cinnamoony
2019-02-09, 11:26 AM
This WAS a guide to STR monks but I am changing it due to the fact that STR monks are strictly worse than regular ones.
Listen. This is my first guide. If you have criticism of any kind, leave it down in the comments, as I will gladly read it and try to change. Thanks. Also note that I am using many things from EvilAnagram's guides, as they are all very well formatted and easy to read. Thanks again.
Her fists a blur as they detect an incoming hail of arrows, a half-elf springs over a barricade and throws herself into the massed ranks of hobgoblins on the other side. She whirls among them, knocking their blows aside and sending them reeling, until at last she stands alone.
Taking a deep breath, a human covered in tattoos settles into a battle stance. As the first charging orcs reach him, he exhales and a blast of fire roars from his mouth, engulfing his foes.
Moving with the silence of the night, a black-clad halfling steps into a shadow beneath an arch and
emerges from another inky shadow on a balcony a stone's throw away. She slides her blade free of its cloth-wrapped scabbard and peers through the open window at the tyrant prince, so vulnerable in the grip of sleep.
Whatever their discipline, monks are united in their ability to magically harness the energy that flows in their bodies. Whether channeled as a striking display of combat prowess or a subtler focus of defensive ability and speed, this energy infuses all that a monk does. (PHB 76)
Color Scheme
This is mandatory. The only reason why you wouldn't pick this is for RP.
This is amazing and useful in many/most situations.
This is very good, but not quite phenomenal.
This is decent. It's good if you have room for it.
Bad. It will be extremely rare that it's useful at all.
Situational or too DM-dependent to be good.
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Ability Scores
Strength: Too generally useful to dump, but won't be as good as DEX.
Dexterity: Your main stat. AC, Initiative, Attacking, there are so many things you can use this for. Try for at LEAST 16 at level 1.
Constitution: As a monk, you will likely be up in the front lines, taking hits due to your lower ac, so try to start with a good score in this ability, at least 14.
Intelligence: You're a monk. You punch things. You don't need to know how to do advanced calculus.
Wisdom: Here we go! This determines our ac, DCs, and how good we are at what is arguably the best skill in the game; perception. Try for 16 at level 1.
Charisma: Spending your entire life away from others, meditating, probably isn't so good for your speaking.
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Player's Handbook
Hill Dwarf: The basic Dwarf package is solid, but it hurts to not have a DEX boost in the early levels. If you're starting at later levels, this is Light Blue.
Mountain Dwarf: Strictly worse than Hill Dwarves. A boost to a secondary and tertiary stat isn't good enough to make this useful.
High Elf: Dexterity is great, as is the extra cantrip- use it on, for example, firebolt, or another ranged cantrip unless you're going sun soul. However, Int is useless. The Trance, Perception, and Fey Ancestry are extremely nice, though.
Wood Elf: About the same as a High Elf, but slightly better due to the higher move speed, and WIS boost. An great choice.
Drow: The spells and DEX boost are nice and compliment a way of shadow monk, but the rest of the package really does hurt.
Lightfoot Halfling: Halfling features are really nice, as it the DEX, but the charisma is wasted.
Stout Halfling: Again, Halfling features are great, and this also boosts a secondary stat boosts.
Human: Plus one to every stat is pretty solid.
Variant Human: Everyone likes options, and this gives you the option of a feat.
Dragonborn: A worse Mountain Dwarf. The AoE is nice in early levels, but scales terribly and losing out on DEX or CON or WIS hurts a lot.
Forest Gnome: Gnome Cunning is pretty sweet, and Dexterity is great, as are the advantages on magic saves. Int is basically useless, though. It’s not a bad choice.
Rock Gnome: See above, but sub CON for DEX and add tinkering, which makes it slightly worse. Not the best choice, but not the worst.
Half-Elf: Well, you get CHA, which is useless. But any other two stats you want. And some skill proficiency. And darkvision. It’s… pretty damn sweet.
Half-Orc: A pretty situational choice. Boosts to STR and CON, of which only CON is useful, but the saving grace is a 'don't die once per long rest' ability. Blue if you can convince your DM to let Savage Attack work for your unarmed attacks.
Tiefling: The CHA and INT are perfectly useless, but once again the saving grace is the spells. They... kinda suck. So swap em' out for a brand new set of wings using the winged variant from the SCAG. If your DM says no, this becomes purple.
Dungeon Master's Guide
Aasimar: The spell set and CHA boost isn't great, but you get resistances.
Eladrin: Perfectly okay. Dexterity and teleportation are great, but INT is unnecessary.
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
Duergar: A decent Monk… indoors. If you can frequently find advantage to cancel out that Sunlight Sensitivity, it's better.
Deep Gnome: Don't pick this. The forest gnome is better.
