Monkless Monk

[MrStabby]

I was wondering how easy it would be to build a monk type character without using the monk class. Background to the question is that I am contemplating characters for a new game, monks look great fun, but our group has had a lot of monks so far and they feel like a bit of a clone of others characters (mechanically anyway) if i go down that path. I would like to explore something that has this feeling to it from the early levels.

For me the archetypal monk has:

Great mobility
OKish damage
ability to throw down control effects on a hit
Have a "mystic" flavour
requires a little resource mangement

So far my thoughts have been:

level 1 hexblade: provides spell slots for effects and the wrathful smite spell for "control on hit" effect. Will need to poach somewhat from other classes and feats so aiming to make this as SAD as possible. Shield can slightly mimic catching arrows. Booming blade can slightly tick the "control on hit" box but also provides some scaling damage given multiclass desires.

Levels 2 and 3 rogue: a dash for cunning action. This should mean by level 3 I have a good bit of the feel of the mobile skirmisher able to inflict nasty conditions on a hit.

Level 4 take warlock 2: Invocations can be to get mage armour for more typical monk AC and maybe devil's sight for that supernatural feeling (or I could pick up the spell later). Doubles spell slots so on more rounds I can feel like a monk type character. Down an ASI at this point.

Level 5 probably look to go rogue 3. There are a lot of options here. Swashbuckler gives initiative close to what you would expect of a monk, removes some of the conditionality of sneak attack (making it a little more monk-like) and the fancy footwork really boosts the skirmisher option (and is obviously nice with both booming blade and wrathful smite). Scout has an actual "skirmisher" ability which is nice although survivalist doesn't seem to offer classical monk skill bonuses. Arcane trickster adds a couple of spell slots for more uses of the "signature" ability. Picking up feather fall also allows a little mimicry of the monk ability for falling.

Where should I go after this? Another level of rogue gets a much needed ASI. Another level of warlock should get misty step - another in keeping mobility boost. Or another class? Battlemaster manoeuvres feel in keeping - although painfully few uses of class abilities relative to the monk at this stage. Or a class for more spell slots? Sorcerer looks to give the most and some of the potential metamagic options look apt as well (subtle, twinned and quickened maybe?). At character level 9 (if I took a 4th level of rogue) I could get access to spider climb - of course it clashes with other concentration effects but the ability to run up surfaces seems pretty solid.

Swords college bard is also a possibility although I would feel like i was waiting for the 5th bard level for a long time to get the blade flourishes more frequent. Slightly fewer spells slots than the sorcerer and maybe less versatile.




Plan B is an ancients paladin with the mobile feat - probably dexterity based. The ability to dodge in and out of combat and with two good control spells in ensnaring strike and wrathful smite is good. 5th level gets misty step, also in keeping... Aura mimics a monk's good saves. The downside is the pathetically low number of times I could cast these spells each day... even this seems to call for a multiclass just to get more uses from these abilities.


What is most effective? What is likely to be most fun? Should I give up and just either play a monk or find another concept?

[Mortis_Elrod]

Mystic Immortal.

[th3g0dc0mp13x]

Rogue (scout)/Hexblade/monk???
Either Human Variant- 8,16*10,10,13, 16* with the Mobile feat
Half elf Wood Variant- 8,16*,10,10,14,17
Personally I would start warlock to get wisdom saving throw proficiency.




Great mobility-Scout Rogue
OKish damage-Hexblade+Rogue, as long as you get sneak attack you'll be solid
ability to throw down control effects on a hit-you can get some from the warlock class
Have a "mystic" flavor-Pure fluff, re-fluff the class to suit what you want.
requires a little resource management-Warlock spell slots are pretty much the same as a more limited version of ki, that mixed with cunning action will probably end up fairly similar.
Preferably sad- it's not sad, but generally Dex is something you'll want anyway.
The mobile feat really makes this feat feel like a skirmisher build
Spells-booming blade, arms of hadar, eldritch blast with the modification that knocks back, misty step, spider climb, vampiric touch.
I would see if your DM would let you summon your pact weapon as a pair of finesse brass knuckles that way you can get sneak attack but still be punching things if he has some kind of problem with that just make it a Katar.
Hold person can be re-fluffed to be a strike, you could even see if the dm would be willing to mod it a little into a more effective but reducing the range to touch.
I would still highly recommend grabbing two levels of monk if possible to grab flurry of blows. possibly three to grab the extra stuff for flurry of blows bonus effects.


