I made a plasmoid astral monk build for a one shot right after spelljammer came out I took 2 levels in stars Druid for dragon form, which means minimum I can roll for a grapple check is 10 without any modifiers And on top of that I had advantage from plasmoid That was a fun build to play
I am playing this build with a tabaxi! With Feline Agility and well, being a monk, I can move around a lot even carrying someone, lettting me throw enemies off cliffs, into lava pits etc. quite effectively. I didn't even realize of that sinergy and made it thinking of the options for hit-and-run, as I canuse the longer reach as sort of a poor man's disengage, and use the ranged options from druid like the archer form to "recharge" my feline agility while staying in the rearguard. But once I started playing, I have used dragon fom and became a grappler most of the times
Unarmed strike starts at d4 but scales. Dip a point in fighter to get unarmed fighting style to do a d8 right away if you don’t have the patience to wait for scaling. Monks greatest weakness is too few ki points. Multi class at own risk.
Since the abilities of astral self work while in wild shape I'd add 1 more level to pick up moon druid. ''Oh cricky look at that big snake. I'm gonna poke it with a stick. oh he's angry ... wait why does it suddenly have spectral hands? I don't think I've seen this type of sna...'' and silence. The extra hp is very useful and you don't lose that much.
You can also dip two levels in ranger instead of one level in druid The druidic warrior fighting style gives you shillelagh and you also get an expertise that you can put in Athletics. Since Astral Self monk allows you to make Athletics checks using Wisdom, you are a fantastic grappler, and no one gets more attacks than the monk does to attempt grapples, or more movement than the monk does to drag enemies around. You can also take a third level in ranger for Fey Wanderer and now add your Wisdom modifier to Charisma checks as well
You did offer a suggestion that I think would make for some interesting reflavouring... In the Journey to the West, Sun Wukong is a Monkey King who gain absurd skills. Now one might consider a Hazodee for this build, but the tale of his birth specifically states he is "a stone monkey born of a magic stone on top of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit" that honestly sounds like a monkey-shaped Earth Genasi.
Wood Elf would be a good option as well if you decide to take a different class in place of Druid, as the Wood Elf Magic feat would let you get Shillelagh no issue (and it defaults to Wisdom anyway so win win). An alternative to Druid and Wood Elf would be would be Gloom Stalker Ranger and Variant Human for that sweet Fighting Initiate feat for Unarmed Fighting (since Rangers somehow don't get it for some reason), allowing you to get an extra attack at 2d8+1d6 by 11th level at the start of combat. Plus, Gloom Stalker is just nice to have.
monks martial arts die goes up, eventually to a d10, and get proficiency with all saving throws. but this is great early levels when you dont have a lot of ki points
Note, this doesnt work with non-tasha genasi, in such cases a Human with Magic Initiate for wisdom bonkstick is likely better if you dont want/need detect magic and purify food and drink in addition to the entangle.
People often compare Astral Self to Susanoo from Naruto. From a flavor standpoint, Shillelagh can be seen as infusing your Ki to the weapon, which is also a trend for the series. I think Fog Cloud is really ninja-thematic, as well. The Yuan-ti suggestion is nice for anyone with an Orochimaru build in mind. I agree with your second cantrip recommendations, Guidance being my number 1. Thorn Whip is really underrated for dragging enemies through AOE spells like Spike Growth. Earth Genasi has my favorite racial upgrades for Genasi. Pass Without Trace is one of those great utility spells you're likely to only need to cast 1/day and might not want to burn a "spells known" on. Plus it really helps a monk (and its team) be a better infiltrator.
I would go with Custom Lineage + Fighting Initiate for the race, for the Unarmed Fighting Style = 1d8 unarmed strikes with force damage from the get-go and a bit of bonus grapple damage too. While you have ki, all your attacks can then be made with your unarmed strikes with the extra reach and you don't have to worry about spending ki to disengage, which is great for hit and run attacks. Fall back on Shillelagh when you run out of ki. Fighting Initiate allows you to retrain your Fighting Style later at an ASI point, so you can swap it out once your martial arts die reaches 1d8 naturally (maybe take Blind Fighting for the synergy with Fog Cloud).
