Brews

I'm really hoping I get a chance to play this build in a game. It's probably not the highest damage build out there but as most experienced players will tell you, the most useful spells control the battlefield and I think that is exactly what this build excels at. And on top of that, it is able to do it consistently and probably in just about every combat encounter.

The weakness of this build is that it lacks control against enemies that are Huge or Gargantuan. In my experience, you don't come across those sizes all that often. But if you do, you still have plenty of spells at your disposal with this build. I would suggest if you're going up against an ancient dragon that you probably want to hang back and lob spells instead of trying to get up on the front lines and smack it with your Warhammer. On the other hand, it's probably a bit easier to keep really large monsters in your area spells since they just need to have one square in the space to qualify. Either way, have fun with it.

It's taken me a while to wrap my head around some of the changes made in the 2024 Player's Handbook. One of the more impactful changes, of course, was the addition of Weapon Masteries which gives martial characters a lot more utility and flavor. These are great at controlling the battlefield in a variety of ways. But, of course, how you and your party take advantage of this additional level of control is the main point. That's where the idea for this build came from. I wanted to make a character that could take that level of control and really lean into it with spells. It plays on an old build but uses some new tricks that weren't really possible before. Using Pact of the Blade, Weapon Masteries, and AOE spells, it attempts to control the battle and lock down opponents into no-win scenarios.

So the goal here is to be able to create zones using spells that we can then try to knock enemies into. At the same time, we are going to use Booming Blade to force them to decide whether they'd rather stay in the spell's effect or move out and take thunder damage from moving. We'll also try to use spells that cause their effect when a creature "enters" the effect on "a turn" or starts/ends their turn there. This gives us several opportunities to trigger the effect and means if we can do it simply by pushing them in, they don't need to willingly move there. Since we'll be using both spells and weapons, we have some limited options but none better than a Pact of the Blade Warlock. However, we do want some additional proficiencies and Weapon Masteries so a Fighter dip gives us a lot (plus CON save proficiency).

Planning

Level 1

At level 2, things get much more interesting. We jump over to Warlock and get a lot for it. We get some cantrips. One of which should be Booming Blade. The other should probably be Eldritch Blast for cases where you can't get close to an enemy. For spells, there's nothing necessary but Armor of Agathys and Hellish Rebuke are both useful for a front-liner. The Invocation is what we're really interested in, though. As I mentioned, we really want Pact of the Blade so we can use CHA for weapon attacks. We can also summon either a Warhammer or Whip for just a bonus action if we don't happen to have a magical weapon we want to use.

We already have access to the basics of the build at this point. All we need to do is use Booming Blade on an enemy with our Warhammer. If they're Large or smaller (so most enemies), they'll get knocked back and have to move closer if they're a melee enemy.

Level 2

Things only get more fun from here on out. Warlock 2 gives us 2 more Invocations which are amazing. We're definitely not starved for options here. I think our best choices are probably Pact of the Chain and Repelling Blast (Booming Blade). Repelling Blast is very interesting here because in the previous rules it only applied to Eldritch Blast. This is still often the best choice. However, since we are planning on making copious use of Booming Blade and want to knock our enemies far away from us, this makes our knockback extra potent. Pact of the Chain allows us to get an imp familiar which can be invisible, is great at scouting, and can give us advantage on our Booming Blade attack in combat so we can hit more reliably. Also interesting note here: if you have a familiar, they roll their own initiative so you can use the Alert feat to swap initiative with them. Use this to your advantage.

If you don't like either of those (or if you have some other reliable source of advantage), other notable alternatives include Eldritch Mind, Lessons of the First Ones (to pick up one of the Origin Feats you don't have like Tough or Alert), or Otherworldly Leap (for some extra movement and easy positioning).

Level 3

We get a subclass at Warlock 3 and I think the best choice for this build is The Fiend. Extra temporary hit points, a great spell list which includes some spells that compliment our build, and some excellent defensive features really help round out our character. Let's not forget we also get 2nd level spells here. I think the must-haves for this build are Cloud of Daggers and Misty Step. Cloud of Daggers plays well with our strategy and Misty Step is just great utility.

So now we want to cast Cloud of Daggers on top of an enemy and whenever they move out of it, we try to knock them right back into it with a Booming Blade Push/Repelling Blast. We only want to use the Magic action to move the Cloud if we absolutely have to because it forces us to give up our Booming Blade attack. Generally, if I had to choose between the two, I'd probably pick Booming Blade over moving the Cloud because it would be more control and possibly more damage.

