Good build to pair with a sorlock in a 2-person party?

[Greywander]

I'd mentioned to my sister that I was wanting to get back into playing D&D, and she messaged me today expressing an interest in playing a Sorlock. I sent her my Eldritch Sniper build (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?633113-Revisiting-the-eldritch-sniper-concept) for her consideration. Since the Eldritch Sniper is pretty heavily split between warlock and sorcerer, I figure this is also a good time to playtest some of my homebrew rules that are a cross between multiclassing and gestalts. The short version is that we can take more than one class up to 20, but unlike a gestalt we still have to pay XP for each extra class level. Your character level is your highest level in a single class, so taking levels in other classes will hold back your character level. You're also limited on the number of classes you can have according to your proficiency bonus, which means you have to wait until you're higher level (and thus higher XP cost to level up) before you can dip into a third or fourth class.

So I was thinking about what I could play that would go well with a long range magic archer. Considering the homebrew rule give above, this also means I might be interested in trying some kind of multiclass build that would normally be impossible or impractical. Let's assume I'm able to raise two classes to 20, albeit at double the XP cost, and possibly able to dip into a few other classes depending on how much XP I'm willing to burn. In practice, every campaign has a finite XP budget because the campaign ends at some point, and I don't expect to get anywhere near 20, so anything I burn on extraneous class levels would still limit my overall build, but not as much as a regular multiclass would.

My first thought was a Conquest paladin / Undead warlock. Conquest paladin is great on its own. A 1 level dip into Undead warlock is tempting, but means missing out on the paladin capstone. Taking both to 20 would be quite a potent combo, should it ever reach that point. This would make me a solid melee tank, area controller, and healer, just from the paladin side of things. I could then body block enemies from reaching my sister while she snipes from a distance.

My next thought was to go for something mobile that can move around within my sister's super long EB range and harass enemies to prevent them from reaching her. So probably some kind of monk. Monks are kind of terrible when it comes to multiclassing, though, so I'm not sure what combos would be good. I thought it might be interesting to do a Moon druid and become basically a lycanthrope with zoomies. Not sure what monk subclass would pair well with Moon druid though. Shadow monk / rogue would be another good option.

I don't yet know what build my sister will want, but it seems like the long range is what's interesting to her. And it's interesting to me, too, which is why I came up with the Eldritch Sniper concept. What are some other builds I could consider that would really take advantage of her extreme range, particularly with the homebrew rules I mentioned?

[Hael]

By class level, you mean proficiency scaling? So a 3 fighter/3warlock is lvl 3 with prof lvl 2, whereas the other party member might be a lvl 6 fighter with prof lvl 3? But then its much easier to get xp and lvl up fast, so it would be more like a 4/4 fighter/warlock. Also, spell slots i imagine are like usual gestalt rules?

The xp component is a pretty dramatic complication to building, and not at all obvious. Basically you are heavily incentivized to dip in a lot of classes for their early features and then stick to one class the rest of the way less you fall behind too far on prof scaling.

From a power point of view, I would likely stay as a Gish. A bladesinger would very much like 3 lvls of fighter, 3 lvls of artificer, 1 lvl of cleric and 2-3 lvls of warlock.

[verbatim]

if she's EBARBing (Eldritch Blast Agonizing Blast Repelling Blast) people you would synergize a lot taking something with spike growth/sleet storm/spiritual guardians/etc and doubling down on using push and control options to limit melee combat. Non-exhaustively off the top of my head as good options:

2 Hexblade x Any Druid/Wizard/Cleric
Nature Cleric: Spirit Guardians, Spike Growth, Thorn Whip.
Dao Genie Warlock: Spike Growth + double the EBARB and you get bludgeoning resistance.
Fathomless Warlock: Sleet Storm + Tentacle slowing movement stacks very well with another EBARB.
Swarmkeeper Ranger: moving 5 ft (eventually try to knock prone) with swarm + Web.

[Greywander]

By class level, you mean proficiency scaling? So a 3 fighter/3warlock is lvl 3 with prof lvl 2, whereas the other party member might be a lvl 6 fighter with prof lvl 3?
Mostly it would affect proficiency bonus and HP. A fighter 3 / warlock 3 would be a 3rd level character, with the HP of such (specifically, the same average HP as a 3rd level fighter, since the fighter has the higher hit die of the two), and a +2 proficiency bonus. If I'm not messing up the math, it would take 3600 XP to raise two classes to 3rd level, which would put another player staying single classed at... 4th level, with change. So it's not nearly so dramatic as a 3/3 vs. a 6, but the multiclassing player would still lag a few levels behind.


