Monk help

[DUSUCK]

So, in an online campaign I am playing a level 3 scout level 1 monk. It is a very skill monkey focused campaign and I suspect there might be some pvp.

We each have 5,400 gold pieces and I have no idea what to buy. any ideas?

[kamikasei]

That's an odd combination. What are you trying to achieve with the character? What's your core concept or focus?

[Proven_Paradox]

More information is needed. What books are available? What do your ability scores look like? What role are you trying to play with this character?

[monty]

[obligatory]Monks suck. Play an unarmed Swordsage instead.[/obligatory]

[Starsinger]

You have 3 levels of not monk and only 1 level of monk... why are you asking for monk help in particular? Just take the +2 bonus to all saves and walk away IMO.

[thornhill]

[obligatory]Monks suck. Play an unarmed Swordsage instead.[/obligatory]

You know, you could try being helpful rather than acting like you're twelve.

[Yukitsu]

Why? It's the most helpful advice he'll get in this thread.

[monty]

You know, you could try being helpful rather than acting like you're twelve.

In case the tags weren't obvious enough, I was joking. Every time a monk help thread comes up, someone suggests that as if it's the only reasonable solution and anybody who doesn't do it is stupid.

You might want to get your sarcasm meter checked.

[streakster]

I don't agree Monty - we also suggest K and Frank's rewrite!

So, you've got money burning a whole in your pocket and nowhere to spend it, huh? You could always get some partially charged wands ...

Seriously, though, we need to know your goals. Otherwise we won't know what items would help you.

[BRC]

Actually, depending on the campaign, a one-level monk dip isn't that bad. it gives you a decent unarmed attack if the campaign is one where it will be good to be able to fight without weapons, it gives your saves a nice boost, you can take Stunning Fist or Improved grapple, either of which could be useful. And you don't really lose much by wearing armor, so it's all good.

[monty]

I agree that it's a good dip (on the other hand, I've even seen arguments for CW Samurai being a useful dip in certain cases, so that's not saying much), but that's not really a monk any more than a Fighter 1/Wizard 19 is a fighter.

[afroakuma]

Two levels of monk makes a great dip, but an XP drag. Although for most people, it doesn't factor in, so...

[Triaxx]

I like the barbarian dip myself, but Monk is handy. You might see if the DM will let you have Raging Monk instead of the standard. Flurry of Blows is worth the loss. Wild Monk will make the DM tear his hair out around level 4, where it get's Wild Shape.

Are you fighting ranged or melee? If ranged, consider swapping out the monk for barbarian, or going another two levels of monk. Every bit of range is helpful, especially with Skirmish and later on when fighting casters.


Amulet's of Natural Armor are useful. They push your AC without increasing your armor weight. Consider bracers that let you cast greater magical weapons. Are you expecting to need to ambush enemies? Cloak/Boots of Elvenkind are helpful then.

[Bayar]

I like the barbarian dip myself, but Monk is handy. You might see if the DM will let you have Raging Monk instead of the standard. Flurry of Blows is worth the loss. Wild Monk will make the DM tear his hair out around level 4, where it get's Wild Shape.

Are you fighting ranged or melee? If ranged, consider swapping out the monk for barbarian, or going another two levels of monk. Every bit of range is helpful, especially with Skirmish and later on when fighting casters.


Amulet's of Natural Armor are useful. They push your AC without increasing your armor weight. Consider bracers that let you cast greater magical weapons. Are you expecting to need to ambush enemies? Cloak/Boots of Elvenkind are helpful then.

Dragon magasine ?

[Captain Six]

I'm pretty sure this thread was about magic items, not class choices. I don't think it's that bad myself. A third level scout gets a speed bonus, and a monk will start to get them. Spring attack and the scout skirmish bonuses will work well together in the future. And monks have a lot of anti-backstab traits for the possible pvp.

For magic items I always go for more AC first. It's usually more cost effective that increasing your attack bonus and I'm a very defensive player, even moreso if I thought the other players might turn on me.

So what I would get for pretty much any character:
Amulet of natural armor +1 (1000)
Bracers of armor +1 (1000)
Cloak of resistance +1 (1000)
Ring of protection +1 (2000)

So +3 ac +1 to all saves. Spend the rest on some skill-boosting gear. I might, depending on the campaign, get rid of something for Hand of the Mage, infinite mage hand can be very, very useful if well applied.

[holywhippet]

Give him an item that can cast mage armour on demand. Low AC is the bane of all monks and mage armour is a very helpful spell. I'm a bit vague on the rules for magical item creation so I'm not sure what the cost will be, if you have enough left over get something that casts another protective spell on demand like shield of faith or protection from evil.

[DUSUCK]

Well..... Mega tumbling to get around my enemy to get to the head guy grapple him stun him murder his face.
My stats are: 16, 14, 14, 12, 12, 10
Tumbling around someone counts as moving 10 ft if I am not mistaken so rolling a three or better means I get a + 1d6 dam and +1 to AC
The only allowed classed are: Bard, Rogue, Spelltheif, Ninja, Monk, Scout
Sources allowed: Core, Expanded Psi, Complete Adventurer (laaaaaame)
Note: I want to get my DM get to allow a astetic feat to get some scout monk synergy!

[Flickerdart]

If XPH is in play, why are the classes so limited? Also, XPH is still Core, so that's redundant.

[Siosilvar]

Also, XPH is still Core, so that's redundant.

