Goliath Drunken Master

[Dandu]

But the flipside is that most of the time, you're spending the entire combat with one foe while your allies take down everyone else.

Also, there are many ways to make grapplers cry. It's not something you want to focus on as your main method of attack.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Besides, if you went with a grappler build, you'd probably want to take Reaping Mauler as a PrCl instead of Drunken Master.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Besides, if you went with a grappler build, you'd probably want to take Reaping Mauler as a PrCl instead of Drunken Master.

Not really. Reaping Mauler doesn't do much at all for a grappler. Dipping as a caster or Pschic Warrior and then taking some hybrid PrC with full BAB (like Abjurant Champion or Eldritch Knight) to keep the grapple mod up AND advance your casting to buff yourself with helpful spells/powers would be a much better way to spend your levels.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

If you want to use Goliath, they're well built to be good Barbarians, and the level 1 racial sub. level is very tasty for Mountain Rage, especially if you can still combine it with the Whirling Frenzy variant (RAW I see no reason why not, but a DM might object).

[sblock]I rather enjoyed my Goliath Barbarian / Rogue. He used Wilderness Rogue and Martial (Fighter feats instead of sneak attack) Rogue; and Lion Spirit Totem (C.Champion; swap fast movement for pounce) Wolf Totem (UA; lose both Uncanny Dodges and trap sense, gain Imp. Trip and Scent) Whirling Frenzy for barbarian. Also used Spell Sense variant instead of trap sense (C.Mage) on Rogue side. Used some goliath racial sub levels...was planning at Barb 7 to take some variant that gives a fear gaze... I used a lot of variants!

He was fun, though. Knockback is an awesome feat. He sent people flying like it was a carnival act. Leap Attack, Shock Trooper, Cometary Collision...good stuff. He could charge, full attack, smash enemies back in diagonal directions, sending them right into their allies and knocking both of them prone like they were bowling pins...[/sblock]

You probably want something less complicated starting out. Try doing a little Barbarian (with Whirling Frenzy and Mountain Rage racial sub. if possible) mixed with Swordsage from Tome of Battle. The Setting Sun discipline has a bunch of cool throwing maneuvers to hurl enemies all over the place. Something like Barbarian 2 (take a feat for Extra Rage and you cna do it 3/day) / Swordsage 18.

Required feats:
Extra Rage (Complete Warrior?)
Adaptive Style (Tome of Battle; Swordsages need this to function properly)
Improved Trip (Wolf Totem Barb can give you this at level 2 w/o good int or Expertise)

Feats that are a good idea:
Curling Wave Strike (Stormwrack; give up your bonus attack from Imp. Trip to trip someone else)
Power Attack
Leap Attack (mainly if you get Pounce as a Barbarian, though Pouncing Charge is a maneuver you can pick up, too)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Not everyone allows psionics in their game, so the PsyWar dip isn't always available (and trust me, I LOVE me some Monk/PsyWar builds!) so the AC or EK aren't necessarily readily available. And PsyWar won't help you qualify for AbjChamp or EK anyway- they both require arcane casting ability.

As for dipping arcane- which I also like- the problem with that is most of the arcane spells have somatic components...and the best low-level spell for a grappler- Enlarge Person- won't work on a Goliath.

Dipping divine is cool, though...you'd get Bull's Strength, Magic Weapon, and some other useful spells, plus domain spells & abilities which could come in handy.

However, Reaping Mauler at least has the advantage of being easily achieved.

Looking at a version of the class I found online- possibly not the 3.5 version, I admit- I see abilities that lets the RM do disarms, use a foe's weapons against him or reduce AC penalties while grappling. That don't suck, IMHO.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Not everyone allows psionics in their game, so the PsyWar dip isn't always available (and trust me, I LOVE me some Monk/PsyWar builds!) so the AC or EK aren't necessarily readily available. And PsyWar won't help you qualify for AbjChamp or EK anyway- they both require arcane casting ability.

As for dipping arcane- which I also like- the problem with that is most of the arcane spells have somatic components...and the best low-level spell for a grappler- Enlarge Person- won't work on a Goliath.

I'm aware psionics don't qualify for caster prestige classes. I said dip caster OR psywar, and then get some sort of hybrid class LIKE abjurant champ. or eldritch knight. I'm not that familiar with psionics and if there's a martial/manifester hybrid PrC for that or not, but straight PsyWar works otherwise.

You can cast somatic component spells before getting into a grapple, or pay an extra spell level and get them stilled (if you're going that route, you probably want eschew materials, too). There are plenty of nice buff spells besides enlarge person, though a Goliath needing Expansion would be the main benefit of going with psionics instead.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

OTOH, a dip into Sorcerer (or a sorcerer variant) gets you access to those Heritage feats, many lineages of which have SU powers that let you channel spell energy into different attacks.

I can't use spells w/somatic components while grappling? Who cares? I'm breathing FIRE in your face!

Likewise, Arcane Strike helps grappling arcanists circumvent that issue as well.