I believe i have a "homebrew" solution to the monk's ki problem. Just ask your DM if you Ki could be your Monk lvl + PB. With this you get just a tiny boost to the amount of shit you can do. Another option would be Monk lvl + Wisdom. But that way you could have 13 ki points 5 levels earlier, and i think that's kind of a lot. Using Proficiency bonus boost the early game a little without being too much at mid game. But i haven't tested this yet. So, to whoever reads this, maybe give it a try and come back to tell me how it goes.
You could do the same thing with ranger as well since now they can get druid cantrips with the right fighting style. In addition this way you get access to favored foe, and hunters mark which can seriously help out your damage. My particular favorite set up is 14th level monk with 6th level ranger, and if your DM lets you use favored foe and hunters mark at the same time you can dish out 1d8+2d6+5 damage 4 times a round. Assuming a 60% chance to hit that is a 41.9 DPR which is very close to the elite DPR baseline which normal monks couldn't even get close to.
I love the concept especially for if you want a little more versatility in your monk with the spellcasting. Personally I don't find to much of the late game monk abilities that appealing so my fix was take 3 levels in barbarian (I went Totem for a defense boost). Assuming DM allows monk abilities while raging. the +2 to damage would offset the hit to dexterity if you choose strength instead. You would also have danger sense for advantage on dex saves to also offset the dex hit. To my knowledge the unarmored defense does not stack BUT it opens the option for reckless attack followed by patient defense. And as for the lost feat I chose variant human. Not as powerful a build as yours but feels great if you wanted a thematic physical fighter.
I recently have been trying to reconcile a monk/druid. Thematically a stars druid and astral monk makes sense in my head, but I'm having trouble making it happen mechanically. I think either class would benefit from a small dip in the other. Side note: the restrained effect of Entangle is basically an instantaneous effect that lasts until they're free. The only persistent effect is the difficult terrain. Not as crazy good as I originally thought.
Well actually this monk is less multi ability score dependent than other monks you only really need to worry about dex and wisdom. You can use wisdom to grapple in place of strength to shove or grapple and even throw enemies. You can do this as a bonus action if you have tavern brawler after making an unarmed strike.
Alternatively, for Monks who fight with Adamantine weapons or prefer a steel-type build, pouring more into Dexterity improves your Initiative, Armor Class, Rolls to Hit, and Damage bonuses. While the Astral function uses Wisdom in place of strength, I recommend investing more in your Dexterity, with Wisdom as a close second 🥰 But in most cases, a Monk/Druid makes narrative sense and the spellcasting you mentioned goes a LONG way!
I thought you might just improve the Astral Monk a bit maybe? Like raise you Martial Arts dice to the next higher one, so Level 1-4: d6, 5-10: d8, 11-16: d10, and 17-20: d12, and then also restore the Ki Consumption feature from UA for level 17?
Ooo, I like it. What do you think of using Variant Human to snag Shillelagh from the Druid spell list at 1st level? Would that be helpful in any unique way?
With the new one dnd rules you can get magic initiate primal, get both entangle and shilelagh and not need to multiclass and lose delay our ki growth 8D
Sniff ..... sniff...... (breaths deep) Ah...... I think someone riffled threw their little black play book on this one. 🤔 You have my draconic approval. I could be wrong on this. But Staff 1d6 Shillahile (shall ha ha la de da) 1d8 + wis Weilding it as a monk with sha hal ha dogma ding done 1d8+Wis Marshal Arts + wis again? Great weapon master lmao -5/+10 🤣
Ok so let's boost the algorithm with another post. Lol Put 2 clubs that lock together to make a quarter staff. Hexblade warlock. Pact of the Blade. 2 weapon fighting and duel wielder. Lol Rho it would ruin the GWM feat
"Entangle 3rd level spell worthy" what are you smoking! The restrained effect only happens once and they have to be in the area when you cast the spell....
Why don't you just...go all in on Dexterity, and use that? The Astral Arms CAN use your Wisdom modifier. CAN, not MUST. That means you can use Dexterity for both your normal arms and your Astral Arms.
