Remember that fellow so often shown using a sling to throw a stone into Goliath’s eye, killing him despite his opponent’s far greater size? Me too! Apparently there’s much more to this character however, so click onward and let’s dive into David.
Let’s get right to it: this is a very mythological character insofar that there are few concrete facts about him. It’s generally agreed there was once a ruler named David but that’s pretty much where all agreements about him stop. Shepherd, general, prophet, king--depending on who’s asking and where, he’s one or more or all of these things. For our purposes here we’re going to stick with the biblical narrative (the young shepherd who slayed Goliath, the much greater champion of the Phillistines) partly because we’ve already got a few ancient kings rolling around this series, and also because its far and away the most popularized representation of the character. That does not however mean that we should ignore the rest of his milieu, and it’d be remiss of me not to bring up David’s place in various histories.
Design Notes: As mentioned above we’re going for the Sunday School cartoon version of David here so a rock-slinging fellow which any GM can make use of as a rote NPC marksman. With this information about chainmail however, I can’t pass the opportunity to include it (and if you don’t dig on that give him studded leather instead, or no armor and a shield--same AC either way, although no greatsword action for the latter option). For final touches he’s got Sharpshooter and Lucky to really pound in that skill for aimed shots. Looking at the numbers he squeaked in above a 4 on the DMG’s rubric and slightly under that on the Blog of Holding’s, averaging out juuuuuuuuust above the threshold for a final CR of 4.
David
Medium humanoid (human), lawful good fighter (archer) 8
Armor Class 16 (chainmail)
Hit Points 52 (8d10+8)
Speed 30 ft.
Saving Throws Str +4, Con +4
Skills Acrobatics +7, Animal Handling +5, Insight +5, Performance +4
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages Hebrew (?)
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Background: Virtuoso. David is never without a stage or room to sing for entertainment whether in a queen’s castle or a tavern. He receives free accommodations (including a room and meal) each night he performs and is recognized while going about a settlement where he’s sung at least one evening (and is typically well-liked for his vocal talents).
Action Surge (1/Short Rest). On his turn, David can take an additional action on top of his regular action and a possible bonus action.
Attentive Gaze. David can use a bonus action to take the Search action.
Excellent Aim (3/Short Rest). David can spend a bonus action to aim a wielded ranged weapon at a target within its range. Until the end of his turn, ranged attacks that David makes against the target deal an extra 5 damage.
Feat: Fortune Points (3/Long Rest). David can spend one fortune point to reroll an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, or to force an attacker to reroll an attack made against him.
Feat: Superb Aim. David ignores half cover and three-quarters cover when making a ranged weapon attack, and he doesn’t have disadvantage when attacking at long range. When David makes his first ranged weapon attack in a turn, he can choose to take a -5 penalty to his ranged weapon attack rolls in exchange for a +10 bonus to ranged weapon damage.
Second Wind (1/Short Rest). On his turn, David can use a bonus action to regain 1d10+8 hit points.
ACTIONS
Extra Attack. David attacks twice.
Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d6+1) slashing damage.
Sling. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4+4) bludgeoning damage.
Let’s get right to it: this is a very mythological character insofar that there are few concrete facts about him. It’s generally agreed there was once a ruler named David but that’s pretty much where all agreements about him stop. Shepherd, general, prophet, king--depending on who’s asking and where, he’s one or more or all of these things. For our purposes here we’re going to stick with the biblical narrative (the young shepherd who slayed Goliath, the much greater champion of the Phillistines) partly because we’ve already got a few ancient kings rolling around this series, and also because its far and away the most popularized representation of the character. That does not however mean that we should ignore the rest of his milieu, and it’d be remiss of me not to bring up David’s place in various histories.
Christian: David kills Goliath, gains King Saul’s favor, is spurned by the ruler, they die and he takes the throne, conquers Jerusalem and brings the Ark of the Covenant there, gets intimate with Bathsheba, has her husband assassinated, as recompense god has his son Absalom try to overthrow him, and he returns after said offspring has died to rule over the kingdom. During his reign he’s said to have been a kind and just king, and just before dying he picks Solomon to take his place.
Judaic: So I think that generally this follows along the same lines as above, but here David goes about shepherding while his brothers go to school, and more importantly his transgressions with Bathsheba are decidedly less transgress-y (the narrative is more about repentance, and it may have not been adultery at all because of an old Jewish practice of battle-eve divorces). This might actually be about being excessively self-conscious (narcissistic?), in that David was specifically trying to test himself to have his name united with God’s (like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).
Islamic: This is where the prophet stuff comes in because David (aka داود or Dāwūd) was sent by God to guide the Israelites, gifted kingship, wisdom, and the Psalms (some wise books) from above when he slays Goliath to become the divine’s “viceregent on earth”. This lore dump included how to work iron rather than just cast it and how to make chainmail--definitely an advantage against bronze weaponry and a means to great wealth. The whole Bethsheba thing isn’t mentioned in the Quran at all so they dropped that part of the story, but they did make him extra zealous and a faster, and he’s still great with a tune.
Design Notes: As mentioned above we’re going for the Sunday School cartoon version of David here so a rock-slinging fellow which any GM can make use of as a rote NPC marksman. With this information about chainmail however, I can’t pass the opportunity to include it (and if you don’t dig on that give him studded leather instead, or no armor and a shield--same AC either way, although no greatsword action for the latter option). For final touches he’s got Sharpshooter and Lucky to really pound in that skill for aimed shots. Looking at the numbers he squeaked in above a 4 on the DMG’s rubric and slightly under that on the Blog of Holding’s, averaging out juuuuuuuuust above the threshold for a final CR of 4.
David
Medium humanoid (human), lawful good fighter (archer) 8
Armor Class 16 (chainmail)
Hit Points 52 (8d10+8)
Speed 30 ft.
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
13 (+1) | 18 (+4) | 12 (+1) | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 12 (+1) |
Skills Acrobatics +7, Animal Handling +5, Insight +5, Performance +4
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages Hebrew (?)
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Background: Virtuoso. David is never without a stage or room to sing for entertainment whether in a queen’s castle or a tavern. He receives free accommodations (including a room and meal) each night he performs and is recognized while going about a settlement where he’s sung at least one evening (and is typically well-liked for his vocal talents).
Action Surge (1/Short Rest). On his turn, David can take an additional action on top of his regular action and a possible bonus action.
Attentive Gaze. David can use a bonus action to take the Search action.
Excellent Aim (3/Short Rest). David can spend a bonus action to aim a wielded ranged weapon at a target within its range. Until the end of his turn, ranged attacks that David makes against the target deal an extra 5 damage.
Feat: Fortune Points (3/Long Rest). David can spend one fortune point to reroll an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, or to force an attacker to reroll an attack made against him.
Feat: Superb Aim. David ignores half cover and three-quarters cover when making a ranged weapon attack, and he doesn’t have disadvantage when attacking at long range. When David makes his first ranged weapon attack in a turn, he can choose to take a -5 penalty to his ranged weapon attack rolls in exchange for a +10 bonus to ranged weapon damage.
Second Wind (1/Short Rest). On his turn, David can use a bonus action to regain 1d10+8 hit points.
ACTIONS
Extra Attack. David attacks twice.
Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d6+1) slashing damage.
Sling. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4+4) bludgeoning damage.
