Character build assistance.

[Anastobe]

Making a 3rd level character and I would like to focus on grappling. Our GM allows third party things so that is on the table also. Every character has a extra feat at level 1.

First idea. Duergar Fighter Rune knight 1-6 Picking up Skill Expert Athletics, Iron Grip (from the Unearthed arcana reddit, and tavern brawler (as per bg3). Then the rest would go into Josh Pacheco's Luchador class.

2nd: Variant Human Luchador 1-5, Rune knight 3 then back to luchador. same feats

3rd: Variant human Luchador 1-20. same feats

GM did say that the size increases for the classes, race and feats would all stack.

Thoughts?
Or have a better grappling build? Just the thought of a human or dwarf chucking a gargantuan creature to the floor makes me chuckle.

[RogueJK]

I'm not familiar with any 3rd party stuff like the Luchador.

But Rune Knights make great grapplers, as do the new Giant Barbarians from the latest Glory of the Giants book. Either one gets the ability to become Large as well as gain Advantage on grapple checks. Rune Knights can get a further +2 to grappling from invoking the Frost Rune.

You can then combine those base abilities with Expertise on Athletics from either the Skill Expert feat or a 1 level Rogue dip, as well as access to the Enlarge/Reduce spell from a race like Fairy or Duergar, to take your Grappling to another level.



Or, Astral Self Monks also make for great grapplers, as long as you are okay with not being able to routinely grapple Huge/Gargantuan creatures. (You won't be seeing many of those at Level 3 anyway...) They have the ability to use WIS for attacks, AC, and for Athletics checks. So you can pump your WIS up high, and combine it with Skill Expert for Athletics Expertise, to be very solid grapplers. They don't gain Advantage on those grapple checks, but their Monk speed boosts and BA Dash abilities allow them to drag enemies around the battlefield much further than usual. Duergar is a solid race pick here for racial Enlarge, or combine with a flying race like Owlin to pick up enemies and drop them.

Something like this:
Owlin/Duergar Astral Self Monk 3
STR 10
DEX 15+1
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 15+2
CHA 8
ASIs: Skill Expert (Athletics Expertise, 18 WIS) at 1.

[Crushgrip]

Making a 3rd level character and I would like to focus on grappling. Our GM allows third party things so that is on the table also. Every character has a extra feat at level 1.

First idea. Duergar Fighter Rune knight 1-6 Picking up Skill Expert Athletics, Iron Grip (from the Unearthed arcana reddit, and tavern brawler (as per bg3). Then the rest would go into Josh Pacheco's Luchador class.

2nd: Variant Human Luchador 1-5, Rune knight 3 then back to luchador. same feats

3rd: Variant human Luchador 1-20. same feats

GM did say that the size increases for the classes, race and feats would all stack.

Thoughts?
Or have a better grappling build? Just the thought of a human or dwarf chucking a gargantuan creature to the floor makes me chuckle.

Also not familiar with this Luchador class.

I currently have a Human (Variant) Fighter 1/Bard 2 grappler who travels with another grappler Human (Variant) Fighter 3 (Rune Knight). For my grappler, I went with Bard for the expertise and they are great grapplers. Plus, I want to be able to deal with other casters or ranged attackers. Took the Feat: Magic Initiate (Warlock) for access to Hex and Eldritch Blast to maybe give you some idea's. The Fighter (Rune Knight) obviously went for frost runes and the Skill Expert Feat. We both took the unarmed fighting style...skip tavern brawler.

Link to a grapplers guide: https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-grapplers-manual-2-0-grappling-in-5th-edition.468737/

Cheers

[Kessel]

since third party is on the table, Grim Hollow has some fun stuff.
the Fractured Barbarian solves a few of the hiccups that slow a barb down normally. and if your DM is open to adding the Transformations that the system has in place, you can add the giant transformation which is awesome. I'm currently playing a version of this and loving it.

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/etharis-calloi/a/grim-hollow-subclasses-article
https://ghostfiregaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2.-Grim-Hollow-Valikan-Clans-Giant-Transformation.pdf

[NecessaryWeevil]

I don't pay much attention to UA etc. but some at my table do, and apparently there's a rule in 5.5 that allows anyone to grapple or push simply by landing an unarmed attack. That might make a big difference. I know it felt borderline OP on my monk.
Another piece of advice - maybe run through a practice combat with your DM so you don't surprise them with all the things your grappler can do. In my experience there's a wide range of opinion about what is 'realistic.'

[Damon_Tor]

Tabaxi Psi Warrior with mobile and athletics get you a hell of a suplex by level 7. Grapple, fly up 200 feet, drop the other guy, land on top of him with an elbow drop. After level 7 get levels in barbarian to get path of the giant. Before that you rely on allies' buffs to get big. Oh, also build a pub from the new bastions UA. For reasons I still don't understand that gives you access to beer that gives you day-long enlarge.