Making A Badass 3.5 Monk

Long story short,
>I've never played D&D before
>I want to play a monk who can punch the Everett living shit out of things
>The GM is starting us off at level 10
>I only have access to the core book at character creation
>but can bring in additional books while in play
> I rolled very well for my stats I can distribute these however I want: 10, 18, 14, 16, 12, 17

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>3.5
>Monk
>core only at creation
Good fucking luck

Welp, you're fucked.

Monk is Shit in 3.5, Core is Shit in 3.5.

You're all around better going with a Barbarian Brawler than you are a monk.

Play a Lycanthrope. I reccomend you go for Were-Direbat, since it boosts your Dex and Wis.
This is nowhere close to optimal, since you only have Core at creation, but it might be good enough.

Don't go monk. Even with good stats you're gonna have a bad time.

Do you want to ask how to light a fire using nothing but ice cubes too?

This seems like bait. But if it's not monk's are horrendously underpowered and being limited to core only makes it much worse. If you're dead set though take a level of monk and then multiclass into cleric or druid for 9 levels

Medium BAB on a class that is about punching things.

3.5 monks are one of the worst classes.

>3.5
>Core only
>Monk
>Level 10
No. Sorry, OP. Monk is terrible. Not even "not optimal" or "not as good as everything else". Terrible.

youtu.be/thbSSuo1Z00

>playing 3.5
>core only
>rolling for stats

I can assure you this is not bait. I'm just a glutton for punishment, and like thematic characters.

I should have fucking known SOMEONE was going to be that guy and post something like this.

Jeegus. Alright guy. Why not ask us to teach goldfish to lift houses?

Stats... 18 in strength. 17 in wisdom? 16 in Con? Dex 14, into 12, cha 10.
You'll have kinda low AC, but you'll hit more often, you'll have better DCs, and your AC was never gonna be huge so might as well go with more health. Also into for more skills.

Okay we'll for starters we'll wanna shore up the bad to-hit. So weapon focus unarmed? Honestly I can't remember what feats are in core. I'll go look for a sec.

Mostly, just remember your main job is mage harassment. You have no weapon to heat, high will, high touch ac, spell resistance, high speed to close gaps, teleportation to ignore obstacles, and while you'll probably miss a guy in armor, mages don't wear armor, and roll a lot of damage dice when you do connect.

Wait a minute. Haven't I done this before?

Brought it on yourself, man.

Wait, does 3.5 TWF stack with flurry? If so this looks like a good path.

And we're just letting you know that the rules and mechanics of the game are really going to get in the way of your character's theme.

No, it does not.

Dang. I knew it didn't in Pathfinder, but d20srd didn't mention it.

Well, in Pathfinder I would say MoMS, Dragon style, pummeling style, and jabbing style.

But 3.5? No idea

I haven't even played D&D yet and I already hate it, why can't I just be a tough dude who can punch an orc and have his head explode?

The wizard shoots freaking lasers from his eyes, how could this be unreasonable? I don't want to deal with this gay ass Vatican Magic system. An analog calculator feels more mystical and far less rigid.

Race? Magic item recommendations? Feats?

Good stats for starting.

You should be fine.

If the cleric or druid or mage wants to chuckle at you, rip their head off NOW, before they get to level 2.

>Race? Magic item recommendations? Feats?
Human, always. Get that extra feat.

Items? Something to buff str or dex or wisd, or AC.
Feats? IMO, Toughness or Something to beef up saving throws vs magic

Well, this is obviously bait now.

For one, you should be playing 4e or 5e if you want to do this right inside of D&D, and anything else if you really want to do it correctly.

Play 4e.

OP didn't claim to be a massive faggot, so why would 4e interest him?

>Co-worker scoffs at me running a 5e game
>Tell him I know I could always run Savage Worlds or GURPS or any other system but this is relatively simple for new players
>He looks visibly confused at the mention of other systems.
>Ask what he plays
>3.5
>My face

Mother fucker probably never even tried anything else.

In any case, you're fucked OP. After playing a little but of everything else, 3.5 is fuck-awful.

What do you want me to do? Just politely ask my GM to switch to a different system? If I can't convince him to allow Tomb of battle, how am I supposed to pull that off?

Race... core? orc or human.
Magic items I have no idea what's in core I'll have to look it up.

Gimme a minute til I can get to my desktop this is hard to do on mobile

Well, play something else and realize what you want isn't possible in the system you're playing, or find a different group.

If you're playing 3.5 you've got to conform to the way 3.5 was meant to be played. It's shitty, it's not fun, and nobody likes it, that's why they play different systems.

Player with a shit dm found.

its a perfectly valid system and you're just a salty cunt.
>soure a 3.5 fag that has no problems with 5th or PF but prefers 3.5
People like you need to sit down and shut the fuck up

Oh, hell no... I play 5e, my DM allows Homebrew after personally approving it, our campaign is 70% roleplay, 30% combat, and our DM works with us to help us all have a cohesive, enjoyable experience.

