I am planning a Grappler build the campaign will go from level 1 to level 20 and I have never played above level 15. Start as a custom Lineage Fighter with Tavern Brawler take unarmed fighting style. Eventually this is going to be a Rune Knight so I can Grapple Dragons and Giants and such.
I have thought about 2 builds, one is a Fighter/Rogue/Wizard the other a Fighter/Ranger
1 F/W/R: S18,D14,C14,W8,I12,Ch8 at level 2 Take 1 level in Rogue for expertise in athletics and something else.
Take Fighter to level 8 As a Rune Knight picking up +2 strength, Fey Touched (boost intelligence) with hex then gift of gem dragon at 8th (boost intel again).
The triple class into enchantment wizard to pick up a lot of defensive spells, shadowblade (allowing sneak attack) and eventually the 6th level ability. Finish off with Rogue-scout end up F8/W6/R6 20 intelligence with shield, silvery barbs, hex, absorb elements, shadowblade, haste, ashardalon' stride ....
2. F/R S18,D13,C14,W13,I9,Ch8 Take 1 level in Ranger for expertise in Athletics.
Take Fighter to level 8 as a Rune Knight picking up +2 strength, Fey Touched (boost wisdom) with silvery barbs then probably magic initiate to pick up Hex
Then go Ranger-gloom stalker until 10th level picking up shadow touched and gem dragon to boost wisdom to 16 then back to fighter for the last 2 levels.
This character would have a bonus action and a reaction like every turn in combat
I would perhaps try to fit in a Barbarian level if possible, advantage to STR checks while Raging makes it next to impossible to fail a grapple check when paired with expertise in Athletics. It would mean having to lose 1 AC from dropping to medium armor though. While 1 level only gives you 2 Rages per long rest that should be enough if you are saving it for those difficult foes that you don't want escaping. The damage reduction is the gravy on top.
I would perhaps try to fit in a Barbarian level if possible, advantage to STR checks while Raging makes it next to impossible to fail a grapple check when paired with expertise in Athletics. It would mean having to lose 1 AC from dropping to medium armor though. While 1 level only gives you 2 Rages per long rest that should be enough if you are saving it for those difficult foes that you don't want escaping. The damage reduction is the gravy on top.
Rune Knight already gets advantage on strength checks while enlarged.
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I would perhaps try to fit in a Barbarian level if possible, advantage to STR checks while Raging makes it next to impossible to fail a grapple check when paired with expertise in Athletics. It would mean having to lose 1 AC from dropping to medium armor though. While 1 level only gives you 2 Rages per long rest that should be enough if you are saving it for those difficult foes that you don't want escaping. The damage reduction is the gravy on top.
Rune Knight already gets advantage on strength checks while enlarged.
Oh nice catch I forgot about that part of Rune Knights ability. Well in that case I have a different suggestion to OPs build, going Rune Knight to 6 and then going Bard 3 (although 5 or 6 levels might be better) for Expertise before returning to Fighter. Bards get access to Silence (Rangers can also get it but at a much later level) which combined with grapple can almost totally shut down a enemy spell caster's attempt to escape.
I would perhaps try to fit in a Barbarian level if possible, advantage to STR checks while Raging makes it next to impossible to fail a grapple check when paired with expertise in Athletics. It would mean having to lose 1 AC from dropping to medium armor though. While 1 level only gives you 2 Rages per long rest that should be enough if you are saving it for those difficult foes that you don't want escaping. The damage reduction is the gravy on top.
The Rune Knight already gets advantage to strength checks in Giant Form, gets more of them and gets ability to grapple huge creatures in addition. Barbarian would be Redundant to that.
Oh nice catch I forgot about that part of Rune Knights ability. Well in that case I have a different suggestion to OPs build, going Rune Knight to 6 and then going Bard 3 (although 5 or 6 levels might be better) for Expertise before returning to Fighter. Bards get access to Silence (Rangers can also get it but at a much later level) which combined with grapple can almost totally shut down a enemy spell caster's attempt to escape.