But then its much easier to get xp and lvl up fast, so it would be more like a 4/4 fighter/warlock. Also, spell slots i imagine are like usual gestalt rules?
Yes, having a higher character level makes you stronger and thus more easily able to take on harder challenges and earn more XP. More classes makes you more adaptable, and some class synergies can also give a nice boost to power, but regardless you're still dealing with a smaller proficiency bonus and HP pool. Part of the intention was to make this a "flexible gestalt", where you decide how many extra class levels you want based on how much XP you're willing to spend, and there isn't a strictly best way to do it. Racing straight to 20, especially on a caster who gets world-shattering spells, is still a very good option. Spreading yourself out to be more flexible will allow you to end up stronger at the cost of slowing down your progression and making yourself weaker in the mean time.

For spell slots, I'll discuss this with my sister. They'd cap at caster level 20 regardless, it's just a question of whether it also caps at your character level or not. Does a wizard 10 / cleric 10 have 9th level spell slots, or do they only have 5th level slots but will continue to gain new spell slots even if they only ever level martial classes thereafter?


The xp component is a pretty dramatic complication to building, and not at all obvious. Basically you are heavily incentivized to dip in a lot of classes for their early features and then stick to one class the rest of the way less you fall behind too far on prof scaling.
Don't worry, I have the XP thing worked out. Vanilla 5e just has you accumulate XP and you gain a level when you cross certain thresholds. I've done the math to convert it to a system where you spend XP to level up, and the XP cost depends on your current level. For example, in vanilla 5e you need 300, 900, and 2700 XP to reach levels 2, 3, and 4. Converting it to XP costs, you need to spend 300, 600, and 1800 XP to reach levels 2, 3, and 4. 300 + 600 = 900, and 300 + 600 + 1800 = 2700, so the values are the same if you're single classed.

And yes, since it only costs 300 XP to level up at 1st level, I did have to consider that you could dip 1 level into every class for what would be a negligible XP cost after a few levels. That's why I imposed a class limit and made it scale with proficiency bonus. You don't unlock access to a third class until 5th level, and by then you're paying 3800 XP per level. And you're doing that five times if you want to also raise that new class to 5th level. And then again to actually level up any class to 6th level. I haven't even mentioned half levels yet, which is basically where I've split the 1st level features across two levels specifically to make dipping into a new class even slower (also works much better for roleplay; a half level wizard feels a lot closer to someone who's just dabbling in wizardry and hasn't yet gotten the hang of it, as opposed to the instant mastery of multiple spells that a 1st level wizard gets).

I've tried playing gestalt characters with my sister before, and one of the things I found was that I was getting too many new abilities too fast and couldn't keep track of them all. Part of the intention of this homebrew multiclass system was to slow down progression while still making it possible to level up two (or more) classes together.

Anyway, just assume it works. My homebrew multiclass rules aren't actually the topic of the post, even though they're important to it. The important part is that they should work very well for multiclass builds that like a roughly even class split, allowing them to come online much earlier than they normally would with vanilla multiclassing. And if the campaign does go on longer, I can even get multiclass combos that exceed the normal level budget. Dips into three or four classes are also much more manageable, although it does strain the XP budget more. For example, in addition to warlock and sorcerer, I think a 3 level dip into Assassin rogue would work well for the Eldritch Sniper, and slots pretty nicely into the build as soon as you hit 5th level and unlock a third class.

Edit: If you absolutely must review the homebrew, I wrote it up in this doc (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XkpH63RskT5akra8IpHP2STak2LeeDi7lpc91fc0mXg/edit) a while back, though there's a good chance I might do some updating to it. Half levels of every class are included there. 0th level (which we probably won't use) is also there. Epic levels (21-30) are also there, but incomplete, and we probably won't use them.

[Bobthewizard]

I'm not going to address your multi class rules. I assume you know what you want to accomplish with those.

As far as classes, in a two person party, the more redundancy and flexibility you have the better off you are. I normally wouldn't recommend sorlock for a two person party but if she wants to play one, I would at least recommend divine soul sorcerer or celestial warlock to get access to a little bit of healing.

