The Bugbear Brawler: Rogue/Monk [Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Character Build]

[@Kingdoms_and_Kobolds]

Subscribed, hope to see more of this type of stuff! Creative builds based around interesting races and their abilities, rather than generic builds that always gravitate towards variant human or custom race.

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@Kingdoms_and_Kobolds Thank you! I have a tortle wizard coming out in 3 weeks! So keep an eye for that!

[@generalmayhem8318]

Digging the info man, keep it up 🤙🏽

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@generalmayhem8318 thank you!

[@DrMinecraftMeme]

this will def be my next build i use

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@DrMinecraftMeme Let me know what expertise options you go for. I don’t usually include skill proficiencies in the videos, but I’m curious what you’d choose.

[@davidc9005]

Very welcome. I like rogues and soul knife.. have yet to play one. Will probably be a halfing

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@davidc9005 I’m dying to play some Soul Knife, I think I’m gonna do a Jedi series with all the psionic subclasses at some point.

[@Cirdan345]

It's a flavorful subclass, I like it myself. However, It's main weakness is the inability to properly synergize with magical weapons which are the main source of scaling for martials.

[@davidc9005]

@@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds jedi wouldn't a psi knight be better as a jedi ?

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@davidc9005 I want to try multiple versions and make both subclasses work. But you’re right, Psi Warrior feels more like the classic Jedi Knight.

[@JustaScribble]

It’s hard to beat the 2024 thief Rogue + a level in Wizard (for shield and absorb elements at low levels). You get fast hands, use magic device and theif reflexes. With all the Rogue abilities and expertise in Arcana, it’s the best spell caster in game, but this looks fun.

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@JustaScribble yeah this definitely isn’t a utility build, more of a stab till the fights over haha.

[@wmdavidhamilton]

I'd love to see an Echo Knight using 2024 rules...

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@wmdavidhamilton I’ll start brewing one! I still have to get through Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard. But once I finish them I’ll start doing other classes again!

[@RussellPearce-cu6vw]

great information i have a grave cleric / mercy monk use spirit shroud for damage and my KI for healing he is our party healer

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@RussellPearce-cu6vw That’s an awesome combo! I love spirit shroud on a monk, all those extra D8’s for damage.

[@woutvanostaden1299]

I love the arcane hand monk from the Dungeon Dudes, since it's a ⅓ caster with some similar cast features to eldritch knight but for monk. All we really miss then is a fighting style. A 3-way gestalt campaign of arcane hand monk/thief (yes arcane trickster could work too) rogue/fighter probably battle master😅, would be sooo cooool!

[@JonDewey-cf1wz]

Very sweet build, I have a similar one. Twilight cleric and shadow monk. I use spirit guardians and just sprint around the field with my disengagement.

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@ that’s sick, I love the power of spirit guardians!

[@zachmarlow2117]

Hey big question is does surprise attack actually happen on every attack you take in that 1st round.

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@zachmarlow2117 It does now, as of the Mordenkainen book. I’m Volo’s guide to monsters it was only once per combat. But you know how Volo is always getting stuff wrong.

[@pwog]

Plz theory craft, a class build ,that prevents enemies, from gaining hp to heal,

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@pwog my new video, Arthas Menethil actually does that pretty well! It’s got chill touch, and Spirit Shroud, both of which shut down healing for a turn! The Super Saiyan Conqueror video also uses Spirit Shroud.

[@hackthedungeon]

pretty sure the bonus 2d6 from surprise attack is only once a round.

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@hackthedungeon That would probably be more balanced, but as it’s written it doesn’t have that restriction.

[@hackthedungeon]

@@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds Sorry, it does say that in Volo's guide, but it doesn't say that in Mordenkainens. I don't have Mordenkainens, so I was going off of Volo's.

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@ Oh gotcha! See I don’t have Volo’s so that makes sense haha. I wonder why they buffed it?

[@hackthedungeon]

@@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds good question. The old version also said "when you surprise a creature". So it only worked if your party had a surprise round. It may be a case of overcompensation.

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@hackthedungeon Yeah they are definitely moving away from features that rely on surprise. It’s a shame because I always liked that mechanic. The new version, with disadvantage on initiative, doesn’t seem all that impactful.

[@marcducorsky8736]

Initiative is not a Skill. Reliable talent adds to Skill or Tool.

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

I can’t believe I missed that, you’re right! I was using the 2014 version of Reliable Talent accidentally. Thank you for the correction!