I can do expertise in Rogue or Ranger at level 1. I thought about Bard and it has a lot going for it, but it takes 6 levels to get into the build as opposed to 4 and on top of that you get extra attack and ASIs 2 levels later.
As Far as Barbarian goes, on top of the advantage from Rune Knight I am also planning to pick up Hex through a feat which would give opponents disadvantage to break the grapple in addition to me having advantage and a Barbarian can't concentrate in Rage. This is important because if you are Grappling something like a Dragon he is going to have a +8 and even with a +11 and expertise and advantage you are still going to fail that now and then. Giving him disadvantage would boost that substantially.
Armour of Magical Strength - If you are having a +5 on Int, might as well add it to your Strenght checks for grappling
You can still get your defensive spell minis Shadow Blade and Silvery bards. But those are easy fixes. ( Spellwrought tattoo infusion for example)
Go Battle Smith at 3rd, for the puppy to give you an advantage for your stealth attacks (help action ) and to be a bonus action attack while you are grappled. Battle Ready also allows you to add your +5 Int to your attacks as well. Heck... Bonus action the steel defend to grapple a second foe.
Even just 3 levels this should be good. so if you like you can still take a 3 level dip into wizard too
Have you though of a Race? I have been playing with the idea of a Grab, Jump, Drop build using the Simic Hybrid, grabbing (pun) the Manta Glide and Grappling appendages Enhancement
Either way, it is nice to see another concept for a grapple build.
Armour of Magical Strength - If you are having a +5 on Int, might as well add it to your Strenght checks for grappling
You can still get your defensive spell minis Shadow Blade and Silvery bards. But those are easy fixes. ( Spellwrought tattoo infusion for example)
Go Battle Smith at 3rd, for the puppy to give you an advantage for your stealth attacks (help action ) and to be a bonus action attack while you are grappled. Battle Ready also allows you to add your +5 Int to your attacks as well. Heck... Bonus action the steel defend to grapple a second foe.
Even just 3 levels this should be good. so if you like you can still take a 3 level dip into wizard too
Have you though of a Race? I have been playing with the idea of a Grab, Jump, Drop build using the Simic Hybrid, grabbing (pun) the Manta Glide and Grappling appendages Enhancement
Either way, it is nice to see another concept for a grapple build.
I like the Armor Infusion idea although that does mean giving up wearing another type of magical armor. But replacing Wizard for Artificer just loses too much in my opinion. Battle Ready does nothing because the OPs build already rocks 20 STR and the Help Action from the Steel Defender is already available from the Find Familiar spell. You are also losing access to 3rd level spells and a fair amount of spell slots.
Regarding Bonus Action attacks from Steel Defender, while it is nice I think the build already has enough potential Bonus Actions (Hex, Tavern Brawler Grapple, casting Shadow Blade etc).
Maybe drop 2 levels of Rogue for Artificer for the Infusion? But it is hard giving up Uncanny Dodge and a Sneak Attack die.
And finally the OP is using Custom Lineage as the race to start off with 18 STR (from Tavern Brawler feat).
Armour of Magical Strength - If you are having a +5 on Int, might as well add it to your Strenght checks for grappling
The +5 comes late. It is worth thinking about, but the main problem with artificer is twofold - few spell slots on a dip and few good spells. Absorb elements is the only good one I would be getting. No shield (which is the most important), no slivery barbs and no haste because this is only a 6-th level dip. But adding artificer might be worthwhile.
What are the rules on maximum number of classes? Can I make a Fighter-Rogue-Wizard-Artificer?
Another option - maybe not do Rogue, dump dex to 8 so I start with a 15 con and 15 int. Take skill expert at level 4, +2 str at level 6 and Fey touched at level 8. Then I am at 16 intelligence with expertise but without any Rogue baggage?
As far as race-It is going to be a goliath-looking custom so I can start with an 18 strength and tavern brawler.
