The Fantastic Four DND Homebrew Characters
We’re here to help explain the Fantastic Four powers and find each of them on a DND character sheet!
With the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps in theaters, all of geek-dom is talking about this super-team, and we’re here for it. Like The Justice League and The Avengers, The Fantastic Four exemplify a truth that’s core to D&D: when powerful individuals work together, they can accomplish so much more than they can alone. So why not make the Fantastic Four D&D characters? We’ve homebrewed some Fantastic Four D&D builds, tying in and explaining each of the Fantastic Four’s powers. So put on your super-suit and join us for an epic adventure!
Note: Our build for The Thing, The Human Torch, and The Invisible Woman were made in the 2024 rules for D&D. As of this writing, his class is not available in the 2024 ruleset, so we built Mr. Fantastic in the 2014 rules. For a better understanding of how the 2014 and 2024 rules do and don’t combine, read our article on the new rules here.
Who Is the Most Powerful Member Of The Fantastic Four?
Making the Fantastic Four as DND characters feels totally natural
Ah, the age-old nerd question, spawning YouTube channels, card games, and decades-long arguments about who would win in a fight. But what defines the “most powerful” person? Is it who would beat the others in a one-on-one brawl? Who could defeat the highest number of enemies on their own? Whose absence would decrease the group's strength the most? Who would win a game of Uno? You may call us pedants, but we think this question is so vague that it just can't be answered.
It’s also a question that’s missing the point. The Fantastic Four are, and always have been, a team. Sure, there may be the occasional one-off comic or side story, but the Fantastic Four are the most interesting – and the most powerful – when they’re working together (This is actually canon; if the Fantastic Four are apart for too long, their powers weaken into nothingness). That’s exactly how a Dungeons & Dragons party works. It’s a group of characters, each with their own unique powers, who come together to complete a quest. The D&D class system is specifically designed for this dynamic: a barbarian might scare away the goblin guarding a treasure chest, while a rogue could disarm its many traps, and a wizard could determine the exact properties of the item inside. Plus D&D parties often end up as weird little families…just like the Fantastic Four. The more we thought about it, the more we realized: the Fantastic Four are totally just a Dungeons & Dragons party!
How We Made Mr. Fantastic In D&D
Look at the guy: Mr. Fantastic totally plays DND.
Like Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark, Reed Richards is a thinker. He’s an expert in pretty much every science out there, and he’s created a whole slew of inventions deployed by the Fantastic Four. The guy even canonically rewrote Steven Hawking! His radiation-induced plasticity is just a bonus on top of his intellect. Though we were tempted to build Mr. Fantastic as a wizard, he’s truthfully a much better fit as an artificer. These intelligence-based tinkerers are much more magic-adept than the scientifically-inclined Reed, but both are ingenious creators who use their inventions in clever ways. You can find artificer analogues for all of Mr. Fantastic’s iconic inventions. His Fantasti-Flare, which alerts the rest of the team to his location, is basically the artificer’s Dancing Lights cantrip. His Universal Translator is easily replicated with an artificer’s Comprehend Languages spell. The capabilities of the Memorium Device, which lets you look through someone’s memories, are represented by the Helm of Telapathy, which all artificers can craft. D&D even has ways to implement the Fantastic Four’s uniforms, brilliant all-in-one inventions with mini-computers, a plethora of sensors and scanners, and complete attunement with each of the Fantastic Four’s powers. The artificer could do this with the Eyes of the Eagle magic item, the Resistant Armor infusion, and the Detect Magic spell. And while it’s tough to perfectly represent his stretching powers in D&D, we think a combination of the Mage Hand cantrip, the Enhanced Defence infusion, and the Alter Self spell would do the trick.
A Fighter’s D&D Stats Are Perfect For The Thing
Ben has by far the most straightforward Fantastic Four DND stats.
Like Solomon Grundy and The Incredible Hulk, Ben Grimm has a powerful durable frame. The cosmic radiation transformed the exterior of his body into stone, granting him strength, durability, stamina, and even regeneration! It’s clear to us that The Thing is perfect for Dungeons & Dragons’ fighter class. These strength-based warriors use their weapons, their skill, and their own bodies to take down baddies and absorb hits for their friends. There’s a fighter ability for each and every one of The Things’ powers. His strength is, of course, repped by the fighters’ high strength scores and proficiencies in strength saving throws. The Thing’s stony frame gives him incredible durability, which D&D’s fighters share. This is true not just in their high constitution score but in the Indomitable trait, which lets fighters reroll a failed saving throw (with an extra bonus). Ben also has incredible stamina due to his increased lung capacity and advanced musculature. Fighters have the same; their Action Surge ability lets them take two actions in one turn (and this is on top of the THREE extra attacks fighters get as they level up). The Thing also has incredible skills in melee combat, due, in part, to Ben’s experiences in football, wrestling, boxing, and even jujutsu! As you might expect, this is true for D&D’s fighters, who have abilities like Studied Attacks, Tactical Mind, Tactical Shift, Tactical Master. If you want to go all-in with this part of Ben’s character, choose the Battle Master fighter subclass. These are trained fighters who use their intelligence and training to outwit and maneuver around their enemies!
