I already explained myself in the last Full Build Friday, so let's just get the regular stuff out of the way and get into it! As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in an attempt to fit the character. These choices might not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
Let's get into the build for Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
DONATELLO
CHARACTER Donatello Hamato
SOURCE Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
GOALS
o Sharing the backstory of his fellow turtle brothers, Donatello is the most classically intelligent of the four
o Generally intelligent and knowledgeable about a wide range of subjects, Donnie is most commonly associated with robotics and machinery
o He is often the mutant behind the fleet, including the Party Wagon, Turtle Van, and in some universes the Shellraiser, as well as the gadgets of the turtles
o Despite his fascination with technology, he is known for wielding possibly the simplest of weapons, a bo staff. In some cases, he modifies it with additional properties
o Donatello is often associated with the robotic turtle Metalhead and is even its creator in several iterations
o Metalhead is a physically powerful construct that wields a varying array of weaponry depending on its series, with some standouts being an anti-gravity gauntlet, laser beams, and flamethrowers
o As a robot, Metalhead is also very durable and able to sustain copious amounts of damage without limiting his function
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Wetlander Lizardfolk
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Wisdom, +Intelligence, -Intelligence
o Ancestry Feat: Lizardfolk Lore
o Skill Increase: Nature (trained), Survival (trained), Lizardfolk Lore (trained)
Background: Mechanic
o Ability Boosts: +Intelligence, +Strength
o Skill Increase: Crafting (trained), Engineering Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Quick Repair
Class & Subclass: Construct Innovation Inventor
o Class Ability Boost: +Intelligence
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Arcana (trained), Athletics (trained), Occultism (trained), Society (trained), Stealth (trained), Thievery (trained)
o Class Feat: Tamper
Construct Innovation: Metalhead
o Ability Bonuses: Str +3, Dex +3, Con +2, Int -4, Wis +1, Cha +0
o Attacks: Hammer Fist 1d8 bludgeoning; Jab 1d6 bludgeoning (agile, finesse)
o Initial Modification: Amphibious Construction
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str 16, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 10)
As with most of the turtles, Donatello’s ancestry and heritage is going to follow a similar route, but as the brainiac of the group, it felt reasonable for him to pick up Lizardfolk Lore even if he is more familiar with the skills it grants from a theoretical aspect rather than practical. Meanwhile, the mechanic background is a little redundant given his class but it fits in nicely with his vehicle-building habits and Quick Repair is a solid feat for him. Naturally, Donatello is going to be an inventor with a construct innovation giving him Metalhead as a companion. Amphibious Construction allows Metalhead to function underwater just like the rest of the turtles, but some iterations of Metalhead are distinctly intelligent, making Wonder Gears another suitable option or Accelerated Mobility as Metalhead does have a speedster mode. Donatello is often tasked with disabling or otherwise neutralizing any enemies’ technology and the Tamper feat plays into that idea.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Haphazard Repair
o Skill Feat: Improvise Tool
o Gear: ring of discretion
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Crafting (expert), Stealth (trained)
o Gear: +1 bo staff, everburning torch, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Advanced Construct Companion
o Skill Feat: Alchemical Crafting
o Construct Ability Bonuses: Str +4, Dex +4, Con +3, Int -4, Wis +2, Cha +0
o Construct Attacks: Hammer Fist 2d8 bludgeoning; Jab 2d6 bludgeoning (agile, finesse)
o Gear: crafter’s eyepiece, +1 bo staff, hand of the mage, ring of discretion
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str 18, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 18, Wis 16, Cha 10)
o Ancestry Feat: Swift Swimmer
o Skill Increase: Medicine (trained), Thievery (expert)
o Gear: +1 striking bo staff, crafter’s eyepiece, everyneed pack, hand of the mage, everburning torch, ring of discretion
Haphazard Repair is largely functional, simply allowing Donnie to make fixes on the fly, since none of the other class feats really stood out. Meanwhile, his Advanced Construct Companion is sort of a necessary feat to ensure that Metalhead stays relevant. Regarding skill feats, Improvise Tool fits with Donatello’s limited resources down in the sewers while Alchemical Crafting is based off of the studies and advancements Donatello makes with mutagen in some series. Fleet is mainly to help Donnie Sneak further as he doesn’t grab Swift Sneak until later than usual in his build while Swift Swimmer is once more to play into him being a turtle.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Clockwork Celerity
