I’ve fallen back into Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms hard over the last little week (in my defense, them introducing a new hero that is just three kobolds in a trenchcoat is just plain unfair) and in between runs, spending accumulated favor, and opening multiple chests, I started to wonder how these characters might look as D&D characters. I know, I know – many of them ARE D&D characters, but how might they look in 5th Edition as they are portrayed in Idle Champions?
Now obviously the heroes in the game are designed with specific roles in mind and can do many things that are just not able to be replicated by a PC build, no matter how wild and inventive you get. But what about building them as NPCs? Monsters don’t follow the same rules as PCs after all.
So that’s what we’re going to explore with this feature – each installment will highlight a different champion from the game fully realized as an NPC for use in 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons.
For this first installment, we’re going to take a look at the hero that takes you through the tutorial. The little dwarf that’s always there for you at the start of an adventure. You know him. You love him. Friend to Drizzt Do’Urden and Regis. Adoptive father of Catti-brie and Wulfgar. Crafter of Aegis-fang. Member of the Companions of the Hall.
Let’s start with the one – the only – Bruenor Battlehammer. A support champion in the game, his Rally ability makes his allies better by simply being near them and he himself gets better when he’s around other dwarves.
Bruenor really does one thing, but he does it well – he ensures his allies’ attacks connect and when they do, the enemy will feel it. Battlemaster gives him a few rounds of pumping his own damage output, but that’s not his focus. He is going to be much more useful to his allies by using Rally whenever it recharges to grant them advantage on their attacks and give them bonus damage. Shield Master is a good use of his reaction if he’s in a position to do it, possibly turning a hit into a miss but also inspiring that ally on their next attack as well. Dwarven Glory is a very situational ability, but it was too fitting to not include.
At a CR 5, he’s not a huge threat to high-level parties, but he’s meant to be a team player and a team leader, bringing a number of allies into battle with him. And if his team can control the action economy better than the PCs, they could be in a for a bit of a shock if they write him off.
That’s it for this edition of Champion’s Spotlight. Make sure you stay tuned for more!
Ben Erickson
