Well, it's been a while since we were off to the races with a 5e build, so let's do us another one! After watching Moon Knight, I struck inspiration... so, obviously, this is gonna be a Darkhawk build!
... just kidding.
Seriously, do any of you know who Darkhawk is?
No, we're going to be building the titular Moon Knight. Protector of travelers and the instrument of the Egyptian god Khonshu's vengeance on Earth. Too bad he's a man apart, having the personalities of both mercenary Marc Spector and timid museum employee Steven Grant in his head. Don't worry, beyond the concept and some of his abilities, there are no spoilers (that are obvious). However, I definitely recommend that you check out the series in question as it's probably the best one that Disney+ has done as of this writing.
No, really, I am perfectly capable of praising things I like.
For stats, we're going to use the Standard point array from the Player's Handbook. As always, I will attempt to explain my choices as we go along.
Dexterity: 15
Hunting down those that require Khonshu's vengeance means you need to be quick on your feet.
Wisdom: 14
Sure, Moonie's mind is a little big scattered due to having two people shoved inside of it, but when the two halves work together, the forces of evil had best watch out!
Strength: 13
Being strong is also pretty helpful against the forces of evil, particularly if your god wants you to put them in the ground.
Constitution: 12
Health is a little on the lower end, but that's why you have your god to back you up when the bullets start flying. Plus, we'll beef you up a bit later.
Intelligence: 10
While Marc isn't that knowledgeable about Egyptian mythology, Steven is. However, Steven isn't always the one in the driver's seat.
Charisma: 8
You get bamboozled by mindscrew nonsense that banishes you to another plane of existence... maybe. Not to mention you aren't exactly a people person in either of your personas. So, obviously, this is not going to be a Warlock build.
For race, we're going with your favorite and mine - Variant Human. Variant Human is detailed on page 31 of the Player's Handbook, but let me go over the differences that will have anything to do with us. You get an ability score increase, one point to two ability scores. Go for Dexterity for being quicker on your feet and Constitution to help you get a little more meaty.
Speaking of being more meaty, you get a free skill and a free feat for picking variant human. We're going to jump a little ahead to go with the Tough feat. Tough increases your maximum health by twice your level when you pick it up (in this case, two points) and you gain an extra two points for every level that comes after. P.S., you can take this at later levels and get a ridiculous amount of hit points added retroactively! Neat-o!
For your skill, we're going to take Arcana. A lot of crazy mystical hulabaloo happens around you, and it might be a good idea to know just what is going on. We're also not going to be able to get it anywhere else in the build.
We'll kick things off as a Cleric (1), specifically a Twilight Cleric from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Yes, I am aware that Marc got the abilities of Moon Knight from Khonshu via an agreement or a pact. You're probably wondering why I didn't go with Warlock, but it honestly just comes down to a lack of aesthetic cohesion.
And if you don't believe that, then believe that this was far easier to pull off.
Just from being a cleric, you get 3 cantrips and a whole bunch of spells for first level (though only two spell slots).
You also get two skills off of the Cleric list. Go with History and Religion. Both of those are kind of important to your overall aesthetic.
For cantrips, Guidance allows you to touch a willing creature and grant them a d4 to use on an ability check of their choice either before or after the roll is made. This spell lasts up to 1 minute depending on your concentration. Maybe Steven amps Marc up to allow him to pull off something wacky.
Spare the Dying allows you to touch a living creature that has 0 hit points and stabilize it. However, it does not work on undead or constructs.
Thaumaturgy is a neat one that is detailed on page 282 of the Player's Handbook, and it does a number of minor wonders that last for up to a minute. They include (but aren't limited to) making your voice boom up to three times as loud as normal, cause an unlocked door of window to fly open or slam shut, or alter the appearance of your eyes for the spell's duration.
Clerics get a lot of spells, but only two 1st level spell slots at the beginning. Bless gives up to three creatures of your choice an extra d4 on an attack roll or saving throw. This lasts up to a minute depending on your concentration. If you use it in a slot of 2nd level or higher, you can target one additional creature for each slot above 1st.
Detect Magic allows you to sense presence of magical auras within 30 feet of you. This lasts up to 10 minutes depending on your concentration. While the spell penetrates most barriers, a foot of stone, an inch of metal, a thin sheet of led, or 3 feet or more of wood or dirt will obscure magical items. This spell might come in handy if, say, you had to pull something from a mummy's mouth.
