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Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons  > Character Builds  > Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as an Ever Living One

Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as an Ever Living One

Is Your TTRPG a Film or a Series?
D&D Ideas -- Possession

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted call on ancient spirits to transform a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character into Ever Living Ones. This 5E D&D character build focuses on one particular Eldritch Invocation and squeezes in a whole bunch of class features to keep themselves topped off in the hit points department. Dive into danger whatever way appeals most with a mastery of manipulating the most precious of resources. So let’s get into it.

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Behind the CBG — Ever Living One

Every CBG we create considers the journey as much as the final outcome. We aim to present a guide suitable for any level of 5E D&D play whether you’re pursuing an epic campaign from start to finish, starting beyond 1st level or choosing a character for a one shot. Then we take those concepts and develop an NPC or creature version of the character build for DMs to incorporate into their games. All of this gets packaged up and laid out in a PDF you can find over at Dungeon Master’s Guild. We’ve got dozens of pay what you want products at DMG, many of them best sellers so if you want to check those out start with the Ever Living One here.

All about the character story

Each CBG starts with a character concept sticking to a particular schtick, from the Mind Breaker’s psyche crushing smites to the Ever-Living One’s hit point regaining engine. Sometimes puns and pop culture references instigate the creation of a CBG too. This one came about when we picked up on a very distinct connection between an Eldritch Invocation and a beloved animated series from our youth.

Gift of the Ever-Living Ones

Prerequisite: Pact of the Chain feature

Whenever you regain hit points while your familiar is within 100 feet of you, treat any dice rolled to determine the hit points you regain as having rolled their maximum value for you.

Imagine this familiar as a blue undead, bulldog-like companion. The goal of course was creating a character who exploits this mechanic by incorporating as many methods of rolling dice to regain hit points as possible, which guides their decisions and choices from 1st to 20th level. Multiclass combinations arise from this by default and as DM’s Guild Brand Manager and longtime Nerdarchy friend Lysa Penrose puts it they’re each like their own unique class for 5E D&D.

As always we find a narrative thread to follow through the level progression. The character version takes a detour from the initial inspiration and instead imagines this Ever Living One in a much more benevolent way. Their desire to provide health and wellness to others leads them down many roads. For us it’s important to consider who these characters are as individuals and why they follow these particular paths. One special thing to note with this CBG is while we always aim to make the journey to 20th level as practical as possible — none of these characters “come online” after an awkward slog through many levels — the Ever Living One gets their signature feature at 3rd level and everything after simply provides new materials with which to work through this early option.

Ever Living NPC for 5E D&D

Full disclosure — the NPCs and creatures we make in CBGs are some of my favorite bits of 5E D&D content to create. We step back and look at the character build to find the standout features that feel like signature abilities. The juice! From there we consider what sort of person or people would possess or gain these abilities and build a stat block around them. More often than not the section of a CBG For Dungeon Masters presents a generic creature. The Ever Living represents a couple of firsts for our CBG line of content as the first of these creatures to have Lair Actions. They’ve also got a sidebar with an optional feature to better represent what initially inspired the whole thing.

Decayed Form. The Ever Living receives power in exchange for eternal servitude. As long as it faithfully serves its otherworldly masters it lives on long past a normal lifetime as a husk of it’s mortal form.

Lair Action. The ever living casts Tenser’s transformation (no components required). While maintaining concentration on this spell the ever living can’t take other lair actions. Casting the spell also creates a double-bladed scimitar in the ever living’s empty hand. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (2d4 -2) slashing plus 13 (2d12) force damage. The Ever Living can make three attacks with it’s double-bladed scimitar.”

If your next 5E D&D game needs a character with who keeps their hit points tank full and shared the leftovers with friends and allies — whether you’re the DM or a player — check out the Ever Living One here.

*Featured image — The Ever Living One CBG presents this concept as a helpful adventuring character and alternatively as a monstrosity infused with ancient power making them almost totally invincible!

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Doug Vehovec

Nerditor-in-Chief Doug Vehovec is a proud native of Cleveland, Ohio, with D&D in his blood since the early 80s. Fast forward to today and he’s still rolling those polyhedral dice. When he’s not DMing, worldbuilding or working on endeavors for Nerdarchy he enjoys cryptozoology trips and eating awesome food.

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