I see your points. hmmmm.... I do like where you are going with this. I also rethought my other idea and yeah it didn't help much... let theory craft a bit
OK... If this was my character (and it is not so please don't take this to heart), the feel for him would be that he would also be fond of traps. for him, it is the joy of restraining a creature, be it with a bear hug, or a bear trap. Going against giants, let the traps attack the feet, while he does an armbar on it. He would have thief tools and tinker tools to make the traps and shackles needed. Also fits nice with the Fire Rune.
In your build, dropping fighter is a no-go. It is your main class, subclass, and is where you are getting the needed feats from. So it is on to the Rogue and Wizard to find room.
What about only taking 2 levels of artificer?? No Subclass. And what about just dropping 1 level off each of the aforementioned classes?
Replace level 6 Wizard with level 1st level Artificer. You lose Potent Cantrip but then gain Tinker Tools proficiency, 2 more Cantrips, keep the 3rd level slot and gain 6 prepared spells from another list (ritual most of these ones; you are just after the spell slot but Sanctuary, Guidance, and Faerie Fire are good picks that are not on the wizard spell list), Magic tinkering can be very handy too.
Then replace level 6 Rogue with 2nd level Artificer. You lose two Expertise (note you gained an extra proficiency above) but gain 2 active/4 known Infusions. Which ones to pick? Again Armour of Magical Strength covers your Athletics expertise (if not already), Spellwrought Tattoo is another 1st level spell slot (on any teammate), a disposable Bag of Holding (I had this idea of stuffing grappled foes into the bag, or at less the head. Its 2ft opening should become 3 or 4 ft when you activate Giant’s Might) and one of whatever choice.
Is it fair trade? I think so. I think the net gain is greater than the loss. Your Grapple checks should be 5+5+6+6(If you took expertise in Athletics)= 22, before rolling with advantage. not too bad IMHO.
I've got a one-shot coming up in a couple of weeks. Going to be a lvl 10 game and taking inspiration from this thread I have decided to play a Grappler. But I am going in a slightly different direction.
Here's what I am currently planning:
Race: Dhamphir
Ability Scores: STR 16 (15+1) DEX 10 CON 17 (15+2) INT 13 WIS 10 CHA 8
Level 1-8 Rune Knight Fighter grabbing unarmed Fighting Style. ASI at level 4 will be Skill Expert CON bumping it to 18 and grabbing expertise in Athletics. At level 6 we bump CON up to 20 and at level 8 we grab Fey Touched INT bumping it to 14 and grabbing Hex.
Level 9-10 will be War Magic Wizard for the cheeky Arcane Deflection ability and the usual suspects of first level defensive spells like Shield and Silvery Barbs.
My general strat will be activating Giant's Might, biting my potential victim and if it hits empowering it to give my next attack or ability check roll a bonus equal to the piercing damage dealt which in this case will be 1d4 + 1d6 + 5 equaling a +11 bonus on average. Then I proceed to grapple the victim with advantage and expertise in Athletics and the bonus from the bite.
If by some miracle they managed to resist the grapple I can Action Surge and attempt it again (although this attempt won't get the Giant's Might damage boost). Subsequent turns I can throw up Hex as well to make it even more difficult to escape and maybe also shove them prone.
With this build I can potentially grapple and shove prone 2 enemies (the 2nd enemy I have to shove prone first before grappling) and still attack them with my bite.
We are allowed 1 uncommon a 1 rare magic item. I am definitely grabbing Insignia of Claws but not sure what to get for my rare. Since its a one-shot pretty much any published material is allowed.
Rune knight/wizard seems good. Skill expert reduces the need for rogue, and wizard one level for jump to jump 20 feet in the air and slam your opponents in the ground for fall damage. Duergar for innate enlarge are an option, but aaracockra with flight can make a very entertaining playstyle. Grapple, fly into the air, and drop the victim, then drop onto them, annoying your local cleric while hitting for the big fall damage. Many problems, but entertaining and potentially decent. I should play this in a one shot with few ceilings lol.
