Hope this is the right message board for this...
I am planning on running a halfling rogue in an upcoming campaign. I typically build melee rogues (since flanking is the only way to get sneak attack easily and consistently) and I usually go the two-weapon fighting route since more attacks means more chances of hitting with sneak attack damage. I have thought about dipping into other classes like monk, fighter or barbarian, especially to gain some extra feats and mitigate some of the shortcomings of halfings (like weapon damage, speed). I would likely take 3 levels of rogue and then a single level of another class, before returning to rogue. I am pretty clear on the benefits of a level of fighter and barbarian, but I have some questions, and would like to get some opinions about the rogue/monk.
The monk seems like a really good fit at first glance. +2 to all saves is great, unarmed strike gets me a d4 damage die, which is as good as fighting with two rapiers, and stunning fist seems like a great fit since it sets up sneak attack perfectly (although I see it may be situational).
My two big questions now are:
1. will I get two feats with my monk level (that is what it looks like to me)
2. I am confused about how flurry of blows will affect my attack bonus. If I wanted to make two unarmed attacks in lieu of attacking with two different weapons, would the -1/-1 “attack bonus” from flurry of blows stack with the normal penalties for TWF. Or, could I make two unarmed attacks per round with only the –1/-1 penalty?
I would also be interested in general comments about the rogue/monk concept, especially if one chooses to play a halfling.
Thanks.
Hope this is the right message board for this...
I am planning on running a halfling rogue in an upcoming campaign. I typically build melee rogues (since flanking is the only way to get sneak attack easily and consistently) and I usually go the two-weapon fighting route since more attacks means more chances of hitting with sneak attack damage. I have thought about dipping into other classes like monk, fighter or barbarian, especially to gain some extra feats and mitigate some of the shortcomings of halfings (like weapon damage, speed). I would likely take 3 levels of rogue and then a single level of another class, before returning to rogue. I am pretty clear on the benefits of a level of fighter and barbarian, but I have some questions, and would like to get some opinions about the rogue/monk.
The monk seems like a really good fit at first glance. +2 to all saves is great, unarmed strike gets me a d4 damage die, which is as good as fighting with two rapiers, and stunning fist seems like a great fit since it sets up sneak attack perfectly (although I see it may be situational).
My two big questions now are:
1. will I get two feats with my monk level (that is what it looks like to me)2. I am confused about how flurry of blows will affect my attack bonus. If I wanted to make two unarmed attacks in lieu of attacking with two different weapons, would the -1/-1 “attack bonus” from flurry of blows stack with the normal penalties for TWF. Or, could I make two unarmed attacks per round with only the –1/-1 penalty?
I would also be interested in general comments about the rogue/monk concept, especially if one chooses to play a halfling.
Thanks.
1)No. you Do get a feat as a first level monk, but that will (from the bolded portion) be your 4th level as a character. You do get stunning fist free through so I guess that would count.
To clarify, your first level of monk gives you a) stunning fist and b) another feat from the limited ones listed.2) your flurry of blows is a limited and specialised version of 2 weapon fighting, which means it functions exactly like 2WF but only under certain circumstance (no armour, no shieldd, unencumbered etc, using monk weapons etc)
Effectively you would calculate it as:
BAB from rogue (+2 at 3rd level) + monk level (+1) then add 2weapon fighting penalties (-2/-2) giving you 2 strikes, each at +1. Notably when using flurry of blows (as oposed to a regular instance of 2wf) you use your monk level in place of your monk BAB.
General comments: I weep for any fighting class that has to suffer the damage drop. The extra precision damage is compensatory, when it should be bonus. I heartilly reccommend using shuriken on flat footed opponents at early levels, that way the +1d6 damage makes them very exceptionally sweet, though keeping them flat footed my be an issue.
as for rogue monk combo's. I like them in principle. I use it when I want to whip out a 'ninja foe'. PC's can rip through them fairly swiftly but it still feels like they are killing ninjas. the 1/1 build gives them 0 BAB an average 8 HP but they have a bunch of attacks that can come out of left field (Stunning fist/sneak attack combo looks wicked in practise).
Batts