Level 4

This can be a rough level because other characters are getting Extra Attack or 3rd level spells here and we don't get either of those. However, I think we'll still do OK since our main goal is not damage but control and we can do that just fine with a cantrip. We do get an ASI/Feat here and I think our best option is Telekinetic. This gives us a few things that will really help. First, it rounds out our CHA to 18, giving us a +4 to our attacks and higher spell save DC (for when that comes into play). Second, it gives us something useful to do with our bonus action which, up until now, was not being heavily utilized. It also gives us the Mage Hand cantrip which is nice but probably more of a ribbon feature. The bonus action push will be particularly nice for moving enemies (or allies) into just the right position for us to knock them where we want them.

If you really want another option, War Caster is another good choice. We're planning on taking Eldritch Mind (if you haven't already) but there are other nice things in War Caster. We probably won't be making too much use of the Opportunity Attack because we're trying to knock enemies away. But if you are getting a lot of them at your table, this could be really fun for hitting enemies with Booming Blade on their turn and knocking them 20 feet away as a reaction. Definitely a fun option. The other reason to take War Caster is if you want to cast spells that have Somatic but NOT Material components (since we can cast spells with both using our Pact Weapon). It depends on how often this comes up in your games but very few of the spells I have selected for this build fit that requirement.

Level 5

I consider this the level where the base build kind of ends. We get 3rd level spells and 2 invocations. The 3rd level Fiend spells are perfect so the other spells we pick up are mostly for utility. We can drop Misty Step for Thunder Step unless you've been getting a lot of use from being able to teleport as a bonus action. I think that we don't really have enough pact slots to spare for it, but keep it if you feel the need. And also pick up Fly for additional utility. 

But Fireball and Stinking Cloud from the Fiend spell list are going to be more useful. If you've been having difficulty keeping enemies inside the Cloud of Daggers due to its small area, Stinking Cloud might be a better option. It doesn't deal damage but if they fail their save, they practically lose their turn. Keep in mind it Heavily Obscures the area so it might be hard to hit enemies in it, but I don't think enemies will usually want to stay inside of the area. And if they do, just knock a bunch of enemies into it and blast them with a Fireball. It also only affects creatures that start their turn in the cloud, so feel free to move in and back out if you want to keep hitting enemies with Booming Blade. You'd both be blinded so the advantage and disadvantage cancel out.

As for invocations, again, there are a lot of options. Definitely take Eldritch Mind if you haven't yet (and you didn't take War Caster). We'll need to keep our concentration as reliably as possible. Between CON save proficiency and advantage, it should be rare that we lose concentration. Thirsting Blade is a good choice for situations where you may not want to use Booming Blade for some reason. Another really great option is Gaze of Two Minds if you want excellent scouting potential and also some potential for neat tricks in combat, casting spells from your invisible imp's location and having Devil's Sight (since your imp has it). Other invocations I mentioned previously are also decent options.

Level 6

From this point forward, continue taking levels in Warlock. Fill in any new invocations with whatever you feel like you need at the time. Previous suggestions still stand.

At Warlock 6, Dark One's Own Luck will practically guarantee we keep our concentration on our spells.

At Warlock 7, we pick up even more great area control spells to knock enemies into with Wall of Fire and Sickening Radiance.

At Warlock 8, we can finally round out our DEX by picking up Mage Slayer to get even better saves and better combat casters. If that's not a problem for you, just cap your CHA at 20.

At Warlock 9, Jallarzi’s Storm of Radiance is a fun option.

You get the idea. Grab as many zone control spells as you can and knock your enemies into them for fun and profit. Somewhere along the way, try to cap your CHA if you didn't at level 9.

Level 7 - 20

Whack-a-lock

I tried to keep this build free of spoilers, but if you've gotten this far, I should note that there comes a point in the game where you are able to change your character class, ability scores, etc. If you don't mind doing that, I would probably follow this build up until level 5. At that point, I would put all 5 levels into Monk, take one more, and grab Warlock 1 at level 7. It won't make a massive difference but level 5 and 6 will probably feel a bit smoother.

