D&D 5E A Grappling Cleric?

[CTurbo]

Think about how awesome it would be to grapple/restrain the bad guy while beating him with Spiritual Weapon and Spirit Guardians at the same time? I can't believe how few results google turned up on a grappling Cleric. Am I the only one who thinks this would be a great idea?

Sure it won't be the most optimized Cleric, but it should would be fun. You could even accost/nag/preach at/to the guy your grappling while you whip him with spiritual weapons/guardians haha

I wonder which Domain would be best for this. I have a soft spot in my heart for Tempest Cleric so I would probably go with that. I think you'd definitely want Heavy Armor since you'll be a Str build anyway. This build wouldn't really even need any feats to work. Just a good Str + Athletics prof.

What do you guys think? Would a grappling Cleric be fun to play? Would it get old quickly? What else could it do besides Spiritual Weapon + Spirit Guardians?

 

[Horwath]

Well if your DM allows UA, you could take Athlete feat.

It will give you +1 str and expertise in athletics if you already have proficiency. And double carring capacity. So you can drag large creatures around


Hands down best grappling feat there is.

 

[Chuck Ocenasek]

So you are a priest who goes around grabbing People? Too Catholic.

 

[Horwath]

So you are a priest who goes around grabbing People? Too Catholic.

And attacking with "spiritual weapons" and "spiritual guardians"

 

[Bardbarian]

Grappling is a matter of action economy. Most grappling builds need 2 or more attacks under the attack action in order to convert those attacks into a crapple and then follow up with a shove to prone the target. They then try for either advantage or expertise on the athletics roll, or some other way to increase the chance of success. While there is nothing wrong with your idea, it is not an optimal situation for grapple. You would need to cast spirit guardians and also grapple, both of which take an action meaning you need either to pre cast the SG or to take additional turns. Multiclassing improves the action economy somewhat, however what you are trying to build is not substantially different from a cleric who casts SG and Spiritual weapon, then goes dodge. You will likely find such builds online. If this is what you want to do I am happy to help you build it, but for the above reasons there is not a stable of builds based around the cleric.

One thing to consider with grappling builds, is that you can only grapple one size larger than yourself so as you enter upper levels of play you will regularly encounter larger and larger creatures. How often this happens is up to your DM but in my experience, the more effective a grappling character becomes the fatter the monster get. [ yes I am looking at you Will ]

 

[CTurbo]

I figured round 1 would cast Spirit Guardians. Round 2 would be Spiritual Weapon + grapple. Round 3 would be restrain/shove prone attempt + Spiritual Weapon. Round 4 if necessary would be continue restrain or try again + Spiritual Weapon. etc...

I really didn't want a super multiclassed min-maxed build. I like pure classes when possible. I guess ONE multiclass can work sometimes if it makes sense. Obviously Expertise would be epic. The Brawny feat as mentioned above(incorrectly as Athlete hehe) would be perfect for sure. I don't believe the Grappler feat would even be necessary, and while Tavern Brawler is usually pretty decent for grapplers, it doesn't fit here. Lucky would be great of course. Alert too. Going first would be big with this build.

I think Tempest would be great since I could use my reaction to deal damage to anyone who messes with me while I'm tied up with grappling an enemy, or of course when the guy I'm grappling attacks me lol

 

[Horwath]

@OP, yes Brawny. Not home so no PDFs on hand


Maybe war cleric for extra attack. But it costs bonus action.

 

[Coroc]

[MENTION=6802784]Bardbarian[/MENTION] Who is Will, and how fat is he actually?

 

[Gardens & Goblins]

Such a character would make for great exorcisms.

HEAD LOCK

THE POWER OF PELOR COMPELS YOU!

ARM TWIST

THE POWER ..OF PELOR ..COMPELS YOU!!!

SUPLEX

THE POWER OF PELOR COOOOMPEEELLS YOOOUU!

 

[Bardbarian]

Will is my DM who started making some monsters huge or gargantuan beyond theirn normal size to prevent me from grappling them. He once describes a dragon as being super fat because it sat on its hoard all day while servants brought it cows to eat. Then whe I found a way to grapple the gargantuan dragon anyhow he tried to make it an expert at athletics. I called him out on that BS and he agreed. if its so fat from sitting and eating its not an athlete too. Will's a good guy and we all had a great time.