Good Monk Race? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Good Monk Race? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Peregrine_Wolf
05-03-07, 04:45 PM I was wanting to play a Rogue 3/ Monk --- and I was wondering what race you gusy think would be good to play as.

My current thought is to be halfling fro teh dex bonus and substitution levels in Races of the Wild. I like playing as high Dex characters anyways.

I would prefer little to no LA and something that's in Races of the Wild, PHB 3.0, MM 3, or Complete Adventurer because those are the books I own. I do have limited access to almost every other books in 3.5 adn a few earlier edition things.
Jaxgaret
05-03-07, 04:53 PM For a Rogue/Monk with a Dex bonus, I would recommend the Wood Elf. It's one of the better LA +0 Monk races.

A Halfling Monk would be pretty lacking on melee damage output due to the Str penalty and small size, so I would suggest you focus on throwing weapons if you go that route.
Regular_K
05-03-07, 04:57 PM Half Orc monk would work. Bonus to strength, and no penalty to Dex or anything worth using for a monk.
Peregrine_Wolf
05-03-07, 04:59 PM What book are Wild Elves in?
Jaxgaret
05-03-07, 05:08 PM What book are Wild Elves in?

Wild Elves and Wood Elves can be found in the Monster Manual. Or here: Wood Elf (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/elf.htm#woodElf) and Wild Elf (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/elf.htm#wildElf).
TacoClone
05-03-07, 05:18 PM A dwarf is also good, and CHA isn't very important to a monk, and CON is also important. It might sound odd, but it'd work well.
Krusk
05-03-07, 05:32 PM Im a fan of half-ogre or goliath monks. Large size and str increases increase your damage and hit ratio by a good bit. Plus half ogre gets reach.

Apparently unicorns make good monks... but then you have to play a unicorn.

As for LA 0 monk races, i would suggets half-orc, human, or dwarf.

half orc for the str boost, human for the feat, and dwarf for the HP increase.
Eshenaleros
05-03-07, 05:48 PM i think a raptoran would make a good monk, simply because you need to be able to get out of there when the S*** hits the fan. besides, if you take the abilities of a monk for a raptoran you could probably make one awsome killer. they fight in three dimensions!
Yoshikata
05-03-07, 05:57 PM Human is a great race this multiclass combo. Extra skill points for the Rogue bit also skill points arn't bad for Monks either. The extra feat is just good whatever class you are. I would say Half Orc and Wood Elf but the minus to intelligence from either race hurts if you're planning on using skill points or any of those Rogue skills and the minus con hurts any class.
nytemare3701
05-03-07, 08:05 PM A few things worth pointing out...

Edit: I meant that you can't LEAVE monk, since you can't ever go back

Lesser aasimar have a bonus to wis, among other things (LA +0)
Nat_20
05-03-07, 08:30 PM the wild elf is a good call, good dex and no con penalty, with one less skill per level, i say its a good call, and good role play options, wild elf as a highly disciplined class, chaotic race and lawful class...
The Ubbergeek
05-03-07, 08:36 PM Githzerai! But they may have a LA.
bobothechimp
05-03-07, 08:56 PM In my opinion, for monks, bigger is better. You get better grapple, trip, and disarm checks. You get longer reach, more speed, and more damage.
Jaxgaret
05-03-07, 10:42 PM In my opinion, for monks, bigger is better. You get better grapple, trip, and disarm checks. You get longer reach, more speed, and more damage.

Agreed. If you're willing to take the LA hit, a Large race like the Half-Ogre is excellent for a Monk.

However, most Large races have a Dex penalty, which the OP explicitly stated was unwanted for his character.
Nathreet
05-03-07, 11:12 PM Um... won't he face multi-classing penalties if he plays most anything except a human, half-elf or halfling??

You're probably stuck with human or a rogue favoring monster.
Jaxgaret
05-03-07, 11:44 PM Um... won't he face multi-classing penalties if he plays most anything except a human, half-elf or halfling??

