D&D 5E 5th edition monks

[Don Durito]

As a GM I actually will go that route, basing it on the concept that gymnasts and ballet dancers are more Dex than Str.

But I tend to envision Str in an (American) football context of brute impact over short periods, while Dex as more a whole-body approach.

Yeah. A lot of GMs will. (Or else what is Acrobatics for?) But it seems a little bit unfair for other characters to be poaching on the one skill that Strength based characters get to be good at.

Plus while you know that you can use Athletics to climb a wall with Strength, with acrobatics it feels like you have to enter into a kind of mutual negotiation in which it may depend on how high the wall is, how you describe the action, and where exactly an individual GM tends to draw the line on Wuxia inspired stunts.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Yeah. A lot of GMs will. (Or else what is Acrobatics for?) But it seems a little bit unfair for other characters to be poaching on the one skill that Strength based characters get to be good at.

Plus while you know that you can use Athletics to climb a wall with Strength, with acrobatics it feels like you have to enter into a kind of mutual negotiation in which it may depend on how high the wall is, how you describe the action, and where exactly an individual GM tends to draw the line on Wuxia inspired stunts.

I'm not sure what Wuxia is, but you're not climbing a wall without pintons and rope at my table.

 

[Don Durito]

I'm not sure what Wuxia is, but you're not climbing a wall without pintons and rope at my table.

What if the wall is 15 feet tall and I tell you I'm leaping off a barrel, kicking against an adjacent wall at right angles to the obstacle and then somersaulting over it somewhat like a long jumper?

Wuxia

 

[Undrave]

You don't have a problem with the Monk. You have a problem with the six ability scores of DnD when trying to apply them as a simulationist frame. They've been so entrenched into the hobby that you don't even bother wondering if there could be a better way to model the sheer physical prowess of the Monk as anything but a dance between STR and DEX when, really, they should just be a single stat.

I'm not sure what Wuxia is, but you're not climbing a wall without pintons and rope at my table.

A 9th level monk can run up a veritcal surface (or across water) without falling.

 

[Jd Smith1]

What if the wall is 15 feet tall and I tell you I'm leaping off a barrel, kicking against an adjacent wall at right angles to the obstacle and then somersaulting over it somewhat like a long jumper?

Wuxia

I would tell you that you failed.

Thanks for the clarification; I didn't know it had a name.

 

[Jd Smith1]

A 9th level monk can run up a veritcal surface (or across water) without falling.

Not at my table, they don't.

 

[PsyzhranV2]

Not at my table, they don't.

It's literally in their class features.

 

[Don Durito]

I would tell you that you failed.

Well that's the point I was making. A lot of GMs would allow that - it's not clear where the line is and it's going to be different from table to table.

 

[Jd Smith1]

It's literally in their class features.

You're right. The trick is to kill them off before they get too annoying.

Actually, I don't allow monks.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Well that's the point I was making. A lot of GMs would allow that - it's not clear where the line is and it's going to be different from table to table.

True. Which is why it is always important to make sure that everyone at the table has the same expectations.