An in-depth guide to building a character based around the grappling mechanic in DnD 5E.
Welcome to Koblod Stew's first ever character build! I'm sure you've seen them before, so I will spare you the details and just get right into it.
The other day, I was chatting on a Twitter thread with @FinlamElman and @whimsicaldumpin (both are very swell fellas, so you should follow them) about character builds. I was saying should anything happen to Kraka-Tur in @SwordfallDnD , I am going to make a new character, and the character I had in mind was a wrestler-styled grappling Bugbear named El Tigre. He would wear a mask and have his bodied tattooed to have tiger stripes on it. (KILL ME PAUL, I DARE YOU!)
Well Finlam beat me to the punch (hehe get it?), and you can find his basic mechanics build here on his blog, The Purple Lizardman. He also put together a rather sweet and unique version of the build on his blog as well. Check them out. They are excellent. But, here I am to give the full analysis on building a grappler in 5E of DnD. Let's get ready to Rumble!
HISTORY
Grappling has been around in DnD for awhile now. As far as I know, it at least goes back to 3rd Edition of the game. In 3E, if you said in the middle of combat, "I want to grapple," the rest of the table grumbled and rolled their eyes because, like everything in 3.5, there was a whole mess of rules that came along with grappling that caused combat to come to a screeching halt. There was a lot you could do whilst grappling an opponent in 3.5. 5E, with its simplifying gaze, simplified grappling, if anything a little too much.
GRAPPLING MECHANIC IN 5E
Now it is based off of an Athletics (Strength) check opposing the opponent's Athletics (Strength)or an Acrobatics (Dexterity) check, depending on which the DM opts for. During combat, you can use your attack action to attempt a grapple as long as the creature is not more than 1 size larger than you are. If you succeed the check off, you grapple the opponent, and they are considered to have the "grappled" condition. According to DnD Beyond, this means:
"A grappled creature's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any bonus to its speed.
The condition ends if the grappler is incapacitated (see the condition).
The condition also ends if an effect removes the grappled creature from the reach of the grappler or grappling effect, such as when a creature is hurled away by the thunderwave spell."
You can drag the creature around, attack it, cast spells, force it prone, and get all kinds of creative. Always, chat with your DM about your possibilities outside the game.
Why Play a Grappler?
Besides having the image of fantasy Randy Savage pinning wizards in zones of silence or playing a badass, classic Greco-Roman wrestler who flips owlbears on their backs, playing a grappler can be fun, despite the simplified rules. Grappled is a helluva condition to impose on an opponent. You can hold down opponents while your party wails on them. You can control the battlefield, and that is because
1) A lot of monsters might have good Strength or Dexterity scores, but they lack the skill proficiency in Athletics or Acrobatics to make their checks better.
2) Our secret sauce we will mention and
3) Knocking enemies prone is a great thing because being prone imposes all kinds of sucky things.
If you get creative, you can have all kinds of options, such as shoving enemies off ledges, into rivers, or the likes. You can also maybe try and use them to shield you from attacks? See if your DM will allow that?
***Do note though, you will be playing a niche role. Not all enemies will be grapple-able. Some are too big, like a Tarrasque, while others just can't be because they're incorporeal, like ghosts, or lack the ability to be grappled, like oozes. Make sure to check with your DM to make sure that they are not using any special home brew stuff for grappling.
The Grappler's Role
I am not a fan of making DnD too video-gamey, but I do like to describe roles for builds/classes as it helps visualize what they're good for. As a grappler, you are not going to be a major damage dealing character. You are going to focus on dominating the battlefield, targeting down pesky baddies for your party, and eating damage. You're a sort of supporty off-tank. You will still get damage output, but don't be sad when the straight fighter is dealing plenty more damage.
The Grappler is going to need a good team to build around. It will also be important to communicate during combat, so if your DM is the type who only allows strategizing in character during combat, start making a good habit of it. Also, having other party members who can offer you buffs, you'll be in good hands. The grappler is going to be rewarded by creativity and teamwork.
The Basic Package
When building your grappler, these are the basic things we are going to be relying on and are almost necessary for the build to be viable.
1) Strength - Kobold Stew will have to become Swolbold Stew in order to be an effective grappler. A good strength is going to allow you to pass more grapple checks, and also make your attacks deal a few more points of damage. Sure, you aren't focusing damage, but every point counts.
2) Proficiency in Athletics - This is the check that your grapples are going to be based off of, and adding your proficiency is only going to increase your chances of success, especially when a lot of monsters lack this proficiency, but watch for DM fuckery to start adding it.
