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Grailfinders Viewers' Choice #25: Suzuka Gozen (Santa)

today on Grailfinders we’re finally striking back against arcade by building one of their unique servants! sure they finished their story and stopped releasing new servants almost a year ago, but it’s better late than never!

today we’re building Suzuka Gozen Santa, who is to date the only evil santa servant, afaik. she’s a Peace Cleric to inspire love in those around her, as well as a Divine Soul Sorcerer to get her demon fox magicks. there’s precious little arcade info available outside of official trailers and machine translations, so forgive us if we speculate.

check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Ancestry & Background

once again, since we’re building an existing servant in a new outfit, her race and background are pretty much unchanged from the original. mostly because WotC still hasn’t returned our calls about adding a fox race to D&D, but I digress. Suzuka’s a Swiftstride Shifter, giving her Darkvision and free proficiency in the Acrobatics skill. she can also fox it up with some Shifting, giving her faux ears for up to a minute as a bonus action. while be-eared, she gains temporary HP equal to her level + her constitution modifier, and gains an extra 10’ of movement speed. on top of that, you can react to someone moving within melee range to run away from them without provoking opportunity attacks. she also gets +2 Dexterity and +1 Charisma.

as Santa Suzuka’s probably more of an acolyte than before, but it still gives her proficiency in Insight and Performance.

Ability Scores

her stats, on the other hand, have changed rather dramatically. this time her Charisma is as high as possible, with her Wisdom in a close second. everyone loves Santa, and you probably have four ears so you’re great at hearing things. spears are still Strength weapons, so that has to be decent, and I’m not going to be cruel enough to give you a +0 in Constitution, so those are third and fourth, respectively. that means your Dexterity isn’t great, but we’re dumping Intelligence. I don’t think Suzuka’s actually that dumb, but I do think she’d act that dumb to play the part of a high school girl better.

Class Levels

1. Cleric 1: if we want to be a lancer, we need to start as a cleric. that means we get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as Religion and History. Saint Nick’s old as balls, and since you’re a Santa Cleric, I guess that means Santa’s a god now. not the weirdest basis for a religion I’ve ever seen. as a Peace Cleric, you are an Implement of Peace, giving you proficiency in Persuasion. Santas publicly admit that they watch children while they sleep and nobody’s creeped out by that, that’s some god-tier persuasion right there.

you can also give your party an Emboldening Bond as an action Proficiency times a day, choosing up to Proficiency number of creatures to bond with for up to ten minutes. as long as any two of those creatures are within 30’ of each other, they can add 1d4 per turn to an attack, check, or save. kind of like guidance, but through the power of love.

you also learn some Spells, which you prep and cast using Wisdom. since you can change spells to match the occasion, the exact ones you pick each day don’t matter, but I’ll give you some highlights. that being said, Clerics have one of the strongest spell lists in the game, so you’re definitely spoiled for choice.

that being said your cantrips are pretty stuck on, so let’s go over them, Light lets you make your spear all shiny, and since it doesn’t specify the light has to be a static color you can totally make your spear say something if you spin it around fast enough. Thaumaturgy will help your ho-ho-hos carry through the night, and Resistance will help you not die. nobody likes dying, so don’t do it, lest whatever killed you becomes the new Santa.

as a peace Cleric you’ll always have Heroism and Sanctuary prepped- the former gives a teammate extra HP and immunity to fear, while the latter gives a creature protection from attack for up to a minute, or until they attack first. honestly, who would punch santa? anyone who succeeds on their wisdom saves. you also get spells like Ceremony, which isn’t in character but it does mean you can marry people, which feels like a natural endpoint for the “make everyone fall in love” character. you can also Cure Wounds now. think of it as a little christmas gift to whoever has the lowest HP.

2. Cleric 2: second level Clerics can Channel Divinity as an action, either Turning Undead and making them run away, or delivering a Balm of Peace to your allies. with this, you can move up to your speed without getting attacked, giving every friend you pass a little pick-me-up as you go. and that’s how you deliver presents to everyone in the party in a single turn.

3. Cleric 3: third level Clerics get second level spells, like Aid and Warding Bond. aid makes extra HP for everyone, and warding bond lets you take hits for someone else. but you barely have positive constitution, so. don’t. you can also Calm Emotions now, which sounds like the opposite of what we’re trying to do, but it’s hard to let love into your heart when anger’s in there too, y’know? you could also Enhance Ability to make someone more charismatic, or make a Prayer of Healing for a group heal when you have the downtime.

