The Character Forge: How to Play as Link in DnD 5e
Link is without a doubt one of the most iconic heroes in fiction, which is why I’m excited to work on this build of Link. Now, of course Link has a long history of games where he’s had a wide variety of skills and abilities. So, for this build, I wanted to focus on his most recurring skills and items, and try to find DnD items with similar effects, if possible, to fill out his arsenal. Link is a multi-talented young man who has a talent for many skills, weapons, and items. He’s extremely flexible in what he can work with, and that was a primary focus of this build: to broaden his abilities as much as I could.
Hylians are clearly some kind of elf. You could make Link a Human or Variant Human if you want, but if it looks like an elf and it hyaas like an elf, chances are it’s an elf. There are a lot of kinds of elf he could be. Hylians are closely connected to the gods and think highly of themselves, so High Elf is a strong possibility. But Link is also something of a wilderness expert, so he could be a Wood Elf too.
Link is clearly good, but where on the goodness scale is a little less clear. He is a champion for goodness and light, so he could be Lawful Good, but he’s also jokingly famous for breaking into random houses and smashing random pots to steal people’s hidden money, so he could fall under Chaotic Good. And that divide could also make him Neutral Good.
As for background, that also tends to differ between game. Sometimes he’s a simple villager, a rancher, a farmer, a knight, an amnesiac foreigner. He’s so inconsistent that it’s better to just give him a background that covers the skills he doesn’t pick up from his build. Top contenders for Link’s background would be Outlander, Knight of the Order, Soldier, Far Traveler, and Folk Hero.
Skills, Abilities, & Items
Weapons
-Longsword
-Shield
-Bow and Arrows
-Bombs
-Slingshot
-Boomerang
-Greatsword
-Club
-Spear
-Magical Rods
Skills
-Horse Riding
-Mounted Combat
-Dungeon Crawler
-Puzzle-solving
-Weapon proficiency
-Fighting Maneuvers
Famous Items
-Triforce of Courage
-Master Sword
-Hylian Shield/Mirror Shield
-Hero Bow
-Ocarina of Time
-Power Bracelet/Golden Gauntlets
-Zora Tunic/Mermaid Suit/Zora Flippers
-Roc’s Feather/Feather Cape/Hover Boots/Glider
-Hookshot/Longshot
-Gale Boomerang
-Wind Waker
-Pegasus Boots/Pegasus Seeds
-Biggoron’s Sword
-Fire Rod
-Fire Arrow/Lightning Arrow/Ice Arrow/Light Arrow
-Ball and Chain
-Fierce Deity Mask
Fighter
Arcane Archer
Battle Master
Cavalier/Knight
Champion
Monster Hunter
Scout
Sharpshooter
Paladin
Ancients
Crown
Devotion
Heroism
Ranger
Hunter
Monster Hunter
Rogue
Inquisitive
Scout
Swashbuckler
Honestly, Link was hard to stat balance at first. I figured his best stat should be Constitution to correlate with a late-game number of heart containers. Link needs to be able to take a serious hit, and he spends most of the game getting a bigger health bar for just that very reason. Aside from Constitution, nothing really stood out as more important, though Intelligence and Charisma can get the shaft a bit, as Intelligence covers mostly book-learning which Link isn’t really known for, and largely in part to being a mute, aside from dancing in the Subrosia dance hall or playing his Ocarina, Link isn’t exactly great with Charisma-based skills. That’s not to say he’s really bad at anything, though. Link is a real Renaissance Man, as he’s good pretty much everything. Which means he shouldn’t have any negative modifiers. But Link is also not the pinnacle of strength, durability, or insightfulness. He needs items to perform feats of great strength, speed, or stamina, and wouldn’t get very far without them, so he’s also not going to be the max in any of his stats either. Rather, he’s going to be competent in Intelligence and Charisma, and fairly good at everything else.
Proficiencies:
Acrobatics
Animal Handling
Athletics
Insight
Investigation
Nature
Perception
Stealth
Survival
-Bag of Holding
-Triforce of Courage (Banner of the Krig Rune)
-Mastersword (Dawnbringer)
-Hylian Shield (Shield of the Hidden Lord, Shield +3)
-Mirror Shield (Repulsion Shield)
-Hero’s Bow (Oathbow)
-Golden Gauntlets (Gauntlets of Ogre Power)
-Zora Tunic/Mermaid Suit (Cap of Water Breathing, Cloak of the Manta Ray)
-Gale Boomerang (Storm Boomerang)
-Hover Boots (Boots of Levitation)
-Pegasus Boots (Boots of Speed, Boots of Striding and Springing)
-Fire Rod (Necklace of Fireball)*
-Fierce Deity Mask (Mask of the Dragon Queen)
*There are items like the Wand of Fireball and the Staff of Fire, but both items require the holder to be a magic user, which Link is not.
Name: Link
Race: High Elf
Background: Outlander
Alignment: Neutral Good
Class: Monster Slayer Ranger (6)
Battle Master Fighter (10)
Inquisitive Rogue (4)
Base Stats:
Strength: 16 (+3)
Dexterity: 14 (+2)
Constitution: 18 (+4)
Intelligence: 10 (0)
Wisdom: 16 (+3)
Charisma: 10 (0)
Saving Throws:
Strength: +9
Dexterity: +8
Constitution: +3
Intelligence: 0
Wisdom: +3
Charisma: 0
Combat Stats:
HP: 200
AC: 15
Speed: 30
Initiative: +2
Number of Attacks: 2
Proficiency Bonus: +6
Passive Perception: 19
Dark Vision: 60 feet
Proficiencies and Expertise:
Acrobatics (Rogue)
Animal Handling (Ranger)
Athletics (Outlander)
Insight (Ranger)
Investigation (Ranger)
Perception (Elf)
Survival (Outlander)
Skills:
Acrobatics: +8 Medicine: +3
Animal Handling: +9 Nature: +6
Arcana: 0 Perception: +9
Athletics: +15 Performance: 0
Deception: 0 Persuasion: 0
History: 0 Religion:0
Insight: +9 Sleight of Hand: +2
Intimidation: 0 Stealth: +8
Investigation: +6 Survival: +15
Condition Resistances:
Charmed
Immunities:
Sleep
Racial Feature: Elf
Elven Weapon Training: Proficiency with Shortsword, Longsword, Shortbow, and Longbow.