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I've got a one-shot coming up in a couple of weeks. Going to be a lvl 10 game and taking inspiration from this thread I have decided to play a Grappler. But I am going in a slightly different direction.
Here's what I am currently planning:
Race: Dhamphir
Ability Scores: STR 16 (15+1) DEX 10 CON 17 (15+2) INT 13 WIS 10 CHA 8
Level 1-8 Rune Knight Fighter grabbing unarmed Fighting Style. ASI at level 4 will be Skill Expert CON bumping it to 18 and grabbing expertise in Athletics. At level 6 we bump CON up to 20 and at level 8 we grab Fey Touched INT bumping it to 14 and grabbing Hex.
Level 9-10 will be War Magic Wizard for the cheeky Arcane Deflection ability and the usual suspects of first level defensive spells like Shield and Silvery Barbs.
My general strat will be activating Giant's Might, biting my potential victim and if it hits empowering it to give my next attack or ability check roll a bonus equal to the piercing damage dealt which in this case will be 1d4 + 1d6 + 5 equaling a +11 bonus on average. Then I proceed to grapple the victim with advantage and expertise in Athletics and the bonus from the bite.
If by some miracle they managed to resist the grapple I can Action Surge and attempt it again (although this attempt won't get the Giant's Might damage boost). Subsequent turns I can throw up Hex as well to make it even more difficult to escape and maybe also shove them prone.
With this build I can potentially grapple and shove prone 2 enemies (the 2nd enemy I have to shove prone first before grappling) and still attack them with my bite.
We are allowed 1 uncommon a 1 rare magic item. I am definitely grabbing Insignia of Claws but not sure what to get for my rare. Since its a one-shot pretty much any published material is allowed.
Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.
This sounds pretty awesome.
The only think is only 1 bonus action a turn so you can't action surge and then get a bonus action grapple. you could action surge and use one of the attacks for a grapple though.
One thing I thought of with action surge and extra attack:
Start with shove to knock prone. (1st attack), then kick him (unarmed strike with advantage 1d8 second attack), then bonus action grapple.
At this point he is prone and can't get up until he breaks the grapple. If any of the above fail to land you action surge to complete the sequence.
Tasha's gave ranger the ability to get expertise into athletics at level 1, and leveling it as much as you seem to plan to gets you some decent movement boosts from spell selection. Enhance Ability is also notable as an alternative method for athletics advantage on demand for when you don't want to burn your Giant Form on a combat but still want some consistency throughout the day. 5 levels of Ranger also gets you the coveted Pass Without Trace to make you near undetectable without even getting into what you have with Gloomstalker.
Another viable option for a stealthy Grappler is combining RKnight with Warlock. Warlock gives you temp hit points, Spider Climb, at-will Silent Image (thru Misty Visions Invocation), and then automatic damage through Cloak of Flies and a Get Out of Jail card using Tomb of Levistus.
While you have fewer spells than a Fighter Wizard, you have significantly more hit points.
Another viable option for a stealthy Grappler is combining RKnight with Warlock. Warlock gives you temp hit points, Spider Climb, at-will Silent Image (thru Misty Visions Invocation), and then automatic damage through Cloak of Flies and a Get Out of Jail card using Tomb of Levistus.
While you have fewer spells than a Fighter Wizard, you have significantly more hit points.
I second the Warlock multiclass idea. If you're going for a grappler build, you might not need more than those warlock spell slots to cast buffs on yourself or debuff the enemy, and you get them back on a short rest. The invocations mentioned here work well with the build.
I can't think of any spells that would benefit from their target being grappled, and if you have a weapon in your hand while grappling something with the other, you won't be able to cast spells with somatic components without the War Caster feat. RAW, you won't be able to cast somatic component spells at all if you're grappling two creatures at once even with War Caster, since the wording states it allows you to cast spells if your hands are full with weapons or shields specifically.
Regardless, if you're going for a grappler build you'll want to lean towards buffing or debuffing spells that don't require concentration to maintain. If whatever you have grappled has no real chance of rolling high enough to escape the grapple, they'll exclusively be targeting you with their attacks and you stand a higher chance of losing concentration.
