, Lawful Neutral* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 13 (Hide Armor) > - **Hit Points** 26 (3d8 + 12) > - **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|14 (+2)|12 (+1)|18 (+4)|9 (-1)|11 (+0)|10 (+0)| >___ > - **Skills** Medicine +2, Intimidation +2 > - **Senses** passive Perception 10 > - **Languages** Common > - **Challenge** 1/2 (100 XP) > ___ > > ***Supportive.*** As a bonus action, the desert mercenary can move up to half its speed towards a creature that it can see. > > > ### Actions > > ***Pike.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +4 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. *Hit:* 7 (1d10 + 2) piercing damage. > > > ### Reactions > > ***Aura of Defiance.*** When an allied creature within 10 feet of the desert mercenary is hit with an attack, the mercenary can use their reaction to reduce the damage taken by 2d6. > > ***Aura of Freezing.*** When a hostile creature within 10 feet of the desert mercenary starts their turn, the mercenary can use their reaction to force them to make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 1d6 cold damage and their speed is halved until the start of their next turn. On a successful save the creature takes half damage but isn't slowed. ___ > ## Desert Mercenary (Offense) >*Medium humanoid, Lawful Neutral* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 12 (Hide Armor) > - **Hit Points** 23 (3d8 + 9) > - **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|18 (+4)|10 (+0)|16 (+3)|9 (-1)|11 (+0)|10 (+0)| >___ > - **Skills** Perception +2, Intimidation +2 > - **Senses** passive Perception 12 > - **Languages** Common > - **Challenge** 1/2 (100 XP) > ___ > > ***Aggressive.*** As a bonus action, the desert mercenary can move up to its speed towards a hostile creature that it can see. > > > ### Actions > > ***Halberd.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. *Hit:* 8 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage. > > > ### Reactions > > ***Aura of Accuracy.*** When an allied creature within 10 feet of the desert mercenary makes a weapon attack, the mercenary can use their reaction to roll 1d6 and add it to the ally's attack roll. > > ***Aura of Might.*** When an allied creature within 10 feet of the desert mercenary makes a weapon attack and hits, the mercenary can use their reaction to roll 1d6 and add it to the ally's damage roll. ### Sidekick Class: Warrior These guys are supposed to be relatively durable, and all of the pseudo-fighter features of the Warrior Class will go a long way to keeping our Mercenaries alive. - I'd choose **Constitution** saves (for withstanding the desert heat) and **Athletics** + **Survival** for their skills. - **Advantage on Initiative Rolls** gives them the ability to get a strong starting position, especially with our Bonus Action features. - **Second Wind**, **Indomitable** and our **AC Bonus** will make these Mercs a great deal tankier than the others. We have a choice between **Attacker** and **Defender** with our Martial Role feature. Defender is good, but it also competes with our other Reactionary options. I'd personally use *Attacker on Offense and Defense* Mercenaries, but might take *Defender on Combat Mercs*. \pagebreak ### Act III: Iron Wolves The Iron Wolves of Kurast are the most magically inclined of the options, and likely our only opportunity to use the "Spellcaster" sidekick class. They come in three types: **Fire**, **Cold** and **Lightning**. Our spellcasting Mercs are definitely going to have far more spells than the Diablo 2 inspirations, as they can cast only 2-3 different spells each. The Spellcaster class is not like that. They learn 2-4 cantrips and 1-11 spells throughout the course of the campaign, so rather than completely ignoring these options, I will do my best to select only spells that mesh easily with the flavor of each type of mercenary. We only need one statblock, because the spells are the only difference between the three. We'll use the Lizardfolk from MM pg. 204, and chop away most of what we don't need. - We'll shuffle around and otherwise fix the mental stats, including boosting one of them up enough to be a decent caster. - Drop swimming, drop hold breath, drop Draconic. - They live in the swamp, so expertise in stealth and survival can stay. - Swap Natural Armor to Medium Armor. - We pulled 4/5 of their weapon attacks, but replaced them with another "pseudo-cantrip" for each type. Remember that you can choose to boost this attack's damage over time, but you are not required to. ### Names Roll 1d20 or choose a name from the table below. | d20 | Iron Wolf Names | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | Jelani | | 2 | Barani | | 3 | Jabari | | 4 | Devak | | 5 | Raldin | | 6 | Telash | | 7 | Ajheed | | 8 | Narphet | | 9 | Scorch | | 10 | Khaleel | | 11 | Phaet | | 12 | Geshef | | 13 | Vanji | | 14 | Haphet | | 15 | Thadar | | 16 | Yatiraj | | 17 | Rhadge | | 18 | Yashied | | 19 | Jarulf | | 20 | Flux | \columnbreak ### Sidekick Class: Spellcaster Spellcasters don't get a lot of features besides their casting, but they still get skills and saving throws. - **Wisdom Saves** are the best choice of the three mental saves, here but also kinda always. - They also get 2 skills, **Investigation** and **Arcana** are good choices from the options. - Eventually, we'll get to choose a school of magic to add a damage bonus to, so just pick the one your merc has the most damage dealing spells in. ___ > ## Iron Wolf >*Medium humanoid, Chaotic Neutral* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 15 (Chain Shirt, Shield) > - **Hit Points** 22 (4d8 + 4) > - **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|13 (+1)|12 (+1)|13 (+1)|9 (-1)|10 (+0)|14 (+2)| >___ > - **Skills** Perception +2, Stealth +4, Survival, +4 > - **Senses** passive Perception 12 > - **Languages** Common > - **Challenge** 1/2 (100 XP) > ___ > > ### Actions > ***Multiattack.