Grim Reaper or Chosen of Death Deity

[JackOfAllBuilds]

I have been wracking my brain going back and forth on all the options available to possibly do this, and I figure it’s time to get other opinions instead of hitting my head on the wall.

Someone to embody the feeling of the grim reaper. Warlock is pretty much an auto include.

Hexblade patron to at least 12, if not all 20 levels. Multiclass with Paladin is a possibility, with the Oathbreaker, Oath of Conquest, and Oath of Vengeance all seeming appropriate. Hexblade is SAD, so instead of Paladin could multiclass into Celestial Sorcerer, L or N.

GWM Halberd or Glaive seems to be a given.

Race could be Aasimar, Half-elf, or Human, and I like the Revenant if they ever come out with an official sub race.

So, thoughts?

(Ex: OaV Pal8/Hex War12, BladePact, Improved weapon invocation, lifedrinker, GWM Halberd for Cha heavy weapon goodness... Devils sight, Sign of ill omen, speak with dead, soul cage 1*day, etc)

[Talamare]

Cleric, Grave Domain

[BobZan]

Cleric, Death Domain

[Talamare]

Cleric, Any Domain that starts with the letters D or G

[JackOfAllBuilds]

Cleric, Any Domain that starts with the letters D or G

[Quoxis]

No idea what the OP said, but for flavorful character builds that feature death gods, there's also the divine soul sorcerer with the death/grave domain as its source, and the undying warlock from scag. The dmg also has the fallen paladin which has some features with undeads etc.

[JackOfAllBuilds]

No idea what the OP said, but for flavorful character builds that feature death gods, there's also the divine soul sorcerer with the death/grave domain as its source, and the undying warlock from scag. The dmg also has the fallen paladin which has some features with undeads etc.

👍🏼 Thank you for getting my idea

[Talamare]

No idea what the OP said, but for flavorful character builds that feature death gods, there's also the divine soul sorcerer with the death/grave domain as its source, and the undying warlock from scag. The dmg also has the fallen paladin which has some features with undeads etc.

I believe he wanted a Full Caster who would yield a Scythe and be very Death theme, since he wanted to be Western Death

[Quoxis]

Possible death scythes:
- a normal refluffed pike, which uses str and is a martial weapon normal casters aren't proficient with
- a pact weapon (still a refluffed pike) which grants auto-proficiency, but still needs str to work
- a hexblade pact weapon - free proficiency and cha as its attack stat
- a normal scythe - you're a caster, why would you use melee weapons at all? Make it your spell focus without pushing for proficiency etc. and hope you'll have a GM lenient enough to roll with it
- heavy refluff of the shadow blade (?) spell from Xanathar's

I'd first clarify what exactly you want: a necromancer raising the dead to fight for you, a dude flinging around necromancy spells, or a scythe wielding gish.

[DarkKnightJin]

I'm running a Fighter 1/ Death Cleric 2 Silver Dragonborn in a game, doing this very thing.

Started Fighter for Fighting Style (Defense) and Heavy armor. Going thr rest in Cleric for the support side of things.
My guy is using a Halberd refluffed to be a Scythe, and it's pretty sweet.

[JackOfAllBuilds]

I'd first clarify what exactly you want: a necromancer raising the dead to fight for you, a dude flinging around necromancy spells, or a scythe wielding gish.

I guess I was kind of vague. I definitely see a gish, taker of souls vibe. Any healing should only be for self, and more of the dpr type than a support healer like a Cleric

And not so much on the Necromancer, but Danse Macabre is a potential pick for someone who manages the dead, but not to make unending armies of the undead. (Basically a Servant of Kelemvor/Jergal)

[Quoxis]

I guess I was kind of vague. I definitely see a gish, taker of souls vibe. Any healing should only be for self, and more of the dpr type than a support healer like a Cleric

And not so much on the Necromancer, but Danse Macabre is a potential pick for someone who manages the dead, but not to make unending armies of the undead. (Basically a Servant of Kelemvor/Jergal)

Not to make you moan and delete the OP again, but: clerics in 5e aren't healbots, and healing is most useful to get people you still have use for back from death. Especially the death cleric is absolutely not about healing, but dealing more necrotic damage than most other classes. Just as a side note.