Another viable option for a stealthy Grappler is combining RKnight with Warlock. Warlock gives you temp hit points, Spider Climb, at-will Silent Image (thru Misty Visions Invocation), and then automatic damage through Cloak of Flies and a Get Out of Jail card using Tomb of Levistus.
While you have fewer spells than a Fighter Wizard, you have significantly more hit points.
I second the Warlock multiclass idea. If you're going for a grappler build, you might not need more than those warlock spell slots to cast buffs on yourself or debuff the enemy, and you get them back on a short rest. The invocations mentioned here work well with the build.
I can't think of any spells that would benefit from their target being grappled, and if you have a weapon in your hand while grappling something with the other, you won't be able to cast spells with somatic components without the War Caster feat. RAW, you won't be able to cast somatic component spells at all if you're grappling two creatures at once even with War Caster, since the wording states it allows you to cast spells if your hands are full with weapons or shields specifically.
Regardless, if you're going for a grappler build you'll want to lean towards buffing or debuffing spells that don't require concentration to maintain. If whatever you have grappled has no real chance of rolling high enough to escape the grapple, they'll exclusively be targeting you with their attacks and you stand a higher chance of losing concentration.
I think Hex is the spell you want because it imposes disadvantage on the enemy when he makes his dex or strength check.
If sticking with Warlock, Hex is definitely one of the better spells you can use in that situation, but the enemy will definitely be attacking you to try and break your concentration before trying to escape the grapple. In that case, you'd definitely want to take the War Caster feat or the Eldritch Mind invocation to get the most out of it.
Newer player here, how do you scale unarmed damage for the endgame? It has always seemed like a cool option to me but beyond level 10 I don't know how you would keep up in terms of damage output
Newer player here, how do you scale unarmed damage for the endgame? It has always seemed like a cool option to me but beyond level 10 I don't know how you would keep up in terms of damage output
Well you resurrected this thread after about a year and I am resurecting it again to answer your question.
Having the unarmed fighting style helped with unarmed damage, with the bonus from Hex and Giants Might unarmed damage would have been fine except for those enemies resistant to magic weapons. I had a Dragontooth dagger and a pretty good short sword too (no one had very rare or legendary items).
Mostly the build is about control though.
Against most enemies Large or smaller I started with unarmed strike, then bonus action grapple (from the feat), then stab with a weapon.
Against enemies bigger than large I started with Giants Might bonus action, then grapple for one attack, stab for the second attack. This is also what I used for enemies resistant to non-magic weapons, sometimes starting with Hex instead of Giants might if they were only large.
With the Grappler feat I got advantage on attacks, so grappling first let me land sneak attack with a magic weapon, even if no one else was nearby. Add the 1d4 grapple damage from the fighting style for some minimal extra damage.
Occasionally I would start off with Shove prone, then unarmed strike then bonus action grapple or just shove and then grapple. That made enemies attacking me do it at disadvantage.
I am planning a Grappler build the campaign will go from level 1 to level 20 and I have never played above level 15. Start as a custom Lineage Fighter with Tavern Brawler take unarmed fighting style. Eventually this is going to be a Rune Knight so I can Grapple Dragons and Giants and such.
I have thought about 2 builds, one is a Fighter/Rogue/Wizard the other a Fighter/Ranger
1 F/W/R: S18,D14,C14,W8,I12,Ch8 at level 2 Take 1 level in Rogue for expertise in athletics and something else.
Take Fighter to level 8 As a Rune Knight picking up +2 strength, Fey Touched (boost intelligence) with hex then gift of gem dragon at 8th (boost intel again).
The triple class into enchantment wizard to pick up a lot of defensive spells, shadowblade (allowing sneak attack) and eventually the 6th level ability. Finish off with Rogue-scout end up F8/W6/R6 20 intelligence with shield, silvery barbs, hex, absorb elements, shadowblade, haste, ashardalon' stride ....
