Speed Monk

[nuaragonis]

Hello all, I am starting a new campaign soon and the DM gave us a hint on what the campaign would revolve around. A Race, not much detail on where it would be, so I am thinking of creating a monk maybe with a PrC. I was curious what you all would recommend for a monk that is built for speed and evasion, trying to get over, through, and under obstacles. The DM is pretty crafty so there might be some inter-plane scenarios as well, for consideration.

[Urpriest]

Speed is actually one of the few things Monks are relatively good at. Tippy is going to suggest a base race of Mercury Dragon Wyrmling (Mercury Dragon is from Dragon Compendium), and in this case he won't be telling you to do something unusably broken (well, that part won't be anyway). It's one of the few legitimate uses for a Dragon PC, and it gets a very high base speed. If you start at high enough level that would be a very good choice.

That said, you should consider whether it's actually worthwhile to make this character super-fast. It all depends on the parameters of the race: if you're racing as a party, going much much faster than the party won't be an advantage if you all have to get to the finish line together.

[nuaragonis]

Starting level will be 10, and I believe it will be against other party members thats about all i know. Also the DM said he will give a bit more starting gp at the beginning but he hasn't specified yet.

[Mountain]

Well, monks are pretty fast right out of the box. If you want to increase land speed, there is a trait called "quick." If traits are allowed (I don't as a DM) it will add 10ft. to your speed at the cost of 1 hp per level. There is also a feat called "Dash" from the Complete Warrior (also in Miniatures Handbook) that improves your base speed by 5 ft. Don't forget Run, of course, because x5 speed when running is actually a pretty big increase for a monk. There is a skill trick in CS called nimble charge. It removes skill checks for running in difficult terrain.

I don't know if this interests you, but also in CS is a feat called Twisted Charge that will allow you to make a 90 degree turn during a charge. (There are various similar abilities for not charging or running in a straight line.)

[tyckspoon]

hmm.. well, it'll be hard to race against characters that are capable of Scrying and Teleporting/Wind Walking/Shadow Walking to almost anywhere, but for a quick-and-dirty:

Monk 9 with Invisible Fist ACF/Tattooed Monk 1. Choose the Chameleon tattoo. Take Shape Soulmeld : Blink Shirt (additional Incarnum feats or being an Azurin for some essentia are optional.) You have the full Monk 10 speed bonus, you can Blink pretty much at will, you have a short-range at-will teleport effect, and if those don't get you past something, you can Alter Self into something with a Fly/Climb/Swim movespeed as needed. You should be able to get past almost any obstacle short of something silly like a Wall of Force inside a Dead Magic zone.. your offense will suck, but you should be defensively alright and slippery enough to get away from almost any attacker.

[XmonkTad]

Well, as long as teleport isn't allowed, monk seems like a good idea to me. +30 move speed at level 10 is normally underpowered, unless you really need to walk somewhere.

You can get that same speed boost by building Scout 3/Monk 3/Cleric 1/Sacred Fist 3. That also nets you some spells.

Knowing more about the rules might help. What about mounts? Animal companions? A handle animal commoner ala bubs? Speed boosting magic? Travel magic?
Can you "delay" opponents :smalltongue:? Might want a different build entirely!

[Kuulvheysoon]

Speed is actually one of the few things Monks are relatively good at. Tippy is going to suggest a base race of Mercury Dragon Wyrmling (Mercury Dragon is from Dragon Compendium), and in this case he won't be telling you to do something unusably broken (well, that part won't be anyway). It's one of the few legitimate uses for a Dragon PC, and it gets a very high base speed. If you start at high enough level that would be a very good choice.

That said, you should consider whether it's actually worthwhile to make this character super-fast. It all depends on the parameters of the race: if you're racing as a party, going much much faster than the party won't be an advantage if you all have to get to the finish line together.

Aren't Mercury Dragons from Dragons of Faerun?

Chuck, the Ruby Knight Windicator, had a whole host of ways to boost his speed (to improve his Jump check). Maybe look him up for inspiration?

