It is hard to say what the "ultimate" of any class is. Most classes are good at more then one task and making them better at one means less focus on another.
Rolling, but I have pre-made the character and wish to take him in the most effective way possible as much as that sounds meta. It's my first time playing a monk, so I'm really wanting to be careful and make him strong.
Way of the open hand is where I'm aiming to go down.
I find that Aarakocra might be the most powerful race to be a monk. They start with 50 feet of flight speed and it only gets higher from unarmored movement. They also get a +2 DEX and +1 WIS which is the easiest stats to build around.
Wood Elves also get the +2 DEX/+1 WIS and a ton of other abilities. Trance, weapon proficiencies, perception proficiency, +5 movement, easier hiding, and dark vision. Aereni Wood Elves (from eberron) can trade in the weapon proficiencies for a skill expertise which is nice. Also have access to wood elf magic feat.
I also really like tabaxi monks. +2 DEX, +1 CHA instead of WIS, dark vision and climbing speed, and can double their speed every other turn. Be able to move 80 feet (160 feet with 1 ki to bonus action dash) and still punch something starting at level 2.
If you want to stick with variant human, there are a number of feats you can take depending on what you want to focus on.
The Aaraokcra build has been on my radar for a while but in the specific game I'm about to play is not available. Presently the Variant human is what I have my eye on. And my Monk is a solid roll with a 16 strength, 18 dex, 14 con, 14 wisdom for the main stats, the others stats are all 12 below. I discussed it more with a far more DnD experienced player than myself and told me that I should start wisdom low, build it as I go along with Constitution (15-16 MAX) And then work on getting dex to 20 along with my wisdom. Going with way of the open fist and also one thing not mentioned is I can design my own moves and skills (under dms guidance). Which will allow me to make a more cooler character.
I would switch the strength to wisdom or constitution. As a monk, you can use your dex instead of str for attacks and str only has one skill. As a monk, its kinda pointless if you have a high dex.
I could be wrong, but in my person experience I would move it over to wis or con, I am sure someone with more experience would be able to correct me though.
I would also suggest moving the 16 to DEX. Further, I would move the 14 to CHA and put a low score into STR.
For your feat, I would choose Magic Initiate - Warlock, picking up Hex, Eldritch Blast, and another cantrip. This way you have a decent ranged attack and a good damage buff you can use once a day.
I would bump DEX to 20 at level 4 and WIS to 18 at level 8, and I would not multiclass.
Strength isn't very useful for a Monk. He can use Dex for attack and damage for unarmed and monk weapons. The benefit of dex here is that it also provides Armor Class. Wisdom also provides AC and increases your saving throw for stunning strike. Constitution is important for basically every class and monk is no different here. I think your stat priority from most imortant to least important is Dex, Wis, Con, then everything else.
Human can be good. What feat are you planning on taking? As someone said Magic Initiate(Warlock) can be useful. Polearm master with a Staff can also be useful. Sentinel is great. It all someone depends on what you want to do. You could also take something like Tough to increase your HP.
As much as I hate echoing what has already been said, I also think you should move the 16 from STR to WIS.
As a monk, you really only need STR for carrying capacity and Athletics. You don't have much to carry and can get proficiency in athletics easily so a 12 STR is plenty (unless you are making a grapple build, usually a Fighter or Barbarian job, but monk can pull it off). You could consider moving a 14 to CHA, for the social role play aspects of D&D.
As for feats, there are so many you could take depending on the type of character you want this to be.
For what it's worth I get a lot of use out of mobility, run in, punch anyone in mele range, run out and anyone I attacked doesn't get attack of opportunity.
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How can I make the ultimate monk? Including starting attributes as a human etc.
It is hard to say what the "ultimate" of any class is. Most classes are good at more then one task and making them better at one means less focus on another.
It really depends on what kind of Monk you want to be. I'm not even sure if limiting yourself to Human is the "best" choice either.
Another factor is whether you will use point buy, standard array or rolling for stats.
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Rolling, but I have pre-made the character and wish to take him in the most effective way possible as much as that sounds meta. It's my first time playing a monk, so I'm really wanting to be careful and make him strong.
Way of the open hand is where I'm aiming to go down.
Have you rolled stats yet (if so what are they)?
I find that Aarakocra might be the most powerful race to be a monk. They start with 50 feet of flight speed and it only gets higher from unarmored movement. They also get a +2 DEX and +1 WIS which is the easiest stats to build around.
Wood Elves also get the +2 DEX/+1 WIS and a ton of other abilities. Trance, weapon proficiencies, perception proficiency, +5 movement, easier hiding, and dark vision. Aereni Wood Elves (from eberron) can trade in the weapon proficiencies for a skill expertise which is nice. Also have access to wood elf magic feat.
I also really like tabaxi monks. +2 DEX, +1 CHA instead of WIS, dark vision and climbing speed, and can double their speed every other turn. Be able to move 80 feet (160 feet with 1 ki to bonus action dash) and still punch something starting at level 2.
If you want to stick with variant human, there are a number of feats you can take depending on what you want to focus on.
The Aaraokcra build has been on my radar for a while but in the specific game I'm about to play is not available. Presently the Variant human is what I have my eye on. And my Monk is a solid roll with a 16 strength, 18 dex, 14 con, 14 wisdom for the main stats, the others stats are all 12 below. I discussed it more with a far more DnD experienced player than myself and told me that I should start wisdom low, build it as I go along with Constitution (15-16 MAX) And then work on getting dex to 20 along with my wisdom. Going with way of the open fist and also one thing not mentioned is I can design my own moves and skills (under dms guidance). Which will allow me to make a more cooler character.
I would switch the strength to wisdom or constitution. As a monk, you can use your dex instead of str for attacks and str only has one skill. As a monk, its kinda pointless if you have a high dex.
I could be wrong, but in my person experience I would move it over to wis or con, I am sure someone with more experience would be able to correct me though.
I would also suggest moving the 16 to DEX. Further, I would move the 14 to CHA and put a low score into STR.
For your feat, I would choose Magic Initiate - Warlock, picking up Hex, Eldritch Blast, and another cantrip. This way you have a decent ranged attack and a good damage buff you can use once a day.
I would bump DEX to 20 at level 4 and WIS to 18 at level 8, and I would not multiclass.
Strength isn't very useful for a Monk. He can use Dex for attack and damage for unarmed and monk weapons. The benefit of dex here is that it also provides Armor Class. Wisdom also provides AC and increases your saving throw for stunning strike. Constitution is important for basically every class and monk is no different here. I think your stat priority from most imortant to least important is Dex, Wis, Con, then everything else.
Human can be good. What feat are you planning on taking? As someone said Magic Initiate(Warlock) can be useful. Polearm master with a Staff can also be useful. Sentinel is great. It all someone depends on what you want to do. You could also take something like Tough to increase your HP.
As much as I hate echoing what has already been said, I also think you should move the 16 from STR to WIS.
As a monk, you really only need STR for carrying capacity and Athletics. You don't have much to carry and can get proficiency in athletics easily so a 12 STR is plenty (unless you are making a grapple build, usually a Fighter or Barbarian job, but monk can pull it off). You could consider moving a 14 to CHA, for the social role play aspects of D&D.
As for feats, there are so many you could take depending on the type of character you want this to be.
For what it's worth I get a lot of use out of mobility, run in, punch anyone in mele range, run out and anyone I attacked doesn't get attack of opportunity.