3) THE SECRET SAUCE - Now for the secret sauce... We are going to take a class (or the Prodigy feat from Xanithar's) to give our character expertise in Athletics, doubling that proficiency bonus we get. The classes that grant the Expertise feature are Bard (at level 3) and Rogue (at level 1). We'll get into that more in a bit.
4) Enlarge/Reduce- This seemingly simple spell is going to help you grapple enemies outside of your size range. Concentration will be a concern, but if you have a wizard or someone in the party with access to this spell, they might be willing to buff you instead.
Other Considerations- Considering you will be in the thick of battle, having a good constitution will be helpful, especially if we are going for a self buffing grappler. Mobility is going to be useful, as being able to move around will help us get to those enemies we want to grapple.
Race Breakdown
First, we are going to look at the race options, and determine which ones will make good grapplers. What we are looking for? Ability score increases to Strength and Constitution as well as racial features that are going to help our mechanics out. We're going to rank each race 1-10 with one being a wimp and 10 being a champ.
Let's take a look.
Dwarf - The initial +2 Constitution is a nice bonus. The advantage on saving throws vs. poison and poison resistance is also a nice touch. You'll want mountain dwarf for the +2 Strength. The armor proficiency is nice for those early levels of bard/rogue. 6/10
Elf - Not that great in the beefy department; the only really good takeaway is the mobility of wood elves. The Purple Lizardman's build used an elf. I only can recommend this if you get god tier rolls. 3/10
Halfing - Being small, halflings are not viable for the grappler build. Sorry little dudes! 1/10
Human - Arguably one of the best options for this build, but ONLY if your DM allows variant human. Otherwise they are a decent choice. Variant human gives us a level one feat which is HUGE for this build. Regular human 5/10. Vuman 10/10
Dragonborn - I personally feel Dragonborn are criminally underplayed in DnD. They get +2 to Strength which is a great touch. The +1 to Charisma is nice if you are planning on actually doing bardy things should you take the bard route. The breath feature is nice, and the image of a Dragon-dude breathing his magic breath on foes they are holding down is too cool to pass up. 7/10
Gnome - Another smoll boi (or gurl), the gnome is not a viable option for this build. 1/10
Half-Elf - The Charisma bonus is nice if you plan to use the bardy side of a multiclass, but you'll pretty much be putting the +1 in Strength. Classes can give us the proficiency. Much better options are out there. 4/10
Half-Orc - Bonuses to Strength (+2) and Constitution (+1) are always welcome. The get-back-up feature is nice for being in the thick of combat or if you want to be the suicidal grappler that tells your wizard to launch a fireball at you as you hold down two enemies. Savage attack is nice, but would be better in the hands of a character looking to dish out big damage. 6/10
Tiefling - They get a +2 to Charisma, and that's nice if you want to be a real bard. None of their features really make for great grapplers, as much as I love them as a player race. 2/10
Aaraockra - On paper, you might think our birb friends wouldn't be so good as this because they lack the increases to Strength and Constitution, but they make up for it. Firstly, they get a natural weapon with their talons, making your unarmed strikes deal 1d4 instead of regular 1 and giving you proficiency with them without having to grab a feat, allowing you to hold off on the early feat perhaps. But the real advantage is the ability to fly. You have the mobility to bypass most enemies and get to those pesky casters in the back or get to the enemies you want to grapple. Consider with good rolls. The sleeper op. Be The Roc. 8/10
Genasi - As much as I love the flavor of Genasi and the idea of them, they have always left a lot to be desire mechanically, at least in my opinion. The +2 to Constitution is nice, and Earth Genasi get +1 Strength, but none of the features jump out and grab me. 4/10
Goliath - The big bois (and gurls), Goliaths are nice in that they get the +2 Strength, +1 Constitution. They get athletics as a proficiency, leaving you more options with class skills. Stone endurance is nice for surviving, but powerful build is what we like. Being able to carry around grappled enemies is useful. 8/10
Tortle - Bowser coming to give Mario a hug! The +2 to Strength is a nice touch, but we also get some sweet features. The natural armor is really sweet, especially if you are going to build into a strength based monk or don't want to worry about armor proficiency. You also get a natural weapon with your claws, giving us the same effect the talons on the Aarakocra. The other stuff is fun, but not necessary. 8/10
Aasimar - They only get a bonus to Strength or Constitution with the right subrace choice, and it's only a +1 increase. Their features are cool and all, and used properly, can make for good grapplers, but they leave a lot to desire. Other races have better features that support the build though holding people down in your aura seems cool. 4/10
Firbolg- They only get +1 to Strength, and the only helpful feature for our build is going to be powerful build, but the Goliath and Bugbear are going to offer better ability score increases and features to accompany the powerful build. 5/10
Kenku- Lacking a Strength or Constitution bonus or any features that really add oomph to our grappling, Kenkus are not going to be very good for this build. 2/10
Lizardfolk - The +2 Constitution is nice, but the lack of a Strength bonus hurts a little. The bite is very nice for unarmed striking, especially since it is dealing 1d6, more than the unarmed strikes of Aarakocra or Tortles. Natural armor is also nice. 5/10
Tabaxi - No bonuses to Strength or Constituion hinder a Tabaxi grappler, and their only feature that really is helping us out is their claws. 3/10
Triton- +1s to Strength, Constitution, and Charisma is nice, and they get some nice features, but they aren't amazing for grapplers. 4/10
Bugbear - The +2 to Strength is a nice touch. You may be able to convince your DM a grapple IS an attack (it is), and you can use your long limbs to take advantage of that.
