I haven't done a build from Magic the Gathering for a while in part because it can be difficult to transfer its mechanics to Pathfinder. There's also a rough balance between having enough to work of and having too much. Most Planeswalkers have too many powers or cards demonstrating what they do to make for a reasonable build while some of the other legendary creatures have too little cards or information about them to make something work. This card was leaning towards the latter, so I took the liberty of filling in a few gaps, but I think it ended up having some real fun stuff to 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 Regna, the Redeemer and Krav, the Unredeemed from Magic the Gathering.
REGNA, THE REDEEMER
SOURCE Magic the Gathering
BUILD GOALS
o Regna is an angel from the Battlebond block of Magic the Gathering
o She is a white angel with 4 power, 4 toughness, and the ‘Flying’ keyword. In her art, she wields a shield and a spectral, curved blade
o She possesses a unique ability to create two 1/1 white Warrior creature tokens at the end of each end step where her team gained life
o Regna also partners with, and is likely romantically linked, to a demon known as Krav, the Unredeemed
o Krav is a black demon with 3 power, 3 toughness, and the ability to sacrifice creatures to draw cards, gain life, and give him +1/+1 counters
o Regna is directly referenced in the card Regna’s Sanction, which allows you to designate each player in a game as friend or foe. Friends put +1/+1 counters on their creatures and foes get their creatures tapped
o Both Regna and Krav are featured in Together Forever, an enchantment that bolsters a pair of creatures and can save certain creatures from death
o There is little lore to the characters of the Battlebond setting who compete in the Valor’s Reach arena for the glory of battle
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Aasimar Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Constitution, +Charisma
o Ancestry Feat: Halo
Background: Gladiator
o Ability Boosts: +Charisma, +Strength
o Skill Increase: Performance (trained), Gladiatorial Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Impressive Performance
Class & Subclass: Demon Summoner
o Class Ability Boost: +Charisma
o Skill Increase: Athletics (trained), Diplomacy (trained), Intimidation (trained), Medicine (trained), Religion (trained)
o Class Feat: Advanced Weaponry – Grapple
o Spell Repertoire: Cantrips – daze, forbidding ward, guidance, haunting hymn, message; 1st – heal, summon lesser servitor
Eidolon: Wrecker Demon (Str 18, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 12)
o Attacks: horn – 1d8 piercing (shove); claw – 1d6 slashing (agile, finesse, grapple)
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 14, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 18)
The truest reason that this build was put together was to have a summoner build that wasn’t some child with a monster friend or pet. This is a little different as Krav is his own person and not just some pet or minion, but I felt that it was the best way to put it together – and it seemed like a fun idea to try to assemble. Obviously, the aasimar heritage stands in for Regna’s angel typing with the Halo ancestry feat references a glow that she has about her and will eventually play into her healing-based powers. Given the setting of Battlebond and Regna’s part in it, gladiator seemed like the best background for her while the summoner class gives her a demon eidolon to represent Krav. Krav’s card has lower base stats than Regna, but he’s a beefy looking dude, which led me to land on wrecker demon. Advanced Weaponry gives him the chance to wrap foes up if he so chooses though is something that I mainly picked because none of the other options felt like solid picks to me. From her spells, Regna picks up heal and summoner lesser servitor, both in reference to her ability to create tokens after gaining life. Heal is something she’ll keep in her repertoire as she levels while her summon spell will eventually be swapped out for more powerful versions of it down the line.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Magical Understudy
o Skill Feat: Group Impression
o Spell Repertoire: 1st – concordant choir
o Gear: psychopomp mask
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Shield Block
o Skill Increase: Medicine (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 2nd – spiritual weapon
o Gear: +1 sickle, ring of discretion, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Tandem Movement
o Skill Feat: Battle Medicine
o Gear: golden legion epaulet, +1 sickle, flask of fellowship, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 16, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 19)
o Eidolon Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 19, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 14)
o Ancestry Feat: Healer’s Halo
o Skill Increase: Religion (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 2nd – spiritual weapon, summon lesser servitor; 3rd – heal, heroism
o Gear: +1 striking sickle, golden legion epaulet, channel protection amulet, flask of fellowship, ring of discretion, psychopomp mask