4. cleric 4: at fourth level you become a dual wielder thanks to ur first ability score improvement! this one doesn’t improve your ability scores which makes the name kind of pointless but it does let you carry two spears at once! while doin that u get a +1 bonus to ac which you rlly need and you can draw both spears at the same time!

this is actually a pretty bad feat but we need it for lore reasons!

5. cleric 5: fifth level clerics get to Destroy Undead instead of turning it, instantly killing any undead monster of CR ½ or lower whomst fails their wisdom save. they also get third level spells or whatever.

Sending lets you direct tweet anyone 25 words or less and they can send a message back, though if you try to target someone on another plane, there’s a 5% chance the spell fails. Beacon of Hope gives as many creatures as you wish within 30’ of you advantage on wisdom and death saves, as well as maxed-out healing.

as for your chosen spells, Bestow Curse and Remove Curse are kind of like single-person versions of your NP, weakening obstacles to love, or freeing someone to find love, respectively. if you just want an AoE attack, get Spirit Guardians.

6. Cleric 6: at sixth level Clerics can channel divinity twice as often, and your bond is now a Protective Bond, so if any bonded creature takes damage while another one is nearby, the latter can teleport next to the former and take the damage for them. given that you currently have less than 30 HP and an AC of 11, you’ll probably get a lot of use out of this.

7. Cleric 7: seventh level Clerics get fourth level spells! you get Aura of Purity and Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere for free, and to be honest there’s not much else we need for the build here so let’s just enjoy the mercifully short level for a change.

8. Sorcerer 1: okay enough of that time to pile it back on. as a Divine Soul sorcerer, you’re Favored by the Gods, letting you add 2d4 to any failed save or attack roll once a short rest. foxes are just cooler, it’s a fact.

you also get Divine Magic, which is like normal sorcerer magic, (cast with charisma, mixes with cleric magic so check the phb to see how many spell slots you have, spells only change on level-up,) but you can also pick from Cleric spells too! you could already pick from Cleric spells by being a Cleric, and with more freedom due to the preparation system, but it’s there.

in more useful news, you get Inflict Wounds for free, so now you can deal a lot of damage in a short amount of time. you also get another cavalcade of cantrips, like Friends to make friends, Mending to keep your unrealistic battle outfit in one piece, Message for more texting, and Sword Burst to spin around and poke stuff.

on top of that, you get first level spells like Charm Person to again make friends, and Fog Cloud to set the scene. I imagine reflavoring the fog to be a bunch of falling snow wouldn’t be too big a stretch.

9. Sorcerer 2: second level sorcerers are a Font of Magic, letting you turn spell slots into sorcery points and vice-versa. right now, this just means you have an extra 1st level spell slot every day you remember it exists.

you can use that spell slot to cast Mage Armor, so your AC is no longer terrible! now it’s just kind of bad!

10. Sorcerer 3: third level sorcerers can spend their sorcery points on Metamagic! it’s magic, but meeeetaa! you can make a spell Heightened to force whatever you’re hitting to have disadvantage on the save or Subtle so nobody can notice you cast the spell.

you can also turn one of your spears into a Magic Weapon, dealing +1 damage and gaining a +1 on all attack rolls. ideally your legendary spears would be given by the DM at some point, but if you need a magic spear, now its here.

11. Sorcerer 4: fourth level sorcerers get another ASI, and with Piercer your Strength can finally get evened out while also making all your spears better! now you can reroll one piercing attack’s damage die once per turn to avoid 1’s, and your critical piercing hits get an extra die of damage slapped on! I wouldn’t call suzuka a melee powerhouse, but she’s got more mightocondria now.

you can also cast Blade Ward now to not die on impact with an actual fighter, and Snilloc’s Snowball Swarm. Suzuka probably can’t summon snowballs at will, but it feels Santa-ish and nobody can say otherwise.

12. Sorcerer 5: fifth level sorcerers can spend their SP on Magical Guidance, letting you re-roll a failed check. you also get magical magic like Slow, our real NP for the build. I’m sure the part in Suzuka’s bio that talks about hindering obstacles to love isn’t quite so literal, but for a third level spell it can seriously mess people up- up to six creatures can be affected, and if they fail their wisdom save they’ll have half speed, -2 AC and dex saves, can’t use reactions, and have to choose between their action or bonus action. on top of that, spells have a 50/50 chance to take two turns to cast. the big downside is they keep making wisdom saves every turn, but particularly unwise individuals can get slowed down for up to a minute.