o Skill Feat: Magical Crafting
o Gear: +1 scale mail, +1 striking bo staff, lesser talisman cord, crafter’s eyepiece, hand of the mage, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Crafting (master), Stealth (master)
o Breakthrough Modification: Projectile Launcher
o Gear: ring of the ram, +1 scale mail, shadow armor rune, +1 striking bo staff, crafter’s eyepiece, everyneed pack
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Incredible Construct Companion
o Skill Feat: Wary Disarmament
o Construct Ability Bonuses: Str +6, Dex +6, Con +5, Int -4, Wis +2, Cha +0
o Gear: clockwork heels, clandestine cloak, ring of the ram, +1 scale mail, +1 striking bo staff, lesser talisman cord
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Terrain Advantage
o Skill Increase: Thievery (master)
o Offensive Boost: Ignition
o Gear: +1 resilient scale mail, clockwork heels, greater everyneed pack, ring of the ram, shadow armor rune, +1 striking bo staff
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence (Str 19, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 19, Wis 16, Cha 10)
o Class Feat: Overdrive Ally
o Skill Feat: Swift Sneak
o Gear: greater shadow armor rune, +1 resilient studded leather, Cordelia’s construct key, clockwork heels, ring of the ram, +1 striking bo staff
Clockwork Celerity allows Donatello to grab an early ability to make himself quickened with an unstable effect. Incredible Construct Companion further improves the effectiveness of Metalhead while Overdrive Ally works in Donatello being a team player alongside his brothers, offering them a way to increase their combat capabilities. There are several feats at 8th level that are a good fit for Donatello, such as the two picked with his companion and overdrive feat, but Manifold Modifications would also be a good grab for him. As Metalhead is usually equipped with an array of ranged weaponry, the Projectile Launcher is a solid choice for his next modification though players might also consider Marvelous Gears if they picked up Wonder Gears earlier. The choice of ignition for his offensive boost is meant to cover the fact that many of Metalhead’s weaponry is heat or fire-based such as the flamethrowers and multiple lasers. Magical Crafting is meant to cover the variety of Donnie’s creations and having to dip into mysticism to cover the advanced technology existing in the setting of Pathfinder. As the person most responsible for disabling any high-tech security countermeasures they come across, an investment into Thievery and the Wary Disarmament feats seems appropriate.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Diehard
o Skill Increase: Medicine (expert)
o Gear: +2 striking bo staff, extending weapon rune, greater shadow armor rune, +1 resilient studded leather, clockwork heels, greater everyneed pack
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Shared Overdrive
o Skill Feat: Quick Unlock
o Gear: +2 resilient studded leather, +2 striking bo staff, golem stylus, greater shadow armor rune, shock weapon rune, Cordelia’s construct key
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Marsh Runner
o Skill Increase: Medicine (master)
o Gear: +2 greater striking bo staff, +2 resilient studded leather, greater crafter’s eyepiece, golem stylus, extending weapon rune, greater shadow armor rune
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Paragon Companion
o Skill Feat: Continual Recovery
o Construct Ability Bonuses: Str +7, Dex +7, Con +6, Int -4, Wis +5, Cha +0
o Construct Attacks: Hammer Fist 3d8 bludgeoning; Jab 3d6 bludgeoning (agile, finesse), Ninja Star 3d4 bludgeoning (propulsive, range increment 30 feet)
o Gear: greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking bo staff, greater Cordelia’s construct key, +2 resilient studded leather, golem stylus, greater clandestine cloak
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 20, Wis 16, Cha 12)
o General Feat: Numb to Death
o Skill Increase: Deception (trained), Crafting (legendary), Thievery (legendary)
o Revolutionary Modification: Resistant Coating
o Gear: +2 greater resilient studded leather, greater ring of the ram, boots of speed, +2 greater striking bo staff, greater crafter’s eyepiece, ring of maniacal devices
Shared Overdrive builds out of and improves Overdrive Ally, allowing Donnie to enhance his brothers’ combat prowess for a longer period of time. Paragon Companion continues to improve Metalhead while the Resistant Coating modification makes the robotic turtle into a tank. Diehard and its progression feat Numb to Death is meant to reflect the time where Donatello was gravely injured and brought to the cusp of death by Bebop and Rocksteady in the IDW comics. In many instances, Donnie serves as one of the team’s primary medics, which led to at least the slight investment into Medicine and the Continual Recovery skill feat, though Ward Medic would also make sense.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Just the Thing!
