D&D 5E Nora RWBY based Character

[crashtestdummy]

Thinking about it, RWBY isn't a good fit with DnD. Most of the characters would be fighters, because that's their job. You'll have a few RWBY characters that have a stronger magic focus, but all of the characters have a strong martial basis. Characters that sit back and cast 'spells' don't really exist in that world. It's either hand-to-hand or ranged weapon fighting.

Most characters have some sort of 'magical' ability to supplement their fighting, but even there I don't see a good fit to the DnD magic system. EK is best as that's a martial character with spell support, which is how the RWBY characters are presented.

You may want to consider Monk as another martial class, with a reflavoured monk weapon. That gives speed, unarmoured defense (though, as stated above, you probably shouldn't get too hung up on the fact that the characters rarely wear armour), and flurry. Ren would definitely be a Monk in my opinion.

Looking broader, Jon would be a Fighter (Champion) because fighting is pretty much all he knows. Yang definitely has Barbarian levels because she's got an explicit 'rage' power. Ruby would be a Fighter (Battlemaster). I'm not sure what to make of Whyte -- she's someone who uses her 'magic' more than others, but she's still very much a martial character. An elemental Monk may be the best option for her since she seems to use a fair amount of 'ice' magic. I can't remember the names of the other characters off the top of my head...sorry

 

[MostlyHarmless42]

crashtestdummy brings up a lot of good points. The thing people have to keep in mind though is that a lot of the "spells" in D&D would be written off as either Dust ability or just aesthetic redescriptions. The character's "semblance" could be explained as a homebrew power given to each character, or spells, for example though there is no direct comparison. Personally I'd say Yang is a Barbarian who uses fist weapons (possibly with a few levels in monk), Blake is an assassin rogue or possibly shadow monk, and Wrynn is a monk. I'd say Weiss is a Bladesinger wizard especially given her heavy use of dust (spells), Jeane is a Paladin or possibly champion fighter. Pierra I'd say is a battlemaster fighter. Ruby is probably the only one I'd find difficult to class. She could be a champion fighter, a hunter ranger, some form of rogue, or a war cleric. My money is on hunter ranger given the intended Red Riding Hood vibe they want with her and hunter ranger works well for that.

Considering the others...Nora is a hammer wielding person who's semblance is related to lightning and thunder, and is modeled after Thor. She even uses the hammer / grenade launcher to create smoke clouds shatter things, and call lightning. How the hell has no one mentioned Tempest cleric? The domain spells alone scream her character and the domain is more than a capable melee.

 

[Lillika]

crashtestdummy brings up a lot of good points. The thing people have to keep in mind though is that a lot of the "spells" in D&D would be written off as either Dust ability or just aesthetic redescriptions. The character's "semblance" could be explained as a homebrew power given to each character, or spells, for example though there is no direct comparison. Personally I'd say Yang is a Barbarian who uses fist weapons (possibly with a few levels in monk), Blake is an assassin rogue or possibly shadow monk, and Wrynn is a monk. I'd say Weiss is a Bladesinger wizard especially given her heavy use of dust (spells), Jeane is a Paladin or possibly champion fighter. Pierra I'd say is a battlemaster fighter. Ruby is probably the only one I'd find difficult to class. She could be a champion fighter, a hunter ranger, some form of rogue, or a war cleric. My money is on hunter ranger given the intended Red Riding Hood vibe they want with her and hunter ranger works well for that.

Considering the others...Nora is a hammer wielding person who's semblance is related to lightning and thunder, and is modeled after Thor. She even uses the hammer / grenade launcher to create smoke clouds shatter things, and call lightning. How the hell has no one mentioned Tempest cleric? The domain spells alone scream her character and the domain is more than a capable melee.

Well said

 

[77IM]

Assuming you are not trying to translate all of RWBY into D&D and just want to play a character who resembles Nora, my money is on half-elf paladin.

• As a half-elf, you can reasonably start with Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 14 (or possibly Dex 12 and Cha 16, depending on if you value paladin powers and social stuff more than acrobatics), plus 2 free skills.
• Paladin's got a lot of awesome powers like auras and healing that seem to fit Nora's personality well, and I like to think of the rocket-powered hammer as a type of smite.
• She is "perky" which translates well into several of the Sacred Oaths. Oath of the Ancients seems best but I could see Oath of Devotion too.

If you are more into playing against type, then I think the idea of a "cute cheerful barbarian with happy rage" is hilarious, although perhaps overdone in anime.