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.

 

[Morrus]

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

The MCU?

 

[delph]

This version of Achilles have bug in DEX bonus - 17 +2

 

[Traveller]

The MCU?

Marvel Cinematic Universe - I think...

 

[Morrus]

Marvel Cinematic Universe - I think...

That’s what I thought! But the Marvel Cinematic Universe was not involved with this project!

 

[Tonguez]

Marvel Cinematic Universe - I think...

aye, major content producers giving the fans what they want to consume as identified through multiple media channels

its a compliment in my mind

 

[Aaron L]

I'd actually switch it up to give Achilles an 18 Dex and 14 Str (14 is a GOOD score!) but I like it. Fighting with short swords and javelins makes Dex more important than that raw Str (as noted; "Fleet-Footed Achilles.") Having him as the highest level Fighter in the world is what's most important.

 

[Hurin70]

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.

Ok, sure, but my point is that if they are great heroes... why do they have the stats of minions?

Any average PC Fighter will start the game with equal or higher stats than Achilles. By level 8 or 10, most will have a 20 in their primary attribute, while Achilles is still stuck at 16. So even if you're just saying Achilles was an average PC character, you're still not quite there yet; your version of Achilles's stats are sub-par even by the standard of the average PC, to say nothing of the average mook/minion. That kind of takes away from the glory of the greatest hero of the greatest epic cycle of the ancient world, no?

 

[delph]

Achilles can be done with rolled stats with advantage so some 18 and two 17 on a first lvl can be easily done. As Fighter have plenty of ASIs or feats.
Achilles was probably DEX fighter (using studded leather armor), so on 18. lvl I can imagine 18 STR / 20 DEX / 18 CON / 14 WIS / 12 INT / 14 CHA

and not sure if he ism't Battlemaster more than Champ...

 

[Morrus]

Ok, sure, but my point is that if they are great heroes... why do they have the stats of minions?

Any average PC Fighter will start the game with equal or higher stats than Achilles. By level 8 or 10, most will have a 20 in their primary attribute, while Achilles is still stuck at 16. So even if you're just saying Achilles was an average PC character, you're still not quite there yet; your version of Achilles's stats are sub-par even by the standard of the average PC, to say nothing of the average mook/minion. That kind of takes away from the glory of the greatest hero of the greatest epic cycle of the ancient world, no?

OK.

 

[dave2008]

Ok, sure, but my point is that if they are great heroes... why do they have the stats of minions?

Any average PC Fighter will start the game with equal or higher stats than Achilles. By level 8 or 10, most will have a 20 in their primary attribute, while Achilles is still stuck at 16. So even if you're just saying Achilles was an average PC character, you're still not quite there yet; your version of Achilles's stats are sub-par even by the standard of the average PC, to say nothing of the average mook/minion. That kind of takes away from the glory of the greatest hero of the greatest epic cycle of the ancient world, no?

Nevermind.