Today we begin a blogging chapter extremely near and dear to my heart: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. I can’t speak to everyone else’s experience with this game but for me there’s simply nothing like it.

Usually I don’t wax personal historic and yet we’re doing that today. In my youth during the summer I’d get sent up to visit my cousins and aunt in Warren, Pennsylvania, and one year my man Travis rented (or borrowed?) an SNES along with this game. We dove into it headfirst and after days of almost nothing but Chef Boyardee ravioli and endless gaming beat Super Mario RPG. Since then I’ve played through it several more times and if for some godawful reason you haven’t done it yet, you are missing out.

Design Notes: The goal with Mario here was pretty simple–jumping is key. Yeah he’s got the hammer and can climb pretty quickly (like Mario ought to!) but really the thing is the jumping. Before rolling he’s jumping 24 feet longways and 12 in height plus triple whatever the roll to jump actually gets him, and he’s got a pair of ki points when he really needs to jump higher/further (doubling things via Step of the Wind). He’s also able to bop on enemies and keep going without provoking opportunity attacks, plus with Cunning Action he’s got a sprint button at play.

Come back next week for Mallow but without further ado I present to you the world’s most famous plumber: Mario!

 

Mario

Medium humanoid (human), neutral good rogue (thief) 4/fighter (champion) 8/monk 2
Armor Class 16 (Wisdom)
Hit Points 99 (6d8+8d10+28)
Speed 50 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
18 (+4)	18 (+4)	14 (+2)	10 (+0)	14 (+2)	10 (+0)

Saving Throws Dex +9, Int +5
Skills Acrobatics +14, Athletics +14, Insight +7, Investigation +5, Perception +7, Stealth +9; thieves’ tools +6
Senses passive Perception 17
Languages Common, Thieves’ Cant
Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)

Action Surge (1/Short Rest). Once on his turn, Mario can take an additional action on top of his regular action and a possible bonus action.

Boots of Striding & Springing. Mario can jump three times the normal distance, though he can’t jump farther than his remaining movement would allow.

Cunning Action (1/Turn). Mario can take a bonus action to take the Dash, Disengage, Hide or Use Object action, make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, or to use thieves’ tools to disarm a trap or open a lock.

Feat: Athletic. Mario can stand up from being prone with only 5 feet of his movement, climbing doesn’t cost him extra movement, and he only has to move 5 feet before making a running long jump or running high jump.

Feat: Mobile. Mario can Dash through difficult terrain without requiring additional movement. Whenever he makes an attack against a creature, he doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks from that creature until the end of his turn.

Improved Critical. Mario’s weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19–20.

Ki (2 points/Short Rest). Mario can spend ki points to fuel various ki features.

• Flurry of Blows. Immediately after Mario takes the Attack action on his turn, he can spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action.
• Patient Defense. Mario can spend 1 ki point to take the Dodge action as a bonus action on his turn.
• Step of the Wind. Mario can spend 1 ki point to take the Disengage or Dash action as a bonus action on his turn, and his jump distance is doubled for the turn.

Martial Arts. Mario can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of his unarmed strikes and monk weapons. In addition, when Mario uses the Attack action with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon on his turn, he can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action.

Remarkable Athlete. Mario adds +2 to any Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check he makes that doesn’t already use his proficiency bonus. In addition, when he makes a running long jump, the distance he can cover increases by 4 feet.

Second-Story Work. Climbing does not costs Mario extra movement. When he makes a running jump, the distance he covers increases by 4 feet (for a total of an extra 8 feet).

Second Wind (1/Short Rest). On his turn, Mario can use a bonus action to regain 1d10+8 hit points.

Sneak Attack (1/Turn). Mario deals an extra 7 (2d6) damage when he hits a target with a weapon attack and has advantage on the attack roll, or when the target is within 5 feet of an ally of Mario that isn’t incapacitated and Mario doesn’t have disadvantage on the attack roll.

ACTIONS

Extra Attack. Mario attacks twice when he takes the attack action (using a bonus action he can attack a third time with Martial Arts, or a third and fourth time with 1 ki to use Flurry of Blows).

Unarmed. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4+4) bludgeoning damage.

Light Hammer. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4+4) bludgeoning damage.

Maul. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) bludgeoning damage.