Captain Kirk the Dungeons and Dragons Character

[Grear Bylls]

Hello all!

I've recently thought of a strange character for DnD: Captain James T. Kirk.

I'm wondering what kind of Class he would be. I think paladin would be good as Kirk knows how to use many weapons. This also points to barbarian, as he is often unarmored and the martial training. He also happens to be a good hand to hand combatant. This points to maybe a grappler or monk.

Can you guys help me decide what kind of build to do? I'll probably go variant human to get the feat, as Kirk would need it to be a good grappler.

Thank you all!

[ImproperJustice]

Charismatic Rogue with expertise in Athletics and Persuade.
Tavern Brawer

Low Intelligence and EXTREMELY high levels of GM buy in to handwave whatever plot point is nescessary to ensure sucess.

Make sure you use the Thief ability to throw lots of punches by rebounding off walls.
Or launch yourself like a log to knock prone two foes with a dual grapple.

Flirt with everything female and challenge everything male, and always, always overeact to everything in dramatic fashion.

[Easy_Lee]

Purple Dragon Knight Fighter with Inspiring Leader. His biggest strength is the people around him.

[Klorox]

Bard, for sure.



LOL

[Grear Bylls]

Charismatic Rogue with expertise in Athletics and Persuade.
Tavern Brawer

Low Intelligence and EXTREMELY high levels of GM buy in to handwave whatever plot point is nescessary to ensure sucess.

Make sure you use the Thief ability to throw lots of punches by rebounding off walls.
Or launch yourself like a log to knock prone two foes with a dual grapple.

Flirt with everything female and challenge everything male, and always, always overeact to everything in dramatic fashion.

Yes!! Can't forget to overreact and to be dramatic.

[Grear Bylls]

Charismatic Rogue with expertise in Athletics and Persuade.
Tavern Brawer

Low Intelligence and EXTREMELY high levels of GM buy in to handwave whatever plot point is nescessary to ensure sucess.

Make sure you use the Thief ability to throw lots of punches by rebounding off walls.
Or launch yourself like a log to knock prone two foes with a dual grapple.

Flirt with everything female and challenge everything male, and always, always overeact to everything in dramatic fashion.

Although, I feel that he should have low Wis, not Int

[samcifer]

I've made up a few variations of Zap Branagan as a cleric, a wizard and an Eldritch Knight.

[Pex]

Captain Kirk is smart. He knows tactics. Going by stereotype he can defeat Mr. Spock in 3D Chess. He's not necessarily proficient in Knowledge Skills, but he is clever. He has good Intelligence. He has good Constitution. He can take a lot of punches. Average Strength, typical for a human. A high Dexterity. He fights with finesse and fast maneuvers. The Gorn had resistance to non-magical weapons, taking the conceit that gunpowder would count as magical, but on Triskelion he was phenomenal. Wisdom is low. He is easily fooled and takes too many risks. Many risks work, but he is reckless nevertheless and when they don't work they really don't work. Charisma, though, oh that Charisma. That is his prime. That's his 20. Proficient in all social skills.

He is a Swashbuckler Rogue.

[SkipSandwich]

Although, I feel that he should have low Wis, not Int

Kirk is high Cha, Moderate Int and low Wis combined with above average in all physical stats, fighter/rogue multiclass.

Picard is a Lore Bard who dumped physical stats to max out int/wis/cha.

Janeway is a war domain cleric, because she has two priorities, protecting her crew, and torpedoing the ever-loving fudge out of anything that would threaten them.

[QuintonBeck]

Captain Kirk is smart. He knows tactics. Going by stereotype he can defeat Mr. Spock in 3D Chess. He's not necessarily proficient in Knowledge Skills, but he is clever. He has good Intelligence. He has good Constitution. He can take a lot of punches. Average Strength, typical for a human. A high Dexterity. He fights with finesse and fast maneuvers. The Gorn had resistance to non-magical weapons, taking the conceit that gunpowder would count as magical, but on Triskelion he was phenomenal. Wisdom is low. He is easily fooled and takes too many risks. Many risks work, but he is reckless nevertheless and when they don't work they really don't work. Charisma, though, oh that Charisma. That is his prime. That's his 20. Proficient in all social skills.

He is a Swashbuckler Rogue.

