I'll shortly be starting a campaign and I'd like to play a multi-class cleric/monk. I've only ever played core before, and all of a sudden I have wealth of splat books at my disposal (complete X, PHB II, plus whatever the DM thinks is not too broken). Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make up for the inherent downsides to this particular combination? I'm looking for useful races, good feats, handy equipment, and whatever general advice anyone might have (stat distribution and the like). Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
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Cleric/Monk
- Thread starter Banosby
- Start date
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
Well, the big one as far as stats go is make sure to keep that Wisdom high. It bolsters your spells, and your AC. In fact, invest in Wisdom-boosting magic items as well, and other AC-boosting magic items - you won't want to wear armor, as it'll interfere with your monk abilities.
Also, you should check out the Practiced Spellcaster feat in Complete Arcane (and, I think, in Complete Divine too). That'll help bring your caster level up, which you'll need being a multiclass spellcaster.
Be a bit careful about what levels you take when. Remember that once you start taking monk levels, you can't take them again after you take levels in another class. Hence, build your cleric/monk accordingly.
Also, you should check out the Practiced Spellcaster feat in Complete Arcane (and, I think, in Complete Divine too). That'll help bring your caster level up, which you'll need being a multiclass spellcaster.
Be a bit careful about what levels you take when. Remember that once you start taking monk levels, you can't take them again after you take levels in another class. Hence, build your cleric/monk accordingly.
StreamOfTheSky
Adventurer
If you can use dragon magazine (or Dragon Compendium v.1) or Eberron, they all should have a generic monk feat to let you multiclass between monk and one other class of your choice. Don't bother if you're only going a few levels in one, though.
If you're willing to be double-plus good, Intuitive Attack for gods-know-why is an exalted feat in book of exalted deeds. Lets you use wis for attack rolls instead of str w/ simple weapons such as...unarmed strike. I would not go for Vow of Poverty, though, unless you know the DM to be lax on handing out treasure. It looks way better on paper than it is in play. DEFINITELY don't take it if Magic Item Compendium is allowed.
From tome of battle, there's superior unarmed strike, which counts you as +4 monk levels for unarmed damage, possibly useful. I think this number can exceed your HD, so useful even to a pure monk. The book also has Snap Kick, which basically lets you make an extra attack at full BAB (and half str on the damage) after any other attack action s completed, but all attacks suffer an extra -2, kinda like flurry. The awesome part here is, unlike almost all other bonus attack abilities, this can be launched off ANY attack, not just a full attack. You could do it after a charge, for example.
For stat distribution, don't ignore str. A lot of people think monks don't need it, but it helps with many things you want to do. I'd say if you can do point buy, go for as many 14's as you can. You want some str, dex, con, and wis. If you're doing rolling, hope to get a bunch of medium bonusesand almost nothing low, rather than one or two very high numbers and the rest straddling average. As a cleric, too, you might want to invest a 16 is wisdom, but it can get expensive, especially with point buy.
If you're willing to be double-plus good, Intuitive Attack for gods-know-why is an exalted feat in book of exalted deeds. Lets you use wis for attack rolls instead of str w/ simple weapons such as...unarmed strike. I would not go for Vow of Poverty, though, unless you know the DM to be lax on handing out treasure. It looks way better on paper than it is in play. DEFINITELY don't take it if Magic Item Compendium is allowed.
From tome of battle, there's superior unarmed strike, which counts you as +4 monk levels for unarmed damage, possibly useful. I think this number can exceed your HD, so useful even to a pure monk. The book also has Snap Kick, which basically lets you make an extra attack at full BAB (and half str on the damage) after any other attack action s completed, but all attacks suffer an extra -2, kinda like flurry. The awesome part here is, unlike almost all other bonus attack abilities, this can be launched off ANY attack, not just a full attack. You could do it after a charge, for example.
For stat distribution, don't ignore str. A lot of people think monks don't need it, but it helps with many things you want to do. I'd say if you can do point buy, go for as many 14's as you can. You want some str, dex, con, and wis. If you're doing rolling, hope to get a bunch of medium bonusesand almost nothing low, rather than one or two very high numbers and the rest straddling average. As a cleric, too, you might want to invest a 16 is wisdom, but it can get expensive, especially with point buy.
StreamOfTheSky
Adventurer
Druid with natural spell and tons of wilding-clasp eq.
You cast well, can fight well unarmed in wildshape, monk's belt gives you your wis mod to AC, and for sheer icing on the cake, get a free fighter as well.
He wanted info for a monk/cleric, though.
blargney the second
blargney the minute's son
What level are you starting at, and how are stats generated?
Thanks for all the quick replies guys. Very helpful and much appreciated.
We're starting at lvl 1 with 28 point buy. This is the World's Largest Dungeon (I'd appreciate a lack of spoilers if possible), so Druids and Wizards are highly discouraged.
I'm thinking Sacred Fist might be worth working towards. Does anyone have any experience playing one? Is it better to multiclass monk/cleric, or just go strait cleric and use feats for the prereqs?
We're starting at lvl 1 with 28 point buy. This is the World's Largest Dungeon (I'd appreciate a lack of spoilers if possible), so Druids and Wizards are highly discouraged.
I'm thinking Sacred Fist might be worth working towards. Does anyone have any experience playing one? Is it better to multiclass monk/cleric, or just go strait cleric and use feats for the prereqs?
blargney the second
blargney the minute's son
Next question - what does the rest of the party look like so far?
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