“Listen, you don’t know me, son, so I’m gonna say this once: if I ever kill you, you’ll be awake, you’ll be facing me, and you’ll be armed.”

Hello Browncoats and Buildies! This week we’re steering a Firefly class transport out into the black with my favorite Han solo expy, Captain Malcolm Reynolds. We’ll be taking a look at what makes him tick, and how you can bring him to your table for D&D 5th edition. Without further ado, go on and bring me the sky!

Born on a backwoods planet called Shadow, Malcolm Reynolds was raised by his mother and a small village of ranchers. He received a decent education growing up, and when he was of age he enlisted in the Independents’ “Browncoat” army as a volunteer to secure the freedom of his and other planets from the long arm of the Alliance.

Mal rose to the rank of Sergeant during the war. He fought alongside his future First Mate, Zoe, during the breadth of the war, which would turn against the Browncoats during the emotionally and physically punishing Battle of Serenity Valley. After the war, Mal acquired his own ship, an old, broken and not flight-worthy 03-K64 Firefly-class transport. He promptly named the ship Serenity, and set out to make his way in the ‘verse without Alliance interference.

Firefly’s universe is one that has no fantastical creatures or alien monsters, just a sci-fi western feel and modern weaponry. With that in mind, nobody in the setting (apart from a notable exception in River Tam) really qualifies as beyond level 6 or so. That’s where I’d personally cap my players if I were homebrewing a Firefly 5e conversion, as opposed to just playing the official TTG.

This build will again be using the 27 point buy system from Adventure League, which may be a bit generous, but we’ll be building Mal to 20th level, so let’s go crazy!

RACE

Mal’s as human as they come, so I’ll do my best for next time to come up with a build that isn’t human. Truth be told, I’m on a bit of a Firefly kick right now, so I reeeeallly wanted to build him! So, Variant Human it is.

Extra Language- Mal grew up in a universe that primarily speaks English and Chinese. Like everything in this build, we’re translating that into D&D terms. I went with Primordial as a 2nd language, seeing as Chinese is an ancient and storied language itself.

Ability Score Increases- +1 to CON and +1 to CHA will both be good for Mal. He’s an ornery S.O.B. who likes to mix it up, and gets injured often. He’s also in charge of a crew, and needs to be able to articulate his commands quickly and concisely, so speechcraft is important as well.

Skill Proficiency- There isn’t a problem in the ‘verse that Mal wouldn’t rather talk his way out of, so we’ll be gifting him the Persuasion proficiency as a Variant Human feature.

Feat- Like I said before, Mal is a tough customer. So much so, I wanted to go with Tough for his bonus feat. We’ve seen him get beaten, electrocuted, shot, and suffocating. Still, the Cap’n comes through, and that’s a comfort to me.

ABILITY SCORES

Mal will be a bit of a generalist in this build, the man who has to tie his team together. A bit like a Red Mage in Final Fantasy, he can do a bit of everything, but you can focus on a stat to take him in a decidedly focused direction if that’s your fancy.

STR: 12 Mal is a strong man, but not a bruiser or a professional hitman like Jayne. Still, he’s packing more strength than your average joe, as can be expected for a veteran soldier.

DEX: 14 Mal’s a quick shot with his pistol, and doesn’t like to weigh himself down with anything other than light armor. We’ll want to pump this with ASI’s and/or stat boosting items when possible, as it’s his offense and defense all rolled into one.

CON: 13 (+1) It takes some guts and toughness to take the kind of hits Mal’s taken and go back for more. Coupled with his bonus feat, this will give the Captain a fighting chance to think or fight his way out of a bad spot.

INT: 10 Mal was educated on his home planet of Shadow, though not to what I’d call a university level. He’s decently well-read, but won’t be winning any awards for scientific achievements. He’ll be leaving this stat to the likes of River and Simon.

WIS: 12 I’d say that of his crew, Mal has one of the higher Wisdom scores (but that ain’t sayin’ much), perhaps contested by Shepard Book in the lead, with Zoe and Inara keeping up with him as well. Still, Mal’s got to have a bit of sagacity about him to keep a level head when the shooting starts.

CHA: 13(+1) A Captain has to have the respect of his men. Mal commands respect by showing it to others, and he has a particular way about him that endears him to the crew. When he gives the orders, people pay attention.

BACKGROUND

There’s a few different backgrounds that work for Malcolm Reynolds that I won’t be using, but I’ll give a nod to. Folk Hero works for a farm boy who went off to war to defend his village, Sailor works for a smuggler who now owns his own ship… but we’ll be going with the Soldier background. The War for Independence marked Mal more than any other life event, seeing how he named his ship after the biggest defeat of the war’s location. This informs his character, and his skill set.

Skill Proficiency- Intimidation and Athletics are part of the Soldier kit, and I think that’s good for Mal. He’s not one to intimidate people without cause, but if he makes a threat, there’s a cold emphasis behind it that belies argument. His skill at running and getting to cover comes from his infantry training as well.

Gaming Set Proficiency- Mal’s decent at games of chance, and it stands to reason that a man would play cards in the trenches. Let’s give him proficiency with a deck of playing cards.

