dndmulticlassing

[dndmulticlassing]

the monkladin

a monk/paladin multiclass

prerequisites: STR 13 DEX 13 WIS 13 CHA 13

monk and paladin are a little tricky when it comes to multiclassing since they both require 13 in two stats each. there’s also CON which no one wants to be too low. that leaves us with only INT as a possible low stat. unless you roll amazing stats it’s not feasible that you will manage to raise all those stats during your build, and we have to pick which features from each class we want to focus on. the monkladin is more focused on being monk-like, and i will post the paladonk later which is more focused on being a paladin. 

GENERAL CLASS FEATURES

so, which class features do we want from each class? when the paladin class comes to mind, my first thoughts go weapons and shields, spells, “lay on hands” and “smite”. when i think of monks i think of unarmored hand-to-hand combat, “flurry of blows” and “stunning strike”.

the monk’s features are somewhat tied to DEX and WIS, but it’s prefectly possible to make a DEX based paladin. and if you decide to not use spells that are dependant on saving throws or attack rolls, or use the spellslots only for smite, a paladin doesn’t really need high CHA either. 

SUBCLASSES

when it comes to paladin subclasses i reccomend taking a look at the paladin oaths and pick the one with the 1st lvl spells and channel divinity option you prefer. in this build i’ll be using oath of conquest as that gives access to “armor of agathys”. “guided strike” channel divinity will also allow us to hit with more accuracy two times per day.  for monk subclass we’ll be using path of the kensei. endgame monks usually end up using their fists since they eventually deal more damage than their monk weapons, but to be able to smite we need to use a weapon. therefore a monk path that is focused on using weapons seem like the best choice.

so here we go. i’ll use the standard array for stats. point buy will allow you to distribute the stats better, but the build is possible with the standard array.

THE MONKLADIN (17 MONK/3 PALADIN)

race: wood-elf (or any race that gives bonus to DEX and WIS)

stats: STR 13 DEX 12 CON 10 INT 8 WIS 15 CHA 14 the racial bonus will bump DEX up to 14 and WIS up to 16 so multiclassing is possible. 

we need at least two levels of paladin for smite and lay on hands. i’d rather take a third level in paladin and get channel divinity, than get empty body as a 18 level monk. a valid option would be 4 levels of paladin for an extra ability score improvement, but the kenei class feature at level 17 synergizes well with the paladin, so i opted to go for that instead. 

leveling up i think starting with level 1-5 monk to get to “extra attack”, then level 1-3 paladin, and then the rest monk might be the best way to go. 

the build has 4 ability score improvements, and these will go to raising DEX to 20 and WIS to 18. some other good options are raising CON or maybe the mobile feat for super speed, but i don’t think we can afford it. if the stat distribution had been better (point buy or rolling), then maybe.  

for kensei weapons i would pick a versitile weapon like longsword or warhammer, so that the character attack two-handed (like with a quarterstaff), do 1d10 damage and still do flurry of blows. the paladin fighting style great weapon fighting synergizes well with this. 

ENDGAME

we end up with a kensei monk that on average will do a little more damage thanks to the great weapon fighting style. we also have access to three bursts of smite damage, due to three first level spell slots. these spell slots also adds some versatility since they also can be used to cast spells like bless, armor of agathys or shield of faith. 

we are also extra accurate with the monk’s unerring accuracy and the paladin’s channel divinity: guided strike

we can also do a little healing thanks to a pool of 15 hp in lay on hands.

we also have all the normal monk features like stunning strike and flurry of blows. 

IS IT ANY GOOD THO

the monk features we miss out on by doing paladin doesn’t feel like that much of a loss. we lose 30feet of increased movement speed which sucks a little, but our speed is already great.

however the stat distribution is really bad. we have both a reasonable high STR and CHA we don’t really need, and abysmal constitution. our main hit dice is also the monks, which is only a d8 which leaves us with a endgame total of 106 hp. yikes. point buy makes it a little better as we don’t need to but 14 in CHA but can leave it at 13, but it doesn’t help that much. 

if you roll for stats and roll generally good stats, then this build might be fun.