How to Play Po in Dungeons & Dragons (Kung Fu Panda Build for D&D 5e)

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Today we have a build for Po from Kung Fu Panda in Dungeons & Dragons! If you want to do Kung Fu, but don't want to sacrifice a massive pool of health, this is how you do it in D&D 5e.
Twitter: / tulokthe
Patreon: / tulok

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Thanks Vessi - click here vessi.com/barbrarian and use my code "BARBRARIAN" to get $25 off of your shoes & up to 30% off select Vessi Vault items. These shoes are perfect for the upcoming snowy season, and your holiday shopping lists! *Discount can not be stacked on already reduced items.

[@joonapukarinen1153]

You lied to us, there was no link to the homebrew, only your patreon!

[@xenoexe4954]

Ah, your name Phil, neto.

[@mihaimaracine5373]

Tulok Why do u Look like u are from Nat 1 deerstalker

[@ubersasquatch2135]

Sorry to say but I can't take you up on this great offer, they don't make size 18 9e

[@aetherspiralknight]

Yeah, if you wanna eat your shoes, wear leather ones.

[@ohdang3833]

Finally, a worthy character. This build will be legendary!

[@ohdang3833]

Yay thanks for the heart!

[@nicolasfeske4006]

Best comment

[@pig3gu]

Po: rolls a Nat 20

[@remingtonwright6796]

"Sometimes the tastiest food is the food that poisons you." Well over-seasoning a dish to cover up the taste of poison is a thing, so he's not wrong

[@LocalMaple]

“Wormswart! [Sniff] And _Frog’s Breath…”_

[@camblycreeper7999]

There's also people who just eat food made of stuff that makes your tastebuds think they're on fire, Coffee is also a poison, as well as everything that will kill dogs (Chocolate, Onions, Grapes)

[@trustindean5164]

Hot take: zoos are good, they just need to be done better. They aid in conservation efforts and serve as educational tools, it's just that when making a zoo you gotta set it up in such a way as to actually fulfill the needs of all the animals

[@thenerdbeast7375]

ESPECIALLY since a lot of conservation efforts abroad are in countries that we can not politically force to take better care of their wildlife. For how much China loves pandas they won't stop destroying the bamboo forests, it is nigh impossible to get most African governments to pass and enforce legislation to protect rhinos and so on. Zoos are something we _can_ control and something we _can_ do to help with conservation.

[@gamemasteranthony2756]

Having him start as a class other than Monk makes sense since he doesn’t start as a martial artist. Nice work!

[@jonathancampbell5231]

I mean, he has Dr Strange as a Wizard and Strange doesn't start as a Wizard. Po, like many characters, starts off more like an NPC.

[@shenronsgoldfish]

@@jonathancampbell5231 I don't know he reminds me of a guild artisan.

[@keithgawain3614]

Usually, zoos are pretty good. They provide conservation efforts to protect endangered species and (as long as there is a barrier between both them and the animals) provide the public to experience animals they'd never see, both as entertainment and education. Ethical zoos have sizeable enclosures filled with enrichment provided to the animals to encourage play and natural behavior, and staff members are accredited scientists and veterinarians, and keepers have bachelor's degrees. There's even an association that governs and approves zoos and aquariums (at least in America). What I THINK most people who hate zoos are talking about are less zoos and more like roadside attractions and private pet galleries. Those are absolutely unethical and should be hated rather than zoos.

[@BJGvideos]

Also there are some shit zoos too. But yeah there's absolutely great ones and it's a disservice to act like they're all shit.

[@keithgawain3614]

@@BJGvideos Well said friend

[@thenerdbeast7375]

Most importantly zoos are a form of conservation we _can_ control. In countries around the world in order for there to be conservation there needs to be legislation put in place by foreign governments to protect their wildlife but unfortunately that is completely out of our hands and we can not force them to do so. Protection starts with politics but unfortunately that is up to them and in the mean time we can use zoos to help in education and conservation until change can happen.

