In complete honesty, I played Hearthstone back in the day, but I remember almost nothing from it and certainly don't remember this character. Nevertheless, the request came up on the MM Discord, so I took a chance and decided to put him together off of what knowledge I could gather. I mostly referenced his cards while assembling a general adventurer archaeologist build, so if that's off, let me know! 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 Reno Jackson from Hearthstone!
RENO JACKSON
CHARACTER Reno Jackson
SOURCE Hearthstone
BUILD GOALS
o Reno Jackson is a human archaeologist and member of the Explorer’s League, an organization apparently dedicated to researching the origin of dwarvenkind
o Originating from the card game Hearthstone, he is represented through several cards
o Reno Jackson is a 4/6 minion with the Battlecry ability, which triggers when he is played from the hand and fully heals your hero as long as your deck has no duplicates
o Reno the Relicologist is a 4/6 minion with a Battlecry that triggers if there are no duplicates in your deck. When triggered, he deals 10 damage randomly split among enemies
o The Amazing Reno is a hero card that causes all minions to disappear when he Battlecries. At the start of your turn, he casts a random spell
o His use of magic items and gear is further exemplified in his Arcane Craftiness, a hero power that fires two missiles that deal 1 damage each
o Reno occasionally appears as a boss encounter, where he has had powers such as Gatling Magic, which casts a random spell of the same cost of any spell you cast, and In a Snap, which temporarily makes enemies disappear
o Reno is also featured in the cards Forgotten Torch and Roaring Torch, which are damage dealing spells, and Pilfer, which adds a random card to your hand
o Although Reno appears and believes himself to be a normal human, he is actual an amnesiac dragon known as Renogos that has lived a full human life
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Skilled Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Charisma
o Ancestry Feat: Unconventional Weaponry – Combat Grapnel
o Skill Increase: Arcana (trained)
Background: Amnesiac
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Charisma
Class & Subclass: Eldritch Trickster Rogue
o Class Ability Boost: +Charisma
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Intimidation (trained), Medicine (trained), Nature (trained), Occultism (trained), Religion (trained), Society (trained), Stealth (trained), Thievery (trained)
o Class Feat: Sorcerer Dedication – Draconic Bloodline, Trap Finder
o Skill Feat: Trick Magic Item
o Spell Repertoire: Cantrips – detect magic, read aura
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str 16, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 18)
Reflecting his human shape that Reno is customarily encountered in is the human ancestry. Some feats down the line will hint at his true draconic form, but for the time being he picks up Unconventional Weaponry for the combat grapnel. This weapon fits perfectly for an adventuring archaeologist while still being use a weapon that he can sneak attack with. The amnesiac background covers his confusion in regards to the nature of what he truly is. While some of Reno’s cards seem to fit in any deck, most are mage cards or mage heroes. Between that and his considerable number of abilities relating to spells and casting magic, some sort of casting class seemed a good fit. But Reno is a brawny fellow who makes a living by exploring ancient ruins and is very much an incorrigible rogue. As such, an eldritch trickster rogue lets him wield magic, even if he doesn’t understand it, while still being a capable thief and combatant. The draconic bloodline from his Sorcerer Dedication is another nod to his true nature. Trap Finder will help him delve into dwarven ruins unharmed while Trick Magic Item emulates his ability to wield and utilize the various magical artifacts that he finds and recovers. His initial spells serve him in identifying and determining the relics that he uncovers.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Quick Draw
o Skill Feat: Assured Identification
o Skill Increase: Occultism (expert)
o Gear: everburning torch
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Feat: Combat Climber
o Skill Increase: Religion (expert)
o Gear: +1 combat grapnel, everburning torch, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Basic Sorcerer Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Experienced Smuggler
o Skill Increase: Society (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 1st – magic missile
o Gear: 3, +1 combat grapnel, necklace of knives, everburning torch
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 19)
o Ancestry Feat: Dragon Spit – electric arc
o Skill Feat: Wary Disarmament
o Skill Increase: Arcana (expert), Thievery (expert)
o Gear: +1 striking combat grapnel, everyneed pack, pendant of the occult, necklace of knives, everburning torch, ring of discretion
