How to Play Samwise Gamgee in Dungeons & Dragons (Lord of the Rings Build for D&D 5e)

Twitter: / tulokthe
Patreon: / tulok

[@nathanbradley5819]

“Sam’s number one job: Making sure Frodo doesn’t fail Wisdom saves” is the best D&D description of Sam’s role possible!

[@Khlaylav]

YES! Also full appreciation for the Frodo rant at the beginning. Frodo doesn't deserve the hate he gets.

[@cydude5856]

He absolutely does not. Frodo's mercy towards gollum is what saves everyone. Sam may be a hero, but if he was in charge, he would have killed gollum immediately, preventing the destruction of the ring.

[@alexanderwinn9407]

Also worth mentioning: Sam wasn't free from the Ring's influence either. In the books he had visions of turning all of Mordor into a giant garden, which seems beautiful but it continues the Tolkinian evil of "making everything the same." One ring, one eye, one garden. Sam was quite pure, but he wasn't a saint, and he would have succumbed to the Ring just like Frodo. Sam was necessary (and wonderful) support, but Frodo was the hero.

[@Technodreamer]

Sam wouldn't stand for hating on Frodo, and neither should we.

[@nojusticenetwork9309]

Nah, Frodo deserves the hate.

[@SkoomaGodDovahkiin666]

@@Technodreamer Sammy boy's opinions don't matter to me so Imma dunk on Frodork even more.

[@brandonhughes179]

More evidence for the heroic-ness of Frodo: dude takes the mother of beatings and keeps on truckin'! Stabbed by the Witchking's cursed blade, speared by the cave troll, half-drowned in the dead marsh, skewered and poisoned by Shelob, smacked around by Gollum, finger bitten off, soul drained by the ring, Sauron's eye on him 24/7, walked 1000 miles barefoot--dude's basically a robot set on autopilot!

[@Technodreamer]

Say what you like about a Baggins, but he's got a core that a mountain's weight couldn't bend.

[@SkoomaGodDovahkiin666]

Frodo is the perfect punching bag. He doesn't die like all the other midgets I kidnapped and throttled.

[@swampert564]

Here he is everyone, the Fellowship at 99% power. Love the speech in Frodo's defense at the start, he's a great man (well, Hobbit) doing the very best he can with what he has.

[@jackofminds8338]

Things like that speech in defense of Frodo are why I love this channel.

[@ronanbyrne6451]

"Samwise Gamgee will mash you like a potato" sounds like his smash bros entry.

[@MetaGrave]

Glad to see this build! "Frodo never would have made it without Sam," as they say. I usually make a bunch of suggestions, but honestly, I'm just glad you're still making them. The different build concepts get my creative juices flowing as is, so, thank you for what you do.

[@cameronhumphreys2309]

If Dimension 20 has taught me anything Sam is just a short storm giant.

[@nuhuh4144]

Yeah! We nearly got the fellowship! Thank you Tulok!

[@hekonaleeinos5510]

Who is still missing ?

[@guybrill7162]

Merry and Pippen, and Boromir I think.

[@daeswing]

"Let Sam Cook" with Sam Cooke....take the award bro. Take the award...

[@backbyrd5147]

Thank you for this. No disrespect to the optimizer channels, but your videos are the highest quality concept builds out there, and each one I see inspires me, both as a player and a GM (even/especially when they're IPs I'm not familiar with). Thank you, Phil, I really appreciate these. Aaaalso, I love the Frodo rant.

[@backbyrd5147]

AAAAANND, "Sam's number one job: making sure Frodo doesn't fail wisdom saves" is just PERFECTION

[@AzLolFun]

Thank you so much for that intro. Frodo and Sam are both fantastic characters in their own ways

[@Lrbearclaw]

Perfect time to release this as my family had the tradition of seeing these for Christmas. I was always curious how you handle his build. Keep at it, Phil. I love your content.

[@OrpheusSpyros5]

I always personally pictured Sam as a Fighter/Rogue hybrid myself(he was a BEAST with that Frying Pan!)... awesome build regardless...

[@captaindesperado13]

Great video overall but the super unexpected Rudy reference got a major chuckle from me. This is why you're the best Tulok

[@elib6465]

Remember while it is good to be like Sam wise you gotta remember to check in on your frodo's to make sure they are doing okay especially this time of year since seasonal depression is a hassle to deal with.

[@Levsa399]

Yes! Be like Sam! Make sure your Frodo is eating well, sleeping well, and always has you to raise dampened spirits!

[@nicolasvillasecaali7662]

If you need a loyal friend to face the worst there is folks like Tangle the lemur will give you a tail of help (a build for her would be great, Sir Tulok, please?) But when you need the greatest exemplar of friendship and loyalty, this hobbit will set you pass even hell on middle earth. Samwise Gamgee, also known as Sam, is a dreamer gardener at service of the Baggins family and close friend of Frodo, who will embark on a journey like no other. From being a dreamer of the world's wonders, lover of elves and a gifted poet to being "punished" to be one of the most important parts tasked to save all, you know Sam is the one man you can put your life to safekeeping and not be disappointed. After such task to push the darkness of Mordor away that he had to endure, everyone deserves a good life in a Hobbit-hole, which means confort for the good Gardner. Edit: Also, yeah, people don't give Frodo enough credit, carrying that ring SUCKS! and he made all the way to the goal line where no other could made it.

[@thegreatandterrible4508]

Finally! How to play Samwell Tarley! The steward who carried the Night's Watch on his back!

[@loganballard5789]

Even Sam had trouble giving up the ring after a few hours

[@doofystardust6645]

Love the videos Tulok, Thank you for all that you do!

[@magistermagus1211]

My boy sam! lets gooooo! also, Frodo is also a great badass.

[@robertprueter3292]

I think the reason folks fail to see Frodo's heroism is b/c his battles are internal. Sam's battles are external. Appreciate the video my dude

[@emperortime4380]

No Frodo slander in this house. Like Sam said, “I CAN’T carry the ring, Mr. Frodo, but I can carry you.”

[@emperortime4380]

I lost it at “I curl halflings.”

[@articusramos808]

Sam's cooking is what is what i wish to enjoy more. Made some of that rabbit stew. Oh God, damn delicious

[@timothyflynn2738]

What a wonderful Christmas (season) gift! Thank you so very much.

[@asdasasdas3476]

Please keep making these videos their great!

[@xvader9445]

That's the book report I needed in 11th grade

[@icesaar]

got to the level 12 bard part, and in my head, i went "Where is the rouge multi-class" and it's like Tulok heard me

[@gamemasteranthony2756]

Oh, hey! Greetings, fellow Minnesotan! BTW...I could use your help. I am still working on my homebrew for D&D where you can play as a Pokémon for D&D. (Same homebrew I redid The Last Unicorn as a Galarian Rapidash.) I ran into a snag. See, all the eighteen types each have something they specialize in. Such as... Fire types: Hurting things Poison types: Debilitation Ghost types: Annoyance As such, I can apply two traits to each of the types. FIRE: Battle Ready (+1 per level of damage to all attacks), Burnproof (Immune to burns, no penalties in hot climates) POISON: Debilitator (Abilities that add negative to enemies' rolls add an addtional -1), Poisonproof (Immune to poison and disease) GHOST: Annoyer (Advantage to all rolls to inflict a condition), Immaterial (Immune to non-magical attacks that are considered Normal/Fighting, can still be hit by Ghost Touched) HOWEVER...I ran into a snag with... Bug types: Raise fast, but weak Dragon types: Raise slowly, but strong Unfortunately, the rate at how they are raised are handled by levels and giving them a buff (for Dragons) or a nerf (for Bugs) seems like a bit of an unfair OP/UP move for those types. Any ideas?

[@swampert564]

MINNESOTA WOOOOOOOOO!!! I don't have anything to add to your concept, just wanted to say that it sounds really neat.

[@WandersNowherre]

Animal handling also makes sense for Sam's unsung bond with Bill the Pony.

[@dg7815]

Glad to hear from ya again Tulok. Looking forward to your next video be it a build or some other gaming project.

[@sammayes948]

Hell yeah! Love samwise and love these vids! It’s a good morning

[@fitnessandfandom]

Been waiting for this!

[@OCDweeb]

As always, Tulok, you rule. That rant at the beginning fully deserves all the applause 👏 🙌 😭 😊😮

[@CI369]

A homebrew fix that we did for chef is succeeding a Performance check to allow additional d8's up to the characters proficiency. I'm currently dishing out 4d8 temp HP to everyone, which could be seen as OP, but the chances of rolling 1's was hilarious, so we're keeping it.

[@brianb4420]

Always a good day when Tulok uploads

[@MalcIgg]

loved this :) happy to see a new build :) -- deffo a support character but one of the best at it

[@tynnintyr2851]

This has been one of my favorite "How to Play" videos.

[@lollel1960]

My favorite LOTR character!! Ty so much Tulok

[@augustus1138]

THANK YOU FOR THAT INTRO!!!!

[@ericpeterson8732]

That's a good one, Tulok!

[@Tabaluca911]

Ah yes, the pan man himself. The whole reason the chef feat exists

[@DParkerNunya]

Fantastic build, thank you so much

[@radrob83]

hey big fan thanks for all the great content 🎉🎉🎉

[@roberturquiza3013]

It's a.christmas.maricle algorithms

[@oshkeet]

Out there is a deep nerd salty Sam is a Stout halfling in this build. *Stouts are based on the dwarfy water-lovin' Stoors, Smeagol's flavor of hobbit.

