Wrestling
Wrestling.png

Training in the Wrestling sphere teaches a practitioner how to quickly drop their opponents to the ground, twisting foes up and slamming them into the ground with incredible force.

When you gain the Wrestling sphere, you gain one (slam) talent of your choice. Any time you initiate a grapple or begin your turn grappling a creature, you may apply 1 (slam) talent as a bonus action. If you succeed on a contested check to prevent a creature from escaping your grapple, you may apply a (slam) to the target as a reaction.

Note that some talents from other spheres, such as Athletics or Brute, directly augment who you can or cannot grapple.

Combat Rule Reminder

Grapple

When you want to grab a creature or wrestle with it, you can use the Attack action to make a special melee attack, a grapple. If you can make multiple attacks with the Attack action, this attack replaces one of them.

The target of your grapple must be no more than one size larger than you and must be within your reach. Using at least one free hand, you try to seize the target by making a grapple check instead of an attack roll: a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (the target chooses the ability to use). You succeed automatically if the target is incapacitated. If you succeed, you subject the target to the grappled condition (see appendix B).

The condition specifies the things that end it, and you can release the target whenever you like (no action required).

Escaping a Grapple: A grappled creature can use its action to escape. To do so, it must succeed on a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check contested by your Strength (Athletics) check.

Moving a Grappled Creature: You can drag or carry the grappled creature with you when you move, but your speed is halved unless the creature is two or more sizes smaller than you.

Wrestling Basic Talents

Slam Talents

Choke Hold (slam)

The creature is unable to breathe or speak (and thus unable to supply verbal components). If you apply this (slam) multiple rounds in a row, each round after the first counts against the total time the target can survive without air (A creature can survive for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 round); at the start of its next turn, it drops to 0 hit points and is dying).

Hard Whip (slam)

You may end the grapple to force the grappled creature to move up to 10 feet in a direction of your choice except upwards. This movement does not provoke an opportunity attack.

Hammerlock (slam)

Any ability check the target makes to escape the grapple this round has disadvantage.

Heel Tactics (slam)

You may expend your martial focus to force the target to succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be blinded until the start of your next turn.

Living Weapon (slam)

If the target of your grapple is no larger than you are (including effects that increase your effective size for grappling such as the Muscular Surge talent from the Brute sphere), you may wield the creature as if they were a melee weapon you are proficient with until the end of your next turn or until you are no longer grappling them, whichever comes first.

Creatures wielded in this manner deal bludgeoning damage and suffer just as much damage as is dealt to the target you are attacking with them.

Creatures at least two sizes smaller than you are considered one-handed light weapons, while creatures one size smaller than you are considered one-handed weapons. Creatures your same size are two-handed weapons.
Creature Size Damage Die
Tiny 1d4
Small 1d6
Medium 1d8
Large 1d10
Huge 2d6
Gargantuan 3d6

Other Talents

Grandstanding Slam

Whenever you use a (slam) talent, you may expend your martial focus. All hostile creatures who can see you except for the creature affected by the (slam) talent must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or be frightened for 1 round. Once a creature succeeds on a saving throw against this ability, it is immune to your use of it until you complete a short or long rest.

Ground Game

Whenever you begin your turn grappling a creature, you may attempt to shove them prone as a bonus action. When a creature succeeds at a grapple check against you, you may attempt to shove them prone as a reaction.

Impale

When you deal damage to a creature with a melee weapon wielded in two hands, you may attempt to grapple them as a bonus action. If you succeed, the target becomes impaled on your weapon. The target becomes grappled, but you must be holding the weapon to maintain the grapple and you cannot use the weapon to attack anyone other than the impaled target. This counts as grappling the target for all purposes, such as applying slam talents to the grapple.

Last Chance Grapple

Whenever you attempt to initiate a grapple and fail, you may expend your martial focus to make another grapple attempt against the same creature as a bonus action.

Opening Strike

When you deal damage to a creature with a weapon attack, you may attempt to grapple them as a bonus action. You must have at least one hand free to use this ability.

Piledriver

When making an unarmed strike against a target you have grappled, you may expend your martial focus to lift the creature off the ground and slam them down. If the attack is successful, you deal your unarmed strike damage and knock them prone, and the target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of your next turn. If you possess the Twin Tie-up talent, you may apply this ability to both creatures you have grappled.

Pin

When you have a creature grappled, you may attempt another grapple check against it to render it restrained for as long as the grapple continues. If you have a creature restrained by this ability for 1 round, you may tie it up as an action, securing it with rope or manacles or similar restraints, keeping it restrained until it escapes the restraints even if you release the grapple.

Pummeler

You gain advantage on attack rolls against targets you have grappled.

Rest Hold

While you are grappling a creature, you may choose to reduce your speed to 0 for the round to regain your martial focus as a bonus action and treat that creature as granting you half cover against any creature other than itself until the start of your next turn. If you possess Close Quarters Training, you may pull the target into your space with no check, and you gain three-quarters cover instead of half cover.

Slip and Strike

Whenever a creature’s attempt to grapple you fails, you may make an attack as a reaction against them. When you choose to release a grapple, you may make a single weapon attack against the released creature as a bonus action before the end of your turn.

Tackle

When you use your action to Dash, you may use a bonus action to attempt to grapple a creature.

Twin Tie-Up

You can expend your martial focus to make a grapple check against two different creatures within your reach as an action. If your grapple check is successful against both creatures, you can grapple both creatures simultaneously. Both creatures gain advantage on ability checks to end the grapple. If you use a (slam) talent, you may use it against both grappled creatures, though you must apply the same (slam) to each when doing so.

Wrestling Legendary Talents

Earth-Shattering Slam

Prerequisites: Berserker sphere (Shatter Earth), Wrestling sphere (Living Weapon), 5th level or higher.

If you use a creature wielded through Living Weapon to strike the ground with the Shatter Earth talent, the target must pass a Dexterity saving throw or be restrained in the ground. Using this ability ends your grapple. The target may end the restrained condition with a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (its choice) against your sphere DC.

Limb Ripper (slam)

Prerequisites: Wrestling sphere (Pin), 11th level or higher.

When you have a creature restrained via the Pin talent, you may attempt to remove a limb from them; the creature must make a successful Strength saving throw or have one of its limbs removed by you (arms, legs, tentacles, or wings), ending the grapple.

Losing a limb halves any movement speed dependent on that limb and removes any attacks and abilities dependent on that limb. Creatures with all legs removed are prone and have a walking speed of 5 feet unless possessing other forms of movement.

Magic Killing Grip (slam)

Prerequisites: Wrestling sphere, 11th level or higher.

Treat the result of your grapple check as a dispel check against the target of your grapple as though you were using dispel magic. If you grapple a summoned creature, this can end the spell that summoned them.

Tombstone Burial

Prerequisites: Berserker sphere (Shatter Earth), Wrestling sphere (Living Weapon, Earth-Shattering Slam) 11th level or higher.

Whenever you successfully use Earth-Shattering Slam against a target, you may choose to bury them underground. The target travels 10 feet through the ground. If this would put the target completely through the ground (such as dropping them through the roof of a building), they fall to the ground below, taking falling damage as normal. If the new ground is still within 10 feet, they may also travel into or through that surface to reach this talent’s limit. This distance increases to 20ft at 17th level.

So long as your Earth-Shattering Slam restrains the target, it also cannot breathe and must hold its breath or begin suffocating. Even if they escape the restraint, they must still climb, fly, or otherwise exit the hole they are in.

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