The Mind Thief

Character Concept

Planning

There are actually surprisingly few abilities or spells in the game that hurt the target's ability to succeed on saving throws. They are generally reserved for concentration spells or specific class abilities. Since most save-or-suck spells also require concentration, we are going to have to lean heavily on class abilities and the few non-concentration spells that fit this category.

In terms of non-concentration spells, there are none better than Mind Sliver. It takes an action, but it requires an INT save (generally the worst save for monsters) and it's a cantrip. Plus the effect lasts until the end of your next turn, making it perfect for setting up a spell the following round.

There are a few abilities scattered around multiple classes but here are the highlights: Unsettling Words (College of Eloquence Bard), Hound of Ill Omen (Shadow Magic Sorcerer), and Cosmic Omen (Circle of Stars Druid). Cosmic Omen is nice but requires a 6 level investment for something that will only reduce enemy save rolls 50% of the time. Not to mention it is the only WIS-based caster of the 3 and the other two are CHA-based. So we're better off focusing on the other two classes and trying to get the most out of them. Unsettling Words scales well with Bardic Inspiration dice so that's something to consider, but we get the ability pretty early so we may be better off focusing on Sorcerer to get more high level spells.

Level 1

A lot of our main spells are going to be concentration-based so we want to get CON save proficiency as soon as possible. There's no easier way than starting as a Sorcerer at level 1. As for race, we want to get our CHA as high as possible to get our spell DC up. The best way to do this is to take Custom Lineage and take a half-feat that will boost CHA. None of the options are essential for the build, but I suggest Fey Touched (CHA) and taking Bane as our level 1 spell. This can potentially help if we have a non-concentration spell that we really want to land or if we need one of our allies' save abilities to land. If that doesn't sound like something that will be useful, take one of the other options instead (maybe Telekinetic or Telepathic, both are very useful).

For stats, I suggest:

• STR: 8
• DEX: 14
• CON: 14
• INT: 10
• WIS: 10
• CHA: 15 (+2)

With our half-feat bonus, we will have 18 CHA at level one. For spells, take Mind Sliver and pretty much anything else you'd like. We won't have any of our save-or-suck spells until level 3 so just try to stay alive until then. Shield is a good option that remains useful forever.

Levels 2-3

At level 2, we'll get sorcery points. These are very important for our build but right now they can only be used to create spell slots.

Level 3 is where we start to get some fun stuff. First, we get metamagic which can be immensely useful. We only get to pick two out of the many metamagic options but there are two options that are perfect for our build so it's an easy choice. First, Quickened Spell is going to be situationally useful if we want to cast Mind Sliver on the same turn as a save-or-suck spell that costs an action. This will probably happen when the enemy saves against Mind Sliver on the previous round and we have nothing better to do with our bonus action. Second, Heightened Spell is a nice debuff but it is expensive and only lasts for the first save against a spell and only for one target. Probably best to avoid using this on spells that allow multiple saves or have multiple targets.

At level 3 we also get our first powerful save-or-suck spell, Hold Person. If we're fighting humanoids, this is going to be our go-to spell for a long time. Giving your melee allies automatic critical hits against a target is incredibly strong. Unfortunately, it only works against humanoids so if you're fighting anything else, you'll want a backup. Phantasmal force is a fun option. Crown of Madness is fun, too, but also only affects humanoids.

Levels 4-6

We're goind to stick with Sorcerer all the way to 6. This will give us access to level 3 spells and the subclass feature we're really here for. At level 4, we get an ASI and can boost our CHA to 20. Our save DC is going to be as high as it can get now.

At level 5, we get access to level 3 spells. Our best option here is Hypnotic Pattern. This can be a combat-ending spell if enough enemies fail the save against it. Other great options are Major Image and Slow. These all affect multiple creatures so they won't always work on every target, but you can increase the odds of a single target being affected with Mind Sliver. You can also use Quickened Spell with Mind Sliver to reduce the saves on two different enemies before casting one of these.

