Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Beast Binder

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted attract a menagerie of pets for another fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character. Lots of 5E D&D players love befriending and collecting critters throughout their adventures. We thought it would be fun to create a Beast Binder character whose career is focused on discovering new creatures, researching them and gathering pets, allies and friends along the way. Let’s get into it.

Behind the CBG — Beast Binder

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 Beast Binder 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 Beast Binder’s deep connection to the natural world. Sometimes puns and pop culture references instigate the creation of a CBG too. The Beast Binder begins their adventuring career in the halls of academia, but very quickly their research becomes hands-on work out in the wild.

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 Beast Binder becomes quite competent in their chosen field by about 6th level. When they reach 12th level this character brings their wildlife collection with them wherever their adventures carry them.

Cryptozoologist 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.

Both the character version and the NPC creature version focus their energies on beasts, plants and elemental creatures and in either case the perspective of the individual informs their methods. A Beast Binder could be as likely to add to their collection out of a sense of care as a desire to control. How they utilize their menagerie might be nurturing in one case and dispassionate from another.

Domineering and Dominating. Through influence and magic, the cryptozoologist has gained control over a large assortment of creatures. They are never without allies — either willing or otherwise. Some cryptozoologists are kind and caring, while others bind creatures to their will for their own selfish desires.

“Command. As a bonus action the cryptozoologist may issue a command, directing one beast, elemental, or humanoid charmed or otherwise under their control that can see and hear them, to strike. That creature can immediately uses its reaction to make one weapon attack against a target in range.”

If your next 5E D&D game needs a character in search of rare and exotic creatures to study — whether you’re the DM or a player — check out the Beast Binder Character Build Guide here.

*Featured image — The Beast Whisperer from Magic: The Gathering’s Guilds of Ravnica expansion not only captures the essence of our 5E D&D Beast Binder visually but their ability to learn through interaction of other creatures represents this character’s motivation perfectly as well. [Art by Matthew Stewart]

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