You're probably stuck with human or a rogue favoring monster.

PrCs, my friend.

Rogue3/Monk4/MonkPrCs works just fine. Master of the South Wind or Monk of the Long Death come to mind.
Nathreet
05-03-07, 11:50 PM PrCs, my friend.

Rogue3/Monk4/MonkPrCs works just fine. Master of the South Wind or Monk of the Long Death come to mind.

Ohhh....
But don't you still face penalties during the 1st level of monk?
Jaxgaret
05-03-07, 11:55 PM Ohhh....
But don't you still face penalties during the 1st level of monk?

Yep. But that's going to happen regardless of my suggestion :)
snakebliskan
05-04-07, 12:38 AM half minotaur is in my opion one of the best monks at only a LA +1. They get reach, str bonus, con, and wis bonuses also I think!
Ogg
05-04-07, 10:00 AM Actually small monks are not bad if you're not making a grappler. I made a halfling monk/paladin that was pretty kicking. "Furry feat of fury!"
You're damage dice are lowered one but you're +1 to hit & +1 AC, which comps for 1 point into power attack nicely, while with a large race you're taking a -1 to hit & -1 to AC. If you're going with a leap attack build it actually comes out a bit better (although leap attack monks miss out on the 2 hander multiple:weep: )

But yeah large races make nice trip & grapple builds. I was just thinking of coming up with a different race for a monk build I'm working on I've been thinking of Bladling, I think they're in MM2 not 3 though. +1 ECL but darkvision, natural AC +4, acid immunity, fire resistance, DR: +1/5. Not a bad little race. Plus they have a few other perks.
JarionSilverblades
05-04-07, 10:04 AM Halflings. Here's why.
Positive: The Halfling’s favored class is Rogue, that means you don’t have to worry about XP penalties, With their +2 Dex and Small size, they already get a +2 to AC, halflings gain a +1 with thrown weapons and slings, which covers some of the monk's weapons ( dagger, javelin, sai, shuriken, and sling) this is increased to +2 because of the +1 attack bonus from the halflings size. As for the halfling's speed of 20ft, the monk's speed bonus takes care of that by level 3.

Negative: The only real disadvantage is the halfling's small size, it means they deal less damage with weapons and unarmed strike, but this can be countered by the Sneak Attack Damage bonus, and they are weak grapplers. :twocents:
Zylo_Drizzt
05-04-07, 12:14 PM Why be a monk when you can be a ninja/monk
;)

oh and be a githzerai.

go dragon descended in the dragon magic book

githzerai are in the xph
The Ubbergeek
05-04-07, 12:28 PM Githzerais and Githyankis have a LA note, one or two, so take that in consequence. But they are uberflavourfull. :)
radkins
05-04-07, 01:36 PM if youre already thinking bout a small monk, i'd go with the whisper gnome over the halfling. its +2 dex +2 con -2str -2 cha. It also has dark vision and favored class of rogue. but, it doesnt have the substitution levles, like a halfling. its in races of stone or it can be found on the d&d site in full if you search google.
Peregrine_Wolf
05-04-07, 03:24 PM I posted the 4 books I own. Anything not in thsoe books I only have access to on saturdays when I go play with a bunch of people.

Thank you guys for all the good info. though. I'm trying to go for a sneak attack kinda thing, get up in the initiative then jump in and blow the snot outta stuff with sneak attack. I might trip guys just to help other players with the AOO's, but chances are my guy will be moving around a bit much to sit there adn AOO them.