Background Feature- Mal’s rank in the war was Sergeant, and some who served under him that he encounters will remember him as such. Meeting others who fought in the war is almost always a good thing for Mal, seeing as there’s people who understand his point of view and how he lives.

CLASS/FEATURES

I saw an extremely interesting case for why Mal was a Valor Bard on a different site, and as much as I liked it, Mal using magic didn’t sit right with me. He has a Bard’s force of personality, but none of the professional qualities.

Classes are mostly job descriptions when you boil them down, and Mal’s job description started one way then veered another over the course of his life. Thus, I’ll be building Mal as a Battle Master Fighter 3/Mastermind Rogue 17.

Also, if your GM allows Critical Role content, consider making Mal a Gunslinger Fighter then using a feat down the road to give him his couple of maneuvers he’ll be using. I try to stick to AL legal builds here on Building Character, but know that in some cases that’d be an option. Let’s look at what Mal will be bringing to the gaming table!

Starting Proficiency- Getting the Animal Handling skill is fun for Mal since he sometimes takes live cargo, and often deals with riding horses on backwater planets. Perception is also an important skill proficiency that our (2nd) favorite space cowboy needs, and one he may well have picked up in the field. Getting all martial weapon proficiencies and all armors is nice, but Mal will be sticking with his hand crossbow and studded leather (flavored as his browncoat) for the most part. Mobility is key in a firefight, and while Mal can pick up an enemy’s fallen heavy crossbow and lay down some killer fire with it, he likes to stay unencumbered for the most part. Having STR and CON saving throws isn’t all that great, but CON protects from some of the nastier high level effects in the game.

Fighting Style- Mal’s a man who fought in the trenches of battlefields, and uses ranged weapons for the most part. Let’s give him the Archery fighting style for maximum effectiveness, since his dueling skills were a bit pitiful when he displayed them.

Second Wind- Mal has the ability to shut out pain and get the job done, which is good because he gets injured a lot.

Action Surge- When a job needs gettin’ done, a man’s got to have the strength of will to get up and do it.

Combat Superiority- The maneuvers that Mal uses in battle take advantage of his position as Captain. I’d give him Commander’s Strike (see his setting up a drunk thug for Zoe to knock out), Rally (his ability to inspire an ally to keep fighting in spite of adverse circumstances) and Goading Attack (obviously).

Expertise- When Mal begins taking criminal jobs, he starts to double down on the skills he uses often. I’d give him Expertise in Persuasion and Perception right away, and down the line Athletics and his new Rogue skill, Deception.

Sneak Attack- Learning to fight dirty comes with the territory of criminality. At Level 20, Mal will be dealing out an extra 9d6 with his Sneak Attacks. A bit absurd, but that’s level 20 for ya!

Thieves’ Cant- Mal can imply, suggest, feign and bluff in conversation to take offers on less-than-legal jobs from suspicious figures.

Cunning Action- What keeps Mal alive is his agility, level-headedness, and grace under fire. Being able to take the Hide, Dash, or Withdraw actions as a Bonus Action is a godsend.

Master of Intrigue- I swear by my floral bonnet, I will end you. Mal’s got some improved skills as a criminal at this point, including the proficiency to disguise himself better and forge official documents. Picking up some other common trade languages (in our case, Elvish and Dwarvish) as well as proficiency at shooting dice makes him more of an underworld staple.

Master of Tactics- Adding to Mal’s Bonus Action options is the ability to use Help as a Bonus Action at a 30′ range, key to him calling out instructions for his team at crucial moments on a job.

Evasion- You’re either the quick, or the dead. Evasion will make sure that area attacks that target him are far less effective, as he gets harder and harder to pin down.

Insightful Manipulator- Mal can be a thoughtful sort when he has a mind to be, and taking the measure of a man is a skill he’s acquired over his career.

Reliable Talent- When easily avoidable mistakes get people killed, you learn fast to avoid such mistakes.

Misdirection- If Mal has to scrap, he has the awareness to use his opponents as cover against ranged attacks. It’s rude to shoot a man when he’s in a fistfight.

Blindsense- The Cap’n has been tied up and blindfolded before, so fighting blind would be a massively useful skill to have.

Slippery Mind- It’d be hard to find a man in the Whedon-verse with a stronger will than Mal. ‘Cept of course when beautiful women are involved. But those are special circumstances.

Soul of Deceit- The best of plans require the ability to bluff, con, and otherwise gamble with folks not knowing your true intentions. This seals the deal.

FEATS

If Mal’s got some spare ASI’s to put toward feats, here’s some that might make life a bit more… interesting for those Alliance types:

Tavern Brawler- Mal actually gets in quite a few scraps while in taverns, so it’s a very fitting feat. Fighting dirty by smashing a pool cue or glass mug over some poor tough guy’s head is an age old tactic.

Skilled- Picking up Sleight of Hand, Religion, and Investigation in one fell swoop is a handy catch.

Lucky- As often as Mal uses skill to get out of a pinch, it always helps to be lucky.

Inspiring Leader- ‘Nuff said.

Crossbow Expert- Right between the eyes!

That’s it for Captain Reynolds! You can find his D&D Beyond link Here, which is the format I’ll be using to display the builds from now on. Tune in next week, where we’ll be building…

The mutant known as Logan, The Wolverine! Seeya next time!