You: “Some of you begrudgingly accept that my videos are long.” Me: *specifically looks for 30m+ videos to put on while doing work/working out so I don’t have to change videos frequently*
For me Colby, the longer the better. You always used the time to explain your reasoning and that just made your videos better. I wouldn't worry about it to much. Or if you do add the extra explanations to your final thoughts so those who want shorter can leave and the rest of us can hear all of your thoughts
Colby said he would never do this in his Knight in Shining armor video, but qualified it by saying he might eat his words one day... Today is that day 😂. Love the content!
Concerning rodeos, I think the optional rule "Climb onto a Bigger Creature" (DMG pg. 271) has you covered. I quote: "[A] suitably large opponent can be treated as terrain for the purpose of jumping onto its back or clinging to a limb. After making any ability checks necessary to get into position and onto the larger creature, the smaller creature uses its action to make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check contested by the target's Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If it wins the contest, the smaller creature successfully moves into the target creature's space, the smaller creature moves with the target and has advantage on attack rolls against it. The smaller creature can move around within the larger creature's space, treating the space as difficult terrain. The larger creature's ability to attack the smaller creature depends on the smaller creature's location, and is left to your discretion. The larger creature can dislodge the smaller creature as an action-knocking it off, scraping it against a wall, or grabbing and throwing it-by making a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the smaller creature's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. The smaller creature chooses which ability to use." I've used this rule as a player playing a particularly dexterous fighter. It's a tonne of fun. I imagine a rogue would benefit quite a lot from this rule, which is both balanced and flavourful. Climbing onto the back of the dragon to stab it between its scales is _exactly_ the type of move a rogue would do.
Ooh, that's my next character. A small race, like a Goblin, and a Rogue for expertise in Acrobatics. You could theoretically jump onto a humanoid creature(it makes sense given the size difference between a goblin) and with that consistent Acrobatics, consistently get advantage for Sneak Attack on them... if they waste their action, then they MIGHT be able to throw you off, but not likely if you invest into Lucky or other things to make sure you stick. Awesome idea!
@@deschain1910 absolutely true. Terrifying, and terrifyingly powerful, potentially. Combo it with a little Fighter or maybe... *Barbarian*... and you might have some fun
There are several attacks and mechanics in the video game Dragons Dogma that simulate these mechanics. There are also a few enemy creatures in elden ring that do this, like the vulgar militia enemies.
@@reaprcussion5703 And that reminds me that the new version of bugbear has a feature that let's them go into spaces of small creatures without squeezing, so with a generous DM, because the words are a bit different, you could do this with a bugbear on top of a fellow medium or larger creature.
Another option for the little dude is Kobold. It delays getting Mounted Combatant, sure, but you do get Pack Tactics. Which is really good for this particular strategy.
I think that’s pushing it, as cosmetic is becoming more than cosmetic in this case. Additionally, you still wont have equine build which is pretty important so you can confidently carry the party member and their equipment along with yours
@@cockman8437 Maybe it is pushing it put not very much. I think most dms at regular tables wouldn't mind this. As far as equine build goes yeah I gotta say didn't think about that. That's a lot of weight you're carrying.
I love the mindscrew that this combo provides both mechanically and visually, because most enemies would assume the big, intimidating centaur is the tank. Imagine the for trying to attack before hearing, “Hey, eyes up here!” when the Blade uses Unwavering Mark on em haha. As soon as they’re forced to attack the smaller one, the bigger one skewers them for their trouble 🤣!
Just wanted to point out that monsters of the multiverse changed hoof dmg from 1d4 to 1d6(+STR modifier). Also, many races now have small option available. Would love to hear your opinion on what race you would take in that case.
I'm a little surprised the rider wasn't the rogue as it provides use of steady aim feature, also the mount already has evasion from the rider's mounted combatant feat. Definitely subverted my expectations as I just assumed the centaur would be the tank.
I assumed the same. Effectively having Evasion on both would be kind of awesome if both were dex focused, or if the centaur was a barbarian so at least they'd get Danger Sense to help with the dex saves.
Yeah, also very surprised. I was expecting a Steady Aim Booming Blade Rogue riding around on a Centaur Ancestor Barb tank with Mobile. At lvl 5, the rogue can ready a Booming Blade, and the centaur is 60 ft speed, so they can run forward, extra attack, bonus hooves, reaction Booming Blade from the rogue, and then the centaur moves away again, leaving the enemy stranded with the Boom and the Ancestors hanging over their head.
I hope you found a way to get warding bond on the tank. Would be super sick to leverage the mount's HP to the tank's (considering it won't be attacked very often), plus the AC and save bonuses.
At this point in the build I don't think I would personally count shield in the blade's total armor class, as with only 1 level in sorcerer they only have 2 spell slots, and even assuming 2 combats per long rest, both of them would be taken up by shield of faith. Still a really cool build though, and I might play this with a friend in a one shot coming up!
one of my DM's allowed me to do the "master blaster" thing with my halfling wizard riding in a specially designed harness on the back of a flesh golem. it usually worked really well because the harness was fitted with a quick release device and my wizard could fly up via his winged boots. it was also handy because if the golem was taking too much damage, the wizard could hit it with a shocking grasp ( one time even used a lightning bolt ) to heal it. :)
What's fantastic about this is that it's a really novel way of fixing the issue of Rogue toughness. Normally you don't want to hang out in melee range, what with your studded leather armor and nothing-special d8 die. Here, Mounted Combatant keeps you really safe, and it doesn't even cost a reaction from the rider. It's interesting to try to ponder if there could be some other class for the Centaur. Would a caster work? Concentration seems a lot easier to protect if you don't have to worry about AC, since enemies can't attack you if they can attack your rider. In which case, maybe you want to stay at range... a Centaur Dao Warlock concentrating on something like Spike Growth or Sickening Radiance, and an Arcane Archer mount using Grasping Arrow. There's nothing in the rules that says a mount can't be a cheese grater. And then eventually you start FLYING.
So, first thank you for this character build. Had forgotten that the rider has to be small. That kills my build (none in my party is small) but it does so before playing. Thx for saving me. Second: There are some characters who can fly. There must be a good way to use it... like warlocks Grasp of Hadar, pulling up to four (8 with sorcerer multiclass) enemies 10 feet in the air for additional 1d6 damage and prone status.
So my friend and I always wanted to do a Master-Blaster build. We saw this and loved the idea, so we made it for our newest campaign, but altered to fit us. Note: this campaign started at 7th-level. I'm the centaur "mount" Ancestral/Phantom Barbarogue, he's the halfling "blade" Ancestor/Artillerist Palificer. His canon means that even when he gets hit he has temp HP to soak damage, and my rage keeps us alive when he's getting beat up too much. One of our tactics is to fly (our DM gave us each a magic item, I chose winged boots, he chose Saddle of the Cavalier) up to one tough guy then I'll grapple him (expertise in athletics) and fly to the biggest threat, which he'll smite to death. This keeps two major threats from our squishies. When the time is right, I fly up and drop the grappled enemy. The synergy is just too great between these characters, and the RP has been so much fun with my guy always talking to dead people and his guy looking like a robotic knight. He doesn't have his aura yet, but when he does we'll be nigh unstoppable! On top of that, he's a healer and utility castor and I'm a total skill monkey. And our sorcerer will often cast twinned Enlarged on us... yeah. Good times.
Jokes on you, I'm into the hour+ long videos because I listen to them at work. Jokes aside, something I feel never really gets considered when Booming Blade is used(particularly on a stealthy rogue), is that it makes a loud "boom" that can be heard within 300 feet of the cast.
I have to say, i like the length, having only recently found the channel, it's like a buddy talking about cool idea every week, and I find myself looking forward to new episodes.
I didn't really consider them a mounting duo, but one of my players had another player, his gnome uncle, on his back as part of his monk training, and now that I look back on it, we were technically using mounted combat rules without realizing it. I was going to impose some sort of disadvantage or speed reduction, but we did the weight calculations and found that thanks to the monk's higher strength stat, in according to the weight rules it didn't really impose any restrictions. It was a fun concept and I figured since both players were okay with it it would be fine. Didn't break the game or immersion at all, and they did a lot of fun rush-in, thunderstep the both of them out strategies I came to enjoy seeing.
