Monk or Monk/Druid

Cvijeta

For game IWD2

ThacoBell

Monks are so reliant on level bonuses to be viable that multiclassing them is probably gonna hurt.

Kamigoroshi

A svirfneblin monk is fun to play. But the +3 Level Adjustment hurts quite a bit.

But I would downright advice against a Monk/Druid build. Icewind Dale 2 is peculiar in that monks which level up in other classes cannot advance as monks anymore. Each monk 'kit' has one exception of that rule, which allows for dual classing builds though.

• Monks of the Old Order can dual class as rogues.
  
• Monks of the Broken Ones can dual class as Painbearers of Illmater clerics.
  
• Monks of the Dark Moon can dual class as sorcerers.
  

That is to say, you certainly could roleplay the inability of taking further monk levels as an oathbreak. Which could be rather interesting too if you like to play as an 'fallen' monk, so to speak.

Grum

Aye. Monks really rely on leveling up for power spikes. Go for single class.

Deep Gnome is the best mechanical race, due to the +4 AC, +2 Dex, +2 Wis, mirror image and blur. If you dump Cha down to 1 and Int down to 3, you can start off with Str16 (good enough), Dex20, Con16, Wis20. That's nearly untouchable AC.

...I just have trouble picturing a gnome as a monk.

Average Height: 3' – 3'6" (91–110 cm)

Average Weight: 40–45 lbs. (18–20 kg)

Can you imagine one of those guys punching you out?


For my money, and I'm just throwing this out there...half-orc monk. +2 Str, -2 Int and -2 Cha, neither of which hurts the monk. He's big. He's strong. He punches *really* hard. Sure, he won't be a mechanical power house like the deep gnome, but when a half-orc runs into battle naked and unarmed, with his gore covering his hands and forearms...you can conceivably end up wishing that you brought a bigger sword. When a gnome does it, you wonder what kind of mushrooms he ate.

Raduziel

Grum said:

when a half-orc runs into battle naked and unarmed, with his gore covering his hands and forearms...you can conceivably end up wishing that you brought a bigger sword. When a gnome does it, you wonder what kind of mushrooms he ate.

That's why I pay for internet access.

AstroBryGuy

If the vision for the character is to mainly be a monk, then go straight monk. But, a primarily druid character can benefit from a level of monk. Druids retain the monk Wisdom AC bonus while in Wild Shape, which can up the combat formidability of your druid.

DreadKhan

Imho, go Druid with 1 monk level or straight monk. Be very cautious about XP penalty on a LA race though, it'll be an issue I suspect. Straight monk would be interesting imho.