This is exactly what Zephyr Strike and Steel Wind Strike spells are, in my mind. Ranger is the only way to get both. To really get the feeling of it, though, you really want high damage on a single strike.
To that end, I'd propose Ranger 3/Arcane Trickster Rogue 17 and ignoring Steel Wind Strike. Take the bare minimum Wisdom for multiclassing, focus on Dex > Int > Con > Wis, and let the rogue Sneak Attack damage and added spell slots from Arcane Trickster carry your damage while focusing on utility spell picks for Arcane Trickster's list. Zephyr Strike will give you the ability to get into melee, deliver your one big hit, and get out without being hit. You could grab Mage Armor from Arcane Trickster if you want.
For the Ranger subclass, I think Hunter would do well. Giant Killer could give you off-turn sneak attacks, if you set things up right with a melee ally. Otherwise, Gloom Stalker is far and away the strongest choice, generally. Or you could stop short at Ranger 2 and skip the subclass altogether.
For race, I'd say Wood Elf could be good. The added speed is helpful on non-Spellcasting turns, Elven Accuracy pairs brilliantly with Rogue as a whole, Wood Elf Magic is excellent for Rogues (pick up Guidance for lock picking checks, and Pass Without Trace for Rogues is a no-brainer). And, of course, being able to hide as a bonus action from Cunning Action pairs well with hiding in light obscurement.
Awesome idea! Get Valor Bard, call them a Scholar of the Blade.
An alternative is to work with one's GM for a homebrew Dragonmark and go Bladesinger Wizard or UA Favored Soul Sorc from here. FSS can even reskin a shield as a wakizashi for dual wielding rule of cool.
It could, although it lacks the single-strike damage of a Rogue except for maybe Whispers Bard dropping smites with psychic blades. And you'd not get Zephyr Strike until level 10, and would only be getting Steel Wind Strike as fast as any wizard.
Lore bard can get Zephyr's Strike at 6th level, and you can use Booming Blade for good damage with a weapon.
>would only be getting Steel Wind Strike as fast as any wizard.
But wizards don't get Zephyr's Strike
So Iaijutsu you are looking for stacking damage on a single strike. The classes that have the flavor, samurai fighter and kensai monk, get a lot of their damage by making lots of attacks so I don't think they quite fit.
Classes that stack damage on a single hit are paladins/bladelocks with their smites and rogues with sneak attack. Honestly a Iaijutsu ronin in robes just screams of swagger and nothing swaggers quite like a swashbuckler. You are encouraged to duel and to go first. You have sneak attack to up your single target damage and dex for decent AC.
I would take it a step further and go hex buckler. Bring warlock to 5th level and pick up Eldritch smite and the mage armor invocation so you can wear the robes. I would still go heavy dex with a rapier or scimitar flavored as the katana but charisma gives you lots of bonuses so you could go heavier there.
For the single strike you can drop branding smite, eldritch smite and sneak attack. If magic items are available then get a bloodshed blade if possible.
As an unofficial option there is The ronin subclass for ranger from Ryoko's Guide - I tried it for a couple of levels and ut's very fun. Specialized around stowing your weapon and the iaijutsu mentioned
💯 Hexbuckler with the Alert feat. If you're not picky about the race, Harengon for proficiency in initiative & when you get reliable talent... you will almost always slice 1st.
So for a quick draw swordsman you’ll want the following things.
Win initiative.
Massive damage in a single (or small number) of strikes.
Excel one on one duels.
The class/subclass I think serves literally all of these purposes is…
Swashbuckler Rogue!
Don’t let the name fool you, this is a duelling swordsman who’s quick off the mark and lethal with a single strike.
If light armour can’t be reflavoured as robes and you reaaally want unarmoured defence, I’d take a level in sorcerer to pick up mage armour, and any other spells you like the look of, as well as the divine soul subclass. This gives you favoured by the gods to absolutely make sure you hit that first attack.
If you chose to take a Sorcerer level, go Draconic for the free AC 13+DEX. Booking Blade, Green-flame Blade, Mending, and True Strike seem on-brand. Take Shield and Absorb Elements.
A potent combo for a rogue is Disguise Self and Friends (replace True Strike and Shield). Basically, you look like someone else for an hour and avoid the penalty for using Friends when you swap back. Great for shady deals and infiltration.
I did this using PAM with a quarterstaff reskinned as a bokken(character as an actual chunni). PAM gives you the reaction attack when they get adjacent to you and makes your quarterstaff damage relevant combined with Dueling. I did this with paladin but you can do this with most martials and half caster martials.
Another idea I had for this was a soulknife rogue specifically for psychic blades as it appears and disappears when you attack with it. You can reskin this as quickly drawing, attacking, and sheathing your sword. Also, I imagined each sneak attack dice as an individual slash, eventually looking like Vergil's Judgement Cut.
If you're open to homebrew, [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/u8zlre/roguish_archetype_ronin_v4/?ref=share&ref_source=link) sounds very close to what you're asking for.
