D&D 3E/3.5 Why be a 3.5 monk?

[Dannyalcatraz]

Quoting myself from elsewhere and elsewhen regarding the Dhalsim build options:

Another take on a reach monk- especially an evil one- is to take certain feats that extend your innate reach.

Aberration Blood followed by Inhuman Reach gets you +5 Reach (see Lords of Madness).

Willing Deformity followed by Deformity (Tall) gets you +5 reach (see Heroes of Horror).

And yes, they stack.

IOW, you become Dhalsim from Street Fighter.

And as was pointed out in yet another thread with this idea in it, this guy is great for delivering stunning/paralysis/touch attacks of whatever origin.

(The player in question wanted a "ghoulish" monk with Extra Stunning, etc., and asked for ways to get him extra chances...)

 

[Dandu]

Warshaper also grants extra reach.

I always envisioned Dahlism as having his unarmed strikes enchanted with the Throwing and Returning properties.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Warshaper also grants extra reach.

Refresh my memory- doesn't that PrCl have as a prereq some kind of shapeshifting ability?

 

[Dandu]

Yes, and BaB +4.

 

[Andras]

Refresh my memory- doesn't that PrCl have as a prereq some kind of shapeshifting ability?

And it's class abilities only apply when in a form other then your normal form. For my Changling monk, I went around as an Elf to discourage anyone from casting Magical Sleep on him.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Refresh my memory- doesn't that PrCl have as a prereq some kind of shapeshifting ability?

So you play a changeling and take the form of a human. You then go around all day every day appearing to be human, but being clearly not one. Just like the actual Dhalsim.

 

[kitcik]

Monks are fun

I built a (non-psionic) thri-kreen jumping monk.
Thri-kreen racial adjustments help a lot with MAD. Natural armor bonus.
Thri-kreen level adjustment, 12 levels monk, then warblade the rest of the way.
Battle jump, sudden leap, pouncing charge.

So far, he's been a lot of fun. In a group with a bow ranger, a rogue, a bard, and a (admittedly suboptimal) druid, he has been the most effective character in encounters so far.

I like the 12 levels of monk. Maybe they are not "optimal" from a power perspective, but I feel like the "flavor abilities" you pick up during those levels (and the greater flurry) more than offset the only slightly suboptimality.

I do agree with the other poster that continuing after 12th is pretty pointless.

 

[Lord Xaviar]

3.5 monk

i used to love the 1st ed monk, super hero like. I play alot in greyhawk and Forgotten realms and dont really see monks working in well, as I have played in games that became more and more sensible. Wait sensible, i mean that the worlds we play in make sense in an ecological way. You know this eats that and everything has an explaintion, or makes sense for some reason, not just DM says so.
One thing that made monks tough for me was the weapons, all special and only used by the monk.

I have yet to play one, but im going to work on one right now.

 

[Dandu]

I built a (non-psionic) thri-kreen jumping monk.
Thri-kreen racial adjustments help a lot with MAD. Natural armor bonus.
Thri-kreen level adjustment, 12 levels monk, then warblade the rest of the way.
Battle jump, sudden leap, pouncing charge.

So far, he's been a lot of fun. In a group with a bow ranger, a rogue, a bard, and a (admittedly suboptimal) druid, he has been the most effective character in encounters so far.

I like the 12 levels of monk. Maybe they are not "optimal" from a power perspective, but I feel like the "flavor abilities" you pick up during those levels (and the greater flurry) more than offset the only slightly suboptimality.

I do agree with the other poster that continuing after 12th is pretty pointless.

Isn't the LA on a Thri Keen +4?

 

[kitcik]

Thri Kreen LA

LA is +1 for non-psionic (+2 for psionic).

You also take 2 levels of "monstrous humanoid"

In my particular case, I only took 1 level of monstrous humanoid (DM ruling), although of course that meant I did not get the benefits of the 2nd level (HD, +1 BAB, etc.)