Edit: I missed that you wanted it playable early. I would use the variant human Mobile to make this feel monkish early. Also Light armor is something I would definitely use
1st level: Warlock-Ask to start with the katar/knuckles and your using your charisma mod for damage. Hex for when you really need to lay a beat down on someone.
2nd level: Rogue-Sneak attack, Expertise
3rd level: if mobile get warlock with knock back Eldritch blast and devil's sight, if not grab rogue for cunning action.
Beyond this it's really up to what you want from the build.

[Waazraath]

I was wondering how easy it would be to build a monk type character without using the monk class. Background to the question is that I am contemplating characters for a new game, monks look great fun, but our group has had a lot of monks so far and they feel like a bit of a clone of others characters (mechanically anyway) if i go down that path. I would like to explore something that has this feeling to it from the early levels.

For me the archetypal monk has:

Great mobility
OKish damage
ability to throw down control effects on a hit
Have a "mystic" flavour
requires a little resource mangement


Barbarian 20. No, wait, hear me out! I'm serious. Go for Eagle (or Elk) totem at level 3, for a huge increase in mobility during rage, later also short bursts of flying; use a glaive(traditionally a monk weapon, that's unfortunately not supported in 5e); make hit & run attacks, for more damage than a monk usually will be able to deliver. Rescource management in 'when to rage' (and maybe 'when to reckless attack' with hp as resource); control effects: shoves & grapples (str based and advantage on str checks; you'll succeed a lot) - after level 14, eagle totem lets you fly: so grapple, fly up, use bonus action dash to move up again, drop; mystic flavour: well, you're dude with an insane speed / mobility who can fly short bursts and gets so focussed swords and arrows hardly seems to hurt you- or just reflavour ablities as you see fit.

Extremely easy, elegant, 20 levels single class. You'll hardly need to improve your constitution, since with only 12, you'll have as much hp as a monk with con 16 (which most don't have) - even marginally better, given how hp work at level 1. So you have room to improve strength and get nice juicy feats: like pole arm master, mobility, and great weapon master, I'd say. Maybe tavern brawler, if you want to punch somebody in the face and immediately start a grapple (more flavour than power I think, but hey, style is important).

If you want, add 3 levels of fighter - battle master (for a little bit extra resource management and controll effects, like trip and disarm); or 1 or 2 levels of rogue, for expertise (athletics) and the ability to also dash outside of rage; I don't know if the build gets much better by this, but it might fit better with what you're looking for.

[Lombra]

I am pondering on a grappler rogue, it can fit the fluff of a martial artist (that uses weapons).

Otherwise barbarian can fit the theme with his unarmored defense, and fighters are the premium martial artists. A barbarian/fighter dual wielder (dax based) can be easily fluffed as a monk.

[MrStabby]

Lots of good stuff there. I like the point on eagle barbarian. I had kind of ruled out that class too early. I think I would still need to add some control elements in from other classes but it does give some interesting functionality.

[Joe the Rat]

Vuman Warlock with crossbow master. Point blank agonizing repelling eldritch blast punch (with built in ranged ki blast). Extra "punch" at 5, 11, 17. Expeditious retreat, spider climb, hell-with-it teleporting, stunning hold person... lotsa options.
Add sorcerer for superflurry via quickened.
Everything else is season to taste.

[Specter]

Battlemaster Fighter with Mobile seems like the go-to choice.

That being said, why isn't 'unarmed strikes' in the list of demands? Without focusing on that, much of Monk's essence is lost.

[MrStabby]

Battlemaster Fighter with Mobile seems like the go-to choice.

That being said, why isn't 'unarmed strikes' in the list of demands? Without focusing on that, much of Monk's essence is lost.

This was one of the places I started. Battlemaster does cover a lot of what I would want - solid martial class with some debuff on hit options to add control. Add in something like pole arm master/sentinel combination and you have some good control effects. My doubts were twofold: one was a pure them thing not really mechanics focussed - the power doenst come from a mental stat and it misses a little of that mystic flavour. The mechanical issue is that there is just not enough control. As soon as a monk gets stunning blow they can use it five times per short rest, each one giving more control than the rider on any of the battlemaster strikes (I am not saying battlemaster is a worse class, but it is clearly behind in number of uses per day and depth of the control element).

