D&D 5E Does anyone have any experience with Monks?

[Tormyr]

I guess I can see that, but isn't it unlikely that the monk will have that much ki to blow? Flurry of blwos costs a point of ki, and then wouldn't each stunning blow attempt cost an additional point? Considering the fact that the monk likely spent a good chunk of his ki leading up to the solo boss...

Sure, that is the extreme case. A basic monk who has maxed Dex by level 9 gets +9 to attack. At that point, an attack against almost any foe has at least 50% chance of hitting. Our monk has a +1 quarterstaff, so he gets +10 with his first two hits. While Con is a common saving throw for PCs, not many monsters have a Con saving throw proficiency. So most creatures have at best a +5 to their con saving throw vs a DC of 15 to 17 at this point.

While the monk could burn up to 5 ki here out of its 9 at 9th level, it could also need to burn as few as 1 to get it to connect. The ki also recharges on a short rest. I am not saying that it is an automatic stun each time, but it is a very real possibility, and the consequences of being stunned are devastating for a solo monster.

 

[EroGaki]

Bonus to Dex (and Con, possibly), lots of sneaky stuff to compliment hiding in shadows etc. Monks attack with speed and finesse rather than brute force, and Halflings tend to excel at that.

Ah, that does make sense.

Which subrace would be the best? I'd think Stouts for the con boost, but then once monks reach 10th level, the poison resistance would be redundant. Meanwhile, Lightfoots (lightfeet?) get better hiding ability.

 

[Saeviomagy]

should be called Bracers of Limited Defense since they are more or less limited to bracers plus dex.

That kind of sounds like they're bracers of armor. Oh, except you can't use a shield either...

 

[Tormyr]

Ah, that does make sense.

Which subrace would be the best? I'd think Stouts for the con boost, but then once monks reach 10th level, the poison resistance would be redundant. Meanwhile, Lightfoots (lightfeet?) get better hiding ability.

The rogue 8 / monk 1 at my table is a lightfoot halfling. hiding is nice, but hiding only gives advantage in rare occasions for melee attacks. The other thing is that the running joke has become that the halfling hides behind someone, and that person moves, revealing the monk. For a monk, the lightfoot sneaking is more useful for sneaking through a crowd.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I guess I can see that, but isn't it unlikely that the monk will have that much ki to blow? Flurry of blwos costs a point of ki, and then wouldn't each stunning blow attempt cost an additional point? Considering the fact that the monk likely spent a good chunk of his ki leading up to the solo boss...

Ki recharges on a short rest, and if you're careful about where you spend it you can probably have 4 or more ki available for emergencies even at level 6. That isn't enough to burn through legendary resistance without help (multiple monks? bards?) but we're discussing non-legendary monsters here. A lone death slaad would die messily for example to even a 7th level party with a monk.

But some players spend ki and spell points like water, and those players can't do this until much higher level.

 

[EroGaki]

Slightly off topic: how would you compare monks and rogues as far as striker/skirmisher role goes? And is there any benefit for one to multiclass into the other at any point?

 

[Sacrosanct]

Ki recharges on a short rest, and if you're careful about where you spend it you can probably have 4 or more ki available for emergencies even at level 6.

This is not my experience for my monk, or any of the other players at my table who played monks. This statement means your monk is only spending 2 ki points between short rests. That's 3-4 encounters on average. And there's just no way. We're spending 2 ki per encounter, on average, depending on the situation. Very rare when I am not spending ki. Either for flurry, dodge, or increasing movement. I'm a shadow monk. The elemental monk in the group? Goes through them a lot faster. It's very rare when we have ki left over by the time we can take another short rest.

 

[Giltonio_Santos]

Slightly off topic: how would you compare monks and rogues as far as striker/skirmisher role goes? And is there any benefit for one to multiclass into the other at any point?

I have a rogue and a monk in my current game, they're 5th level now and seem to be balanced in regard to damage output. Of course, missing is much more devastating to the rogue.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

With flurry of blows, the monk gets 4 chances to hit. Each successful hit allows the monk to spend a ki to attempt a stunning strike.

I guess I can see that, but isn't it unlikely that the monk will have that much ki to blow? Flurry of blwos costs a point of ki, and then wouldn't each stunning blow attempt cost an additional point? Considering the fact that the monk likely spent a good chunk of his ki leading up to the solo boss...

It doesn't require an extra point of ki on each attack. The monk uses 1 point of ki to activate flurry of blows bonus action which consists of two special unarmed attacks. The Way of the Open Hand Monk can attempt to knock down, push back, or deny reactions to each opponent hit with either or both of those attacks--no additional cost.

Yes, that means he can knock down two opponents, or knock down and push one, etc. All for 1 total point of ki that round.

As I said, monks are awesome.

 

[Sacrosanct]

It doesn't require an extra point of ki on each attack. The monk uses 1 point of ki to activate flurry of blows bonus action which consists of two special unarmed attacks. The Way of the Open Hand Monk can attempt to knock down, push back, or deny reactions to each opponent hit with either or both of those attacks--no additional cost.

Yes, that means he can knock down two opponents, or knock down and push one, etc. All for 1 total point of ki that round.

As I said, monks are awesome.

They are talking about stunning attack, which does cost an extra ki.