Other than that, i find a conquest paladin (main theme: fear) or an oathbreaker (necrotic) to fit most for what you have in mind. Definitely look at shadow sorcerer (metamagic to quicken a "inflict wounds", then attack twice with your scythe to smite twice...) to dip (you'll want to get multiattack asap, and overall you're a gish, not a primary caster), or hexblade/undying warlock for possibly a few more levels. Pally/Cleric is pretty MAD, but could also work if you roll luckily for your stats.

[Sception]

pure hexblade, hexblade/shadow sorcerer, or hexblade/paladin, either conquest (imobilizing enemies with the fear of death) or oathbreaker (fluff not a good fit, but undead buffing aura and access to animate dead spell could be).

Hexblades are already implied to work, directly or indirectly, for the Raven Queen, who would definitely be the boss of any reaper corp in generic D&D land, and they have spooky magic powers (while not their strongest feature, killing a dude and pulling their ghost out to fight for you for a few rounds is basically the peak of this character concept), and with blade pact can wield a big ol' scythe using their casting stat, whether you fluff that as a great axe or a glaive. I'd consider at least 6 levels of blade pact hexblade to be pretty obligatory here.

armor is an issue. Thematically, you want to fight in robes. Hexblade can make that work with the mage armor invocation, but they you're dependent on having a far higher dexterity than you would otherwise really want. Compromising to medium armor should be alright thematically, and lets you get away with just 14 dex, but due to multiclass paladin's strength requirement you won't be able to bring in conquest or oathbreaker without compromising your constitution, which probably isn't the best call. So if you want to multiclass paladin without compromising con score, that'll mean heavy armor (and taking paladin at level 1).

Here are a few options:

Hexblade 20, wears medium armor. Nothing wrong with hexblade 20. Eventually gets you a 9th level spell per day, which you're not going to get out of most multiclasses. Gets you the third hexblade feature, which is pretty nice. Not as flashy as multiclass builds, and not as many spell slots to fall back on - especially lower level spell slots - for shield and darkness and misty step and the like, but you're never delaying damage or progress to higher level abilities either.

paladin 12/hexblade 8 (not in that strict order, but definitely paladin at level 1), wears heavy armor. This is for oathbreaker with animate dead, which takes 9 levels of paladin. You won't be getting level 12 warlock anyway, so might as well take paladin long enough to pick up improved divine smite.

paladin 8/hexblade 12 (not in that strict order, but definitely paladin at level 1), wears heavy armor. This can be either oathbreaker or conquest. Oathbreaker will be more melee damage (eventually adding cha to melee damage three times), conquest will be more control (fear of death rooting nearby enemies in place). Both can use darkness/devil's sight for advantage, but oathbreaker makes better use of it because conquest wants his enemies to be able to see him.

Hexblade 12/shadow sorcerer 8, wears medium armor. Hexblade is the focus, giving you a lot of melee damage. Shadow sorcerer is there for more spell slots, which frees up your warlock slots for arcane smite. Shadow sorcerer also gets you quicken spell to bop something on the head and cast a spooky spell in the same turn.

Hexblade 6/shadow sorcerer 14, wears medium armor. Hexblade is here just long enough to get extra attack and the fun thematic ghost ability. Less melee damage, but a lot more magic.

Paladin 2/Hexblade 6/Shadow Sorcerer 12, probably in exactly that order, wears heavy armor. Paladin is there to let you smite with sorcerer slots. This guy really wants to be fighting in darkness for advantage to crit fish.


Races

Variant Human is always good, particularly in multiclass builds, for the bonus feat. Especially if you want to call your scythe a 'glaive', which would mean you'd want both polearm master and great weapon master eventually. In any build, look at the ASIs you get, and remember that you'll want resilient (con) and 20 Cha on top of any feats required for your fighting style, and depending on your build, variant human might be the only way to hit all those bases.

