A lot less thinking involved for this one shot. I wanted to play a monk or fighter that was a total Chad.

I took the easier route this time with a DM I was new with; I didn't want to come with an over-tuned character (but we'll talk about that below)

Monk (Way of the Mercy)

We rolled for ability scores, I got 15, 15, 13, 12, 10, 9. It worked out perfectly, I wanted 15/15 so I could use the variant human's ability score bonuses to get 16 DEX/WIS. 13 CON was fine, I wanted to use my feat for Crusher, so that shores up that stat for me.

If Dedicated Weapon is available, we're going to make our Sling the dedicated weapon to use 1d6 instead of 1d4. We'll pick up a Spear form our background and use some gold on a couple daggers. Daggers get bonuses from Martial Arts, so we'll be rolling 1d6 instead of 1d4 for attacks.

For Magic Items, we're taking Eldritch Claw Tattoo and an Alchemy Jug. The Alchemy Jug partly for flavor but it's also something that ends up being incredibly useful.

What to do from here...

For the following builds, I'm not going to use the rolled ability score values... I'm going to use Point Buy (and might discuss Standard Array a bit).

Monk

So, Tasha's Cauldron to Everything changes a lot here. In some cases where a Variant Human takes an ASI at level 4, it's better to take a +2/+2 race at level one and the feat at level 4 instead. In my case above, I wanted to use Ryan Goslin's Ken more than I wanted to be optimal. Going Mountain Dwarf gives us dark vision, poison resistance, and proficiency with warhammers. Versatile works with Martial Arts so you'll get 1d10 on your weapon attack and 1d6 on your unarmed strikes.

We're going to use point buy to make out scores: 8/15/15/8/15/8. Put our racial stats into DEX and WIS. Use our level 4 feat for an ASI +1 DEX/WIS. For level 8, we're taking Crusher. We should take another ASI here and get DEX up to 20 but since we have access to a magic items, I'm passing on that. It handcuffs us into Eldritch Claw Tattoo and a +1 Warhammer, though.

What about Gunner? Skill Expert?

I like Gunner on Monks, especially with Custom Lineage. We can go 15 DEX, get Gunner for +1, then use our racial bonus for another +2 (18 DEX at level 1), then we take an ASI at level 4 to get to 20 DEX. Our WIS and CON will be lacking in this route but it's a much more effient plan. Grab a Pistol and make it your Dedicated Weapon.

Skill Expert has a similar plan and it keeps the Sling + Crusher dream alive (but trades in a ton of damage to move creatures instead).

Shadowmonk/Rogue

Fighter/Bard/Rogue (Rune Knight, College of Creation/Lore)

David (vs Goliath)

Sling Sharpshooter

Magic Stone + Slingshot https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/q5esu8/magic_stone_sharpshooter/ https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/rules-game-mechanics/85011-magic-stone

So, if you are a Rogue with Sharpshooter you can apply both Sneak Attack and Sharpshooter to attacks with Magic Stones as long as you use a Sling, and you have a flat 120 ft. range without Disadvantage so you can still gain Advantage on the roll.

Magic Stone + Sharpshooter https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/q5esu8/magic_stone_sharpshooter/

Fun fact, Sling + Magic Stone is a Ranged Spell Attack, with a Ranged Weapon. Which means if you are a loxodon or thri-kreen Artificer you can use your Infused Sling, hold your Infused Arcane Focus, and effectively get a +4 weapon at level 10.

https://twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/940654827683631110?lang=en

An attack made with magic stone is a spell attack, even if you hurl the stone with a sling. The attack doesn't qualify for anything that requires a weapon attack, but it does work with a feature that requires a ranged weapon if you use a sling. #DnD

So here's the tangent... Is a bow/crossbow with Piercer better than a Sling with Crusher? What are the pros/cons?

"So you have to read both the spell and the feat.

Magic Stone allows you to make a ranged spell attack. (It specifically states that loading it into a sling still counts as a ranged spell attack)

Sharpshooter applies to ranged weapon attacks.

Now...if you and your DM think that's silly... house rule it the way it makes sense to you both. But RAW? No.

Would I rule it that way? Sure, I'd probably allow it."

"Note that the SS -5/+10 applies to attacks with ranged weapons. Attacking with a magic stone using a sling is a ranged spell attack with a ranged weapon, so that specific benefit works.

The other two benefits don't apply, since they specify a ranged weapon attack, which the magic stone sling attack isn't."

https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/r58rgd/help_me_understand_the_crusher_feat/

Well, look at it this way.

I cast Web and place an opponent just outside the Web. My bruiser rushes in to attack the beastie and hits at least once, shunting the bad guy into the Web. Because the baddie moved into the Web for the first time on the turn, Dex save or be restrained.

Let's say the baddie succeeds. At the start of their turn, they need to make another Dex save or be restrained (triggers both when they enter the area for the first time on a turn and when they are in the area at the start of the turn).

Now for something completely wacky. Cleric with Crusher and a sling and Spirit Guardians active. Moves so that beastie is on the edge of the Spirit Guardians. Attack with the sling, and on a hit move your target into the Spirit Guardians to trigger the 3d8 damage. Start of the beastie's turn, they take another 3d8 damage.