*** The Iron Wolf can make two melee attacks. > > ***Sword.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +1 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 5 (1d6 + 1) slashing damage. > > ***Fire Ball (Fire Wolf only).*** The Iron Wolf lobs a fireball at a point they can see within 60 feet of them. Creatures within 5 feet of that point must make a DC 12 Dexterity Saving throw. On a failure, they take 7 (2d4 + 2) fire damage, or half as much on a successful save. > > ***Charged Bolt (Lightning Wolf only).*** The Iron Wolf emits three dancing bolts of lightning at up to three creatures that they can see within 30 feet of them. Each of these creatures must make a DC 12 Dexterity Saving Throw. On a failure, they take 4 (1d4 + 2) lightning damage. > > ***Glacial Spike (Cold Wolf only).*** The Iron Wolf casts a projectile of ice at a creature that they can see within 60 feet of them. The creature must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, they take 9 (3d4 + 2) cold damage and their speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of their next turn. On a successful save, they take half damage and are not slowed. \pagebreak ### Spell Lists I'll make one comment first. My Iron Wolves have a higher Charisma than other stats, but the different spellcaster "subclasses" are intended on using different casting stats. I personally think that's lame, and I would run all of them as Charisma casters (for these Iron Wolves specifically) but if you disagree, just swap the 14 into the relevant stat and you'll be fine. - **Mage**: Picks spells from the Wizard List and uses Intelligence. - **Healer**: Picks spells from the Cleric and Druid Lists and uses Wisdom - **Prodigy**: Picks spells from the Bard and Warlock Lists and uses Charisma. Spells that are bolded in the following lists will be the spells I'm using as stand ins for the Spells that the Diablo Mercs are able to cast. We also have to remember that at the end of the day, these characters are supposed to **support** the players, not overshadow them, so we've got to take care with our choices. If I grab Witch Bolt or True Strike or something, don't shoot me. Here's what I would do. ### Iron Wolf: Lightning I've decided to try and run this one as a "Healer" because I'm interested in the three mercs using the three different classes. They're probably all better off as mage, but I don't also want them all to be blasters, since in-game their damage isn't supposed to be THAT high. Besides, a little more variety in your choices is always nice. - Cantrip at 1: **Sacred Flame** (Lightning Bolt V1) - Cantrip at 1: Thunderclap - Spell at 1: **Guiding Bolt** (Lightning Bolt V2) - Spell at 2: Create or Destroy Water - Spell at 3: Detect Poison and Disease - Cantrip at 4: Spare the Dying - Spell at 5: Earthbind - Spell at 7: Skywrite - Spell at 9: **Call Lightning** (Lightning Bolt V3) - Cantrip at 10: Thaumaturgy - Spell at 11: Beacon of Hope - Spell at 13: Elemental Bane - Spell at 15: Death Ward - Spell at 17: Greater Restoration - Spell at 19: Dispel Evil and Good This spell list is primarily going to involve reflavoring all of your spell effects to look lightning-adjacent, because we don't get any actual lightning spells until level 9 (not including our Charged Bolts). I avoided any direct "heal" spells but I don't mind them having heal-adjacent spells like Lesser Restoration and Spare the Dying. These guys are also an opportunity for the DM to use a lot of the spells that player characters will avoid, and show off their usefulness. Both DPD and Skywrite are super fitting for a Jungle-based mercenary, and spells like Beacon of Hope and Elemental Bane compete for player concentration. These spells see very limited use, but on a sidekick, they're great. \columnbreak ### Iron Wolf: Fire The choice for this one is "Mage" because everyone else is strangely lacking in Fire Spells. I really flip-flopped between whether or not to give them fireball. I think it's a spell that would definitely surprise your players, and by level 9, it's competing with a full caster's 5th level spells. - Cantrip at 1: Create Bonfire - Cantrip at 1: Control Flames - Spell at 1: **Burning Hands** (Incinerate) - Spell at 2: Absorb Elements - Spell at 3: Color Spray - Cantrip at 4: Dancing Lights - Spell at 5: Aganazzar's Scorcher - Spell at 7: Pyrotechnics - Spell at 9: Fireball - Cantrip at 10: Firebolt - Spell at 11: Erupting Earth - Spell at 13: Wall of Fire - Spell at 15: Fire Shield - Spell at 17: Immolation - Spell at 19: Teleportation Circle I