How to Build Auron from Final Fantasy X in DnD

by Brandon Gregory

Auron, Final Fantasy X’s stoic warrior and mentor, was an invaluable party member throughout most of the game due to his survivability and raw damage output. His character arc may not be as dynamic as some of the other characters like Wakka, due to most of his growth happening in the past and the players finding out about it retroactively, but he plays a vital role in the plot as well. Building Auron as a DnD character can make for a powerful combatant who serves as a voice of reason in their party. Here’s how to build him.

Picking a Class and Subclass

While Auron in the game does have some debuff abilities, his primary role is to be a walking tank—to soak up and dish out large amounts of damage. As a swordsman, he uses a two-handed weapon and hits extremely hard, unlike Tidus, who favors quick hits and speed. His stoic but observant nature also points to a higher Wisdom stat. Although that’s not as important as his physical capabilities, it defines a lot of his interactions with the party.

I’ve seen some people argue that Auron should be a monk (especially since the game itself describes him as a warrior monk), but there’s another role in DnD that’s a much better fit for him. A character based on Auron would be a Fighter with the Samurai subclass. This not only fits his mechanical basis—being able to hit things really hard—but also fits his personality with self-discipline and stoic observation.

The Samurai subclass allows a character to gain advantage on all attacks for their turn. This becomes much more significant as the Samurai gains more attacks, but it also plays into Auron’s ability to hit things really hard. If you take the Great Weapon Master feat, having advantage on all attacks allows you to get some significant damage for a turn. Even without advantage, Great Weapon Master allows for some strategic risk for a great reward.

With that concept in mind, the rest of Auron’s build falls into place. He would use a greatsword as his primary weapon, and Strength would be his highest stat. Constitution and Wisdom would both be high as well (Samurai get some synergy with Wisdom). Dexterity wouldn’t be a priority, nor would Intelligence. At level 7, the Samurai gets to add their Wisdom modifier to Persuasion checks, so a decent Charisma score would not be wasted.

Picking a Race

There are a few interesting options here. Mechanically speaking, it would be great to get the Great Weapon Master feat right out of the gate. Looking at Auron’s story, he is technically dead, so you might choose to focus on that. Auron’s personality and self discipline are also a big part of his character, so that might be the deciding factor.

If you really want that Great Weapon Fighter feat at level 1, Variant Human is the way to go. Human is known as the generic choice, but it’s not a bad choice for a character based on Auron, and it works well mechanically due to the free feat at level 1.

If you want to play into Auron’s life after death status, the Reborn Lineage from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft is a great fit. This has a built in story hook for coming back to life after dying, and adds some features to increase the physical toughness of a character.

If you’re just looking at personality, Hobgoblin would be a great fit for Auron’s no-nonsense outlook and focus on fighting. The Hobgoblin’s key racial feature is the ability to take the Help action as a bonus action. This adds some support features to a Hobgoblin character, and also gives you something to do as a bonus action whenever you’re not using Fighting Spirit to grant yourself advantage.

Background, Alignment, and Personality

Auron grew up as a warrior monk in a monastery, and he’s also a survivor of a traumatic experience where his old party died. Two backgrounds fit that.

To play into Auron’s background in a monastery, the Acolyte background would be a great fit. This grants proficiency in Insight and Religion—both great fits for Auron’s character, and Insight in particular is a good fit with Auron’s higher Wisdom. This background could easily be played as a warrior for a particular church, such as a personal guardian for an important religious figure.

Playing more into Auron’s tragic past, the Haunted One background from Curse of Strahd works as well. This background is built around a single traumatic event, which makes a great tie-in with this character losing their party to an unexpected threat. It grants two skill proficiencies from a few options, none of which are Insight, but can make sense for a character trying to prevent the same tragedy from befalling their new party.

Earlier in life, Auron was a Lawful Good character, but his blind trust in the lawfulness of his organization led to disaster. This has left him jaded and bitter, and when the main story of Final Fantasy X takes place, he doesn’t care as much about good and evil as he does about preventing a tragedy at any cost. His stance on lawfulness is interesting. He’s lost his faith in his previous organization as a source of lawfulness and openly opposes it, but at the same time, he’s bound to his word and will never go back on a promise. This can be a fit for either a Lawful Neutral character who works for order and justice but sees the injustice in the system, or a True Neutral character who stays out of politics and moral arguments so they can accomplish their goal without interference.

Auron is a great example of a simple character done exceedingly well. The concept of a strong stoic warrior could be a boring character, but Auron’s background, motivations, and actions make him a truly interesting character. If you’re looking for a way to take a character devoted primarily to dealing damage and make them complex and integral to the overall story, Auron is a great character to look at.

Auron Character Sheet

Level 3 Variant Human Fighter - Samurai Archetype

Stats (Standard Array)

Background: Acolyte

Feat: Great Weapon Master

Skill Proficiencies

• Athletics
• Insight
• Intimidation
• Perception
• Persuasion
• Religion

Defense fighting style

About the Author

Brandon Gregory

Brandon Gregory is a web developer and writer in the Kansas City area. He's been playing TTRPGs since 2020 and is involved in the disability-related TTRPG podcast Tales from the Crips. He's into classic movies, mental health, and, of course, DnD. Also, he's in a band. One time, they rocked so hard it killed a man.