Monk Rogue 5e Multiclass Guide for D&D 5e (5e Ninjas!)

monks are known as Adept Warriors of discipline who have trained and honed themselves into perfective instruments Rogues are agents of Shadow and misdirection who can find the perfect opening to plunge the knife into put them together and you get basically ninjas this multi-class takes all of the rogue's stealth and power and combines it with the Nai superhuman martial prowess and skill of the monk so if this sounds interesting to you stick around for today's multi-class video in a lot of ways the Monk class and Rogue class are very similar in terms of combat abilities they're both primarily dexterity-based martial classes that thrive off of mobility and speed whereas their martial capabilities differ is in their attacks monks are the attack spam class dealing out for more low damage hits than any other class is capable of while Rogues focus on delivering a single powerful hit via sneak attack damage each turn together we can double up on a lot of the extra speed and Mobility features to become incredibly fast and nearly Untouchable and between three to four attacks we can better ensure we get our single powerful sneak attack off these classes can really cover for the other's deficiencies in melee combat and because both classes line up on dexterity we don't stretch much at all in the ability score increases and even comfortably snags some Feats the result is essentially if not thematically a ninja delivering the killing blow from the Shadows before flipping back up into the rafters so what are the downsides d d monks and DND Road class features don't line up seamlessly and your lawful Rogue is going to flash a little bit at least firstly for a rogue sneak attack to function you have to be using a finesser ranged weapon and unless your DM is cool fudging the rules a bit here there's no mechanical way to turn all those monk unarmed strikes into finesse or arranged weapon attacks thankfully there are a few monk weapon options that fit the bill but we can't fish for our sneak attacks with our Flurry of Blows beyond that we have two classes that both really want to make use of their bonus action as much as we'd want to we can't use our Rogue cunning action to Dash and then Flurry of Blows you're going to run into a lot of situations where just based on the action economy you can't put all the pieces together it'll be nice having all those extra options but we can't have our cake and eat it too finally any multi-class is going to sacrifice late game features that you would get from a single class and since the damage output of both classes scales up on a class level basis and while we gain martial capabilities we still take a hit on damage but when does the monk Rogue really start to kick in for the core of all of our builds we get sneak attack with only a single level in Rogue and most of the core features we want from monk with two levels so the builds kick in most of the way at your third character level we typically want Rogue as our base class or primary class with a solid chunk of Monk usually up to six level beyond that core concept most of our build ideas really want the initial third level features of both the Monk and Rogues archetypes which means they really kick in at sixth level now let's move on to the important class features that we care about we've got a few ideas on how to bring the build together but in general the following Monk and Rogue features will be important to us in some way starting with the significant monk features we have unarmored defense monks get an AC equal to 10 plus dexterity plus their wisdom modifier so long as they're not wearing armor Rogues already tend to go with light armors and in most cases this will be a straight upgrade we should be able to get our AC using unarmored defense to 17 or 18 fairly early which is a respectively tough AC for a DPS class and then we have martial arts which is a core feature that we get with a single level of Monk whenever we take the attack action we can also choose to make an unarmed strike as a bonus action think of this as a sort of default extra punch that doesn't cost anything we also do more unarmed strike damage in Deal 1d4 instead of just one when we smack things around this martial arts attack die increases with our monk levels from 1d4 eventually to 1d10 but as a multi-class we're probably going to be stuck with one D6 or maybe one d8 at the very end next we have key which is your mystical resource that you spend to fuel most of your Monk's abilities we get a number of key points equal to our monk levels and they recharge on a short rest at second level we get a trio of useful features that all work off of our key Flurry of Blows is the most often used one and it works exactly like our martial arts extra unarmed strike but if we spend a key point for Flurry of Blows we make two extra unarmed strike attacks instead patient defense lets us Dodge as a bonus action at the cost of one key point which is situational but very useful and finally step of the win lets us Dash or disengage as a bonus action for one key and also doubles our jumping distance for the turn we won't be using step of the win much since we already are able to Dash and disengage as a bonus Action for free thanks to cunning action but we might be able to make use of the extended jump range and then we have unarmored movement very simply monks get a faster base movement speed when you first gain the feature with your second monk level it's 10 feet of extra speed and it improves to 15 feet at six level 20 feet at 10th level 25 feet at 14th level and 30 feet at 18th level even just 10 feet of extra speed is a huge boost and you'll typically be able to maneuver wherever you want in combat in the most recent monk rework they got this new second level feature called dedicated weapon that essentially lets them turn any weapon into a monk weapon so long as it doesn't have the heavy or special weapon properties for us this opens up a world of finesse and ranged weapon options including short bows and rape ears next we have key field attack which is also gained in the newest