D&D 3.x [3.5] Monk damage progression post-lvl20

[Raistlin97]

I saw a post from '09 declaring that monk damage doesn't progress after 20, but I can't find anything 3.5-specific that supports it. In 3.0, Monk progression was irregular, so didn't qualify, but WotC fixed that, such that Monk damage rises every fourth level. As per the epic rules, every class feature that improves at a fixed interval of levels qualifies, so Monk damage progression should, too, right? Is there something I'm missing? Before anyone brings up the ELH, it was 3.0, and under 3.0, Monk indeed lacks damage progression after lvl16, but I'm asking as regarding 3.5.

 

[Alzrius]

I saw a post from '09 declaring that monk damage doesn't progress after 20, but I can't find anything 3.5-specific that supports it. In 3.0, Monk progression was irregular, so didn't qualify, but WotC fixed that, such that Monk damage rises every fourth level. As per the epic rules, every class feature that improves at a fixed interval of levels qualifies, so Monk damage progression should, too, right? Is there something I'm missing? Before anyone brings up the ELH, it was 3.0, and under 3.0, Monk indeed lacks damage progression after lvl16, but I'm asking as regarding 3.5.

According to the official 3.5 update booklet (which was available both in print and on the WotC website; I'll attach a copy to this post), "The epic-level class progressions for the core classes are unchanged."

Now, that's slightly awkward, since the Epic Level Handbook says "Unarmed Strike: The damage for a monk’s unarmed strike does not increase after 16th level," but in 3.5 the monk's unarmed damage increases at 20th level (EDIT: the line about their unarmed strike damage being capped after 16th level can also be found on page 208 of the 3.5 DMG). But leaving aside that relatively minor contradiction, the intent seems to be that ELH's prohibition against the epic monk's unarmed damage increasing still applies in 3.5, albeit after they get their last damage increase at 20th level.

 

[Raistlin97]

If that's the case, do lvl21 druids get another 20 animal companions?

 

[Alzrius]

If that's the case, do lvl21 druids get another 20 animal companions?

No, that's covered in the errata file for the 3.5 DMG (attached here), which states the following:

Epic Druid
Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 208
Problem: Druids no longer get multiple animal companions.
Solution: Replace the Animal Companion paragraph with the following text:
Animal Companion: The epic druid’s animal companion continues to increase in power. At every three levels higher than 18th (21st, 24th, 27th, and so on), the companion gains +2 bonus Hit Dice, its natural armor increases by 2, its Strength and Dexterity modifiers increase by 1, and it learns one additional bonus trick.

 

[Raistlin97]

So in other words, WotC noticed the epic rules needed to change with their changes to Druid, but didn't notice with Monk. If we're ignoring strict RAW that we copy-paste 3.0 Epic Monk and they only get their lv16 damage, then shouldn't damage progress?

 

[Alzrius]

So in other words, WotC noticed the epic rules needed to change with their changes to Druid, but didn't notice with Monk.

Yeah, that about sums it up.

If we're ignoring strict RAW that we copy-paste 3.0 Epic Monk and they only get their lv16 damage, then shouldn't damage progress?

I suppose it comes down to a question of whether or not that would eventually result in their unarmed strike damage becoming unbalanced at higher levels. At level 30 or so that probably won't be a big deal, but if we're talking level 100 characters then the base damage dice might be notably high...of course, at that level base damage dice might not matter much compared to what everyone else can do, so it's hard to say.