Fighter/Monk multiclass advice

[IsaacsAlterEgo]

A friend of mine is hosting a game soon with characters starting at level 3, and I've been working on a build for it. The problem is that I have a few goals I want to hit (dex based, unarmed attacks, but a damage dealer instead of a controller) and so what I've ended up for at the beginning is two levels of fighter for the unarmed fighting style, and then one level of monk so that my unarmed attacks can be dex and I can bonus action unarmed attack to up the damage a bit. Armor class won't really be an issue, as I'll be likely be playing a race with a natural armor class.

Past those initial three levels (and I'm not even sure if they're a good idea or if I should just abandon the thought of being dex focused and go full fighter) I thought I would take Fighter to 5, and then maybe start taking more monk levels, but I don't know if that would really even be worth it given how long it would take for the unarmed damage die to surpass a D8. Should I just stick with the one monk level and take fighter to 19, or swap over to monk for the rest of the campaign so I can get another subclass and ki abilities? Is even the one monk dip too much for too little benefit?

[MrStabby]

I think I will start by pointing out some problems (this isn't to tell you not to do something, but just so you might not get some bad discoveries in game)

1) You are using unarmed strikes. These are not going to scale with loot. If you were using longgswords for a d8 damage, you would be getting boosts from +1 weapons, flametongues etc in many campaigns. Unless your DM goes out of their way to help you, you might find this falling behind other martial characters.
2) The non magic weapon part might really hurt when fighting fiends or other creatures resistant/immune to non magic attacks. Monks get round this at level six by having their attacks be considered magical... but you are not planning six levels in monk.
3) Being dex based, you are leaving some of your benefits on the table. You proably won't be grappling anyone which is both a benefit of having free hands and a benefit of the fighting style (yeah, so you don't want to be a controller, but a bit of variety is nice)

So, that aside, I think that a level in monk is good - your unarmed attacks will be pretty solid so getting an extra one as a bonus action is worth it alone. The unarmoured defence will be important since you want the dex to attack benefits. The level dip won't hurt so much for other progression as you will still be getting two attacks at level 5 (though one as a BA). I would push to two levels of monk quite quickly though - at level 2 you can flurry of blows twice per short rest which will add to your burst damage output nicely. Honestly, I would also be tempted to take more monk as well, third level could get you astral self so you can use wisdom for grapples if you want to dip into control a little and a fourth would get you another Ki and an ASI.

Fighter I see as adding less after that first level. Second wind isn't that powerful. Action surge is genuinely good, but a relatively high proportion of your damage output will be bonus action so this will be less powerful than on most fighters. More feats/ASIs? Yeah, nice (and honestly not bad as you will have the stat-hungry parts of monk) but on the other hand you miss out on the best feats it could get (PAM, GWM, SS etc.). Indombitable? Meh. Extra, extra attack? Yeah, good but it isn't like your extra attack is comeing with a greatsword and a feat adding +10 to damage - its a d8+dex.

I just don't see the good bits of fighter being that good for you. I mean I guess you could go with champion and the crusher feat and go crit-fishing with flurry of blows or maybe there are other fighter archetypes that have some interactions I have missed...

[Skrum]

Yah I don't think fighter is going to get you the results you're looking for. There's quite a bit of cost, like the magic attacks, associated with fighter that I think is going to make you regret it.

Alternative build: path of the beast barbarian. Barb 2 monk 1 won't be excellent, but you'll get by - but once you get barb 3, you'll be up to 3 attacks per turn while raging. At barb 5 (6 overall), you'll get 4 attacks a round. Barb 6 makes your claw attacks magical, which you'll probably really need at that point.

Benefits of doing this is several: you can leave wisdom at 13 (just enough for multiclass), while pumping Str, Con, and Dex (in that order), far more useful stats. With a good Str score and advantage on Str checks, you'll be a very good grappler. Rage will also help protect you, since you'll be lacking the monk's regular defensive measure and your AC is still going to be low.

Eldritch Claw tattoo is your number 1 priority in terms of items. Adding 1d6 to 4 different attacks, plus rage, plus Reckless Attack.... You can be a veritable machine gun of damage for 1 minute a day. It's a fantastic ability. You will have to track what the +1 adds to though, since it won't get added to all of your multitude of attack types.

If the campaign is going higher than 7, you have a good bit of options. Could level monk, could dip fighter for Action Surge, could go ranger to get favored foe and Hunter's Mark. All have merit. But barb 6 monk 1 is a pretty good start.

[JLandan]

Something to consider... straight Fighter with Unarmed Fighting style, archetype: Rune Knight.

[IsaacsAlterEgo]

I'm not too worried about magic attacks. My DM is pretty cool and we've talked about my build, and she has said she'll probably either strip the non-magic-attack resistance from her monsters or she'll end up homebrewing some kind of magic item for me that makes my unarmed strikes magic, and probably have similar boosts to damage/etc that other martials would get if they weren't unarmed.
I don't really want to do Barbarian only because I have a beast barbarian character set for a campaign that's been in the works for a long time and so whenever that starts, I don't want to play beast barbarians in two different campaigns at the same time, I feel that'd get pretty boring.

The grappling is a real problem, though, and is making me rethink going dex. If I stick with battlemaster fighter, I could take tavern brawler, and then regularly trip attack people and then bonus action grapple them to prevent them from getting up, which seems like a really cool strategy, and not really feasible with dex even if I grab expertise in athletics. That and the fighter levels supposedly not adding much in damage since I can't grab the + damage feats. Would it be better to go 1 Fighter for maneuvers/unarmed, 2 monk for bonus action unarmed attacks and flurries, and then ranger to get hunters mark to add D6s to all of those attacks? I'd be dex/wis anyway, and I can't really think of another way to add damage other than going barbarian and I'd prefer to avoid that if at all possible, especially beast in particular.

I'm building a Grung character (my DM has okayed the race) and the idea is that they were an underground pit fighter that used unarmed attacks to poison and beat down their opponents, but I can't really ever see a high-strength Grung making sense, which is why I was leaning towards dex, but I might relent on that if a dex build for it is really going to hamstring it. I basically just want to jump from enemy to enemy, beating them into the ground in a flurry of poisoned punches, but Monk ironically seems bad for that on its own due to it's pretty lackluster damage, and stunning strike all the time doesn't really fit the flavor of the character.

[Reach Weapon]

If your DM is cool with homebrew, I might just suggest using (the common?) Monk Martial Arts addition "You can use Wisdom instead of Strength in contests with creatures" and just lean into monk.
Toss in something like spiked cestus hand wraps so your Grung is poisoning for an additional 2d4 every unarmed strike, and your probably well on your way to meeting your goals above.