One of the first campaigns that I ran for my sons was a Star Wars game where my oldest boy played a Wookie and the youngest played a Jawa. The Jawa would frequently ride in a specially constructed harness on the Wookie's back, which would allow him to mechanically change his facing, so that if they were running away, the Jawa could still lay down fire at their pursuers with two small blasters. On the matter of Charger, I just combined it with Savage Attacker in my game as part of an effort to bring some of the frequently unused feats onto the table. The Fighter/Barbarian/Paladin player really likes it.
I appreciate the fireball calculation. Rime of the frost maiden has an encounter with 3 flame skulls. Soooo many fireballs. After that encounter, we made a scale chart to discuss encounters in a flame skull scale. Oh, a shark, that's one quarter on a flame skull
Between referencing the ancestors barbarian and mentioning the sentinel feat, I had a thought pop into my head for something of a damned if you do/damned if you don't concept. Ancestors barbarian for the disadvantage on attacks not directed at you. Battle master fighter: pushing attack and riposte Sentinel feat Some way of giving disadvantage on attacks against you. Push your AC as high as reasonably (or unreasonably) achievable So the idea is, you hit the target, giving them disadvantage on attacks against others. You have the sentinel feat, so if they try to leave, you hit them, pop pushing attack, dropping their speed to 0 and moving them away from you, where they're stuck. If they attack you, between disadvantage and your AC, they probably miss, and you can riposte, popping pushing attack if desired on multiattack enemies. Sentinel drops their speed to 0, so they're stuck where they land. I'm not sure it would all work, but it would be a downright rude combo if it all does.
if the blade goes first in combat, they also could use on of their sorcerer cantrips to attack if they dont want to use up their reaction. they could also just take the dodge action to be even tankier
'Saddle of the Cavalier' feels like it just replaces the Cavalier subclass xD Depending on how likely you are able to find an uncommon magic item in your setting. Throw in modified armorer (Flash of Genius, Mirror Image, Thorn Whip, Booming Blade etc.) and throw in a dip of cleric for more healing, emboldening bond and +2 AC for getting married to your mount. :p Going artificer at 10th level you can make a helm of awareness for the mount, making things less awkward for initiative most of the time.
I thought I got all my 7th grade giggles out of the way, but then you said “one of the characters has the appropriate anatomy.” That was very unfair, Colby!
1) I love this idea. Sparks were going off in my brain and I arrived at the same place (omg reaction rogue attacks without resources). 2) I know it’s a little late to change your methodology regarding units of measurement for tanking, but I think it might be better to calculate damage taken per round with resources and without. For examples, this character was calculated at lv6 with two spell slots to tank as if they had at least thirteen. The vampire was calculated to tank for like twenty rounds as if they had infinite uses of their racial, when they only had a handful. The “rounds to die” is a misleading name for the unit, if not straight up false. Plus, I think it’s very useful to know the burst vs sustained tanking profile of a build, since encounters are kind of on a spectrum between efficiency and not dying as the goal. “Knight Rider” was my favorite too lol looking forward to part 2
Me son & I actually created master blaster in a campaign. He was a Goliath Fighter. I played a Kobold Mastermind thief who was hand crossbow wielder. It worked out very well. I was basically a familiar with a lot of utility and I always had advantage because of Pack tactics!
If you later multiclass the mount with armor art when it hits something it's got disadvantage against others and so all the attacks directed at it will be forced onto the cavalier at disadvantage
Found another way to make an awesome centaur + rider combo. Rider takes 5 lvls of Glamour Bard. Centaur uses ashardalon's stride. Your rider can give you temp HP and full reaction movement. That is 5 times per short rest up to 15 times per day assuming the 2 short rest standard. No opportunity attacks. At least 60 ft of movement on your turn.
I am so glad I found your channel! There's been months I've not got to play DnD (either the DM is in another continent, or busy, or a few players are busy, or something or the other). I have found solace in trying out various character builds, and this channel just inspires. Chef's kiss. I like doing the math around builds, I like making builds that are versatile or fun to play out of combat, and this channel gives me both. Thank you.
It could be fun to hand-and-brain the movement in combat, assuming the players are already mounted as the double unit prior to initiative being rolled, such that whichever player rolls higher controls the (singular) movement of pair for each round until that combat concludes. They each retain control of their actions independently, but function as a single unit for the purposes of movement in combat.
Potential snag regarding equipment: does a centaur use armor designed for humanoids? Or do they have to use barding to cover the rest of their body? Because barding costs 4x as much as humanoid armor of the same kind and weighs twice as much. Also you may need a saddle.
Since you brought it up, the ghost of Glenn Larson demands a Knight Rider build, maybe a warforged mount? A Manimal or Six Million Dollar builds would be acceptable substitutes.
My wife and I did a similar idea w a druid and barbarian. Love this concept and your execution rocks. Our party was very suboptimal so our less than optimal duo did great... but I love this.
My friend and I workshopped this and also found success making the blade character an Oath of the Crown Paladin for some really nice synergy. The boost to saves alone were great at mid-tier play, and it just got better for the compelled duel and Channel Divinity features that got the enemies closer to you. Plus, getting spirit Guardians on you and the mount is great with that mobility.
Crown has some fun synergy for sure. I see 2 other great variation options. (I'm revisiting some of the old videos and reading through the comments) 1 is taking a dip into order cleric and combine that with some fun combat utility spells for (extra) reaction attacks for the rider. The 2nd is combining your arcane trickster slots with upto 7 vengeance paladin lvls and barbarian for a really fun chaser with also your channel divinity advantage on reaction attacks. Or we take 2 barbarian, 1 undead warlock, 7 conquest paladin and the rest arcane trickster. Try running away from that without teleports. I also think that we could do better for the rider too. With the summoner rider kobold dipping order cleric so you/we can give advantage to both our mount, ourselves and our summons/Animate Objects. Hmm if we hate fast combat combining Animate Dead with Danse Macabre on a gish necromancer or spore druid could be fun. Though just sticking to 1 order, 5 battle master and rest in sorcerer with animate objects and some quicken spells. I now (a while after a decent research rabbit hole) realise we could also have the centaur some lvls in rune knight and attach a decently big chariot to him on which we place skeleton archers and cast animate objects on their short swords with the rider on top of the centaur. Hmm if we want to do this without the team dynamic, we have animate dead, phantom steed, animate objects (although to be fair Ashardalons stride also seems hella cool/hot 😅😂😊), tensers floating disk with maybe some kind of bladed whirling construction floating behind us 😂😅😊😮😱😈😁 or something like stinking cloud/pyro techincs (smokescreen option)/cloud kill or some other weird shenanigans, so in this case 1 order cleric/necromancer wizard and maybe something with extra attack if that floats your boat like it does mine. My apologies in advance for the long confusing text, between the brain farts, tangents and other distractions, sometimes my posts are harder to understand compared to when I talk. 😅😊
44:45 If you think you need Absorb Elements, I would consider passing on Shield of Faith instead of Shield. You can concentrate on Bless when it makes sense, like if you win initiative and don't know what's lurking. With SoF you're at a decent risk of losing concentration too particularly when your proficiency bonus is smaller and the Shield spell will protect from the big hits which Heavy Armor Master won't be helping so much.
I felt it when you said that most dms don't just attack one character usually. When my older brother dms I am target number one almost always. I'm a bit of an optimizer though so I just look at it as a challenge lol. The combo seems cool can't wait for the next episode.
I think I'd go with a dragon sorcerer centaur for the mount. Twin enlarge/reduce on the mount and rider for the advantage combo with mounted combatant. When you get to high levels you get wings as well! Basically a Warhammer dragon ogre.
Another great video! Hearing your voice always cheers me up :) I think a perfect magic item for this build would be the saddle of the cavalier so that if and when you can't redirect a hit for whatever reason (maybe the mounted character is running out of hitpoints!) the mount character would be being attacked with disadvantage which is great for an item with no attunement!
I'm currently playing a Centaur character in a Curse of Strahd campaign - a Stars Druid. I've found this useful in considering whether to explore one of the other party members using me as a mount in combat. Thanks!
