Let’s Play D&D With ‘Mission Impossible’s Ethan Hunt
Our next D&D mission is getting a little more impossible when we invite Ethan Hunt to do his spywork at the table.
Dun dun dundun Dun dun dundun Dun dun dundun Dun dun dundun! Dundundun Dundundun Dundundun! DUNDUN!
Mission Impossible is one of those pop culture touchstones that everybody knows about and recognizes instantly. You may not have seen all of- or even any of- the movies, but I’d bet anything you’d know the theme song in a moment. The over-the-top spy thriller is also just a very fun genre of entertainment. It’s hard not to have a good time with these movies.
And if you don’t want the fun to end, I’ve got some good news for you because this variety of super spy is very playable in your average D&D game. You want to solve all of the problems and punch all of the baddies? Well, you can because this week we’re playing D&D with…
Ethan Hunt
via Paramount
Starting right at the top, you may notice that I usually make human characters as humans. For many of them, it just makes sense. And often the fact that they’re human and hold their own against all sorts of the wildest stuff in their universe is interesting. But in the case of Ethan Hunt, I thought he needed a little bit of a switch-up. As a movie franchise super-spy, he can change his appearance and voice with the help of spy tech and hyperrealistic masks. And yes, D&D does have disguise kits and performance. But changelings have the ability to actually change their appearance and voice. In a world of normal humans, Ethan Hunt is a little bit more.
From there, I went with Rogue-Mastermind. Rogue feels like the right answer for any spy character questions you may have. Need a character who prioritizes dexterity? Want extra stealth or perception? Rogue is the class for you. And Mastermind is the tactician variety of rogue. Which is perfect for Ethan Hunt’s extra tactical mind.
But I also needed him to be good in a scrape. He can’t just sneak around and get info like a boring normal spy rooted in reality. No, this is Mission Impossible and we free dive out of planes and personally punch the bad guys right in the face. And if you want a character who doesn’t need suspicious looking armor and can punch really well, you want a Monk. I went with the simple, classic Open Hand subclass of monk since we want the class mostly for the hand-to-hand abilities. But it’s also very nice that you can use Dexterity instead of Strength for unarmed strikes. Dex is already our high stat from Rogue. And if gives us a little more wiggle room if the dice are unforgiving at character creation. Mine were pretty cooperative, though.
How would you make Ethan Hunt for D&D? Which Mission Impossible movie is your favorite? What movie, show, comic, book, or game should I make a sheet from next time? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!
