Full ReBuild Friday - Prime Speaker Vannifar

Vannifar was voted as the previous rebuild and it definitely saw some revisions. 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.

You can also check this build out through the video on YT where you can also find the vote for the next rebuild.

Let's get into the build for Prime Speaker Vannifar from Magic the Gathering!

VANNIFAR

SOURCE Magic the Gathering

BUILD GOALS

o    Vannifar hails from Ravnica where she is the head of the Simic Combine who are charged with preserving the natural world even as the cities of Ravnica grow

o    The Simic are associated with mutants, oozes, and morphing lifeforms to adapt to whatever situations they find themselves in

o    In-game, Vannifar is an Elf Ooze Wizard from Magic the Gathering

o    She is associated with the colors of blue, which embodies logic and technology, and green, which embodies the principles of instinct and interdependence

o    She is represented through ‘Prime Speaker Vannifar,’ which can sacrifice a creature to summon another, slightly more powerful creature

o    Additionally, ‘Vannifar, Evolved Enigma’ can call cloaked allies to the field or empower colorless creatures. The allies she cloaks don’t initially reveal their form and enemies targeting them must pay more

o    She is featured in the ‘Replicate’ card, which can create a copy of target allied creature

Summary of Goals: We’re going to try to make a summoner who has abilities to enhance the creatures that she calls forth. As seen through the cloaking she provides to the creatures she summons, she has some means of guarding others from magic and can even create duplicates of others.

LEVEL 1

Ancestry & Heritage: Ancient Elf – Wizard Dedication (School of Protean Form)

o    Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, -Constitution

o    Ancestry Feat: Unwavering Mien

o    Skill Increase: Arcana (T)

o    Spellbook: Cantrips – phase bolt, shield

Background: Student of Magic

o    Ability Boosts: +Wisdom, +Intelligence

o    Skill Increase: Occultism (T), Academia Lore (T)

o    Background Feat: Recognize Spell

Class & Subclass: Druid of the Untamed Order

o    Class Ability Boost: +Wisdom

o    Skill Increase: Crafting (T), Intimidation (T), Medicine (T), Nature (T), Religion (T), Society (T), Survival (T)

o    Suggested Spells: Cantrips – guidance, protect companion, spout; 1st – runic body, summon animal

Details

o    Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +0, Dex +2, Con +0, Int +3, Wis +4, Cha +0)

Getting into it, the build sticks with the elf ancestry but does change things up a bit by using the ancient heritage to gain the Wizard Dedication. This is indicative of a larger change within the build, since it means that we’re not using the wizard as our base class and already deviating a bit from her cards. Given the scientist nature of the Simic Combine and that Vanni here is the leader of it, Unwavering Mien feels particularly appropriate as her skill feat. Keeping with that concept of study and research, I went with the student of magic background, choosing to be trained in Occultism since that is the skill needed to Recall Knowledge on oozes, which are heavily associated with the Simic. It also gives her Recognize Spell, which was an important piece of her premaster build. However, leaving that behind, she will use the druid class. None of the orders particularly suit her mechanics, but the shifting nature of the untamed order at least fits with her habit of evolving and adapting other creatures into new forms. As a full caster, she doesn’t start with a class feat, but does have a host of spells to call upon, which is further enhanced by her cantrips as a wizard.

Starting there, phase bolt mimics some of the abilities of blue to circumvent blockers whereas shield is simply useful for Vannifar’s defenses. Spout gives her another offensive option while sticking with the water that is oft-associated with blue. She then swaps to some more supportive options with guidance and protect companion though to make use of the latter, we will need to call upon summon animal – which honestly works perfectly for the build! Both of Vannifar’s creature cards are able to call creatures to the battlefield and this spell like fits the sort of creatures a Simic would call upon the best. Then, to empower the creatures that she calls forth, she prepares runic body to turn the unarmed attacks of any creature she summons into +1 striking unarmed attacks.

