Praise Cthulhu
2017-06-06, 01:38 PM
First time posting anything here so I'm open to constructive criticism.
This is a build I thought up for the bugbear race in volo's guide to monster, specifically to capitalize on their unique trait of having +5 feet to their reach with weapons.
The core idea is pretty simple. A bubear with a halberd/glaive has a reach of 15 feet. With polearm master you have a 15 foot radius attack of opportunity circle of death. At level 6 with your second feat you can get either great weapon master or sentinel, to boost overall dps or keep foes from advancing any closer so you can step back and force them to try again. At level 8 you just pick up the other one.
This is more of a defensive build, although not too much so since with a 15 foot reach you can still hit enemies and then force them to try to re-engage you when you step back. When i tested it i found it was a great way to put a guard on the casters, since you can stop at least 1 attacker from charging the squishy back line. And since the reach is so long you won't entirely be relegated to sitting around looking menacing since you can step forward a few feet, attack, then fall back with the same movement in most close quarters fighting. In a larger scale fight it is largely assumed the whole group would be moving, so you won't be completely useless there either.
A more detailed breakdown of what i took for a level 10 pure fighter:
Background: Sailor (Let's face it, it's great for almost everyone)
Level 1: Great weapon fighting
level 3: Battle Master (Precision attack, Riposte, Disarming attack)
Level 4: Polearm master
Level 6: Sentinel
Level 7: Maneuvering attack (helps to put allies in your circle of protection), Pushing attack
Level 8: Great weapon master
Level 10: Goading attack, Trip attack
I rolled my own stats so YMMV on that count, but this is generally a strength based build, with con coming a close second since you are the tank. Dex only matters if you want any semblance of stealth or to make use of the bugbear's built in surprise attack. You can safely dump int and/or charisma since people are going to be terrified of you in general. Wisdom is always useful to not get dominated into killing the casters you're supposed to be protecting.
For multiclassing, paladin can give you more fighting options and smites to add onto your already painful attacks, so its usually a safe combo. A dip into barbarian for the rage bonuses can be useful too, since you can still use maneuvers while raging and there isn't much chance of the enemy getting out of your range.
I think that just about covers everything, and look forward to seeing some feedback.
This is a build I thought up for the bugbear race in volo's guide to monster, specifically to capitalize on their unique trait of having +5 feet to their reach with weapons.
The core idea is pretty simple. A bubear with a halberd/glaive has a reach of 15 feet. With polearm master you have a 15 foot radius attack of opportunity circle of death. At level 6 with your second feat you can get either great weapon master or sentinel, to boost overall dps or keep foes from advancing any closer so you can step back and force them to try again. At level 8 you just pick up the other one.
This is more of a defensive build, although not too much so since with a 15 foot reach you can still hit enemies and then force them to try to re-engage you when you step back. When i tested it i found it was a great way to put a guard on the casters, since you can stop at least 1 attacker from charging the squishy back line. And since the reach is so long you won't entirely be relegated to sitting around looking menacing since you can step forward a few feet, attack, then fall back with the same movement in most close quarters fighting. In a larger scale fight it is largely assumed the whole group would be moving, so you won't be completely useless there either.
A more detailed breakdown of what i took for a level 10 pure fighter:
Background: Sailor (Let's face it, it's great for almost everyone)
Level 1: Great weapon fighting
level 3: Battle Master (Precision attack, Riposte, Disarming attack)
Level 4: Polearm master
Level 6: Sentinel
Level 7: Maneuvering attack (helps to put allies in your circle of protection), Pushing attack
Level 8: Great weapon master
Level 10: Goading attack, Trip attack
I rolled my own stats so YMMV on that count, but this is generally a strength based build, with con coming a close second since you are the tank. Dex only matters if you want any semblance of stealth or to make use of the bugbear's built in surprise attack. You can safely dump int and/or charisma since people are going to be terrified of you in general. Wisdom is always useful to not get dominated into killing the casters you're supposed to be protecting.
For multiclassing, paladin can give you more fighting options and smites to add onto your already painful attacks, so its usually a safe combo. A dip into barbarian for the rage bonuses can be useful too, since you can still use maneuvers while raging and there isn't much chance of the enemy getting out of your range.
I think that just about covers everything, and look forward to seeing some feedback.