We're taking a break from the League of Legends builds for a comic book character this week and one that allows me to explore a number of new options - new ancestry, new heritage, and a subclass I've never used before! 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.
If you prefer watching over reading, check out the YouTube video on him.
Let's get into the build for Swamp Thing from DC Comics!
SWAMP THING
CHARACTER Alec Holland
SOURCE DC Comics
BUILD GOALS
o Alec Holland was a botanist and chemist whose consciousness and memories were absorbed by plant life as he was dying
o This plant life formed into Swamp Thing, a towering figure who serves the Green as the protector of plants the world over
o Estranged from most humans, most of Swamp Thing’s allies are those versed in the use of magic, such as John Constantine and Justice League Dark, making him similarly versed in such matters
o He can teleport and reform himself through plant matter and can use the matter that makes up his body to alter his size, physiology, and heal himself
o He can grow multiple copies of himself, commanding them all at once
o Since he is made of plants, he doesn’t need to eat and can instead nourish himself through photosynthesis
o His size and connection to the plants of the world allows him to wield inhuman strength
o A more gruesome example of his powers is in manipulating microscopic flora within a person’s body to kill them from inside
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Ardande Ghoran
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Constitution, +Wisdom
o Ancestry Feat: Ancient Memories
Background: Elementally Infused – Wood
o Ability Boosts: +Constitution, +Strength
o Skill Increase: Plane of Wood Lore (trained)
o Cantrip: root reading
Class & Subclass: Single Gate Phytokineticist
o Class Ability Boost: +Constitution
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Intimidation (trained), Nature (trained), Survival (trained)
o Class Feat: Hail of Splinters, Hardwood Armor, Timber Sentinel
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +2, Dex +0, Con +4, Int +1, Wis +2, Cha +0)
In a first for the blog, this build uses the ghoran ancestry to represent the plant-formed Swamp Thing and dives even deeper into the concept with the ardande heritage to represent his connection to the Green and the Parliament of Trees. Since he is infused with the memories of Alec Holland, he uses the Ancient Memories to represent the fragments he receives from that connection. His Elementally Infused background ties him more deeply to the forces that animate him while also granting him a cantrip to sense through the roots of others. Swamp Thing could likely function well as a druid but given the sheer physicality of the character, a kineticist felt like a better fit. While he has held the power of multiple elements for one brief moment, he will be a single gate kineticist of the wood element, granting him mastery over plant life. Hail of Splinters gives him an area means of shredding enemies while his remaining impulses are more defensive to demonstrate his survivability. While normally composed of softer plant armor, he can suit up with Hardwood Armor, which will be essential with his abysmal AC, and Protector Tree to ward allies or himself when necessary. I would flavor these Protector Trees as extensions of himself that haven’t quite gained the autonomy his multiples sometimes exhibit.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Kinetic Activation
o Skill Feat: Additional Lore – Plant Lore
o Gear: psychopomp mask
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Nature (expert)
o Gear: hat of disguise, psychopomp mask, mudlily
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Druid Dedication – Leaf Order
o Skill Feat: Additional Lore – Fungus Lore
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (trained), Occultism (trained)
o Gear: gate attenuator, hat of disguise, necklace of knives, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str +3, Dex +1, Con +4.5, Int +1, Wis +3, Cha +0)
o Ancestry Feat: Treespeech
o Gate’s Threshold: Expand the Portal – Critical Blast and Fresh Produce
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o Gear: thorn triad, gate attenuator, cloak of gnawing leaves, hat of disguise, psychopomp mask, mudlily
An early Kinetic Activation will allow him to wield magical items connected to plant life though this isn’t a feat that he will keep. Once he gains the Druid Dedication, he gains access to the Cast a Spell activity, which will let him activate wands, staves, and the like. With that being the case, he should retrain Kinetic Activation for either Weapon Infusion to better use his Elemental Blasts, Versatile Blasts to add poison damage to his repertoire, or Voice of Elements to represent the pleas he has made to the Parliament of Trees. When he gets a Gate’s Threshold, he will stick to one elemental and gain wood’s Critical Blast to entangle enemies in roots as well as Fresh Produce, demonstrating the more healing aspects of nature and flora. Alec Holland was a botanist and will represent those studies with Additional Lore for both Fungus Lore and Plant Lore to make them into automatically scaling skills. Additionally, Swamp Thing heals abnormally fast and while Fast Recovery doesn’t quite get him there, it helps. He started to talk to the plants with read roots and can expand upon that with Treespeech from his heritage.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Basic Druid Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Assurance (Nature)
