Help me create a tortle monk!

[Yack]

Hello GITP!

I'm currently trying to create a 6th-level Tortle monk but I don't like the way I'm making it. The base 17 AC + WIS mod means I'm one heavy monk, plus it doesn't count as "wearing armor." The best part is that I get a defensive mode and claws as unarmed strikes. I love the Tough feat for this character since it adds even further to the heavy monk character. I sort of like the idea of a Light monk.

Edit: I just noticed that I'm basically going to play Master Oogway.

[Griswold]

Tortle is a fun option for monk, since you can basically ignore your Dex and do a Strength-based monk. What kind of help are you looking for?

Also: how are you getting an AC of 17 + Wisdom, though? Monk and Tortle both give you alternate ways to calculate your AC, and can't be used together.

[Afrodactyl]

A friend of mine used a strength based drunken master tortle. It was really quite effective until he got bogged down by a group of ghouls and paralysed to death.

[Mr.Spastic]

Your ac is flat 17, not 17+wis. You could chose to have it be 10+dex+wis or 17.

I have a tortle monk character build. I personally went way of shadows to feel like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. If you want an Oogway style character, I would suggest Open Hand for the awesome flurry of blows stuff, like knock back and prone, and the heals. Another fun one would be drunken master, because everybody would think your a slow old turtle until you bust a move on them.

For stats
Str-high
dex-low
con-medium
int-low
wis-high
cha-low

Feats I'd recommend would be tough(because everybody could use more health), mobile, maybe magic initiate druid for guidance.

[Yack]

Tortle is a fun option for monk, since you can basically ignore your Dex and do a Strength-based monk. What kind of help are you looking for?

Also: how are you getting an AC of 17 + Wisdom, though? Monk and Tortle both give you alternate ways to calculate your AC, and can't be used together.

Oh. Thank you so much! I had no idea Tortle left no AC improvement available. I originally thought you added your WIS mod to AC while unarmored, which I am.

I guess I'm really just looking for suggestions.

[Grod_The_Giant]

The main option that opens up for a Strength-Monk is grappling, so I'd look into taking the Grappler feat at 4th, and maybe taking a level of Rogue for Expertise in Athletics.

As for Monk-tanking, look no farther than Long Death.

[Man_Over_Game]

Oh. Thank you so much! I had no idea Tortle left no AC improvement available. I originally thought you added your WIS mod to AC while unarmored, which I am.

I guess I'm really just looking for suggestions.

My best recommendation is to go with an entirely different direction, going with 1 level into Barbarian, and then going into either Kensei or Drunken Master Monk, maximizing Strength and Grapple effects.

The flat AC does a great job of making you tanky without making you need multiple stats. A lot of the monk options require Wisdom for saving throw effects, but my suggested monk subclasses mostly require attack stats over everything else. With Barbarian, you will have resistance to damage, and be able to add a bonus to the damage of your unarmed strikes, which would be using Strength as their main modifier (as that's a choice you can make as a monk).


For Kensei:
As a bonus action, you can increase your AC by 2 for the turn if you make an unarmed strike for your main attack, bumping your AC to 19 while having the same standard attack damage as you would from a one-handed weapon (1d4+2 = 1d8). [AC bonuses can still be applied to the Tortle's AC.]
Is generally better if you're going for a Monk dip, but planning on specializing as a Barbarian.
Is better as a versatile melee/ranged combatant.

For Drunken Master:
You'd be able to rapidly move across the battlefield with a whopping 30 extra speed on top of your racial speed when you Flurry of Blows, and the Flurry of Blows will scale dramatically with your Rage damage, causing a lot of hurt while still being able to survive in melee damage exceptionally well.
Is generally better if you're going for a Barbarian dip, but planning on specializing as a Monk.
Is better as a mobile tank combatant.

Lastly, with Hand Axes, you'd be able to throw them with Strength, with an extra throw as a TWF bonus action (possible with Thrown Light weapons), with your Barbarian Rage bonus on the damage.

Just make sure you grab Barbarian first, because you technically can only get a single Unarmored Defense feature from a class, and I think the Barbarian version is more relevant.

(Note: A Shield can still be worn and used, but you will not benefit from the Monk's Unarmored Movement feature while wearing it)

[Mr.Spastic]

Lastly, with Hand Axes, you'd be able to throw them with Strength, with an extra throw as a TWF bonus action (possible with Thrown Light weapons), with your Barbarian Rage bonus on the damage.

The rules of the thrown weapon property make it so you only throw hand axes with strength, unless you are monk.

[Man_Over_Game]

The rules of the thrown weapon property make it so you only throw hand axes with strength, unless you are monk.

I was mostly trying to draw attention to the fact that you can TWF Throw a weapon using Strength, which assists with a Barbarian's problem of a lack of attacks and a lack of range, while still maximizing damage, which is unique to the Hand Axe and the Light Hammer (which deals less damage).

I didn't mean to imply the focus was the strength mod.

Interestingly enough, Darts are a Ranged Weapon that contains Thrown and Finesse. Which means that rather than being a melee weapon with the possibility of using the same modifier for a ranged attack as you would melee, it's a ranged weapon with the possibility of making a melee attack as you would ranged. In other words, Strength is the extra option for a Dart, and a Dart can be made as your Ranged weapon of choice for a Kensei.

This is mostly relevant with something like the Archery fighting style, which specifies Ranged Weapons, so while it doesn't benefit hand axes, it does benefit darts, which can both use Strength.

So in this STR based Barbarian/Monk build, a Dart for the ranged Kensei weapon would be a decent option, but would likely be redundant with the best light weapon for Str users: the Hand Axe, which can already be thrown.