This features another build for Disneycember, going for a slightly more modern tale. 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 on the character and build.
Let's get into the build for Rapunzel from Disney's Tangled!
RAPUNZEL
SOURCE Disney’s Tangled
BUILD GOALS
o Before she was born, Rapunzel’s mother drank a medicine made from a flower infused with a drop of a sun that infused Rapunzel when she was born
o However, a woman by the name of Goethel kidnapped the infant Rapunzel to use her magically infused hair to restore her youth
o Although she lost these powers within her movie, she gained it back in her show, which is what this build will look at
o This magical hair, especially after being restored, was prehensile and unbreakable and even before that, she was able to use it to swing from, to restrain people, and even as a whip
o She also commonly wields a frying pan as a weapon
o Highly creative and is a painter, baker, potter, and ardent practitioner of just about every other creative pursuit imaginable
o Her magic hair can heal others and reverse aging with the proper incantation and her tears brought back the dead after her hair was cut
o She later learned the decay incantation to drain the life around her and cause objects to crumble
o The final incantation she learned allowed her to channel the power of the sun, glowing as she floated in the air and unleashed shockwaves and bursts of light
Summary of Goals: Rapunzel is a conduit for a power that suffuses her hair and allows her to heal others, drain life, and channel the power of the sun. She’s also able to use her hair for mundane matters, to fight, confound others, and maneuver with it. A sweetheart to her core, she is a creative and friendly sort who adventures alongside her chameleon companion, Pascal.
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Nephilim Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Intelligence, +Dexterity
o Ancestry Feat: Natural Ambition
Background: Sun Dancer
o Ability Boosts: +Charisma, +Intelligence
o Skill Increase: Performance (trained)
o Background Feat: Fascinating Performance
Class & Subclass: Witch with Paradox of Opposites Patron
o Class Ability Boost: +Intelligence
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Crafting (trained), Diplomacy (trained), Medicine (trained), Nature (trained), Religion (trained), Society (trained)
o Class Feat: Witch’s Armaments – Living Hair
o Known Spells: Cantrips – haunting hymn; 1st – elysian whimsy, heal
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +1, Dex +2, Con +0, Int +4, Wis +0, Cha +2)
Human is important for building Rapunzel, but she uses the Nephilim heritage to represent her more magical aspects. She sticks with her human side of things to gain Natural Ambition, so that she can gain an extra class feat. Regrettably, there isn’t a background to reflect her being kidnapped at birth, but sun dancer at least ties her to the sundrop that infuses her hair while also making her trained in Performance – a necessity given how much singing he does. That gets us to her class and she takes up the mantle of the witch even if that descriptor better fits her dear Mother Gothel. Her patron is hard to land upon, but Paradox of Opposites fits with the fact that she has both healing capabilities as well as the ability to cause wither and decay. She of course chooses Pascal as her familiar and as a witch, she’s able to wield a frying pan as a simple weapon – though she will need some Strength to use it since it lacks the finesse trait. Specifically thanks to her Natural Ambition, she can gain Witch’s Armament for Living Hair to represent the hair that she is known for.
On the spell side of things, I think haunting hymn as a cantrip fits her fantastically given her love of singing. She can take heal to restore wounds, as she did with the cut on Flynn’s hand, and elysian whimsy to force another to join her in song and dance, which came up when she arrived at the Snuggly Duckling. Her patron’s focus spell gives her another way to achieve some healing, but it requires her to damage an enemy to trigger it.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Basic Lesson – Lesson of Life
o Skill Feat: Tame Animal
o Known Spells: 1st – spirit link
o Gear: cloak of feline rest
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Keen Follower
o Skill Increase: Crafting (expert)
o Known Spells: 2nd – charitable urge, fear the sun
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blow (+1), cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Skillful Tresses
o Skill Feat: Train Animal
o Known Spells: 2nd – sudden blight
o Gear: unbreakable heart, handwraps of mighty blow (+1), quick wig, cloak of feline rest
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +2, Dex +3, Con +0, Int +4.5, Wis +0, Cha +3)
o Ancestry Feat: Halo
o Skill Increase: Nature (expert)
o Known Spells: 3rd – heroism, holy light
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blow (+1 striking), grim sandglass, unbreakable heart, quick wig, cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
Some more healing can be worked into her kit through the witch class with its Basic Lesson for a Lesson of Life, letting her grant fast healing to an ally with life boost. She then grabs Skillful Tresses for that prehensile hair and the capability with which she uses it. Given the way she is able to quickly command Maximus and make him stop hunting Flynn, Tame Animal and Train Animal slot nicely into her skill feats. Keen Follower fits in with her enthusiasm to explore the world beyond the tower as well as her desire for a guide to leader her for this. Then, to create the glow of her hair, she takes Halo as her ancestry feat.
