D&D 5E Meet Achilles, Greatest Warrior of the Trojan War!

Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters, coming soon to Kickstarter, compiles Mike Myler's fantastic column here on EN World, with brand new art in a gorgeous full-colour book. Here's a quick look at a preliminary version of Achilles' entry.

Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters

Achilles. Lancelot. Robin Hood. Thor. Heroes, all.

The world is full of myths and legends which inspired those in our modern fiction and games. Iconic warriors and wizards, vampires and things from the deep, these legends are universally known.

Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters delves into these paragons of literature, fable, and folklore. From Ancient Greece to the Outer Realms, deepest Transylvania to the High Seas, you’ll meet champions and thieves, pirates and knights, demigods and fey queens, ancient evils and urban legends. Archetypal heroes meet exemplars of villainy like Blackbeard, Rasputin, Dracula, and Baba Yaga.

From Mike Myler’s popular column, this epic compilation of over 100 legendary heroes, villains, and monsters brings these characters to life for the 5th Edition of the world’s oldest roleplaying game.

 

[R_J_K75]

Yes, and what a Fashionable Male too!

Note though that he actually won the Strongest Man in Denmark competition in 1983, meaning he must have had at least a 20 Strength. This Achilles would look more like Paul Bla et t

I was looking at his IMDB, he was in alot of movies.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Thought that was William Kat.

He was the greatest AMERICAN hero.

 

[R_J_K75]

He was the greatest AMERICAN hero.

Oh yeah, I mustve been seeing yellow or was it green?

 

[dave2008]

Yes, and what a Fashionable Male too!

Note though that he actually won the Strongest Man in Denmark competition in 1983, meaning he must have had at least a 20 Strength.

This Achilles, on the other hand, would look more like Paul Blart.

It is worthwhile to note that the actor sacrificed a lot of mobility to achieve that strength and would easily fall to the much more skilled Achilles, regardless of strength.

Personally, I treat anything over 18 above what is humanly possible, i.e. fantasy strength. So from my perspective the strongest man in Denmark would be 17-18 STR.

 

[Seramus]

I probably would have made him a Dex fighter. 14/16/16 would have been a great spread for him, especially since his stamina was legendary. He literally ran for days without rest.

 

[Hurin70]

For context: The average Black Earth Guard (humanoid mook, CR 2) from the Temple of Elemental Evil has a higher strength than Achilles.

I know this is just for fun, and the constraint is you have to start the heroes using the standard point buy. But that might be the problem. Achilles was not a standard sort of human.

Previous editions of DnD allowed for stats well over 20, and that made sense. I'm not really sure that the 5e system does when trying to capture the qualities of truly epic heroes.

 

[Morrus]

I know this is just for fun, and the constraint is you have to start the heroes using the standard point buy. But that might be the problem. Achilles was not a standard sort of human.

And therein lies the issue - we fundamentally disagree what the role of player characters in the game is. Achilles is a player character in a Greek setting. So are Robin Hood, Aladdin, and all the other mythological figures in Mike's column. PCs are the great heroes of the realm.

 

[Morrus]

So he's been tweaked a little -- just a slight rearrangement of ability score points. Taken some from Wisdom and moved them into the physical stats, while sticking to the 27 point buy. It doesn't make much of a difference to his stat block, but it tweaks the aesthetic a tiny bit.

 

[Tonguez]

I think there is something to be said for dropping the Wis and boosting Str and Dex a little. I’ve looked over all the mythological figures entries, and Achilles stands out as the one for which ability scores proved particularly divisive; there were minor niggles on others (Robin Hood’s Charisma and Odyssesus’ Wisdom, mainly), but this character was the one which sparked the liveliest conversation. I think we’ll try that and see how it looks. We won’t be making him a weightlifter though! Heracles, Thor, and Beowulf are the brawn builds.

awesome, Morrus and the MCU I love it when fans get to influence the creative decisions of producers

 

[richaugust]

I'd possibly have emphasised the Dex build more with Achilles. His most common epithet is 'fleet-footed' in the Illiad; it's his grace and poise in battle, along with his anger, that make him so dangerous. Ajax is the strongest of the Achaeans but Achilles the more devastating fighter.