Conceptualising, creating, and crafting a character are all a massive part of Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition‘s charm. It’s the single favourite aspect of the game for many (myself included), who dream about the many possible ways to build a character.

There are some common objectives some players lean into with D&D 5e character creation. On this very blog, I have articles about creating the highest-damage builds in D&D 5e or choosing D&D 5e‘s best spellcasting subclasses.

Sometimes, however, you don’t want to go for raw power, or damage, or the best spellcasting, or the best support options. Sometimes, the goal in D&D 5e character creation is to specialise in something almost nobody else will have thought of.

Even with the game’s relatively fewer moving parts, there are some very niche character ideas in D&D 5e that can lean into one aspect of the game that your Dungeon Master might not expect.

As a general disclaimer, there’s a risk of making any of these D&D 5e builds a one-trick pony. This is a bad idea, even if you like that trick. Make sure you have some reliable damage and skills on top of your niche so you can contribute more generally.

Taking as Many D&D 5e Skills as Possible

Skills are one of the primary ways to engage with D&D 5e mechanics outside of combat (and sometimes in it). They represent a character’s focused life experience, with training and know-how adding to their baseline talent in that area.

Many characters settle for four skill proficiencies in D&D 5e, but there is no hard cap. Likewise, Expertise, despite being more limited, can reach respectable numbers.

So why not make a D&D 5e character who is well-trained or even a world-class expert in as many skills as possible?

Rogue or Bard are the natural D&D 5e classes for people who want skills. They each get more skills than the average character and Expertise to double down. Particular subclasses like the College of Lore or Scout also provide free extra proficiencies.

You can really go overboard with the maximum number of skills in D&D 5e through race as well. Half-Elf, Reborn, Hexblood, Dhampir, Satyr, and several others give two skill proficiencies, either free or fixed.

Alternatively, you can take Variant Human (or Custom Lineage) and take Skilled, Skill Expert, or Prodigy for your feat. These also work (besides Prodigy for other races) if you take them at higher levels.

Astral Elf can be a particularly good choice for a D&D 5e skills build. Not content to give two free skills, one of which is Perception, it lets you change one on a daily basis. You can be top-tier at anything with a few hours’ notice.

The spell Borrowed Knowledge doesn’t hurt, either.

Never again settle for poor rolls in any part of D&D 5e. If your DM asks you for an Athletics, Performance, Animal Handling, or History check, you can catch everyone off-guard by revealing that yes, you know how to do that as well.

It becomes particularly absurd if you get Reliable Talent as a D&D 5e Rogue. You might only ever be a mediocre combatant, but you’ll excel at almost anything else.

Moving Enemies Around the Battlefield

Battlefield control is a vital part of any D&D 5e party. Being able to lock enemies down, rob them of their actions, and rewrite the battlefield is every bit as valuable as being able to deplete their hit points.

Control builds in D&D 5e often rely on a mixture of debuff spells and area-of-effect obstacles. However, it is possible to take an unconventional approach. For a different form of battlefield control in D&D 5e, take as many spells as possible that move other creatures.

Shoving enemies around the battlefield isn’t pointless. It frees up room for allies to move, locks them down next to a melee powerhouse, forces them into hazards, or simply pushes them too far back to close to melee range with fragile allies. There’s no shortage of ways to disrupt your DM’s game plan and bolster your party’s tactics.

Race doesn’t matter as much for this battlefield control build in D&D 5e. Lineages that give some form of spellcasting may help.

Wizards are a natural choice for this D&D 5e build, but so are Druids (for a different spell selection), and Sorcerers (for Metamagic). Warlocks are a particularly keen choice for D&D 5e Eldritch Invocations like Grasp of Hadar and the infamous Repelling Blast.

This build largely depends on spell choice, with different options available to many classes. Thorn Whip, Gust, Infestation, Eldritch Blast, and Lightning Lure are all at-will ways to move enemies. Even five feet of movement can be vicious at the right time.

Levelled spells in D&D 5e give an even more rich feast for this type of battlefield control. Dissonant Whispers, Thunderous Smite, Gust of Wind, Vortex Warp, Confusion, and Grasping Mind have plenty of use at low levels. Higher levels grant even more entertaining D&D 5e movement spells like Telekinesis, Maelstrom, Scatter, Gravity Fissure, and Reverse Gravity.

This is often an effective way to play battlefield control in D&D 5e. However, it’s much more effective if another party member casts spells like Spike Growth, Wall of Fire, or the many other hazards available.

Failing that, try knocking people off cliffs. It’s super-effective.

The Highest Movement Speed Possible in D&D 5e

This one is a very popular theorycrafting exercise. There are so many different options available to affect or boost movement speed in D&D 5e that it’s flat-out fun to see how many of them stack together.

