This is a build I discussed on the Monster Monday Discord ages ago, but one that I held off on doing until more options came out to capture the feel of it. Between the Guns and Gears and Book of the Dead, I got the exact options I needed to put together a build for Ghost Rider, a character I've always really liked but haven't read a lot about. I feel like whenever I start picking up a series, it ends very suddenly. 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 Ghost Rider from Marvel Comics!
GHOST RIDER
CHARACTER Johnathon Blaze
SOURCE Marvel Comics
BUILD GOALS
o Johnny Blaze is a motorcycle stunt performer who became bound to a Spirit of Vengeance after making a deal with a demon to save the life of his surrogate father
o The Spirit of Vengeance is a celestial being linked to divine wrath and retribution that empower their hosts with a variety of abilities
o As the Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze possesses superhuman physical capabilities, the ability to manipulate hellfire, and some minor demonic magic
o Ghost Rider also possesses on of the most inconsistent powers ever featured in comics – the Penance Stare. At its base, the Penance Stare inflicts all the pain somebody has ever inflicted back onto them. Guilt and the like has nothing to do with it
o As suggested by the name, Ghost Rider has a symbiotic relationship with its ride. Johnny favors the Hell Cycle, which can move without him, ram through objects, and scale any surface
o Ghost Rider also possesses a chain of variable length that he uses as his most frequent melee weapon
o Even without the Spirit of Vengeance, Johnny is an expert stunt rider, a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, and wields occult knowledge gained from experience
o For a time, Johnny was the king of Hell
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Tiefling Skeleton
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Charisma, +Strength, -Intelligence
o Ancestry Feat: As in Life, So in Death (Human)
Background: Driver
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Intelligence
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Piloting Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Assurance (Piloting Lore)
Class & Subclass: Paladin Champion
o Class Ability Boost: +Dexterity
o Skill Increase: Athletics (trained), Intimidation (trained), Occultism (trained), Society (trained)
o Class Feat: Deity’s Domain – Fire
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 14, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 14)
With the muddied nature of the Spirit of Vengeance, tiefling skeleton captures the feel of the flaming skeleton that the Ghost Rider is. In the comics, Johnny can switch between being a human and being a Ghost Rider, but that isn’t entirely an option for this build. The As In Life, So In Death ancestry feat connects him to humans and allows him to disguise himself as a human as long as nobody presses the deception. The driver is an obvious reflection of his history as a motorcycle stunt performer, but that will be further explored down the line. Some might see it as an odd choice, but paladin champion dips into the wrath and revenge with its Retributive Strike and other abilities down the line. To reflect that Johnny is constantly wreathed in flames, there is the Deity’s Domain to gain the fire ray focus spell to lob fire around.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Trick Driver Dedication
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Glare
o Skill Increase: Driving Lore (expert)
o Gear: clunkerjunker
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (expert)
o Divine Ally: Blade
o Gear: +1 spiked chain, clunkerjunker, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Take the Wheel
o Skill Feat: Power Slide
o Gear: channel protection amulet, +1 spiked chain, necklace of knives, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 14, Dex 19, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 16)
o Ancestry Feat: Fiendish Resistance – Fire
o Skill Increase: Religion (expert), Crafting (trained)
o Gear: +1 striking spiked chain, channel protection amulet, bracers of missile deflection, necklace of knives, clunkerjunker, psychopomp mask
Right off the bat, Ghost Rider wants to pick up the Trick Driver Dedication (though players who are in a more standard fantasy setting might want to consider the Cavalier Dedication instead). This archetype is the main reason that Ghost Rider uses Dexterity as his main stat as it allows him to use Dex instead of Int when making a Driving Lore check. From there, he picks up Take the Wheel so he can Board and Take Control of his vehicle as a single action. He can also grab Power Slide, giving him the classic Akira slide if he can succeed on the check to perform it. While his Driving Lore skill is automatically increased thanks to his archetype, he takes a focus on Intimidation, which is gonna stand in for his Penance Stare with the help of the Intimidating Glare feat and others down the line. Since Ghost Rider doesn’t have the ability boosts to spare on Constitution, he picks up Toughness to fortify his Hit Points and then gains further ability to mitigate damage with a Fiendish Resistance to fire to match his flaming body. As a secondary focus among his skills, Ghost Rider takes up Religion to better identify fiends and the like while using Crafting to fix up his motorcycle.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Vengeful Oath
o Skill Feat: Express Driver
o Gear: +1 leather, +1 striking spiked chain, demon mask, channel protection amulet, necklace of knives, clunkerjunker
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Ride
o Skill Increase: Driving Lore (master), Intimidation (master)
o Gear: lesser dread armor rune, +1 leather, fearsome weapon rune, +1 striking spiked chain, channel protection amulet, clunkerjunker
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Litany Against Wrath
o Skill Feat: Battle Cry
o Gear: energy robe (fire), spiritsight ring, lesser dread armor rune, +1 leather, +1 striking spiked chain, clunkerjunker
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Skeletal Resistance
o Skill Increase: Religion (master)
o Gear: +1 resilient leather, energy robe (fire), tourmaline sphere aeon stone, lesser dread armor rune, fearsome weapon rune, +1 striking spiked chain
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str 16, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 18)
o Class Feat: Roadkill
o Skill Feat: Terrified Retreat
o Gear: mask of the banshee, +1 resilient leather, flaming weapon rune, energy robe (fire), clunkerjunker, +1 striking spiked chain
