D&D 5E Tortle Monks?

From my experience, a Wood Elf Monk is exactly the kind of guy who can run away from danger. Far away. And even try to Hide as soon as he gets outdoors.
However my Wood Elf Monk kept sneaking towards the danger, and due to huge base speed was stealthing while keeping to what the other PCs considered a normal pace.
You don't know the luck with elves. Level 1, first game, last encounter of the session, last monster with (probably) 2 HP left after my attack. Monster attacks and crits. If the DM hadn't rolled the base (average) damage I would have been okay. Nope. Rolled 2d8 for base and crit damage. Maxed out the die for 16 + whatever extra damage was. My monk went from okay to negative HP dead.

But it's par for the course. In 4E it was the first game for my elven paladin that he dropped to 0 and I told my wife to save the kid because that's what my PC would want. After all they had at least 3 rounds to stabilize me, right? Nope. Rolled back-to-back natural 1s on my death saves. In 3.5 IIRC my wizard fell off a cliff (he actually made it to 2nd level!). In 2E I actually made it to 3rd level, but he was a half-elf so I don't think it counts.

So I'm cursed. Every edition that comes out I try to play an elf. They always die early on.
 

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If you want Leonardo, basically, I think you NEED a strength based monk, right, since Leonardo is wielding twin longswords? (Course monks don't have longsword proficiency) The other three are using finesse or monk weapons. (daggers (sais), bo (quarterstaff) and nunchucks (?)
 

If you want Leonardo, basically, I think you NEED a strength based monk, right, since Leonardo is wielding twin longswords? (Course monks don't have longsword proficiency) The other three are using finesse or monk weapons. (daggers (sais), bo (quarterstaff) and nunchucks (?)
That's why you do a kensei monk. :)
 


Unarmed Defense doesn't help.
Martial Arts still has some effect, but not as much because you already have natural weapons.
Unarmored Movement only works if you're not using a shield.
Deflect Missiles and Evasion still use Dex
Unarmored defense does become redundant, but unarmored defense is there to make up for the fact that monks have been disallowed from wearing armor. A Tortle Monk has an additional option for having a solid AC other than pumping both Dex and Wis. That is all.

Sure, the Tortle already has a d4 damage die on unarmed strikes, but being a monk will still gradually upgrade them and let you make lots of bonus action attacks with them so that there is actually a point to using them. Being a tortle means you have the option to do bludgeoning or slashing damage with your unarmed strikes, unlike a normal monk who can only bludgeon.

Deflecting Missles with low dex works almost as well as with high dex, because you also add your level and a d10. You won't be the worlds greatest deflector of missiles but you will still deflect them better than any non-monk. Actually dumping Dex is probably a mistake, but a Tortle Monk with a mediocre Dex and high strength will do just fine. At level 5 a Monk with 20 Dex will deflect missiles for an average of 15.5 damage, whereas one with a Dex of 12 will only deflect 11.5 on average, which is still usually going to be the full damage of a conventional ranged weapon. You will get to completely negate the damage at throw it back less often, but that is rarely worth the ki at this point. By higher level where you might actually have the ki to spare for throwing it back the difference becomes increasingly negligible, as adding the Monks level increasingly overshadows the dex modifier.

If you have low dex you need the half damage on failure part of Evasion all the more. And it is an ability based on saving throws for which you have proficiency. Your proficiency mod is already +3 by time you get Evasion and only a couple levels from being +4. Let's say that at level 10 a character gets hit with the firebreath of an adult red dragon. It is a DC 21 dex save against 18d6 damage. A 20 Dex Monk will save for zero damage on a natural 12 and otherwise take half for 31 damage average, for an overall average of 17 damage. A 12 Dex Monk will save on a natural 16, meaning an overall average of 23.5 damage after Evasion. Meanwhile a Dex 12 character of that level in a class without Evasion will generally take an average of 55 damage if they are proficient in Dex saves, and 61.4 damage if they are not, the whole panoply of other abilities that might be relevant notwithstanding.
 

This would be a time where the racial rules from Tasha's would probably be beneficial.

However, have you considered that the ninja turtles aren't likely monks but more likely Battlemaster Fighters with the Outlander background?
 


This would be a time where the racial rules from Tasha's would probably be beneficial.

However, have you considered that the ninja turtles aren't likely monks but more likely Battlemaster Fighters with the Outlander background?

I had considered not being monks. The Urchin background makes some amount of sense to me, as does Urban Bounty Hunter.

I could see Leonardo as a Battlemaster. Earlier in the thread, I had also mentioned the Ranger. 3rd Edition had an Urban Ranger; that general concept seems to fit TMNT.
 

I had considered not being monks. The Urchin background makes some amount of sense to me, as does Urban Bounty Hunter.

I could see Leonardo as a Battlemaster. Earlier in the thread, I had also mentioned the Ranger. 3rd Edition had an Urban Ranger; that general concept seems to fit TMNT.
Splinter is definitely a ratfolk monk, however.
 

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