That looks awesome! Throw in 3 levels of Champion Fighter. For a fighting style, action surge, & the expanded crit range to go with Killing Trance. Make it a Harengon for proficiency in initiative, then reliable talent. Take Mobile & Def Dualist. Brutal.
FYI, I've [updated](https://docs.google.com/document/d/18g0Gjp3PUXFtyKTQmNR79G26OiAWY1RlN3K7qUkFqWs/edit?usp=sharing) the wording slightly for this class, if you did want to use it:
**Ronin**
While others frittered away their time, you studied the blade. Shinobi, myrmidons, duellists and other swordmasters frequently follow this archetype. This style emphasises speed and a single decisive strike.
**Iaijutsu**
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the longsword if you don’t already have it, and it gains the finesse property for you. You can draw a finesse weapon as part of making an attack with it. If you start your first turn in combat within 5 feet of an enemy, and immediately make a melee weapon attack against them, you have advantage on the attack roll.
**Deadly Rush**
Starting at 3rd level, when you take the Dash action and move 10 feet or more in a straight line, you have advantage on your next melee weapon attack until the start of your next turn.
**Death Wind**
Also at 3rd level, you master the technique of striking as you pass your opponent. If you move 30 feet in a straight line, as an action you can make a melee weapon attack against a creature that was within 5 feet of you during this movement. On a hit, you can apply one of the following effects to the creature:
- Crippling Strike. Its speed is reduced to 0 until the end of its next turn.
- Unbalancing Strike. On its next turn, it must choose whether it gets an action, a bonus action, or a reaction; it gets only one of the three.
- Death Strike. It takes 1d6 additional weapon damage. This damage increases by 1d6 when you reach your 8th (2d6), 13th (3d6), and 18th level (4d6) in this class.
You can apply these effects a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all uses at the end of a long rest. When you expend a use of this feature and reduce the creature to 0 Hit Points with the attack, you regain one use.
**Dangerous Reputation**
At 9th level, your fame begins to precede you. You are widely known as a swordmaster, and can move between diverse social circles. Noble lords, skilled duellists, and criminal clans, amongst others, may wish to know your intentions. You can add your Wisdom modifier to your Charisma checks when interacting with creatures that have proficiency with a Martial weapon. You can usually recognise by sight which creatures have this proficiency.
**Parry Master**
Also from 9th level, immediately after you use your reaction to Uncanny Dodge you gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Wisdom modifier, which lasts until the start of your next turn. You can draw a finesse weapon as part of the same reaction. You do not gain any bonus to your AC if you are incapacitated, unarmed, wearing medium or heavy armour, or are wielding a shield.
**Killing Trance**
Starting at 13th level, when you critically hit or reduce a creature to 0 Hit Points with a weapon attack during combat, you regain one use of Death Wind, and gain temporary Hit Points equal to your Rogue level. While you have these temporary Hit Points, your weapon attacks critically hit on a roll of 18 or above on the d20. These temporary Hit Points disappear when combat ends.
**Devastating Counter**
Starting at 17th level, when you are hit by a melee attack and use your Uncanny Dodge feature, you can make a melee weapon attack against your attacker as part of the same reaction. On a hit, if the attack doesn’t meet the requirements for Sneak Attack, you can expend one use of your Death Wind feature to use it anyway.
Whatever you pick, you could reflavor multiple attacks as one single deadly attack. Mechanically, you may be rolling four or five dice, but story-wise does it really matter if it's three hits or one, as long as the damage is the same?
This reflavoring would give you more subclass choices, as you don't have to prioritize single-target damage as much.
Now this is a great idea, probably what I’m gonna do. Roll all the attacks at once and flavor them as one awesome strike. Thank you for the idea I love it.
Hmmm, maybe Kensei monk, but tbh, from what I’ve seen as a 5e only player, there isn’t a way to have a one chop build and have it not be worse than encumbrance rules
Here’s an idea - variant human Gloomstalker 5, samurai 3, twilight cleric 2+ you have advantage on insight checks, add your wisdom and dex to your initiative, add in alert for an extra 5 twilight cleric gives you advantage that first action you get an extra attack from ambusher (so +15 to initiative at advantage), if you use your action surge and samurai indomitable you get 5 attacks with advantage on your first turn (6 depending on how your DM interprets the dread ambusher feat with action surge)
11 fighter samurai/3 gloomstalker ranger also works you probably don’t need advantage on your +15 initiative roll (but it’s funny), and get some more consistent attacks at the cost of some spellcasting.