[@mdalsted]

*Ping Po* A [custom lineage] druid-monk known as the legendary Dragon Warrior. He came into his role seemingly by accident -- "seemingly", because as the wise Master Oogway said, "There are no accidents." Po is a master of improvised martial arts and absorbing blows with his fa-- er, girth.

[@Technodreamer]

Does Chef scale well? No. Is it immensely useful for RP flavor? I think it is.

[@blastjer]

It's immensely useful for food flavor as well.

[@boxtank5288]

Hey, when your Barbarian is all about cooking foods for his buddies as it can't all be murder and screams, it fits the flavor.

[@samwildstein2092]

Not complaining but I feel like Goliath would have worked fine. Powerful build and athletics because bear; Po's extra padding gives him resistance to cold damage and the ability to decrease damage as a reaction. I do think being a Chef from level 1 is a great for role play though. I might change the order of levels to grab some Monk stuff earlier since we'll still be wildshaping into a CR 2 bear (where's my owlbear subclass???); I understand you needed Plane Shift but personally I think bringing in the Kung-Fu part is worth delaying our ultimate technique.

[@couver73]

You know...I kinda half expected Open Hand Monk for the Quivering Palm but hey, if the Wushi Finger Hold is a form of permanent banishment, then I'm all for it.

[@alarin612]

I really like this. I love the idea of reflavoring wild-shaping into, "I'm going to use tiger-style kung fu." You could even say you don't actually turn into a tiger, just get all the cool stuff they do through neat kung fu moves.

[@kingdomkey01]

Tulok, you are braver than I. After the fiasco of a comment section for the Rey build, I’m surprised you would do another sequel trilogy character, lest the toxic elements of the fandom swarm in again. Oh, wait. Po, not Poe. You’re probably safe, then.

[@jonhymes8819]

Well, he does constantly gain new ability that seem nearly impossible to throw into one 20-level build

[@MorrisJoshua26]

Nice nice nice

[@kingdomkey01]

@@jonhymes8819 I hope this is satire, but I can’t tell for sure. You know, because of Poe’s Law.

[@LocalMaple]

Next up will be Finn. From Cars 2.

[@kingdomkey01]

@@LocalMaple I was thinking Adventure Time.

[@howlingarmadillo]

Gotta set you straight here Tulok. The power of friendship is not the best power in kung fu. The real best power is the power of self-actualization, which is why Po becomes more powerful the more in touch he is with himself. Pretty much the thesis of the series.

[@Ringohulk777]

And why the fourth falls short

[@lonely1951]

Got so many fun builds lately. You’re killing it.

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Batman voice: *then you're gonna love December*

[@walterkipferl6729]

@@tulokthebarbrarian2033 I cannot wait to find out what you have planned. Also, I hope you announce it in song again - The 31 Builds in 31 Days Theme was a bop!

[@dach829]

@@tulokthebarbrarian2033 sandy claws?

[@JustaSoothingVoice]

Tulok legit made decembers worthy living through

[@rararasputin8608]

Woah... that, is, awesome! Every good protag deserves a proper mentor or mentors! Come and think of it, Iroh and Oogway in the Spirit Realm, talking... that would be golden. Inner Peace... I dig it. Uncle Iroh build, Dragon and tortoise talks are wise.

[@ericpeterson8732]

So, let me get this straight... He's a panda person that turns into a panda bear to fight? Wait, is this a bearbarian build? You never fail to impress, Tulok. (Oh, that makes more sense)

[@theforgottenranger]

Don't forget that since your a druid, you can also heal your friends with good using goodberry.

[@RayPoreon]

If you include options that aren't really available during player creation, they could contract werebear lycanthropy, which would make them literally immune to (non magical) physical attack.

[@dragonboyjgh]

Bear Shifter instead of Chef would be another source of both Bear-ness and temp hp

[@RayPoreon]

@@dragonboyjgh A bear shifter werebear that wildshapes into bears.

