Amusing grapple build

[Heliomance]

Half-Ogre Ex-Monk 2/Bear Totem Barbarian 2CC/Fighter 1/Drunken Master 4/X +10
With 36 PB, STR 26, DEX 15, CON 12, INT 10, WIS 9, CHA 6

Only vital ones are DEX 15 and STR 19, all others are mutable. INT and WIS should be high enough to gain full benefits from Drink Like A Demon, though.

Feats:
1: Great Fortitude
Monk 1: Improved Grapple
Monk 1: Improved Unarmed Strike
Monk 2: Combat Reflexes
3: Multigrab
Fighter 1: Dodge
6: Greater Multigrab
9: Open feat

Bear Totem Barbarian gives you Improved Grab. This opens up Multigrab and Greater Multigrab for you, meaning you can effectively hold an enemy grappled in one hand at no penalty.

Drunken Master gives you proficiency with improvised weapons, and makes them useful. Can you see what it is yet?

Step 1) Grapple foe, using Greater Multigrab to hold them and not be considered grappled.
Step 2) Use foe as an improvised weapon to attack other foes. This is hilarious enough as it is.
Step 3)


When a drunken master rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll while using an improvised weapon, that weapon breaks apart and becomes useless.
If you roll a natural 1 on your attack roll, your enemy falls apart.

So, thoughts, comments? How can this build be improved?

[Malacode]

Man I wish the people I played with came up with stuff like this. I'd love to see a fully fleshed out build.. Perhaps the feat 'Fling Enemy' would be a good addition. Roll a natural one whle you're flinging an enemy? Well, I guess it's like a water balloon, just, well... Chunky. This would be fun to see in a game; as a DM I'd allow it just so the player with cursed dice could do something with all his natural ones. Nice thought

[Starbuck_II]

...
improvised weapon to attack other foes. This is hilarious enough as it is.

I don't think non-objects are considered improvuised weapons in D&D. But ask DM for this houserule and the build works.
Now dead creatures are objects and can be used as improvised weapons.

[Darrin]

Drunken Master gives you proficiency with improvised weapons, and makes them useful. Can you see what it is yet?


Actually, Drunken Master doesn't get any proficiency with improvised weapons, at least not explicitly, although you might argue it's implied. But there is a PrC in Dragon Magazine that gives proficiency with improvised weapons: Brawler, Dragon #295. You'll need to fit Alertness into the build. It has another interesting class ability, allowing you to apply weapon focus, improved crit, etc. to improvised weapons.

Great idea, though. What about adding a little Hulking Hurler or Fling Enemy?

[woodenbandman]

Dude, whatever, just take the -4 penalty, it's not so harsh. Even if you're not proficient, they still break apart on a natural 1! this is great.

[Ovaltine Patrol]

If I were the DM and a player tried to run that by me, it would have to be modified. Clearly, rolling a natural one is supposed to be a bad thing for whoever rolls it, not a route to incredible awesomeness by being able to kill anything you're holding. In keeping with the spirit of rolling a one is bad, I'd say you lose your hold on the grappled person instead.

[Person_Man]

I think the only way Drunken Master is playable is if you get immunity to ability penalties so that you can use Drink Like a Demon in a reasonable fashion. So something like Necropolitan Monk 2/Psychic Warrior 4/Drunken Master X with Practiced Manifester. Hustle to gain Move actions (to drink) and Expansion to increase your size.

[Darrin]

I think the only way Drunken Master is playable is if you get immunity to ability penalties so that you can use Drink Like a Demon in a reasonable fashion. So something like Necropolitan Monk 2/Psychic Warrior 4/Drunken Master X with Practiced Manifester. Hustle to gain Move actions (to drink) and Expansion to increase your size.

Strongheart Vest soulmeld + 1 essentia or a dip into Binder for Naberius would also work.

[Heliomance]

Is there any way we can make the TWF tree useful for this build? Just because dual-wielding elves is so much funnier than only using the one.

Also can we make the build any better? The entry is a bit messy, though it was the easiest way I could think of to get the prereqs for Drunken Master as well as Improved Grab.

[BRC]

I think there is a spell somewhere that makes a weapon you are wielding Flaming. Because the only thing better than beating a treant to death with an elf, would be beating a treant to death with an elf that is on fire.

[Delaney Gale]

Alternatively, use sonic weapon. Then the elf's screams of protest do +1d6 damage per hit :)

[Eldariel]

Wield Gnomes. They deal extra annoyance damage to the opponent, and you get Morale-bonuses to your attack & damage rolls as you hit the harder the more you see its head grow into something akin to a bloody pulp.

