I have been wanting to run a D&D one-shot with the Justice League ever since I started playing D&D. A lot of people don’t think D&D is great system for a superhero game, these people are absolutely correct (go play Cold Steel Wardens for that) and that’s why I mutated the rules so much and threw the Justice League into standard F20 alternate dimension in order to make level 20 character creation work.

Some of these characters were a lot of fun to create (Green Lantern and Wonder Woman) others were an absolute slog thanks to multiclassing (Batman and The Flash). I approached these character like Dr. Frankenstein. I had an idea of what I wanted to create and I would use my scalpel and sutures to take away or add anything I thought necessary to create my monstrosities. I added bonuses, powers, magic items, and everything in between with the constant justification that these were going to be 20th level characters, and that’s allowed in D&D (its totally not).

So if you were looking for a D&D Justice League build enjoy. I have attached the corresponding character sheet after each heroes description. I will hopefully post the one-shot adventure I wrote for these characters really soon. It just needs some cleanup, but not going to lie the few times I have ran it so far we all had a blast.

Aquaman – Fighter / Eldritch Knight

This character just feels right. Aquaman gets a lot of unjustified criticism on the internet that he really doesn’t deserve. Don’t get me wrong I’m no Aquaman apologist, but he is still a member of the Justice League. If Batman vouches for him he has to be worth something…even if he’s just cannon fodder.

Now onto Aquaman as a D&D character. Aquaman is the king of Atlantis, a telepath, uses a trident, and wears gold armor. He was already purpose built to be a level 20 D&D character. I wanted a martial character who has minor magical abilities so a straight eldritch knight build worked perfectly. In order to get the underwater breathing and swimming I gave him a magic item I built, the Trident of Poseidon.

In full disclosure I have not been able playtest this character…no one wants to be Aquaman.

Aquaman Character Sheet

Batman – Rogue 9 / Assassin – Monk 11 / Way of Shadows

This is the build that finally forced me into multiclassing in D&D 5E. If there is any character in fiction that is completely undefeatable and all powerful than it is Batman. Bruce Wayne is a mere mortal, but can never be entirely defeated because he’s Batman…just Batman…that’s the reason why. For that reason I had to approach this character with much trepidation and planning. After spending too much time staring at my PHB I said screw it, and completely threw the rules out the window.

At the end of the day Batman is a super smart ninja with a bunch of “magic” items. The Rogue class is great for getting the sneaking and stealth feeling, but it doesn’t contain the brutal hand to hand martial prowess I wanted for Batman so I diverted to a Monk. I then realized that my intelligence was way to low! Instead of spending another few hours building this character, and ignoring the cries of my toddler to come play with her, I fudged it and gave him a massive boost.

Finally Batman has gear and gadgets. Its part of his persona. I gave him several items with miscellaneous powers that I felt captured the feel of playing The Batman.

Batman Character Sheet

Cyborg – Paladin / Oath of the Ancients

Honestly I do not know too much about Cyborg as a character. Yes, I know his origin, but I never read enough Cyborg books to really understand what makes him tick as hero. With the other Justice League members I was able to add a lot of flavor, and give the character abilities that fit their personality as well as superpowers.

To me Cyborg was all about being a team player and acted like a support character in most books I have read so I decided to go with a Paladin. I thought about going full Cleric, but the Paladin had more of the martial abilities I wanted to capture. I choose the Unearthed Arcana race of Warforged because Cyborg is almost completely machine.

Other than re-skinning several Paladin abilities Cyborg is pretty much just a level 20 Paladin.

Cyborg Character Sheet

Flash – Monk 17 / Way of the Open Hand – Fighter 3 / Eldritch Knight

So the Flash took me the longest to create out of all the JL members, and one of the few that I did fudge the numbers on. I didn’t think there was anyway to duplicate his powers, and almost abandoned making him. I thought of going the Wizard route and using teleportation spells and telling the player to just act like he is running really fast, but this seemed cheap and too easy. I wanted the Flash to be a fast melee character, and that’s when I saw the level 17 power of the Way of the Open Hand Monk.