[@MajorHickE]

@@RayPoreon gotta have lots of unbearable puns in that RP

[@dragonboyjgh]

@@RayPoreon I don't think you can be both werebear and a bear shifter. They're degrees of lycanthropy. Or.. arctanthropy I guess? You can't be both a match and a bonfire at the same time.

[@RayPoreon]

@@dragonboyjgh The exact nature of what a shifter is is unspecified and there are no rules.preventing a shifter from also being a lycanthrope.

[@thecamarrow02]

I’m curious now as to what a Master Tigress build would look like. My thoughts are either Tabaxi or Leonin (reflavored to be a tiger) with barbarian/monk

[@jaichavis3696]

Instead of the Chef feat (which like you said, doesn't scale well at all), you could give Po the 6th level spell Heroes' Feast which is in character and makes him (and the party) even tankier and harder to kill.

[@JaelynMcgee]

I was also thinking he'd do gourmand, since that feels like it'd pair well with Chef, but he doesn't really touch a lot of the older UA stuff in his newer videos. still amazing build as always

[@wiseforcommonsense]

I think the Chef feat works as Po only makes food in the first movie, like a skill that you only use in your down time and what not.

[@camusreviews6877]

“Unkillable bear” So… Barbarian or Druid? You’ll need to be more specific weirdly enough

[@StinkerTheFirst]

"Banish people to the Shadow Realm with the power word 'Skadoosh'." Just for that, you deserve a like.

[@pocketmonster1088]

Commenting to boost the algorithm but also to tell you zoos are generally good (as long as they’re up to code) and protect endangered species. The real threats to animal safety are roadside attraction-type enclosures.

[@dannyeddleston7098]

I saw your community reference and love you even more for it

[@s-o-tariknomad6970]

half a minute into the video and you've already killed me with "Tenacious P"

[@thegreatandterrible4508]

There's no reason to vote between Iroh and Sokka. I've never not seen Iroh win a poll. Though Sokka would actually be a more interesting build, making a viable boomerang fighter.

[@walterkipferl6729]

If you have the ability to, do vote on this one poll. It‘s down to the wire. They were a single vote apart last time I checked.

[@BJGvideos]

He did make Captain Boomerang a while ago

[@lordofforks1892]

I would hazard a guess at a Thrown Weapon fighting style Battlemaster (he disarms and knocks down because kids show, also Battlemaster is cool and Sokka is cool) with probably some Kensei monk because He does not really wear armour unless you count maybe leather or hide on The Day of Black Sun and Sosin's Comet, and also he seems to use a longsword with more Dexterity then Strength.

[@thegreatandterrible4508]

@@BJGvideos True, but there's trick boomerangs to work with there

[@thegreatandterrible4508]

@@lordofforks1892 he also has canonical calligraphy tools, making him more powerful than the Avatar I wouldn't say Kensai necessarily though, now that all monks have access to other weapons. He doesn't even need that third level.

[@YourCrazyDolphin]

I feel like this build focused a little too much on the Fingerhold being accessible soon as possible, and not enough on the rest of Po's abilities. He does learn martial arts before the finger hold, which he uses rarely- I think the monk levels might be better placed after level 7 or 8, then go back for the capstone to be the hold.

[@ssjbread2803]

You can always rearrange the build at home my guy lmao

[@GooeyChewie]

Love it! Makes me want to suggest a whole Kung Fu Panda one-shot to my group.

[@trashynecromancer1155]

Strahd: Finally! A worthy opponent, our battle will be LEGENDARY!

[@charleshockenbury353]

Prediction; Monk, and seeing as the title isn't "Po's not a monk" I trust it's in there as to style of monk? Drunken Master maybe? but that doesn't feel right I guess I'd go way of the Open Hand for the wushu finger trap? IDK, Po's a weird one.

[@charleshockenbury353]

Oh, and Po is a Bugbear

[@Castlattice]

I assumed 17 levels in open hand monk for Quivering Palm to be Skadoosh, but Plane Shift definitely works better with the whole spirit world thing

[@Papercut337]

I don’t agree with the wildshape: he doesn’t turn into a panda, he IS a panda. But for the life of me, I can’t think of a better multiclass combo. Overall, good work.