Also, does anyone know if sneak attack applies to all 3 shurikens when you use them? If so then that means that if you go halfling, you can throw 3 shurikens per turn at 1D2+11D6 damage each.....3D2+33D6 if all 3 hit...
wolf_man007
05-07-07, 09:02 AM Svirfneblin for life!
The_Shaman
05-07-07, 09:10 AM I guess I would vote for a wood elf, under the circumstances. A Wood elf ranger/monk with ascetic hunter (CAdv) is a good start for nearly anything, and there are a few useful PrCs if you want something a little fancier (i.e. to boost your flurry, get some spell-likes, more feats, etc). If a friend offers you the Draconomicon, the draconic template is very good here - as for most martial characters, really. Consider using the elven ranger substitute ability (hello, nice FE bonus and good starting skill points) and focusing on ranger levels (you won't need too many monk levels imo, and the BAB loss is significant - 3 or 4 monk levels are probably enough, although you can opt for more if you want better flurry etc).

If you're willing to use more books, Manual of the Planes has the buomman, a +wis race with monk as their favored class. However, you can only sing or hum, so your conversations with other PCs might be a bit weird. Mind you, for a monk, this can be quite interesting - and in a world of sword-swinging and magic chanting, going unarmored, basically unarmed, and beating people with nothing but "Hii-yah" as your war cry is bound to be a little weird anyway.

Still, I would support the githzerai, although they have a poor start (+2 LA, see if you can get a buy-out from the DM). However, their beefy dexterity bonus, wisdom bonus, and a good selection of psi-likes (the psionic version of mage armor, magic missile, feather fall, and daze+) can be quite nifty for a monk or rogue/monk. Essentially, the stat bonuses and inertial armor mean that a githzerai monk will have an AC of 8+that of an equivalent human monk, even if the gith trails in terms of HP and skills (if not attack bonus, as the high dexterity means weapon finesse equalizes your attack bonus with the LA 0 races). The MoP version has a full-time inertial armor of +4, while the XPH has a psi-like power (auto-augmentable) three times per day - which means that a rogue 3/monk 1 will have it for 6 hours per day in total. Pick your poison, as they say - I prefer the XPH one, as eventually the augmentation means higher AC bonus. Still, it might be a good idea to go for psionic fist or another PrC soon. Most XPH material is in the psionic section of the SRD anyway, so you won't have to look too much. Unfortunately, Githzerai and Githyanki are not SRD, so you may need the book after all.

Oh, and if you use psionics (way more monk-ish than arcane or divine magic imo), consider the Grip of Iron power for any grappling build. The scaling isn't very good, but the base cost is still quite achievable.
kelvinaw273
05-07-07, 09:57 AM You will want the feat Ascetic Rogue (to allow freemulticlassing), then as for race is concerned, Elf, human or Kalashtar would be my favourite options.
DwarfPcfan
05-07-07, 11:01 AM For a killer monk dwarf works great: Constitution helps you saty in the fight, combat bonuses are always useful (especially save bonuses), also nothing that as a favored class fighter, it works great with the monk training feat to allow free multiclass.

Fighter4/monk4/psychic warrior2/Zerth Cenobyte 10

Make Neo look like a quadraplegic old man...
RandomCharacter
05-07-07, 01:00 PM You could go with a half-gaint the have the sixe mod. of a large creature without the draw backs and this could help with the grapples and unarmed strikes.
Peregrine_Wolf
05-07-07, 04:12 PM TY everyone. I think I'll just stick with halfling, or maybe wild elf because that looks good too. Also, if I can get a hold of it, I'll take a look at the bouman? from the Manual of the Planes. That sounds pretty interesting.
snakeman830
05-08-07, 08:40 AM A few things worth pointing out...

Edit: I meant that you can't LEAVE monk, since you can't ever go back

Lesser aasimar have a bonus to wis, among other things (LA +0)

Asetic Rouge feat from Complete Adventurer. Lets you multi-class freely between monk and rouge. Plus, it lets your monk and rouge levels stack for determining SA and a few monk abilities (I believe unarmed, speed, and AC boost, but I could be wrong).