As a Twilight Cleric, Moon Knight receives proficiency with martial weapons and heavy armor, neither of which this build will be using overmuch, but it's nice to have anyway. A Twilight Cleric also receives Eyes of the Night, which gives you darkvision out to 300 feet as well as allowing you to touch a creature and share that darkvision to it as well as others within 10 feet of you up to a number of creatures equal to your Wisdom modifier. It lasts for one hour and can't be used again until you finish a long rest or expend a spell slot. It'd probably be a good idea for Layla to be able to see in the dark, too.
Twilight Clerics also receive a Vigilant Blessing. Touching a creature as an action will give them advantage on the next initiative roll that they make. The benefit ends after the roll or whenever the cleric uses this feature again. This can, by the way, include yourself. Just in case you need to get the drop on some enemies who are giving you the business.
Second level Cleric (2) allows Moon Knight to Channel Divinity. In this case, he can summon up a Twilight Sanctuary to help his allies. When presenting a holy symbol, a Twilight cleric creates a sphere in a 30-foot radius around themselves. This sphere moves with them and lasts for a minute or until they are incapacitated or die. Whenever a creature is within the sphere (including Moonie himself), they can either gain temporary hit points of 1d6 + the Caster's Cleric Level or the cleric can end one effect that causes the target to be charmed or frightened. Marc can give Steven a little pep talk to get him back in the fight.
You can use this ability once per long rest... for now.
Second level clerics also get a third 1st level Spell Slot. Healing Word will send Khonshu's magical healing through an aching body, giving a creature of your choice within range healing equal to 1d4 + your spellcasting ability modifier. As stated before, with most Healing spells, this has no effect on undead or constructs. Casting with a higher slot increases the healing by 1d4 for each level above 1st.
Third level Cleric (3) gets a new 1st level slot and access to two 2nd level slots. Cure Wounds is yet another good healing spell, this time using 1d8 + your ability modifier instead of 1d4. It doesn't work on undead or constructs and it's bumped up by 1d8 for each slot level above 1st that you use on it.
For our second level spells, Enhance Ability is a favorite of mine. It's detailed on page 237 of the Player's Handbook and gives a target advantage on one of the ability score checks. Check it out, it's really nifty.
Spiritual Weapon creates a floating, spectral weapon within a range of 60 feet that hits with a melee spell attack against a creature within five feet. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 + your ability modifier in force damage. You can move the weapon as your bonus action up to 20 feet and attack a different target. The Player's Handbook says the weapon can take any form you choose, so maybe these can be your cresent-moon daggers? Or just random bullshit...
Cleric (4) brings us to our first ability score improvement - beef up your Constitution and your Wisdom to be a heftier by and to bump up your spell modifier. It's also going to be useful for something later, but we'll get to that in short order.
You also get a new cantrip. Sacred Flame brings down a flame-like radiance on a creature within 60 feet of you. The target has to make a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d8 radiant damage. They do not get the benefit of cover for this saving throw and the damage increases at 5th, 11th, and 17th level. Remember that this scales with your character level, not your cleric level. You could say that this is Marc bringing the moonlit wrath of Khonshu down on your enemies.
You could say that if it weren't for Moonbeam, which is actually what that is and it'll fit nicely as a 2nd level spell. Moonbeam off the Twilight Cleric spell list creates a 40-foot high, 5-foot in radius cylinder of pale moonlight. When a creature either enters or starts their turn in the column, they are engulfed in ghostly flames and must make a Constitution saving throw. They take 2d10 radiant damage on a failed save, half as much on a success. Interestingly, a shapechanger always makes the roll with disadvantage. So if you ever run into Werewolf By Night, you'll hit him so hard he'll turn back into Jack Russell.
Oh, and the beam lasts for up to a minute depending on your Concentration. And you can increase the damage by 1d10 for each slot above 2nd.
Cleric (5) gains the ability to Destroy Undead of CR 1/2 or lower. Moon Knight can speak a prayer to censure the undead. With the normal Turn Undead, if they can see or hear the cleric, the undead make a Wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they are turned for 1 minute or until it takes damage. They will spend that time running away from the cleric as far as they can. However, with Destroy Undead, they won't have the opportunity as they'll just... explode.
Clerics at 5th level also get access to 3rd level spells. Revivify is a spell that allows the caster to return a creature that has died within the last minute to a single hit point. This isn't resurrection, however, as it can't return someone to life who has been dead longer than a minute or who has died of old age. It also can't restore missing body parts, which is definitely something to keep in mind unless you're hanging out with Deadpool.
Aura of Vitality lasts for up to 1 minute depending on your concentration and creates an aura of healing energy to radiate from your person in a 30-foot radius. As a bonus action, the caster may designate one person in the radius (including themselves) to regain 2d6 hit points.
