Way of Shadow

[pso_zeldaphreak]

I have a newly-level 4 Wood Elf monk, and I have been given the option to rearrange my ability scores, if I choose. At the moment, I have 12/17/14/8/14/10 after racial bonuses.

The rest of the party consists of a Champion fighter, and a Moon Druid. Occasionally we have a Warlock DMPC, as well.

My tentative plan is 13/16/12/8/16/10, and I'm not sure which feat I want, though both Alert and Mobile sound quite good, or if I just wanna pump more Dex.

Halp?

[Prophet_of_Io]

I'm not sure it's worth moving a point from dexterity to strength, you should be doing most of your attack and damage through dex not str. As for Con vs Wis, it all depends on your ability to dodge hits vs take hits. Personally I like what you have now. I can see why you'd want more wisdom for that higher AC but hit points are equally important as your bound to take hits now and again anyway.

Honestly what you have now looks perfectly fine to me. If anything I'd move some strength into wisdom instead. You really shouldn't need any unless you aren't using finesse weapons.

My 2 cents.

[pso_zeldaphreak]

The reason for moving that point was because an odd point in Dex confers no benefit, but an odd point in STR actually increases my jump range!

Also, I can't just move points from one to another, I have to use the standard array (15/14/13/12/10/8), otherwise I would have 20 dex first and foremost, haha.

[HorridElemental]

The reason for moving that point was because an odd point in Dex confers no benefit, but an odd point in STR actually increases my jump range!

Also, I can't just move points from one to another, I have to use the standard array (15/14/13/12/10/8), otherwise I would have 20 dex first and foremost, haha.

Still not worth it, if the DM doesn't want you to cross a pit then it will be 18 feet instead of 15 feet across.

An odd point in Dex is totally worth it, there are feats that grant +1 to an ability score such as Dex and if you ever take the ability score increase over the feat you can spread the love around a bit.

Heck if you kept your ability scores the way they are you could get +1 str and +1 dex which would give you the extra jump and an additional hit/damage/ac/initiative/save/skill boost.

[pwykersotz]

Still not worth it, if the DM doesn't want you to cross a pit then it will be 18 feet instead of 15 feet across.

It feels worth noting that this is not true of any GM I've ever played with. The crux of this argument is that the GM will dynamically alter the world to cause you to fail anything he didn't plan on you doing, and that's a much bigger problem than allocating a strength point.

[CyberThread]

DM Cast Silent Image, the hole was bigger then it appreared.

[MOLOKH]

Way of Shadow Monk 18/Warlock 2

The main feature you want from Warlock is Devil's Sight, granting darkvision up to 120 ft even through magical darkness. Cast Darkness from the Way of Shadow on, say, an amulet you're wearing and you are perpetually blinding everyone in a 15-ft radius. Now add to that the Sentinel feat, which lets you make an AoO even when enemies Disengage and drops their speed to 0 if you hit (the AoO probably has advantage as well.) This pretty much locks down anyone in melee combat with you. Combine with Silence and Mage Slayer to go after casters instead.

Warlock also grants a few other nice little boosts. Hex works great, granting 1d6 to all the Monk's attacks against a single enemy, as well as disadvantage on an ability check of your choice. Unfortunately it allows a save, meaning you have to invest in Charisma somewhat, and it requires concentration, so it doesn't work with Darkness/Silence. Protection from Evil/Good doesn't look bad, Fiendish Vigor can beef up your HP if your abilities are spread too thin and you lack Constitution, and Mask of Many Faces can have a ton of applications.

Choose the Great Old One for your Patron, hide in a room and use your telepathy to drive people insane.

Rogue Assassin 3/Way of Shadow Monk 17 could also work, granting some nice damage boost when you come out of hiding, but you'll miss out on the baller Empty Body at Monk 18.

[Malifice]

So annoying that you cant SA with unarmed strikes. Shadow monk/ Assassins have to rely on using daggers and shortswords to SA.

I reckon allowing the ability to SA with unarmed strikes for characters with the Martial Arts class feature is getting onto my list of House rules.

Pressure points and all that jazz.

Making the same rule for the Sap (clubs). Too iconic to ignore.

[HugeC]

So annoying that you cant SA with unarmed strikes.
Huh? Why not?

[Yuki Akuma]

Huh? Why not?

Unarmed strike isn't a finesse weapon. Monks can apply their Dexterity bonus to attack and damage rolls with them, but that's due to a class feature, and doesn't make them finesse weapons.

[HugeC]

Oh, somehow I missed the sentence about it being restricted to finesse weapons and ranged weapons. Lamesauce.

[CyberThread]

You could rip your arm off and throw it at someone