Ghostwise Halfling: About equal to Stout (personally I'd say stout is better but it really depends on your campaign for this one) but psychic stuff instead of poison resistance.
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
Gith: Githzerai is a solid choice- although the Int point is wasted, a +2 to your main stat is very helpful. And advantages make a difference. Githyanki's +2 STR is wasted.
Volo's Guide to Monsters
Aasimar: A +2 boost to a dump stat really hurts. Boosting your primary or secondary stat (WIS or CON) on top of a healing ability, two resistances, and the daily ability to channel the divine power of heaven to smite your enemies, however, is really freaking good.
Firbolg: +2 WIS boost? Yes please! And powerful build? AND magic AND invisibility?
Goliath: A secondary and a dump stat. However, an extra proficiency plus the defensive feature might be helpful.
Kenku: +2 to a primary is great! And a +1 boost to WIS? Nice! Plus proficiencies? Neat. Not speaking kinda sucks though.
Lizardfolk: Slightly better than, but similar to, Hill dwarf.
Tabaxi: CHA boost is bad, but DEX and decent mobility features are pretty nice. Skills are also pretty helpful.
Triton: Boost to CON is nice, but the CHA and STR are wasted. Spells and resistance make this black.
Tortle Package
Tortle: Natural armor, holding your breath, extra proficiency, and Shell Defense. Perfect for a STR monk, though.
Volo's Monstrous Races
Bugbear: Like a Goliath, but with reach instead of damage reduction. A perfectly okay choice.
Goblin: A primary and a secondary, extra damage every day, and a bonus action disengage. This is a surprisingly good pairing.
Hobgoblin: The only thing this offers is Saving Face and some CON, and that's just not enough.
Kobold: +2 to DEX is great, and Pack Tactics makes up for the -2 to STR by a lot.
Orc: It's pretty bad. The int reduction hurts less than it would a caster, and the rest of this is actually okay. Half-orcs are better, though.
Yuan-Ti Pureblood: The magic resistance and extra spells are very nice, but the ASIs are wasted.
Elemental Evil
Aarakocra: Both primaries are boosted and 50' unlimited flight makes this Gold.
Genasi: All the Genasi options provide a CON boost and some CON spells. This is generally a pretty good thing. Air and Water are great, but Fire and Earth just fall short.
Unearthed Arcana supplements have provided a few new options:
Eberron
Changeling: The ASIs are okay with a +1 to DEX, but the change appearance really help the master of mind and body aesthetic.
Shifters: The DEX boost is great, and unless you pick Longtooth (Don't pick longtooth) you get a +2 boost to a primary or secondary, and some extra action on the side.
Warforged: All warforged are at least blue, but the Envoy and Skirmisher are both Light Blue.
Guildmaster's Guide to Ravinica
Minotaur: 1d6 Unarmed Strikes at level one, decent ASIs, and a skill. A decent choice.
Centaur: +WIS makes this a decent choice right out of the gate, better move speed, and an extra skill put this solidly in the black, despite the lack of +DEX.
Simic Hybrid: Better ac, speed, or ranged attacks make this a great choice, as well as being able to choose wether you want to focus on DEX or WIS.
Vedalken: The +2 INT is wasted, but the +1 WIS is not. The advantage on mental saving throws is enough to make up for the bad ASI and more. Additionally, an extra proficiency with an extra d4 bumps this race from blue to light blue.
Loxodon: Great ASIs, and advantage on Perception, Investigation, and Survival, as well as a trunk for carrying your Small friends makes up for the lack of +DEX.
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Way of the Drunken Master (From XGtE)
Bonus Proficiencies: (Prof. in Preformance+brewer's supplies) Nice. Now you can act drunk, fight drunk, and BE DRUNK.
Drunken Technique: Now for only 1 ki point, you can: run extra better (+10 speed), not get hit as you're running extra better (disengage), and have two bonus action fists (activates on flurry of blows).
Tipsy Sway: Leap to your feet is okay (5' to get up from prone), but the REAL good stuff is redirect attack (spend 1 ki to have a hit directed at you hit someone within 5' instead). Stand next to the tanky barbarian and NEVER GET HIT a number of times equal to your ki.
Drunkard's Luck: (spend 2 ki to cancel disadvantage) No disadvantage, ever seems pretty nice.
Intoxicated Frenzy:(flurry of blows can hit 3 extra people as long as they are different people) If you're ever in a situation where you would use this, use your drunken technique instead and run as fast as you can.
