Today Mythological Figures features a daughter of Ares, amazonian queen, and badass warrior who went toe-to-toe with Achilles in the Trojan War: Penthesilea!
Penthesilia comes to Troy with Memnon and joins their side, bringing along a dozen of her fellow lady-warriors and looking to die honorably in battle after accidentally slaying her sister Hyppolita during a hunt. She spends her day cutting down soldiers before confronting Achilles who, upon killing her and removing her helmet, is immediately heartstruck. Another Greek soldier by the name of Thersites scolds him for having emotions then proceeds to tear the eyes out of her corpse and unsurprisingly is slain for it. Of course depending upon where you look, she’s attributed with other things too--killing Hector, for one odd example--but the torrid romance between Penthesilia and Achilles is pretty consistent. According to the 1st century BC text Bibliotheca Historica she was the last Amazon to distinguish herself in war, and afterwards her peoples and their accomplishments diminish into legend. She becomes an extremely popular figure for literature, plays, and other cultural objects as the centuries pass, even re-cast as a medieval warrior queen.
Design Notes: Since we’re talking about a woman who manages to put up a solid fight against (the nearly invincible) Achilles my figuring is that she ought to be 18th level or thereabouts--also it’s the queen of the Amazons. On top of being high level she still needs to be tough as hell for that kind of a match up so for her roots I went with some ranger (har har), and then the rest is dumped into the brute archetype fighter. At the end of the day she is fierce and I think would be a fitting companion for Diana of Themyscira.
With that, let’s do the numbers: the DMG puts Penthesilea at an even 12 and the Blog of Holding’s rubric does as well, albeit .8 higher, so we’re sticking with that. There are some things I think I’d like for her (some boosts to archery perhaps) but as far as RAW goes, I’m happy with this warrior queen.
Amazon Queen Penthesilea
Medium humanoid (human), neutral ranger (hunter) 4/fighter (brutal) 14
Armor Class 19 (studded leather, defense fighting style, shield)
Hit Points 153 (18d10+54)
Speed 40 ft.
STR-||--+DEX--|-+CON--|||-INT-||||--WIS-||-_-CHA
18 (+4)-+18 (+4)-+16 (+3)-+10 (+0)-+12 (+1)-+12 (+1)
Saving Throws Str +10, Dex +10
Skills Athletics +10, History +6, Persuasion +7, Stealth +10, Survival +7
Senses passive Perception 11
Languages Greek, Themysceran
Challenge 12 (8,400 XP)
Background: Noble - Queen. Due to her position as a ruler, Penthesilea is treated with a measure of respect wherever she goes. She is treated as royalty (or as closely as possible) by most peasants and traders, and as an equal when meeting other authority figures (who make time in their schedule to see her if requested to do so).
Action Surge (1/Short Rest). Once on her turn, Penthesilea can take an additional action on top of her regular action and a possible bonus action.
Brutal Toughness. Penthesilea gains a +1d6 bonus to saving throws and death saves (treating final results of 20 or higher on a death saving throw as a natural 20).
Colossus Slayer (1/Turn). When Penthesilea hits a creature with a weapon attack, the creature takes an extra 4 (1d8) damage if it’s below its hit point maximum.
Favored Enemy: Beasts. Penthesilea has advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track beasts, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.
Feat: Athletic. Penthesilea can stand up from being prone with only 5 feet of her movement, climbing doesn’t cost her extra movement, and she only has to move 5 feet before making a running long jump or running high jump.
Feat: Brawling. Penthesilea is proficient with improvised weapons, and she can use a bonus action to grapple a target she hits with an unarmed strike or improvised weapon on her turn.
Feat: Mobility. Penthesilea can Dash through difficult terrain without requiring additional movement. Whenever she makes an attack against a creature, she doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks from that creature until the end of her turn.
Feat: Soldier Tactics. A creature hit by Penthesilea’s opportunity attack reduces its speed to 0 until the beginning of the next round and disengaging from her still provokes opportunity attacks. In addition, Penthesilea can use her reaction to make a melee weapon attack against a creature within 5 feet when it makes an attack against a target other than her.
Natural Explorer: Forests. When Penthesilea makes an Intelligence or Wisdom check related to forests, her proficiency bonus (+6) is doubled if she is using History or Survival. While traveling for an hour or more in a forest, she gains the following benefits: difficult terrain doesn’t slow her group’s travel, her group can’t become lost except by magical means, even when she engages in another activity while traveling she remains alert to danger, if she is traveling alone she can move stealthily at a normal pace, she finds twice as much food as she normally would when she forages, and while tracking other creatures she also learns their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.
Indomitable (2/Long Rest). Penthesilea can reroll a saving throw that she fails but must use the new roll.
Primeval Awareness. Penthesilea can use her action and expend one ranger spell slot to focus her awareness on the region around her. For 1 minute per level of the spell slot she expends, Penthesilea can sense whether the following types of creatures are present within 1 mile of her (or within up to 6 miles if she is in a forest): aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead. This feature doesn’t reveal the creatures’ location or number.
Second Wind (1/Short Rest). On her turn, Penthesilea can use a bonus action to regain 1d10+14 hit points.
Spellcasting. Penthesilea is a 4th level spellcaster that uses Wisdom as her spellcasting ability. She has the following spells prepared from the ranger’s spell list:
--_1st-level (3 slots): cure wounds, hunter’s mark, longstrider
ACTIONS
Extra Attack. Penthesilea attacks three times when she takes the Attack action. When she uses a bonus action to engage in two-weapon fighting using her shield, she can add her Strength modifier to the damage of her fourth attack.
Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6+6) piercing damage or 12 (1d8+1d6+4) piercing damage if wielded in two hands..
Shield. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d4+1d6+4) bludgeoning damage.
