Gyomei Himejima is a major supporting character of Demon Slayer, a Demon Slayer of the Demon Slayer Corps, and the current Stone Hashira. He is known for being a physically imposing mountain of a man, easily standing head and shoulders over his fellow Hashira, gentle in spirit, and seen as the de facto leader of the Hashiras. Gyomei’s fierce dedication to his fellows is only matched by his crushing capabilities and overwhelming skill in battle. Despite being blind since birth Gyomei is able to instinctively respond to the world around him, often able to understand the intent of those around him whether they be demons or humans. Gyomei’s Stone breath style is one of overwhelming power that grinds a foe down under its weight using both precision and crushing strength to achieve that goal. As the Stone Hashira, his style of breathing involves a dual-wielding threat that combines blunt force and savage slashes that strike out at range but can be targeted to punish a foe from multiple angles. This style is one based on the crushing power of an avalanche with the focused power of a boulder.
Gyomei Himejima Stats
Str 14 Dex 14 Con 14 Int 8 Wis 13 Cha 9 (27 point buy)
Str 16 Dex 14 Con 14 Int 8 Wis 14 Cha 9 (after racial and feat mod)
Class Monk 6(Way of the Four Elements)
The three things that I wanted to achieve in this build are:
- Twin Pillars of Destruction.
- Keeping Friends Close and Enemies Closer
- Blinded Awareness.
Background
For Background, I chose Acolyte for Gyomei. He gains the Skill Proficiencies of Insight, Religion, the languages of Celestial and Abyssal, and the Background Feature of Shelter of the Faithful. This represents his religious upbringing in a Buddhist temple.
Race
For Race, I chose torn between Orc and Goliath but ended up going with Goliath due to the extra skill and Stone’s Endurance. With this race, he gains +2 to Str, and +1 to Wis, Little Giant, Mountain Born, and Stone’s Endurance. The Key feature is Little Giant since it not only allows him to count as one size larger when determining carrying capacity, the weight you can push drag, or lift but also the extra skill of Athletics.
Class
Gyomei’s class breakdown is a mixture of two classes, Fighter 5 (Battle Master)/Monk 1. It is with these classes that he gains access to Unarmored Defense and Unarmed Fighting from Monk. Meanwhile, his Fighter level gives him extra healing in the form of Second Wind while Fighting Style: Blind Fighting gives him the ability to sense around himself in a 10-foot radius. He also gains Action Surge, Extra Attack, and the powerful Martial Archetype of Battle Master. With Battle Master, he is able to manipulate the battlefield whether that is closing the distance between himself or a foe, protecting a friend, or positioning an enemy into an advantageous situation. This combination of class and feats is the best attempt to consolidate his abilities and talents at this level.
Fighter 1 is the starting class for Gyomei. This gives him the skills of Survival, Perception, and Fighting Style: Blind Fighting, and Second Wind. Blind Fighting is needed since Gyomei has been blind since birth.
Monk 1 is where he picks up Unarmored Defense and Martial Arts.
Fighter 2 grants him access to Action Surge. This allows him to gain another Action to use for a variety of offensive or defensive capabilities.
Fighter 3 is the next step in Gyomei’s progression with the Martial Archetype of Battle Master. It is with this level he gains Student of War: Calligrapher’s Supplies, Combat Superiority Dice, and Maneuvers: Bait and Switch, Lunging Attack, and Pushing Attack. Bait and Switch allows Gyomei to switch places with an ally and give either himself or them an AC bonus. Lunging Attack gives him the reach he needs for his Flail and Axe as it represents his various breath techniques. Pushing Attack gives him the ability to move his foes up to 15 feet away from himself.
Fighter 4 is where Gyomei masters his Flail and Axe Combination attack with the feat: Dual Wielder. This gives him the ability to wield both weapons with the deft ability that characterizes his fighting style.
Fighter 5 is the final level for Gyomei with access to Extra Attack. Now he can unleash a staggering three attacks around or six should he choose to use Action Surge.
With full use of Gyomei’s powers he can perform the following techniques via job features and abilities:
Stone Breathing
- First Form: Serpentine Bipolar- Lunging Attack + Extra Attack-Lunging Attack +Bonus Attack
- Second Form: Upper Smash- Lunging Attack + Extra Attack + Bonus Attack-Pushing Attack
- Third Form: Stone Skin- Dodge Action + Dual Wielder AC Bonus + Action Surge + Bait and Switch + Disengage + Stone’ Endurance
- Fourth Form: Volcanic Rock, Rapid Conquest- Lunging Attack + Extra Attack-Lunging Attack +Bonus Attack
- Fifth Form: Arcs of Justice
- Lunging Attack + Extra Attack-Lunging Attack +Bonus Attack-Pushing Attack + Movement + Action Surge + Attack + Extra Attack + Bonus Attack
This combination of feats, stats, and spells makes this DND build of Gyomei a towering mountain heaving landslides of crushing punishment on any demon caught in his eminence in Six levels or Less.
Spells
None
Equipment
Standard Fighter equipment with Handaxes, Chain Mail Armor, Battleaxe, and Flail.
Shout out to https://kimetsu-no-yaiba.fandom.com/wiki/Kimetsu_no_Yaiba_Wiki for their amazing information in making this amazing character as well as DNDBeyond for its character creation platform. My next build will be Genya Shinazugawa, the gun-toting brother to the Wind Hashira Sanemi! Until next week Tale-Tellers!
