Polka-Dot Man as a D&D Character (The Suicide Squad D&D Party Part 5)

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
Nanaue – a shark who will eat anyone except for his friends
Polka-Dot Man – a man infected with a interdimensional virus by his mother
Peacemaker – a ruthless marksman

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 feature of the fictional characters in the mechanics of D&D. But, not everything needs a mechanic. We will try to create mechanically effective characters that are designed 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 following characters are designed to reach level 17. The core abilities that define them come online much earlier though. All of them use the Optional Class Features and the Customize Your Origin rules from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.

Polka-Dot Man: Custom Lineage Sorcerer 14 / Fighter 2 / Warlock 1

Concept

Polka-Dot Man, also known as Abner Krill, is a man infected with an interdimensional virus by his mother. The virus makes colorful dots appear on his skin. Polka-Dot Man can eject these dots as fiery, explosive projectiles that incinerate his enemies.

We use a modification of the build called the “Flame Thrower”, which was created by d4: D&D Deep Dive on YouTube.

Level 1-2: Human (Variant) Sorcerer 2 (Divine Soul)

We choose Custom Lineage as the race for Polka-Dot Man. The virus has altered Krill’s body and mind, granting him his spellcasting ability, as well as a special attunement with extraplanar forces. This is reflected in the Fey Touched (Charisma) feat which we choose at level one. The feat increases our Charisma score by one and gives us the misty step spell. For our second spell from the feat, we choose hex.

Our starting Ability Scores are 18 Charisma (+2 from Custom Lineage, +1 from Fey Touched), 14 Constitution, and 14 Dexterity.

A mix of Haunted One and Criminal seems like fitting combination for our background. Polka-Dot Man is haunted by his evil mother, but he also uses his abilities for criminal activities.

Our starting class is Sorcerer. The innate magic that fuels sorcerer’s spellcasting is a great expression of the virus within Polka-Dot Man. For our D&D game, we should think about where this virus comes from. Mechanically, the Divine Soul sorcerer subclass is amazing. So maybe, our Polka-Dot Man D&D character’s virus is caused by a corrupted celestial.

Before level three, we rely on our fire bolt ****cantrip as well as burning hands or magic missile as our polka-dot attacks. We also get access to the cleric spell list. Therefore, bless is a great support option for our 1st level spell slots. This celestial version of Polka-Dot Man’s virus grants him more versatile effects of his polka dots.

Level 3-4: Sorcerer 4

We continue with more levels in sorcerer. At level 3 we gain access to our Metamagic. We choose quickened spell, and transmuted spell. Krill learns to manipulate his viral polka dots to greater and greater effect.

At level 3, we also gain access to 2nd-level spells. The most important one of these is scorching ray. From now on, this spell will be our main expression of our polka-dot attacks. The multiple fiery attacks of the spell fit well with the image of flammable polka dots shooting forth from the character.

Mechanically, we can combine it with the hex spell to add 1d6 to each hit of an individual ray. If a target is especially hard to hit, we might instead opt for bless to increase our accuracy. With hex cast previously, we are looking at a quickened scorching ray as a bonus action, on top of a fire bolt for a total of 6d6 fire damage from scorching ray, plus 3d6 from hex, plus 1d10 from fire bolt, and another 1d6 from hex on the fire bolt hit. Already at level 3 this character is getting close to the fantasy of a barrage of explosive polka dots.

At fourth level, we take an Ability Score Improvement to increase our Charisma score to 20, improving our accuracy with the scorching ray polka-dot attacks.

Level 5-6: Sorcerer 6

At level 5, we gain access to 3rd-level spells. The 3rd-level spell that we want most is spirit shroud. Most of the time, this spell will replace hex as our concentration spell. Spirit shroud lasts for one minute and lets us add 1d8 extra damage when we hit a creature within 10 feet of us with an attack. This means, we have to get closer to our target than we would like, but mostly the increased damage will be worth the risk. Narratively, we can imagine polka dots flying around us in a 10-foot radius, enhancing Krill’s attacks.

In the first round in combat, we cast spirit shroud as a bonus action and follow it up with fire bolt. On our next turn, we quicken scorching ray, upcast **with a 3rd-level spell slot, and add another fire bolt as our action. That’s a total of 8d6+4d8+2d10+1d8 damage. Krill is honing his control over the virus more and more, increasing the explosiveness of his polka dots.

Level 7-8: Fighter 2

With access to 3rd-level spells and six sorcery points we have covered the magical basics of our polka-dot attacks. For the next two levels, we are taking two levels of fighter, to be able to shoot more and more explosive polka-dot rays.

As a first-level fighter, we gain proficiency with medium armor and shields. Together with the Defense fighting style, half-plate armor and a shield, we get up to an AC of 20. This will make it much more feasible to stay within 10 feet of an enemy to benefit from spirit shroud.

At fighter level two, we get Action Surge. Now, we can cast two scorching ray spells in a single round. We can upcast both of them to 3rd level, and quicken one of them to add a fire bolt during this round. After casting spirit shroud in the first round of combat, we can now deal 16d6+8d8+2d10+1d8 damage with our polka dots. In the fiction of the character, this seems like a breakthrough in Krill’s utilization of the virus. He has learned to double his fiery attacks in a burst of explosive polka dots.

Level 9: Warlock 1 (Hexblade)

Following this breakthrough, its possible that Polka-Dot Man seeks to formalize his pact with the virus. Or maybe, he reaches out to the celestial originator of the virus, or to the spirit of his evil mother. For one reason or another, we are taking a level in warlock.

The Hexblade patron gives us access to Hexblade’s Curse, which lets us add extra damage equal to our proficiency bonus to each attack**.** This will further empower our scorching ray barrage of polka dots. We cast spirit shroud on our first turn. Then, we use a bonus action for Hexblade’s Curse, and Action Surge for two 3rd-level scorching rays. The result is the same 16d6+8d8 damage but now with an added 32 points of damage from four attacks with Hexblade’s Curse active.

Level 10-17: Sorcerer 14 (Spell Slots)

For the rest of Polka-Dot Man’s development, we stick with sorcerer, deepening our original connection with the virus. We use the higher-level spell slots almost exclusively to upcast scorching ray. The only exception are sorcerer levels 9 and 13, where we gain 5th-level and 7th-level spell slot(s) respectively. We use these spell slots to cast spirit shroud at a higher level whenever we get access to them. With a 5th-level spell slot, that increases the extra damage on each ray of scorching ray to 2d8. A 7th-level spirit shroud grants us an extra 3d8 for each explosive stream of polka dots.

Level 10-17: Sorcerer 14 (Ability Score Improvements)

For our Ability Score Improvements we first get the Elemental Adept (fire) feat ****at sorcerer level 8. This lets us ignore fire resistance and further increases our scorching ray damage. Now, we only need to invest a sorcery point to change the damage type of scorching ray when we encounter a foe with fire immunity.

At sorcerer level 12, we have multiple options. We could bump our Constitution score to 16, or choose the Tough feat for more survivability. These are especiallyvalid choices given the 10-feet distance we need to maintain to our target. Alternatively, we could choose the feat Lucky to help us make important saving throws, avoid critical hits against us, and occasionally improve our chance to hit with scorching ray.

Level 17: Sorcerer 14 (Power Move)

At level 17 our full barrage of scorching polka dots looks like this: In round one, we cast spirit shroud at 7th level and follow it up with a fire bolt. Our second turn is when we let loose as many polka dots as we can. We activate Hexblade’s Curse and cast one 6th-level and one 5th-level scorching ray. In that round we will potentially deal 26d6+42 fire damage from seven rays with Hexblade’s Curse, plus 21d8 radiant damage from spirit shroud. Oh, and all of these polka-dot rays will strike critically on a 19 or 20.

At this point, there should be very few foes that we can’t incinerate with that onslaught of exploding polka dots. Polka-Dot Man has mastered the interdimensional virus within himself. He can channel the full destructive power of his affliction, potentially making him the most devastating of all members of the Suicide Squad D&D Party.

Polka-Dot Man: The Incinerator

This D&D character expression of Polka-Dot Man uses the scorching ray spell to emulate the release of explosive polka dots. We enhance this signature maneuver of the character with spirit shroud, Action Surge, and Hexblade’s Curse. The result is the Incinerator: the virus has granted Abner Krill destructive powers beyond his wildest imagination. Not even his mother could have foreseen the sheer inferno that Polka-Dot man can deliver unto his enemies.