Some other ideas for the blade since the soft taunt isn't nearly as necessary compared to other tanks: wolf totem barbarian always gives mount permanent advantage while raging and trades heavy armor and heavy armor master for rage and dex save advantage, a conquest paladin can prevent an enemy from attacking you and then moving away after the mount has already made a reaction attack some of the time after level 7 and gives much better saves to both characters at level 6, and a twilight cleric can effectively give itself and allies an absurd amount of hitpoints and can cast spirit guardians to make it harder for enemies to get away and attack your allies while dodging every round to boost its defense way up while still dealing strong damage because sg is broken, among all the other benefits its spells and features give.
I actually had this idea recently to make a tag team combo. It's a shame people don't like these videos more. I for one would love to see more of these team up builds!
I'd argue Loxodon is also a viable option for the mount half since their trunk is capable of grappling another creature, without interfering with them using their hands. So it should be not an issue for a Loxodon (particularly if the Loxodon is Large by virtue of Rune Knight or Enlarge/Reduce) to hold and carry around a Small ally with them.
I genuinely like the idea of a tall humanoid race in DnD being able to have a small race in a harness on their back. Seems like a blast. Probs not at all accurate or viable but just the idea is, as C-Dog said, 1000% Master Blaster. And that's awesome
Honestly, I would be very fine with splitting multiple character builds into multiple videos. That way you don't prep work is more in line in the single builds even though it always will be more due to synergy stuffs ^^ I've always been wondering how a tank build based around the artificer defender cannon would work, either as single or duo build. Three levels is enough for it really, but a fourth for feat might be useful I guess. Feels it should have some really nice use, especially since your party can make use of it. Making a small saddle or whatever for the defender cannon, make it tiny size and then fasten it on your hip or something. Or fashion it as a bracer or whatever, main thing is wearing it. Then either heavy armour master or berserker for resistance and reserving spell slots for cannons and utility.
I am really excited for more two-player combo character builds. Like you said, it's more exciting to me to have a great combo rather than just a great solo PC. Edit: I just got to 28:55 and it suddenly clicked what you are going for. Unbelievable! XD
1: never realized that anti-synergy between cavalier and the lance, that seems like a huge oversight-if they don’t want to up the range of the cavalier ability, it should at least give an exception for lance use. 2: I didn’t expect the mounted one to be the tank part, very clever. 3: When you explained the sentinel x mounted combatant piece, I shouted out irl ‘oh that’s dirty! That’s nasty!’ So thank you for that bit of distress and confusion to my neighbors
Was looking at other rogue options and soulknife could be REALLY good. Especially if your DM is nice and lets psychic veil work with your mounted ally since you are carrying them. Your DM would be really nice if attacks from your ally don’t end it either since you aren’t attacking 🤔
Synergy episodes are my favorites ! It's so fun to build characters together with a friend ! I hope there will be other build like that from time to time. Breaking them in 2 episodes is maybe the solution Edit after watching the video : this it to me the most interesting and fun build you ever did ! I will definitively try it.
it's so funny that you made this video now because my friend and I just played characters like this. I played a plasmoid twilight cleric because they can change their shape into a feasibly rideable shape. My friend played a halfling zealot barbarian. It was incredibly fun
Zealot barbarian works super well with this type of build because while they're raging they literally cannot die so all attacks directed at me went towards an impenetrable wall. With this, my friend could bash enemies while I buffed them and our allies. All I had to do to make sure the synergy worked was heal them before their rage ended to stop them from dying.
I recently got a promotion at work which has given me access to an office and a computer. This means that I can (and will) listen to your builds as a soothing podcast. This is the first one I've managed to catch almost immediately after your upload. Looking forward to the follow up levels for these characters! As a side-note: I've been making loads of bards lately. The extra 6 (or 8) spells means you can customise for pretty much anything you want. I would be very interested in seeing your interpretation of a damage dealing (mostly-)Bard spellcaster because most, if not all, of their subclasses don't really do much for spell DPR
i'd played a blaster/summoner lore bard. Capable of dealing 38d6 to a single target at level 6 (though in reality i did it at level 7 as i started with fighter 1). it can do 11d6 if there are 4 targets or 21d6 if there are 2 targets. doable twice early on then as much as you want by level 8-9. i can share if interested.
@@delibirdite oks so a little background. this build was borne of the back of my frustrations with the conjure animals spell. i pretty much avoided conjure animals as my DM would either not let me choose or would always pick a trash creature or just let me roll on a random table. After tasha's came out, i found another use for the spell that disregarded mostly what the DM chose for me: blasting. Tasha's specified rules now for falling on a creature. as long as the creatures aren't tiny, the creature that is "falled on" takes half the falling dmg (the other half goes to the falling creature) and is knocked prone unless they fail a dc 15 dex save. the combo here is combining it with the sorc's distant spell. the tactic basically is about casting conjure animals high up in the air above your targeted enemy and using distant spell to extend conjure animals range so you can cast it much higher then increase the falling dmg. To further boost, use a flying race 1st to fly up before casting to increase the distance further such as gem dragonborn, winged tiefling, etc. without flying up (as i'm not sure if flying races are allowed at your table) here's a breakdown of how to position the 8 animals with distant level 3 conjure animals and the dmg: 120-125 ft: 11d6/2 + prone 115-120 ft: 11d6/2 + prone 110-115 ft: 10d6/2 + prone 105-110 ft: 10d6/2 + prone 100-105 ft: 9d6/2 + prone 95-100 ft: 9d6/2 + prone 90-95 ft: 8d6/2 + prone 85-90 ft: 8d6/2 + prone the above assumes falling on a medium creature. the dmg could be slightly less on bigger creatures as they are taller and would "break the fall" faster. that's also 8 dex saves to force the enemy to be knocked prone (they are likely to fail 1/8). assuming failed dex saves, that's a base dmg potential of 38d6 of falling dmg to your target (it's 76d6 but of course it's cut in half where the other half is dealt to your falling animals). 38d6 falling dmg for a 3rd level spell and 1 sorcery point is pretty good. stack in a flying race like an aarakockra and we extrapolate those numbers to 50d6. All doable sustainably at level 8 and for limited time (2x per day) at level 6. And of course if the enemy is still alive, it is highly likely to be prone. send your melee allies in to attack with advantage. and of course at later levels we tripleclass into fighter 2 to be able to do this twice on turn 1. and of course if you want to hit multiple targets we can lessen the dmg and divide the falling creatures. here's the details of the build, level 10 theorycraft: "moo-teor swarm" fighter 2, lore bard 6, divine soul 2 any flying race asi: metamagic adept-distant spell, subtle spell fighting style: superior technique-ambush magical secrets: conjure animals, find steed key spells: guidance, conjure animals (8 cows), find steed (warhorse flavored as a cow), aid, false life bardic focus: cowbell tactics: pre-combat: ride find cow (independent mount). cast 2nd level false life on self (shared by cow). cast aid on the party and cow. walk around continuous casting guidance for initiative bonus (shared by cow). 1st round: bonus action: bardic inspiration find cow fly up from find cow 30 ft into the air action: cast conjured cow on the bbeg, dropping 8 kobe beef on him. if still alive... action surge: cast conjured cow on the bbeg, dropping 8 kobe beef on him. if still alive, they're most likely prone after taking 16 dc 15 dex saves. find cow: moves towards bbeg and attacks twice (bonus action attack since bbeg is prone from trampling charge). use BI as needed. that's 100d6 + whatever your find cow does at level 8-10 for a single target. should you have ceiling limitation and can't do the "moo-teor swarm" tactic of the build, then the build switches gears to a summoner and uses 8 conjured cows (my Dm allowed me to choose cows since it was a crap beast) that attacks with you and your find cow mount.
@@delibirdite sure. glad you liked it. i had fun playing it as well as the theme of my build was a cow herder bard. lots of jokes around the table. got to play it until level 16 levelling up mainly in lore bard to get the next set of magical secrets. the build was a beast in combat and being a bard i also did well outside of combat.
Colby, to your point about our team up builds not getting as many views: un all the groups I've been in, I dont think 2 of us have ever co-conspired to create characters that work together. After watching your videos, I think we've been missing out frankly, but I can barely find out if we have a cleric, let alone any details! Regarding number of video parts, break them into whatever you need to, I don't think it's a big deal as long as you arent fluffing lol.
