Help with a shield bearing barbarian idea

[SH3R4TA5]

Wanted to make a char with the concept of an alien like mixture of Captain america with Cheetah from the Thundercats in a chasis of a Simic hybrid barbarian X/fighter 4 who is mostly meant to be a disrupting frontline tank than a damage dealer.

One thing I'm wondering is if the multiclass is

For one side, the beast barbarian fits the character quite well, the savage aesthetic and mechanics work for the character combat style. So getting the features of the subclass, that help with grapple and tanking is desired.

On the other hand the multiclass with rune knight make sense in a background aspect for some connection with religion and bounded power, while the giant might and the runes aid the idea of a grappler vanguard character that this is meant to be, while the extra bonus action uses and the action surge complement offense and defense well.

The concept is meant to reach near level 17 and maybe 20 with some luck, but I'm not sure how to make it all the progression in regards of level by level from around level 3, and i wonder what feats fit better the spirit of this character (i tough on skill expert and resilient wisdom, but not sure if I should get priority on getting more constitution for the saves), if someone have an idea.

Thanks if anyone can help me make this work.

[RogueJK]

Well, Shield Master seems like a given for the concept, even though I'm not a huge fan of the feat overall. (And it's even further redundant on a Barbarian, thanks to Danger Sense.)

Since you're going Beast Barbarian and emulating Cheetara, I'd go with the Claws. This gives you 3 attacks every time you take the Attack action (Attack+Extra Attack+Free Claw Attack), and you'll be able to take advantage of Rage damage bonus and Dueling Fighting Style damage bonus on each one. So each attack will be doing 1d6+9 damage through Barbarian 8, then 1 or 2 points higher as the Rage damage bonus increases at higher levels, plus still have your Bonus Action open for Shield Master's Shove.

But other than having a slightly more HP and hopefully a decent AC, there's not much inherent to a Beast Barbarian that makes you an effective "tank". (Especially compared to something like an Ancestral Guardians Barbarian.) So you need some way to cause enemies to prioritize you, or at least not be able to get away.

The Simic Hybrid's grappling appendages from Level 5+ would be useful in preventing one or two enemies from moving away from you and attacking your allies instead. You'll be an effective grappler, since you'll have not only a high STR and Athletics proficiency but also Advantage on Athletics checks when raging, plus you'll have two free "hands" to grapple enemies with, while still allowing you to wield a shield and continue to make claw attacks.

The Sentinel feat could also be useful to help make you more sticky, if you hit with your Opportunity Attack and render them immobile, plus further punish enemies for attacking nearby allies other than you.


As for level progression, I'd start with Barbarian and take it to at least Level 6 before dipping into Fighter. This gets you your 3 attacks ASAP, plus makes your claw attacks magical. Then decide if you want to dip 3-4 levels of Rune Knight at that point.

[SH3R4TA5]

Yea, the shield master feat doesn’t work mostly because of bonus action clog from rune knight and the simic appendages.

The level 5 grappling appendages are indeed what i want to use, but not sure what starting modification is good, for one the climbing is neat and good, but the manta glide, although not so strong form mobility, it can help to grapple many enemies and deliver damage+prone condition thanks to the lvl 6 feature of the beast barbarian. Btw, the sentinel feat was something I SERIOUSLY didn’t considered, it does give a great value to the reaction AoO.

One last thing, if someone is interested to help, the lvl 4 ASI from fighter is good to get it asap? Or maybe you are better getting it later in the build to get other barbarian features?
Ty RogueJK, you did help a lot.