You also get powerful build, making you able to move enemies better. 7/10
Goblin - They're small. They're out. 1/10
Hobgoblin - The bonus to Constitution is nice, and the feature is cool and can help get you to pass that rare grapple check you fail miserably or NEED to pass, but other races have better features. 5/10
Kobold - Small, yippy dog-reptiles? Nah. Not until they become Swolbolds 1/10
Orc - The +2 to Strength and Constitution is great. You might be a little dumber for it, but our grappler isn't exactly looking to be a smarty pants. You get the feature to close distance between you and enemies and that's nice for chasing down pesky baddies you want to focus. And powerful build. Good stuff. 7/10
Yuan-ti Pureblood - The ability score increases fit those of non-strength based characters and their features, although useful, are not what we are looking for our build. 3/10
Get your books, cuz we're talkin' Class (& Feats)
I hope you already have your books out. YOU ARE MAKING A CHARACTER!! Oh you're using Dnd Beyond... Nevermind.
Finally, done with all those races. Back in the early days of 5E that would've taken so much less time! whew. Thanks for sticking with me. We're getting there. We won't break down EVERY class and EVERY ability. I love DnD, but I ain't no masochist. Let's look at classes.
Getting Expertise
As I said, we need to get expertise for our Athletics checks. If you aren't going the Prodigy route (and you really shouldn't), you're going to want to grab up either Bard for 3 levels or 1 level of Rogue. Personally, I would suggest 3 levels in Bard. It is easier to sell the flavor (as a wrestler with showmanship at least), but as mentioned, Purple Lizardman does a good job of showing how a Rogue can be flavored for it and mechanically used.
The bard is also going to give us access to Jack of All Trades. More bonuses on other skills? Sure, why not? Cutting word is great too! We also will learn spells. Now we aren't going to learn spells that damage so much as we're going for buffs. Longstrider, Featherfall, Enhance Ability, Heroism to name a few. We can also take some healing if we really want. If you take Bard to 6 with the Lore College, you can learn Enlarge/Reduce. We can get this other ways.
You might not want to go full bard though... Bards do not get good hit dice, meaning less health to go around. Plus, we want access to some other abilities to really flesh out our combat side of grappling and give us health. Take bard to at least level 3, and I would say 6 at the most, and then go all in on another class. We're going to look at some of our best options. Some might think go with another caster because in 5E you can cast spells while grappling. I say give it a shot if you want, but here we're going to look at stuff to make our grappler more combat effective.
Full Bard - Yea yea I just said don't do it, but it can be viable. Think of this as a gladiator or WWE superstar. You can do it, but don't focus on your Charisma. Follow the previous guidelines, and take some damaging spells, and you've got a pretty sweet grappler. You will have some survivability issues though.
Barbarian - This is a great option to multiclass into. Rage will give advantage on Strength checks and add to your survivability. Unarmored defense will allow you to just wear that speedo you know you wanna be, or go stark naked like a Classical Era wrestler. Berzerker Path is cool with retaliation, you could swap for a grapple if you can convince the DM. Totem Path - Bear gives those advantages to pull, push, and lift. Nice! A storm herald would be sweet to be zapping baddies as go into rage while choke holding them. D12 HP on level ups, and you're set. You can even flavor your rage as classic "I get mad" or if you're going Hulk Hogan on em, make it you doing a finisher or something that would "pump the crowd up." Tavern brawler? Taking a swig of some really strong hooch.