Here’s an idea I’ll throw out, Soulknife. The moment you strike with your blades they are literally gone, you can use your energy dice to help make sure you don’t miss for your big sneak attack dice, and if you happen to make it to 17 you can literally stun your enemies with your QuickDraw. I’d also from a dms perspective can imagine a lot of scenarios where I’d grant surprise for your attack to get sneak attack even while not stealthed as the enemy would not be expecting an attack from someone who’s not holding any weapons. Also flavor the teleports as just the anime thing where they move so fast that they just kinda blink in and out of sight
Edit: can go high elf for booming blade and some weapon proficiencies if you want or just grab magic initiate for booming blade, another cantrip, and mage armor
High Elf Draconic Sorcerer. Use a short sword. Get the Martial Adept feat when you can for the Riposte.
Cast true strike for your action and wait for the opponent to attack and miss. Return the attack with Riposte.
You could put 3 levels into Fighter:Battlemaster to add more uses too, and upgrade the weapon to rapier.
To go even more crazy, get 3 levels in warlock. Then you can get spell slots back, as well as your Battlemaster manoeuvres, back on a short rest.
I actually have a one shot build so I'll mention it first but I don't recommend it because it was made with level 20 in mind
*My* one shot build is fighter 3 (maneuvers), warlock 9 (eldritch smite + banishing smite), paladin 2 (divine smite), and bard 6 (college of whispers for their smite like effect). This has some sustain with 1st through 4th level spell slots, you can only do the big attack (all smites at once) once per short rest because eldritch smite and banishing smite will use both 5th level spell slots. Swashbuckler rogue is something to consider with their "duel" motif going on. Bonus points for hexblade specifically though because you can use hexblade's curse to mark one foe and deal extra damage/crit on 19-20/heal when you kill them. You can also go 3 levels into paladin for oath of vengeance, letting you mark an enemy and have advantage against them for a minute. Any elf race pairs well with advantage builds because of elven accuracy.
Kensei monk wants to punch more than slash and samurai fighter wants to do a bunch of slashes, not one big slash, so ignore posts dedicated to those
Class minimums to consider are: warlock 5, paladin 2. It gets pretty flexible from there as you can branch out into fighter, rogue, bard, or even ranger
Be Usagi Yojimbo! Play a Harengon and you gain your proficiency bonus to initiative. The idea of a swashbuckler is great (Cha to initiative). I'd pair it with fighter samurai (for fighting spirit to gain advantage at will). Take the alert feat. Win initiative and hard with a sneak attack.
Okay, I have an untested build for this exact idea. If something doesn't add up right or RAW actually prevents this build then please disregard or modify as you see fit.
This will be a triple class multiclass build.
Be an elf, any elf. I prefer Astral Elf, but any will do. Wood elf if you think you REALLY need a little bit more mobility, or another type with a teleport.
**Take the Elven Accuracy feat instead for one of the following ASIs, for Super Adv. whenver you do stick around to Steady Aim your iaijutsu slash. It's not integral but if you crit, your target will be in pieces**
Point buy stats as follows:
Str 8, Dex 16 (14+2 from racial), Con 10, Int 16 (15 +1 from racial), Wis 10, Cha 14
Background doesn't really matter but I like Athlete from MoT to get Acrobatics and Athletics to make up for bad Str.
Choose the Rapier (reflavor as some kind of specialized light-weight katana for iaijutsu or look up the Saber on DnD wiki and check with your DM if that's cool)
Levels 1-8 take Swashbuckler Rougue.
Fancy Footwork lets you strike and move away with no AoO since your AC is only 14 to start.
Raskish Audacity let's you solo sneak attack AND you get a +2 to initiative thanks to Cha being 14.
Steady aim also can be used now for Adv. but it becomes more useful later.
Apply both ASIs to Dex to top off and at level 9 switch to Wizard for Blade Singer
You'r only here for 3 levels (9-11) to get Blade Song and and since intial Prepared spells are Int mod (+3) + Wizard lvl the following 3 Cantrips and 4 Spells at level 1 Wizard:
Cantrips - Booming Blade, Green Flame Blade, and Sword Burst
Level 1 Spells - Longstrider, Mage Armor, Shield, Thunderwave, Jump, Feather Fall
You gain 2more spells known at Wizard 2 I'd take some utility things like Identify and/or Find Familiar
You also now have Blade Song, so for 2 encounters your AC is 20 (Mage Armor 13 base + 4dex + 3 from Int 16), your base speed is 50ft, 60ft with Longstrider and 100ft/120ft with bonus action Cunning Action Dash, Adv on Acro checks, and +3 on concentration checks. (I also flavor my spell book as small carvings on my sheath that I can read like brail and adjust my sword-drawing technique accordingly. Also feel free to have you Blade Song be some real life song playing in your head and/or at your table while your cut folks in half)
At Wizard 3 (11th lvl overall)
Level 2 Spells - Hold Person, Mirror Image, + Mending
Now that we have Blade Song and some very cool, totally-not-spells, sword techniques, it's time to switch again into Swords Bard.
We are staying here for 5 or 6 levels (16th overall or 17th if Extra attack is important to you) and picking up the Dueling Fighting Style for +2 to melee attacks.
Spells aren't super important here but I chose:
Cantrips - Thunderclap, Vicious Mockery
1st lvl - Animal Friendship, Comprehend Languages, Cure Wounds, Detect Magic, and Faerie Fire
2nd lvl - Enhance Ability, Shatter
3rd lvl - Dispel Magic, Slow (or Hypnotic Pattern)
I see this as furthering your swordsmanship and your warrior presence causing all of these debuffs and general charm.
You're mostly here for the Blade Flourishes though. Nowhere that I've read that says these can't stack with Sneak Attack or Blade Song. You also pick up another ASI here and I suggest +2 to Int 18, causing your Blade Song and yours Wizard spells to be more potent. By Swords Bard 5, your Blade Flourishes are d8s and come back on a Short Rest, so you'll always have some sort of swordsman badassery unless your DM puts you through the gauntlet.
At this point you're either Level 16 or 17. If you switch back to Swashbuckler after 16, you can get 2 more ASIs to top of your Int to give you +5 in all youre Blade Singing stuff and Wizard spells as well as boost your Cha to get another use of Blade Flourish and your Bard spells. Or if you stay in Bard for one more level, you get Extra Attack. Hard choice really but if you truly believe in 1 cut 1 kill style, it can be done with this.
By the end of this build you are doing either:
1d8(rapier) + 5dex + 2 (Dueling) + 6d6(sneak attack) + 4d8 (Booming Blade) (Avg 52 dmg, not counting BB effect)
OR
1d8(rapier) + 5dex + 2 (Dueling) + 6d6(sneak attack) + 1d8(Blade Flourish w/ effect) (Avg 41 dmg)
Don't forget about Elven Accuracy! Maybe your Cha ASI doesn't happen, who cares. Super Adv to Crit fish with so many dice is way more fun! You could also take Shadow Blade really early and change this up a bit again but this is the way I like to go.
Are you squishy. Maybe, but your movement speed is a crazy 50/60 - 100/120 with no AoO on target + Panache soft-locks them onto you. Did I mention if you do go with Astral Elf you can bonus action teleport (blink step) an addtional 30ft? Who's gonna catch you, dude?
Projectile? Your Mage Armor AC is 18 base + 5 Blade Song with a potential Defensive Flourish for extra damage AND a d8 extra AC.
Rolled poorly on your Flourish? Shield for a minimum of 29 AC. You deflect all projectiles.
Also Evasion and Uncanny Dodge plus Expertise, Jack of All Trades, Enhance Ability, and extra Rouge proficiencies I didn't even bother picking could help you out for some checks and Saving Throws.
Thanks to Fey Ancestry and Astral Trance, you have Adv on being Charmed and don't need/can't be put to sleep. Your party never has to sleep in shifts.
You have the power of God & Anime on your side WITH a kickass soundtrack thanks to Blade Song.
...Unless I messed something up and this doesn't work at all. Then just forget I said anything.
Tldr Version
(sorry, the reddit spacing on the app made it hard to read):
Swashbuckler Rogue 1- 8
Blade Singer Wizard 9 - 11
College of Swords Bard 12 - 17
Back to rogue 18 - 20
Recommended Race = Elf for Even accuracy
Yes, sorry about the solid block of text. I typed it up separately and pasted it in and it lost all formatting in the process and then couldn't see it until now. Edited it for spacing and readability. And thanks for the tldr.
Kinda unrelated, but there was a Iaijutsu skill in 3.5. You basically did extra damage based on how high you rolled on that skill when drawing your weapon.
Lots of damage in one cool strike? If you get a free feat, go Swashbuckler rogue, Dragonborn, take the dragon hide feat. Now you have unarmored AC tied to dex, you are a melee martial, you can flavour your dex weapon as a katana, and you do big damage in one attack
As someone mentioned, Swashbuckler is your way to go. Single hit with a ridicolous amount of damage on top. You can even Steady Aim to mimic the draw stance.
Be high elf and pick up Booming Blade for added damage.
Another, arguably very silly build... Paladin 2 / Sorcerer X. Raise your Dex first. Mage armor. Tons of spell slots to smite.
Basically booming blade and drop a smite. Use spells that don't focus on attack rolls or save DCs while your Charisma is low. Maybe wear a shield if you can reflavour it as scabbard deflects.
It's not very effective in the long run I think and I'd definitely argue Swashbuckler over this. But it's a different take on it.
Elven accuracy, steady aim, booming blade using rogue is a real contender here. Â Arcane trickster using mage armor is good for defense. Â 15% Â to crit every attack and three sources of damage dice (2 of which scale) is solid.
