Help Building Sun Wukong

[gavinator154]

Hello everyone! Something fun and interesting has come up where I am playing: 20th level campaign. Finally, I am able to build a 20th level characters and let lose with incredible abilities, and I know what archetype I want: Sun Wukong, the Monkey King!

I have some ideas on how we can mimic abilities via spells and class abilities, but would like some ideas on how many levels of this how many levels of that, etc.

The first thing I have found is that Sun Wukong will probably use Trickery Cleric, Monk/Fighter, and Druid in some combination so that he can make duplicates, have the fighting prowess, and wild shape. However, I would love to hear about some other ideas for his other abilities. There are only 2 rules: I do have to use Official Material and I am allowed 2 uncommon and 1 rare item. Other than that, I'd love to hear ideas.

[Man_Over_Game]

Looking at the options, I think you'll want to take this kind of spread:

Trickster Cleric: 2
Land Druid (Coast): 3
Drunken Master Monk: 15.

This spread will provide a decent number of options for you during combat. Land Druid provides Mirror Image, which isn't Concentration, so it can be used with your Channel Divinity Cleric illusion at the same time.

You could decide to go Cleric 3 and Druid 2, which is nearly identical, but the Druid spell list is generally more "friendly" towards melee combatants, and more Druid levels has more synergy with your level 2 Land Druid feature than having an extra Cleric level will do.

Drunken Master definitely has a lot of the fun combat tricks you're looking to do. Not sure how every DM would rule it, but combining Mirror Image with Redirect Attack would be a lot of fun.

With the way Cleric and Moon Druid scale directly with levels in their respective classes, they aren't the best choices for multiclassing evenly. In this instance, we're sticking around just long enough in those classes to get utility that's independent of class level (Wildshape into small critters, illusion evasion, Trickster Channel Divinity), and then putting most of our points into the playstyle we ACTUALLY want: Drunken Monk.

[Unoriginal]

Firbolg Monk is probably your best bet.

[gavinator154]

Firbolg Monk is probably your best bet.

I'm actually thinking Bugbear. Long-Limbed could be reflavored as my staff growing and it gives me some stealthy tricks, though I do like the ability of Firbolg to cast disguise self.

[Jcp1195]

Well you should probably decide if you want to play this character as Pre or Post Xuanzang Sanzang. If pre, then a combination of Trickster Cleric, a dip into Fighter, and any Rogue would work.

I personally would play this post Sanzang and make as 14 Sun Soul Monk, 6 Zealot Barbarian. It gives you some decent damage output and combat versatability while giving you the Martial prowess to back up your divine smack talk. You can still be Trickster-ish but if you want to adhere to the legend of Sun Wukong you might want to tone it down because of his Circlet of obediance.

You can get a Heavily Enchanted Quarterstaff to act as Ruyi Jingu Bang, you’ve got Ranged Sun blasts in case your DM won’t give you a Staff that can reach as far as the horizon.

Or if you want to go all on on Martial Prowess, 14 Kensei Monk and 6 Zealot Barbarian works just as well.

As for race, if your dm allows D&D beyond, there’s a pretty nice Vanarra race on there that would fit well with the above level structure.

[Biggstick]

Is there a reason that a single classed level 20 Eldritch Knight wouldn't work?

Admittedly, I don't know very much about Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, but a quick google search and look at wiki shows that he is a skilled martial combatant with some magic capability.

An Eldritch Knight can take Mirror Image at 7th level and Polymorph at 20th level. Though the character would only be able to "shapeshieft" once per long rest, they'd still be capable of doing so. They'd also have plenty of spell slots (6 in total) to cast Mirror Image with. That isn't to mention any of the other interesting spells you can grab from the Wizard spell list to help your character out.

Being a Fighter, this works with really any race you want, as you have plenty of ASI's to get what you're looking for stat and feat wise.

Throw Polearm Master on a level 20 Eldritch Knight with maxed out Strength and you'll probably be doing pretty well. It might not be the unique multiclass answer you were looking for, but it does what you've described pretty well imo.

