D&D 5E Buffing monks: with simple changes.

[Flamestrike]

You could do variant Monks, that use different styles.

Hard style (striking etc)
Increase unarmed strike damage by 1 step (d4-d6-d8-d10-d12-2d8 at 20th)

Soft style (defence)
Gain an additional +1 to unarmored defence AC at levels 1, 5, 11 and 17.

Etc

 

[Iry]

I still stand by my answer from one year ago.
Divorce Stunning Strike from Ki. Make it usable 1+Proficiency per short rest.

 

[kapars]

Nah. The issue would be more of a lack of action economy to spend your ki. It might actually be better if Flurry of Blow was just an extra unarmed attack as part of the attack action so long as you use a Monk Weapon/Unarmed Strike. Then you could spend your Ki on your bonus action stuff if you don't use the Martial Arts bonus action (which I would keep in this situation). By freeing the Ki and Bonus Action I think the defensive options would see more use. Also put HD at D10.

Now you’re more or less back to where they were in the dndnext playtest before bonus actions became a thing except that HD was not d10 and martial arts started at d6.

I wish I could’ve been a fly on the wall to see what the feedback was back then.

 

[jgsugden]

...It sounds cool in concept but in reality it doesn't work.

This is 100% false. You can say that you've not been able to make it work, but you can't say it does not work overall as it has worked for me very well, and for monk PCs in my games as well. There are a lot of DMs out there that will share their experiences where it has worked as intended, and been a lot of fun.[/quote]'Lock down one guy' is NOT a real party role. It's not something a mobile skirmisher should do! That's more of a defender's schtick.[/QUOTE]This is narrow thinking. You're essentially saying the monk should not do it because you don't like monks doing it. There is nothing inherent in the monk class that would make it inappropriate for the stun legacy that goes all the way back to AD&D and is the core mechanic of the class, historically, to be the central feature of the class in 5E.

 

[Undrave]

his is narrow thinking. You're essentially saying the monk should not do it because you don't like monks doing it. There is nothing inherent in the monk class that would make it inappropriate for the stun legacy that goes all the way back to AD&D and is the core mechanic of the class, historically, to be the central feature of the class in 5E.

I'm saying 'Lock down a dude' shouldn't be your entire class. That's like making a Caster who only gets Sleep or something.

And the Legacy IS the problem with the Monk. It wasn't designed with a clear gameplay loop in mind the someway all the other class clearly were, even the Sorcerer and Ranger, but rather it's just a pile of features that existed in the past so 'we better have them here' with no real thought on how they interact and what character they build.

The playtests one I'm hearing about who had at-will stuff that gained bonus with Ki spending sounds a LOT like the 4e Monk to me...maybe they got spooked by that association?

 

[OB1]

Two simple monk buffs
1. Flurry of blows - When you take the attack action, you can spend 1 ki point to make an unarmed attack
2. Additional Ki - Add 2x your Wis modifier to you maximum number of Ki points

 

[TheOneGargoyle]

Two simple monk buffs
1. Flurry of blows - When you take the attack action, you can spend 1 ki point to make an unarmed attack

Instead of 2 attacks as a bonus action ?

Although this would free up your BA to use PD or SotW, wouldn't this put monks even further behind in the damage dept than they already are ?

 

[jgsugden]

I'm saying 'Lock down a dude' shouldn't be your entire class. That's like making a Caster who only gets Sleep or something.

Barbarians, Fighters, and (to a large extent paladins) just deal damage. Warlocks and rogues, too, honestly. Classes having a primary focal technique isn't exactly unusual for D&D.

And the Legacy IS the problem with the Monk...

It is only a problem to those who subjectively do not like it. There are a lot of players, myself included, that have had a lot of fun playing a monk. While stunning is their primary shtick, my most recent one has also used the Open Hand knock downs and pushes, as well as his mobility to be in the right place to do things, often.

I don't know what to tell you other than that there are a lot of people that are having a really good time playing monks, so it is plainly false to say the class can't be fun - and if it can be fun, it is fine.

 

[Bill Zebub]

For the record, I don't think that "locking down dudes" is the monk's role, let alone "the entire class". Yes, it is something useful and unique (for martials) that they can do, but it's not the purpose of the class. Stunning Strike is just one of the cool tools they have.

Nor do I think classes need to have, or are designed to have, their one thing.

That said, I'll reiterate that I think some of their abilities could and should be tweaked and improved. But the class isn't an ill-defined hot mess with no role. It's a lot of fun to play, even with no changes at all.

 

[TheOneGargoyle]

I don't know what to tell you other than that there are a lot of people that are having a really good time playing monks, so it is plainly false to say the class can't be fun - and if it can be fun, it is fine.

Ahh no. By this yardstick, OG PHB rangers are fine (because some people could have fun with them), which they clearly weren't.

Not every class has to be mechanically the strongest, obviously, but just saying they can be fun so they're fine is the other extreme. Some people can have fun with a mechanically weak class purely from the thematics and don't care if they're weak mechanically. But many people want theme & mechanics to match and being weak mechanically detracts from that fun.

It's fine if your experience and opinion are different, everybody's will be, but let's not get into arguing about whether those who think it's fine vastly outnumber those who don't. Monks are widely understood to be both thematically strong but mechanically weak, and need some tweaks to bring them up to par mechanically.

Let's keep the discussion to that plskthxla.