The Concept
So you want to shot at enemies with crossbow while your griffon aid you in combat? Well, this Bard-based multiclass build is for you. You will have a carbon copy of yourself, a pet, several arrows and a lot of fun.
Race
You will be playing a Human variant (+1 in DEX and CON), to take advantage of Crossbow Expert level 1 feat. You don’t need CHA to shot with your crossbow.
Crossbow Expert: you ignore loading quality of crossbows you are proficient with, you don’t have disadvantage when shooting from 5 feets, you can use the bonus action to shoot with a hand crossbow if you use your action for a one-handed weapon attack.
Feats:
| Level | Feat |
| 1 | Crossbow Expert |
| 5 | Sharpshooter |
| 17 | Warcaster |
Stats
The starting point, before features, is (point buy):
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
| 8 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 12 | 13 |
The stats progression is as follows:
| Lvl | HP | AC | STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
| 1 | 13 | 17* | 8 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 13 |
| 4 | 40 | 17* | 8 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 13 |
| 8 | 72 | 17* | 8 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 13 |
| 12 | 104 | 17* | 8 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 13 |
| 16 | 136 | 17* | 8 | 20 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 13 |
| 20 | 169 | 17 | 8 | 20 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 13 |
Equipment
Crossbow (as for finesse weapon) are nice because they add your DEX modifier to their damage. You want to use 2 hand crossbows up to level 4. At this point you will need a heavy crossbow up to level 8. You will then switch back to 2 hand crossbows but with 1 extra attack.
As for the armor, you are proficient in heavy armor and shields. However you have a low strength making it hard to wear anything better than a medium armor.
You will also have Thieves’ Tools and a Crowbar.