Likes:
The Flavor. I think a monk is very much appropriate to the setting and it is a much better alternative than a fist-fighting fighter.
All the little things you get: Unlike some classes like Marshal, Fighter, etc you always get a little sumpin' sumpin'. Fist dice bump, movement, armor, more stunning, quivering pal,. bonus feat, more healing, poison immunity, etc.
That an unarmored, non-swashbuckling class can be pulled off relatively well because of the untyped wisdom bonus to AC.
They rule anything Large or smaller hardcore more often than not and totally make the bard, magic user, or anything with a small hit dice its beeyotch. Nice at harrying, too.
Decent skill list and skill points.
They are a total pain for the enemy to take out. All nice saves, with emphasis on Fort and Will make it hard to land something that will do more than just damage. Fast movement, nice armor class.
Unless you sweet-talk the GM into allowing Necklaces of Natural Attacks it costs a kabajillion GP to get enhancement bonuses on your attacks. This leads weapons to be better than smacking with fists, which is counter to what the Monk is all about.
Rare is the time where I've ever flurried on a non-humanoid. 3/4 BAB and a d8 means I"m constantly popping in and out for my 20 or 30 damage. Meanwhile the pally, fighter, ranger, or barb gets to wail the guys into next tuesday. Displacement is a real nice help as is the good AC but it just never seems to be worth it.
I think the monk is great flavorwise but it seems I'm in the minority. Its hard to integrate a monk storywise without it coming off as schlocky or forced. Digs on the monk by others are common, too.
They just don't seem to make good villains.
And last but not least...
Wisdom, even though it runs several major abilities is still 3rd behind Strength and Constitution. I'd like for a high Wisdom, high Dex character to viable but they just aren't as good as Str/Con/Wis fighters.
The Flavor. I think a monk is very much appropriate to the setting and it is a much better alternative than a fist-fighting fighter.
All the little things you get: Unlike some classes like Marshal, Fighter, etc you always get a little sumpin' sumpin'. Fist dice bump, movement, armor, more stunning, quivering pal,. bonus feat, more healing, poison immunity, etc.
That an unarmored, non-swashbuckling class can be pulled off relatively well because of the untyped wisdom bonus to AC.
They rule anything Large or smaller hardcore more often than not and totally make the bard, magic user, or anything with a small hit dice its beeyotch. Nice at harrying, too.
Decent skill list and skill points.
They are a total pain for the enemy to take out. All nice saves, with emphasis on Fort and Will make it hard to land something that will do more than just damage. Fast movement, nice armor class.
Unless you sweet-talk the GM into allowing Necklaces of Natural Attacks it costs a kabajillion GP to get enhancement bonuses on your attacks. This leads weapons to be better than smacking with fists, which is counter to what the Monk is all about.
Rare is the time where I've ever flurried on a non-humanoid. 3/4 BAB and a d8 means I"m constantly popping in and out for my 20 or 30 damage. Meanwhile the pally, fighter, ranger, or barb gets to wail the guys into next tuesday. Displacement is a real nice help as is the good AC but it just never seems to be worth it.
I think the monk is great flavorwise but it seems I'm in the minority. Its hard to integrate a monk storywise without it coming off as schlocky or forced. Digs on the monk by others are common, too.
They just don't seem to make good villains.
And last but not least...
Wisdom, even though it runs several major abilities is still 3rd behind Strength and Constitution. I'd like for a high Wisdom, high Dex character to viable but they just aren't as good as Str/Con/Wis fighters.