D&D 5E: AFRO SAMURAI!

Thanks for checking out my website, take a look at Hyper Score MarvelStreet Fighter D&D 5E, Warhammer 40k D&D 5E Hackand if you spot any errors or have suggestions for how to improve the build let me know on Twitter @MikeMyler2, Facebook, Google+, or by leaving a message below the post (which has a shortened statblock for easier use).

afro samurai MoA.pngAfro Samurai

Medium humanoid (soburi), lawful good paladin (samurai) 7/fighter (samurai) 6
Armor Class 19 (Wisdom, swordmaster)
Hit Points 116 (7d8+6d10+52)
Speed 40 ft. (50 ft. in combat), triple jump distance

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Dignity Haitoku
18 (+4) 20 (+5) 19 (+4) 15 (+2) 18 (+4) 11 (+0) 20 (+5) 18 (+4)

 

Saving Throws Wisdom +9, Charisma +5 (+1 to all while conscious)
Skills Acrobatics +10, Athletics +9, Culture +10, Insight +9, Perception +9, Stealth +10
Tools gaming set, herbalism kit
Condition Immunities disease
Senses passive Perception 19
Languages Common (Soburi), Ceram, Ropa
Challenge 17 (18,000 XP)
Background Feature: Indomitable Endurance (Ronin). When Afro Samurai is reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, he can drop to 1 hit point instead by expending all of his remaining hit dice. He must have at least 6 hit dice to use this feature.
Action Surge (1/short rest). On his turn, Afro Samurai can take an additional action on top of his regular action and a possible bonus action.

Ancestral Weapon: Katana. Afro Samurai treats his katana with the same reverence he would a holy book or symbol. Accordingly, he never willingly parts with his ancestral weapon—he may not sell it, lend it to others, or otherwise abandon it. If for any reason his ancestral weapon is taken from him, he must do everything in his power to recover it.

  • Afro Samurai’s katana grants a +2 bonus to attack and damage. It is a divine magical weapon.
  • The first time he attacks with his ancestral weapon on each of his turns, Afro Samurai can transfer some or all of his weapon’s bonus to attack and damage to his Armor Class instead.
  • Bleeding Attacks (see Critical Hits below).

Aura of Protection. Whenever Afro Samurai or a friendly creature within 30 feet of him must make a saving throw, the creature gains a +1 bonus to the saving throw. He must be conscious to grant this bonus.
Divine Sense (2/long rest). As an action, until the end of his next turn Afro Samurai knows the location of any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of her that is not behind total cover. He knows the type (celestial, fiend, or undead) of any being whose presence he senses, but not its identity. Within the same radius, he also detects the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell.
Divine Smite. When Afro Samurai hits a creature with a melee weapon attack, he can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target (3d8 if a fiend or undead), in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8.
Feat: Mobility. When Afro Samurai uses the Dash action difficult terrain doesn’t cost him extra movement on that turn and when he make a melee attack against a creature, he doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks from that creature for the rest of the turn (whether he hits or not).
Feat: Sentinel. When Afro Samurai hits a creature with an opportunity attack, the creature’s speed becomes 0 for the rest of the turn. Creatures within 5 feet of Afro Samurai provoke opportunity attacks from him even if they take the Disengage action before leaving his reach. Finally, when a creature within 5 feet of Afro Samurai makes an attack against a target other than him (and that target doesn’t have this feat), he can use his reaction to make a melee weapon attack against the attacking creature.
Fighting Spirit (3/short rest). As a bonus action on Afro Samurai’s turn, he can give himself two benefits: advantage on all attack rolls and resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. These benefits last until the end of his next turn.
Fighting Style: Great Weapon Fighting. When Afro Samurai rolls a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack he makes with a melee weapon that he is wielding with two hands, he can reroll the die and must use the new roll. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for him to gain this benefit.
Lay on Hands (35 points). As an action, Afro Samurai can touch a creature and restore a number of hit points to that creature, up to the maximum amount remaining in this pool. Alternatively, he can expend 5 hit points to cure the target of one disease or neutralize one poison affecting it.
Medium Haitoku. Afro Samurai’s speed increases by 10 feet during combat. His fall from virtue has spawned a talkative hallucinatory ninja that accompanies him everywhere he goes and when combat persists for more than 1 round, a badass heavy bass beat begins to play from everywhere yet nowhere at once.
Second Wind (1/short rest). On his turn, Afro Samurai can use a bonus action to regain 1d10+6 hit points.

Spellcasting. Afro Samurai is a 7th-level spellcaster that uses Charisma as his spellcasting ability (spell save DC 14; +6 to hit with spell attacks). Afro Samurai has the following spells prepared from the paladin spell list:

  • 1st-level (4 slots): bless, expeditious retreat, heroism, shield of faith
  • 2nd-level (3 slots): aid, blade attraction, strike within & without, zone of truth

Unarmed Savant. Afro Samurai’s unarmed strike damage increases by one step (to 1d4) due to his soburi heritage and he gains proficiency in the Athletics skill.