I think this is it. Throw in Expertise on Athletics for grappling checks, consider the Skilled feat to cover Kirk's dazzling array of skills.

Standard Array Vuman Level 1
Str: 10
Dex: 14 (13+1)
Con: 12
Int: 14
Wis: 8
Cha: 16 (15+1)

[Willie the Duck]

Once you take the conceits that anything magical has to be reinterpreted, and that no one wears armor, he can really be any class. He clearly has tavern brawler feat, and gains some benefit from charisma (could be bardic inspiration, inspiring leader, or anything else. He has insight, athletics, all the social skills. But beyond that, he could be rogue, bard, straight champion fighter, or paladin. He's just clearly the highest level character around with very high stats, hp rolls, and always rolls either 1s or 20s, as the script requires.

[SharkForce]

most likely any main character you can think of from any setting that doesn't include magic (or something functionally identical) is probably going to most closely resemble a multiclass fighter/rogue, with varying amounts of focus on either side of that equation.

though sometimes, you get a person who is only fighter, or only rogue :P

[Unoriginal]

I don't get why people call Kirk "low WIS", "reckless", "easy to fool" or the like.

Kirk is highly perceptive and quick on the uptake. He is strong-willed against mind-affecting powers. He is not reckless -sure, he took huge risks, but what set him aside from other captains of his era was that he took huge risks as part of calculated gambits where not doing it would be just as risky, while others were just fumbling around and doing crazy stuff due to obsessions with their foes, being morons, or the like.

As for being easily fooled: any time people tried to trick the Enterprise, Kirk was either the first or the second (after Spock) to realise that.

He did some foolish things when he grew older, but it was due on a personal level and it didn't affect his capacities on the field.

[Randomthom]

Surely he is a Warlock with the Gene Rodenberry patron?

Edit: And the new spell Agathys Plot Armor

[Zonugal]

What about something simple like this?

James T. Kirk



"I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity; I know nothing."

James Tiberius Kirk
‘Variant’ Human ‘Mastermind’ Rogue 4/Fighter 2 with the Sailor background
Medium humanoid (human), Chaotic Good
Armor class 17 (breastplate)
Hit points 47 (4d8+8/2d10+4)
Speed 30 ft.
---
Str 8, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 14
---
Saving Throws Dexterity +7 and Intelligence +5
Skills Acrobatics +6, Athletics +2, Deception +5, Disguise Kit +3, Forgery Kit +3, Gaming Set (Dragon Chess) +3, Insight +6, Navigator’s Tools +3, Perception +3, Persuasion +8, Stealth +6, and Thieves’ Tools +3 and Vehicles (Water) +3
Feats Lucky and Tavern Brawler
Senses passive Perception 11
Languages Common and Elven
Challenge 6
---
Special Abilities
Racial Abilities: --
Background Abilities: Ship’s Passage
Class Abilities: Expertise (Insight & Persuasion), Sneak Attack (2d6), Thieves’ Cant, Cunning Action, Roguish Archetype (Mastermind), Master of Intrigue, Master of Tactics, Fighting Style (Dueling), and Second Wind (1d10+2/rest)
---
Actions
Unarmed Strike. Melee weapon attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3) bludgeoning damage
Dagger. Melee weapon attack: +6 to hit, range 20 ft/60 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d4+5) piercing damage; finesse, light, thrown (range 20/60)
+1 Rapier. Melee weapon attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d8+6) piercing damage; finesse
Hand Crossbow. Ranged weapon attack: +6 to hit, range 30 ft/120 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) piercing damage; ammunition (30/120), light, loading
---
Equipment: a belaying pin (club), a belt pouch (10 gp), breastplate armor, a Cloak of Protection, two daggers, an explorer’s pack, a hand crossbow with twenty bolts, a lucky charm (an indecipherable treasure map), a set of noble clothes, a +1 rapier, silk rope (50 ft.), and thieves’ tools

[Sigreid]

Mastermind rogue is a good call. Why else would all those red shirts keep getting hit and killed instead of him?

[PeteNutButter]

I’d say he definitely falls under one of those characters you can’t accurately make with point buy. Or maybe he just wouldn’t be optimal if you stat him correctly.

Mental stats are always hard to measure for episodic characters that have a long lifespan and get shuffled between writers. In some episodes or movies he might have dumped wisdom while might have a ton of it in others. Best you can do is take a sort of average and ignore outliers.

