Shadow Monk/Trickster cleric -- considering spells

[polymphus]

Hey all,

My shadow monk is approaching level 6, and I'm gonna do a quick multiclass dip -- the plan is to grab 1 level immediately, then grab monk 7/8, then two more levels in the other class.

The obvious option is Rogue, but honestly it seems a bit redundant. The mobile feat gives me the best part of Cunning Action already without using my precious bonus action, and that leaves some low-ish sneak attack damage and expertise. Those are both pretty good (even though the party has another rogue), BUT I've been considering something different-

What about Trickery Cleric? My combat role already seems to be this weird hybrid-mobility-tank (see: D.Va, Winston) and Mirror Image would be amazing for that. I can cast Pass Without Trace from ki, then hit our rogue with Trickster's Blessing and watch him go to town.

My non-combat role is scouting and infiltration, and the lvl1 Trickery Spells (disguise self, charm person) both play into that really well.

It also works with the background. He's a worshipper of the god of wine and charity, and he tends to carry a few bottles of hooch into battle. He's a good and honest (bird)man, but he's definitely pretty chaotic in his outlook and likes to try and bring down/embarrass the haughty.

Where I'm stuck is on spells. There's not a huge number of options for low-level cleric spells and I'm trying to make them work with the character.

Cantrips
Thaumaturgy
Mending: keep the party going when stuff gets broken

Lvl 1
Bane: curse your enemies with magical intoxication
Purify Food and Drink

Lvl 2
Blindness/Deafness: putting the 'blind' in 'blind drunk'

Any other suggestions or ideas?

[GorogIrongut]

Never done a Shadow Monk/Trickery Cleric crossover. On the other hand I do have a player I'm DM'ing for who's running a Shadow Monk 6/ Arcane Trickster 3 and he's loving it. He's so frickin mobile you can't pin him down even if you try. He mostly uses his magic for out of combat situations but every so often he'll throw up a mirror image if the fighting gets really heavy. He's even optimized his grappling so that he can cast Silence with his ki and take out the enemy spellcasters by himself.

[Antoine Shiro]

Hey all,

My shadow monk is approaching level 6, and I'm gonna do a quick multiclass dip -- the plan is to grab 1 level immediately, then grab monk 7/8, then two more levels in the other class.

The obvious option is Rogue, but honestly it seems a bit redundant. The mobile feat gives me the best part of Cunning Action already without using my precious bonus action, and that leaves some low-ish sneak attack damage and expertise. Those are both pretty good (even though the party has another rogue), BUT I've been considering something different-

What about Trickery Cleric? My combat role already seems to be this weird hybrid-mobility-tank (see: D.Va, Winston) and Mirror Image would be amazing for that. I can cast Pass Without Trace from ki, then hit our rogue with Trickster's Blessing and watch him go to town.

My non-combat role is scouting and infiltration, and the lvl1 Trickery Spells (disguise self, charm person) both play into that really well.

It also works with the background. He's a worshipper of the god of wine and charity, and he tends to carry a few bottles of hooch into battle. He's a good and honest (bird)man, but he's definitely pretty chaotic in his outlook and likes to try and bring down/embarrass the haughty.

Where I'm stuck is on spells. There's not a huge number of options for low-level cleric spells and I'm trying to make them work with the character.

Cantrips
Thaumaturgy
Mending: keep the party going when stuff gets broken

Lvl 1
Bane: curse your enemies with magical intoxication
Purify Food and Drink

Lvl 2
Blindness/Deafness: putting the 'blind' in 'blind drunk'

Any other suggestions or ideas?

I got a suggestion...Take Warlock. Seriosuly u want to see when u cast darkness,your opponent will not see you and you can teleport at will.

[polymphus]

I'm not sure Warlock is in-character, though? Even the GOOD warlock diety is aloof and inhuman. My monk is definitely more of a Robin Hood type.

[Antoine Shiro]

I'm not sure Warlock is in-character, though? Even the GOOD warlock diety is aloof and inhuman. My monk is definitely more of a Robin Hood type.

I understand, how about using the premise that the power will protect the things important to you? Then the Warlock works cool. But if u prefer, use Ranger, Hunter's Mark and other stuffs.

