D&D 5E Build/Stats to Sauron in DND 5e

[Ragnaros.]

I don't know if you've already created a topic or discussed it, but I would like to know if it's possible to build (class, level) or put stats (divine rank, strength, dexterity, wisdom, etc) for Sauron from LOTR.

Sauron proved to be pluripotent. He used some powerful spells/powers (mostly) without the Ring:

Spoiler: Sauron's Powers/Spell List

Sauron's Powers/Spell List"]Wish? Volcano Control - Orodruin: 9th level spell?

"There above the valley of Gorgoroth was built his fortress vast and strong, Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower; and there was a fiery mountain in that land that the Elves named Orod-ruin. Indeed for that reason Sauron had set there his dwelling long before, for he used the fire that welled there from the heart of the earth in his sorceries and in his forging; and in the midst of the Land of Mordor he had fashioned the Ruling Ring"

“Now Sauron prepared war against the Eldar and the Men of Westernesse, and the fires of the Mountain were wakened again.”⁵

Shapechange: 9th level spell

Then Sauron shifted shape, from wolf to serpent, and from monster to his own accustomed form (...) And immediately he took the form of a vampire, great as a dark cloud across the moon, and he fled, dripping blood from his throat upon the trees, and came to Taur-nu-Fuin, and dwelt there, filling it with horror.

for Sauron took to himself the name of Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, and they had at first much profit from his friendship (...)

There he took up again his great Ring in Barad-dûr, and dwelt there, dark and silent, until he wrought himself a new guise, an image of malice and hatred made visible; and the Eye of Sauron the Terrible few could endure.

Dominate Monster - Orcs, Trolls, Nazgûl, Wargs - 9th level spell

"From all his policies and webs of fear and treachery, from all his stratagems and wars his mind shook free; and throughout his realm a tremor ran, his slaves quailed, and his armies halted, and his captains suddenly steerless, bereft of will, wavered and despaired. For they were forgotten. The whole mind and purpose of the Power that wielded them was now bent with overwhelming force upon the Mountain."

"But the Nazgûl turned and fled, and vanished into Mordor's shadows, hearing a sudden terrible call out of the Dark Tower; and even at that moment all the hosts of Mordor trembled, doubt clutched their hearts, their laughter failed, their hands shook and their limbs were loosed. The Power that drove them on and filled them with hate and fury was wavering, its will was removed from them;"

Earthquake: 8th level spell

"I don’t know,’ said Frodo. ‘It’s been going on for a good while now. Sometimes the ground seems to tremble, sometimes it seems to be the heavy air throbbing in your ears."

"But it was too late. At that moment the rock quivered and trembled beneath them. The great rumbling noise, louder than ever before, rolled in the ground and echoed in the mountains."

Control Weather - 8th level spell

"The skirts of the storm were lifting, ragged and wet, and the main battle had passed to spread its great wings over the Emyn Muil, upon which the dark thought of Sauron brooded for a while. Thence it turned, smiting the Vale of Anduin with hail and lightning, and casting its shadow upon Minas Tirith with threat of war."

Demiplane? - 8th level spell

They could walk, if they would, unseen by all eyes in this world beneath the sun, and they could see things in worlds invisible to mortal men; but too often they beheld only the phantoms and delusions of Sauron.

Antimagic field - Sammath Naur and Temple of Morgoth - 8th level spell

"In his great need he drew out once more the phial of Galadriel, but it was pale and cold in his trembling hand and threw no light into that stifling dark. He was come to the heart of the realm of Sauron and the forges of his ancient might, greatest in Middle-earth; all other powers were here subdued."

"But the Temple itself was unshaken, and Sauron stood there upon the pinnacle and defied the lightning and was unharmed"

Sympathy? - the attraction of Gollum and all evils to Mordor - 8th level spell

"Yes, to Mordor,’ said Gandalf. ‘Alas! Mordor draws all wicked things, and the Dark Power was bending all its will to gather them there."

Feeblemind? Power Word: Stun? - 8th level spell

‘So this is the thief!’ said Gandalf. Hastily he cast his cloak over the globe where it lay. ‘But you, Pippin! This is a griev ous turn to things!’ He knelt by Pippin’s body: the hobbit was lying on his back, rigid, with unseeing eyes staring up at the sky. ‘The devilry! What mischief has he done – to himself, and to all of us?’ The wizard’s face was drawn and haggard.

He took Pippin’s hand and bent over his face, listening for his breath; then he laid his hands on his brow. The hobbit shuddered. His eyes closed. He cried out; and sat up, staring in bewilderment at all the faces round him, pale in the moonlight. ‘It is not for you, Saruman!’ he cried in a shrill and toneless voice, shrinking away from Gandalf. ‘I will send for it at once. Do you understand? Say just that!’ Then he struggled to get up and escape, but Gandalf held him gently and firmly. ‘Peregrin Took!’ he said. ‘Come back!’ The hobbit relaxed and fell back, clinging to the wizard’s hand. ‘Gandalf!’ he cried. ‘Gandalf! Forgive me!’ ‘Forgive you?’ said the wizard. ‘Tell me first what you have done!’ ‘I, I took the ball and looked at it,’ stammered Pippin; ‘and I saw things that frightened me. And I wanted to go away, but I couldn’t. And then he came and questioned me; and he looked at me, and, and, that is all I remember.

