Tag Teaming with a Monk - what to do?

[Joe the Rat]

Greetings all,

So I am getting an opportunity to play again (Hooray AL!), and I will be going in with Mrs. the Rat. She's coming in with a Monk (going Way of Shadow), and we thought it would be neat to have a coordinated pair, so we can play off of one another in combat. And now I'm stuck on what to take.

The concept is for a pair of agile, sneaky types, which can be covered by a Dex focus and the Criminal background. That leaves a TON of options. But rather than just "be awesome," I'd like to figure out something to where I can help set her up to shine as well. We're starting from level 1 (naturally). Here's the ideas that I've been seriously rattling around:

Dex Fighter (going Battle Master): I can get some decent damage builds, and/or be fairly tanky to divert heat. But how to do this and be effective, without simply doing her job better? What fighting style: Duelist, Two-Weapon, Defense, Protection?

Any Rogue: Natural sneaky speed synergy, but that leaves two soft targets. I get a sneak attack buddy, what does she get out of it?

(Valor) Bard: Certainly has that swashbuckly vibe, and can buff as needed. Also backup healer potential. Kind of soft for melee at open. As broadly useful as it is, it's not a direction I necessarily want to go. Let's call this "Plan C"

Fiend (Blade)lock: Thematically interesting. Same soft start issues as Bard, but it puts us both on the Short Rest Bus. How best to leverage the Hex Debuff?

I know there's a few concepts I haven't touched (rangers, vengeful dexadins, abjurant fist-wizards, etc.), but I figure I'd be better off seeing what other people would suggest, rather than coming up with ever more choices to get stuck between.

So, kind Playgrounders, what would you recommend? And what delicious combo tricks would suggest for each?

[Nod_Hero]

Somewhat out of the box:
Dex/Wis based Trickery Domain Cleric might make for an interesting pairing. Blessing of the Trickster on her Shadow Monk = stealth win!

[DireSickFish]

My go-to support character for most melee combatants is the Wolf Totem barbarian. With the large number of attacks monks get she gets a huge advantage from having advantage on all of them. Barbarain's benefit from a high dex because of there light/no armor and the background takes care of stealth proficiency.

As a Barbarian you're naturally tanky and can take a lot of pressure off the monk. You mainly benifit from her by having someone that can pop a darkness so you can sneak away and get to have someone to benefit from your advantage generation. Also train in athletics so you can be good at grappling. If you graple a caster and she drops a silence then the caster can't cast any spells that require a verbal component (which is most of them).

[KorvinStarmast]

Have you considered a Dex based barbarian? With a 1H weapon and shield, you could be more tanky. Your Athletics checks or acrobatics checks could allow you two to do a lot of sneaking and climbing around. Background that boosts stealth would be handy.

[Biggstick]

A wolf totem Barbarian would be a fantastic partner for any stealth based champion, as well as being able to stealth himself. Barb running around with no armor can usually have at least a +2 dex mod and still serve as a distraction (tank) and provide advantage (wolf) to the shadow monk.

[Dralnu]

I'd pick Warlock. Take the invocation that lets you see in magical darkness.

Her Stunning Strikes benefit both of your attacks. You can set up her SS by Hex'ing the target first, giving them disadvantage on CON checks.

You can see in her Darkness ability, which means you have advantage against the blind enemies caught within the radius. If you want to help her out, pick up the Darkness spell yourself too so you can cast it when she's low on ki -- it lets her Shadow Leap to places she otherwise couldn't.

If you want to "tag along" with her scouting missions, choose the Pact that gives you a familiar, and pick an imp. Flying, invisible, you can see through the creature's eyes. It can tag along with her scouting missions no problem.

If you want to be with her in the frontlines, you can pick up the Blade Pact and take the spell that gives you temporary HP (forgot the name). You can also dip 1-2 levels of Fighter to pick up better armor, HP, and bonuses to your weapon attacks -- or Paladin!