As we dive deeper into this build, I have entirely overladen it with wands. It is honestly ridiculous and a wholly bad idea on my part, but I thought it was funny and fits with some of the ideas. To help Reno’s action economy for when that becomes prevalent, there is the Quick Draw feat. Basic Sorcerer Spellcasting nets him more advanced spells, starting with magic missile, which fits well with Reno the Relicologist’s Battlecry and his Arcane Craftiness hero power. Assured Identification is to keep him from misidentifying valuables that he finds, Experienced Smuggler lets him hide those valuables from others that want them, Wary Disarmament makes it safer for him to disable traps, and Combat Climber should help him traverse obstacles and dangers within the ruins he delves into without hampering him too much. As still mostly a melee combatant whose cards have a high health, Toughness lets Reno hang in the fight a teensy bit longer. Finally, in reference to Reno’s true nature, he picks up Dragon Spit to gain electric arc. From my understanding, dragons in WoW aren’t as limited to breath weapons, but he’s a blue dragon, so electricity it is.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Basic Blood Potency – Cantrip Expansion
o Skill Feat: Underwater Marauder
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: Cantrips – mage hand, produce flame; 2nd – magic missile*, phantasmal terrain
o Gear: +1 studded leather, +1 striking combat grapnel, healer’s gloves, everyneed pack, necklace of knives, hand of the mage
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Feat: Quick Unlock
o Skill Increase: Thievery (master)
o Gear: wand of noisome acid (2nd-level), +1 studded leather, wand of manifold missiles (1st-level), +1 striking combat grapnel, everyneed pack, pendant of the occult
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Archaeologist Dedication
o Skill Feat: Battle Medicine
o Skill Increase: Religion (master)
o Spell Repertoire: 3rd – haste
o Gear: wand of the spider (2nd-level), wand of noisome acid (2nd-level), wand of teeming ghosts (2nd-level), +1 studded leather, +1 striking combat grapnel, healer’s gloves
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Dragon Prince
o Skill Feat: Battle Cry
o Skill Increase: Skill Increase (master)
o Gear: +1 resilient studded leather, wand of fey flames, wand of the spider (2nd-level), wand of noisome acid (2nd-level), wand of manifold missiles (1st-level), +1 striking combat grapnel
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 19, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 20)
o Class Feat: Archaeologist’s Luck
o Skill Feat: Streetwise
o Skill Increase: Occultism (master)
o Gear: wand of manifold missiles (3rd-level), +1 resilient studded leather, wand of smoldering fireballs (3rd-level), wand of the spider (2nd-level), wand of noisome acid (2nd-level), +1 striking combat grapnel
With his Basic Blood Potency, Reno can pick up Cantrip Expansion to grant him some handy spells since his first cantrips were dedicated to giving him the ability to find and identify magic items. To fully reflect his chosen profession, Reno picks up the Archaeologist Dedication, which mainly serves to increase his ability to Recall Knowledge about ancient history. It also gives him access to the very solid Archaeologist’s Luck reaction to try to take another crack at a trap or evade it. For spells, he’s picking up magic missile as his signature spell to fling more of them while also looking towards some utility spells. Underwater Marauder follows the same reasoning as Combat Climber. Quick Unlock helps him get those pesky chests open faster while the walls are closing in. Both Battle Medicine and Battle Cry are references to his first card’s ability – it is a ‘battlecry’ effect that heals. Incredible Initiative hopefully helps him get a jump on foes to make use of Surprise Attack while Dragon Prince is the natural progression of Dragon Spit and a reference to his draconic nature.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: A Home in Every Port
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Prowess
o Skill Increase: Arcana (master)
o Gear: +2 striking combat grapnel, wand of overflowing life (3rd-level), wand of manifold missiles (3rd-level), +1 resilient studded leather, wand of fey flames, wand of the spider (2nd-level)
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Expert Sorcerer Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o Skill Increase: Society (master)
o Spell Repertoire: 4th – umbral extraction*
o Gear: +2 resilient studded leather, +2 striking combat grapnel, wand of crackling lightning (4th-level), wand of manifold missiles (3rd-level), wand of crackling lightning (3rd-level), wand of smoldering fireballs (3rd-level)
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Hardy Traveler
o Skill Feat: Quick Identification
o Skill Increase: Nature (expert)
o Gear: +2 greater striking combat grapnel, +2 resilient studded leather, wand of overflowing life (4th-level), wand of crackling lightning (4th-level), wand of overflowing life (3rd-level), wand of manifold missiles (3rd-level)
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Bloodline Breadth
o Skill Feat: Scholastic Identification
o Skill Increase: Nature (master)
o Spell Repertoire: 1st – animate rope; 2nd – empty pack; 3rd – shadow projectile; 5th – passwall
o Gear: wand of manifold missiles (5th-level), +2 greater striking combat grapnel, wand of smoldering fireballs (5th-level), +2 resilient studded leather, wand of crackling lightning (4th-level), wand of teeming ghosts (4th-level)
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 21)
o General Feat: Incredible Scout
o Skill Feat: Biographical Eye
o Skill Increase: Thievery (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient leather, wand of overflowing life (5th-level), wand of manifold missiles (5th-level), +2 greater striking combat grapnel, wand of overflowing life (4th-level), wand of the spider (4th-level)
