In Soviet Russia, Halfling Tosses You!

[Quoz]

I've been toying around with this concept today, and could use some help fleshing it out.

Basic concept: I want to make a character who is really good at throwing around opponents. Like DBZ style throw them into the air, then jump up so I can grab them and throw them even higher than that.

Core of the build will be a Lutus Den Halfling with open hand monk and battlemaster both at 3. This gives us two great sources of consistent forced movement, in the open hand's flurry of blows rider effects and in battlemaster's pushing attack. Both give a 15 foot shove on a failed strength save, and they can be put on the same attack. At higher levels you can also add in stunning strike, which is particularly brutal as stunned characters automatically fail any strength or dexterity saves.

So now we've got a character that is really good at pushing people around. But what do we do with that? Shove people into traps and obstacles, over cliffs, or through windows. If they get stuck on difficult terrain they may need to take a dash action to get back to the fight. Knock them prone first and they definitely won't be taking a swing in melee next round. Depending on party makeup, you can bunch together enemies for better area of effect spells. But this build also gets two unique options that can really impact a big fight.

First, and perhaps most potent, is that the Lotus Den subrace of halfling gets two once per day spells: entangle at 3rd level, and spike growth at 5th. Entangle is great, a cheap way to spread out combatants and keep your party from getting swarmed. Spike Growth is a fantastic spell for using with forced movement, causing 2d4 damage for every 5 feet you pass through, with no save or mitigation. Once you shove someone in, they will have to come through it all again on the way back out. And since both entangle and spike growth cause their area of effect to become difficult terrain, it is excellent for breaking up fights or keeping a melee enemy from engaging your ranged allies. Use your action to cast, then action surge and flurry of blows to push as many opponents into the ring of pain as possible.

Since your spells are only once per day, another reliable trick unique to your race is to make the attack while passing through the enemy's space. Halflings have the ability to move through the space of a medium or larger creature, and attacks can be made at any point of your move. Since I am underneath you, I have the option to direct my forced movement up and send targets flying. In addition to the embarrassment of getting chucked 30 feet into the air by someone the size of a five year old, the enemy will also take fall damage and probably end up prone. Just make sure you have at least enough movement to leave the square after you attack, because you do not want to still be there when they land. If you have the Ki to burn, you can use step of the wind to increase your jumping distance and follow them, striking and pushing even higher (you will not be able to take the bonus action dash or disengage since flurry of blows already takes your bonus action. But hey, it looks cool and makes for a sweet finishing move)

Overall, I am viewing this as battlemaster 3/monk X. I think I would take the fighter levels only after monk 5, since stunning strike is maybe even more important for this build than most monks. Aside from that, I haven't decided on feat options. My group usually uses rolled stats so I will be less dependent than most monks on stat increases, which is good since a 3 level dip will mean I don't get a second feat until level 11. Dueling may be the more optimal choice for fighting style, but I think I will take blindfighting instead as a more versatile and flavorful choice.

I am still working on this concept and don't know how I would build past the initial setup. Any thoughts or criticism is appreciated. (yes, I know at least the vertical pushing will be table and GM dependent)

[Zeikin]

If you’re trying to through enemies, I think the build you’re looking for is https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?583957-An-Eclectic-Collection-of-Fun-and-Effective-Builds/page25, bout half way down. Hecatoncheires.

[Quoz]

Thats really cool, thanks. I like that concept, though using enemies as thrown improvised weapons is probably stretching the rules a little too far for most of the tables I play at.

[jojosskul]

So I looked into a few things because I really like this concept, but as is I'm not sure it works RAW.

Just because you're in the same space as your enemy, doesn't mean you're underneath them. It just means you can encrouch on their personal space. The only way you could push them UP would be if you were literally in the square underneath theirs. Which there may be a way to accomplish, there's a few monsters that have the ability to phase through things, I'd research spells that allow you to do the same thing. There may be class features as well out there somewhere I'm not aware of.

What pushing them from within their space DOES appear to do, however, is allow you to choose any horizonatal direction for the push you want instead of it having to be the direction opposite you. Situationally this could prove useful and super shoving people around the battlefield sounds like a hell of a good time to me.

EDIT: Not a practical option really, but the level 13 Phantom Rogue ability lets you move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. As long as you count the ground as an object this would work. You could do this as an Open Hand Monk 6/Phantom Rogue 14 multiclass, sadly that gets a lesser version of this trick online pretty darn late at level 19. But popping out of the ground and knocking tier 4 bosses into the air is an entertaining thought! Actually probably better off Battlmaster 6 instead of Monk in this case. There are probably easier ways to do this, but that was the first that came to mind.

2ND EDIT: Actually just go straight phantom rogue. Take the feat that gives a fighting style and pick the style that gives one BM manuever. It's a once a short rest trick, but awesome when it works. Get's you up and running at 13.

[anthon]

Thats really cool, thanks. I like that concept, though using enemies as thrown improvised weapons is probably stretching the rules a little too far for most of the tables I play at.


i used to have a dwarven thrower and he used a donkey as a weapon, but that was back in feat-rich 3.5e


i would recommend beginning with a 22+ strength and something that allows you to hold/grapple larger sized opponents. There's a homebrew martial arts monk set of feats designed for cloud swords and throws, you could model something like that, with each feat being +1 size category and maybe +1 strength.

Depends on your DM.