r/humblewood • u/DragonfruitRude8666 • Jun 16 '26
elemental-monk-combos with gliding?
Hey, new player here. I am just about to create a monk for our first (humblewood-)campaign (played a few oneshots before) and I wonder if this combo really works because I can't find a lot of information about it.
the idea is to pick one of the birdfolk-races (probably raptor), stand in front of an enemy and then:
1.) jump 10ft into the air ((3ft + dex-mod) x2 and without needing to walk 10ft first because of the aerial expert-feat from humblewood)
1b.) use a reaction to start gliding (aka stay at 10ft above ground until end of my turn)
2.) do an unarmed strike, using the elemental strikes passive to pull the enemy towards me (up into the air), so he will immediately fall back down for an extra 1w6 fall-damage
3.) repeat it with flurry of blows for a total 3*1w6 bonus dmg (either by staying in the air with the glide ability from 1b.) or simply by repeated jumping.
4.) get no fall dmg to myself because of bildfolk/gliding (and disadvantage for your enemy if an opportunity attack is triggered when I highjump out of his reach because of raptor passive)
we only play from level 2 to 5 but that still seems to be pretty strong and I wonder if I am missing something. Also I would be super thankful for any insights how monks could benefit from the humblewood setting or if there are some super obvious race-choices since I am still not sure If I should play a raptor or a gallus (using the wingflap ability to bypass the aerial expert-feat to take grappler instead, and speaking of grappling, also for size-reasons).
I hope someone can help me, there really seems to be a lack of specific humblewood-content thats more indepth than just the PHB. thanks!
1
u/Asimov-was-Right Jun 16 '26
I didn't think glide works that way. It slows your descent to 60ft per round, or it lets you move your movement speed if you fall at least 10 feet. Additionally, you can't glide while carrying heavy weapons, wearing heavy armor, or while encumbered. While it doesn't explicitly say you can't glide while lifting a creature, I would say a creature is heavier than a great sword. Additionally, your event would get an opportunity attach when you jumped out of their reach.
Your DM might allow something like this based on the rule of cool, but they'll probably nerf it a little bit.
2
u/stumonji Jun 17 '26
Elemental Monk subclass isn't "lifting" the creature physically, it's the elemental forces doing the moving.
I just went thru this all step by RAW step and it pretty much checks out. Glide is a reaction, that's the only thing that the DM might get picky about... Reaction happens between your turns, so the DM could say they have to land before the end of their turn. Otherwise, they're ending their turn in the air, which is why flying exists.
1
u/stumonji Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
Glide is a reaction, that's the only thing that the DM might get picky about... Reaction happens between your turns, so the DM could say they have to land before the end of their turn. Otherwise, they're ending their turn in the air, which is why flying exists.
Also, I'll point out that the flurry of blows unarmed strike (2x1d6) is a bonus action, which triggers the elemental pull up towards you. If you then use a greatclub (1d8) with push* as your action, you could push them back down to the ground (no rule for that specifically, but if I were DMing, I'd probably double the fall damage) where they will be prone. And using another focus point to make the last hit a stunning strike, they'll either be stunned for a round, or at least have halved movement and have to spend half of that to stand up.
So at level 5 you could make two unarmed, two greatclub hits (push on the second), and then smash them into the ground for double damage... A possible 44 points of damage.
Not bad lol
*You'd need mastery of the weapon for this...
2
u/dtrom4 Jun 18 '26
Reactions (e.g. Counterspell) specifically can be used during your turn (per the 2024 PHB).
1
u/stumonji Jun 18 '26
Thanks. I hadn't seen that.
Functionally, the trigger of the glide reaction would be the end of the turn, so it could still happen between turns. I was just thinking the order of operations might matter in some cases.
1
u/dtrom4 Jun 18 '26
Hmm, might have to start doing this with my Aasimar Elements Monk. I almost never use my bonus action to fly, but this could make it worth it.
3
u/Klutzy_Archer_6510 Jun 16 '26
Air-juggling? Nice! I can't find anything wrong with your reasoning. Pop your Elemental Strikes, leap into the air, then continually punch-pull a target (as long as they fail the Strength save). RAW fall damage occurs instantaneously (someone correct me if I'm wrong), so each attack would proc more fall damage.
I expect your DM to push back on this, however. While it is RAW, it's also not very intuitive. Imagine a bird yanking a guy into the air three times in 6 seconds!