wicked cool
Underboss
2129 Posts
    
 | | 02/08/2006 1:56 PM |
| when designing a monk or roleplaying a monk how do you rolplay their combat and whats best weapon etc . If your momk becomes isolated from others in party or is simply alone does your monk use stealth like a rogue or charge into combat like a fearless barbarian? Do u use flurry at high levels or does the negatives to attack bonus hinder its use for you. Does a multiclass monk who takes non fighter levels hurt its effectivenss. out of the core players handbook races which are the top 3 recomended to be a monk? if your roles were 18,14,9,16,15,12 where would u assign stats? what magic item is the most important to a average monk? skills and feats?
im thinking of taking a monk in a campaign worl . i usually play fighters and im worried the monks role will be limited. 6th level is starting level. i can multiclass him with a sorcerer if i choose and even continue to level him in monk levels but im not certain how he will do. we dont usually fight goblinoids. its usually undead/constructs some evil humanoids/outsiders. Its a desert setting. i can take anything within reason for equipment and could persudae my dm to allow a weapon not featured in players handbook. any help would be appreciated | |
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Master Peon
spikegif
Warlord
5699 Posts
| | 02/08/2006 3:42 PM |
| Cannot help much for most of your questions as I am not a fan on the monk, butquote:
Originally posted by wicked cool
Do u use flurry at high levels or does the negatives to attack bonus hinder its use for you.
at higher levels you lose the negatives to your flurry of attack (progression) | |
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Malin Lug
Sergeant
742 Posts
| | 02/08/2006 5:25 PM |
| A couple of things:
If you take a level of any class other than Monk, you can't take any more Monk levels. Plus there is no real need to take anything but monk levels anyway.
If you are alone, then I would not make major confrontations head on. You don't have the HP or the total BAB to match a Barbarian or Fighter. Plus at low levels, you don't have the AC like an armor clad tank. You have some serious skills and can have awesome stealth abilities, use them. Monks need good stats across the board. The most important being Str, Dex, Wis, and Con. Int and Chr while nice, are not as important as the others.
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zenthrus
Warlord
5100 Posts
SLC, UT
| | 02/09/2006 12:14 AM |
| If you're in the Forgotten Realms there's a Monk order that allows free multiclassing between Monk and Wizard. The synergy between low-level arcane defenses and Monks in general is outstanding. Monks can multi-class but they either have to begin as something else then become a Monk or give up ever adding Monk levels.
Monks alone in a fight can't keep up with fighters or babarians. They just don't have the HP/BAB/Feats. Monks as support fighters are outstanding. Tumble past opponents to get into flanking positions or fight defensively (or use full defensive) to bump armor class and act as a blocker.
At 9th level a Monk's flurry is better than his base attack (one extra attack at highest bonus, bonuses are the same). Your damage potential becomes amazing (2d10 unarmed damage). One of the best tactics with a Monk is to get a ring of Enlarge person (or have the party wizard/sorc buff you). The penalties hurt but you get +2 Str, 10 ft reach, and your speed doesn't change. Again this puts the Monk into a great support role (stand behind the fighter smashing things).
Monks alone should resort to Stealth to avoid direct conflicts.
Every stat is important to a Monk. Wis, Str, Dex, and Con are the most important (in that order IMO).
Best races for a Monk are Human (extra skill points/feat), Half-Orc (+2 Str), and Dwarf (+2 Con) are the best choices (again IMO).
Assuming I had the stats you've outlined I would go Str 16, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 18, and Cha 9 (assuming a Human build). Most important magic item to a Monk is Bracers of AC/Amulet of Natural Armor. Since Monks strike for Magic (4th level) and Lawful/Adamantine at higher levels magic weapons are not really necessary. Skills and feats are determined by how you want to flavor the RP nature of your character.
If you enjoy being a beatstick (i.e. fighter) you will likely be disappointed in playing a monk (totally different roles in an adventuring party). | |
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Corim Danex
Warlord
6809 Posts
West Valley City, Utah
| | 02/09/2006 3:12 AM |
| | Tactics: Run [:p] | |
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Darastrix Maekrix
dariustad
Warlord
6322 Posts
| | 02/09/2006 4:22 AM |
| Hmm, well, if you really want to, then one level of sorcer isn't a terrible option. The one spell you'd want is Enlarge Person. True Strike isn't a terrible alternative, either.