[@RocKnight11]

I think between Lightfoots and Stouts, Shire Hobbits are much closer to Stouts. I think the Lightfoots were mostly supposed to be Kenders before Kender was a race.

[@krystlvines]

Frodo's Wis saves are fucking insane.

[@braedengraham6239]

Great build! Please do hunger game BOSAS characters next. I'd love to see your approach to some of the characters, particularly Dr Ghaul, snow, and Lucy

[@chazjohannsen]

He finally did it!

[@lunchboxcomiks]

There are no words in elven, entish, or the tongues of men for how happy i am that this exist now

[@allielowry6191]

Thank you based tulok for this Frodo appreciation

[@douglaselder8200]

I’m a fan of Samwise and I approve this video. :)

[@AZDfox]

I'm back to help boost the algorithm! And Jesse Faden is also good at rallying people, as well as giving some "people" extra HP

[@tyyoumans-cz6dy]

I like watching your videos and it would be sad if I couldn't watch them anymore

[@lowrider993]

Now we just need a Bilbo build

[@xvader9445]

I miss the weekly Tulok videos

[@TheGarrettPM]

Love the Frodo love

[@StinkerTheFirst]

First things first, props for defending Frodo at the start. The whole " Sam is better than Frodo" thing has become a meme, and not a funny one. Now for the build itself, you have made an excellent support character, just like Sam should be. Also the running gag of not including Golum in the group casting is funny, and totally on character.

[@AllThingsFascinate]

Taking Bless with magical secrets gave me 3d10 psychic damage, but great job on building Sam haha

[@transyuri4534]

Oh boy. Tulok is building a hoobit. I wonder what race he's going to choose.

[@malachinelson598]

"Shelob will be intimidated by your animal handling" 😂😂😂😂

[@brandonkeane6008]

I mean, Sam comes up with a song in the books and sings along with several others from memory, so mumblecore rap is arguably in the books

[@erikwilliams1562]

The Rudy reference 👌🏾

[@loganballard5789]

Yeah Sam!

[@danc6167]

Samwise Gamgee is the best boy in LotR. I will stand on that belief

[@mercofrevenge1]

Woohoo it's time for the best boy!

[@kelceydane5874]

Good point, Frodo handled more than most of the greatest could, but Sam wingmaned like no other.

[@Adamthegeek70]

Sam doesn't need bolstering. He is the hero of the story per Tolkien himself. Only Frodo could endure the ring, but not without Sam.

[@purple_shy]

I'm not the best at this but I'll give it a go. If playing BG3 choose the Outlander Background and take Nature, Insight and Stealth as your Bard Skills. Silvery Barbs might not exist so you can decide on whatever spell fits most to replace it, I think either Longstrider for traveling or Tasha's Hideous Laughter for the enemy not taking you seriously. The Chef Feat might not exist so why not durable? It's a stressful journey with enemies all around, stress eating is okay just don't eat all the rations. Catnap might not exist but you are a gardener, Plant Growth seems reasonable. Inspiring Leader might not exist but Rally from the Martial Adept Feat does and you can do a little more in melee now with a different manoeuvre, possible a trip or shoving attack to fight your way to Frodo or a manoeuvring attack to cover his retreat? It's a shame we miss out on that ASI, maybe Boromir will be tempted by a hag for us. Locate Creatures might not exist so why not Confusion? You did trick those Orcs into fighting each other. We may need to pivot earlier than we thought, some spells just don't exist, and we can gain expertise from Rogue so it all works out, hopefully. Scout might not exist so Thief is our best bet, the extra bonus action is better than eating your reaction and you can do more, you can even dash three times now. And finally ASI, bump your Charisma, I dunno I'm not your mother, go with your heart. I hope Tulok will do Character builds for BG3 sometime.

[@lydia8226]

I think a character who would be interesting to see would be Kaho from Momodora: Reverie under the Moonlight Some sorta cleric archer with shillelagh for the leaf?

[@Levsa399]

Quick question, does a KZbin video get a view when you start it? Or do you have to play it to the end for it to count? I want to boost this, but I usually end at the last 3-5 seconds and so I want to make sure Tulok is getting the support he deserves.

[@MrSHADOWANGEL999]

A true garden variety halfling

[@MantineMantine]

I hope you eventually get to doing Bossk from Star Wars.

[@dplocksmith91]

Frodo should have Dominate Person in his spell list, because in the book, he curses Gollum, telling him that the next time Gollum touches him, Gollum will throw himself off a cliff.

[@lunchboxcomiks]

Sam also handed the ring back after holding it. So yeah that is a thing.

[@collins2509]

Frodo is not given anywhere near as much credit as he deserves.

