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Challenging the enlarged monk
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<blockquote data-quote="Kalendraf" data-source="post: 1676554" data-attributes="member: 3433"><p>One of the players in my weekly campaign runs a 9th level monk. One of his standard tactics has been to have the cleric (strength domain) cast enlarge on him (via a wand) to gain 10' reach, up his damage dice and improve his trip attacks. He now has enough money saved up to obtain a monk's belt which will up those damage dice still further.</p><p></p><p>After considering the damage (likely 3d6 + str bonus compared to 1d10 + str before), I'm not that concerned with the damage alone. On average, that is probably 14 to 15 points per hit, which is in the ballpark of the fighter/barbarian's damage output with a double axe (1d8 + magic + 1.5xstr + 2xpower attack, avg about 15 or so per hit, I think).</p><p></p><p>The problem is that the monk also gets those trip attacks and the 10' reach, making him perhaps too strong in comparison. Obviously, a nicely targetted dispel magic can bring the monk right back down to size, as can the end of spell duration, but in many battles, it's a fact that the monk will be probably occupy a 10x10. To me it seems jut a bit unbalanced compared to a melee fighter at this point.</p><p></p><p>In 1e/2e, being large meant a lot of weapons did almost double damage against you. In 3.5, there appears to be very little downside for being enlarged. AC does drop by 2 overall, but that's not a huge amount - at least it hasn't seemed to be. Most characters tend to have at least 1 achilles heel, whether its AC, Hit points or bad saves against something. For example the fighter/barbarian in the same party has one primary weakness - will saves. But the monk gets good saves all around and also has a high wisdom, so it's a bit tougher to find a weak spot on this character. His hit point aren't as high as the barbarian, but his AC is better. While it's cool to be able to count on a particular character being there until the end of every fight, it also seems that to be fair, the DM should try to find challenges that are tough for each character throughout their adventures.</p><p></p><p>What are some ways to challenge an enlarged monk that other characters might handle fairly easy? Traps set for giant-weight only? Expose that -2 AC penalty? Break out the forces of chaos with Protection from Law?</p><p></p><p>I'm not looking to hose the character too badly, since I managed to kill him off a couple sessions ago when an enemy fighter got extremely lucky and rolled multiple crits in the same round. Just looking for suggestions to help me challenge this particular PC.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kalendraf, post: 1676554, member: 3433"] One of the players in my weekly campaign runs a 9th level monk. One of his standard tactics has been to have the cleric (strength domain) cast enlarge on him (via a wand) to gain 10' reach, up his damage dice and improve his trip attacks. He now has enough money saved up to obtain a monk's belt which will up those damage dice still further. After considering the damage (likely 3d6 + str bonus compared to 1d10 + str before), I'm not that concerned with the damage alone. On average, that is probably 14 to 15 points per hit, which is in the ballpark of the fighter/barbarian's damage output with a double axe (1d8 + magic + 1.5xstr + 2xpower attack, avg about 15 or so per hit, I think). The problem is that the monk also gets those trip attacks and the 10' reach, making him perhaps too strong in comparison. Obviously, a nicely targetted dispel magic can bring the monk right back down to size, as can the end of spell duration, but in many battles, it's a fact that the monk will be probably occupy a 10x10. To me it seems jut a bit unbalanced compared to a melee fighter at this point. In 1e/2e, being large meant a lot of weapons did almost double damage against you. In 3.5, there appears to be very little downside for being enlarged. AC does drop by 2 overall, but that's not a huge amount - at least it hasn't seemed to be. Most characters tend to have at least 1 achilles heel, whether its AC, Hit points or bad saves against something. For example the fighter/barbarian in the same party has one primary weakness - will saves. But the monk gets good saves all around and also has a high wisdom, so it's a bit tougher to find a weak spot on this character. His hit point aren't as high as the barbarian, but his AC is better. While it's cool to be able to count on a particular character being there until the end of every fight, it also seems that to be fair, the DM should try to find challenges that are tough for each character throughout their adventures. What are some ways to challenge an enlarged monk that other characters might handle fairly easy? Traps set for giant-weight only? Expose that -2 AC penalty? Break out the forces of chaos with Protection from Law? I'm not looking to hose the character too badly, since I managed to kill him off a couple sessions ago when an enemy fighter got extremely lucky and rolled multiple crits in the same round. Just looking for suggestions to help me challenge this particular PC. [/QUOTE]
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