8th level barb/rogue grappler build choices

[Camman1984]

I am building a barbarian grappled with some rogue for flavour/expertise and sneak attack but want to get it right. out of the following options (the top of each list being my favourite) which would you take and why?

standard point buy and 8th level

race :-
bugbear (reach, build and random sneakiness)
goliath (build and damage soak)
half-orc (bounces if dropped by a grappled dragon)

barbarian archetype
totem - elk (extra move for dragging)
totem - any other

rogue archetype
thief - open doors, drink potions, forcefeed poison and open chests while grappling as bonus action
skirmisher - extra dragging if they don't escape at the end of their turn
swashbuckling - better stabbing if alone with the enemy

also which class should I take first, and how deep, am thinking 5 barb/3 rogue at the moment.

any other build tips?

thanks

[leogobsin]

So Barb 5/Rogue 3 is definitely the way to go, Extra Attack is just too good and nothing you can get from Barb 6 or 7 is worth giving up Cunning Action, extra Sneak Attack damage, and a Rogue subclass feature.
Speaking of Rogue subclass, I really like the potential of Scout. With that extra movement, Fast Movement from Barbarian, and Cunning Action Dash you've got quite a bit of room to move grappled opponents around, and assuming you've got at least one other melee fighter in the party you can get Sneak Attack from them being adjacent about as easily as you could from being alone with the enemy and going Swashbuckler.
Like I said, you're already getting extra movement from Fast Movement, Cunning Action, and Scout, so Elk totem might not help you that much. Bear's resistance to almost all damage is very useful, you could also consider Zealot if you really want to bring the hurt. Just about any Barb subclass could probably work, I'd make the choice based more on what you're into flavor-wise.
Goliath and Half-orc are fairly comparable, I'd say go Goliath: Natural Athlete frees up one of your skill proficiencies, Powerful Build could be useful if your DM gets picky about how heavy the creatures you're grappling are, just keep in mind that if you're using your reaction from Scout to move you won't have it available for Stone's Endurance.