13. Sorcerer 6: sixth level holy soulies have Empowered Healing- whenever you or someone next to you casts a healing spell, you can spend 1 SP to re-roll any number of dice you wish. dying is a pretty big obstacle to love. so are fireballs, now that I think of it, so grab Protection from Energy as well.

14. Sorcerer 7: our last level of sorcerer is just to pick up the fourth level spell Dimension Door. you gotta be able to take all your selfies at the best angle, after all.

15. Cleric 8: now that we’re back in our original class, you get a long-awaited ASI to spend on Wisdom. plus, you get a stronger Destroy Undead that kills anything CR 1 or lower, and Blessed Strikes! once per turn, you can add an extra die of radiant damage to any damaging cantrip you cast or attack you make. turns out jamming a glo-stick into someone’s ribs hurts!

16. Cleric 9: ninth level Clerics get fifth level spells, and again there’s not really much to talk about- though that’s because the one I really wanted you get for free. Greater Restoration can cure an ally of tons of different kinds of impairments to love, like exhaustion, petrification, or paradoxically enough, charming. true love doesn’t come from the magic of magic, it comes from the magic of christmas! you also get Rary’s Telepathic Bond if you want to put everyone on your cell plan.

17. Cleric 10: tenth level Clerics get one of the most powerful features in the game when it works, Divine Intervention. basically, once a day (with a week’s cooldown upon working) you have a 1/10 chance of calling up your dad and having him solve whatever problem you’re dealing with. given that he’s a demon king, that might end badly.

or you can use your last cantrip Guidance for a 1d4 bonus to an ability check for a bit after you cast it. if guidance could help I’d hold off on summoning a god.

18. Cleric 11: Destroy Undead hits CR 2 creatures now, and you get 6th level spells like Heroes’ Feast, one of the better party-wide buffs you can use. you spend a short rest chowing down with friends to cure all diseases and poisons, gain immunity to the poisoned and frightened conditions, gain advantage on all wisdom saves, and their HP maximum goes up for 24 hours. (also you could argue that combining this with Beacon of Hope’s healing feature you can max out the HP buff for a couple people, but that’s pretty close to rules lawyering)

19. Cleric 12: we get one last ASI, so bump up that Wisdom once more for stronger spells and harder to make saves.

20. Cleric 13: our final level of the build gives us access to Suzuka’s reality marble, letting her make a Temple of the Gods, or in Santa terms, a shopping mall. this spell takes an hour to cast, but lets you set up a 120 square foot complex of your choosing, and your temple can block out certain types of creatures, forcing them out if they fail a charisma save and reducing all their rolls while inside. it also blocks divination, and improves your healing to boot!

Pros & Cons

Pros:

this santa does a little bit of everything, with offensive spells for damage, weapon skills to fall back on if magic fails, healing, buffing, debuffing, and even social spells, you’ll never be a fish out of water. because you’re a fox, and a fox out of water is pretty standard all things considered.

while a lot of buffers tend to focus on making one character powerful, you have access to a suite of party-wide buffs to make everyone a bit better! love doesn’t play favorites, after all! (also you never know who the necromancer’s going to try and charm, even if it probably will be the barbarian again)

thanks to being a swiftstride shifter, you move a lil faster than most casters, and that means it’s easier for you to stay out of danger. you’ve also got access to plenty of ways to escape from melee range without provoking attacks, which can really come in handy when you resort to throwing spears around.

Cons:

you need all that speed, because if you do get caught unawares you’re going to go down easily. you have barely over 100 HP at level 20, and your AC is atrocious right up until you get mage armor at level 9. don’t get killed, we can’t take another santa clause reboot.

we didn’t have enough ASIs to max out your casting features, so your heightened spells are a godsend. unfortunately, you don’t have a lot of sorcerer points, so you can’t actually use them too much without burning spell slots.

on a related note, this build lacks focus. that’s not inherently a bad thing, but it means you’ll have to get creative to stand on par with more specialized builds.

#fgo #fate grand order #D&D 5e #DND #Suzuka Gozen #fgo arcade #cleric #sorcerer

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