[Urpriest]

Aren't Mercury Dragons from Dragons of Faerun?

Chuck, the Ruby Knight Windicator, had a whole host of ways to boost his speed (to improve his Jump check). Maybe look him up for inspiration?

Ah yes, I had misremembered.

Chuck's method was nixed due to errata, unfortunately. You can't Persist Footsteps of the Divine anymore, which is the main way Chuck worked (also, IIRC Chuck didn't have much to do with Jump checks). On that note though, the Jumplomancer likely does boost speed quite a great deal for Jump check purposes, and is worth looking into.

[Emperor Tippy]

Speed is actually one of the few things Monks are relatively good at. Tippy is going to suggest a base race of Mercury Dragon Wyrmling (Mercury Dragon is from Dragon Compendium), and in this case he won't be telling you to do something unusably broken (well, that part won't be anyway). It's one of the few legitimate uses for a Dragon PC, and it gets a very high base speed. If you start at high enough level that would be a very good choice.
Ah old Speedy, the four year old Mercury dragon of Doom.

The CR 20 version is Wyrmling Mercury Dragon Monk 19.

For a perfect fly speed of 260 ft. Now since it has 23 HD it is epic. That means Boots of Swiftness, which doubles that to 520 ft. You also want your Permanent Emanation: Selective Antimagic Field.

Improved Speed up's that to 280/560.

Now you use Great Flyby Attack (after activating a Weirdstone a few miles away) while under your Permanent Emanation: Selective Antimagic Field. Then you fly through the party making your one attack roll (which you should have added True Strike and anything else you can think of to pump it as high as possible) and damage roll and get to apply it to Dex mod enemies in a straight line.

With Greater Invisibility and Mindblank up you can make the party fear and despise the monk.

----
Wyrmling Mercury Dragon Monk X with Improved Speed is about the best speed build in the entire game. Although 8 levels of Factotum allow for a higher sprint speed (to the point where you can, quite literally, out fly bullets at CR 20).

[Azernak0]

Wildshape Ranger casting Longstrider turning into a Deinonychus gets you to 80. Barbarian Fast Movement doesn't have a type listed like Monk Fast Movement does so you can stack it easier. Turning into Animals will generally get you a larger base movement speed than most races.

From there, there are many a feats and items that will give you more movement speed.

[Mountain]

Normally, I would never recommend Polymorph, but it isn't really overpowered at all if you're just wanting to be really fast. Some forms will let you carry slower party members, too.

[shaikujin]

I have an unseelie fey lvl20 monk that clocks in at 680 ft (land) and 1,360 ft (Fly), plus and additional 1,720 ft of free movement per round. Requires a template (0 LA) and items though. It's in my sig (numbers in part 2)

Now, if the base creature is a mercury dragon instead of a half-orc, it can go even faster.

[Darrin]

This post (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15535646&postcount=34) breaks down a lot of speed buffs, but I wound up not using any monk (there are better ways to get an enhancement bonus to speed). But I was trying to break the sound barrier in one round, while you're probably looking for something designed for more long-distance running.

[nedz]

Use Carmendine Monk or Kung Fu Genius to replace Wis with Int (same feat, different names from different books)
Dip Wizard for Expeditious Retreat and other useful spells; in fact consider
Monk 2 / Wizard 3 / Enlightened Fist 5
Grab a Monk's belt if you like.


Epic stuff


Starting level will be 10...

So what does speedy look like at ECL 10 ?

[Fouredged Sword]

There are some relic boots that will let you run and forced march without causing problems until you stop. Pick up a potion of lesser restoration and maybe a healing belt to take care of the problems when you stop, but you should be able to maintain that nice 5x run speed for as long as you have a straight line.

[Blackjackg]

This won't boost speed any, but to help with the getting "over, under, around and through" you might consider the Duelist prestige class from DMG for about six levels.

That's full BAB and will get you enhanced mobility and acrobatic charge, and synergizes well with Carmendine Monk and a high Int.

[Aliek]

Go Windwright Captain(Explorer's handbook) and win the race with your airship.