I like the build so far. My thoughts on the concept however would be to have both be tanks in some degree. If the centaur had a tanking feature such as the Ancestral Guardian, they could be immune to attacks themselves due to the Mounted Combatant feat but also make it so the Rider has resistance to all damage and attacks against him are at disadvantage. I'd likely take 5 levels AG for extra attack because rage prevents spellcasting. Then make 2 attacks with rage and reckless attack and a 3rd from Sentinel. All the while both parties are incredibly tanky. Given that Mounted Combatant already forces the target to attack you, the taunt mechanic on the Rider seems less valuable.
My favourite mount and rider combo is wolf totem barbarian centuar with a small sized paladin rider. Paladin uses spear and shield with PAM and mountedcombatant. Centuar uses PAM, GWM and Sentinel. Centaur can reckless attack for advantage with no downside. Paladin gets advantage from the barbarian wolf feature. At lvl 14 the centuar goes bear totem, enemies now have disadvantage to attack the rider and still cant attack the mount. Paladin takes a dip into glamour bard and can now move the mount when needed with mantle of inspiration. Both have great saves, advantage on all attacks and strong 7 attacks between them.
I think that Thrown Weapon Fighting would solve a lot of the initiative order issues. If you are not in range on your turn, you can chuck a couple of javelins at the enemy. It won't mark them and it will be less damage than a d8 weapon, but two attacks is better than one readied attack imo, especially because the mark is mostly irrelevant on attacks against your mount.
Hey man two builds two videos no sweat Edit/addition: you do the work to put in time stamps/chapters. Having the long videos able to be broken down is my preferred video. Keep doing your thing
good build colby. it mounted combatant is the perfect tank ability for these 2. great synergies in this build with sentinel and sneak attack. i think the duo builds aren't as successful as most people search youtube vids for ideas for themselves, not for themselves and their friend unless the friend has expressed wanting to play an extremely synergistic build with the searcher (in my experience these are wives, girlfriends, younger siblings). moreover, most people who play dnd want to play their own concept instead of sharing a concept with another player. as for the race, you could've played custom lineage with 4 legs either with centaur lineage or pulling from another race with a similar build.
Totally agree, Rob! I think there are plenty of people who wouldn’t mind “sharing” a character concept… but these are also not the players who normally care too much about combat or its minutiae . I know if I was playing with them, I would have to try really really hard not to be a control freak about what they were doing. The other piece here is that there are the members of the party who are not part of the duo, who may feel like these two are just kinda playing their own game.
@@egod555 agreed on both points. this is why i just build my own and figure out during session zero and gameplay how to synergize with my party. i don't want to control my party member's actions. i think duo builds work better at a small table (think like 2 players only) where it's just 2 players playing the duo build and thus not excluding other party members or the dm allows both players to control 2 characters since the party is small.
Me and my buddy did s Sentinel Moon Druid/Mounted Combatant Twilight Cleric mounted combat combo. Man that was so much fun. I was the druid buddy was cleric. Almost always he'd get advantage because I was like a Horse, Tiger, Giant Hyena, or like Giant Constrictor Snake. If anyone targeted me, usually having the lower AC, he'd force the creature to target him. When they did BOOM Sentinel attack! But then if he was getting lower in health I could tank some of the hits just because of the large amount of HP Moon Druid shapes can get in the early game. Not to mention Twilight Sanctuary would top off who ever needed health.
I honestly thought you were going to do the bearzerker druid/barbarian as the tank and utility outside of combat. I also thought the rider would be a rogue having the tank ally near for sneak attack and taking mounted combat, plus using steady aim. Very enjoyable build. Very impatient having to wait until next week, but that's a me thing. And in case no one says it, we love you too my friend. Have a most excellent week and see you for part 2.
Still catching up on older videos. I did find it humorous that instead of "Extra Attack" at level 5, we saw "Mount Level 4" for a second time. Oops. XD I do like the combos. It's unfortunate that these types of videos don't do as well for views. I would never ask for an entire party build, as you mentioned before that you get asked to do, but my friend and I do like trying to synergize our characters in some way. In Pathfinder 1e, he made a dragon bloodline bloodrager (sorcerer/barbarian hybrid class) and I went dragon bloodline sorcerer. It was nice to have characters who could share the same backstory and play off of one another. 5e doesn't really give you that kind of option.
More tanky thoughts for this duo. Twilight cleric's Twilight sanctuary or Artillerist's protector cannon both offer ways to consistently get temp HP every round in combat, severely blunting any damage that manages to get through.
This is a really cool build though I must admit when you first introduced the idea my first thought was not a tank build but a damage build. I was thinking your nature cleric spirit guardian video you did recently as the centaur, which seems to be absolutely the best class for a centaur except maybe druid, and a kobold battle master fighter or psi knife rogue. Though that's a different video for another time maybe.
You could also probably add the Mounts HP to the Tanking Stats, as you could strategically choose to let attacks hit the Mount, rather than soak every hit. And the Blade is going to have a really good Nova Damage round, Action Surge and Twinned Spell could be nasty!
This build video excites me! Might try a similar build when I get to play again someday with my brother. I have been a forever dm for a very long time, not that I don't love dming I am proud to be a forever dm
I admit the visual of the mount being the rogue and not the tank was counter-intuitive to what I thought it would be since a mount can use the Rogue Steady Aim feature without worrying about the loss of movement speed. However my mind was blown with the the Sentinel - Mounted Combatant combo for almost guaranteed sneak attack twice per round, and now I'm persuaded!
I had considered something similar to this, except I gave the mount cavalier so that all of the attacks against the rider would be at disadvantage and since rider has mounted combatant, mount can't be targeted giving rider unlimited disadvantage to be hit. Went with oath of ancients pally for rider so he could use shield of faith on self plus level 6 and 7 auras help mitigate spell damage. Rider also had dip in warlock to get shield and use charisma for weapon attack
You: “Some of you begrudgingly accept that my videos are long.”
Me: *specifically looks for 30m+ videos to put on while doing work/working out so I don’t have to change videos frequently*
For me Colby, the longer the better. You always used the time to explain your reasoning and that just made your videos better. I wouldn't worry about it to much. Or if you do add the extra explanations to your final thoughts so those who want shorter can leave and the rest of us can hear all of your thoughts
My drive to work is about 40-50 minutes. So skipping the very intro puts my drive to only hearing this.
Same. I appreciate the longer episodes. Colby, if you read this maybe you can post a longer version of the episodes elsewhere?
Right? I listen while in driving!
i love the longer ones, as well!
Colby said he would never do this in his Knight in Shining armor video, but qualified it by saying he might eat his words one day... Today is that day 😂. Love the content!
nom nom nom
@@DnDDeepDive Bon appetit
@@DnDDeepDive lol! Google translates your nom nom nom to name name name
@@Razdasoldier ha ha!
Colby puede chupar limon si quiere
Still watching (at about 10:00), but hear me out:
Centaur Rune Knight! Get that large size to open up more races for your partner!
This as my thought as well, just a 3 level dip in fighter, rest rogue
Concerning rodeos, I think the optional rule "Climb onto a Bigger Creature" (DMG pg. 271) has you covered. I quote: "[A] suitably large opponent can be treated as terrain for the purpose of jumping onto its back or clinging to a limb. After making any ability checks necessary to get into position and onto the larger creature, the smaller creature uses its action to make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check contested by the target's Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If it wins the contest, the smaller creature successfully moves into the target creature's space, the smaller creature moves with the target and has advantage on attack rolls against it.
The smaller creature can move around within the larger creature's space, treating the space as difficult terrain. The larger creature's ability to attack the smaller creature depends on the smaller creature's location, and is left to your discretion. The larger creature can dislodge the smaller creature as an action-knocking it off, scraping it against a wall, or grabbing and throwing it-by making a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the smaller creature's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. The smaller creature chooses which ability to use."
I've used this rule as a player playing a particularly dexterous fighter. It's a tonne of fun. I imagine a rogue would benefit quite a lot from this rule, which is both balanced and flavourful. Climbing onto the back of the dragon to stab it between its scales is _exactly_ the type of move a rogue would do.
Ooh, that's my next character. A small race, like a Goblin, and a Rogue for expertise in Acrobatics. You could theoretically jump onto a humanoid creature(it makes sense given the size difference between a goblin) and with that consistent Acrobatics, consistently get advantage for Sneak Attack on them... if they waste their action, then they MIGHT be able to throw you off, but not likely if you invest into Lucky or other things to make sure you stick. Awesome idea!