That being said, I think this build will probably be one of the better damage dealers and front-line combatants in your party for basically the entire game. Ranged combat might be somewhat problematic, though. Eldritch Blast is an option but against anything with a decent AC, you're probably better off with a bow and using your bonus actions to Hide or Dash around to make sure you're always getting Sneak Attack. It won't be as strong but these situations should be pretty rare.

There is a version of this build that goes with Strength for attacks instead of Dexterity and picks up the Tavern Brawler feat. Personally, I think that feat is WAY too strong in BG3 and I suspect it might be nerfed in an upcoming patch. I also like to keep my Monks DEX-based because it fits the theme of the class better. If you'd prefer going the STR route, there are plenty of guides online that you can follow.

Baldur's Gate 3 has changed some rules for Dungeons and Dragons 5E to make them more manageable in video game form. In doing so, they have opened up some options for characters that normally wouldn't be possible in the tabletop game. One notable difference is that they removed stat requirements for multiclassing. That alone makes for some interesting character options. However, several other class or subclass features interact in different ways that can make for some powerful characters. In this build, we'll be trying to create a character that takes advantage of these things to do something both novel and powerful in combat.

Another point that we're going to consider are the resting mechanics. In particular how easy it is to take a short rest. Long rests are easy as well, but short rests only have the limitation that they can occur twice between long rests. They happen immediately with no real downside. So abilities that recover on a short rest can be refreshed quite regularly.

Thankfully, Baldur's Gate 3 implemented the ability to move ability score bonuses from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. That means that we really don't have to worry so much about what race to choose. With BG3 being a specific campaign, race can have a pretty big impact on story and other interactions. I would choose whatever interests you the most. We're not planning on using heavy weapons so even small-sized races are fair game.

Ability scores are an interesting consideration. As mentioned above, BG3 doesn't have requirements for multiclassing so we're pretty free here. We're going to probably want a high DEX and WIS while keeping our CON high enough to stay alive and maintain concentration. Here are my suggestions:

We're going to start out as a Monk. Monks are actually decently strong to start with because they get an extra bonus action attack each turn. They also do quite well without decent equipment so at the start of the game that works in our favor. They do tend to start to fall off quickly if you don't multiclass out or get things like Bracers of Defense to keep them hard to hit.

There isn't really any choice to be made here until level 3 at which point we will be taking the Way of the Open Hand subclass. This gives us some nice options to use along with our Flurry of Blows. Since we're planning on using Flurry of Blows quite often to burst down targets, this is icing on that cake. Use whichever option seems the most useful in the specific situation. Pushing enemies off cliffs is great and some enemies have powerful reaction abilities. However, here is where we come to a notable difference from the tabletop game. In traditional D&D, you need to make your attacks first with your action before you can use Flurry of Blows. In BG3, you can Flurry first. This makes the Flurry of Blows: Topple option very attractive because if they fail their save, your other attacks will have advantage. Unless one of the other scenarios above occur, I would default to the Topple option and always Flurry before my regular attacks.

Level 1 - 3

Here is where things get interesting. Even with an 8 CHA, we can multiclass into Warlock. I would take The Great Old One patron since the first level feature triggers on critical hits and we will be making a lot of attacks so it should happen surprisingly often. Fiend is also a decent choice giving temporary hit points any time you defeat an enemy. They get some nice spells and you could pick up the Eldritch Blast cantrip for those scenarios where you can't quite reach your enemies. Just remember that with a low CHA, the hit chance will be pretty low. But the main reason we're here is for the Hex spell. Hex will add 1d6 to each of our damage rolls. When we're making 3 attacks each turn (when we Flurry) that can add up quickly. Additionally, Hex can be reused throughout the day until the next long rest (another departure from the tabletop which only lasts an hour). And as a Warlock, our spell slots recover on a short rest. So we should have a couple to spare but nothing too special. I'd keep them in case we lose concentration.

We should spend the first round of combat casting Hex and making either melee or ranged attacks. The next round we can start pummeling our Hex target with Flurry of Blows and deal some very nice damage as long as we can maintain concentration.

Next, we really want to increase our pool of Ki points and get Extra Attack. Two more levels in Monk will do a lot for us. At Monk 4 we should bump up our odd ability scores in DEX and WIS, increasing our attack bonus, AC, and ability DC. All great stuff. At Monk 5 we get Extra Attack and Stunning Strike which can be great but it's a CON save which most creatures are decent at. Use it in a pinch but be wary of blowing all your Ki which you need for other stuff.