For you, I would recommend something with healing. Cleric, Druid, Bard, Ranger, Paladin, or Mercy monk. Bard might make the party too squishy. Paladin's heavy armor might be a hindrance to stealth, which could be important with only two PCs. So then I'm left with Cleric, Druid, Ranger, or Mercy Monk. Any combination of those should work, then multi class in whatever you want. Moon druid offers a lot of flexibility.

[KorvinStarmast]

I'm not going to address your multi class rules. I assume you know what you want to accomplish with those.

As far as classes, in a two person party, the more redundancy and flexibility you have the better off you are. I normally wouldn't recommend sorlock for a two person party but if she wants to play one, I would at least recommend divine soul sorcerer or celestial warlock to get access to a little bit of healing.

For you, I would recommend something with healing. Cleric, Druid, Bard, Ranger, Paladin, or Mercy monk. Bard might make the party too squishy. Paladin's heavy armor might be a hindrance to stealth, which could be important with only two PCs. So then I'm left with Cleric, Druid, Ranger, or Mercy Monk. Any combination of those should work, then multi class in whatever you want. Moon druid offers a lot of flexibility.
I was gonna say vHuman paladin, dex based, with Medium Armor Master, or Ranger with the same, or Monk / Moon Druid combo platter.

[Greywander]

I'm not going to address your multi class rules. I assume you know what you want to accomplish with those.
I appreciate it. It's important context for the thread, but is not itself the thread topic, and I'd rather the thread not get sidetracked. Perhaps I should have framed the OP to simply ask about multiclass builds with roughly even splits and/or deeper investments in more than one class.


As far as classes, in a two person party, the more redundancy and flexibility you have the better off you are. I normally wouldn't recommend sorlock for a two person party but if she wants to play one, I would at least recommend divine soul sorcerer or celestial warlock to get access to a little bit of healing.
This is actually a really good point. HP healing is typically lackluster in 5e, unless you're specifically specced for it, e.g. Life cleric. But status effect healing, included bringing people back from 0 HP, is especially important in such a small party. One debilitating effect would neutralize half the party, so it would be really nice if both halves had the ability to remove that debilitation, instead of being forced to continue fighting without any support from the other person.

I'm not sure which subclasses my sister is considering. My Eldritch Sniper is specifically a Genie warlock and Draconic sorcerer to add extra damage to EB via Genie's Wrath and Elemental Affinity.

It would also be an option for her to dip into bard or something, I'm just not sure when she'd be able to fit it in with the cap on the number of classes. 5th level would be the earliest, but would push back other dips such as Assassin rogue until 9th level or later. I haven't heard back from her yet after sending her my Eldritch Sniper build, so I don't know much what she's planning beyond just "sorlock" with long range Eldritch Blasts.


For you, I would recommend something with healing. Cleric, Druid, Bard, Ranger, Paladin, or Mercy monk. Bard might make the party too squishy. Paladin's heavy armor might be a hindrance to stealth, which could be important with only two PCs. So then I'm left with Cleric, Druid, Ranger, or Mercy Monk. Any combination of those should work, then multi class in whatever you want. Moon druid offers a lot of flexibility.
A DEX paladin could be an option. I was looking at monk multiclass options, which would at least make my character pretty resilient via Unarmored Defense and Diamond Soul (eventually). Monk/rogue seems like an effective combo, but I don't know that I'd be able to consistently get Sneak Attacks without someone else to get into melee. Monk/ranger could be really interesting. Monk/Moon druid remains a good looking option as well.

I'll give some thought to dexadin combos. I know there's some good options there, but I haven't had chance to look into them yet. One thing worth considering is that a paladin is going to be more combat focused, and with only two people combat might not be a viable option a lot of the time. It will be more viable with a paladin, but I definitely shouldn't skip on non-combat abilities that can provide alternate solutions to problems. Stealth and diplomacy are obvious examples, but far from the only ones. Also, avoiding combat doesn't necessarily mean avoiding killing things, it just means getting a little more creative in your methods.

[Bobthewizard]

Dexadin would work. I've had fun with that setup on an ancients paladin. But you might want to avoid a CHA class since she's playing a sorcadin. Artificer is another option. I always forget it since it's not my favorite class, but it is well rounded.

Some sort of moon druid / monk combo would be great.

