Monk: Half-orc or human?

[melkorspawn]

If we're looking for stat boosts... Dragon Disciple (Which BTW my girlfriend's character is well on the way to achieving... thanks to those who responded to my thread a couple weeks ago) gets +2 Str at 2nd level, +2 Str at 4th level, +2 Con at 6th level, +2 Int at 8th level, plus natural weapons, armor, blindsense, wings, and a breath weapon. Pretty hardcore if you ask me, esp for one that can flurry with natural weapons and (hopefully no debate here) take Improved Natural Attack on their claw claw bite.

 

[DamionW]

A suggestion: Consider starting with a level of barbarian, or, if you are playing in the Forgotten Realms, take the fleet of foot feat. Fast monk=good.

As a side-note, how the hell would that even be possible? Barbarians are non-lawful only, and monks are only lawful. They're antithetical to each other.

 

[Aidan mac Culloch]

Point well taken Scion, I suppose there is more to the story. On the surface if seems that not much should differ between the two.

However, the half-orc does force you to choose. If you really value skills pts., you need to spend some extra to get a decent Int, and your Dex, Wis, or Str will suffer. In my particular case, I chose to have one really good attribute (Str, 17 or 18 if I recall), and four decent ones (Wis, Dex, Con and Int in the +1 modifier range). My human, on the other hand, didn't need extra points in Int for the number of skill pts. I was shooting for and so his abilities were more balanced, but his Str was lower (admittedly by choice, as you pointed out). There is of course, the additional factor of creating a character that integrates well with the party, which my more mobile, weaker human monk did.

The main point, I guess, is that the monk values several different abilities. Because the half-orc does have a -2 in one of those abilities, it forces you to make a choice. Plus the racial stereotype and all that. But I do appreciate your point.

 

[Aidan mac Culloch]

DamionW,

There is a sect of monks in the Forgotten Realms which is region-specific that allows the monk/barbarian multi-class without penalty. The specific flavor-text escapes me. FR also has sects which can multiclass with rogue, cleric, and even sorcerer IIRC.

 

[melkorspawn]

As a side-note, how the hell would that even be possible? Barbarians are non-lawful only, and monks are only lawful. They're antithetical to each other.

Whoops... good catch. It's still possible, but not as simple as I'd thought.

 

[DamionW]

DamionW,

There is a sect of monks in the Forgotten Realms which is region-specific that allows the monk/barbarian multi-class without penalty. The specific flavor-text escapes me. FR also has sects which can multiclass with rogue, cleric, and even sorcerer IIRC.

So under that sect, does the barbarian aspect of the character continue to have the ability to rage? If he does, that seems chaotic enough a loss of control to lose the discipline a monk requires. They really do seem opposite sides of a coin to me. I personally wouldn't allow it unless he turned lawful and therefore could no longer rage. Then if he only took one level, he is just getting extra skills access (Handle animal, intimidate, ride and survival), fast movement, and the beefy 1st level h.p. Granted that's all useful, it just seems to me I'd rather just start down the path of the monk from the start if that's what I want, rather than make a character who's already had to diametrically shift alignment. Guess that's just me.

 

[Echelon]

I think I'm gonna go with DamionW on this one... Seems way too much trouble :S

 

[melkorspawn]

BTW: Before I get in trouble for this one... if you PrC Dragon Disciple, and then want to take more monk levels, you can take the Complete Adventurer feat Ascetic Mage to keep taking monk levels. (Cause there's a spellcasting requirement to Dragon Disciple, one that can be fulfilled if you have at least 10 Cha, at least 14 Int, and are human... take a level of Bard at 5th level... drop 8 skill points into Knowledge (Arcana) and the last into Speak Language (Draconic)... sorry, still excited about how easy it is to get into this PrC).

 

[Particle_Man]

The extra feat from a human could have gotten weapon focus, so basically this comes down to just 1 point of damage per hit.

At first character level (when humans get that bonus feat) a monk has a bab of +0, and thus does not meet the prerequisites for Weapon Focus. That also means that a half-orc monk can take weapon focus exactly as soon as a human monk (3rd level). +2 Th and +1 Da vs +1 th and +0 Da.

Whatever feat the half-orc monk is losing, it ain't that one.

 

[Scion]

At first character level (when humans get that bonus feat) a monk has a bab of +0, and thus does not meet the prerequisites for Weapon Focus. That also means that a half-orc monk can take weapon focus exactly as soon as a human monk (3rd level). +2 Th and +1 Da vs +1 th and +0 Da.

Whatever feat the half-orc monk is losing, it ain't that one.

Sorry, I meant it more in a general sense as opposed to a right away sense.

As in, at level 3 the human has 3 feats, but the halforc only has 2. Of course, with those two he could have 'gotten' weapon focus as well, but that is also not the point.

Merely trying to point out that being one feat ahead means ahead in some area anyway, but the best direct comparison point seemed to be weapon focus.

I guess I could have used point blank shot instead, that way it would be +1 to attack and damage either way, but that would introduce other problems as well