Way of the Four Elements: No. But if you really REALLY want to, dip a level in sorcerer and grab the 4 elemental cantrips. It's basically the same thing. Oh, and if you do it into Wild Magic, that's 1 extra advantage per day, since you WON'T BE CASTING SPELLS BECAUSE THIS TRADITION IS TERRIBLE. You still want to play the avatar? Fine. The great ones: Sweeping Cinder Strike, Clench of the North Wind, Eternal Mountain Defense, Ride the Wind, River of Hungry Flame, Wave of Rolling Earth. The okay ones: Fist of the Four Thunders, Water Whip, Flames of the Phoenix, Mist Stance, Breath of Winter. The situational ones: Fangs of the Fire Snake, Fist of Unbroken Air, Shape the Flowing River, Gong of the Summit. The bad one: Rush of the Gale Spirits.
Way of the Kensei (XGtE): Personally, I don't like this subclass, so I may seem overly dismissive, but here we go anyways.
Path of the Kensei:This is why you chose this subclass. Kensei Weapons- Pick a melee and ranged weapon. You are now proficient with them, and additionally they count as 'Kensei Weapons' aka special monk weapons. Aka 1d10 WHIP WHOO. Agile Parry - aka +2 ac Kensei Shot - Use a bonus action to deal an extra d4 on your ranged attack that turn Way of the Brush - Ribbon.
One with the Blade: Now your kensei weapons are magical and also if you hit you can spend a ki pt. to deal extra damage.
Sharpen the Blade: Now you can spend ki to make your weapon kill things better. Pretty cool, but by the time you get this, you probably already have at LEAST +1 weapons.
Unnering Accuracy - Did I miss? Are you sure? Are you REALLY SURE?
Way of the Long Death (SCAG):Never die.
Touch of Death: With some coordination, this can go a long way. But remember, Temp HP doesn't stack.
Hour of Reaping: No cooldown? No cooldown! Spam this all day long and NEVER BE HIT!
Mastery of Death:You will never die. That's it. Once you reach this level, you are a lich.
Touch of the Long Death: More setup than the Open Hand save-or-die, but the payoff is 20d10 neucrotic damage. 20d10!
Way of the Open Hand:The Monk's straight upgrade subclass.
Open Hand Technique: Nice. Very few creatures have good STR saving throws, so grapple them near a cliff, punch them, and YEET them right off to their death.
Wholeness of Body: Discount Second Wind.
Tranquility: If you wanted to not punch things, you should've picked cleric.
Quivering Palm:One of 5e's very few save-or-dies. Always good.
Way of Shadow: Darkness. No parents. Lego Batman is saaaad.
Shadow Arts: Not very useful (at least in my experience).
Shadow Step:Did you want a free 60' teleport? Because I heard you wanted a free 60' teleport.
Cloak of Shadows: Good for hiding, bad for fighting.
Opportunist: Pretty nice.
Way of the Sun Soul (XGtE): DON'T STOP DON'T STOP WE'RE IN LUCK NOW DON'T STOP THERE'S SO MUCH TO BE FOUN- jk but this is actually every anime where they blast their spirit energy.
Radiant Sun Bolt: 30' magic punches of power.
Searing Arc Strike: The AoE that Monks desperately need.
Searing Sunburst: Radiant Fireball. For 4 Ki points. Why? Who knows. Who cares. It's great.
Sun Shield:Deal 10 damage to your enemies when they hit you. You are now a literal humanoid torch.
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Multiclassing Monk (From PeteNutButter's Ultimate Optimizer's Multiclassing Guide)
Monk/Barbarian: Light Blue if you're a tortle STR monk, as that makes this MC STR-based and not a MAD mess.
Monk/Bard: A monk who dips bard gains access to some skills, spells and jack of all trades. If a monk wants spells they are best left to picking a WIS-based class. If they want skills, they can get rogue. There is little to no reason to attempt this MAD build. Probably best avoided.
Monk/Cleric: A monk who dips cleric gains access to some spells, and cool domain features. The spells go great on a monk who typically lacks anything to concentrate on, but already has a high wisdom. This is a great combination that has little drawbacks. As long as the monk picks up extra attack, it’s hard to go wrong here.
Monk/Druid: A monk who dips druid gains access to some spells and maybe Wildshape. Wildshape won’t be very useful in combat as a dip, but still useful for stealth or exploration. The spells are a great addition to the monk who already has a high wisdom, and nothing to concentrate on. The lack of metal armor is no love lost here, and your team will be happy to have one more person that can heal. The cleric option is slightly better, but this is still overall quite strong.
Monk/Fighter: A monk who dips fighter gains a fighting style, action surge and possibly an archetype. Each subclass can have it's appeal for a monk. A great dip, best taking exactly 4 levels of it, so as not to lose an ASI or double up on extra attack.
Monk/Paladin: A monk who dips paladin, gains a fighting style, smite, and possibly an oath. YOU CANNOT SMITE UNARMED STRIKES. The intense MADness of 4 stats needing 13, none of which being con, make this probably best avoided.
Monk/Ranger: A monk who dips ranger gains a fighting style, some spells, and likely a hunter ability. Hunter’s Mark is a fantastic damage boost on a class with 3-4 attacks a round. The hunter or Gloomstalker ability is just more damage. This is a great choice for a 4 level dip, grabbing the precious ASI and avoiding doubling up on extra attack. It is completely void of MADness. Avoid Horizon Walker or Monster Slayer as there is too much bonus action competition.
Monk/Rogue: A monk who dips rogue gains some skills, expertise, cunning action, and possibly an archetype. The cunning action can appear like an overlap for the monk, but the ki savings are well worth it. As for archetypes, assassin could be fun to crit with all of a monk’s attacks. Arcane Trickster is a good way for a monk to get Shield spell without a 13 int/cha. Could make a solid dip, provided it doesn't go too behind on ASIs.
Monk/Sorcerer: A monk who dips sorcerer gains some spells, and possibly scales. The scales could temporarily make up for the lack of points to have a high wis, but the benefits probably won’t outweigh the MADness. The typical appeal of the sorcerer gish is the action economy of quickened, but the bonus action of the monk is already full of options. GFB/BB are pretty useless on a monk, as they cannot flurry or use martial arts without taking the attack action. These classes have little to add to each other. Shadow Monks gain some synergy with shadow sorcerer. Probably best left for niche builds.
Monk/Warlock: A monk who dips warlock gains some spells, cool invocations, and possibly a pact. It is MAD, but Armor of Shadow’s could temporarily help mitigate the lower AC. This is a common choice for the shadow monk to gain Devil’s Sight, as they can cast darkness but lack the ability to see in magical darkness. This is more of a way to fix the issues with the Shadow Monk than it is a real synergy, as the warlock can both cast and see in magical darkness without multiclassing. Casting Darkness comes with its own issues as you may essentially turn off your teammates as well, especially as a melee.
Monk/Wizard: A monk who dips wizard gains access to some spells as well as some cool subclass features. Bladesinger is one of the few ways a monk can add to AC, but the MADness makes it unlikely to be worth it. War wizard is a great dip on any martial that doesn't have a regular reaction, but otherwise there is little synergy with this combination, and it is MAD. Probably best avoided.
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Possible Builds (Leave your ideas down below!)
Tortle Monk (Way of Shadow) 18 / Barbarian 2
STR 20 DEX 8 CON 18 INT 8 WIS 18 CHA 8
This monk/barbarian multiclass uses their high Athletics skill modifier to grapple and shove enemies for advantage on punching- and even if your enemy is also a powerful athlete, you can Rage for advantage on that check. To offset the 8 (-1) dexterity stat, you have proficiency in Dex saves and Advantage on most instances- equaling about a +8 dexterity saving throw modifier- which is more than most pcs have anyways. Thanks to the Barbarian's Reckless Attack feature and this monk's already high AC, you have either advantage and the equivalent of AC 14, or 17+, depending on your magic items or if you are using your Shell Defense feature. This character can leap 16 feet into the air, thus forcing their enemy to take 1d6 damage and land prone using just barely 10' movement, if you jump 10' into the air. Using the Step of the Wind Monk feature, you can spring 30' into the air to force them to take 3d6 damage, with 20' movement remaining, at which point they can walk the prone, grappled, already hurt enemy over to the nearest rogue. I'm sure they'd love to open up the present you've given them...
Kobold Monk 17 (Way of the Open Hand), Warlock 3 (Fiend Patron)
STR 6 DEX 20 CON 14 INT 8 WIS 16 CHA 8
Now this might seem like an odd build, however the kobold and monk features mix perfectly with the warlock powers. The key to this build is to pick the Pact of the Chain. Then, pick an imp for the most powerful version of this build. Why, you ask? Well, firstly the Kobold feature Pack Tactics says "You have advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of your allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated." Specifically, note the "One of your allies" part. A familiar, like the one that you have, is an ally. This means you can have your familiar perch on your shoulder and have advantage, always. Additionally, you can make your familiar turn invisible, making attacks against it be with disadvantage. Finally, my favourite way to use an imp familiar is to have it carry your character. Now, an imp has a Strength score of 6. Even if you use the Variant: Encumbrance rules, it can carry 30lbs- which should be plenty for a small kobold with no armor or heavy weapons. Alright, now that we're done with that, let's move onto the general warlock features. The Fiend pact gives you the Dark One's Blessing feature, to toughen up your relatively weak melee battler a little. Take the Eldritch Blast cantrip for some ranged action, and any other cantrip you'd like. Take the Darkness, Invisibility, and any other spells you want. This way, when you are in Bright Light, you can cast Darkness, see through it, and cancel out that disadvantage.