Picking up Expert Sorcerer Spellcasting snags Reno the very nifty spell of umbral extraction, which will be a signature spell so that he can use it to steal spells of enemy casters and is a rough approximation of the Pilfer card. Bloodline Breadth is solely to give him more spell slots to fling around. Quick Jump is again to help with the navigation of ruins and the like, Quick Identification helps him quickly figure out the purposes of whatever he recovers, and Scholastic Identification makes it easier for him to identify the treasures that he uncovers. A Home in Every Port felt highly appropriate for a traveling archaeologist and Reno is likely happy to trade stories of his exploits for a roof for a night. Hardy Traveler is equally fitting while Incredible Scout allows him to take advantage of the fact that Trap Finder has him always looking for traps even if he’s not using that exploration activity. This means that he can Search for traps and Scout simultaneously. Other spells are meant to fit with the theme of an archeologist and provide him some offensive capabilities. In particular, shadow projectile allows him to trigger different weaknesses that he’s discovered.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Analyze Weakness
o Skill Feat: Ward Medic
o Skill Increase: Medicine (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 4th – reflective scales; 6th – dragon form
o Gear: wand of overflowing life (6th-level), +2 greater resilient leather, wand of crackling lightning (6th-level), wand of manifold missiles (5th-level), +2 greater striking combat grapnel, wand of smoldering fireballs (5th-level)
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Heroic Presence
o Skill Feat: Pilgrim’s Token
o Skill Increase: Arcana (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking combat grapnel, wand of thundering echoes (6th-level), wand of overflowing life (6th-level), +2 greater resilient leather, wand of overflowing life (5th-level), wand of manifold missiles (5th-level)
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Master Sorcerer Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Unified Theory
o Skill Increase: Society (legendary)
o Spell Repertoire: 5th – bandit’s doom; 7th – dragon form*, magnificent mansion
o Gear: belt of giant strength, +3 greater striking combat grapnel, wand of smoldering fireballs (7th-level), wand of overflowing life (6th-level), +2 greater resilient leather, wand of crackling lightning (6th-level)
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Feat: Continual Recovery
o Skill Increase: Medicine (master)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient leather, belt of giant strength, wand of manifold missiles (7th-level), +3 greater striking combat grapnel, wand of thundering echoes (6th-level), wand of overflowing life (6th-level)
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 22)
o Class Feat: Steal Essence
o Skill Feat: First Aid
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert), Diplomacy (trained)
o Spell Repertoire: 6th – teleport; 8th – maze
o Gear: +3 major striking combat grapnel, +3 greater resilient leather, titan’s grasp, wand of manifold missiles (7th-level), speed weapon rune, wand of smoldering fireballs (7th-level)
While not immediately reflective of any of Reno’s abilities, Analyze Weakness takes advantage of Reno’s high proficiency in skills used to Recall Knowledge. Rounding out his sorcerer feats, Reno picks up Master Sorcerer Spellcasting so that he can assume his true form with dragon form and temporarily make enemies disappear as per In a Snap with the maze spell. Steal Essence further mimics the effects of Pilfer in a sense. Some more Medicine skill feats build more into the effect of the Reno Jackson card, and Unified Theory allows him to let go on some of his magic skills.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: The eldritch trickster rogue makes a bit of a problem for free archetype games, but generous GMs may allow you to pick up Archaeologist Dedication while you technically don’t qualify for taking it. Doing so helps Reno’s skills considerably as he can use the archetype to increase in proficiency in Society and Thievery rather than spending increases on them. Otherwise, he uses the free archetype to pick up feats he otherwise would spend class feats on. With those freed up feats, Reno can take feats such as Sabotage, an earlier Analyze Weakness, Slice and Swipe, Sidestep, and Opportune Backstab.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Reno Jackson is a human that has forgotten he is a dragon, which is hinted at through the draconic bloodline of his Sorcerer Dedication and feats such as Dragon Spit and Dragon Prince. His amnesiac background covers his lack of memory in regards to his true nature. Several of Reno’s cards have a Battlecry effect, so he naturally has the Battle Cry skill feat. He invests lightly in the Medicine skill to replicate the healing powers of the Reno Jackson card. His magic missile signature spell works for the effects of Reno the Relicologist and the Arcane Craftiness hero power. He is able to generate random spells through The Amazing Reno and Pilfer, and the closest effect I can find is umbral extraction and Steal Essence. Cards and abilities such as The Amazing Reno and In a Snap can also make enemies disappear, and the closest approximation to that is the maze spell. His torch spells can be emulated through the simple produce flame cantrip. Reno has heavy focus on acquiring and using magic items, hence many of his skill feat choices – most obviously Trick Magic Item.
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, I'm going to try to present a martial class with a Summoner Dedication that comes close to actually working using a character from a fighting game!
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