Unarmed strikes were not on my list for a couple of reasons.
1) so many effects trigger of a weapon attack. Ruling these out due to an expectation of unarmed strike would be very limiting
2) Monk unarmed strike scales. There isn't much you can do with other classes that would reflect that scaling - seems more likely you would be stuck with a d4 damage if you stipulated this.
3) The most significant - I was seeing "monk" as a role or a set of capabilities. A set of things it could achieve rather than exactly how. OK this isn't entirely true as i was seeing a melee focused class with a strong martial bent but there is an element of truth to it. There was a bit of a need for a compromise and this was it.

[Theodoxus]

Vuman with Mobility or, I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned: Tabaxi!

Especially if you're adding any warlock to the mix. A hexblade/battlemaster mix would accomplish a lot of what you're looking for.

[Asmotherion]

In 5e you can do virtually anything, as long as you set your mind, and dedicate your RP to it.

A Wood Elf Sorcerer could brag about his running skills, by Subtle Spelling Expeditious Retreat (Later Haste) and having the mobile feat.

Any class needs only the Magic Initiate feat to be somewhat of a caster, and cast spells all day long. Your picks determin how magical you can be, but a pick of Prestidigitation/Minor Illusion/Mage Hand/Mending etc is a safe bet for Magical Enough. A high enough Mental stat can give a cool spell attack cantrip, such as Eldritch Blast and Firebolt, which, if used as off weapons in combat, even by non casting classes, are enough to brand you as "somewhat of a Mage".

[AvvyR]

Waazraath and Lombra are both right: Rogue 2/Barbarian X Grappler. I think you'll find it's a new and interesting way to play, and hits all your marks.


Great mobility Cunning action and Fast Movement if you get to Barbarian 5
OKish damage 1d6 Sneak attack you can always get by shoving people prone. You also get Barb rage damage if attacking with STR
ability to throw down control effects on a hit Grappling is amazing control! And you have expertise athletics, so you can push or knock prone at your leisure as well!
Have a "mystic" flavour Take Totem Warrior or XGtE's Zealot path at Barbarian 3 for cool mystical elements
requires a little resource mangement Rages, and bonus action management is its own kind of resource


On top of this, Barbarian also gives you Unarmored Defense like a monk. You could even take Tavern Brawler if you wanted to fight unarmed, though you technically can't sneak attack unarmed. Better to use a dagger or whip or something in one hand, and keep the other open for grapples.

[Citan]

I was wondering how easy it would be to build a monk type character without using the monk class. Background to the question is that I am contemplating characters for a new game, monks look great fun, but our group has had a lot of monks so far and they feel like a bit of a clone of others characters (mechanically anyway) if i go down that path. I would like to explore something that has this feeling to it from the early levels.

For me the archetypal monk has:

Great mobility
OKish damage
ability to throw down control effects on a hit
Have a "mystic" flavour
requires a little resource mangement

So far my thoughts have been:

level 1 hexblade: provides spell slots for effects and the wrathful smite spell for "control on hit" effect. Will need to poach somewhat from other classes and feats so aiming to make this as SAD as possible. Shield can slightly mimic catching arrows. Booming blade can slightly tick the "control on hit" box but also provides some scaling damage given multiclass desires.

Levels 2 and 3 rogue: a dash for cunning action. This should mean by level 3 I have a good bit of the feel of the mobile skirmisher able to inflict nasty conditions on a hit.

Level 4 take warlock 2: Invocations can be to get mage armour for more typical monk AC and maybe devil's sight for that supernatural feeling (or I could pick up the spell later). Doubles spell slots so on more rounds I can feel like a monk type character. Down an ASI at this point.

Level 5 probably look to go rogue 3. There are a lot of options here. Swashbuckler gives initiative close to what you would expect of a monk, removes some of the conditionality of sneak attack (making it a little more monk-like) and the fancy footwork really boosts the skirmisher option (and is obviously nice with both booming blade and wrathful smite). Scout has an actual "skirmisher" ability which is nice although survivalist doesn't seem to offer classical monk skill bonuses. Arcane trickster adds a couple of spell slots for more uses of the "signature" ability. Picking up feather fall also allows a little mimicry of the monk ability for falling.

