Bloodsport as a D&D Character (The Suicide Squad D&D Party Part 1)

Spoiler Warning: This article discusses characters from the movie The Suicide Squad (2021).

The first section of this article outlines the series of articles that present characters from the movie The Suicide Squad (2021) as D&D character builds. If you have read this part in a previous article, skip ahead to the build here.

Building popular fiction characters in D&D

Movies are great inspiration for our Dungeons & Dragons games. We can steal plots, scenes, villains, items and characters directly from our favorite movies. The movie The Suicide Squad (2021) has a cast of anti-heroes that are great fodder for creative D&D character builds. So let’s see how we can go about building the whole party. The characters we are going to try to emulate are:

Bloodsport – a sharpshooter in a suit of hi-tech body armor
Harley Quinn – a chaotic assassin in a court jester outfit
Ratcatcher – an orphan with a special affinity to rats
Peacemaker – a ruthless marksman
Nanaue – a shark who will eat anyone except for his friends
Polka-Dot Man – a man infected with a interdimensional virus by his mother

The goal in making these characters in D&D is to create a D&D player’s rendition of each character. We will not be able to capture each unique facet of the fictional characters in the mechanics of D&D. But, not everything needs a mechanic. We will try to create mechanically effective characters, designing them to evoke the feeling of the characters of The Suicide Squad in play. As we will see, this is easier for some characters than it is for others.

All of the character builds cap at level 17. The core abilities that define them come online much earlier though. All of them use the Optional Class Features and the Customizing Your Origin rules from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.

Bloodsport D&D Character: Human Artificer 11 / Fighter 3 / Ranger 3

Concept

Bloodsport augments his martial capabilities with his highly advanced suit of armor. He shoots a variety of weapons that are embedded in the armor.

Level 1: Human Artificer, Soldier/Criminal Background

We choose Human (Variant) as the race for Bloodsport, and select the Sharpshooter feat at level one.

For our starting Ability scores, we want a 16 Intelligence (+1 from human), a 14 Constitution (+1 from human), as well as 13 Dexterity and 14 Wisdom to meet the necessary multiclassing requirements.

At level 1, we begin as an artificer. For levels 1 and 2, we will be relying on the fire bolt cantrip as our main damage output.

The background could be a combination of Criminal and Soldier. We should try to capture the martial training and talent of Bloodsport along with his history as a master criminal.

Level 2-3: Artificer (Armorer)

At level 3, however, Bloodsport gets his signature armor. We gain proficiency with heavy armor. In addition, the Arcane Armor feature of the Armorer subclass, allows Bloodshot to use a weapon that is integrated in his armor.

The Infiltrator model lets him sneak very well, and lets him shoot Lightning Launchers, which use his Intelligence modifier for attacks and damage. Here, we can flex our re-flavoring muscles. Mechanically, we will be using the same weapon all the time. But in narration, we can describe Bloodshot detaching new weapons from his armor every turn, fulfilling the techno-gunslinger fantasy.

Our Artificer Infusions let us improve Bloodsports armor further. Enhanced Weapon and Enhanced Armor provide us a +1 bonus to attack and damage, as well as to our armor class.

Level 4: Fighter 1

To boost our fighting capabilities, we are taking our first level in fighter now. This gives us access to the Archery fighting style, increasing our chance to hit with our Lightning Launchers.

Level 5-8: Artificer 4-5, Fighter 3

Bloodsport is slinging a barrage of shots within seconds. With two more levels of artificer, we gain Extra Attack and an Ability Score Improvement (ASI). We should increase our Intelligence modifier to 18. Fighter 2 gives us Action Surge. At this point, we can take four shots in a single round with Action Surge. We can use Sharpshooter on each of these shots for 1d6+15 damage per hit. That seems just about right for a master shot like Bloodsport.

The Samurai is a great fit for Bloodsport’s fighter subclass. We can use a bonus action to gain advantage on all attacks until the end of our turn. But the archetype of a Samurai works well or Bloodsport as well. Driven reluctantly to become a leader, he relies on his sense of honor to make decisions.

Level 9-11: Ranger 3 (Gloom Stalker)

Bloodsport’s armor gains further enhancements improving his capabilities in combat and exploration. Taking Gloom Stalker lets us make an extra attack on our first turn in combat. In addition, we are invisible to creatures relying on darkvision to see us. This can grant us advantage on all attacks, and enemies disadvantage on all attacks against us.

We also pick up the Defense fighting style and hunter’s mark, as Bloodsport’s armor is improved and modified. This gives us an AC of 22, and an extra d6 of damage on each of our attacks.

Level 12-17: Artificer 6-11

Taking the rest of our levels in Artificer continually increases our armor and its weapons. At level 17, we can have two additional infusions in our armor. Bloodsport will be very hard to hit with a repulsion shield, a fire resistant enhanced armor, and an enhanced weapon. We end up with an AC of 25 is we replicate a Cloak of Protection. Our armor has become very sturdy.

We also bump Bloodsport’s Intelligence to 20. Our integrated weapons (Lightning Launchers) make their five attacks, all at advantage from Samurai or Gloom Stalker, with a +10 to hit for 2d6+17 damage on each with sharpshooter and hunter’s mark included (in both, attack and damage).

Going to Artificer level 11 also grants us better spellcasting. But is Bloodsport really magical? This is why these character builds work like D&D player’s rendition of the character. We can use D&D’s magic system to express abilities of non-magical, fictional characters. “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistuingishable from magic.” In this case, we are using our armor as a spellcasting focus. Bloodsport’s armor is so advanced, it blurs the lines of magic and technology.

Our Concentration is best spent on Hunter’s Mark or Haste. We can think of any other spells we choose as custom modifications of Bloodsport’s armor.

Bloodsport D&D Character: Armored Marksman

This version of Bloodsport focuses solely on his armor and his abilities as a sharpshooter. We end up with a heavily modified plate armor. Our Lightning Launcher weapons are flavored as modules of our armor. With Artificer infusions, and Sharpshooter, we can emulate the deadly bullet hail of Bloodsport.