Build that leverages the Minotaur's horns

[MikeRoxTheBoat]

I rolled exceptionally high stats (17, 17, 15, 14, 10, 6) and decided to do a bit of an odd-ball build 'cause I liked the imagery of it, but was curious if there was another way to do it. I'm starting at level 6.

Was considering a Minotaur Fighter or Barbarian with Great Weapon Master, but was thinking about taking a few levels of Monk to get the Kensei Monk benefits with a Battle Axe.

The way I pictured it, is I would wade into battle with a Battle Axe, do a couple of swings with it, then attempt to gore them with my horns as a bonus action attack. If I had advantage on the attacks, or there was some other circumstance where I thought I would benefit, I'd pull out the Great Axe, make two GWM swings with it, then spend a Ki to flurry of horns and immediately take two horn attacks as well, since Flurry of Blows doesn't specify the need of a monk weapon.

The problem is that, while I like the imagery, mechanically there's probably a lot wrong/unoptomized about it. I've been trying to find ways to use the horns as a bonus action and Monk seems to be the only real option. Would also basically require at least a level of Barbarian for the Dex/Con unarmored defense.

I'm the only "tank" in the group (rest are ranged casters) so I like the idea of at least a little control as well, which is why I was considering Fighter in there to possibly grab Battle Master. I also have the option of either using the Ravnica Minotaur (with the dash attack and bonus action shove) or the Planeshift Minotaur (essentially a Half-Orc with a horn attack).

My thoughts are all over the place, though.

What's the best build that can utilize the Minotaur's horn attack in an interesting way? I'd rather not go more than 3 levels into Monk, since once it hits level 5, I might as well be any race since the unarmed strike will equal the horn attack anyway. I've also considered the grappling route where I hold an enemy and gore him, but I'd rather go with the whirlwind of axes and horns throwing people about instead of Zangief-style pile drivers.

[CheddarChampion]

How about a barbarian with GWM and tavern brawler?
When you need damage, reckless attack + GWM greataxe. When you need control, shove prone + horn attack + bonus action grapple (describe the first two parts as a bull rush that both knocks your foe to the ground and damages them ).
If I have the stat boosts right, by level 8 you can have 18/14/14/10/10/10.

[Galithar]

How about a barbarian with GWM and tavern brawler?
When you need damage, reckless attack + GWM greataxe. When you need control, shove prone + horn attack + bonus action grapple (describe the first two parts as a bull rush that both knocks your foe to the ground and damages them ).
If I have the stat boosts right, by level 8 you can have 18/14/14/10/10/10.

He rolled stats so his would be much better then that, but besides that I like the concept. The fluff of making your two attacks be a single charging Gore that sends them flying (IE prone) is pretty cool. Even if only one succeeds it still works as cool fluff.

Shove success/attack miss = You hit them and knocked them back, but your horns did no damage/glanced off armor while still maintaining the force to knock them back.
Shove fail/attack hits = You hit them and maybe got some piercing in with the horn, but they simply kept their footing.
And then both succeeding or both failing is pretty obvious.

The idea of Monk is pretty cool though too.
I'd do 3 levels of Monk and the rest into Barbarian. I don't think Kensei is worth it because you want to be attacking with strength anyways if you're going for GWM and to my knowledge Kensei would only benefit you by allowing you to treat your axe (one handed) as a monk weapon IE using Dex, which should be a secondary stat for you if you want to be effective with the GWM attacks.

I'd go with way of the Open Hand. At level 3 when you 'flurry of horns' you can get that same Gore-like attack where you can force a Strength or Dex save to avoid being pushed back/knocked prone. Or stop them from taking reactions which could be fluffed as a minor stun from the force of the hit.

For tanking purposes Totem Barbarian is always good. That resistance from Bear totem will really help since your AC will be good, but maybe not spectacular. Having resistance to everything but Psychic is really hard for me to pass up personally, especially since you know you're the only 'tank' and are likely going to be charging into danger a lot.

I hope your character lives a long time, or dies a glorious death saving all those puny squishies in your party!

Edit: I'd put your 17s in strength and constitution and the 15 in Dex. That gives you a 15 AC before racials and feats which isn't phenomenal, but an ASI or two (or half feats) and you'll be up to 17+ in no time. If you go Bear Totem Barbarian you'll be better off mitigating the damage then avoiding it anyways.

[MikeRoxTheBoat]

The idea of Monk is pretty cool though too.
I'd do 3 levels of Monk and the rest into Barbarian. I don't think Kensei is worth it because you want to be attacking with strength anyways if you're going for GWM and to my knowledge Kensei would only benefit you by allowing you to treat your axe (one handed) as a monk weapon IE using Dex, which should be a secondary stat for you if you want to be effective with the GWM attacks.

I'd go with way of the Open Hand. At level 3 when you 'flurry of horns' you can get that same Gore-like attack where you can force a Strength or Dex save to avoid being pushed back/knocked prone. Or stop them from taking reactions which could be fluffed as a minor stun from the force of the hit.


