Perfect Character Builds For A Roleplay Based Campaign In DND

Some Dungeons & Dragons tables prefer all combat all the time, or even prove to enjoy more of a hack-and-slash, loot-and-plunder playstyle. However, some tables are more heavily focused on the roleplaying aspects of D&D, and may even go multiple games without ever having to roll initiative.

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If this is the case with your D&D table, you’re going to want to tailor your character build around roleplay and utility as opposed to combat efficiency. But, where do you start when it comes to creating a roleplay-based build? Here’s a list of some of the best roleplay-based character builds in Dungeons & Dragons.

10

The Mournful Barbarian

One of the most important elements of character creation when it comes to roleplay is making sure you have a compelling backstory to work off of. The path of the ancestral guardian subclass for barbarians is perfect for backstory creation. With this subclass, you have access to magical ancestral spirit guardians who can aid you in battle.

But, what if these guardians are perhaps more familiar to you than you might expect? Perhaps these guardians are the spirits of your fallen allies in battle, or even your character’s family. Use the haunted one background from Curse of Strahd to round out this character concept.

9

The Bashful Bard

For expert roleplayers, the college of whispers subclass for bards is a must-use at some point in your Dungeons & Dragons journey. This subclass is all about using your wiles to enter spaces you might not normally have access to. After all, most adventuring parties on the road are likely to welcome a traveling bard into their encampment in exchange for a song or two.

With this character concept, you get the opportunity to play an unassuming, bashful bard who secretly uses their bardic abilities to extort information out of people. With this character concept, you get a lot of opportunity to flex your roleplay skills and catch your DM by surprise.

8

Master Of Deception Rogue

This character concept is relatively straightforward, but augmented by an often underutilized rogue subclass: the mastermind. This subclass is all about being a master manipulator and reader of people. If your campaign is based around palace intrigue or mystery, this character concept is fantastic.

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Use the criminal background to flesh out the character concept, and tiefling to give yourself some innate spellcasting that you can use to your advantage. What makes this build so perfect for roleplay-based campaigns is that most of the mastermind abilities are mental stat-based. So, even though you won’t get much in terms of combat buffs, your character will excel in terms of roleplay.

7

Warbound Wizard

This next character build is all about playing against type. In a roleplay-based campaign, you have the opportunity to focus on an interesting character concept rather than character optimization, meaning you can combine unique backgrounds, subclasses, and species altogether in one.

This build allows you to roleplay a character who is, in essence, a weapon of war. You were a soldier before your life of adventure. When your battalion leader discovered your gift for magic and your innate abilities as an aasimar, the army you served turned you into a superweapon, forcing you to use your arcane gifts for merciless ends. This build is sure to offer a ton of fun roleplay flavor throughout your campaign.

6

Guardian Of Worlds Ranger

The horizon walker ranger subclass is often overlooked, as is the ranger class altogether. For a roleplay-based campaign, you might be more interested in playing a full caster. However, this subclass combo and character build shouldn’t be dismissed.

The horizon walker ranger is all about serving as a guardian for extraplanar portals. This gives you a lot of opportunity to come up with a unique backstory as to what portals you guard and your relationship with the outer planes. Use elf and guide to help flesh out your spell list with additional roleplay-based spells so that you don’t miss out on a fuller spell list.

5

The Drunk Monk

While spellcasting and support classes often lend themselves better to roleplay-based campaigns, nothing says you can’t also use melee or martial classes and tailor builds to roleplay. The drunken master monk subclass is a great opportunity to do just that.

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Combine this subclass, which is all about flavoring your monk attacks to look like drunken accidents rather than deft skill with the sailor background to grant yourself the Tavern Brawler feat. This will help flesh out your character concept and create interesting roleplay opportunities. Dragonborn make for great monks thanks to their damage resistances as well.

4

Rune Warrior

The rune warrior subclass is a fighter subclass that often doesn’t get selected. This subclass derives its power from rune-based magic, an ancient art form that originated with the giants. Select goliath, a species derived from giants, to help tie this character concept together.

This subclass grants fighters rune-based magic that can be extremely helpful both in combat and roleplay-based situations. For example, creating a cloud rune can grant you advantage on deception checks. Select the farmer background to increase your Constitution, which augments your spell save DC for these effects.

3

Dreaming Druid

The circle of dreams druid is an extremely helpful subclass that can turn your druid into a full-on support class for your party. This build offers a lot of combat-based buffs early on in its progression, but by the time you reach 14th level, it offers a lot of fun roleplay opportunities. When you reach 14th level, your druid gets access to great roleplay-based spells like Dream and Scrying.

For this build, choose the hermit background to increase your Wisdom, one of your key stats for a druid, and to help flesh out your support-based abilities thanks to the Healer feat you gain with this background. Lastly, select tortle as your species to synergize well with a druid’s love of nature.

2

Protector Of The Grave Cleric

For this character concept, talk to your Dungeon Master about using the reborn lineage from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft as your species. This lineage assumes that your character died and came back to life at least once. This is perfect for grave domain clerics, as these clerics are all about preserving the boundary between life and death.

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This combination gives you excellent roleplay opportunities. You yourself are undead, yet you seek to eradicate undead altogether. Roleplaying this contradiction is great for expert players who are looking for a highly unique character build.

1

Seeking Redemption Paladin

Though many players opt to use the oath of redemption subclass in their campaigns, very few roleplay it correctly. However, this subclass is ideal for roleplay-based campaigns for one very important reason: this paladin oath forbids violence except as a last resort.

If you’re not expecting a combat-focused campaign, this paladin oath is perfect. You’ll be able to rely primarily on your alignment and roleplay to help solve your problems. Select the noble background for buffs to your Charisma and Strength, two important paladin stats. Plus, this background can help flesh out your backstory: Have you forsaken a life of status and wealth to pursue a greater good?

Dungeons and Dragons

Original Release Date

1974

Designer

E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson

Player Count

2+