Half elf has fantastic stats and features, and grants access to elven accuracy for triple advantage which is fantastic for any build that wants to play in darkness most of the time (basically any of the above /except/ conquest paladin multiclasses). If going with half elf in point buy, be sure to start with 17 cha, so that elven accuracy won't put you behind on stat mod advancement. Half elf is probably the best race for any darkness/devil's sight build, and that's before you remember the SCAG half drow variant with an extra darkness per day.

Dragonborn, while a slightly off choice in terms of aesthetics, has good stat mods, and is a good fit for conquest multiclasses in particular due to the fear-causing racial feat.

Aasimar is a good fit for stats, has strong features, and really nails that 'angel of death' aesthetic. All three of the variants could work well for this concept.

Shadar-Kai, from the recent UA, have good stat mods for any medium-armor variant and a handy teleport ability. Probably the weakest of the races I'm listing here for this concept mechanically, but they're specifically the chosen people of the Raven Queen, so they're among the best thematic fits.

Half-Shadar-Kai: not an actual race, but Shadar-Kai are elves now, so half elves can be half Shadar-Kai. No official rules for such, but the generic half elf rules area already among the strongest choices here. See if you can talk your DM into a half-Shadar-Kai variant based on the other SCAG half-elf variants, trading the skills for their teleport. They probably won't go for it (it's not really any stronger than half drow, but half drow is, frankly, too good already), but it's worth a shot. :p

[Joe the Rat]

I would love to push this more towards Undying, but that would require a broader statpool (Strength to support Greataxe or Glaive use). Hexblade will keep you more Reaper than Unreapable - an enemy of the undead, not a scion.

Hinted above, Greataxe or Glaive would make a good scythe stand-in - it's a question of reach. Downgrade to Battle Axe if one-handed swings are on the menu.

Whispers of the Grave is essential when you hit 9. You'll be better at actual necromancy than those corpse-animating tools that call themselves "necromancers."

Squeezing in a little Favored Soul (Death/Grave) could be handy, but that's a big split to get to the most thematic elements.

[Sception]

Even if hexblade didn't exist, undying wouldn't be good for this anyway. the durability mechanics are weak to the point of negligible, there's nothing in them that relates to creating or controlling undead, undead enemies just ignore them sometimes. The patron fluff is as weak or weaker than that of hexblade, all and all it's just a terrible patron. I'd love a proper ghost/vestige/liche patron with proper necromantic abilities, and a dark knight type character built on that would be great (well, it would be if the blade pact fix had been made to the blade pact itself, rather than being tied to a specific patron), but undying just absolutely fails to deliver on any of that.

And even if undying weren't a mechanically dead patron, it still wouldn't be a great fit for a grim reaper / death's chosen character specifically. Certainly not better than hexblade, with its implicit ties to a Death Deity and weapon using subtheme to push the scythe aspect. And the level 6 feature, while arguably the hexblade's weakest offering mechanically, is just an inarguably perfect fit here. You kill a dude, and the soul you reap pops out to fight for you. There is no other mechanic in the game that comes close to being as thematically strong for a grim reaper.

If we were just talking about a generic dark knight gish, I wouldn't recommend taking hexblade past level 5 at the latest, but for a grim reaper concept in particular you really cannot skip that feature.

[GlenSmash!]

A lot of good suggestions in the thread already.

I actually think a plain old Zealot makes a decent Grim Reaper. Use a Glaive refluffed as Scythe, choose Necrotic Damage at level 3, grab PM and GWM. Waste things with Reckless Attack, laugh in the face of death.

[Daion515]

I've been juggling some ideas around myself for a reaper.

Hexblade 6 Shadow Sorc 14 was one idea. This one is more about being a reaper as you have specters from hexblade and hounds from shadow sorc. You're sending minions at your prey, until you can close to finish the job. Especially with the hound into hold person.

Hexblade 6 Divine Soul 14 is another one I have been bouncing around. Divine Soul allows you to get some cleric spells and sorc spells. With this one I thought more in terms of similar to a grave cleric. While the above hexblade 6/Shadow Sorc 14 would be a reaper, this option is more like a psychopomp. They're almost the same thing, but psychopomp to me would be more inclined to prevent death and undeath, but still have some decent killing ability.