Ranger Feature: Fighting Style
Archery: Add +2 to attack rolls for ranged weapons.
Ranger Feature: Favored Terrain
Forest
Grassland
Ranger Feature: Favored Enemy
Monstrosity
Fiend
Fighter Feature: Fighting Style
Dueling: Add +2 to melee damage rolls when using 1 one-handed weapon.
Fighter Feature: Superiority Die
5 (1d10s)
Fighter Feature: Maneuvers
Disarming Attack: spend a superiority die to force your target to make a Strength saving throw. On a failed roll, it drops 1 item of your choosing.
Feinting Attack: spend a superiority die as a bonus action, and select a target. You gain advantage against that creature and add the roll of your superiority die to your attack damage if you hit the target creature.
Parry: As a reaction, reduce melee damage you take by your dex modifier + the roll of a superiority die.
Precision Attack: add the roll of a superiority die to the damage roll of a melee attack you made.
Riposte: When an enemy’s attack misses you, you can make a counter attack, and add the roll of a superiority die.
Sweeping Attack: Use a superiority die to cause your melee attack to hit a second creature within 5 feet of your first target. Add your superiority dice roll.
Trip Attack: Use a superiority die to force a large or smaller creature to make a Strength saving throw. on a failed save, that creature is knocked prone.
Spell Slots:
1st (4)
2nd (2)
Link’s Spellbook
Cantrips
True Strike
1st Level
Cure Wounds
Hunter’s Mark
Wild Cunning
Protection from Good and Evil
2nd Level
Find Traps
Actions:
Action Surge: take an extra action once per rest.
Primeval Awareness: Spend a spell slot. For 1 or 2 minutes, you sense the kinds of creatures within 1 mile of you, or 6 miles in forests and grasslands.
Bonus Actions:
Cunning Action: Dash, Disengage, or Hide once per turn.
Second Wind: Regain 1d10+10 HP once per rest.
Features, Traits, and Feats:
Archery Fighting Style: Gain +2 on attack rolls with ranged weapons.
Dueling Fighting Style: Gain +2 on damage rolls when armed with a single one-handed melee weapon.
Ear for Deceit: Any roll of 7 or lower on an Insight check against lying becomes an 8.
Extra Attack: You get two Attack actions.
Eye for Detail: Perform an Insight or Investigation check as a bonus action.
Favored Enemy: Deal +2 bonus damage to Monstrosities and Fiends. Gain advantage on Survival checks to track Monstrosities and Fiends, and Intelligence checks to remember information about them.
Fey Ancestry: Resistance to Charmed effects, immunity to magical sleep.
Hunter’s Sense: As an action, choose a creature within 60 feet. You learn the creature’s damage immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities. Can be used 3 times per long rest.
Improved Combat Superiority: Your superiority die become 1d10s.
Indomitable: Reroll a failed save once per long rest.
Insightful Fighting: As a bonus action, make an Insight check against another creature’s Deception check. If you succeed, you can use Sneak Attack against the creature even without advantage for up to a minute. Doesn’t work if you’re disadvantaged. Wears off if you target a new creature with this feature.
Know Your Enemy: If you spend at least 1 minute outside of battle observing a creature, the DM will tell you whether the creature is superior, inferior, or equal to you in any 2 of the following stats: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, AC, Current HP, Total Class Levels, or Fighter Class Levels.
Natural Explorer: Favored Terrains are Grasslands and Forests. While in your favored terrains: double proficiency bonuses for INT and WIS checks you’re proficient in, difficult terrain doesn’t slow your party down, always alert for danger, can move stealthily at a normal pace when traveling alone, find double food when foraging, and when tracking anything, you can tell how big they were, how many there were, and how long ago they passed through.
Sharpshooter: Attacking from long range doesn’t disadvantage ranged attack rolls, ranged weapon attacks ignore half and ¾ cover, and you can -5 on a ranged weapon attack roll to add +10 to the damage roll on a successful hit.
Slayer’s Prey: As a bonus action, pick a creature within 60 feet of you. Add 1d6 damage to the first attack you make against that creature.
Sneak Attack: Add 2d6 to damage roll when you have advantage, or another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it.
Thieves’ Cant: You can articulate covert messages in casual conversations.
Trance: Trance for 4 hours instead of sleeping for 8.
Wanderer: You have an excellent memory for terrain and don’t need a map. You can remember where to find settlements, foraging spots, and geographical landmarks. You can always find enough food and water to sustain yourself and up to 5 more people provided the land can provide food and drinkable water.
I’m sure there’s some who will disagree with my picks, but I optimized a build around looking for enemy weaknesses, having a ton of proficiencies, and having a wide and varied arsenal of weapons at Link’s disposal. If you’d build Link another way, tell me what you’d do different. Who do you want to see me make next? And as always, I look forward to seeing you again at the Character Forge, where heroes are made.