As far as I know, making a Kensei weapon into a Monk weapon just gives the option of using it as a Dex weapon rather than forcing it to be one, like how you can use STR or DEX in order to attack with a finesse weapon.

I was sort of avoiding the other Monk subclasses simply because my Wisdom would be maxed at 14, which isn't a very high DC for open palm maneuvers. It would be measuring that low DC control against a guaranteed 1d6+STR+possible Rage bonus attack every turn when I'm not flurrying. Plus, if I do the Ravnica Minotaur, I already get the option of doing a bonus action shove for 10ft. with a DC based on my STR.

I'm not great at mathing out DPR and such, though, so I could be wrong. Not sure if expected DPR of two 1d10 Battleaxe attacks + a 1d6 horn attack would be much of an improvement over simply doing two Greataxe attacks every turn and calling it a day until I decided to Flurry of Blows.

I might just be overthinking it. I could literally just go straight Battlemaster fighter, pick up GWM and Tavern Brawler, and do bonus action shoves or grapples when needed, especially if a trip attack worked. The campaign is supposed to end somewhere between level 12 and 14, so getting a third Fighter attack might end up being better than the bonus action shenanigans I'm trying to do.

I just like the imagery of flailing around with a battle-axe goring everything, maybe grappling and chucking the occasional guy, then busting out the "big axe" for when I really want to ruin someone's day. I have the stats to get away with some nonsense, so I thought I'd use them.

[Edgerunner]

Shove success/attack miss = You hit them and knocked them back, but your horns did no damage/glanced off armor while still maintaining the force to knock them back.
Shove fail/attack hits = You hit them and maybe got some piercing in with the horn, but they simply kept their footing.
And then both succeeding or both failing is pretty obvious.


I see where you are going with that idea.
Any way to emulate the Gorgon's ability? Altho the last line could be discarded.
Trampling Charge. If the gorgon moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a gore attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the gorgon can make one attack with its hooves against it as a bonus action.

[MikeRoxTheBoat]

I see where you are going with that idea.
Any way to emulate the Gorgon's ability? Altho the last line could be discarded.
Trampling Charge. If the gorgon moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a gore attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the gorgon can make one attack with its hooves against it as a bonus action.

If horn attacks count as a weapon attack, then Battle Master's Trip attack could work.

Ravnica Minotaur has the built in ability to take a bonus action horn attack after using the dash action and moving at least 20 feet. If you use the Trip Maneuver off of that bonus action attack, it essentially amounts to the same thing.

Trip is usually better at the beginning of the turn than at the end, though. Especially considering this specific party is literally all ranged attackers, though the Bard and Druid could technically mix it up in melee if they wanted to.

[CTurbo]

If I were to do this concept, I would go Barbarian and make him a grappler. This is rare occasion when the Grappler feat could actually be pretty good. Advantage on attacks against creatures you're grappling and being able to restrain. Being restrained yourself doesn't effect you as much since you can still attack with horns. Check with you DM on how the restraining condition would be treated without the feat. I personally allow a player to attempt to restrain a grappled enemy even without the feat and you can already gain your own advantage through reckless attack. Take a single level of War Cleric for a limited bonus action attack plus lots of Cleric goodies. Imagine at level 6, you pin an enemy down and make 3 vicious gore attacks against him and he can't even fight back.

A Minotaur Open Hand Monk would be fun, but correct me if I'm wrong, but the way the horn attack was worded prevented you from using them with Flurry of Blows unlike other races with built in "unarmed" attacks like Lizardfolk and Tabaxi.

[MikeRoxTheBoat]

If I were to do this concept, I would go Barbarian and make him a grappler. This is rare occasion when the Grappler feat could actually be pretty good. Advantage on attacks against creatures you're grappling and being able to restrain. Being restrained yourself doesn't effect you as much since you can still attack with horns. Check with you DM on how the restraining condition would be treated without the feat. I personally allow a player to attempt to restrain a grappled enemy even without the feat and you can already gain your own advantage through reckless attack. Take a single level of War Cleric for a limited bonus action attack plus lots of Cleric goodies. Imagine at level 6, you pin an enemy down and make 3 vicious gore attacks against him and he can't even fight back.

A Minotaur Open Hand Monk would be fun, but correct me if I'm wrong, but the way the horn attack was worded prevented you from using them with Flurry of Blows unlike other races with built in "unarmed" attacks like Lizardfolk and Tabaxi.

Maybe. If I took both Grappler and Tavern Brawler, I could Horn attack, grab, horn attack with Advantage. Kind of defeats the flailing around with an axe bit, though. I was looking at full grappler builds, but I'd probably go Bardbarian if I wanted to do that.

I think the writing says, "Your horns are natural melee weapons that you can use to make unarmed strikes." It literally says three different things (natural weapon, melee weapon, unarmed strike), so I guess it could be up for debate, but I assumed the unarmed strike bit covered it. If not, then the whole thing is bust.