Where should I go after this? Another level of rogue gets a much needed ASI. Another level of warlock should get misty step - another in keeping mobility boost. Or another class? Battlemaster manoeuvres feel in keeping - although painfully few uses of class abilities relative to the monk at this stage. Or a class for more spell slots? Sorcerer looks to give the most and some of the potential metamagic options look apt as well (subtle, twinned and quickened maybe?). At character level 9 (if I took a 4th level of rogue) I could get access to spider climb - of course it clashes with other concentration effects but the ability to run up surfaces seems pretty solid.

Swords college bard is also a possibility although I would feel like i was waiting for the 5th bard level for a long time to get the blade flourishes more frequent. Slightly fewer spells slots than the sorcerer and maybe less versatile.




Plan B is an ancients paladin with the mobile feat - probably dexterity based. The ability to dodge in and out of combat and with two good control spells in ensnaring strike and wrathful smite is good. 5th level gets misty step, also in keeping... Aura mimics a monk's good saves. The downside is the pathetically low number of times I could cast these spells each day... even this seems to call for a multiclass just to get more uses from these abilities.


What is most effective? What is likely to be most fun? Should I give up and just either play a monk or find another concept?
Hi!

Both concepts are good, but for a "Monk-like" character I'll still throw my hat down to the aforementioned Barbarian / Thief Rogue build, or maybe a Barbarian / Battlemaster Fighter alternatively.
The only limitation of those builds is mobility, and they mainly mimick Open Hand Monk specifically.

If you want great mobility too, then you'd better target 4e Monk in the fact that they rely a bit on spellcasting too, so it would justify a character that is partially a caster.

In which case the best would probably be Bladesinger 6 + Rogue 2+x with possibly Warlock X (depending on how often you want to rely on short rest) and Fighter 1 if you plan on using TWF often (otherwise better take one level of Sorcerer for Constitution saves, or nothing).
You'd need to refluff the Bladesong as some "internal focus" or whatnot.
This imo the best you can achieve.

Great Mobility: you get 10 feet when Bladesinging, Longstrider, Water Walk, Spider Climb, Haste, Fly. AND enough fuel to use them quite a few times each day (lets not forget the Arcana Recovery). Plus Rogue's Cunning Action. Obviously Mobile would be a mandatory feat too. ^^

OKish damage: more than ok actually, between possibly extra attack from Haste, possibly Hexblade, Extra Attack or weapon cantrips, and Sneak Attack.

Some control effects: Shove with Expertise is a thing you can afford thanks to Extra Attack. You can also use cantrips with riders like Ray of Frost, or maybe Repelling Blast depending on what stat you main. Some control spells could also be refluffed as being "ki projection" or the like.

Mystic flavour: probably have to fluff this one from A to Z...

Little resource management: just spell slots and Bladesong. :)

And let's add "resilience" into the mix: you get some Shield and Mirror Image (*poke Dodge*) and Absorb Elements (not half as good as proficient in all saves, but always nice to have), provided you get Rogue high enough you get the same Evasion, and with Mage Armor you can go unarmored exactly like a Monk (well, except for the blue halo XD).

[MrStabby]

Waazraath and Lombra are both right: Rogue 2/Barbarian X Grappler. I think you'll find it's a new and interesting way to play, and hits all your marks.



On top of this, Barbarian also gives you Unarmored Defense like a monk. You could even take Tavern Brawler if you wanted to fight unarmed, though you technically can't sneak attack unarmed. Better to use a dagger or whip or something in one hand, and keep the other open for grapples.


My issue with this build is not that it can't be a good fit, but rather that I have played something very similar before, or similar enough that it feels like it might be retreading old ground (my first character was a strength based fighter rogue who tended to shove people a lot - with two levels of rogue)


Hi!

Both concepts are good, but for a "Monk-like" character I'll still throw my hat down to the aforementioned Barbarian / Thief Rogue build, or maybe a Barbarian / Battlemaster Fighter alternatively.
The only limitation of those builds is mobility, and they mainly mimick Open Hand Monk specifically.

If you want great mobility too, then you'd better target 4e Monk in the fact that they rely a bit on spellcasting too, so it would justify a character that is partially a caster.

In which case the best would probably be Bladesinger 6 + Rogue 2+x with possibly Warlock X (depending on how often you want to rely on short rest) and Fighter 1 if you plan on using TWF often (otherwise better take one level of Sorcerer for Constitution saves, or nothing).
You'd need to refluff the Bladesong as some "internal focus" or whatnot.
This imo the best you can achieve.

Great Mobility: you get 10 feet when Bladesinging, Longstrider, Water Walk, Spider Climb, Haste, Fly. AND enough fuel to use them quite a few times each day (lets not forget the Arcana Recovery). Plus Rogue's Cunning Action. Obviously Mobile would be a mandatory feat too. ^^

OKish damage: more than ok actually, between possibly extra attack from Haste, possibly Hexblade, Extra Attack or weapon cantrips, and Sneak Attack.

Some control effects: Shove with Expertise is a thing you can afford thanks to Extra Attack. You can also use cantrips with riders like Ray of Frost, or maybe Repelling Blast depending on what stat you main. Some control spells could also be refluffed as being "ki projection" or the like.

Mystic flavour: probably have to fluff this one from A to Z...

Little resource management: just spell slots and Bladesong. :)

And let's add "resilience" into the mix: you get some Shield and Mirror Image (*poke Dodge*) and Absorb Elements (not half as good as proficient in all saves, but always nice to have), provided you get Rogue high enough you get the same Evasion, and with Mage Armor you can go unarmored exactly like a Monk (well, except for the blue halo XD).

Bladesinger rogue... sounds pretty awesome actually. Cunning action, spells, extra attack. Wizard casting gives good out of combat utility and the spellcasting kind of feels right. Downside is being level 8 before getting extra attack and cunning action though. Not a terrible burden if i can get booming blade (scaling cantrip and disengage are going to be pretty much as good). My issue is with the spell list though - no ensnaring strike, wrathful smite, or other control on hit kind of spells.

[DnDegenerates]

Pretty much any class with the right background and roleplayer.

[Citan]

My issue with this build is not that it can't be a good fit, but rather that I have played something very similar before, or similar enough that it feels like it might be retreading old ground (my first character was a strength based fighter rogue who tended to shove people a lot - with two levels of rogue)



Bladesinger rogue... sounds pretty awesome actually. Cunning action, spells, extra attack. Wizard casting gives good out of combat utility and the spellcasting kind of feels right. Downside is being level 8 before getting extra attack and cunning action though. Not a terrible burden if i can get booming blade (scaling cantrip and disengage are going to be pretty much as good). My issue is with the spell list though - no ensnaring strike, wrathful smite, or other control on hit kind of spells.
Aww, I'm sorry, I didn't notice you had that kind of spells in sight.
Hmm. It may be a bit of a conundrum indeed.
If you want those spells (and I understand why you would want them ^^), then indeed Hexblade Warlock was a fine choice, with an alternative being actually Ancients Paladin.

I think it boils down to a choice in how you envision your round-to-round usual fighting: is it "martial"? Or "magical"?
If it's martial, it's weapon attacks mainly, meaning you'll want several attacks.
In that case, although it's not exactly the same, you could approach an ensnaring strike effect, by using Expert Shove (half speed is not 0 speed, but still not bad) or Grappling creature into a trap or zone of difficult terrain, although this obviously means some setup is required, not the on-the-fly thing.
If you go Haste as your main buff, you could pull off something close enough to an Open Hand Monk in a very respectable way.

If it's magical, then you may drop the idea of getting Extra Attack (at least early), and instead of Bladesinger pick a mix of Shadow Sorcerer and Hexblade Warlock or Ancients Paladin as you first thought, to get most of the buffs and smite spells you fancy as well as making them stick as long as possible (using the hound to impose disadvantage on every save, at least if your DM agrees with this interpretation, which is not sure. Otherwise Heightened is your friend, or Magical Ambush).

Honestly though, I'd actually recommend dropping those smite spells and go with the AT/Bladesinger build instead.*
Not (only? XD) because it's mine, but simply because those smite spells don't have exactly the same value on a Paladin than on other classes.

Paladin has few spell slots (so he usually wants to get as most value as possible of each) and overall a small spell selection as far as hostile, violent encounter resolution goes. He also has great built-in resilience, AC/HP and otherwise, that mitigates the intrinsical risk he takes by having to make a melee weapon attack.
He has little uses for his bonus action barring some archetypes, so it's not like there is a big opportunity cost either.
And he has high motivation to max his CHA because of Aura and spell preparation, which means his spell DC is pretty decent.

