Lord Zardoz
Explorer
I recently had a chance to run a one shot character in a friends epic level game. For a change of pace, I took a monk character. My friends game tends to lean to the munchkin end of things, so the character is probably not something that is ever likely to exist in a more long running situation.
Still, it was fun to have a character obscenely resistant to being damaged (VERY high AC, the 30 spell resistance of a 20th level Monk, Uncanny Dodge from a Prestige class, and a Cloak of Displacement), and being able to take an absolutly retarded amount of movement (180 half Move with boots of striding and springing, and the Run feat for a dead sprint of 900).
Power gaming antics aside though, Monks are not quite able to go toe to toe with Fighter types of a comparable level. The lower BaB means that most opposed attack roll type actions (Disarm, Sunder) will fail against fighters. You cannot use your unarmed attacks with much effectiveness greater then your Ki Strike. And in the early levels, your AC is most likely going to suck, and your HP's are not cut out for front line combat.
While Monks seem to be desinged to take on creatures using indirect attacks (spell casters, breath weapons, gaze attacks), they dont work out quite so well against creatures like Giants, evil Barbarians, and the like.
Despite those difficulties, I have a renewed intrest in this class, which I have previously over looked.
What to Monk players tend to do when heavy melee combat situations?
How do Monks deal with High Damage Resistance?
Beyond the "Dodge" chain of Feats, what other feats are popular for Monks, and why?
I am intrested in any other general comments or opinions on Monks.
END COMMUNICATION
Still, it was fun to have a character obscenely resistant to being damaged (VERY high AC, the 30 spell resistance of a 20th level Monk, Uncanny Dodge from a Prestige class, and a Cloak of Displacement), and being able to take an absolutly retarded amount of movement (180 half Move with boots of striding and springing, and the Run feat for a dead sprint of 900).
Power gaming antics aside though, Monks are not quite able to go toe to toe with Fighter types of a comparable level. The lower BaB means that most opposed attack roll type actions (Disarm, Sunder) will fail against fighters. You cannot use your unarmed attacks with much effectiveness greater then your Ki Strike. And in the early levels, your AC is most likely going to suck, and your HP's are not cut out for front line combat.
While Monks seem to be desinged to take on creatures using indirect attacks (spell casters, breath weapons, gaze attacks), they dont work out quite so well against creatures like Giants, evil Barbarians, and the like.
Despite those difficulties, I have a renewed intrest in this class, which I have previously over looked.
What to Monk players tend to do when heavy melee combat situations?
How do Monks deal with High Damage Resistance?
Beyond the "Dodge" chain of Feats, what other feats are popular for Monks, and why?
I am intrested in any other general comments or opinions on Monks.
END COMMUNICATION
