Breaking D&D
How to play the cast of 'Breaking Bad' in Dungeons and Dragons.
Breaking Bad is arguably one of the most successful TV series of all time, with a massive cultural impact that changed the way creators and viewers think about what a television series could be. It's also one of the few shows that many would call “perfect” with almost every series and episode delivering a satisfying experience for the audience.
It is, however, probably one of the last places anyone would go to find inspiration for a Dungeons and Dragons character. Breaking Bad is a completely mundane world (magically speaking) and nothing we see on screen suggests a good fit for the mechanics of a high fantasy TTRPG.
But at the core of the show are a host of incredible characters, whose motivations, choices and relationships could be an excellent place to find interesting roleplay opportunities. Perhaps, by looking at the themes of these characters, we can draw some inspiration for suitable abilities they would develop in a fantasy setting.
Below I have chosen five of my favourite characters from the Breaking Bad series and suggested how I would translate them into the 2024 rules for D&D. These are not full builds, but hopefully provide a useful starting point if you were inspired to use these characters in your own game. I've assumed all of these builds are up to level 5, as that seems low enough in power to feel somewhat realistic in the world of Breaking Bad, and for the same reason all of the characters are human (with one notable exception). I’ve also attempted to avoid plot spoilers for the show, while including enough information about each character to explain my choices.
Finally, as with all my articles, these are only a suggestion of how I would build these characters, not a definitive instruction manual. If you disagree, or have suggestions for other characters from this world, please leave a comment - I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Next time: ‘We have no idea who he is.’ Building a mystery around your character.
When we first meet Jesse Pinkman, he's a street smart kid with little ambition beyond making some extra money to fund his own drug habits. However, he soon makes a bad deal with a powerful figure he doesn't fully understand, with the promise of finding wealth and power. Thrust into a far darker world, Jesse is ultimately forced to sacrifice the people he loves most in service to his patron, The One Who Knocks.
The warlock class is a perfect translation of Jesse's relationship with Walter White, which offers both power and danger. Choosing the Great Old One as a patron could be a good fit thematically, as it suggests how little Jesse knows about the one he serves, and mechanically the patron offers mind-altering abilities which are easily reimagined for a character involved with substance abuse. Further options might include choosing the Pact of the Tome invocation as a book of knowledge filled with everything Jesse has learnt about the perfect cook.
Always creative with the truth, manipulating the law is almost an artform to our criminal lawyer.
When we think of Bards we often consider them as musicians, but I think it can be just as interesting to use this class to explore other artforms, like painting or even word play. For a character whose very name is a pun, this seems like a good fit. I would roleplay many of Saul's bard spells as an extension of his silver tongue and ability to manipulate others. Choosing Expertise in Deception is a must, but I might be tempted to choose Insight before Persuasion - understanding what people desire is often key to deceiving them.
In the 2014 edition of the game there were subclasses that supported the ultimate liar even further, but College of Lore would help develop your legal mind, with additional proficiencies and the Cutting Words ability reflecting the way Saul can use his lies to escape difficult situations.
Beyond the early levels of Bard, a dip in the Sorcerer class might be a good choice, giving Saul metamagic features that would let him bend the laws of magic itself.
Bound by a sense of justice, Hank follows his quest to bring down Heisenberg until the bitter end. Despite being the most dominant force for law and order in the series, there's no question that Hank's unshakeable beliefs come with a solid helping of bravado. You would probably start with the Oath of Glory, but ultimately swap to the Oath of Vengeance as Hank loses confidence and his hunt begins to feel increasingly personal.
Unusually for a Paladin, I would try to find a way to invest in the other “mind” abilities like Intelligence and Wisdom, as well as Charisma, so that Hank can still be an effective and insightful Investigator. There would be a solid argument to build Hank as a Ranger instead, but thematically his commitment to justice seems a far better fit for the Paladin class.
The greatest cover for any criminal is to hide in plain sight, becoming an upstanding member of the community that no one would suspect of wrongdoing. The Cleric class seems a good fit for a character who wants to project an aura of respectability.
While the Trickery Domain might seem like a good choice for the two faces of this character, Fring doesn't seem to enjoy deception and is certainly adverse to chaos. Instead the War Domain will help give Fring the power to make brutal and decisive strikes when he needs to.
That said, having proficiency in Deception would be essential, perhaps through taking the Skill Expert feat where you could also choose expertise in Intimidation.
“What?! Not Artificer?”
As long as you prioritise intelligence, there's several ways to bring the One Who Knocks to life. At time of writing, the Unearthed Arcana for Artificer has just been released, making the Alchemist a legitimate option, but hardly an exciting one. Wizard would also be a strong choice, but as we often see in the show, Walter has very little power as an individual. His strength lies in his scheming, manipulation and ability to out-think his opponents.
Rogue abilities like expertise and reliable talent are essential to recreating Walter's arguably genius level intellect. It's one of the few classes where you can build to never fail an ability check and there's no reason those skills couldn't be Arcana and Alchemist Supplies instead of Stealth and Thieves Tools.
Heisenberg always has a trick up his sleeve and strikes with deadly precision when necessary, making Arcane Trickster a good choice. In fact, I probably wouldn't invest in Dexterity and instead make Intelligence my primary stat. This will make levels 1-2 a little scary but by the time you reach level 3, choose your subclass and collect the True Strike cantrip (which does function with Sneak Attack), you'll become an effective killer. This also feels like a good reflection of Walter’s character arc.
As a final note here, this is the one character of this group I would consider a fantasy species for: Halfling. Of course this is a classic choice for a Rogue and the Halfling luck ability will help with escaping difficult situations. But ultimately, I think you could have a lot of fun hiding behind the Halfling respectability described in the Lord of the Rings books and there is something very funny to me about seeing Bilbo Baggins go on the Breaking Bad journey.
All images credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment
