Foxhound438
2017-07-01, 06:19 PM
so I put together a high level bugbear monk for a campaign in which we TPK'd, and the more I think about it the more I feel that it's actually worth it beyond just gimmicky fun times.
the primary reason to take Vuman is to get the free feat, and for most monk builds I see that's going to be mobile. The free disengage is great for kiting, after all. However, a bugbear in the right situation gets basically the same benefit- the enemy is generally fighting your tank, so they aren't chasing you 9 times out of 10, so you can take advantage of your long limbed trait to stand outside of most medium (and some large) creatures' reach while punching them in the face, then back away as normal. Saving 5' in and 5' out is about as good as having 10' more speed, though you do lose in some situations where you're having to run a longer distance. Mobile's free disengage is also a bit more versatile in that in the cases where something does chase you and get next to you, you don't have to use any kind of action to get away. These two downsides are a cost, but bugbear offers a bit more than just reach punches (as seen later).
Vuman gets the benefit of having the stats they want early (dex+wis), but once you get to L12 it's almost the same either way. Vuman starts x/16/14/x/16/x, bugbear starts 10/16/15/8/15/8 and splits an ASI at 4, then maxes a power stat by 12. Vuman maxes a power stat earlier and can then choose to boost the other for higher AC or con for more HP, either way putting them in almost the same boat overall. Vuman will probably at this point have slightly better damage or slightly better stunning strikes, depending on how you like to progress your monk stats. Again, this is a marginal cost that's going to follow you for most of your game if you are building at L1.
But the big draw to bugbear, particularly for shadow monk, is surprise attack... You can easily have a +15 to stealth thanks to pass without trace at level 3, so starting an encounter with stealth is an easy proposition. then you get to have the (albeit minor) extra damage that Vuman can't get. I know, it's bordering on "gimmicky", but it feels like free potential value over Vuman at manageable costs.
So what does everyone think?
the primary reason to take Vuman is to get the free feat, and for most monk builds I see that's going to be mobile. The free disengage is great for kiting, after all. However, a bugbear in the right situation gets basically the same benefit- the enemy is generally fighting your tank, so they aren't chasing you 9 times out of 10, so you can take advantage of your long limbed trait to stand outside of most medium (and some large) creatures' reach while punching them in the face, then back away as normal. Saving 5' in and 5' out is about as good as having 10' more speed, though you do lose in some situations where you're having to run a longer distance. Mobile's free disengage is also a bit more versatile in that in the cases where something does chase you and get next to you, you don't have to use any kind of action to get away. These two downsides are a cost, but bugbear offers a bit more than just reach punches (as seen later).
Vuman gets the benefit of having the stats they want early (dex+wis), but once you get to L12 it's almost the same either way. Vuman starts x/16/14/x/16/x, bugbear starts 10/16/15/8/15/8 and splits an ASI at 4, then maxes a power stat by 12. Vuman maxes a power stat earlier and can then choose to boost the other for higher AC or con for more HP, either way putting them in almost the same boat overall. Vuman will probably at this point have slightly better damage or slightly better stunning strikes, depending on how you like to progress your monk stats. Again, this is a marginal cost that's going to follow you for most of your game if you are building at L1.
But the big draw to bugbear, particularly for shadow monk, is surprise attack... You can easily have a +15 to stealth thanks to pass without trace at level 3, so starting an encounter with stealth is an easy proposition. then you get to have the (albeit minor) extra damage that Vuman can't get. I know, it's bordering on "gimmicky", but it feels like free potential value over Vuman at manageable costs.
So what does everyone think?