Unarmed. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d4+1d6+4) bludgeoning damage.
Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage.
Penthesilia comes to Troy with Memnon and joins their side, bringing along a dozen of her fellow lady-warriors and looking to die honorably in battle after accidentally slaying her sister Hyppolita during a hunt. She spends her day cutting down soldiers before confronting Achilles who, upon killing her and removing her helmet, is immediately heartstruck. Another Greek soldier by the name of Thersites scolds him for having emotions then proceeds to tear the eyes out of her corpse and unsurprisingly is slain for it. Of course depending upon where you look, she’s attributed with other things too--killing Hector, for one odd example--but the torrid romance between Penthesilia and Achilles is pretty consistent. According to the 1st century BC text Bibliotheca Historica she was the last Amazon to distinguish herself in war, and afterwards her peoples and their accomplishments diminish into legend. She becomes an extremely popular figure for literature, plays, and other cultural objects as the centuries pass, even re-cast as a medieval warrior queen.
Design Notes: Since we’re talking about a woman who manages to put up a solid fight against (the nearly invincible) Achilles my figuring is that she ought to be 18th level or thereabouts--also it’s the queen of the Amazons. On top of being high level she still needs to be tough as hell for that kind of a match up so for her roots I went with some ranger (har har), and then the rest is dumped into the brute archetype fighter. At the end of the day she is fierce and I think would be a fitting companion for Diana of Themyscira.
With that, let’s do the numbers: the DMG puts Penthesilea at an even 12 and the Blog of Holding’s rubric does as well, albeit .8 higher, so we’re sticking with that. There are some things I think I’d like for her (some boosts to archery perhaps) but as far as RAW goes, I’m happy with this warrior queen.Amazon Queen Penthesilea
Medium humanoid (human), neutral ranger (hunter) 4/fighter (brutal) 14
Armor Class 19 (studded leather, defense fighting style, shield)
Hit Points 153 (18d10+54)
Speed 40 ft.
STR-||--+DEX--|-+CON--|||-INT-||||--WIS-||-_-CHA
18 (+4)-+18 (+4)-+16 (+3)-+10 (+0)-+12 (+1)-+12 (+1)
Saving Throws Str +10, Dex +10
Skills Athletics +10, History +6, Persuasion +7, Stealth +10, Survival +7
Senses passive Perception 11
Languages Greek, Themysceran
Challenge 12 (8,400 XP)
Background: Noble - Queen. Due to her position as a ruler, Penthesilea is treated with a measure of respect wherever she goes. She is treated as royalty (or as closely as possible) by most peasants and traders, and as an equal when meeting other authority figures (who make time in their schedule to see her if requested to do so).
Action Surge (1/Short Rest). Once on her turn, Penthesilea can take an additional action on top of her regular action and a possible bonus action.
Brutal Toughness. Penthesilea gains a +1d6 bonus to saving throws and death saves (treating final results of 20 or higher on a death saving throw as a natural 20).
Colossus Slayer (1/Turn). When Penthesilea hits a creature with a weapon attack, the creature takes an extra 4 (1d8) damage if it’s below its hit point maximum.
Favored Enemy: Beasts. Penthesilea has advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track beasts, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.
Feat: Athletic. Penthesilea can stand up from being prone with only 5 feet of her movement, climbing doesn’t cost her extra movement, and she only has to move 5 feet before making a running long jump or running high jump.
Feat: Brawling. Penthesilea is proficient with improvised weapons, and she can use a bonus action to grapple a target she hits with an unarmed strike or improvised weapon on her turn.
Feat: Mobility. Penthesilea can Dash through difficult terrain without requiring additional movement. Whenever she makes an attack against a creature, she doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks from that creature until the end of her turn.
Feat: Soldier Tactics. A creature hit by Penthesilea’s opportunity attack reduces its speed to 0 until the beginning of the next round and disengaging from her still provokes opportunity attacks. In addition, Penthesilea can use her reaction to make a melee weapon attack against a creature within 5 feet when it makes an attack against a target other than her.
Natural Explorer: Forests. When Penthesilea makes an Intelligence or Wisdom check related to forests, her proficiency bonus (+6) is doubled if she is using History or Survival. While traveling for an hour or more in a forest, she gains the following benefits: difficult terrain doesn’t slow her group’s travel, her group can’t become lost except by magical means, even when she engages in another activity while traveling she remains alert to danger, if she is traveling alone she can move stealthily at a normal pace, she finds twice as much food as she normally would when she forages, and while tracking other creatures she also learns their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.
Indomitable (2/Long Rest). Penthesilea can reroll a saving throw that she fails but must use the new roll.
Primeval Awareness. Penthesilea can use her action and expend one ranger spell slot to focus her awareness on the region around her. For 1 minute per level of the spell slot she expends, Penthesilea can sense whether the following types of creatures are present within 1 mile of her (or within up to 6 miles if she is in a forest): aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead. This feature doesn’t reveal the creatures’ location or number.
Second Wind (1/Short Rest). On her turn, Penthesilea can use a bonus action to regain 1d10+14 hit points.
Spellcasting. Penthesilea is a 4th level spellcaster that uses Wisdom as her spellcasting ability. She has the following spells prepared from the ranger’s spell list:
--_1st-level (3 slots): cure wounds, hunter’s mark, longstrider
ACTIONS
Extra Attack. Penthesilea attacks three times when she takes the Attack action. When she uses a bonus action to engage in two-weapon fighting using her shield, she can add her Strength modifier to the damage of her fourth attack.
Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6+6) piercing damage or 12 (1d8+1d6+4) piercing damage if wielded in two hands..
Shield. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d4+1d6+4) bludgeoning damage.
Unarmed. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d4+1d6+4) bludgeoning damage.
Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) piercing damage.
