I am in abit of a pickle in a campaign I am in. The party is all floating around average level of 12, myself being on the nose. But I feel that my character and my build is very all over the place; not focusing on one thing which hinders basically everything else. But anyway, I am looking for your opinions on what to do to maybe remedy, fix, or even just make it so I am not a hindrance to the party. Keep in mind, I kinda wanted to have fun with the character and I am loving it, but I also want to be useful to the group. So changing the character is out of the question and fixing or tuning it would be best case!
Anyway, here's the character:
Mellow Reinhiem - Ghostwise Halfling Monk lvl 12
Stats:
STR 8, DEX 18, CON 13, INT 8, WIS 20, CHM 11
SPEED: 75FT.
AC:20
HP:76
Way of the 4 Elements:
Clench of the North Wind, Fist of Unbroken Air, Ride the Wind, Water Whip
Attuned Homebrew Items:
-Trust:
A form fitting blindfold mask, made of dark green leather, crafted to resemble a stern and open eyed gaze.
While wearing Trust, the wearer is considered Blind.
The wearer may take as many opportunities attacks as their proficiency bonus and are assumed to have as many reactions to do so for those attacks or deflect arrow.
The wearer may attempt an Opportunity attack using a reaction against anyone within 5ft that makes a successful attack against them.
By spending a Hit Dice, the wearer gains Blindsight at 5ft for 1 minute.
The wearer only gains these benefits if they have not moved during a round. This implies either their own or forced (ie if you are shoved or knocked prone you lose the benefits for the round). The wearer can move after they attack which would cause the loss of benefits the subsequent turn ( this would however immediately end the blindsight causing them to be subject to the blind condition again).
- Billowing Cloak of Father Wind
A heavy beige cloak with a dark blue stain across it. Perception DC 13 notices that the stain is the enormous blood spatter of some inhuman creature.
Attunement requires breathing the cool, high winds that chase each other amongst the peaks of the mountains or the salty, alluring breeze that is filled with birds and sounds from a great sea.
While wearing this cloak, you can have it billow as you wish.
While wearing this cloak any elemental power that is based on the elements of wind or water are reduced by 1 KI point to a minimum of 1.
When you take the patient defense KI bonus action, the winds of the cloak billow allowing you to redirect a ranged melee attack at you, using your reaction, as if you were using the deflect missile ability even when the projectile misses. This can also be used to redirect a missed shot from an ally if you are adjacent to the intended target (within reason).
-Ring of Protection
You gain a +1 bonus to AC and saving throws while wearing this ring.
I also have a Staff of Striking not attuned:
This staff can be wielded as a magic quarterstaff that grants a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it.
The staff has 10 charges. When you hit with a melee attack using it, you can expend up to 3 of its charges. For each charge you expend, the target takes an extra 1d6 force damage. The staff regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the staff becomes a nonmagical quarterstaff.
If you guys have any tips or ideas on what I can do, I am all ears! I can also redo my level 12 since we just leveled and I am still picking what I want. Originally I used the ability score increase to put 2 into wis to make it 20.
I presume you are particularly looking at your potential in combat. What are you typically doing with your action and bonus action on your turn?
Also what else is in your party, if you want to maximize your usefulness it can help to look at synergizing options, and avoiding overlapping functionality.
One note is that you have Water Whip and Fist of Unbroken Air. This allows some minor versatility, but could probably be improved by changing one. Fangs of the Fire Snake has some potential, or Flames of the Phoenix gives you a potent AoE option.
The party consists of a High DPS Ranger, High DPS Paladin, Heavy Utility/Support Druid, Heavy Tank/Off DPS Fighter/Barbarian, High DPS Sneaky Trap Detector Rogue, Medium DPS Shady Rogue
TL;DR Everyone does a shit ton of damage and the Druid is a buff-star.
