Hi all,
I'm working on a character for a campaign that is currently at 3rd level, and progressing slowly, so not looking beyond levels 7 or 8. My character concept is something like a samurai who no longer uses his sword: maybe he took an oath not to, or maybe he has sold it out of poverty and is carrying around a bamboo fake (a common trope in samurai films). In other words, an unarmed, preferably unarmored, melee character of some variety. The stats I'll be using are pretty strong: 16, 14, 14, 13, 12, 9.
What I'm curious about is the effectiveness of grappling, and the best way to build it. I've looked at the handbooks, which are very helpful, but here are my specific questions:
How does one best do damage as a grappler? I was thinking of using a level of Monk, which would allow me to use the Damage Your Opponent grapple action to do real damage: is this the best way to do it? Am I right to think that I could not use Claws of the Beast with the Damage Your Opponent action? Is using the Monk unarmed strike for damage viable through level 7 or 8 without having Tashalatora, in a relatively low-op game?
Does flurry of blows combine with grappling?
What is the best back up plan for a grappler, for situations where grappling just doesn't make sense? Is there any reason to attempt to include improved trip, or is that redundant?
A lot of the builds I've seen are Monk 2 / PsyWar X. What is the advantage of taking a second level of Monk?
Thanks for any input you have. Remember, I don't need to make a godlike character or anything, just something that can keep up with some pretty basic compatriots and do some fun grappling.