From his champion feats, Ghost Rider picks up Vengeful Oath to fit in with the whole Spirit of Vengeance thing he has going on. This allows him to sear evildoers with a mere touch while Litany Against Wrath gives him a focus spell that harms evil creatures as they strike out against good creatures. Rounding out his class feats for this block is Roadkill from the trick driver archetype, which uses his class DC in place of a vehicle’s collision DC when he uses the Run Over activity. Express Driver lets him put the pedal to the metal, but he otherwise focuses on Intimidation skill feats such as Battle Cry and Terrified Retreat to dive deeper into the concept of his Penance Stare. From his ancestry feats, he picks up Skeletal Resistance for protective purposes.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Crafting (expert)
o Gear: +2 striking spiked chain, extending weapon rune, mask of the banshee, +1 resilient leather, energy robe (fire), clunkerjunker
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Drive-By Attack
o Skill Feat: Terrifying Resistance
o Gear: +2 resilient leather, +2 striking spiked chain, speedster, extending weapon rune, crown of the fire eater, flaming weapon rune
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Rejuvenation Token
o Skill Increase: Crafting (master)
o Gear: +2 greater striking spiked chain, +2 resilient leather, necklace of fireballs IV, speedster, mask of the banshee, extending weapon rune
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Radiant Blade Spirit
o Skill Feat: Push It
o Gear: hellfire boots, +2 greater striking spiked chain, greater fearsome weapon rune, +2 resilient leather, greater demon mask, speedster
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 21, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 19)
o General Feat: Diehard
o Skill Increase: Driving Lore (legendary), Intimidation (legendary), Stealth (trained)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient leather, hellfire boots, greater extending weapon rune, +2 greater striking spiked chain, necklace of fireballs IV, speedster
Ghost Rider picks up the Drive-By Attack feat to take a swing at enemies as he drives by them while Radiant Blade Spirit allows him to enflame his chains or imbue them with holy energy. Another skill feat provided by his trick driver archetype gives him Push It to ramp up his speed whenever he succeeds at a Driving Lore check. Rejuvenation Token felt appropriate given the number of times that Johnny Blaze has returned from the beyond and it felt particularly appropriate to have him bonded to his vehicle. He continues his focus on Crafting so that he can keep his bike in working order.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Devoted Focus
o Skill Feat: Scare to Death
o Gear: sand racer, +2 greater resilient leather, major ring of fire resistance, hellfire boots, +2 greater striking spiked chain, greater fearsome weapon rune
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Final Form
o Skill Increase: Religion (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking spiked chain, greater flaming weapon rune, sand racer, +2 greater resilient leather, hellfire boots, greater extending weapon rune
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Aura of Vengeance
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Prowess
o Gear: anklets of alacrity, +3 greater striking spiked chain, speed weapon rune, sand racer, +2 greater resilient leather, major ring of fire resistance
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Improvised Repair
o Skill Increase: Crafting (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient leather, anklets of alacrity, dread blindfold, +3 greater striking spiked chain, sand racer, greater flaming weapon rune
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 22, Con 16, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 20)
o Class Feat: Radiant Blade Master
o Skill Feat: Quick Repair
o Gear: +3 major striking spiked chain, +3 greater resilient leather, mercurial mantle, dread blindfold, speed weapon rune, sand racer
Devoted Focus is mostly to allow Johnny Blaze to use his focus powers in a combat without worry. From his Vengeful Oath, he builds an Aura of Vengeance as the Spirit of Vengeance has had many hosts beyond Johnny. For his capstone feat, he doesn’t have many options, with Radiant Blade Master probably being the best option and giving him some additional powers that he can incorporate into his weapon. Scare to Death rounds out the features of his Penance Stare, being enough to kill with fear alone. Final Form mainly serves as a reference to Johnny Blaze’s time as the king of Hell, during which time he held a more monstrous appearance with horns growing from his skull.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Aside from the obvious choice of the Trick Driver Dedication, Ghost Rider could also make use of the Sorcerer Dedication, particularly with the angelic, demonic, or diabolic bloodline. This gives him spells from the divine list, which will advance from his level up as a champion. The main reason behind going a casting archetype like this is so that he can pick up agonizing despair to fill in the role of his Penance Stare in a truer fashion than Intimidation and the Scare to Death skill feat. Using the free archetype rule will allow him to gain some class feats earlier than he would otherwise be able, but with the freed up feats, he can pick up options such as Smite Evil, Attack of Opportunity, and Blade of Justice.
BUILD CONCLUSION
This build focuses more on the Ghost Rider aspect of the character and as such can probably fit several of the modern Ghost Riders such as Daniel Ketch or Alejandra Jones. The skeleton ancestry with a mix of the tiefling heritage captures the appearance of the Ghost Rider with its seemingly original origins. Aasimar could also possibly work for the Ghost Rider given its celestial origins, but tiefling serves as a nice reference to Johnny’s time as the king of Hell. To serve the role of Spirit of Vengeance, he is built as a champion of the paladin cause to channel divine wrath in the form of his Retributive Strikes. This aspect of the character is further explored with feats such as Vengeful Oath, Litany Against Wrath, and Aura of Vengeance. The minor magic wielded by the Ghost Rider is expressed through his focus spells, including his fire ray. For his classic Penance Stare, Ghost Rider uses Intimidation and feats such as Intimidating Glare and Scare to Death, which should work as consistently as Penance Stare does in the comics. As per his name, the Ghost Rider needs something to ride and with the Trick Driver Dedication and its feats, Johnny can ride with the best of them. Of the options that fit the general design of a motorcycle, clunkerjunker is the most solid choice to start given its ability to launch flames. Sand racer is a similarly appropriate stand-in for the Hell Cycle.
Lemme know what you think and if there's any other particular builds you'd like to see.
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 nerds, 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. Next week, I begin the builds for the month of Halloween and I'll give you a clue to the theme if you haven't heard about it on the Discord - this year's themes for October are slashers!
Have a fantastic Friday!
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