[quote=@Savo]
I was thinking of having him use something similar to that in a hook-shot sort of way, except have two gauntlets of sorts. Catch would be he wouldn't be able to effectively use rings, barring him from magic, and instead forcing him to rely on his own techniques, possibly copying a few others... hum... maybe his "magic"/ability could be to copy what someone does if it is in the range of possibilities?

Still, digging claws, in my opinion don't match his forte, at least for now since it deviated from the main concept in my head. I'll think about using it if I can't go with the original idea I had.
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I don't know about that copying ability, it seems hard to regulate and not all that feasible. It would have to be magic based, as I don't think there's any way it could be a physical maneuver. Since your character is going to be melee-based he's not supposed to start out as a particularly skilled mage anyway. Maybe it's something he could work towards but I don't see how it's going to play out. That's just me though.

As for the clawed gauntlets, why not just use [url=http://zeldawiki.org/Clawshot]Clawshots?[/url] They already have a gauntlet shape and a claw tool, but also the grappling feature you want. I'll let you start with one.