Okey-dokey! Let’s Play D&D With Mario
It’s a-he! This week we’re wearing many hats (literally) when we invite Mario to play Dungeons and Dragons.
The trailers for the upcoming Mario movie have begun, and it looks surprisingly good. Questionable voice casting aside, I’m pretty excited about this movie. It just looks fun. Which is what Mario games and any movies based on them should be. Mario himself is a pretty unique, all-over-the-place sort of character. And while that chaotic nature perfectly captures every player I’ve ever rolled dice with, it can also be a bit of a challenge to capture on a sheet. But let’s give it a go anyhow. This week we’re playing D&D with…
Mario
Because of the nature of Mario’s games and who he is as a character, there are a lot of potential powers and abilities and limited D&D character sheet space. So I had to pick a few of the most important ones and go for it.
In this case, I decided to lean hard into his being a jump guy because his classic games are platformers where running and jumping are the most important abilities. For this, I made Mario a Monk. I briefly considered making him a Drunken Master because of the nature of what playing video games looks like, but I opted instead for Four Elements. In a battle, you may want a little more than an unarmed strike, and this lets us use Ki Points to weaponize some elements without even needing to find a Fire Flower.
via Illumination
Mario also has the ability to put on many hats and swap out powers. I’m sure you could talk your DM into throwing one or two specialty items at you, but in the meantime let’s get our transformations somewhere else with a Druid multiclass. Wildshape will let you turn into different animals with the Druid spell list giving you a few more fun ways to play with the power. And eventually, Polymorph will let you become a dinosaur. Which is one of the best parts of Mario Odyssey.
As for the Circle of Stars sub-class, that was sort of for the theme. I also thought about choosing Circle of Spores for the Mushroom Kingdom. But Mario’s powerups are so often star related that it made sense for him.
Finally, I was sure to incorporate a medicine boost. Your party will thank you for adding another field medic to the team. And Doctor Mario worked hard for that degree! We can’t just forget about Doctor Mario! He has a +2 medicine check thanks to a decent Wisdom stat (he also needed to have a decent Widsom or we wouldn’t be able to duel-class into Druid). But the Healer feat will help fill in any gaps.
How would you have made Mario for a D&D setting? Which powers and abilities would be most important to you for Dungeons and Dragons and which would you put aside? What movie, show, game, or comic should I make sheets from next time? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!
