Magic items for a monk

[FartHeartMaGart]

I'm coming into a game with some magic items and I have 1 rare item to pick.
My monk is a githzerai homebrew monk, and my first thought was Daerns Instant Fortress, but I have reservations about it eventually breaking while I play a class that can't cast wish.
Some other options I've considered are Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength, or another item that can be used so many times a day.
Ideas and how one might use them are welcome!

[RickAllison]

Bracers of Defense are boring, but they are one of the few ways that a Monk can increase their AC (by +2 even!).

[Dalebert]

Ring of Protection
+1 staff or shortsword depending on whether you want to use poison.
Winged Boots
I'd say a Staff of Striking but I think that's very rare.

[Lines]

Ask your dm to add a 5e version of the necklace of natural weapons. It's stupid that you can get a +3 weapon but can't get +3 fists, it's one of their lazier moves and easy to correct.

[BladeWing81]

I'm coming into a game with some magic items and I have 1 rare item to pick.
My monk is a githzerai homebrew monk, and my first thought was Daerns Instant Fortress, but I have reservations about it eventually breaking while I play a class that can't cast wish.
Some other options I've considered are Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength, or another item that can be used so many times a day.
Ideas and how one might use them are welcome!

There's only the insignia of claws from the hoard of the dragon queen adventure that boost unarmed strikes directly, the best magic items for the monk are the ring and cloak of protection, bracers of defense, gauntlets of ogre strength, all of the belts of giant strength.
If you set the psionic fist to add damage when using monk weapons not only unarmed strikes, then number one item for Monks for my money is:

The staff of striking:
+3 hit/damage plus 10 charges that when you hit with the staff, you can use up to 3 charges to add an extra 1d6 force damage for each charge. the staff regain 1d6 + 4 charges each dawn.

Second place (maybe first place for your Githzerai Monk for all the abilities this item has) goes to:
The staff of thunder and lightning:
+2 hit/damage plus 5 abilities that can be used once and then recharged on the next dawn.
Thunder: add extra 2d6 damage when you hit with the staff
Lightning: When hitting an enemy that creatures must succeed 17 constitution saving throw or be stunned until you next turn.
Thunder and lightning: both effect at the same time but as a single different ability.
Lightning strike: as an action cast a bolt of lightning 120 feet long any creature in that line must succeed a 17 constitution saving throw. on a fail the creatures take 9d6 lightning damage or half on a success.
Thunderclap: creatures 60 feet around you (except you) must succeed a 17 constitution saving throw. On a fail they take 2d6 thunder damage and are deafened for 1 minute, half that damage and are not deafened on a success.

[Tarvil]

Cloak of displacement is awesome.

[BladeWing81]

Cloak of displacement is awesome.

Now that I'm looking at it, all of the cloaks are awesomesauce, even arachnida and manta ray each have a cool ability.

[Kane0]

Ring of shooting stars?

Anythingh really, try randomly pocking something interesting rather than going for the best. Its not like you need it for the edge.

[Gazrok]

Have to agree with the Staff above. A lot of bang for your buck. Though I will say that a Belt of Giant Strength was a real game-changer for my Monk.

[Vogie]

The staff of striking:
+3 hit/damage plus 10 charges that when you hit with the staff, you can use up to 3 charges to add an extra 1d6 force damage for each charge. the staff regain 1d6 + 4 charges each dawn.


This is what I was going to suggest

You could also ask if you'd be allowed to attune to Staffs like the Staff of Charming, Staff of Healing, Staff of Swarming Insects, and the like, even though you're not a spellcaster.

[Scarytincan]

Pretty sure staff of striking is very rare, not rare.

Sunblade is an option if ur DM will allow it to be a monk weapon since it's usable by ppl proficient with short swords. +2, d10 in two hands, makes ur damage radiant, extra vs undead, the light is sunlight so messes with sunlight sensitivity, burns the crap outta vampires...

Is technically a long sword, but in my experience most DMs are fine with it since it counts for short sword proficiency.

[Joe the Rat]

Lotsa fun options:

Offense
+2 weapons, Sun Blade, Flame Tongue (on a short sword!) are all good if obvious.
Did you know maces are monk weapons? Everyone forgets that one. Disruption (vs fiends & undead) or Smiting (vs constructs) are available options. Ask which might be more useful. There's also Mace of Terror, but that may not be on style. Giant Slayers are also in the mix - I'd recommend the Hand Axe for a throwable option.

Defense
Bracers of Defense, Ring of Protection, Cloak of Protection, Cloak of Displacement.

Utility
Portable Hole, Belt of Hill Giant Strength, Wondrous Figurines (I like Ebony Fly for the 12 hour flying mount), wings of flying, boots of speed (because go all in). Ring of Spell Storing, or the Ioun Stone equivalent are also good. You may not be a caster, but I guarantee someone else in the party is. Pocket Cleric is probably the best use - get a couple-few healing spells thrown in there, and you can get anywhere and fix anyone. But any utility spell has great potential.

Folding Boat. Now hear me out. If you've never come across a "get across the water" situation in a game, consider yourself lucky. But this thing has land-bound uses. It's instant cover in two different scales. Oh, you may not care about cover, but the party surely has ranged fighters who could use a little protection. It's also fair shelter - moreso in canoe than longboat form, thanks to the mast. the bridge and ladder potentials should not be discounted either. If nothing else it's a small chest with magic item traits (they're generally less destructible) when not in use. Good place to tuck potions or scrolls and the like, where they will be kept safe in the sea chest when unfolded.

Custom
Here's a scaled-down item I made for one of my players:
Jingu Bang Trainer Quarterstaff (requires attunement)
This hefty +1 quarterstaff appears to be made of iron, with golden ring banding each end. As a bonus action, the user may speak a command word, and cause the staff to grow or shrink.
At its smallest, it becomes six inches long.
Below 4 feet, treat the Jingu Bang as a Mace.
If grown to 8 to 12 feet, it becomes a two-handed weapon with the reach property. (I allow this to still count as a monk weapon. May be a point of negotiation.) Any larger, and it becomes too unwieldy to be used in combat.
The staff can be grown to a maximum length of 50'.

[Kane0]

This was two and a half years ago, we shouldn't be raising the thread.