If someone else is playing a tank in your party, you could instead focus on ranged blaster. Taking Repelling Blast invocation for battlefield control. Push opponents away from her: it saves her a bonus action and ki points using Patient Defense or the disengages and stuff.

[Joe the Rat]

Thanks for your replies. There's some stuff here I really hadn't thought about.


Somewhat out of the box:
Dex/Wis based Trickery Domain Cleric might make for an interesting pairing. Blessing of the Trickster on her Shadow Monk = stealth win!
Out-of-box is good, and Clerics can be hard to come by. That may be plan B if the party matrix ends up short on heals.


Wolf Totem barbarian.

Have you considered a Dex based barbarian?

A wolf totem Barbarian
Now there's one I hadn't thought of at all. A lot of good support, potentially Strength to contrast her Dex, and the ability to go Errol Flynn-to-Jack Torrance in six seconds could make for interesting characterization.


I'd pick Warlock. Take the invocation that lets you see in magical darkness.

Her Stunning Strikes benefit both of your attacks. You can set up her SS by Hex'ing the target first, giving them disadvantage on CON checks.I'd looked at that, but SS is save based, and hex only affects ability checks. It would be great for tripping, but I don't think she can put enough into Strength/Athletics for it to be a reliable tactic even with Disadvantage. Mind you, a pre-cast Hex set to Wisdom can help a bit on sneaking.

Dear lord, can Hex be twinned? Sorclock shenanigans ahoy!

Excellent ideas, please keep 'em coming.

[Ralanr]

I suggest trickiery cleric, because no one uses it and it's clone ability is awesome.

But what matters is who's in the front and who's in the back. How is she going to approach combat?

[Citan]

Hi!

Nice question, there are many things you could do with a Shadow Monk.
First, I'll second Trickster Cleric because it's very coherent (although it would have been even better if she was a Rogue) but many it's too spell-oriented for you.

Or, if you plan on also playing a stealth character, she may do the dip in Arcane Trickster since she already has the stat requirement. :)

If you want to support her Stunning Strikes, Bestow Curse would be the best way to go. Two ways to go...

1) Eldricht Knight up to 11. You learn Bestow Curse at 8 then use 10th lvl class feature. First hit your enemy with a weapon attack, then cast Bestow Curse. With disadvantage on saving throw, there is a fair chance of success. Apply the curse "disadvantage on CON saving throws". Done. You can even get better at it by multiclassing in a spellcaster, either Wizard (INT) or Sorcerer (CHA requirement but allows you to Twin Bestow Curse which is great).
+++ 3 attacks per turn
+++ good utility with Wizard spelllist
+++ works as well as STR or DEX based build, melee or ranged (so you could support her at range).
--- You have no stealth-related abilities per se.
>>> You're mainly a physical fighter with some enabling/support spellcasting.

2) Warlock 3+ / Sorcerer 3+: Be either a Sorcerer or Warlock as main whichever you want. You can get 2 attacks per turn either way (Pact of the Blade or Favored Soul). Sorcerer is here for Bestow Curse and Metamagic.
A good combination would be for example Warlock 3 / Favored Soul Life 6. Take sneaky-related Invocations on Warlock side, with Pact of the Tome for cantrips and later the "learning rituals" invocation. Favored Soul will give you extra attack, the domain gives you healing spells in case of (in a situation where there is only the two of you) and you have Metamagic to twin Bestow Curse, Haste etc...
And you still have plenty of room for evolution (Warlock up to 9 to get two non-concentration Bestow Curse per short rest and additional invocations, or Sorcerer to get more and more offensive spells and Metamagic points).
+++ Warlock Invocations (Devil's Sight, Mask of Many Faces, Armor of Shadow, One with Shadows)
+++ Spells: Hex, armor of Agathys, Mirror Image, Misty Step etc (Warlock), Bestow Curse, Haste/Slow, Invisibility, Fireball etc (Sorcerer).
+++ Metamagic: twin buff/debuff, silent casting.
+++ Cantrips versatility
--- Only 2 attacks per turn (but is it so important? :))
--- Squishy character unless you choose Draconic Sorcerer instead of Favored Soul or take Armor of Shadow Invocation.
>>> You're mainly a sneaky caster that excels at enabling or dealing area damage.