In a combat it's usually as follows:
Medium - Full HP Rush in with 75ft walking speed (long story story short, I'm a goat with horseshoes of speed.) > Swing Staff of Striking Twice > Flurry of Blows/Dodge/Disengage
Low - Medium HP Water Whip > Run Back/Kite/Hide/Dodge > Repeat till KO/Out of Ki/Battle End
Low HP Water Whip > Run > Water Whip > Repeat till Out of Ki or just leaving
Will check into seeing if I can change out my aspects. Thanks for the input! Would love more if you have after this information. :D
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
In this party you'll be the most beneficial to them with the liberal application of stunning strikes. You can attempt to stun 4 enemies for up to 5 Ki depending on hits, denying your enemies actions and granting your allies advantage. As a WotFE monk you can do so with 15 foot reach for one additional Ki using Fangs of the Fire Snake. You can also spend one additional ok per hit to deal 1d10 additional damage per hit. However, spending 10/12 Ki to attempt to stun 4 enemies with 1d10+1d8+dex damage to each is still a heavy cost for one round.
You'll find with WotFE that you have a huge Ki cost associated with your abilities. Compared to Open Hand which allows you to deny reactions, knock prone, or push 15 feet twice every time you use Flurry of Blows at no additional Ki cost. Your party's paladins and druid likely need a few short rests for their Channeled Divinity and Wild Shape, but those features likely out last your Ki by far. I don't know if changing your Path is really what you'd like, or if your DM would allow it.
One fun option for those sudden moments when the Ki cost isn't a concern, like when a random encounter interrupts your long rest, you can expend all of your Ki in one action. Use 12 Ki to Water Whip for 13d10 damage (76) but now you have no Ki remaining totally worth it.
I think any of your qualms can be remedied by a switch in strategy. Way of the Four Elements is very ki-heavy and sometimes overshadows some of the great ki abilities of the base class. Your homebrew cloak helps out a lot there, though, letting you use water whip twice as much (at a reduced 1 ki, that's up to 12 times per fight!). Pronating an enemy is a great way to set things up for your party, but stunning strike is much better if it takes hold and costs the same amount of ki!
What did you take at level 12? A feat or ASI? Looking at your low HP strategy, I might suggest taking the Mobile feat. Then you can hit a bunch of enemies (up to 4 with flurry of blows) and run away without provoking opportunity attacks. You can also more easily position yourself to give your rogues their sneak attack. You may not hit as hard as with water whip, but you can hit more times and more enemies all while using that +3 staff without spending any ki. If you want more versatility, your wisdom is high enough that taking the Magic Initiate feat may be worth it, depending on what you want to do, but I get the sense you don't feel a need to "round out" your character any further.
I took the ASI which is what made my Wisdom 20. But the DM is allowing us time to figure things out so I can still change it. Before lvl 12 choice my WIS was 18. And that's kind what I have been doing, just being someone who either frees up the enemy for the group to attack them or redirecting range shots if they miss with the cloak's ability. In the end, maybe that will just have to be what my job is. My only fear is that since I am in melee so often and I am a squishy goat person, alot of the time the BBEG of the encounter would just use one big blast and take me out or an aoe will do the same.
But I mean, my rolls on stats weren't the highest so if its just what I got to live with so be it. When I rolled health, I think two or three levels I rolled 1's on the hit die, haha. Thanks for your input, friend!
Ooof, I forgot I could empower my water whip, haha. 13d10 sound ******* scary, haha. I can't change my spec and honestly I don't really want to either since elements are kinda a main theme in the story at the moment. Think I will just have to try and get better at strats during battles. Thanks friend!
If being oneshotted by the boss is your main concern, I'll emphasize how much the mobile feat could help you. You get to disengage for free (basically) AND your movement will increase to 85, making it easy to get out of range or away from potential AOE blast radii.
You say you're okay with being a support melee character, but it sounds like you want to do more. Ideally, if you didn't have to worry about HP, what would you want your character to do in combat? What would be the most fun?
