A Challenge to the Smackdowners!

[Sparrowhawk]

I just read this article on Sean K Reynolds' website. It does have some good points, but I'm not entirely convinced. For one thing, allowing monk unarmed BAB to stack with other classes makes the monk seem a little less special. And Sean's example of Mnk 2/Ftr 18 vs Mnk 20 seems misleading to me. Yes, the long list of special abilities that the Mnk 20 has is indeed impressive. But for the Mnk 2/ Ftr 18, he just says, "10 bonus fighter feats." Which feats, though? Some of those feats that have a lot of prereqs can get pretty nasty. And having multiple high-power feats in combination can be even nastier. Throw in the martial arts style bonuses in OA and things might get unbalancing.

So here is my challenge to the powergamers of the D&D Rules forum. Design a 15th level character to the following specifications:

1. 36 point buy for ability scores.
2. Maximum HP for first level, 1/2 hit die every level thereafter.
3. Standard treasure for a 15th-level PC.
4. You may use any supplement you own, but make sure you're using the latest version of the rules. (IE errata etc.)
5. The BAB of every class counts toward the monk's unarmed BAB. However, iterative unarmed attacks are capped at 5. Haste, flurry of blows, and extra attacks from other sources still apply.

I want to see the most abusive characters y'all can come up with using these parameters. They should be designed to abuse the removal of the "monk's unarmed BAB" restriction. I may post a 15th level monk as comparision either tomorrow or tuesday, but if someone else more skilled in the art of min-maxing would do that for me I would be very grateful.

Now let's get it on!

 

[Plane Sailing]

While I'm not interested in smackdowns, I'd like to thank you for the link to Seans "PHB opinions" pages - they are very interesting reading, and I find I agree with many of the thoughts he has about various classes (even if not his thoughts about feats).

Cheers

 

[Darkness]

4. You may use any supplement you own, but make sure you're using the latest version of the rules. (IE errata etc.)

BTW, WotC-only or truly any supplement out there?

 

[ConcreteBuddha]

I think they should stack. First off, the best ability of a Monk is the SR. Every level of a Fighter detracts from this ability.

Even if you only give the character 4 levels of Fighter (which would probably be the limit due to Weapon Spec.), you are still rapidly declining the effectiveness of your SR.

Also, using the feats from OA isn't really any different than a single-classed monk, since they are not on the Fighter's list of bonus feats. If you use the optional rule that Monks can switch out feats, this is even less of an issue.

The only thing I think would increase, however, is for more Monk/L1 Paladins to emerge. The loss of one level of SR is worth Divine Grace, IMO. Of course, that is assuming the character has a good amount of Charisma, which most monks tend to lack. (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, and Intellegence are all frequently better than a Monk's Charisma.)