So lately i had an idea to create character that uses a grappling hook as his main weapon. This got me thinking of how i would do it, which class would it be and stuff. Long story short i thought the Grappling hook should get either a fighting style, a feat or both. Mostly because of the name of the weapon "grappling" hook i would like to add some grappling to it in some sort of way. other than that i was thinking of the other use of a grappling hook being movement, mostly vertical movement, but can also be used as a vine of some sort. I've asked some of my friends about this idea and they think it could be fun but none of us are well versed in homebrewing stuff. My question now is: what options would you give someone that specializes in a grappling hook?
Edit: i've worked out a feat for the combat part that i want your guys' opinion on.
Tethered Weapons
you learned how to use rope and chain as a weapon. you gain the following benefits:
any light weapon you are proficient with can now be tethered: which gives the weapon the following properties:
thrown (20/60), two-handed, return
return: Because of the time required to retrieve this weapon, you can only throw it once when you use an Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction to throw it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.
When you take the attack action to grapple a creature you can use the tethered weapon to grapple a creature up to the normal distance. Whenever a creature breaks free from the grapple the tether takes 1 point of damage.
----
I'm not entirely happy with the return part as its a little weird with it also being a melee weapon.
The grappling part could also be changed to something similar to thorn whip, grasping vine or lightning lure making it just a pull instead of a grapple.
some friends were also sceptical of the max range of 60ft meaning you would have to have a 60ft rope or chain attached to the weapon and that would make it either unwieldy or too heavy, what is your guys' opinion on the max range?
Nobu: "Ha! you making this fight too easy! It's like I'm fighting a blind man!"
DD: ....
😂😂
Yeah, but nothing tops that stairwell scene though. That cinematography was genius, and so was the stunt coordination and fight choreography. One of the best ever filmed IMO. It was to fight scenes what The French Connection was to car chases.
Explore whether you want this item to be a Racial or Class Feature. Is it a magic weapon that anybody can use or just certain Classes/Races?
I dont want to restrict it to a certain class or race as i can see this being used by a fighter, rogue or ranger and maybe any other class if someone feels like it. the magic item could also be an option that i haven't thought of, probably because our group gives out magic items quite sparingly and i didnt want to wait 2 years before i can play the character...
Did you watch the Daredevil series on Netflix? This is the first thing popped in my head when I read your post:
Yes i've seen daredevil however this scene didnt seem to leave a lasting impression on me as i forgot this fight. But i did see some videos before that stated that grappling hooks were used as weapons in the past mainly by ninjas. (i dont know how accurate this is, but thats what i've heard and seen.)
To give it stats, I would make it a reach weapon with the finesse and special properties. For the special property, you could say "When you hit a creature with an attack made with this weapon, you can choose to grapple the creature instead of dealing damage (DC to escape = 1X). While grappling a creature in this way, you must wield the grappling hook with both hands and cannot make any attacks with it until the grapple is ended."
There are several monsters in the MM that have abilities which deal damage and also grapple a creature (no contest involved). For a player character, I think it is more balanced to have them choose between grappling with an attack roll or dealing damage with that attack.
Edit: For feats and fighting styles to build off of this, I might say something like "When you grapple a creature using a grappling hook, you can use your bonus action to pull the creature 5ft closer to you, if it is your size or smaller. If the creature is larger than your size, you can instead pull yourself 5ft towards the creature using your bonus action"
The word “Ninja” means spy. These were people who would blend in with the common everyday people, farmers, fishermen, etc.and mostly gather information. When necessary they would also engage in sabotage. But they had to stay hidden, so they had to look like everyone else. A “ninja mask” isn’t a ninja mask per se, but ninjas wore them because lots of people wore them. It was common garb for the common person.
And common people didn’t carry weapons, they carried tools. Like a grain flail (original nunchuck), or other various things including hooks of all sorts used for farming, fishing, etc. So ninjas learned to fight with tools, and use them for whatever was necessary. A hook on a chain designed to work no matter which end hits might have started as fisherman’s tool of some sort, a light anchor or something used to haul in traps or something. Or a dock workers tool. Or a....
I think ninja used their weapons as grappling hooks rather than using grappling hooks as weapons.
No documentation, but I imagine sailors/pirates using grappling hooks most often.
yes as i was exploring a character that uses a grappling hook as a weapon i also came to the sailor approach. I am currently in the process of creating a sailor character with the grappling hook, i just didnt have the grappling hook down yet.
The word “Ninja” means spy. These were people who would blend in with the common everyday people, farmers, fishermen, etc.and mostly gather information. When necessary they would also engage in sabotage. But they had to stay hidden, so they had to look like everyone else. A “ninja mask” isn’t a ninja mask per se, but ninjas wore them because lots of people wore them. It was common garb for the common person.