rework monks have this ability at third level to spend a key Point not on unarmed strikes but on another attack with a monk weapon which is pretty awesome because we can only do sneak attacks using a finesser ranged weapon and then with deflect missiles starting at third level we can use a reaction to reduce the damage taken by one d10 plus your monk level plus your dexterity modifier you only have one reaction but it's incredibly handy to essentially negate the odd arrow that flies at you and then gained at fourth level we have Quicken healing which allows you to spend two key points to heal a number of hit points equal to a roll of your Martial Arts die plus your proficiency bonus and then with focused aim gained at fifth level you can increase your attack Roll by plus two for every key point that you spend up to a Max of plus six this means every time you're pretty sure you were close to hitting you can bump it up after the roll to push the hit through normally this is sort of meh for monks since each one of their attacks doesn't do a whole lot but with sneak attack we really want to push that one hit through sometimes and then with extra attack I will give you three guesses as to what this does but it is gained at fifth level importantly this is a proper extra attack which means we can use our finesse weapons and potentially get off our sneak attack and then we have monastic tradition not key for making the multi-class work as a whole but definitely key for some of our deeper builds not that kind of Key by the way we'll go into the relevant ones in the builds themselves but know that the third level monastic tradition options are important to us and they then gained its seventh level we have evasion and this lets us take only half damage from failed deck saves and no damage from past deck saves very useful but the Rogue has the exact same feature at seventh level as well and they don't Stack Up Now moving on to our significant Rogue features we of course have sneak attack raw damage on the condition that you either have advantage or your ally is within five feet of the Target and the weapon must either have finesse or be ranged annoyingly there is no way to trigger this off unarmed strikes believe me I've tried to look for a way to do so so we have to rely on using finesse or arranged monk weapons next we have expertise we aren't focusing too much on skills but double proficiency bonus in a few skills is definitely helpful for any utility options you want to pursue boosting skill proficiencies like stealth and acrobatics pushes us closer to being respectable sneaky little ninjas and then getting its second level we have cunning action and this lets you dash disengage or hide as a bonus action monks have a similar ability but it costs key points so it's nice to have something that can do it for well the cost of bonus action so it's not really free but more free than that and then we have archetypes the core concept doesn't require any specific archetypes but our in-depth builds definitely rely on them we'll touch on these more in a bit but just know that they're important and then with uncanny Dodge gained at fifth level we can straight up have our damage taken from a single shot by using our reaction combined with the Monk's unarmored defense we can be seriously hard to take down and then at seventh level we gain evasion and this lets us take half damage from failed deck saves and no damage from past deck saves very useful but the monk has the same feature at seventh level as well and they don't Stack Up both the Monk and the robe have the same primary stat as dexterity and are multi-class does the same the monk however also really cares about wisdom which should be our second highest ability score finally we're going to be in the middle of combat quite a bit and having Constitution as a high stack can help us survive so it should be our third highest ability score thus our primary abilities will be decks and wisdom with consideration towards Constitution for hit points since we're not hard up on points feel free to spend your Asis on bonus Feats as needed the rest of the abilities strength intelligence and Charisma aren't terribly relevant to us and can be treated as dump stats now let's discuss equipment for this multi-class your armor is simple since you won't be wearing any unarmored defense should be providing you with a better AC than any light or medium armors can provide and we don't have to worry about any stealth penalties where it gets more interesting is in the weapon options we don't get all the martial weapons from Rogue but we do get most of the ones we care about access to finesse weapons for instance we need weapons that are either finesse or range to meet the qualifications for sneak attack and we need them to count as monk weapons for all of our monk features normally this would be a very short list of just daggers and short swords but with the Tosh's update to monks and the dedicated weapon feature gained at third level our options open up dramatically with dedicated weapon we can turn any weapon into a monk weapon over the course of a short rest so long as it doesn't have the heavy or special properties this opens up the rape here which doesn't feel very ninja themed admittedly but it is still the top end finesse weapon for straight damage it also opens up the hand crossbow and the short bow for some really nasty range sneak attacks additionally thieves tools might be worth it to get as disarming traps and picking locks might be the thing that gets you into certain places that the DM might not want you to be thankfully with this multi-class we do have some wiggle room to spend Asis on some Feats we can also get bonus Feats by starting as a variant human if your DM allows it the following Feats don't fit every monk Road build but they should be on your radar when an ASI level comes up first we have dual wheeler which does three things for us it gives plus one AC when we use two melee weapons we can dual wield with weapons even if they aren't light and you can draw and Stow two weapons instead of one at a time so bonus AC makes this a decent