If you're going STR based it's because you want to use the only STR based weapons that matter: heavy, two-handed weapons for GWM.
Otherwise, to go STR just to use shitty weapons like a longsword for a d8 in damage is just a more convoluted way of going with a rapier.
But if you go with GWM, you can't bladesong. At that point, you're wasting your primary class ability. Your sacrificing mobility, tankiness, and concentration for... Nothing, basically.
You cannot count on getting magic items, and even then, I'm having a hard time of thinking of a table with a STR based martial in the party being totally fine with the wizard getting gauntlets/belt over them.
If you insist on being STR wizard, go abjurer dwarf with capped con and int, GWM, a storm giant belt, and hammer of thunderbolt. Slap on tenser's transformation, and have at it. It's just as likely as any other item-dependent suggestion. Don't like it? Too bad! You got no other worthwhile option unless you just like being sub optimal, in which case you do you, buddy. You do you.
I'll tell people how to play.
A strength-based martial generally has no use for the gauntlets by the time the gauntlets are available.
The best reason to be strength-based is Shoving, not GWM, since as you point out, GWM isn't compatible with bladesinging. I discussed this earlier in this thread while discussing tortle bladesingers - and it's tortles that rule the Strength Bladesinger world.
Dwarves are good abjurers, but what they're best at is being SAD, not MAD - for a MAD build, they're not the single best-in-show race. Other good Abjurers include Hobgoblins and Svirfneblin, for example. If you want to be particularly good at MADness, Half-Elf is usually the way to go.
If you take a feat at 4, your STR mod is 3 at best. By the time you get to 8 for non fighters, you spend an ASI to catch up to what gauntlets offer. If you have gauntlets, you can just grab another feat or increase a different stat. In your typical real life 1-11 campaign, gauntlets are fantastic.
If you're going STR based it's because you want to use the only STR based weapons that matter: heavy, two-handed weapons for GWM.
Otherwise, to go STR just to use shitty weapons like a longsword for a d8 in damage is just a more convoluted way of going with a rapier.
But if you go with GWM, you can't bladesong. At that point, you're wasting your primary class ability. Your sacrificing mobility, tankiness, and concentration for... Nothing, basically.
You cannot count on getting magic items, and even then, I'm having a hard time of thinking of a table with a STR based martial in the party being totally fine with the wizard getting gauntlets/belt over them.
If you insist on being STR wizard, go abjurer dwarf with capped con and int, GWM, a storm giant belt, and hammer of thunderbolt. Slap on tenser's transformation, and have at it. It's just as likely as any other item-dependent suggestion. Don't like it? Too bad! You got no other worthwhile option unless you just like being sub optimal, in which case you do you, buddy. You do you.
I'll tell people how to play.
well the sourcebook where bladesingers originally appears talks about the various styles of bladesinger out there and a lot of them were using suboptimal non-finesse weapons such as for instance War pickaxes for the raven style and like longswords for the lion style? cannot remember the names, does not really matter much, and that is what i was considering the idea of, why would someone ever pick those weapons from an in-game perspective? When any investment into STR could be going into dex instead.
The gauntlets of ogre strength and the various belts of giant strength does provide an somewhat interesting answer however, given that there is no dex equivalent
If you take a feat at 4, your STR mod is 3 at best. By the time you get to 8 for non fighters, you spend an ASI to catch up to what gauntlets offer. If you have gauntlets, you can just grab another feat or increase a different stat. In your typical real life 1-11 campaign, gauntlets are fantastic.
problem is that:
1) these magic items are a reward, and your DM is under no obligation to give you a pair
2) while you are earning yourself these gauntlets, you need to have at least some investment in STR, a investment that is going to be sub optimal long term but necessary early on
3) using the Custom Linneage option from Tasha's cauldron of everything, you could indeed start with an strength score of 18 at level one, giving you the same strength modifier as the gauntlets would, and an higher modifier at 18th level. (simply put a base 15 in strength, add your +2 racial asi and then pick a feat that would also increase your strength score, such as Marital Adept, Crusher, Heavy Armor Master etc). This is of course only a small fraction of uses, but the option is there. If you want to Max out your stat at a +5 modifier, the gauntlets will fall short
The gauntlets are nice, but they are not the be-all end-all of STR builds, even for a non-fighter who picks an feat at lvl 4, there are appealing feat options that could grant you an +1 to strength, something that could indeed give you an strength mod of +4 by 4th level
You can't count on using a custom lineage at every table. Taking a feat is comparable to an ASI especially if one takes something like PAM. In that case, you're actually optimal despite carrying a 3 mod.
I never said you'd have them as a guarantee, but merely pointing out the silly fact that it's incredibly ridiculous to give the wizard a strength item, such as gauntlets (though it doesn't have to be gauntlets, could be a belt), instead of the martial that needs it more. At that point, promoting such a build is selfish on top of being suboptimal.
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WDYM STR based martials have no need?
If you take a feat at 4, your STR mod is 3 at best. By the time you get to 8 for non fighters, you spend an ASI to catch up to what gauntlets offer. If you have gauntlets, you can just grab another feat or increase a different stat. In your typical real life 1-11 campaign, gauntlets are fantastic.
well the sourcebook where bladesingers originally appears talks about the various styles of bladesinger out there and a lot of them were using suboptimal non-finesse weapons such as for instance War pickaxes for the raven style and like longswords for the lion style? cannot remember the names, does not really matter much, and that is what i was considering the idea of, why would someone ever pick those weapons from an in-game perspective? When any investment into STR could be going into dex instead.
The gauntlets of ogre strength and the various belts of giant strength does provide an somewhat interesting answer however, given that there is no dex equivalent
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
problem is that:
1) these magic items are a reward, and your DM is under no obligation to give you a pair
2) while you are earning yourself these gauntlets, you need to have at least some investment in STR, a investment that is going to be sub optimal long term but necessary early on
3) using the Custom Linneage option from Tasha's cauldron of everything, you could indeed start with an strength score of 18 at level one, giving you the same strength modifier as the gauntlets would, and an higher modifier at 18th level. (simply put a base 15 in strength, add your +2 racial asi and then pick a feat that would also increase your strength score, such as Marital Adept, Crusher, Heavy Armor Master etc). This is of course only a small fraction of uses, but the option is there. If you want to Max out your stat at a +5 modifier, the gauntlets will fall short
The gauntlets are nice, but they are not the be-all end-all of STR builds, even for a non-fighter who picks an feat at lvl 4, there are appealing feat options that could grant you an +1 to strength, something that could indeed give you an strength mod of +4 by 4th level
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Fantastic=! End all be all
You can't count on using a custom lineage at every table. Taking a feat is comparable to an ASI especially if one takes something like PAM. In that case, you're actually optimal despite carrying a 3 mod.
I never said you'd have them as a guarantee, but merely pointing out the silly fact that it's incredibly ridiculous to give the wizard a strength item, such as gauntlets (though it doesn't have to be gauntlets, could be a belt), instead of the martial that needs it more. At that point, promoting such a build is selfish on top of being suboptimal.