Hey fellow adventurers,
I am in abit of a pickle in a campaign I am in. The party is all floating around average level of 12, myself being on the nose. But I feel that my character and my build is very all over the place; not focusing on one thing which hinders basically everything else. But anyway, I am looking for your opinions on what to do to maybe remedy, fix, or even just make it so I am not a hindrance to the party. Keep in mind, I kinda wanted to have fun with the character and I am loving it, but I also want to be useful to the group. So changing the character is out of the question and fixing or tuning it would be best case!
Anyway, here's the character:
Mellow Reinhiem - Ghostwise Halfling Monk lvl 12
Stats:
STR 8, DEX 18, CON 13, INT 8, WIS 20, CHM 11
SPEED: 75FT.
AC:20
HP:76
Way of the 4 Elements:
Clench of the North Wind, Fist of Unbroken Air, Ride the Wind, Water Whip
Attuned Homebrew Items:
-Trust:
A form fitting blindfold mask, made of dark green leather, crafted to resemble a stern and open eyed gaze.
While wearing Trust, the wearer is considered Blind.
The wearer may take as many opportunities attacks as their proficiency bonus and are assumed to have as many reactions to do so for those attacks or deflect arrow.
The wearer may attempt an Opportunity attack using a reaction against anyone within 5ft that makes a successful attack against them.
By spending a Hit Dice, the wearer gains Blindsight at 5ft for 1 minute.
The wearer only gains these benefits if they have not moved during a round. This implies either their own or forced (ie if you are shoved or knocked prone you lose the benefits for the round). The wearer can move after they attack which would cause the loss of benefits the subsequent turn ( this would however immediately end the blindsight causing them to be subject to the blind condition again).
- Billowing Cloak of Father Wind
A heavy beige cloak with a dark blue stain across it. Perception DC 13 notices that the stain is the enormous blood spatter of some inhuman creature.
Attunement requires breathing the cool, high winds that chase each other amongst the peaks of the mountains or the salty, alluring breeze that is filled with birds and sounds from a great sea.
While wearing this cloak, you can have it billow as you wish.
While wearing this cloak any elemental power that is based on the elements of wind or water are reduced by 1 KI point to a minimum of 1.
When you take the patient defense KI bonus action, the winds of the cloak billow allowing you to redirect a ranged melee attack at you, using your reaction, as if you were using the deflect missile ability even when the projectile misses. This can also be used to redirect a missed shot from an ally if you are adjacent to the intended target (within reason).
-Ring of Protection
You gain a +1 bonus to AC and saving throws while wearing this ring.
I also have a Staff of Striking not attuned:
This staff can be wielded as a magic quarterstaff that grants a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it.
The staff has 10 charges. When you hit with a melee attack using it, you can expend up to 3 of its charges. For each charge you expend, the target takes an extra 1d6 force damage. The staff regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the staff becomes a nonmagical quarterstaff.
If you guys have any tips or ideas on what I can do, I am all ears! I can also redo my level 12 since we just leveled and I am still picking what I want. Originally I used the ability score increase to put 2 into wis to make it 20.
I presume you are particularly looking at your potential in combat. What are you typically doing with your action and bonus action on your turn?
Also what else is in your party, if you want to maximize your usefulness it can help to look at synergizing options, and avoiding overlapping functionality.
One note is that you have Water Whip and Fist of Unbroken Air. This allows some minor versatility, but could probably be improved by changing one. Fangs of the Fire Snake has some potential, or Flames of the Phoenix gives you a potent AoE option.
Extended Signature
The party consists of a High DPS Ranger, High DPS Paladin, Heavy Utility/Support Druid, Heavy Tank/Off DPS Fighter/Barbarian, High DPS Sneaky Trap Detector Rogue, Medium DPS Shady Rogue
TL;DR Everyone does a shit ton of damage and the Druid is a buff-star.