[@edgar-sama642]

Actually zoos are the best way to protect and learn about animals

[@AwesomeWookiee]

Only if they're conservation zoos. There are some amazing ones that do great work. Some? Not so much.

[@LocalMaple]

I miss Steve Irwin…

[@robbinridunk]

The skat bit was worth the whole video. Great build, dude!

[@ChadMcCoy]

I was genuinely wondering when you would get to Po! Great work!

[@aetherspiralknight]

That intro was flawless Tulok. Superb.

[@ashalexander9167]

I'm legitimately so happy that you're able to not just make subclasses but also show such different and exciting builds, and I'm always so excited to see how you make whatever you're designing.

[@burrito9327]

Great build, and scary in a way. Imagine a polar bear, who is unstoppable and unkillable, just running at you and then Skadooshing you out of existance. Horrifying, and hilarious.

[@marcusc9931]

I'd like to see Sauron the way he was portrayed in Silmarillion, a cunning, shapeshifting dark lord who can trick you, fight you as a giant wolf, or sing you into submission with his bard powers.

[@griffinwetzel3059]

WOW that community reference was a deep cut. this man has TASTE.

[@gamergunn7139]

Awesome Build as per usual

[@joshgluck1693]

Awesome, creative build!

[@Emmerlaus007]

I see a lot of similarity between your build of Poe and mine... There is a lot of compliments I could say about your build but personally, my most important pet pieve... I would have picked the Circle of Stars to represent the fact he is the Dragon warrior, with the wise Dragon starry form! Feels like a wasted opportunity to give him the dragon scroll and a way to call him the Dragon Warrior!

[@garfusa2]

I like your shirt Tulok! On another note a great build again!

[@Detton30]

I would absolutely listen to you talk about noodles or do recipes / cooking in your voice and with your sense of humor :) But please don't stop the builds!

[@adamlawther6356]

Sokka: Battle Master Fighter with Thrown Weapon & Dueling fighting styles (Dueling from Fighting Initiate; he learns to fight with a sword in book 3); at least 2 levels in Artificer for Returning (boomerang) & Enhanced (meteor sword) Weapon. Iroh: Ascendant Dragon Monk, possible multiclass into Draconic/Pyromancy/Phoenix Sorcerer.

[@matthewpieterse2679]

Man I've used so many of your builds in some one shot games and you've made some legendary moments of pure fun. I wish i could return the favor. Im actually trying to make a kai chisaki or a tomura shigaraki build because of your work

[@matthewcarreras1904]

I finally get to play as my favorite character. This is going to be fun

[@calvinbrown5969]

Less than a fourth of the viewers recognized the dexterity score reference. If you got it, congratulations! You are part of an exclusive club

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Recognizing it means you're streets ahead

[@maxaurdunpow7313]

love the content

[@dexoutgaming229]

the Community reference makes me so happy. I love you Tulok.

[@RSATT01]

Yeah, I saw that transition at 8:20 Tulok.

[@brewdaly1873]

I didn't expect a Community reference, but I'm all for it. That episode is one of my favorites in the series.

[@dex1157]

I definitely saw Drunken Master coming, IIRC, it's whole thing is like..evasion and attack redirection, while also seeming completely silly and unassuming, which...that's just Po. Druid was a cool pick though. I was thinking Bear Totem Barbarian, but man...druid's a really cool pick as well. I like the reasoning for it, honestly.

[@LifeLongMETALHead83]

My first build was Po. He was a Firbolg Monk. I used the Panda mini from Bushido.

[@Choomy8542]

1) This is a great and flavorful build and accomplishes the concept. 2) As DM, I'd just let a monk replace the Quivering Palm feature with Plane Shift or whatever

[@nicolasvillasecaali7662]

I can see that you are making a build for an awesome member of the animated animal kingdom! Becoming the chosen one is no accident affair, the cosmos itself must be in your favour, so i hope one day the time for the upcoming Tangle the lemur build, when Master Tulok unlock the full potential of the lemur in the DnD world, to become legend of awesomeness.