No, it's not. Core is PHB, DMG & MM1. Most of it is, however, OGC, so it's allowed to be put in the SRD. At least, that's my understanding of it.

[Starbuck_II]

No, it's not. Core is PHB, DMG & MM1. Most of it is, however, OGC, so it's allowed to be put in the SRD. At least, that's my understanding of it.

Complete Psionics refers to XPH as Core.
Most people think it is a misspeak (they didn't mean to say it, but they did). Never errataed.

[Eldariel]

No game should ever be played with less than the whole SRD though :/ I mean, XPH and ELH add, to normal classes:
Greater Manyshot
Stand Still
Improved Multiweapon Fighting
Greater Multiweapon Fighting
Reckless Offense
Improved Flyby Attack
Improved Multiattack

I mean, all those feats should've been in PHB or MM. And that's just off the top (there's a huge number of handy, but less-than-optimal feats in XPH like Open Minded, Mind over Body, Rapid Metabolism, Cloak Dance, etc. that still address points PHB simply forgot to include feats for).

I mean, Greater Manyshot really just serves to make Manyshot do something (in other words, Rogues around the world enjoy and someone might actually pick that feat voluntarily). Stand Still actually enables non-Spiked Chain melee builds to control area. Reckless Offense isn't that impressive, but still, classes like Barbarian and Fighter have feats to burn and the effect fits perfectly into Barbarian's mindset and has its uses for Fighters too. And all the monster feats are pretty much autoincludes for the Monster section since they simply make some combat styles work for higher level games.

And a feat that gives skills and a feat that increases Healing Rate and Ability Restoration Rate are both so basic that it's simply shocking they forgot to include them in PHB.


So people, do yourselves and everyone you play with a service and at least allow non-Psionic parts of SRD in every single friggin' game you ever play (heck, epic feats and non-epic monster feats make high HD monsters with lots of feats actually scary).

Oh yeah, and if at all possible, allow Psionics too. 'cause Psionics change everything - for the better (XPH is a much better written book than PHB).

[DUSUCK]

I think the SRD is allowed fortunatly....

[Sinfire Titan]

I recomend Scout 3/Monk 1/Cloistered Cleric 1/Ranger 15 with Swift Hunter and swapping out your domains for Devotion feats (namely Travel and Knowledge devotion). Get the Animal Domain and use PrC Ranger to get Full BAB while you are at it, as everyone loves Divine Power.

Use TWFing with Sai's or another light Monk weapon to get the most out of your Skirmish damage+Travel Devotion feat.

[Human Paragon 3]

I recomend Scout 3/Monk 1/Cloistered Cleric 1/Ranger 15 with Swift Hunter and swapping out your domains for Devotion feats (namely Travel and Knowledge devotion). Get the Animal Domain and use PrC Ranger to get Full BAB while you are at it, as everyone loves Divine Power.

Use TWFing with Sai's or another light Monk weapon to get the most out of your Skirmish damage+Travel Devotion feat.

Ranger requires a BaB of +4. If you're not using fractional BAB, this character will have a BAB of +2 at level four. Even if you are using fractional BAB, this guy will have +3. So the build is not legal.

[Sir Giacomo]

So, in an online campaign I am playing a level 3 scout level 1 monk. It is a very skill monkey focused campaign and I suspect there might be some pvp.

We each have 5,400 gold pieces and I have no idea what to buy. any ideas?

Well, I did a build once... (seriously, follow the link below and check the level 1-4 monk entries, there are suggestions there for items to take).

Preview:
- masterwork items providing +2 circumstance bonus to skills- check with your DM what items he allows for what skills. Mostly they are only 50gp each.
- also check whether you can spend more than 25% on one item.
- with preparing spell casters in the group, a pearl of power level 1 greatly enhances the group's versatility and can net you a good 4-hour buff spell (mage armour).
- the beads of bless for 600gp are a bargain (provides +1 to hit morale bonus 1/day for the group via casting of bless)
- otherwise, the Magic Item Compendium has plenty of non-core items, and some are also very cheap for their effects.

- Giacomo

[Stupendous_Man]

Don't forget to ask about being able to buy partially charged wands.

[DUSUCK]

Well, I did a build once... (seriously, follow the link below and check the level 1-4 monk entries, there are suggestions there for items to take).

Preview:
- masterwork items providing +2 circumstance bonus to skills- check with your DM what items he allows for what skills. Mostly they are only 50gp each.
- also check whether you can spend more than 25% on one item.
- with preparing spell casters in the group, a pearl of power level 1 greatly enhances the group's versatility and can net you a good 4-hour buff spell (mage armour).
- the beads of bless for 600gp are a bargain (provides +1 to hit morale bonus 1/day for the group via casting of bless)
- otherwise, the Magic Item Compendium has plenty of non-core items, and some are also very cheap for their effects.

- Giacomo

Thank you sir amazingly useful!

[Stupendous_Man]

Thank you sir amazingly useful!

Please let us know how it goes; it will be nice to have some data on this for once.

[Wckd]

I'd say go for a doughnut as the first purchase! You will have a lot of gp left after purchasing it, and you have just picked up a portable hole! Oh, and always ask if they have any "...of doom" left. If they haven't then just buy one with chocolate coating and coconut pieces sprinkled on top instead.

Next thing you ought to get is a herring, because beating a minotaur to death with a fish is priceless! (It also qualifies for flurry of blows!)

The last thing I would advice you to get is a watch, in case you need to stop time!

Good luck on your adventures!

[monty]

Don't forget your towel!