However, I agree with those above. If you're a fighter by trade in your usual games, a monk will be a downshift. Heck, I remember the first time I tried a ranged character after years of melee. It was actually fun to administer damage without having to worry about AoO's and counter attacks -- A real treat!
You may find the same in the Monk. However, I don't believe they are the best to solo; but, I'm sure there are those out there who will. It's not one of my preferred classes, but go for it! The worst you have to do is roll a new character. | |
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Sean-Khan
Commander
2723 Posts
| | 02/09/2006 8:23 AM |
| Of course you can take one level of another class as your first level, but wizards & sorcerers aren't getting much skillpoints then. While sorcerer is better to the spirit of the monks, wizard might still be a better choise; You can use mage armor/shield at lower levels, and other spells later. Jump might also be a great spell.
Rogue might be an interesting choise, and sneak attack has synergy with dexterous and unencumbered (=naturally stealthy) monks with stunning capabilities. Gives also bonus for reflex saves, and a huge skill base.
Ranger might also be an interesting 1st -class choise, giving also lots of skills and favoured enemy if you wish to concentrate on your enemies. It also can give you nice tracking capabilities as you'll probably take lots of wisdom, and tracking speed based on your base speed so you are likely to become a really fast tracker. Ranger also boosts your saves nicely, and you keep up in Base attack progress. Also, you'll get to use heavy weapons at low levels. (you can always think of weapons as their eastern counterparts, 2H sword = Nodachi, glaive = Horse cutter etc) As a monk, you wouldn't be penalized in anyway from using a reach weapon and then dropping it after getting an AoO.
Edit: I just noticed that you could get combat reflexes as 2nd level bonus feat, which would be great when using a reach weapon! | |
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wicked cool
Underboss
2129 Posts
| | 02/09/2006 3:09 PM |
| | i saw elf wasnt a top choice and i assumed it would be at least 3 behind human and half orc. enlarge person spell might be a good choice. | |
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Malin Lug
Sergeant
742 Posts
| | 02/09/2006 3:55 PM |
| Enlarge person is also a huge bonus if you pick up improved grapple. In our group our Monk has take improved grapple and is great for taking prisoners. He can usually choke someone out pretty quickly. It is something to consider.
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EldritchSoul
Warrior
324 Posts
| | 02/09/2006 7:09 PM |
| | you could be a whisper gnome. your damage output won't be as good, but your AC, HP and to hit will be enhanced, which, for a monk, to me, seems like a preferable trade-off. you'll also be the stealthiest being known to exist. | |
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taliesin
Underboss
1113 Posts
| | 02/10/2006 11:41 AM |
| You just have to play to the class's strengths. Monks are wizard killers. High speed to get to the back line quickly, all good saves (and at the higher levels, SR) to shrug off spells, a high touch AC, stunning fist to shut down enemies with a poor fortitude save, and the lower attack bonus is O.K., since wizards tend to have lower AC themselves.
A lone monk is hardly a threat, but a party that contains a monk who recognizes his strengths and applies them appropriately can make short work of many enemies. | |
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wicked cool
Underboss
2129 Posts
| | 02/10/2006 11:55 AM |
| | best feats if using tumble? | |
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Fry
Underboss
1724 Posts
| | 02/10/2006 6:38 PM |
| I believe Eberron Campaign Setting has some feats that allow you to multiclass your monk. Not that I know why you'd want to do that.
I think a warforged monk would be kinda funny, although once you got to high levels a lot of your racial features would overlap with your class features, which is a little wasteful. | |
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IanB
Commander
3112 Posts
| | 02/10/2006 7:34 PM |
| | The warforged monk has some very strong advantages actually, once you get to a level where you can afford to get yourself enchanted. Their armor plating can take enchantments like armor, so you could end up with some armor special qualities that are normally unavailable to monks - heavy fortification, for example, or the various skill boosts and elemental resistances. | |
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Sir Bozak The Damned
Commander
2854 Posts
Québec
| | 02/10/2006 8:16 PM |
| | The best Warforged Feat ( +8 AC ) can only be taken at the first level. Later on, you can add to your DR using a feat that you can take several times and that really adds up. If your DM allows it, the Tatooed Monk is your best option with your first tatoo as the crab for DR 2 at only level 6. Monks are mage killers but fail versus warriors unless they can stun, disarm or disarm them. Monks are the most potentially powerful class, by far in 3.5, if you never multi-class and lose the amazing saves. I would say evil clerics are second to the monks in sheer power, if rolled, skilled and played well. | |
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