[@michaelmuirhead910]

Frodo was a badass, but the true badass was Bilbo. Who carried both the Ring of Power and the Arkenstone at the same time? That’s right, Bilbo Baggins. Spared Golum, saved Oakenshield, and Thorin’s company on several occasions, stole from a dragon, and helped reclaim Erebor… Very solid resume.

[@RedWizard86v2]

I know it doesn’t make sense mechanically but I had hoped to see at least one level in paladin for Sam because technically he swore an oath to Gandalf (don’t you leave him) and Gandalf’s a celestial being.

[@thegneech]

Giving this one a like 1:20 in for the Frodo stanning.

[@thegneech]

Also, Rogue (Scout) I dig, but honestly I would have gone Paladin over Bard. Sam inspires with his steady presence, not his witty repartee (and he can totally go ham with that frying pan).

[@Levsa399]

@@thegneechdoes Paladin have a strength requirement? I can’t remember. If not, then yeah, could go either way. I like the choice of Rogue, because a Paladin’s aura just happens, the rogue and bard stuff you really gotta work for, and boy does Sam put in the work!

[@thegneech]

@@Levsa399 13 Str I think? Been a while since I looked at it.

[@tytofurcata1]

Surprised he doesn't have the brawler feat. Chef does fit better but what sam did with that frying pan...

[@Levsa399]

Imagine being a fearsome goblin that’s fought the for Moria and then you swarm a small party of nine only to be taken out by a child with a frying pan.

[@thomasdevine867]

Still pulling for Eglentine Price (Bednobs and Broomsticks), Sir Dragonet, King Arthur's jester (Iddyls of the King/Morte d'arthur), Prince Voltron (Flash Gordon), Winifred Sanderson (Hocus Pocus), Mary Poppins, Councilor Troi (ST: tNG), Septimus Pretorius (Bride of Frankenstein) and the Reverend Doctor Syn (The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh).

[@The5armdamput33]

Where did the True Strike inside joke come from?

[@user-vm1dn5xv8h]

It be really cool if you could do more sonic the hedgehog builds like Dr. Robotnik, Amy Rose, Rouge the bat, Silver the hedgehog, Blaze the cat, ect.

[@lowrider993]

Omg, yes

[@krystlvines]

Hoping we can see some more rwby characters in the future

[@artwellden6705]

Has Squirrel girl been done by tulok yet...i did a take of her with Shifter race and15lvls Swarmkeeper Ranger/5 Astral self Monk. The idea being the extra arms and swarms work as her tail/added squirrels and swarms of squirrels. All that said id be curious of Tuloks take.

[@nathanthaxton7492]

Potatoes, Boil em, Mash em, Stick em in a stew.

[@infernalone666]

OBJECTION!!!! wisdom should've been sam's highest stat. The while point Sam carried the worst was because he had incredible common sense despite his simple life and was absolutely loyal to Frodo

[@shatteredspades3231]

I wonder if this will work in BG 3

[@samuelflynn9521]

So I personally think the hobbits are low level intentionally. Like the ring becomes more tempting the higher level you are. They still do great things though.

[@bentash727]

My dad's sam love definitely comes out as frodo hate

[@BJGvideos]

Show him this video

[@bentash727]

​@@BJGvideos I did he still hates frodo

[@lejandario7779]

I almost missed the *best friends* emphasis. Yeah, I can see it.

[@tyyoumans-cz6dy]

I have a suggestion for you can you do toji fushiguro from jujutsu kaisen for your next video please

[@bentash727]

Hey if Sam didnt drop Eaves then why RIP eaves?

[@Fignewton8790]

Really cool build idea: Hero (dragon quest, but the smash ultimate version. I think some really cool things can be done with wild magic barbarian or sorcerer.

[@SkoomaGodDovahkiin666]

Since dnd is trash, you can't barb rage while spell casting so iit's futile. Also Fallout >>>>>>>>>>> DraQue.

[@Fignewton8790]

@@SkoomaGodDovahkiin666 I wasn’t suggesting spell-casting while a barbarian. Although that would be cool, you could just flavor the wild magic options for barbarian as “spells”

[@SkoomaGodDovahkiin666]

@@Fignewton8790 Ikr. Heck, the Barb Schizo tantrum could at the very least either be like WM in that spells could backfire, be random, or be halved in potency.

[@caleb-mi3se]

Could you do Thor from God of War: Ragnarok? He's much more a grappler/barbarian than the MCU one, which I think makes for a more fun character and a better Thor than the jacked lightning paladin we always seem to get.

[@Itachi45481]

Sam doesn’t need a booster he doesn’t need it Sam rules

[@Anto_85571]

I want him to build each of the Evil Ex's from Scott Pilgrim

[@SkoomaGodDovahkiin666]

Ah yes, Self-Loathing: The Build. A no sword Sekiro run is less fucked than unironically playing as Midwise Plebgee.

[@os10tm]

Minnesnowta?! Brother!