Drunken Monk / Lore bard help needed

[Aéquitas]

Hi everyone,

We are starting a new campaign with a DM that like myself loves bards. I was planning to play a drunken monk for roleplaying fun and then the idea popped up to combine this with a bard for more roleplaying madness. Because the build would be pretty mad and some of the other players are new to DND we are doing 32 stat point buy.
We are starting at lvl 2 but will be going through the levels at a bit faster pace then normal.

I will be starting as a Half Drow Monk 1, Bard 1 with:
Str 8
Dex 16 (15+1)
Con 14
Int 8
Wis 16 (15+1)
Cha 16 (14+2)

The other party members will be:
Tiefling Cleric (tempest domain)
Orc Druid (of the moon)
?? Rogue (??)

What would be a good way to progress?
I'm leaning towards Monk 5 Bard 1 for the extra attack, then Monk 5, Bard 6 and after that decide which playstyle is more fun and progress that class.

What would be good magical secrets to get that bring something extra to the party and/or improve my monk fighting abilities?
And in that light should I get some feats to boost the character or stick with ASI? I guess I kinda need all the ASI I can get right?

Thanks in advance for all the help.

[ThinksThoughts]

As far as the magical secrets go, Bestow Curse or Hex could be a huge damage boost combined with flurry, if you think you're gonna favor the bard it could be worth it. Eldritch blast always gets an honorable mention for magical secrets, also shield combined with patient defense, high ac, and cutting words could make you a very strong dodge tank. Honestly anything that increases your mobility would be good too. I'd stick with ASIs over feats for this particular build just because it's pretty MAD though. Hope that helps!:smallsmile:

[Misterwhisper]

The one question to settle first would be: do you plan to throw spells offensively or mostly buffs heals and things.

Monks need high dex and wis to stay alive so your cha is not going to get much better.

I would also look at college of whispers bard or even college of swords.

It gets you a fighting style, which dueling on a monk is very nice.

Their flourish for ac can save your life.

A dagger is a monk weapon and would scale with your unarmed damage.

Bards don’t really need any specific feats so stick with more stats.

[DrKerosene]

Long story short, I DM and one of my current players originally said they wanted to play a “Paladin Monk”. After further discussion I presented a slightly hombrewed College Of Swords Bard with the Tavern Brawler feat (they picked the Two Weapon Fighting Style too). Check out the Flourishes.

The spells I think would be good for my PunchBard and possibly your MonkBard are:
-Divine Favor, works on all attacks, so TWF Bonus Action Punches get the extra damage too.
-Inflict Wounds, not actually, but it is thematic enough.
-Enlarge (/Reduce), probably better on an ally, so you can maintain concentration for them, and they get bonus damage on all attacks.
-Shadow Blade, reflavor as Shadow Brass Knuckles or a Hellboy Fist.
-Haste on anyone is nice, but with use of the Readied Attack Action your Rogue may get Sneak Attack twice as often.
-A solid ranged attack option will be an inevitability.

[Citan]

Hi everyone,

We are starting a new campaign with a DM that like myself loves bards. I was planning to play a drunken monk for roleplaying fun and then the idea popped up to combine this with a bard for more roleplaying madness. Because the build would be pretty mad and some of the other players are new to DND we are doing 32 stat point buy.
We are starting at lvl 2 but will be going through the levels at a bit faster pace then normal.

I will be starting as a Half Drow Monk 1, Bard 1 with:
Str 8
Dex 16 (15+1)
Con 14
Int 8
Wis 16 (15+1)
Cha 16 (14+2)

The other party members will be:
Tiefling Cleric (tempest domain)
Orc Druid (of the moon)
?? Rogue (??)

What would be a good way to progress?
I'm leaning towards Monk 5 Bard 1 for the extra attack, then Monk 5, Bard 6 and after that decide which playstyle is more fun and progress that class.

What would be good magical secrets to get that bring something extra to the party and/or improve my monk fighting abilities?
And in that light should I get some feats to boost the character or stick with ASI? I guess I kinda need all the ASI I can get right?

Thanks in advance for all the help.
Hi!

As far as progression goes, I agree that Monk 5 Bard 1 is a nice step to aim for. More Bard early would be worth only if you really wanted to be a skillmonkey but you don't give me that impression.

As far as Magic Secrets go, I'd say whatever buff you fancy: the obvious one is Haste but can be risky, Shadow Blade could be reasonably useful if you tend to often use bonus action on Dash/Disengage/Dodge in the first place...
But the one I'd really recommend is actually Zephyr's Strike, unless you plan on getting Mobile somewhere. Otherwise, this one is a great buff for a Monk, completely preventing opportunity attacks while also improving further your speed and accuracy when it really counts. And as a 1st level spell it's a cheap so sustainable tactic.
Following that logic, Shield of Faith is another nice candidate.

If you get Mobile, and don't like the risk of Haste, Fly is a nice option unless your encounters will be mainly in cranked places.

Other nice spells are those that use up your bonus action on several turns: Flaming Sphere, Conjure Animals, Dust Devil or Spiritual Weapon or Heat Metal are a few examples of spells that provide a good cost to benefit ratio.

[RogueJK]

Long story short, I DM and one of my current players originally said they wanted to play a “Paladin Monk”. After further discussion I presented a slightly hombrewed College Of Swords Bard with the Tavern Brawler feat (they picked the Two Weapon Fighting Style too). Check out the Flourishes.

That sounds fun.

And a "Punch Bard" of a race with Natural Weapons wouldn't even need Tavern Brawler. Between Natural Weapons and Two Weapon Fighting, you're already doing the same "Attack + Bonus Action Attack for 2x 1d4+ABILITY" effect as a Level 1 Monk's Martial Arts. (Although it's limited to STR-based attack/damage, whereas a Monk could elect to use DEX. But that could be house ruled as well.)

A couple of races even have 1d6 natural weapons, like Lizardfolk and Minotaurs, for slightly more damage.

[Aéquitas]

Thanks for the help so far.

I'm playing the Drunken Monk so have no need for extra mobility. Whenever I use my flurry of blows I get an extra 10 feet of movement and disengage. So I can run around 50ft (30+10+10) without provoking attacks of opportunity.
I'm not so sure if I would be playing more bard or more monk that is something I will have to find out.

The way I see it I have to decide between:

-Valor/Swords tot 3-4 (depending on wether I want the ASI) and rest in Monk. Since the extra attack at lvl 6 is wasted since I already got it from my monk levels. I think this option would make me a strong melee dps / offtank.
-Monk 5-? and Lore Bard 6-?? this would make me melee dps with support (healing buffing and debuffing)

I have no idea what would be more fun, and what would be more viable. One thing I do know and that is that I want to be a melee fighter and not a ranged dps. The healing and buffing/debuffing would be mostly before and after fights with the occasional help in the middle of the fight, saving the tank etc.

In that light I can see spells like Thunder Step, Aura of Vitality, Crusaders Mantle to be really nice to havem which all don't need high Cha either.

[DrKerosene]

I think you should go Monk5/Lore Bard X for quicker access to Magic Secrets and more Expertise in favorite skills. By the time you hit level 11, I suspect you’ll have a much more clear idea of which spells would help your game.

I think College Of Swords Flourishes should stack with Monk Abilities, if you want to have a Stunning Strike+Flourish one punch combo. However, you don’t get Bardic Music back on a Short Rest until like level 10 if you start with 5 levels of Monk. Mind you the Flourishes don’t allow Saves to resist, they just work.

[Aéquitas]

Allright I started this character and to make matters even crazier the DM thought it would be a good idea to throw some hexblade into the mix as well.

First session we saved an elven girl from a prison. When we got to her we noticed she had a broken blade with her and had deep dark corruption running underneath her skin. When I tried checking if she was still breathing she clutched my hands and whispered in Elvish:

"This isn't my choice, and neither is it yours, but I am out of options"

A warm feeling went through my hand and she died. He told me after the session he had some plans with this and there will be some “gifts” involved if I would follow this arc, unlocking the gifts along the way so I could benefit from them before I would take the plunge (or not but then I would lose them all)

Anyways I am enjoying the way this character plays, doing a bit of everything. Buffing healing fighting. Not the best in any of them but very versatile.

Now with the hexblade thrown in the mix I’m wondering which stat I should focus on with my Asi.
Dex: melee hit, melee dmg and AC
Cha right now: just extra inspiration
Cha later on: extra inspiration, melee hit, melee dmg, spell hit and spell dmg.

What would get me the most bang for my buck?

And since this will be a fairly magic item heavy campaign what kind of magic items should I focus on getting?