These are only two options among others... :)

[PoeticDwarf]

Maybe a rogue/ranger.

Otherwise you could go for rogue/fighter or rogue/warlock. And if you don't see another option, a rogue/monk with a monk isn't a bad choice.
Other options are rogue/bard, rogue/wizard and rogue/paladin. A rogue/sorcerer charisma focussed could work.

Or just full rogue, but that doesn't sound as cool as a rogue/ranger/sorcerer, as I'm going to play.

[Estrillian]

On a slightly different note from everyone else, what makes the most sense thematically?

Like, if her monk learned in some secret monastery of darkness, then playing a cleric of the same faith makes a lot of sense (go with trickster cleric). If she learnt her skills on the streets from some strange eldritch encounter then maybe a warlock who willingly embraced the same power to be like her makes sense (go with pact of darkness (tm) warlock). If her monk is an heir of an ancient order of shadow warriors from a distant land then maybe a warrior shaman of the same land makes sense (go with wolf barbarian).

After all the ability synergy is fun, and all, but what will really make the pairing is the story.

[endur]

Greetings all,

So I am getting an opportunity to play again (Hooray AL!), and I will be going in with Mrs. the Rat. She's coming in with a Monk (going Way of Shadow), and we thought it would be neat to have a coordinated pair, so we can play off of one another in combat. And now I'm stuck on what to take.

I'm taking a totem barbarian (unarmored, with the stealth, perception, and athletics skills) to go with my Shadow Monk partner.

[MaxWilson]

Whatever you do, make sure your guy can sneak and has a way to run away fast (Cunning Action, Expeditious Retreat, or similar). That way your guy won't cramp the monk's style when you go up against foes who are tougher than you.

Personally, I'd go with a bardlock. (Bard 1, then Warlock 1 for Expeditious Retreat, then bard 2-6 for Magical Secrets, then Warlock 2, then the rest Bard.) There's a Lore Bard(lock)/Shadow Monk duo at my table who handle most of the party's scouting, and the combination of Conjure Animals (king cobras/Giant Poisonous Snake) + Darkness is absolutely devastating given the cobras' blindsight and the monk's Mobile + Alert feats. Meanwhile the bard can spam Eldritch Blast to support the melee fighters, and when Darkness isn't up he can Cutting Words to protect the monk from lucky hits. You could take Fireball as your other Magical Secret which would cover your biggest team weakness (trash mobs). Bard could take Stealth and Perception as his Expertise, or maybe Stealth and Athletics if you're not worried about Perception at your table.

Other combos might be fun too, but Lore Bard(lock) + Shadow Monk is effective enough that I'd want to try it again.

[weaseldust]

Another option you might not have considered is a Druid. They can be very sneaky and mobile (and see in darkness, sometimes even magical darkness) in beast form, but will complement your monk comrade with their spells. The only difficulty is that they have to turn back from beast form to cast (or cast a spell before turning into a beast, e.g. if they are using Enhance Ability or Pass Without Trace before an ambush).

[Joe the Rat]

Lots of fun ideas here. I'll have to narrow it down at some point.


On a slightly different note from everyone else, what makes the most sense thematically?


That's actually a good question. She's one of those "abandoned at monastery" stories, who ran off due to issues related to her "power" (read: anger management). We're leaning Hermit for that isolated community angle, and the ability to brew healing potions in her downtime. Mine is but a humble highwayman (further history variable to fit class selection, though "dead family members and Red Plumes" is part of it). It's the old "ran into each other in the woods, chemistry clicked, started working together" sort of origins. As a "well-traveled" fellow, I'm helping her to adapt to the outside world. Being somewhat innocent and idealistic, she expects (and encourages) me to be the "Robin Hood" type of bandit.

After reasonable expenses, of course.