2. F/R S18,D13,C14,W13,I9,Ch8 Take 1 level in Ranger for expertise in Athletics.
Take Fighter to level 8 as a Rune Knight picking up +2 strength, Fey Touched (boost wisdom) with silvery barbs then probably magic initiate to pick up Hex
Then go Ranger-gloom stalker until 10th level picking up shadow touched and gem dragon to boost wisdom to 16 then back to fighter for the last 2 levels.
This character would have a bonus action and a reaction like every turn in combat
Opinions? Thoughts?
I would perhaps try to fit in a Barbarian level if possible, advantage to STR checks while Raging makes it next to impossible to fail a grapple check when paired with expertise in Athletics. It would mean having to lose 1 AC from dropping to medium armor though. While 1 level only gives you 2 Rages per long rest that should be enough if you are saving it for those difficult foes that you don't want escaping. The damage reduction is the gravy on top.
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Oh nice catch I forgot about that part of Rune Knights ability. Well in that case I have a different suggestion to OPs build, going Rune Knight to 6 and then going Bard 3 (although 5 or 6 levels might be better) for Expertise before returning to Fighter. Bards get access to Silence (Rangers can also get it but at a much later level) which combined with grapple can almost totally shut down a enemy spell caster's attempt to escape.
The Rune Knight already gets advantage to strength checks in Giant Form, gets more of them and gets ability to grapple huge creatures in addition. Barbarian would be Redundant to that.
I can do expertise in Rogue or Ranger at level 1. I thought about Bard and it has a lot going for it, but it takes 6 levels to get into the build as opposed to 4 and on top of that you get extra attack and ASIs 2 levels later.
As Far as Barbarian goes, on top of the advantage from Rune Knight I am also planning to pick up Hex through a feat which would give opponents disadvantage to break the grapple in addition to me having advantage and a Barbarian can't concentrate in Rage. This is important because if you are Grappling something like a Dragon he is going to have a +8 and even with a +11 and expertise and advantage you are still going to fail that now and then. Giving him disadvantage would boost that substantially.
IMHO.
I would swap Wizard with Artificer. Reason:
Have you though of a Race? I have been playing with the idea of a Grab, Jump, Drop build using the Simic Hybrid, grabbing (pun) the Manta Glide and Grappling appendages Enhancement
Either way, it is nice to see another concept for a grapple build.
I like the Armor Infusion idea although that does mean giving up wearing another type of magical armor. But replacing Wizard for Artificer just loses too much in my opinion. Battle Ready does nothing because the OPs build already rocks 20 STR and the Help Action from the Steel Defender is already available from the Find Familiar spell. You are also losing access to 3rd level spells and a fair amount of spell slots.
Regarding Bonus Action attacks from Steel Defender, while it is nice I think the build already has enough potential Bonus Actions (Hex, Tavern Brawler Grapple, casting Shadow Blade etc).
Maybe drop 2 levels of Rogue for Artificer for the Infusion? But it is hard giving up Uncanny Dodge and a Sneak Attack die.
And finally the OP is using Custom Lineage as the race to start off with 18 STR (from Tavern Brawler feat).
The +5 comes late. It is worth thinking about, but the main problem with artificer is twofold - few spell slots on a dip and few good spells. Absorb elements is the only good one I would be getting. No shield (which is the most important), no slivery barbs and no haste because this is only a 6-th level dip. But adding artificer might be worthwhile.
What are the rules on maximum number of classes? Can I make a Fighter-Rogue-Wizard-Artificer?
Another option - maybe not do Rogue, dump dex to 8 so I start with a 15 con and 15 int. Take skill expert at level 4, +2 str at level 6 and Fey touched at level 8. Then I am at 16 intelligence with expertise but without any Rogue baggage?
As far as race-It is going to be a goliath-looking custom so I can start with an 18 strength and tavern brawler.