There is no lie in your eyes, as I feared. But he did not speak long with you.

 

[Composer99]

If you're planning a campaign where the PCs might fight Sauron or a Sauron-like figure the way the Last Alliance did, you'd probably want game statistics. I wouldn't try to build him as a player character, though, especially not in 5e.

 

[Ragnaros.]

If you're planning a campaign where the PCs might fight Sauron or a Sauron-like figure the way the Last Alliance did, you'd probably want game statistics. I wouldn't try to build him as a player character, though, especially not in 5e.

It would be for a Deities and Demigods campaign. In fact with any character in any universe of Comics, Movies, Books, etc.
I had put him as a Divine Rank 7 deity. I imagine he is a Sorcerer with a phylactery (The One Ring) with immunity to fire, electricity, poison as well.

With an Aura of Terror + Immunity to non-magical weapons.

Immunity to 6th level magic.

 

[Dausuul]

Most of Sauron's powers from LotR are exercised at a scale far larger than anything that can be accomplished by D&D spells. Take the attraction of Mordor to evil creatures--that influence is exerted at ranges in the hundreds or thousands of miles. Antipathy/sympathy has a range of a couple hundred feet, and that's an 8th-level spell.

So the first thing to do is ask yourself what, exactly, the power does; and then look for the appropriate tool to model it. The attraction of Mordor to evil creatures, and Sauron's ability to control Orodruin, look much more like Lair Actions and Regional Effects than spells.

Sauron is never seen in person in LotR, so to get an idea of what his "in-person" abilities are like (i.e., what do the PCs have to deal with if they fight him), I'd lean heavily on the Silmarillion.

Edited: Just looked again and saw that you wanted to "build" him, as in, using the PC rules? In that case the answer is a flat no, you can't. Sauron's abilities go far beyond what D&D allows PCs to do, even at very high level. The only way to model him in 5E is as a legendary monster.

 

[Composer99]

It would be for a Deities and Demigods campaign. In fact with any character in any universe of Comics, Movies, Books, etc.
I had put him as a Divine Rank 7 deity. I imagine he is a Sorcerer with a phylactery (The One Ring) with immunity to fire, electricity, poison as well.

With an Aura of Terror + Immunity to non-magical weapons.

Immunity to 6th level magic.

Just to clarify - given the references you have to Deities and Demigods, do you mean you're planning Sauron as a character in a 3.5 game? If that's the case, I should note your post is tagged D&D 5e and so you're probably going to get a lot of advice that is at cross-purposes with your intent. (Though you may find inspiration from 5e ideas such as legendary actions or lair actions/regional effects.)

Also, if you are talking 3.5, I can offer no mechanical advice.

---

Edit to add: Okay, so I'm kind of confused. Deities and Demigods is a 3.5 product, but the thread title explicitly asks for statting Sauron in 5e?

Or is Deities and Demigods more of... a theme?

Going with the latter case, I would (a) avoid 3.5-isms such as references to divine rank (is that even a thing in 5e?) and (b) find inspiration from how 5e has statted out its demon princes and gods.

One point of inspiration would be Auril in Rime of the Frostmaiden, who has this feature:

Spoiler: Spoilered feature

Divine Resurrection. When Auril drops to 0 hit points, her crystalline form shatters and her divine spark vanishes. She is dead until the next winter solstice, when she reappears at full health in a cold, remote location of her choosing.

Spoiler: Spoilered discussion

The inspiration here reflecting how the Last Alliance defeating Sauron nevertheless could not destroy him; he is in effect indestructible - save, perhaps, for being destroyed by a Valar - and the Shadow will inevitably return and rise again. (Until the Ring is destroyed.)

While you could use a sorcerer chassis as the basis for the stat block, I'll agree with @Dausuul and state that Sauron's capabilities can't be effectively modeled only by the player-facing rules for PCs. You'll need to look at legendary monsters with lair actions and regional effects.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I'm so confused. Deities and Demigods is a 1e book, the tag here is 5e, yet mention is made of 3.5 PC...?!?

 

[Ragnaros.]

So the character is not playable. It's better with a NPC. And the best system then is not DND 5e.

 

[Buzzqw]

Sauron is a Maiar, and one of the greatest, not a "human"...
is on another power scale..

BHH

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

'Maia'. 'Maiar' is the plural.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

So the character is not playable. It's better with a NPC. And the best system then is not DND 5e.

Sauron is unplayable in any version of D&D. He is in effect, for D&D purposes a god or an arch fiend. You can stat his up in 5e if that is what you want. Now, straight 5e does not do LOTR themes very well but in a typical LOTR game one does not expect to be going toe to toe with the likes of Sauron.