73
I told him no right off the bat...But he's extremely insistent about
it
Just tell the player "no," again; you are allowed to do that as DM
There are a number of reasons for this.
An invisible stalker is an elemental; PCs are humanoids1
The CR of an invisible stalker is 6; it usually takes 2 or 3 PCs of
level 6 to defeat an invisible stalker; the ...
46
If you don't work with your DM on your back story ...
... anything you do with your background and backstory can create difficulty at the table, since a PC needs to fit into the game world.
If you work with your DM on your back story ....
... and the two of you together come up with amnesia as part of why your character is adventuring / questing, then it'...
45
Ask the player "why?"
First step to solving these types of issues is asking why they want a thing. If the character wants to be invisible all the time just for the sake of that, just say no. If they like the idea of being able to attack from being hidden or that type of thing then you can help them out.
The Gloomstalker Ranger is invisible in darkness to ...
30
"Who does that?"
Uh... practically everyone? Amnesia and the search for who you used to be is a very common background for a heroic character in literature, movies, and games. It's literally the main plot conceit of Knights of the Old Republic, Planescape Torment, The Bourne Identity, and Dark City, among many others, and it shows up all the time in ...
28
The tiefling was born that way
According to the PHB, not all tieflings are red; quite the opposite, their skin might have "the full range of human coloration":
Their skin tones cover the full range of human coloration, but also include various shades of red.
5e low-level magic can only change your appearance temporarily, so it would be easier for you ...
19
It is OK if you and your DM are okay with it
Backstories are personal. Heck, roleplaying is personal. What's allowable, workable, usable, and/or fun is going be 100% up to the player and the DM to agree on. We can't tell you if it's good or bad for you or your table, but if your DM has an issue with it, then there's an issue with it.
It doesn't mean they'...
12
The Bad News
As others have pointed out, Invisible Stalker is a monster and the stat block it uses is just not viable for a PC. You could always start tweaking the different parts of it to try to get something balanced but chances are it would never really pan out and your player would still be far too strong, or so saddled with drawbacks that he can't have ...
10
No, not in the slightest
You're trying to make a D&D 5e character, and you want to play:
A half dwarf / half giant
This is not something that exists in D&D 5e by default, so you'd have to homebrew it
who dual-wields giant-sized axes
also not allowed, you can't dual wield two-handed weapons in 5e
attached to magic item chains that leave his ...
10
Giving your PC amnesia is an amazing idea1
(1) and so are most ideas as long as both the player and the GM like them.
So, is giving your character amnesia about their backstory a bad thing to do to your DM?
Amnesia has been used as a narrative tool countless times in movies, books, TV shows, etc. for excellent reasons: They introduce mystery and (most ...
9
There aren't enough restrictions and requirements to narrow down the answer to a single build. However, I can go over your primary options and provide guidance for your decisions.
Class and subclass
For an intelligence based gish there's really only 4 options: Arcane Trickster Rogue, Battle Smith Artificer, Bladesinging Wizard, or Eldritch Knight Fighter.
...
7
This is strictly dependent on the GM/Player pair
It's a bad idea if either the player or the GM are not interested. It can be a great idea if both are interested.
I have done this, but as a GM rather than a player. I had designed a setting where it would be highly beneficial to have at least one character with directly-plot-related amnesia. I could, in ...
7
Some of this is do-able in 5e, but some is not.
If I understand your question correctly, you're asking if this highly specific character build can be made in D&D 5th edition.
Do-able
Some of this is possible, and your DM wil probably grant most requests:
Backstory details are entirely fine in 5th edition.
The Fullangr doesn't exist in D&D 5e, but ...
5
You seem to be looking for very freeform control of an element. That is not normally achieved through the basic magic system (single-skill-per-spell magic, also sometimes known by the tautological title Magic magic). Nor does your description seem to match the magic of ritual paths in Basic Set (not to be confused with the other, standalone ritual path magic)...
3
The DnD world supports examples of various curses.
So your Tiefling could have came across a cursed artifact (either by stealing it, or receiving it, knowingly or not, as stolen property). It could have been a necklace, ring, knife, etc. Upon touching the object, it changed their skin tone as a punishment (to mark them as a thief).
Because the magic used ...
2
No, it's actually pretty common!
Characters with amnesia can be really fun and mysterious to be around (from a player perspective) depending on how they're done. A well-rounded amnesiac who's able to role play well is great in my opinion, but I do have a little advice if you choose to go down that route!
Something one of my friends did that I didn't find ...
1
One thought, allow them to be invisible, but at a low level they have not ability to interact with the world around them while invisible. For instance, they can walk though doors and walls,but cannot open doors. They can view everything around them, but cannot pick up things.
This forces them to come out of invisibility then once fully visible (whole) they ...
1
They are in Beckett's Jyhad Diary on Page 144.
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