D&D 5E Monk weapon damage

[Briseis]

Dumb question. There's some language in the monk Martial Arts section that confuses me, and I would appreciate comments from the field to help clarify what the passage means. What damage die would a monk wielding a short sword use? d4 or d6?

The word "can" in the following passage confuses me:

You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or monk weapon. This die changes as you gain monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the Monk table.

If, for example, the monk were wielding a short sword, it sounds to me like the monk gets to chose whether to use either a d4 or a d6 as his damage die. Am I correct? I'm unclear why anyone would chose a d4 when wielding a short sword, but perhaps that's neither here nor there.

 

[RangerWickett]

I say when in doubt, do the thing that makes the most sense. Roll a d6.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Yes, because of the use of the word "can" you are still able to use the normal damage die of a monk weapon if you want to, such as when that die is larger than the die you can use in its place because of your monk level.

 

[Flamestrike]

He uses a a D6.

'Can' not 'must'.

 

[Sunseeker]

Yes, because of the use of the word "can" you are still able to use the normal damage die of a monk weapon if you want to, such as when that die is larger than the die you can use in its place because of your monk level.

This.

You basically use the better of the two dice when attacking with "monk weapons". So if you're using short-swords and not up to d8's on the Monk damage table, you can use the sword's normal dice.

It's a little silly when you think about it because there's really no incentive to use your fists at lower levels aside from thematically.

 

[Valmarius]

Yes, because of the use of the word "can" you are still able to use the normal damage die of a monk weapon if you want to, such as when that die is larger than the die you can use in its place because of your monk level.

Just to expand on this a bit, it means you'll tend to use the Weapon's damage die until you reach a level where your Martial Arts damage die is bigger. (It goes to 1d6 at 5th, and 1d8 at 11th)

The enhanced damage will still benefit all your free Unarmed Strikes, which would otherwise deal 1 damage (+ Dex mod).

 

[pdegan2814]

Dumb question. There's some language in the monk Martial Arts section that confuses me, and I would appreciate comments from the field to help clarify what the passage means. What damage die would a monk wielding a short sword use? d4 or d6?

The word "can" in the following passage confuses me:


If, for example, the monk were wielding a short sword, it sounds to me like the monk gets to chose whether to use either a d4 or a d6 as his damage die. Am I correct? I'm unclear why anyone would chose a d4 when wielding a short sword, but perhaps that's neither here nor there.

The wording is the "general case", to cover both the early and later Monk levels. The d4 obviously wouldn't be preferable to the normal d6 of the shortsword, but a d4 for an unarmed strike instead of the default 1 point of damage is definitely preferable. As you progress in your Monk level, your "martial arts" damage will grow to equal or surpass even the normal damage from the Monk weapons you can attack with.

 

[Briseis]

Thanks, all. It's nice to have a welcoming place to query the peanut gallery (and, in this case, confirm that I was thinking correctly about things). Appreciate the input.

 

[Arial Black]

It's a little silly when you think about it because there's really no incentive to use your fists at lower levels aside from thematically.

Even at level 1, a monk's Martial Arts class ability allows him to get an unarmed strike as a bonus action.

 

[GainVanquish]

The monk uses a d6 for their short sword the d4 relates to the Bonus unarmed strike which would be a d4 + Dex