Listen. This is my first guide. If you have criticism of any kind, leave it down in the comments, as I will gladly read it and try to change. Thanks. Also note that I am using many things from EvilAnagram's guides, as they are all very well formatted and easy to read. Thanks again.
Her fists a blur as they detect an incoming hail of arrows, a half-elf springs over a barricade and throws herself into the massed ranks of hobgoblins on the other side. She whirls among them, knocking their blows aside and sending them reeling, until at last she stands alone.
Taking a deep breath, a human covered in tattoos settles into a battle stance. As the first charging orcs reach him, he exhales and a blast of fire roars from his mouth, engulfing his foes.
Moving with the silence of the night, a black-clad halfling steps into a shadow beneath an arch and
emerges from another inky shadow on a balcony a stone's throw away. She slides her blade free of its cloth-wrapped scabbard and peers through the open window at the tyrant prince, so vulnerable in the grip of sleep.
Whatever their discipline, monks are united in their ability to magically harness the energy that flows in their bodies. Whether channeled as a striking display of combat prowess or a subtler focus of defensive ability and speed, this energy infuses all that a monk does. (PHB 76)
Color Scheme
This is mandatory. The only reason why you wouldn't pick this is for RP.
This is amazing and useful in many/most situations.
This is very good, but not quite phenomenal.
This is decent. It's good if you have room for it.
Bad. It will be extremely rare that it's useful at all.
Situational or too DM-dependent to be good.
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Ability Scores
Strength: Too generally useful to dump, but won't be as good as DEX.
Dexterity: Your main stat. AC, Initiative, Attacking, there are so many things you can use this for. Try for at LEAST 16 at level 1.
Constitution: As a monk, you will likely be up in the front lines, taking hits due to your lower ac, so try to start with a good score in this ability, at least 14.
Intelligence: You're a monk. You punch things. You don't need to know how to do advanced calculus.
Wisdom: Here we go! This determines our ac, DCs, and how good we are at what is arguably the best skill in the game; perception. Try for 16 at level 1.
Charisma: Spending your entire life away from others, meditating, probably isn't so good for your speaking.
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Player's Handbook
Hill Dwarf: The basic Dwarf package is solid, but it hurts to not have a DEX boost in the early levels. If you're starting at later levels, this is Light Blue.
Mountain Dwarf: Strictly worse than Hill Dwarves. A boost to a secondary and tertiary stat isn't good enough to make this useful.
High Elf: Dexterity is great, as is the extra cantrip- use it on, for example, firebolt, or another ranged cantrip unless you're going sun soul. However, Int is useless. The Trance, Perception, and Fey Ancestry are extremely nice, though.
Wood Elf: About the same as a High Elf, but slightly better due to the higher move speed, and WIS boost. An great choice.
Drow: The spells and DEX boost are nice and compliment a way of shadow monk, but the rest of the package really does hurt.
Lightfoot Halfling: Halfling features are really nice, as it the DEX, but the charisma is wasted.
Stout Halfling: Again, Halfling features are great, and this also boosts a secondary stat boosts.
Human: Plus one to every stat is pretty solid.
Variant Human: Everyone likes options, and this gives you the option of a feat.
Dragonborn: A worse Mountain Dwarf. The AoE is nice in early levels, but scales terribly and losing out on DEX or CON or WIS hurts a lot.
Forest Gnome: Gnome Cunning is pretty sweet, and Dexterity is great, as are the advantages on magic saves. Int is basically useless, though. It’s not a bad choice.
Rock Gnome: See above, but sub CON for DEX and add tinkering, which makes it slightly worse. Not the best choice, but not the worst.
Half-Elf: Well, you get CHA, which is useless. But any other two stats you want. And some skill proficiency. And darkvision. It’s… pretty damn sweet.
Half-Orc: A pretty situational choice. Boosts to STR and CON, of which only CON is useful, but the saving grace is a 'don't die once per long rest' ability. Blue if you can convince your DM to let Savage Attack work for your unarmed attacks.
Tiefling: The CHA and INT are perfectly useless, but once again the saving grace is the spells. They... kinda suck. So swap em' out for a brand new set of wings using the winged variant from the SCAG. If your DM says no, this becomes purple.
Dungeon Master's Guide
Aasimar: The spell set and CHA boost isn't great, but you get resistances.
Eladrin: Perfectly okay. Dexterity and teleportation are great, but INT is unnecessary.
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
Duergar: A decent Monk… indoors. If you can frequently find advantage to cancel out that Sunlight Sensitivity, it's better.
Deep Gnome: Don't pick this. The forest gnome is better.
