“I’ll reveal your true form!”

Hope you’re not harboring any distorted desires, Buildies! Because if you’re contributing to society’s downfall, Joker and the Phantom Thieves will be leaving you a calling card in D&D 5th Edition! I loved Persona 5 to shreds on the PS4, as it’s one of the most mechanically satisfying and stylistically aesthetic RPGs of our generation. I highly recommend you play it, especially if you’re planning on picking him up in Smash Bros. Ultimate… or in Dungeons & Dragons!



I’ll do my best to keep spoilers for the 2nd half of the game away from this build, as we’ll be examining how best to build Joker for your gaming table. Obviously, D&D isn’t set up with Personas in mind, but we’ll be stretching and re-flavoring as much as possible to keep Joker’s feel and vibe. Hopefully you’ll find room in your party for a gentleman thief with his kind of skills. Let’s plug in those keywords and transition to the cognitive realm to take a look at what makes Joker tick!

Amamiya Ren was an ordinary high school student when he witnessed a woman being harassed late at night on a city street. Doing the right thing, the teen intervened, but the drunk man that he stopped tripped, injuring himself in the process. Unfortunately, the man was well-connected politically, and the system worked against poor Ren.

Finding himself with a criminal record for assault, as well as getting expelled from his school and sent across the country to the only school that would give him a second chance, things looked grim for his future. It seemed like the best thing for Ren to do would be to lay low and try to live an honest student life. Once again, fate would intercede in the form of the Metaverse, an alternate plane of reality where the corrupted desires of mankind twist their cognitive psyches into horrifying monsters.



Stuck in the middle of a plot to use the Metaverse as an instrument of murder and control, all while his social situation grew ever-worse from corrupt teachers, Ren’s saving grace came in the form of his new friends, and his Persona. While in the Metaverse, Ren can call upon the masks of the cognitive Shadows around him, wielding their power as he resolves to fight the corruption of rotten adults.

Forming the Phantom Thieves of Hearts with other like-minded Persona users, Ren took the codename Joker to signify his power as the Trickster- one who can use many Personas and bind them to his will. Together, Joker and the rest of the Phantom Thieves battle to expose the true culprits behind the mental shutdown murders, and restore justice to their society.







RACE

Those stripes are a fashion nightmare. I mean, the whole thing is a literal nightmare.

Joker is a member of the good old human race, which is good for him because this is a bit of an unorthodox build. He’ll need the particulars that come with being a Variant Human (almost always go Variant instead of regular human), so stick around to see how the build plays out.

For those that are just joining us and don’t regularly follow these builds, the goal is to have any of these characters playable at any game table. So, we go with the official D&D Adventure League rules of a 27 point buy build, and do our best (even with some really OP characters) to capture their flavor. This build will be doing our best to capture the feel of a Shadow-summoning Phantom Thief, so let’s see how being Human gives Ren a strong start:

Ability Score Increase: We get a +1 to 2x different Ability Scores. For Joker, those will come in the most handy when applied to Dexterity and Charisma. Being fast and gathering a following are key for an aspiring thief of hearts!

Language: Joker knows a few English words, though his native tongue is Japanese. You can go with anything campaign-relevant for this. I went with Gnomish, because he spends time tinkering with thief gadgets and tools.

Extra Skill: We’ll be going with Perception. Being able to see that which is hidden is a big part of Joker’s in-game power set, so it’s thematic too!

Extra Feat: Following that theme, Alert will be a great feat to start off with. Strike first, and your enemies will never see it comin’.

ABILITY SCORES

The greatest ability is maintaining a close group of friends.

All of Joker’s abilities come from the fact that he is a Persona user, one who has made a contract with a Jungian inner being, a reflection of their inner self. The actualities are waaaaay too complicated to go into here, but let’s just assume that his abilities are boosted by his contract. Let’s see how boosted:

STR: 8 Ren isn’t exactly a buff boy. He can get stronger over the course of the game, but raw strength is never the source of his true power.

DEX: 15(+1) Now this is a little more up to speed for Joker! From knives to pistols (hand crossbows, whatever), Joker is most handy with weapons that capitalize on his speed. Keep this high.

CON: 12 Joker isn’t a tank, but he is a bit tougher than you’re probably thinking a senior in high school has any right to be. He can sleep off powerful experimental medications, so… tough enough.

INT: 11 We don’t have a bunch of points to spare for this, but giving ourselves at least a slight boost to INT is necessary. Joker isn’t a brainiac, but he is clever and a decent student. Perhaps boost this if you can.

