Str based Monk

[MThurston]

I looked this up and didn't find much on the subject.

My 8 year old son wants to play a mountain dwarf because they are strong and be a monk.

Anyone known of a way to build one with out having to wear armor?

Right now.
S18, D15, C14, I12, W13, Ch10

So 16, 15, 13, 12, 12, 10 are the stats.

[Saelethil]

Since he will be using Str for attacks I would swap his Wis and Dex. It won’t effect his AC and will improve his Ki saves.

[BoutsofInsanity]

If it's for your 8 year old, just have him calculate using Strength instead of Dexterity and call it even. It won't break anything. In some ways it will be worse, so using that change won't cause issues.

Give him a belt of Giant's Strength as an item and build the Monk normally which would allow him to do everything you want to do legitly. \

[J-H]

Is he open to a Wis-based monk? If so, go Astral Monk and base attack, damage, and athletics check off of WIS.

[Lavaeolus]

So, if this is just about being a Mountain Dwarf Monk -- honestly, I think there wouldn't be too much to worry about. Just getting a STR boost and armour, after all, doesn't mean you're obligated to use either. For instance, consider the following stat spread: STR 14 [12+2], DEX 16, WIS 15, CON 15 [13+2]. Maybe begin with proficiency in Athletics, then at level 4 increase WIS and CON by 1 each.

Those are basically workable stats for a decent, stronger-than-average Monk. Sure, Hill Dwarf would be the more optimal pick and with a starting AC of 15 this character will be a little more fragile, but I don't consider this character unplayable. Is this stat array identical for all players? Alternatively, you could use Tasha's optional rules and just outright make Mountain Dwarf give +2 DEX instead of STR.

"No, I'd really like to use Strength." The simplest way to put a Strength Monk on equal footing is to just say, hey, we'll use 10+STR+WIS for your AC instead of the usual Dexterity boost. Depending on Monk subclass, you could extend that to a few extra features, but I think that's the big one tying Monk to Dexterity.

The second obvious way would just be to wave away armour restrictions. While this shakes up the Monk's core identity, if we're remaining single-classed I don't consider it much of a power issue. If you start them off with a Chain Shirt they get 15 AC, and can up that to 17 AC if they get their paws on Half-Plate.

"I don't want to wave these elements away." Well, it can be good to keep things simple and by the book. I suppose you could give your son the Bracers of Defense: "you gain a +2 bonus to AC if you are wearing no armor and using no shield". A solid magic item for an AC-struggling Monk, no? Depending on the dynamics you could throw a rare magic item at each player, just to make things seem even.

Alternatively, Tortles can make for decent Strength Monks. Tortles outright can't benefit from armour, but in return start with a naked 17 AC that's unaffected by Dexterity. But this would mean switching from Mountain Dwarf, of course.

[Sigreid]

Agree with those that say just swap Dex to str for AC and such. I mean, it sounds like it's for your family game and really it doesn't even contradict the tradition of the kung fu movies where plenty of the characters are more about strength than dex.

[ad_hoc]

What does he want the Strength for? It might be that he doesn't understand the power the Monk gives him.

If he wants to chop through bricks and punch people across the room then you could explain that Dexterity Monk with Way of the Open Hand will let him do that. He can still jump very well too.

[MThurston]

I like the idea of swapping Str with Dex for AC for him. I would however use Dex for Initiative.

I would also keep the arrow deflection dex based.