Ghostwise Halfling: About equal to Stout (personally I'd say stout is better but it really depends on your campaign for this one) but psychic stuff instead of poison resistance.
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
Gith: Githzerai is a solid choice- although the Int point is wasted, a +2 to your main stat is very helpful. And advantages make a difference. Githyanki's +2 STR is wasted.
Volo's Guide to Monsters
Aasimar: A +2 boost to a dump stat really hurts. Boosting your primary or secondary stat (WIS or CON) on top of a healing ability, two resistances, and the daily ability to channel the divine power of heaven to smite your enemies, however, is really freaking good.
Firbolg: +2 WIS boost? Yes please! And powerful build? AND magic AND invisibility?
Goliath: A secondary and a dump stat. However, an extra proficiency plus the defensive feature might be helpful.
Kenku: +2 to a primary is great! And a +1 boost to WIS? Nice! Plus proficiencies? Neat. Not speaking kinda sucks though.
Lizardfolk: Slightly better than, but similar to, Hill dwarf.
Tabaxi: CHA boost is bad, but DEX and decent mobility features are pretty nice. Skills are also pretty helpful.
Triton: Boost to CON is nice, but the CHA and STR are wasted. Spells and resistance make this black.
Tortle Package
Tortle: Natural armor, holding your breath, extra proficiency, and Shell Defense. Perfect for a STR monk, though.
Volo's Monstrous Races
Bugbear: Like a Goliath, but with reach instead of damage reduction. A perfectly okay choice.
Goblin: A primary and a secondary, extra damage every day, and a bonus action disengage. This is a surprisingly good pairing.
Hobgoblin: The only thing this offers is Saving Face and some CON, and that's just not enough.
Kobold: +2 to DEX is great, and Pack Tactics makes up for the -2 to STR by a lot.
Orc: It's pretty bad. The int reduction hurts less than it would a caster, and the rest of this is actually okay. Half-orcs are better, though.
Yuan-Ti Pureblood: The magic resistance and extra spells are very nice, but the ASIs are wasted.
Elemental Evil
Aarakocra: Both primaries are boosted and 50' unlimited flight makes this Gold.
Genasi: All the Genasi options provide a CON boost and some CON spells. This is generally a pretty good thing. Air and Water are great, but Fire and Earth just fall short.
Unearthed Arcana supplements have provided a few new options:
Eberron
Changeling: The ASIs are okay with a +1 to DEX, but the change appearance really help the master of mind and body aesthetic.
Shifters: The DEX boost is great, and unless you pick Longtooth (Don't pick longtooth) you get a +2 boost to a primary or secondary, and some extra action on the side.
Warforged: All warforged are at least blue, but the Envoy and Skirmisher are both Light Blue.
Guildmaster's Guide to Ravinica
Minotaur: 1d6 Unarmed Strikes at level one, decent ASIs, and a skill. A decent choice.
Centaur: +WIS makes this a decent choice right out of the gate, better move speed, and an extra skill put this solidly in the black, despite the lack of +DEX.
Simic Hybrid: Better ac, speed, or ranged attacks make this a great choice, as well as being able to choose wether you want to focus on DEX or WIS.
Vedalken: The +2 INT is wasted, but the +1 WIS is not. The advantage on mental saving throws is enough to make up for the bad ASI and more. Additionally, an extra proficiency with an extra d4 bumps this race from blue to light blue.
Loxodon: Great ASIs, and advantage on Perception, Investigation, and Survival, as well as a trunk for carrying your Small friends makes up for the lack of +DEX.
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Way of the Drunken Master (From XGtE)
Bonus Proficiencies: (Prof. in Preformance+brewer's supplies) Nice. Now you can act drunk, fight drunk, and BE DRUNK.
Drunken Technique: Now for only 1 ki point, you can: run extra better (+10 speed), not get hit as you're running extra better (disengage), and have two bonus action fists (activates on flurry of blows).
Tipsy Sway: Leap to your feet is okay (5' to get up from prone), but the REAL good stuff is redirect attack (spend 1 ki to have a hit directed at you hit someone within 5' instead). Stand next to the tanky barbarian and NEVER GET HIT a number of times equal to your ki.
Drunkard's Luck: (spend 2 ki to cancel disadvantage) No disadvantage, ever seems pretty nice.
Intoxicated Frenzy:(flurry of blows can hit 3 extra people as long as they are different people) If you're ever in a situation where you would use this, use your drunken technique instead and run as fast as you can.