o Gear: +1 studded leather, thorn triad, lifting belt, gate attenuator, hat of disguise, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Nature (master)
o Gear: wand of hawthorn (2nd-level), +1 studded leather, arboreal boots, thorn triad, gate attenuator, cloak of gnawing leaves
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Elemental Overlap – Ambush Bladderwort
o Skill Feat: Morphic Manipulation
o Gear: staff of nature’s cunning, broadleaf shield, wand of hawthorn (2nd-level), +1 studded leather, gate attenuator, thorn triad
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Speak With Flowers
o Gate’s Threshold: Expand the Portal – Skill Junction and Drifting Pollen (Terrain Expertise – Forest)
o Skill Increase: Athletics (master), Crafting (trained)
o Gear: +1 resilient studded leather, cloak of thirsty fronds, staff of nature’s cunning, wand of hawthorn (2nd-level), arboreal boots, gate attenuator
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str +4, Dex +2, Con +5, Int +1, Wis +4, Cha +0)
o Class Feat: Elemental Transformation
o Skill Feat: Automatic Knowledge – Nature
o Gear: greater broadleaf shield, +1 resilient studded leather, greater thorn triad, staff of nature’s cunning, wand of hawthorn (2nd-level), gate attenuator
Swamp Thing picks up some actual ranked primal spells with Basic Druid Spellcasting, gaining options such as flourishing flora, wooden fists, entangling flora, and a number of others as this ability levels. Through the use of Elemental Overlap, Swamp Thing gains Ambush Bladderwort, a very fun and unique ability. Trapping people in plants isn’t unusual for Swamp Thing – he may favor vines to do so, but he has the entire array of the floral kingdom at his command. I would be surprised if he hasn’t sprouted a giant pitcher plant for the effect. Fortunately, the Player Core added the wood option to the elemental form spell, which makes Elemental Transformation a viable option! This can help bring his appearance in line with how he looks in the comics, most particularly when it allows him to become Large or greater, but it is limited to once per day, so this won’t be the only effect along these lines that this build will pick up. Drifting Pollen from his Gate’s Threshold can simulate the hallucinogenic spores that he has unleashed within the comics before. Given how versed the Swamp Thing is in the natural world, an Assurance in Nature followed up by Automatic Knowledge allows him to rapidly identify plants, fungi, and even animals. Morphic Manipulation gives him a skill feat that can affect plants, which is a fantastic extension of his abilities. Speak With Flowers further expands the type of plants that the Swamp Thing can converse with and then Toughness helps reflect his superhuman durability.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Ancestral Paragon – Grove-Harbored
o Skill Increase: Survival (expert)
o Gear: living mantle, greater broadleaf shield, armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient studded leather, staff of nature’s cunning, gate attenuator
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Expert Druid Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Unmistakable Lore
o Gear: greater gate attenuator, living mantle, wand of hawthorn (4th-level), greater broadleaf shield, +1 resilient studded leather, greater thorn triad
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Wooden Mantle
o Gate’s Threshold: Expand the Portal – Elemental Resistance and Witchwood Seed
o Skill Increase: Survival (master)
o Gear: major thorn triad, +2 resilient studded leather, greater gate attenuator, wand of hawthorn (4th-level), greater broadleaf shield, armbands of athleticism
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Nourishing Gate
o Skill Feat: Consult the Spirits (Nature)
o Gear: major broadleaf shield, major thorn triad, greater gate attenuator, +2 resilient studded leather, living mantle, wand of hawthorn (4th-level)
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +4.5, Dex +2, Con +5.5, Int +2, Wis +4.5, Cha +0)
o General Feat: Diehard
o Skill Increase: Medicine (trained), Nature (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient studded leather, major broadleaf shield, greater ring of the ram, major thorn triad, greater gate attenuator, greater staff of nature’s cunning
Expert Druid Spellcasting adds more spells to Swamp Thing’s kit, with options such as petal storm, bursting bloom, nature’s pathway (this is a big one), and rose’s thorns, which he won’t actually gain access to until next block. Nourishing Gate delves into the Swamp Thing being a representative of the Green, fueled by them and the world around him rather than typical resources. He further Expands the Portal, gaining resistance to poison damage and wood effects as well as Witchwood Seed. By flavoring this as Swamp Thing encouraging the growth of flora native to his victim, it can reflect him manipulating these spores as he does within the comics. The Grove-Harbored feat gained from his Ancestral Paragon will stack with Nourishing Gate for saves against poisons and again just make him more of an elemental. Wooden Mantle is a big one at this level – this lets him cast mantle of the unwavering heart once per day to bring him physically more in line with his comic book appearance. The evergreen vitality and towering trunk options are probably the best fit, with the former providing a strangely untyped bonus – meaning that it would stack with his Nourishing Gate and Grove-Harbored on saves against poisons for a total of +5. I assume this has been errataed, but the resources I use haven’t mentioned it.
