Monk Preview

[Vendark]

While I can certainly understand your disappointment, I don't think there's any real lost opportunity here. A cool class idea is a cool class idea. If someone at WotC comes up with one, they're not going to reject it because "Hey, this would've been a cool ki class, but we didn't create that, so I'll just chuck the idea." What they'll say is, "This would've been a cool ki class, but since we don't have that, I should probably make it [insert other power source here]."

I'm not so sure. Which came first, the idea for the warden or the idea for a separate primal power source? If they hadn't decided to make primal its own power source, is there an impetus to come up with the warden at all?

I know they say they aren't trying to fill the grid, but I think each new power source forces them to at least think about the grid, and I think that can generate good ideas that might not have come about otherwise. I was excited to see what cool ideas ki was going to generate, and I'm somewhat disillusioned to find that the answer was apparently "None."

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I'm happy with the decision on the Monk since they realized that grouping all Asian classes into one power source was a stupid idea. And I as an Asian like the fact that they aren't going to ghettoize all Asian concepts into one area.

 

[Stalker0]

I don't think flurry of blows gets implement damage, as its static damage and magic only usually adds to damage rolls (similar to the warlord power).

As far as ki vs psionic, I could absolutely care less. Psionic works for the monk and its a good way to take care of the issue of (well fighters are really trained warriors, why don't they do all of the "crazy" stuff?) .

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I noticed that none of the at-will powers do double damage at 21st level, I wonder if this was intentional or an oversight.

 

[Vendark]

I'm happy with the decision on the Monk since they realized that grouping all Asian classes into one power source was a stupid idea. And I as an Asian like the fact that they aren't going to ghettoize all Asian concepts into one area.

It didn't have to have anything to do with grouping Asian classes together. It could have been the opposite of that: coming up with new classes to show that "ki" doesn't have to be exclusively Asian in flavor. Missed opportunity.

 

[Stalker0]

You know what I find interesting? Actually the halfling looks like it might be a pretty good monk.

Unlike in 3e, the halfling gets the full 1d8 of damage, has dex as a primary, and whose bonus against OAs is very useful with such a mobile class.

While elf looks to be the primary match (both stats are good, speed bonus is huge, and of course elven accuracy), I think both human and halflings would work well.

One thing I would consider for the class is to give them defensive mobility as a bonus feat as there entire class is designed to move around people. It would help to balance out the lower AC compared to many other strikers

 

[Rechan]

I'm not so sure. Which came first, the idea for the warden or the idea for a separate primal power source? If they hadn't decided to make primal its own power source, is there an impetus to come up with the warden at all?

Probably the Warden, because the designers had to look at the 3e druid and go, "Well, he does so much. So lets split his weapon-using ass-beating schtick into one class, his healing thing into another class, and his shapeshifting spellcasting into a third class."

3 of the 4 primal classes really are just three versions of the Druid, because the old druid was carrying a lot of baggage.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Ki was a stupid idea from the start, and I'm glad they're axing it. Psionic magic comes from inner manifested power. Ki was...well, inner manifested power, but I guess it was asian inner manifested power. Glad to see they realized what a bad idea that was.

Do you know what a ninja is? It's a rogue. That's what a ninja is. Seriously, it's a freaking rogue. Samurai? Fighter. There's no reason to give them alternate power sources.

Monk as psionic is a good fit. I can see it either as psionic or as martial, and they went with psionic, so uh, yeah.

 

[MadLordOfMilk]

The death of ki is a major disappointment to me. I consider D&D's ongoing inability to craft a decent unarmored (or at least minimally armored) guy with a katana to be a major failing. I had hopes that ki would solve this.

Well, taking a look at the Design & Development article gives us the following...

The concept of the monk drawing energy from within was a good match for psionics. When we looked at classes like the shugenja, the wu jen, the ninja, and the samurai, we came to similar conclusions in matching them to other power sources. In some cases, like the samurai, we're more excited about using an approach similar to the Dragon articles on gladiators and assassins.

Something like the Samurai article promised (though not specifically the samurai, but a different "subclass" certainly) might offer the option to you later.

Mike: Monks and weapons were a bone of contention at various points of the process. In the end, we decided to focus on the unarmed monk as the standard character, give you mechanics that make unarmed basic attacks viable, and leave the door open for future builds that focus on weapons. The fighting style feats allow you to blend a weapon with your unarmed fighting. I like the idea of a monk that combines a scimitar with kicks and strikes.

Emphasis mine. And to elaborate on what that might mean, here's another clip...

Stephen: ... We'll also use fighting style feats to provide options to those players who want to focus on using weapons instead of barehand attacks. You might see a feat like Bladed Wind Style that would grant bonus damage when you score a critical hit using a scimitar (and make scimitar a monk weapon), or Shielding Whirlwind Style that provides a shield bonus to AC when using a quarterstaff.

The aforementioned feat means even monks might offer what you're looking for

Overall, I wouldn't quite give up hope yet, Cadfan

 

[MadLordOfMilk]

On Flurry of Blows. In the Design and Development article, one will find the following:

The monk gains Flurry of Blows, which adds a flat damage amount to his primary target but it plays a bit differently. The monk can choose to apply the flurry damage to any adjacent creature, even if that creature wasn't hit by the triggering attack. In fact, if the flurry hits a different target, it gets even better, gaining either a slide effect or a damage boost.

Emphasis mine.

I think this means Centered Mind will get the flurry of blows we see here, and for the STR monk, instead of a slide it's just even more damage (probably STR mod?). So, DEX/WIS = Striker/Controller, DEX/STR = Striker/Striker?