Way of the Four Elements: No. But if you really REALLY want to, dip a level in sorcerer and grab the 4 elemental cantrips. It's basically the same thing. Oh, and if you do it into Wild Magic, that's 1 extra advantage per day, since you WON'T BE CASTING SPELLS BECAUSE THIS TRADITION IS TERRIBLE. You still want to play the avatar? Fine. The great ones: Sweeping Cinder Strike, Clench of the North Wind, Eternal Mountain Defense, Ride the Wind, River of Hungry Flame, Wave of Rolling Earth. The okay ones: Fist of the Four Thunders, Water Whip, Flames of the Phoenix, Mist Stance, Breath of Winter. The situational ones: Fangs of the Fire Snake, Fist of Unbroken Air, Shape the Flowing River, Gong of the Summit. The bad one: Rush of the Gale Spirits.
Way of the Kensei (XGtE): Personally, I don't like this subclass, so I may seem overly dismissive, but here we go anyways.
Path of the Kensei:This is why you chose this subclass. Kensei Weapons- Pick a melee and ranged weapon. You are now proficient with them, and additionally they count as 'Kensei Weapons' aka special monk weapons. Aka 1d10 WHIP WHOO. Agile Parry - aka +2 ac Kensei Shot - Use a bonus action to deal an extra d4 on your ranged attack that turn Way of the Brush - Ribbon.
One with the Blade: Now your kensei weapons are magical and also if you hit you can spend a ki pt. to deal extra damage.
Sharpen the Blade: Now you can spend ki to make your weapon kill things better. Pretty cool, but by the time you get this, you probably already have at LEAST +1 weapons.
Unnering Accuracy - Did I miss? Are you sure? Are you REALLY SURE?
Way of the Long Death (SCAG):Never die.
Touch of Death: With some coordination, this can go a long way. But remember, Temp HP doesn't stack.
Hour of Reaping: No cooldown? No cooldown! Spam this all day long and NEVER BE HIT!
Mastery of Death:You will never die. That's it. Once you reach this level, you are a lich.
Touch of the Long Death: More setup than the Open Hand save-or-die, but the payoff is 20d10 neucrotic damage. 20d10!
Way of the Open Hand:The Monk's straight upgrade subclass.
Open Hand Technique: Nice. Very few creatures have good STR saving throws, so grapple them near a cliff, punch them, and YEET them right off to their death.
Wholeness of Body: Discount Second Wind.
Tranquility: If you wanted to not punch things, you should've picked cleric.
Quivering Palm:One of 5e's very few save-or-dies. Always good.
Way of Shadow: Darkness. No parents. Lego Batman is saaaad.
Shadow Arts: Not very useful (at least in my experience).
Shadow Step:Did you want a free 60' teleport? Because I heard you wanted a free 60' teleport.
Cloak of Shadows: Good for hiding, bad for fighting.
Opportunist: Pretty nice.
Way of the Sun Soul (XGtE): DON'T STOP DON'T STOP WE'RE IN LUCK NOW DON'T STOP THERE'S SO MUCH TO BE FOUN- jk but this is actually every anime where they blast their spirit energy.
Radiant Sun Bolt: 30' magic punches of power.
Searing Arc Strike: The AoE that Monks desperately need.
Searing Sunburst: Radiant Fireball. For 4 Ki points. Why? Who knows. Who cares. It's great.
Sun Shield:Deal 10 damage to your enemies when they hit you. You are now a literal humanoid torch.
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Multiclassing Monk (From PeteNutButter's Ultimate Optimizer's Multiclassing Guide)
Monk/Barbarian: Light Blue if you're a tortle STR monk, as that makes this MC STR-based and not a MAD mess.
Monk/Bard: A monk who dips bard gains access to some skills, spells and jack of all trades. If a monk wants spells they are best left to picking a WIS-based class. If they want skills, they can get rogue. There is little to no reason to attempt this MAD build. Probably best avoided.
Monk/Cleric: A monk who dips cleric gains access to some spells, and cool domain features. The spells go great on a monk who typically lacks anything to concentrate on, but already has a high wisdom. This is a great combination that has little drawbacks. As long as the monk picks up extra attack, it’s hard to go wrong here.
Monk/Druid: A monk who dips druid gains access to some spells and maybe Wildshape. Wildshape won’t be very useful in combat as a dip, but still useful for stealth or exploration. The spells are a great addition to the monk who already has a high wisdom, and nothing to concentrate on. The lack of metal armor is no love lost here, and your team will be happy to have one more person that can heal. The cleric option is slightly better, but this is still overall quite strong.
Monk/Fighter: A monk who dips fighter gains a fighting style, action surge and possibly an archetype. Each subclass can have it's appeal for a monk. A great dip, best taking exactly 4 levels of it, so as not to lose an ASI or double up on extra attack.
Monk/Paladin: A monk who dips paladin, gains a fighting style, smite, and possibly an oath. YOU CANNOT SMITE UNARMED STRIKES. The intense MADness of 4 stats needing 13, none of which being con, make this probably best avoided.
