Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Flesh Render

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted took inspiration from a community supporter to create a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character build around the inflict wounds spell. The Flesh Render delved too deeply into both the arcane and divine workings of the multiverse, which drives them a bit mad and we found great appeal in this concept for a 5E D&D character. Let’s get into it.

Behind the CBG — Flesh Render

Every Character Build Guide 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 Flesh Render 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 Flesh Render’s deadly touch. Sometimes puns and pop culture references instigate the creation of a CBG too. At every step of the way we considered options for squeezing more necrotic juice from a classic D&D spell.

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 Flesh Render takes their first step on the path of the adventurer already packing their signature spell and by 6th level their schtick becomes incredibly dangerous courtesy of Channel Divinity: Path to the Grave. From here until 20th level their inflict wounds keeps escalating through synergy with features like Twinned Spell and Grim Harvest.

By this point in our development of the very popular CBG series the strong narrative concepts we use to guide these 5E D&D characters’ growth really began to hit a stride. In the same way writers often express how characters write these story elements directed our choices. In the case of the Flesh Render we thought about how and why they gain their knowledge and capabilities at every level. This approach is why when we play these characters ourselves it’s super easy to hit the ground running and feel as much satisfaction from a fun roleplaying experience as we do from their mechanical effectiveness.

“Normally I watch these sorts of character builds and just take ideas from them for my own characters, but this build is so amazingly cool I almost want to play it as is. I think I’d take the character in a more neutral or even good direction. Have them be a descendant or child of Kelemvor or some similarly neutral and not distinctly evil death god.” — Comment from Nerdarchy the YouTube channel

Flesh Render 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.

Some additional behind the scenes details about this particular character stem from two distinct sources, at least insofar as what I contributed to the mix. First off the name Flesh Render comes from the countless hours I spent playing Dungeons & Dragons Online, a terrific MMO originally set in and around Stormreach, a fantastic location in the Eberron campaign setting. In the game flesh renders are horrible demons and you encounter them a lot throughout all the levels of the game. Another source of inspiration for me is my fandom of a few very dark television series like Hannibal and Dexter. Like those amazing characters our Flesh Render brings to mind a macabre serial killer driven to take things apart to see how they work. In this case people. They lurk within polite society hiding plain sight.

Dark Discovery. The Flesh Render as mastered dark energies that allow them to disrupt and twist life energy. But such discoveries have come with a price. The sanity and need to inflict pain and suffering on others.

“Life Tether. When the flesh render is hit with an attack, they can use their reaction to transfer half the damage to a creature they can see within 30 feet.”

If your next 5E D&D game needs an adventurer compelled to target very specific victims to inflict wounds upon and leave behind a tableau — whether you’re the DM or a player — check out the Flesh Render Character Build Guide here.

*Featured image — However you imagine your own Flesh Render character it’s their deadly touch at the forefront of all their arcane and divine insights. This alternative art of Sovereign’s Bite for the Chinese version of Magic: The Gathering Arena certainly fits the theme both artistically and, through the combination of the Flesh Render’s multiclass features, mechanically too. [Illustration by Greg Opalinski]

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