Monk Preview

[chaotix42]

Caliber, that is sweet.

 

[ryryguy]

I agree here - it means that a monks magic weapons will typically be up to five levels below that of other party members - that's quite a lot!

Maybe the monk's "treasure wishlist" item will be, "Enough raw residuum to give me +1 flaming fists"...

Giving out raw residuum actually would ease this problem, as long as the party doesn't squabble over it.

 

[WhatGravitas]

(1) I think Psionic makes absolutely perfect sense instead of "ki." Just flavor-wise, I don't see a big distinction between D&D-style Ki and D&D-style psionics. Two thumbs up; it's one of those things I wish I would have thought of myself.

I hope that the Ki-flavour bleeds back into the Psionic power source a bit - late 3.5 dialled up the pseudoscience-y psionics up quite a bit.

With the monk, it could go towards more of a "mind-over-matter" & "meditation"-style esotericism, at least for some classes (the Psion can stay all meditation + pseudoscience) - as even classes within a power source can have some spread (like... compare an Infernal Warlock with a Sorcerer).

They can totally keep the New Age Crystals, some incense, meditation and all that... just... dial down the snot... eh.... ectoplasm, okay?

Cheers, LT.

 

[RefinedBean]

Thanks to everyone who put me on the true path, so to speak.

Me thinks those at-will movement techniques are...ah...insanely good, then. That Crane one, for sure. There's a Barbarian encounter utility that's just like that, only worse. Take THAT, Barbarians.

I suppose all that movement is supposed to make up for the relatively low damage/awkward weapon/implement issues?

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Pseudoscience for the WIN! *coughs* Sorry, sorry

Hmm... How long did it take for them to release info discussing the fluff for Primal? If we got something similar for Psionics be nice.

Hmm... I wonder how well Two-Weapon Feats and Powers will work with the Monk, specifically with unarmed (since it counts as a weapon for them and all). Also, grrr... I wish they were proficient in Spiked Gauntlets.

 

[Herschel]

Does it bug anyone else a little bit that Psionics were always powers of the mind and now they call it Psionic Magic (with magic being wielded through powers of the mind) yet the PRIMARY is a physical skill with DEX and one of the two builds SECONDARY is also a physical trait with STR? I have a hard time imagining a psionic character with mental dump stats.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Does it bug anyone else a little bit that Psionics were always powers of the mind and now they call it Psionic Magic (with magic being wielded through powers of the mind) yet the PRIMARY is a physical skill with DEX and one of the two builds SECONDARY is also a physical trait with STR? I have a hard time imagining a psionic character with mental dump stats.

My bets are the Monk is the odd-man out when it comes to stats. Mainly because of in the Design & Development article they stated:

Sometimes, a power source defines parts of a character. In other cases, the class's legacy in the game defines most of it. In this case, psionic defines the monk's place in the world and story, but its legacy as a mobile, unarmed warrior defines its mechanics.

So, more because of what the Monk has been over the years and not the fact that it is now Psionic played a larger role with stats and such.

 

[darjr]

A monk with a bag of residuum, used for enhancing his fists and feet just before combat. Like a free soloing rock climber drying their hands with powder. Or a bare knuckle boxer sticking his glue covered fists into broken glass before a fight.

 

[ppaladin123]

I agree here - it means that a monks magic weapons will typically be up to five levels below that of other party members - that's quite a lot!

Actually the DMG mentions that you can give out item levels as treasure parcels. An example is that after slaying a cold monster, the fighter's +1 sword spontaneously becomes a +1 cold sword or a +2 cold sword.

You can easily do the same thing with a monk's hands. On the WotC boards someone had a nice piece of example fluff: "you have finally mastered the ____ technique. Your unarmed strikes are now +2 vicious!"

 

[RefinedBean]

Now that I think about it, the Barb also felt/feels quite a bit different from the other Primal classes, once we could compare it.

And considering how much I loved the other Primal classes, this gives me high hopes for Psionics.