Then Monk 6 gives us a few awesome features. First, there's the Ki-Empowered Strikes feature so our punches will rarely be resisted. Second, the Manifestation options give us additional damage on each attack with our unarmed strikes on top of Hex. This is a new feature that was added for BG3 and overall gives the Monk substantially more damage (unfortunately only for the Open Hand subclass). Finally, the Wholeness of Body feature is a nice little heal in the tabletop game but in BG3 has some amazing additions. We also get half of our Ki back instantly and for the next 3 rounds we get a Ki point AND an extra Bonus Action.

This makes us an absolute burst damage machine once per long rest. We probably want to just go without weapons from here on out unless we find a particularly great one. So when Wholeness of Body is active, we'll make two attacks with our action, and use Flurry of Blows twice for a total of 6 attacks which all get bonus damage from Hex and our Manifestation. And even when Wholeness of Body isn't active, we're going to have a lot of Ki available. Expect to be making a lot of attacks.

Levels 5 - 7

Once we have our Manifestation and Wholeness of Body , we are going to take a detour but it will absolutely be worth it. A few levels in Rogue are going to do wonders. Sneak Attack damage on prone enemies (if we find a good enough weapon to replace our fists) and Cunning Action options when we need them are both great. The best part about this, though, is the Thief subclass which, again differing from the tabletop, gives us an additional Bonus Action every turn. As of writing this, there is no limitation on what you can use this Bonus Action for, making it incredibly powerful. This means that when we have Wholeness of Body active, we can use Flurry of Blows three times and also use our two attacks with our action. That's 8 attacks per turn for 3 turns every long rest and 6 the rest of the time.

Importantly, this is reliable damage. We should be able to do this through most fights as long as we get a short rest in between. In cases where we might not be able to get a short or long rest between each fight, reducing it to one use of Flurry of Blows per turn is still going to be making more attacks than just about everyone else (5 total) while conserving resources.

Levels 8 - 10

Unfortunately, BG3 only gets up to level 12 but these last two levels aren't going to be game breaking anyway. I would suggest getting another level in Rogue, picking up another ASI boosting either DEX or WIS. Then you can get another level in any of these classes. Monk will get Evasion and Stillness of Mind (which actually does something in BG3). Rogue will get you Uncanny Dodge and increased Sneak Attack damage. Warlock will get you Eldritch Invocations and another spell slot. They're all great and I don't know which one I would choose, honestly. No wrong answer.

Levels 11 - 12

Initial

10th

The Hex Burst

This build can be very fun but, unfortunately, it takes a very long time to get to the best part. It could be done with just a couple levels in Cleric or even forego Cleric altogether, but I think the fun factor really hits the stratosphere once it gets the ability to push almost any enemy 10 feet every turn without a save.

I played this build in a level 20 one-shot and it blew away my expectations. I realize that is a very rare occurrence and a pretty small sample size, but in higher level play (probably level 11+), this character is going to be the MVP of every fight.

The only real weakness of this build is immunity or resistance to lightning and thunder damage. Surprisingly, resistance to both is actually not incredibly common. And the worst case scenario here is that you're just a full caster with plenty of other options available. Not too shabby.

I probably wouldn't try to build this character from level 1. But if a campaign started at level 7 or higher and I knew I would be able to hit at least level 11, I would definitely consider it. If you're doing a level 20 one-shot, look no farther.

An alternate approach to building this character would swap out Sorcerer for Wizard and go with the Order of Scribes Arcane Tradition. The Awakened Spellbook feature allows you to swap damage types of spells you cast without using a resource like Sorcery Points. However, if you read the feature closely, you will notice that it requires another spell of the same spell slot level that has the damage type you want to change to. This becomes tricky at higher levels because you'll need to be sure to have a spell the deals lightning damage at every spell level. You'll probably also want to cover thunder damage in case of immunities. I think the Sorcerer approach is more reasonable even though it uses a resource because it doesn't require you to fill up your spell list with spells you might never actually use and you can also use higher level Cleric spells using your Charisma for casting. But both builds are viable.

