Way of the Drunken Master Monk Handbook: DnD 5e Subclass Guide

Introduction

The Way of the Drunken Master Monk is a mildly silly hit-and-run striker, making it even easier for you to get in, deal damage, and get back out. The subclass’s features aren’t amazing, and it’s very much a one-trick pony, but it’s a pretty good trick.

Despite the name, Way of the Drunken Master has no mechanics related to drinking. If you want your character to pantomime drinking while being totally sober, that is within the rules. Beyond that minor weirdness, the subclass is very interesting. It caters well to hit-and-run tactics, which help to keep the monk alive and out of range of direct attacks, encouraging you to focus on the Monk’s role as a Striker.

However, the only directly offensive option it offers is Intoxicating Frenzy at 17th level. If you think you’ll do enough damage based solely on core Monk features, but are worried about staying alive, the Drunken Master may be a good option.

The biggest problem with Way of the Drunken Master is that it can’t do much that the Monk couldn’t already do. You’re still just running around and punching things, and the subclass doesn’t offer any new options for solving problems; you’re just slightly better at using what Martial Arts already gives you.

Because the subclass is simple, forgiving, and Ki-efficient, it’s a great option for new players. If you’re a veteran and want more buttons to push, you may still find that the Monk’s core features are sufficiently complex to keep you busy.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Disclaimer
• Way of the Drunken Master Monk Features
• Way of the Drunken Master Monk Ability Scores
• Way of the Drunken Master Monk Races
• Way of the Drunken Master Monk Feats
• Way of the Drunken Master Monk Weapons
• Way of the Drunken Master Monk Armor
• Way of the Drunken Master Monk Multiclassing
• Example Way of the Drunken Master Monk Build – The Reveler
  • Ability Scores
  • Race
  • Background
  • Skills and Tools
  • Feats
  • Levels

Disclaimer

RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks, which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.

• Red: Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
• Orange: OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Useful sometimes.
• Green: Good options. Useful often.
• Blue: Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character. Useful very frequently.

We will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, in handbooks for official content because we can’t assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. We also won’t cover Unearthed Arcana content because it’s not finalized, and we can’t guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.

The advice offered below is based on the current State of the 2014 DnD 5e Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released, and the article will be updated accordingly as time allows.

Way of the Drunken Master Monk Features

3. Bonus Proficiencies: Two proficiencies, but neither of them are especially useful.
3. Drunken Technique: Combine Flurry of Blows and Disengage for just one Ki point. Excellent for hit-and-run tactics which monks often need to rely upon because their AC is relatively poor and they have few hit points compared to other front-line martial characters.
6. Tipsy Sway:
   • Leap to Your Feet: With the Monk’s speed bonus you can typically afford to spend the movement and still move around as much as you need. However, movement is an important part of the Drunken Master’s play style, and tripping you could be a good way to inhibit your movements without this ability.
   • Redirect Attack: If you’re fighting multiple enemies, it’s possible that one of their attacks will do more damage than one of yours. If that’s the case, spending a Ki point here will do more than spending that Ki point on Flurry of Blows. To make this work reliably, you’ll need to position yourself so that you’re withing 5 feet of two enemies, which can be a dangerous prospect for the Monk and isn’t always possible because enemies may want to fight other creatures instead.
11. Drunkard’s Luck: Disadvantage on a saving throw can kill you. If it’s your life on the line, 2 Ki points is a low price to pay. However, Disadvantage isn’t always a problem, so this is situational by design.
17. Intoxicated Frenzy: Remember that Drunken Technique allows you to Disengage as part of Flurry of Blows, so you can use your ridiculous speed (+30 ft. above your race’s base speed at this level) to run around the entire encounter and hit everything (5 things at most) once with your Flurry of Blows bonus attacks, plus your two regular attacks. This is great for handle multiple enemies, but it’s only meaningful in encounters with three or more foes, which isn’t every encounter.

Way of the Drunken Master Monk Ability Scores

No different from a typical Monk.

Way of the Drunken Master Monk Races

No different from a typical Monk.

Way of the Drunken Master Monk Feats

No different from a typical Monk.

Way of the Drunken Master Monk Weapons

No different from a typical Monk.

Way of the Drunken Master Monk Armor

No different from a typical Monk.

Way of the Drunken Master Monk Multiclassing

No different from a typical Monk.