Oh yeah. I'd suggest Catfolk from Races of the Wild. The dex bonus is helpful and they get access to Catfolk Pounce (flurry on a charge!) You'd just have to keep your monk and rouge levels within one level of each other. With the feat I already mentioned, this isn't difficult.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Peregrine_Wolf 05-03-07, 04:45 PM	I was wanting to play a Rogue 3/ Monk --- and I was wondering what race you gusy think would be good to play as. My current thought is to be halfling fro teh dex bonus and substitution levels in Races of the Wild. I like playing as high Dex characters anyways. I would prefer little to no LA and something that's in Races of the Wild, PHB 3.0, MM 3, or Complete Adventurer because those are the books I own. I do have limited access to almost every other books in 3.5 adn a few earlier edition things.
Jaxgaret 05-03-07, 04:53 PM	For a Rogue/Monk with a Dex bonus, I would recommend the Wood Elf. It's one of the better LA +0 Monk races. A Halfling Monk would be pretty lacking on melee damage output due to the Str penalty and small size, so I would suggest you focus on throwing weapons if you go that route.
Regular_K 05-03-07, 04:57 PM	Half Orc monk would work. Bonus to strength, and no penalty to Dex or anything worth using for a monk.
Peregrine_Wolf 05-03-07, 04:59 PM	What book are Wild Elves in?
Jaxgaret 05-03-07, 05:08 PM	What book are Wild Elves in? Wild Elves and Wood Elves can be found in the Monster Manual. Or here: Wood Elf (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/elf.htm#woodElf) and Wild Elf (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/elf.htm#wildElf).
TacoClone 05-03-07, 05:18 PM	A dwarf is also good, and CHA isn't very important to a monk, and CON is also important. It might sound odd, but it'd work well.
Krusk 05-03-07, 05:32 PM	Im a fan of half-ogre or goliath monks. Large size and str increases increase your damage and hit ratio by a good bit. Plus half ogre gets reach. Apparently unicorns make good monks... but then you have to play a unicorn. As for LA 0 monk races, i would suggets half-orc, human, or dwarf. half orc for the str boost, human for the feat, and dwarf for the HP increase.
Eshenaleros 05-03-07, 05:48 PM	i think a raptoran would make a good monk, simply because you need to be able to get out of there when the S*** hits the fan. besides, if you take the abilities of a monk for a raptoran you could probably make one awsome killer. they fight in three dimensions!
Yoshikata 05-03-07, 05:57 PM	Human is a great race this multiclass combo. Extra skill points for the Rogue bit also skill points arn't bad for Monks either. The extra feat is just good whatever class you are. I would say Half Orc and Wood Elf but the minus to intelligence from either race hurts if you're planning on using skill points or any of those Rogue skills and the minus con hurts any class.
nytemare3701 05-03-07, 08:05 PM	A few things worth pointing out... Edit: I meant that you can't LEAVE monk, since you can't ever go back Lesser aasimar have a bonus to wis, among other things (LA +0)
Nat_20 05-03-07, 08:30 PM	the wild elf is a good call, good dex and no con penalty, with one less skill per level, i say its a good call, and good role play options, wild elf as a highly disciplined class, chaotic race and lawful class...
The Ubbergeek 05-03-07, 08:36 PM	Githzerai! But they may have a LA.
bobothechimp 05-03-07, 08:56 PM	In my opinion, for monks, bigger is better. You get better grapple, trip, and disarm checks. You get longer reach, more speed, and more damage.
Jaxgaret 05-03-07, 10:42 PM	In my opinion, for monks, bigger is better. You get better grapple, trip, and disarm checks. You get longer reach, more speed, and more damage. Agreed. If you're willing to take the LA hit, a Large race like the Half-Ogre is excellent for a Monk. However, most Large races have a Dex penalty, which the OP explicitly stated was unwanted for his character.
Nathreet 05-03-07, 11:12 PM	Um... won't he face multi-classing penalties if he plays most anything except a human, half-elf or halfling?? You're probably stuck with human or a rogue favoring monster.
