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If you can build a character that feels like an old-school monk when you play it then you've lost nothing. People who pitch deal-breaker fits over every detail of the build not being included directly into a stand-alone class aren't going to be happy with anything you do in 5E so they aren't...

Removing? No. Restructuring? Definitely! Will you have some senseless edition-warring by people who demand D&D conform to their semantic definition of class to mirror their AD&D, 2nd Ed, 3E, or 4E experience? Sure. You have -ahem- "Unique" people still stumping for returning to Elf and Dwarf...

That's never going to work. That was the case in AD&D and 3E and the kvetching about how disabled the Monk happened to be went on forever. Frankly, they weren't unfounded complaints either. The Monk in both incarnations was an extreme gimpy class. New feats and substitutions were finally rolled...

Ah, I see the issue now. The Monk trades being restricted to a narrow amount of weapons (including unarmed) to do the same and equal job as a Fighter in Melee Combat AND be head-and-shoulders better in the Interaction and Exploration fields. Have Cake. Eat Cake. Still have Cake. Sounds...

I suspect "Fighting Style" probably has at least a little to do with a broad class of weapons - things like Great Weapons, Pole Arms, Bows, One-Handed Weapon & Shield, Empty Handed, or Two-Weapon Fighting. Some effect probably come earlier or easier depending on what implements you specialize...

I agree he's a unique build. The problem is, historically, we wind up with a super-narrow class that basically has to boggart everything about Martial-Arts to itself and bind them forever in the theme and background of Eastern Mysticism and Monasticism - which doesn't even support all the...

Actually, I think there is a nasty habit of class-centric thinking to unnecessarily marry anything flavorful to a class, creating unnecessary constraints on what abilities can be mixed so that one style (the Okinawan Peasant-Monk) gets supported but boggart's design space so another style can't...

You are factually incorrect and what you assert about Backgrounds and Themes. If you'd take the time to look at the play-test materials you'll clearly see that the Cleric of Pelor has the "Healer" theme. At first level it gives him the Herbalism feat, which is not a combat feat. At level 3 he...

Are all monks mystical martial-arts badasses? Are all martial-artists mystics? Are all martial-artists monks? No, no, and no. That's a great indication that these components don't have to be chained together into an exclusive package deal like AD&D gave us. Likewise, are all Barbarians...

To a matter of degree? Sure. To the same degree that the current 5E models Class-Background-Theme? Certainly not. So, because you choose to engage in a textbook Slippery Slope Fallacy taking any sort of reduction or compartmentalization approach to handling traditional classes as builds is...

People conflate fighting style and lifestyle too much when addressing the Monk as a class rather than a character build. This is part of why having Backgrounds and Themes are so important - well-designed classes do not put your character background into a straight-jacket. "Monk" is not a class...

They all look good to me. Goblins in older editions were kind of vague to me, but having the clear Goblinoid grouping with bright-line distinctions between the races has helped make them feel concrete. Sometimes context with other races is the most helpful tool to make a monster seem like a...

The broad category concept is good. I think you underestimate the overlap, though. The Fighter was a large chunk of core fundamentals and the Knight and Slayer were basically differentiated by what the added on level by level. They both had a core of high HP and healing surge values, weapon and...

It all depends on the definition of "class." Originally Class was a straight-jacked, level 1 on, telling you everything you could ever have for gaining experience points. If you were one of the privileged classes that used the Spell Lists that ate up 40% of the PHB page-count you could actually...

Duuuuuuuude. Total mind-frag. The core of the monk is "martial artist." The Eastern mythos of the monk needs to be optional - like a theme. Someone who has nigh-inhuman speed, agility, and specialty movement and unarmed combat options has the core power-train of the monk. They call these...

Ah, OK. Suspicion confirmed - this is a "You'll have to pry my Quadratic Wizard's character sheet from my cold dead hands" thread. Fine. "Elminsterfanboi999's Space-time Shift" ... ahem ... I mean "Teleport" can just be thrown into an Optional Rules Module marked "Radioactive." As long as the...

I suspect at the heart of the matter we'll find Quadratic Wizards and Linear Fighters again. Some people simply must have their wizards be able to evade any finite number of high-level martial types by wiggling their fingers. That way they can go reload on Vancian spells and keep the uppity...

Teleport was a spell I learned to hate in 3E after using it as a player. It broke the world for me. Mundane transportation and travel restrictions were obsolete for characters. Between Fabricate and Teleport I turned a global economy on its head and all the solutions we could come up with were...

My preferences are based around the fact that I don't want the game's default assumption to be that my character's ability scores are scaling at a fixed rate over levels like 4E does, but I still want the ability to alter scores over time. I also want to respect the bell-curve and the point-buy...

Supporting my play-style means punishing everyone who plays in a style that detracts from my fun so they will conform in a way that maximizes my enjoyment of the game. People playing fighters should know their role and caddie my wands already. - Marty Lund