Since the Fizban's Treasury of Dragons book came out, I've been intrigued by the Ashardalon's Stride spell. It's a very unique spell but it's not immediately obvious how to get the most out of it. At first glance, it seems to be a mobility and escape spell with some minor damage added onto it. However, there are some interesting things to notice on closer inspection. First, there is no saving throw for the damage. Anyone adjacent to you as you move (unfortunately, this also applies to allies) just takes the damage. Second, it scales pretty well with higher level spell slots, adding another damage die per level AND more movement speed. Third, the wording of the damage states "A creature or object can take this damage only once during a turn." It's an important distinction that this says "a turn" and not "your turn" or "a round". This means that if you could manage to move during someone else's turn, then you can deal the damage at that time. A final minor point is that this is one of a small number of spells that can target objects. Try not to burn any buildings down... unless you want to.

The goal of this build is to take full advantage of the things that make Ashardalon's Stride unique and build around them. Not only can this create an incredibly effective damage dealer, but one that is nearly impossible to pin down and is amazingly mobile and durable. Also, I recognize that the name of this build is The Lightning Rod and the Ashardalon's Stride spell does fire damage. I'll get to that.

Since we are building around a spell, the first thing we need to look at is which classes have access to that spell. Ashardalon's Stride is available to Rangers, Sorcerers, Wizards, and Artificers. We want to be able to upcast it and have lots of spell slots for other things so that means the main considerations are Sorcerers and Wizards. Honestly, either one is viable here and I will go into further detail on this later. However, I think the better choice is Sorcerer for a few reasons. First, we will want to be able to succeed on our concentration checks so CON save proficiency is a huge bonus. Second, the versatility provided by Metamagic options is incredibly useful in a variety of ways. And third, there are some very nice Sorcerer subclass features that will be quite useful.

We'll want to make sure we stay highly mobile and lean into the speed boost from Ashardalon's Stride since the farther we move, the more enemies we can reach and the greater damage we can do. With that in mind, I suggest choosing Orc as our race. They can Dash as a bonus action proficiency bonus times per long rest which is probably all we'll need. They also have the nice benefit of being able to avoid dropping to zero health once per long rest.

Our primary spellcasting class will be Sorcerer so we will want a very high CHA score. We'll also want decent CON and WIS scores for saves and other things. The starting ability scores that I suggest are:

This starts us off with really good CHA and CON. Unfortunately, our AC will be pretty terrible to start with so play it safe.

We get to pick our Sorcerer subclass at level 1 and there are some good options, but I'd suggest Divine Soul. Divine Soul doesn't get as many spells as Clockwork Soul or Aberrant Mind, but we get Favored by the Gods which is an excellent defensive feature which we will almost certainly need. We also get a spell based on our affinity and I suggest Evil which gives us Inflict Wounds, a decent offensive spell. I prefer this option because the others are either competing for our concentration or giving us a mediocre-at-best healing spell.

For spells, definitely take Shield and Absorb Elements for level 1 spells and Fire Bolt or Mind Sliver for cantrips.

For our next couple of levels as Sorcerer we start getting Metamagic features. Level 2 is relatively unremarkable with access to Sorcery Points but no Metamagic. And then at level 3 we get some Metamagic options. We definitely want to pick up Transmuted Spell. It may not come in handy just yet but we don't get to pick another one until level 10 so better to grab it now. Also, Quickened Spell is always useful to squeeze in some more value during a turn.

At level 3, we get 2nd level spells. I'd pick up something offensive since we're very lacking there outside of cantrips. Rime's Binding Ice is fun and could be useful. Unfortunately, it's a CON save but the large area means that if we're up against a mob of enemies, some of them will likely fail. Other good choices would be Vortex Warp, Tasha's Mind Whip or, the classic, Web. Pick whatever feels the most useful for your party.

Levels 2-3

Continuing with levels in Sorcerer, we get an ASI/Feat at 4 and 3rd level spells at 5. Since we have an odd CHA value, it's best to bump this up with a half feat. Probably the best option is Fey Touched (Charisma) and picking up the always useful Misty Step and choosing the (arguably overpowered) Silvery Barbs.

Level 5 is a big deal for this build because we can finally pick up the Ashardalon's Stride spell. It's pretty good right now because it will help us stay out of danger and allow us to deal some decent damage that does not get a save. The damage and movement both scale very well. Other spells I would suggest are Counterspell and Thunder Step.