Druid- Buff spells are a sweet addition the druid brings to the table, but the idea behind the druid is use your wildshape to LITERALLY bear hug your adversaries. Understanding wildshape will be a huge advantage for you. Druids also pack a lot of utility so if you are in that battle that lacks grappleable foes, you aren't completely S.O.L.
Fighter - An excellent choice because you get access to armor, health, and weapons. Champion is not our big grab here, as we do not want MOAR DMG, but rather, battle master will add to our ability to control and dominate the battlefield, or eldritch knight is going to add to our list of spells that we can use to buff ourselves, including Enlarge, which we'd have to take a bard to 6 to get.
Monk - I mention the monk because I thought originally this is what I'd want to go with. Only try it if you get god rolls. The only reason I bring up the monk is because it fits the flavor of an unarmed, martial artist, so you could flavor it as a wrestler, but a lot of monk abilities focus on attacks and the like. The focus on Dexterity and Wisdom doesn't help. With good stats around, you could take advantage of the unarmored defense and mobility increases. The main thing we want is the increasing and magical unarmed damage. You will have a better damage output, but surprisingly, the monk, the martial arts class, is not the best grappler in 5E. Sadness.
Why does unarmed striking matter so much?
We want to be able to grab up two baddies and be able to smack them while still holding them as well if you take a certain feat we are about to talk about. Plus, it does fit the flavor of a wrestler if that is what you are going for.
Feats - With good rolls, you are going to want to consider feats, and you are going to want to pick up feats to add to this build anyway. What to pick? Grappler seems like an obvious option. It is a good choice, but if you lack the unarmed damage, Tavern Brawler might be the feat for you. It will reward creativity if you are willing to also use the improvised weapons part of it. You also get the increase to Strength or Constitution which is icing on the cake because the next part is what makes it. When you make an unarmed strike and it hits, you may use a bonus action to attempt a grapple.
Other than that, mobility is not a bad option later on, as well as charger and a few others, but Tavern Brawler is almost a must take. .
Flavoring Our Grappler
We are done with the mechanics. Before wrapping up I just want to touch super quick with how to flavor your grappler. There are a few ways.
1) As this post has suggested, and my personal favorite, is the fantasy equivalent of a WWE superstar or luchador. You are an icon in the local fighting rings that gets roped (hehehe) into adventure. This one is fun if you want to be flamboyant, rowdy, brash, silly, and/or all around fun. This is great if you really want a chuckle and to ham it up out there.
2) The classic Greco-Roman style wrestler. You were always taught that your body is the best weapon you have. You have honed your martial arts not to focus on the usual ki and karate stuff, but rather to use your opponents momentum to gain an upper hand. If you or the DM has a knack for describing combat, this can add a whole lot of cool stuff.
3) The actual Tavern Brawler. You are known in the village for the amount of scuffles you have gotten in at the Drunken Ogre Tavern. You somehow get roped into an adventure, and achieve great things with the tricks you learned from all those fights you got into.
4) Purple Lizardman's former prisoner, assassin-type build is a cool way to flavor a grappling class as well.
Anyway, this is probably my longest post yet... and I thank you for reading the whole thing! I hope that you find it helpful if you are looking for a new character to try out or wanted to try a grappling type character but didn't know where to start.
As always, I would love to know your thoughts. Got any ideas I didn't think of? Think I'm wrong? Agree? Feel free to comment or tweet at me.
If you like this post or my other work, please share this on Twitter or any other social media. Kobold Stew is still trying to grow, and I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for you. Thank you :)
Anyway, until next til next time;
Happy Gaming,
Mister Puddins
OTHER STUFF!
I am excited to say we recorded our first session over at Swordfall, the actual play DnD podcast. I had a blast playing, and it is certainly worth checking out. I play with a truly special group of people that make me have the most fun I've had in this hobby for awhile. Give it a listen!
We will be doing a give away!!! In honor of pride month, I will be giving away a set of rainbow colored dice. The details regarding the give away and how to enter will in my next post, so keep your eyes peeled.
Finally, if you check the homepage, You will noticed the image of an adorable kitten (also seen to your left). That kitten is actually on a folder that I am using to store notes on a project that I am working on. I will be announcing more details on that in the near future. For now, it will be referred to as the Kitten Folder Project.