Monk - what do you like and dislike?

[Psion]

Geez. This is really fascinating.

Don't forget that I also asked "What do you like about the monk?"

You also said "be as non-specific as you like".

I suppose I could say:
- the "expanding damage" makes a monk seem inherently dangerous
- I like that monk attacks get special qualities
- I like stun
- I like flurry of blows
Those are all things that work well for the monk IMO. FWIW.

 

[Psion]

Do you ever wonder if WotC pays attention to threads like this? Maybe that's what resulted in the D20 Modern Martial Artist (very cool design), but that could have been a happy accident.

Blood & Fists' "Martial Arts Master" scratches my itch much better.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Like others, I find the tone utterly incongruous with the rest of the core classes. I remember, back in The Strategic Review days, there was a story hour-style column (the rust monster one) reprinted in the Best of the Dragon 1, where a standard dungeon crawling group had a samurai wandering around with them. That sort of strange drop-in is how I view the monk. Honestly, I'd excise them entirely from the the non-OA books if it were up to me.

(Having said that, I think the drunken master PrC could be tweaked to be a little less monk-centric and I think it has much more of a place in the tavern-centric nature of D&D.)

 

[Mort]

Unlike some, I actually like the flavor of the monk - the mystic-martial artist is a neat archetype.

That said I find the mechanics utterly lacking - I have yet to see a monk actually played effectively in 3e or 3.5e (for no fault of the players - it's really hard to design an effecivie monk with anything other than a very high point buy)

 

[Turanil]

One of my player used the base monk class as a "wild man" that was raised in the woods. You'd be surprised how natural it felt. Jumping out of trees and not getting hurt, having an intuitive sense to dodge, using his teeth and body to attack, not being hurt by venomous creatures etc.

Cool idea!

 

[jcfiala]

The problem with Monks is they require a lot of high stats to do well - Dex and Wisdom for defense, Strength to hit and do damage, and Con for hit points. They get lots of neat, flavorful abilities, but I'm not sure if they balance out.

Personally, I like the idea someone mentioned above of improving the BAB procession.

 

[marune]

The problem with Monks is they require a lot of high stats to do well - Dex and Wisdom for defense, Strength to hit and do damage, and Con for hit points. They get lots of neat, flavorful abilities, but I'm not sure if they balance out.

Personally, I like the idea someone mentioned above of improving the BAB procession.

If low Str, Weapon finesse do the job. It's not core, but a flaming/frost/etc. enhancement to unarmed strike can give a nice extra to dmg output.

The monk is best used as a "flanker ally" for the rogue. 1) he moves fast (and it becomes better with DD), tumble over opponents and resists disabling effects. 2) he has Stunning fist, a vey good friend of Sneak Attack.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

If low Str, Weapon finesse do the job. It's not core, but a flaming/frost/etc. enhancement to unarmed strike can give a nice extra to dmg output.

With the ridiculous amount of damage a monk does, you might want to be careful about that. I'd rather see something that boosts their low attack bonus instead.

The monk is best used as a "flanker ally" for the rogue. 1) he moves fast (and it becomes better with DD), tumble over opponents and resists disabling effects. 2) he has Stunning fist, a vey good friend of Sneak Attack.

This is what a lot of people call "boring". Even the bard is interesting, if often viewed as underpowered, and even the sorcerer has a clear niche, even if outshone by the wizard.

 

[Jdvn1]

I like that they're a bit different from the other classes, and that their theme is a bit foreign--but that it doesn't have to be. I like the idea of a self-taught monk, or a wilderness monk.

 

[Victim]

I like punching monsters; unarmed damage and flurry of blows work pretty well. Monks get the bonus feats to pursue extra combat options, ie grapple and trip (or disarm), so they have have a variety of moves in a fight.

Monks could use some better multiclassing options. With their extreme reliance on class levels for their abilities, and the restriction, they have a hard time multiclassing at all. I think much of the flavor issues with monk would be resolved if they mc'd more easily, so that fighter or barbarian monks would work well as less magical, unarmed killers.