Cleric (6) bumps up their Channel Divinity to twice per long rest. Twilight Clerics also receive Steps of Night, which grants them a flying speed equal to their walking speed for 1 minute. They can use this a number of times as a bonus action equal to their proficiency modifier and get all their uses back after a long rest. Moon Knight technically flies... mostly glides, but sometimes flies.
A new spell is nice. Beacon of Hope is a really good one. The cleric chooses any number of creatures within range. The beacon gives them advantage on Wisdom saving throws, death saving throws, and they regain the maximum number of hit points possible from any healing. This lasts for up to 1 minute depending on your concentration.
Cleric (7) gets access to 4th level spells. Freedom of Movement allows you to touch a willing creature and render them unaffected by difficult terrain, and spells and other magical effects can't reduce the creature's speed or cause them to be paralyzed or restrained. They can also spend 5 feet of movement to automatically escape non-magical restraints or a creature that has it grappled. Also, being underwater does not impose penalties on a target's movement or attacks. Neat! Best of all, this one doesn't require Concentration!
Cleric (8) is our capstone for the Cleric class. We get an ability score improvement or a feat. In this case, we're going with a feat. Skilled gives you proficiency in any three skills or tools of your choice. We're gonna take Athletics, Acrobatics, and Investigation.
You also get another 4th level spell slot. Banishment can send another creature to another plane of existence for up to a minute depending on your concentration (and if they fail a Charisma saving throw). If the target is native to the plane of existence you're on, they float around in a harmless void until the spell ends. If they're from a different plane, they're sent back to their home plane. If the spell ends before a minute has passed, they'll come back and will probably be very pissed off. If it doesn't end, then they're stuck on that plane and will have to find a way back themselves.
Might be a good thing to have in the back pocket if you need to banish an evil goddess. Just saying.
Eighth level Clerics also have their Destroy Undead bumped up to CR 1 and Twilight Clerics get the ability of Divine Strike. A cleric can infuse their weapon strikes with divine energy. Once on their turn, when they hit a creature with a weapon attack, they can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 radiant damage. This would go up to a 2d8 at 14th level but, as I said, we're leaving Cleric behind.
For the ninth level, we're going to go to Monk (1). First level monks get Unarmored Defense. When wearing no armor and using no shield, the monk's AC is equal to 10 + their Dexterity Modifier + their Wisdom modifier. Which, if you're playing this build right, means your AC just went up a bunch.
The monk also receives Martial Arts, allowing them to use Dexterity instead of Strength for attack and damage rolls with their unarmed strikes or weapons. They also gain a monk die at a d4 that they can roll in place of normal damage, which does get boosted as they level. They also can take a bonus action following an attack to make another attack so long as it is unarmed. If you use your bonus action to do something else, however, this ability doesn't kick in.
Tenth level Moon Knight is where we are when we get to Monk (2). Monks at second level get Ki Points which can do... a lot of things depending on your Monastic Tradition as well as just for a basic monk. The Player's Handbook details a lot of it on page 78. In particular for this build, I recommend Flurry of Blows or Step of the Wind from that book. I'll bring up others if and when they come along.
Second level monks also get Unarmored Movement, meaning that their move speed goes up by ten feet. This will continue for quite a bit, but couple this with your Steps of the Night and you'll be flying fast indeed!
Eleventh level Moon Knight brings us to Monk (3). Monks at third level choose a monastic tradition. For this build, I went for Way of the Kensei, where the monk's weapons become an extension of their body and opens up a lot more possibilities for them. A Kensei monk at 3rd level can choose two weapons: one melee and one ranged and, so long as they lack the heavy or special properties, can choose them as a monk weapon to receive the benefits of their abilities.
Kensei Monks are able to Agile Parry, giving them a +2 bonus to their AC until the start of their next turn after they make an unarmed attack as part of their Attack action and are holding a Kensei monk weapon.
For the ranged boon, Kensei's Shot lets the monk use a bonus action to do an extra 1d6 damage of the weapon's type to a target.
Way of the Brush, as Tulok the Barbarian would put it, makes you unto a god! It also gives you proficiency with either calligrapher's supplies or painter's supplies.
12th level Moon Knight means we're a Monk (4) and we get an Ability Score Improvement or a Feat. Mobile gets you another 10 feet extra speed (so you're at 50 ft. now if you're keeping score at home). When you Dash, you ignore difficult terrain and you don't provoke opportunity attacks from a creature after making a melee attack against it regardless of whether you hit or not.
