Here Comes . . . the Monk!

Neonchameleon · Nov 13, 2012

What genius decided to bring back Monks being Lawful Only? Thereby eliminating Jackie Chan, amongst other things.

DEFCON 1 · Nov 13, 2012

Neonchameleon said:
What genius decided to bring back Monks being Lawful Only? Thereby eliminating Jackie Chan, amongst other things.

I would think the fact that D&D doesn't take place in 1980s/90s Hong Kong would eliminate Jackie Chan...

CasvalRemDeikun · Nov 13, 2012

Neonchameleon said:
What genius decided to bring back Monks being Lawful Only? Thereby eliminating Jackie Chan, amongst other things.

I have a hard time seeing Bruce Lee as Lawful either. Alignment restrictions are definitely a deal breaker for me.

frankthedm · Nov 13, 2012

Great to hear about the rule-set still cares about the cosmic balance between Order and Chaos.

ZombieRoboNinja · Nov 13, 2012

I think the alignment restrictions speak to my overall concern with the class: it's not that this is a BAD monk, but it seems to me that this should be more like one possible build/style/"school" of monk. Pretty much all the class abilities except expertise, unarmed fighting, and (maybe) unarmored fighting seem like they should be part of one specific Shaolin-style school of monk: they're lawful, they learn mystic control over their own minds and bodies, they fight with no weapons or armor, etc. But because they're trying to cram all this into one generic "monk" class that covers all cases, they can't be TOO specific about the flavor, so it's just "any lawful alignment" rather than a specific set of dogma or code of conduct, which might be a lot more interesting to play out.

The class could just as easily be expanded in different directions by adding different sets of special abilities, tied to different codes of conduct. Maybe a wuxia fencer school could let you use Flurry of Blows with a rapier (and other suitable martial artsy weapons) and focus on adherence to martial discipline, while a Drunken Boxer style could emphasize mobility and deception while requiring notably unlawful behavior.

GX.Sigma · Nov 13, 2012

ZombieRoboNinja said:
...the monk doesn't even get to choose a maneuver (or ANY other class feature) until 4th level...he's got Ki powers...except that he can only use it for the bleh Stunning Strike...the flexibility of the class is limited...just begging for further subdivision: monastic schools...

Well, yeah. It's just a first draft that they spent a few hours polishing up; it's not going to have a butt-ton of content.

Neonchameleon said:
What genius decided to bring back Monks being Lawful Only? Thereby eliminating Jackie Chan, amongst other things.

Jackie Chan is not a monk, he's a performer--he trained at a drama school, not a monastery. Why would he be a Monk?

ZombieRoboNinja · Nov 13, 2012

GX.Sigma said:
Well, yeah. It's just a first draft that they spent a few hours polishing up; it's not going to have a butt-ton of content.

And I would like it better if they did what they did with the sorcerer and warlock, and made it clear that this was just one of several possible kits (with indications of which parts of it are tied to the base class and which are specific to this school/style/whatever)... although even then, I'd prefer at least one or two player choices at earlier levels.

Obryn · Nov 13, 2012

GX.Sigma said:
Jackie Chan is not a monk, he's a performer--he trained at a drama school, not a monastery. Why would he be a Monk?

Because the idea of a martial artist who improvises weapons, does acrobatic tricks, and handles hordes of ninjas is awesome and probably a good goal for monk design?

-O

GX.Sigma · Nov 13, 2012

Obryn said:
Because the idea of a martial artist who improvises weapons, does acrobatic tricks, and handles hordes of ninjas is awesome and probably a good goal for monk design?

-O

That does sound like an awesome character, but I wouldn't call it a Monk. The Monk is a very strong archetype involving mysticism and life-force and so forth. I absolutely think you should be able to have a Jackie Chan-type character, but I don't think it should be called Monk. (It could totally be a fighter with a specialty.)