@@reaprcussion5703
The idea of a goblin jumping on someone and just stabbing like a sewing machine while they're latched on is kind of horrific. o_o
@@deschain1910 absolutely true. Terrifying, and terrifyingly powerful, potentially. Combo it with a little Fighter or maybe... *Barbarian*... and you might have some fun
There are several attacks and mechanics in the video game Dragons Dogma that simulate these mechanics.
There are also a few enemy creatures in elden ring that do this, like the vulgar militia enemies.
@@reaprcussion5703 And that reminds me that the new version of bugbear has a feature that let's them go into spaces of small creatures without squeezing, so with a generous DM, because the words are a bit different, you could do this with a bugbear on top of a fellow medium or larger creature.
Another option for the little dude is Kobold. It delays getting Mounted Combatant, sure, but you do get Pack Tactics. Which is really good for this particular strategy.
For race options: Custom lineage doesn't force you to be bipedal. you could say that you resemble your centaur kin but are of mixed linneage.
I think that’s pushing it, as cosmetic is becoming more than cosmetic in this case. Additionally, you still wont have equine build which is pretty important so you can confidently carry the party member and their equipment along with yours
@@cockman8437 Maybe it is pushing it put not very much. I think most dms at regular tables wouldn't mind this. As far as equine build goes yeah I gotta say didn't think about that. That's a lot of weight you're carrying.
It sounds a bit like "I look like an elf to have elven accuracy". Definitively a gray area.
I love the mindscrew that this combo provides both mechanically and visually, because most enemies would assume the big, intimidating centaur is the tank. Imagine the for trying to attack before hearing, “Hey, eyes up here!” when the Blade uses Unwavering Mark on em haha. As soon as they’re forced to attack the smaller one, the bigger one skewers them for their trouble 🤣!
Level 1:(see above) [rogue 1 & race + fighter 1, race & feat]
Level 2:(see above) [rogue 2 + fighter 2]
Level 3:(@22:42) [rogue 3 & sub-class + fighter 3 & sub-class]
Level 4:(@28:41) [rogue 4 & ASI + fighter 4 & ASI]
Level 5:(see above) [rogue 5 + fighter 5]
Level 6:(@34:04) [rogue 6 + sorcerer 1 & sub-class]
I played a moon druid bearbarian and I was a mount for a paladin. Very potent duo.
Just wanted to point out that monsters of the multiverse changed hoof dmg from 1d4 to 1d6(+STR modifier).
Also, many races now have small option available. Would love to hear your opinion on what race you would take in that case.
"Welcome home this is where u belong" I love Tuesdays
I'm a little surprised the rider wasn't the rogue as it provides use of steady aim feature, also the mount already has evasion from the rider's mounted combatant feat. Definitely subverted my expectations as I just assumed the centaur would be the tank.
I assumed the same. Effectively having Evasion on both would be kind of awesome if both were dex focused, or if the centaur was a barbarian so at least they'd get Danger Sense to help with the dex saves.
I was going to say this as well.
I was thinking that, but this iteration is much better.. the mount is allmost invulnerable
@@Fr4nZeR yeah it definitely subverted my expectations. Looking forward to the next episode.
Yeah, also very surprised. I was expecting a Steady Aim Booming Blade Rogue riding around on a Centaur Ancestor Barb tank with Mobile. At lvl 5, the rogue can ready a Booming Blade, and the centaur is 60 ft speed, so they can run forward, extra attack, bonus hooves, reaction Booming Blade from the rogue, and then the centaur moves away again, leaving the enemy stranded with the Boom and the Ancestors hanging over their head.
The hard taunt from the Mounted Combatant feat makes this combo spectacular and worth the price of admission.
I hope you found a way to get warding bond on the tank. Would be super sick to leverage the mount's HP to the tank's (considering it won't be attacked very often), plus the AC and save bonuses.
@@johngleeman8347 No spoilers! >.>
That title makes me so happy. One of my all time favorite games!
At this point in the build I don't think I would personally count shield in the blade's total armor class, as with only 1 level in sorcerer they only have 2 spell slots, and even assuming 2 combats per long rest, both of them would be taken up by shield of faith. Still a really cool build though, and I might play this with a friend in a one shot coming up!
Commenting for long video algorithm help. Love the concept
would love a team version of this, maybe a bugbear with 3 goblins on his back
one of my DM's allowed me to do the "master blaster" thing with my halfling wizard riding in a specially designed harness on the back of a flesh golem. it usually worked really well because the harness was fitted with a quick release device and my wizard could fly up via his winged boots. it was also handy because if the golem was taking too much damage, the wizard could hit it with a shocking grasp ( one time even used a lightning bolt ) to heal it. :)
I like the long videos. They are perfect for walking my dog, driving to work or working out at the gym.
This channel's grown but still SO underrated imho. The best source for builds hands down, and amazing theorycrafting, also very in-depth.
They have so much Synergy and act like a tank! This has got to be my favorite build!
What's fantastic about this is that it's a really novel way of fixing the issue of Rogue toughness. Normally you don't want to hang out in melee range, what with your studded leather armor and nothing-special d8 die. Here, Mounted Combatant keeps you really safe, and it doesn't even cost a reaction from the rider.
It's interesting to try to ponder if there could be some other class for the Centaur. Would a caster work? Concentration seems a lot easier to protect if you don't have to worry about AC, since enemies can't attack you if they can attack your rider. In which case, maybe you want to stay at range... a Centaur Dao Warlock concentrating on something like Spike Growth or Sickening Radiance, and an Arcane Archer mount using Grasping Arrow. There's nothing in the rules that says a mount can't be a cheese grater. And then eventually you start FLYING.
So, first thank you for this character build. Had forgotten that the rider has to be small. That kills my build (none in my party is small) but it does so before playing. Thx for saving me.
Second: There are some characters who can fly. There must be a good way to use it... like warlocks Grasp of Hadar, pulling up to four (8 with sorcerer multiclass) enemies 10 feet in the air for additional 1d6 damage and prone status.
So my friend and I always wanted to do a Master-Blaster build. We saw this and loved the idea, so we made it for our newest campaign, but altered to fit us. Note: this campaign started at 7th-level. I'm the centaur "mount" Ancestral/Phantom Barbarogue, he's the halfling "blade" Ancestor/Artillerist Palificer. His canon means that even when he gets hit he has temp HP to soak damage, and my rage keeps us alive when he's getting beat up too much. One of our tactics is to fly (our DM gave us each a magic item, I chose winged boots, he chose Saddle of the Cavalier) up to one tough guy then I'll grapple him (expertise in athletics) and fly to the biggest threat, which he'll smite to death. This keeps two major threats from our squishies. When the time is right, I fly up and drop the grappled enemy. The synergy is just too great between these characters, and the RP has been so much fun with my guy always talking to dead people and his guy looking like a robotic knight. He doesn't have his aura yet, but when he does we'll be nigh unstoppable! On top of that, he's a healer and utility castor and I'm a total skill monkey. And our sorcerer will often cast twinned Enlarged on us... yeah. Good times.
Jokes on you, I'm into the hour+ long videos because I listen to them at work.
Jokes aside, something I feel never really gets considered when Booming Blade is used(particularly on a stealthy rogue), is that it makes a loud "boom" that can be heard within 300 feet of the cast.
Thx for the work.
Would love to see more buddy -builds
YES! Mounted Combatant AND Heavy Armor Master, finally some of my favourite feats here. So proud.
I have to say, i like the length, having only recently found the channel, it's like a buddy talking about cool idea every week, and I find myself looking forward to new episodes.
i DID the mount as ''The Ashardalon's Strider'' and a blade that is a cleric with spirit guardians. ty for the amazing builds !!
I didn't really consider them a mounting duo, but one of my players had another player, his gnome uncle, on his back as part of his monk training, and now that I look back on it, we were technically using mounted combat rules without realizing it. I was going to impose some sort of disadvantage or speed reduction, but we did the weight calculations and found that thanks to the monk's higher strength stat, in according to the weight rules it didn't really impose any restrictions. It was a fun concept and I figured since both players were okay with it it would be fine. Didn't break the game or immersion at all, and they did a lot of fun rush-in, thunderstep the both of them out strategies I came to enjoy seeing.
