Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as an Adopted Trash Panda

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted put their own unique spin on a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons character build guide request. One of our most longtime Nerdarchy community members asked for our take on a forest gnome Circle of the Shepherd druid. With so many components already laid out the only wiggle room came from this character’s background, ability scores and certain choices made along the way. Once we decided this 5E D&D character was raised by raccoons in an urban environment everything else for the Adopted Trash Panda character fell into place. Let’s get into it.

Behind the CBG — Adopted Trash Panda

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 Adopted Trash Panda 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 how the Adopted Trash Panda’s learned to live, survive and even thrive by adopting the behavior of their raccoon parents. Sometimes puns and pop culture references instigate the creation of a CBG too. One of our most favorite kinds of characters to create are the ones our Patreon supporters ask for our take on. This one was so specific so we leaned into the roleplaying and character theme the most.

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 Adopted Trash Panda encompasses everything we set out to accomplish by 7th level.

As a forest gnome they could learn the ways of the raccoon even more adroitly through the ability to communicate simple ideas with them. With their druidic vocation this gnome will be a veterinarian of sorts for their “parents” and extended family of small beasts. This character grew up in a large city park. Whether a misfortune of the Feywild or something more traumatic, this adolescent forest gnome lived among the small furred beasts of the city. Adopted by a kindly raccoon couple, our gnome learned to scavenge and steal, quickly vanishing in the narrow alleys and secret paths only the trash pandas know of stretching like a spider web across the city.

Sly Shepherd 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 the character build portions began to lose the self-imposed restrictions we put on them so too did the NPC and creature versions inspired by them. For this one I could not escape the memory of the Sly Cooper series of video games so the Sly Shepherd emerged as the DM version of this character build — they even wield a Hooked Cane! This urban druid veterinarian would more than likely be good-natured, or simply selfish at worst. But a mischievous sort who takes things too far could certainly be a dangerous threat with hordes of furry beasts under their command, ready to rob the city blind and disappear into the streets and parks.

Trash Heist. Reports of stolen food and pilfered trash could lead adventurers on quite an investigation.When they discover small furry animals as the culprits, there’s certainly something strange going on. The city’s wildlife is starving and an urban druid is coordinating efforts to gather food for the beast community.

“Raccoon Spirit. As a bonus action, the sly shepherd can magically summon an incorporeal spirit to a point they can see within 60 feet. The spirit creates an aura in a 30-foot radius around that point. It counts as neither a creature nor an object, though it has the spectral appearance of a raccoon. The raccoon spirit is sly and smart. Each creature of the sly shepherd’s choice in the aura when the spirit appears has a +10 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) and Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks and can’t be tracked except by magical means. A creature that receives this bonus leaves behind no tracks or other traces of it’s passage. In addition, the sly shepherd and its allies have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks while in the aura. As a bonus action, the sly shepherd can move the spirit up to 60 feet to a point they can see. The spirit persists for 1 minute or until the sly shepherd is incapacitated. Once this feature is used, the sly shepherd can’t use it again until they finish a short or long rest.”

If your next 5E D&D game needs a character who synergizes with animals to scout, keep watch, harass foes and has their own super special forest friend — whether you’re the DM or a player — check out the Adopted Trash Panda Character Build Guide here.

*Featured image — The Sly Cooper series takes place in a version of the real world populated by anthropomorphic animals. Sly Cooper is the main protagonist, a young adult raccoon and the latest in a line of master thieves notorious for only stealing from other thieves and passing down their expert techniques from generation to generation in a book called the Thievius Raccoonus.

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