LEVEL 2

o    Class Feat: Call of the Wild

o    Skill Feat: Tame Animal

o    Gear: ring of sigils

LEVEL 3

o    General Feat: Toughness

o    Skill Increase: Nature (E)

o    Suggested Spells: 2nd – clawsong, enlarge, oaken resilience

o    Gear: goz mask

LEVEL 4

o    Class Feat: Basic Wizard Spellcasting

o    Skill Feat: Train Animal

o    Gear: cloak of gnawing leaves, goz mask, brooch of shielding, ring of sigils

LEVEL 5

o    Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +0, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +4, Wis +4.5, Cha +0)

o    Ancestry Feat: Fey Influence – Unicorn

o    Skill Increase: Acrobatics (T), Arcana (E)

o    Suggested Spells: 3rd – feet to fins, haste, sand form

o    Gear: animal staff, cloak of gnawing leaves, mage’s hat, goz mask, ring of discretion, ring of sigils

Call of the Wild ensures that Vannifar won’t be running out of summoning spells while also being important for a future feat that she’ll want. She then starts developing her wizard archetype with Basic Wizard Spellcasting. While the spells from this will scale at the same rate as her druid spells, it still uses her Intelligence, which will eventually lag behind her Wisdom and thus leave her with a lower DC for such spells. Her skill feats help her bring animals under her sway, between Tame Animal and Train Animal so that she can use them for her experiments – or she can use this on the final products of such projects. She does start applying those works to herself with the Fey Influence ancestry feat. While she doesn’t inherently have any unicorn mixed with her, I do think she gets the most use out of the unicorn influence and the concept otherwise fits her. Toughness also suits Vanni since both of her cards have a higher toughness, and a decent one at that, than they do power. For spells, she’s mainly looking for effects to enhance or empower her creatures, based on the +1/+1 counters spread by her ‘Vannifar, Enigma Evolved’ card. Ones that stood out to me in this block are enlarge, oaken resilience, and haste though I think feet to fins, clawsong, and sand form are also all appropriate – they’re simply a bit more situational.

LEVEL 6

o    Class Feat: Arcane School Spell

o    Skill Feat: Slippery Prey

o    Spellbook: 2nd – final sacrifice

o    Gear: +1 leather, animal staff, shapespeak mask, cloak of gnawing leaves, goz mask, brooch of shielding

LEVEL 7

o    General Feat: Prescient Planner

o    Skill Increase: Nature (M)

o    Spell Suggestions: 4th – elemental gift, enhance senses, mountain resilience, tortoise and the hair

o    Gear: fluid form staff, +1 leather, tlil mask, shapespeak mask, cloak of gnawing leaves, mage’s hat

LEVEL 8

o    Class Feat: Oozemorph Dedication

o    Skill Feat: Quick Recognition

o    Spellbook: 3rd – temporal twin

o    Gear: cloak of thirsty fronds, druid’s crown, fluid form staff, +1 leather, shapespeak mask, alchemist goggles

LEVEL 9

o    Ancestry Feat: Elven Instincts

o    Skill Increase: Arcana (M)

o    Suggested Spells: 5th – blessing of defiance, chameleon coat, flame dancer, grisly growths, moon frenzy

o    Gear: +1 resilient leather, cloak of thirsty fronds, ring of sustenance, fluid form staff, tlil mask, conundrum spectacles

LEVEL 10

o    Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +0, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +4.5, Wis +5, Cha +0)

o    Class Feat: Disturbing Defense

o    Skill Feat: Quick Squeeze

o    Gear: greater arboreal boots, +1 resilient leather, wand of hybrid form (3rd-rank), cloak of thirsty fronds, fluid form staff, druid’s crown

Through the Arcane School Spell, Vanni can start running some experiments on her adversaries though with less than desirable effects from their point of view. With that under her belt, she can start taking a second archetype, and does so with the Oozemorph Dedication to reference the Ooze creature typing of her cards. She delves deeper into that dedication with Disturbing Defense. Slippery Prey and Quick Squeeze also plays into that idea, letting her squeeze her fluid form into crevices and out of the grip of others even if she doesn’t invest into Acrobatics all that much. Quick Recognition is a callback to her premaster build but something she still might be able to make some use out of as a wizard. Her general feat for the block is Prescient Planner inspired by the army she had prepared prior to the invasion from Nicol Bolas. This same preparation lends to the use of Elven Instincts and let her get the jump on foes and get minions in between her and her foes.

From her wizard spells, final sacrifice is going to be important for ‘Prime Speaker Vannifar’ to sacrifice a creature so that she can make way for another. Similarly important is temporal twin to recreate the effects of her ‘Replicate’ card. She draws on a whole bunch of different buffing spells in this block and I want to call particular attention to the likes of elemental gift, mountain resilience, flame dancer, and moon frenzy. For a more offensive spell, she can use grisly growths to afflict enemies with unwanted mutations.

LEVEL 11

o    General Feat: Prescient Consumable

o    Skill Increase: Crafting (E)

o    Gear: greater fluid form staff, greater arboreal boots, greater mage’s hat, +1 resilient leather, cloak of thirsty fronds, ring of sustenance

LEVEL 12

o    Class Feat: Primal Summons

o    Skill Feat: Magical Crafting

o    Gear: +2 resilient leather, greater fluid form staff, living mantle, greater arboreal boots, wand of hybrid form (3rd-rank), summoning handscroll

LEVEL 13

o    Ancestry Feat: Ageless Patience

o    Skill Increase: Crafting (M)

o    Suggested Spells: 7th – regenerate, shock to the system

o    Spellbook: 4th – dispelling globe

o    Gear: wand of hybrid form (5th-rank), +2 resilient leather, greater brooch of inspiration, greater fluid form staff, greater arboreal boots, greater mage’s hat

LEVEL 14

o    Class Feat: Expert Wizard Spellcasting

o    Skill Feat: Morphic Manipulation

o    Gear: propulsive boots, wand of hybrid form (5th-rank), sharkskin robe, +2 resilient leather, greater fluid form staff, living mantle

LEVEL 15

o    Ability Boosts: +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +0, Dex +4, Con +3, Int +5, Wis +5.5, Cha +1)

o    General Feat: Fast Recovery

o    Skill Increase: Deception (T), Medicine (E)

o    Gear: +2 greater resilient leather, propulsive boots, greater submersible helm, major animal staff, greater brooch of inspiration, bravery baldric (greater healthful)

Vanni finally builds out of Call of the Wild with Primal Summons, which gives her a buffing effect that she can apply to her summoning spells before they even fully come into being.  Expert Wizard Spellcasting gets her some more spells and is mainly looking for other buffing spells or heightening the ones that she already has. Magical Crafting will help Vanni makes the tools that she needs to run her experiments, which we see her extend to plants through the Morphic Manipulation feat. Prescient Consumable expands on her Prescient Planner, and then she grabs Fast Recovery based on the fact that MtG creatures recover from damage at the end of each round, swiftly healing up. She gets some more defensive buffing sort of spells with regenerate and shock to the system while her wizard spells give her access to dispelling globe inspired by the Ward effect placed on creatures that her ‘Vannifar, Evolved Enigma’ card summons as it makes it harder to target such creatures with spells.

