I have to admit, the idea for this build started when I saw a collection of Reverse Flash memes claiming to be responsible for the most banal, petty stuff imaginable. There was still enough there to make a build, but to me, the main feature was always the Reveal Machinations feat, which is exactly the Professor Zoom meme. I've been sitting on this idea for a while and am eager to finally share it. As always, this build is conceptualized 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 Zoom from DC Comics!
ZOOM
CHARACTER Eobard Thawne
SOURCE DC Comics
GOALS
o Eobard Thawne was a curator of the Flash Museum in the 25th century who became obsessed with Barry Allen, the hero known as the Flash
o He eventually discovered a way to travel back in time to meet his idol, but found that he was destined to become the Flash’s greatest nemesis, Zoom
o How he came to acquire his powers and their specifics change, but it usually involves him either replicating the incident that linked Barry to the Speed Force or achieving it accidentally
o His powers are often a mirror of Flash’s powers, including super speed, its associated powers, and time travel
o Eobard typically fights unarmed, delivering punches at incredible speed or gathering momentum for devastating blows
o Sometimes his powers involve manipulating time, using that to achieve super speed
o Even when his powers aren’t related to time, his use of time travel means that he has experienced far more than others
o Outside of his powers, Zoom is highly intelligent as well as a master manipulator and deceiver
o Zoom is extremely petty and has traveled through time to do everything from make Barry miss ball catches to killing his mother, all of which he brags about proudly
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Ancient Elf
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Strength, -Constitution
o Ancestry Feat: Nimble Elf
o Dedication Feat: Wizard Dedication
o Skill Increase: Arcana (trained)
Background: Time Traveler
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Strength
o Skills: Legend Lore (trained), Engineering Lore (trained), History Lore (trained)
Class & Subclass: Monk
o Class Ability Boost: +Strength
o Skills: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Crafting (trained), Deception (trained), Intimidation (trained), Stealth (trained), Thievery (trained)
o Class Feat: Stoked Flame Stance
o Spellbook: Cantrips – electric arc, gale blast, read aura, telekinetic projectile
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 12)
Our main goal is to create a speedster and despite the frailty of the elf, it comes with a 30-foot base Speed and is where we’ll start, further increasing it with the Nimble Elf ancestry feat. This makes Zoom 10-feet faster than the average character, which doesn’t seem like much, but adds up with the three economy. Once more, we’ll use magic as a sort of stand-in for technology and superpowers with the Wizard Dedication, which will really kick in later down the line. As a time traveler from the 25th century, Zoom’s background perfectly represents that while also allowing him to become quickened once per day to move faster, fitting for his speed powers. Given Zoom’s speed and habit of fighting hand-to-hand, monk seemed like the best fit. I would’ve preferred a stance that had the finesse trait as that feels more in line with the character, but I picked Stoked Flame Stance as it increases Zoom’s speed while he’s in the stance. I picked up more damaging cantrips than Zoom likely needed, but I felt that the ones I did related well to his powers.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Ki Rush
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o Gear: everburning torch
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+1), everburning torch, psychopomp mask
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Deflect Arrows
o Skill Feat: Charming Liar
o Gear: ventriloquist’s ring, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), hat of disguise, everburning torch
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 19, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 14)
o Ancestry Feat: Elven Instincts
o Skill Increase: Deception (expert), Society (trained)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), pearly white spindle aeon stone, ventriloquist’s ring, hat of disguise, everburning torch, psychopomp mask
We continue to increase Zoom’s movement with Ki Rush, Fleet, and the monk’s incredible movement class feature. His enhanced reaction times are covered by Deflect Arrows and Elven Instincts, the former making him fast enough to catch projectiles out of the air while the latter increases the likelihood of him acting first. For a good number of Zoom’s skill feats, I made choices that allowed him to conduct certain actions quicker, such as Quick Jump. I also leaned into Zoom’s penchant for deception and manipulation, such as the time he misled the Acolytes of Zoom or masqueraded as Barry Allen, early in the character’s history.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Water Step
o Skill Feat: Trick Magic Item
o Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), rhinoceros mask, ventriloquist’s ring, hat of disguise, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Feather Step
o Skill Increase: Deception (master)
o Path to Perfection: Reflex (master)
o Gear: energizing weapon rune, +1 explorer’s clothing, quick runner’s shirt, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), pearly white spindle aeon stone, ventriloquist’s ring
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Wall Run
o Skill Feat: Slippery Secrets
o Gear: boots of bounding, energizing weapon rune, ring of the ram, +1 explorer’s clothing, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), rhinoceros mask
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Elven Verve
o Skill Increase: Athletics (master)
o Gear: +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of bounding, wand of haste (3rd-level), energizing weapon rune, quick runner’s shirt, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 19, Con 10, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 16)
o Class Feat: Blazing Streak
o Skill Feat: Quick Climber
o Skill Increase: Occultism (trained)
o Gear: armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, shock weapon rune, boots of bounding, ring of the ram, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)
