Eagle Totem Grappler

[FaceofBo]

Hey y'all, I've been looking at the Eagle Totem Barbarian recently, as one of my characters is a level 2 Variant Human Barbarian (with Toughness, a +1 to Con and Str) and it looked like the perfect class for a Grappler/Disabler kind of character. Pump up Athletics, go for grapples all the time, use bonus Dash to drag them away from their comrades before dismantling them with the rest of my team mates. I am open to any and all suggestions, and would love to see how you folks dismantle this one ;) (Note: I'm making him AL Legal, to use in the AL campaign I'm in currently, so sadly no UA)

[Afrodactyl]

Dip into rogue for expertise in Athletics for easier grapples

[Dudewithknives]

Dip into rogue for expertise in Athletics for easier grapples

Just take the brawny feat. Don't neet to milticlass.
If you want to grapple also taking tavern brawler will help.

Battlerager is also pretty nice.

If I was going to make a human barb who was going to grapple.

After initial stats and feat...
Take tavern brawler first.

Str 17 +1 race, +1 feat.
Dex 14
Con 14 +1 feat
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 8

At level 4 take brawny. It will give you str 18 and expertise is athletics.

At 3 take battlerager, every I have ever seen is ok with a non dwarf battlerager.

Wear spiked armor, carry a versatile 1 hander and a shield just in case.

[MasterMercury]

The Brawny feat in the UA: Feats for Skills. It really makes a great grappler without having to multi class.

I never liked that a barbarian who was part wimpy thief was a better grappler than a full one.

[FaceofBo]

Just take the brawny feat.

I'm makin him AL legal, so no can do compadre.

[ShikomeKidoMi]

Well, then, you probably already know this, but remember that Rage gives you advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks.

[Hairfish]

2 levels of rogue gives you both expertise in Athletics and a bonus action Dash (or Hide, or Disengage) that you don't even need to rage to use. Pick something besides Eagle unless you just absolutely can't live with waiting until level 7 to get Extra Attack from barb 5.

[FaceofBo]

2 levels of rogue gives you both expertise in Athletics and a bonus action Dash (or Hide, or Disengage) that you don't even need to rage to use. Pick something besides Eagle unless you just absolutely can't live with waiting until level 7 to get Extra Attack from barb 5.

Well, seeing as I already get that when raging, which I'm gonna be doing most of the time in big fights, the Dash thing from rogue really isn't that useful, the bonus attack is kinda crucial, and Hid is basically useless, while disengage is going to be situational (Having 2 other barb's in the party means we are all up front all the time, no need for running.) Why would I pick anything but Eagle? The free Dash, plus disadvantage on Opportunity Attacks is amazing when I really really want to get that squish back behind you.

[PloxBox]

I'm of the mindset that you really only need a 1 level dip into Rogue for the Expertise in Athletics if you're going Eagle totem. I'm currently running one of those, and its a blast with Shield Master. The only reason I could see with going more levels into rogue would be for either Assassin or Thief archetypes. Assassin gives free Advantage to attacks if you go before the enemy, and Thief can allow some Bonus Action Interact with Object shenanigans. Not to mention you'd really need to use a Shortsword or Rapier so that you can meet both Reckless Attack and Sneak Attack criteria; And personally I have a big bias against rapier wielding Barbarians. Just doesn't feel right to me.