To mimic the effect of Krav’s card, he’s going to need some spells and to get to that point, he needs to start out with Magical Understudy. As Regna will eventually gain flight, Tandem Movement helps keep her in the air without losing out on the actions needed to do so, presuming that Krav also has to reposition in combat. Diplomacy, Medicine, and Religion are gonna be Regna’s primary skills as though just feel the best fit for an angelic holy warrior, especially given that she has some capabilities as a leader and healer, in reference to her second ability. Her skill feats follow the same basic idea. In all her card art, she is shown to be wielding a shield, making Shield Block a perfect fit. Healer’s Halo simply expands upon what we started with Halo. Regna’s weapon appears to be composed of spectral light, leading to the inclusion of the spiritual weapon spell in her repertoire. Heroism, aside from its general usefulness, fits well with the fact that non-creature cards that feature her tend to offer buffing abilities to your creatures.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Master Summoner
o Skill Feat: Bon Mot
o Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking sickle, minor sturdy shield, golden legion epaulet, flask of fellowship, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Ancestral Paragon – Unconventional Weaponry (Katana)
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 3rd – heal, summon lesser servitor, spiritual weapon; 4th – breath of life, war march
o Gear: lion’s shield, +1 explorer’s clothing, diplomat’s badge, +1 striking katana, golden legion epaulet, channel protection amulet
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Magical Adept
o Skill Feat: Continual Recovery
o Gear: bag of holding (type II), lion’s shield, crown of the companion, +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking katana, mask of mercy
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Celestial Wings
o Skill Increase: Medicine (master)
o Spell Repertoire: 4th – heal, war march, heroism; 5th – summon celestial
o Gear: +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, bag of holding (type II), lesser sturdy shield, lion’s shield, diplomat’s badge, +1 striking katana
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 12, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 20)
o Eidolon Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 16)
o Class Feat: Hulking Size
o Skill Feat: Ward Medic
o Gear: greater healer’s gloves, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, thundering weapon rune, bag of holding (type II), lion’s shield, +1 striking katana
To fit the idea of Regna’s token generation ability, I picked up Master Summoner so that she can use more summoning spells while still having access to her other spells. With the Magical Adept feat, Krav gains some leveled spells of his own to fling around, but the main thing we’re looking for is death knell. This kills a creature to empower Krav, which is as close to his card’s ability as he is going to get and fits nicely for it aside from the fact that you typically aren’t using death knell on your own creatures and allies. Finally, Krav absolutely towers over Regna and presuming that Regna is a Medium creature, Krav needs to get big, which he can do with the Hulking Size feat. Regna’s weapon, which does mostly seem to be composed of light, looks like something out of range for a summoner’s proficiencies. The closest weapon I could figure is a katana, which is something that she can pick up with Unconventional Weaponry, using the Ancestral Paragon. Another ancestry feat nets her a set of limited use wings. Breath of life is based off the activated effect of the Together Forever that saves a creature from death, returning it to your hand instead. War march overlaps a bit with heroism, but is nice because it can affect a multitude of creatures. Also, during this block, summoner lesser servitor is swapped out for summon celestial or another similar spell depending what alignment you play her as.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Religion (master)
o Gear: +2 striking katana, greater healer’s gloves, greater bracers of missile deflection, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, bag of holding (type II), lesser sturdy shield
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Boost Summons
o Skill Feat: Battle Prayer
o Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, +2 striking katana, shining shield, greater bracers of missile deflection, lover’s glove, thundering weapon rune
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Shory Aerialist
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (master)
o Gear: +2 greater striking katana, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, holy weapon rune, shining shield, greater healer’s gloves, greater bracers of missile deflection
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Tandem Strike
o Skill Feat: Evangelize
o Gear: winged armor rune, +2 greater striking katana, rampart shield, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, shining shield, winged boots
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 19, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 21)
o Eidolon Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 21, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 18)
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Religion (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of speed, winged armor rune, +2 greater striking katana, greater goggles of night, holy weapon rune