Quiver Palm: Create imperceptible vibrations in a creature that last for a number of days equal to Monk Level. You can end the vibrations, and the creature must make a CON saving throw. On a success, they take 10d10 Necrotic Damage. On a Fail, they drop to 0.

I was sold; if this doesn’t just scream Flash power than I don’t know what does. Creating vibration is one of the signature moves the Flash. Although he mainly uses them to vibrate on an atomic structure to pass through walls I thought this would capture the flavor well enough. The Monk also has the ability to run up walls and across liquid. I should have seen this earlier.

Now for the speed part. My goal was to get the base speed up as high as possible then use dash to to double it. First thing was to snag the Wood Elf stats, this give a base speed of 35ft. Next I took the Mobile feat giving him another 10ft. Then at level 15 the monk’s Unarmored Movement ability increases the speed by 25ft. Now this is where I cheat a little bit; I gave the Flash the Boots of Speed, doubling his base speed. I reskinned this as “The Speed Force” and took away the time constraint. So that gives us a base speed of 140ft.

I then took 3 levels of the Eldritch Knight fighter in order to get the action surge, and some spells that fit the Flash’s abilities. By using your action, all your Ki points, and the fighters action surge you could potentially travel 2660 ft in one turn. My math and interpretation of the Monk rules may be wrong and using all of your Ki in one turn may be stupid, but still thats a lot more than your standard 30ft.

The Flash Character Sheet

Green Lantern – Warlock / Oa Patron

Glorified space cop with no inherent powers, but gets abilities from a ring that in turn gets its abilities from the will power of living beings and tiny green men. Green Lantern is just asking to be a Warlock. I had to go with the Pact of the Blade as well. This is a no brainer since Green Lantern’s powers revolve around creating constructs, and having the ability to summon any weapon fits perfectly.

For spells choose pretty much all conjuration and illusion spells to fit the flavor of creating constructs. The PHB spells list has tons of great spells that are perfect for a Lantern. On a side note I am a fan of players picking spells that all fit a certain theme. Yes, it may mean you don’t get to pick that super OP evocation spell you wanted, but I think it allows you to focus in on your role playing. That’s just me though.

The Oa Patron is just a reskin of the Fiend Patron. Each power is also a stance from the Lanterns oath. I will absolutely make the players say the Lantern’s oath whenever they want to use a power!

Green Lantern Character Sheet

Superman – Barbarian / Bear Totem Warrior

You would think Superman would have been a more difficult character to create then he really was. One reason he wasn’t difficult to create was because I threw rules out the window again. I started with a level 20 Bear Totem Barbarian and started tacking on extras from there. First off superman needed to be resistant to all damages. Next I gave him several abilities that are way outside the realm of a normal 5E character such as ice breath, laser eyes, and flight.

Superman Character Sheet

Wonder Woman – Barbarian / Berserker

Wonder Woman is an Amazon princess (sometime queen) from Themyscira who left her home to help humankind. In order to have a Wonder Woman character you need her key powers; super strength and flight. With these powers and a couple magic items, Lasso of Truth and Bracelets of Submission, you have a proper Wonder Woman.

When picking a class I considered a Fighter Battle Master since Wonder Woman is a master tactician and skilled melee fighter. This would have worked, but I started thinking about what makes Wonder Woman an interesting character and I kept on going back to how much passion (borderline bloodlust) and resolve she shows in the comics. Wonder Woman is a kind hearted character, but when in battle she is pretty much the honey badger of the Justice League. I had to go with Barbarian.

A barbarian is going to get the strength score I wanted and the rage ability seemed fitting. I also love that it gives her Intimidating Presence! One of the greatest things about Wonder Woman is the raw fear she can bring out in her enemies when they realize she will not stop coming after them.

You know what feature I gave her so that she could fly? None, I just put down she has a flight speed. This is level 20 D&D everyone can fly at this point.

Wonder Woman Character Sheet