A Monk is more about applying soft control against some targets, except for Stunning Strike he uses sparingly against the most dangerous targets. This is something you can either "replicate" through permanent actions (like Shove/Grapple), by using features or small cost resources of magical origin (Tempest Clerics push on lightning damage, cantrips like Ray of Frost, Repelling Blast) or by using spells like Hold Person which are concentration.

And as far as concentration spells go, from the moment you decide to recreate the feeling of a Monk but through different classes, you have so many great concentration spells to choose from already that you may find those smite spells a bit lackluster when compared...
Juste Haste in fact: on a character with at least 5 levels of Rogue means high probability of dealing Sneak Attack on your turn, as well as ability to make another Sneak Attack during the same round without having to wait a chance at OA.
On any character, it gives you enough speed to feel like a true Monk (except better at the same level) so even Grapple-based tactics will be very much usable.

You could also imagine actually using Gust of Wind paired with Longstrider and Cunning Action to "prepare" enemies for OA (pal with Sentinel) or AOE, like an Open Hand or 4e Monk would do.

A Monk, and a Rogue, are also all about using bonus action for better mobility or direct damage, which means using smite spells eat a bit into that.

If you want to get the feeling of an Ensnaring Strike or a Wrathful Smite, I'd say then try to make three levels of Battlemaster, as well as Sentinel feat, fit into your build. This would allow you to keep the great Monkish feeling that Haste would provide (or use any of the other great spells Bladesinger can provide) as well as avoid too much action economy conundrums, at least as far as bonus action are concerned.
Of course though, this also means tough choices to be made on leveling, especially since it's reasonable to first set a pit stop around character level 10, unless you are pretty sure you'll reach higher levels...
Maybe something like Bladesinger 5 / Rogue 2 / Battlemaster 3?
Or maybe going the MAD route and grabbing one level of Hexblade Warlock or two levels of Paladin, then either dumping INT to multiclass minimum to instead boost CHA, or count on Magical Ambush in the high levels to offset the low stat?
Or maybe dropping the Bladesinger altogether, and go Vengeance Paladin 9+ / Rogue 2+ with a possible dip in Hexblade Warlock or Sorcerer for more spells and slots, so you can have smite spells (except Ensnaring), low-level buff spells and still Haste?

I'll be glad to help you with that if/when you are set on what features you absolutely want on your character and think external opinion could be useful. ;)

Also, all I say is made on the assumption the the prime quality of Monk, above everything else, is speed.
If you don't share my vision, then obviously my suggestions should be taken with one (or several) grain(s) of salt.

* Or, you could also try my homebrew if allowed and you like experimenting things ^^

[MrStabby]

Thanks for the support.

I guess the feeling I am going for is being content to have not played a monk.

Every time I hit someone and apply a control effect, would i wish it were a stunning blow? When i move am I fast enough or would I be withing I had monk movement? Would I wish I could have a monk's D8 hp rather than a sorcerer D6? And so on.

Some of this can be attenuated with some other class abilities - doing more damage might make me think that my control elements don't have to be quite as strong and so on - as long as i can still shine in the role I have selected i think I should be OK. I take your point about cunning action being less useful with a desire to regularly use the bonus action for another use. I am just so used to cunning action being really powerful and it seemed so in keeping with trying to make a "monk" type character that is seemed to take centre stage.

All in all the ancients paladin is looking pretty attractive, although since discussing in in the OP my view is moving more to the strength one.. Ensnaring strike and wrathful smite together cover a physical and a mental save and both can last longer than a stun (the bonus action used to cast it could be used for a bonus action attack from a monk so I wouldn't add in the extra spell damage as a perk). Sure stun is still almost certainly a better ability but it is close enough that when i cast the spell I won't regret my class choice.

I think that grapple/shove might be worth adding for the control element. Instead of stun and not too much else for control on most monks i would get a nice effect a couple of times per day and an at-will weaker effect. Slight downside is the need for ever more feats - mobility is kind of needed, then probably shield mastery and in addition i will have two key stats to maximise. With expertise I could still hope to land some successful shoves a lot of the time and then could use advantage so that a lower to hit base chance is somewhat offset.



