The Wasp
Is there a comic book hero who was done so wrong for so long as The Wasp?
Janet Van Dyne was one of the founding Avengers, but rarely is thought of in that way. Most often she is brought up in the context of her husband, Hank Pym, and the emotional and physical abuse she suffered from him in a few popular storylines.
Even in the MCU, Janet was spurned in favor for an entirely new character (Hope Van Dyne) when Ant-Man and the Wasp were introduced.
It's a shame, because the Wasp is a fun character with a lot of great thematic .
I started reading the Avengers series from its beginnings in the 60s, and was surprised at how prominently Janet and Hank were featured, for how little I knew about them. Janet quickly became a favorite of mine though, bringing some much needed female representation to the group. In fact, she was the only touch of that representation for years, until the Black Widow finally switched sides to join the Avengers alongside Hawkeye in their first roster shakeup.
And, honestly, I was a big fan of how Hank and Janet were introduced in the MCU – as elder superheroes, already retired from the game when we meet them. Very Watchmenesque.
So, with 60 years of history and a spotty record of popularity, how can The Wasp play in Pathfinder?
Keys to the Character
Sting Like A Bee
One of Janet's many original gadgets was her wrist-mounted energy blasters. She since absorbed the ability to make her stings with her own bio-electricity.
Wings of a Bug
When The Wasp is shrunk down, her suit sprouts insect-like wings, allowing her to zip through the air. Funnily enough, the guy who built the wings uses a flying ant to get around.
Does That Jacket Come In Yellow?
Like Ant-Man's control over ants (sometimes technological, sometimes telepathic), Janet has sometimes been shown with the ability to communicate with... what else? Wasps!
The Secret Ingredient
How does all this shrinking and growing technology work? That's easy... Pym Particles. And if you have to ask more questions, don't. It's just Pym Particles.
Sometimes characters inspire builds, but other times builds inspire characters. That's a bit of what happened here, starting with the Mosquito Witch patron for the Witch class.
The class offers a lot of what The Wasp is able to do, packed up in a different way of doing it. Rather than using Pym Particle-Powered technological advancements for flight, energy blasts, shrinking and insect control, the Witch version of the Wasp uses hexes, spells and a sprite ancestry to accomplish all those same things in a Pathfinderesque way!
But being the Wasp is more than just having access to technology – it's about using that technology to be an infiltrator, the sneaky spy of the original group. For that flavor, we add a Rogue Dedication and a few feats that allow her to make better use of her surprising size.
On the battlefield, the Wasp uses insect-themed hexes to damage and sicken foes. Her Primal spells focus on magic that controls insects in different ways – summoning swarms, stinging foes and more. Plus, the tradition gives her access to Enlarge, which allows her to take a cue from Giant-Man and escape her tiny form.
Outside of battle, the Wasp uses her legendary stealth (and her ability to shrink down to insect size) to get into places that no other party member could ever hope to infiltrate.
Build OVERVIEW
Ancestry
Melixie Sprite
The Sprite ancestry accomplishes a few things that are otherwise very hard to achieve in a Pathfinder build. These features – insect-like wings, a Tiny size and natural energy blasts – also happen to be some of the key thematic elements of The Wasp!
The thing I like most about the Sprite ancestry is that it sets The Wasp's size as regularly Tiny – allowing her to enlarge through spells. This fits every image ever shown of the old-school Avengers, where they all sit around a table except for the Wasp, who is on the table in tiny form already.
Background
Academy Dropout
Let's consider ignoring her husband Hank – which is a common thread in the early Avengers and Tales to Astonish comics – as dropping out of studies.
The background gives some Academia Lore, which is fine, plus an Intelligence boost which is helpful for a Witch class.
Class
Mosquito Witch
There are a few features of the Witch class that don't line up with what we expect from the Wasp 1:1. That's fine, because the parts that do really do.
Those not quite right elements – a Patron and a familiar, for example – can pretty easily be roleplayed and handwaved away without much worry. For familiar, we'll give her an insect partner that hangs around. Like Anty from Ant-Man, for example.
Meanwhile, the benefits of the Mosquito Witch patron give us so much flavor for Janet van Dyne. Right from level one, with the Buzzing Bites hex cantrip. This spell deals damage to a foe and has the potential to sicken them, which is the first in a long line of condition inducing spell effects the Wasp uses.
The sicken condition applies a penalty to enemy checks and DCs, and blocks them from willingly ingesting elixirs or potions. Like other, more ubiquitous status conditions, this has a snowball effect. The next clumsy, enfeeble or sicken ability used on the foe has a higher chance of effecting them more strongly in their weakened state, and so on.
The patron also gives access to the Primal spell list, which has many insect-related spells to choose from for Janet.
The Rogue Dedication, which we take early along with Sneak Attacker, Nimble Dodge and Magical Trickster, gives some extra uses for Janet's tiny size. Plus, she'll get sneak attack damage on her energy blasts, if it ever comes down to using those rather than cantrips.
Skills & General Feats
Flittering through the air with dragonfly-esque wings requires a high degree of Acrobatics, so Janet has made sure to be Legendary in that Skill. As well, shrinking down to a minuscule size allows for very adept infiltrations and other stealthy activities, so Stealth is Legendary too.
Beyond that, Athletics, Deception and Nature are focused on for a variety of skills requiring bugs or shrinking, or a combination of both.
Legendary: Acrobatics, Stealth
Master: -
Expert: Athletics, Deception, Nature
Attribute Increases
Equipment
Suggested Starting Equipment
Key Spells
Changelog
Related Builds