The kindness she inspires in others can be seen in charitable urge or heroism depending how you want to flavor it while she plays into the sun themes of her powers with the likes of fear the sun and holy light, with the latter resembling the blasts she unleashes while empowered by the Sun Incantation. Finally, she has sudden blight to cause an area of death and decay as she does with the Decay Incantation.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Greater Lesson – Lesson of Decay
o Skill Feat: Group Impression
o Known Spells: 4th – insect form
o Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, handwraps of mighty blow (+1 striking), staff of healing, unbreakable heart, +1 frying pan, quick wig
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Crafting (master)
o Known Spells: 4th – fly
o Gear: staff of protection, +1 explorer’s clothing, lesser tome of restorative cleansing, handwraps of mighty blow (+1 striking), grim sandglass, unbreakable heart
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Deadly Hair
o Skill Feat: Magical Crafting
o Gear: warding statuette, crown of the companion, wand of teeming ghosts (2nd-level), +1 explorer’s clothing, handwraps of mighty blow (+1 striking), staff of healing
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Healer’s Halo
o Skill Increase: Nature (master)
o Known Spells: 5th – breath of life
o Gear: +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, fearless sash, warding statuette, wand of teeming ghosts (2nd-level), lesser tome of restorative cleansing, handwraps of mighty blow (+1 striking)
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +3, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +5, Wis +0, Cha +4)
o Class Feat: Major Lesson – Lesson of Renewal
o Skill Feat: Magical Shorthand
o Skill Increase: Arcana (trained)
o Gear: messenger’s ring, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater staff of healing, warding statuette, wand of teeming ghosts (2nd-level), handwraps of mighty blow (+1 striking)
While Rapunzel’s Lesson of Life is inspired by the healing properties of her hair, she uses a Lesson of Decay based on her decay incantation with mycological malady able to cripple and weaken a foe. Deadly Hair is important for adding the grapple trait to her hair, letting her entangle others with it and then she returns to her lessons with a Lesson of Renewal as another way to restore and reinvigorate others. She starts to explore her more diplomatic abilities with the likes of Group Impression, which is really her stand-out skill feat for this block. Given the eagerness and enthusiasm of Rapunzel, she uses the Incredible Initiative general feat so that she can get faster into the fray. The build runs into a tiny bit of a snag with the ancestry feat for this block as the remaster removed the availability of the aasimar’s Healer’s Halo. I think that’s dumb, so I would just take it since it fits so nicely with her character.
While under the effects of the sun incantation, Rapunzel hovers off of the ground, which leads to her taking fly as a spell here. A bit more pertinent is breath of life to call to mind the way that she brought back Flynn after he was slain in her feature film.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (expert)
o Known Spells: 6th – necrotize
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blow (+2 striking), messenger’s ring, moderate tome of restorative cleansing, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, fearless sash, warding statuette
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Witch’s Charge
o Skill Feat: Glad-Hand
o Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, handwraps of mighty blow (+2 striking), crown of witchcraft, messenger’s ring, greater staff of healing, wand of dazzling rays (3rd-level)
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Blessed Blood
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (master)
o Known Spells: 7th – cosmic form, sunburst
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blow (+2 greater striking), +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, hexing jar, wand of dazzling rays (4th-level), messenger’s ring, moderate tome of restorative cleansing
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Hexed Locks
o Skill Feat: Shameless Request
o Gear: greater warding statuette, handwraps of mighty blow (+2 greater striking), major staff of healing, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, crown of witchcraft, wand of dazzling rays (4th-level)
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +3, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +5.5, Wis +0, Cha +4.5)
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (legendary)
o Known Spells: 8th – musical shift
o Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater ring of the ram, greater warding statuette, handwraps of mighty blow (+2 greater striking), hexing jar, bravery baldric (flight)
Rapunzel is a highly empathic individual and Witch’s Charge lets her dip into a bit of that, letting her form a bond with an ally to more easily empower them. Solely for the sake of building into the hair feats, she uses Hexed Locks, which I don’t think is super great, but when the situation is looking good, this is some nice action efficiency against a vulnerable enemy. In addition to her increases to Diplomacy in this block, she also picks up some skill feats for it with Glad-Hand and Shameless Request, based on the training she undergoes after accepting her role as a princess. Fast Recovery lets her channel some of her hair’s healing into herself while her tear healing Flynn proves that it’s not just her hair that has restorative properties – her blood is good for it to! Well, at least it’s infused with energy that is anathema to evil creatures.
