I have a tendency for making characters based mainly on RP value. I created a halfling (https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/88420531) who was taken in by a nearsighted old stone giant who he helped with all the fine details of his rune carving.
Fast forward - stone giant died, halfling wanders town to town winning coin in pit fights by using his knowledge of runes to gain an advantage on opponents.
I’m not really much for Min/Maxing, but I could really use some help with the best direction to get the most out of the character.
Do you want to change what you already have or only suggestions for future levels?
For the Former (optimize what you already have):
Swap to a custom background to pick up Tavern Brawler (Origin feat) + Grappler (4th level feat) if you want to stick with unarmed fighting, OR swap to two-weapon fighting and take the TWF fighting style and Dual Wielder (4th level feat).
Consider swapping your Giant's Strike to Frost Strike since this can combine with a Push or Topple weapon mastery to cripple a melee-only enemy.
For the Latter (suggestions for future levels while keeping what you have):
Continue to level 12 Rune Knight - pick up Storm Rune, and Hill Rune along the way. For Feats take Grappler (+1 STR) and either Crusher (+1 STR) or Sentinel (+1 STR) [the choice depends on your party composition & DM's preferred encounter types] to max out your Strength score first, then pick up Resilient:Wisdom if you are finding yourself struggling to avoid fear/charm effects or Gift of the Chromatic Dragon if you are struggling with elemental damage or take a +2 Wisdom to allow you to multiclass into Monk. This gets you 3 attacks with your attack action as well as loads of battlefield control.
If your campaign continues past level 12 (most don't) then multiclassing Monk is a good option to get some more options for movement or damage with your bonus action, alternatively a few levels of Barbarian is good for extra damage, or just stick with Fighter the 15th level Rune Knight feature is very good too.
Going with unarmed fighting style, I'd recommend the Tavern Brawler feat and 2 levels in barbarian for rage and reckless attack - probably best to ask your DM if you can apply your rage damage to the unarmed strikes granted by your fighting style. A basic strategy might be (assuming you've already begun raging for advantage on athletics) replacing one of your melee attacks with a shove to knock them prone, bonus action grapple to keep them pinned to the ground, then proceed to wail on them and keep them down to give your team an edge.
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I have a tendency for making characters based mainly on RP value. I created a halfling (https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/88420531) who was taken in by a nearsighted old stone giant who he helped with all the fine details of his rune carving.
Fast forward - stone giant died, halfling wanders town to town winning coin in pit fights by using his knowledge of runes to gain an advantage on opponents.
I’m not really much for Min/Maxing, but I could really use some help with the best direction to get the most out of the character.
Do you want to change what you already have or only suggestions for future levels?
For the Former (optimize what you already have):
Swap to a custom background to pick up Tavern Brawler (Origin feat) + Grappler (4th level feat) if you want to stick with unarmed fighting, OR swap to two-weapon fighting and take the TWF fighting style and Dual Wielder (4th level feat).
Consider swapping your Giant's Strike to Frost Strike since this can combine with a Push or Topple weapon mastery to cripple a melee-only enemy.
For the Latter (suggestions for future levels while keeping what you have):
Continue to level 12 Rune Knight - pick up Storm Rune, and Hill Rune along the way. For Feats take Grappler (+1 STR) and either Crusher (+1 STR) or Sentinel (+1 STR) [the choice depends on your party composition & DM's preferred encounter types] to max out your Strength score first, then pick up Resilient:Wisdom if you are finding yourself struggling to avoid fear/charm effects or Gift of the Chromatic Dragon if you are struggling with elemental damage or take a +2 Wisdom to allow you to multiclass into Monk. This gets you 3 attacks with your attack action as well as loads of battlefield control.
If your campaign continues past level 12 (most don't) then multiclassing Monk is a good option to get some more options for movement or damage with your bonus action, alternatively a few levels of Barbarian is good for extra damage, or just stick with Fighter the 15th level Rune Knight feature is very good too.
Going with unarmed fighting style, I'd recommend the Tavern Brawler feat and 2 levels in barbarian for rage and reckless attack - probably best to ask your DM if you can apply your rage damage to the unarmed strikes granted by your fighting style. A basic strategy might be (assuming you've already begun raging for advantage on athletics) replacing one of your melee attacks with a shove to knock them prone, bonus action grapple to keep them pinned to the ground, then proceed to wail on them and keep them down to give your team an edge.