Dungeons & Dragons offers many rules, but there are so many of them that you can turn some tricks into real exploits. What sounds like an overwhelmingly strong strategy can be extremely annoying for the rest of your party.
Every D&D fan has their own reason for loving the role-playing game. For some, it’s the battles, for others the character-driven moments, and others just enjoy regularly meeting friends for a shared adventure.
However, there are a lot of players who are after a specific thing: becoming particularly powerful through clever tricks.
In fact, some of these tempting concepts not only render the balance in Dungeons & Dragons completely null and void. Aside from respect for the Dungeon Master, they quickly diminish the fun for the rest of the D&D group.
In this list, we want to point out these exploits, but not to suggest them for your own use. On the contrary, these tricks are not so unknown and have already reached your Dungeon Masters. Those who start using these concepts will likely be caught quickly by the DM – or worse: you will experience the effects of these tricks firsthand when your Dungeon Master uses them against you.
The Grappler Talent to End Exciting and Thoughtful Fights Instantly
The “Grappler” talent gives players a powerful advantage over your opponents in melee combat, which is faster and more effective than actually finishing them off in battle. With an action, you can try to grab and hold a target.
With this talent, you gain advantage and can fixate a target so that it receives the condition “grappled”: it can no longer move, becomes vulnerable to enemy attacks, and has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws.
This sounds quite strong and not game-breaking when you refer it to a horde of enemies. However, those willing to sacrifice a talent slot to become a grappler have bigger plans than just restraining some average foes.
When dealing with a single powerful opponent, perhaps even the BBEG (“Big Bad Evil Guy”), of a campaign, this use can abruptly stop an exciting fight. A battle that your DM has planned and prepared for a long time can find a quick end with a single move.
What might sound like a strong action for the grappling player takes away an epic fight from the rest of your table, which actually is one of the strongest moments in your campaign.
The talent should not be seen as forbidden, but rather used in the right moments. Players should simply learn to read the mood of the room before they create an anticlimactic ending with their “intense strategy” (aka. Grappling…).
This also relates to similar tricks like the Polearm Master Talent. You are welcome to enjoy the overpowering effect in your personal playthroughs in Baldur’s Gate 3, but there are more players at the table than just you.
