Summary
- Monks in D&D can optimize survival and combat by carefully choosing accessories and gear.
- The Manual of Bodily Health and Cloak of Invisibility are useful items for Monks in battles and stealth missions.
- Monks can benefit from Winged Boots, Wraps of Unarmed Prowess, Blood Fury Tattoo, Lantern of Revealing, and Delver’s Claws.
Role-playing games involve dangerous adventures that require special weapons and armor to survive and thrive. However, Monks in the Dungeons & Dragons
universe wear even less armor than Wizards or Sorcerers, but often end up in melee combat, which means they must choose accessories and magical gear even more carefully.
This isn’t to say that Monks can’t wear any armor at all, and some subclasses have extra weapon and defense abilities. The player can always give them better AC proficiencies with Feats or multiclassing, which opens up more possibilities when it comes to weapons and armor specifically, but there’s still the question of accessories, jewelry, and miscellaneous items like books or tattoos. The following recommendations assume a pure Monk build using the latest D&D updates and references.
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7
Manual of Bodily Health
Permanent Constitution Increase
- A buff to one of the Monk’s most important ability scores.
This is a very rare, wondrous item that is great for any class that values Constitution — which is almost all of them. Like other fighting classes that don’t wear a lot of armor, such as the Barbarian or the Rogue, the Monk uses a variety of ways to improve their resilience and hit point cap.
According to the lore, the book is a self-help manual that includes information about nutrition and health, and the printed words are imbued with magical power. In order to gain the permanent +2 Constitution buff from reading the book, a character has to complete it in less than six days for at least 48 hours. The magic is drained from the item after it’s used, but it rejuvenates after a century.
6
Cloak of Invisibility
Can’t Hit What Can’t Be Seen
- Improve the Monk’s defense and mobility.
The Cloak of Invisibility is a popular item that appears in almost every adventure. It is usually worn by a spellcaster, but it’s just as useful for a Monk. Enemies can’t target what they can’t see, even in close combat, and it also helps a stealthy Monk who dabbles in robberies or covert assassinations.
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This item doesn’t give the wearer the ability to cast a spell, as other magical items do, but instead renders them invisible as soon as they pull the hood down, which requires using an Action. It has a limit of two hours, and afterward, it needs to go unused for at least 12 hours to replenish its power.
5
Winged Boots
Better Than A Flying Mount
- Move quickly through the wilderness or the battlefield.
The Monk can use these boots to switch between walking speed and flying speed, and it also gives them the ability to fly for four hours. When a player uses the boots, they function for a minimum of one minute unless the action is canceled. But don’t be caught wearing them for more than four hours, because they will literally drop the character out of the sky at a rate of 30 feet per round.
Once the power of the boots is drained, they need 12 hours to regain 2 hours of flying power, and 24 hours to get back all four hours. This is one of those items that can be overpowered depending on where and how it’s used, so the DM might add a few handicaps.
4
Wraps of Unarmed Prowess
- The attack buff is also nice, but it depends on the item’s rarity.
The Wraps of Unarmed Prowess exist as Uncommon, Rare, and Very Rare items, giving the Monk that equips them a +1, +2, or +3 buff to their unarmed attacks. Whichever one the player finds depends on the DM, the adventure module, or the specific level and abilities of the character.
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Not only does this add incredible damage to the Monk’s attacks, but their unarmed strikes are also considered magical, and ignore immunity to non-magical attacks. The wearer can also gain an extra attack roll depending on the Wraps’ level of rarity.
3
Blood Fury Tattoo
Several Choices, But This Is The Best
- There are several tattoos in the game, but this is the one every Monk should have.
Several tattoos have been introduced in the D&D universe, and it’s an ideal way to give characters with low AC some extra defensive abilities. The Blood Fury Tattoo is best used by a Monk that carries a weapon, because the skill Bloodthirsty Strikes, which has ten charges per day, adds an extra 4d6 Necrotic damage to their weapon hits.
Additional benefits include attacks that restore hit points equal to the amount of Necrotic damage done, and allowing the Monk to make a Reaction attack with Advantage against an enemy. Before the character can do any of this, however, they must be attuned to the tattoo. This requires the Monk to hold a magical needle against their skin where they want the tattoo to appear.
2
Lantern of Revealing
A Way To Counter Invisibility
- The Monk can disappear, but make sure their enemies cannot.
Just like the name says, the main benefit of the Lantern of Revealing is that virtually nothing can hide from its light. When lit, and with the hood pulled back, it emits a dim but distinctive light in a thirty-foot radius that reveals invisible creatures and objects. It’s ideal for revealing not only obscured enemies, but also treasure, traps, and hidden doors.
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Should the Monk want to dim this light, they can use an Action to pull the hood over the lantern and reduce the radius to 5 feet. Once it is lit, the lantern burns for a total of six hours and requires 1 pint of seed oil to function. It’s one of the few items that doesn’t need to “rest,” but can function for an extended amount of time provided it has the fuel.
1
Delver’s Claws
- Useful gear that’s also a deadly weapon.
This item consists of three claws fixed on what looks like a humble leather glove, but this is a rare and wondrous item. The Delver’s Claws not only deal 1d4 slashing damage to the Monk’s target, but also give the Monk other handy powers for digging and exploration.
When a character is attuned to this item, they can also burrow into or through the earth equal to their walking speed, and gain the ability Blindsight. This gives the Monk the ability to “see” even in total darkness for up to 15 feet, which is pretty useful when digging. The real power of the Delver’s Claws is the Invoking the Rune ability, which is one way for the Monk to regain hit points. They can use this power once per day to imbue themselves with the sturdiness of the earth and roll to restore hit points equal to their Constitution modifier.
Dungeons & Dragons
- Created by
-
E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson
- Movie
-
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
- Creation Year
-
1974