Monk - what do you like and dislike?

[Dannyalcatraz]

'cept you don't threaten with a ranged weapon...

Of course not, but you can't maintain range forever. Eventually, you'll wind up in melee. Thus, the high dex monk (ideally) takes a position in combat where he can put his AoOs to good use.

My current one is using a polearm (specifically, a Bisento 1d12x2, reach), so I've got a high dex monk with high AC, ranged weapons to soften up opponents (I will hit frequently with either crossbow or javelin), a reach weapon, and IUC to take on those within the polearm's reach. Standing on the second rank, I can usually get in a couple of whacks in before I risk close physical contact, and if they close on me, the Barbarian will get his own AoO.

Once I take Pole Fighter (DCv1) to use the Bisento with FoB, those AoOs will be partnered with a big-ass whirling weapon O doom.

And slightly further down the road, when I take Ring the Golden Bell (DCv1) to be able to deliver Unarmed Strikes (and any attack depending on Unarmed Strike) at range...

 

[CF]

'cept you don't threaten with a ranged weapon...

Yeah, but you do with your legs, elbows, forehead...

In fact, a monk with a polearm or a bow might be a nice call. Wouldn't be any more strong than the average monk, but it would certainlly be quite cool to picture.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Its very Jackie Chan- use a reach weapon to keep people from getting close, then FoB those who do...except instead of improvising with a ladder, the Monk is actually using a polearm.

 

[Hussar]

I gotta admit, I always thought Longspear should be a monk weapon. There's numerous martial arts which use one. IIRC, there's a feat somewhere around which lets you pick a new monk weapon.

Something to remember about the whole AC thing, is that monks are also not going to have any armor penalty. Being able to jump over that pit is a big deal sometimes, as is swimming. If the fighter is in full plate, he's not jumping anything. Climb? Nope, not going to happen.

While it doesn't come up all the time, when it does come up, the monk has a serious advantage.

Another thing to remember is how easy it is to buff monk AC's with spells. Mage Armor that AC 13 monk and now he's AC 17 - pretty good for the level. Combine with a Shield of Faith and now he's into the early 20's. A pair of first level spells that most parties should have, and the monk can tank with the best of them. Sure, Shield of Faith helps the fighter too, but, mage armor doesn't. At 1 hour/level, you can pretty much guarantee it for the monk. Put Shield of Faith into a wand or potions and you can use it in every fight.

Actually, a single level dip into sorcerer is a major bonus for monks. Take a couple of protection spells at first level, like mage armor and shield, and you're very good to go.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

there's a feat somewhere around which lets you pick a new monk weapon

DCv1 has 2: Unorthodox Flurry lets you turn any light weapon into a monk weapon (and by my reading, this would also include Natural weapons*), and Pole Fighter which lets you use a Polearm as a monk weapon.

BTW: Orc or Half-Orc + Feral Template + Monk + Unorthodox Flurry + Improved Natural Attack + PsyWar (with Enlarge power) = UGLY (especially if you make it persistent). Switch out Monk, etc. for Barbarian etc. and it still works...

*as I recall, the feat was written by Ari Marmell, ENWorld's own Mousferatu (my DCv1 has been borrowed, so I can't say for sure), so we could ask him.

Actually, a single level dip into sorcerer is a major bonus for monks. Take a couple of protection spells at first level, like mage armor and shield, and you're very good to go.

Actually, the PsiWar or Psion is better- Inertial Armor and Force Screen are nearly equivalent & can be made to last longer...and there are a whole host of powers that could be used to buff a monk.

Many of the PsiWar natural weapon powers have manufactured weapon equivalents. Given the monk's class ability to have their Unarmed Strikes count as either, you take the weapon version of the power and you can use it for either his US or his weapons. Combine that with the bonus feats, the possibility of taking a polearm, and an Enlarge power that can be applied twice, and things get serious (see the above).

The Psion, OTOH, has a bunch more power and flexibility, and could specialize in things like telekinesis, telepathy or teleportation powers....thus becoming a Jedi or Kwizats Haderach.

IMHO, even the Soulknife (or the Kensai) has better things to offer: take Unorthodox Flurry with the mindblade, and a few feats or a PrCl from Dragon or CompPsi and you've got a PC who can do all kinds of nasty killification.

 

[Hussar]

Pole Fighter which lets you use a Polearm as a monk weapon.