All the class feats for this iteration are meant to play into Zoom’s speed, with Water Step and Wall Run being fairly self-descriptive while Blazing Streak allows him to Stride twice and Strike four times for only three actions. Feather Step plays into that idea as well, making it so that Zoom can step into difficult terrain. Elven Verve helps keep anything from slowing down Zoom while Quick Climber plays into the feats that I mentioned about making Zoom quicker at completing certain tasks. Given that he has Wall Run, he won’t need it for shorter obstacles, but might still find some use for it.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Expeditious Search
o Skill Increase: Arcana (expert)
o Path to Perfection: Will (master)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), armbands of athleticism, wand of tortoise and the hare (4th-level), +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of bounding, wand of haste (3rd-level)
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Basic Wizard Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Quick Swim
o Spellbook: 1st – gust of wind, quick sort; 2nd – blur, mirror image; 3rd – haste, time jump
o Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), greater endless grimoire, armbands of athleticism, greater rhinoceros mask, shock weapon rune
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Elf Step
o Skill Increase: Arcana (master)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater boots of elvenkind, greater endless grimoire, armbands of athleticism, wand of tortoise and the hare (4th-level)
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Expert Wizard Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Wall Jump
o Spellbook: 4th – freedom of movement, winning streak; 5th – blink charge, shadow walk
o Gear: hellfire boots, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), greater quick runner’s shirt, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater endless grimoire, greater endless grimoire
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 21, Dex 20, Con 10, Int 19, Wis 10, Cha 18)
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Deception (legendary)
o Path to Perfection: Reflex (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, hellfire boots, greater ring of the ram, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), implacable armor rune, ring of maniacal devices
Having attained the speed-based feats from monk, Zoom can finally start using the Wizard Dedication he took, mainly looking to gain spells that enhance his speed or fit with that concept. In particular, time jump feels like a very good fit as it meshes with the time manipulation powers that Zoom often possesses. Expeditious Search, Quick Swim, Elf Step, and Fast Recovery all play into the idea of Zoom’s super speed in all aspects of his existence.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Quivering Palm
o Skill Feat: Reveal Machinations
o Spellbook: 6th – cast into time, chain lightning
o Gear: greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater boots of bounding, greater ring of the ram, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), greater quick runner’s shirt
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Martial Experience
o Skill Increase: Arcana (legendary)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), greater shock weapon rune, dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, hellfire boots, greater ring of the ram
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Master Wizard Spellcasting
o Skill Feat: Unified Theory
o Spellbook: 7th – shadow raid, true target
o Gear: anklets of alacrity, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), speed weapon rune, greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater boots of bounding
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Skitter
o Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, anklets of alacrity, 17, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), greater shock weapon rune, dragonscale amulet
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str 21, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 20, Wis 12, Cha 18)
o Class Feat: Enduring Quickness
o Skill Feat: Cloud Jump
o Skill Increase: Medicine (trained)
o Spellbook: 8th – boil blood, draw the lightning
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+3 major striking), +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, mercurial mantle, greater armbands of athleticism, greater dinosaur boots, orange prism aeon stone
Quivering Palm is meant to represent the vibration powers that those with access to the Speed Force often use while Enduring Quickness makes Zoom permanently quickened and thus able to move further than most. Martial Experience covers the years of knowledge that Zoom has accrued. However, the main thing here, the idea that started the whole build, was the Reveal Machinations skill feat. This perfectly captures Zoom’s petty habit of claiming to be the reason behind many of the issues in Barry’s life – ranging from causing him to miss ball catches, lose friends, and even murder his mother, which resulted in his father going to jail.
CONCLUSION
By the end of the build, Zoom is 10-feet faster than most other monks that I’ve built, 15-feet when he’s in Blazing Streak Stance, which starts adding up with multiple actions and his numerous ways of becoming quickened. His spells lean into time manipulation, speed enhancement, and moving so fast that he leaves afterimages with spells such as mirror image and shadow raid. Since the build used the Wizard Dedication, Zoom does have the option of learning new spells, so some that would fit that I didn’t get in were curse of lost time, slow, and taking draw the lightning at an earlier level. However, in my eyes, the thing that makes this build a build for Zoom and not just any speedster is the focus on Deception and the Reveal Machinations skill feat. These are fairly easy to swap out to make a different speedster, but that concept was the whole reason that I started with the build.
Be sure to lemme know what you think of the build and the new format!
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 nerd, 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, we have a build for a true hero from out of this world.
Have a fantastic Friday!
I like you're stuff, but how do you get 18 str at level 1? You chose it for Ancestry, Background and Class but that will only get you to 16, not 18.