#dragonmark

In-before Fire Emblem fans coming after my butt, let's see what we need to have to represent Eddie:

Command & Conquer: High Charisma, leadership skills and some cronies to command is what Edelgard is all about.

Heavy Weapons Girl: With her penchant for axes and heavy armour, Edelgard is definitely a heavy hitter and a strong presence on the battlefield.

Fire Emblem: We'll make sure she has her Crest and some minor magical capabilities. We'll try to fit Fire, Heal, Nosferatu, Bolganone, and all of that jazz in.

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Edelgard is a human, yes. Variant? Of course. We get a +1 to two abilities of our choice (Charisma and Constitution), we know how to speak Common and one language of our choice, we gain proficiency in one skill of our choice (Deception) and we get to pick a feat. Since this Avatar of Evil has two Crests, we have to include at least one, right? For that, we shall reach into the Eberron book and look at Dragonmarks. Unfortunately, none of the marks available for humans fits Edelgard, so we have to customize it with Aberrant Dragonmark. Because of that, we get a +1 Constitution, and we learn some magic; specifically, we learn one cantrip from the Sorcerer's spell list (Fire Bolt) and one 1st-level spell from the same list (Charm Person). Additionally, when we cast the 1st-level spell, we roll 1 Hit Dice. On an even number, we gain Temporary Hit Points equal to the number rolled. If it's an odd number, a random creature within 30 feet of us takes force damage equal to that number.

Edelgard comes from nobility, and that's what we're going with. As a Noble, we gain proficiency in History and Persuasion, proficiency with one type of gaming set, we learn one language of our choice and we gain the Position of Privilege feature. Much like Military Rank and Shelter of the Faithful, we can use our connections to secure some benefits for ourselves and/or our party members. Common folk may do their best to aid us, and we may even secure an audience with somebody important. (Here's a note: if you want your Edelgard to work against the party, work with your DM and give her the Faceless background, to establish the Flame Emperor persona).

ABILITY SCORES

We'll start with Strength, we need it for heavy armour and for doing the consistent amount of damage while axing questions. Constitution is next, we're truly a champion of soaking-in damage. Charisma will follow, we have the best charm in the entire game and we know how to use it.

Dexterity will be next, we're not a stealth-based warrior, but Edel's dexterity growth rate is good enough. Intelligence is next, we are a student. Finally, we'll dump Wisdom, Edelgard is as short-tempered as it gets.

CLASS

I don't think there will be any surprises here. Edelgard's a heavy hitter, disregards stealth and magic... she's a Fighter start-to-finish.

Fighters start with d10 Hit Dice and [10 + Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points. We get proficiency in light armour, medium armour, heavy armour, shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons. For Eddie, we'll give her a full plate and a battleaxe with a shield. Our saving throws are Strength and Constitution, and we get to pick two class skills (Athletics and Intimidation).

Level 1: We start by picking our Fighting Style. Like I said before, Edelgard personifies the 'immovable object' style, so picking the Defense style will work in our favour. It gives us a +1 to our AC when we're armoured. We also get Second Wind, which lets us recover [1d10 + our Fighter level] Hit Points once per short or long rest.

Level 2: This level gives us Action Surge. Once per short or long rest, we can take an additional Action on our turn, to get that one final push against our enemies.

Level 3: At this level, we pick our subclass, our Martial Archetype. For Edelgard, we gotta go with Battle Master. We get proficiency with one type of artisan's tools of our choice, and we gain access to Superiority Dice with Combat Superiority. We start with four SD that are d8, which are used to fuel our Manoeuvrers. All SD are recovered after we finish a short or long rest.

We also get to pick three Manoeuvrers from the start. If any of them requires a saving throw, the DC is [8 + proficiency bonus + Strength or Dexterity modifier (our choice)]:

Commander's Strike: If we Attack as our action, we can forgo one attack to use a bonus action and order one of our followers/party members to do so. We expend one SD, and the creature we order to attack can use their reaction to make a weapon attack, with the SD as their damage roll.

Riposte: When a creature misses us with an attack, we can spend one SD to make a weapon attack against it. If we hit it, we add the SD to the weapon's damage roll.

Pushing Attack: When we hit a creature with a weapon attack, we can spend one SD to push it back. We add the SD to the damage roll, and if the creature is Large or smaller, it must make a Strength saving throw or be pushed up to 15 feet from us.

Level 4: Time for our first Ability Score Improvement. To make the best use of our equipment, we're gonna get the Heavy Armour Master feat. This increases our Strength by 1, and while wearing heavy armour all non-magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage done to us is reduced by 3.

