

I’ll also include some picks if your DM doesn’t let you swap ability scores with Tasha’s rules: Ultimately, you’ll need to check with your DM about which racial features snakes and crayfish are “physically capable of doing” (one of 5E’s most ambiguous parameters), so I’m selecting options which should be less controversial. They also veto races focused on a physical characteristic like Arakocra wings or Minotaur horns. Both of these restrictions rule out most racial spellcasting (sorry, Duergar!). We’re going to spend most combats as an animal so we need races that have useable features while Wild Shaped. Other forms don’t need it at all because they inflict the nasty restrained condition on a hit. Some forms will also cheat the usual grappling-shoving economy with either climb speeds or the Jump spell to knock enemies prone without an action. But limitations aside, we’ll still dominate the battlefield with just our paws and claws. It’s true that our usual grapple and shove combos have unintuitive interactions with the Attack and Multiattack actions, which we’ll need to unpack for the Wildshape Wrassler to meet RAW requirements. All this extra HP can get effectively doubled against conventional weapon attacks thanks to Rage resistance. We’ll also sneak in a Polymorph trick involving Conjure Fey to become the monstrous T-Rex and other CR 7+ behemoths.Īs we take damage, we’ll use Combat Wild Shape to adopt a new form as the old one gets too injured, trading unused spell slots for more HP. Preferred forms range from the lowly CR 1/2 Ape (who can actually use PHB grappling rules courtesy of its “hands”!) up to Giant Constrictor Snakes, Scorpions, and increasingly chonky Lizards.
#Call lightning 5e beast form Pc
Although our handless snekkos and scorpios can’t use the usual Athletics-based grappling checks like most other PC grapplers, we’ll make the most of our on-hit attacks to grapple and restrain 1-2 enemies per turn while dealing consistent damage. We can either do this while concentrating on a buff of choice or just while raging, all while absorbing hits in our Wild Shaped body.

Our wilderness wrestler has only two goals: grab goons and soak damage. I’ll use RPGBot’s color system to rate features. but they’re always going to be thematic and effective. Builds might not always be best-in-class for damage, tankiness, etc. I design functional, flavorful characters that let players live out specific visions and playstyles while also having a big mechanical impact.

Remember: these builds aren’t necessarily about creating D&D’s most overtuned optimizations.
#Call lightning 5e beast form free
It’s bad enough that PHB grappling rules only apply to “a grappler with at least one free hand.” But learning that DMs would have to “adapt the rule for a handless creature?” Ugh. Really, Wizards? “ Hand?” Not “appendage?” Not “body part?” An actual “hand?” I’ve had so many handless Wild Shape grapplers crushed under the tyranny of this rule and its later Sage Advice Compendium treatment. One of 5th Edition D&D’s lamest rules is grappling’s “free hand” requirement.
