Monk: Half-orc or human?

[Echelon]

I've recently made a monk, but I'm a n00b and a little unsure of a few things; mainly if feats/equipment is right (prolly isn't...), but I was also wondering wether or not the extra feat/skillpoints I get from being a human is worth missing the +2 racial str I'd get from being a half-orc (If not, I'd swap str with wis, so I'd have 17 str, dex and wis.)
Thanks in advance =)

 

[melkorspawn]

Well, that is a personal choice... but myself, I'd go human. Remember that monks don't last long as a first line of defense. Similar to rogues, they're best when they tumble in, take a few shots, then tumble back out. The extra skill points are a great help (especially at lower levels) at building a talented enough monk to be useful. (Nothing more annoying than a useless monk). And the extra feat is always great. Feats are some of the most powerful options in the game.

A suggestion: Consider starting with a level of barbarian, or, if you are playing in the Forgotten Realms, take the fleet of foot feat. Fast monk=good.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Hey, welcomem to the boards and the game!

First off, your critical threat range is wrong. Unarmed strikes are 20/x2 weapons.

Secondly, you're carrying gauntlets. Don't do that - they aren't monk weapons, and you don't need them anyway. They let people who don't have special monk training do normal damage when they punch and kick things - you've got special monk training, you already do normal damage.

You've taken the Skill Focus (Move Silently) feat. While this might be helpful, it might also be a little underpowered at the moment. Still, it's a good choice if you really want to be sneaky. If you want that, however, a better choice might be the Stealthy feat; it gives you a +2 to both Move Silently and Hide.

Monks don't gain Evasion until 2nd-level.

You have ranks in Move Silently, but none in Hide. These two skills tend to go hand in hand, and being deficient in one will make the other less useful.

Your AC should be 15. You gain your Dexterity modifier to AC (+3), as well as your Wisdom modifier to AC (+2).

I personally like humans - extra feats and skill points are always useful. Any other questions?

 

[Particle_Man]

I played a half-orc monk that was a lot of fun. +2 str is great, darkvision is nice, and the 2 chr doesn't hurt the monk a bit. Now the -2 int means you will lose out a LOT on skill points to the human, so it depends whether you see yourself as more of a "combat monk" or more of a "Skills monk" I guess.

 

[Shin Okada]

Personally, I say Half-Orc. Or maybe Wood Elf. Monk is indeed a melee class and thus needs high strength.

And while Monks may have some interesting list of skills, IMHO, they cannot do much other than fighting anyway. They cannot take the part of Rangers or Rogues anyway.

Edit: And as a Monk has BAB of +0 at the 1st level, it is hard to find a good one to buy as the additional feat for Human.

 

[Artoomis]

It's almost a toss-up. Depending upon your game, you'll be regretting the fewer skill points nearly every session if you go with Half-Orc, and regretting the lack of darkvision if you go with Human.

Personally, I find that skills are very, very valuable but it really depends upon the style of game you are in. If it tends towards pure "hack-n-slash," then you should go with the Half-Orc.

 

[Aidan mac Culloch]

I've played both variants of this, and much like everyone else says, it is really up to you and the type of game your in (or the type of character you want to play).

My human monk was NOT a good damage dealer. His best tactic was actually to Hide, then Spring Attack in, using either a trip attack or stunning fist on his opponent before backing out again. When I took Improved Trip, this was a lethal combination. However, this was also useful because my party had several ranged weapon users and spellcasters. Since I was the only pure "melee" character, I had to be careful going toe-to-toe with an enemy.

My half-orc, however, was a brute. He did lack the flexibility of the human monk, due to a lower AC, less skill points, etc. but he could wail on anything. Also good in a pinch when something large (like another character or a treasure chest) needs to be carried since most monks don't have a whole lot of equipment anyway. In hindsight, I really like melkorspawn's suggestion of a level or two of barbarian. Would of been perfect for this character.

In short, both work, depends on the style you are looking for.

 

[Scion]

I'd go human all the way

Bonus skill points and the bonus feat, in my eyes, more than make up for the lack of darkvision and the 2 points of str.

After all, you can get darkvision from a number of places, but it is hard to beat the sheer number of skill points. That feat can really help you get into various prcs, or to finish off that feat chain that you want 3 levels earlier.

The extra 2 points of cha (respectively) will help in those diplomatic situations, along with the extra skill points (as a human monk with 12 int you are looking at 6 skill points a level, not too shabby!).

You likely should figure out what sort of character you want to play though. That will really influence what feats you are going to try for.

Stealthy seems like a better pick than skill focus (move silently), depending on what you are going for.

Ability focus (from the monstrous manual) will give your stunning fists +2 DC. If you plan on useing them often and when it is important this can be a real life saver.

Although personally I really like becoming a larger monk (through enlarge person or something similar) and useing whirlwind.. but then I have played some weird monks.


If you are allowed to use complete arcane and dont mind multiclassing a bit (with a monks belt and/or monks tatoo from FR and/or gauntlets of the talon from complete divine losing a couple monk levels isnt the end of the world) then picking up a level or 3 of Warlock(I have never had a dm enforce the alignment restriction, especially if you come at it from the 'fey' perspective). You can pick up See the Unseen for darkvision and see invisibility all day long and if you get the second level you can pick up some other invocation which will help your idea for the character out (maybe entropic warding for help vs ranged attacks and inability to be tracked, or leaps and bounds for +6 to balance, jump and tumble).

Hope that helps some

 

[Echelon]

Wow, talk about fast replies - sure wasn't expecting that :/

Anyways, I changed the Skill Foc. to Stealthy and moved 2 sp's from Move Silently to Hide.
I think I'm g'na stick with human, since I prefer RP above hack'n'slash. Besides, the I'm-g'na-sneak-up-behind-you-and-kick-your-BUTT!-thaught appeals to me

Also, I removed the gauntlets and added the wis modifier to misc AC, but I'm unsure as to where it really belongs...

[EDIT]

originally posted by melkorspawn:
A suggestion: Consider starting with a level of barbarian, or, if you are playing in the Forgotten Realms, take the fleet of foot feat. Fast monk=good.

From PHB:
"GAME RULE INFORMATION
Barbarians have the following game statistics.
...
Alignment: Any nonlawful."

Pardon my ignorance, but with the nonlawful/lawful requirements, wouldn't a barbarian multiclassed to a monk be a no-go?

I do see the point in it, though, but those 10 ft I'd get at 3rd. lvl anyways and I fail to see what it'd mean in the end...
[/EDIT]

 

[Scion]

My human monk was NOT a good damage dealer.

My half-orc, however, was a brute.

Edited for the two parts I am interested in.

+2 str (which, for a monk, would only be +1 to hit and damage) changed the character from 'not' a good damage dealer to 'a brute'?

The extra feat from a human could have gotten weapon focus, so basically this comes down to just 1 point of damage per hit.

Maybe I am confused, but I just dont see that as changing 'not a good damage dealer' into 'a brute'.

Now, maybe it was because the halforc tanked some other stats and had a much higher str. That would certainly do it. But if the stats are already all chosen and the only difference is the race...