Foreshadowing the monk?

[Andor]

Anybody else notice this guy in the DMG?

[sblock=Barstomun Strongbeard]He's a "surly drawf pugilist" found on page 200.

Fist Pummel (Standard; at will)
+7 vs. AC; 1d6 + 4 damage

Quick Punch (minor; at will)
+7 vs. AC; 1d6 + 4 damage

Dodge and Throw (immediate reaction; encounter; after enemy misses with a melee attack)
+7 vs Fortitude; slide target 1, and target is knocked prone.

All his attacks seem to be str +1 and deal 1d6 + str mod damage.[/sblock]

Is this a glimpse of the Monk (or Pugilist?) Or just another NPC with whatever powers the writer decided to give him?

 

[billd91]

I've noticed that the 4e combat powers remind me a lot of the martial arts maneuvers from 1st edition Oriental Adventures. In fact, 4e might have missed it's best calling - being a kung-fu action tactical game.

 

[generalhenry]

quick punch is fairly well balanced to other striker abilities

 

[Byronic]

Or a high powered superhero game (I mean that in a good way. As in if Savage Worlds didn't provide an even nicer system I'd possibly use 4E)

 

[Anax]

Hmm. That Quick Punch is kind of neat. It has a similar sort of flavor to the 3E flurry of blows, without interfering with the 4E power system--especially since you can mix it with other standard action attack powers.

I can certainly imagine a variation on that being one of the available at-will powers for a 4E monk--although for a player character, perhaps a bit more limited (for example, not adding str modifier damage, or perhaps not scaling to 2[W] at epic levels, unlike most at-wills.)

 

[Gloombunny]

Hmm. That Quick Punch is kind of neat. It has a similar sort of flavor to the 3E flurry of blows, without interfering with the 4E power system--especially since you can mix it with other standard action attack powers.

I can certainly imagine a variation on that being one of the available at-will powers for a 4E monk--although for a player character, perhaps a bit more limited (for example, not adding str modifier damage, or perhaps not scaling to 2[W] at epic levels, unlike most at-wills.)

I like generalhenry's observation - I would see it as a monk's answer to sneak attack, hunter's quarry, and warlock's curse. Instead of extra damage as a rider on their regular attacks, monks get to make an extra low-damage attack each turn. It could even be a free action with a once-per-round limit so that the monk can always use it but still have a minor action free... or maybe costing the minor action would be part of balancing its potentially higher damage than quarry and curse.

 

[Bandreus]

consider attacking with a minor action is not something you see very often.

I'd like the monk to have more powers like those, with more enabling him to perform stunts and combos during his turn.

 

[N0Man]

Nice... but why would you ever use Pummel over Quick Attack? They are the same to-hit, and the same damage. The only difference is one is a standard action, but you can use a Minor in place of a Standard.

I guess it's just to break the monotony of doing 3 Quick attacks (trading standard and move for 2 minors), rather than Pummel, + 2 Quick attacks.

 

[generalhenry]

pummel is a basic attack

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Exactly.

You move, charge, hit with pummel, and then minor action to hit with quick strike.

So the Monk mobility is certainly down. Not moving any faster than another character, but a lot more effective after moving.