There’s some good spells in this block. Necrotize resembles the instant where she withered Cassandra’s hand in her show while using the decay incantation. Both cosmic form and sunburst call to mind her taking on the effects of the sun incantation with the former letting her fly on top of its other effects. Naturally, our Disney princess has to have musical shift, which is a super cool spell that can bolster allies and hamper enemies all at once. It’s honestly a cool spell that I had never seen before.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Sympathetic Strike
o Skill Feat: Legendary Negotiation
o Gear: greater astral weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, wand of dazzling rays (6th-level), greater warding statuette, handwraps of mighty blow (+2 greater striking), major staff of healing
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Heroic Presence
o Skill Increase: Crafting (legendary)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blow (+3 greater striking), greater cape of illumination, greater astral weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater ring of the ram, greater warding statuette
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Witch’s Communion
o Skill Feat: Bon Mot
o Gear: crown of intellect, handwraps of mighty blow (+3 greater striking), true staff of healing, greater astral weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, wand of dazzling rays (6th-level)
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Incredible Investiture
o Skill Increase: Nature (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, crown of intellect, greater messenger’s ring, handwraps of mighty blow (+3 greater striking), greater cape of illumination, greater astral weapon rune
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +3, Dex +4, Con +3, Int +6, Wis +1, Cha +5)
o Class Feat: Demon’s Hair
o Skill Feat: Influence Nature
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+3 major striking), +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, archivist’s gaze, greater messenger’s ring, true staff of healing, wand of dazzling rays (7th-level)
Since Rapunzel has those long, luscious locks of hers, she can use Sympathetic Strike just to make enemies more susceptible to her hexes. While that allows her to form a bond with her foes, she can form a deeper bond with her friends through Witch’s Communion allowing her to pick out multiple charges, as per the effects of Witch’s Charge. Naturally, she rounds out her build with Demon’s Hair to become permanently quickened and make her hair even tougher. However, it does have an effect similar to Hexed Locks, so you can retrain that to a class feat of your choice. Bon Mot can help her set up a foe for Legendary Negotiation in an attempt to resolve effects more peaceably, and Influence Nature is just typical Disney princess stuff. Heroic Presence isn’t a terrible fit here as it allows her to protect and preserve her allies, which falls in line with her character and other abilities.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Although this build didn’t need an archetype, she could still get some good options in a free archetype game. The first that comes to mind is a Blessed One Dedication, which she could follow up with Mercy and take the Mercy of the Body to cure blindness. While her tears brought Flynn back to life in the Disney version, the original story actually had her tears cure the blindness of her prince. I’ll admit, bringing somebody back to life is a good bit more impressive, but this is a fun nod to the original story. Alternatively, going for a Cavalier Dedication could get her Maximus as a mount, which is honestly very handy for a caster, especially once the mount becomes mature. Finally, if you want to make more use out of her hair, she could possibly use a Monk Dedication with a focus on tripping up enemies.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Rapunzel is a nephilim human witch who draws her power from a Paradox of Opposites patron, calling to mind her ability to restore life or drain it. Her magic comes from a sundrop-imbued flower that healed her mother, which leads to the use of the sun dancer background. The witch is instrumental in representing Rapunzel. Not only does it grant her Pascal as a familiar, but it also creates her magical hair through its living hair Witch's Armament - with Skillful Tresses allowing these locks to manipulate the world around her while Deadly Hair adds the grapple trait to them. Aside from the heal spell that she learns, Rapunzel's Basic Lesson of Life and even her trade death for life focus cantrip allow her to heal the wounds of her companions. Breath of life lets her save somebody from the brink of death, as she did with Flynn in the movie. Alternatively, she could draw upon the Decay Incantation with a Greater Lesson of Decay or through spells such as sudden blight and necrotize. Her final incantation allows her to unleash the power of the sun, possibly best represented through cosmic form but also touched upon by spells like sunburst and holy light. Her hair can shed more standard light thanks to her Halo while the witch is at least competent enough with simple weapons to grant her the frying pan that she favors. Her skills cover her creative spark as well her diplomatic abilities that allow her to make friends wherever she goes.
The terrific tresses of this titled traveler tangle trespassers, trip up terrors, and even treat the traumas of her team - turning tears into tales to tell in time.
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. We round out Disneycember with a true classic build that goes back to the earliest days of Disney.
Have a fantastic Friday!
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