[Zergrusheddie]

Until I saw this thread, I didn't think that the Drunken Master could actually be effective. But you gotta add in flaws!

Unlucky:
The first three Natural 20's you roll per session are automatically considered Natural 1's.
Extremely Unlucky:
Any Natural 2 or 3 are automatically considered to be Natural 1's

Tell the DM you don't want a feat, you just want this for free. :smallbiggrin:

[Flame of Anor]

This is the funniest build I've ever seen, including Pun-pun. Good work you crazy rules-lawyers!

[Keld Denar]

Kobald-chucks anyone? Just tie their tails together and get em spinning.

Also, this adds a whole new flavor to the Blood in the Water stance in Tiger Claw 1.

And PersonMan, your build needs more Tashalatora.

Also, not quite the same, but I played in a Living Greyhawk mod that was really terribly written (COR9-02), but was made infinitely better when the drunken master at the table ripped the arm off one of the fallen orcs and beat the other orcs to death with it. Painted a nice image in our heads, along with on the floor, the walls, and the ceiling.

[Darrin]

Are you sure Bear Totem gets Improved Grab? I see "Improved Grapple" in UA. I'm not sure there is an easy way to pick up Improved Grab outside of wildshape... Scorpion's Grasp is similar, but doesn't qualify for Multigrab or Greater Multigrab.

Ah. Here we go. A 1-level dip into Scaled Horror (Savage Species p. 83) gives Improved Grab, works on same size or smaller. Feral template might also work, but most DMs ban it.


Is there any way we can make the TWF tree useful for this build? Just because dual-wielding elves is so much funnier than only using the one.


There's a Barbarian variant in Dragon #349 that you might be able to combine with the Bear Totem Barbarian. Lose martial weapons, medium armor, and shield proficiency to pick up Improved Unarmed Strike and the effects of Two-Weapon Fighting with unarmed strikes. It also reduces the improvised penalty to -2 if you don't want to bother with dipping Brawler.

There's also the Gloves of the Balanced Hand if you want TWF via magic item.



Also can we make the build any better? The entry is a bit messy, though it was the easiest way I could think of to get the prereqs for Drunken Master as well as Improved Grab.

Race: Aventi (for the Aquatic subtype).
Monk 2/PsyWar 4/Drunken Master 2/Scaled Horror 1/Drunken Master +8/Something Else +3

Feats:
1: Great Fortitude, Improved Grapple (Monk)
2: Combat Reflexes (Monk)
3: Midnight Dodge (for 1 essentia), Psionic Talent (PsyWar)
4: Psionic Talent (PsyWar)
6: Shape Soulmeld (Strongheart Vest)
9: Multigrab
12: Greater Multigrab

Hmm. Takes awhile to get Improved Grab that way. I'm not sure if that can be shortened... Incarnate 4 gets you evasion, and Battle Dancer gets you the monk's unarmed strike. The really sticky one is flurry... other than monk, the only way might be Disciple of the Eye.

Race: Dragonborn Aventi
Battle Dancer 1/Incarnate 4/Scaled Horror 1/Disciple of the Eye 1/Drunken Master X

Feats:
1: Great Fortitude, Improved Unarmed Strike (Battle Dancer)
3: Midnight Dodge
6: Multigrab
9: Greater Multigrab

You lose Improved Grapple and Combat Reflexes, although those are easy enough to pick up with a dip back into Fighter. Skill points are a little tight but you should scrape by with Int 12. No PsyWar, Hustle, or Expansion, though... have to get by with Psycrown of the Evader and someone who can cast/brew Enlarge Person for you.

[Heliomance]

Using the Bear Totem variant from Complete Champion, not the one from UA. Hence the superscript CC.

[Sir Giacomo]

Heliomance, this is priceless!

There may be some setting sun school maneuvers in the ToB that go into a similar direction, but I'm not sure (I do not have the rules nearby now).
Do not forget that at higher levels, freedom of movement could spoil your fun, so be prepared to 1) either do that trick before a caster brings it up (since they cannot cast that spell when grappled) or 2) just sunder that stupid ring of freedom of movement. It is made of gold only and thus easily sundered with your STR.

- Giacomo

[Zaq]

I think your weapons of choice should be paladins. Their class features (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0223.html) give them a convenient handle! Just make sure they don't have on pants, as that might slightly reduce your access to said handles. Luckily, there's no pants item slot, so they won't suffer any penalties for this.

[SydneyLosstarot]

just sunder that stupid ring of freedom of movement. It is made of gold only and thus easily sundered with your STR.
Gods, is this really possible?
*imagines how a person should feel after a ring on his finger is smashed with a hammer with no damage to himself*