D&D 5E New to 5e, advice re Monk/Bard?

[Random Axe]

Our group has been playing D&D 3.5 (among other RPG's) for many years, and our DM will soon be starting up a new D&D campaign using 5th Ed. (We never looked at 4th.) This will be our group's first attempt at 5e.

My first idea was to play a Bard, but am considering now cross-classing with Monk.

Any tips you can give about whether this combination works at all, or causes problems logistically?
At first glimpse, they have identical Hit Dice, their weapon proficiencies don't conflict...
Anything else I should look out for at the outset?

 

[jaelis]

Anything can work and be fun, but I would not say monk/bard is a very effective combination. Monks already need a high Dex, Con and Wis, and with bard you'd add Cha to that mix. Beyond that, I don't think there is much synergy between the class abilities. You really want some synergy when multiclassing because you are always delaying or missing out on the more powerful higher-level class abilities.

Compared to 3e, it is harder to make an unplayable character in 5e. So if the monk/bard sounds cool go for it. But if you are thinking it might be a particularly effective combo, what elements are you thinking of as working well together?

 

[Ancalagon]

If you are new to 5e, I would advise against multiclass in general, and against this one in particular, for the reason stated above.

Be sure to look closely at the background section. It's not just roleplaying fluff anymore! Half your skills come from the background. This allows for a "soft" multiclass.

For example, a cleric could have the criminal background and be able to sneak around and pick locks. A fighter could have the outlander background and be able to guide the party in the wilderness, etc etc

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[lonelynoose]

Bruv, do what ever you want. Google 'Monk build guide 5e' and there will be examples of how to multi-class. Be advised though, as mentioned above, even the guides will be wary of a monk/bard combo. BUT it will show you how to build it if you want

 

[Leatherhead]

Bards and Monks suffer from bonus action scarcity. Bards want to have an instrument in one of their hands as a focus to cast spells, because bards are full.casters now.

In general, it's better to figure out what it is about the bard/monk combination that makes you want it. If you want a melee focused bard that dances around in combat, there is the Blade Bard subclass. If you want a smattering of magical prowess for your Monk, there are a few feats that will give you spells, in addition to the subclasses that have obviously magical abilities.

 

[ad_hoc]

I would first confirm that you are using the multiclass rules if you haven't already.

To answer your question we need to know what you want to be doing. We can't tell you if you should do it without knowing what your expectation is.

In general I would recommend against multiclassing, but then I don't like it at all so I'm biased there.

 

[DEFCON 1]

As the others have said... you can use Backgrounds, Sub-classes, and Feats to give you smatterings of flavor to add to a single class in order to get the kind of character you want. Depending on your DM, you might also have the possibility of either doing some feature-swapping and/or creating your own sub-class with them to give you what you are looking for.

So for instance... if you wanted the flavor of a monk that inspires others with its lightness of being... you could play a Monk and ask your DM to swap out Martial Arts for the Bardic Inspiration mechanic (for example), or create a Monk sub-class that uses Bardic Inspiration as its 3rd level feature. Obviously you probably wouldn't want to do this if there was already a Bard in your party... but if your group was Bardless, swapping in some of the mechanics would work fine.

 

[Random Axe]

Wow, excellent responses, and very informative. Thanks and I will take your advice about the build-search and about the Backgrounds (which I wasn't aware of).

 

[jaelis]

If you are still attracted to the bard/monk thing, here are some references:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?423223-Bard-Monk-multiclass
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/class-forums/monk/1902-monk-bard-professional-wrestler-build
https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/2rnh08/challenge_build_me_a_monkbard/

 

[Satyrn]

Wow, excellent responses, and very informative. Thanks and I will take your advice about the build-search and about the Backgrounds (which I wasn't aware of).

Despite them being very light on mechanics, I find the backgrounds are the best addition to the game from 3e to 5e as a tool for realizng my character concept and personality.