Finally, at level 6 we get the feature we came for, Hound of Ill Omen. This allows us to give one enemy target disadvantage on all saving throws against our spells. This includes the initial save and any follow-up saves. It's also only a bonus action and doesn't count as a spell so we can use it on the same turn as a big spell. Unfortunately, the hound is relatively weak and easy to kill otherwise so make the most of it while you have it. It also costs 3 sorcery points which is half of our max. Use it sparingly and only against high threat enemies that you really need to lock down.

Levels 7-9

Now we are going to dip into Bard to get our last essential ability. Along the way, we'll pick up some nice spells to add to our toolkit. At level 7, we get Bardic Inspiration which is nice for boosting our allies if we have nothing better to do with our bonus action. We can also pick up the spells Dissonant Whispers and Tasha's Hideous Laugher. Dissonant Whispers is a really great spell that can give our allies attacks of opportunity and adds some battlefield control. Tasha's Hideous Laughter is a decent save-or-suck spell to remove almost any enemy from combat (it doesn't work if their INT is 4 or lower).

At level 8, we get Jack of All Trades and Song of Rest. They're nice for utility but nothing amazing for this build.

Finally, at level 9 we get our Bardic College and we are going College of Eloquence. The level 3 features for this subclass are amazing. First, Silver Tongue: any Persuasion or Deception roll can't be lower than a 10. Since we're probably the party face, that will come in handy quite often (about 45% of the time). But more importantly, we get Unsettling Words which allows us to use Bardic Inspiration to reduce an enemy's saving throw roll by our Bardic Inspiration die. You should also pick up some nice level 2 spells we didn't already get like Heat Metal and Suggestion.

At this point, we can collectively reduce an enemy's saving throw by 1d4 (Mind Sliver) + 1d6 (Unsettling Words) and give them disadvantage on the roll. With disadvantage, the average roll on a d20 goes from 10.5 to 7.17 effectively reducing the roll by more then 3 on average. Total it together and we get an average of 9.33 penalty to an enemy's save! With our save DC of 17 at level 9, assuming a +4 save (which is generous at this level for most saves) we have an 80% chance of landing our big spell. That's really quite good when you take into account how often this will make combat significantly easier or trivialize it altogether.

Levels 10+

There's a question we need to answer to determine how we spend the rest of our levels. Do we want to gain access to higher level spells? Or would we rather boost our save reduction capabilities. If we want higher level spells, just take sorcerer levels the rest of the way. Otherwise, increasing our Bardic Inspiration die is the best way to keep our enemies rolling low. There's a middle option of taking two more levels in Bard to get Font of Inspiration and a d8 Inspiration die and then stick to Sorcerer.

I would probably go with Sorcerer from here on out for the higher level spells and sorcery points but make the choice that is right for you.

Notable higher level spells:

• Banishment
• Dominate Beast/Person/Monster
• Polymorph/Mass Polymorph
• Sickening Radiance
• Hold Monster
• Synaptic Static
• Disintegrate
• Mental Prison
• Psychic Scream

Analysis

I can't think of another build with the ability to cripple an enemy's saving throws better than this one. If your goal is to drop some powerhouse spells that will define combat, then this build is going to create some very memorable moments. You can also have some fun out of combat using Unsettling Words and other non-combat abilities like Charm Person. Major Image and Phantasmal Force also have some great utility that pairs nicely with Unsettling Words.

Some things to consider before trying this build:

• Your Hound of Ill Omen is not very survivable. Make sure to use it when it's not likely to get taken out quickly by a dragon's breath attack or a Fireball spell.
• Your fellow players might feel like you're hogging the spotlight both in and out of combat.
• There's a lot of resources and lasting spell effects to keep track of (spell slots, sorcery points, Bardic Inspiration, Mind Sliver, etc.)
• While the build doesn't really suffer at any level, the core build comes online rather late for most games.