Several races help get the highest movement speed in D&D 5e. Some, such as Satyr or Leonin, start with a boost. The Orc’s Adrenaline Rush provides a sudden burst that stacks with other boosts from a bonus action Dash a few times per day. The Tabaxi’s Feline Agility is infamous in D&D 5e for its effect on burst movement.

For classes, both Monk and Barbarian give movement speed increases (unarmoured, in the former case). Stacking them both is a very ability-score-expensive way to eke out another 5ft movement speed at high levels.

The Monk also gets a bonus action Dash, assuming you can spare the Ki.

Some spells also boost movement speed, such as Kinetic Jaunt and Longstrider providing separate 10ft increases. Haste doubles it, complete with every other bonus, as well as providing another action to Dash with.

Other spells can help, but that begins to assume the entire party is working together with the sole goal of helping you break the sound barrier.

Often, the highest movement speed possible in D&D 5e is a gimmick that will rarely come up. However, good mobility helps with targeting backline enemies, completing objectives during combat, and winning pursuits (whether chasing or fleeing). Few D&D 5e enemies can match a character well-built to run fast.

I’ve even seen the ridiculous, min-maxed speed some into play in D&D 5e. A player character escaped an ambush, retrieved a mission-critical objective, climbed onto the gallery, and jumped out a window in one turn. It caught me off-guard.

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Making As Many Attacks as Possible in D&D 5e

In the intro to this article, I said that these weren’t maximum damage builds in D&D 5e. This holds true even with this one. It’s not about maximising the damage (which often requires particular weapons and feats).

Instead, it’s about the act of attacking as often as possible, even if it’s less efficient.

The Fighter seems an obvious choice for making the most attacks possible in D&D 5e, getting up to four at level 20. However, if you really want to test the game’s limits, your ridiculous combat D&D 5e multiclass build can far exceed this.

Consider the Path of the Beast Barbarian. With the Claws feature, it can make three attacks with an action from 5th level onward. Then consider the Monk, which can Unarmed Strike or Flurry of Blows for bonus action attacks. Also consider that, under D&D 5e rules, Claws are a Monk weapon (a simple melee weapon which lacks the Two-Handed or Heavy property).

You can push the number of attacks even higher in D&D 5e.

Obviously, two levels of Fighter gives Action Surge for even more attacks. Three levels of Gloom Stalker Ranger gives an extra attack on the first turn of combat.

Races that give extra attacks in D&D 5e, such as Centaur, tend to rely on situational bonus actions. If you want to make this absurd build slightly worth it, the Bugbear will add 2d6 damage to each of the many, many hits you make.

A side note: if you try to use a combat build like this in D&D 5e, please roll your attacks as quickly as possible. It will save everyone time.

Endless D&D 5e Utility Spellcasting

Utility spells often go underappreciated in D&D 5e. They don’t deal vast amounts of damage or leave enemies helpless. Instead, they often trivialise out-of-combat challenges or puzzles for a relatively minimal cost.

Many D&D 5e spellcasters have a handful of utility spells and lots of combat options. However, it’s easy to flip the script. Take a few reliable combat options and then take anything and everything that might have an out-of-combat use.

Again, races that give extra spellcasting are probably the best bet for this.

The Wizard’s vast spell list makes it a good candidate for a utility spellcasting build. The Bard and Artificer also have reasonable specialisation in this field. Even the Warlock can be a great pick thanks to at-will Eldritch Invocations in D&D 5e.

Much like a battlefield control build, a utility spellcaster in D&D 5e is all about the spell choice.

Cantrips like Prestidigitation, Message, Guidance, Thaumaturgy, and Minor Illusion are worth their weight in gold. First-level spells like Detect Magic, Identify, Comprehend Languages, Feather Fall, Find Familiar, Illusory Script, Jump, and Silent Image remain helpful far longer than low-level combat spells.

Higher-level spell slots in D&D 5e also have plenty of utility options. Even a subset of Knock, Arcane Lock, Detect Thoughts, Borrowed Knowledge, Gift of Gab, Locate Object, Silence, Dispel Magic, Tongues, and Fly will have your DM wondering how on Earth to challenge your party.

Naming every utility spell in D&D 5e would take far too long. Just know there are many capable of bypassing or aiding against almost any obstacle. You can become the best toolbox in the game by simply taking all of them.

These have been five unusual D&D 5e builds that focus on their own niche, sometimes for its own sake, rather than trying to compete for best damage. They may be better suited to a one-shot than a campaign, but I would call all of them genuinely useful in their own right.

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If you want slightly more sensible build advice, read ‘The Best Rogue Races in D&D 5e’ or similar articles.

If you’ve got the mechanics down but want the flavour to go with them, try ‘Tips for Writing a D&D Character Backstory‘.