In a combat it's usually as follows:
Medium - Full HP
Rush in with 75ft walking speed (long story story short, I'm a goat with horseshoes of speed.) > Swing Staff of Striking Twice > Flurry of Blows/Dodge/Disengage
Low - Medium HP
Water Whip > Run Back/Kite/Hide/Dodge > Repeat till KO/Out of Ki/Battle End
Low HP
Water Whip > Run > Water Whip > Repeat till Out of Ki or just leaving
Will check into seeing if I can change out my aspects. Thanks for the input! Would love more if you have after this information. :D
In this party you'll be the most beneficial to them with the liberal application of stunning strikes. You can attempt to stun 4 enemies for up to 5 Ki depending on hits, denying your enemies actions and granting your allies advantage. As a WotFE monk you can do so with 15 foot reach for one additional Ki using Fangs of the Fire Snake. You can also spend one additional ok per hit to deal 1d10 additional damage per hit. However, spending 10/12 Ki to attempt to stun 4 enemies with 1d10+1d8+dex damage to each is still a heavy cost for one round.
You'll find with WotFE that you have a huge Ki cost associated with your abilities. Compared to Open Hand which allows you to deny reactions, knock prone, or push 15 feet twice every time you use Flurry of Blows at no additional Ki cost. Your party's paladins and druid likely need a few short rests for their Channeled Divinity and Wild Shape, but those features likely out last your Ki by far. I don't know if changing your Path is really what you'd like, or if your DM would allow it.
One fun option for those sudden moments when the Ki cost isn't a concern, like when a random encounter interrupts your long rest, you can expend all of your Ki in one action. Use 12 Ki to Water Whip for 13d10 damage (76) but now you have no Ki remaining totally worth it.
Extended Signature
I think any of your qualms can be remedied by a switch in strategy. Way of the Four Elements is very ki-heavy and sometimes overshadows some of the great ki abilities of the base class. Your homebrew cloak helps out a lot there, though, letting you use water whip twice as much (at a reduced 1 ki, that's up to 12 times per fight!). Pronating an enemy is a great way to set things up for your party, but stunning strike is much better if it takes hold and costs the same amount of ki!
What did you take at level 12? A feat or ASI? Looking at your low HP strategy, I might suggest taking the Mobile feat. Then you can hit a bunch of enemies (up to 4 with flurry of blows) and run away without provoking opportunity attacks. You can also more easily position yourself to give your rogues their sneak attack. You may not hit as hard as with water whip, but you can hit more times and more enemies all while using that +3 staff without spending any ki. If you want more versatility, your wisdom is high enough that taking the Magic Initiate feat may be worth it, depending on what you want to do, but I get the sense you don't feel a need to "round out" your character any further.
I took the ASI which is what made my Wisdom 20. But the DM is allowing us time to figure things out so I can still change it. Before lvl 12 choice my WIS was 18. And that's kind what I have been doing, just being someone who either frees up the enemy for the group to attack them or redirecting range shots if they miss with the cloak's ability. In the end, maybe that will just have to be what my job is. My only fear is that since I am in melee so often and I am a squishy goat person, alot of the time the BBEG of the encounter would just use one big blast and take me out or an aoe will do the same.
But I mean, my rolls on stats weren't the highest so if its just what I got to live with so be it. When I rolled health, I think two or three levels I rolled 1's on the hit die, haha. Thanks for your input, friend!
Ooof, I forgot I could empower my water whip, haha. 13d10 sound ******* scary, haha. I can't change my spec and honestly I don't really want to either since elements are kinda a main theme in the story at the moment. Think I will just have to try and get better at strats during battles. Thanks friend!
If being oneshotted by the boss is your main concern, I'll emphasize how much the mobile feat could help you. You get to disengage for free (basically) AND your movement will increase to 85, making it easy to get out of range or away from potential AOE blast radii.
You say you're okay with being a support melee character, but it sounds like you want to do more. Ideally, if you didn't have to worry about HP, what would you want your character to do in combat? What would be the most fun?
Basically opening up the enemy for attacks by the party. Doing anything in the realm to distract or confuse the enemy. That sort of thing.