You don't necessarily need to max out your core stats... a 16 is still a solid option, but you can set a goal of 18. That said... your Dex is an uneven number. You could use on ASI to round off both DEX and CHA to an even 16 and 10, in case your low charisma is effecting you. Or you could take a feat that grants a +1 to Dex. Unfortunately there's not a lot of options for humans that allow a DEX boost, but if your group is using UA content I think Crusher would pair well with a monk:
Crusher:
You are practiced in the art of crushing your enemies, granting you the following benefits:
Increase your Strength or Dexterity by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack that deals bludgeoning damage, you can move it 5 feet to an unoccupied space, provided the target is no more than one size larger than you.
When you score a critical hit that deals bludgeoning damage to a creature, attack rolls against that creature are made with advantage until the end of your next turn
You don't necessarily need to max out your core stats... a 16 is still a solid option, but you can set a goal of 18. That said... your Dex is an uneven number. You could use on ASI to round off both DEX and CHA to an even 16 and 10, in case your low charisma is effecting you. Or you could take a feat that grants a +1 to Dex. Unfortunately there's not a lot of options for humans that allow a DEX boost, but if your group is using UA content I think Crusher would pair well with a monk:
Crusher:
You are practiced in the art of crushing your enemies, granting you the following benefits:
Increase your Strength or Dexterity by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack that deals bludgeoning damage, you can move it 5 feet to an unoccupied space, provided the target is no more than one size larger than you.
When you score a critical hit that deals bludgeoning damage to a creature, attack rolls against that creature are made with advantage until the end of your next turn
What about wisdom? Also useful for my stun and ac bonus and dc saves.
The Monk class screams "Dex and Wis". Stunning Strike is a huge thing for an Open Hand Monk, and you want your Wis as high as possible for that. Your first 2 ASI's MUST improve both Dex and Wis. At 8th level, that gives you a 17 and 16. Now, that is not great, but workable. If you can find a Feat that gives you a +1 to Dex, that would be the equivalent: 16 or 17 give you the same bonus.
I would go with +1 to Dex and a +1 to Cha at 4th level, and a +2 to Wis at 8th level. There are no Feats that I can see that really help your char with a +1 Dex (You could go with Athlete, though I don't think it is worth it). Then at 12th level, +2 to Dex or Wis. Sorry, but you really nerfed yourself with 14 in Int. I know that this is your 1st char, but someone at your table should have helped you when you built this char. That is on them. not you.
While those stats aren't optimal for a monk if you are wanting to be as powerful as possible they are quite playable and there is nothing wrong with having moderately high strength and/or int for rollplay reasons.
I think feats are less helpful to monks than other classes and if you want to be able to keep up with combat effectiveness you proably want to concentrate on improving your Dex and wis.
Having said that your Dex is odd so taking a feat that improves your dex by 1 effective gives you the feat benefits for free. The best options in my opion are:
Crusher, this is UA so your DM might not allow it but by level 5 you will be able to attack 3 times a turn (if you don't need your bonus action for something like step of the wind) ands 4 you you flurry of blows, this means you are likely to get crits quite often, if you have already stunned the creature this has no effect but it does mean you can consider saving your ki. for another turn / creature. The ability to move a creature also means unless they have reach you can run away from them after the hit without gettign an opportunity attack. Any weapon you use if you take this feat should be bludgeoning (quarterstaff is good monk weapon) it also applies to your unarmed strikes
Squat nimbleness youmust be a dwarf or small, whiel you have speed even more doesn't do any harm and being in melee you somethimes do end up getting grappled, with your strength and proficiency in athletics you could also be effective at grappling yourself
Observent this gives +1 wis so if you want to take this I would suggest getting +1 dex +1 wis at level 4 and oberservent at 8 (or 12 if you decide to max dex first)
It looks like you went regular human, check with your DM if you can change to human variant if that's the case. It may not if you're already at 4. Lesson learned...
I'd agree with most of the other comments. I would probably split your first ASI between Dex and Wis. That'll round off your modifier for dex, prep your Wis for a half feat, boost your AC, damage, etc.
For your half feat at 8 or 12 (or for human variant if that's allowed), find out how far your DM plans to take the campaign. If it's going to stop before you'll hit monk 14, consider Resilient(Wisdom) to gain saves on wisdom throws and to get the +1 to Wisdom. If it will go through Monk 14 for you, you'll get proficiency on all saves then and shouldn't choose that option. Observant is your only other option for Wisdom. You could go Con instead, but that only gives you Durable and Tavern Brawler as added options. Splitting for Charisma or Intelligence (only if one of the +1 intelligence feats appeals to you) or Strength (only if going for a grappler build, though not necessarily with the Grappler Feat) may not be a bad idea if those don't tickle your fancy.
As for other feats, Mobile, Mage Slayer, and the always useful Lucky are great options for monks in general. Of Crusher is available to you, add it to the list. Mobile will mostly be for the disengage when you attack, though the other aspects are nice. Mage Slayer is great if you're facing lots of spell casters and you want to lock one down.
There is some pressure to max out dex and wisdom to scale armor class. Dex especially is pretty much a god stat, since it is tied up in so much.
But if you want a feat, it’s not crippling to forgo the ability score improvement. Lucky is always a strong feat, but going magic initiate to grab hex can really help your monk land stuns and be a damage machine in one big fight each day.
There is some pressure to max out dex and wisdom to scale armor class. Dex especially is pretty much a god stat, since it is tied up in so much.
But if you want a feat, it’s not crippling to forgo the ability score improvement. Lucky is always a strong feat, but going magic initiate to grab hex can really help your monk land stuns and be a damage machine in one big fight each day.
Hex has no effect on your ability to land stuns. It gives disadvantage on ability checks, not saving throws. Curse on the other hand can force disadvantage on saving throws. It's a third level spell though. Hex isn't bad for monks but it is highly situational. It takes your bonus action so you want to make sure your target is going to be around for at least a few rounds to make it worth doing. I personally don't think it's worth it but that's just me.
I think that maxing dex and wis are more important than most feats. If you wanted to take something that gives you a reaction attack, like sentinel, then I think it could be worth doing that. Otherwise I think you get so much from pumping those two stats that it isn't really worth it.
There is some pressure to max out dex and wisdom to scale armor class. Dex especially is pretty much a god stat, since it is tied up in so much.
But if you want a feat, it’s not crippling to forgo the ability score improvement. Lucky is always a strong feat, but going magic initiate to grab hex can really help your monk land stuns and be a damage machine in one big fight each day.
Hex has no effect on your ability to land stuns. It gives disadvantage on ability checks, not saving throws. Curse on the other hand can force disadvantage on saving throws. It's a third level spell though. Hex isn't bad for monks but it is highly situational. It takes your bonus action so you want to make sure your target is going to be around for at least a few rounds to make it worth doing. I personally don't think it's worth it but that's just me.
Darn, you're right. That is disappointing. That is about the only way to increase the damage of base monk without multiclassing too.
A sentinel or mage slayer feat can get you a reliable reaction attack. Sentinel comes up more but paints a big target on your face. Bonus, reaction attacks give you another opportunity to stun!
There is some pressure to max out dex and wisdom to scale armor class. Dex especially is pretty much a god stat, since it is tied up in so much.
But if you want a feat, it’s not crippling to forgo the ability score improvement. Lucky is always a strong feat, but going magic initiate to grab hex can really help your monk land stuns and be a damage machine in one big fight each day.
Hex will make absolutely no difference to the Monk stunning strike.
I have a variant human monkk playing in one of the games I run. He took mobility as his level 1 feat and now at level 5 he has a move of 50. He literally runs in smacks seven shades out of the enemy and if it isn't stunned or dead he runs back out again with no opportunity attack because of the mobility feat.
I really wish there was some way a Monk could force disadvantage on the CON save for stunning strike. As of now CON is the probably the worst stat to target as you head into the higher tiers. As there is no effect on a successful save it really burns resources.
This is why its likely best to max Dex and Wis ASAP if you want to play the Monk as a Monk. However, you could go Sentinel or the Feat that gives you a Maneuver so you can Riposte. They both give you a chance to hit/stun outside of your turn which is a legit strategy as well.