[Jcp1195]

An Eldritch Knight can take Mirror Image at 7th level and Polymorph at 20th level. Though the character would only be able to "shapeshieft" once per long rest, they'd still be capable of doing so. They'd also have plenty of spell slots (6 in total) to cast Mirror Image with. That isn't to mention any of the other interesting spells you can grab from the Wizard spell list to help your character out.

The problem with this is that Polymorph cannot be targeted on self. It has to be another target Think if you turned yourself into a plant or cow, you’d immediately loose concentration and turn back).

Also, if he’s going for historical significance with his character any magic learned would either have to be Internally channeled Arcane or Divine.

That said Stone Sorcerer combined with Fighter or Monk would work well considering Sun Wukong’s Birth.

[TheMoxiousOne]

Looking at the options, I think you'll want to take this kind of spread:

Trickster Cleric: 2
Land Druid (Coast): 3
Drunken Master Monk: 15...

This is exactly the spread I was going to suggest, Since I have actually played it in a one-shot, and had a blast with him.



Throw Polearm Master on a level 20 Eldritch Knight with maxed out Strength and you'll probably be doing pretty well. It might not be the unique multiclass answer you were looking for, but it does what you've described pretty well imo.

Honestly could see this; you get a lot of small versatility things to do in a big gish capacity, that all fit the Wukong motif. 10/10 would roll as a one-shot character

[Biggstick]

The problem with this is that Polymorph cannot be targeted on self. It has to be another target Think if you turned yourself into a plant or cow, you’d immediately loose concentration and turn back).

Also, if he’s going for historical significance with his character any magic learned would either have to be Internally channeled Arcane or Divine.

That said Stone Sorcerer combined with Fighter or Monk would work well considering Sun Wukong’s Birth.

You can absolutely target yourself with Polymorph, and maintain concentration on the spell while shifted into a beast. It's been talked about in multiple Sage Advice articles, and here is simply one of them.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjOntDH75jfAhXN7GEKHRaeCmEQzPwBegQIARAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sageadvice.eu%2F2016%2F04%2F 06%2Fone-of-my-player-is-using-polymorph-at-himself-to-be-a-t-rex-isnt-he-abusing%2F&psig=AOvVaw2b3pukaft14BfJNymMZ37x&ust=1544655305677653

Another point is that an Eldritch Knight isn't a learned Wizard. They choose spells from a Wizard's spell list, but the flavor text is up to you the PC as to how your Eldritch Knight came up on their access to arcane magic.

[Malifice]

You can absolutely target yourself with Polymorph, and maintain concentration on the spell while shifted into a beast. It's been talked about in multiple Sage Advice articles, and here is simply one of them.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjOntDH75jfAhXN7GEKHRaeCmEQzPwBegQIARAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sageadvice.eu%2F2016%2F04%2F 06%2Fone-of-my-player-is-using-polymorph-at-himself-to-be-a-t-rex-isnt-he-abusing%2F&psig=AOvVaw2b3pukaft14BfJNymMZ37x&ust=1544655305677653

Another point is that an Eldritch Knight isn't a learned Wizard. They choose spells from a Wizard's spell list, but the flavor text is up to you the PC as to how your Eldritch Knight came up on their access to arcane magic.

Monkey is traditionally a Martial artist. A trickster demigod (kind of) he was imprisoned by Buddah under a mountain for stealing the fruit of immortality from the gods.

You know; this guy:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-SUoHmpRdM

[Malifice]

Depends on your ability to refluff a bit.


Boots of flying (uncommon item) fluffed as a cloud that he can call to himself (as a bonus action) to fly around on.
+1 Staff (with the additional fluff quality that it can grow to the size of a 10' pole, or shrink to the size of a matchstick as a bonus action, its qualities as a weapon is suppressed while it is shrunk or enlarged) = uncommon item
Bracers of Defence (fluffed as his headband) = rare item


Monk 17 [Drunken master] Trickery Cleric 3 for mine for the level split.

Lucky feat looks pretty fluffy.