Help with Designing a Monk

[Iku Rex]

From the way you describe the rest of the party I'd say they need a tank/protector.

Str 18, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8

Feats: Power Attack, Improved Buckler Defense (Complete Warrior), EWP: Spiked Chain (Ftr), Improved Unarmed Strike (Mnk), Improved Grapple (Mnk), Combat Reflexes (Mnk), Hold the Line (Complete Warrior).

Wear heavy armor. (You heard me... ) You may want a mithral breastplate later in order to use evasion. (If your NPC gets her own share of the loot to buy new gear.) This is a "defender" - don't charge ahead and steal all the glory, protect the weaker party members instead. Both Improved Trip and Improved Disarm are good options for level 6 monk. (If you can get both that's good, but the Int is too low for Expertise.) The spiked chain is not a must-have. You can perform pretty much the same function with a guisarme (or a ranseur, for disarms).

I'd also consider a skirmisher type with spring attack (low AC, focused on staying away from danger) but the party has plenty of light combatants already.

Do not make a monk with 12 Con. Even 14 Con is questionable. She will be hit, and she will need every HP she can get to survive. Trust me on this.

 

[Gaiden]

Str 16 Dex 14 Con 12 Int 10 Wis 18 Cha 8

Bye
Thanee

If you are going for a female, maybe you want to go with: Str 12, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 8 and take Weapon Finesse. It would seem to fit the image of a female martial artist better IMHO.

 

[Kynn]

If you're making the character a first level fighter for story reasons, then it makes little sense to say "what feats should this monk take" and "what stats should this monk have."

Build the character first as a 1st level fighter, with feats appropriate for her personality and abilities before she entered the monastery.

THEN, as she gains monk levels, add those new abilities on. Don't buy the first level fighter feats as if you know she's going to be a monk.

Yes, this will make for a weaker monk, but it's more honest to the story. If you don't like that notion then just drop the fighter level entirely. It makes as much sense to say "the warrior who turned monk is represented by a 4th level monk" as it does to build the first level warrior as being a specialist in dodging and quarterstaves. The latter is untrue to the concept, though (unless the character was effectively a monk-in-training already) of a fighter who became a monk.

--Kynn

 

[Kynn]

PS: The same goes for stats. If this character had 18 wisdom and low strength, why would she be a Fighter in the first place? The suggestions given by Iku Rex are a LOT closer to the concept as you've explained it here. Most of the rest of the builds are assuming a character who always planned to be a monk, rather than a first level fighter who turned to monkery after a horrible experience.

 

[helium3]

Str 16 Dex 14 Con 12 Int 10 Wis 18 Cha 8

Bye
Thanee

Putting the 18 in wisdom? Why why why?!? I would switch the wisdom and the strength scores. It's a multi-class fighter/monk, so the character is still more about the slaughter than the . . . monking.

 

[Arkhandus]

I know I had forgotten the Dex being 14 rather than the required 15+, I just didn't bother posting that fact, because the original poster had already pointed out that I had missed that little tidbit. Yes, that's right, sometimes normal people do miss a point or forget something briefly, particularly when it is only slightly off from where it should be.

Of course I take the Player's Handbook seriously, though I may not agree with some of the stupid ideas that slipped in between editions/revisions. But the FAQ hardly gets any serious overseeing by comparison to the PH, because the PH is being sold for money to untold numbers of gamers, and the PH had a whole design team working on it and at least making some sort of effort at playtesting. 3.5 was half-baked, but then, 3.0 has a few glaring holes and such too.