Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Zen Archer

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted calmly take aim at a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character. On a whim the Nerdarchy crew wanted to create a wood elf archer build. It appeared to be something players were searching for online. Instead of going with some of the obvious choices we decided to come up with something a bit more unique for the Zen Archer character build for 5E D&D. Let’s get into it.

Behind the CBG — Zen Archer

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 Zen Archer 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 Zen Archer’s unusual relationship with their chosen weapon. Sometimes puns and pop culture references instigate the creation of a CBG too. We went with criminal to work in a fun bit of backstory. The longbow used by this character was stolen in a heist and the character believes it talks to him, guiding his actions, dispensing advice or commenting on situations they find themselves in. The character we created is a little crazy and we ended up assigning him the chaotic neutral alignment.

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 Zen Archer reaches enlightenment at 10th level. From then on their progression offers some incremental advancement but they’ve already got all the tools they need in their quiver.

The Silver Best Selling Zen Archer is the very first CBG we produced, back when we made a point to create these following Adventurers League rules. We felt like this was the most accessible way to present these are most broadly useful. Since they’re very easy to change and adapt to your liking it was important to us to follow those guidelines, which have since changed. I’ve got a particular relationship with this one because it played a prominent role in my longrunning 5E D&D Spelljammer campaign. In those adventures the Zen Archer was one of the many colorful crew of the party’s ship and everyone got a kick out of his strange connection with his longbow. When the party defeated one of their greatest foes — a powerful void dragon — the aftermath sent one of the characters and a handful of crew including the Zen Archer to the Nine Hells. Not everyone made it back to the Material Plane and the Zen Archer was one of the casualties. He remained calm and served the ship loyally until the very end giving the others an opportunity to escape back to their world.

Zen Archery Master 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.

Looking back at our very first CBGs now comes with a twinge of disappointment for the lack of a lot of extras we added into these along the way. It’s the curse of the creator. But I am happy to note the same sense of fun and interest in the character’s narrative stayed true all this time. I remember the meeting where we came up with the idea, staying up late with Dave to put it together and of course all the times the Zen Archer was a part of my own games.

The Zen Archery Master character can be used as an ally, villain or colorful NPC to engage the adventurers in your own home games.

“I am the Bow and the Bow is Me. Attacking at long range doesn’t impose disadvantage on the Zen Archery Master’s ranged weapon attack rolls and its ranged weapon attacks ignore half cover and three-quarters cover.”

If your next 5E D&D game needs a character who calmly keeps the arrows flying — whether you’re the DM or a player — check out the Zen Archer Character Build Guide here.

*Featured image — Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen’s expression looks a lot more zen on her card from the Magic: The Gathering Magic Origins expansion. Nevertheless she’s got the wood elf vibe going on and she’s holding a bow so it works for me. She will not allow eyeblights to poison the beauty of her land! [Art by Johannes Voss]

New videos every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel here