Full Build Friday - Jiraiya the Toad Sage [Human Druid] (Patreon)

As you well know, I'm not the biggest fan of anime, but that was a request and I did my best to fulfill it! I hope you all appreciate it and would like to know your thoughts on it. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choices may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.

Let's hop to it and check out this build for Jiraiya the Toad Sage from Naruto!

JIRAIYA

SOURCE Naruto

BUILD GOALS

o    Jiraiya is a famous ninja hailing from Konohoagakure who is known as the Toad Sage for the contract he has with the mystic toads of Mount Myoboku

o    He became a renowned shinobi, teacher, and writer of erotica, who trained many famous ninjas including the eponymous character of the show he hails from

o    Among his vast array of ninjutsu techniques, he could summon toads to aid him in combat or even summon the esophagus of a giant toad to trap enemies within

o    He can also spit out extremely sticky oil with Toad Oil Bullet, which can be further ignited with fire

o    For his stealth capabilities, he could hide himself in the shadows of others and manipulate their actions or even use the Transparent Escape Technique to turn invisible

o    Furthermore, he can manipulate his hair as a weapon or defense and can also use the explosive Rasengan technique

o    He can use senjutsu to enter a sage mode, increasing his speed, durability, and strength while also enhancing his some of his ninjutsu

o    Finally, he can wield fire, earth, water, and wind techniques for a variety of effects, including creating swamps, walls, and blasts of flame

Summary of Goals: While described as a ‘ninja,’ Jiraiya’s abilities definitely push him to being more of a caster and one with a slight potential focus on summoning. We’ll want to pay special attention to the frogs and toads we can possibly summon but his other ninjutsu still seem rather nature-based. There’s certainly some spells that we can find to create the effects of his sage mode.

LEVEL 1

Ancestry & Heritage: Skilled Human

o    Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Wisdom

o    Ancestry Feat: Natural Skill

o    Skill Increases: Diplomacy (T), Occultism (T)*, Stealth (T)

Background: Beast Blessed

o    Ability Boosts: +Wisdom, +Intelligence

o    Skill Increase: Survival (T)

o    Background Ability: Bestial Clarity

Class & Subclass: Animal Order Druid

o    Class Ability Boost: +Wisdom

o    Skill Increase: Acrobatics (T), Athletics (T), Crafting (T), Nature (T), Society (T), Thievery (T)

o    Suggested Spells: 1st – 500 toads, breathe fire, grease, horizon thunder sphere, summon animal, wooden fists

Details

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +2, Dex +1, Con +0, Int +2, Wis +4, Cha +0)

To begin our build for the Toad Sage, we will be sticking with the human ancestry. As I started this build, I was a little worried by the lack of skills I had access to, especially with Jiraiya being as knowledgeable and capable as he is. As such, I used both the skilled heritage for Occultism and the Natural Skill ancestry feat for Diplomacy and Stealth. Given his relation with the toads of Mount Myoboku, I decided to use the Beast Blessed background, which makes him trained in Survival and provides him with the Bestial Clarity reaction rather than a Lore skill or a skill feat. This does lead rather nicely into his druid class. None of the order options in particular stood out to me, but given his connection to the aforementioned toads upon the mountain, I ended up settling on the animal order. He won’t be making the most out of this animal companion and for some reason can’t even get a giant toad until sixth level, so I’d look for something that suits your fancy. Much more important are his spells. Already starting out, we have a lot of great options. We can call forth the frogs with 500 toads (one of the best) and the more typical summon animal though we’ll need to get to second-rank spells before we can start calling forth giant frogs and third-rank for giant toads. Grease is my attempt at resembling his Toad Oil Bullet though unfortunately, this doesn’t innately interact with fire effects for anything special. That being said, we do have breathe fire for his Flame Bullet and horizon thunder sphere for the Rasengan though we can find some other big blasts with ease as we explore this list further.

LEVEL 2

o    Class Feat: Witch Dedication – Spinner of Threads Patron

o    Skill Feat: Quick Jump

o    Skill Increase: Deception (T)

o    Gear: cloak of feline rest

LEVEL 3

o    General Feat: Adopted Ancestry – Awakened Animal

o    Skill Increase: Acrobatics (E)

o    Suggested Spells: 2nd – brine dragon bile, entangling flora

o    Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+1), cloak of feline rest, lesser bristling spines

LEVEL 4

o    Class Feat: Basic Witch Spellcasting

o    Skill Feat: Slippery Prey

o    Witch Spells: 1st – flashy disappearance or bless

o    Gear: moderate bristling spines, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), necklace of knives, cloak of feline rest

LEVEL 5

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str +3, Dex +2, Con +1, Int +2, Wis +4.5, Cha +0)

o    Ancestry Feat: Awakened Magic

o    Skill Increase: Nature (E), Occultism (E)

o    Suggested Spells: 3rd – croak voice, gasping marsh, wooden double

o    Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), moderate bristling spines, lesser spry sinews, necklace of knives, cloak of feline rest, lesser bristling spines

To start this block, we’ll actually be using the Witch Dedication. I think referencing the toads he’s contracted could be a good idea for his patron, but we’re actually looking into to this to harness some occult spells, getting some better buffing options and some more sneaky stuff to suit his skills as a shinobi. We see this directly with Basic Witch Spellcasting and the bless or flashy disappearance it could potentially grant him. Speaking of spells, entangling flora is an early way to slow down foes though I think gasping marsh is closer to the effect that he actually creates. I took croak voice solely for the reference to frogs with it and wooden double is pretty standard in Naruto from what I know of it. Getting into his more physical side, we have Quick Jump and Slippery Prey as his skill feats with the former further representing the toads that he’s associated with and the latter being important for his escape after he’s gotten in trouble. I do seek to further reference the toads upon the mount with Adopted Ancestry for the awakened animal ancestry, which will lead to him taking Awakened Magic. Now, it’s worth noting that this is an innate spell, which means it scales with his Charisma, so it’s probably better to select a buffing option here rather than something that requires a save or spell attack.

LEVEL 6

o    Class Feat: Basic Witchcraft – Witch’s Armaments (Living Hair)

o    Skill Feat: Nimble Crawl

o    Witch Spells: 2nd – invisibility

o    Gear: +1 wooden breastplate, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), animal staff, moderate bristling spines, Jack’s tattered cape, necklace of knives

LEVEL 7

o    General Feat: Fleet

o    Skill Increase: Occultism (M)

o    Suggested Spells: 4th – mountain resilience, snake fangs

o    Gear: staff of summoning, +1 wooden breastplate, beastmaster’s sigil, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), moderate bristling spines, lesser spry sinews

LEVEL 8

o    Class Feat: Mature Animal Companion//Patron’s Breadth

o    Skill Feat: Break Curse

o    Witch Spells: 3rd – heroism

o    Gear: greater beastmaster’s sigil, primeval mistletoe, staff of summoning, +1 wooden breastplate, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), lifting belt

LEVEL 9

o    Ancestry Feat: Animal Summoner

o    Skill Increase: Nature (M)

o    Suggested Spells: 5th – elemental breath, flammable fumes, any of the mantle spells

o    Gear: +1 resilient wooden breastplate, greater beastmaster’s sigil, greater bristling spines, staff of summoning, lesser boots of free running, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)

LEVEL 10

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, + Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +4, Dex +2, Con +2, Int +2, Wis +5, Cha +1)

o    Class Feat: Sixth Pillar Dedication

o    Skill Feat: Powerful Leap

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (E)

o    Gear: major beastmaster’s sigil, +1 resilient wooden breastplate, greater animal staff, greater bristling spines, primeval mistletoe, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)

The other reason behind specifically using the witch archetype over another occult caster is that we can take Basic Witchcraft for Witch’s Armaments to gain the living hair attack as seen with his Wild Lion’s Mane Technique. We will take a quick return to the druid archetype for Mature Animal Companion – and that will be it. That’s all that we’ll be investing in his animal companion and you honestly might not even go for this. You could alternatively consider Patron’s Breadth just to get more spells. With a few feats from the witch under his belt, Jiraiya can take Sixth Pillar Dedication, which immediately improves his unarmed attacks and will be something that we can further expand upon to reference both his ninjutsu and taijutsu skills. Nimble Crawl will help him lay low so that he can evade detection and Break Curse is meant to reference him removing the Five Elements Seal that was afflicting Naruto. Powerful Leap finishes out his skill feats for the block and enhances his jumping ability as the ‘Toad’ Sage. Fleet will also let him move faster – they’re all pretty quick over in that Naruto-world – and extend the ranges of his jumps. He finishes out his feats with Animal Summoner, building out of Awakened Magic and simply providing him with a top rank summon animal each day. Letting him not necessarily have to spend a high spell slot on one of these might be nice. For the witch spells gained in this rank, invisibility is a match for his Transparent Escape Technique whereas heroism, combined with other buffs as needed, will be a good way to get into his Sage Mode. As another point towards that, we have mountain resilience to enhance his durability or any of the mantle spells, which have a decent range these days. I also think there’s some possibility behind using flammable fumes for an idea similar to his Toad Oil Bullet. This doesn’t limit the movement of people, but it does come with the fact that the fumes destabilize and can be detonated with some fire.

LEVEL 11

o    General Feat: Toughness

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (M)

o    Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), major beastmaster’s sigil, saurian spike, +1 resilient wooden breastplate, greater bristling spines, boots of bounding

LEVEL 12

o    Class Feat: Maneuvering Spell

o    Skill Feat: Wall Jump

o    Gear: +2 resilient wooden breastplate, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), greater staff of summoning, major beastmaster’s sigil, flaming weapon rune, summoning handscroll

LEVEL 13

o    Ancestry Feat: Shadow Pact

o    Skill Increase: Acrobatics (M)

o    Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), +2 resilient wooden breastplate, greater saurian spike, greater staff of summoning, major beastmaster’s sigil, greater bracers of missile deflection

LEVEL 14

o    Class Feat: Sixth Pillar Mastery

o    Skill Feat: Consult the Spirits – Occultism

o    Gear: greater ring of the ram, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), sharkskin robe, +2 resilient wooden breastplate, dinosaur boots, greater staff of summoning

LEVEL 15

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, + Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +4.5, Dex +2, Con +3, Int +2, Wis +5.5, Cha +2)

o    General Feat: Fast Recovery

o    Skill Increase: Occultism (L)

o    Gear: +2 greater resilient wooden breastplate, greater ring of the ram, propulsive boots, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), greater spry sinews, greater saurian spike

Mobility seems to be an important aspect of the ninjas within Naruto, which makes the likes of Maneuvering Spell a fantastic pick-up for Jiraiya. Furthermore, we can use Sixth Pillar Mastery to further enhance his magic and martial ability, able to chain them together for greater effect. With this, he’s got a pretty great set-up. He can cast a buffing spell, or a spell to debilitate foes, move into melee with Maneuvering Spell, and then get a +1 status bonus on the fist Strike he can finish off the turn with. Wall Jump is a great get for this gama-guy but I like Consult the Spirits for a more metaphysical take on the character and his ability to gather knowledge. I think it’s worth pointing out that Jiraiya is an old man in a rather rough profession and to help him make it as far as he has, I think Toughness and Fast Recovery are in order as his general feats. Rounding out his feat options for this block is Shadow Pact, using shadows and sacrifice to perform magic, which from what little I understand of Naruto, is pretty on point.

LEVEL 16

o    Class Feat: Expert Witch Spellcasting

o    Skill Feat: Calm and Centered

o    Witch Spells: 4th – suggestion, 5th – shadow blast

o    Gear: major saurian spike, +2 greater resilient wooden breastplate, major staff of summoning, propulsive boots, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), sharkskin robe

LEVEL 17

o    Ancestry Feat: Heroic Presence

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (L)

o    Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), greater flaming weapon rune, major saurian spike, +2 greater resilient wooden breastplate, greater ring of the ram, propulsive boots

LEVEL 18

o    Class Feat: Master Witch Spellcasting

o    Skill Feat: Cloud Jump

o    Gear: headwrap of wisdom, +3 greater striking weapon, quickstrike weapon rune, major saurian spike, +2 greater resilient wooden breastplate, major staff of summoning

LEVEL 19

o    General Feat: Incredible Initiative

o    Skill Increase: Nature (L)

o    Suggested Spells: 10th – summon kaiju

o    Gear: +3 greater resilient wooden breastplate, headwrap of wisdom, greater boots of free running, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), major beast staff, major saurian spike

LEVEL 20

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, + Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +5, Dex +2, Con +4, Int +2, Wis +6, Cha +3)

o    Class Feat: Hierophant’s Power

o    Skill Feat: Influence Nature

o    Witch Spells: 8th – quandary

o    Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+3 major striking), +3 greater resilient wooden breastplate, major staff of nature’s vengeance, headwrap of wisdom, quickstrike weapon rune, greater dinosaur boots

After getting what we wanted out of the sixth pillar archetype, we can return to the witch archetype for Expert and Master Witch Spellcasting. Jiraiya has an ability to manipulate foes from their shadows, which I couldn’t really find a fit for. I’d probably look for command or suggestion to capture this idea and you can also look into heightening heroism to sixth rank to increase its effectiveness. Furthermore, getting eighth-rank spells grants us access to quandary, which honestly works quite well for the likes of his Toad Mouth Bind and Barrier: Gourd Toad Prison. He closes out his class feats with Hierophant’s Power to gain an extra tenth-rank spell, which he can possibly use to prepare summon kaiju to bring out his biggest toads. Though that might take a little reflavoring. Calm and Centered is the first of his final skill feats and will let him keep himself stable and steady even in the most dire of situations, which will help him maintain things such as his Sage Mode. Obviously, our Toad Sage has to take Cloud Jump and then uses Influence Nature for his ninjutsu and ability to pretty much do exactly that – using the toads to alert him when dangers approaching. I was torn between his final ancestry feat, but I think Heroic Presence fits better with him by just a bit.

FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Taking this build into a free archetype game would be a huge boon. Both witch and sixth pillar both have feats that would still be useful. From the witch, he could expand on his living hair with Skillful Tresses, Deadly Hair, and even Wild Witch’s Armaments. Meanwhile, the sixth pillar still has Six Pillars Stance and Touch Focus. One final thing I’d look at from archetypes is the Spell Trickster Dedication, which has the Volatile Grease feat for his Toad Oil Bullet. Other than that, you can actually invest in your animal companion a bit and get more summoning abilities, such as Call of the Wild, Elemental Summons, and Effortless Concentration so that he can sustain such spells.

BUILD CONCLUSION

Jiraiya the Toad Sage is a skilled human druid who follows the animal order and is beast blessed. He doesn’t really scream ‘shinobi’ to me, but then neither do the ninjas of Naruto, so I suppose we’re on track. His background, as well as the Adopted Ancestry for awakened animal, calls to mind the contracts that he has with the mystic toads of Mount Myoboku. His ability to summon these toads comes through with his summon animal and summon kaiju spells, the latter lending to the larger legends he can call forth. We can use grease for his Toad Oil Bullet’s ability to disrupt movement but flammable fumes might better represent the way that it works when interacting with fire. We have to dip into the witch to gain some subterfuge spells for him, gaining the likes of flashy disappearance and invisibility to represent his Transparent Escape Technique. The witch further provides us with armaments that grant him Living Hair for his Lion’s Mane Techniques, but we’ll want to use the druid for his horizon thunder sphere and other explosive spells to represent his Rasengan. I have a couple ideas for his Sage Mode. Stuff like haste, heroism, and mountain resilience all bolster his physical capabilities as does the Sixth Pillar Mastery, but to empower his ninjutsu, you might looks at spells like fiery body as it empowers his fire spells and there are other options like this. With the primal spell list, we have plenty of elemental sorts of spells to call upon, whether that be a gasping marsh, any range of wall spells, or breathe fire and the eternally infamous fireball.

A summoning sage, this senior shinobi supplants sorcery with strong strikes that send sinister sorts sinking into his swamps.

Let me know what you think, what other builds you would like to see, and have a fantastic Friday!