LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE: Wrestling Wizard Subclass

Rothaar saw the orc rush the party. So he rushed the orc. Summoning his inner fire, he cloaked himself in a fiery sheath. He then reached down into his primal fury and raged fiery hot. He flung himself at the muscular humanoid, putting it into a chokehold. He grappled the orc to the ground and held it there until it was a burning corpse. He looked around for a moment, then smiled: He had found another target.

Some wizards have taken up wrestling as a way to be useful when they run out of spells. They fling themselves into combat without a worry for what may happen, using their magic to summon elements to help them in combat. They are constantly charging into the center of combat, and some become truly terrifying monsters, sometimes becoming the best friends of barbarians as both charge into the fray.

[Design Consideration: The wrestling wizard gets a little more than the average wizard, but there is the consideration that they don’t have the hit points or Armor Class of a barbarian so they could run into trouble regardless. It’s advised that a wrestling wizard have high Strength and Constitution stats, and debate the Tavern Brawler and Toughness feats for access to props and additional hit points. ]

Level 3: Raging Wrestler

The wizard gains the barbarian’s ability to Rage. Levels of wizard stack with barbarian to determine the total number of uses. You can enter it as a Bonus Action if you are not wearing Heavy Armor. You gain the following advantages:

Damage Resistance: You gain resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage.

Rage Damage: If you make an attack using Strength, such as Weapon or Unarmed damage, you gain bonus damage as per the Barbarian’s Rage Damage column in the Barbarian Features table. Wizard levels stack with Barbarian levels for purposes of determining bonus damage.

Strength Advantage: You gain Advantage with all Strength checks and Strength saving throws. Note that you do NOT gain the ability to add Proficiency Bonus to Strength saving throws.

No Concentration or Spells: You cannot cast spells or maintain spells Concentration while raging.

Duration: The rage last until your next turn, unless maintained (you can maintain it up to 10 minutes if you take certain actions). It ends early if you don Heavy armor or gain the Incapacitated condition. You can maintain it by:

-Make an attack roll against an enemy.

-Force an enemy to make a saving throw.

-Take a Bonus Action to extend the rage.

Level 3: Raging Grappler

The wizard gains the Grappler feat for free; you can ignore the level limit. You also gain proficiency in either Athletics or Acrobatics.

Level 6: Superior Wrestler

The wizard gains Expertise with either Athletics or Acrobatics. If you are not wearing armor, your Armor Class equals 10 plus your Dexterity and Constitution modifiers.

Level 10: Elemental Crush

The wizard picks one element: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, or Thunder. This element can only be changed when you gain a level. You can expend a non-cantrip spell slot; your unarmed attacks gain an additional +1d6 damage of that type for one turn per spell level. You also gain the Crusher feat.

Level 14: Fearsome Wrestler

You can use Yolande’s Regal Presence a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus as a bonus action; you regain spent uses after a long rest. However, you can only use this ability on your first grappling attack of any given combat; note that you need to use it before you rage. You can use a gilded belt of some sort as a spell focus instead of the miniature tiara. You can add the spell to your spellbook.