One of the first campaigns that I ran for my sons was a Star Wars game where my oldest boy played a Wookie and the youngest played a Jawa. The Jawa would frequently ride in a specially constructed harness on the Wookie's back, which would allow him to mechanically change his facing, so that if they were running away, the Jawa could still lay down fire at their pursuers with two small blasters.
On the matter of Charger, I just combined it with Savage Attacker in my game as part of an effort to bring some of the frequently unused feats onto the table. The Fighter/Barbarian/Paladin player really likes it.
Like disassembled C3PO in Empire... as there is precedent, I would allow it :P.
@@DnDDeepDive Whisper, the Jawa, also built gyroscopic stabilization into the harness so there were no range penalties. :-)
I appreciate the fireball calculation. Rime of the frost maiden has an encounter with 3 flame skulls. Soooo many fireballs. After that encounter, we made a scale chart to discuss encounters in a flame skull scale. Oh, a shark, that's one quarter on a flame skull
Between referencing the ancestors barbarian and mentioning the sentinel feat, I had a thought pop into my head for something of a damned if you do/damned if you don't concept.
Ancestors barbarian for the disadvantage on attacks not directed at you.
Battle master fighter: pushing attack and riposte
Sentinel feat
Some way of giving disadvantage on attacks against you.
Push your AC as high as reasonably (or unreasonably) achievable
So the idea is, you hit the target, giving them disadvantage on attacks against others. You have the sentinel feat, so if they try to leave, you hit them, pop pushing attack, dropping their speed to 0 and moving them away from you, where they're stuck. If they attack you, between disadvantage and your AC, they probably miss, and you can riposte, popping pushing attack if desired on multiattack enemies. Sentinel drops their speed to 0, so they're stuck where they land.
I'm not sure it would all work, but it would be a downright rude combo if it all does.
I will say one thing about my gnome who rode the shoulders of our half-orc. He was an artificer and crafted essentially a baby bjorn type harness.
Thanks for mentioning my knight riders suggestion . And i love this team concept , so much fun and true to the centaur riding fantasy .
if the blade goes first in combat, they also could use on of their sorcerer cantrips to attack if they dont want to use up their reaction. they could also just take the dodge action to be even tankier
Indeed. Or throw a javelin. I just like being able to get our Unwavering Mark applied asap.
'Saddle of the Cavalier' feels like it just replaces the Cavalier subclass xD Depending on how likely you are able to find an uncommon magic item in your setting.
Throw in modified armorer (Flash of Genius, Mirror Image, Thorn Whip, Booming Blade etc.) and throw in a dip of cleric for more healing, emboldening bond and +2 AC for getting married to your mount. :p
Going artificer at 10th level you can make a helm of awareness for the mount, making things less awkward for initiative most of the time.
I thought I got all my 7th grade giggles out of the way, but then you said “one of the characters has the appropriate anatomy.” That was very unfair, Colby!
1) I love this idea. Sparks were going off in my brain and I arrived at the same place (omg reaction rogue attacks without resources).
2) I know it’s a little late to change your methodology regarding units of measurement for tanking, but I think it might be better to calculate damage taken per round with resources and without. For examples, this character was calculated at lv6 with two spell slots to tank as if they had at least thirteen. The vampire was calculated to tank for like twenty rounds as if they had infinite uses of their racial, when they only had a handful. The “rounds to die” is a misleading name for the unit, if not straight up false. Plus, I think it’s very useful to know the burst vs sustained tanking profile of a build, since encounters are kind of on a spectrum between efficiency and not dying as the goal.
“Knight Rider” was my favorite too lol looking forward to part 2
I was watching a really interesting podcast but immediately came over on receiving the notification ♥
Ooo what's the podcast about?💭😂
@@simphiwe4930 life TvT. Trash taste btw, just watching some of their old ones which I hadn't seen.
SAME
Me son & I actually created master blaster in a campaign. He was a Goliath Fighter. I played a Kobold Mastermind thief who was hand crossbow wielder. It worked out very well. I was basically a familiar with a lot of utility and I always had advantage because of Pack tactics!
If you later multiclass the mount with armor art when it hits something it's got disadvantage against others and so all the attacks directed at it will be forced onto the cavalier at disadvantage
Found another way to make an awesome centaur + rider combo. Rider takes 5 lvls of Glamour Bard. Centaur uses ashardalon's stride. Your rider can give you temp HP and full reaction movement. That is 5 times per short rest up to 15 times per day assuming the 2 short rest standard. No opportunity attacks. At least 60 ft of movement on your turn.
I am so glad I found your channel! There's been months I've not got to play DnD (either the DM is in another continent, or busy, or a few players are busy, or something or the other). I have found solace in trying out various character builds, and this channel just inspires. Chef's kiss. I like doing the math around builds, I like making builds that are versatile or fun to play out of combat, and this channel gives me both. Thank you.
Yay! Glad you're enjoying! And thanks :).
My favorite buddy mounting duo was Buddy and Mac from Adventures of the Darrington Brigade!
It could be fun to hand-and-brain the movement in combat, assuming the players are already mounted as the double unit prior to initiative being rolled, such that whichever player rolls higher controls the (singular) movement of pair for each round until that combat concludes.
They each retain control of their actions independently, but function as a single unit for the purposes of movement in combat.
Potential snag regarding equipment: does a centaur use armor designed for humanoids? Or do they have to use barding to cover the rest of their body? Because barding costs 4x as much as humanoid armor of the same kind and weighs twice as much. Also you may need a saddle.
Since you brought it up, the ghost of Glenn Larson demands a Knight Rider build, maybe a warforged mount? A Manimal or Six Million Dollar builds would be acceptable substitutes.
My wife and I did a similar idea w a druid and barbarian. Love this concept and your execution rocks. Our party was very suboptimal so our less than optimal duo did great... but I love this.
My friend and I workshopped this and also found success making the blade character an Oath of the Crown Paladin for some really nice synergy. The boost to saves alone were great at mid-tier play, and it just got better for the compelled duel and Channel Divinity features that got the enemies closer to you. Plus, getting spirit Guardians on you and the mount is great with that mobility.
Crown has some fun synergy for sure. I see 2 other great variation options. (I'm revisiting some of the old videos and reading through the comments) 1 is taking a dip into order cleric and combine that with some fun combat utility spells for (extra) reaction attacks for the rider. The 2nd is combining your arcane trickster slots with upto 7 vengeance paladin lvls and barbarian for a really fun chaser with also your channel divinity advantage on reaction attacks. Or we take 2 barbarian, 1 undead warlock, 7 conquest paladin and the rest arcane trickster. Try running away from that without teleports.
I also think that we could do better for the rider too. With the summoner rider kobold dipping order cleric so you/we can give advantage to both our mount, ourselves and our summons/Animate Objects. Hmm if we hate fast combat combining Animate Dead with Danse Macabre on a gish necromancer or spore druid could be fun. Though just sticking to 1 order, 5 battle master and rest in sorcerer with animate objects and some quicken spells.
I now (a while after a decent research rabbit hole) realise we could also have the centaur some lvls in rune knight and attach a decently big chariot to him on which we place skeleton archers and cast animate objects on their short swords with the rider on top of the centaur.
Hmm if we want to do this without the team dynamic, we have animate dead, phantom steed, animate objects (although to be fair Ashardalons stride also seems hella cool/hot 😅😂😊), tensers floating disk with maybe some kind of bladed whirling construction floating behind us 😂😅😊😮😱😈😁 or something like stinking cloud/pyro techincs (smokescreen option)/cloud kill or some other weird shenanigans, so in this case 1 order cleric/necromancer wizard and maybe something with extra attack if that floats your boat like it does mine.
My apologies in advance for the long confusing text, between the brain farts, tangents and other distractions, sometimes my posts are harder to understand compared to when I talk. 😅😊
Tanks a lot for the builds, man.
Nice work Colby! I love this concept!
44:45 If you think you need Absorb Elements, I would consider passing on Shield of Faith instead of Shield. You can concentrate on Bless when it makes sense, like if you win initiative and don't know what's lurking. With SoF you're at a decent risk of losing concentration too particularly when your proficiency bonus is smaller and the Shield spell will protect from the big hits which Heavy Armor Master won't be helping so much.
I felt it when you said that most dms don't just attack one character usually. When my older brother dms I am target number one almost always. I'm a bit of an optimizer though so I just look at it as a challenge lol.
The combo seems cool can't wait for the next episode.