[@javierortizVO]

Tulok with the solid Community reference. I love it

[@GrislyBeasty]

Not me about to spend the day watching these movies again. Fun build!

[@rebelwithoutaclue7667]

Just to clarify so something for people unsure about the Wildshape/Martial Arts combo, while Wildshaped, you can use an unarmed strike (such as a headbut), this would allow you to use the bonus action unarmed strike and flurry of blows. HOWEVER the Polar Bear multiattack with bite and claws are not unarmed attacks but are natural weapons so using them wouldn't trigger the ability to use marital arts. This is because natural weapons don't qualify as unarmed attacks or monk weapons. Jeremy Crawford clarified this a few years back. Tldr... It works so long as you don't use multiattack

[@elmsigreen]

I thought of a Po build a long time ago but it was only 2 levels of Moon Druid with the rest in Monk. Just turns into a Brown Bear. My build was for a low level campaign though so I had to make it simpler.

[@Fthysv1234]

His videos are the only time I like hearing sponsorships

[@zamba136]

...i...i love this. I probably would stop at level 6 of druid because the skedoosh move isn't important to me, but i love that detail anyway. An awakened bear from a chef druid goes on an adventure.

[@jeremywang5754]

I had expected a generic bear totem open hand bonk, this is a much more interesting way of doing things

[@Murphy_Crapenshitz]

I'm gonna be honest I don't have anything creative this time I just want Vin diesel

[@LocalMaple]

What people expect: “Fast and the Furious.” What people want: Groot or The Iron Giant. What they actually get: The Pacifier.

[@aetherspiralknight]

9:07 Oh, wow! I wasn't expecting you to ùse this class!

[@aetherspiralknight]

Like, for real, I told myself at level 11 you weren't gonna.

[@marmato9332]

Huh. I was close with this one. 13 lvl Storm domain cleric for Plane shift and for boosting the "skadoosh" thunder damage of the 7 lvls in dragon monk. Fun build tho. I know you say not to multiclass druids, but druid-monks are just so fun

[@rylanhupalo1401]

LEONIN AS BEAR RACE! they're big, fluffy, have natural murder mittens, plus bonus darkvision. sounds like a bear too me

[@theflyingtoaster7414]

Watching the background footage made me remember how devastating the peacock was as an antagonist. I've hardly watch the 2nd kung fu panda, but he looks like the more effective bad guy rather than the most powerful one.

[@edgar-sama642]

I've never played League of Legends, but the Arcane series was incredible! Can you do a LoL character in DnD? My guess is that most Piltover/Zaun characters are artificers

[@chazjohannsen]

When your setting is steampunk, everyone is an Artificer.

[@JarvisDMLord]

Have you heard of Dorans and Dragons channel its specifically LoL characters as dnd builds

[@archer111000]

@@JarvisDMLord I came here to make this comment! Good channel, glad to see another fan!

[@JarvisDMLord]

@@archer111000 same lol I'm in their discord I've never actually played LoL but I support his builds for sure their pretty awesome

[@marmato9332]

His Scarecrow build works 1 for 1 as fiddlesticks if you like

[@lordofforks1892]

Ooh! Also Sokka gets calligraphy.

[@mabonator]

Hey Tulok, this is a great build, even though I’m commenting this 40 seconds after it’s uploaded. But I say it because I trust you. You should build Soldier or the Engineer from Team Fortress 2! Or don’t, it’s your channel, I just watch

[@rednecromancer2579]

I would 100% watch you talking about noodles for a while video.

[@risperdude]

Po-rrific build. Love it.

