D&D 5E Kensei Monk - how was it for you?

[Ancalagon]

Hello

It looks like I may be able to start a live 5e campaign as a player - this is exciting, because I've run 5e a fair bit, but as a player my experience has been limited to PBP games.

I am considering taking a kensei monk (wood elf). I was wondering if people who've played it (or were in game with someone who played one) would like to share their impressions?

 

[J-H]

I DMed for one from about level 6 to 13. He picked up Bracers of Armor pretty early on, so his AC was always around 20-22. Damage was OK, with 3-4 attacks per round total, and mobility was excellent with lots of wall-running and a high move speed. He never, ever, not ever, used Stunning Strike.

The Kensei features work against each other and should be revised. The Kensei is a weapon specialist, but gets +2 AC if one of the two Attack action attacks is an unarmed strike instead... so if you want the full benefit of the package, you make exactly one armed attack per round, followed by an unarmed strike and then 1-2 more unarmed strikes from Flurry of Blows.

When we pick up with a sequel campaign, I'm going to loosen the RAW restriction and just let him make all of his attacks with his weapon including the Flurry of Blows attacks, with just 1 unarmed strike somewhere in there to trigger Agile Parry.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I think it would be fine to just make it: if you attacked with an unarmed strike on your turn, you gain +2 AC. So the bonus action attacks would be sufficient. On the other hand I plan to make a kensei out of my halfling monk, so probably I will see how it works by RAW.

 

[Ancalagon]

I DMed for one from about level 6 to 13. He picked up Bracers of Armor pretty early on, so his AC was always around 20-22. Damage was OK, with 3-4 attacks per round total, and mobility was excellent with lots of wall-running and a high move speed. He never, ever, not ever, used Stunning Strike.

Thank you for the reply. I'm... surprised why they didn't use stunning strike?
Did the archery ever come into play?

The Kensei features work against each other and should be revised. The Kensei is a weapon specialist, but gets +2 AC if one of the two Attack action attacks is an unarmed strike instead... so if you want the full benefit of the package, you make exactly one armed attack per round, followed by an unarmed strike and then 1-2 more unarmed strikes from Flurry of Blows.

I've been giving this some thought. A regular monk can already use a weapon (say, a spear or a quarterstaff). To increase their defenses, the monk can sacrifice their bonus action to get dodge, but that means sacrificing one or unarmed attacks, it's a pretty fairly significant hit to their offense. A kensei monk has the ability to reduce a small part of their offense (going from a sword attack to an unarmed attack, so say from a 1d10 to a d6) to gain 2 AC - it's a "middle ground" option that is very attractive.

 

[J-H]

I think he just forgot. I mentioned it once or twice.

He did use the archery once or twice, but melee was generally more relevant (all indoors/big dungeon setup).

Keep in mind that weapon damage is higher with magical weapons. Going from a Frostbrand (+1, +1d6 cold damage) to an unarmed strike is a drop of several points... and it's odd to see a weapon-master only use his weapon once per round, and his fists/knees/feet three times per round.

 

[Ancalagon]

I think he just forgot. I mentioned it once or twice.

He did use the archery once or twice, but melee was generally more relevant (all indoors/big dungeon setup).

Keep in mind that weapon damage is higher with magical weapons. Going from a Frostbrand (+1, +1d6 cold damage) to an unarmed strike is a drop of several points... and it's odd to see a weapon-master only use his weapon once per round, and his fists/knees/feet three times per round.

Thematically, it definitely feels strange.

 

[Li Shenron]

I think there is a thematic problem with being forced to use unarmed strikes, when Kensei is more about using weapons.

As a matter of fact, I have the same thematic problem with the Monk in general, because I do not like the idea that characters are fine with touching monsters with bare hands even when hitting them.

OTOH I wouldn't want to touch the RAW, so what I would do is use all the statistics of the unarmed strike (lower damage, no magic effects, etc.) but narrate it as a weapon attack.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I think there is a thematic problem with being forced to use unarmed strikes, when Kensei is more about using weapons.

As a matter of fact, I have the same thematic problem with the Monk in general, because I do not like the idea that characters are fine with touching monsters with bare hands even when hitting them.

OTOH I wouldn't want to touch the RAW, so what I would do is use all the statistics of the unarmed strike (lower damage, no magic effects, etc.) but narrate it as a weapon attack.

That's always my first thought to do in these situations as well.

 

[Ancalagon]

So... apart from that thematic problem... any other issues/comments?

 

[JiffyPopTart]

I played your character, a wood elf kensai monk, in Tomb of Annihilation.

1. The obvious best choice is picking a longsword and longbow as your two kensai weapons. This is what I did.

2. My group is not minmaxing optimizers so my monk was usually one of the primary damage dealers round-to-round.

3. If you decide that you are going to shut down a single opponent no matter what, you are going to stun them for a round or two (by which time they are most likely dead). You may blow through your KI to do it, but usually you reserve this decision for important bad guys that are the last battle you are going to do before a short rest, where you get all your KI back.

4. Your mobility (wood elf and monk) combined with the long range of a longbow means that you will frequently be the character running down and stopping any enemies who are trying to escape. Getting two longbow shots a round with D8 +d4 +5 is pretty powerful for stopping those with just a few HP left trying to bug out.

5. I never felt like my character was ineffective or lacking compared to the rest of the party. The biggest downside to the monk is the lack of good magic items, however there are probably going to be magic Longswords and longbows for you to use if nothing else pops up super exciting for your character. I ended up with a dragonslaying longsword and an amulet that let me automatically pass death saves. With that amulet I made an effort to go all-out in any melee combat as I wasn't worried about bleeding out if I got KOed during the battle. I was able to near solo a dragon and was able to solo a BBEG named bad guy using stunning strike and laying on the damage without them being able to respond.

6. I choose to not max out my WIS (and A/C) and instead went for a couple feats. I think my WIS was +3 and it never seemed like it was worth it to increase it further.

7. It does seem really strange that to get the benefit of the AC you have to "waste" a turn with a martial arts attack, but really all you will be doing is dropping one D10 for a D6 which doesn't affect your output much.