[@davidc9005]

You need better sound ...

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@davidc9005 I think you’re right, I had a similiar comment on my last video. I’ll have to look into getting a separate mic than the one on the camera. Thank you for the feedback!

[@PatricRogers]

Shop around. You can also find places to rent studio grade mics for short periods, until you find something you like, and produces good results. (I'm not an audio person, I just know a lot of filmmakers.)

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@ Good idea! My wife is a singer, so I think I’ll steal her recording mic from here on out!

[@sohkaswifteagle2604]

NO, having the alert feat (or being an haregon) do not let you use reliable talent on initiative (at leas not in 2024) Reliable talent in 2024: : Whenever you make an ability check (yes initiative is an ability check) that uses one of your SKILL or TOOL proficiencies (alert or HArengon racial is NOT a skill or tool proficiency) you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10. So no since you do not apply a skill or tool proficiency to initiative roll, you can not reliable talent it (unless you homebrew it, but your channel is called Rules As Written... and as written alert is not a skill proficiency. you STILL qualify for Epic Boon. the level 4,6,8,12,16 feature called : Ability Score Improvement, say: {...} or another feat of your choice for which you qualify {...} and Epic boon Prerequisite is: Level 19+. When a feat require a level, that level is CHARACTER LEVEL. So technicallyif you go monk7/rogue11, you are a character level 18 then you take your 8th level in monk you are now a character level 19 and have access to a feat, you DO qualify for an Epic Boon feat. Then you go up to rogue 12 giving you access to yet an other feat and you are now character level 20 so you DO qualify for a SECOND Epic boon feat. So go ahead grab Boon of combat prowes to guarantee at least one of your hit to hit and boon of fate to lower the target saving throw to your envenom poison. or any other Epic boon (except spell recall which also require the spellcasting feature, but all the other Epic boon, as a monk8/rogue12, you qualify for them since your CHARACTER level is 19+ The only reason why at level 19 they call it Epic Boon instead of Ability Score Improvement it's to make it pop, to remind you that congratz you can now choose an Epic Boon Feat But yes any multiclass that gain a feat at level 19\20 can choose 1 or 2 Epic Boon even if they do not have 19 level in a single class.

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@sohkaswifteagle2604 yeah I missed the reliable talent thing, I was using the 2014 rules, thanks for the correction! With the epic boon I meant we didn’t qualify because we only went 5 levels in monk, so our last ability score improvement was rogue level 12, character level 17. I could have definitely gone deeper in monk for it, but I wanted that level 13 and 14 rogue feature. Thanks for the comment!

[@woutvanostaden1299]

I agree with all of this though I think I woul stick to monk 12/rogue 8. 😉😁 boon of spell recall is probably best for non multiclassed arcane trickster, eldritch knight (get back your highest slot perhaps, sign me up!!!), paladin, ranger or warlock since their highest spell slots are often very close to a 4rth lvl anyway. Boon of interdimensional travel is pretty good too.

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@ I’m gonna be doing a Warlock/Paladin in 2 weeks! I’m thinking I’ll go for 12/8 to maximize the Epic Boons, I haven’t really featured them in a build yet.

[@Icarus-I37]

Man... almost sounds like a bunch of crap Wizards of the Coast came out with... like... do you think maybe a fun DM could overrule that? Man, I dunno.

[@invictuscenturion8468]

Bugbear? As a character? Ridiculous

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@invictuscenturion8468 Haha, yeah times are changing!

[@ericpeterson8732]

Monk and Rogue? Not necessary in 2024. If sneak attack is your focus, then just go rogue. If you're wanting more monk things, then go monk. Since focus got changed to give you free bonus actions (disengage, dash, one attack), cunning action is not as important. Unless you hide a lot.

[@woutvanostaden1299]

I could see a shadow monk being pretty well capable of benefitting from a bonus action. As for what rogue subclass would be best here. My bet would go to arcane trickster since that gives more spells and spell slot options. I know the spell slot progression is terrible and we still don't get a fighting style, if this were a gestalt campaign. Would you still think that this is a bad combination? (PLease access it purely on whether rogue/monk could be decent, because I know there are more powerful options out there. Fighter, ranger, barbarian, or smoke any combat starting at lvl 7 with druid CME. 😮😂😅😊)

[@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds]

@@ericpeterson8732 I was mainly looking for maximum attacks to benefit from the Bugbear Racial, then to maximize the sneak attack secondarily. But I totally agree there is overlap on Monk’s Focus/Cunning action.