Rounding out the builds for this Halloween month is none other than 'Shaggy' Norville Rogers. To preface this build, I want to say that my decisions to replicate Scooby fall a bit short and I feel that it is difficult to actually do so. With that being the case, when Howl of the Wild releases next summer, if people are interested, I'll look into building Scooby with the awakened animal ancestry - though I have no idea as what class. 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 return to record the final video of the month after which I'll be taking a break to hang out with a visiting friend.
Let's get into the build for Shaggy Rogers from Scooby-Doo!
SHAGGY
CHARACTER Norville Rogers
SOURCE Scooby-Doo
BUILD GOALS
o Shaggy is a member of Mystery Incorporated who is the best friend and technical owner of Scooby-Doo, a talking Great Dane
o Perhaps his two most memorable characteristics are his cowardice and insatiable appetite though he has at times overcome the former in times of great duress
o He, along with Scooby, traditionally serve as the bait for Fred’s traps, luring monsters into them. He is a notably fast runner and has been described as a gymnast in at least one series
o In some series, he and Scooby will adopt disguises in an attempt to throw off the monster chasing them
o In one movie, Shaggy was briefly turned into a werewolf
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Beastkin (wolf) Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Intelligence
o Ancestry Feat: Animal Senses – scent (imprecise) 30 feet
Background: Acrobat
o Ability Boosts: +Intelligence, +Dexterity
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Circus Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Steady Balance
Class & Subclass: Mutagenist Alchemist
o Class Ability Boost: +Intelligence
o Skill Increase: Athletics (trained), Crafting (trained), Deception (trained), Nature (trained), Performance (trained), Society (trained), Stealth (trained), Thievery (trained)
o Class Feat: Alchemical Savant
o Skill Feat: Alchemical Crafting
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence (Str 12, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 10)
As is the case for all of the Mystery Incorporated builds, Shaggy is a human but takes the chance to reference Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf by taking the beastkin heritage. This also allows him to take Animal Senses for an imprecise scent so that he can sniff out food and pantries. As a former gymnast and because he’s mentioned being a track and field man, he makes use of the acrobat background. Perhaps most bizarre is his alchemist class, but the idea is to flavor his extracts not as potions and poultices but as sandwiches and the other dishes that he has made. The mutagenist research field makes the most sense for this concept, allowing him to make victuals that enhance himself or his allies. There is even alchemical food now in the system though none of the 1st-level options are terribly exciting. Alchemical Savant allows him to quickly figure out whatever ingredients have gone into a dish and other options don’t quite seem to fit. Unfortunately, he can’t get Scooby at first level unless he wants to represent him as an Alchemical Familiar.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Animal Trainer Dedication – Wolf
o Skill Feat: Additional Lore (Cooking Lore)
o Gear: cloak of feline rest
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Crafter (expert), Cooking Lore (expert)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+1), cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Poison Resistance
o Skill Feat: Seasoned
o Gear: thrower’s bandolier, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), hat of disguise, cloak of feline rest
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence (Str 14, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 19, Wis 10, Cha 10)
o Ancestry Feat: Animalistic Resistance
o Skill Increase: Deception (expert)
o Gear: +1 striking thrower’s bandolier, bracelet of dashing, smoke veil, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
Since Shaggy couldn’t acquire Scooby at first level, he will do so at the first opportunity with the Animal Trainer Dedication to get a wolf animal companion. Animal trainer feels like a nice fit over beastmaster as the Performance skill feels like it may be handy in some of the ploys that Shaggy tries to pull off. There isn’t anything immediately available from this archetype so he’ll return to his alchemist feats for Poison Resistance as Shaggy has eaten just about everything without turning out much worse for the wear. His Animalistic Resistance ancestry feat furthers this concept and provides a status bonus whereas Poison Resistance is a circumstance bonus, meaning that they stack to grant a +3 against poisons. Given his love of food and making it, he can grab Additional Lore for Cooking Lore as well as the Seasoned skill feat granting him a bonus to craft food.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Mature Trained Companion
o Skill Feat: Quick Disguise
o Gear: +1 leather, +1 striking thrower’s bandolier, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), bracelet of dashing, hat of disguise, quick wig
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Crafting (master), Cooking Lore (master)
o Gear: horn of fog, +1 leather, quick runner’s shirt, +1 striking thrower’s bandolier, bracelet of dashing, smoke veil
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Combine Elixirs
o Skill Feat: Slippery Prey
o Gear: boots of bounding, horn of fog, ring of the ram, +1 leather, +1 striking thrower’s bandolier, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Multitalented – Monk Dedication
o Skill Increase: Deception (expert), Occultism (trained)
o Gear: +1 resilient leather, boots of bounding, greater hat of disguise, horn of fog, quick runner’s shirt, +1 striking thrower’s bandolier
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 14, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 20, Wis 10, Cha 12)
o Class Feat: Monk Moves
o Skill Feat: Unmistakable Lore
o Gear: collar of empathy, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, brooch of inspiration, boots of bounding, horn of fog, +1 striking thrower’s bandolier
Naturally, Shaggy will take Mature Trained Companion and other feats that increase Scooby’s effectiveness so that he can remain a relevant part of the build. Shaggy’s sandwiches are notoriously large with a vast array of ingredients, and Combine Elixirs allows him to mix alchemical ingredients together. With the ancestry feat for this block, Shaggy can take a Monk Dedication, which definitely seems like an odd choice for Shaggy but it provides him with access to the Monk Moves feat, gaining an additional 10-feet of movement. He has to be unarmored for this but with his Dexterity, he can make use of a drakeheart mutagen to keep his AC competitive while remaining unarmored and its Final Surge action fits him fantastically as well. While not ubiquitous in all the series, a number have Shaggy and Scooby adopted disguises mid-chase to throw off pursuers. To facilitate this quick change, he takes Quick Disguise while Slippery Prey fits a character who is always trying to run away or escape from something. With all this speed, Shaggy can use Incredible Initiative to help him act first and get well out of danger’s way before it has had a chance to act.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Feather Step