Ashardalon's Stride is excellent against large numbers of enemies since it can only hit each once per turn. It does spread out your damage but it is incredibly reliable. We can also use our movement to deal damage, use our action to react to an enemy moving near us (or just about anything) and then move again, dealing damage again since Ashardalon's Stride says enemies can take damage only "once during a turn" and this would be on a different turn.

Just be careful about hitting your allies or burning down structures since Ashardalon's Stride does not discriminate against targets.

Levels 4-5

At this point we'll be taking a detour into Cleric. We get some very nice things for this but some are going to take a while. Thankfully, we do get some great stuff right away. We'll be taking the Tempest Domain and they get proficiency in heavy armor. We have too low STR to meet the requirements for any heavy armor. However, the penalty for not meeting those requirements is a reduction of speed by 10 feet. That's pretty insignificant when we have a spell that will more than offset that. It's an especially small price to pay when we can increase our AC from 10 to 20 if we are wearing plate armor and a shield.

We also get Wrath of the Storm which is an OK way to punish enemies for hitting us but we likely won't get a ton of use out of it. Pick whatever Cleric spells fill gaps in your spell list. But remember that anything offensive is going to use your WIS modifier to cast so best to stick with defensive spells.

At level 7 we'll take our second level in Cleric and pick up a truly great ability in Channel Divinity: Destructive Wrath. This pairs very well with our Transmuted Spell Metamagic. We can make any spell deal lightning or thunder damage and then just take the maximum damage on that roll. This works best for area of effect spells that only have one damage roll. Thunder Step is an excellent candidate for this because we won't need to use Metamagic and it deals area damage while teleporting us out of danger. It is fantastic to say the least.

Level 6-7

We'll be sticking with Cleric up to level 11. There isn't a whole lot to get excited about on the way there other than higher level spell slots and some defensive or supportive Cleric spells. I don't think any Cleric spells are required but I'll suggest some to consider. Revivify, Motivational Speech, and Aid are all great spells to support your party and keep them alive.

We'll also get an ASI or Feat at Cleric 4. I suggest either Lucky or Resilient (Wisdom). Lucky is more versatile but is more limited use. I'd take Resilient (Wisdom) if you seem to be failing a lot of Wisdom saves.

Finally we reach Cleric 6 and we get the feature we came all this way for: Thunderbolt Strike. Use Transmuted Spell to turn Ashardalon's Stride into lightning damage and suddenly every enemy you run past gets pushed back 10 feet. They don't even get a save. The only limitation is it only works on enemies up to Large size. That will cover most enemies in the game. If you're fighting larger creatures, Ashardalon's Stride is probably not the way to go anyway. This creates some amazing synergy with the rest of your party and your area damage spells because you can force enemies into a tight group and then Thunder Step away, maximizing damage with Destructive Wrath. We also get a second use of Channel Divinity at this level so you can pull off this move twice per short rest.

Levels 8-11

To finish off this build, just go back to Sorcerer to get higher level slots, more Sorcery Points, and eventually permanent flight if you happen to reach level 20.

You'll also pick up a couple ASIs or Feats. Use one to cap your Charisma and the other one to get Resilient (Wisdom) or Lucky (whichever one you didn't already get).

Levels 12+

11th

The Lightning Rod

This build is fantastic at controlling the battlefield and supporting allies as they take down enemies one-by-one. It's very heavily dependent on the Frightened condition, though, so things like undead and dragons will probably require a different approach. Thankfully, you should have plenty of other spells available to cover those bases.

Survivability in encounters where some enemies might be dishing out high levels of damage is a real concern so I highly recommend using some Sorcery Points for Bastion of Law and trying to keep some temporary HP at all times. It shouldn't be too hard between Armor of Agathys and Form of Dread. In fact, against melee attacking enemies, going toe-to-toe and keeping a high level Armor of Agathys could be the right move.

If you're trying to play defensively, moving in and using Dragon Fear then escaping with Misty Step is a solid strategy that should keep you mostly out of danger, especially if some of the enemies fail their save.

Since you'll have really good coverage for Frightened (especially if you picked up Fear), focus spell selection on other conditions or focused damage. Be wary of area-of-effect damage because dealing damage to Dragon Fear-ed enemies will give them more saves. Try to keep them Frightened for as long as possible while you and your party wear down anyone who isn't affected.

