I originally had other plans in place but the idea of 'Disneycember' was floated by me, and I decided to try it out. Our first build is meant to follow on the recent release of Moana 2 and is actually done in conjunction with another YouTuber, Time2Dice, who will be releasing a video for Moana as a companion piece. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choice may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
I'd appreciate it if you'd check out the video that goes with the build - I think it came out pretty nicely. I had some fun making it.
Let's get into the build for Maui from Disney's Moana!
MAUI
SOURCE Moana
BUILD GOALS
o Maui was abandoned by his human parents only to be taken in by the gods and raised to the position of a demigod
o He is a mythical hero responsible for a vast array of legends that explain how the world operates and why it is the way it is
o As a demigod, he is immortal and possesses superhuman strength, which extends to lung powerful enough to create gusts
o He wields a giant fish hook as his primary weapon, which grants him magical abilities. The most prominent of these abilities is the power to shapeshift though he seems limited to animal forms
o Among his favored forms seems to be the hawk, beetle, and shark
o His stories and victories become animated tattoos across his skin
o Even without his powers, he is a master seaman and navigator who sails a canoe across the ocean with ease
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Skilled Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Wisdom
o Ancestry Feat: Natural Skill
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Stealth (trained)
Background: Tall Tale
o Ability Boosts: +Constitution, +Strength
o Skill Increase: Performance (trained)
o Background Feat: Impressive Performance
Class & Subclass: Exemplar
o Class Ability Boost: +Strength
o Skill Increase: Crafting (trained), Intimidation (trained), Religion (trained), Survival (trained)
o Class Feat: Sanctified Soul – Holy
o Ikons: Barrow’s Edge (weapon), Skin Hard as Horn (body), Victor’s Wreath (worn)
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str +4, Dex +1, Con +2, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +0)
Maui sticks with the human ancestry, keeping with the humble origins while relying on his background and class to represent the power that the gods placed into him when they raised him up to the status of a demigod. However, both of these features are a little lacking in skills, so he shores up that aspect with his skilled heritage and Natural Skill feat. Like many heroes of myth, Maui is surrounded in stories and sages, which sees to us using the tall tale background to lean into his more mystic potential. He uses the exemplar class – the first of my Full Build Fridays to do so! This really cements him as a mythic hero and imbues him with a divine spark to play into his status as a demigod. Maui is able to shift this divine spark between his ikons, which in the playtest each had to be of a different type. But that seems to have been changed with the official release though I still rolled with each of the different options. We’ll be using an ogre hook to represent Maui’s fishing hook, matching its size and shape, and the only weapon ikon that really fits that is Barrow’s Edge, allowing Maui to deal more damage to low-health enemies and drink their health when he uses Spark Transcendence. There isn’t a tattoo ikon, which leaves him to rely on Skin Hard as Horn to gain physical resistance, the value of which increases when he activates its Spark Transcendence. Finally, given his celebration of victories in You’re Welcome, Victor’s Wreath felt right as his worn ikon to bolster allies. On top of all this, he receives Sanctified Soul as a class feat. This doesn’t particularly fit him, but it seems to fit with his role as a hero that battles fiends and the like, making him more efficient at doing and it’s the best options of those available.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Druid Dedication – Untamed Order
o Skill Feat: Fascinating Performance
o Skill Increase: Nature (trained), Society (trained)
o Gear: memoir map
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Toughness
o Root Epithet: The Proud
o Skill Increase: Performance (expert), Thievery (trained)
o Gear: +1 ogre hook, navigator’s star, memoir map
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Basic Wilding – Untamed Form
o Skill Feat: Distracting Performance
o Gear: fanged weapon rune, +1 ogre hook, necklace of knives, memoir map
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +4.5, Dex +2, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +1)
o Ancestry Feat: Arcane Tattoos – shield
o Skill Increase: Survival (expert)
o Gear: +1 striking ogre hook, fanged weapon rune, coyote cloak, necklace of knives, navigator’s star, memoir map