WIS: 10 Joker is no fool, but he also relies a lot on group input to reach a wise decision for moving forward.

CHA: 15(+1) Boost this when you can! Ren’s not only capable of wrangling the hearts of the ladies, but of inspiring the loyalty of all around him. Increase your Charm by getting this as high as possible!

BACKGROUND

I am thou, thou art I.

The moment that Amamiya Ren decided to intervene in a bad situation, his life was irrevocably tainted by the false label of “criminal”. With that in mind, it makes perfect sense to give him the Criminal background. Throughout the course of Persona 5, Joker learns to embrace the talents that come with abiding under suspicion and scrutiny. Check out what our background comes with:

Skill Proficiency: Being labeled a criminal is terrible, but knowing how to move fast and keep your eyes open is a positive. Acrobatics is the first skill that we get, and it helps when Palaces (read: dungeons) have shaky terrains and are collapsing all around you. Investigation is the other skill, and it pairs well with Perception for making sure no treasure goes untouched, and no secret passages unfound!

Tool Proficiency: One of Ren’s confidants, Hifumi Togo, is a shogi master. She teaches Ren this form of Japanese board game (kinda like chess), so we’ll go with a dragonchess set for one of his tool proficiencies. For the other tool proficiency, we’ll go with brewer’s supplies. Not for beer, but for coffee! Living in a cafe has its benefits, as does receiving training from a skilled barista.

Criminal Contact- Joker’s got spades of ’em! From arms dealers to performance enhancing chemical dealers, from politicians to journalists, the Phantom Thieves have a bevy of shady characters to rely on!

CLASS/FEATURES

I’ve got friends in low places.

This is the part where things get a little… weird. See, D&D as a system isn’t really designed with the eccentricities of a JRPG like Persona in mind. That said, I’m pretty sure I’ve found a decent combo that’ll give us the flavor of being a Persona user and Phantom Thief. We’ll be going with Rogue 7 and Warlock 13 for our classes, getting that strange mix of criminal and magician.

For the Rogue portion of our build, we’ll be emphasizing Joker’s talents for sneaking and coordinating his allies. Remember, as the leader of the Phantom Thieves, he’s responsible for setting up all-out attacks and coordinated strikes! To match this, our subclass will be Mastermind. Let’s put that high Charisma to work!

For Warlock, it’s a no-brainer: We’ve made a pact with an ancient force that resides within the subconscious of mankind, and gain power in return for our acts of rebellion. We’re going Great Old One Warlock, Pact of the Chain. It’ll give us the control over the Shadows (who we’ll be representing with our familiar and summoned creatures) and some spells that resemble our in-game powers. Starting with a level in Rogue for the proficiency, here’s how this might play out:



Weapons/Armor Proficiency- Light armor is all you need, and that stylish leather coat can be flavored nicely as studded leather armor. We wanna stay light on our feet! Since we need a hand free for spellcasting, the proficiency with daggers and hand crossbows is all you need for that Phantom Thief feel.

Saving Throw Proficiency- Dexterity is, as always, an amazing saving throw. We also get a saving throw proficiency in Intelligence, which is less useful. However, there are some nasty creatures that target Intelligence, so it’s handy against dire threats.

Skill Proficiency: Rogues get 4 skills, very handy for Joker! First, let’s start with Stealth. A no-brainer for a thief. Next, Sleight of Hand will give us a light hand and even better ability to conceal tools and items on our person. Deception is a great skill for someone with our Charisma stat (and need to keep secrets), and we can round out our skills with Persuasion for the same reason. Now we’re equipped for some shenanigans!

Expertise- I neglected to mention that Thieves’ Tools are among our tool proficiencies, which came with being a Rogue. We’ll be going with Expertise in these, as well as Stealth. We’ll be hitting this again at level 6, where I recommend going with Perception and Deception.

Sneak Attack- Whether unmasking a Shadow from behind, or taking advantage of an over-confident boss’ weak spot, Joker can deliver crucial blows with style!

Thieves’ Cant- Ren can be discreet about his activities, while Ryuji… well…

Cunning Action- Move fast, hide swiftly, evade the enemy!

Master of Intrigue- This is where the rubber meets the thieving road. You get the jackpot of infiltrator proficiencies: Disguise kit, forgery kit, and another gaming set (I went with dice, you can go with anything). 2x languages as well, and the ability to study and mimic others. Evade suspicion for your activities, and never break a sweat when you’re under pressure.

