New to playing dnd again and I’ve recently made/started playing a tabaxi monk. I’ve been thinking kensai for monk subclass and I was thinking about dipping my furry toes into the warlock class for 3 levels to pick up some abilities into hexblade...
Pact of the blade, eldrich blast, shadow armor, to name a few seem like it would go really well with the monk?
You might want to focus on going more warlock than monk. Reason being, there is a huge dry spell from levels 7-13 for monks where they aren’t getting terribly exciting class features. And the level 11 ability for kensei gets a little redundant when you can get a free +1 pact weapon with 3 levels of warlock. I’d go up to 5 or 6 in monk, and then hex blade the rest of the way for better toys to play with.
as for abilities, I’d keep wis at a minimum, and max dex, with con and char being at least 14’s.
Also, the theme of a master swordsman who becomes obsessed with their weapon and fighting style fits really well.
I think it works well... if you have amazing stat rolls cause you can't really get away from wanting Dex, Con, Wis and Cha
If you’re focusing on being a martial character, a 13 in wis and cha is fine. There are plenty of warlock spells that do not focus on a spell casting mod, like darkness and polymorph.
heres my stats (it was a pre-rolled toon from a module that was changed to tabaxi)
15S, 19D, 16C, 13I, 15W, 14Ch
Basically what I had envisioned was a whirling, acrobatic, kung fu machine! I was thinking the Kensai subclass fit the weapons martial artist pretty well and the hexblade gave it some cool flair and durability with the extra ac from shadow armor (exxpecially being able to cast it at will without using a spell slot) plus other spells. It just sounded fun, but I didnt want to gimp myself first go around with something that I'd regret down the road. Hence the reaching out.
Nah, that is totally viable. You're potentially doing level 20 fighter damage at level 10, but with strong spells, monk abilities, and eldritch invocations to play with too.
You can also get better AC than either a comparable monk or hexblade until the later levels, so you won't be missing out there either.
The only potential downside I can foresee are that there are a lot of moving parts to keep track of, and it could sound like a lot during combat. So see if your DM wants you to spell out every single modifier/ability every time, or if they trust you enough to just narrate the effects after you're familiar with them. It takes some trust building and requires you intend to play it straight, but it speeds things along.
We are playing using fantasy grounds unity (which has been really fun and awesome since our group spans west coast (me) mountain, midwest, and east coast)
the program keeps track of anything you put in and cast (bonuses to hit/dam, spell duration etc)
our group is pretty much 1/2 and 1/2 of new players like me and experienced players. our dm is pretty kind to us
I was thinking only 3 levels in Hex and 17 in monk
New to playing dnd again and I’ve recently made/started playing a tabaxi monk. I’ve been thinking kensai for monk subclass and I was thinking about dipping my furry toes into the warlock class for 3 levels to pick up some abilities into hexblade...
Pact of the blade, eldrich blast, shadow armor, to name a few seem like it would go really well with the monk?
Anyone try this out? Thoughts? Pros/cons?
It can certainly work. Hex + monk means a good boost to damage. Just a quick note that Mage armor does not stack with wisdom with the monk.
Why is that? I can’t find anything saying it negates the class ability.
You can only benefit from one armor calculation at a time. So its a good point: you don't need armor of shadows if you are going to put a 16 in wisdom.
Well...crap. That was one of the big things that I thought made Todd more durable. What about the Kensai bonus of the +2 ac using your weapon?
Additions from things like a shield, agile parry, or the shield spell that add a + modifier are on top of your armor calculation. So if you have unarmored defense, its 10 with your wis and dex modifiers added, and then straight up + additions on top of that.
Thanks for that clarification. After reading over the rules, I saw that some spells just say "bonus to AC" so I figured those type of spells don't override class benefits.
Balance, like in all games, there has to be balance. It would pretty OP to be able to keep stacking those kind of buffs. It does open up another eldrich slot for me, but ive been looking into the cleric class too. Some interesting thinks there as well and it goes well with my decent wisdom score. and..... now im torn haha
Another rules question for the gurus! And i super appreciate everyone's input. It's really helping me understand the game and helping me create the character I wanted!
If I do multiclass into warlock and take enough levels to pick up Hexblade... there's an eldrich action? avalible at 5th level (prerequisite is pact of the blade) that says I can make an extra attack with my pact weapon during my attack action. Can I do that both times if I am able to make 2 attacks a turn (5th lvl monk)?
New to playing dnd again and I’ve recently made/started playing a tabaxi monk. I’ve been thinking kensai for monk subclass and I was thinking about dipping my furry toes into the warlock class for 3 levels to pick up some abilities into hexblade...
Pact of the blade, eldrich blast, shadow armor, to name a few seem like it would go really well with the monk?
Anyone try this out? Thoughts? Pros/cons?
I think it works well... if you have amazing stat rolls cause you can't really get away from wanting Dex, Con, Wis and Cha
You might want to focus on going more warlock than monk. Reason being, there is a huge dry spell from levels 7-13 for monks where they aren’t getting terribly exciting class features. And the level 11 ability for kensei gets a little redundant when you can get a free +1 pact weapon with 3 levels of warlock. I’d go up to 5 or 6 in monk, and then hex blade the rest of the way for better toys to play with.
as for abilities, I’d keep wis at a minimum, and max dex, with con and char being at least 14’s.
Also, the theme of a master swordsman who becomes obsessed with their weapon and fighting style fits really well.
If you’re focusing on being a martial character, a 13 in wis and cha is fine. There are plenty of warlock spells that do not focus on a spell casting mod, like darkness and polymorph.
heres my stats (it was a pre-rolled toon from a module that was changed to tabaxi)
15S, 19D, 16C, 13I, 15W, 14Ch
Basically what I had envisioned was a whirling, acrobatic, kung fu machine! I was thinking the Kensai subclass fit the weapons martial artist pretty well and the hexblade gave it some cool flair and durability with the extra ac from shadow armor (exxpecially being able to cast it at will without using a spell slot) plus other spells. It just sounded fun, but I didnt want to gimp myself first go around with something that I'd regret down the road. Hence the reaching out.
Nah, that is totally viable. You're potentially doing level 20 fighter damage at level 10, but with strong spells, monk abilities, and eldritch invocations to play with too.
You can also get better AC than either a comparable monk or hexblade until the later levels, so you won't be missing out there either.
The only potential downside I can foresee are that there are a lot of moving parts to keep track of, and it could sound like a lot during combat. So see if your DM wants you to spell out every single modifier/ability every time, or if they trust you enough to just narrate the effects after you're familiar with them. It takes some trust building and requires you intend to play it straight, but it speeds things along.
We are playing using fantasy grounds unity (which has been really fun and awesome since our group spans west coast (me) mountain, midwest, and east coast)
the program keeps track of anything you put in and cast (bonuses to hit/dam, spell duration etc)
our group is pretty much 1/2 and 1/2 of new players like me and experienced players. our dm is pretty kind to us
I was thinking only 3 levels in Hex and 17 in monk
Still gives a strong flavor and powerful bonus to your monk. I'd go for it.
Thank you for the replies. I’m thinking I should opt for the stat points over feats. Max out dex and then points in char
It can certainly work. Hex + monk means a good boost to damage. Just a quick note that Mage armor does not stack with wisdom with the monk.
Why is that? I can’t find anything saying it negates the class ability.
You can only benefit from one armor calculation at a time. So its a good point: you don't need armor of shadows if you are going to put a 16 in wisdom.
Well...crap. That was one of the big things that I thought made Todd more durable. What about the Kensai bonus of the +2 ac using your weapon?
Additions from things like a shield, agile parry, or the shield spell that add a + modifier are on top of your armor calculation. So if you have unarmored defense, its 10 with your wis and dex modifiers added, and then straight up + additions on top of that.
Thanks for that clarification. After reading over the rules, I saw that some spells just say "bonus to AC" so I figured those type of spells don't override class benefits.
It's one of the more obscure rules.
Balance, like in all games, there has to be balance. It would pretty OP to be able to keep stacking those kind of buffs. It does open up another eldrich slot for me, but ive been looking into the cleric class too. Some interesting thinks there as well and it goes well with my decent wisdom score. and..... now im torn haha
Another rules question for the gurus! And i super appreciate everyone's input. It's really helping me understand the game and helping me create the character I wanted!
If I do multiclass into warlock and take enough levels to pick up Hexblade... there's an eldrich action? avalible at 5th level (prerequisite is pact of the blade) that says I can make an extra attack with my pact weapon during my attack action. Can I do that both times if I am able to make 2 attacks a turn (5th lvl monk)?
No; the eldritch invocation you are talking about just gives the warlock extra attack, which doesn't stack with the monk's 5th level extra attack.
still 3 attacks a round is nothing to dismiss right?