Oh, wait, I did know one thing. Gauntlets are technically weapons, but count as unarmed, meaning you get your damage (Screw SKR) so you can enchant them like normal weapons, and not miss out on neat weapon abilities.

Also, permenancy greater magic fang.

>DM allows Homebrew
>Not a shit dm

Pick one user

Seconded

Some people have fun in 3.5/PF, but one of the problems I've heard the most is
>You can't take a dump effectively without the proper feat.

Off the top of my head, some good magic items would include...
- Cloak of Resistance, to make your saves better.
- Stat boosting items in your important stats, such as a belt of strength.
- Bracers of armor / Ring of Protection / Amulet of Natural Armor / to raise AC, if you want to be defensively focused
- Amulet of Mighty Fists, so you can punch things better or magically.

Personally i despise homebrew. I use 3.5 because it was the first system i played on and im most familiar with its rules (useful given I'm taking up the cloak of DM now)
I have no issue house ruling away tedious BS of 3.5 or smoothing out shit. and My campaign is written only my the most loose of plot points and i build the world around my players and their interactions with said world.

>can't take a dump effectivley
No thats FATAL that has shitting and pissing skills. 3.5 its you can't jump properly without a fucking feat

Unironically ask if you can take vow of poverty

>3.5
>monk
Nope. Stop. Desist. Make one good decision in your life and GIVE THE FUCK UP

>its
>salty
>soure
Ha. Hm.

oh yeah, it's actually better in 3.5 than it is on pathfinder.

Op, I understand where you are coming from, believe me. My first character was a monk in 3.5 and while i loved the character it was struggle to keep up with other martials, let alone the casters and that when i have great stats. 3.5 is just not kind to us punch monks mostly due to not very well thought out mechanics.

But as one fellow monk lover to another, i'll try to help out to make as good as we can get.

Decide if you're going to be a Str monk or a Dex monk, dex monks have more dodgyness but takes a feat to start out (weapon finesse) and low damage output. STR monks won't have as high an Ac but does take a feat and have a bit better damage.

If you are limited to core only, you are kinda stuffed in terms of feats, little in the core rule book can help monks at least in feat options. Still, if you are limites to core:

Weapon finesse if you are dex is a must
Power attack is an option but with your low bab is not ideal
Weapon focus might help out in regards to accuracy.

Any of the improved combay manuvers: they're okay but make sure the campaign will habe creatures you can trip/disarm otherwise they're worthless.

Try to get your gm to allow some 3pp stuff since they help out the most. Things like Superior unarmed strike, snap kick amd flying kick come to mind to help with your damage.

As for items, monks belt is a great item since it treats you as a monk 5 level high for things like damage and Ac. Stat boosters are good too things that add to wisdom and Str/dex are priority. You saves should be decent so consider a mobility item like something that gives you flight. Boots of haste aren't too bad for you and if you are a str monk an item of enlarge person will greatly help you out.

(Cont)

(Cont)
Tactics:

Look we liked to be one punch man but 3.5 base monks are just not designed to do that. Things like 3/4 bab, flurry of blows only as a full action are just some examples of conflicting design that hurt the monk. So like a rogue you're going to have to rely on your party, more so than any other martial class. You got 2 options as a core monk with tactics.

You either get in and get out quickly basically running interference, disrupting key targets while your dps and tanks deal with everything else. OR you plant your feet in the ground, take 5ft steps and flurry everything within reach with your front liners and hope that your d8 hp helps you survive with your decent ac. You'll probably be flip floping slightly between the two tactics but dex are better suited for mobility and str is better for dealing the damage. Take appropriate feats and items that help with either tactic.

Multiclassing:
With the fact that multiclassing would stop monk progression for most parts, some options are okay.

cleric to Sacred Fist: one of the more common multiclass, turns you into a gish of sorts with buffing/heals and punched while able to progress some monk abilities, its okay.

(Cont)

(Cont)

Multiclassing:
multiclassing would stop monk progression for most parts, some options are okay.

cleric to Sacred Fist: one of the more common multiclass, turns you into a gish of sorts with buffing/heals and punched while able to progress some monk abilities.

If your gm is kind and Does allow for 3pp stuff consider these:

Scout: normally i don't like to multiclass two 3/4 bab classes since it lowers accuracy but if you are a mobile striker you might as well make fullest use of the speed. Plus scouts get ac bonuses amd damage for moving as well so it plays into the speed aspect of a monk. Keep in mind thr extra damage is precision so you might want to invest a wand of grave striker and such to deal with precision damage immunity. Flying kick tends to work well as does snap kick if you can get those.

tashalatora + psyhic warrior/ardent: NOW we're talking, psonics work pretty well for a monk for self buffing and uping the utility of your monk and with the tashalatora feat the class of your choice makes them count as monk levels for ac and damage. One of the more potent options that make you an actual threat when done right.