Mobile is good and I think its worth it eventually but TBH you get enough speed and ways to avoid AoO that you will likely get better mileage out of the ASI.
I really wish there was some way a Monk could force disadvantage on the CON save for stunning strike. As of now CON is the probably the worst stat to target as you head into the higher tiers. As there is no effect on a successful save it really burns resources.
This is why its likely best to max Dex and Wis ASAP if you want to play the Monk as a Monk. However, you could go Sentinel or the Feat that gives you a Maneuver so you can Riposte. They both give you a chance to hit/stun outside of your turn which is a legit strategy as well.
Mobile is good and I think its worth it eventually but TBH you get enough speed and ways to avoid AoO that you will likely get better mileage out of the ASI.
I agree on Mobile. Sometimes it's fun to take what your character is already good at, then make them obscenely good at it, but you're better off adding variety to your repertoire rather than just make yourself able to do something you can already do a little bit better. For example, in my current campaign one of the players is a Tabaxi monk, partly because she wanted the option to combine step of the wind with monk walking speed and feline agility... but so far we've played the game up to level 13 and she's used feline agility in combat twice, since our battle maps aren't large enough to need more than her already impressive walking speed for any encounter. It really only ever comes up as flavor out of combat.
I am Way of the Open Hand human monk lvl 3 and my stats are:
Str 14, dex 15, con 14, int 14, wis 14, cha 9.
What do you think? Maybe should have gone less on str and int... It's my first campaign and I was building my character without much knowledge.
Also, what feats are best for me? Mobile, lucky, alert, cruel....
Edit: I am kinda okay with the stats, the high int is useful in the campaign for my roleplay besides combat, detective type of person.
You don't necessarily need to max out your core stats... a 16 is still a solid option, but you can set a goal of 18. That said... your Dex is an uneven number. You could use on ASI to round off both DEX and CHA to an even 16 and 10, in case your low charisma is effecting you. Or you could take a feat that grants a +1 to Dex. Unfortunately there's not a lot of options for humans that allow a DEX boost, but if your group is using UA content I think Crusher would pair well with a monk:
Crusher:
You are practiced in the art of crushing your enemies, granting you the following benefits:
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That all depends on how you intend to play that character.
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What about wisdom? Also useful for my stun and ac bonus and dc saves.
What about wisdom? Also useful for my stun and ac bonus and dc saves.
No armor, agile, heavy hitter with my speed and flurry of blows
The Monk class screams "Dex and Wis". Stunning Strike is a huge thing for an Open Hand Monk, and you want your Wis as high as possible for that. Your first 2 ASI's MUST improve both Dex and Wis. At 8th level, that gives you a 17 and 16. Now, that is not great, but workable. If you can find a Feat that gives you a +1 to Dex, that would be the equivalent: 16 or 17 give you the same bonus.
I would go with +1 to Dex and a +1 to Cha at 4th level, and a +2 to Wis at 8th level. There are no Feats that I can see that really help your char with a +1 Dex (You could go with Athlete, though I don't think it is worth it). Then at 12th level, +2 to Dex or Wis. Sorry, but you really nerfed yourself with 14 in Int. I know that this is your 1st char, but someone at your table should have helped you when you built this char. That is on them. not you.
While those stats aren't optimal for a monk if you are wanting to be as powerful as possible they are quite playable and there is nothing wrong with having moderately high strength and/or int for rollplay reasons.
I think feats are less helpful to monks than other classes and if you want to be able to keep up with combat effectiveness you proably want to concentrate on improving your Dex and wis.
Having said that your Dex is odd so taking a feat that improves your dex by 1 effective gives you the feat benefits for free. The best options in my opion are:
How is crusher? Like the other dude said.
And yeah, I have screwed up with my character, thought I should balance them all except cha because of his personality...
Crusher can be amazing for a Monk. So can the Mobile feat. But it depends on if it suits the character or not.
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It looks like you went regular human, check with your DM if you can change to human variant if that's the case. It may not if you're already at 4. Lesson learned...