Building The Human Torch in D&D
We’ll always remember Joe Quinn as the unforgettable Eddie Munson, the DND lover and absolute legend from Stranger Things Season 4.
Like Frozone and Static, Johnny Storm wields the power of the elements: in his case, fire. He can transform from a regular human to a fire-plasma hybrid that can absorb heat, fling fireballs, and use flaming propulsion to rocket through the air! While we were tempted by the Four Elements monk, we eventually settled on the sorcerer class. Unlike a warlock, who gains magic from an otherworldly patron, or a wizard, who gains magic from scholarly study, a sorcerer’s power is innate, bursting from within themselves in ways they can’t always control. This is perfect for The Human Torch, who has been known to “flame on” when he’s overcome with emotion (a common occurrence for the rebellious teenager). His abilities are best represented by the Draconic Sorcery subclass. In D&D this subclass’ powers come from a dragon ancestor, friend, or foe, but they can easily be reskinned as the result of cosmic radiation. A draconic sorcerer can grow dragon wings and cast spells to fly, much like Johnny’s pyrokinetic flight abilities. By choosing the elemental affinity of fire, a sorcerer is resistant to fire damage, like The Human Torch in his fiery form. Sorcerers can also cast the Absorb Elements, Arcane Vigor, Blade Ward, Mage Armor, and Shield spells, which reflect Johnny’s superhuman durability. To top it off, a draconic sorcerer can modify their appearance with the Alter Self spell and shoot fire with the Chromatic Orb and Dragon’s Breath spells. Even if your sorcerer doesn’t take this subclass, they’ll still have access to spells like Control Flame, Create Bonfire, Delayed Blast Fireball, Fire Bold, Fire Shield, Fire Storm, Fireball, Flame Arrows, Flame Blade, Investiture of Flame, and Wall of Fire. That’s a whole flame-y spell list ready to go!
The Invisible Woman’s Powers Explained
We got lucky making Fantastic Four DND characters with the fact that there’s a cleric domain with the Invisibility spell!
Like Miles Morales and Violet Parr, Sue Storm can become invisible and summon powerful force fields. She uses these powers to manipulate light and matter to both protect her friends and obliterate her enemies. Though we toyed with the idea of making her a full caster like a warlock or wizard, we had to pay homage to the underrated support role and build The Invisible Woman as a cleric (specifically a cleric of the Trickery Domain). Sue’s most iconic ability is the same as the Trickery cleric’s Invisibility spell and is made even more effective by being able to cast Pass without Trace and Nondetection. In the canon, Sue’s invisibility is actually powered by the ability to manipulate light, which she can use to trick people, disrupt illusions, manipulate color, and even turn people blind! These are paralleled in the Disguise Self and Hypnotic Pattern spells from the Trickery domain and the Astral Projection, Blindness, and Daylight spells from the cleric spell list. The Invisible Woman can also summon force fields, which give her a whole bevy of powers. The first is obvious: protecting people. This is the cleric’s bread and butter. They do this with a ton of handy spells: Blade Barrier, Hallow, Magic Circle, Protection from Evil and Good, Resistance, Sanctuary, and Shield of Faith. Sue is clever and has found ways to use her force fields as more than just a protective bubble. Once, she placed a force field around the intangible Red Ghost to nullify his powers and make him solid (which sounds just like the Planar Binding spell). Because her force fields are psionic, she can use them to track psionic energy sources, like a cleric with the Clairvoyance or Scrying spells. She can also use her force fields in combat to cause internal damage, shock waves, and even explosions. Like The Invisible Woman, clerics can both protect and attack; they can cause similar effects with the Flame Strike, Guiding Bolt, Harm, and Sunbeam spells. Terrifying from a combatant you can’t see coming!
Join Your Own Super Team In D&D
We hope this little exercise has shown you how a diverse set of powers can make a great team (and how fun it can be to tinker with character ideas in Dungeons & Dragons)! If you’re not sure where to start with a superpowered character, we’re here to help. We’re a group of professional Dungeon Masters who have seen tons of wildly creative character ideas and helped new players bring them to life. We organize groups of tween and teen players online and put their characters together into teams that go off on their own heroic quests. And if you’re wondering what other fandoms fit into D&D’s character-creation system, we have you covered. Between the classic DC superheroes, Star Wars’ Jedi, and the characters from The Hobbit, there’s a D&D build for everybody!
