I’ve been trying to build around the concept of grappling an enemy, then dragging and leaving them underground using burrowing speed.
Barring rare magic items (Claws of the Umber Hulk and Delver’s Claws) the only two ways to do this are wild-shape and Sidekick rules Tasha’s. Monk/Pugilist X and Druid 2 works but quickly suffers as you level from lack of proficiency bonus in Wild-shape. Which leaves Sidekicks and I thought of the following:
Giant Space Hamster (lv10 Warrior Sidekick)
AC 19 (Plate)
HP 77 (14d10)
Initiative +2 (advantage)
Str:19 Dex:14 Con:10 Int:10 Wis:12 Cha:4
Speed: 40ft. Burrow 20ft.
Proficiency in all armour, dexterity saving throws and Athletics and Perception skills.
Traits
Improved Critical. Your attack rolls score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 on the d20.
Punch and Grab. When you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike as part of the Attack action on your turn, you can use both the Damage and the Grapple option. You can use this benefit only once per turn.
Attack Advantage. You have Advantage on attack rolls against a creature Grappled by you.
Fast Wrestler. You don’t have to spend extra movement to move a creature Grappled by you if the creature is your size or smaller.
Dash over Difficult Terrain. When you take the Dash action on your turn, Difficult Terrain doesn't cost you extra movement for the rest of that turn.
Agile Movement. Opportunity Attacks have Disadvantage against you.
Action
Extra Attack. You can attack twice instead of once whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Bite: +10 to hit, 2d4+4 piercing damage
Unarmed Strike: +10 to hit, 4 bludgeoning damage.
Grapple (Huge or smaller creature): +10 to hit, the target must succeed on a DC16 Strength or Dexterity saving throw (it chooses which), or it has the Grappled condition.
Bonus Action
Second Wind: 1/short rest regain 1d10+10hp
This is a lv10 sidekick with the Gauntlets of Ogre Power, Plate armour, Grappler and Speedy feats (+2 Dexterity).
Edit: I checked Sage Advice and it won’t work for anything but the Cave Badger! :-(
Can a creature that burrows grapple a target and drag them into the ground by burrowing?
No. A burrowing creature can drag another creature with them only if they have the ability to leave a tunnel. For example, a Purple Worm has the Tunneler trait, so it can drag a Grappled creature into a tunnel it creates when burrowing. Conversely, an Earth Elemental can’t drag a creature into the ground with it.
Underground dragging would be possible while you Wildshape into a Cave Badger, provided you have seen one before.
Aye, I acknowledged that but the amount of work it takes to weaponise tunnels is generally more than a turn even for specialised builds sadly.
Say with Monk 6 Druid 4 build, Mark of Passage and Custom Lineage: Squat Nimbleness, Longstrider and Feats Speedy and Mobile, using BA to dash. We’d have 110ft. of tunnelling each turn… but how do you use that effectively without just being fell on?
In 3.X as far as we could tell, it was legal to move half speed while grappling, so someone built a badger person wrestler.
He was so annoying that we had a boss fight on the second floor of a stone building against ghosts, just so the DM could be all "What now?" and pester him to make a normal character for once.
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I’ve been trying to build around the concept of grappling an enemy, then dragging and leaving them underground using burrowing speed.
Barring rare magic items (Claws of the Umber Hulk and Delver’s Claws) the only two ways to do this are wild-shape and Sidekick rules Tasha’s. Monk/Pugilist X and Druid 2 works but quickly suffers as you level from lack of proficiency bonus in Wild-shape. Which leaves Sidekicks and I thought of the following:
Giant Space Hamster (lv10 Warrior Sidekick)
Traits
Improved Critical. Your attack rolls score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 on the d20.
Punch and Grab. When you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike as part of the Attack action on your turn, you can use both the Damage and the Grapple option. You can use this benefit only once per turn.
Attack Advantage. You have Advantage on attack rolls against a creature Grappled by you.
Fast Wrestler. You don’t have to spend extra movement to move a creature Grappled by you if the creature is your size or smaller.
Dash over Difficult Terrain. When you take the Dash action on your turn, Difficult Terrain doesn't cost you extra movement for the rest of that turn.
Agile Movement. Opportunity Attacks have Disadvantage against you.
Action
Extra Attack. You can attack twice instead of once whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Bite: +10 to hit, 2d4+4 piercing damage
Unarmed Strike: +10 to hit, 4 bludgeoning damage.
Grapple (Huge or smaller creature): +10 to hit, the target must succeed on a DC16 Strength or Dexterity saving throw (it chooses which), or it has the Grappled condition.
Bonus Action
Second Wind: 1/short rest regain 1d10+10hp
This is a lv10 sidekick with the Gauntlets of Ogre Power, Plate armour, Grappler and Speedy feats (+2 Dexterity).
Guild Signet (Simic) or Boots of the Winding Path for Bonus Action movement would also be good… As would an Amulet of Health (but that is Rare).
Edit: I checked Sage Advice and it won’t work for anything but the Cave Badger! :-(
Can a creature that burrows grapple a target and drag them into the ground by burrowing?
No. A burrowing creature can drag another creature with them only if they have the ability to leave a tunnel. For example, a Purple Worm has the Tunneler trait, so it can drag a Grappled creature into a tunnel it creates when burrowing. Conversely, an Earth Elemental can’t drag a creature into the ground with it.
Underground dragging would be possible while you Wildshape into a Cave Badger, provided you have seen one before.
Aye, I acknowledged that but the amount of work it takes to weaponise tunnels is generally more than a turn even for specialised builds sadly.
Say with Monk 6 Druid 4 build, Mark of Passage and Custom Lineage: Squat Nimbleness, Longstrider and Feats Speedy and Mobile, using BA to dash. We’d have 110ft. of tunnelling each turn… but how do you use that effectively without just being fell on?
Burying something a hundred feet down would instakill a lot of monsters.
It might feel cool to have the ability, but aftrr a couple sessions you'd realize most combat is boring
In 3.X as far as we could tell, it was legal to move half speed while grappling, so someone built a badger person wrestler.
He was so annoying that we had a boss fight on the second floor of a stone building against ghosts, just so the DM could be all "What now?" and pester him to make a normal character for once.