Your party will love you as much as your enemies will fear you and try to work on strategies together that synergize.

Conditions in Dungeons and Dragons can be quite powerful when used effectively. The Frightened condition in particular strikes a solid balance of power and ease of use. Anyone affected by this condition has disadvantage on all attacks and ability checks while they can see the source of their fear and can't willingly move closer to it. There are plenty of ways to cause the Frightened condition and its effects can be enough to significantly turn the tides of battle if you can keep it up. The challenge then becomes keeping the Frightened condition active on as many enemies as possible for as long as possible. There is another substantial issue when building around this, or really any, condition. Condition immunities are a real thing and Frightened has plenty of enemies that cannot be affected by it. So you'll need a fallback plan so you can still be effective in those cases where you're fighting undead or similarly unshakeable foes.

We want to lean heavily toward Frightening opponents, but as a strategy, not a crutch. To get this level of flexibility, the best option is to be a full caster. Out of all the casters, there is really only one subclass that reliably can inflict the Frightened condition. That is the Undead patron Warlock. Unfortunately, Warlocks don't get a lot of spell slots and are especially limited with casting at higher levels, but a single level of Warlock is an incredibly low investment for what we're getting. We'll want at least 13 CHA to be able to multiclass Warlock. So we might as well go with a Charisma-based caster. I think there are several reasons to go with Sorcerer over Bard or even just sticking with Warlock. Generally, we will get more spell versatility through Metamagic and additional spells as we level.

There is one other way to cause the Frightened condition that I really want to include in this build and that is the feat Dragon Fear. This is quite strong in a number of ways, but I'll explain that when we get there.

If we want to use the Dragon Fear feat, that means that we have to choose Dragonborn as our race. There are several subrace options to choose from that were released in Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. In addition, each subrace has a choice of color of Dragonborn. There are plenty of good options. The one option that is not recommended is the original Dragonborn from the Player's Handbook. That one has a Breath Weapon feature that functions differently and doesn't work well with our build. Ultimately, I would likely choose the Topaz Gem Dragonborn because it has resistance to necrotic damage, which I think is thematically fitting, and gets limited flight at level 5.

Since we will be focusing on CHA-based spellcasting, I suggest these starting ability scores:

This leaves us with a very low AC and not much way to increase it. Dropping WIS in exchange for DEX is an option, but, generally, failing WIS saving throws is much worse than getting hit by attacks or failing DEX saves. We will have plenty of defensive options and if we're causing enemies to be Frightened then they should have a harder time hitting us, but it's certainly something to be aware of. Play safe, especially at the early levels.

Our first level will be in Warlock and our patron will be Undead. This is sort of where this build gets its name and flavor-wise a dracolich would make an excellent patron. Just make sure your party Paladin doesn't find out. The first-level feature, Form of Dread, is excellent and scales quite well with Proficiency Bonus uses per day. It will also be our first method of causing the Frightened condition. When activated, one attack per round has a chance to Frighten an enemy! This is great and we also get some extra survivability on top of it in the form of temporary HP.

As for spells, definitely take the Eldritch Blast cantrip. We can use it to activate our Form of Dread's Frighten effect and it pairs very well since it adds additional attacks as we level, thus allowing more chances to hit if we happen to miss. Armor of Agathys doesn't stack HP with our Form of Dread but it will be a nice way to refresh those temporary HP when they run out and it scales very well. Since we might be getting hit a lot, it actually synergizes well with our low AC. And then I'd probably take Bane because it will help keep enemies from successfully saving against our fear effects.

If you're feeling bold, you can use your Breath Weapon. But be careful, you're a little squishy.

Unfortunately, there isn't much left for us in Warlock. So we're jumping ship and taking levels in Sorcerer now. There are really only two options for subclass here, either Clockwork Soul or Aberrant Mind. Other subclasses get substantially less spells and while I would like to take the Draconic Bloodline, it just doesn't give us much. I would choose Clockwork Soul because the selection of spells is likely better and the abilities are quite defensive. In addition to the spells we get from Clockwork Soul (Alarm and Protection from Evil and Good), we should pick up Shield and Silvery Barbs. They're both going to help us stay alive and we'll probably need them. Keep in mind that we can swap out our Clockwork Spells for any Abjuration or Transmutation spells of the same level. We'll be doing that plenty later.

Restore Balance is also a great feature which we can use either offensively or defensively as needed.