Example Way of the Drunken Master Monk Build – The Reveler

Combining Satyr with the Monk’s existing defenses produces a durable and highly mobile Striker. Your most interesting abilities don’t come online until high level, unfortunately, but Magic Resistance will provide a powerful defense for your entire career, and the Satyr’s high speed and Mirthful Leaps offer more mobility on top of the Monk’s already impressive speed.

Ability Scores

We’ll take three +1 increases and put them in each of our important stats. 8 Strength will limit our jump range, unfortunately, but we have Mirthful Leaps for that.

	Base	Increased
Str	8	8
Dex	15	16
Con	15	16
Int	8	8
Wis	15	16
Cha	8	8

Race

Satyr. Mobile, durable, resistant to magic, and a bit of extra speed. Also, I can’t think of a race better suited to Drunken Master than a Fey creature associated with mythological revelry.

Background

Far Traveler. Insight and Perception are excellent skills for the Monk, and we also get proficiency with an instrument. That’s not especially useful, but we get Performance from two sources, and if you use Performance and an instrument, you get Advantage on the check. Our Charisma is only 8, but maybe it’ll help at some point.

Skills and Tools

We get Performance and Persuasion for free as a Satyr. We’ll take History and Stealth with our class skills. We get Insight and Perception from our Background.

At level 3 we add proficiency in Brewer’s Supplies and Performance. The second Performance is redundant, unfortunately.

Feats

At level 4 we increase Dexterity to 18.

At level 8 we increase Dexterity to 20.

At level 12 we take Crusher.

At level 16 we take Chef.

At level 19 we increae Wisdom to 18.

Levels

Level	Feat(s) and Features	Notes and Tactics
1	Unarmored Defense Martial Arts	Mostly standard monk stuff. Too early to party. At low levels where your Martial Arts Die is only 1d4, the Satyr’s Ram feature lets us deal 1d6 damage with unarmed strikes. It’s minor, and we still want to two-hand a spear or quarterstaff during our Action, but it helps.
2	Ki Unarmored Movement	With Ki on the menu, we feel more like a Monk.
3	Subclass: Way of the Drunken Master Bonus Proficiencies Drunken Technique Deflect Missiles	Drunken Technique allows us to use Flurry of Blows and still move in and out of melee safely.
4	Ability Score Increase: Dexterity 16 -> 18 Slow Fall	Not very exciting, but very important.
5	Extra Attack Stunning Strike	It’s level 5 somewhere, which means that it’s time for Extra Attack.
6	Ki-Empowered Strikes Tipsy Sway	Tipsy Sway’s Redirect Attacks encourages you to fight with multiple enemies in reach so that you can use Redirect Attacks and eventually Intoxicated Frenzy.
7	Evasion Stillness of Mind	Excellent defenses.
8	Ability Score Increase: Dexterity 18 -> 20	Not very exciting, but very important.
9	Unarmored Movement Improvement	Get so excited that you can literally run up the walls.
10	Purity of Body	A helpful defense. Being immune to the Poisoned condition means that you’re immune to the effects of alcohol. Don’t think about it too hard
11	Drunkard’s Sway	Helpful when it applies, but sometimes you can’t justify the Ki cost. Save it for important rolls like saves.
12	Feat: Crusher (Con 16 -> 17)	A simple and effective staple for any Monk.
13	Tongue of the Sun and Moon	Largely useless.
14	Diamond Soul	You have Magic Resistance as a satyr, Evasion, and now proficiency in all saves. If you have Disadvantage on a save, use Drunkard’s Sway to negate it. If you fail, spend 1 Ki to reroll it. Enemies will struggle to hurt you with saves. They can still stab you, though.
15	Timeless Body	Almost no function within the game.
16	Feat: Chef (Con 17 -> 18)	No one ever said that the snacks couldn’t be liquid. We don’t want to consume them in combat because our Bonus Action is already overloaded, but it’s great to have a refreshment between fights and walk into them with Temporary Hit Points.
17	Intoxicated Frenzy	Up to 5 attacks as a Bonus Action at the cost of 1 Ki. Unfortunately, you do need to target multiple creatures, so this won’t be usable in every encounter. Remember that Drunken Technique lets you Disengage when you use Flurry of Blows so that you can safely move between enemies without provoking Opportunity Attacks in order to deliver these attacks.
18	Empty Body	Even with our increased ability to move about freely, being Invisibile and taking half damage is still an amazing buff.
19	Ability Score Increase: wisdom 16 -> 18	More AC, higher save DC on Stunning Fist.
20	Perfect Self	Go into every fight ready to use Empty Body.