Monk Guide for Dungeons and Dragons 5e
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- čas přidán 18. 07. 2018
- MONSTERS OF DRAKKENHEIM is 300+ pages of eldritch horror inspired monsters for 5e by the Dungeon Dudes! Coming to Kickstarter March 26th, 2024: www.kickstarter.com/projects/... Welcome to our in-depth video guide to the Monk class in Dungeons and Dragons 5e!
We’ll cover everything you need to know to create your Monk. We’ll help you choose your monastic tradition, skills, ability scores, and other build options to prepare your monk. We’ll also look at famous examples of monks fantasy fiction, movies, television shows, and more to inspire your next character, and as well as roleplaying ideas to help develop your Monk’s background, personality, and martial tradition.
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As always, we'd love to hear about your favourite examples of Monks from fiction, games, and more!
Dungeon Dudes Yoda, he is the topical sensei monk, passing on his wisdom and acting for peace, but can kick serious butt when needed
Dungeon Dudes Rock lee unfortunately there isnt really a class for the 8 gates
Kung Fu (TV)
Dungeon Dudes I know Naruto is called a ninja but he is more of monk and so are most characters in that world.
TIFA from FF7
Mr. Miyagi
Jean Claude Van Damme in Bloodsport
Tony Jaa Ongbak the Thai Warrior
Jet Li Once Upon A Time In China "Wong Fei Hong"
Son Wukon the Monkey God king
Neo from The Matrix "I know kungfu"
Westley Snipes as Blade
Goblin+ monk = master yoda
What have you brought upon these *C U R S E D L A N D S?*
Also, all of the Goblin's racial features are synergic with the Monk class. Fury of the Small adds even more damage to unarmed attack, Nimble Scape lets you punch and run (using disengage as bonus action) making the most of your mobility and Darkvision is great for Way of the Shadows monks.
lol yeah. Maybe the gravity monk that came out in Darkmatter?
I played a one shot as “yoda” the goblin bladesinger. He’d spam green flame blade, and took spells like catapult, charm person, mage hand, and feather fall to imitate the Force.
Shadow monk + criminal = Mandalorian?
You guys should look into making videos of low level builds. It's all too often that I play a game that never makes it to the really big boy levels so to have a guide suggesting the most damage or best tank at level 4, 6, 8 or even 2 honestly could be really cool and helpful.
Just also wanted to say you guys do an amazing job and are definitely the best d&d channel I've seen.
I agree. I see many 'builds' that don't really mature until after lvl 12 and many games never get that far. I would love to see the first 1-6 levels of different character types
I completely agree. Our group rarely gets above lvl 6 before changing scenarios.
Bard 4/tomelock 3 is a phenomenal low level build. You'll be blasting all day while having all kinds of unique spell options between your tome, the bard list, the warlock list, and magical secrets
@@Luxxicon the better question is why does every scenario change needs a new charakter?
got the feeling it´s like one adventure and our heroes are done and go into retirement. are there no more succesfull bands, just one hit wonders?
My GM iss running a campaign for 3 years now i am playing there for 2 years now and still play the same charakter. why allways start a new character for every new adventure? coz from zero to hero?
why not take old charakters over into the new scenario, if there are few who want to start over with a new charakter so be it, just let them start at the level of their old charakter for party-balance sake.
i would be extremely disappointed and would avoid to much investment in a charakter if i know i had to throw that away before even half through to max!
IMHO, Rogue is the most front-loaded class, so you can have a terrific character by maybe level 2. Pick any race that helps the key Rogue stats or brings good bonuses. Try... Tabaxi.
Ty Lee from Avatar The Last Airbender is a great example of a monk and offers some pretty great role-playing options if you choose to base a character off of her. Not to mention that if you compare the Base class abilities to what she does in the series then it can help you understand how this class functions. I think the best Ty Lee build would be to do a monk wood elf with an entertainer background.
That would be a cool character concept to build from Ty Lee.
Aang would be much better
Yeah I’m stealing this idea
@@Muchogrande83 feel free. If I didn’t want people to use this idea then I wouldn’t have posted it. Hope you enjoy your character and may rngesus bless your dice.
Dude I loved playing a Long Death monk. When I hit level 18, our DM brought in a nemesis from my characters backstory for a second time. I rolled second in initiative and on my turn, closed the 50ft distance and one shot this guy who was supposed to be one of the BBG's (big bad guys). You can put 1 to 10 ki points into Touch of the Long Death and it does 2d10 damager per ki point spent, giving it the potential to double the damage Quivering Palm would do if it doesn't reduce to 0. I actually ended up doing 160+ damage in one hit. When I declared I was pumping 10 ki points into it, our DM seemed intrigued. When I one shot the dude, he face palmed and was like, "God dammit, I had this awesome encounter planned out."
Did your DM allow you to muti-class Monastic Traditions? You can have Way of Open Hand and The Way of the Long Death?
Interesting!!
Woah, a reply on a comment from two years ago lol. No, there wasn't any multi-classing. I was just comparing Touch of the Long Death with Quivering Palm.
@@Syntheticbreed Got you!! It would be cool if a DM would allow you to Muti-class Monastic Traditions. Why not? You can Muti-class anything else!! For instance: you can be a Human: Wizard/ Rogue.
My plan with a four elements monk with the Unbroken air move
While I feel bad for the DM it still sounds like an epic moment.
them: "grace, agility, unarmored combat styles"
me: *accidently hits a civilian in the face with my quarter staff*
"There are no accidents"
@@collingahagan7750 I had to have played the most obnoxious monk ever nothing about him was graceful
I had a monk that would you fury of blows on a persons balls it work so many times.
@@Rule-be6lw your name is so cursed
@@luckyworm2400 I played a Sex monk who was a backstreet boxer and giglio. Eventually I opened a boxing gym/brothel/prostitute school with the dude good times. Lol 😂😂
Honestly what I love most about monks is that they could be wearing nothing but a bedsheet, holding a torch in one hand and a cheeseburger in the other, and still be completely unhindered in kicking ass.
Daredevil is a blind monk
The dream for me is to find a DM that'll let me build a Daredevil style monk. Have the character use blindsense & tremorsense and then some cons to balance it out. Like not being able to see the surface of srolls/parchment, cant see faces, totally blind outside of the senses ranges, etc. Not sure how much to throw in for balance but I just love the concept of "you don't need sight to see".
Also Danny Rand.
Zatoichi?
In one of my campaigns, there is literally a daredevil monk. He is blind and he's a monk and he's awesomely Epic.
Best part of blind characters is that they are almost totally immune to illusion spells
PC: "may I play an Aaracokra?"
DM: "of course! just don't forget that you may be taken down by Falling damage"
throws back arrows like a boss!
Falling damage? *laughs in Monk*
Aaracokra are so broken... an always-active, concentration-free version of a 3rd-Level spell at 1st level should not be a thing...
@@QuiescentPilot which is why Adventurers League doesnt allow them. But they now allow variant tiefling to have a fly speed at level 5
Conner Wilcox arent variant tieflings al illegal, or at least the getting the wings options for them? Or was that retconned, like aasimars being exempted from phb + 1
@@QuiescentPilot nope, Fly is at a higher level than it should be. taking 20d6 (or 40d6 if you use a more realistic homebrew) of maximum damage at Lv.1 causes insta-death.
Here's a really obscure Monk: Haschel from Legend of Dragoon. Where everybody else in the party has a weapon, he needs only his fists and his ancestral Rouge Martial Art. Dude brought down a huge stone door with one punch, and he's _old._ The man's pushing at least 60 and moves like a man a third his age.
Dude! Thanks for reminding me of that game. It’s been ages since I’ve last thought of it. Might still have the disc too. Thank you!
It warms my heart that some actually know and remember this game!!
Amazing game. Now i want to play it again lol.
Multiclassing the monk into sorcerer and/or druid, warlock, etc makes for some awesome Mortal Kombat characters! Sub-zero is beast!
RAIDEN all the way. He is bad ass^^
Twinned lightning lure into a flurry blows
Cleric can also use the great wisdom while gaining access to great level one features.
I remember about a week after Xanathar's guide came out some friends of mine invited me to a one-shot to test out some of the new subclasses and one of the characters was a 'outback' kensei monk named Liam. He talked with a really exaggerated Australian accent, wore short shorts, and used a whip and a bunch of boomerangs as his primary weapons. Because the kensei abilities, the boomerand did 2d4+3 damage, and the DM allowed him to use the whip as a rope and Indiana jones'd the party over a pit of spikes. It was a really cool character and a far step in the right direction away from the traditional monk.
Here I am, two years later, reading your comment, playing a monk with boomerang and whip as my kensei weapons, not realizing the indy comparison! *facepalm*
Kung Fu Hustle is a great martial arts movie with a d&d twist. Highly recommended!
Big Trouble in Little China also has that twist.
The only one I can think of at the moment is "The Forbidden Kingdom"
Kung Fu Hustle is fucking amazing.
D&D twist = a scene where one character uses what is essentially Bigby's Hand. Lol. Cool movie. :-)
I thought I was the only person on the planet in love with that movie!
Ang from Avatar : the last air bender is an archetype of a monk I totally love....
Just make sure it's Aang from the TV series and not from the movie which shall not be named
Let's keep in mind that historically, there were martial monks in pretty much all cultures. There were spiritual warriors from Africa, the Ancient Americas, India, Middle East, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Hawaii, South Pacific and more. They had special physical training exercises to increase their abilities in martial situations. Many were led by a spirit who guided them to their path.
Another backstory for a monk is someone who was raised among the animals like Tarzan or the little boy in Jungle Book, Mowgli. They develop styles related to the animals that raised them.
This is a bit less usual, but if your DM allows it, the Ghostwise Halfling variant from SCAG gets +2 Dex and +1 Wis bonuses, and along with their halfling luck this makes them a great monk race choice. The telepathy adds a bit of flavor for role playing the stoic silent type of monk, as well.
Very cool catch. I like it.
wut
Kalashtar would work well in this vein as well and their telepathy has twice the effective range as a ghostwise halfling
Woodelf gives 2 dex and 1 wis also and additional 5 feet speed to make u ZOOM! And u get darkvision for scouting ;)
@@DungeonDudes At 9th level Unarmed Movement can you possibly run up let's say waterfalls or run down a building or walls?
Run sideways on a wall 🧱 like Hidden 🐉 Dragon Crouching 🐅 Tiger?
Neo, from the Matrix trilogy. And his fight against the thousand Smiths in particular.
And you barely mentioned the unarmored movement! 10-30 feet extra per turn. Double the speed of anyone else. From level 9, physics become guidelines rather than rules. Liquids are just another surface, and gravity a suggestion. (Slow fall from level 4 helps too)
Plus double it every now and then if yr a tabaxi ;)
@@cameronscott9399 Oh yeah Feline Agility.
To say nothing of shadow step if you choose the Shadow Monk.
I like how "The One" by Jet Like shows a lawful good and a chaotic evil monk in the same person. The evil version is driven by hunger for the ki he absorbs from killing and relishes domination and raw, physical violence.
underrated movie
@@erikwilliams1562 I ever watched the one!!
Rock lee! 8 lvl open hand monk. 12 lvl frenzied Barbarian. Frenzied till you get to the point of near death. Gate of limit open!
Dude! You talk about Volo's Guide and then forget tabaxi? Tabaxi are crazy-powerful monks. Their claws count as monk weapons, and when you combine Feline Agility with monk movement, you really do have a character who can literally just be anywhere on the map you want them to be. Tabaxi monks FTW!
Unless there’s been an errata, natural weapons neither count as simple, light, or finesse. Quirky but true. So still strength based and not monk weapon. Could always house rule it though.
Thomas Sierp FYI claws can be used as unarmored strike mobile.twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/800045721218990080
I am playing a monk tabaxi right now, and I know that they are crazy powerful. Even though I am extremely new to D&D. I really wish that they had a tabaxi video.
The Gneech lvl 7 Tabaxi way of the open hand, I am beating the brakes off shit in this curse of strahd we’re running. I jumped out of a door that had 2 dire wolves and a druid outside jumped out grabbed her threw here back in the room our rouge slammed the door behind us that’s were we commenced to boot party her ass our Druid cast thorn on the door so while her wolf homies f’d themselves up trying to break in till our Dragonborn barb smashed his way through the door and basically launched them 20 feet back were they smashed into a wall and died
My fun thing was a warforged monk, he had his shortswords built into his arms and took sun soul for the idea of robo ki blasts, then he died and was reincarnated by a high level druid friend and is now a human
One of my favorite against-type monks is the Scout from Team Fortress 2. If you think about it he can easily fit the role. He's very mobile, he's got the agility for a high-dex build, he's got a good bit of street smarts (wisdom), his baseball bat can be either a club or a quarterstaff for the purposes of monk weapons. His shotgun can be a reflavored version of the Burning hands offered by the Way of the Sun Soul's Searing Arc Strike, and his pistol a reflavored version of the subclass's Radiant Sun Bolt.
Or you can even dip into Matt Mercer's Gunslinger subclass for fighter to get pistols that work off dex and you could easily rule as Kensei weapons.
Human so give him the mobility feat. It's underrated. :)
@@jemm113 I love that the way of the kensei is supposed to be like "I have focused my ki into this honorable weapon" or it can be, so I found this gun and I want it to be my powers and stuff
"I would totally play a dwarven drunken master monk", I already am and she is one of my favorites to roleplay. My DM allowed me to replace "Dwarven combat training" with the "tavern brawler" feat (minus the stat increase) making her play a lot like Jackie Chan with the way she uses everything around her to defend herself. Ladders, benches, tables, glass bottles, quills, torches all weapons in her hands. She recently came across a talking racist dwarf skull (called Carter) tied it to a rope and uses it as an improvised meteor hammer (a Shaolin weapon which is basically a metal ball on the end of a long piece of rope).
She has the "Urban Bounty Hunter" backgound which she uses to get booze money. Her basic backstory is that after she left her monastery due to a tragedy, she turned to alcohol and did something to get her exiled from the stronghold. As she was begging to get money for booze, she got caught up in a tavern brawl and after knocking them out found that one of them had a bounty on his head and spent the lot on booze. Noticing this, the tavern owner struck a deal where he would give her info on bounties for a cut and she can use the rest on as much drink as she can handle.
I imagined the philosphy of the monastery she left as being a clan of dwarves that temper the steel Moradin crafted them from into axes that never dull and shields that never break. Strengthening thier bond with him through medetation, concentrating on their breath, the same kind of breath that Moradin used to cool their casts and give them life. However to those outside the clan there's a popular rumour about the clan founder that he was a failed mercenary that dropped every weapon he tried to use, so he eventually gave up and started punching things.
Also looking forward to getting the "Dwarven Fortitude" feat as that means I can use a hit die when I use a dodge action to heal adding my con mod to the roll, which, as a monk, you can use as the "patient defense" bonus action for the price of a single Ki point. Then maybe the "Durable" feat to boost the healing from the hit dice so the minimum roll you get from the hit dice is double your con modifier (which for me is +3 (although after the con bonuses from Dwarven fortitude and Durable would bring it up to a +4) so healing a minimum roll of 8 on a d8 so minimum 11 healing for a bonus action as well as imposing disadvantage on incoming attacks from patient defense) leading to a surprisingly tanky monk character.
For a proper Jackie Chan homage build, you should also take the Tavern Brawler feat, so you can use any object as an effective weapon.
This is great!
K?
Same, though went with Stout Halfling.
Is your dm allowing you to use improvised weapons as monk weapons as well?
Monk + Paladin = Walker, Texas Ranger.
I mean, he HAS to be pumping Smite into those roundhouse kicks, right?
In the eyes of a ranger
The unsuspecting stranger
Had better know the truth of wrong from right
@@mortisCZ 'Cause the eyes of a ranger are upon you
Any wrong you do, he's gonna see
When you're in Texas, look behind you
'Cause that's where the ranger's gonna be
Underrated monk.
Step 1: take tinker's tools
Step 2: be kensei monk
Step 3: take a pistol or pepper box
Step 4: take crossbow expert
Step 5: be John Wick
John Wick:
Inquisitive Rogue (for Insightful Fighting), Kensei Monk, and a few levels in Battlemaster Fighter.
Tavern brawler feat
For the ultimate pencil
This was fun to watch! I'mm 32 and finally started to play D&D back in February. I went with a Drunken Master Monk, we're lvl4 and I'm loving it so far. He was exiled for a crime he didn't commit, was taken in by a monastery and learned from them, and found out that he's a hell of cook. But he started to drink, and found out as well he fights better while shit faced. He left the monastery because of the people that are hunting him, he doesn't want his fellow Monks mixed up in his past mistakes.
Defensive Duelist is a great feat for a monk, since you're pretty much always are going to be wielding a finesse weapon, and you cant use shields anyway, so that's a great way to get that AC bonus when you need it.
One of my friends calculated the maximum speed for a tabaxi monk at 20th level. I believe it was 360 feet of movement in 1 round which equates to about 41 mph (65.8368 km/h). Keep in mind that this is also with instantaneous acceleration, so this would likely crack the ground from the push off. The way this works is if you use feline agility to double your speed, then take the dash action to move 240 feet. Finally, use your bonus action to spend a ki point and dash with the step of the wind feature.
At level 20 you have 20 ki points or so? So you have 360 feet of movement per 6 seconds, and you can do it for 2 minutes. You can run over a mile in 2 minutes
Get some Boots of Speed and have someone cast Haste.
@@Arkainjel and 2 levels in fighter for actionsurge. have someone cast longstrider as well as it's not concentration
Just started my third character who is my first monk, and I straight away decided to eschew the anime tropes.
Rinn Windborne was a runaway who stowed aboard a ship at 12 and ended up becoming a smuggler. At 18 they were caught and put before the magistrate who gave them to the Cobalt Soul in lieu of hanging. Rinn actually went to university alongside their duties in the archive and earned a degree in modern folklore. Now they spend their time hearing and compiling tavern tales, rumours, and urban legends. This leads them into adventure as they seek to learn how much of these are true.
Rinn is a Water Genasi passing for human, a thoroughly working class person trying to look like they belong in academic circles, and an actual academic who fears a loss of connection with their working-class roots. They are the perennial outsider. Great fun to play!
Great video, but if you guys havent seen "Ip Man" yet, you definitly should, HUGE inspiration for a monk!
Absolutely love the series.
I'm playing a Tortle monk right now and was thinking of trying to do a Hulk build by subclassing a barbarian
Monk+Tortle=Master Oogway.
Best character concept ever
מה קורה אחי
My first ever character was a Dragonborn monk! Super chatty and easy-going normally, shouting out overdramatic move names against unintelligent monsters if the fight wasn't too dangerous a situation. The only time he actually calmed down and acted like a monk was when things got serious. Or when facing an evil dragon-related creature, who I decided I'd have him loathe. Honestly I made him a monk so I could have a dragonman run around punching monsters in the face, and I made that his goal as well, though more nuanced. Really fun character to play...
I've never been interested in playing a monk before I watched this video. Tonight I'm going to play my first ever monk character, thanks for the awesome content guys. :)
I created a monk inspired by the Pokémon: Hitmolee. He only uses his feet to attack and he was trained in the arts of capoeira so you get somewhat of an image of how he moves
you forgot kung fu panda i thought about making master uguay once
Letholdus my whole party are different types of tortle monks. Master oogway and the teenage mutant ninja turtles
I'd personally go for Tigress or Tai Lung
Favorite Ninja Turtle was always Donatello, love me someone who fights with a quarterstaff, easy to learn but hard to master. I think Beast from the X-Men is a Monk and obviously Iron Fist.
I've started playing a dual wielding axe throwing goblin monk....I'm loving it 😆
Just straight up, Oh you think my punches can't reach you? taste axe
I am old enough to have been there for the original Karate Kid, and while Ralph Macchio's character was a major wanker, Mister Miyagi was the coolest, most memorable teaching monk I have ever seen. Wax on! Wax off!
Saw it the theater too!
I made a Variant Human Monk. Any archetype can work, but I went with Shadow.
Their deal: Kick things till they stop moving. Then chop 'em up for ingredients and cook a meal for the party. He's inspired by Sanji, of One Piece fame. Not the typical Monk, but it works.
Feat for V.Human: Magic Iniate - Wizard. Prestidigitation (For cleaning his clothes and cookwear), Mage Hand (Help with cooking, and staying groomed). And as the spell: Tenser's Floating Disc.
Because any chef worth their salt isn't going to let something silly like no proper table get in the way of them prepping their ingredients for cooking!
I don't expect to play this character anytime soon, but it's going to be insanely fun if and when I do get to break this one out for a party to run with.
Another great video, Check out “The Forbidden Kingdom” for monk examples. Jackie Chan and Jet Li each play a different kind of monk. There are several other characters/types of monks in the movie.
My current character is a wood elf kensei. Her weapons are the longbow, longsword, and whip, giving her great versatility in combat. She can tango in melee, hit hard at range, and do spring attacks with her whip. I'll be taking Sharpshooter at 12th level to really focus on her ranged potential. I've been absolutely loving this character! :)
Wood Elf Kensai who multi-classes to Gloomstalker at 9-12. Just saying...
I had an idea for a shadow monk warlock multi class which could be pretty fun. It's just two levels of warlock, but it grants you the devil's sight invocation, so now you can see clearly in magical darkness, so you can focus on you darkness spell, and suddenly you have advantage on all your attacks and enemies have disadvantage on attacks against you. In my opinion there is also a pretty darn good way to roleplay it to. I'm thinking you have a monk order dedicated to a devil, maybe asmodeus, or just gains their insight and knowledge of the shadows from a fiend, and then you could pretty much pick this stuff up at will.
Also, if you want to double down on the ridiculous movement, tabaxi monks are great. Nothing can escape them.
If u get 1 level more in Monk u would have 2 more darkneses and the pact of the Chain/tome/blade
@@Korow- I think you mean Warlock. But the Shadow Monk casts darkness using 2 ki points.
@@liammitchell2225 You have just described one of my AL characters, Madyrn Tyl (which is Elven for Shadow Monk), a Wood Elf Shadow Monk 6, Warlock 2. I routinely use the Darkness/Devil Sight combo.
@@patricklyons794 because that's the single most broken combo in 5e
I’m currently playing a Way of Mercy monk with a Kenku. It is such a fun race and class to play, being a mischievous or enigmatic wild card who mimics NPC’s to emphasize points of interest or clues to the story, and often using callbacks to great comedic effect. It forces me to be creative in role playing when I can’t say my own words, so I rely on body language and sound effects or other character voices to allude and emote.
Wuxia is a massive inspiration to D&D monks that not everyone knows too much about and Don't Stop Thinking has a great video on it.
I've got two monks on my back burner in case of character death: a fighter (mercenary/soldier) who lost an arm in battle to save someone's life, then gave up the violent way of the sword to settle down and find peace; and a shadow monk/rogue multiclass who works as an assassin to keep his family fed back home.
I love to pull inspiration from the old black and white samurai flicks, like Seven Samurai and Throne of Blood.
Also, Michelangelo is clearly the best!
I am currently playing a Dragonborn drunken master. It’s so much fun.
Dudes, I was just thinking about the Kensei, and reread the entire entry.
I found that the Kensei can be really frickin' deadly. 1) You get your choice of two martial weapons that are monk weapons for you (one must be ranged); 2) Martial Arts says you can roll a d4 (greater at higher levels) in place of unarmed strike or Monk Weapon damage; 3) Choosing a Blowgun (normally 1 dmg) as one of your weapons becomes 1d4+dex... at 17th level it becomes 1d10+dex; 4) Deft Strike (gained at 6th level), spend 1 Ki to deal extra damage equal to your Martial Arts die. At 17th level your damage could be 1d10+dex+1d10.
This is all without considering critical hits. Crit with the blowgun at this stage would be effectively 4d10+dex (4-40+dex damage... average 20 points +dex of damage from a blowgun needle) Concealed weapon (flute), so you could gain surprise for advantage. If you built it on a Half-Elf, you could take the racial feat Elven Accuracy, which essentially gives you "Trivantage" (roll 3 d20's and take the highest). With that, crits would be more likely to occur.
You could do the same with a whip for your melee weapon of choice. I like the description of the Blacksnake Whip, which is also easily concealable as a sort of monk belt, so you might never be unarmed and it has reach.
What are your thoughts on this?
