grabbing athletics, animal handling, and maybe performance and/or intimidation
race i am thinking maybe a goliath but that’s a maybe
i want to have a background from a fight club and have the character be an animal lover through and through taking peace over violence with animals whenever he can.
problem is i don’t know how i should do the class the theme is something along the lines of a wrestler, luchador, street fighter for money kind of theme. Any advice for the class set up?
Also yes if you think you already know the reference yes that is the inspiration for this idea lol.
I love my 5e grappler. I certainly didn't build optimally (bugbear Barb/rogue), but it's still fun.
As far as grapplers go, you generally want to have a way to get expertise in Athletics. That means a level of Rogue, a few levels of Bard, the UA brawny feat, or the prodigy feat.
If you are envisioning no armor, barbarian is probably the way to go. Barbarians only get two attacks, but when you rage you get advantage on your Athletics checks. Barbarians are also really good if you are getting your expertise from a rogue multiclass, because you will generally already have the requisite Dexterity.
If heavy armor is okay and you're not multiclassing, then an Eldritch Knight is a great choice. More attacks than the barbarian and eventually you have the ability to cast enlarge on yourself.
Plenty of other classes can make great grapplers, but with more tradeoffs/MADness. Bards, monks, and rogues can all be very good, but they also have an AC problem since you aren't focusing on Dex.
If I was to build my grappler over again, I would go straight Half-Orc Eldritch Knight and take the prodigy feat.
I'd second the barbarian recommendation with a splash of rogue to get your expertise. You can also add some fighter for action surge and go even further to add on more attacks if you wish. As for race, goliath, minotaur, bugbear, and loxodon are all excellent choices (I mean who doesn't want to grapple with their trunk!).
Hmmm. I'd maybe see if a DM would be cool with a STR-based monk. The only change you'd really need to make is that instead of where Martial Arts allows you to use DEX for unarmed strikes, it could let you use STR for Unarmored Defense. (Call it an Iron Fist / Wing Chun trained monk...)
My thought - if your DM is good with an Iron Fist monk: Variant Human. Take Animal Handling as your VHuman skill, and Athletics and Stealth (or Insight) as Monk skills. Take the Gladiator background to get Acrobatics and Performance. Then grab the Prodigy feat to add Intimidation plus Expertise on one of the skills. Down the road pick up Grappler or Tavern Brawler.
My immediate thought went to barbarian, perhaps barb 3 for bear spirit totem. I like the idea of rogue for expertise that has been recommended, particularly with another melee fighter for occasional sneak attacks when grappling just isn't enough. Finish out with your choice of barbarian or fighter.
With Goliath, you've got Athletics already, folk hero could give you animal handling and survival, or other backgrounds may fit your ideals better.
Of course, you could go MAD but thematic with dips into druid or ranger.
If you aren't sold on goliath completely and have access to Loxodon, I'll second the recommendation for it. It'll open options that don't involve barbarian if you want to go that route and remain unarmored while making you the ultimate grappler with the trunk
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So what i am planning for atm
str, unarmed, grappler
grabbing athletics, animal handling, and maybe performance and/or intimidation
race i am thinking maybe a goliath but that’s a maybe
i want to have a background from a fight club and have the character be an animal lover through and through taking peace over violence with animals whenever he can.
problem is i don’t know how i should do the class the theme is something along the lines of a wrestler, luchador, street fighter for money kind of theme. Any advice for the class set up?
Also yes if you think you already know the reference yes that is the inspiration for this idea lol.
I love my 5e grappler. I certainly didn't build optimally (bugbear Barb/rogue), but it's still fun.
As far as grapplers go, you generally want to have a way to get expertise in Athletics. That means a level of Rogue, a few levels of Bard, the UA brawny feat, or the prodigy feat.
If you are envisioning no armor, barbarian is probably the way to go. Barbarians only get two attacks, but when you rage you get advantage on your Athletics checks. Barbarians are also really good if you are getting your expertise from a rogue multiclass, because you will generally already have the requisite Dexterity.
If heavy armor is okay and you're not multiclassing, then an Eldritch Knight is a great choice. More attacks than the barbarian and eventually you have the ability to cast enlarge on yourself.
Plenty of other classes can make great grapplers, but with more tradeoffs/MADness. Bards, monks, and rogues can all be very good, but they also have an AC problem since you aren't focusing on Dex.
If I was to build my grappler over again, I would go straight Half-Orc Eldritch Knight and take the prodigy feat.
I'd second the barbarian recommendation with a splash of rogue to get your expertise. You can also add some fighter for action surge and go even further to add on more attacks if you wish. As for race, goliath, minotaur, bugbear, and loxodon are all excellent choices (I mean who doesn't want to grapple with their trunk!).
Hmmm. I'd maybe see if a DM would be cool with a STR-based monk. The only change you'd really need to make is that instead of where Martial Arts allows you to use DEX for unarmed strikes, it could let you use STR for Unarmored Defense. (Call it an Iron Fist / Wing Chun trained monk...)
My thought - if your DM is good with an Iron Fist monk: Variant Human. Take Animal Handling as your VHuman skill, and Athletics and Stealth (or Insight) as Monk skills. Take the Gladiator background to get Acrobatics and Performance. Then grab the Prodigy feat to add Intimidation plus Expertise on one of the skills. Down the road pick up Grappler or Tavern Brawler.
I think a monk X/rogue 1 fits rather thematically. It is a bit MAD trying to balance your athletics with AC.
My immediate thought went to barbarian, perhaps barb 3 for bear spirit totem. I like the idea of rogue for expertise that has been recommended, particularly with another melee fighter for occasional sneak attacks when grappling just isn't enough. Finish out with your choice of barbarian or fighter.
With Goliath, you've got Athletics already, folk hero could give you animal handling and survival, or other backgrounds may fit your ideals better.
Of course, you could go MAD but thematic with dips into druid or ranger.
If you aren't sold on goliath completely and have access to Loxodon, I'll second the recommendation for it. It'll open options that don't involve barbarian if you want to go that route and remain unarmored while making you the ultimate grappler with the trunk