LEVEL 16

o    Class Feat: Rubbery Skin

o    Skill Feat: Graft Technician

o    Gear: greater countering charm, +2 greater resilient leather, major fluid form staff, propulsive boots, wand of hybrid form (5th-rank), sharkskin robe

LEVEL 17

o    Ancestry Feat: Fey Transcendence

o    Skill Increase: Arcana (L)

o    Gear: wand of hybrid form (7th-rank), greater countering charm, greater thunderblast slippers, +2 greater resilient leather, propulsive boots, greater submersible helm

LEVEL 18

o    Class Feat: Master Wizard Spellcasting

o    Skill Feat: Inventor

o    Spellbook: 7th – duplicate foe

o    Gear: coronet of stars, greater dinosaur boots, wand of hybrid form (7th-rank), greater countering charm, +2 greater resilient leather, fluid form staff

LEVEL 19

o    General Feat: Diehard

o    Skill Increase: Medicine (M)

o    Gear: +3 greater resilient leather, coronet of stars, major alchemist goggles, wand of hybrid form (7th-rank), greater thunderblast slippers, greater countering charm

LEVEL 20

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +1, Dex +4, Con +4, Int +5, Wis +6, Cha +2)

o    Class Feat: Effortless Concentration

o    Skill Feat: Influence Nature

o    Gear: cloak of waves and clouds, +3 greater resilient leather, major staff of nature’s vengeance, coronet of stars, greater dinosaur boots, wand of hybrid form (7th-rank)

This final book closes out with a class feat from each of her available sources. She starts with Rubbery Skin from her oozemorph archetype just to make her more of a slime, takes Master Wizard Spellcasting for duplicate foe as it resembles her ‘Replicate’ but can target enemies, and finally Effortless Concentration. This is pretty much a necessity for a build that focuses on summoning as much as Vannifar does. She took a detour into Medicine at the tail end of the last block for the sake of taking Graft Technician. This might be the most Simic skill feat remotely available and it’s entirely possible that I should have taken it earlier. She’ll be able to use Inventor to help her come up with grafts or other devices as necessary and finishes out with Influence Nature as her skill feat given the role of the Simic within Ravnica. Fey Transcendence gives Vanni some more, literal self-development and alteration while Diehard just matches with some of the other defenses that she’s been investing in.

FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Vannifar fairs quite nicely in a free archetype game where she doesn’t have her two archetypes feats competing with her druid feats – or even each other, quite as much. This could allow her to pick up Arcane Breadth for more spells as well as Basic Arcana for Counterspell, which is a common capability of the blue color in Magic. From the oozemorph archetype, she can hopefully get some good use out of Ooze Empathy and Peculiar Anatomy. Even with all that, she should be able to grab some druid feats such as those that take advantage of her untamed order, Explosive Metamorphosis to aid some offense to her support, and maybe even a proper capstone feat since she’ll be able to take Effortless Concentration normally.

BUILD CONCLUSION

Prime Speaker Vannifar is an ancient elf druid of the untamed order and student of magic. As an ancient elf, she can pick up the Wizard Dedication while serving the purpose of the Simic with her role as a druid and feats such as Influence Nature. Vannifar induces adaptation and evolution in her subjects and allies alike with everything from Graft Technician to spells such as enlarge, primal summons, and feet to fins. Her own experiments have left her with the Oozemorph Dedication and a surprisingly resilient body - as well as a splash of unicorn in her make-up though that's unique to this build. Per her Prime Speaker Vannifar card, we can 'sacrifice' a summon with final sacrifice and follow that up with any of the numerous summoning spells that the druid will allow her to access, which is further enhanced by her Call of the Wild feat. This summoning still works for her Evolved Enigma card though she uses her wizard archetype to pick up dispelling globe based on the Ward effect that she grants to creatures she summons to the battlefield. A whole host of buffing spells such as haste, runic body, and Kgalaserke's axes cover the +1/+1 counters that she also spreads around. When it comes time to Replicate an ally, temporal twin can aid with that while duplicate foe lets her make a mimic of an adversary to fight for her instead.

Attuned to adaptation and alteration, this ambiguously aligned arcanist augments allies, animals, and abnormalities in an attempt to achieve absolute apotheosis.

Please let me know what you think and what other builds you'd 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 a YouTube channel filled with video formats of these blog posts. Be sure to vote on the next rebuild over on the Discord or YT, and get your sunglasses ready for the next build that I intended to illuminate.

Have a fantastic Friday!