You are the ultimate minmaxer
You can go kensei, with some levels in barbarian: take V.human, for more feats or half elf for elven accuracy; pick great weapon FS , GWM, and polearm master; pick either glaive or spear( versitile weapon). With the kensei , you will be able to use your weapon as a monk weapon, if you pick the glaive, you will have a d10 right of the bat, plus your dex mod. With the spear, as a an half elf, being a versitile weapon , you can roll more times; and You have rage, if you get reckless attack, or pick Zealot, you will get tons of damage. If you stun the enemy, you go full on rage, reckless attack, 4d10+mods(RA,GWM,FofB) . You will have some amaizing damage outburst at lower level, can have only a little dip in berserker, go all the way kensei or even get other dip maybe in fighter Battle Master, or even paladin Oath of revenge for some smite.
And then You have a battle monk in a journey of reavenge or a monk that wants to be the strongest fighter of all time, and is in a journey of training, polishing his/her skills. What do you guys think?
@@GustavoMartins-hg9wl naw id rather cut an enemy in half with a single needle. More fun that way. Demoralising too.
Gustavo Martins You should be able to, and I'd allow it at my table, but Kensei monk can't take two-handed weapons as Kensei weapons.
@@dascientist8443 Improved Kensei Weapon says you can
Frankly I think the Second Edition Kensei was an amazing thing that I’m glad to see return in some form back into 5e.
Thanks for the video guys, I'm about to play my first session ever with the Monk class and you gave me inspiration on how I'll enjoy this! :)
Let us know how it goes! I (Kelly) have really enjoyed playing my monk, taking inspiration from a number of hand to hand style comic book heroes.
I am knew to playing.. about a year and always in lockdown from home. I was finding it difficult to get to grips with rules and classes on my own but you guys have helped so much and given me the confidence to make better characters! Thank you!
I'm planning on playing a monk in our next campaign. This was really helpful! Thanks!
Combining Way of the Shadow Monk with a couple levels of Warlock to get the Devil's Sight Invocation makes for a brutal combination that can teleport around in their own darkness field and completely wreck opponents.
Or just take eldritch adept to take devils sight
@@wesleygoerzen-sheard5706 now, yes. But my original comment was from 2 years ago before Tasha's came out.
I know monk is the main unarmed combat class, but I've always wanted more when it came to an unarmed combatant. The agility was nice, don't get me wrong, but what I've always wanted, but haven't had much luck creating is more of a brawler, who rather than hit quick, they hit hard. I've wanted a class or even subclass based around improvised weapons and powerful hits. Someone who could bring a chair to battle and still come out alive.
Sounds like a barb with the tavern brawler feat.
You want John wick
You want a fighter with unarmed style tavern brawler. Go rune knight. Get big, punch, grapple BA, action surge, push, now use them as an improvised weapon against their friends.
The pugilist homebrew is literally what you're looking for. Extremely well made and balanced.
im so glad you make these kind of vidoes...
it helps so much since im new to the game!
My favourite TMNT turtle is definetly Michaelangelo he is a party dude and loves pizza and im all about that life.
joeofdoom Raphael duuuude!🤙
I always liked him too. Guess he was a role model too because I basically became him later in life.
Monk inspiration movie, gotta be Forbidden Kingdom with Jet Li and Jackie Chan. There's an awesome variety of monk archtypes to be inspired by.
As a monk player, I had been waiting for this! Can't wait to watch it!
...and right on time: my character is getting to level 3 tomorrow!
Great analysis as always. It's a pity monk gets some very weak abilities at high levels (lv13 Tongue of Sun and Moon, lv15 Timeless Body... Both useful, but low level spells can have a party overcome those problems easily). I also feel the way of the four elements is underwhelming, and I'd suggest you look into the Remastered version, a fan made more balanced one. Personally I'll go for the way of the long death, it seems fun.
(Btw yeah, you can't use Quivering Palm without looking at your enemy dead in the eye and saying "Omae wa mou shinderu")
You guys got me pumped to play my Sun Soul monk. Thanks!
Congrats on a great video guys! I’m about to start my second campaign and I’m playing a Tabaxi Outlander Monk, as a life long martial arts fan I’ve never been more excited to start a character
You guys are amazing thank you for these gems
Aarakocra Monk, since movement speed bonus from monk affects fly speed, and you have the ability to switch between bludgeoning or piercing damage with unarmed strikes
I’ve been anticipating this episode!!! Thanks guys!
Not really a monk but Johnny Lawrence is my guy😬
I always recommend you site to all newbies. There is nothing better than your videos to learn everything D & D
"Be formless, shapeless..."
*My CZcams videos resolution goes to 144p*
Me: "That was *NOT* what he meant!"
nice
This is great, I can't wait for the warlock video, it's my favorite class
I love how you guys are so good at making each class sound amazing. I never considered the Monk before but I'm totally making one for my next compaign now!
I have never played one but they can get pretty bananas with the number of attacks per turn...I thinknthey have the most? Maybe warrior edges them out once they get their 5th attack in their high teens? But, iirc our dm allowed the monk to use his action for attack, furious blows so 2 more attacks then bonus action for another attack and that was at level...3? So each time their turn came around if they were in range of an enemy there were about at minimum 4 attacks coming that creatures way.