Jaxgaret 05-03-07, 11:44 PM	Um... won't he face multi-classing penalties if he plays most anything except a human, half-elf or halfling?? You're probably stuck with human or a rogue favoring monster. PrCs, my friend. Rogue3/Monk4/MonkPrCs works just fine. Master of the South Wind or Monk of the Long Death come to mind.
Nathreet 05-03-07, 11:50 PM	PrCs, my friend. Rogue3/Monk4/MonkPrCs works just fine. Master of the South Wind or Monk of the Long Death come to mind. Ohhh.... But don't you still face penalties during the 1st level of monk?
Jaxgaret 05-03-07, 11:55 PM	Ohhh.... But don't you still face penalties during the 1st level of monk? Yep. But that's going to happen regardless of my suggestion :)
snakebliskan 05-04-07, 12:38 AM	half minotaur is in my opion one of the best monks at only a LA +1. They get reach, str bonus, con, and wis bonuses also I think!
Ogg 05-04-07, 10:00 AM	Actually small monks are not bad if you're not making a grappler. I made a halfling monk/paladin that was pretty kicking. "Furry feat of fury!" You're damage dice are lowered one but you're +1 to hit & +1 AC, which comps for 1 point into power attack nicely, while with a large race you're taking a -1 to hit & -1 to AC. If you're going with a leap attack build it actually comes out a bit better (although leap attack monks miss out on the 2 hander multiple:weep: ) But yeah large races make nice trip & grapple builds. I was just thinking of coming up with a different race for a monk build I'm working on I've been thinking of Bladling, I think they're in MM2 not 3 though. +1 ECL but darkvision, natural AC +4, acid immunity, fire resistance, DR: +1/5. Not a bad little race. Plus they have a few other perks.
JarionSilverblades 05-04-07, 10:04 AM	Halflings. Here's why. Positive: The Halfling’s favored class is Rogue, that means you don’t have to worry about XP penalties, With their +2 Dex and Small size, they already get a +2 to AC, halflings gain a +1 with thrown weapons and slings, which covers some of the monk's weapons ( dagger, javelin, sai, shuriken, and sling) this is increased to +2 because of the +1 attack bonus from the halflings size. As for the halfling's speed of 20ft, the monk's speed bonus takes care of that by level 3. Negative: The only real disadvantage is the halfling's small size, it means they deal less damage with weapons and unarmed strike, but this can be countered by the Sneak Attack Damage bonus, and they are weak grapplers. :twocents:
Zylo_Drizzt 05-04-07, 12:14 PM	Why be a monk when you can be a ninja/monk ;) oh and be a githzerai. go dragon descended in the dragon magic book githzerai are in the xph
The Ubbergeek 05-04-07, 12:28 PM	Githzerais and Githyankis have a LA note, one or two, so take that in consequence. But they are uberflavourfull. :)
radkins 05-04-07, 01:36 PM	if youre already thinking bout a small monk, i'd go with the whisper gnome over the halfling. its +2 dex +2 con -2str -2 cha. It also has dark vision and favored class of rogue. but, it doesnt have the substitution levles, like a halfling. its in races of stone or it can be found on the d&d site in full if you search google.
Peregrine_Wolf 05-04-07, 03:24 PM	I posted the 4 books I own. Anything not in thsoe books I only have access to on saturdays when I go play with a bunch of people. Thank you guys for all the good info. though. I'm trying to go for a sneak attack kinda thing, get up in the initiative then jump in and blow the snot outta stuff with sneak attack. I might trip guys just to help other players with the AOO's, but chances are my guy will be moving around a bit much to sit there adn AOO them. Also, does anyone know if sneak attack applies to all 3 shurikens when you use them? If so then that means that if you go halfling, you can throw 3 shurikens per turn at 1D2+11D6 damage each.....3D2+33D6 if all 3 hit...
wolf_man007 05-07-07, 09:02 AM	Svirfneblin for life!
