D&D 5E Is the Monk of the Long Death overpowered?

[CTurbo]

Ok I believe the high rolled stats are most likely the reason he feels overpowered. Starting with 20 Dex is overpowered in it's own right. He almost always goes first, and had a much higher than normal AC for such low levels.

I see one issue that I've been doing wrong that has definitely BROKEN the character. I've been using the temp hp wrong. In our last encounter, I killed 2 enemies pretty quick and had 18 temporary hp before I ever even got hit. I ended the encounter, that almost killed our Fighter and Cleric, with MORE than my maximum hp. That explains a lot and will solve much of this "problem" moving forward. The main villain here was a NPC Bard that we were trying to capture alive. My Monk just shrugged off just about every spell he threw at me because of my high Wis. He did get me once with Tasha's hideous laughter and fled the scene. I passed the save on my next turn and EASILY caught up to him with the ridiculous Monk speed of 90ft dash + ki point bonus action dash again. I beat him to a pulp in 2 turns with my bare hands and took my staff back(he grabbed it before running).


I would like to state that I was NOT complaining about being overpowered. We knew rolling for stats would result in these "issues" and it's difficult to plan properly challenging encounters around a party of generally OP characters.

As far as the versatile staff + unarmed strike, as far as I know this is fine with RAW and RAI. My character usually follows the staff attack with a kick or two with a ki point. I will be looking for a final answer to this though. I like using the staff though and intended on using it for the duration of the campaign even when the unarmed strike damage catches up to it.

 

[pkt77242]

I agree As a particularly MAD class monks benefit from having 3 high stats more than other classes (except perhaps the Barbarian)

I would also add Paladin to that list as well (Str, Con and Cha).

 

[abirdcall]

I would also add Paladin to that list as well (Str, Con and Cha).

This, along with games that have 1-2 encounters/long rest, are why some people think the Paladin is too strong and the Fighter is too weak.

In a game where people start with 20s and 18s the Fighter will be weak by comparison. All characters can take feats because their stats are already capped and the extra ASIs of the Fighter don't matter. They end up going to tertiary feats or scores.

 

[pkt77242]

Another overpowered class with rolled scores is Bladesinger. I saw a mage/bladsinger with 18 int, 18 dex, and 16 of con at 1st level.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Another overpowered class with rolled scores is Bladesinger. I saw a mage/bladsinger with 18 int, 18 dex, and 16 of con at 1st level.

I'm pretty sure you can't be a Bladesinger at first level.

(Yes, I know what you really meant. )

 

[CTurbo]

I don't believe Fighters are weak at all. One of my characters is a 4th level Longbow Archer Battlemaster with 20 Dex and 18 Con and that character is pretty much an auto hit with +10 to attack. My HP, AC, and Int are all high. I wreak havoc from far away with Battle Master maneuvers and deal consistently good damage. I've been a Half-Orc TWF Fighter that was awesome. Both my wife and my Bro-In-Law are playing TWF Fighters and both characters are very strong.

I was helping my friend get acclimated to 5e and he wanted me to help him build his character. He decided to be a Dragonborn S&B Paladin. We rolled for stats in front of the DM and got 18, 17, and 16 on the very first roll. He could have had 20str, 18 Cha, and 16 Con, but decided to take 18, 18, and 18 to start with because he didn't want to "feel so overpowered" lol I told him if he didn't want to feel overpowered he should have been a Gnome

 

[Lucas Blackstone]

Rolled stats are overpowered if they are significantly better then point buy, since bounded accuracy is part of the game and the game makes certain assumptions about PCs at various levels. I don't agree with the notion that overpowered means game breaking, it simply means overpowered.

Look at it this way. Some people say variant human is too good because of the bonus feat. If one person uses the standard array and ends up with 16 ( 15 +1 ) 14 14 ( 13+1 ) 12 10 8 , and the other person ends up with 18 ( 17+1 ) 18 ( 17+1) 16 12 10 8 after rolling stats, that person got the equivalent of 4 ASI over the first guy. That is a lot of power, and why I think rolling can be overpowered.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Rolled stats are overpowered if they are significantly better then point buy, since bounded accuracy is part of the game and the game makes certain assumptions about PCs at various levels. I don't agree with the notion that overpowered means game breaking, it simply means overpowered.

IMO, point buy is underpowered by design--so that most people will be happy with stat rolls. Point buy comes in at about the 40th percentile of rolled stat arrays. Point buy arrays tend to be weakish, but not all that much worse than an average roll.

 

[abirdcall]

I don't believe Fighters are weak at all. One of my characters is a 4th level Longbow Archer Battlemaster with 20 Dex and 18 Con and that character is pretty much an auto hit with +10 to attack. My HP, AC, and Int are all high. I wreak havoc from far away with Battle Master maneuvers and deal consistently good damage. I've been a Half-Orc TWF Fighter that was awesome. Both my wife and my Bro-In-Law are playing TWF Fighters and both characters are very strong.

I was helping my friend get acclimated to 5e and he wanted me to help him build his character. He decided to be a Dragonborn S&B Paladin. We rolled for stats in front of the DM and got 18, 17, and 16 on the very first roll. He could have had 20str, 18 Cha, and 16 Con, but decided to take 18, 18, and 18 to start with because he didn't want to "feel so overpowered" lol I told him if he didn't want to feel overpowered he should have been a Gnome

You've missed the point.

 

[shadowoflameth]

Correct. Temp hit points as I read the rules now and in earlier editions are replaced not added to, so, if you had 6 and somehow gained 9, you have 9. It has nothing to do with losing the 6. You don't lose regular hit points until your temps are gone. That said, I don't think the monk or the Long Death in particular are overpowered. The attack features are less potent than the Stone fist but with different triggers and they all pretty much rely on melee combat to be effective. There are plenty of enemies terrains and encounter ideas where beat them up isn't the only skill needed. By 5th level you could certainly be encountering enemies with ranged attacks, or that melee is less effective against.