defensive option but the drawing stowing thing rarely comes up unless your DM is being very picky with the rules which to be fair some are the big potential draw for us here is dual wielding non-light weapons and since we want finesse weapons this means double rape ears it's not necessary but upgrading your offhand weapon to a 1d8 weapon is pretty appealing and then we have fighting initiate this feat lets you snag a fighting style without having to take a fighter level and there's a few martial options that are very useful to us for one we have archery which gives us a plus two bonus to each ranged attack rule which is big for Fringe sniper builds we also have dueling which gives us plus two bonus attack damage for our main weapon if we're sticking with the Rapier and unarmed strikes slaps plan two weapon fighting lets us add our ability modifier to damage with our offhand a decent offensive option for just a bit of extra damage on our bonus action attack there's Throne weapon fighting which will be key to our kunai machine gun build as it lets us draw our new weapons as the part of every attack and grants us plus two damage to our Throne weapon attacks and then finally unearned fighting potentially gives us a very odd way to skip monk levels for our Strangler build as it can ramp up our unarmed strikes at the cost of using strength a tempting option if you're only dipping into Monk and don't want to take a level of fighter and then we have Gunner which is obviously only applicable if your game has guns in it but our builds work pretty darn well if pistols are available and this feat is very helpful for up-and-coming Gunslingers firstly Gunner is a half feet that comes along along with a point of dexterity which we're happy to have this feat gives us proficiency with any firearms that might be in the campaign depending on how your DM works it they might be Marshall weapons or something else entirely but whatever your DM counts them as this gives you proficiency with them you also ignore the loading quality of firearms which is especially useful if your campaign is using black powder weapons with stringent loading qualities you're also able to fire ranged attacks within five feet of enemies without invoking disadvantage depending on how your DM rules it guns might be part of your Marshall capabilities to start with anyway but this will still be useful regardless and then with the lucky feat this is good on any build and here it can help us push through a sneak attack very simply you get three luck points you can use to re-roll any d20s that recharge on a short rest and then with magic initiate this lets us snag a couple first level spells as additional spell casting options from a class's spell list and I highly recommend dipping into either the cleric or the Druid spell list for some pretty interesting defensive options and then we have mobile most of our builds want to run in and out of combat quickly and mobile speeds us up while keeping us safe from reprisal we gain 10 feet of extra movement speed which Stacks with our extra monk movement whenever we Dash we ignore difficult terrain and whenever we hit somebody with a melee attack they can't make a tax of opportunity against us for the rest of the turn and that last one is essential for the hit and run strategies but keep in mind we can also get it from the swashbuckler Rogue archetype both are good options just don't take them together unless you're really worried about difficult terrain since they won't stack up and then we have Shadow touched found in Tasha's this half feet is one of the best things to happen for aspiring ninjas we get our choice of plus one in any mental stat which we can make wisdom we learn the spell and visibility and another first level spell of our choice from the illusion or necromancy school there aren't a whole lot of those but disguise self and Silent image are on the list and are incredibly useful to our builds without a level dip we can just straight up cast invisibility which is a godsend for any sneaky strats this is a particularly useful tactical option for any build making use of the Assassin Rogue archetype and then with Sharpshooter it's pretty much only useful for our Sniper Assassin build but it's definitely worth it there long range doesn't impose disadvantage on our shots our ranged attacks ignore half and three-fourths cover and we take a negative five penalty on a shot to deal 10 additional damage and then with skulker this helps with any plan that involves sneaking around in the dark we can attempt to hide even when only lightly obscured if we're hidden and miss a ranged attack it doesn't reveal us must have been the wind we can also see normally in dim light so you're probably curious which class should you start with the short answer is that you should be starting with Rogue as your first character level Rogues have significantly better equipment proficiencies and extra skill proficiencies that you'll lose out on if you start with monk as your first character level the only upside of starting with Monk Is you'd gain strength saving throws instead of the arguably worse intelligence saving throws but starting with Rogue is the clear winner here now let's get into putting this multi-class together Monk and Rogue Clash a bit on their action economy but their core features mesh surprisingly well as I've said there are some powerful synergies we can accomplish with a bit more work through using different monk archetypes and Rogue archetypes and you should consider some of the following strategies first we have the drunken swashbuckler your sword swirls as you sway in between your foes stabbing and Pratt falling your way through combat unscathed the idea here is to synergize the way of the Drunken Master in the swashbuckler Rogue archetype to do hit and run style combat even against whole groups of enemies we want to start our first level in Rogue but we essentially want to get it to three levels in each class as soon as possible to gain both the way of the Drunken Master and swashbuckler archetypes beyond that the order of levels is a bit looser but we want to end