Fighter vs. Monk

[JoeGKushner]

It's important to note that a lot of third party books make monks very dangerous.

A monk whose got access to feats and abilities from A Player's Guide to Arcanis, Monks and Paladins, Beyond Monk, the Art of the Fight, Quintessentail Monk I & II, is going to be devistating.

 

[reveal]

It's important to note that a lot of third party books make monks very dangerous.

A monk whose got access to feats and abilities from A Player's Guide to Arcanis, Monks and Paladins, Beyond Monk, the Art of the Fight, Quintessentail Monk I & II, is going to be devistating.

Even staying within the family of 3.5 WotC books, you can still make a monk extremely dangerous.

 

[Mercule]

Mercule is talking about a martial artist, not a monk.

Quite. I'm specifically thinking of a kickboxer or Savate fighter.

In truth, I'm looking at this from a DM's point of view. I've whacked Monk from my campaign world because the wire-work and other elements don't really fit the setting. I do like martial arts, though, and want to provide them as a viable option in my game.

I don't want to add another class in its place (kinda defeats the point, but new feats are fine). I'm just trying to figure out if, in fact, martial arts are nonfunctional without Monk.

 

[Samuel Leming]

So, I've been pondering over the idea of a martial artist who doesn't have all the mystic tricks the Monk has -- he just beats people up. Is it possible to build an unarmed Fighter character who would actually be able to school the Monk?

I did a little work on this in the past. Try this: Unarmed Feats based Fighter Variant.

Using these feats you should be able to build an unarmed and unarmored fighter that's better at front line combat than the monk, but still doesn't match a standard fighter. I've worked on a few more feats, but I'm not happy with them yet. Really, I'm burned out on this subject and I'm going to let it rest awhile.

Beware using anything like this in a low magic game. Beware using the monk at all in a low magic game.

Sam

 

[Sejs]

Fighter (10), Reaping Mauler (5), Shou Disciple (5).

Monk what now?

 

[Jdvn1]

Mercule is talking about a martial artist, not a monk.

I thought Mercule was talking about a Monk and BG brought up the martial artist. Guess I was confused.

 

[Jdvn1]

Ok probably not ANY fighter.

But I think it's all about how you build it. A monk, especially at higher levels, can be very deadly given the right feats, equipment, etc. So can a fighter. I just don't like the notion that no monk could ever take a fighter head to head.

Well, I'm sure you could make a Monk that's better at fighting Fighters, but I'm talking speaking in generalizations, too. In general, a Fighter will take the Monk. You can make better Monks, but you can also make better Fighters. And Fighters are designed to be front-line. Monks are designed to be mobile-get-out-of-my-way-so-I-can-take-people-with-fewer-hp.

 

[reveal]

Well, I'm sure you could make a Monk that's better at fighting Fighters, but I'm talking speaking in generalizations, too. In general, a Fighter will take the Monk. You can make better Monks, but you can also make better Fighters. And Fighters are designed to be front-line. Monks are designed to be mobile-get-out-of-my-way-so-I-can-take-people-with-fewer-hp.

I just can't agree with that. I see the monk as a more "acrobatic" form of the fighter.

 

[Jdvn1]

I just can't agree with that. I see the monk as a more "acrobatic" form of the fighter.

Well, I've never seen a Monk dish out as much damage as a Fighter can. I've never seen a Monk with as many hit points as a Fighter has. I have seen Monks with comparable AC's. That's about it.

 

[reveal]

Well, I've never seen a Monk dish out as much damage as a Fighter can. I've never seen a Monk with as many hit points as a Fighter has. I have seen Monks with comparable AC's. That's about it.

If you do it right, a monk can get 6 hits in a round using flurry of blows. The max a fighter can do is 5. (This assumes both monk and fighter are hasted) This extra attack can easily be used to best the fighter damage.

If you roll it right, you can have a monk with more hit points than a fighter. And you can always have a higher CON.

If you purchase properly, you can have a monk with a higher AC. I had a monk with a 54 AC. Even a high level fighter can have a hard time beating that.

Just because you've never seen it, don't think it can be done. Trust me, I've done it. My 26th level Half-Ogre monk had a 54 AC, hit for +35/+35/+35/+35/+30/+25 and did 8d10+some ungodly amount of damage per hit.

Oh... And he had 350 hit points...