With his Additional Lore feats, he can make particular use out of Unmistakable Lore and his other skill feat for this block is Consult the Spirits so that he can call upon the Parliament of Trees in search of answers.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Primal Breadth
o Skill Feat: Titan Wrestler
o Gear: major staff of nature’s cunning, +2 greater resilient studded leather, wand of hawthorn (6th-level), major broadleaf shield, greater gate attenuator, major thorn triad
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Endless Memories
o Gate’s Threshold: Expand the Portal – Aura Junction and Sanguivolent Roots
o Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)
o Gear: orange prism aeon stone, major staff of nature’s cunning, earthglide cloak, +2 greater resilient studded leather, major broadleaf shield, greater gate attenuator
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Elemental Apotheosis
o Skill Feat: Natural Medicine
o Gear: major gate attenuator, major crown of the fire eater, orange prism aeon stone, major staff of nature’s cunning, +2 greater resilient studded leather, wand of hawthorn (6th-level)
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Feather Step
o Skill Increase: Survival (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient studded leather, major gate attenuator, true broadleaf shield, orange prism aeon stone, major staff of nature’s cunning, earthglide cloak
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +5, Dex +2, Con +6, Int +3, Wis +5, Cha +0)
o Class Feat: Master Druid Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Legendary Guide
o Skill Increase: Arcana (trained)
o Gear: wand of nature’s enmity, +3 greater resilient studded leather, wand of hawthorn (8th-level), major gate attenuator, major crown of the fire eater, orange prism aeon stone
Thanks to Primal Breadth, Swamp Thing gains more spells from among his lower-leveled options and since none of the kineticist capstone feats quite capture the character – he’s not fast enough to be the type to use Kinetic Pinnacle and Omnikinesis slightly follows a similar thought. The translation of human thought processes into a plant, particularly those of a dying human, has left Swamp Thing as a slow and methodical thinker. For those reasons, he’ll skip taking them and instead pick up Master Druid Spellcasting, which has the added benefit of increasing his spellcasting proficiency to master and can unlock the pollen pods spell or simply give slots to heighten other spells into. He has to take this feat here because it is displaced by Elemental Apotheosis, which fully makes him an elemental even by traits. These two feats could be swapped around at your leisure. With his final Expansion, he gains Sanguivolent Roots which damages enemies, heals allies, and provides an area of battlefield control that adversaries will want to avoid, bringing a nice swath of effects.
Endless Memories builds out of Ancient Memories and can help represent the connection he has to Alec Holland’s mind and memories. Feather Step is strange but largely practical – Swamp Thing lives around and makes a lot of difficult terrain, and this will allow him to get around it all a little better. Natural Medicine is probably the biggest skill feat for this level, allowing him to show the more restorative side of nature.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: In a free archetype game, Swamp Thing can make considerable use of a Druid Dedication. Aside from the feats I already picked from the class, he can take Order Spell, Basic Wilding for Verdant Weapon or Leshy Familiar, and then options such as Leshy Familiar Secrets, Woodland Stride, Green Empathy, or Plant Shape. If there’s still slots that you want to fill in for your free archetype, I would squeeze in Natural Medicine earlier for your skill feats and take the Herbalist Dedication, allowing the Swamp Thing to demonstrate the healing aspects of nature. With the freed up class feats, Swamp Thing will likely want to dive deeper into his impulses, taking options such as Drifting Pollen and possibly Aura Shaping and some of the other aura impulses to take advantage of that. I didn’t bother too much because of his limited aura. I would also take Omnikinesis for his capstone feat to let him adjust and adapt.
BUILD CONCLUSION
The Swamp Thing is an ardande ghoran phytokineticist with the elementally-infused background, intended to represent his empowerment by the Green. The memories of Alec Holland live on within the Swamp Thing through his Ancient and Endless Memories while his heritage and ancestry reflect his floral form though he uses Elemental Transformation and Wooden Mantle to achieve his towering height and more physical powers. He expands on his vast elemental powers as a kineticist with a Druid Dedication, giving him access to an array of plant and wood-based spells that aren’t represented by his primary class. Nature’s pathway allows him to travel through plants and spells such as mantle of the unwavering heart and plant form allow him to alter his physiology as needed. The former does have some self-healing options as does his aura junction and Fresh Produce. He can grow defensive copies of himself with Timber Sentinel or prepare summon plant or fungus. His ancestry allows him to survive through photosynthesis while Nourishing Gate and Elemental Apotheosis make him a true elemental. His grisly ability to grow plants from inside of people can come from his Witchwood Seed, one of his many ways to control and wield plants.
This protector of plant-life plucks power from the petals, punishing perpetrators, pulverizing pollutants, and pruning profligates with passionate purpose.
Lemme know what you think and what other builds you would like to see!
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Have a fantastic Friday!