In this block, Maui takes a step back from his exemplar class to explore the Druid Dedication. This is going to be how we cover his ability to shapeshift, which he properly receives through Basic Wilding and Untamed Form. At this point, the focus spell from this effect is granting him animal form, which he can use to on the shape of a shark, one of his several preferred modes. The pest form of his untamed form can also be used to take on the beetle shape that he likes to adopt to infiltrate places. His skill feats are similarly themed with each other, using Fascinating and Distracting Performance to reference both him misleading Moana during his song as well when he performed a haka in an attempt to distract Te Ka. Toughness makes him a tankier figure to fit with his immortality, and then we work towards representing his magical tattoos with Arcane Tattoos, granting him access to the shield cantrip as the most useful of the effects. Finally, as an exemplar, he gains a root epithet, which describes some aspect of him and empowers him. His root epithet is The Proud, which would make him trained in Intimidation if he wasn’t already. It provides him with a special effect after he uses Spark Trascendence, in this case boasting to an enemy to create a sort of taunting effect where enemies are penalized for attacking Maui’s allies but gets a small bonus to attack him.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Reactive Strike
o Skill Feat: Tattoo Artist
o Gear: +1 coral armor, +1 striking ogre hook, lifting belt, fanged weapon rune, triangular teeth, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Fleet
o Dominion Epithet: Restless as the Tide – Energized Spark (Bludgeoning)
o Skill Increase: Athletics (master)
o Gear: lesser grub gloves, +1 coral armor, bravery baldric (fleet), +1 striking ogre hook, fanged weapon rune, coyote cloak
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Raise Island
o Skill Feat: Titan Wrestler
o Gear: boots of bounding, tooth and claw tattoo, lesser grub gloves, +1 coral armor, +1 striking ogre hook, lesser diver’s gloves
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Ornate Tattoo
o Skill Increase: Performance (master)
o Gear: +1 resilient coral armor, boots of bounding, 7, lesser grub gloves, bravery baldric (fleet), +1 striking ogre hook
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +5, Dex +3, Con +4, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +2)
o Class Feat: Fish From the Falls’ Edge
o Skill Feat: Additional Lore – Sailing Lore
o Skill Increase: Sailing Lore (master)
o Gear: armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient studded leather, greater fanged weapon rune, boots of bounding, tooth and claw tattoo, +1 striking ogre hook
There’s several instances where the available feats just don’t quite fit Maui, especially since we only see him fight once or twice across both movies. For that reason, he takes Reactive Strike during this block. But while those are useful though not particularly appropriate feats, it doesn’t get much better than Raise Island, a feat that he is well known for. This lets him throw enemies around and raise a pillar beneath him. If he ends all of this adjacent to an enemy, he also gets to make a Strike against them. Fish From the Falls’ Edge is a bit referential to an aspect of the second movie and also just the fact that he wields a fishing hook. There’s more tattoo-themed feats such as Tattoo Artist so that he can make them himself as well as Ornate Tattoo, which is very much a premaster feat. It’s based on schools of magic, which might see you take shattering gem or tether as the most useful options to fit with his abjuration school. Titan Wrestler lets him tussle with massive monsters of myth, such as Tamatoa, and his final skill feat in this block is Additional Lore, which will net him master proficiency in Sailing Lore at this point. This and his investment in Survival are based on his skill as a sailor and wayfinder, with enough knowledge to pass it on to Moana. Finally, Maui does receive another epithet with the dominion epithet, Restless as the Tide, this time. This immediately grants him Energized Spark, which he can use to convert his spirit damage into bludgeoning water. He can also cause this water to splash on a crit and as another option when he uses Spark Transcendence, he can Step or force an affected enemy to be moved 5 feet by surging tides.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Survival (master)
o Gear: +2 striking ogre hook, armbands of athleticism, greater coyote cloak, +1 resilient studded leather, boots of bounding, bravery baldric (restoration)
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Steel on Steel
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o Gear: +2 resilient studded leather, +2 striking ogre hook, major tooth and claw tattoo, armbands of athleticism, shock weapon rune, greater fanged weapon rune
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Hardy Traveler
o Skill Increase: Crafting (expert)
o Gear: +2 greater striking ogre hook, +2 resilient studded leather, bravery baldric (stoneskin), major tooth and claw tattoo, armbands of athleticism, greater coyote cloak
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Flow of War
o Skill Feat: Triumphant Boast
o Gear: propulsive boots, +2 greater striking ogre hook, moderate grub gloves, +2 resilient studded leather, major tooth and claw tattoo, star chart tattoo
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +5.5, Dex +3, Con +4.5, Int +0, Wis +3, Cha +3)
o General Feat: Diehard
o Sovereignty Epithet: The Last Ruler
o Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient studded leather, greater extending weapon rune, propulsive boots, +2 greater striking ogre hook, bravery baldric (stoneskin), greater hauling weapon rune