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert)
o Gear: +2 striking thrower’s bandolier, collar of empathy, bravery baldric (haste), +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of bounding, greater hat of disguise
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Splendid Companion – Nimble
o Skill Feat: Nimble Crawl
o Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, +2 striking thrower’s bandolier, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), collar of empathy, brooch of inspiration, greater backfire mantle
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Advanced General Training – Canny Acumen (Perception)
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (master)
o Gear: +2 greater striking thrower’s bandolier, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater brooch of inspiration, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), collar of empathy, bravery baldric (haste)
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Enduring Alchemy
o Skill Feat: Kip Up
o Gear: boots of speed, +2 greater striking thrower’s bandolier, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, barding of the zephyr, daredevil boots
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 14, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 21, Wis 10, Cha 14)
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Crafting (master), Cooking Lore (master)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of speed, bag of holding (type IV), +2 greater striking thrower’s bandolier, greater brooch of inspiration, bravery baldric (stoneskin)
Shaggy can take Splendid Companion to make Scooby nimble, keeping him as dexterous as his best friend. He can also keep his alchemical food fresh with Enduring Alchemy, allowing it to stay fresh until the end of his next turn. Keeping with the speed of theme for this build, Shaggy takes Nimble Crawl and Kip Up with his increases to Acrobatics and Feather Step also helps this concept though it doesn’t actually increase his speed. Advanced General Training for Canny Acumen to increase his Perception to expert doesn’t actually make a change since his Perception is already there. But it will increase his Perception to master at 17th level, which leads to something that fits nicely with the build.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Elastic Mutagen
o Skill Feat: Legendary Professional
o Gear: 15, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater horseshoes of speed, boots of speed, +2 greater striking weapon, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking)
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Animal Swiftness
o Skill Increase: Deception (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking thrower’s bandolier, dragonscale amulet, portable hole, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of speed, bag of holding (type IV)
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Specialized Companion – Racer
o Skill Feat: Fleeing Diversion
o Gear: anklets of alacrity, +3 greater striking thrower’s bandolier, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), greater thunderblast slippers, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater horseshoes of speed
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Supertaster
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, anklets of alacrity, major brooch of inspiration, +3 greater striking weapon, greater thunderblast slippers, dragonscale amulet
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 16, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 22, Wis 12, Cha 16)
o Class Feat: Perfect Mutagen
o Skill Feat: Lengthy Diversion
o Gear: +3 major striking thrower’s bandolier, +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, mercurial mantle, major brooch of inspiration, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), major crown of the fire eater
Personally, I’m not a big fan of the mutagen specific feats for Shaggy, but Elastic Mutagen at least increases his Speed by allowing him to Step 10 feet. With other speed increases in this block, Shaggy needs to take Specialized Companion to make Scooby a racer just to keep the dog as fast as him. Finally, Perfect Mutagen allows him to make his meals that have no adverse effects – at least for his cast iron stomach. He narrowly avoids using Heroic Presence to instead take Animal Swiftness, which nets him 10 additional feet of movement since the wolf, his animal as a beastkin, doesn’t have any alternate form of movement. Fleeing Diversion felt like a great way to represent Shaggy’s distractions before he turns tail and runs. With the increase to Perception from Canny Acumen at 17th level, Shaggy can take Supertaster, which feels like a must-have for such a food focused fellow.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Obviously, the Animal Trainer Dedication in a free archetype game is good to start with, helping Shaggy get and empower Scooby-Doo. Outside of that, the Monk Dedication isn’t a bad fit with options such as Ki Rush, Monk Resiliency, Guarded Movement, and Water Step allowing Shaggy to move faster and better.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Shaggy is a beastkin human alchemist with the mutagenist research field and the acrobat background. As the owner and constant companion of Scooby-Doo, Shaggy takes the Animal Trainer Dedication and its associated feats to gain a wolf animal companion to represent Scooby. His love of food can be represented through his alchemist class itself as well as feats such as Additional Lore for cooking, Seasoned, and Supertaster. As the bait for Fred's trap who is required to run from monsters, Shaggy uses options to enhance his speed as well - Fleet, Monk Moves, and Animal Swiftness all aid that while taking the racer specialization for his animal companion does the same for Scoob. In more comedic series, Shaggy and Scoob will adopt nonsensical disguises mid-chase to try to trick the monster, which is covered with his Deception and its feats. Finally, in a reference to Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf, Shaggy is a beastkin and actually makes solid use of several of its feats.
This deep-dish devouring dude delves into danger with his dependable dog despite doubts about doing such daring deeds.
Lemme know what you think and what other builds you would 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. I'll be back November 10th, with a build my brother requested since it'll be his birthday!
Have a fantastic Friday!
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