Thank you, Chicken_Champ! Very useful and helpful.
Yeah, it is intended to be primarily Monk and the 6/14 combination you suggest is where I am heading. So, great to get some confirmation there!
As to bears - they are not all I care about as there are other high HP beasts, of course. And, there are other beasts for other special purposes (spiders and such). But, the bear does give that extra hit and will likely be one I use a lot! (Along with Dire Wolf, Crag Cat.....). Was not aware of Cave Bear, so look forward to that one!
I need to bone up on Wildshape to ensure I understand which features and abilities I get to use from Monk/Druid classes while in those shapes.
This likely belongs in a separate thread, but now looking for moves I can employ that would be effective. Will wander over to MONKS and DRUIDS forums to have a peak as well as to see if any multi-classing moves are being discussed.
The big one to keep in mind is just that a Bear's bite or claw attack is not an unarmed strike, or a monk weapon. So while bearshaped you can either:
A) use the Attack action to take one (or two, after level 5) monk unarmed strikes (that can use the Bear's Strength bonus, even though in humanoid form you probably attack with Dex), and then as a Bonus either
one unarmed strike (Martial Arts), or
two unarmed strikes (Flurry of Blows), or
a Tavern Brawler grapple; or
Any other bonus action you have available that doesn't specifically rely on having made an unarmed strike (such as Patient Defense or Step of the Wind)
B) use the Attack action to attack once (or twice after level 5) with any mix of Bites, Claws, and Unarmed Strikes. Then as a bonus either
one unarmed strike (Martial Arts) ONLY IF you made at least one Unarmed Strike.
Note... the question of whether you are "wielding" a non-monk weapon on a round where you've at some point taken a Bite or a Claw involves some very murky legaleze. Crawford's flippant "wield means what you think it would" ruling isn't exactly helpful, but normally you can stop "wielding" something as a free action by dropping it after making an attack, so I would say that having Bear Teeth don't stop you from making a martial arts bonus attack or getting other monk "while you are unarmed" benefits.
two unarmed strikes (Flurry of Blows) REGARDLESS of whether you made an Unarmed STrike
a Tavern Brawler grapple ONLY IF you made at least one Unarmed Strike
Any other bonus action you have available that doesn't require unarmed strikes
C) use your action to take the Bear's Multiattack, which involves one attack with Bite and one with Claw. Then as a bonus either
two unarmed strikes (Flurry of Blows)
Any other bonus action you have available that doesn't require unarmed strikes
The only one I was considering or was even aware of at this stage was C, which gives me, in effect, 4 hit opportunities (so long as I have KI for Flurry of Blows). I
will need to study/ponder A and B a bit more as those had me curious when you alluded to them earlier, but I had not previously considered them or figured them out.
I would have overlooked using the Bear's STRENGTH. That would give me +4 versus my +3 DEX. Add + 3 Proficiency and it is +7 vs +6. Every bit helps.
Trying to understand the reasoning behind why, for example, a Monk 3 / Druid 2 is considered a 5th level character
I believe it puts the character at a clear disadvantage if adventuring with a party of single class characters as they would be fighting encounters with more powerful creatures. For instance, cruising with a party of 6th levels 3/3. You are, in effect, fighting 6th level monsters with a 3rd level capable character, aren't you? It seems to get worse the higher you go, especially if you intend to build that multi-class symmetrically. At 10th level party you are sitting 5/5 and having to deal with monsters at 10th level CR equivalents.
Other than gaining more hit dice and additional dice damage for spells (your 2nd level Druid gets a benefit of 5th level damage, it appears), the disadvantage of the encounter mismatch, especially at higher levels (say 10th level encounter while you are sitting 5/5), appears severe to me.
So, clearly, I am missing something that would clear it up for me.
I would argue the opposite,
I would argue that a Barbarian 3/Fighter 3 is stronger than a Barbarian 6 or a Fighter 6. Yes missing out on an extra attack could be a big deal, but getting the benefits of 2 subclasses is also huge.
And IMO a Barb 4/fighter 6 is stronger than a barb 10 or fighter 10.
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Thank you, Chicken_Champ! Very useful and helpful.
Yeah, it is intended to be primarily Monk and the 6/14 combination you suggest is where I am heading. So, great to get some confirmation there!
As to bears - they are not all I care about as there are other high HP beasts, of course. And, there are other beasts for other special purposes (spiders and such). But, the bear does give that extra hit and will likely be one I use a lot! (Along with Dire Wolf, Crag Cat.....). Was not aware of Cave Bear, so look forward to that one!
I need to bone up on Wildshape to ensure I understand which features and abilities I get to use from Monk/Druid classes while in those shapes.
This likely belongs in a separate thread, but now looking for moves I can employ that would be effective. Will wander over to MONKS and DRUIDS forums to have a peak as well as to see if any multi-classing moves are being discussed.
Gray Mouser
The big one to keep in mind is just that a Bear's bite or claw attack is not an unarmed strike, or a monk weapon. So while bearshaped you can either:
Anyway, I'll leave you in peace now... have fun!
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
This was again very helpful.
The only one I was considering or was even aware of at this stage was C, which gives me, in effect, 4 hit opportunities (so long as I have KI for Flurry of Blows). I
will need to study/ponder A and B a bit more as those had me curious when you alluded to them earlier, but I had not previously considered them or figured them out.
I would have overlooked using the Bear's STRENGTH. That would give me +4 versus my +3 DEX. Add + 3 Proficiency and it is +7 vs +6. Every bit helps.
Gray Mouser
I would argue the opposite,
I would argue that a Barbarian 3/Fighter 3 is stronger than a Barbarian 6 or a Fighter 6. Yes missing out on an extra attack could be a big deal, but getting the benefits of 2 subclasses is also huge.
And IMO a Barb 4/fighter 6 is stronger than a barb 10 or fighter 10.