How do you're monk's contribute to the party?

[Wormwood]

Monks kill spellcasters.

They're even more effective when your cleric casts silence on the Monk first.

Monks are also good at taking archers out of the fray.

A single level of Cleric and a wand of Cure X Wound ensures that your Monk is an excellent combat medic (but you generally don't want to lose any Monk levels to multiclassing. Healing potions are a lesser option).

 

[Skaros]

My Monk does 3 primary things in this order:

1) Kill Mages. I took improved grapple from OA - Generally Mages are in a world of hurt

2) Break weapons/armor. I took the Sunder/improved Sunder/eagle Claw attack chain. Evil fighters suddenly become a lot less impressive when you break thier primary weopon, shield or armor - and with the number of unarmed attacks - things break quickly.

3) Act as a supplemental fighter. My character is a Ftr4/Mnk8 - so using his unarmed attack bonus he does pretty well.

Which supplement is eagle claw attack from? good suggestion on sunder, particularly if I were to go with more of a high strength monk concept.

I haven't aquired OA, but some of those options might be on the table if I mention them to the DM. Not sure.

 

[Skaros]

Monks kill spellcasters.

They're even more effective when your cleric casts silence on the Monk first.

Monks are also good at taking archers out of the fray.

A single level of Cleric and a wand of Cure X Wound ensures that your Monk is an excellent combat medic (but you generally don't want to lose any Monk levels to multiclassing. Healing potions are a lesser option).

I think you are right about the difficulty of multiclassing. It is also tempting to take 2 fighter levels for the combat feats...get closer to spring attack while picking up the celestial based feats from RoF, for instance.

However, its a little tough to justify when I'd be a lvl 6 character, with 2 fighter levels and only 4 monk levels. UBAB would only be +3...with 2 levels left to get an extra attack.

Not to mention all the other abilities coming later.

Single level of paladin or sorcerer are other good examples of tempting multiclasses for monks that are still hard to justify.

-Skaros

 

[Storminator]

If you have a lot of spell casters, get them to cast the stat bump spells on you, and save your money. If you are lucky enough to have a druid, he can give you Magic Fang as well. For 2K, the Ring of Jumping is your best friend. You'll jump out of this world. Boots of Springing and Striding are OK, but you're already really fast. I gave mine to the fighter so he could get to the combat before it was over.

Some sort of weapon enhancement is pretty essential if you're ever going to tangle with the tough monsters (or fighters). Granted you won't want to, but sometimes you have to. After my monk went 3 or 4 sessions without significant hp loss I got the Vicious ability from S&F. It does an extra 2d6 damage, but I take 1d6 each time. With evasion, huge save, self healing, and a really good AC, it was an easy trade.

Look at all the "kill the mage" advice. This path does NOT require Spring Attack. SA is for jumping in, belting the fighter, and getting away before he full round attacks you. If you aren't going for the fighters, you can put the feat elsewhere. Mobility, however, is essential. You'll move so much that the +4 to AC is vital.

If your DM lets you use it, pick up Beyond Monks by Chainmail Bikini. The feats in there make your monk so much cooler. They're a bit powerful, so check with the DM. I've found it's money well spent. It makes a monk both more effective and more fun to play.

PS

 

[Utrecht]

Which supplement is eagle claw attack from? good suggestion on sunder, particularly if I were to go with more of a high strength monk concept.

I haven't aquired OA, but some of those options might be on the table if I mention them to the DM. Not sure.

It is from Sword and Fist (as well as OA)

 

[barsoomcore]

Here's another great combo from OA -- Unbalancing Strike combined with sneak attack damage (and multiple attacks per round).

Unbalancing Strike forces a target to make a save or lose their Dex bonus to AC for a round. A multi-classed Monk/Rogue can completely ruin someone's day with that one -- especially with the admittedly broken Expert Tactician feat from S&F.

Hit 'em high, then hit 'em LOW! WHAM WHAM!

Ouch.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Spring Attack is not necessary for a monk unless you need him to square off against the toughest opponents. You have the Tumble skill so AoOs are irrelevant. SA is mostly a cute trick for avoiding full attack from a Big Nasty.

As a general rule, you should avoid full attacks from any enemy that you couldn't handle yourself in a fair fight. The simplest tact is to hit the same enemy your biggest fighter is engaged in (if you can't find a spellcaster to harass). Since your buddy will probably dish out more damage, he will probably take the brunt of the enemy's ire.

Don't get me wrong, Spring Attack is good. But it there are other options that work well, too. There are some really nice feat in OA that I think are better, i.e. Flying Kick & Improved Grapple.

Your best bet is try and pick good target for a Stun, coordinating with the party Rogue so he can unload an iterative set of Sneak Attacks.

I am a strong believer that low level monks heavily suck. I do think that there start holding their own ~7th level, and they look very interesting for levels 12+. I would discourage multiclassing and +ECL races so that you can get the full fun of playing the class.

 

[ced1106]

Uh... What about from a roleplaying point of view?

Would the party accept a paladin's behavior? Is the adventure more suitable for a monk? Which of the two would you prefer to play and are more comfortable playing?


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[Skaros]

Uh... What about from a roleplaying point of view?

Would the party accept a paladin's behavior? Is the adventure more suitable for a monk? Which of the two would you prefer to play and are more comfortable playing?


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

No worries there Cedric. Those are the primary concerns, and ideas for how to effectively apply the crunch bits is secondary, but gives me good ideas for how to fill out my role within the party.

I'm pretty comfortable with playing most classes that I find interesting. I usually DM games lately, but will have the opportunity to play again starting in May.

Thanks for the input.

Skaros