The_Shaman 05-07-07, 09:10 AM	I guess I would vote for a wood elf, under the circumstances. A Wood elf ranger/monk with ascetic hunter (CAdv) is a good start for nearly anything, and there are a few useful PrCs if you want something a little fancier (i.e. to boost your flurry, get some spell-likes, more feats, etc). If a friend offers you the Draconomicon, the draconic template is very good here - as for most martial characters, really. Consider using the elven ranger substitute ability (hello, nice FE bonus and good starting skill points) and focusing on ranger levels (you won't need too many monk levels imo, and the BAB loss is significant - 3 or 4 monk levels are probably enough, although you can opt for more if you want better flurry etc). If you're willing to use more books, Manual of the Planes has the buomman, a +wis race with monk as their favored class. However, you can only sing or hum, so your conversations with other PCs might be a bit weird. Mind you, for a monk, this can be quite interesting - and in a world of sword-swinging and magic chanting, going unarmored, basically unarmed, and beating people with nothing but "Hii-yah" as your war cry is bound to be a little weird anyway. Still, I would support the githzerai, although they have a poor start (+2 LA, see if you can get a buy-out from the DM). However, their beefy dexterity bonus, wisdom bonus, and a good selection of psi-likes (the psionic version of mage armor, magic missile, feather fall, and daze+) can be quite nifty for a monk or rogue/monk. Essentially, the stat bonuses and inertial armor mean that a githzerai monk will have an AC of 8+that of an equivalent human monk, even if the gith trails in terms of HP and skills (if not attack bonus, as the high dexterity means weapon finesse equalizes your attack bonus with the LA 0 races). The MoP version has a full-time inertial armor of +4, while the XPH has a psi-like power (auto-augmentable) three times per day - which means that a rogue 3/monk 1 will have it for 6 hours per day in total. Pick your poison, as they say - I prefer the XPH one, as eventually the augmentation means higher AC bonus. Still, it might be a good idea to go for psionic fist or another PrC soon. Most XPH material is in the psionic section of the SRD anyway, so you won't have to look too much. Unfortunately, Githzerai and Githyanki are not SRD, so you may need the book after all. Oh, and if you use psionics (way more monk-ish than arcane or divine magic imo), consider the Grip of Iron power for any grappling build. The scaling isn't very good, but the base cost is still quite achievable.
kelvinaw273 05-07-07, 09:57 AM	You will want the feat Ascetic Rogue (to allow freemulticlassing), then as for race is concerned, Elf, human or Kalashtar would be my favourite options.
DwarfPcfan 05-07-07, 11:01 AM	For a killer monk dwarf works great: Constitution helps you saty in the fight, combat bonuses are always useful (especially save bonuses), also nothing that as a favored class fighter, it works great with the monk training feat to allow free multiclass. Fighter4/monk4/psychic warrior2/Zerth Cenobyte 10 Make Neo look like a quadraplegic old man...
RandomCharacter 05-07-07, 01:00 PM	You could go with a half-gaint the have the sixe mod. of a large creature without the draw backs and this could help with the grapples and unarmed strikes.
Peregrine_Wolf 05-07-07, 04:12 PM	TY everyone. I think I'll just stick with halfling, or maybe wild elf because that looks good too. Also, if I can get a hold of it, I'll take a look at the bouman? from the Manual of the Planes. That sounds pretty interesting.
snakeman830 05-08-07, 08:40 AM	A few things worth pointing out... Edit: I meant that you can't LEAVE monk, since you can't ever go back Lesser aasimar have a bonus to wis, among other things (LA +0) Asetic Rouge feat from Complete Adventurer. Lets you multi-class freely between monk and rouge. Plus, it lets your monk and rouge levels stack for determining SA and a few monk abilities (I believe unarmed, speed, and AC boost, but I could be wrong). Oh yeah. I'd suggest Catfolk from Races of the Wild. The dex bonus is helpful and they get access to Catfolk Pounce (flurry on a charge!) You'd just have to keep your monk and rouge levels within one level of each other. With the feat I already mentioned, this isn't difficult.