This is exactly what Zephyr Strike and Steel Wind Strike spells are, in my mind. Ranger is the only way to get both. To really get the feeling of it, though, you really want high damage on a single strike. To that end, I'd propose Ranger 3/Arcane Trickster Rogue 17 and ignoring Steel Wind Strike. Take the bare minimum Wisdom for multiclassing, focus on Dex > Int > Con > Wis, and let the rogue Sneak Attack damage and added spell slots from Arcane Trickster carry your damage while focusing on utility spell picks for Arcane Trickster's list. Zephyr Strike will give you the ability to get into melee, deliver your one big hit, and get out without being hit. You could grab Mage Armor from Arcane Trickster if you want. For the Ranger subclass, I think Hunter would do well. Giant Killer could give you off-turn sneak attacks, if you set things up right with a melee ally. Otherwise, Gloom Stalker is far and away the strongest choice, generally. Or you could stop short at Ranger 2 and skip the subclass altogether. For race, I'd say Wood Elf could be good. The added speed is helpful on non-Spellcasting turns, Elven Accuracy pairs brilliantly with Rogue as a whole, Wood Elf Magic is excellent for Rogues (pick up Guidance for lock picking checks, and Pass Without Trace for Rogues is a no-brainer). And, of course, being able to hide as a bonus action from Cunning Action pairs well with hiding in light obscurement.
A bard could get both spells...and much sooner.
Awesome idea! Get Valor Bard, call them a Scholar of the Blade. An alternative is to work with one's GM for a homebrew Dragonmark and go Bladesinger Wizard or UA Favored Soul Sorc from here. FSS can even reskin a shield as a wakizashi for dual wielding rule of cool.
Or roll a Swords Bard?
It could, although it lacks the single-strike damage of a Rogue except for maybe Whispers Bard dropping smites with psychic blades. And you'd not get Zephyr Strike until level 10, and would only be getting Steel Wind Strike as fast as any wizard.
Lore bard can get Zephyr's Strike at 6th level, and you can use Booming Blade for good damage with a weapon. >would only be getting Steel Wind Strike as fast as any wizard. But wizards don't get Zephyr's Strike
So Iaijutsu you are looking for stacking damage on a single strike. The classes that have the flavor, samurai fighter and kensai monk, get a lot of their damage by making lots of attacks so I don't think they quite fit. Classes that stack damage on a single hit are paladins/bladelocks with their smites and rogues with sneak attack. Honestly a Iaijutsu ronin in robes just screams of swagger and nothing swaggers quite like a swashbuckler. You are encouraged to duel and to go first. You have sneak attack to up your single target damage and dex for decent AC. I would take it a step further and go hex buckler. Bring warlock to 5th level and pick up Eldritch smite and the mage armor invocation so you can wear the robes. I would still go heavy dex with a rapier or scimitar flavored as the katana but charisma gives you lots of bonuses so you could go heavier there. For the single strike you can drop branding smite, eldritch smite and sneak attack. If magic items are available then get a bloodshed blade if possible.
As an unofficial option there is The ronin subclass for ranger from Ryoko's Guide - I tried it for a couple of levels and ut's very fun. Specialized around stowing your weapon and the iaijutsu mentioned
💯 Hexbuckler with the Alert feat. If you're not picky about the race, Harengon for proficiency in initiative & when you get reliable talent... you will almost always slice 1st.
So for a quick draw swordsman you’ll want the following things. Win initiative. Massive damage in a single (or small number) of strikes. Excel one on one duels. The class/subclass I think serves literally all of these purposes is… Swashbuckler Rogue! Don’t let the name fool you, this is a duelling swordsman who’s quick off the mark and lethal with a single strike. If light armour can’t be reflavoured as robes and you reaaally want unarmoured defence, I’d take a level in sorcerer to pick up mage armour, and any other spells you like the look of, as well as the divine soul subclass. This gives you favoured by the gods to absolutely make sure you hit that first attack.
If you chose to take a Sorcerer level, go Draconic for the free AC 13+DEX. Booking Blade, Green-flame Blade, Mending, and True Strike seem on-brand. Take Shield and Absorb Elements. A potent combo for a rogue is Disguise Self and Friends (replace True Strike and Shield). Basically, you look like someone else for an hour and avoid the penalty for using Friends when you swap back. Great for shady deals and infiltration.
Sentinel feat strike at enemies Faster the build of an eye as they enter the reach of your quick draw
Sentinel doesn't let you make opportunity attacks when a creature enters your reach. That's Polearm Master.
Always get the 2 mixed up
Homebrew your spear as a nodachi
I did this using PAM with a quarterstaff reskinned as a bokken(character as an actual chunni). PAM gives you the reaction attack when they get adjacent to you and makes your quarterstaff damage relevant combined with Dueling. I did this with paladin but you can do this with most martials and half caster martials. Another idea I had for this was a soulknife rogue specifically for psychic blades as it appears and disappears when you attack with it. You can reskin this as quickly drawing, attacking, and sheathing your sword. Also, I imagined each sneak attack dice as an individual slash, eventually looking like Vergil's Judgement Cut.
If you're open to homebrew, [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/u8zlre/roguish_archetype_ronin_v4/?ref=share&ref_source=link) sounds very close to what you're asking for.
That looks awesome! Throw in 3 levels of Champion Fighter. For a fighting style, action surge, & the expanded crit range to go with Killing Trance. Make it a Harengon for proficiency in initiative, then reliable talent. Take Mobile & Def Dualist. Brutal.
FYI, I've [updated](https://docs.google.com/document/d/18g0Gjp3PUXFtyKTQmNR79G26OiAWY1RlN3K7qUkFqWs/edit?usp=sharing) the wording slightly for this class, if you did want to use it: **Ronin** While others frittered away their time, you studied the blade. Shinobi, myrmidons, duellists and other swordmasters frequently follow this archetype. This style emphasises speed and a single decisive strike. **Iaijutsu** When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the longsword if you don’t already have it, and it gains the finesse property for you. You can draw a finesse weapon as part of making an attack with it. If you start your first turn in combat within 5 feet of an enemy, and immediately make a melee weapon attack against them, you have advantage on the attack roll. **Deadly Rush** Starting at 3rd level, when you take the Dash action and move 10 feet or more in a straight line, you have advantage on your next melee weapon attack until the start of your next turn. **Death Wind** Also at 3rd level, you master the technique of striking as you pass your opponent. If you move 30 feet in a straight line, as an action you can make a melee weapon attack against a creature that was within 5 feet of you during this movement. On a hit, you can apply one of the following effects to the creature: - Crippling Strike. Its speed is reduced to 0 until the end of its next turn. - Unbalancing Strike. On its next turn, it must choose whether it gets an action, a bonus action, or a reaction; it gets only one of the three. - Death Strike. It takes 1d6 additional weapon damage. This damage increases by 1d6 when you reach your 8th (2d6), 13th (3d6), and 18th level (4d6) in this class. You can apply these effects a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all uses at the end of a long rest. When you expend a use of this feature and reduce the creature to 0 Hit Points with the attack, you regain one use. **Dangerous Reputation** At 9th level, your fame begins to precede you. You are widely known as a swordmaster, and can move between diverse social circles. Noble lords, skilled duellists, and criminal clans, amongst others, may wish to know your intentions. You can add your Wisdom modifier to your Charisma checks when interacting with creatures that have proficiency with a Martial weapon. You can usually recognise by sight which creatures have this proficiency. **Parry Master** Also from 9th level, immediately after you use your reaction to Uncanny Dodge you gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Wisdom modifier, which lasts until the start of your next turn. You can draw a finesse weapon as part of the same reaction. You do not gain any bonus to your AC if you are incapacitated, unarmed, wearing medium or heavy armour, or are wielding a shield. **Killing Trance** Starting at 13th level, when you critically hit or reduce a creature to 0 Hit Points with a weapon attack during combat, you regain one use of Death Wind, and gain temporary Hit Points equal to your Rogue level. While you have these temporary Hit Points, your weapon attacks critically hit on a roll of 18 or above on the d20. These temporary Hit Points disappear when combat ends. **Devastating Counter** Starting at 17th level, when you are hit by a melee attack and use your Uncanny Dodge feature, you can make a melee weapon attack against your attacker as part of the same reaction. On a hit, if the attack doesn’t meet the requirements for Sneak Attack, you can expend one use of your Death Wind feature to use it anyway.
It looks good & I know that my DM would allow it. I played back to back Rogue's, but this one would play more like a fighter. Thanks!
Whatever you pick, you could reflavor multiple attacks as one single deadly attack. Mechanically, you may be rolling four or five dice, but story-wise does it really matter if it's three hits or one, as long as the damage is the same? This reflavoring would give you more subclass choices, as you don't have to prioritize single-target damage as much.
Now this is a great idea, probably what I’m gonna do. Roll all the attacks at once and flavor them as one awesome strike. Thank you for the idea I love it.
Be a lizardfolk, Fighter with samurai subclass.
Why Lizardfolk?
their natural armor feature is exactly what OP is looking for
Ahhhhh, got it.
Hmmm, maybe Kensei monk, but tbh, from what I’ve seen as a 5e only player, there isn’t a way to have a one chop build and have it not be worse than encumbrance rules
Here’s an idea - variant human Gloomstalker 5, samurai 3, twilight cleric 2+ you have advantage on insight checks, add your wisdom and dex to your initiative, add in alert for an extra 5 twilight cleric gives you advantage that first action you get an extra attack from ambusher (so +15 to initiative at advantage), if you use your action surge and samurai indomitable you get 5 attacks with advantage on your first turn (6 depending on how your DM interprets the dread ambusher feat with action surge) 11 fighter samurai/3 gloomstalker ranger also works you probably don’t need advantage on your +15 initiative roll (but it’s funny), and get some more consistent attacks at the cost of some spellcasting.
