monk/druid that isn't moon druid

[Bannan_mantis]

I've been considering the idea of playing a immortal mystic for a while but cause of the way my table works UA isn't allowed so instead of giving up I decided to try and make my character idea legally. Brief character concept is a child with great physical abilities and these physical abilities were gained through magic.

I do not see him as a moon druid and instead have more of a specific concept in mind for his flavour which goes very much against moon druid. So overall if you were to multiclass monk and druid how would you do it? I'm not picky about being more monk or being more druid and I'm open to most suggestions that aren't moon druids (I don't hate them but they don't work here.)

[Man_Over_Game]

I've been considering the idea of playing a immortal mystic for a while but cause of the way my table works UA isn't allowed so instead of giving up I decided to try and make my character idea legally. Brief character concept is a child with great physical abilities and these physical abilities were gained through magic.

I do not see him as a moon druid and instead have more of a specific concept in mind for his flavour which goes very much against moon druid. So overall if you were to multiclass monk and druid how would you do it? I'm not picky about being more monk or being more druid and I'm open to most suggestions that aren't moon druids (I don't hate them but they don't work here.)

This is actually one of my favorite builds.

Land Druid (Coast) 3, Long Death Monk X.

The idea here is that you use Shillelagh and other Druid spells to attack enemies using your Wisdom score, and you don't focus on Dexterity.


With a high Wisdom, you'll never die, due to your Long Death THP feature. You'll also have insane Stunning Strikes.
With Mirror Image, enemies will continue to have a problem breaking past your defenses and hitting your real HP.
With Misty Step, you have almost all of the mobility of a Shadow Monk, able to get to places you normally shouldn't.


My recommendation is picking up Mage Slayer or Sentinel, and get close to priority targets to prevent them from hindering your team. You could, for example, cast Mirror Image + Bonus Action Dodge in the same turn, combined with running headfirst into the enemy team with Sentinel to keep enemies from ignoring you.

Magic Stone gives you a reliable ranged attack if you need it, and Lightning Lure will allow you to pull distant enemies to you. Or hell, maybe you just want to go nuts and combine Jump with Step of the Wind. The sky is the limit. The best part is, it fits exactly the concept you're looking for, being able to create alter images of yourself, being able to teleport, and absorbing the psychic energy of those who die around you.

[Bannan_mantis]

Hmmm this is a overall pretty good build. The long death makes it tanky and then the druid spells are used to improve the mobility/defence of the already pretty tanky monk features. I wasn't exactly thinking coast for the water aspects it brings but mirror image and misty step are both pretty good. The only thing I would say is I might change it to mountain for some of the spells that comes with it and also is just 3 levels of monk a good idea? That's two off from extra attack.

Edit: oh wait, read it wrong way round in terms of levels. My last two statements don't fit now

[Rukelnikov]

Would you like for your character to be more martial or more caster?

What do you picture him/her doing during an Orcs sudden assault to the Inn he's stopping by?

[Arkhios]

Aww... you missed a perfect opportunity to call yourself a Moonk Druid :smallbiggrin:

[ElementalAaron]

Well a combination of kensei monk and spore druid can make for a interesting martial class. It would probably be more heavy on the monk side for the multiattack and kensei goodies since all you really need from spore druid is the symbiotic entity feature.

[Dalebert]

It's too bad you don't want to go moon druid. Moon druid 2/ monk of the long death 18 is one of the toughest things you can make. Once you get the ability to spend a ki to drop to 1hp instead of 0, you can just stay in beast form and ignore huge hits. Then turn back and haven't lost any of your real HP. I have a ghost wise handling like this tier 4 who is one of my absolute favorite characters. I was paralyzed in lava for three rounds as an orangutan taking NO dmg.



Land Druid (Coast) 3, Long Death Monk X.


Basic idea seems good but not many slots for those tactics at lvl 3. That's only two/day of either mirror image or Misty step.


... and Lightning Lure will allow you to pull distant enemies to you.

Believe you mean thorn whip which is way better anyway. LL is weak.

[Man_Over_Game]

Basic idea seems good but not many slots for those tactics at lvl 3. That's only two/day of either mirror image or Misty step.

You get a third cast from Natural Recovery, which provides the standard number of maxed out level 2 slots per day for most casters (which is 3).

Or, put simply, a level 3 Land Druid can cast as many level 2 spells as any other mage can (that doesn't upcast level 2 spells with higher spell slots).

[Grod_The_Giant]

Well a combination of kensei monk and spore druid can make for a interesting martial class. It would probably be more heavy on the monk side for the multiattack and kensei goodies since all you really need from spore druid is the symbiotic entity feature.
The problem is that Symbiotic Entity shuts down after you've lost all the temp HP, and the temp HP are based on your Druid levels. The subclass works better as a necromancer than a melee fighter-- and even then, not really that much.

[ElementalAaron]

The problem is that Symbiotic Entity shuts down after you've lost all the temp HP, and the temp HP are based on your Druid levels. The subclass works better as a necromancer than a melee fighter-- and even then, not really that much.

Ah yes I forgot about the temp hp being needed for the goodies,my bad lol.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Ah yes I forgot about the temp hp being needed for the goodies,my bad lol.
It's a terrible change. The UA version was better in pretty much every way.

[Hohadonc]

I've toyed with a monk 11/ Druid 9 (land with haste) lots of self buffing and really high personal mobility

[Nhym]

Circle of the Shepherd that summons the cast of Kung-fu Panda.