Edit: I asked my friend and this was the answer; monk had a magical item that at less than 50% health got an additional bonus action so at level 5 he had two attacks and, if below 50% health could furry of blows twice meaning a level 5 monk had 6d6 + dex single turn...essentially nuking whatever they were aiming at. Granted they burned basically 50% of their ki doing this but God forbid they were at full ki and the enemy lived through the first onslaught.
2 levels of Rogue; Cunning Action and Sneak Attack, leaving Ki points for Flurry of Blows and add a d6 of damage in your attacks at an early stage is awesome
The main reason to play a Kensei Monk is the +2 AC when wielding their kensei weapon, apart for the access to martial weapons.
Zatoichi would be my favourite film monk, I think.
I'm loving the Bruce Lee references in the beginning.
Thank you so much for this guide! Been looking forward to it!
I recently found your videos and I’ve been watching a bunch of them. You inspired me to create a Tortle Monk (Way of the Kensei) for an upcoming campaign a friend of mine is running. Using the DM’s Guild Adept book “Xanathar’s Lost Notes to Everything Else,” I took the Legendary Lineage background for Pozzo, who is the son of Michelangelo. It’s going to be a fun time. Thanks for the inspiration.
I ran a variant human for a monk. I ended up taking tough as a feat.
Way of the Long Death has one fantastic ability. At level 11 (I think - I'm away from my books right now) when reduced to 0 HP they can spend 1 Ki (*without* using an action) to instead be at 1HP. This can even prevent death from massive damage.
And I can't believe you didn't mention that the Way of the Sunsoul has a Spirit Bomb. A damage dice count-selectable Fireball with a CON save (at 0 Ki cost if your only want 2d6 to clear out wimps). Sure CON saves are generally high, but if you gotta clear out some Rogues *this* is the go to!
I love this for my dwarf tanking
My buddy is playing a Monk in our newest campaign. He's usually the headstrong fighter type and now he's playing his monk as wise and soft spoken. I know it's the "basic bland" monk, however he leans so far into it we all love it. Sometimes it works for a table, especially when it plays against the player's norm.
Great Video as always! Keep it Up!
I combined the monks martial arts with dragonhide claws. So I thought directly of Wolverine but also for some reason of Russia so now I'm playing IVAN the Russian, wolverine-esque dragonborn
Ivan the Honeybadger Dragonborn?
I'm currently playing a tortle monk. Livin' the dream!
Shadow style of course.. Ninja Tortle. :p
Really enjoyed this video guys. Regarding martial arts movies, I would say "The Five Deadly Venoms."
I just made my first monk character for a new campaign! I built them as an owlin monk with a homebrew class of spirit bond. This is definitely very helpful with figuring out how to play them and role-playing them. Thank you!!
Try Tabaxi monk with their speed boost, climbing speed. I love it
Omae wa
mou shindeirou
--quivering palm user
THE HONEY BADGER Goes for the balls Nani?!?
If an enemy is immune to necrotic damage, would this technique fail?
@@HuskerHornet3145 I would say half no half yes. If it fails the saving throw, it technically wouldn't be damaged. Just reduced to 0 HP. However if it succeeds it would be immune to the necrotic
hakai
two levels of Wizard with the rest in Monk. Divination Specialization. Portent with a 1 or so.
Tag an enemy with Quivering Palm. Say that they rolled the one. Ded.
Great video guys! About to start a one man campaign for our podcast running a monk (I hear that I may have a goblin NPC sidekick? weird...) and this was a great guide of things to consider! Glad I came across your channel! I have for years wanted to play a monk and have never gotten the opportunity, so super excited to dive in!
Outstanding! Learned a lot form this video. Thanks guys!
Tabaxi monk.. purely for speed bonus
Love the videos, would love some reviews on the Matt Mercer home brew classes
watched the first 10 seconds and I already love it!
Just got 5th edition and created a monk. Loved your video. Even through its 2 years ago I hope you read this. I am a dragonborn monk, my background is I was found as a child by the monastery and raised by the monks. At the age of 15, adulthood, he sets out(1st lvl) to find who he is. The build is awesome which is why I was surprised you never talked about dragonborn in your video.
Pearl from Steven Universe is very much a monk to me.
Sentinel feat work well also.
Don't forget Mage Slayer either. Stunning strike against a caster in devastating since Stunned means Incapacitated. It is the fastest way to make an invulnerable 20th level mage into a punching bag.
Loved this. I'm playing a 6th level Monk right now in my game, and it's been tons of fun. He's an orphaned human who was taken in by a monk temple/farm run by Halflings. So, he's a bit of a bumpkin and way too sincere, but also a spirited fighter. He also took a level in Cleric and recently became a Werebear, so things have become...interesting.
Very much looking forward to hopefully seeing a video on the Way of Mercy subclass soon!!!!
Long Death is pretty annoying for any DM to fight for one reason.
A level 20 Half-Orc monk of the Long Death can, through just Relentless Endurance, Ki Points and no dumb luck at all, resist dropping to 0 hit points around 20-25 times PER DAY.