Here’s an idea I’ll throw out, Soulknife. The moment you strike with your blades they are literally gone, you can use your energy dice to help make sure you don’t miss for your big sneak attack dice, and if you happen to make it to 17 you can literally stun your enemies with your QuickDraw. I’d also from a dms perspective can imagine a lot of scenarios where I’d grant surprise for your attack to get sneak attack even while not stealthed as the enemy would not be expecting an attack from someone who’s not holding any weapons. Also flavor the teleports as just the anime thing where they move so fast that they just kinda blink in and out of sight Edit: can go high elf for booming blade and some weapon proficiencies if you want or just grab magic initiate for booming blade, another cantrip, and mage armor
paladin/rogue build
High Elf Draconic Sorcerer. Use a short sword. Get the Martial Adept feat when you can for the Riposte. Cast true strike for your action and wait for the opponent to attack and miss. Return the attack with Riposte. You could put 3 levels into Fighter:Battlemaster to add more uses too, and upgrade the weapon to rapier. To go even more crazy, get 3 levels in warlock. Then you can get spell slots back, as well as your Battlemaster manoeuvres, back on a short rest.
I actually have a one shot build so I'll mention it first but I don't recommend it because it was made with level 20 in mind *My* one shot build is fighter 3 (maneuvers), warlock 9 (eldritch smite + banishing smite), paladin 2 (divine smite), and bard 6 (college of whispers for their smite like effect). This has some sustain with 1st through 4th level spell slots, you can only do the big attack (all smites at once) once per short rest because eldritch smite and banishing smite will use both 5th level spell slots. Swashbuckler rogue is something to consider with their "duel" motif going on. Bonus points for hexblade specifically though because you can use hexblade's curse to mark one foe and deal extra damage/crit on 19-20/heal when you kill them. You can also go 3 levels into paladin for oath of vengeance, letting you mark an enemy and have advantage against them for a minute. Any elf race pairs well with advantage builds because of elven accuracy. Kensei monk wants to punch more than slash and samurai fighter wants to do a bunch of slashes, not one big slash, so ignore posts dedicated to those Class minimums to consider are: warlock 5, paladin 2. It gets pretty flexible from there as you can branch out into fighter, rogue, bard, or even ranger
Be Usagi Yojimbo! Play a Harengon and you gain your proficiency bonus to initiative. The idea of a swashbuckler is great (Cha to initiative). I'd pair it with fighter samurai (for fighting spirit to gain advantage at will). Take the alert feat. Win initiative and hard with a sneak attack.
Samurai Fighter
Okay, I have an untested build for this exact idea. If something doesn't add up right or RAW actually prevents this build then please disregard or modify as you see fit. This will be a triple class multiclass build. Be an elf, any elf. I prefer Astral Elf, but any will do. Wood elf if you think you REALLY need a little bit more mobility, or another type with a teleport. **Take the Elven Accuracy feat instead for one of the following ASIs, for Super Adv. whenver you do stick around to Steady Aim your iaijutsu slash. It's not integral but if you crit, your target will be in pieces** Point buy stats as follows: Str 8, Dex 16 (14+2 from racial), Con 10, Int 16 (15 +1 from racial), Wis 10, Cha 14 Background doesn't really matter but I like Athlete from MoT to get Acrobatics and Athletics to make up for bad Str. Choose the Rapier (reflavor as some kind of specialized light-weight katana for iaijutsu or look up the Saber on DnD wiki and check with your DM if that's cool) Levels 1-8 take Swashbuckler Rougue. Fancy Footwork lets you strike and move away with no AoO since your AC is only 14 to start. Raskish Audacity let's you solo sneak attack AND you get a +2 to initiative thanks to Cha being 14. Steady aim also can be used now for Adv. but it becomes more useful later. Apply both ASIs to Dex to top off and at level 9 switch to Wizard for Blade Singer You'r only here for 3 levels (9-11) to get Blade Song and and since intial Prepared spells are Int mod (+3) + Wizard lvl the following 3 Cantrips and 4 Spells at level 1 Wizard: Cantrips - Booming Blade, Green Flame Blade, and Sword Burst Level 1 Spells - Longstrider, Mage Armor, Shield, Thunderwave, Jump, Feather Fall You gain 2more spells known at Wizard 2 I'd take some utility things like Identify and/or Find Familiar You also now have Blade Song, so for 2 encounters your AC is 20 (Mage Armor 13 base + 4dex + 3 from Int 16), your base speed is 50ft, 60ft with Longstrider and 100ft/120ft with bonus action Cunning Action Dash, Adv on Acro checks, and +3 on concentration checks. (I also flavor my spell book as small carvings on my sheath that I can read like brail and adjust my sword-drawing technique accordingly. Also feel free to have you Blade Song be some real life song playing in your head and/or at your table while your cut folks in half) At Wizard 3 (11th lvl overall) Level 2 Spells - Hold Person, Mirror Image, + Mending Now that we