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Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons  > Character Builds  > Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Fey Court Mage Slayer

Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Fey Court Mage Slayer

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Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted dispense with mirth in favor of misery for a long awaited Character Build Guide for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. This CBG honestly felt like an oversight on our part. With over three dozen of these things we were frankly shocked when we noticed there weren’t any characters focused on combatting spellcasters (at least not without copious amounts of magic themselves). The 5E D&D Mage Slayer CBG rams through this deficit with grim efficiency to neutralize and take out filthy mages from character creation to 20th level. And as always we create a special NPC or creatures inspired by the character build for Dungeon Masters ready to drop right into your game. So let’s get into it.

Behind the CBG — Mage Slayer

Our CBGs take the journey into account as much as the destination 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. Next 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 Mage Slayer here.

All about the character story

Every CBG starts with an idea for a character with a particular schtick, from the Mind Breaker’s psyche crushing smites to the Mage Slayer’s antimagic skillset. Sometimes puns and pop culture references instigate the creation of a CBG too but in this case the development began with a specific trait — some form of personal magical protection. After narrowing down the list of potential candidates we settled on an unusual choice considering the narrative arc and personal motivations for the Mage Slayer. The discussion then turns to what sort of person starts down this path to power, including motivation and also multiclass reasoning because let’s be real — nearly every one of these guides focuses on a multiclass character. 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.

The Mage Slayer emerged as a person who holds a personal grudge against spellcasting so we took care to avoid the easy options like spamming counterspell and dispel magic. Instead this character understands how magic users do their thing and develops features and abilities aimed to stymie their efforts. The closest they come to using magic is channeling their ki to put the kibosh on casters by taking away their components with Way of Shadow features like silence and darkness. We incorporated the Haunted One background to bridge the narrative between traditionally joyous satyr and a merciless mage slayer, which also provides players with a broad creative space to explore the specifics of the haunted event from their past.

Whenever we reached a decision point, whether in terms of multiclassing or making a class feature choice we asked ourselves what option gave us an edge against spellcasters. As the Mage Slayer advances they grow more competant with maneuvering into position where they can efficiently put enemy spellcaster in check with precision.

dnd dark satyr mage slayer

Fey Court Mage Slayer 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. Basically we step back and look at the character guide to find the standout features, the ones 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, often a member of an organization. Nerdarchist Dave loves including organizations into game material because it’s a great way for players to hook into the world.

Mirthful No More. The DM version of the Mage Slayer simply leans further into the same narrative arc as the player CBG. Fey Court Mage Slayers are agents of both the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, both notoriously fickle and often capricious. At the same time these fey courts hold fast to ancient traditions and customs. Insults need avenging and an insult to magical power itself by irresponsible spellcasters might be a high crime. Mage slayers are darkly inclined fey trained to assassinate magical targets. They are dispatched by powerful fey to track down nefarious mages and eliminate them. (Maybe a particularly harsh adventuring spellcaster finds themselves in the crosshairs of a Fey Court Mage Slayer…?) In our narrative for this creature, satyrs show particular aptitude for mage slaying. Their natural resistance to magic provides a tremendous amount of safety when faced with enemy spellcasters and the training they receive as agents of the Fey Court means when a target is in their sights it’s already too late.

“Cloak of Shadows. Whenever the mage slayer is in an area of dim light or darkness, in response to taking damage it can use its reaction to become invisible. It remains invisible until it makes an attack, casts a spell or is in an area of bright light.

If your next 5E D&D game needs a character to neutralize enemy spellcasters with ruthless efficiency — whether you’re the DM or a player — check out the Mage Slayer CBG here.

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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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