Great Bruce Lee quote!
So glad you mentioned The Bride from Kill Bill. That's exactly what I was thinking of when I decided to try out a monk. I think, at east for backstory, Wolverine is a good example. Most people think of him as a barbarian but he has a monk like background and essentially fights hand to hand.
I'm toying with a multi-class assassin build. Currently I have it as a Tabaxi 11 Shadow Monk/ 3 Ranger (Gloom Stalker)/ 3 Warlock (Pact of the Chain)/ 3 Rogue (Assassin). I have an invisible Imp to help with scouting and reconnaissance. Mad abilities from the Gloom Stalker and Assassin for the first round kill. The ability to cast darkness in 2 different ways and to always see through it. Shadow teleportation, and all the other monk goodies
I know it is only slightly related but I have been seeing so many people take such a bad review of Volo's Kobold player race and it baffles me. The sunlight sensitivity seems to be this huge "red flag" to people and often called out as the biggest reason why they're so "bad". I don't think people understand the interaction between having both advantage and disadvantage at the same time in 5e. With Pack Tactics giving advantage any time an concise ally is within 5 feet totally negates the Sunlight Sensitivity and turns it into a regular roll.
Also, I think people get hung up on Direct Sunlight and assume anything during the day is direct sunlight and that is far from true. Any forest, jungle, tall grass you can slink into, any building/ruin/castle are all in indirect light. The sheer amount of attacks you get at advantage is insane which ends up giving you so many more natural 20s.
The other thing that is often lamented is the Grovel, Cower, and Beg to grant advantage to your companions. So many people see this as unheroic and undignified (which I argue fits perfectly) but is so easily reflavored as something else visually that I don't understand why it is a hangup. Call it "Distracting Cry" if you want and RP it as him screeching in rage so loudly it hurts the ears of the enemy and draws their attention letting your party get advantage.
I bring it up because a kobold monk or rogue is such an amazing combo that I think people are missing out on. Kobolds are my one of my favorite races of all time and I don't think nearly as many people realize their potential as should. They're missing out on a mechanically brilliant race with treasure troves of RP. I'd love to see you guys do a video on how amazing they are.
Lastly, cheers on yet another fantastic video and keep up the good work.
I’m actually going to be playing a Kobold Monk soon, and I can agree, Pack Tactics is very helpful. From the onset, it negates the Sunlight Sensitivity (which, as you said, isn’t “I’m in sun, I have disadvantage” and more “there’s nothing blocking the sun, so it’s getting all up in my eyes”), but when that’s not active, more d20s, so more chance of crits. And, in terms of the other feature... it can be viewed as a taunt. If you give up, either everyone is going to gang up and kill you, or they’re going to ignore you. You gain their attention either way to give allies advantage, and there is potential to actually roleplay a Grovel/Cower/Beg to extend its effects (I’d certainly allow you to keep the ruse going if you roleplay it to be believable (like pleading with your allies to stop attacking; making an offering, then changing your mind to make a different offering as you beg; offering yourself as a minion to the enemy, but being extremely hesitant to actually fight your allies, forcing the enemy to stop focusing on your allies to either reprimand you or to coax you into attacking them; etc.)). There’s also the fact that your Strength detriment doesn’t matter much when your Martial Arts allows Monk weapons to use your Dexterity, even when not normally able to (my Kobold, thanks to a lucky roll, has a 19 in Dex at Lv. 1)
However, it’s also fun to reason why your character went the monastic tradition. As a Kobold, you might expect Way of Shadows, since they’re cave-dwellers. I chose Sun Soul, since he has lived on the plains all his life, and with inspiration from deep-sea creatures with bioluminescence (they shed light to prevent other predators from seeing their shadows, since you have no shadow if you are the source of light and are surrounded by darkness) when it comes to the 17th-level feature, and RADIANT HADOUKENS.
Overall, he’s an entire 2 feet of whoop-ass and will be loads of fun to play, even aside all the “problems” Kobolds have. And who says the DM can’t just make a quest for sunglasses to nullify the Sun Sensitivity if it’s that much a problem?
The other problem they have is the -2str. So they only see negatives not understanding the interplay and forgetting that many builds do not require strength.
I have a 4 Elements kobold monk on hold. People want to way overspend on ki with his way but they do that with normal monks as well.
Awesome video game guys. Donnie Yen is the greatest monk be it Ip Man or Chirrut in rouge one. Keep up the great work I send all new players over to you guy.
Have come back to this video after finishing current campaign (playing a sorcerer, shadow magic goblin multi into rogue) re watched a few videos of yours and have gone with monk. (after awesome video again guys) my inspiration is 2005 jet li film- Unleashed, never knowing anything but violence and trained only to fight, like a savage beast, orphan backstory raised by criminals in underground fighting rings. 'rescued' by the party and now is learning back her humanity. I have gone with kensei as growing up only fighting story wise made sense turning everything into a weapon. Thought I would let you guys know you inspired me again. Cheers
Lightfoot halfing is my first character and I love it, just zooming around cracking heads.