Ideas for Monk / Cleric gestalt

[Jack Simth]

Have you considered Monk//Druid as your gestalt, OP?

I'm not the OP, but in his specific case, that might not be a good idea. See, he's the only Cleric in the party, which means if he doesn't go Cleric, they're going to be missing out on certain spells the game expects you to have - such as Restoration.

 

[Herobizkit]

I second the Monk//Cloistered Cleric variant (found on d20srd.org and in the Unearthed Arcana). More skills, better abilities, and more spells than a standard cleric (Knowledge-related spells, but come on, they're free)!

If your party 'needs' a Cleric, but you'd rather play an athletic-type fighter, you might be better served as a Monk//Rogue or Monk//Fighter (and definitely Monk//Psychic Warrior) and pick up an NPC Cleric as a follower.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Just some suggestions of my own (perfectly compatible with those expressed above):

Try Monk/Shaman(OA) or Shaman(OA)/Cleric or something like that for your gestalt...especially if you have the OA 3.5 update in Dragon#317. Here's why- the OA Shaman has:

1. Full casting
2. 2 domains, with the possibility of gaining a third
3. Improved unarmed strike, which (with the 3.5 update) damage scaling with level just like the Monk's...although it doesn't gain any of the other Monk IUC benefits (not considered manufactured weapons, etc.). Arguably, it could even stack with Monk levels for damage (though not other bennies).
4. Can wear armor without losing any class abilities

Another option to consider would be the Sohei, which in the 3.5 update, has its Ki Frenzy upgraded to a fusion of the Barbarian's Rage and the Monk's Flurry of Blows while having a Paladin-esque spell progression.

In addition, don't forget the Shou Disciple and Shiba Protector PrCls- one lets you add your Wisdom to att/dam rolls (in addition to all other stat bonuses), the other lets you FoB with any weapon...in armor.

For more data, check the link to the Monk Database in my sig.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Did people not notice this? Why do you keep suggesting things he can't use?

Theres a thing about sources permitted, to avoid to much powergaming, we have had some serious examples of that. That why we are only allowed acces to Players handbook, Complete Psionics & Expanded Psionics Handbook and nothing more.

.......

Furthermore im the only cleric in our party, so dont think i will decide to convrt to harm spells over cure.

A druid isn't as good of a healer as a cleric, but they're good enough at it. And if you're helping to kil lthings faster, you won't need as much healing. Restoration hurts a little to not have. But you could still presumably find temples for that. Ability damage slowly goes away on its own, ability drain is admittedly rougher... Still, they're rare enough that you should be able to get by with some combination of potions, NPC assistance, and sleeping it off. Spontaneously casting cure spells isn't critical. Lacking the ability just means you need to try and guess how much healing the party will need each day. You can still supplement yourself with healing wands when you underestimate.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I, for one, did not notice that. I'm surprised that anything in OA would be called powergaming, though!

 

[LuckyBoneDice]

I, for one, did not notice that. I'm surprised that anything in OA would be called powergaming, though!

Shaman is probably my fave class from that book

 

[Herobizkit]

I keep forgetting that some people disallow Unearthed Arcana tweaks - it's "Core" in my gaming group. When you've play D&D for 20+ years, you are happy that the company you support says "here's the game; now here's some fun ways to change it without throwing the whole thing out of whack".

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Hi all

We are running a 3.5 campaing in a world that we have made up our self. All player char are gestalt, and we are using a slow xp rate, to motivate for more rpg than hack ' n slash.

I died last time we played , and are now making a monk / cleric and i need some ideas for the build. My plan so far is to make it a athletic char whit skillpoint ind the tumble, balance, jump and so on. For feats i think will take the Stunning fist, Deflect arrows & not sure about disarm or trip. Also i will tahe some craft feats, since we are living in a low magic world, and have to make the most of our items.

I wanna to hear if anybody have some other ideas for such a build - looking forward to hear from you


Since this is my first post in here, pls feel free to tell if its the wrong place, language or if theres anything else wrong with it

Re-reading your original post made me think a bit. First, because nobody's said it yet- myself included- Welcome to ENWorld!

Second, you might consider the Soulknife as a substitute for the Monk in this gestalt build, and here's why:

1. Like the Monk, the Soulknife's innate abilities scale with level, so the whole "low-magic" thing probably won't affect you as much as the other PCs. This means that Craft feats won't be as crucial to your PC- not that there is anything wrong with them- which in turn means that you can use your few Feats for things like Metamagic feats, Mindblade Shape Feats and other combat feats if you so chose.
2. To get the most out of gestalting with Monk, you shouldn't wear armor, which is a non-trivial benefit of being a Cleric. In contrast, the Soulknife loses nothing by wearing armor because it is designed to do so. IOW, the Monk|Cleric gestalt has conflicting methods of boosting AC, while the Soulknife|Cleric gestalt boost AC in exactly the same ways.
3. Because of the bonus Weapon Focus feat, you'll start out with a slightly higher probability of hitting.
4. d10 HD for the Soulknife vs d8, and the same BAB & # of skill points.
5. Move Silently and Tumble are also class skill for Soulknives, just like Monks.
6. You might consider the Soulknife as a substitute for the Monk in this gestalt.

 

[Desmaasynger]

Hi all

Thanx for the many ideas. And about the powergaming, we have tried some very powerfull builds in our party when we allow to many books. Thats why we only wanna use the basic books, so we can get our focus back at RPG and not so much on Hack 'n slash.

I endeed up with a std Cleric / Monk, with War & Str domains, so i have something for combat, and some different skills.

 

[Herobizkit]

Let us know how your build plays out! We love war stories here on EnWorld.