D&D: Five Point Five Ways To Be Sword And Spell Guy In 5.5E

Sword and spell is a potent fantasy archetype. In D&D, they call it the gish. And in the new rules, there’s plenty of ways to do it.

I know what you’re thinking. Sword and spell? In this economy? But hey, D&D is all about fulfilling the dreams you couldn’t achieve in real life. Like routinely getting eight hours of uninterrupted sleep that leaves you refreshed. Or opening up a small business (running a tavern) without having to file paperwork for a year.

But the archetype of “cast spell and swing sword” wedged deep into the fantasy part of the collective unconsciousness, probably somewhere in between “elves are cool” and “magic sword goes *schlinnnnng*”. So much so that it’s been around since before D&D. And in D&D was often referred to by the term GISH.

The term originally came from the Githyanki in early Planescape, which was a name given to Githyanki Fighter/Wizards, specifically. And since then, its come to mean PC that can fight with a sword and also cast spells good. Usually in concert with one another. And in 5.5E, there are so many ways to accomplish this. Here’s just a handful.

Be an Eldritch Knight Fighter

One of the things about 5.5E is that it follows on 5th Edition’s streamlining of the rules – to a point. For example, the Eldritch Knight is a Fighter subclass that does away with dual classing or multiclassing as a Fighter and a Wizard and just rolls up a little Wizard in with the Fighter.

You get all the armor and weapon proficiencies, and more importantly hit points, plus a handful of spells from the Wizard list that all adds up to swinging your sword and casting spells. It’s one of the trickier options, because it requires you use your Intelligence as a Spellcasting stat, and spellcasting stat only—which means you’ll split your focus, but hey, at least you’ll be smart. And for a while, True Strike makes up for not having a maxed out Strength.

But Eldritch Knight is an easy, straightforward way to be both a magic gremlin and a sword gremlin in the same character. If you want something a little more complicated, you might consider…

College of Valor Bard

The Bard College of Valor fits solidly into the classic “Red Mage” archetype out of Final Fantasy games. You can use a sword. You can cast spells. And you do both pretty good, even if you don’t have the most damaging spells or deadliest attacks, you do both well enough that it doesn’t matter. You have an answer for every situation.

Especially since you’ll have a good assortment of skills as a Bard. As a Valor Bard, you’ll be able to attack twice in combat, as well as gaining the ability to cast a cantrip as part of your attack. And that’s on top of having a wide assortment of spells. At the highest levels, when you cast a spell with a casting time of one action, you can make a weapon attack as a bonus action. So you keep the flow of spell and sword going throughout your turns.

Pact of the Blade Warlock

Of course real sickos know that the Warlock can immediately start with the power of a fully armed and operational Gish build. All you really have to do is pick the Pact of the Blade Eldritch Invocation at Level 1. Then you can use your Charisma as both your melee stat and your spellcasting stat. This means you only have to max out one stat and you’ll be solid.

This makes Warlocks a flexible option for anyone looking to be a sword and spell type. They can enable multiclass combos, or even just on their own are potent with other Eldritch Invocations and Warlock spells.

Be a Paladin or Ranger

Paladins and Rangers are two classes that come with built-in spellcasting and swordfighting. Or swordsfighting, if you really want the Ranger to be a dual wielder. Both enable different brands of spellcasting. Paladins probably have a leg up on Rangers in the long run, because Paladins can always use magic to make one of their melee attacks extra good—and that just plays into the sword and spell fantasy handily.

But you can’t really go wrong with either of them. Especially in 5.5E. When even if you don’t want to be one fully, you can pick up a level of either as asingle multiclass “dip” and go on to be a Wizard or Sorcerer that wears heavy armor and can use all the melee weapons in the game.

Wizards Are Surprisingly Good At This, No Bladesinger Needed

Which brings us to Wizards. While the Bladesinger is getting some love in the upcoming Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide (probably), it isn’t necessary for a Wizard to pick that up to lean into the idea of being a Gish. All you really need is the ability to wield a melee weapon and you’re most of the way there with the new True Strike spell.

Wizards have plenty of flexibility on their own. But being able to cast a single spell that outdamages most other cantrips is great. And if you multiclass your Wizard even just a little bit, that gets even better. Because, without taking a penalty to your overall spell slot progression, you gain the ability to use weapon mastery properties and wear heavy armor. Which means you’ll not only have ninth level spells, but you can cast something like Blade of Disaster (a bonus action magic sword like spell) and then make a magical True Strike spell t attack with your actual sword dealing magical damage in melee like you were born to it.

Bladesinger is just icing that will soon be on the cake.

Multiclass Your Way To Victory

Of course, the secret .5th option included in most of these entries is multiclass. There are a number of options sprinkled throughout, but honestly you can’t go wrong. 5.5E has a lot of possibilities, and veen if you’re not stumbling into the most optimized combos, you’ll never be that far off if you have a good core to start from.

Mix something like Paladin and Celestial Pact Warlock for the ultimate heavenly smiter. Or combo Illusionist and Fiend Warlock for a cool cursed assassin type. Or go wild and multiclass Fighter and Wizard, because those are still two classes that combo well together.

Really, the field is open.

Happy adventuring!

Bell of Lost Souls Staff Writer and DM, J.R. covers RPGs of all stripes and on occasion eats sandwiches. You can ask him about either at [email protected]

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