DM versus Drunken Master, Help please !

[DnDPally]

Hi, i'm the DM of a game, where i have a player who played... Half-Orc Monk 5 / Drunken Master 3.
While i read a lot on the matter and know that most of you power gamers and min maxers will tell me to suggest him to change his character. i am warning you guys that saying so will only make me ignore you. so be warned, i know the class sucks, but its his choice and im not going to disrespect that for the sake of power gaming.

that said...
i have some kind of problem with him, him being a bit weak and the class defitions int he books being to vague doesn'T help at all. i still want him to have fun reguardless, hes a role playing type guy, he plays mostly for flavors. but in combat its just weird. for now the only good thing is that hes one of th efew in group who can actually do something against undead. the others just pass thru DR with brute force.

but i was wondering, as a DM what i could do to bring his experience up a notch.

the first thing on my plate...
the -4 on improvised weapons. to me it seems the ability implies that he doesn'T have it but it doesn't specifically says so. so i'd be willing to give him that for free. doesn'T think it unbalances anything. but is it me reading it wrong, i want your opinion on that.

next thing on the list, booze... is there stronger type of alcool, or am i forced to invent any if i want him to have choices ? seems to me the only thing explained is that he can drink more bottles and get better rage. because of that multiple stacking effect im wary of giving bottles that adds stats to him... whats your views on that ?

third thing, how can he gets his damage higher. no he's not multicalssing into something else. i'm talking feats and strategies here. what are his options ? weapons, keep his punches... im thinking of him going the attack of opportunity routes, but im not sure he can do that if he doesn'T get reach first. so what can be done here ?

the last thing i wanna know, as DM would you houserule the class in order to boost him to par with others, or would you just let it be until he has enough... i dont know how to react to that. the second options seems bad to me. but houserulling makes the game a bit bad in the ways that players can easily get lost into it.

so, discuss ?!!

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

If you're cool with improved natural attack bumping up his damage a die type there is that. I seem to recall superior unarmed strike in Tome of Battle but it's been a long time since I looked at 3.xE material closely. Anyway, it may also provide another bump.

Honestly, I think monks are best fixed with house rules. Re-do the base class and give it full BAB, for example, and maybe some AC boosts beyond what it already gets. The class is so weak that you could pretty much do anything short of giving it full spellcasting ability and it will only just be keeping up.

BTW, the only way the monk in my old 3.5E campaign was able to be of use was for the wizard to cast polymorph to turn him into a treant (size increased to Huge with two bumps to his unarmed strike damage) and then cast gird the warrior from Complete Book of Eldritch Might to give him an AC bonus. And that was even after I insisted that the monk take vow of poverty from Book of Egregiously-bad Design (aka Book of Exalted Deeds) to try and give him a headstart. It didn't work.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Arms & equipment guide is a good source for intoxicating beverages. How that interacts with drunken maser is for you to make up.

 

[DnDPally]

thanks...
cityscape has the up to date info on intoxication 3.5.
arms and Equipment is 3.0.

i dont think the monk is that bad. i've talked to a few power gamer and min maxer in my place and they said the monk can be abusive if he goes grapple heavy. so i dont think the monk is a bad choice to begin with. the drunken master is a problem right now. i've looked at 3.0 version in sword and fist. and its definitely abetter one then in complete warrior 3.5. but then again seems to me like a mix of both would be way better.

as for the booze, i found a few things in cityscape...
but it seems aside from higher DC, booze dont give anything else.

so basically the class is way too vague, hence why it sucks.