(On last post)

Start as monk. Until level 5 or so you'll be behind other martials, but not by that much. Consider multiclassing after monk 1 or 2 to something to too unthematic, fighter or rogue probably.

Then, as soon as humanly possible, get your GM to approve a class from the Book of Nine Swords AKA Weaboo Fightan Magic. IMO it's a bit on the strong side, but putting a little buffer in the form of 1-4 levels of core martial classes first should bring it right back down to a happy spot.

TLDR
Depending on what party you have and what kind of gm you have prepare ti struggle either way especially if you are limited to core: you are MAD and without magic stuff or vow of poverty you'll habe to keep up by having better tactics than your enemies. Its not completely hopeless but it will be VERY difficult. Here's a quick summary:

Go either str or dex and adjust your playstyle accordingly. You don't have the luxury of being good at both so think carefully.

You damage and to hit need to be augmented look for items or tske vow of poverty to help with those. Stat booster shpuld also help wuth your ac and saves.

Plan with your party, proritize which target is the most dangerous and work with you party; you aren't a class that can solo shit so teamwork is essential.

Get your Gm to allow some 3pp stuff cause you need it. Feats that help you out are superior unarmed strike, flying kick and snap kick.

Good luck, if you want more advice just reply to this post and i'll see what else i can recommend

Sorry, 3.5 was designed by Monte Cook, who decided that the game would be as ""realistic"" as possible unless you can cast spells.

3.5 monk will always be shit, but allowing non-core helps that out a lot.

ah crud missed the level 10 part.
Bo9S is still good, but seriously the whole monk concept is almost obsolete by level 10 and by level 15 casters can summon tougher things than an equal level monk.

In general, at mid levels melee can work, but it needs to be highly mobile and hit like a truck in the same turn.That usually means flight and some form of pounce. Good luck.

Going off this, definitely Dodge->Mobility, to get you past those front lines.
Lightning Reflexes helps power your Evasion.
Weapon-Focus and Greater for the bonuses to hit.

For your 1st level bonus.. Stunning Fist and Grapple both exist to let you shutdown mages. Stun is a total shutdown, while grapple is weaker but should be more likely to hit and last longer.

Definitely Combat Reflexes for level 2. AoOs is what lets you smack the mage when he tries to cast in your face. Make sure to have a reach weapon drawn, or he could 5ft step and still do it. Don't worry, you can still unarmed attack with your hands full. Deflect Arrows I have never seen be useful. Snatch even less so. Of note, you can stunning fist on an AoO. So a ki-focus reach weapon would let you not only smack for concentration check, but just shut him down hard.

6th level.. eh, trip and disarm are both fine. Disarm would be much, much better in a system with arcane focii. Then again, divine focii are still a thing, though they are usually more armored, not really your kind of target. If your DM rules you can disarm a spell component puch, though, then absolutely take it. Trip, meanwhile, is trip. Slowed and easier target if they stay down, AoO and half a turn spent to get up. All good. Probably just choose based on your weapon of choice.

Speaking of weapons, shuriken do basically no damage, but they're cheap and flurry-able. Moral of the story? Use them for poisoning.

If you're okay with the feat tax, weapon finesse and a stat rearrangement would increase your AC, ranged attack, and number of AoOs, at the cost of your damage and combat maneuvers. Sai-throwing monks (also needs quickdraw) are weird but no unheard of.

Winged boots. Or a Broom of Flying or Carpet if you took some mounted combat feats.
Monk's Belt or Giant's Strength. Both are valid choices.
Periapt of Wisdom.
Use enchanted gauntlets, not an amulet of mighty fists.
Bracers of Armor.
Chime of Interruption: 3 minutes of screw you enemy caster as long as you stay within 30 feet of their guy and more than 30 from yours. You have a speed of 120ft if you double move. You can do that. Recharges every 10 minutes, for added fun.
You know that useless slow fall? Feather Token Tree. Now you always have a wall.

>You don't have the luxury of being good at both
he rolled perfectly fine to do so. did you even look at his rolls?

Its more that 3.5 tends to favour specialist rather than generalist feat selection tends to gear to one type of playstyle over another and while you CAN do both, you often be better at one than the other. While i acknowledge that you tend to flip flop between the two playstyles, you will tend to favour one over the other. Like a dex monk wouldn't really want enlarge person since that hurts his accuracy and ac.

So yes, OP can if he/she really wants to, but martials often don't have enough feats and item slots to really generalize for most part and 3.5 doesn't favor jack of all trades that often. Unless we're talking about bo9s in which case you could because manuvers.