o Skill Feat: Craft Anything
o Gear: greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient studded leather, greater boots of bounding, greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking bo staff, greater Cordelia’s construct key
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Guided by the Stars
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o Gear: +3 greater striking bo staff, dragonscale amulet, greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient studded leather, greater ring of the ram, boots of speed
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Engine of Destruction
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o Gear: diadem of intellect, +3 greater striking bo staff, speed weapon rune, greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient studded leather, greater boots of bounding
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient studded leather, diadem of intellect, clockwork helm, +3 greater striking bo staff, dragonscale amulet, greater shock weapon rune
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 20, Wis 18, Cha 14)
o Class Feat: Ubiquitous Overdrive
o Skill Feat: Powerful Leap
o Gear: +3 major striking bo staff, +3 greater resilient leather, archivist’s gaze, clockwork helm, greater talisman cord, speed weapon rune
Donnie’s range of gadgets and gizmos changes depending on the source but Just the Thing nicely covers his inventiveness and ability to build solutions around problems. Engine of Destruction is the final ability to empower Metalhead, activating his full array of weaponry against swarms of foes while Ubiquitous Overdrive allows Donnie to hook up all his brothers with gadgets to enhance their combat capability. Most of the final skill feats are enhancing Donnie’s Athletics capabilities – while he is the more mechanically minded of his brothers, he still joins them on patrols and needs some ability to maneuver as they do. Craft Anything just maxes out his potential with the Crafting skill, allowing him to build any manner of miraculous machinery.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: I think this might be one of the first builds since I started doing that didn’t already have an archetype, which means that my suggestion of the Vehicle Mechanic Dedication isn’t as obvious as usual! Donnie is responsible for the fleet of vehicles that the turtles use and this helps him modify and maintain them. However, many games may not use vehicles and for such cases, I suggest the Monk Dedication, which requires an early drop in Wisdom to redirect that boost to Dexterity instead. Since Donnie’s preferred weapon, the bo staff, is a monk weapon, he can pick up Monastic Weaponry and feats such as Monk’s Flurry to enhance his combat prowess with his preferred weapon.
CONCLUSION
As with Leonardo and the rest of his brothers, Donnie is a wetlander lizardfolk to reflect his status as a turtle mutant while his delving into the inventor class allows him to operate alongside Metalhead who he is regularly associated with. Metalhead is built around being a robotic ninja turtle between modifications such as Amphibious Construction and Projectile Launcher, but players could also invest in the Wonder Gears and related modifications as well. Inventor also gives Donnie access to the bo staff, which is a martial weapon. Shared Overdrive and its related feats play into him working as a member of a team with his brothers.
Be sure to lemme know what you think of the build and who your favorite Turtle is!
If you want to join in on the discussion of these builds and the ones I do for monsters or just hang out with a bunch of fellow TTRPG nerd, check out the Discord server. We also have a Twitter where we try to post teasers for the blog and are trying to get some milestones made up for.
Until then, have a fantastic Friday!
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