Knew there was one. ONe of my all time favourite Dragon articles. My dwarven fighter is using the Dwarven Warpike from that right now and loving it. Polearms ROCK.

ahem.

Seriously though, that single feat does a lot to improve monks. Getting twice as many attacks at reach than the fighter at 1-5th level can even the field quite a bit. Toss in Imp Trip and Combat Reflexes, and the monk is getting insane numbers of attacks per round. And, Imp Trip has the added bonus that you only need touch attacks. That loss of BAB doesn't hurt so much then. Particularly at high levels when the bad guy might have an AC of 35 but a touch AC of 5.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Seriously though, that single feat does a lot to improve monks. Getting twice as many attacks at reach than the fighter at 1-5th level can even the field quite a bit.

And it doesn't hurt that there are a boatload of nice abilities in the polarm family. Most (not all) are reach weapons. Some are ranged weapons. Some trip. Several have nice crit threat ranges or high crit modifiers. Others can be set against a charge or have more esoteric abilities. Then there's the fact that many of them do damage a monk won't see for many, many levels...and that's just the simple or martial ones.

The exotics often combine damage types, or will have multiple nice attributes. Consider a Greatspear in the hands of a properly designed monk: Big damage, nice threat range, reach, and ranged.

As an aside, considering the number of martial arts that use chain weapons, it may be only a matter of time before someone writes up "Chain Fighter" for an official source (Paizo or WotC). That would be things like kusarigama, chijiririki, manrikigusari, and everyone's #1 cheese weapon, the spiked chain.

Then you'll see Monks get uuuuuuuuuugly with the Chains + AoO + Trip combo.

 

[Klaus]

Knew there was one. ONe of my all time favourite Dragon articles. My dwarven fighter is using the Dwarven Warpike from that right now and loving it. Polearms ROCK.

ahem.

Seriously though, that single feat does a lot to improve monks. Getting twice as many attacks at reach than the fighter at 1-5th level can even the field quite a bit. Toss in Imp Trip and Combat Reflexes, and the monk is getting insane numbers of attacks per round. And, Imp Trip has the added bonus that you only need touch attacks. That loss of BAB doesn't hurt so much then. Particularly at high levels when the bad guy might have an AC of 35 but a touch AC of 5.

There's also Serpent Strike, a feat in the Eberron Campaign Setting (prereqs: Simple Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Focus [longspear]) that turns the longspear into a monk weapon, so you can flurry with it (and with your unarmed strikes). Threatened area of 20 squares, iirc!

 

[Plane Sailing]

A number of people have said this, but I can't say I understand why. The monk is not really supposed to be as good as the fighter in combat.

This seems like a completely spurious argument to me in the monk case. You might as well say "the paladin is not supposed to be as good as the fighter in combat" - so why give the paladin full BAB? Or the Barbarian? Or the Ranger?

The ranger is a particularly good counter example to your assertion. Same HD as the monk. More skill points. Bigger skill list. Wide range of spells to give options outside combat (heal others, entangle, use wands, yada yada yada). And they get full BAB. Why? because their primary means of doing damage is by hitting things.

By the Ranger yardstick the monk quite clearly is strange in not having a full BAB - he isn't as flexible, doesn't have as many skill points or as wide a range of skills, nor does he have a range of spells.

 

[Hussar]

But, with Flurry, the monk is doing better than the fighter most of the time.

At 11th level, the monk flurries for 8/8/8/3. The fighter attacks 11/6/1. The monk has two attacks at better odds than the fighter and gets a 4th attack that the fighter doesn't. Yes, the primary attack is weaker, but, that's not the only attack. Assuming equal strengths, the monk is still the better grappler due to imp grapple.

It should also be noted that the more attacks you make, the better chances for critical hits as well. Yes, Imp Critical makes a difference, but, the monk is simply getting SO many attacks, that he's got a decent chance of getting one.

Imagine a full BAB monk at 11th level. 11/11/11/6/1 flurry. Gack! People would be screaming about how powerful this is. Five attacks per round when the fighters are getting 3? With a d10 damage base? This guy would be death on toast. Chuck in the two weapon fighting feats, and he's got seven attacks per round! Screw unarmed strikes, gimme a magic siangham with shock.

No thanks. I think I'll keep that medium progression thanks.