[Dork_Forge]

It's a shame you can't try out the Mystic. Off the top of my head, I'd do it something like this: Circle of Dreams, use your Balm of Summer Court entirely (or mostly) selfishly to try and replicate that immortal durability and capacity for healing. For monk, it really depends on what kind of combat you want. I'd strongly recommend the Kensei monk, the bonus to AC and potential for damage increase is very nice, however, in my opinion, open hand screams more raw physical prowess. Consider taking Gith to get some low-key ''psionic'' abilities.

[sambojin]

Definitely go Land 3, then later on down the track, maybe Land 5 or 6 if you want.

Grasslands gets a bit of a look-in later on, just due to Haste, but you won't really have a lack or attacks for stunning enemies (or the ki to do it with). Any Land 5/6 works well, with no difficult terrain and some summons (they're your "fly" spell, not your power dps spell, by the time you'd want them in this build).

Earlier on, never underestimate the amount of pseudo-tHP litte wildshape gives you either. 11-19hp, twice per short rest, is a non-negligible amount. Everything between Elk movement/rams, Giant Badger burrowing, Wolf trips, Velociraptor multistrike, Constrictor Snake restrains, Male Steeder spiderclimb and jumps, or even Draft Horse little-two-hander hits are all worthwhile. It's not what you're going for, but don't entirely nerf your own build because of it. Little wildshape is still a pretty good combat toolkit for options on stuff, so you can feel super-monky on just how you punch stuff.

Also, three druid cantrips makes you pretty versatile, depending on what you pick, and how you want to go with the character.

Actually, if you're going for a "physical magic" thing, go Firbolg as your race. Dump Str, still be strong. Be wise, for toughness. Have disguise self, for shenanigans. Have invis popping for extra unhittability. See the flow of the ki, because you've got detect magic. Have fun.

[Rukelnikov]

Vhuman
Druid(Spore)14/Kensai6

8
20
16*
8*
20*
8

ASIs: Res(Con), +4 Dex, +4 Wis

HP: 163
AC: 20(22 When Attacking)

Action: 2* +11 1d6+5(+1d10) avg 28 (Symbiotic Entity)
BAction: 1(2)* +11 1d6+5(+1d10) avg 14(28) (Flurry of Blows)

[Vogie]

4 Elements Monk 8 / Land Druid X
Weaving fists and elemental magic together. Voted Most likely to dual wield water, using Water Whip and an Shillelagh made from Shape Water. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Speaking of which...

Sun Soul Monk X / Dream Druid 3-8
You're a ranged everything, and oozing with utility, tossing out radiant fire.

[Griswold]

I'm partial to taking enough levels of a martial class for extra attack then multiclassing out to get spellcasting and utility from another class. And Druid gives you a ton of great healing and utility spells.

I'd go with Tortle, since both Monk and Druid have an AC problem. From there, you can do:

Druid 1/Open Hand 5/Grassland Druid X
You can pump Wisdom and mostly ignore Dex. Use Shillelagh for your main damage, you get lots of nice control options with Open Hand, and you get haste from your terrain type.

or Drunken Master or Long Death 6/Shepherd Druid 6
In this build, focus on Dex over Wis. You get extra mobility (Drunken Master) or extra power (Long Death), multiple attacks per round, and then start building up other abilities. Shepherd gets you the great totems and eventually you can cover the battlefield with tough beasts to soak damage. Use great utility, healing, and battlefield control spells that don't have saves and don't use your Wis modifier, like Fog Cloud, Healing Spirit, Spike Growth, Pass without Trace.

[Man_Over_Game]

I'm partial to taking enough levels of a martial class for extra attack then multiclassing out to get spellcasting and utility from another class. And Druid gives you a ton of great healing and utility spells.

I'd go with Tortle, since both Monk and Druid have an AC problem. From there, you can do:

Druid 1/Open Hand 5/Grassland Druid X
You can pump Wisdom and mostly ignore Dex. Use Shillelagh for your main damage, you get lots of nice control options with Open Hand, and you get haste from your terrain type.

or Drunken Master or Long Death 6/Shepherd Druid 6
In this build, focus on Dex over Wis. You get extra mobility (Drunken Master) or extra power (Long Death), multiple attacks per round, and then start building up other abilities. Shepherd gets you the great totems and eventually you can cover the battlefield with tough beasts to soak damage. Use great utility, healing, and battlefield control spells that don't have saves and don't use your Wis modifier, like Fog Cloud, Healing Spirit, Spike Growth, Pass without Trace.

The problem with that is that the casting abilities usually surpass the investments you made into martial combat. At some point, your cantrips are better than your unarmed strikes, or your actions are better used to cast a spell than it is to deal mediocre martial damage. That 5th level Monk feature could have gone towards another Druid level to increase your spellcasting a level earlier (and there's a big difference between a level 5 caster and a level 4 caster).

Low level Druid is beneficial to martial combatants, because of their many "set it and forget it" kind of spells that don't interfere much with attacking (and even occasionally supporting it), but this ceases to stay true as you gain in levels.

So I think it's important to choose: Are you a martial combatant that enhances himself with magic (Low Druid, High Monk), or are you a caster with high defenses and feels comfortable in melee (High Druid, Low Monk)?

Because of the fact that the Monk's standard features (Unarmed Strike, Flurry of Blows) REQUIRE you to make a melee attack every round to get their value (when a Druid's Longstrider spell doesn't), I think that High Monk is much more preferable than High Druid.

Or, if you're going High Druid and you want to attack, try to find some kind of outlet that allows you to use your Druid resources/features at the same time you can use your martial features (like Extra Attack). A good example is the Ranger, using Druid levels to fuel attack spells like Entangling Strike. Rarely will you need to choose to use your martial or caster features, you simply use both.