Stat Anything: the Joker for 5e D&D

On a lark, I created Bat Knight, Waterdeep’s answer to Batman.

But what’s Batman without his villains?

Especially the Joker.

While doing a search for medieval Batman imagery, I came across this gem:

Now, if that isn’t inspiring/terrifying, I don’t know what is.

Design Notes

Taking cues from the picture, we can see that the Joker is gargantuan compared to the Bat Knight. Plus, his infamous laughing gas seemingly leaks from his body, causing those around him (Bruce is the exception, of course) to go mad.

Some might see this and say, “Oh, he’s a dragon.” But with all the extra smiles, arms, and tentacles, this thing is either an aberration or demon.

And not just any demon, but a demon prince.

Demon clown prince of crime? Let’s roll with it.

Demon princes are pretty well covered in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. So sticking his stats in should be pretty easy. All I’ll have to do is create some Joker-style attacks and special traits for him.

 

Joker

Gargantuan fiend (demon), chaotic evil

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Armor Class 19 (natural armor)

Hit Points 390 (20d20 + 160)

Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.

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Abilities Str 27 (+8), Dex 10 (+0), Con 27 (+8), Int 20 (+5), Wis 18 (+4), Cha 25 (+7)

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Saving Throws Dex +8, Con +16, Wis +12

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Skills Deception +15, Intimidation +15, Perception +12

Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning

Damage Immunities poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing that is nonmagical

Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned

Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 22

Languages all, telepathy 120 ft.

Challenge 25 (75,000 XP)

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Balanced by Good. When Joker is within 120 feet of at least one good or lawful aligned creature, Joker regains 30 hit points at the start of his turn. If Joker takes radiant damage, this trait doesn’t function at the start of the Joker’s next turn.

Innate Spellcasting. Joker’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 23). Joker can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

At will: detect magic, mage hand, major image, tasha’s hideous laughter
3/day each: confusion, dispel magic, dream, fear, hypnotic pattern, telekinesis
1/day each: dominate monster, mass suggestion, mirage arcane, project image

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Joker fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.

Magic Resistance. Joker has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons. Joker’s weapon attacks are magical.

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Actions

Multiattack. Joker makes three attacks: two with its bite and one to constrict.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +16 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 30 (4d10 + 8) piercing damage.

Constrict. Melee Weapon Attack: +16 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d10 + 8) bludgeoning damage plus 19 (2d10 + 8) piercing damage plus 19 (2d10 + 8) slashing damage. The target is grappled (escape DC 18) if Joker isn’t already constricting a creature, and the target is restrained until this grapple ends.

Laughing Gas Breath (1/day). Joker exhales poisonous gas in a 90-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 24 Constitution saving throw or take 37 (11d6) poison damage and is charmed by Joker as if the creature was under the effect of a dominate monster spell, except Joker does not need to maintain concentration. A creature with an Intelligence score of 4 or less or immune to poison isn’t affected. The effect lasts until greater restoration or a similar spell is cast on an affected target.

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Legendary Actions

Joker can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Joker regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.

Bite. Joker makes a bite attack.

Move. Joker moves up to half his speed.

Laugh (Costs 2 Actions). All creatures within 120 feet of Joker must succeed on a DC 23 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the Joker’s Laugh for the next 24 hours.

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Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Joker can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects; he can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

• Joker causes a brightly colored flower standing 5 feet tall to grow from the ground at a point he can see within 100 feet of him. The flower squirts acid in a 15-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 24 Dexterity saving throw, taking 27 (6d8) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a succesful one. The flower disappears after it squirts acid.
• Until the next initiative count 20, all creatures under the effect of Joker’s laughing gas breath are overcome with laughing madness, causing them to have advantage on melee weapon attack rolls and causing attack rolls to have advantage against them.

Regional Effects

The region containing Joker’s lair is warped by his magic, creating one or more of the following effects:

• Nonmagical fabrics and paint change to hues of purple and green within 1 mile of the lair.
• Wild beasts within 6 miles of the lair break into frequent debilitating laughter.
• If a humanoid spends at least 1 hour within 1 mile of the lair, that creature must succeed on a DC 24 Wisdom saving throw or descend into a madness determined by the Madness of Joker table. A creature that succeeds on this saving throw can’t be affected by this regional effect again for 24 hours.

If Joker dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days.

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Madness of Joker

If a creature goes mad in Joker’s lair or within line of site of the demon lord, roll on the Madness of Joker table to determine the nature of the madness, which is a character flaw that lasts until cured. See the Dungeon Master’s Guide for more on madness.

Madness of Joker

d100 – Flaw (lasts until cured)

01-20 – “I can’t take anything seriously. Everything’s just one big joke.”

21-40 – “Money, fame, family; nothing matters. Only chaos.”

41-60 – “Sometimes, people are much less serious when they’re dead. It’s my job to help them get to that point.”

61-80 – “My past doesn’t matter. It can be whatever I want it to be, so long as it strikes fear in others.”

81-100 – “I am not truly happy unless I have an enemy that I see as my perfect polar opposite.”

 

Thanks for reading!

Another fun one to make. I could have never guessed that Joker would end up being some sort of giant snake demon thing that could drive people insane?

I’ll probably expand on this Batman series a bit in the future. But for now, you’ve got Batman and Joker ready to go for your 5e D&D campaigns. Just not commercially! And the art isn’t mine, it’s borrowed from Sandara on Deviant Art.

See you next time!