And common people didn’t carry weapons, they carried tools. Like a grain flail (original nunchuck), or other various things including hooks of all sorts used for farming, fishing, etc. So ninjas learned to fight with tools, and use them for whatever was necessary. A hook on a chain designed to work no matter which end hits might have started as fisherman’s tool of some sort, a light anchor or something used to haul in traps or something. Or a dock workers tool. Or a....
I didnt know that Ninja translates to spy however i do know that they were mostly common folk that used tools as weapons to remain inconspicuous.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So lately i had an idea to create character that uses a grappling hook as his main weapon. This got me thinking of how i would do it, which class would it be and stuff.
Long story short i thought the Grappling hook should get either a fighting style, a feat or both. Mostly because of the name of the weapon "grappling" hook i would like to add some grappling to it in some sort of way. other than that i was thinking of the other use of a grappling hook being movement, mostly vertical movement, but can also be used as a vine of some sort. I've asked some of my friends about this idea and they think it could be fun but none of us are well versed in homebrewing stuff. My question now is: what options would you give someone that specializes in a grappling hook?
Edit: i've worked out a feat for the combat part that i want your guys' opinion on.
Tethered Weapons
you learned how to use rope and chain as a weapon. you gain the following benefits:
any light weapon you are proficient with can now be tethered: which gives the weapon the following properties:
thrown (20/60), two-handed, return
return: Because of the time required to retrieve this weapon, you can only throw it once when you use an Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction to throw it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.
When you take the attack action to grapple a creature you can use the tethered weapon to grapple a creature up to the normal distance.
Whenever a creature breaks free from the grapple the tether takes 1 point of damage.
----
I'm not entirely happy with the return part as its a little weird with it also being a melee weapon.
The grappling part could also be changed to something similar to thorn whip, grasping vine or lightning lure making it just a pull instead of a grapple.
some friends were also sceptical of the max range of 60ft meaning you would have to have a 60ft rope or chain attached to the weapon and that would make it either unwieldy or too heavy, what is your guys' opinion on the max range?
Did you watch the Daredevil series on Netflix? This is the first thing popped in my head when I read your post:
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Nobu: "Ha! you making this fight too easy! It's like I'm fighting a blind man!"
DD: ....
Explore whether you want this item to be a Racial or Class Feature. Is it a magic weapon that anybody can use or just certain Classes/Races?
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
😂😂
Yeah, but nothing tops that stairwell scene though. That cinematography was genius, and so was the stunt coordination and fight choreography. One of the best ever filmed IMO. It was to fight scenes what The French Connection was to car chases.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I dont want to restrict it to a certain class or race as i can see this being used by a fighter, rogue or ranger and maybe any other class if someone feels like it. the magic item could also be an option that i haven't thought of, probably because our group gives out magic items quite sparingly and i didnt want to wait 2 years before i can play the character...
Yes i've seen daredevil however this scene didnt seem to leave a lasting impression on me as i forgot this fight. But i did see some videos before that stated that grappling hooks were used as weapons in the past mainly by ninjas. (i dont know how accurate this is, but thats what i've heard and seen.)
I think ninja used their weapons as grappling hooks rather than using grappling hooks as weapons.
No documentation, but I imagine sailors/pirates using grappling hooks most often.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
To give it stats, I would make it a reach weapon with the finesse and special properties. For the special property, you could say "When you hit a creature with an attack made with this weapon, you can choose to grapple the creature instead of dealing damage (DC to escape = 1X). While grappling a creature in this way, you must wield the grappling hook with both hands and cannot make any attacks with it until the grapple is ended."
There are several monsters in the MM that have abilities which deal damage and also grapple a creature (no contest involved). For a player character, I think it is more balanced to have them choose between grappling with an attack roll or dealing damage with that attack.
Edit: For feats and fighting styles to build off of this, I might say something like "When you grapple a creature using a grappling hook, you can use your bonus action to pull the creature 5ft closer to you, if it is your size or smaller. If the creature is larger than your size, you can instead pull yourself 5ft towards the creature using your bonus action"
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
The word “Ninja” means spy. These were people who would blend in with the common everyday people, farmers, fishermen, etc.and mostly gather information. When necessary they would also engage in sabotage. But they had to stay hidden, so they had to look like everyone else. A “ninja mask” isn’t a ninja mask per se, but ninjas wore them because lots of people wore them. It was common garb for the common person.
And common people didn’t carry weapons, they carried tools. Like a grain flail (original nunchuck), or other various things including hooks of all sorts used for farming, fishing, etc. So ninjas learned to fight with tools, and use them for whatever was necessary. A hook on a chain designed to work no matter which end hits might have started as fisherman’s tool of some sort, a light anchor or something used to haul in traps or something. Or a dock workers tool. Or a....
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
yes as i was exploring a character that uses a grappling hook as a weapon i also came to the sailor approach. I am currently in the process of creating a sailor character with the grappling hook, i just didnt have the grappling hook down yet.
I didnt know that Ninja translates to spy however i do know that they were mostly common folk that used tools as weapons to remain inconspicuous.