Frontliner thoughts for LMOP -> SKT

[3bodyproblem]

Hey all!

I'm currently playing with a group making their way through (a beefed up version of) LMoP, with plans to dive into SKT after. I'm currently playing a Paladin, but for both mechanical reasons and roleplaying reasons, he's going to retire/head back to Neverwinter to rejoin the Tormtar who sent him to Phandalin next session.

I'm interested in making a character to act as the group's "frontliner"; so far, the party also consists of the following folks (we've just hit Level 3):

Rogue (likely Swashbuckler)
Monk (likely Sun Soul)
Bard (unknown college)
Sorcerer (Draconic Heritage)
Cleric (Light)
Ranger (unknown conclave)

We're playing "PHB+1," with no UA, and we're expecting to go to Level 11. We also use the "Critical Hit" and "Critical Fail" decks, which has the side effect of making critical hits decidedly more deadly, on both sides. I've rolled the following stats:

17 16 15 14 13 12

I've been toying with the idea of either a plain ol' Bear totem barbarian with shield master + grappling (?Uthgard Barbarian), or a Zealot with GWM (?flavoured as a Champion of Torm/Ilmater, with righteous fury) to really bring the pain (and survivability be damned, since free resurrections are available!) An Eldritch Knight grappler or gwm build sounds like fun, too...I’m going to avoid another Paladin for now, I think.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on a fun, effective build that will:

a) be able to dish out damage and survive while preferentially drawing attacks from the other party members (or, barring being able to survive, be resurrected easily!)
b) have a smooth leveling curve (e.g. no delaying Extra Attack)
c) be sound, from a fluff perspective, as well as advice and ideas on how to roleplay something different than the normal "meathead" barbarian (I've only ever really played as a Wizard or Paladin before, so this is really outside of the norm for me!)

Thanks in advance!

[Stygofthedump]

You know your fighting giants right? 2 hits is the best you can hope to take if you go toe to toe. Even those rocks hurt a lot! If someone must engage then maybe mirror image? Magic is good vrs the weaker giants.

[Master O'Laughs]

Go PHB +Volo's and make a Goliath or Bugbear (Powerful Build) and go Bear Totem Barbarian. If you can get 20 STR then at level 6 (the feature which doubles your push, drag, lift capacity) you will be able to Push, Drag, Lift 2,400 lbs. If one of the spell casters learns enlarge/reduce, they can enlarge you to make your push, drag, lift capacity 4800 lbs!

[Rogerdodger557]

Eldritch Knight is good. If you were going to multiclass, I would recommend 2 Wizard for War Wizard(get a bonus to saving throws, +Int to initiative) to take advantage of having a higher Intelligence. While it might delay Extra Attack a little bit, it will be useful, especially if you are going to be strength based. My only question is are you going to start with any magic items?

[Biggstick]

As someone who's DM'ing SKT, the only thing "tanking" Giants is a Barbarian.

Giants have a pretty large bonus to hit, meaning AC tanks or people who depend on disadvantage for an enemy to miss are still going to get hit. It's simply a matter that has to be accepted, is that the Giant will way more often then not hit you.

In regards to that though, it's typically only Bludgeoning or Slashing damage you're taking from them. So that means you don't need to worry about Bear, unless you want the full resistance (save psychic) bit. Any of the archetypes will do rather well, but I wouldn't recommend the one with an aura (I can't recall the name off the top of my head). It's aura is 10' around the Barbarian, and Giants take up way more space then that, meaning you're probably only affecting 2 at most when you've waded into melee combat with them.

In regards to being a frontliner, simply being a Raging Barbarian will be all that you need. I'd recommend GWM on your Barbarian as well, as one of the better ways to attract attention of the Giants in my experience is doing damage to them. It's something that will either annoy them, anger them, or draw some measure of respect from them. Most of them don't have the best AC either, making GWM plus Reckless Attack pretty amazing for the Barbarian.