I’d say something like 14, 12, 15, 17, 11, 20. I’d argue his strength is higher than his dex (but trained in acrobatics). Double fisted punches jumping off the wall are his go to move. You could argue for a low wisdom, but then you should tack on resilient wisdom as he is usually the one to make his wisdom saves.

I think the whole thing works better if you make him higher level. I’d say, somewhere in tier 3 around level 12. You don’t get to be a captain of a Federation starship in tier one or two.

I like the swashbuckler idea and I feel like he needs to be some kind of paladin with a spellless variant. He clearly has an oath and incredibly strong code of personal ethics.

Ultimately he is a bit of a Mary Sue, good at far too many things to make an accurate D&D character. It’s always fun to try though.

What about his crew?

[Hish]

Kirk is high Cha, Moderate Int and low Wis combined with above average in all physical stats, fighter/rogue multiclass.

Picard is a Lore Bard who dumped physical stats to max out int/wis/cha.

Janeway is a war domain cleric, because she has two priorities, protecting her crew, and torpedoing the ever-loving fudge out of anything that would threaten them.

I like this. Though, I seem to remember Picard winning some fist fights, and he's a good hiker/spelunker, so maybe a moderate strength?

Ultimately he is a bit of a Mary Sue, good at far too many things to make an accurate D&D character. It’s always fun to try though.

It's weird how all of the star trek captains (and many main characters in general) are too Mary Sue to be good D&D characters, but they're all Mary Sue in different ways.
Even Roy Greenhilt. The best the people at the class levels and geekery thread can come up with is that he rolled really good.

[PeteNutButter]

It's weird how all of the star trek captains (and many main characters in general) are too Mary Sue to be good D&D characters, but they're all Mary Sue in different ways.
Even Roy Greenhilt. The best the people at the class levels and geekery thread can come up with is that he rolled really good.

There is a bit of realism in that you could expect in a world with varying stats those that end up in positions like starship captain would be the cream of the crop on their rolled stats.

It also has something to do with the nature of the fiction. Star Trek feels like more heroic fiction encouraging these characters with god stats, while characters from more gritty sources such as Game of Thrones are much easier to point buy.

[Grear Bylls]

I’d say he definitely falls under one of those characters you can’t accurately make with point buy. Or maybe he just wouldn’t be optimal if you stat him correctly.

Mental stats are always hard to measure for episodic characters that have a long lifespan and get shuffled between writers. In some episodes or movies he might have dumped wisdom while might have a ton of it in others. Best you can do is take a sort of average and ignore outliers.

I’d say something like 14, 12, 15, 17, 11, 20. I’d argue his strength is higher than his dex (but trained in acrobatics). Double fisted punches jumping off the wall are his go to move. You could argue for a low wisdom, but then you should tack on resilient wisdom as he is usually the one to make his wisdom saves.

I think the whole thing works better if you make him higher level. I’d say, somewhere in tier 3 around level 12. You don’t get to be a captain of a Federation starship in tier one or two.

I like the swashbuckler idea and I feel like he needs to be some kind of paladin with a spellless variant. He clearly has an oath and incredibly strong code of personal ethics.

Ultimately he is a bit of a Mary Sue, good at far too many things to make an accurate D&D character. It’s always fun to try though.

What about his crew?

I was thinking about making Spock as a half elf (half human and half Vulcan), maybe immortal mystic (for the durability and Vulcan mind powers)raised by lizardfolk (all logic, has emotions, but tries to hide them)

McCoy would probably be a cleric of some kind.

Scotty would be a forge cleric (maybe?) with guild artisan background (I guess?)

[Grear Bylls]

I was thinking about making Spock as a half elf (half human and half Vulcan), maybe immortal mystic (for the durability and Vulcan mind powers)raised by lizardfolk (all logic, has emotions, but tries to hide them)

McCoy would probably be a cleric of some kind.

Scotty would be a forge cleric (maybe?) with guild artisan background (I guess?)

Also, I rolled these stats: 17, 18, 8, 12, 14, 16.
That's what I remember off the top of my head. I think I did:

Rogue 1, Paladin 1
17 (+1 human) Str
14 or 16 (I think) Dec
18 (+1 human, +1 Tavern Brawler) Con
12 Int
8 Wis
16 or 14 (Don't remember which) Cha

Let me know if these should be swapped to make it more "realistic"!

And thanks for the help this far!

[PeteNutButter]

Also, I rolled these stats: 17, 18, 8, 12, 14, 16.
That's what I remember off the top of my head. I think I did:

Rogue 1, Paladin 1
17 (+1 human) Str
14 or 16 (I think) Dec
18 (+1 human, +1 Tavern Brawler) Con
12 Int
8 Wis
16 or 14 (Don't remember which) Cha

Let me know if these should be swapped to make it more "realistic"!

And thanks for the help this far!

I like the paladin. Definately make sure cha is higher than dex. It comes down to your postion on porting characters to D&D. If you go by the approach of what that character is then unless you are porting someone like Dr. Strange over you'll never have a wizard. If you instead ask, "what would this character be in the D&D universe?" Things get a little more interesting.

If you ask me, James Tiberius Kirk would be a paladin and you would respect that his plate is somehow customized to reveal a nipple after getting hit once, but still provides 18 AC.

[Mjolnirbear]

Note to my players:

All of my campaigns have a special weapon just for Kirk. He *will* blow up in spectacular and grisly fashion. Do NOT build a Kirk for my games.

I'd rather have a *shudders* kender.

[SharkForce]

Note to my players:

All of my campaigns have a special weapon just for Kirk. He *will* blow up in spectacular and grisly fashion. Do NOT build a Kirk for my games.

I'd rather have a *shudders* kender.

got it. so grapple the BBEG, and then reveal that you've been kirk all along :) :P

[Spiderguy24]

Kirk is high Cha, Moderate Int and low Wis combined with above average in all physical stats, fighter/rogue multiclass.

Picard is a Lore Bard who dumped physical stats to max out int/wis/cha.

Janeway is a war domain cleric, because she has two priorities, protecting her crew, and torpedoing the ever-loving fudge out of anything that would threaten them.

What about The Sisko? Wouldn't War Domain be more appropriate for him since he is more of a fighter, the man punched Q in the face, designed the Sisko's mutha f**king pimp hand AKA The Defiant, and he does some very questionable things for the greater good of the Alpha Quadrant. There's also the fact that he has had multiple contacts with The Prophets, actual gods or aliens that are as close to gods as you can get. Or maybe he would be more of a Vengeance Paladin?

[Klorox]

What about The Sisko? Wouldn't War Domain be more appropriate for him since he is more of a fighter, the man punched Q in the face, designed the Sisko's mutha f**king pimp hand AKA The Defiant, and he does some very questionable things for the greater good of the Alpha Quadrant. There's also the fact that he has had multiple contacts with The Prophets, actual gods or aliens that are as close to gods as you can get. Or maybe he would be more of a Vengeance Paladin?

Love it. DS9 > all other Trek.

[KorvinStarmast]

He is a Swashbuckler Rogue.

Good call.

Surely he is a Warlock with the Gene Rodenberry patron? And the new spell Agathys Plot Armor

Yeah.

All of my campaigns have a special weapon just for Kirk. He *will* blow up in spectacular and grisly fashion. Do NOT build a Kirk for my games. I'd rather have a *shudders* kender.

I'm here for you.

[Joe the Rat]

When genre-bending like this, I will typically ascribe a lot of fantasy magic traits to be covered by technology. Engineers and Science Officers dip more into Wizardry than Widgetry. The inverse - all tech is magic - is not the case. "standard issue weapons" are weapons - possibly magical, possibly not.

What about The Sisko? Wouldn't War Domain be more appropriate for him since he is more of a fighter, the man punched Q in the face, designed the Sisko's mutha f**king pimp hand AKA The Defiant, and he does some very questionable things for the greater good of the Alpha Quadrant. There's also the fact that he has had multiple contacts with The Prophets, actual gods or aliens that are as close to gods as you can get. Or maybe he would be more of a Vengeance Paladin?

I'm between War Cleric and Oath of the Crown Federation Paladin - but part of that may be his personal story arc capturing more of that growing into destiny and making hard decisions (and By the Pale Moonlight was one of my favorite episodes of anything, ever).
He also has a bit of Celestial Warlock in his story...

[GlenSmash!]

He also has a bit of Celestial Warlock in his story...

Oh yeah. Good call.