Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Quick Striker

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel when Nerdarchists Dave and Ted absolutely, positively must go first in any fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons confrontation, accept no substitute. This 5E D&D Quick Strike Character Build Guide presents a character who gets a bonus to their initiative from not only Dexterity but also Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma, plus Jack of All Trades and Reliable Talent. Let’s get into it.

Behind the CBG — Quick Strike

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 Quick Strike 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 Quick Strike’s supreme insight and perception giving them an edge in every encounter. Sometimes puns and pop culture references instigate the creation of a CBG too. While developing this idea, we envision our character as sort of a Sherlock Holmes sort. At every step of the way we considered how, like the legendary detective, our character spent his pre-adventuring days in academia honing their mind and broadening their knowledge base.

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 Quick Strike’s schtick begins piling on the bonuses at 2nd level. By the time they reach 20th level they cannot have an initiative roll lower than 31 — and that’s not even counting any uncommon magic items, which could push it even higher!

What we found interesting while developing this CBG is how since we put all our focus on such a distinct part of the character — their initiative potential — all the other features they acquired make them incredibly versatile. Their spread of ability scores, skills and other attributes run the gamut, which means they can fill in a variety of roles as needed during any adventure. In a lot of ways they’re reminiscent of the factotum class from 3.5 D&D’s Dungeonscape book. The Quick Strike character can competently engage in melee or ranged combat, use magic, utilize any skill and interact with the world through social or exploratory ways both magic and mundane.

Master Detective 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.

As one of the very earliest CBGs the Master Detective is notable for a few reasons. One thing I just noticed is way back in 2018 when we created this one we must have had a premonition of the future because the alignment is listed as any (usually lawful). This NPC also includes a few traits created whole cloth unlike its predecessors, which for the most part incorporate key class features from the multiclass build. I recall discussing a desire to make an NPC with value outside of combat and some of the stat block traits help make this happen. For one thing the Master Detective can use their astounding reflexes to get out of trouble as much as to give them an edge when a battle begins.

Master of Disguise. The most obvious trait for providing the Master Detective a means to slip away allows them to enact a hasty disguise even in the middle of combat! Paired with other traits including Legendary Actions this wily adversary can easily retreat and disappear. Perhaps they’ll shadow the adventurers from afar and wait for another opportunity for a blindingly fast ambush or the party might develop a healthy dose of paranoia wondering if their paths will ever cross again.

“Precognitive Initiative. The master detective always acts first in the initiative order, unless it is surprised. It has advantage on its first attack roll against any creature that hasn’t taken a turn in the combat yet. On a hit, the creature takes an additional 14 (4d6) damage from the weapon”

If your next 5E D&D game needs a versatile expert who always makes the first move — whether you’re the DM or a player — check out the Quick Strike Character Build Guide here.

*Featured image — A Faerie Duelist from Magic: The Gathering’s Ravnica Allegiance expansion makes his point about being quick to strike! Thanks to newer 5E D&D content released since we created this CBG you can totally recreate this wonderful character art in your own games. One of the key aspects of our CBGs is their adaptability. We give you our take on the concept but making changes based on your preferences and the progression of your own campaigns is something we highly encourage. [Art by Yongjae Choi]

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