I also thought of going 7 hexblade in both but can't really decide. It'd depend really on how much I want the 14th lvl abilities of the sorc compared to 4th lvl warlock spells slots, and a 4th invocation choice.

I see in all instances at least having Improved Pact Weapon (Glaive flavor scythe), Eldritch Smite, Devil Sight(This is debatable as if you're a shadow sorc you can see through darkness you create with sorc points). Darkness for advantage, prone from smite for advantage when you don't want to hinder your party. Polearm Master is the only feat I feel I would absolute have to take, the rest would depend on my play style.

TBH I've been struggling with going Hexblade more than 6 or 7 because their bonus damage is necrotic, which many undead resist not all though (yay!). But I'd like to know the benefits of going more hexblade for this kinda build. Also does anyone have opinions on if 7 hexblade is worth giving up wings from divine soul, or low-light/darkness teleportation of shadow sorc?

As for race, I really want to try the Shadar-kai. I'd totally try for a half-elf shardar-kai just cause of the flavor. But Half-Elf isn't bad, Aasimar isn't a terrible choice either, I'm a sucker for wings so I'm super biased when it comes to that. Variant Human is also never a bad choice.

[Sception]

yeah, zealot looks pretty good. Kind of lacking in magical abilities, and nothing they do is as on theme as the 6th level hexblade ability, but it could certainly work well for this concept in a build where you don't want to have to bother with spellcasting.

re: more than 6 hexblade. Hexblade has some solid stuff. The level 10 defense is decent, and the level 14 to turn your curse from 1 target per rest to 1 encounter per rest is very nice. Plus you get higher level warlock stuff, which basically amounts to 1/day level 6, 7, 8, and 9 spells. No variety/versatility in what you prepare, you only know and cast one of each level each day, but a single 7th, 8th, or 9th level spell per day is a huge deal. Plus you get that third per rest slot at level 11, and the 4th at level 14, and suddenly your warlock spells feel nowhere near as restricted as they were back when you only had two slots per rest. Being able to freely throw out 1 to 2 5th level spells ever encounter is a big step up from only being able to cast at most one without risk of running out.

And even one 5th level spell cast every single encounter is a big deal. Shadow of Moil, for instance, is a great spell to have up basically every fight, as a party-friendly darkness plus damage on anything that hits you, even if that damage is necrotic. Alternatively, if there are enough corpses around you might even try Danse Macabre. Not a great spell given it's spell level and concentration use, but very much on theme, making it a nice pick up for any warlocks who make it to 5th level spells. Almost doesn't look terrible if you happen to also be a 7th level oathbreaker (although it goes back to looking terrible when and if you take two more levels of oathbreaker and gain access to proper Animate Dead, instead of what is effectively 'Lesser Animate Dead Only Two Spell Levels Higher For No Reason').

Some of the higher level invocations are really good too, ranging from per day Conjure Elemental or Polymorph to at-will Invisibility, Arcane Eye, or Speak With Dead - the latter being particularly fitting for a grim reaper themed character.

[JackOfAllBuilds]

Thank all of you for the replies and concepts. I love most of the ideas presented, and that the concept clicked with some of you.

A couple things though, PAM seems superfluous with GWM, hexblade crit, and Elven accuracy for the crit, or the amount of damage being thrown around killing something for the GWM bonus attack.
The other is that Oathbreaker adding to enemy Undead(and Fiend) damage without the Undying protection from Undead seems a risk (like barb reckless attack)

Also OaV Pal7’s Relentless Avenger seems as thematic of “death wont stop following you”, as the frozen in place fear of Conquest.

Any further thoughts?

(Edit: Admittedly, the damage boost of Oathbreaker is hard to overlook on Hexblade. 1d10 + Cha*3, plus Hexblade’s curse. Of course any PalLock can Hex and Bestow curse)

[JackOfAllBuilds]

I give you my “mortal ascending to reaper for the gods”

Aerdeth Liadon
Half-Elf Warlock 20 (Acolyte)

Armor Class 20
Hit Points 136/136
Intiative +2
Speed 30 ft.

