Question about multiclassing monks en flurry of blows

[Thelion]

Before everyone starts telling how much monks suck, this is for an NPC evil henchman build and not completely about optimizing (even though I want to annoy my players a little :smallbiggrin:).

We're talking about a level 3 fighter/level 4 monk, with a dexterity of 20 due to an 18 plus 2 from gloves of dexterity and weapon finesse. That means we're talking about a +6/+1 base attack bonus, that would result in a +12/+7 with a +1 sai or kama and the +5 dexterity bonus of weapon finesse.

However, should I go for a flurry of blows, I'm not really sure what bonusses I would get on an attack. Do the fighter and monk levels stack, maken the flurry of blows +5/+5/+0 (or +11/+11/+6 with a weapon) or +1/+1 (+7/+7 with a weapon) because the monk is only fourth level?

My apologies if this should be obvious, but this is actually the first time in the 8 years that I've been playing D&D that I'm actually trying to make a monk character, I'm just not that familiar with their rules :smallredface:

[sonofzeal]

- A lvl 4 Monk making a flurry gets one extra attack, and all are at a -2 penalty.

- A lvl 4 Monk has a BAB of 3. A lvl 3 Fighter has a BAB of 3. Total BAB: 6.

- At 6 BAB, you get a secondary attack at -5.



RESULT: 4/4/-1. Add modifiers for str/dex, any other bonuses, etc. But that's your base.

[Thelion]

Thanks a lot! :smallsmile:

[Captain Kablam]

Okay. Now what about prestige classes that grant monk abilities? Such as Enlightened Fist and Drunken Master?

[Snowbluff]

Okay. Now what about prestige classes that grant monk abilities? Such as Enlightened Fist and Drunken Master?

These? Just count up the number of levels you have that progress Flurry of Blows, and then cross-reference that with the Monk Flurry of Blows Class Feature.


Flurry of Blows (Ex)

When unarmored, a monk may strike with a flurry of blows at the expense of accuracy. When doing so, she may make one extra attack in a round at her highest base attack bonus, but this attack takes a -2 penalty, as does each other attack made that round. The resulting modified base attack bonuses are shown in the Flurry of Blows Attack Bonus column on Table: The Monk. This penalty applies for 1 round, so it also affects attacks of opportunity the monk might make before her next action. When a monk reaches 5th level, the penalty lessens to -1, and at 9th level it disappears. A monk must use a full attack action to strike with a flurry of blows.
...
When a monk reaches 11th level, her flurry of blows ability improves. In addition to the standard single extra attack she gets from flurry of blows, she gets a second extra attack at her full base attack bonus. I bolded the relevant bits.

[WhatBigTeeth]

Okay. Now what about prestige classes that grant monk abilities? Such as Enlightened Fist and Drunken Master?
They do whatever they say they do.

Neither Enlightened Fist nor Drunken Master have any interaction with flurry, since they doesn't say they has any interaction with flurry. A Monk 2/Warblade 4/Drunken Master 3 would have a BA of 7 (granting attacks at +7/+2), and its flurry would be at a -2 penalty, so its flurry would be +5/+5/+0

On the other hand, Shadow Sun Ninja does stack with Monk levels for flurry penalties. So a Swordsage 3/Monk 4/Shadow Sun Ninja 8 would have a base attack bonus of +11, granting attacks at +11/+6/+1, and an effective Monk level of 12 for its Flurry of Blows penalty, meaning it can make the extra attack with no penalty. Since Shadow Sun Ninja only says its levels stack with monk for the penalties of Flurry of Blows, not the number of attacks, the character's flurry routine would be made at +11/+11/+6/+1.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff: Please avoid thread necromancy.