This great, man. I love seeing you expand and tackle concepts you previously turned your nose too
I think I'd go with a dragon sorcerer centaur for the mount. Twin enlarge/reduce on the mount and rider for the advantage combo with mounted combatant. When you get to high levels you get wings as well! Basically a Warhammer dragon ogre.
Another great video! Hearing your voice always cheers me up :)
I think a perfect magic item for this build would be the saddle of the cavalier so that if and when you can't redirect a hit for whatever reason (maybe the mounted character is running out of hitpoints!) the mount character would be being attacked with disadvantage which is great for an item with no attunement!
48:46
Wanna know the best thing ever? I wasn't sure what you were talking about so I totally clicked the time stamp. Aaaaaand... I just rick rolled myself.
@@DnDDeepDive OMG!! I had a tiny hope that would happen!! 😂 I rolled a Nat 20 in life!
@@luiztomikawa
Multi-Part Team episodes that are an hour long each is more than fine with me. I personally like the longer content.
I'm currently playing a Centaur character in a Curse of Strahd campaign - a Stars Druid. I've found this useful in considering whether to explore one of the other party members using me as a mount in combat. Thanks!
Some other ideas for the blade since the soft taunt isn't nearly as necessary compared to other tanks: wolf totem barbarian always gives mount permanent advantage while raging and trades heavy armor and heavy armor master for rage and dex save advantage, a conquest paladin can prevent an enemy from attacking you and then moving away after the mount has already made a reaction attack some of the time after level 7 and gives much better saves to both characters at level 6, and a twilight cleric can effectively give itself and allies an absurd amount of hitpoints and can cast spirit guardians to make it harder for enemies to get away and attack your allies while dodging every round to boost its defense way up while still dealing strong damage because sg is broken, among all the other benefits its spells and features give.
I actually had this idea recently to make a tag team combo.
It's a shame people don't like these videos more. I for one would love to see more of these team up builds!
Nice twist! Something new for the bucket list.
With the Bigby Giants, barbarian for the mount gets so very tempting.
I'd argue Loxodon is also a viable option for the mount half since their trunk is capable of grappling another creature, without interfering with them using their hands. So it should be not an issue for a Loxodon (particularly if the Loxodon is Large by virtue of Rune Knight or Enlarge/Reduce) to hold and carry around a Small ally with them.
I genuinely like the idea of a tall humanoid race in DnD being able to have a small race in a harness on their back. Seems like a blast. Probs not at all accurate or viable but just the idea is, as C-Dog said, 1000% Master Blaster. And that's awesome
Honestly, I would be very fine with splitting multiple character builds into multiple videos. That way you don't prep work is more in line in the single builds even though it always will be more due to synergy stuffs ^^
I've always been wondering how a tank build based around the artificer defender cannon would work, either as single or duo build. Three levels is enough for it really, but a fourth for feat might be useful I guess.
Feels it should have some really nice use, especially since your party can make use of it. Making a small saddle or whatever for the defender cannon, make it tiny size and then fasten it on your hip or something. Or fashion it as a bracer or whatever, main thing is wearing it. Then either heavy armour master or berserker for resistance and reserving spell slots for cannons and utility.
I am really excited for more two-player combo character builds. Like you said, it's more exciting to me to have a great combo rather than just a great solo PC.
Edit: I just got to 28:55 and it suddenly clicked what you are going for. Unbelievable! XD
1: never realized that anti-synergy between cavalier and the lance, that seems like a huge oversight-if they don’t want to up the range of the cavalier ability, it should at least give an exception for lance use. 2: I didn’t expect the mounted one to be the tank part, very clever. 3: When you explained the sentinel x mounted combatant piece, I shouted out irl ‘oh that’s dirty! That’s nasty!’ So thank you for that bit of distress and confusion to my neighbors
Was looking at other rogue options and soulknife could be REALLY good. Especially if your DM is nice and lets psychic veil work with your mounted ally since you are carrying them. Your DM would be really nice if attacks from your ally don’t end it either since you aren’t attacking 🤔
Synergy episodes are my favorites ! It's so fun to build characters together with a friend ! I hope there will be other build like that from time to time.
Breaking them in 2 episodes is maybe the solution
Edit after watching the video : this it to me the most interesting and fun build you ever did ! I will definitively try it.
Two parter? Say it’s neigh! Hoof it out! We’re along for the ride! 🤣❤️
This build sounds amazing! All you need is a pair of buddies that are usually up to no good and... good luck Mr. DM
I love the mount being the rogue! I didn't see that coming! The sentinel synergy is brilliant!
Dude, you’re the best! Great build… can’t wait for part 2.
Im so glad I found your channel lol love the humor and videos. Gonna be spreading your channel to my groups.
it's so funny that you made this video now because my friend and I just played characters like this. I played a plasmoid twilight cleric because they can change their shape into a feasibly rideable shape. My friend played a halfling zealot barbarian. It was incredibly fun
Zealot barbarian works super well with this type of build because while they're raging they literally cannot die so all attacks directed at me went towards an impenetrable wall. With this, my friend could bash enemies while I buffed them and our allies. All I had to do to make sure the synergy worked was heal them before their rage ended to stop them from dying.
Sir Didymus and his mount Ambrosius are reborn!
I recently got a promotion at work which has given me access to an office and a computer. This means that I can (and will) listen to your builds as a soothing podcast. This is the first one I've managed to catch almost immediately after your upload.
Looking forward to the follow up levels for these characters!
As a side-note: I've been making loads of bards lately. The extra 6 (or 8) spells means you can customise for pretty much anything you want. I would be very interested in seeing your interpretation of a damage dealing (mostly-)Bard spellcaster because most, if not all, of their subclasses don't really do much for spell DPR
i'd played a blaster/summoner lore bard. Capable of dealing 38d6 to a single target at level 6 (though in reality i did it at level 7 as i started with fighter 1). it can do 11d6 if there are 4 targets or 21d6 if there are 2 targets. doable twice early on then as much as you want by level 8-9. i can share if interested.
@@TheRobversion1 I would be interested, yes :)
@@delibirdite oks so a little background. this build was borne of the back of my frustrations with the conjure animals spell.
i pretty much avoided conjure animals as my DM would either not let me choose or would always pick a trash creature or just let me roll on a random table. After tasha's came out, i found another use for the spell that disregarded mostly what the DM chose for me: blasting.
Tasha's specified rules now for falling on a creature. as long as the creatures aren't tiny, the creature that is "falled on" takes half the falling dmg (the other half goes to the falling creature) and is knocked prone unless they fail a dc 15 dex save. the combo here is combining it with the sorc's distant spell. the tactic basically is about casting conjure animals high up in the air above your targeted enemy and using distant spell to extend conjure animals range so you can cast it much higher then increase the falling dmg. To further boost, use a flying race 1st to fly up before casting to increase the distance further such as gem dragonborn, winged tiefling, etc. without flying up (as i'm not sure if flying races are allowed at your table) here's a breakdown of how to position the 8 animals with distant level 3 conjure animals and the dmg:
120-125 ft: 11d6/2 + prone
115-120 ft: 11d6/2 + prone
110-115 ft: 10d6/2 + prone
105-110 ft: 10d6/2 + prone
100-105 ft: 9d6/2 + prone
95-100 ft: 9d6/2 + prone
90-95 ft: 8d6/2 + prone
85-90 ft: 8d6/2 + prone
the above assumes falling on a medium creature. the dmg could be slightly less on bigger creatures as they are taller and would "break the fall" faster. that's also 8 dex saves to force the enemy to be knocked prone (they are likely to fail 1/8). assuming failed dex saves, that's a base dmg potential of 38d6 of falling dmg to your target (it's 76d6 but of course it's cut in half where the other half is dealt to your falling animals). 38d6 falling dmg for a 3rd level spell and 1 sorcery point is pretty good. stack in a flying race like an aarakockra and we extrapolate those numbers to 50d6. All doable sustainably at level 8 and for limited time (2x per day) at level 6. And of course if the enemy is still alive, it is highly likely to be prone. send your melee allies in to attack with advantage. and of course at later levels we tripleclass into fighter 2 to be able to do this twice on turn 1. and of course if you want to hit multiple targets we can lessen the dmg and divide the falling creatures.
here's the details of the build, level 10 theorycraft:
"moo-teor swarm"
fighter 2, lore bard 6, divine soul 2
any flying race
asi: metamagic adept-distant spell, subtle spell
fighting style: superior technique-ambush
magical secrets: conjure animals, find steed
key spells: guidance, conjure animals (8 cows), find steed (warhorse flavored as a cow), aid, false life
bardic focus: cowbell
tactics:
pre-combat:
ride find cow (independent mount). cast 2nd level false life on self (shared by cow). cast aid on the party and cow. walk around continuous casting guidance for initiative bonus (shared by cow).
