Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as the Ultimate Duelist

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted swash and buckle into a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Ultimate Duelist character build. The duelist is all about fighting one on one. We envision them as being quick of wit and foot. Taking inspiration from of our favorite swashbucklers we modeled this 5E D&D character off of a highway halfling from a book series we enjoy. Let’s get into it.

Behind the CBG — Ultimate Duelist

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 Ultimate Duelist 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 Ultimate Duelist’s mano a mano mastery. Sometimes puns and pop culture references instigate the creation of a CBG too. We lean heavily on Xanathar’sGuide to Everything for access to the Samurai Martial Archetype for fighters and Swashbuckler Roguish Archetype for rogues and found it to be a little bit funny to make our swashbuckling hero a tiny terror.

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 Ultimate Duelist makes quick work of adversaries in single combat by 11th level.

Since the time we created this character build a lot of new 5E D&D content has been added to the game. New fighting styles, maneuvers, feats and subclass options could certainly find a place in the makeup of a character focused on single melee combat but this doesn’t invalidate any of the features incorporated into the Ultimate Duelist.

Master Duelist 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.

This character can be used as an ally, villain or colorful NPC to engage the adventurers in your own home games. The master duelist makes a fine foil to one of the more combat-oriented characters in the party. Or perhaps they are a local bully terrorizing a town the party is passing through. They’ve got a gang of ne’er-do-wells like thugs or veterans constantly surrounding them. They could even have a piece of information or an item the party needs that they’ll only give up if a party member can defeat them in one-on-one single combat.

The Ultimate Duelist and associated master duelist is one of our earliest 5E D&D character build guides when our style for creating these NPC and creature versions was less developed than it is for current day creations like the Extreme Brawler. Most of these stat blocks simply incorporate the key features and traits of the player version. The master duelist does have one unusual trait though, which illustrates the challenge of creating humanoid creatures at higher challenge ratings. Keeping up with damage output without magic or monstrous attacks presents an obstacle for representing mundane weaponry so creators gotta get creative.

“Precision. A melee weapon deals one extra die of its damage when the master duelist hits with it (included in the attack)”

If your next 5E D&D game needs a character who can square off toe to toe against any opponent in single combat — whether you’re the DM or a player — check out the Ultimate Duelist Character Build Guide here.

*Featured image — Nakayama Hayato is the iconic samurai from Pathfinder where the class originally appeared in Ultimate Combat. In Pathfinder the samurai is an alternate version of the cavalier, a master of armored combat who operates with impeccable honor and discipline. In 5E D&D a samurai is a fighter who draws on an implacable fighting spirit to overcome enemies. Their resolve is nearly unbreakable and the enemies in their path have two choices: yield or die fighting. [Art by Wayne Reynolds]

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