What To Play In D&D Based On Your Favorite Spooky Icon
What kind of spooky character might give you an idea for your D&D game?
There is no official Dungeons & Dragons holiday (not yet, anyway), but Halloween is the next best thing. It's the perfect celebration for D&D fans: you can dress up as your favorite characters, revel in the spooky vibes, and enjoy all sorts of classic D&D monsters (zombies, ghosts, witches, and more)! Halloween also comes with some of the most iconic spooky characters from pop culture. We’ve taken inspiration from these characters to give you ideas to make your own in the game of D&D!
Beetlejuice (Eponymous)
This whole movie is full of the kind of hijinks innate to the Wild Magic Sorcerer!
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! When Lydia utters these fateful words, she summons a spirit who wears a zany striped suit and frolics around causing mayhem. If you like the idea of Beetlejuice’s chaotic magic power, we recommend you take a look at the wild-magic sorcerer subclass from Dungeons & Dragons. Characters from this subclass have innate magic within them that bursts out in chaotic and strange ways. These include such zany effects as summoning a unicorn, turning into a potted plant, teleporting, or even casting a fireball where you stand!
Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th)
Even if you don't know his name, you've certainly seen his iconic hockey mask as he looms with a cleaver and axe in hand. If you enjoy the idea of playing a threatening presence like Jason, why not play as the fighter class? Picking up the greataxe in the newest version now gives you the “cleave” ability, where you can chop through multiple enemies in the same swing! If you want the full experience of playing as a silent undead, you may want to peruse the many homebrew races for a zombie.
Wednesday Addams (The Addams Family, Wednesday)
What kind of D&D character might Wednesday inspire?
Two black braids and dour expression are quintessentially Wednesday, whether you're watching the original Addams Family or the new Netflix series. If you're a fan of the latter, you know that she's a Raven, a witch with psychic powers and dark visions. This is a perfect fit for Dungeons & Dragons’ divination wizard! These wizards see into the future with portents and can cast spells that allow you to commune with spirits, reach out to other planes, or even ask the Dungeon Master a direct question, which is a powerful move indeed.
Pennywise (IT)
Could the frightening visions of Pennywise inspire your D&D character's abilities?
As far as evil clowns go, Pennywise is the scariest of the bunch, luring innocent children to their ends and invoking fear in all who see him. We don't recommend you play an evil character in D&D, but if you like the idea of influencing others actions to compel or frighten them, a bard is a great option. Bards are naturally persuasive, drawing on their own charisma and their magical powers to influence others. Their spells can create illusions, deal psychic damage with insults, influence others to take action, and give a whole host of ways to scare others, with spells like Dissonant Whispers, Crown of Madness, and, of course Fear.
Coraline and Chucky (Eponymous)
Could Chucky inspire you to play as a haunted doll in D&D?
In the movies that bear their names, these two characters couldn't be more different. But they do have one thing in common: they're both essentially dolls. There's no official way to play as a character like that, but luckily there's a homebrew that’s the next best thing! The Ragborn race by MonkeyDM lets you play as haunted doll that can pass themselves off as inanimate objects and stay alive forever without food, water, or even air!
Ghostface and Michael Meyers (Scream and Halloween)
Classic horror movies bring the spooks and scares!
Both Ghostface and Michael Meyers wear terrifying masks, appear from seemingly out of nowhere, and take down their victims with simple weapons - no hint of the supernatural here! If you want to play a character that springs forth from the dark, you can't go wrong with a way-of-shadows monk. These monks have mastered stealth and can literally teleport from shadow to shadow, keeping away from prying eyes until the moment they strike. At higher levels, they can even turn invisible and incorporeal - which makes for prime jump-scare material!
Winifred, Mary, and Sarah (Hocus Pocus)
Halloween and D&D are both full of witches!
These witch sisters are spooky and kooky, which is a great fit for the chaotic hilarity of many Dungeons & Dragons games. They also have a ready-made character option in the wizard class. Wizards in D&D require a spellbook like the Sandersons do; they use them to inscribe spells and cast them at a moments notice (sometimes bestowing curses)! To mimic the Hocus Pocus characters’ abilities of resurrection and life stealing, it's natural to pick the school of necromancy as a subclass. Necromancy spells control life, death, and undeath (as you can read in our overview of the magic types in D&D).
Freddy Kruger (Nightmare on Elm Street)
Freddy has inspired many creators over the years - perhaps you and your characters could be next!
Like many of the best horror villains, you hardly ever see Freddy directly; most of the time he is influencing things from afar, seeping into (and controlling) other people's dreams, and striking at the innocent with his bladed fingers. If you like the idea of having dream powers (and wielding sharp things), you may be well suited to the college-of-swords bard. These bards not only have skills to strike with a bladed flourish, but they can cast spells that go into people's dreams to send messages, change the dreamscape, and even physically transport the dreamer into the dream world!
Eleven (Stranger Things)
Who knew binging Netflix could help you to make a D&D character?
From when she first showed up with a buzz cut and a hospital gown, Eleven was a force to be reckoned with. If you like her story and want to create one like it, the sorcerer class is a great fit. Like young El, sorcerers’ power comes from within, and they need to learn to control it over time. Their spells allow them to perform many of Eleven's impressive feats, like see and hear through other people's eyes, flip cards over their heads, and open portals to other planes, much like the Upside Down.
Have Your Own Dungeons & Dragons Spooktacular!
Have these ideas inspired you to create your own D&D character? If you've got a spooky character in mind and are in need of a game to play them in, fear not! Here at Young Dragonslayers, we run online games if D&D for tweens and teens with professional Dungeon Masters. They will help you create a character and play out your adventure with friends from around the world. You might even meet fellow horror enthusiasts along the way!
