Monks and movement

[Antikinesis]

Off-Topic: Monk anti-rant.

Couldn't agree more... monks can be a blast!

We didn't stick so closely to the Oriental interpretation. In a sillier moment, I started describing his unarmed attacks along the lines of "Atomic Elbow Smash", "Running Drop-Kick", and "The Flying Pile-Driver". If he really got mad (like after the 5th time he dropped his nunchaki in the same session), he resorted to moves like "The Firey Beetch Slap", or "The Jumbo Can of Whoop-A55". After a while, it became a challenge to come up with new names for his moves. "The Closed-Fist Nose-Tweak" was a favorite for subdual damage, and if he was going for a stun-attack, it was usually "The Two-Finger Eye-Poke". If the victim made his save, the DM would announce that he knew the block, and would demonstrate it. (Everyone should know the defense for the two-finger eye-poke!)

Not as good in combat as the fighter, can't take damage like a barbarian, skill choices kinda stink, but fun as hell.

-AK

[Edited for manipulating the profanity filters.]

 

[Spatzimaus]

Powerwise, Monks are fine. My biggest complaint about Monks are that they're too inflexible. Unless you give them access to a lot of Prestige Classes, the player doesn't make any choices in his abilities. Same goes for Barbarians and pre-10 Rogues. Paladins are almost on this list, but as a spellcasting class they can change a little.

It's not just a boredom issue; you just can't adjust to the situation, or evolve your character in a different direction. This is made even more pronounced by the Monk's lack of armor and weapons.

The baseline Monk has a little of everything; speed, AC, increasing damage, neat special attacks, spell-like abilities, Ki Strike that scales too slowly, that sort of thing. That makes for a nice class, but it's hard to be distinctive.
IMC, we're trying to develop something a bit different; basically create Monk subclasses ("paths") that stress one or two aspects at the expense of the others, and that let you choose from small lists of abilities. It's still a work in progress, based on how they handle Psions in the PHB.
You go through five levels as a normal Monk, then choose one of the paths for your next five levels; once you complete that path, pick another for the next five, then one more path for 16-20. You can multiclass once you complete a path (but ONLY to/from your race's Favored Class), but interrupting one in progress means you can never go back to it. It's sorta like a Prestige Class, but more intrinsic to the class.

But that discussion belongs in the House Rule forum.