Monk players, our time has come. Dungeons & Dragons has always offered a plethora of classes, but monks were always a bit overshadowed. However, the 2024 Player’s Handbook has improved the class significantly, making it one of the strongest choices the game has to offer, in fact.
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So, if you’re thinking about making a new monk for your next adventure, an important detail in your character creation process is to determine a species for your character. Between the updated species in the book and old options that still hold up, there are many interesting ways you can make your monk a force to be reckoned with.
10
Human
A Second Feat Never Hurts
- Source: 2024 Player’s Handbook
There are great origin feats to choose from, and stacking them up on your character is useful. You can have Lucky to re-roll to guarantee success; give your monk the amazing Tavern Brawler, which matches particularly well with the class, or give them Tough feat so they aren’t as squishy, and so on.
Thus, making your character a human, which lets you pick two of these right at level one, is a massive boost. And you get guaranteed Heroic Inspiration every long rest, which is a nice bonus to top it all off.
9
Halfling
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop
- Source: 2024 Player’s Handbook
Halflings’ traits are generic, but they work for any class. You have advantage when dealing with the frightened condition, and whenever you roll a natural one, you can reroll the die and get something better – unless you get another natural one; just buy another die if that happens twice in a row.
They can also hide behind bigger creatures (you’re small, so your party counts), and you can go through creatures one size bigger than you or more. That means people can’t stop you from moving around, and you can use allies as cover when needed.
8
Goliath
Kick Them While They’re Down
- Source: 2024 Player’s Handbook
Goliaths are perfect for melee characters. You start with 35ft (10.5m) of movement, which stacks with your extra movement from the class. You’ll be able to carry more and become larger, which mostly compensates for the lack of strength, but that’s not why we recommend them.
The fun part is your Giant Ancestry, whose effect depends on the ancestry you get. From all the options, we recommend either Cloud Giants, so you can teleport, or Hill Giants, which lets you make your target prone if you hit them. And considering the number of times you can hit people as a monk, knocking them prone will be devastating for them.
7
Drow
Or Any Elf, Really
- Source: 2024 Player’s Handbook
Because of how innate spells work now, all the species that share such an option are tempting. You can get the spells elves have and cast them with your wisdom, an ability score you actually use, meaning the spells have a better chance of working.
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We’re singling drows out because among their free spells there’s Faerie Fire, allowing you to hit multiple people at advantage. That said, wood elves are tempting for stealthier builds due to the free Pass Without Trace, and high elves are tempting due to Misty Step. It’s up to you which spell is more worth it for your character.
6
Abyssal Tiefling
Or Any Other Tiefling
- Source: 2024 Player’s Handbook
Tieflings follow the same logic as elves: free spells you can use with your wisdom. Still, they have resistance to certain damage types depending on your lineage, which is helpful for a squishy class like monks. Abyssal tieflings, in particular, come with poison resistance and the spell Hold Person, which can be a game-changer in combat.
Still, the other tieflings might interest you if you think their resistances or spells are worth the trouble. You can also go with the old tiefling variant from Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide to have wings, which are amazing for monks, as we’ll discuss later.
5
Dwarf
Fight Like Toph
- Source: 2024 Player’s Handbook
Dwarves no longer have a detriment to their movement speed – which never really mattered for monks, but still. They also get resistance against poison and an extra hit point per level, a feature that was exclusive to hill dwarves only, meaning you can make up for your low hit point die, especially if you combine it with Tough.
You also have the ability to gain Tremorsense for a while, allowing you to locate people through the ground, as long as the ground is made of stone. You can use it to keep up with enemies who hide often or go invisible or even to circumvent situations where you are blinded.
4
Duergar
The Under-Dwarf
- Source: Monsters Of The Multiverse
While the 2024 book doesn’t have lineages for dwarves, you can still use older sources if they benefit you, and an interesting pick is the duergar. They come with the free spells Enlarge/Reduce and Invisibility, so you can use one to increase your size and damage and the other for stealth segments.
They also get resistance against poison, better darkvision than most, and advantage against being charmed or stunned, both being particularly annoying conditions to get.
3
Tabaxi
Gotta Go Fast
- Source: Monsters Of The Multiverse
If you want to be the fastest, you got it. Tabaxis get their own type of unarmed strike and climbing speed, two things that admittedly will be rendered useless by the monk’s traits. Still, they get free Perception and Stealth, darkvision, and, more importantly, Feline Agility.
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With Feline Agility, you can double your speed during the turn. A high-level monk can already run 60ft (18m) by default and add another 60ft by dashing with their action and 60ft more by dashing with their bonus action. By doubling that, you can move 360ft (110m) in a single turn just for the fun of it.
2
Bugbear
Ranged Melee Combat
- Source: Monsters Of The Multiverse
Bugbears get many fun things, such as free Stealth, the ability to squeeze through tight spaces, and bonus damage against people who haven’t had a turn, making them an efficient Warrior of Shadows. They are also resistant to the charmed condition and can carry more weight than most.
The fun part here, though, is the Long-Limbed, allowing them to perform melee attacks five feet (1.5m) further than most, which means you can hit enemies with melee strikes without getting into their range if they’re also melee. You can also stack that with Elemental Attunement from the Warrior of the Elements monk, meaning you can hit people that are 15ft (4.5m) away from you with melee strikes.
1
Fairy
Or Anything With Wings
- Source: Monsters Of The Multiverse
Any species with flight speed is fun here, as it combines with your absurd movement speed. So, aarakocras, owlins, or winged tieflings are great options, as well as species with limited flight time, like the aasimar and dragonborn, just in case your DM doesn’t let you get a species with permanent flight.
Still, we recommend fairies because they are fey, meaning they’re immune to spells that only affect humanoids, and they have two fun spells we already covered here: Enlarge/Reduce and Faerie Fire, both of which you can cast with your wisdom.
Dungeons & Dragons
- Original Release Date
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1974
- Player Count
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2+
- Age Recommendation
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12+ (though younger can play and enjoy)
- Length per Game
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From 60 minutes to hours on end.
- Franchise Name
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Dungeons & Dragons
- Publishing Co
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Wizards of the Coast