143e1882ccbc75a4e45ab435da358f06ccc81006_hq

ACTIONS
Multiattack. Afro Samurai makes three attacks.
Unarmed Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4+4) bludgeoning damage.
Ancestral Katana. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (1d12+2d6+6) magical slashing damage.

Critical Hits. Afro Samurai has a variety of abilities that activate when he scores a critical hit (which occurs on a roll of 15-20 while he is wielding a sword):

  • When Afro Samurai scores a critical hit that kills his opponent, he may make another attack against a target within his reach as part of the same action.
  • On Afro Samurai’s turn, when he scores a critical hit with a melee weapon or reduce a creature to 0 hit points with one, he can make one melee weapon attack as a bonus action.
  • Each time Afro Samurai scores a critical hit with his ancestral weapon, his target takes 2 damage at the start of his turn every round until the wound is stanched with a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Medicine) check or the target receives magical healing.

Dashing Strike (4/long rest). As an action, Afro Samurai may make a single attack against a foe in between using his movement. This movement must be in a straight line, and take Afro Samurai through the space of the target of their attack. Regardless of if the attack hits, this movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks. If Afro Samurai’s attack hits and their movement both begins and ends outside of the target’s reach, this attack is a critical hit.
Iaijutsu Strike (1/short rest). As an action, Afro Samurai can draw his weapon and attack with it. This attack deals 23 (5d8) additional damage.
Feat: Charger. When Afro Samurai uses his action to Dash, he can use a bonus action to make one melee weapon attack or to shove a creature. If he moves at least 10 feet in a straight line immediately before taking this bonus action, he either gains a +5 bonus to the attack’s damage roll (if he chose to make a melee attack and hit) or push the target up to 10 feet away from him (if he chose to shove and succeeds).
Feat: Great Weapon Master. Before Afro Samurai makes a melee attack with a heavy weapon that he is proficient with, he can choose to take a – 5 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, he adds +10 to the attack’s damage.

REACTIONS
Feat: Swordmaster. When an enemy would provoke an opportunity attack, Afro Samurai may spend his reaction to move up to his speed, ending his movement adjacent to that enemy (or as close as possible).
In addition while wielding a katana, Afro Samurai can use his reaction to cut a missile in twain when he is hit by a ranged weapon attack, reducing its damage by 19 (1d12+2d6+6).

number-2-headband-t

Number #2 Headband

Legendary
This is one of the most sought after items in the world, granting the wearer the ability to damage whomever wears the Number #1 Headband. In addition, it grants the following bonuses when attacking creatures not wearing the Number #1 Headband:

  • The wearer’s weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 15 or 20.
  • When wielding a sword, the wearer deals 2d6 additional damage on a successful hit.

The Number #2 Headband always grants these benefits:

  • The wearer’s Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom increase by 1.
  • While the wearer is not wearing any armor or wielding a shield, their AC equals 10 + their Dexterity modifier + their Wisdom modifier.
  • The wearer can cast feather fall and jump at will.
  • The wearer’s jump distance triples.
  • The wearer gains 2 additional reactions each turn.
  • The wearer gains the Mobility and Sentinel feats. If the wearer already has these feats, they may choose two other combat-oriented non-magical feats.

While it is a powerful item, it is also highly sought after and death follows the warrior that wears it as legions of lesser fighters attempt to take the Number #2 Headband.

 

NOTES ON AFRO SAMURAI’S BUILD

If anybody is so samurai they have TWO classes in which they are samurai, surely it is Afro Samurai and frankly I am surprised I hadn’t built him already. The Number #2 Headband and his feat combination (even before the headband) definitely make him a tough customer and despite his low hit points, I figure that access to Lay on Hands and the ability to up his AC (by 2, while still having a kickass +9 attack bonus) merited increasing his CR up to 14. However if you are like “man I’d like to have a samurai that leaps into a group of enemies and decapitates a ton of them very quickly” the build above is for you! I think against a party of mid-level PCs (10th-ish) he’d make for an interesting fight in a place with lots of cover (so he can disappear briefly to heal, maybe swapping bless out for cure wounds).

More requests for a reduced statblock like in Street Fighter D&D 5e came in so I’ve got a reduced version below but I feel like I should reiterate–what you see above is a Player Character build (as in, you can take ^^ into a game, pull away the Number #2 Headband, and basically play as Afro Samurai!)

Anyway, enjoy the streamlined version!

Edit: Apparently it was not streamlined enough and his CR was too low (14 instead of 17)! Details on that and the reductions below are here (thanks Redditor maxwellbegun!)