-4 to improvised weapon has no reason to be. to me it seems its intended to be proficient with improvised weapon. i dont like the idea of it upgrading as we go. so thats definitely weird from 3.0 to 3.5

more AC as you go, logical since the more he drinks the less he feels damage. hes also moving a lot. making direct hits less of a something. but again from 3.0 to 3.5 hes gaining only 2 AC instead of 4. i liked the 4. even more when you consider hes not using armors.

yep think i'm going to make a mix of both. that should help him alot.
i also dont like breath weapon at that high a level

 

[Grogg of the North]

Let's go through your questions in order:

1) The drunken master's whole thing is that he's staggering around swinging beer bottles, chairs, and everything in reach. I would just ignore the -4 penalty to improvised weapons. That's the drunken master's thing and it's, in my opinion, implied that the drunken master isn't taking that penalty. If you feel that he needs to pay to get around the -4, there is a feat in pathfinder called Improvised Weapon Mastery. I strongly recommend against doing that. You'd be hitting your player with a feat tax.

2) Booze! Well, we can cheat this a little by looking at the real world. One 12 oz beer (~5% ABV) is equal to one shot of hard liquor (45 ml at 40% ABV) is equal to 4 to 5 oz of wine (~10% ABV)*. Now, drunken master has some rules on what you can drink as a move action. But you're the DM! So screw the rules!

You have a couple options:

-Allow the drunken master to drink a more powerful drink in a move action using the equivalencies above.
-Allow the time it takes to drink to diminish as the drunken master levels up. Something like swift action at level 4 and then a free action at level 7.
-I could have sworn I had a third idea. But it's left me. It obviously wasn't that good then.

3) Improved Natural Attack is the go to feat for monks. Gaining reliable access to Enlarge Person works too. Or if you can somehow get access to Greater Mighty Wallop or Giant Form. In the past, I've allowed monks to pick up magical gloves that allow the monk to deal unarmed strike damage but gain things like the fiery weapon enhancement. Out of curiosity, did your drunken master take Improved Grapple or Stunning Fist? There are a lot of things that you can feed Stunning Fist into, other than just stunning (which is totally awesome and you should be doing it anyway!).

4) I wouldn't house rule much about drunken master. I might put a few encounters in that play to his strengths though, such as his Stagger ability or even his Breath of Fire. Or even just some roleplaying encounters. If you have access to the Shackled City Adventure Path, take a look at the Flood Festival and Drink Down the Flood drinking contest in there. Finally, talk with your drunken master. Is there something that (s)he wants or feels frustrated about? I wouldn't want to start fiddling with someone's class without talking to them about it first!

* I found these equivalencies online. I make no claim to their accuracy but they sound about right from the "alcohol is bad" talk I got in health class.

 

[DnDPally]

-Allow the drunken master to drink a more powerful drink in a move action using the equivalencies above.
-Allow the time it takes to drink to diminish as the drunken master levels up. Something like swift action at level 4 and then a free action at level 7.
-I could have sworn I had a third idea. But it's left me. It obviously wasn't that good then.

3) Improved Natural Attack is the go to feat for monks. Gaining reliable access to Enlarge Person works too. Or if you can somehow get access to Greater Mighty Wallop or Giant Form. In the past, I've allowed monks to pick up magical gloves that allow the monk to deal unarmed strike damage but gain things like the fiery weapon enhancement. Out of curiosity, did your drunken master take Improved Grapple or Stunning Fist? There are a lot of things that you can feed Stunning Fist into, other than just stunning (which is totally awesome and you should be doing it anyway!).

thanks for everything, that does help me out.
didn'T think of improoved natural attack which fists and kicks are. good thinking there.
yeah he has stunning fist which he tries to use, but in the end its DC is too low and i get good rolls against him. but he has it and he is using it. grapples were explained to him and he wa kinda willing to try it. so we'll see. i love the idea of drinking bottles as a free action at higher level. really makes it better... but then again if i go with 3.0 rules, the drinks takes literally an hour to be digested. so that might be better. the glove idea is good.

overall that goes a long way in, so thank you guys !

 

[Grogg of the North]

In Magic Item Compendium there are a few items that boost the DC on stunning fist. The feat Ability Focus would also give +2 DC.

If his stunning fist isn't working out for him, there are feats that let you do other things with stun attempts. Pharaoh's Fist, Fist of Iron, Rattlesnake Strike all leap to mind.