[titankiller489]

Any update on how your character went? I've been really considering a shadow monk trickery cleric for a while now.

[follacchioso]

A good spell to prepare may be Shield of Faith. It's a bonus action spell that lasts 10 minutes - in some situations you may even cast it before the combat starts. As a monk you are not concentrating on any other spell, so you might as well use that. It gives you a +2 to AC, which will make you less likely to be hit and risk losing concentration.

Another option may be bless, but it's an action that you may use to attack, and only lasts one minute.

[Citan]

Hey all,

My shadow monk is approaching level 6, and I'm gonna do a quick multiclass dip -- the plan is to grab 1 level immediately, then grab monk 7/8, then two more levels in the other class.

The obvious option is Rogue, but honestly it seems a bit redundant. The mobile feat gives me the best part of Cunning Action already without using my precious bonus action, and that leaves some low-ish sneak attack damage and expertise. Those are both pretty good (even though the party has another rogue), BUT I've been considering something different-

What about Trickery Cleric? My combat role already seems to be this weird hybrid-mobility-tank (see: D.Va, Winston) and Mirror Image would be amazing for that. I can cast Pass Without Trace from ki, then hit our rogue with Trickster's Blessing and watch him go to town.

My non-combat role is scouting and infiltration, and the lvl1 Trickery Spells (disguise self, charm person) both play into that really well.

It also works with the background. He's a worshipper of the god of wine and charity, and he tends to carry a few bottles of hooch into battle. He's a good and honest (bird)man, but he's definitely pretty chaotic in his outlook and likes to try and bring down/embarrass the haughty.

Where I'm stuck is on spells. There's not a huge number of options for low-level cleric spells and I'm trying to make them work with the character.

Cantrips
Thaumaturgy
Mending: keep the party going when stuff gets broken

Lvl 1
Bane: curse your enemies with magical intoxication
Purify Food and Drink

Lvl 2
Blindness/Deafness: putting the 'blind' in 'blind drunk'

Any other suggestions or ideas?
Hi
First, quick note about Rogue (I don't want to divert you from dipping into Cleric think it's a great idea): Cunning Action is not necessarily redundant considering that it spares you Ki whenever you'd want to Dash or Disengage as a bonus action, and brings Hide too.
That aside...

Honestly?
1. Trickery Cleric is a great multiclass for you, as long as you understand the limitation of your Duplicate (using concentration is not that big a deal, however plz keep in mind the difference in speed between you and the image: it will require a bit of anticipation whenever you are in spreaded out fights, and otherwise cast it only once you're already close to an enemy).
2. I don't really get while you'd twist your brains around spell choice: not only will you have very little slots for a very long time, you also have the bonus spells which are always prepared, and you can otherwise switch spells you want every long rest. And you probably have 16 WIS so it means you can prepare 4 of them.

So you'll always have Charm Person and Disguise Self.
Since your role is scouting and infiltration, I'd suggest keeping Detect Magic permanently except when you have good reasons to think it would really be useless. Especially since it can be ritual casted (so no resource consumption).
Agreed with Bane and Blindness being good choices if you are ok with the chance they won't do any effect (I mean, like most offensive spells, but still). Otherwise Bless could help you during infiltration/assassinate phases.
In that same mindset, I'd also suggest Sanctuary for risky infiltration missions (will greatly help you escape unharmed) and Enhance Ability as another "base" spell (since you can help yourself or anyone else in party).
Don't forget about Zone of Truth to extract information from targets too.
Shield of Faith could be another good spell for combat and escape as someone already hinted above.

Also, as counter-intuitive as may be, I'd suggest considering Silence as a prepared spell when you expect to need it several times (for example, keeping a zone silent for a long duration). Because while you can cast it with Ki, you can cast it at no cost as a Cleric (ritual). Of course, the best would be your DM agreeing that you can ritual-cast Silence without having it prepared because you know it from Shadow Monk. ROC but houserule still.

----
TL;DR Just overall try things and don't restrain yourself to keep the same spells "just because it's thematic". I like that attitude but it would be sad to nerf to such an extent one of the greatest strengths of Cleric, which is cherry-picking the right spell for a situation every single day. :)