I'd agree with most of the other comments. I would probably split your first ASI between Dex and Wis. That'll round off your modifier for dex, prep your Wis for a half feat, boost your AC, damage, etc.
For your half feat at 8 or 12 (or for human variant if that's allowed), find out how far your DM plans to take the campaign. If it's going to stop before you'll hit monk 14, consider Resilient(Wisdom) to gain saves on wisdom throws and to get the +1 to Wisdom. If it will go through Monk 14 for you, you'll get proficiency on all saves then and shouldn't choose that option. Observant is your only other option for Wisdom. You could go Con instead, but that only gives you Durable and Tavern Brawler as added options. Splitting for Charisma or Intelligence (only if one of the +1 intelligence feats appeals to you) or Strength (only if going for a grappler build, though not necessarily with the Grappler Feat) may not be a bad idea if those don't tickle your fancy.
As for other feats, Mobile, Mage Slayer, and the always useful Lucky are great options for monks in general. Of Crusher is available to you, add it to the list. Mobile will mostly be for the disengage when you attack, though the other aspects are nice. Mage Slayer is great if you're facing lots of spell casters and you want to lock one down.
I prefer Max'ing DEX, then get some feat. Later Max'ing Wis, and get another feat.
On the lasts levels I put myself proficiencies in Gods & Demigods ( Religion ) for Feedback, and good relationships with them.
A tip for Monks: If you get ATHLETE feat. don't go for MOUNTED COMBATANT.... it's not worthed it.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
There is some pressure to max out dex and wisdom to scale armor class. Dex especially is pretty much a god stat, since it is tied up in so much.
But if you want a feat, it’s not crippling to forgo the ability score improvement. Lucky is always a strong feat, but going magic initiate to grab hex can really help your monk land stuns and be a damage machine in one big fight each day.
Hex has no effect on your ability to land stuns. It gives disadvantage on ability checks, not saving throws. Curse on the other hand can force disadvantage on saving throws. It's a third level spell though. Hex isn't bad for monks but it is highly situational. It takes your bonus action so you want to make sure your target is going to be around for at least a few rounds to make it worth doing. I personally don't think it's worth it but that's just me.
I think that maxing dex and wis are more important than most feats. If you wanted to take something that gives you a reaction attack, like sentinel, then I think it could be worth doing that. Otherwise I think you get so much from pumping those two stats that it isn't really worth it.
Darn, you're right. That is disappointing. That is about the only way to increase the damage of base monk without multiclassing too.
A sentinel or mage slayer feat can get you a reliable reaction attack. Sentinel comes up more but paints a big target on your face. Bonus, reaction attacks give you another opportunity to stun!
Hex will make absolutely no difference to the Monk stunning strike.
I have a variant human monkk playing in one of the games I run. He took mobility as his level 1 feat and now at level 5 he has a move of 50. He literally runs in smacks seven shades out of the enemy and if it isn't stunned or dead he runs back out again with no opportunity attack because of the mobility feat.
I really wish there was some way a Monk could force disadvantage on the CON save for stunning strike. As of now CON is the probably the worst stat to target as you head into the higher tiers. As there is no effect on a successful save it really burns resources.
This is why its likely best to max Dex and Wis ASAP if you want to play the Monk as a Monk. However, you could go Sentinel or the Feat that gives you a Maneuver so you can Riposte. They both give you a chance to hit/stun outside of your turn which is a legit strategy as well.
Mobile is good and I think its worth it eventually but TBH you get enough speed and ways to avoid AoO that you will likely get better mileage out of the ASI.
I agree on Mobile. Sometimes it's fun to take what your character is already good at, then make them obscenely good at it, but you're better off adding variety to your repertoire rather than just make yourself able to do something you can already do a little bit better. For example, in my current campaign one of the players is a Tabaxi monk, partly because she wanted the option to combine step of the wind with monk walking speed and feline agility... but so far we've played the game up to level 13 and she's used feline agility in combat twice, since our battle maps aren't large enough to need more than her already impressive walking speed for any encounter. It really only ever comes up as flavor out of combat.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium