Feb 3

Feb 3 A Player's Guide to Feats - Grappler

The Grappler feat isn't for the faint of heart. It's like giving someone a hug, except you aren't going to ask them for permission to touch them, and you'll probably try to stab them in the stomach. Yes, you get to punch your foe in the face with alarmingly good accuracy, but they, in turn, can do the same to you. The Grappled condition is often maligned, and restraining something while grappling is frequently considered a weaker option when compared to knocking someone Prone. What does that mean for the Grappler feat? Let's find out as we discuss the Grappler feat in today's entry in the A Player's Guide to Feats series.

What is the Grappler Feat

Prerequisite: Strength 13 or higher
You’ve developed the skills necessary to hold your own in close-quarters grappling. You gain the following benefits:
You have advantage on attack rolls against a creature you are grappling.
You can use your action to try to pin a creature grappled by you. To do so, make another grapple check. If you succeed, you and the creature are both restrained until the grapple ends.
Player’s Handbook

Dissecting the Feat

Requiring a Strength of 13 doesn’t seem like it’s anything that would limit the feat, but it, in fact, does. Classes that rely on Dexterity to attack rather than Strength should go nowhere near this feat. To grapple a creature, you make an Athletics (Strength) check against the creature, who can make an Athletics (Strength) or Acrobatics (Dexterity) check in response, their choice. If you succeed, the opponent is grappled by you. The feat gives you no bonus in your attempt to grab onto the creature. This is a huge disappointment. Want to make the feat more appealing? Add this benefit.

Being Grappled is defined as:

A grappled creature's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any bonus to its speed.
The condition ends if the grappler is incapacitated (see the condition).
The condition also ends if an effect removes the grappled creature from the reach of the grappler or grappling effect, such as when a creature is hurled away by the thunderwave spell.
Dungeon Master’s Guide

As we can see, grappling is a condition that restricts a creature's movement. The advantage of this is that while the grappled creature is immobilized, you can still move, albeit at half speed. This can be beneficial when attacking the creature, but I think the real advantage is the ability to control the battlefield. You can, however, achieve this without a feat. It may not seem significant, but manipulating your foes' positions can significantly influence the outcome of a battle. I've long advocated for the importance of controlling the landscape and positioning during combat, and grappling is one effective way to do this, even if it's only for one creature.

Restrained, on the other hand, is a more complex condition. It requires you to make another check to restrain the creature. This condition is defined as follows:

A restrained creature's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any bonus to its speed.
Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature's attack rolls have disadvantage.
The creature has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws.
Dungeon Master’s Guide

The speed reduction is already in effect from the Grappled condition, so we get nothing additional. But once again, this allows you to position yourself and the grappled creature into a position that can be a great advantage, especially given that all attacks against the creature are made at advantage. I understand that your fellow party members could move to you, but if you can save them some movement, this allows them to position themselves again to gain battlefield control.

Imagine this scenario: you move, strategically placing the grappled creature for melee attacks from your allies. They can now attack at advantage, move out as necessary, and even make another attack against a different creature if they have more than one attack. If the creature attempts an attack of opportunity, it will be at a disadvantage, which is a significant advantage. To further enhance the feat's appeal, the developers should remove a restrained creature's ability to use an attack of opportunity.

The disadvantage on the Dexterity check is fine if the grappled opponent's primary stat is Dexterity. Since the creature can use either Dexterity or Strength to attempt to break free, you'll want to avoid an enemy who's a big Strength hitter. Grappling a spellcaster or rogue-like creature is good, especially if you're constantly blasted in the face with fireballs. But the creature you may most want to attack with disadvantage is the one that hits the hardest, and they will often be Strength-based heroes.

The GrapplerFeat Useability by Class

Artificer: Not worth taking.

Barbarian: The one class I recommend taking the feat. Considering how hard you hit when Raging, gaining advantage on those attacks is no small thing. Add that to Rage, which gives the barbarian advantage on Strength checks, and the barbarian may be punching or stabbing the poor creature with more attacks they find necessary.

Bard: Not worth taking.

Cleric: Possibly if your Death Domain cleric uses necrotic touch on the grappled creature or a War Domain cleric since you get two attacks starting at the first level. For the most part, though, it’s not worth taking.

Druid: Wild Shape into a bear and give you foe a hug. Not worth taking.

Fighter: If you’re looking for a flavor feat for your fighter, go for it. Otherwise, you should just stand in front of the creature and whack away with your sword.

Monk: Nope. It sounds great on the surface, but the Strength requirement may prevent you from even taking the feat.

Paladin: Not worth taking.

Ranger: Not worth taking.

Rogue: If you have a high enough Strength, it’s one way to gain advantage to use your sneak attack. That said, it’s not a very effective way to go about it. With so many other ways to gain advantage on an attack, it’s a poor choice at best.

Sorcerer: Not worth taking.

Warlock: Not worth taking.

Wizard: Really not worth taking.

Conclusion

I do not recommend taking this feat, regardless of your class. As mentioned above, a few changes could make the Grappler feat more enticing. Even with those changes, so many other great feats are available, making it a feat you’ll want to avoid.

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