4th level Monks also get Slow Fall, which allows them to use their reaction to reduce any falling damage they may take to an amount equal to five times their monk level.
5th level Monk (5) gets an Extra Attack, which (as you might expect) allows them to attack twice per round. They also gain the ability to make a Stunning Strike. When another creature is hit by a melee weapon attack, they can spent a ki point. The target must make a Constitution saving throw or it will be stunned until the monk's next turn.
At 14th level, Moon Knight is at Monk (6) and gains Ki-Empowered Strikes, meaning that his weapons are magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks or damage. This also translates to his weapons thanks to Kensei Monk. One With the Blade makes any of his Kensei weapons have the same benefit as his unarmed strikes. This means that, yes, you can finally show them all why your name is Steven with a V!
Much like the Stunning Strike, the monk can also make a Deft Strike, which allows them to do extra damage equal to their Martial Arts die (which is at a d6 now, by the way). This ability can only be used once per turn, though.
By the way, your Unarmored Movement is now a +15 feet, meaning you're now at 55 feet per round.
At 15th level, we are at Monk (7). Monks at the 7th level gain Evasion. When an effect that allows them to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage on an attack that hits them, they take no damage on a success and only half damage if they fail. This, of course, provided they can see it.
Monks also gain Stillness of Mind, allowing them to end one effect on themselves that causes them to be charmed or frightened.
At 16th level, we come to Monk (8) and another ability score improvement! For flavor, you could go for Linguist, which bumps your Intelligence up by 1 (to a max of 20), teaches you three languages, and gives you the ability to create ciphers! Maybe all of Steven's hours reading up on Egyptian mythology have paid off after all!
17th level takes us to Monk (9) and Moon Knight now has the ability to move along vertical surfaces and across liquids without falling during the move.
18th level takes us to Monk (10) and we get an additional 5 feet of movement (60 feet now) and also gain Purity of Body, which makes Marc immune to disease and poison. Unfortunately, still not immune to bullets. Ah, well! I'm sure that won't come up any time soon!
19th level brings up to Monk (11) has Kensei Monks able to Sharpen the Blade. By spending up to three ki points (of which he currently has 11), Moon Knight can grant himself a bonus to one kensei weapon he is touching equal to the number of points he spent. This bonus lasts up to 1 minute or until this power is used again and it does not have any effect on any weapon that is already magically enhanced with a bonus to attack or damage.
20th level and our capstone for the build is Monk (12), where we get one final Ability Score Improvement or Feat. Honestly, use your own judgment here or just beef up your Constitution and Dexterity. You can't really go wrong there.
Now that we've hit level 20, let's check out the pros and cons for this build.
Pros:
- All the world may be your enemy, and when they catch you, they'll kill you. But first, they must catch you, and they're gonna have a really hard time doing that, I promise you! You can move 60 feet per round, Freedom of Movement will let you escape non-magical restraints and ignore difficult terrain, and you can literally deny opponents their attacks of opportunity against you with the Mobile feat. Also, you can fly!
- With a 1d8 coming from both Cleric and Monk levels as well as a nice Constitution score and the Tough feat, even if they do hit you, they're going to have a hard time killing you. Sure, d8 isn't the highest hit dice a class can have, but it's pretty good mid-range and we have beefed it up a bit so you even without adding your Constitution modifier, with max rolls, you're looking at 180 hit points by the end of the build. Definitely nothing to sneeze at. And that's not even counting your healing spells, of which you have a fair few, that can keep you in the fight all that much longer.
- Not only can you move and not only can you tank, but you can hit like a mule. With just your monk abilities, you're looking at a 1d8 Monk die by the end of the build. Doesn't seem like much until you remember that you're adding your Dexterity to attack and damage thanks to your martial arts training and your attacks and damage are considered magical. That's not even counting some of your spells like Sacred Flame and Moonbeam.
Cons:
- You have a lot of concentration spells, which means you can only have one up at a time. With your Constitution being higher by the end of the build, losing that concentration isn't so much of a problem, but concentrating on one thing means you might not be able to do so for another.
- Your spells stop at 4th level ones for cleric and, while you do have a nice bit of variety for them, you'll easily be shut down by more powerful casters.
- ... yeah, I tried to come up with a third con here, but I really couldn't. Clerics are broken as Hell. This one even more so.
But hey, you're the avatar of Khonshu! Bring your two halves together and go out to be protector the travelers of the night and bring His vengeance upon those who would do them harm. Just make sure you keep your head on straight, otherwise you might have to put someone under Lockley and key.
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