Level 5: We get Extra Attack. We can now attack twice instead of one time during a single Attack action.

Level 6: Another ASI? Yeah, Fighters tend to get a lot of those. Our AC's pretty good, so let's just raise our Constitution by two points.

Level 7: We get our first subclass upgrade. We gain one more Superiority Die (for a total of five), and we get to learn two more Maneuvers of our choice:

Commanding Presence is an out-of-combat skill that lets us add the SD roll whenever we make a Persuasion, a Performance, or an Intimidation check.

Tactical Assessment works the same way as Commanding Presence, but this time the SD bonus is added to whenever we make a History, an Investigation, or an Insight check.

We also get the Know Your Enemy feature. If we spend 1 minute observing or interacting with a target outside of combat, we can learn some information about it. The DM reveals if the target is our superior, inferior, or equal in regards to two options from the following:

Strength score

Dexterity score

Constitution score

Armour Class

Current Hit Points

Total class level (if any)

Fighter class level (if any)

Level 8: Another ASI! Let's cap our Constitution to 20 for even more damage-soaking ability.

Level 9: We get the Indomitable feat. Once per long rest, we can re-roll a failed saving throw. We must, however, use the new roll even if it fails us again.

Level 10: Halfway through the build and we get more subclass features (and also, we break the 100 Hit Points milestone). First, our Superiority Dice change from d8 to d10. Second, we get to pick two more Manoeuvrers:

Rally: On our turn, we can use a bonus action to spend one SD to bolster the resolve of one of our companions. We choose a creature that can see and hear us. They gain Temporary Hit Points equal to [Superiority Die roll + our Charisma modifier].

Brace works like a reversed attack of opportunity. Whenever a creature moves within 5 feet of us, we can spend one SD and make a weapon attack against it. If we hit it, we add the SD result to the damage roll.

At this level, we have a 10% chance of receiving an Epic Boon thanks to our Dragonmark. If your DM agrees, roll a 1d100. On a success, get the Boon of Invincibility - once per short rest you can reduce the damage of one attack made at you to 0.

Level 11: Our Extra Attack feature gets an upgrade. We can now attack three times during one Attack action.

Level 12: We get another ASI. Let's boost our Charisma by 2, since (like I said before) our charm is the best in the game.

Level 13: Our Indomitable feat gets an upgrade. We can now use it twice between long rests.

Level 14: ASI time. Let's raise our Wisdom by 2, to get rid of the negative modifier.

Level 15: More subclass upgrades. We get another Superiority Die (for a total of six), and we can choose the last two Manoeuvrers for our repertoire:

Evasive Footwork protects us from attacks of opportunity without a need to Disengage. If we move, we can spend one SD to add the number to our AC until we stop moving (on the luckiest roll, we get +10 AC for a total of 31!).

Trip Attack lets us spend one SD to attempt to knock the enemy down. We add the SD result to our damage roll, and if the target is Large or smaller, it must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the target is knocked prone.

Level 16: One more ASI for the road! Let's get that Charisma one more boost!

Level 17: More feature upgrades! We can now use Action Surge twice before a rest, but on the same turn, and we can use Indomitable three times between long rests.

Level 18: For our final subclass upgrade, our Superiority Dice change from d10 to d12.

Level 19: For our final ASI, we're gonna get a +2 bonus to Strength to prepare us before the ultimate boss fight.

Level 20: Our capstone is Fighter 20, and the class's ultimate ability is... upgrade to Extra Attack. We can now attack four times whenever we choose to Attack. Um...

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So that's my take on Edelgard from Fire Emblem: Three Heroes. Let's see what we have:

First of all, we're immovable object incarnate. Heavy armour, shield, and 20 Constitution mean if we take damage, we're doing something wrong. Our Manoeuvrers only further embody our fighting style, and with high Charisma, we can also count on others to help us in a pinch.

Our AC is 21 (or 33 if we score the maximum on Evasive Footwork), we have +1 to our Initiative, and a whopping 212 Hit Points on average.

Unfortunately, we're a pretty straightforward player archetype: hit hard, soak-in damage, rinse, repeat. Our Intelligence and Wisdom scores aren't great, so we might be vulnerable to mental attack (although, given Eddie's past, it's a good callback) and we have very minor spellcasting abilities. Making her a Paladin would be more balanced, but that would result in a little too much magic.

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So here it is. I shall now wait for the Fire Emblem fandom to tell me how badly I botched their favourite character, but you guys feel free to check out my other builds, suggest a character you'd like to play in D&D, or just spread the word. I'll see you soon, as I can hear the mob approaching!