Master of Tactics- Just like in the game, Joker can give instructions to his party to make them better in battle. Using the Help action within 30′ (where you should be anyway to pull off Sneak Attack) means your allies get Advantage every turn that you’re not using your Cunning Action! So remember to choose carefully between your own needs and your team’s.

Uncanny Dodge- By this point, Joker is used to fighting enemies who have a little bit more brute force on their side. Turning deadly blows into lesser hits can save your life!

Evasion- My personal favorite defensive ability, this increases your chances of surviving things like dragon breath weapons and fireballs to an incredible degree. Take advantage of that high DEX save to neutralize splash damage on a success, relying on your heightened instincts.

Awakened Mind- Joker’s often able to stay quiet, but still get the point across. Use this to maintain that ‘main-character mystique’.

Pact Magic– We’ll address this in spellcasting. Warlock magic works different than standard spellcasting, so I’ll give a brief primer on how best to use it.

Eldritch Invocations- The big draw of playing a Warlock is often these bad boys, benefits that no other class gets in quite the same way. You can really build these out in a lot of different ways, but here’s what I went with for a level 20 build:

Agonizing Blast puts a bite into your Eldritch Blast, which you can flavor as your pistol if you prefer magic to hand crossbows. Gift of the Ever-Living Ones is specific to your Pact of the Chain, and will let you recover way more health if your “Persona” is close by. One With Shadows is practically canon, what with all those guards who walk right past Joker the second he ducks into a dark corner. Trickster’s Escape is highly thematic, letting you move freely when it’s time for a cinematic exit. Minions of Chaos really beefs up the caliber of creature you can summon, and as long as you use it with some flourish, it’s like calling upon an elemental Persona! Lastly, Eldritch Sight leans into the third eye ability of Joker’s, the power to spot important features of his surroundings. Key magical objects and features can be spotted in an instant, and you’ll never miss that hidden Explosive Rune. (We’re looking at you, Vaarsuvius.)

Pact Boon- Your familiar will -basically- be your Persona, in flavor if not in ability. This lets you use some of those fun Invocations from the previous section!

Entropic Ward- Turn an enemy’s misfortune into your gain!

Thought Shield- Some of the nastiest Persona enemies use Psychic element attacks, so having immunity to mind reading effects and resistance to Psychic damage could come in very handy if you’re playing a campaign that takes place in the Persona-verse.

Mystic Arcanum- With this build, Joker will have access to 2x higher level spells that can be cast 1/long rest without needing a spell slot. For his level 6 Mystic Arcanum, I went with True Seeing. This plays on that third eye power even more, letting Joker perceive all before him. It was tricky picking a level 7, but I settled on Plane Shift. Rather than needing an app to access the Metaverse or the Velvet Room, a Joker at full power can will himself there!

FEATS

The most stylish game of Frogger ever played.

As always, you need to boost your stats first. But if you have the Yen for stat boosting items, here’s some feats to up the ante:

Lucky- Thematic as all get-out. Joker regularly stacks the proverbial deck against his enemies, and a little extra luck on the battlefield never hurts.

Martial Adept- In keeping with the theme of being the operations field leader, giving yourself some maneuvers can give your allies an edge. I recommend Maneuvering Attack and Commander’s Strike to maximize your team’s performance.

Mobile- Being quick on your feet is a requirement for thievery, so pick this up if you want to outpace any pursuers.

Dungeon Delver- As someone who explores Palaces and regularly deals with traps and alarms, this feat can reflect some of the talent Joker has at exploring.

SPELLS

If I have to witness this abomination, you do too.

Magic in the Persona setting is derived from one’s link with their Persona, an aspect of their true form. Here’s a few ways to make Pact Magic work like the spells from the game, though there’s a lot of spells that (if you squint) can be very thematic:

Blade Ward- Rakukaja, a defensive buff.

Eldritch Blast- Flavor it like a gun skill, a’la Riot Gun.

Frostbite- Bufu, a mild cold spell.

Witch Bolt- Zio, a lightning spell.

Green Flame Blade- A melee attack, followed up by Agi, a fire spell.

Summon Lesser Demon, Summon Greater Demon, and Infernal Calling- All of these spells can call “Shadows” to serve you. Work with your DM on how to make this… uh, not evil.



The treasure’s located, the calling card has been left, and the stage is set for Joker to make his mark! Click HERE for the D&D Beyond character sheet, and let me know what you think. Tune in next time where we’ll be building…

Kratos, the God of War! Seeya next time!