5e Character Build: Nanami from Jujutsu Kaisen

Building Kento Nanami in D&D 5e

If you're a fan of Jujutsu Kaisen (JJK) and want to bring the character Nanami to life in your D&D 5e campaign, you're in luck! In this guide, we'll walk through the steps of creating a D&D build inspired by Nanami, focusing on his abilities and personality traits.

Choosing your Lineage/Race

For your character's lineage/race, if you wish to make dexterity-based weaponry your focus, you should choose either Half Elf or Elf. Half Elf is a solid choice for versatility when it comes to the features it grants, but with recent updates to the 5th edition system, you can assign your ability scores as you please. The reason I recommend Half Elf or Elf is due to the Elven Accuracy feat which will be incredibly useful later on in the build.

If you wish to make strength-based weaponry your focus, then the Variant Human will allow you to start with a feat that grants you some early-level advancements that can help get the build going. Take a look at the feat recommendations later in the article.

Choosing the Right Class

When it comes to capturing Nanami's essence, the Fighter class will serve as our base. Nanami is a highly skilled combatant who relies on his physical prowess and strategic thinking to overcome his opponents. The Fighter class provides the necessary tools and abilities to emulate Nanami's combat style.

For the subclass, the Champion archetype is a perfect fit. Now, I know that the Champion fighter is often considered the most basic of the Fighter archetypes, but for this build that is exactly what we're looking for. The 3rd level feature Improved Critical serves as our base for replicating Nanami's 7:3 ratio cursed technique. Future features granted by the subclass are also useful, but our primary goal is to crit as frequently as possible.

Eventually, you will want to dip into the Paladin class. With many features similar to those of Jujutsu sorcerers, Paladin offers many flavorful benefits that focus on fiends and undead, but the most important facet of the class that makes it integral to this build is the Paladin Oath of Vengeance. At 3rd level, you gain the ability to use Channel Divinity. The option we will primarily use to make this build work is Vow of Enmity which gives you advantage on all attack rolls against a target creature. Vow of Enmity paired with Improved Critical will give you roughly a 1 in 5 chance to score a critical hit! You can achieve this whopping bonus as early as level 6.

Before you go wild with multiclassing, I would recommend acquiring five levels in the Fighter class to gain extra attack. Once you have that, you will already be profiting more off of your Improved Critical feature due to your increased number of attacks. After gaining extra attack, focus at least three levels into Paladin to gain your Oath and your Vow of Enmity. After that, level up wherever you'd like! If you want to crit even more frequently, your 15th level Champion Fighter feature increases your critical threshold to 18-20. If you want to focus more on overall damage, more levels in Paladin give you more chances to Smite. Since you can choose to use Divine Smite after you confirm a hit, you can save your limited spell slots for moments when you score a critical hit! I like to flavorfully describe the look of my smites as landing a successful Black Flash! With the increased damage from your smites your critical hits will hit far harder than usual.

Ability Scores and Skills

When determining your ability scores, prioritize Strength and Dexterity, as these are crucial for a Fighter. You'll need at least a 13 Charisma to multiclass into Paladin later, so keep that in mind when allocating your ability scores.

Nanami is a physically capable character, and having a high Strength score will help you deal more damage in combat. Meanwhile, a high Dexterity score will improve your chances of avoiding attacks, and if you use finesse weapons you can open up the possibility of using the Elven Accuracy feat to further increase your crit chance.

As a melee fighter, Constitution would be a solid choice to ensure you can stay up and fighting. However, due to your various healing features from both the Fighter and Paladin classes, you can keep yourself fighting longer.

As for skills, focus on Perception, Insight, and Athletics. Perception reflects Nanami's keen observation skills, allowing him to notice even the smallest details in his surroundings. Insight represents his ability to read people and situations, while Athletics showcases his physical prowess and agility.

Choosing Equipment

When it comes to weapons, Nanami primarily relies on his blunt katana. In D&D 5e, you can choose a longsword or a rapier as a close approximation. Additionally, consider having a shortbow as a backup ranged weapon, allowing you to engage enemies from a distance when necessary.

Armor-wise, prioritize light or medium armor such as studded leather or scale mail. These options provide a balance between protection and mobility, allowing you to move swiftly in combat while still being adequately protected. If your dexterity score is lower, then heavy armor is a reasonable substitute.

Feats

As a Fighter, you'll have the opportunity to gain more feats than most. The following are feats that I think make the build better or fit Nanami's theme:

Tough

A solid choice for any front-line fighter, Tough gives you more hit points for every level you obtain. Since your Constitution might be lower to accommodate for your higher Charisma or Dexterity, Tough can turn you into a solid wall of hit points.

Elven Accuracy

If you focus more on Dexterity and finesse weaponry, Elven Accuracy will turn you into a critical hit machine. Whenever you roll an attack with advantage using your dexterity modifier, you can re-roll one of your dice. This effectively means you roll three dice when you have advantage instead of two.

Slasher or Piercer

Depending on your weapon of choice, Slasher or Piercer are great feat choices for this build. Both grant general buffs for using weapons of a particular type, but more importantly they both offer a bonus effect to your critical hits. For Slasher, when you crit your attacker suffers disadvantage on attacks. With Piercer, you can roll an additional weapon die of damage.

Mobile

Mobile is an excellent choice for this build as it grants you an increased movement speed, and it lets you leave the reach of enemies without provoking attacks of opportunity.

Sentinel

If you are in a party with other melee attackers, Sentinel will often grant you an additional opportunity for an attack during a round of combat which can be game-changing with your heightened critical hit chance. Sentinel also helps you keep your foes where you want them: right next to you where you can continue your onslaught.

Other Multiclass Options

I try to keep my multiclasing on a short leash, but sometimes I like to branch out and take three or even four classes in total. If you want to add more class features to your roster, here are a few more classes that have some interesting synergies.

Rogue

If you plan to focus on Dexterity and finesse weapons, the Rogue's sneak attack feature can add more severity to the power of your attacks. Sneak attack is only applied to one attack each turn, but stacking sneak attack damage with smites and your critical hit damage can chip down your foes at an extremely fast rate. Cunning Action will also provide some additional mobility options that can help you close the distance in combat.

Barbarian

While not as graceful when it comes to fighting, Barbarian offers some incredibly helpful features ranging from damage reduction to increased damage using Strength-based weapons. The Reckless Attack feature offers yet another outlet for you to gain advantage on your attacks. Since your channel divinity and Divine Smite are not spells, they are both still viable options for you to use while raging. While he's normally a calm and collected fighter, Nanami sometimes lets his rage out on the people he fights, so the flavorful aspects of Barbarian still sync well with the character.

Finally...

Creating a D&D 5e build inspired by Nanami from Jujutsu Kaisen allows you to bring this dynamic character into your tabletop adventures. By choosing the Fighter class with the Champion archetype and the Paladin class with the Oath of Vengeance, you will truly embody the powers of the 7:3 sorcerer. When in combat, you want to swing as frequently as possible, often taking risks to do so. Like Nanami, don't be afraid to rely on others to help you! So grab your katana, sharpen your senses, and get ready to take on the challenges that await!