————— REDUCED MONSTER-BUILD STATBLOCK ————–

Afro Samurai

Medium humanoid, lawful good 
Armor Class 19
Hit Points 116 (7d8+6d10+52)
Speed 50 ft., triple jump distance

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Dignity Haitoku
18 (+4) 20 (+5) 19 (+4) 15 (+2) 18 (+4) 11 (+0) 20 (+5) 18 (+4)

Saving Throws Wisdom +9, Charisma +5 (+1 to all while conscious)
Skills Acrobatics +10, Athletics +9, Insight +9, Perception +9, Stealth +10
Condition Immunities disease
Senses passive Perception 19
Challenge 17 (18,000 XP)
Action Surge (1/short rest).
On his turn, Afro Samurai can take an additional action on top of his regular action and a possible bonus action.
Ancestral Weapon: Katana. The first time Afro Samurai attacks with his ancestral weapon on each of his turns, he can transfer 2 points from attack and damage to his Armor Class instead.
Divine Smite. When Afro Samurai hits a creature with a melee weapon attack, he can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target (3d8 if a fiend or undead), in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8.
Feat: Mobility. When Afro Samurai uses the Dash action difficult terrain doesn’t cost him extra movement on that turn and when he makes a melee attack against a creature, he doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks from that creature for the rest of the turn (whether he hits or not).
Feat: Sentinel. When Afro Samurai hits a creature with an opportunity attack, the creature’s speed becomes 0 for the rest of the turn. Creatures within 5 feet of Afro Samurai provoke opportunity attacks from him even if they take the Disengage action before leaving his reach. Finally, when a creature within 5 feet of Afro Samurai makes an attack against a target other than him (and that target doesn’t have this feat), he can use his reaction to make a melee weapon attack against the attacking creature.
Fighting Spirit (3/short rest). As a bonus action on Afro Samurai’s turn he can gain advantage on all attack rolls and resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. These benefits last until the end of his next turn.
Lay on Hands (35 points). As an action, Afro Samurai can touch a creature and restore a number of hit points to that creature, up to the maximum amount remaining in this pool. Alternatively, he can expend 5 hit points to cure the target of one disease or neutralize one poison affecting it.
In addition, once during combat he may regain 1d10+6 hit points as a bonus action.
Number #2 Headband. Afro Samurai can cast feather fall and jump at will and gains 2 additional reactions each turn.
Relentless Endurance. When Afro Samurai is reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, he can drop to 1 hit point instead. He can’t use this feature again until he finishes a long rest.

Spellcasting. Afro Samurai is a 7th-level spellcaster that uses Charisma as his spellcasting ability (spell save DC 14; +6 to hit with spell attacks). Afro Samurai has the following spells prepared from the paladin spell list:

  • 1st-level (4 slots): bless, expeditious retreat, heroism, shield of faith
  • 2nd-level (3 slots): aid, blade attraction, strike within & without, zone of truth

ACTIONS
Multiattack. Afro Samurai makes three attacks.
Unarmed Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4+4) bludgeoning damage.
Ancestral Katana. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (1d12+2d6+6) magical slashing damage. Afro Samurai can choose to attack with only a +6 bonus to deal +10 damage.

Critical Hits. Afro Samurai has a variety of abilities that activate when he scores a critical hit (which occurs on a roll of 15-20 while he is wielding a sword):

  • On Afro Samurai’s turn, when he scores a critical hit with a melee weapon or reduce a creature to 0 hit points with one, he can make one melee weapon attack as a bonus action.
  • When Afro Samurai scores a critical hit that kills his opponent, he may make another attack against a target within his reach as part of the same action.
  • Each time Afro Samurai scores a critical hit with his ancestral weapon, his target takes 2 damage at the start of his turn every round until the wound is stanched with a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Medicine) check or the target receives magical healing.

Dashing Strike. Afro Samurai can Dash as a bonus action. If he moves in a straight line (taking him through the space of the target of his attack) and attacks once in between using his movement, as long as his movement begins and ends outside of the target’s reach and he would normally hit the attack becomes a critical hit.
Iaijutsu Strike. If Afro Samurai scores a hit on his initial attack in the same turn he first draws his weapon in a combat, the attack deals 23 (5d8) additional damage.
Feat: Charger. When Afro Samurai uses his action to Dash, he can use a bonus action to make one melee weapon attack or to shove a creature. If he moves at least 10 feet in a straight line immediately before taking this bonus action, he either gains a +5 bonus to the attack’s damage roll (if he chose to make a melee attack and hit) or pushes the target up to 10 feet away from him (if he chose to shove and succeeds).

REACTIONS
Feat: Swordmaster. When an enemy would provoke an opportunity attack, Afro Samurai may spend his reaction to move up to his speed, ending his movement adjacent to that enemy (or as close as possible).
In addition while wielding a katana, Afro Samurai can use his reaction to cut a missile in twain when he is hit by a ranged weapon attack, reducing its damage by 19 (1d12+2d6+6).

6 comments

  1. […] Hi I’m Mike, welcome to my website, check out the rest of it at your leisure (buttons at the top have free stuff as well as Street Fighter D&D 5e, Hyper Score Marvel, and random 5E builds–including Afro Samurai). […]

Leave a comment