John Brebeuf
First Post
"The target of your grapple must be no more than one size larger than you." (PHB 195)
How did you manage to grapple a gargantuan dragon?
D&D 5E A Grappling Cleric?
"The target of your grapple must be no more than one size larger than you." (PHB 195)
How did you manage to grapple a gargantuan dragon?
Istbor
Dances with Gnolls
I like it. Sounds like a fun character to try. Not saying you would need to be I could see like 5 levels in Fighter or Paladin to get an extra attack and round out the build. Imagining a vengeance Paladin/War Cleric now... If you haven't you can check out the Grappler guide here on the forums for more tips.
Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)
I do think this build could use some feats.
Race: Human, Half-Elf, or Half-Orc.
Feats: Prodigy (from Xanathar's Guide) and Shield Master (PHB)
Prodigy allows you to gain expertise in Athletics. This is highly useful for both grappling, and shoving. This will also gain you one skill proficiency of your choice, one tool proficiency of your choice, and fluency in one language of your choice.
Shield Master: Gives you a bonus action each round (provided you make an attack that round) to shove an adjacent creature. Also gives Dex saving throw bonuses, which will be handy since you're likely not getting a good Dex with this build.
It's possible you will not want Shield Master since you want to use Spiritual Weapon as your bonus action. But, I'd think Prodigy will help quite a bit.
Race: Human, Half-Elf, or Half-Orc.
Feats: Prodigy (from Xanathar's Guide) and Shield Master (PHB)
Prodigy allows you to gain expertise in Athletics. This is highly useful for both grappling, and shoving. This will also gain you one skill proficiency of your choice, one tool proficiency of your choice, and fluency in one language of your choice.
Shield Master: Gives you a bonus action each round (provided you make an attack that round) to shove an adjacent creature. Also gives Dex saving throw bonuses, which will be handy since you're likely not getting a good Dex with this build.
It's possible you will not want Shield Master since you want to use Spiritual Weapon as your bonus action. But, I'd think Prodigy will help quite a bit.
Ganymede81
First Post
Isn't the monster you're grappling just going to wail on you now? Is that what you really want?
Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)
It's a fair point. You have heavy armor and can self-heal, so that helps. But, might want to consider Life Cleric to make your self-healing work better.
Bardbarian
First Post
Potion of growth and a shrink spell on the dragon. I was large, it was huge.
I've climbed up a dragon and grappled a wing before. It could move about, but not fly. Effective enough.
I never envisioned this build making many if any melee attacks. I figured it would try to restrain it's grappled target whenever possible. I do like the idea of using a Minotaur or Lizardfolk that could restrain and still attack if necessary. Would be fun to restrain an enemy, then on next turn gore him with your horn, then wack him with your Spiritual Weapon on your turn, then get him with Spirit Guardians on his turn.
Seems like a shield would hinder your grappling abilities. I'd rather hold and keep two creatures in my Spirit Guardians.
I do like Thorn Whip, but I'm not very familiar with the Nature Domain. Will have to check it out. I like Lightning Lure for the Tempest domain.
Having multiple attacks does not seem all that important to this build.
Also, the way we've always played it, anybody could attempt to restrain a grappled creature. No feat was necessary for that. The Grappler feat seems mainly pointless. Am I wrong here?
I never envisioned this build making many if any melee attacks. I figured it would try to restrain it's grappled target whenever possible. I do like the idea of using a Minotaur or Lizardfolk that could restrain and still attack if necessary. Would be fun to restrain an enemy, then on next turn gore him with your horn, then wack him with your Spiritual Weapon on your turn, then get him with Spirit Guardians on his turn.
Seems like a shield would hinder your grappling abilities. I'd rather hold and keep two creatures in my Spirit Guardians.
I do like Thorn Whip, but I'm not very familiar with the Nature Domain. Will have to check it out. I like Lightning Lure for the Tempest domain.
Having multiple attacks does not seem all that important to this build.
Also, the way we've always played it, anybody could attempt to restrain a grappled creature. No feat was necessary for that. The Grappler feat seems mainly pointless. Am I wrong here?
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Ganymede81
First Post
I think you're thinking of the reverse-grapplig rules in the DMG. They let you grab on and climb around a larger creature, and force it to oppose your attempts with acrobatics instead of athletics. It doesn't impede the dragon's ability to move, though.
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