‘X’ Marks the Spot – Let’s Play D&D with Indiana Jones
Don’t leave your hat behind! This week’s D&D sheets belong in a museum as we play Dungeons and Dragons with Indiana Jones and Short Round.
Over the weekend Harrison Ford and Ke Huy Quan had one of the most heartwarming reunions in cinematic history.
How it started vs. how it’s going ➡️ an Indiana Jones reunion at the #D23Expo.
(📷: @Lucasfilm and #KeHuyQuan on Instagram) pic.twitter.com/D91kAoj3oK
— IMDb (@IMDb) September 12, 2022
It was truly a delightful moment, and it got us thinking that Indiana Jones is a nearly perfect Dungeons and Dragons character. He has all of the classic D&D player character elements. Ridiculous abilities for what should be a pretty mundane person? Check. That “I shall woo the NPC” energy? Check. Actual dungeons to crawl through for literal treasure? Check. And right now none of us can forget Ke Huy Quan or Shorty, so let’s just make it official. This week we’re playing D&D with…
Indiana Jones
Starting right at the top, I decided against making this character human. He is, yeah, but since the movies take place in a world only inhabited by humans and D&D has a pretty wide choice of intelligent races we have some options. In the end, I chose tabaxi for the dexterity and charisma boosts. His near misses and quick reflexes are very cat-like, even if the human character seems more like a dog person. After that Rogue Inquisitive was an obvious choice based on the official description alone.
“As an archetypal Inquisitive, you excel at rooting out secrets and unraveling mysteries. You rely on your sharp eye for detail, but also on your finely honed ability to read the words and deeds of other creatures to determine their true intent. You excel at defeating creatures that hide among and prey upon ordinary folk, and your mastery of lore and your sharp eye make you well equipped to expose and end hidden evils.”
Rooting out secrets, unraveling mysteries, mastery over lore, and exposing hidden evils is Indie to a T and are basically his job as an archaeologist. Well, a movie archaeologist, I think any in the real world make take issue with how he does his work. That said, he calls himself an archaeologist so that had to be his background.
This move almost but not quite working is why I didn’t give him a boost in sleight of hand in proficiencies or expertise.
The glaring issue here was, of course, Indiana Jones needs a whip proficiency and doesn’t get one from either this race or this class, and after a little bit of searching it didn’t seem like any amount of duel classing would result in a whip proficiency. Way of the Kensei Monk would give me the option to gain proficiency in any two weapons I wanted, but he doesn’t seem terribly monk-ish to me. Instead, the feat Weapon Master lets you gain proficiency in up to four simple or martial weapons of your choice. He also has his unarmed strike (helpful for all of those nazis he punches), a hand crossbow, and a pistol. I figured different players may want to play with or without guns in their games, so there are options.
Short Round
This character feels like when your younger sibling asks to play D&D with your group and you say, “Okay but we’re not going to protect you, you’re on your own,” and then you absolutely protect their character. But it’s okay, their character is an absolute delight and your friends have invited them back for the next session.
I didn’t want to make Shorty a rogue because making a tiny low-level Indy clone would be boring and not quite right. Instead, I poured all of that little kid brand of “make questionable choices and commit” energy into a fighter. Plus, Short Round also happens to be a decent fighter.
And if you’re wondering about the pet mouse, it comes with the Urchin background and I thought it was too funny and cute to not include.
How would you make Indiana Jones for Dungeons and Dragons? What would you change? What character or movie would you like to see me make next time? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!