Boost Summons follows the same idea as spells like war march and heroism, giving her a means of bolstering Krav and other creatures she has called forth, which fits given that her spells typically affect multiple creatures. Since Regna and Krav are both members of a gladiatorial fighting ring, Tandem Strike makes sense even if it’s not something that Regna will always excel at. Battle Prayer isn’t a feat that I usually get to take on builds, but I thought it seemed too fun to pass up this particular time. Fast Recovery is representative of the fact that MtG creatures fully heal at the end of each round. Since Regna doesn’t have many skill increases to spare for Acrobatics, Shory Aerialist helps bolster her ability to do so somewhat and she qualifies for the feat without Shory Aeromancer since she can learn how to cast fly. Toughness just continues to raise the shared HP of Krav and Regna.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Effortless Concentration
o Skill Feat: Paragon Battle Medicine
o Gear: reforging shield, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, soaring armor rune, winged armor rune, +2 greater striking katana, rampart shield
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Eternal Wings
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (legendary)
o Eidolon Transcendence: +Strength
o Gear: +3 greater striking katana, greater stampede medallion, reforging shield, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of speed, medusa’s scream
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Merciless Rend
o Skill Feat: Sacred Defense
o Gear: circlet of persuasion, +3 greater striking katana, major sturdy shield, greater stampede medallion, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, soaring armor rune
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Hireling Manager
o Skill Increase: Medicine (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, circlet of persuasion, major cloak of repute, +3 greater striking katana, greater stampede medallion, reforging shield
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 22)
o Eidolon Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str 24, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 18)
o Class Feat: Legendary Summoner
o Skill Feat: Legendary Medic
o Gear: +3 major striking katana, +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, indestructible shield, circlet of persuasion, greater medusa’s scream, speed weapon rune
Since Regna is going to want to use some of her summoning capabilities, Effortless Concentration lets her maintain a summon without having to spend an action on it. Merciless Rend just feels appropriate for a demon, and Legendary ensures that the summons she calls forth continue to be useful even at such late levels. Sacred Defense is simply another fun Religion feat, which isn’t something I usually get to explore a lot. Hireling Manager simply further plays into her role as a leader of others.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Without any other ideas coming to mind, the best suggestion that I can come up with for a free archetype game is Sorcerer Dedication. Use the angelic bloodline or another bloodline that grants the divine spell list to have spells that use the same DC as your regular spells. The main idea of taking the Sorcerer Dedication is simply to increase your spell selection and repertoire, allowing you to potentially save more spells for summoning while still having your buff spells. Alternatively, you could pick up Gladiator Dedication since she qualifies thanks to the background or take a slightly more involved route and go for the Fighter Dedication. This allows her to pick up the Marshal Dedication, so that she can bolster and lead her allies, increasing the capabilities of her summons while she’s at it all without burning spells to do so. The fighter archetype route also allows her to become an expert with the katana without taking the Unconventional Weaponry feat.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Regna captures her angel creature type with the aasimar versatile heritage and a heavy investment in its feats. She builds up to her flying keyword with feats such as Celestial Wings and Eternal Wings and achieves the secondary effects of her card with her spells. Instead of relying on others to provide healing, she does it herself with the heal spells while using spells such as summon lesser servitor or summon celestial to create her tokens. Shield Block allows her to make use of the shield she is always pictured with while spiritual weapon or Unconventional Weaponry to gain proficiency with the katana gives her the blade she is pictured with. Her partner, the demonic Krav, is achieved through him being her demon eidolon as a summoner. By gaining some magic of his own with Magical Adept, he can cast death knell to slay creatures while empowering himself and giving him some temp HP. The first portion of Regna’s Sanction is covered through spells such as war march to empower allies but unfortunately neither slow nor paralyze are on the divine spell list. The best option actually comes from Krav with his Visions of Sin ability, which can leave a creature slowed. Those same buffing spells covered the casting effect of Together Forever, but it’s activated effect is achieved through a different spell – breath of life. Finally, the gladiator background works well for her place in the Battlebond setting and Valor’s Reach arena.
Be sure to lemme know what you think of the build and who else you might 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, in a complete coincidence, I have another character that has the epithet of the Redeemer.
Until then, have a fantastic Friday!
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