Monk/Ranger: A monk who dips ranger gains a fighting style, some spells, and likely a hunter ability. Hunter’s Mark is a fantastic damage boost on a class with 3-4 attacks a round. The hunter or Gloomstalker ability is just more damage. This is a great choice for a 4 level dip, grabbing the precious ASI and avoiding doubling up on extra attack. It is completely void of MADness. Avoid Horizon Walker or Monster Slayer as there is too much bonus action competition.
Monk/Rogue: A monk who dips rogue gains some skills, expertise, cunning action, and possibly an archetype. The cunning action can appear like an overlap for the monk, but the ki savings are well worth it. As for archetypes, assassin could be fun to crit with all of a monk’s attacks. Arcane Trickster is a good way for a monk to get Shield spell without a 13 int/cha. Could make a solid dip, provided it doesn't go too behind on ASIs.
Monk/Sorcerer: A monk who dips sorcerer gains some spells, and possibly scales. The scales could temporarily make up for the lack of points to have a high wis, but the benefits probably won’t outweigh the MADness. The typical appeal of the sorcerer gish is the action economy of quickened, but the bonus action of the monk is already full of options. GFB/BB are pretty useless on a monk, as they cannot flurry or use martial arts without taking the attack action. These classes have little to add to each other. Shadow Monks gain some synergy with shadow sorcerer. Probably best left for niche builds.
Monk/Warlock: A monk who dips warlock gains some spells, cool invocations, and possibly a pact. It is MAD, but Armor of Shadow’s could temporarily help mitigate the lower AC. This is a common choice for the shadow monk to gain Devil’s Sight, as they can cast darkness but lack the ability to see in magical darkness. This is more of a way to fix the issues with the Shadow Monk than it is a real synergy, as the warlock can both cast and see in magical darkness without multiclassing. Casting Darkness comes with its own issues as you may essentially turn off your teammates as well, especially as a melee.
Monk/Wizard: A monk who dips wizard gains access to some spells as well as some cool subclass features. Bladesinger is one of the few ways a monk can add to AC, but the MADness makes it unlikely to be worth it. War wizard is a great dip on any martial that doesn't have a regular reaction, but otherwise there is little synergy with this combination, and it is MAD. Probably best avoided.
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Possible Builds (Leave your ideas down below!)
Tortle Monk (Way of Shadow) 18 / Barbarian 2
STR 20 DEX 8 CON 18 INT 8 WIS 18 CHA 8
This monk/barbarian multiclass uses their high Athletics skill modifier to grapple and shove enemies for advantage on punching- and even if your enemy is also a powerful athlete, you can Rage for advantage on that check. To offset the 8 (-1) dexterity stat, you have proficiency in Dex saves and Advantage on most instances- equaling about a +8 dexterity saving throw modifier- which is more than most pcs have anyways. Thanks to the Barbarian's Reckless Attack feature and this monk's already high AC, you have either advantage and the equivalent of AC 14, or 17+, depending on your magic items or if you are using your Shell Defense feature. This character can leap 16 feet into the air, thus forcing their enemy to take 1d6 damage and land prone using just barely 10' movement, if you jump 10' into the air. Using the Step of the Wind Monk feature, you can spring 30' into the air to force them to take 3d6 damage, with 20' movement remaining, at which point they can walk the prone, grappled, already hurt enemy over to the nearest rogue. I'm sure they'd love to open up the present you've given them...
Kobold Monk 17 (Way of the Open Hand), Warlock 3 (Fiend Patron)
STR 6 DEX 20 CON 14 INT 8 WIS 16 CHA 8
Now this might seem like an odd build, however the kobold and monk features mix perfectly with the warlock powers. The key to this build is to pick the Pact of the Chain. Then, pick an imp for the most powerful version of this build. Why, you ask? Well, firstly the Kobold feature Pack Tactics says "You have advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of your allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated." Specifically, note the "One of your allies" part. A familiar, like the one that you have, is an ally. This means you can have your familiar perch on your shoulder and have advantage, always. Additionally, you can make your familiar turn invisible, making attacks against it be with disadvantage. Finally, my favourite way to use an imp familiar is to have it carry your character. Now, an imp has a Strength score of 6. Even if you use the Variant: Encumbrance rules, it can carry 30lbs- which should be plenty for a small kobold with no armor or heavy weapons. Alright, now that we're done with that, let's move onto the general warlock features. The Fiend pact gives you the Dark One's Blessing feature, to toughen up your relatively weak melee battler a little. Take the Eldritch Blast cantrip for some ranged action, and any other cantrip you'd like. Take the Darkness, Invisibility, and any other spells you want. This way, when you are in Bright Light, you can cast Darkness, see through it, and cancel out that disadvantage.