added in ***Teleportation Circle*** as an homage to Diablo 2's Waypoint system, and it's another "capstone" spell that the pary will be shocked by. They might turn out to be the only one who can cast this, and if so, it might be a real lifesaver. ### Iron Wolf: Cold My choice for this one is actually **Prodigy** because the Cold Mercs can cast "Frozen Armor" which is a defense boosting shield that reflects cold damage to attackers. So I REALLY wanted Armor of Agathys. It'll lose us a ton of variety in actual cold damage spells, but we'll build this character even more supportive than the previous ones anyway, because Cold has the theme of "freezing and slowing" targets in Diablo. We ended up making this build "minor" in Necrotic Damage, but I'm kinda fine with that because damage specialists run into issues, and because flavorfully, they can feel similar. - Cantrip at 1: **Frostbite** (Ice Blast) - Cantrip at 1: Blade Ward - Spell at 1: **Armor of Agathys** (Frozen Armor) - Spell at 2: Identify - Spell at 3: Bane - Cantrip at 4: Chill Touch* - Spell at 5: Misty Step - Spell at 7: Hold Person - Spell at 9: Counterspell - Cantrip at 10: Prestidigitation - Spell at 11: Tongues/Dispel Magic/Magic Circle - Spell at 13: Dimension Door - Spell at 15: Blight - Spell at 17: Hold Monster - Spell at 19: Raise Dead** I know ***Raise Dead*** doesn't match flavor, but I think it's a perfect capstone spell for a character designed around supporting your allies. If they happen to be the only reviver in the party, imagine how that first rez will feel. \pagebreak ### Act V: Barbarians After all that, the Barbarians are going to seem really simple. My main challenge is making them the tankiest mercenary of the group when I already used Warrior for someone else. That means that the base stats of the creature I use need to be tip-top to give us an advantage. Enter, the Jackalwere. The Jackalwere is a CR 1/2 creature from MM pg. 193 that has **immunity to non-silvered weapons** and a number of other abilities that I can muck around to fit our beastly barbarian. ___ > ## Barbarian >*Medium Humanoid, Chaotic Good* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 12 (Leather Armor) > - **Hit Points** 26 (4d8 + 8) > - **Speed** 40 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|15 (+2)|12 (+1)|14 (+2)|10 (+0)|10 (+0)|10 (+0)| >___ > - **Skills** Athletics +4, Intimidation +4, Perception +2 > - **Damage Immunities** bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered > - **Senses** passive Perception 12 > - **Languages** Common > - **Challenge** 1/2 (100 XP) > ___ > > > > ***Keen Hearing and Smell.*** The Barbarian has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell. > > ***Pack Tactics.*** The Barbarian has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the Barbarian's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated. > > ### Actions > > ***Greatsword.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +4, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 9 (2d6 + 2) slashing damage. > > ***Bash.*** The Barbarian strikes a target within 5 feet of it with a wicked blow. The target must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, they take 6 (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage, and until the end of their next turn, their movement speed is 0 and they are incapacitated. These guys are the tanks, and I think we've given them that appeal. You don't always need complex tactics from a merc, sometimes you just want a dude who is going to sit there and take hits so you don't have to. This is that guy. \columnbreak ### Changelog - Removed Shapechanger and bite. - Swap Dex (15) with Strength (11) - Wis 11 -> 10, Dex 11 -> 12 - Swap Int (13) with Con (10) - Int 10 -> 9, Con 13 -> 14 - Added Leather Armor (AC 11 -> 12) - Deception Expertise -> Intimidation Expertise - Stealth Proficiency -> Athletics Proficiency - Scimitar swapped for Greatsword - Sleep Gaze Reworked into Bash If I wanted to, I could have chosen to rework Shapechanger into a pseudo-rage ability and only give them the resistances then, but I honestly think that this is just an easier solution. The Jackalwere is balanced at 1/2 CR and I don't think we stepped TOO far beyond that. Besides, you also control the amount of magical and silver weapons that exist in the game, so you're in control of how strong those resistances are. The bash also has no effect on a successful save (not even half damage) so it's something that is risky to rely on. ### Sidekick Class: Warrior There isn't a lot here that hasn't already been said. I would definitely take **Defender** here because pack tactics encourages us to stay within 5 feet of our allies anyway. Take **Constitution** saving throws, and for your skills: **Survival** and.. Acrobatics? I guess. ### Names Roll 1d20 or choose a name from the table below. | d20 | Barbarian Names | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | Varaya | | 2 | Bors | | 3 | Weohstan | | 4 | Wiglaf | | 5 | Hrothgar | | 6 | Erfor | | 7 | Tryneus | | 8 | Unferth | | 9 | Weder | | 10 | Sigurd | | 11 | Gorm | | 12 | Hollis | | 13 | Ragnar | | 14 | Barloc | | 15 | Lanth | | 16 | Hengest | | 17 | Oslaf | | 18 | Scyld | | 19 | Edmund | | 20 | Theodoric |