up with six monk levels and 14 Rogue levels at the end for our weapon we want to use a Rapier turned into a monk weapon using dedicated weapon and keep our other hand free to make unarmed strikes also to kind of go back on something I said earlier it's also worth noting that both of these class archetypes care a bit about Charisma and the performance skill so it would be wise to at least not make charisma your dump stat you shouldn't prioritize it but it'd be nice to have a plus one in it or at least not a negative Charisma you also get performance as one of your extra proficiencies with these archetypes so it doesn't take up one of your options so how does this really accomplish anything and how does it synergize for a hit and run strategy the drunken masters technique is better but cost key and the swashbucklers technique costs nothing but doesn't work if the enemies are all in a group by having both together we can essentially guarantee that we can hit and run without ever being attacked for doing so whenever you're fighting a single enemy you can simply run in stab and slap them a bunch and then run out using the swashbuckler's fancy footwork to avoid attacks back if your opponents are bunched up you can run in and make your tax using a Flurry of Blows and then because of the drunken masters drunken Technique we gain the benefits of a disengage action and have our movement increase by 10 feet for the turn damage wise we're doing pretty good as well at 9th level 5 Monk and four Rogue at 18 dexterity we're getting two stabs with the Rapier sneak attack and two unarmed strikes around for an average of 39 damage a turn so long as you try and save your key for flurries you can keep these three to four attacks and damage up regularly and it'll only go up as you gain Rogue levels and improve that sneak attack and then we have the kunai cat machine gun imagine yourself darting between the rafters as you unleash a flurry of pinpoint accurate Kanai before disappearing back into the shadows as a stealthy ninja cat okay so technically there'll be daggers but if your DM is cool you should be able to flavor them at to start with we're going to be playing some keep away tactics so picking a race that starts with climb speed will be a great help to backseat are especially good here since they also pick up Dark Vision they already get proficiency and perception and stealth as well and the feline agility trait that lets them double their speed for a turn next we want to start with a single level in Rogue to pick up all the proficiencies in 1d6 of sneak attack then we're going to take four levels of Monk for our monastic tradition we take the way of the shadows and when we get that fourth level we want to take the feet fighting initiate and select the throne weapon fighting style after that we want to take three more levels of Rogue to pick up the Scout Rogue archetype the Scout archetype gets us the skirmisher feature that allows us to Dart away up to half our speed as a reaction when something steps up to within five feet of us the build then finishes off with two more levels of Monk to get the way of the Shadow feature Shadow step and the rest of our levels will be Rogue levels giving us a final split of six monk levels 14 Rogue levels I don't think it's worth pushing monk all the way to 11th level for cloak of Shadows if you're really hurting for invisibility though I instead recommend taking the shadow touched feet so how does this all come together firstly as a shadow monk we essentially get a spell list as a shadow monk we can cast a ton of magical options using our key points including darkness dark vision pass without Trace silence and minor illusion using wisdom as our spell casting ability modifier put these additional spell casting options together with our innate climb speed and speed boost from our shadow monk levels we will be hard to catch and harder to find Once hidden what we're actually doing while playing keep away is throwing Kanai or daggers rather by taking the throne weapon fighting style we can draw a dagger every time we make an attack so we don't need to worry about drawing weapons and every thrown weapon attack deals an additional plus two damage now we can't use Flurry of Blows to throw daggers but we can simply use our bonus action to make an attack with a light weapon in our offhand or if we want to also add the Dex modifier to damage which you normally wouldn't for an offhand attack we can spend a key point to make a key field attack so between our normal attacks bonus action attack and extra attack from our fifth monk level we're throwing three daggers a turn and so long as we're throwing our daggers at somebody surprised or already fighting our allies one of those dagger's hits will be a sneak attack with everything that we have here you'll have absolutely insane mobility and it will take a lot of work to even attack you while you continue pelting them full of connect daggers daggers the monk Rogue multi-class is something that I've actually seen at my table in large groups I've run a few one shots with people that have multi-classed as various monk Rogue combinations and it's surprisingly versatile and as you have seen from this video there's a lot of utility to be found so if any of this sounds interesting it gets my personal recommendation it's a lot of fun thank you guys so much for watching I really appreciate it be sure to like And subscribe because we put out new videos every week and if you or someone in your group is building a monk Rogue multi-class I would love to know about it down in the comments feel free to also check us out on skullsplitter.com we do have dice subscriptions if you'd like to see what those are all about thanks again for watching my name is Patrick Ferguson from Skull splitter Dice and until next time farewell

Channel: SkullSplitter Dice

Views: 18,096

Keywords: dungeons and dragons, d&d, dnd, 5e rogue, 5e monk, 5e multiclassing, 5e multiclass builds, dnd 5e rogue monk multiclass, dnd 5e monk rogue multiclass

Id: cHI3RW14t28

Length: 21min 39sec (1299 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 10 2023