That Eldritch sniper build is cool but it is very focused, and probably works best as a 5th party member once all of the other roles are covered. In a two person party, she might be better off with a more well-rounded Sorlock.

[RogueJK]

Small parties seriously benefit from additional meatshield, via companions or summons.

And in a 2 person party, everyone is guaranteed to find itself in melee at some point. There's no way around it. (Yes, even the "Sniper" won't always be able to sit back at long range.)

So I'd look into some flavor of capable switch-hitter who can summon and/or who has a companion. You can fight at range, you can fight up close, and you can bring additional friends.

So if you're wanting to do a more of a true 50/50 build with your Gestalt rules, consider something like a TCoE Beastmaster Ranger/Shepherd Druid. DEX-based for both ranged archery and melee Finesse weapons, with both a Primal Companion as well as the Druid's Conjure/Summon X spellcasting, along with the Shepherd Druid's spirits to boost both your summons as well as your Primal Companion. (This also lets you act as the party Healer too.)

Another slightly less powerful option could be a Conjuration Wizard/Battle Smith Artificer. INT-based archery and melee, with good armor, and a companion, plus access to the Wizard's better summoning spells. The positive of this one is that it


Otherwise, if you're not interested in doing a true 50/50 build, the above two options don't necessarily have to be a 50/50, since you get access to your primary Summon/Conjure spells by Druid or Wizard 7ish, so you can continue as primarily Artificer/Ranger from there and can still upcast them as needed.

[Slipjig]

The answer depends heavily on the type of campaign you are expecting to be in. Also, is this a heavily optimized game, or is it okay if your character is fun but doesn't blow the doors off the White Room?

I'm assuming your sister will have ay least two of the CHA-based skills covered, so that frees you up. Since she's heavily magical, maybe a martial mash-up, like Rogue/Monk or Rogue/Ranger?

[Greywander]

But you might want to avoid a CHA class since she's playing a sorcadin.
Yes, this was one of my concerns as well.


Some sort of moon druid / monk combo would be great.
Yeah, I'm beginning to think this might be the best option. Druid is already quite powerful on its own, and has a lot of good utility spells and features, while monk gives a big boost to combat abilities, notably mobility and durability. I also know Moon druids are one of the most complicated classes, between their full caster status and Wild Shapes, and I don't know that I want to try wrestling with all that.


Small parties seriously benefit from additional meatshield, via companions or summons.
[...]
So I'd look into some flavor of capable switch-hitter who can summon and/or who has a companion. You can fight at range, you can fight up close, and you can bring additional friends.
Oh, you know what could work well for this? A Necromancer wizard / Oathbreaker paladin. Normally you'd need two players to pull off this combo, but these homebrew rules would let me do it by myself. Not sure I want an undead horde following me around, though. Maybe I could dip into Armorer artificer, in part to get silent heavy armor, and in part to get a Bag of Holding Skeletons.


The answer depends heavily on the type of campaign you are expecting to be in. Also, is this a heavily optimized game, or is it okay if your character is fun but doesn't blow the doors off the White Room?
When we've played together before we usually co-DM, taking turns and switching off who is the "main" DM every short story arc. So we're pretty flexible and can adapt to whatever suits us best. White room optimization isn't required, but every little bit certainly helps. I tend towards Combat as War myself, which is pretty antithetical to white room analysis, and part of why I put so much emphasis on utility abilities. Why would I duel a powerful foe when I could arrange for them to have a terrible accident? But direct combat is inevitable and it's fun to be able to go toe to toe against strong enemies.


I'm assuming your sister will have ay least two of the CHA-based skills covered, so that frees you up. Since she's heavily magical, maybe a martial mash-up, like Rogue/Monk or Rogue/Ranger?
Without a dedicated melee specialist that isn't my character, I worry I won't get Sneak Attacks as often. I think rogue is good for a dip for things like Cunning Action and expertise, but I can't rely on Sneak Attack for damage and that's a lot of damage I'm taking off the table if I go deep into rogue. You can also never have too much magical support/utility, so I think playing a pure martial in a party this small is probably a mistake. I think a monk/ranger with a rogue dip makes more sense, though I'm not sure it's as good as the monk/Moon druid.

When I get a chance to talk to my sister I'll run some ideas by her and see if we can come up with cohesive character concepts for both of us. What she plays will influence what I play, and vice versa. I'd rather have something fun to play that fits in with her character than just something powerful.

[Damon_Tor]

I'd probably pair a sniper like that with an area control wizard of some kind. Use summons and conjured obstacles to clog up the battlefield. An abjuration wizard would be great here as a tank. Abjurers are great multiclassers and these rules in particular would seem to benefit them greatly, letting them dip cheaply for armor proficiencies and spell access.

Warlock 2 for Armor of Agathys (great synergy with abjurers ward) and Armor of Shadows (infinite regeneration of said ward) Patron could be celestial for some healing, but that's up to you.
Artificer (Armorer) 3 for heavy armor proficiency and int-based "marking" attacks.
Everything else can be wizard levels. Just enough Cha to qualify for the warlock multiclass then everything else in int then con. Your focus will be on letting the sniper dish out the damage while you defend her with a nigh-inexhaustuble supply of artificial hitpoints.

You won't be able to offer a save bonus like a paladin could, but your status as one of the best counterspellers in the game helps offset this deficit.

[KorvinStarmast]

Dexadin would work. I've had fun with that setup on an ancients paladin. But you might want to avoid a CHA class since she's playing a sorcadin. Gloom Stalker. Beast Master. Drake warden. (Fizban's)
vHuman with that same medium armor master feat.


Some sort of moon druid / monk combo would be great. Yep.

. In a two person party ... a Sorcadin is another complementary choice.

[Greywander]

I've been able to discuss things with my sister and it seems I may have jumped the gun a little. She was just posting a sorlock meme about 1200 foot EB and thought it sounded like an interesting build. Nevertheless, it sounds like we actually will be starting a campaign, and even have a vague idea (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?659298-Campaign-idea-help-kingdom-in-ruins-and-our-family-is-to-blame) what the plot of the campaign will be.

She's not dead set on a sorlock, so she's looking at other builds and even offered to let me play the sorlock if I wanted to. She hasn't looked at multiclass builds much before, so she's not familiar with the good combos. It sounded like she wanted something that wasn't a full caster and wasn't quite so complex. As for me, while I was looking at some kind of monk, with the sibling dynamic that our characters will likely have (as per the campaign plot linked above) I can't help but default to my character as a bookish introvert while her character is the active, outgoing type. Kinda hard to reconcile that with monk, though an Eldritch Sniper does at least fit the concept a bit better.

I do think an Eldritch Sniper would be good for a small party focused on stealth. They would be able to shoot down threats from afar and disappear before they get close. It opens up a lot of options for engaging enemies without putting ourselves in too much danger. The natural complement to the sniper is probably some kind of lockdown control expert, e.g. a Conquest paladin / Long Death monk. That said, I'm not worried about being perfectly optimized.

Other builds I've considered are Shadow monk / Fey Wanderer ranger, and some kind of monk / Bladesinger combo. I'm actually not a big fan of Bladesinger, though it is pretty powerful, especially paired with a monk. I've entertained the idea of some kind of Armorer artificer, maybe some kind of Armorer / paladin, but I haven't looked too closely at my options just yet. Funnily enough, one of the monk tweaks we'll probably use would allow monks to use Martial Arts and Unarmored Movement while wearing armor they are proficient with, so Armorer / monk isn't necessarily off the table. Though Armorer / fighter seems to be the most recommended multiclass (that isn't artificer / wizard). Maybe I could focus on raising artificer and fighter to 20, but put 11 or 12 levels into paladin for Improved Divine Smite. It would set me back a lot, but bring a lot of both offensive and defensive power to the table.

On the sorlock side, I've noticed a few long dips that would bring considerable benefits to the build but at a costly investment. The Eldritch Sniper wants to be able to see far away, and while Eyes of the Eagle are one option they also require attunement. Eagle Totem barbarian can get you long range vision, but requires a 6 level dip (and you might be tempted to go for 7 or 8). Barbarian has some good stuff, like Unarmored Defense, Danger Sense, Fast Movement, and Feral Instinct, but it still feels like you're only using half of what barbarian gives you.

