Monks as Divine Leaders - Viable?

[Lord_Psathus]

Hello,

I am an aspiring 4e dungeon master who has been running an ongoing campaign for the past 3 years. My players and I LOVE what is going on with 4th edition, and all of us are going to be relatively easy to convert, as we have no intention of leaving this campaign unfinished. We have a half-elf paladin, a tiefling warlock, an elf rogue, and...a human monk.

Now, I love homebrewing, and we have fairly extensive house rules lain out, some of which I took from my players to better the game. So, as the player still expresses interest in playing his human monk, I asked him exactly what he would want his monk to be.

He told me he wanted it to be a divine leader.

Now, he has played a chaos monk for these past few years, and plays his character almost like a barbarian. He told me he wants the monk to retain the unarmed strikes and overall mobility of the monk, but he wants him to be a bit less oriental.

So, I'm trying to envision the monk as a Divine Leader, but no matter what I do, I just picture a smiling, bald, brown-robed man walking down a simple stone corridor. Honestly, the divine leader already exists in 4th edition: the cleric. I told him this, but he has his heart set on it, so I promised him I would give it a shot.

Does anyone have any ideas on how a character like this would pan out? Is there any way to pull the monk away from their oriental roots while still acting like a violent, faithful brawler?



Will work for ideas,

Lord Psathus

 

[BendBars/LiftGates]

I've always thought of the monk as a classic Divine Striker. Fast, mobile. The monk can leap past the front lines and occupy the more sensitive enemies. The monk can tear you apart like a rogue, but he can also lay crippling conditions on you like a warlock (sort of).

To be a Leader, I think the class needs to be focused on improving the effectiveness of the rest of the party. The monk doesn't really do that.

 

[Nahat Anoj]

I say if you're going to keep the Monk as having the Divine source (which, IMO, I think he should have), you're better off with Divine Striker. Someone who, through intense devotion, meditation, and dedication, suffuses his body with astral energy, allowing him to perform tremendous feats of mind and body.

Without knowing much about 4e gods, a "violent, faithful brawler" sounds like it could be a Monk of Kord (god of storms and strength) or of Gruumsh (evil god of savagery). I'd go with Kord .

 

[Lord_Psathus]

Alright, I was thinking divine striker all along, and I will likely tell my player that a divine striker would make more sense for a monk than a divine leader. Honestly, I agree with you, because a monk sounds much more like a striker in 3.5 than anything else. I will probably tell him that if he wants some leader aspects, he should take some multiclass feats (into warlord or cleric).

Obviously, attacks such as Stunning Fist, Flurry of Blows, and Quivering Palm could remain.

If anyone is interested in trying to design a monk as a divine striker here, by all means, please make contributions.

How is this for flurry of blows?

Flurry of Blows Monk Attack 1
At-Will; Divine, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W]+Strength Damage
Miss: Deal your strength modifier in damage.
Special: At 21st level, this power deals 2[W]+Strength, and, upon a miss, deals twice your strength modifier in damage.

 

[BendBars/LiftGates]

Well, despite that this thread is entitled "Monks as Divine Leaders," here's a few ideas about monks as strikers:

Strikers need to be able to deal as much damage as possible to one source. As far as I can tell, this is accomplished in Rogues by sneak attacking and in Warlocks by damage over time. Is that accurate? I think Rangers have a quarry ability that lets them deal extra damage to one specified enemy, with the advantage that they do it at longer range than the Rogue. What's the Monk's trick?

 

[ideasmith]

Here's my suggestion:

1. Start with the cleric.

2. Make a list of the things the cleric has that don't fit.

3. Make a list of the monk abilities that need retaining.

4. Replace things on the first list with things on the second list.

5. Adjust for balance and playability as needed.