For expertise on shoving I could go bard instead of rogue. It would be slower (3 level dip rather than 1), but if I am picking up mobility then cunning action is a bit less important (although add in swashbucker 3 and it gives a lot of the benefits of mobility...). Bard also doesn't need anything in dexterity for a multiclass so it makes the stat distribution a little easier. College of swords can give me a bit of extra control with the blade flourish although i would be getting up to pretty high levels by the time it came round (also heat metal totally fits with the theme/feeling of bonus action debuff/control on the same turn as normal attacks). The trouble with this is that I feel I am not getting much use from the higher level spell slots. Sure there are spells that can be upcast, but it doesn't really feel like they are a great use of resources. Of course if i could persuade the DM to allow the DMG spell point variant then this would be perfect - add bard for more magic power to misty step, smite and generally play havoc with.

To be honest the spell point variant is so powerful I wouldn't really feel comfortable asking for it - I might pitch the idea of trading the ability to smite using spell slots (rather than casting the spell) for a spell points variant. It might make the whole concept work. I think that going off the rules we can assume in this way is not something that I can really look for though.

I could also add sorcerer. Quickened spell lets spells like hold person be run in conjunction with an attack. Twinned spell can help cantrips like booming blade compete with normal attacks. The combination is probably better overall than bard but maybe not quite on my theme. I could be convinced of this though. The storm sorcerer has a bit of pushing and movement from spell casting in it - might compliment the theme well.

Likewise warlock. I care more about being able to cast low level spells a lot rather than reaching high level spells. Warlock 2 would get me about 6 spells per day. Going into paladin then would let me know the paladin spells i am looking for (SCAG cantrips and eldritch blast can offset the pain of not getting extra attack early. I could use hexblade to dump strength and abandon shoving etc.. Ironically when I could afford the ASI to pick up shieldmaster it would be a lot less use.

The more I explore the options the more convinced I am that there is a really good character in here somewhere, both fun and effective. Of course it is pretty difficult to go wrong with a paladin and mobility is a solid enough feat anyway so i shouldn't really be surprised.

[Citan]

Hmm, I'm not sure how I could formulate my previous post in such a way that you'd understand me as underselling Cunning Action. ^^
My point was rather the opposite: Cunning Action is among the best propositions of bonus action use.

With that said, I indeed forgot about Bard's Expertise...

So if you want to get Ensnaring Strike and Wrathful Smite and build around, while still getting Haste, the earliest you could make could be...
Lore Bard 6 (Ensnaring Strike, Haste) / Swashbuckler Rogue 3 / Paladin 2 / Hexblade Warlock 1.
Seems kinda clunky at first but here you get everything except Extra Attack.

But honestly the big deal here is getting Haste, which is competing with smite spells in the first place (a point I tried to make in previous post then totally forgot about XD).
So if you put Haste out because you plan on using smite spells mostly, it simplifies things.
Ancients Paladin brings mostly everything. You'll just want Mobile feat, Longstrider and Cunning Action (for Dashing whenever you are not casting a smite spell).

Yeah, I'd say this following sums it up well.
Multiple weapon attacks VS powerful single attack.
concentration debuffs VS concentration mobility.
Getting all four is hard and will be achieved only at char level 13+.
Getting three of them is marginally easier.
Getting two of them? Easy peasy.

For level 10 characters.
Multiple attacks + Debuffs? Ancients Paladin 7 + Swashbuckler Rogue 3.
Multiple attacks + Mobility? Bladesinger Wizard 7 + Arcane Trickster Rogue 3.
Single attack + Debuffs? Ancients Paladin 2 + Hexblade Warlock 1 + Arcane Trickster 7.
Single attack + Mobility?
- CHA: Divine Soul or Shadow Sorcerer + AT.
- WIS: Land Druid 6min and AT.
- INT: aforementioned Bladesinger Wizard

Options for "middle ground":
- Druid 1 (didn't speak about it, but even 1/4 creatures can at least help you scouting or moving fast between fights)
- Battlemaster 3: more "rider on weapon attack" stuff.
- Hunter Ranger 3: another way to get Longstrider and Ensnaring Strike if needed.

Original alternative: Grassland Druid 6 / Rogue 2 / Fighter or Barbarian or Ranger X: really enforces the "control by movement" aspect of a Monk, using Plant Growth and Shove to stuck people. And you can use non-concentration spells before raging if you go Barbarian too. :)

[The Jack]

If you wanna go around for flavour, monks are clerics, maybe with a small dip into monk/barbarian for that unarmoured defence.