I see your points. hmmmm.... I do like where you are going with this. I also rethought my other idea and yeah it didn't help much... let theory craft a bit
OK... If this was my character (and it is not so please don't take this to heart), the feel for him would be that he would also be fond of traps. for him, it is the joy of restraining a creature, be it with a bear hug, or a bear trap. Going against giants, let the traps attack the feet, while he does an armbar on it. He would have thief tools and tinker tools to make the traps and shackles needed. Also fits nice with the Fire Rune.
In your build, dropping fighter is a no-go. It is your main class, subclass, and is where you are getting the needed feats from. So it is on to the Rogue and Wizard to find room.
What about only taking 2 levels of artificer?? No Subclass. And what about just dropping 1 level off each of the aforementioned classes?
Replace level 6 Wizard with level 1st level Artificer. You lose Potent Cantrip but then gain Tinker Tools proficiency, 2 more Cantrips, keep the 3rd level slot and gain 6 prepared spells from another list (ritual most of these ones; you are just after the spell slot but Sanctuary, Guidance, and Faerie Fire are good picks that are not on the wizard spell list), Magic tinkering can be very handy too.
Then replace level 6 Rogue with 2nd level Artificer. You lose two Expertise (note you gained an extra proficiency above) but gain 2 active/4 known Infusions. Which ones to pick? Again Armour of Magical Strength covers your Athletics expertise (if not already), Spellwrought Tattoo is another 1st level spell slot (on any teammate), a disposable Bag of Holding (I had this idea of stuffing grappled foes into the bag, or at less the head. Its 2ft opening should become 3 or 4 ft when you activate Giant’s Might) and one of whatever choice.
Is it fair trade? I think so. I think the net gain is greater than the loss. Your Grapple checks should be 5+5+6+6(If you took expertise in Athletics)= 22, before rolling with advantage. not too bad IMHO.
I've got a one-shot coming up in a couple of weeks. Going to be a lvl 10 game and taking inspiration from this thread I have decided to play a Grappler. But I am going in a slightly different direction.
Here's what I am currently planning:
Race: Dhamphir
Ability Scores: STR 16 (15+1) DEX 10 CON 17 (15+2) INT 13 WIS 10 CHA 8
Level 1-8 Rune Knight Fighter grabbing unarmed Fighting Style. ASI at level 4 will be Skill Expert CON bumping it to 18 and grabbing expertise in Athletics. At level 6 we bump CON up to 20 and at level 8 we grab Fey Touched INT bumping it to 14 and grabbing Hex.
Level 9-10 will be War Magic Wizard for the cheeky Arcane Deflection ability and the usual suspects of first level defensive spells like Shield and Silvery Barbs.
My general strat will be activating Giant's Might, biting my potential victim and if it hits empowering it to give my next attack or ability check roll a bonus equal to the piercing damage dealt which in this case will be 1d4 + 1d6 + 5 equaling a +11 bonus on average. Then I proceed to grapple the victim with advantage and expertise in Athletics and the bonus from the bite.
If by some miracle they managed to resist the grapple I can Action Surge and attempt it again (although this attempt won't get the Giant's Might damage boost). Subsequent turns I can throw up Hex as well to make it even more difficult to escape and maybe also shove them prone.
With this build I can potentially grapple and shove prone 2 enemies (the 2nd enemy I have to shove prone first before grappling) and still attack them with my bite.
We are allowed 1 uncommon a 1 rare magic item. I am definitely grabbing Insignia of Claws but not sure what to get for my rare. Since its a one-shot pretty much any published material is allowed.
Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.
Rune knight/wizard seems good. Skill expert reduces the need for rogue, and wizard one level for jump to jump 20 feet in the air and slam your opponents in the ground for fall damage. Duergar for innate enlarge are an option, but aaracockra with flight can make a very entertaining playstyle. Grapple, fly into the air, and drop the victim, then drop onto them, annoying your local cleric while hitting for the big fall damage. Many problems, but entertaining and potentially decent. I should play this in a one shot with few ceilings lol.
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This sounds pretty awesome.