Again, these class feats aren’t the best fit but Maui is a loud lad, lending to the inclusion of Steel on Steel while Flow of War is simply super valuable. Triumphant Boast is directly referential to the boasts that he makes within his song but allows him to get some mechanical use out of it. His general feats, Fast Recovery and Diehard, play into his immortality as a demigod while Hardy Traveler increases his bulk limit, which is based on the superhuman strength he demonstrates. You could also try squeezing Hefty Hauler into the build somewhere to further explore that aspect but I thought other aspects took priority or were more generally useful to the character. Rounding out this block is his Sovereignty Epithet. None particularly fit him but he settles on the Last Ruler, which imbues him with an air of authority after he uses Spark Transcendence. During this time, he can Demoralize enemies as a free action when they miss a Strike against him, which could at least possibly take advantage of his Triumphant Boast feature.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Advanced Wilding – Soaring Shape
o Skill Feat: Cloud Jump
o Gear: major fanged weapon rune, +2 greater resilient studded leather, greater extending weapon rune, propulsive boots, +2 greater striking ogre hook, moderate grub gloves
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Heroic Presence
o Skill Increase: Survival (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking ogre hook, greater volcanic vigor, major fanged weapon rune, +2 greater resilient studded leather, greater extending weapon rune, propulsive boots
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Strike Rivers, Seize Winds
o Skill Feat: Legendary Survivalist
o Gear: bracers of strength, +3 greater striking ogre hook, quickstrike weapon rune, major fanged weapon rune, +2 greater resilient studded leather, greater boots of bounding
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Robust Health
o Skill Increase: Performance (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient studded leather, bracers of strength, major shining symbol, +3 greater striking ogre hook, greater volcanic vigor, major fanged weapon rune
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +6, Dex +3, Con +5, Int +0, Wis +4, Cha +4)
o Class Feat: Reach for Immortality
o Skill Feat: Legendary Guide
o Gear: +3 major striking ogre hook, +3 greater resilient studded leather, titan’s grasp, major shining symbol, quickstrike weapon rune, greater dinosaur boots
This block has a bit better focus on his class feats, starting with Advanced Wilding giving him access to Soaring Shape to take on the form of the giant hawk that he favors. Reaching back into the claims that he made during You’re Welcome as well as the stories of the mythical Maui, Strike Rivers, Seize Winds is a fantastic fit that lets him recreate magical effects through his martial might. Out of the class feats, Reach for Immortality is probably the weakest out of these options but does still fit with the fact that he is actually an immortal. Heroic Presence is probably a better fit than usual with Maui being a renowned hero who does what he does for the sake of others though there is a selfish tinge to it. He explores his ability as a sailor and navigator with the likes of Legendary Survivalist and Legendary Guide with the latter being particularly reflective of his instruction of Moana in the ways of pathfinding.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: There’s a couple of options in a free archetype game. Going deeper into the Druid Dedication will let him take on more forms like Ferocious Shape or Insect Shape, or allow him to fight in those forms more effectively with picks such as Rip and Tear or Toppling Transformation. Also, by looking for an archetype with a familiar, such as Familiar Master Dedication, Maui could recreate Mini-Maui with the tattoo transformation ability. Finally, there are some mythic options that could be explored – some of the mythic archetypes can even be taken without using the whole mythic system. In such a case, he could look at the Eternal Legend Dedication, a combat-focused mythic path that fits the character the best.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Maui is a skilled human exemplar with the tall-tale background establishing the stories that surround him. We stick with the humble human origins of our hero with his raising to a demigod coming from the exemplar class itself. Strike Rivers, Seize Winds demonstrates how he used his magnificent might to create the natural phenomenon of the world and he can even Raise Islands with his feat. He is a Strength-based exemplar with feats like Hardy Traveler increasing his bulk limit to demonstrate his Strength. He uses an ogre hook to resemble his fishing hook but the shapeshifting it grants comes from his Druid Dedication and untamed form spell he gets from it. The Pest Form of it resembles the beetle shape he favors while its animal form grants him the ability to turn into a shark. He relies on Soaring Shape and its Aerial Form so that he can take the form of the giant hawk that he often relies upon. Tattoo Artist and Arcane Tattoos harken back to the animated tattoos across his skin though he doesn't quite have the ability to bring them to life. Finally, his investment in Survival and Additional Lore for Sailing Lore establish him as a master sailor and navigator able to traverse across the ocean itself.
A paragon of power and pathfinding, this personage pursues the prosperity of the people, pushed by their passion with his preternatural potential to patch into profiles animalistic and above average.
Please let me know what you think and what other 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. Continuing our Disneycember next week is a build for a character sly as a fox and straight from the hood.
Have a fantastic Friday!
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