[@bodenking]

Now I just want to see Po and Iroh chilling, drinking tea, and talking… you can also replace Po with damn near any character and I would still be happy

[@andrewhynick1946]

Mr. Tulok the Barbarian, I have enjoyed watching your videos for a while. Though I haven't commented on what I would like you to do yet I have one request. Since the Christmas season is approaching I, along with other people, would like a Santa Clause from "the Christmas Chronicles" build. Preemptive thanks for reading this comment and a happy Thanksgiving. A fan, Mr. Hynick

[@darkdestiny661]

Looks like my next high level one shot character is here

[@dummy_vicc2976]

"your belly is full of the love of your friends" is not something i expected to hear about homemade noodles

[@chadr8017]

Oh my god I just started Community... What a reference, Mr. The Barbarian!

[@LocalMaple]

Why Po should be a Bard: 1. He’s a hyped fan. Inspiration comes easy. 2. What he should be bad at, he’s decent at. And what he’s good at, he gets Expertise. 3. He finished off all three movie baddies (or tried to) with a Seduuce.

[@archer111000]

This better be an ooze monk or I’m going to riot.

[@elib6465]

I like thinking of all the out of character shiz you can do with these builds. Since you went so high into druid you can call lightning and then wildshape into an earth elemental to lay the definition of a smackdown on enemies

[@deangeloelr1272]

NGL. That Jack Black Scat was on point.

[@Dile0303]

This is not the greatest build in the world... This is just a tribute (to poison ivy obviously)

[@Izonxy]

Kung Fu Panda is my favorite animated movie trilogy! Love this build! Please make Twilight Sparkle!!!

[@gunnarlanghus7107]

I love this build! Day 2 of requesting painkiller from Black Lightning, I think it would be very cool

[@reloadpsi]

This footage from The Little Panda Fighter looks better than I remember it.

[@GrayRain0]

As a DM, I totally would allow players to make buffed version of the job feats. Like Healer/Medic, Actor, etc. . Or if they came up to me with a crazy cook idea I’d totally expand on the cooking feat.

[@wiseforcommonsense]

i was sure it was going to be an astral monk for that cool scene in the 3rd movie with the dragon

[@Eramiserasmus]

A legendary build for the hearty-boned.

[@johnwatson5901]

This was just magnificent and thank you! Would it be possible to teach us how to be Soul King Brook from One Piece? I think he would be fun for ya.

[@leothewhiteranger]

While I get the reasoning to Druid... I dunno, the Wu-Xi Finger Hold has always seemed like THE big example of Quivering Palm. But hey, that's just me, this is also a good way to build Po and Planeshift does represent the KFP3 Fingerhold.

[@EverythingFan02]

Ski di do doo da dang fun build

[@crackedjabber]

I came for the awesome builds... I stayed for the dad puns.

[@feralart]

Moiraine Sedai of the Blue Ajah. Nice Community reference, by the way.

[@Tachikoma17]

While you might not be using you’re homebrew, I’d love a short series that uses your homebrew. Like a “How to rekindle {Character}” series.

[@kinoko5566]

When can we get some Gargoyles builds? Goliath, Lexington, Demons and Hudson all would be great unique builds.

[@jamesbyrne3033]

I appreciate a vegan sponsor. Thanks Tulok.

[@nerdyrockcomics5428]

Watching day of so I hope this helps the algorithm

[@sageneodraconus]

Interesting homebrew I use for jumping beyond movement speed. Because I feel it's a stupid rule to stop in midair when you can jump further than your movement even allows. I have anyone jumping beyond their movement limit roll both a DEX and STR save. DC is the distance you moved beyond your limit. So the farther you try to abuse it. The harder it is to do. Allows for a little bit of extra movement through jumping but not enough to break anything really. Anyway on a success on either, nothing happens. You already got the extra movement. That's your win. Lol. On a failed STR save, you've jumped beyond what your legs could handle, so the overage on your movement is deducted from your next turn. If you fail a DEX save, you weren't graceful enough to land properly because it was more than you could handle jumping beyond your means, so you fall prone. Mainly I give an option to have something extra, but have negatives if you push too hard and fail. Just something I do. Thought I'd share. Use it or don't. Doesn't hurt me. I allow it at my table. Lol. It's optional. You can still short your jump and avoid having to roll the two extra saves. But it is two saves with consequences on both