Abilities: Str 9, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 20

Saving Throws: Dexterity +9, Wisdom +9, Charisma +12

Skills: Arcana +6, Deception +11, Insight +8, Perception +8, Religion +6, Stealth +8
Senses: Passive Perception 18

Equipment Reliquary, Dread Helm, Mithral Half Plate Armor, Sentinel Shield, Mace of Smiting (Hex Warrior), Vicious Glaive (Pact Blade), Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location, Boots of Elvenkind, Ring of Regeneration, Wings of Flying

Attacks
Mace of Smiting: +12 to hit, 1d6 + 6 bludgeoning damage
Vicious Glaive: +12 to hit, 1d10 + 11 slashing damage

Racial Traits
Darkvision.
Fey Ancestry.
Skill Versatility.
Languages. Common, Elvish. Add: Celestial, Primordial, Giant.

Warlock Features
Pact Magic.
Otherworldly Patron: The Hexblade.
Hexblade’s Curse.
Hex Warrior.
Eldritch Invocations.
Pact Boon: Pact of the Blade.
Accursed Specter.
Armor of Hexes.
Mystic Arcanum.
Master of Hexes.
Eldritch Master.

Equipment. A holy symbol (a gift to you when you entered the priesthood), a prayer book or prayer wheel, 5 sticks of incense, vestments, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 15

Background
Personality Trait. 3. I see omens in every event and act around me. The gods try to speak to us, we just need to listen.
Ideal. 5. Faith: I trust my deity will guide my actions. I have faith that if I work hard, things will go well. (Lawful)
Bond. 4. Everything I do is for the common people.
Flaw. 1. I judge others harshly, and myself even more severely.

Feats
Resilient (Dexterity).
Elven Accuracy (Charisma).
Great Weapon Master.
Ritual Caster (Cleric).
ASI Lvl 19 +2 Cha.
Blessing of Protection.
Epic Boon: Boon of Immortality.

Invocation: Devil's Sight, Invocation: Improved Pact Weapon, Invocation: Thirsting Blade, Invocation: Eldritch Smite, Invocation: Relentless Hex, Invocation: Lifedrinker, Invocation: Shroud of Shadow (Invisibility), Invocation: Mask of Many Faces (Disguise Self).

Cantrips:
Chill Touch, Eldritch Blast, Sword Burst, Toll the Dead.

Spells:
Armor of Agathys, Charm Person, Hex, Shield, Hold Person, Mirror Image, Dispel Magic, Fear, Vampiric Touch, Banishment, Dimension Door, Shadow of Moil, Banishing Smite, Danse Macabre, Far Step.

Mystic Arcanum:
Soul Cage, Plane Shift, Demiplane, Astral Projection.

Rituals:
Ceremony (Ritual Only), Detect Magic (Ritual Only), Detect Poison and Disease (Ritual Only), Purify Food and Drink (Ritual Only), Augury (Ritual Only), Gentle Repose (Ritual Only), Silence (Ritual Only), Feign Death (Ritual Only), Meld into Stone (Ritual Only), Water Walk (Ritual Only), Divination (Ritual Only), Commune (Ritual Only), Forbiddance (Ritual Only).


He can mostly care for himself, but a healer with teleportation and clone wouldn’t hurt for an ally

[JNAProductions]

Question: How does this guy play up till level 20? There's nothing wrong with having a build in mind for the endgame, but you should make sure it's fun for the rest of it too.

That being said, it's pretty much straight Warlock, right? So I can't imagine it wouldn't play well.

Although an issue I notice-you have four feats, and five total ASIs. But a Charisma of 20-the highest you could start with is 17, and one ASI only bumps that to 19.

Wait-Elven Accuracy gives you the last 1 Charisma, don't it?

[JackOfAllBuilds]

Exactly, 15 Charisma point buy/stat array, +2 half-elf, +1 Elven Accuracy, +2 ASI
I started with 13 Dex and took Resiliant at lvl 4. 18 Cha at 8 with improved pact weapon carries you a long way.

When I was building it, I started at level 1 and just added features, spells, and equipment one level at a time. Some things are obviously replacements. Shadow of Moil took the place of Darkness from earlier levels, and used Armor of Shadows level 2-4, replacing at 5 with Thirsting Blade, because by then you should have some medium armor