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<blockquote data-quote="Felon" data-source="post: 2822560" data-attributes="member: 8158">I am of the opinion that martial arts should be housed entirely within the feat subsystem, rather than attempting to embed it into the monk class. D&amp;D's designers did a sort of half-arsed job by making Improved Unarmed Strike available as a feat, but making the base damage so pathetic that taking monk levels are the only way to make a real go at it. IMO that's where the big mistake with both the monk as a class and unarmed combat as a fighting style got off on the wrong foot in 3e. A fighter dedicated to martial arts should be the best at it, just as a fighter dedicated to archery or two-weapon fighting is better at it than a ranger. The monk should be a character that delves into martial arts, but is a combination of martial art techniques and its own unique spiritual secrets (such as its various supernatural abilities) and physical disciplines (such as evasion, slow fall, and fast movement). Instead the designers hemmed and hawed, tried to build it up into the only viable unarmed combat path, but at the same time they weren't wiling to pony up a better BAB and hit die because a monk isn't supposed to be a front-line fighter. Think about it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Felon, post: 2822560, member: 8158"] I am of the opinion that martial arts should be housed entirely within the feat subsystem, rather than attempting to embed it into the monk class. D&D's designers did a sort of half-arsed job by making Improved Unarmed Strike available as a feat, but making the base damage so pathetic that taking monk levels are the only way to make a real go at it. IMO that's where the big mistake with both the monk as a class and unarmed combat as a fighting style got off on the wrong foot in 3e. A fighter dedicated to martial arts should be the best at it, just as a fighter dedicated to archery or two-weapon fighting is better at it than a ranger. The monk should be a character that delves into martial arts, but is a combination of martial art techniques and its own unique spiritual secrets (such as its various supernatural abilities) and physical disciplines (such as evasion, slow fall, and fast movement). Instead the designers hemmed and hawed, tried to build it up into the only viable unarmed combat path, but at the same time they weren't wiling to pony up a better BAB and hit die because a monk isn't supposed to be a front-line fighter. Think about it. [/QUOTE]

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