Build Advice for Level 20 One-Shot

[TheCleverGuy]

My group is running a level 20 one-shot this weekend, and I was looking for advice on the character I've been working on. Nothing's set in stone yet, but I'm leaning towards a Goblin Drunken Master monk (reskinned as a circus acrobat, rather than an actual drunk). I picked up the Martial Adept feat for some Battle Master maneuvers. Trying to decide whether to go straight Lvl20 Monk, or multiclass--maybe take a few Fighter levels to pick up some more maneuvers/superiority dice.

Also need to find magic items to grab--we're allowed 1 legendary, 1 very rare, 1 rare, and 2 uncommon items to start with. Bracers of Defense seem like a smart, if uninteresting, choice. And the Luck Blade caught my eye. Any other fun items you think I should look at?

No idea what kind of monsters we'll be facing or what the rest of the party will look like yet.

Thanks!

[BoutsofInsanity]

I GOT YOU

Feats - Unfortunately you are going goblin which means you are small. I'd reccomend going medium if possible and grabbing skill expert in Athletics. You can abuse the multiple attacks you have to be able to shove and grapple characters into a lock for advantage without having to burn stunning strike.

If your DM is good, they will also allow you to do other cool things with athletics, as you can describe it.

Other Feats to consider if your stats are already solid are going to be the following

Alert
Lucky
Sentinel
Sharpshooter


As for items. Lucky for you I already did some cool work on this. Gloves of Soul Catching is my only you must have this absolutely. It's the only legendary you need. On the Very Rare front it's going to depend on you. Dragonhide belt is fantastic of course, but the Peregrine Mask is also a good choice. If you choose to away from the Peregrine mask, get a broom of flying an Quiver of Ehlonna to quicky dismount and mount the broom. I rode mine like a surfboard.

You must have the following

Gloves of Soul Catching - A must - Legendary
Some way to fly - Peragrine Mask (Very Rare)or Broom of Flying (Doesn't require Attuning and is Uncommon)
Cape of the Mountebank (Doesn't require attuning and is Rare
Quiver of Ehlonna to hold your Broom of Flying (No attuning and uncommon)
Ranged Weapon to make use of your Dexterity (Bows ideally)
Mantle of Spell Resistance (Attuning and Very Rare)
Belt of Giant Strength (Attuning and varies in rarity)
Dragonhide Belt (Varies in rarity and attuning)


My personal loadout is as follows


Medium Creature with expertise in Athletics
Alert if I can manage it
Gloves of Soul Catching
Broom of Flying and Quiver of Ehlonna Combo
Dragonhide Belt +3
If I need to be more defensive a Mantle of Spell Resistance
If I can afford more offense I go Belt of Giant Strength but in some other item slot like a necklace or something


And of course a Cape of the Mountebank.

[Bobthewizard]

Straight monk is fine. One level of sorcerer, warlock, or wizard would let you take a Staff of Power as your very rare item. Otherwise, here are some suggestions.

Uncommon - barrier tattoo (forgot about unarmored defense), eldritch claw tattoo
Rare - bracers of defense
Very Rare - dragon hide belt +3
Legendary - cloak of invisibility

An uncommon Barrier Tattoo will get our AC to 12+dex. This can stack with the rare Bracers of Defense (rare).

Eldritch claw tattoo or insignia of claws for +1 to unarmed attacks. You could try talk to your DM to see if they'd allow bumping it to rare for +2 or very rare for +3, moving the dragon hide belt below down to +1.

A dragon hide belt gives +1-3 (uncommon to very rare) for your Ki save DC.

A cloak of invisibility would be awesome on this character. Always on greater invisibility, using the goblin's BA hide when needed.

[TheCleverGuy]

I'd reccomend going medium if possible and grabbing skill expert in Athletics. You can abuse the multiple attacks you have to be able to shove and grapple characters into a lock for advantage without having to burn stunning strike.

Eh, grappling doesn't really interest me, personally. I just picture this character bouncing around the battlefield, in almost constant motion. Grappling would slow me down too much.

Thanks for the tips on items though. I was not familiar with the Gloves of Soul Catching or Dragonhide Belt. Those both look amazing.

[TheCleverGuy]

An uncommon Barrier Tattoo will get our AC to 12+dex. This can stack with the rare Bracers of Defense (rare).

Hmm, wouldn't the Barrier Tattoo override the Monk's Unarmored Defense (AC = 10+DEX+WIS)? The Eldritch Claw sounds like a good idea though, thanks for the tip!

[jojo]

I agree with others, straight single-class Monk is just fine. There's no real reason to complicate your life for a one-shot.

You probably shouldn't be wasting Feats on Battle Master Manuevers though. You're going to want max DEX and, WIS so you should only have 2 feats free to use, unless this is one of those things where you "rolled really well" (sigh.)

I'd grab a Tome of Understanding or, a Manual of Quickness of Action as your Very Rare Item in order to put one of those stats (probably DEX) up to 22 personally...

[TheCleverGuy]

I'd grab a Tome of Understanding or, a Manual of Quickness of Action as your Very Rare Item in order to put one of those stats (probably DEX) up to 22


For some reason, I never think of consumable items when looking through magic item lists. That's a good idea, I may have to run it by the DM first. Thanks!

[Khazidhea87]

I'm in a similar position (designing a level 20 drunken monk with some free items), but for a campaign that may have less of a combat focus. So I can share with you where I'm at just in case anything helps but there may not be much overlap.

First up my DM has set up a system based off of points for choosing items, so I'll have a few more than you would. And I'm primarily choosing for flavour rather than effectiveness. My choices (then alternate options in brackets):

Legendary: Gloves of Soul Catching (a great pick, but you could also consider a luck blade)

Very Rare: Abracadabrus (for combat the Dex/Wis tomes, giant strength belt, a Rod of Absorption, Chronolometer, or Ghost Step Tattoo are all great options)

Rare: Shield of Missile Attraction (taken for the curse, but not actually using as a shield). (Eagle Whistle, Bracers of Defence, Cape of the Mountebank)

Uncommon: Boots of Striding and Springing, Eversmoking Bottle, Pipes of Haunting, Shortbow of Warning, Tan Bag of Tricks (I'm going for utility & fun, for combat you'd instead want Cloak of Protection or Insignia of Claws, or perhaps Eldritch Claw Tattoo if you still have attunement free).

No flying or teleportation items there due to personal preference, but they're really useful to have in general.

As for the rest, I'm partial to taking one or two 1 level dips. Rogue will get you good bonus action options that aren't reliant on ki. Cleric gets you spells (which can also expand your range of magic items). War Cleric to attack more when ranged, or Peace for super-Bless. Even at level 20 Bless, Shield of Faith, and emergency healing can be useful, and you're free to concentrate on them where the high level casters in your party wouldn't. Or 1 or 2 level dip in Fighter to get a dedicated weapon option and Action surge.

Beyond that - max out your DEX, and get WIS to at least 18. Mobile isn't very necessary for Drunken Monk (where it would be for other monks). See if your DM could allow you to use the UA version of Crusher, that would give you a half feat using DEX rather than STR or CON which are next to useless (if taking the legendary gloves).

[jojo]

For some reason, I never think of consumable items when looking through magic item lists. That's a good idea, I may have to run it by the DM first. Thanks!

For your other magical items... I would generally suggest that you pick things that provide some REAL FLAVOR.

Legendary - Ring of 3 Wishes (your DM is probably going to hate you if he OKs this one but that's his problem), Ring of Djinni Summoning (Even worse than Ring of 3 Wishes but, more likely to be approved because most DMs aren't actually as clever as they think they are any more), Belashyrra's Beholder Crown (just as good as a Staff of Power and, doesn't require a dip), Ioun Stone of Mastery (probably the best option for a passive item as it will make your proficiency bonus +7).

Very Rare - Like I said, pump your DEX or, WIS bonuses with a Manual or a Tome (preferably DEX though.)

Rare - Amulet of Health (you can Dump CON at creation and still get +4), Cloak of Displacement (Disadvantage is WAY better than +2 AC from Bracers of Defense), Portable Hole (I hope I don't need to explain why this rocks), Cube of Force is ALWAYS USEFUL.

*EDIT* No idea what the Rarity is, I don't think it's ever been published but, SHIELD GUARDIAN AMULET!

[follacchioso]

If you are willing to dip one level in sorcerer, warlock or bard, you could opt for a Staff of Power (Legendary, Attunement). This will give you a solid +2 to Attack and Damage rolls, AC, and saves; it will also provide you some very good spells, like Globe of Invulnerability or Wall of Force, which you would not get otherwise. The dip in another class may be expensive, but there are many good features to take from one sorcerer level, plus you can get access to Shield and Absorb Elements.

Another powerful choice is Ring of Air Elemental Command (Legendary, Attunement), which will grant you a flying hover speed. It would fit well with your strategy of moving around the battlefield, it will give you a third dimension to move, attack and grapple. The hovering speed is much better than a standard flying speed, as you can change direction without any manoeuvre. You need to speak with the DM about fighting the air elemental; maybe they will grant that your character has already fought one, by level 20. Otherwise you can get a Censer of Elemental Control (Rare, No Attunement), which provides a useful Air Elemental ally once per day.

When you fight high level battles, you need to have access to two things: Flying and Teleport. Many things can go wrong when you fight archdevils and tarrasques, so at least a Cape of Mountenbank (Rare, no Attunement) is key, and a Fey Touched feat as well if you can afford it.
For flying speed, get at least Winged Boots (Uncommon, Attunement) which will work well with your monk speed.

Other items I would get are a Ring of Free Action (Rare, Attunement) which could be your third Attunement item, and will make you immune to the nasty Paralysed condition, plus more mobility on the battlefields.

Another useful non-attunement item is Periapt of Protection against Poison (Rare, non Attunement), for complete immunity to a damage type.