D&D 5E MCU's Asgardians in 5E D&D terms

[GMforPowergamers]

I would look at the old 3.5 'paragon' templet... http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/monsters/paragonCreature.htm but that's just for idea's it is WAY too gonzo for 5e...

maybe start with giving them all 'god like' stats... make a paragon array and mix and match to make each character, maybe (just spit balling) 22,20,18.18,15,13... then make quick play 11th level characters...


take thor, give him a high str and con and OK dex and a really good cha, and whats left goes for int and wis...

22str, 18 dex, 20 con, 13 Int, 15 wis, 18 cha looks pretty good to me.

next he is a warrior, so I would give him 7 levels of barbarian, and 5 as a paladin... so 12thish level...

 

[Rod Staffwand]

If I were to port MCU Asgardians into a fantasy world using the 5E rules, I'd probably give them an unbalanced racial template with significant resistances and ability score boosts (putting their cap at 22 rather than a mortal 20) for Strength and Constitution.

Someone like Thor would be a 15+ level fighter with excellent magic items. Warriors Three would be 10 to 12th. Rank and file Asgardians would be around 5th.

I wouldn't make them a playable race unless all the PCs were Asgardians or Asgardian equivalents. I'd use a racial to portray Asgardian superiority because it's what gives them their superheroicness and mucking around with the classes is way too much work. In the same vein, I wouldn't be putting them at levels 20+ since I'd want to keep them simple and level 21+ content is thin to say the least.

This is all assuming you want Asgardians on the PC side of things. If they're NPCs or baddies, I'd just kit-bash some quick stats and call it a day. Thor-scale = modified storm giant and so on.

You'd also want to make some accommodation for superheroic action with super-strength. 5e's linear Strength progression is woefully inadequate. Even someone with 30 strength can only lift a measly 900 lbs. (if memory serves). Yet giving superheroic characters 100 Strength would make putting them in combat ludicrous. You'd have to mod a bit to keep the genre conventions alive.

 

[jodyjohnson]

Based on the Thor movie, Agents of Shield (Sif), and the Avengers movies a normal Asgardian would have superhuman strength (19 or higher) and constitution and likely Damage Reduction but no other inherent powers other than virtual immortality.

For superheroic levels of Strength, I would modify the strength progression after 20 to start doubling with each point so that at 30 a human-sized character could carry a tank (68 tons) and throw a truck. The combat bonuses can stay as is (+10/+10 is plenty). A huge storm giant (29 str) could carry 200 tons, lift 600).

At 21, one could pick up a horse, or a warhorse at 22 str. Carry a horse at 23. or lift a Honda Civic or large carriage.

At 26 lift a semi-truck, etc.

 

[jrowland]

Just as an aside,

A good start for "gods" or "avatars" or "really powerful beings" or whatever you want to call them would be proficiency and advantage on every check. Differentiation between them would be based on Ability scores (20-30 typical) and powers.

 

[Umbran]

I don't really have an opinion, as I consider the Marvelverse Thor to be a piece of ignorant crap.

Well, he isn't a faithful rendition of what is seen in, say, Snorri's Edda, no.

The real Thor can't pick up Mjolner (sp?) without his Gloves of Strength

In the comics, it isn't *required* to lift the hammer, but Thor does have a magical belt (analogous to megingjörð) that amplifies his strength. They did leave off the iron glove in the comics.

his hammer is made of Dwarven gold (and is a war hammer, not a freakin' sledge hammer!)

I think that depends on which version you read. From Snorri - The dwarves were challenged to make things more beautiful than Odin's spear Gungnir, and Freyr's foldable boat Skíðblaðnir, made by another pair of dwarves. When they put a pig skin in the forge, they get out Gullinbursti, Freyr's boar. When they work gold, they get Draupnir, a ring which drops eight duplicates of itself every ninth night. Then they work iron, and get Mjolnir.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

I don't really have an opinion, as I consider the Marvelverse Thor to be a piece of ignorant crap.The real Thor can't pick up Mjolner (sp?) without his Gloves of Strength, his hammer is made of Dwarven gold (and is a war hammer, not a freakin' sledge hammer!), and Sif is his golden haired (literally) wife - the mother of his children!

Come on, dude, lighten up. At the risk of stating the obvious: there is no "real Thor". I could be pedantic and point out that it's actually spelled Mjǫlnir and it's actually spelled Þórr. But that would be stupid of me, because they're not actually spelled that way; those are the standard spellings in modern texts, but spelling in the actual Viking Age wasn't standardized at all. Nor was the folklore itself. We get a rather false impression of what Norse mythology was like because we have exactly one major source -- and even that source, I remind you, was only written down a couple of centuries after Scandinavia was Christianized. Do you think the actual pagan Norse held the stories of Snorri as "canonical"? Snorri hadn't even been born yet!

In short, there's more than one way to imagine the Magic Thunder Man. And varying interpretations of traditional figures and stories are what give a folklore richness and texture. Sherlock Holmes, for example, is very much better off for being played so differently in parallel by Benedict Cumberbatch, Johnny Lee Miller, Robert Downey, Jr., and now Sir Ian McKellen. There is no "real Holmes" just as there is no "real Thor" -- and that's a good thing.

 

[Viking Bastard]

I don't really have an opinion, as I consider the Marvelverse Thor to be a piece of ignorant crap. The real Thor can't pick up Mjolner (sp?) without his Gloves of Strength, his hammer is made of Dwarven gold (and is a war hammer, not a freakin' sledge hammer!), and Sif is his golden haired (literally) wife - the mother of his children!
Oh yeah, and he's a red head.

He's also an utter idiot according to the Eddas. And best buds with Loki, not his foster brother. And not powered by cosmic superscience. And, and, and...

But there's a difference between ignorance and creative licence. I used to feel similarly when younger, but I've grown to really like the Marvel version of the mythos. Jack Kirby goodness! BOOM! Crackle!

Please do remix my culture, it's fun to experience.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

He's also an utter idiot according to the Eddas. And best buds with Loki, not his foster brother. And not powered by cosmic superscience. And, and, and...

But there's a difference between ignorance and creative licence. I used to feel similarly when younger, but I've grown to really like the Marvel version of the mythos. Jack Kirby goodness! BOOM! Crackle!

Please do remix my culture, it's fun to experience.

Yeah, but we seem to have taken different paths. I was all for the Kirby goodness back in the day, but as I've grown older (and grumpier), I'm not so willing to cut them as much slack.

But, as others have pointed out, there's really not just one 'real' Thor. And I certainly don't expect many to share my views - watch what you like!

 

[Ed_Laprade]

Sherlock Holmes, for example, is very much better off for being played so differently in parallel by Benedict Cumberbatch, Johnny Lee Miller, Robert Downey, Jr., and now Sir Ian McKellen. There is no "real Holmes" just as there is no "real Thor" -- and that's a good thing.

Ha! The real Sherlock Holmes' are Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett!

 

[Morrus]

Out of curiosity, how does Thor not count as cultural appropriation?