Something else that would be good for a sniper is the ability to knock enemies prone, particularly flying enemies. One such way to obtain that ability is by taking a whopping 11 levels in Swarmkeeper ranger. The forced movement is also really nice, allowing you to move enemies sideways in addition to pushing or pulling, and it will stack with Repelling Blast and Grasp of Hadar. No size restriction either. With the homebrew multiclass rules we're using, both of these dips will be possible, but it would set you back considerably. On the plus side, 8 levels in barbarian and 12 in ranger sets up up with 20 levels of solid HP to override the mediocre warlock d8 hit die.

[Vyke]

I've been able to discuss things with my sister and it seems I may have jumped the gun a little. She was just posting a sorlock meme about 1200 foot EB and thought it sounded like an interesting build. Nevertheless, it sounds like we actually will be starting a campaign, and even have a vague idea (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?659298-Campaign-idea-help-kingdom-in-ruins-and-our-family-is-to-blame) what the plot of the campaign will be.

She's not dead set on a sorlock, so she's looking at other builds and even offered to let me play the sorlock if I wanted to. She hasn't looked at multiclass builds much before, so she's not familiar with the good combos. It sounded like she wanted something that wasn't a full caster and wasn't quite so complex. As for me, while I was looking at some kind of monk, with the sibling dynamic that our characters will likely have (as per the campaign plot linked above) I can't help but default to my character as a bookish introvert while her character is the active, outgoing type. Kinda hard to reconcile that with monk, though an Eldritch Sniper does at least fit the concept a bit better.

I do think an Eldritch Sniper would be good for a small party focused on stealth. They would be able to shoot down threats from afar and disappear before they get close. It opens up a lot of options for engaging enemies without putting ourselves in too much danger. The natural complement to the sniper is probably some kind of lockdown control expert, e.g. a Conquest paladin / Long Death monk. That said, I'm not worried about being perfectly optimized.

Other builds I've considered are Shadow monk / Fey Wanderer ranger, and some kind of monk / Bladesinger combo. I'm actually not a big fan of Bladesinger, though it is pretty powerful, especially paired with a monk. I've entertained the idea of some kind of Armorer artificer, maybe some kind of Armorer / paladin, but I haven't looked too closely at my options just yet. Funnily enough, one of the monk tweaks we'll probably use would allow monks to use Martial Arts and Unarmored Movement while wearing armor they are proficient with, so Armorer / monk isn't necessarily off the table. Though Armorer / fighter seems to be the most recommended multiclass (that isn't artificer / wizard). Maybe I could focus on raising artificer and fighter to 20, but put 11 or 12 levels into paladin for Improved Divine Smite. It would set me back a lot, but bring a lot of both offensive and defensive power to the table.

On the sorlock side, I've noticed a few long dips that would bring considerable benefits to the build but at a costly investment. The Eldritch Sniper wants to be able to see far away, and while Eyes of the Eagle are one option they also require attunement. Eagle Totem barbarian can get you long range vision, but requires a 6 level dip (and you might be tempted to go for 7 or 8). Barbarian has some good stuff, like Unarmored Defense, Danger Sense, Fast Movement, and Feral Instinct, but it still feels like you're only using half of what barbarian gives you.

Something else that would be good for a sniper is the ability to knock enemies prone, particularly flying enemies. One such way to obtain that ability is by taking a whopping 11 levels in Swarmkeeper ranger. The forced movement is also really nice, allowing you to move enemies sideways in addition to pushing or pulling, and it will stack with Repelling Blast and Grasp of Hadar. No size restriction either. With the homebrew multiclass rules we're using, both of these dips will be possible, but it would set you back considerably. On the plus side, 8 levels in barbarian and 12 in ranger sets up up with 20 levels of solid HP to override the mediocre warlock d8 hit die.

Goes without saying really but getting something like Twilight or Order Cleric in could be strong in a smaller party. As someone above said with 2 players, you'll likely end up in combat so having someone a bit more survivable could be a benefit, plus you could grab summons for additional bodies. The Extra THP/ extra attacks from those subclasses would help as well in a smaller party... an extra attack is a substantial gain with only 2 bodies and writing off a hit is a big deal too. Dunno about the mix though, I'm not confident enough with your multiclassing to comment necessarily. Abjuration wizard maybe for even more not dying and to protect concentration?

Aside, I will say though a bookish introvert seems a perfect fit for a monk. A history of studying and emotional discipline with no real reason for investing in CHA skills... seems a natural one to me. Monastery life isn't all kicking people in the head. I assume. There's chambers filled with scrolls and learning calligraphy.