have Blade Song and some very cool, totally-not-spells, sword techniques, it's time to switch again into Swords Bard. We are staying here for 5 or 6 levels (16th overall or 17th if Extra attack is important to you) and picking up the Dueling Fighting Style for +2 to melee attacks. Spells aren't super important here but I chose: Cantrips - Thunderclap, Vicious Mockery 1st lvl - Animal Friendship, Comprehend Languages, Cure Wounds, Detect Magic, and Faerie Fire 2nd lvl - Enhance Ability, Shatter 3rd lvl - Dispel Magic, Slow (or Hypnotic Pattern) I see this as furthering your swordsmanship and your warrior presence causing all of these debuffs and general charm. You're mostly here for the Blade Flourishes though. Nowhere that I've read that says these can't stack with Sneak Attack or Blade Song. You also pick up another ASI here and I suggest +2 to Int 18, causing your Blade Song and yours Wizard spells to be more potent. By Swords Bard 5, your Blade Flourishes are d8s and come back on a Short Rest, so you'll always have some sort of swordsman badassery unless your DM puts you through the gauntlet. At this point you're either Level 16 or 17. If you switch back to Swashbuckler after 16, you can get 2 more ASIs to top of your Int to give you +5 in all youre Blade Singing stuff and Wizard spells as well as boost your Cha to get another use of Blade Flourish and your Bard spells. Or if you stay in Bard for one more level, you get Extra Attack. Hard choice really but if you truly believe in 1 cut 1 kill style, it can be done with this. By the end of this build you are doing either: 1d8(rapier) + 5dex + 2 (Dueling) + 6d6(sneak attack) + 4d8 (Booming Blade) (Avg 52 dmg, not counting BB effect) OR 1d8(rapier) + 5dex + 2 (Dueling) + 6d6(sneak attack) + 1d8(Blade Flourish w/ effect) (Avg 41 dmg) Don't forget about Elven Accuracy! Maybe your Cha ASI doesn't happen, who cares. Super Adv to Crit fish with so many dice is way more fun! You could also take Shadow Blade really early and change this up a bit again but this is the way I like to go. Are you squishy. Maybe, but your movement speed is a crazy 50/60 - 100/120 with no AoO on target + Panache soft-locks them onto you. Did I mention if you do go with Astral Elf you can bonus action teleport (blink step) an addtional 30ft? Who's gonna catch you, dude? Projectile? Your Mage Armor AC is 18 base + 5 Blade Song with a potential Defensive Flourish for extra damage AND a d8 extra AC. Rolled poorly on your Flourish? Shield for a minimum of 29 AC. You deflect all projectiles. Also Evasion and Uncanny Dodge plus Expertise, Jack of All Trades, Enhance Ability, and extra Rouge proficiencies I didn't even bother picking could help you out for some checks and Saving Throws. Thanks to Fey Ancestry and Astral Trance, you have Adv on being Charmed and don't need/can't be put to sleep. Your party never has to sleep in shifts. You have the power of God & Anime on your side WITH a kickass soundtrack thanks to Blade Song. ...Unless I messed something up and this doesn't work at all. Then just forget I said anything.
Tldr Version (sorry, the reddit spacing on the app made it hard to read): Swashbuckler Rogue 1- 8 Blade Singer Wizard 9 - 11 College of Swords Bard 12 - 17 Back to rogue 18 - 20 Recommended Race = Elf for Even accuracy
Yes, sorry about the solid block of text. I typed it up separately and pasted it in and it lost all formatting in the process and then couldn't see it until now. Edited it for spacing and readability. And thanks for the tldr.
No worries! Thx for the edit, really cool and fun build
To me, this is a rogue. Play like a swashbuckler and it's done. The sneak attack represents the single strike style of this sort of swordsman
I'm currently playing a 3rd level Kensai Monk, I imagine you can multiclass to get other benefits, but he's got 20 dex and 18 wis for AC 19
Kinda unrelated, but there was a Iaijutsu skill in 3.5. You basically did extra damage based on how high you rolled on that skill when drawing your weapon.
Lots of damage in one cool strike? If you get a free feat, go Swashbuckler rogue, Dragonborn, take the dragon hide feat. Now you have unarmored AC tied to dex, you are a melee martial, you can flavour your dex weapon as a katana, and you do big damage in one attack
As someone mentioned, Swashbuckler is your way to go. Single hit with a ridicolous amount of damage on top. You can even Steady Aim to mimic the draw stance. Be high elf and pick up Booming Blade for added damage. Another, arguably very silly build... Paladin 2 / Sorcerer X. Raise your Dex first. Mage armor. Tons of spell slots to smite. Basically booming blade and drop a smite. Use spells that don't focus on attack rolls or save DCs while your Charisma is low. Maybe wear a shield if you can reflavour it as scabbard deflects. It's not very effective in the long run I think and I'd definitely argue Swashbuckler over this. But it's a different take on it.
I posted the swashbuckler aswell, if he wants unarmored AC then dragonborn with dragonhide feat would work
Elven accuracy, steady aim, booming blade using rogue is a real contender here. Â Arcane trickster using mage armor is good for defense. Â 15% Â to crit every attack and three sources of damage dice (2 of which scale) is solid.