Next, we'll be Sorcerer 2 and get Sorcery Points. They're not really useful until next level, though. There's another spell we may want to take at this level, though. There is an oft-overlooked feature of the Frightened condition that can be utilized in combat and that is the disadvantage on ability checks. Generally ability checks aren't common in combat, but some spells require ability checks to overcome. Silent Image is one of these and it is actually really useful (depending on your DM). Targets need to make Investigation checks to determine that this image is an illusion and they'll have disadvantage on these checks if they're Frightened and can see us. They need to see us, though, so maybe making an illusory wall won't work. Check with your DM to see what they'll let you do with this.

At level 4 we will take Sorcerer 3 and get Metamagic. Of course, this changes a lot of things. We'll probably want to be making attacks (likely Eldritch Blast) with our action to trigger our Form of Dread so Quickened Spell will let us cast spells like Silent Image with our Bonus Action. Careful Spell is probably also a good option to protect our allies from some of our area spells. We'll also get 2nd level spells and I would recommend Web or Misty Step. Web also requires an ability check to escape so it gains the same synergies as Silent Image. Misty Step is just a great all-around mobility spell that will absolutely come in useful all the time. It's probably worth taking both of these here and we can do that if we trade Shield for one of them and then swap out Alarm for Shield since it's an Abjuration spell and thus applies for Clockwork Magic. We could have swapped Alarm for Shield last level, but we didn't have any other 1st level spells we really needed.

Levels 3 - 4

Level 5 is a great level for us and it's where this build starts to really come together. We get an ASI or Feat and we'll be picking up the Dragon Fear feat I mentioned earlier. This Feat was somewhat forgettable when it was first introduced, but has since gotten quite a lot better for a few reasons. First, the new Dragonborn variants have more reliable use of their Breath Weapon. Second, they can use it as one of their attacks when they take the Attack action. Third, the newer rules for ability scores at character creation make it easier to create a Dragonborn that works well as a CHA-based character.

Add all of these factors together and it's a very nice Feat. We won't be taking advantage of using it as part of an Attack action in this build but the other points are very nice. At this level, we will have 3 uses of our Breath Weapon per long rest. Depending on your table, that might mean it's usable in every combat but I would imagine at the very least it will be usable in MOST fights. 

One very nice part of the effect from Dragon Fear is that if the target fails the initial save, they are Frightened for an entire minute, 10 rounds, and only get to repeat the save if they take damage. If we can be strategic with our party and placement of your Dragon Fear, we can keep some enemies affected for entire encounters. It's incredible. The +1 CHA is icing on the cake.

On top of that, we get to fly for one minute per long rest. Nice for when we really need to be out of reach or get somewhere important. And we get one new spell. I would suggest Tasha's Mind Whip and probably swap out Silent Image for Phantasmal Force if you're getting some good mileage out of illusions. Tasha's Mind Whip can be absolutely debilitating to our enemies and, when combined with Frightened, pretty much makes most enemies completely useless. It also scales quite well and targets a very weak save for most enemies.

Sixth level is where the base of this build ends. We get 3rd level spells and of course we're going to grab Fear. It's a solid spell for any build and perfectly fits our theme. If you already feel like you have enough coverage between your other abilities, I'd probably grab Hypnotic Pattern. It gives us coverage for when enemies are immune to the Frightened condition. There does tend to be some overlap between immunities to these two conditions, but versatility doesn't hurt.

That's pretty much all there is to this build and these strategies stay effective against anything that's not immune to being Frightened all the way up to high level content. From here, I would suggest continuing with Sorcerer. At level 7, you'll get Bastion of Law which is a great defensive ability and there are plenty of other reasons to stick with Sorcerer. More Sorcery Points and higher level spells being the most important.

That being said, I could absolutely see going back for another level in Warlock to pick up some Eldritch Invocations. In particular, Misty Visions is quite nice, allowing you to cast Silent Image as often as you like. If your DM has given you a lot of creative freedom with this spell, I would probably go this route and then go back to Sorcerer.

I can't imagine taking any other classes unless you have a very particular build in mind like a College of Swords Bard to become more effective in melee, but that's beyond the focus of this build.

As for ASI / Feats, I'd try to get CHA to 20 and take Resilient (Wisdom) at some point. Beyond that, it's dealer's choice.

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