Born Out of Rage: Let’s Play D&D With Black Adam
If your campaign needs more superhuman powers, why not add DC’s latest comic-turned-movie Hero to the mix with Black Adam.
The latest superhero (well, sort of) to come off of the pages and onto the big screen is Black Adam. Reviews have been a bit all over the place and it’s one of those movies that can best be described as “fun but maybe not good?” But that’s okay! And you know what else we can say that about? Almost all of our D&D characters. If you’re looking for a little super inspiration for your next Dungeons and Dragons character, maybe try for a character that’s a little like Shazam without the naïve little kid aspects. This week we’re playing D&D with…
Black Adam
via Warner Bros.
D&D probably isn’t the best system for a superhero game. But sometimes somebody offers to run a D&D campaign and you want to play a character inspired by your favorite (anti?)hero. Every other week I’m playing basically Venom and it was so worth it just for the groan I got from the entire party when they realized what I had done. In that same vein, Black Adam could be a pretty fun character to be inspired by in your next D&D game.
He started out as a villain and later made the transition over to antihero, so there’s a lot of potentials to be had with backstory and alignment. But I opted for a simple True Neutral. And while he’s definitely human adjacent, he’s not human really. In fact, Black Adam is almost god-like. So I opted to make him Aasimar.
via Warner Bros.
From there, there are a few things that will make a character feel a little more like Black Adam. His Strength and Constitution had to be high to reflect his superhuman abilities. But he’s also linked with lightning and storm abilities. In the end, I opted for an Oath of Conquest Paladin and Storm Sorcerer for that mixture of storm magic, superhuman melee, and a dash of ‘maybe not entirely a good guy.’
Of course, his goodness level at your D&D table is going to be entirely up to how you decide to play him and the actions you decide to take. This is a character with lots of history and lots of potential.
via Warner Bros.
For spells, I mostly chose an assortment of storm-centric options. Paladin also came with a few suggested spells, and most of them worked fine for what we’re doing. And then of course there are those spell slots. The multi-class spell chart gave Black Adam so many more spell slots than his individual classes gave him spells at those levels. This means you can cast some of those spells at much higher levels in battle. Which, let’s be honest, sounds about right.
Overall, this could be a very fun character to have at the table. His powers can be a little generic compared to some other superhero types. But in a D&D setting, that may not be a bad thing. And it may actually free you up to do whatever you want.
How would you make Black Adam for a D&D setting? Have you seen the movie yet, and if so what did you think? What movie, show, comic, or game should I make sheets from next time? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!