1st round:
bonus action: bardic inspiration find cow
fly up from find cow 30 ft into the air
action: cast conjured cow on the bbeg, dropping 8 kobe beef on him. if still alive...
action surge: cast conjured cow on the bbeg, dropping 8 kobe beef on him. if still alive, they're most likely prone after taking 16 dc 15 dex saves.
find cow: moves towards bbeg and attacks twice (bonus action attack since bbeg is prone from trampling charge). use BI as needed.
that's 100d6 + whatever your find cow does at level 8-10 for a single target.
should you have ceiling limitation and can't do the "moo-teor swarm" tactic of the build, then the build switches gears to a summoner and uses 8 conjured cows (my Dm allowed me to choose cows since it was a crap beast) that attacks with you and your find cow mount.
@@TheRobversion1 I absolutely love this, please dont delete this, I'm definitely gonna try to use it at some point
@@delibirdite sure. glad you liked it. i had fun playing it as well as the theme of my build was a cow herder bard. lots of jokes around the table. got to play it until level 16 levelling up mainly in lore bard to get the next set of magical secrets. the build was a beast in combat and being a bard i also did well outside of combat.
Colby, to your point about our team up builds not getting as many views: un all the groups I've been in, I dont think 2 of us have ever co-conspired to create characters that work together. After watching your videos, I think we've been missing out frankly, but I can barely find out if we have a cleric, let alone any details!
Regarding number of video parts, break them into whatever you need to, I don't think it's a big deal as long as you arent fluffing lol.
The sentinel trick is nasty, I love it!
I like the build so far. My thoughts on the concept however would be to have both be tanks in some degree.
If the centaur had a tanking feature such as the Ancestral Guardian, they could be immune to attacks themselves due to the Mounted Combatant feat but also make it so the Rider has resistance to all damage and attacks against him are at disadvantage. I'd likely take 5 levels AG for extra attack because rage prevents spellcasting. Then make 2 attacks with rage and reckless attack and a 3rd from Sentinel. All the while both parties are incredibly tanky.
Given that Mounted Combatant already forces the target to attack you, the taunt mechanic on the Rider seems less valuable.
My favourite mount and rider combo is wolf totem barbarian centuar with a small sized paladin rider. Paladin uses spear and shield with PAM and mountedcombatant. Centuar uses PAM, GWM and Sentinel. Centaur can reckless attack for advantage with no downside. Paladin gets advantage from the barbarian wolf feature. At lvl 14 the centuar goes bear totem, enemies now have disadvantage to attack the rider and still cant attack the mount. Paladin takes a dip into glamour bard and can now move the mount when needed with mantle of inspiration. Both have great saves, advantage on all attacks and strong 7 attacks between them.
I think that Thrown Weapon Fighting would solve a lot of the initiative order issues. If you are not in range on your turn, you can chuck a couple of javelins at the enemy. It won't mark them and it will be less damage than a d8 weapon, but two attacks is better than one readied attack imo, especially because the mark is mostly irrelevant on attacks against your mount.
Hey man two builds two videos no sweat
Edit/addition: you do the work to put in time stamps/chapters. Having the long videos able to be broken down is my preferred video. Keep doing your thing
good build colby. it mounted combatant is the perfect tank ability for these 2. great synergies in this build with sentinel and sneak attack. i think the duo builds aren't as successful as most people search youtube vids for ideas for themselves, not for themselves and their friend unless the friend has expressed wanting to play an extremely synergistic build with the searcher (in my experience these are wives, girlfriends, younger siblings). moreover, most people who play dnd want to play their own concept instead of sharing a concept with another player.
as for the race, you could've played custom lineage with 4 legs either with centaur lineage or pulling from another race with a similar build.
Totally agree, Rob! I think there are plenty of people who wouldn’t mind “sharing” a character concept… but these are also not the players who normally care too much about combat or its minutiae . I know if I was playing with them, I would have to try really really hard not to be a control freak about what they were doing. The other piece here is that there are the members of the party who are not part of the duo, who may feel like these two are just kinda playing their own game.
@@egod555 agreed on both points. this is why i just build my own and figure out during session zero and gameplay how to synergize with my party. i don't want to control my party member's actions. i think duo builds work better at a small table (think like 2 players only) where it's just 2 players playing the duo build and thus not excluding other party members or the dm allows both players to control 2 characters since the party is small.
Shocked not to see 6 paladin levels on one of these characters for the charisma to saves. Maybe in the next video!
Me and my buddy did s Sentinel Moon Druid/Mounted Combatant Twilight Cleric mounted combat combo. Man that was so much fun.
I was the druid buddy was cleric. Almost always he'd get advantage because I was like a Horse, Tiger, Giant Hyena, or like Giant Constrictor Snake. If anyone targeted me, usually having the lower AC, he'd force the creature to target him. When they did BOOM Sentinel attack! But then if he was getting lower in health I could tank some of the hits just because of the large amount of HP Moon Druid shapes can get in the early game. Not to mention Twilight Sanctuary would top off who ever needed health.
Love it. Video title should be “How to piss off your DM”
I honestly thought you were going to do the bearzerker druid/barbarian as the tank and utility outside of combat. I also thought the rider would be a rogue having the tank ally near for sneak attack and taking mounted combat, plus using steady aim.
Very enjoyable build. Very impatient having to wait until next week, but that's a me thing. And in case no one says it, we love you too my friend. Have a most excellent week and see you for part 2.
Still catching up on older videos. I did find it humorous that instead of "Extra Attack" at level 5, we saw "Mount Level 4" for a second time. Oops. XD
I do like the combos. It's unfortunate that these types of videos don't do as well for views. I would never ask for an entire party build, as you mentioned before that you get asked to do, but my friend and I do like trying to synergize our characters in some way. In Pathfinder 1e, he made a dragon bloodline bloodrager (sorcerer/barbarian hybrid class) and I went dragon bloodline sorcerer. It was nice to have characters who could share the same backstory and play off of one another. 5e doesn't really give you that kind of option.
If I wasn't the forever DM I would be super excited to play this build with my best pal!!!
More tanky thoughts for this duo. Twilight cleric's Twilight sanctuary or Artillerist's protector cannon both offer ways to consistently get temp HP every round in combat, severely blunting any damage that manages to get through.
Sorcerer Fighter? Sighter? Cider!
This is a really cool build though I must admit when you first introduced the idea my first thought was not a tank build but a damage build. I was thinking your nature cleric spirit guardian video you did recently as the centaur, which seems to be absolutely the best class for a centaur except maybe druid, and a kobold battle master fighter or psi knife rogue. Though that's a different video for another time maybe.
2:25 "yes, we are all just as hilarious as we think we are."
You both gave me life and killed me simultaneously with that one 🤣
You could also probably add the Mounts HP to the Tanking Stats, as you could strategically choose to let attacks hit the Mount, rather than soak every hit.
And the Blade is going to have a really good Nova Damage round, Action Surge and Twinned Spell could be nasty!
This build video excites me! Might try a similar build when I get to play again someday with my brother. I have been a forever dm for a very long time, not that I don't love dming I am proud to be a forever dm
I admit the visual of the mount being the rogue and not the tank was counter-intuitive to what I thought it would be since a mount can use the Rogue Steady Aim feature without worrying about the loss of movement speed. However my mind was blown with the the Sentinel - Mounted Combatant combo for almost guaranteed sneak attack twice per round, and now I'm persuaded!
I had considered something similar to this, except I gave the mount cavalier so that all of the attacks against the rider would be at disadvantage and since rider has mounted combatant, mount can't be targeted giving rider unlimited disadvantage to be hit. Went with oath of ancients pally for rider so he could use shield of faith on self plus level 6 and 7 auras help mitigate spell damage. Rider also had dip in warlock to get shield and use charisma for weapon attack