The only think is only 1 bonus action a turn so you can't action surge and then get a bonus action grapple. you could action surge and use one of the attacks for a grapple though.
One thing I thought of with action surge and extra attack:
Start with shove to knock prone. (1st attack), then kick him (unarmed strike with advantage 1d8 second attack), then bonus action grapple.
At this point he is prone and can't get up until he breaks the grapple. If any of the above fail to land you action surge to complete the sequence.
Tasha's gave ranger the ability to get expertise into athletics at level 1, and leveling it as much as you seem to plan to gets you some decent movement boosts from spell selection. Enhance Ability is also notable as an alternative method for athletics advantage on demand for when you don't want to burn your Giant Form on a combat but still want some consistency throughout the day. 5 levels of Ranger also gets you the coveted Pass Without Trace to make you near undetectable without even getting into what you have with Gloomstalker.
Another viable option for a stealthy Grappler is combining RKnight with Warlock. Warlock gives you temp hit points, Spider Climb, at-will Silent Image (thru Misty Visions Invocation), and then automatic damage through Cloak of Flies and a Get Out of Jail card using Tomb of Levistus.
While you have fewer spells than a Fighter Wizard, you have significantly more hit points.
I second the Warlock multiclass idea. If you're going for a grappler build, you might not need more than those warlock spell slots to cast buffs on yourself or debuff the enemy, and you get them back on a short rest. The invocations mentioned here work well with the build.
I can't think of any spells that would benefit from their target being grappled, and if you have a weapon in your hand while grappling something with the other, you won't be able to cast spells with somatic components without the War Caster feat. RAW, you won't be able to cast somatic component spells at all if you're grappling two creatures at once even with War Caster, since the wording states it allows you to cast spells if your hands are full with weapons or shields specifically.
Regardless, if you're going for a grappler build you'll want to lean towards buffing or debuffing spells that don't require concentration to maintain. If whatever you have grappled has no real chance of rolling high enough to escape the grapple, they'll exclusively be targeting you with their attacks and you stand a higher chance of losing concentration.
I think Hex is the spell you want because it imposes disadvantage on the enemy when he makes his dex or strength check.
If sticking with Warlock, Hex is definitely one of the better spells you can use in that situation, but the enemy will definitely be attacking you to try and break your concentration before trying to escape the grapple. In that case, you'd definitely want to take the War Caster feat or the Eldritch Mind invocation to get the most out of it.
Newer player here, how do you scale unarmed damage for the endgame? It has always seemed like a cool option to me but beyond level 10 I don't know how you would keep up in terms of damage output
Well you resurrected this thread after about a year and I am resurecting it again to answer your question.
I played this to level 20, ending Fighter 8/Rogue 11/Wizard 1. Feats were: level 1 (R1) Tavern Brawler, Level 5 (R1/F4) Fey Touched, level 8 (R2/F2/W1) Strength ASI, level 10 (R1/F8/W1) grappler feat, Level 13 Constitution ASI, level 17 Constitution ASI, level 19 Constitution ASI.
Having the unarmed fighting style helped with unarmed damage, with the bonus from Hex and Giants Might unarmed damage would have been fine except for those enemies resistant to magic weapons. I had a Dragontooth dagger and a pretty good short sword too (no one had very rare or legendary items).
Mostly the build is about control though.
Against most enemies Large or smaller I started with unarmed strike, then bonus action grapple (from the feat), then stab with a weapon.
Against enemies bigger than large I started with Giants Might bonus action, then grapple for one attack, stab for the second attack. This is also what I used for enemies resistant to non-magic weapons, sometimes starting with Hex instead of Giants might if they were only large.
With the Grappler feat I got advantage on attacks, so grappling first let me land sneak attack with a magic weapon, even if no one else was nearby. Add the 1d4 grapple damage from the fighting style for some minimal extra damage.
Occasionally I would start off with Shove prone, then unarmed strike then bonus action grapple or just shove and then grapple. That made enemies attacking me do it at disadvantage.