Let’s Play D&D With Tracer from ‘Overwatch’
If you don’t like how the battle is going, why not just rewind it? This week week we’re doing just that when we play D&D with Tracer.
It’s been a little while since I, personally, played Overwatch, but every time something new happens it’s hard not to be a little interested. Whether it’s a new character, an animated short, especially cosplayable skins, or just fandom discourse, it’s an easy world to get sucked into. I think this is in part thanks to the hyper-likable characters with rich backstories. And if we’re talking likable characters, Overwatch mascot Tracer is easily right up near the top of the list. But you know where else likable, interesting, super powered characters shine? That’s right, Dungeons & Dragons. This week we’re play D&D with…
Tracer
There are a lot of “right ways” to make Tracer for D&D depending on the character you want to play. It made her a difficult character to make because deciding between classes and subclasses was difficult. But it also means that she’s one of those very versatile characters who can be playable and recognizable regardless of what the rest of your party looks like. That is, if you care about making a character to mesh well with their party.
I started with Human because Tracer is, in a world of robots and hyper intelligent apes, and gigantic science hamsters, a human. She’s just a human with some weird powers and skills. But that describes most D&D characters. From there I took the Sailor background because it was the closest thing I could find to ‘pilot.’ But let’s be honest, background don’t really matter 90% of the time. She’s generally a good-aligned character and follows orders with her military background, but has a tendency to make games a little chaotic. But again, let’s be honest about the importance of alignments.
Which brings us to the good stuff.
There are a few things that make Tracer Tracer. She zooms around, she’s quick, agile, a great shot with both hands, and has limited control over time. Specifically the way she experiences time. This means to make Tracer for D&D we need a quick, agile character who either controls time or has the ability to know exactly what going to happen near her and accept that future or not.
And like I said, there are a ton of ways to do this. Monk would make a speedy, agile character, artificer would give her that sweet tech, and chronurgy wizard would let her control time. But I went in a slightly different direction with this.
I started Tracer off with a few levels of Fighter with a two-handed style and a Gunslinger archetype. It’s not perfect, but the action surge and second wind will definitely help her get a lot done per turn and give her access to those guns. Gunslinger means that she should be fixing and building her own, and Winston does that… but with a military background and working with the pulse pistols every day, it seems like Tracer should be basically able to do minor rebuilds. She’s not building them from scratch, she’s not an Artificer.
She also got a few levels in Wizard with a specialization in Divination. I know, I know, Tracer plays with the flow of time an Chronurgy Wizard fits that perfectly. I told you we were going in a slightly different direction here. Chronurgy affects time for everyone and can even weaponize time. Tracer doesn’t do that. She sees a possible future, rejects it, and sends herself back in time a few seconds. It’s infuriating to play against.
I thought that divination would fit this a little better, giving Tracer a peak into the near future before deciding her next move. It’s the opposite approach to the same ends, but I think it works better in this case.
She needed spells, and I gave her spells that would let her zoom around and teleport as much as possible. Misty step, Blink, Longstrider, and Jump will all mimic these almost erratic-looking movements. And then attack spells like Magic Missile and Fireball mimic the destructive power of her Pulse Bombs.
Finally, I gave Tracer a few Feats to round everything out. Lucky will further let her reject a future she doesn’t like while Mobile and Athlete will let her bounce around and run just a little faster.
How would you make Tracer for D&D? Who is / was your Overwatch main? What show, movie, game, or comic should I make characters from next time? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!
