The noble gentleman Jonathan Joestar is the first in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's long line of Joestar protagonists, opening the series in Part 1: Phantom Blood. Not only is Jonathan very charismatic, but his use of Hamon is actually pretty unique compared to the increasingly wild Stand-focused combat from JoJo's other characters. While Jonathan might be a bit more grounded in terms of his skills than other JoJo protagonists, that makes him much more plausible to play in tabletop RPGs.
Playing as Jonathan Joestar in Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition is really a matter of figuring out what kind of character build best represents his Hamon breathing fighting style. There are a lot of different options for martial arts-focused characters in D&D 5e, with most of those being found under the Monk class. That being said, there are still a few smaller details that are important to get right about Jonathan Joestar to recreate the character.
The Best D&D Race for Jonathan Joestar
When it comes to picking a race, it's fairly obvious that Jonathan is a Human. However, D&D 5e has a few different options for the Human race, including a Variant Human that gives players a bit more freedom with how they spec their characters. The Variant Human is included in the Player's Handbook, with the main benefit being that players get a free starting feat and can assign a starting point to two different ability scores.
The ability score points should go to Charisma and either Strength or Dexterity. Any of the feats that'll be discussed later will work for Jonathan's starting feat. Variant Humans also get a skill proficiency and a free language of their choice. Given Jonathan's background as a well-educated Victorian noble, players can really go with any language that's frequently spoken in the world of their campaign. As for the skill proficiency, players should go with something that exemplifies Jonathan's education, such as History.
The Best D&D Backgrounds for Jonathan Joestar
Speaking of Jonathan Joestar's education, his upbringing is fairly unique compared to the usual Shonen protagonist. He's not only strong, but well-educated in multiple different fields. While Noble is the best choice for Jonathan Joestar's background, there are a couple of other options that could also work quite well. Archeologist, from Tomb of Annihilation, plays into Jonathan's studies of the Stone Mask. Athlete, Courtier and Folk Hero are also good choices.
Archeologist, Noble, Courtier and Athlete make sense for those who want to play Jonathan Joestar from the early parts of Phantom Blood, right before he begins his Hamon training. Folk Hero is a better representation of who Jonathan becomes after his first battles with Dio Brando, near the end of Phantom Blood. There's also the option of homebrewing a custom background for the character, as long as the DM allows it.
The Best D&D Ability Scores for Jonathan Joestar
Charisma and Strength/Dexterity will be the main focuses of this character build. Not only do these make sense for the character, but they're also essential for the Classes that will apply to Jonathan. Charisma is the casting stat for Warlocks, and Monks can use either Dexterity or Strength for their attacks. Strength makes more sense for Jonathan, but that isn't to say he should have a low Dexterity score.
Jonathan does a ton of impressive acrobatics in Phantom Blood, so a Dexterity focus for the character isn't a bad idea. Using the standard array for stats, players should go with 15 Strength, 14 Charisma, 13 Dexterity, 12 Intelligence, 10 Constitution and 8 Wisdom, with the Strength and Dexterity scores being interchangeable. While Constitution being the dump stat might not make a lot of sense, it's more important for Jonathan to have high casting and physical stats.
The Best D&D Feats for Jonathan Joestar
Players should consider feats that expand on Jonathan's Hamon-infused combat abilities, though it's important to mention that he'll likely end up multiclassing into both Monk and Warlock. Feats should be chosen that make up the slow power build that comes from multiclassing into both a martial and magic class. As such, Athlete, Grappler or Magic Initiate can provide a boost to Jonathan's focused skills and his Warlock spellcasting.
There's also a lot of viability in grabbing feats that make sense from a lore perspective. Skilled, Linguist and Observant all help flesh out Jonathan Joestar's massive amount of knowledge stemming from his education, even if they don't provide a lot of in-game benefits. Players shouldn't worry about grabbing any feats for weapon usage, since Jonathan's sword, Pluck, is likely usable with the Monk's simple weapon proficiency.
The Best D&D Classes for Jonathan Joestar
As mentioned, Jonathan Joestar's classes will be a mix between Monk and Warlock. The Monk class gives Jonathan the martial arts proficiency that he displays in Phantom Blood, and the Warlock class allows him to utilize Hamon as part of his offense. As for subclasses, players should go for a Sun Soul Monk and a Celestial Warlock. Both of these subclasses give Jonathan Hamon-like fire attacks that he can use with his unarmed strikes.
A fun side-effect of going for a Sun Soul Monk is that many of the subclasses' abilities actually work as stand-ins for the more unique Hamon powers. For example, Radiant Sun Bolt is a ranged Dextarity attack that could easily be reflavored as Jonathan's Zoom Punch. The Monk's general ability to infuse their strikes with their Ki serves as a perfect stand-in for Hamon as a whole. These classes also synergize with each other's healing abilities, which also happen to mimic the healing properties of Hamon.
